How to Play Fortune and Glory: The Cliffhanger Game

Game Objective

In Fortune and Glory: The Cliffhanger Game, players take on the roles of pulp adventure heroes in the 1930s, competing to collect ancient artifacts while facing villainous organizations like the Nazis, the Mafia, or the Crimson Hand Order. The main goal is to accumulate Fortune (the victory resource) by selling artifacts in cities. The game ends when a hero or team reaches the required amount of Fortune (15 for individual players or 10x the number of heroes per team) and is in their Starting City at the end of a round. Villain organizations can also win if they advance far enough on the Villain Track.

Setup

1. Assemble the board: Place the board in the center of the table, identifying the types of spaces (Land, Cities, and Maritime).
2. Prepare cards and markers: Separate and shuffle the Artifacts, Adventures, Dangers, Events, Cities, and other decks. Place the Docks markers face down in all Port Cities.
3. Choose heroes: Each player selects or draws a hero token, places their figure on the indicated Starting City, and receives a Personal Mission (drawing 2 and keeping 1).
4. Place artifacts: Create 4 Adventure Artifacts by combining Artifact + Adventure cards and placing them in random locations on the board using skull markers. Temples receive additional Fortune tokens.
5. Prepare the villain organization: Choose one of the 3 factions (Nazis, Mafia, or Crimson Hand Order), place their Outposts on the board, and prepare the Active Villains (2 or 3, depending on the number of players).

Game Flow

Each round has 5 phases, in this order:

1. Initiative Phase: Players roll dice to decide who will be the First Player of the round. Rolls of 1 grant a free Event card.
2. Movement Phase: Each hero rolls a die to move across the board (starting with the First Player). Movement on maritime spaces costs extra points.
3. Adventure Phase: Heroes perform actions based on their location:
   • Artifacts/Temples: Overcome Dangers to collect the treasure.
   • Cities: Buy equipment, heal wounds, or sell artifacts.
   • Outposts: Attack enemy bases.
4. Villain Phase: The villain organization acts:
   • Draw a Villain Event card.
   • Activate their Outposts (like the Nazi War Zeppelin).
   • Villains in play hunt for artifacts.
5. Final Phase:
   • Acolytes collect successes on artifacts.
   • Check victory conditions.
   • Replace collected artifacts.
   • KO’d heroes are healed and return to their starting cities.

Actions and How to Play

Movement

• Roll 1d6 (2d6 in solo mode) to determine movement points.
• Fly between cities: Costs 2-3 Fortune, teleporting the hero.
• Encountering a Henchman (like Nazi soldiers) ends movement and initiates combat.

Artifact Adventures

1. In Deep Jungles, explore first (roll dice = accumulated exploration markers).
2. For each Danger:
   • Pass Skill Tests (Combat, Agility, Cunning, or Lore) or face enemies.
   • If failed, flip the card to the Cliffhanger side and resolve it on the next turn.
   • Choose to Camp (gain Glory and heal) or Continue (advance to the next danger).
3. Present villains require Stealth Tests to avoid them.

Cities

• Buy Equipment, Allies, or Common Items with Glory.
• Sell artifacts for Fortune (bonus in Major Cities).
• Heal wounds (1 Glory per wound).

Combat

• Roll fight dice = Combat Skill (hits on 4+).
• Defense reduces damage taken.
• Defeat enemies to gain Glory or attempt to Escape with a skill test.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when:

• Heroes: A player or team reaches the required Fortune (15 individually or 10x heroes per team) and all are in their Starting Cities at the end of a round.
• Villains: The marker on the Villain Track reaches the target value (e.g., 20 for 1 player).

In case of a tie, the player with the most Glory wins.

Tips for Winning

1. Teamwork: In cooperative games, heroes in the same location can combine skills to overcome dangers and combat, earning full Glory each.
2. Resource management: Sell artifacts quickly to avoid losing them if KO’d. Glory is easier to recover than Fortune, Gear, or Allies.
3. Focus on Temples: They grant Fortune gradually, but beware of Collapse tests on failed dangers.