For what it's worth...

[Midnight_Carnival]

A good few years back I didn't have a computer. I was really bored and I tend to do stupid things when bored... Well anyway I kind of compiled this (non-computer) role-playing game based on a mixture of those fighting-fantasy, bloodsword, lonewolf, ect... books but with elements of magic the gathering style games I have played. Was quite adaptable and lent itself to hack 'n slash as well as strategic gameplay. With a little imagination and a lot of adaptation you could play almost any interactive rpg book-game according to the system I devised (not surprisingly, since it was based largely on most of these in the first place) - If not, one player could be the Dark Lord while the allied or competing adventurers tried to thwart him. It could also be played with just adventurers or mulitple competing Dark Lords, with or without adventurers. -You could do a lot with it. I was working on a goodly lord of the land style class of character, but I wanted to to be simple and couldn't keep it simple with this type of character. It accomodated any number of players and characters, but was more interesting with more players (even if it took a long time that way and fights broke out over who last had the erasor/pencil, ect...)

It was quite simple, but could lend itself to complexity (sort of like Wesnoth: a symple system which can be customised) I also tried to make it that the players were not bound by the limitations of their characters, ie: things like inteligence, wisdom, charisma, ect... would be atributes of the player, not the character and could affect one's playing style, but would not dictate it. The economy was also sort of minimalist.

It is a working system, but could do with much improvement (naturally) it is played largely with a pencil and paper and many dice. Standard playing cards were used, but this was to get some idea of the frequency of things (eg: 7,8,9,10 of clubs and spades in this situation would mean that) but I intended to replace these with pretty cards. I was quite ok with artistis designing their own cards and selling them for as much as they could, I don't want any money that people make in this fassion (since I'm lazy and don't deserve it). This was the only way anyone could make any money out of it. I wanted to relsease the system free so anyone could play it and I would encourage people to make as many of their own versions of it as possible and distribute them freely (but again I wouldn't want any money if anyone could somehow make something out of it).

Anyway a while ago I started trying to get it computerised, my brother (who programs) told me that the way I had organised it, it would be quite simple to program... Then he tried, and a few months later he was shouting at me to bloodywell learn Python myself and stop bothering him. I tried... The game was to be released open-source under similar conditions to the non-computerised variant. I made it and wanted to give it over completely to the open-source community. Problem was I am lazy. Very lazy. I haven't touched this thing in a while.
If anyone wants me to I'll scan in the pages I used for playing purposes and give them to you, along with as many explanitory notes as necisarry. But I do warn you, I accept no responsibility for injury relating to attempts to decypher my uinque handwriting - I am too lazy to type this all out, I started, but...

I would welcome criticism, feedback, ect... (lots of elipese in this one...)
If you are the kind of guy who hears "so and so died and they left you a whole lot of stuff" and you know that this doesn't include money, veichles or property, but you still get exited at the prospect of sifting through somebody else's junk in case there is somethign worthwile then you can have my game and my blessing. If you change it in such a way that I don't like, I'll just have to get my act together and release a verion that I do like.

Well it's liying around going to waste, if you want it just shout. Note: I am not saying "develpoper wanted!" I've played it enough myself, I don't really care if I never get to play something based on in on a computer or if I never see any pretty cards that I was too lazy to design myself. I would however like to hear of ways in which it could be improved, and short of inviting you guys round to my place for a cup of coffee and a quick game I can't see another way to get feedback from people who know about this sort of thing.

It is for fun

[Jodwin]

I'm not going to promise anything because I don't know if I'll have the time, but provided I will, I'd be interested in going through some of the material just for the sake of reading other people's designs. And perhaps discuss some points if there's something that catches my eye. But no, I can tell already that I wouldn't actually make anything out of it...I've got some design ideas of my own that are already crying for the lack of attention I've been able to give them. ^^;;

[Skizzaltix]

Oh, hey... I used to make these sorts of pen-and-paper RPGs all the time. I had the same sort of thing going where combat was often decided based on who comes up with the cooler battle plan than who rolls that lucky nine
Unfortunately, I couldn't get anyone to play with me, so I switched over to game programming. Story of my life.

Actually, I don't see the need to computerize this sort of thing--If you did that, you'd lose a lot of the interest in it, that is, the flexibility of having it be all-human... Why not just type up your rules and post them somewhere? I bet you'd find some people who would be interested

[Midnight_Carnival]

I think I'll just type it all out.
Think of it as an organ-donor. It's dead, but you can use whatever you want from it.

