Childhood Quests

Fable® is by far the deepest, most engaging roleplaying game (RPG) to hit Xbox® yet—as open-ended as The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind® , as endlessly engaging as Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™, and as graphically stunning as Sudeki™. Part of what makes Fable the RPG to beat this year is the opportunity to pursue many diverse side quests as well as the game's primary story line. Last time, we looked at an encounter with a p-p-p-p-pirate ghost and a mission to save a lone bandit from the hangin' tree. This time out, we'll take a few steps back in time and look at quests of your childhood.

Sorry, Pop. Wherever I go, trouble follows.

Even as a cuddly li'l tyke, it's never too early to start learning the ways of morality. Your very first mission? Buy your sister a birthday present. Sounds simple, but there are many different ways to get the three gold pieces you'll need to get your sis that sweet, sweet box of chocolates. Some are good—each one of those gets you a gold piece from your Pa—and other methods are evil, involving some juvenile crime. At least two of the mini-quests will let you play both ends against the middle.

Find Rosie the Bear
Probably the first green-aura character you'll run into, other than your Dad, is a little girl who has lost her teddy bear. (Remember: A green aura means that character has something to tell you.) Return the bear to her, and you'll get a shiny gold piece from Dad for doing a good deed. But, that doesn't mean you can't be bad when you get the bear back …

Help this little girl find her bear.

Stop or Help the Bully
Next, track down a little boy who's being hassled by a bully in a stocking cap. The little boy is the little girl's brother, and he has the bear. The bully wants you to join in with the beating, while the little boy will ask you to make the bully leave. Personally, I didn't like either of them, so I punched the kid first—making him give up the teddy bear as he tearfully asked me to stop—and then I turned on the bully and socked him a good one. After that, I headed down to the barn area, where the little girl was waiting for her bear. By giving it back to her, I turned a bad deed (punching her brother) into a good one (returning the bear).

Guard Stuff or Smash It Up
Now that you're down by the barns, look for a fidgety fellow standing nearby. He'll run up as soon as he spots you and ask you to watch the barrels in the barns, while he attends to an urgent call of nature. (Seriously, that's how he puts it). Accept his offer, and he'll run off. As soon as he's out of sight, a kid comes up and dares you to smash the barrels. Who are you to resist a dare? You'll have to work fast, so don't waste time talking to the kid. (Keep your eye on the meter in the upper right of your HUD, which tells you how long you've got until the guy with the small bladder comes back.) Head into the nearest barn, target a barrel with the left trigger, and break it with a punch by pressing X. You'll find a few bugs that need squashing and eventually a barrel that contains one gold piece. Be sure to be back outside by the time the incontinent barn-watcher returns, or you won't get credit for a "good deed." Now you've earned one gold piece from the barrels, and you'll get another from your father.

Her filthy layabout husband is up to no good.

Improper Man, Lady Behavior
You could buy those sweets by now, with the gold you got from the barrel and the two your Dad will give you, but why not earn a little more coin while you're at it? Look for the angry woman standing in front of a house in the center of town. She wants you to keep an eye out for her no-good husband, who she thinks is out macking on another woman. Turns out, she's right. Head up the path that leads to your home, but instead of going back to your house, go behind the first house on the left. You'll find the errant husband and his "other woman" getting up close and personal in the back yard. Talk to her, and she'll shoo you away. Talk to him, and he'll immediately deny any wrongdoing and then offer you a gold piece to keep your mouth shut. Go ahead and accept it (a bad deed) and then run back to town to tell his wife (a good deed and probably what he deserves). Then, head back to your father to collect the rest of your gold.

Buy Those Chocolates
Your last task is simple: Give three of the five gold pieces you've earned to the local trader (that guy with the green aura and the goofy mustache standing in the town square) and get a box of chocolates for your sister.

Hope you remembered to bring those chocolates.

Give Your Gift
Finally, you're ready to trigger the cut scene that will leave you an orphan. Armed with your box o' chocolates, run up the central path (north) until you find your sister playing in the field. Stop and talk to her, learn a little bit about her eerie precognitive powers, give her the chocolates, and walk back through the gate … and into the annals of legend …

Article by Danny Chihdo