Hidden Territories: Every Hero Needs a Quest

From BoardGameGeek:

The Hidden Territories is a game of heroic adventure, where mighty - or cunning- heroes explore the kingdom of Westri, the nexus of the multiverse and filled with perilous monsters, nefarious enemies, and fantastical locations. Players choose one of a multitude of adventurers; their characters traverse the land encountering members of the various factions who vie for power or terrible beasts hungry for flesh - or souls. The kingdom of Westri and its inhabitants are fighting unseen forces, struggling against the grip of chaotic, entropic forces which threaten to rip apart the very fabric of the multiverse. Play solitaire or cooperative in this game of exploration, adventure, and heroism. Consult the huge volume of the gazetteer to utilize the pre-programmed paragraph system. It's easy to learn to play, as the programmed event sequence lets you focus on the fun of exploration as your character sets out on a quest. For each event or encounter, you, as one of the included hero player chapters, must make the decisions which will make your quest successful - or may cost you dearly. The Hidden Territories has elements of a complex game designed to recapture the high adventure and heroic struggles of fantasy literature - and that famous fantasy role-playing game from the 1970s. The Hidden Territories can be largely played solo, cooperatively, or even with a but of conflict between the players. But victory can only be claimed by uncovering the true nemesis of the kingdom, and defeating a final adversary. It is a race to level up and acquire powerful weapons, armor, artifacts - even and allies. Game play sessions extend and continue, with linked quests. Time passes, and events are influenced by player choice. Heroes must use strength at arms, guile, or negotiation to defeat a hidden and ancient evil before a magical darkness envelopes all that is good. The Hidden Territories combines many different elements: Exploration: player characters travel across the hexagonal game board to reach exciting destinations. Random encounters: players draw encounter cards each time they enter a new hex. Parlay, fight, or flee? many events result in opponents to negotiate with or to fight. Random events: players draw event cards each time they enter a new tile Leveling up: players improve their characters' skills and knowledge of magic and gain equipment. Paragraph Reading: an extensive plot is uncovered by reading paragraphs out of a book, discovering secrets only denizens of the kingdom know, or piecing together parts of the conspiracy puzzle. Clues help with solving mysteries and help determine how to win. The Hidden Territories features a series of Event and Encounter card decks that set pace of the game and ensures players acquiring experience to level up before they are ready to take on more difficult challenges (events and enemies). Characters acquire new spells and skills as they level up from experience. Finding loot increases wealth, so more equipment, arms and armor, and other items can be acquired. Of course, travel is perilous in this wilderness hexcrawl, so provisions, foraging, and weather all impact the heroes' progress - getting lost in the trackless wastelands can be as dangerous as stumbling about in the darkness of some ruined dungeon. Inside the box, The Hidden Territories contains: The large map game board, showing cities, villages, castles, and ruins scattered across 500 hexes means hours of game play exploration. A huge Gazetteer that details the points of interest and other information about the hexes. Standup figures representing archetypal warriors, knights, wizards, priests, and other fantastical characters. Various decks of cards for events, encounters, items, spells, skills, and the denizens characters encounter. An analog artificial intelligence ensures outcomes are never fully predictable, and the storyline changes based on player choices. Dice - lots of dice. Power up actions based on the dice pool, or sacrifice health or luck when heroic deeds are called for. Numerous counters and chits to mark the location of encounters, hoards of loot, and other unknown obstacles to overcome. Use some of these to track weather, time, fatigue, and the ultimate countdown to doom. As scenarios play out and quests are completed, players learn lore, hear rumors, acquire knowledge, train to develop martial or magical powers. Talk, trade, or fight through bizarre encounters to unravel the dark secrets behind the impending chaos. -description from the publisher