Skizzaltix I have no idea where the sacred curry empire is, but if you're ever in darkest africa and aren't eaten by lions or canibals we should get together and make some new pencil and paper rpgs

for fun!

[Midnight_Carnival]

Just to keep my millions of fans enlightened, I started typing out all that stuff I wrote on the pencil and paper cRaPG I designed in highschool. A lot of what I wrote then makes little or no sense to me now, and that's not just because I can't read my own handwriting. I made no major changes, just a bit of tidying up and trying to present it in a semi-coherent manner. I had to stop typing becasue I needed to fumigate my place today. I have typed out about half of the material I wrote on odd scraps of paper; So far it comes to arround 38pgs and more than ten thousand words - I haven't typed that much since my undergraduate days - is anyone still interested in reading what I made up?

[jonathantan86]

For what it's worth, I am. If you don't have time to type the rest, just upload what you have now. It may give me ideas for my own games.

[Midnight_Carnival]

For what its worth here is my christmas present to all of you.

I will gladly answer any questions relating to how it works (it did last time I tried it!) ect... Also some of what I typed was done under very adverse conditions such as in the early hours of the morning after staying up all night, or even under conditions of severe caffine deficiency! so it may not make much sense. As I said I will answer any questions - but I can already answer most questions asked by people who want to play the game which start with "can you..." . If you think it will make the game more fun to play and people you are playing it with agree then yes.


<_searching vainly for an emoticon which protrays pleading in a cute way with big eyes_>

Please Skizzaltix and anyone else who has made pencil and paper rpgs and still has the notes liying arround send them in so I can see them. Unless of course you think it's really good and you want to make money out of it, in that case copyright it and send it in so I can see it.


!!!!!!"the extension pdf is not allowed"!!!!!!! <vulgar language and gestures> =-sorry about that, I'll copy it all to a txt file wich will probalby be messy.

Bloody hell!!!!! "too big, maximum allwoed size is 50 Kb"!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I am going to try and just copy the whole thing into thread and post it; this may bogger the thread to hell and back but...

[Midnight_Carnival]

**** !!!!!!

"Your message contains 76642 characters. The maximum number of allowed characters is 60000."

PC RAGE !!!!!!

If anyone sends me their email adress privately I'll send them this! I promise not to stalk you or anything.
I'm going now before I put my steel toecapped boot through the bloody monitor!

sorry about the disappointment.

[Midnight_Carnival]

Ok, I have calmed down now and found a sollution!

I will post roughtly half the txt file and then roughtly the other half. Wish I could have given you the pdf, I take pride in my formatting

[Midnight_Carnival]

