Ruling — Call to Adventure

You asked

How do I play?

Answered counted as answered

Asked with: Call to Adventurebg-238992-en-1e

Setup

1. Sort through all game components, shuffle the decks, and prepare the play space.[1]

2. Deal each player six Character cards: 2 Origins, 2 Motivations, and 2 Destinies.[1]

3. Each player chooses one of each type to keep and removes the rest from the game (for first-time players, deal one of each type).[1]

4. Deal every player one Hero card to form a hidden starting hand.[1]

5. Give each player three Experience tokens.[1]

6. Form the hero's Story by placing the chosen Origin face-up on the left, the Motivation face-up in the middle, and the Destiny face-down on the right.[1]

7. Place the character cards on a player board and set the Hero marker to the third level of the Corruption tracker.[1]

8. In the center of the table, set up the three Story decks, the Hero Deck, and the Antihero Deck.[2]

9. Lay out a row of face-down cards beside each deck: four cards per Act for 1-3 players, or five cards per Act for a 4-player game.[2]

10. Turn the Act I cards face-up.[2]

11. Place the rune tray containing the Core Runes, Ability Runes, and Dark Runes within easy reach of all players.[2]

A Turn

1. The player who most recently finished reading a novel goes first.[2]

2. On your turn, you may take available actions, such as gaining a trait, facing a challenge, Journeying (spending Experience to discard and replace a card on the table), using another card effect, or playing a Hero or Antihero card.[3]

3. When facing a challenge, check your Character for relevant Rune icons; you may cast one rune of that type for each icon you have, up to a maximum of three.[4]

4. Up to three times per turn (before attempting a challenge), you may spend Experience to add a Dark rune to your casting.[4]

5. Cast the runes by throwing them on the table to see which sides land face-up.[4]

6. A challenge is gained if it is overcome by casting the runes.[2]

7. If you get a rune result of a single triangle, or acquire a path with a single triangle, draw a Hero card; if you get a result of a dark triangle, or acquire a path with a dark triangle, draw an Antihero card; if you get a dual triangle, you may choose which type to draw.[5]

8. After a Hero or Antihero card takes effect, place it face-up beside your character tableau.[5]

9. At the end of your turn, end any effects from Hero cards, Antihero cards, and other cards, and draw a new card to replace any you claimed from the board that turn.[5]

10. Once you are out of actions to take, play passes to the next player.[5]

Ending an Act

1. When you have placed at least three trait or challenge cards under your current Act, you must end that Act.[5]

2. If you are the first player to have three cards from one Act, reveal the next row of cards at the start of your turn.[5]

Ending the Game

1. The game ends when one player has gained three cards under their Destiny card, at which point their final Act is closed.[6]

2. Each other player takes one final turn.[6]

3. To determine the winner, each player reveals their Destiny card and calculates their total Destiny score by adding:

* All Destiny points visible under Character cards (including Triumph and Tragedy points).[6]

* Points from the position on the Corruption track.[6]

* Points from the Destiny card based on met requirements.[6]

* One point for every unspent Experience token.[6]

* 1 point for every Hero card played.[6]

* 1 point for every Antihero card played.[6]

* Any points gained from Story icons.[6]

4. Victory is awarded to the player(s) with the highest Destiny score.[6]

[1] RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook · p.4 · Setting Up the Game · 1. Deal the Cards · 2. Reveal Your Character · Play Example: Story Tableau

[2] RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook · p.5 · 3. Prepare the Story Decks · Traits and Challenges

[3] RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook · p.8 · Other Actions · Other Card Effects

[4] RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook · p.7 · Reading the Runes · Core Runes · Ability Runes · Dark Runes

[5] RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook · p.9 · Hero and Antihero Cards · Ending Your Turn · Ending An Act · Play Example: Ending Act I

[6] RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook · p.10 · Ending the Game · Play Example: End of Game

Answer in hand — your move.

