Fable fundamentals - Quests & Combats

In Fable, you can’t become a hero without proving your worth in quests. They’re your primary source of money and renown, and the only way to earn trophies. Quests come in three varieties:

REQUIRED QUESTS
Marked with the yellow symbol, these quests advance the game’s story. Major characters like the Guildmaster and Maze will tell you about them, but you may need to pick them up from the Map Table to begin them formally. Once a required quest is underway, the World Save option will be replaced with the Hero Save option, meaning you can save your stats, but not your progress.

OPTIONAL QUESTS
Marked with the blue symbol, these quests usually offer significant rewards, but are not required to beat the game. They are almost always found on the Map Table at the Heroes’ Guild. As with required quests, once an optional quest is underway only Hero Save is available, but if you fail you can usually try again by reselecting the quest from the table.

OPEN-ENDED QUESTS
Quests marked with the orange symbol are usually given to you by characters you meet in towns, or are communicated remotely by the Guildmaster. These quests are optional, and may involve events spread over a wide period of time. They have no formal beginning and many have no real end; they’re always an option for you to pursue when you have spare time. They’re never worth much money or renown, but they often offer material rewards of their own.

“GIVE US A BOAST!”
Many required and optional quests give you the option of “Take Quest and Boast.” If you choose this, you’ll be transported to the dais at Lookout Point, where a crowd of
onlookers will urge you to select from a list of boasts (if you simply choose “Take Quest,” you can still walk to the dais and take a boast). A boast is basically a wager—you
risk some of your reward money by betting you can not only beat the quest, but that you can do so in an unusually heroic fashion, by fighting bare-handed, for example, or
within a time limit. If you succeed, you’ll receive extra gold. The available boasts vary by quest. Some are related to the story behind the quest, and are painless to take. For example, if you’re a good guy who wouldn’t dream of killing a foe who has surrendered, you can take the Merciful Hero boast for the Arena quest, and be rewarded for behaving the way you would have anyway.
Other boasts, like No Protection and Fist Fighter can be much more challenging.

-COMMON BOASTS -
NO PROTECTION
This boast requires you to complete the quest wearing nothing but your underpants. It’s a good boast to take when you know the mission presents no real threat (say, because it’s an older quest you hadn’t gotten around to taking). Spells like Physical Shield and Heal Life will help keep you alive, if necessary.

WITHOUT A SCRATCH
Completing a quest without getting hit is a difficult task, and that’s why this boast usually pays so well. Without a Scratch is ideal for short quests, especially if it offers a good opportunity to kill enemies from afar with your bow. Once again, you can get an edge by using the Physical Shield spell to protect yourself.

FIST FIGHTER
Completing most quests without using weapons or offensive spells is tough, and usually pretty boring. Take this boast only for quests that don’t require you to do much fighting.

RAMPAGE, MASSACRE, ETC.
Many quests have boasts for evil characters that merely involve killing a large number of innocents. If you’re playing a truly sadistic hell-spawn of a hero, why not get paid for your devilish ways?