A Game I Made up Because I was Bored.
December 22, 2008
Midnight_Carnival
1
Contents
1 Introduction. 3
1.1 How the Game Works. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 How the Characters Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Conventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2 Dark Lord 6
2.1 Abilities: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Drawing: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3 Shopping: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.4 Forbidding: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.5 Summoning: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.6 Moving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.7 Victory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3 Heroes 14
3.1 Humans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2 Elves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.3 Dwarves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.4 Victory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4 Skills and Spells 21
4.1 Upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.2 Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.3 Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.4 Item Specic Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5 Market 30
6 Wilderness 39
6.1 Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
6.2 Obstacles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
7 Other Variants of the Game 53
2
1 Introduction.
This august game owes it's existence to weeks of boredom and having read all the various role-
playing-game-books in my local library. I should therefore thank the authors of the Bloodsword
series as well as Fighting Fantasy, Lone-Wolf and probably a whole lot others I can't remember for
inspiration. I would also like to thank my family for play testing this game repeatedly and giving
me useful advice.
Like most RPGs, this game is more enjoyable if the players use their imagination while playing
it, unlike many RPGs, it is still playable as a game if nobody playing it has any imagination
whatsoever, and the imaginative players will not have their game compromised by having to play
it with a very boring person. This is in the public domain, anyone can do whatever they like with
it. If you can make money out of it you have my blessing; but what I don't want is castrated tosser
to patent the thing and stop others from playing it, hence I have not given it a name. Please make
many versions of this game and maybe some day I will play them with you.
1.1 How the Game Works.
The game was designed to be simple and easy to play or customise. It works on a model and
modied from many game-books. Players control characters who have initial stats, in a number of
ways they can gain experience which allows them to go up a level and improve these stats, as well
as learn many useful skills and spells. Most actions require a player to roll the number or less than
the number of the relevant stat on as many dice as the action requires, there may be a number
which must be added or subtracted from the number rolled. A character can not have a stat of
more than 11 as a gure of 12 or more will always be possible to roll, or get a number lower, on
two dice. Various items also aect the gure which must be rolled in a number of ways. When a
character has improved a stat to 11, the next time the character goes up a level the gure is reset
to the initial one for the character class and the player may choose from a number of skills and
spells. It is unusual to play this game with a \master", usually, should a character choose a course
of action which others may feel unfair, the motion is put before the other players and voted on,
some things require a majority vote, extreme cases require a unanimous vote, other disputes can
be resolved by the toss of a coin, ect... It is important to bear in mind that this game was designed
to be simple and fun, if you don't nd it so, don't play it! This game is also not suited to being
played as a competitive sport.
It will be required that a character draws a card from the deck at some point during the game, I
have not yet gotten around to making a special deck of cards for this purpose (actually, I will need
3
three decks of cards - Dark lord Summoning cards, Wilderness cards and Market cards) so a deck
of regular playing cards can be used as follows: In the market, In the market, drawing the 8 or 9 of
spades represents a bow on sale for 4 gold pieces while the king of hearts represents a wolf-hound
on sale for 6gp, ect. . . The rarer an item or event, the fewer cards in the deck will represent it. The
game is set on a map, this can be drawn or copied, centimeters, millimeters or inches can be used to
represent miles or kilometers in the game. Characters roll the number of dice appropriate to their
speed and can travel that far in a turn. The map must contain individual mountains, individual
forests and individual villages, towns or cities, these are used in the game. Other features of the
map may or may not have an eect on characters traveling over or through them based on what is
voted for. Combat takes place on a board with squares (or a hex grid!) obstacles may be positioned
according to where the combat is taking place, and the shape of the board may be aected (such
as trees in a forest, or a long thin board on a mountain because the combat takes place in a narrow