🔧 debug — where this ruling came from

outcome: ANSWERED — Answered
corpus profile: live,vps
answerer pin (deploy-frozen, attribution only): gemma4:26b think:false 5571076f3d70
timings: search 76 ms · ask 6554 ms · total 6632 ms
single-flight (PR-5): queued 0 ms · generation 6632 ms
retrieval refs (raw) — what the PASSAGE SEARCH returned, not what the answerer read: [{"page": 4, "score": 0.048412, "snippet": "Before the game begins, sort through all game components, shuffle the decks, and prepare the play space. During setup, each player begins creating a Character. Deal each player six Character cards: 2 Origins (brown with bronze) 2 Motivations (blue with silver) 2 Destinies (red with gold) Each player", "headingPath": "Setting Up the Game · 1. Deal the Cards · 2. Reveal Your Character · Play Example: Story Tableau", "sharpsignalDocId": 1048}, {"page": 12, "score": 0.047619, "snippet": "While the core rules of Call to Adventure focus on competitive multiplayer, it is also designed for solo and cooperative play! Preparing a Solo or Co-Op game follows typical game set up (see pages 2-3), with the following exceptions: Choose One Adversary : Set aside all Adversary cards, then randoml", "headingPath": "Variant Rules: Solo and Co-Op Play · Set Up · The Adversary's Deck · Playing The Adversary's Cards · Solo/Co-Op vs. Competitive Play", "sharpsignalDocId": 1048}, {"page": 5, "score": 0.047183, "snippet": "In the center of the table, set up the three Story decks, the Hero Deck, and the Antihero Deck. If this is your first time playing, we recommend removing the Allies and Adversaries from the story decks (as well as their related cards: Noble , Sole Survivor, Vow of Vengeance, Heir to the Throne , Mas", "headingPath": "3. Prepare the Story Decks · Traits and Challenges", "sharpsignalDocId": 1048}, {"page": 16, "score": 0.046402, "snippet": "Acquire Traits and overcome Challenges to build the hero with the highest Destiny score! Shuffle all decks, then: Deal each player 2 Origin, 2 Motivation, and 2 Destiny cards, plus 1 Hero card and (see page 2). Reveal each hero's chosen Origin and Motivation, leaving their Destiny hidden (see page 2", "headingPath": "Object of the Game · Set Up · On Your Turn · Casting the Runes · Draw a Hero Card DIAMOND Antihero Card SLASH (DARK RUNE) Ending An Act · Ending The Game", "sharpsignalDocId": 1048}, {"page": 9, "score": 0.046244, "snippet": "Whenever you get a rune result of , or acquire a path with , draw a Hero card. When you get a rune result of , or acquire a path with draw an Antihero card. When you get a result of , you may choose which type to draw. Your position on the Corruption track indicates whether you can play Hero cards, ", "headingPath": "Hero and Antihero Cards · Ending Your Turn · Ending An Act · Play Example: Ending Act I", "sharpsignalDocId": 1048}, {"page": 7, "score": 0.044854, "snippet": "The runes give Call to Adventure the element of chance, but you can improve the odds by building your hero's Abilities. When you 'cast the runes' you throw them on the table to see which sides land face-up. You cast these three runes during every challenge. Whenever you attempt a challenge, check yo", "headingPath": "Reading the Runes · Core Runes · Ability Runes · Dark Runes", "sharpsignalDocId": 1048}, {"page": 6, "score": 0.044192, "snippet": "On your turn, you may gain a Trait or face a Challenge. You may also take other actions (see page 6), such as spending experience tokens and playing Hero or Antihero cards. Traits define your character's personality, profession, and life experiences. A trait has only one 'path.' To gain a trait card", "headingPath": "Each Turn · Gain a Trait · Attempt a Challenge", "sharpsignalDocId": 1048}, {"page": 8, "score": 0.04311, "snippet": "6 Other Actions In addition to gaining a trait or facing a challenge, you may also take the following actions: • Journe y: Once per turn, you may spend to discard one card on the table and replace it with another card from the same deck. If a challenge with an Ally under it is discarded, the Ally is", "headingPath": "", "sharpsignalDocId": 1048}]
citations (raw) — what the answer cited, chosen from a retrieval this page cannot show: [{"page": 4, "quote": null, "headingPath": "Setting Up the Game · 1. Deal the Cards · 2. Reveal Your Character · Play Example: Story Tableau", "sharpsignalDocId": 1048}, {"page": 5, "quote": null, "headingPath": "3. Prepare the Story Decks · Traits and Challenges", "sharpsignalDocId": 1048}, {"page": 8, "quote": null, "headingPath": "Other Actions · Other Card Effects", "sharpsignalDocId": 1048}, {"page": 7, "quote": null, "headingPath": "Reading the Runes · Core Runes · Ability Runes · Dark Runes", "sharpsignalDocId": 1048}, {"page": 9, "quote": null, "headingPath": "Hero and Antihero Cards · Ending Your Turn · Ending An Act · Play Example: Ending Act I", "sharpsignalDocId": 1048}, {"page": 10, "quote": null, "headingPath": "Ending the Game · Play Example: End of Game", "sharpsignalDocId": 1048}]
boost provenance — errata + base rulebook (E2/E3): no registered errata card matched this query; base rulebook doc 1048 boosted; rulesage.errata.boost-enabled=true, rulesage.errata.supersedence-enabled=true
base rulebook doc 1048 boosted
answered-before recall: this ruling was answered, so past rulings were not offered
similarity threshold in force: 0.55 (rulesage.answered-before.similarity-threshold; the exact-question tier is not gated by it)
answer fence: passed — letter density 0.90288 of 2883 non-space chars (floor 0.45); 0 glyph-index tokens (max 2)
debug row recorded: Sep 6, 2026 11:56 UTC

