Gamehelpfirstascent

Goal & Game Overview

Goal

Establish the best route up the mountain to gain the most points. Points are gained in 4 ways:

• Climbing pitches
• Completing objectives
• Matching technique symbols
• Reaching a summit

Rules Summary

These are a concise set of rules tailored for gameplay on Board Game Arena. The full rules can be found in the First Ascent Rulebook. The "?" icon in the bottom left of the screen opens the Reference Cards with helpful reminders about gameplay.

The Mountain Layout

Overview

The mountain is made up of individual hex tiles called Pitches. Players climb these pitches to establish their route.

The Apron

The lower half of the mountain, visible to all players at the start of the game.

The Ledge

Runs horizontally across the middle of the mountain between rows 3-4.

The Headwall

The upper half of the mountain. This region starts face-down and is revealed when any player ends The Climb Phase positioned on a pitch in the 3rd row.

Pitch Requirements and Assets

Each Pitch requires a certain combination of Assets from a player in order to climb it. There are six types of assets:

1. Gear
2. Water
3. Psych
4. Face climbing skills
5. Crack climbing skills
6. Slab climbing skills

The required Assets are indicated by the icons on each Pitch. The Wildcard Skill symbol can be fulfilled by any of the 3 Skill types (Slab, Crack, or Face).

This is an example of a pitch that requires 1 Gear, 2 Face Skills, 1 Crack Skill, and 1 Water.

The Trifecta - a special pitch

Some Shared Objectives are determined by the type of a Pitch (Arete, Slab, Roof, Crack, Flake, or Corner) or its exposure (sunny or shaded). When a player climbs The Trifecta, they must choose the type and exposure of the route climbed there. The Trifecta does not count towards any Personal Objectives.

It may be defined as a different exposure and type for each player that climbs it. Once climbed, a drop down button becomes available to show which Exposure and Type were defined for each player that climbed The Trifecta.

Gameplay overview

The game is played over a series of rounds. Each round consists of 3 distinct phases:

1. Climb Phase
2. Follow Phase
3. Rerack Phase

The end of the game is triggered when a player climbs their eighth pitch and lays their final rope down on the board. When this happens, the Climbing and Follow phases are completed and final scores are tallied.

Setup

The game begins with character selection and the Rack Up Phase.

Character Selection

First a random assortment of characters is chosen equaling the number of players plus one. Then in reverse turn order, players select their characters. The unchosen character is then discarded.

Selecting a character will reveal their Asset Board. Upon confirming their character, a player will be dealt two random personal objective cards.

Rack up!

In turn order, players draw a number of cards from The Spread and/or Asset Deck based on their starting position:

1st player: 5 2nd player: 5 3rd player: 6 4th player: 7 5th player: 8

Example:

The Climb Phase

In turn order, each player will either climb or rest.

Climbing

Select an available pitch as per Movement & Mountain Mechanics. If you have the necessary resources, confirm the pitch and select them. There are three types of resources for climbing a pitch:

• Asset cards
• Permanent Asset tokens (found on your Asset Board)
• Certain Summit Beta tokens

In addition, several characters have active climbing abilities that may be performed to meet a pitch's requirements.

When climbing a pitch, any asset cards spent are moved to your Asset Board, water and psych are adjusted on your Character Board, and any played Summit Beta tokens are discarded.

Next, your Climber moves to the pitch and one of your ropes is placed on it. Your ropes will track your path up the mountain.

After that, draw and resolve a Climbing Card.

Trade

At any point during your turn in the Climb Phase, you may discard 3 cards of the same type from your hand to take 1 card from the Portaledge.

Risk It

If you're missing exactly 1 asset required by a pitch, you may opt to "Risk It". This allows you to climb the pitch without the 1 missing requirement, but first you must roll the Risk Die. Rolling the Risk Die has 3 possible outcomes:

1. - No consequence
2. - Give 2 cards to another player
3. - Lose 1 psych. Give 1 card to another player and they gain 1 psych

If you're able to resolve the rolled die face, the climb succeeds. If not, you must retreat. No resources are spent, the pitch isn't climbed, and you will only draw 1 card during the next Rerack Phase.

Resting

Instead of climbing a pitch, you may Rest. Resting skips your turn in the Climb and Follow Phases but allows you to gain more assets in the Rerack Phase.

Follow Phase

Take the following steps:

1. Award Technique bonuses
2. Gain Permanent Assets
3. Flip over Assets

Technique bonuses

There are four techniques:

• Balance
• Precision
• Pain Tolerance
• Power

For every 3 matching icons you can produce, you'll gain a 2-Point token. These icons can come face-up cards on your Asset Board, Techniques tokens in your hand, and the Summit Beta token "New Rubber". Any tokens used are discarded.

Permanent Assets

You may trade in 4 cards of the same type to gain a Permanent Asset token of that type. This can be repeated for as many such groups as you have, however each character has a finite number of Permanent Asset slots. Once they are filled, no more Permanent Assset tokens may be gained.

Flip over Assets

Asset cards played this turn onto players' Asset Boards are flipped face-down. This happens because only the current turn's cards may contribute to 3 matching Technique icons. Once a card is turned face-down, its technique symbol is hidden.

Rerack Phase

Players "rerack" (a climbing term for when climbers take time to reorganize their gear to prepare for the next section of a climb, switch who is leading, or inventory gear after removing it from the rock) in turn order to gain assets for subsequent rounds.

• If you climbed in the Climb Phase draw 3 cards total from The Spread and/or Asset Deck.
• If you rested instead, choose a combination of five assets. These are a card of any type from the Portaledge, a Water, or a Psych.
• If you were forced to retreat, you draw 1 card from The Spread or Asset Deck.

There is no hand limit. After all players have Reracked, the First Player marker automatically passes to the right (counterclockwise). Then the next Climb Phase begins.