mountain pass. Certain squares (usually at the edges of the board) can be designated as escape
squares for characters who wish to
ee combat. A character must move onto the escape square in
one turn and
ee combat in the next. After making the appropriate roll (see below) a character
can move wherever they like on the eld of combat except for obstacles, many of which can not be
negotiated in one turn and of course enemies who are unlikely to let the character pass. Should a
dispute arise as to how far a character could realistically be expected to move in a single turn, the
rule of thumb is that characters can move as many squares as they have Awareness points, but if
this is not questioned the rule should not be enforced.
1.2 How the Characters Work.
You will notice that the characters do not have stats such as `wisdom', `intelligence', `charisma' or
`luck': in this game, although these are used (especially the luck), it is felt that it makes the game
simpler that they be attributes of the player, not the characters controlled by that player. A player
should not nd their playing style limited by the personality of their characters. A player can
control as many Adventurer characters as desired, but one is often enough. A player who plays as
a Dark Lord controls all the minions the Dark Lord has summoned. The Dark Lord's minions are
also characters and can gain skills and spells as they advance in experience. Here is an explanation
of the stats characters have:
Awareness: This attribute represents the character's ability to discern what is going on around
them, it also determines the character's reaction speed. In combat, characters with a low awareness
position themselves in the ghting area rst (allowing them to take advantage of the terrain), while
4
those with a higher awareness position themselves later (allowing them to take advantage of the
position of the other players). The order in which characters have their turns is determined by
which one of them has the higher awareness. If two characters have equal awareness, it is usual
that the one controlled by a Dark Lord gets to go rst.
Awareness is used in combat for maneuvering and blocking or evading attacks, as well as
eeing
combat, it is also used to throw weapons or shoot with a bow, and sometimes in the casting of
spells or the use of certain items. Outside combat it may have other uses
Prowess: This attribute represents a character's ability to strike a meaningful blow in combat.
It may be aected by the weapon being wielded, or enhanced thorough the use of magic or various
items for a while.
Prowess is used in combat to attack with most non-ranged weapons.
Psi: This is quite simply the character's inclination towards magic, and the ease with which
spells can be successfully cast. It can also be used to test the character's spiritual qualities or even
their charm.
It is used in combat for the casting of spells, and outside combat it has many uses as well.
Damage: This attribute re
ects the amount of damage a character will in
ict if a successful
non-ranged attack is made. Weapons may alter this gure.
It is only relevant in combat, but may be used outside combat as a rough measure of the character's
physical strength should that be required.
Armor: This gure is subtracted from the damage a character sustains if a successful attack
is made. Very few characters will start o with an initial armor rating higher than 0. It can be
aected by the sort of armor a character is wearing
It is only relevant in combat, although it may be used as a crude measure of the character's re-
silience should that be required.
Life: You will notice something about the life most characters start o with, it is quite low.
When compared to the damage done by most weapons, it is very low. This game is quite unforgiv-
ing on newer characters. You will see for example that it is possible to kill an unarmored opponent
in a single blow with a sword. When I meet someone who has survived being attacked with a sword
I will listen to what they have to say and may change the initial life of characters accordingly. It
may be changed in the game through the use of various items, and characters get tougher as they
5
gain experience.
Without healing potions or spells, life can be restored outside combat by resting at a rate of 1 life
point per inactive turn, or the amount rolled on one dice in a town.
An adventurer character who has survived a game (even a game that the adventurers lost) may be
used in another game. Minions belonging to the Dark Lord may not be saved for later however,
unless by unanimous vote. There need be no real dierence in the stats of male and female char-
acters, but if it is required, one point may be subtracted from the Prowess or Damage and added
to the Awareness or Psi.
1.3 Conventions.
Since the game was designed to be fun to play, there are many things which are not enforced by
a hard and fast rule, but rather by a vote or by mutual consent. Many of the conventions change
with dierent numbers of players or dierent game types, eg: Dark Lord against Dark Lord or just
adventurers with no Dark Lords. I have found that for a game where a team of adventurers try
to thwart the Dark Lord's evil plans, it is best to have the player's starting gold 40gp, and have a
character go up a level after having killed 5 enemies or an enemy with double the players life points
in a battle. These conditions may be altered depending on the enjoyment of the players concerned