retrieval — what the passage search returned

what this block IS: the PASSAGE SEARCH's own results — the same search that fills this page's closest-passages list — and NOT the passages the answerer read. Answering runs its OWN retrieval: a far wider candidate pool, re-ranked down to a final handful, plus floors this search never applies — the base rulebook, surviving errata corrections, and one slot per book on a multi-book read. Each of those armed only if THIS ask sent what it needs: the boost block names the ids it forwarded, and the scope line names the books it read. A document the answer CITES that no row here names is therefore EXPECTED, not a defect: two searches, two candidate pools, two orders. The answerer's own final rows are shown in their own block below, beside these and never mixed into them.

score = the fused retrieval score (reciprocal-rank fusion over the search arms) — NOT a cosine similarity. This ruling ran the THREE-ARM fuse (full-text + vector + the doc-priority boost arm, which carried the base rulebook and/or the errata corrections this query matched), whose arithmetic ceiling is 0.04918 — all three arms ranking the same chunk #1 (ceiling = arms/(k+1) at k=60). The measured healthy band 0.016–0.033 was measured on TWO-arm asks and does not bound this one: its high end is the two-arm ceiling, and a third arm has room above it. A chunk only one arm ranked highly lands near 0.016 (that one arm's #1 vote), so 0.03 here is an excellent hit, not a 3% match.

per-arm ranks (the rank each search arm gave a chunk): NOT DISCLOSED by the gateway. Fusion happens gateway-side and only the FUSED score crosses the wire, so rulesage cannot show them without a gateway change. The rank column below is the FUSED rank (position in the returned list), which is real.

token count per chunk: NOT DISCLOSED — chunk token counts are not reported on the ask path. The character counts below are of the bounded snippet/quote rulesage actually received — a real measurement of what we hold, never an estimate of the chunk.

fused rank	document	heading	page	fused RRF score	snippet chars
#1	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Setting Up the Game · 1. Deal the Cards · 2. Reveal Your Character · Play Example: Story Tableau	p.4	0.048412 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#2	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Variant Rules: Solo and Co-Op Play · Set Up · The Adversary's Deck · Playing The Adversary's Cards · Solo/Co-Op vs. Competitive Play	p.12	0.047619 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#3	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	3. Prepare the Story Decks · Traits and Challenges	p.5	0.047183 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#4	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Object of the Game · Set Up · On Your Turn · Casting the Runes · Draw a Hero Card DIAMOND Antihero Card SLASH (DARK RUNE) Ending An Act · Ending The Game	p.16	0.046402 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#5	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Hero and Antihero Cards · Ending Your Turn · Ending An Act · Play Example: Ending Act I	p.9	0.046244 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#6	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Reading the Runes · Core Runes · Ability Runes · Dark Runes	p.7	0.044854 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#7	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Each Turn · Gain a Trait · Attempt a Challenge	p.6	0.044192 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300
#8	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)		p.8	0.04311 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	300

what the answerer read — the passages it actually had in front of it

what this block IS: the passages the ANSWERING read put in front of the answerer, in the order it read them — the other half of the two reads described above, and the one that decides what the answer could possibly say. Each row names the book it came from and where in that book it sits, what it scored when the search arms were fused, which arm carried it there, and whether the re-ranker chose it or a floor guaranteed it a slot. A row here that no passage-search row names is EXPECTED: a far wider pool, re-ranked, with floors the passage search never applies.

candidate pool: the answering read scored 25 passages, out of a ceiling of 80 set gateway-side. Both figures are reported by the gateway for THIS ask — measurements of what actually happened, not constants read out of anyone's source and printed here on faith.

floors armed for this ask: the base rulebook — armed · surviving errata corrections — not armed · one slot per book on a multi-book read — not armed. Every floor is stated on every ask, armed or not, so a floor that did not apply here is never mistaken for one this app does not know about.

arms fused for this ask: vector + full-text + the doc-priority boost arm. Stated separately from the rows because an arm that ran and carried nothing is a different fact from an arm that never ran.

