Difficulty

FOR THE KING
Difficulty
Information
Do not set out on this quest with the expectation that you will succeed at first try. Your betters have gone before you, and fallen to the last. Yet do set out, and strive. Learn what you can. And when you fail and your light is extinguished forever, despair not, for many more answer the call each day.

For The King is an inherently difficult game and can prove challenging even for veteran players. As such, a variety of gameplay options are available that players can use to adjust the game's Difficulty level.

Description

The Difficulty options in For The King allow players to adjust an adventure's ruleset, tailoring the game's challenge to better suit their own personal playstyle and skill level. These options can be further honed by using the game's house rules, which allow for finer tuning of an adventure's difficulty settings.

Difficulty options can be accessed from the Adventure Options submenu when creating a new game, before beginning an adventure. They cannot be further adjusted after beginning an adventure.

Disclaimer

For The King difficulty disclaimer.

For The King is a difficult game. Players are not expected to succeed every time, and the roguelike nature of the game guarantees that players are not always so lucky in all their endeavors. As such, the game delivers a strict disclaimer to all players on the loading screen. Players are advised to heed this warning, and keep it in mind when becoming too frustrated or discouraged. The For The King wiki features a selection of Master-level guides that can assist new players in overcoming any hurdles they might encounter.

Difficulty levels

Difficulty selection in For The King.

Players can adjust the basic difficulty level of their adventure when creating a new game; this will modify certain key features such as lore payout, the initial life pool, world event frequency (i.e. Chaos, Flooding, Planetary Alignment), enemy health, shop price inflation, and starting items and equipment.

There are three primary settings to choose from:

Apprentice

For new or casual players.

On Apprentice, the adventure will be quite a bit more forgiving to the player, and as such is generally recommended for new or casual players. While lore payout will be reduced, characters will begin the adventure with an added +5 to all stats, including a slight boost for some to defensive stats such as armor, resistance, and evasion. Enemy health will be reduced, while the player life and focus pools are increased. Finally, all characters begin their adventure with the normal Tinder Pouch and Safety Stone; however there is now the added bonus of an extra Godsbeard, Golden Root, and in some cases, an extra pair of Old Boots.

Apprentice rulesets

Changes to individual adventure rulesets for the Apprentice difficulty level are listed here. The Gold Rush and Hildebrant's Cellar game modes are not available on the Apprentice difficulty.

Main article: For The King

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	60%
Chaos Frequency	8
Life Pool	6
Economy Inflation	80%
Stat Bonus	+5
Max Focus Bonus	+1
Enemy Health	90%
End-of-Turn Health Gain	Yes

Starting Items
+5 1x Godsbeard 1x Golden Root 1x Tinder Pouch 1x Safety Stone Old Boots

Main article: Dungeon Crawl

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	60%
Chaos Frequency	10
Life Pool	6
Economy Inflation	80%
Stat Bonus	+5
Max Focus Bonus	+1
Enemy Health	90%
End-of-Turn Health Gain	Yes

Starting Items
+5 1x Godsbeard 1x Golden Root 1x Tinder Pouch 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Frost Adventure

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	60%
Life Pool	6
Economy Inflation	80%
Stat Bonus	+5
Max Focus Bonus	+1
Enemy Health	90%
End-of-Turn Health Gain	No

Starting Items
+5 1x Godsbeard 1x Golden Root 1x Tinder Pouch 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Into The Deep

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	60%
Flood Frequency	18
Life Pool	6
Economy Inflation	80%
Stat Bonus	+5
Max Focus Bonus	+1
Enemy Health	90%
End of Turn Health Gain	Yes

Starting Items
+5 1x Godsbeard 1x Tinder Pouch 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Lost Civilization

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	60%
Planetary Alignment Frequency	11
Life Pool	6
Economy Inflation	80%
Stat Bonus	+5
Max Focus Bonus	+1
Enemy Health	90%
End of Turn Health Gain	Yes

Starting Items
+6 1x Godsbeard 1x Golden Root 1x Tinder Pouch 1x Safety Stone Old Boots

Journeyman

For experienced adventurers of Fahrul.

Journeyman is the default difficulty level for adventures and recommended for experienced players. Lore payout is capped at a baseline 100%, along with enemy health. Characters receive no bonuses to stats or focus, nor any additional equipment beyond a Tinder Pouch and Safety Stone.

Journeyman rulesets

Changes to individual adventure rulesets for the Journeyman difficulty level are listed here. Note that the Gold Rush and Hildebrant's Cellar game modes are only available on this difficulty.