or the game type. It is also often better to play so that during battle characters who wish to join
the fray should roll their Awareness in turn before making their move, this is because a moving
turn does not correspond to a ghting turn in terms of the amount of time it represents; but should
a character not want to join the battle, they will not need to roll their Awareness in order to act
during their turn. Such conventions are guidelines, not the ocial rules of the game. If there is a
rule which makes the game no fun to play, please change it! the game belongs to its players.
2 Dark Lord
It is good to be bad!
The Dark Lord enjoys certain privileges over the adventurers (that's why he gets capitals letters in
his titles and they don't). Here are your initial statistics:
Psi:8
Life:50
6
Armor:5
You will notice that you do not have any Prowess, Awareness or Damage; this is because you
summon hordes of minions to do your dirty work for you while you sit in your stronghold which
you can position wherever you like on the map. (In a game where a single Dark Lord faces under
four adventurers it is recommended that you limit the number of living minions the Dark Lord may
have at any given time to 10). Your minions are mercenaries, it is important to note that should
they nd any gold on a dead enemy they will not part with it. Once a minion gets more than 50
gp, it will go into retirement taking everything you have given it with it. Heroes know this and
wealthy adventurers have been know to bribe really tough minions by giving them over 50gp to be
left alone. You may keep up to ve creatures in your stronghold to be mobilised when ready, up to
eight spells in your archive to be cast when you see t and up to ten items in your armory. If you
wish to send a minion an item, you may teleport it to the minion free of charge at any time, except
during battle. You may also bestow the ability to cast a spell you have on a creature or store the
spell in your archives. You can also send it for Prowess training or Psi training if it is in your
stronghold or a town (even one you don't control), but you can not store these in your stronghold.
The Dark Lord will get the rst move by default in every turn, should there be multiple Dark Lords
they can roll dice to see who gets the rst move or draw straws or something.
2.1 Abilities:
Corruption:
The basic action of taking control of a town, forest of mountain. You must roll your Psi or less on
3 dice to take it over anywhere on the map, unless you have a hag or an ogre in that town, forest
or mountain, or creatures who's combined Psi is higher than 10, in which case you need only roll
your Psi or less on 2 dice. Place a corruption token on the map to show who the landlord is. You
may also use a Free Corruption spell -you start o with one in your archives- this means you don't
have to roll anything to corrupt a territory. You can also use your evil powers of corruption on one
of your enemy's animal companions (3 dice; not in combat) or if you can roll your Psi or less on
4 dice you can possess an enemy character. This won't make you popular, but it will give you all
that character's abilities until death or Exorcism. Should you attempt to possess a character or an
animal and they roll their Psi or less on 2 dice, then your corruption has failed and you don't get
any refund for the Free Corruption card you used if you were using one. A character who has the
Exorcism ability may use it to get free of your control in their turn, but then you can block their
self-Exorcism by rolling your Psi or less on 2 dice, other than that and the fact that it won't make
you very popular, there is nothing preventing you from using one of your former enemies for your
7
own dark purposes.
2.2 Drawing:
You wouldn't be a Dark Lord if you didn't have a ruthless tax policy. Once you own a town you
can draw 1 dice gold from it in a turn, provided you are not using it for anything else in that turn
including summoning. You may also draw money from corrupted forests and mountains, but for
every territory you draw money from which is not a town you must rst pay 3 gp, you may end up
losing more gold than you make this way.
2.3 Shopping:
If you are not drawing money from a village or using it to summon a minion in a turn you may deal
three cards from the market, and one card for each unused forest or mountain you control. Just
like the adventurers at the market you may buy what you want and use it on yourself, or keep it
in your stronghold for later use. Unfortunately you can not resell anything you have bought (the
people are terried of you!) but you may discard it.
2.4 Forbidding:
Roll your Psi or less on 2 dice to cast a spell on one of your corrupted lands and your enemies
will not be able to pass through it or Exorcise it in that turn. You may only attempt to cast the
Forbidding once on a corrupted territory per turn though.
2.5 Summoning:
(I have left the relevant cards in brackets to give you some idea of the frequency of these things
- it was quite dicult to get them into a state of balance where I was mostly happy with the
proportions. -if you see the following in brackets " it means I haven't gotten round to working it
into the system for a regular deck of playing cards. Of course if I ever make custom cards that
won't be a problem, I'll just have to work out how frequent they are.)
