I’ve spent way too many hours hunched over a table in Avalon. If you’ve played the original campaign, you know the vibe—bleak, exhausting, and strangely addictive. But then there’s Tainted Grail The Crooked Trail, and honestly, it’s a bit of a weird one to talk about because it’s not just "more of the same." It’s a specific promo scenario that feels like a fever dream tucked into a box.
Most people stumble upon it as part of the "Surprise Box" or the Kickstarter extras from Awaken Realms. It’s short. It’s brutal. It’s basically a localized nightmare that reminds you why this game is one of the best examples of "dark fantasy" ever put to cardboard.
What is Tainted Grail The Crooked Trail actually about?
First off, let’s clear up the confusion. This isn’t a 50-hour expansion like Age of Legends or Last Knight. It’s a standalone scenario. Think of it like a "one-shot" in Dungeons & Dragons, but instead of a fun tavern brawl, you're trying to survive a psychological gauntlet.
The premise is simple enough. You’re traveling. You find a path. You shouldn’t have taken it. The Wyrdness—that creepy, reality-warping fog that defines the Tainted Grail universe—is thick here. In Tainted Grail The Crooked Trail, the mechanics focus heavily on navigation and the feeling of being physically and mentally lost.
The game uses its signature exploration journal to tell the story. You aren’t just moving a mini across a board; you’re flipping through pages of prose that describe the trees twisting behind you and the ground becoming soft like rotting fruit. It’s gross. It’s great.
Why this scenario feels different from the main campaign
In the base game, Fall of Avalon, you have a clear, if desperate, mission. You’re looking for the Menhirs. You’re trying to save your home. Tainted Grail The Crooked Trail strips away the grand quest and replaces it with pure, unadulterated survival.
It feels claustrophobic.
Usually, you can see the edges of the map. Here, the "Crooked Trail" creates a sense of looping logic. If you’ve ever hiked and realized you’ve passed the same weirdly shaped rock three times, you’ll recognize the dread this scenario taps into. It’s a mechanical trick—the way the cards are laid out and the way the journal redirects you—that makes the table feel smaller and more threatening.
The gameplay loop of the trail
You’re still using the same core mechanics:
- Combat and Diplomacy: Using those interconnected symbol cards to win fights or talk your way out of trouble.
- Resource Management: Energy, Food, and Terror. Especially Terror.
- The Journal: Reading entry numbers that lead to branching paths.
But in this scenario, the "Exploration" action is dialed up to eleven. You can't just brute-force your way through with a high Aggression stat. You have to pay attention to the narrative clues. If the text says the wind is blowing from the east and smells like wet copper, that actually matters for where you move next.
Is it worth tracking down?
Honestly? It depends on what kind of gamer you are.
If you’re a completionist who needs every piece of Avalon lore, then yeah, you need it. It fills in some of the atmospheric gaps regarding how the Wyrdness actually affects the mind of a common traveler. However, if you’re someone who struggled with the "grind" of the main game—the constant need to light Menhirs and hunt for food—Tainted Grail The Crooked Trail won't change your mind. It’s Tainted Grail in its purest, most concentrated form.
It's difficult. Like, "I died in three turns because I forgot to breathe" difficult.
The encounter cards in this set are notoriously mean. There’s a specific sense of vulnerability here because you don’t have the momentum of a 15-chapter campaign behind you. You’re just... there. On a trail. And the trail wants you dead.
Setting up your run
If you’re going to play it, don't just treat it like a side quest. Set the mood. Dim the lights. This scenario relies heavily on the "Fear of the Unknown."
You can play it with the original four characters (Beor, Arev, Ailei, Maggot), and they each bring a different flavor to the misery. Beor can smash things, sure, but his low Empathy makes certain "Crooked Trail" encounters way harder than they need to be. Maggot, as usual, is a weirdo who thrives in the Wyrdness but risks losing his mind every other turn.
The mechanic of "The Loop"
Without spoiling the actual ending, the way the trail "crooks" is through a deck-stacking mechanic. The game asks you to place certain location cards in a way that feels like you're progressing, but the narrative reveals you're just spiraling. It's a clever use of the limited table space. You feel the geometry of the game world breaking.
Common misconceptions about the expansion
People often think this is a necessary bridge between the first and second campaigns. It isn't. You won't miss out on the "true ending" of the series if you skip it. Think of it more like a deleted scene from a movie that was too dark or too weird to make the final cut.
Another thing: people complain about the "luck" factor. In Tainted Grail The Crooked Trail, luck is definitely a factor, but it's usually masked by player choice. If you choose to follow the sound of crying in the woods, and you get eaten by a guardian, that's not just bad luck. That's you being a protagonist in a horror game. What did you expect?
Getting the most out of your session
Don't play this solo unless you really want to feel the isolation. Playing with two people is the sweet spot. It allows for that "Should we go left or right?" tension that makes the Crooked Trail theme work. Plus, you have someone to blame when you both starve to death three miles from nowhere.
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- Check your components: Make sure you have the specific Crooked Trail cards separated from your main encounter decks. Mixing them up by accident can lead to some very confusing power-scaling issues in the base game.
- Focus on Caution: This isn't the scenario for "Aggressive" builds. You want "Prudence." You want to be able to scout.
- Read everything aloud: The writing in Tainted Grail is its strongest suit. If you skim the text just to find the "Go to page 142" instruction, you're missing 90% of the value.
Avalon is a place defined by its history and its rot. Tainted Grail The Crooked Trail is just a very small, very sharp piece of that rot. It’s a reminder that in this world, even a simple walk can become a fight for your soul.
If you can find a copy, play it once. You’ll probably lose. You’ll probably get frustrated. But you’ll definitely remember the time the map lied to you and the trees started whispering your name.
To get started, pull out your Exploration Journal and look for the specific promo section—usually tucked in the back of the Surprise Box contents—and ensure you've updated your save sheet specifically for this "one-way" journey. Once you enter the trail, there's no going back to the main map until the scenario is resolved, one way or another.