Main article: For The King

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	100%
Chaos Frequency	6
Life Pool	3
Economy Inflation	90%
Enemy Health	100%
End-of-Turn Health Gain	Yes

Starting Items
1x Tinder Pouch 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Dungeon Crawl

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	100%
Chaos Frequency	9
Life Pool	3
Economy Inflation	90%
Enemy Health	100%
End-of-Turn Health Gain	Yes

Starting Items
1x Tinder Pouch 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Frost Adventure

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	100%
Life Pool	3
Economy Inflation	90%
Enemy Health	100%
End-of-Turn Health Gain	No

Starting Items
1x Tinder Pouch 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Hildebrant's Cellar

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	100%
Life Pool	6
Economy Inflation	100%
Enemy Health	100%
End-of-Turn Health Gain	No

Starting Items
+60

Main article: Gold Rush

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	100%
Chaos Frequency	100
Life Pool	Unlimited
Economy Inflation	30%
Max Focus Bonus	+1
Enemy Health	100%
End-of-Turn Health Gain	Yes

Starting Items
1x Teleport Scroll Leather Vest Worn Leather Boots

Main article: Into The Deep

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	100%
Flood Frequency	16
Life Pool	3
Economy Inflation	90%
Enemy Health	100%
End of Turn Health Gain	Yes

Starting Items
1x Tinder Pouch 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Lost Civilization

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	100%
Planetary Alignment Frequency	8
Life Pool	4
Economy Inflation	90%
Enemy Health	100%
End of Turn Health Gain	Yes

Starting Items
1x Tinder Pouch 1x Safety Stone

Master

For those seeking an extreme challenge.

For those seeking an extreme challenge, Master level difficulty is a test of strategy, skill, and luck for players. While lore payout will be greatly increased, so too will enemy health and gold inflation. There is no life pool. Characters begin with a Tinder Pouch and Safety Stone in their inventories.

Note that on Master difficulty, the life pool can still be increased beyond 0 through the normal methods during an adventure.

Master rulesets

Changes to individual adventure rulesets for the Master difficulty level are listed here. The Gold Rush and Hildebrant's Cellar game modes are not available on the Master difficulty.

Main article: For The King

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	150%
Chaos Frequency	4
Life Pool	0
Economy Inflation	100%
Enemy Health	110%
End-of-Turn Health Gain	Yes

Starting Items
1x Tinder Pouch 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Dungeon Crawl

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	150%
Chaos Frequency	8
Life Pool	0
Economy Inflation	100%
Enemy Health	110%
End-of-Turn Health Gain	Yes

Starting Items
1x Tinder Pouch 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Frost Adventure

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	150%
Life Pool	0
Economy Inflation	100%
Enemy Health	110%
End-of-Turn Health Gain	No

Starting Items
1x Tinder Pouch 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Into The Deep

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	150%
Flood Frequency	14
Life Pool	0
Economy Inflation	100%
Enemy Health	110%
End of Turn Health Gain	Yes

Starting Items
1x Safety Stone

Main article: Lost Civilization

Ruleset Changes
Lore Payout	150%
Planetary Alignment Frequency	6
Life Pool	0
Economy Inflation	100%
Enemy Health	115%
End of Turn Health Gain	Yes

Starting Items
1x Tinder Pouch 1x Safety Stone

It is worth noting that enemy health will scale to 115% instead of the usual 110% when playing the Lost Civilization adventure on Master difficulty.

Additionally, players will start without the customary tinder pouch when beginning an Into The Deep campaign on Master difficulty.

House rules

House Rules in For The King.

Adjusting House Rules is not recommended for first time players. When House Rules are active Lore Payout is capped at 50% and some achievements are locked.

The game also features a short subset of house rules that can be tweaked at the player's discretion when beginning a campaign. This offers a wider range of flexibility in terms of playstyle, for those wanting a slower-paced or less stressful adventure.

When any house rules are applied, lore payout during an adventure is capped at 50% for all difficulties. Some achievements will be locked as well.

Options

Available options for House Rules are as follows:

House Rules

Chaos Frequency*	Sets the number of rounds between Chaos events.
Life Pool	Sets your starting life pool.
Economy Inflation	Controls the rise in cost of services and consumables.
Flood Frequency**	Sets the number of rounds between Flood events.

* This is equivalent to planetary alignment in the Lost Civilization campaign.
** Only available in the Into The Deep campaign.

There are no house rules available for the Hildebrant's Cellar game mode.