To summon a minion shue the deck and deal yourself 3 cards for a corrupted village and one card
for a corrupted mountain or forest. You may not deal any cards from a corrupted territory if you
have used it for drawing money, shopping, raising creatures or if you have placed a forbidding on
8
the territory in that turn. Each being has its own cost in gold and raising requirements -the latter
represents the territories involved in summoning the creature. If you have paid the gold and met
the requirements, you may bring this creature into play. It will be spawned in your stronghold and
it is up to you to provide and care for your creatures. You may teleport items to them, but they
can not teleport items back to you, you can tell them to give an item to another creature or to
discard it. Here is a list of the creatures you can summon:
Goblin
(2,3,4 of hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades)
Although small and cheap they are hardy and malicious ghters.
Awareness:7
Prowess:7
Psi:6
Damage:1D
Armor:0
Life:10-1D
Speed:1D
Inventory:4 items.
Cost and Requirements: 4gp, 1 corrupted town, mountain or forest.
Orc
(5,6 of hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades)
Basic rank and le infantry or most evil armies.
Awareness:6
Prowess:6
Psi:5
Damage:1D+1
Armor:0
Life:20-2D
Speed:1D
Inventory:5 items.
Cost and Requirements: 6gp, 1 corrupted town and 1 corrupted town, mountain or
forest.
Uruk
9
(7 of hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades)
A type of hybrid Orc bred to be powerful ghters and for intelligence and speed.
Awareness:7
Prowess:8
Psi:6
Damage:1D+5
Armor:0
Life:10+1D
Speed: 1D+4
Inventory:6 items.
Cost and Requirements: 2 corrupted villages and 1 corrupted mountain or forest.
Forest Troll
(8 of hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades)
The smallest and most shy breed of Troll, probably also the smartest. Very hairy.
Awareness:7
Prowess:7
Psi:6
Damage:2D+5
Armor:0
Life:20-1D
Speed:2D can not ride on a mount
Inventory: items.5
Cost and Requirements: 10gp, 3 corrupted towns and 2 corrupted forests.
Mountain Troll
(9 of hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades)
Huge, hulking and brutal. Very dangerous
Awareness:6
Prowess:8
Psi:5
Damage:3D+2
Armor:0
Life:30-2D
Speed:2D can not ride on a mount
Inventory:4 items.
10
Cost and Requirements: 10gp, 3 corrupted towns and 2 mountains
Beast
(10 of hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades)
A random monster which lives up to its name.
Awareness:10
Prowess:9
Psi:7 (can not learn healing spells)
Damage:4D (can not wield any sort of weapon)
Armor:0 - can not wear armor
Life:4D
Speed:2D+6 it will eat any sort of mount.
Inventory: items.0
Cost and Requirements: 4 corrupted forests
Cave Troll
(Jack of hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades)
Strong, vicious and cunning, likes its ears rubbed.
Awareness:6
Prowess:7
Psi:7
Damage:4D+7
Armor:1
Life:30+1D
Speed:2D can not ride on a mount
Inventory:5 items.
Cost and Requirements: 20gp, 4 corrupted mountains and 1 town or forest
Hag
(Queen of clubs and spades)
A senile old woman who rides a broom and cackles insanely to herself.
Awareness:9
Prowess:4
Psi:9
Damage:1D
Armor:0 - can not wear armor
11
Life:10-1D
Speed:3D-4 (
ying)
Inventory:4 items.
Abilities: Flight, Daze, Exorcism
Cost and Requirements: 15gp 3 corrupted forests
Battleshrike
(Queen of hearts and diamonds)
Not as large as the Great Roc, but several times nastier.
Awareness:10
Prowess:10
Psi:6 (can not learn healing spells)
Damage:2D (can not wield any sort of weapon)
Armor:0 - can not wear any armor
Life:9-1D
Speed:3D (
ying)
Inventory:0 items.
Abilities: Flight, Swoop
Cost and Requirements: 8gp, 2 corrupted mountains
Rock Troll
(King of hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades)
A well 'ard bloke who's st is about four times the size of his brain.
Awareness:5
Prowess:10
Psi:4
Damage: 5D+7
Armor:3
Life:40-2D
Speed:2D can not ride mount
Inventory:2 items.
Cost and Requirements: 25gp, 4 corrupted villages and 4 corrupted mountains.
Warlock
(")
An evil sorcerer in the service of the Dark Lord.
12
Awareness:8
Prowess:6
Psi:9
Damage:1D-1
Armor:0 - can not wear armor
Life:10-1D
Speed:1D
Inventory:5 items.
Abilities: Spite, Curse, Hungry wound, Exorcise
Cost and Requirements: 15gp, 1 corrupted town, 1 corrupted forest, 1 corrupted moun-
tain.
Free Corruption spell.
(Ace of clubs)
Can be spent corrugating a village, forest or mountain, or be stored in the archives of
your stronghold, it can also be used to subtract 1 from the number of dice required
to possess a character or animal companion, but only one Free Corruption spell may
be used per turn.
Earthquake spell
(Ace of diamonds)
Enemies can not move for one round. When on a free mountain or town, enemies
must roll their Awareness or less on 2D or suer 1D damage, the same applies to
enemies on a corrupted mountain or town, but they will suer 4D damage. Only
one Earthquake spell can be cast per turn (but since it eects the whole map you
shouldn't need more than one).
Storm spell.
(Ace of Spades)
When cast, your enemies must roll their Awareness or less on 2D or they will suer 3D
damage If there is a 1 in their roll they must discard an item from their inventory
to save themselves, only one Storm spell may be used per turn.
Free Resurrection spell.
(Ace of hearts)
Re-spawn a minion who died in the last round it will start o at a basic level with no
