Difficulty

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 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

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.

* For The King
* Dungeon Crawl
* Frost Adventure
* Into The Deep
* Lost Civilization

Main article: For The King

 **End-of-Turn Health Gain** | Yes

* 1x Godsbeard
* 1x Golden Root
* 1x Tinder Pouch
* 1x Safety Stone
* Old Boots

Main article: Dungeon Crawl

 **End-of-Turn Health Gain** | Yes

* 1x Godsbeard
* 1x Golden Root
* 1x Tinder Pouch
* 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Frost Adventure

 **End-of-Turn Health Gain** | No

* 1x Godsbeard
* 1x Golden Root
* 1x Tinder Pouch
* 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Into The Deep

 **End of Turn Health Gain** | Yes

* 1x Godsbeard
* 1x Tinder Pouch
* 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Lost Civilization

 **End of Turn Health Gain** | Yes

* 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.

* For The King
* Dungeon Crawl
* Frost Adventure
* Hildebrant's Cellar
* Gold Rush
* Into The Deep
* Lost Civilization

Main article: For The King

 **End-of-Turn Health Gain** | Yes

* 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Dungeon Crawl

 **End-of-Turn Health Gain** | Yes

* 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Frost Adventure

 **End-of-Turn Health Gain** | No

* 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Hildebrant's Cellar

 **End-of-Turn Health Gain** | No

Main article: Gold Rush

 **End-of-Turn Health Gain** | Yes

* Leather Vest
* Worn Leather Boots

Main article: Into The Deep

 **End of Turn Health Gain** | Yes

* 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Lost Civilization

 **End of Turn Health Gain** | Yes

* 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.

* For The King
* Dungeon Crawl
* Frost Adventure
* Into The Deep
* Lost Civilization

Main article: For The King

 **End-of-Turn Health Gain** | Yes

* 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Dungeon Crawl

 **End-of-Turn Health Gain** | Yes

* 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Frost Adventure

 **End-of-Turn Health Gain** | No

* 1x Safety Stone

Main article: Into The Deep

 **End of Turn Health Gain** | Yes

Main article: Lost Civilization

 **End of Turn Health Gain** | Yes

* 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

*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
 **Flood Frequency**\*\*

\* *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.