read at	document	heading	page	fused rank	fused RRF score	carried by	how it got its slot
#1	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	3. Prepare the Story Decks · Traits and Challenges	p.5	#3	0.047183 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	vector + full-text + the doc-priority boost arm	the re-ranker chose it
#2	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	If I gain an Ability rune, do I keep another player from gaining it? · Am I allowed to have more than three rune icons in one Ability? · If I'm playing a Hero or Antihero card to help with a challenge, can I play it after the runes have been cast? · When attempting a challenge, do I only get to add in the Ability runes of the path I'm choosing? · During a challenge, if I get a result of , when do I draw the Hero or Antihero card? · How does the Corruption track affect my Destiny score? · …	p.14	#12	0.028324 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	vector + full-text	the re-ranker chose it
#3	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Hero and Antihero Cards · Ending Your Turn · Ending An Act · Play Example: Ending Act I	p.9	#5	0.046244 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	vector + full-text + the doc-priority boost arm	the re-ranker chose it
#4	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Ending the Game · Play Example: End of Game	p.10	#9	0.028898 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	vector + full-text	the re-ranker chose it
#5	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Reading the Runes · Core Runes · Ability Runes · Dark Runes	p.7	#6	0.044854 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	vector + full-text + the doc-priority boost arm	the re-ranker chose it
#6	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Other Actions · Other Card Effects	p.8	#13	0.027826 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	vector + full-text	the re-ranker chose it
#7	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Variant Rules: Solo and Co-Op Play · Set Up · The Adversary's Deck · Playing The Adversary's Cards · Solo/Co-Op vs. Competitive Play	p.12	#2	0.047619 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	vector + full-text + the doc-priority boost arm	the re-ranker chose it
#8	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Setting Up the Game · 1. Deal the Cards · 2. Reveal Your Character · Play Example: Story Tableau	p.4	#1	0.048412 (healthy, below this ruling's 3-arm ceiling 0.04918 (the measured band 0.016–0.033 was taken on two-arm asks and does not bound a 3-arm one))	vector + full-text + the doc-priority boost arm	the re-ranker chose it

chosen chunks — what the answer actually cited

#	document	heading	page	quote chars
[1]	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Setting Up the Game · 1. Deal the Cards · 2. Reveal Your Character · Play Example: Story Tableau	p.4	no quote on the wire
[2]	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	3. Prepare the Story Decks · Traits and Challenges	p.5	no quote on the wire
[3]	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Other Actions · Other Card Effects	p.8	no quote on the wire
[4]	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Reading the Runes · Core Runes · Ability Runes · Dark Runes	p.7	no quote on the wire
[5]	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Hero and Antihero Cards · Ending Your Turn · Ending An Act · Play Example: Ending Act I	p.9	no quote on the wire
[6]	RULEBOOK Call to Adventure — Rulebook (corpus doc 1048)	Ending the Game · Play Example: End of Game	p.10	no quote on the wire

generation — timing and the path taken

timing split: retrieval 76 ms · first delta 2022 ms · total 6632 ms (retrieval and first-delta both measured from the START of gateway work, so first-delta INCLUDES retrieval — do not subtract)
full breakdown: queued 0 ms · retrieval 76 ms · ask 6554 ms · gateway work 6632 ms · total 6632 ms
tokens in (the prompt the answerer read): 3664
tokens out (what the answerer generated): 906
tok/sec: 200.5 tok/sec — 906 output tokens in 4.519 s of generation
live seat (read from the running child): answering — gemma4:26b think:false · num_ctx 32768 (live-verified 0s ago)
answerer host (measured by rulesage): reachable (for 22h, checked 0s ago)
answerer node (the seat proxy's own header — this probe, not this ask): node1
stream path: streamed — the gateway pushed at least one accumulated draft
watchdog: first-token watchdog: 30s per arming window (rulesage.table.first-token-watchdog-seconds), re-armed once by the passages frame — so the worst case before a reader falls back to polling is 60s. Whether it actually fired is a BROWSER-side decision that never reaches the server, so it is not recorded here. The stream path above is the server's half of that story: whether a delta was emitted at all.
num_ctx · think posture: both are the CHILD's settings, not rulesage's, and no ask reply carries them — an answer never states which context window or think posture produced it. The live-seat line above reads them from the running child instead, where the gateway can answer for itself; it describes the child NOW, not this ask.

disposition

outcome: ANSWERED — Answered
abstain rationale (n/a — this ruling answered): answered — no abstain rationale applies

setup-shape — why the checklist band did or didn't render

decision: NOT_SETUP_SHAPED — no setup-shape pattern matched this question

errata registry — what the gate above had to match against

this game registers NO errata cards (edition 978), so "no registered errata card matched" above could never have matched one

Errata scope: the gate above matched this ruling's own edition only. When an ask also reads an expansion, that expansion's own registered errata cards stay outside the match — a stated phase-1 limitation, not a failed lookup.