items in the stronghold, it will also only remember any skills it has acquired at their
most basic level.
13
Ogre
(Joker)
Usually a Dark Lord's rst choice of brutal henchmen.
Awareness:6
Prowess:10
Psi:9
Damage:6D
Armor:2
Life: 40-1D
Speed:2D can not ride mount
Inventory:5 items.
Cost and Requirements: 35gp, no requirements.
2.6 Moving.
If you can roll your Psi or less on 4D at any point in the game, you can teleport your stronghold
anywhere on the map provided it is not in water or somewhere completely inaccessible to players.
2.7 Victory
A Dark Lord can win the game by corrupting every single town, mountain and forest at the same
time, or by killing or poses sing all adventurers opposing him and killing any rival Dark Lord who
oopses him - you need not kill your rival Dark Lord's minions o, just destroy his strong hold.
Just like anybody else you start with the standard amount of gold
Have fun.
3 Heroes
So you think you are good! Good enough to battle the Dark Lords and their armies of minions.
You start o in a free town of your choosing, some character classes start o with a single item
in their inventory, most start o with only the initial amount of gold. You may earn more gold
according to your character's specication, if you have been cast out of your guild or order (that
happens when all the other players get sick of you and unanimously vote for it to happen) or if
you have lost the item you use to earn money then you can only earn one dice gold in a free town
by rolling your Awareness or less on 2D - if you fail to do so, you may not make any other actions
in that turn. If you are not resting or earning money while in a free town in a turn you can visit
14
the market, shue the market cards (or just a deck of playing cards) and take draw three, these
are items you see after hours of walking through the crowded market place, you may buy them if
you wish. You may not rest (actually, you may rest, but then you will only regain 1 Life point,
the same as outside a town), shop or earn money in a corrupted village, but you may pass through
it as long as the Dark Lord has not cast a forbidding on it. All character types (including the
Dark Lord's minions) may have one animal companion mount on which to ride, one
ying animal
companion and up to three other animal companions. Animal companions may gain skills and go
up levels, but may not learn any type of spell or use any type of item. You have a few generic
character types to choose from, feel free to customise them and get inventive as long as everyone
else agrees to the customisations you propose for your character. If you do not want to play as one
of the three races provided, you could also try playing as one of the races the Dark Lord uses as
minions, but then you will have to earn money by rolling your Awareness or less on 2D in order to
earn 1D gold. Heroes can carry ten items in their inventories. Here are the standard character types:
3.1 Humans
Human Warrior:
Lives by the strength of his sword arm and thinks that \honour" is something you
should try to chop of the other guy.
Awareness:6
Prowess:6
Psi:5
Damage:1D+1
Armor:0
Life:10
Speed:1D
Earnings: In a town a warrior can nd employment as one of the town guard, a re-
ghter, or a nightwatchman earning him 1D gold
Abilities:2stroke, Counterstrike (Shield, Sta)
Human Knave:
A mercenary entertainer and ghter with no morals who'd sell his own mother if he
could nd her again
Awareness:8
Prowess:5
15
Psi:6
Damage:1D
Armor:0
Life:10
Speed:1D
Earnings: When in town he works as an entertainer and con-artist earning 3D gold per
turn
Abilities:Theft, Bargain, Evade
Human Monk:
Monks sometimes leave the monastery on holy business, or just to test their knowledge
of the ghting arts
Awareness:7
Prowess:5
Psi:7
Damage:1D
Armor:0
Life:10
Speed:1D
Earnings: When in town a monk works in a church or as a nightmarishly strict teacher
Abilities:Healing(3), Exorcism, Stunning blow (unarmed, sta)
Human Mage:
A bitter old man who has a hunched back, a beard and grumbles a lot
Awareness:7
Prowess:4
Psi:8
Damage:1D-1
Armor:0
Life:9
Speed:1D
Earnings: Mages ore often in demand, in a town a mage should easily be able to nd
work earning him 2D gold per turn, eh spends his spare time entertaining children
for free.
Abilities:Fireball(1), Daze
Human Adventurer:
16
A guild-less human out to make a name for himself
Awareness:6
Prowess:5
Psi:5
Damage:1D
Armor:0
Life:10
Speed:
Earnings: Getting people to give you gold would be nice now wouldn't it? If you nd
out how, please tell me. Otherwise you will have to roll your Awareness or less on
2D to earn 1D gold in a turn like everybody else. If you fail to do so, you may not
make another action in that turn.
Abilities:
3.2 Elves
Elven Warrior:
Better behaved than the human warrior to his detriment
Awareness:7
Prowess:6
Psi:7
Damage:1D
Armor:0
Life:9
Speed:1D
Earnings: In great demand in towns because of his discipline and skill with the bow,
they can usually nd work as town guards, but failing that they can easily nd other
work earning him 1D gold per turn Abilities:2stroke, Sureshot
Elven Scout:
Scouts know everything about life out doors
Awareness:9
Prowess:4
Psi:6
Damage:1D-1
Armor:0
17
Life:8
Speed:1D+3
Earnings: In a town he earns 2D gold drawing maps and translating, his knowledge of
various languages and writings means he can also work as a scribe
Abilities:Sureshot, Hiding (forest), Rope bridge Starting items: Rope
Elven Hunter:
If he could grow a beard he would shave it with his arrow heads
Awareness:8
Prowess:5
Psi:7
Damage: 1D
Armor:0
Life:8
Speed:1D
Earnings: In a town he can earn 1 gold teaching archery, in a free forest or mountain
he can earn 1 gold by hunting.
Abilities: Sureshot, Killshot, Exorcism
Elven Druid:
His extensive druid training uses most of his life force
Awareness:7
Prowess:4
Psi:9
Damage:1D-2
Armor:0
Life:7
Speed:1D
Earnings:Despite what the churches say about them, druids will aways nd work in
towns earning 2D gold
Abilities:Daze, Sureshot (bow and reball), Magic healing, Banishment
Elven Traveler:
A guild-less Elven adventurer
Awareness:7
Prowess:5
18
Psi:7
Damage:1D
Armor:0
Life:9
Speed:1D+1
Earnings: Many Humans are suspicious of Elves. While they will gladly employ an Elf
from one of the guilds, chie
y because the Elves are skilled at their professions, they
will not employ a guild-less Elf who will have to roll his Awareness or less on 2D to
earn 1D gold in a town. Should he fail at this he can not make another action in
that turn.
Abilities:
3.3 Dwarves
Dwarvish Warrior:
Bearded people under 4ft who pick ghts with Trolls
Awareness:5
Prowess:7
Psi:6
Damage:1D+2
Armor:0
Life:12
Speed:1D
Earnings: Because they love to drink and ght so much, Dwarvish Warriors are seldom
employed as town guards. Being Dwarves they can easily nd work down the mines
earning 1D gold per turn
Abilities:4stroke
Dwarvish Cook:
Most Dwarves cook well, but these Dwarves cook brilliantly
Awareness:5
Prowess:6
Psi:7
Damage:1D
Armor:0
Life:11
19
Speed:1D
Earnings: The Cook's brilliant rat meat and turnip dishes, as well as the ever-popular
knockelwurst sausage are always well received in towns earning 3D gold per turn, as
long as he has his Hatchet.
Abilities:Replenish, Ease Starting items: Hatchet
Dwarvish Smith:
Legendary Dwarvish metal workers
Awareness:5
Prowess:6
Psi:7
Damage:1D+1
Armor:0
Life:12
Speed:1D
Earnings: Smiths can easily earn 3D gold in any town as long as they keep their Hammer.
Abilities:Mend, Enhance Starting items: Hammer
Dwarvish Alchemist:
He really can turn lead into gold (unpopular among dentists)
Awareness:5
Prowess:5
Psi:8
Damage:1D
Armor:0
Life:10
Speed:1D
Earnings: Being able to turn lead into gold helps, you are able to earn 5D gold per turn
in a village as long as you have your Keystone.
Abilities:Exorcism, Metal fatigue, Starting items: Keystone
Dwarvish Wanderer:
It is unusual to nd Dwarves outside the mines who are not craftsmen, warriors or
traders.
Awareness:5
Prowess:6
20
Psi:5
Damage:1D+1
Armor:0
Life:11
Speed:1D
Earnings:Dwarves are mostly known for their skills in various crafts, including ghting.
Many humans have little time for a destitute guild-less Dwarf, who will have to roll
his Awareness or less on 2D to earn 1D gold per turn in a town, should he fail to do
so he can not perform another action in that turn.
Abilities:
3.4 Victory
In the most common variations of the game the Heroes win by killing the Dark Lord. This can be
done by moving up to his stronghold and attacking him. You may have to ght your way through
his hordes of minions in order to do this but when your reach him there are certain skills you may
use such as Killshot which will take him out in one shot, or Banishment which will only work if his
Psi is 10 or higher, but will send him straight to hell!
4 Skills and Spells
You probably wonder what that stu after \Abilities" means, these represent skills the character
possess. When a character goes up a level, by killing something really big or by getting the right
number of kills on their body-count, the attribute most rolled during combat, or the attribute rolled
which in
icted the most damage is enhanced by one point. The highest value an attribute can have
is 11 (as you can always roll 12 or less on 2D). The exception to this is the Prowess, which can
go over 12 if a really good weapon is wielded, this articial Prowess is usually written in brackets
after the natural prowess of the character to avoid confusion - it is the natural Prowess which will
be aected as the character goes up a level, and the temporary articial Prowess aected by that.
Imagine a Rock Troll wielded an enchanted axe which took it's wielder's Prowess up by 4 points:
Prowess: 10 (14). The Rock Troll would only be able to reach a maximum of Prowess: 11 (15)
before it would have to go back to the original Prowess: 10 (14) and gain an ability, or enhance an
existing ability. Some abilities are enhancements of others and can only be gained if the character
already has the basic ability. There are also some things which can be gained instead of an ability
which are not skills or spells.
21
4.1 Upgrades
Should you not wish to gain an ability you can choose from the following:
Increase the initial value of the attribute (that is also the value that the attribute returns to
after gaining an ability) by one point. Please note that you can not increase an attribute beyond
10, and you can not increase an attribute which in initially 10 or more any further in this fashion.
As with Elf Herbs, you may fully heal a character (without having to roll anything) also removing
any curses and diseases, or if your character is in perfect health you may increase the Life of that
character by 1D.
If you really want to you cot enhance your character at all but get 100 gp.
4.2 Skills
In addition to skills which can be acquired, there are special feats which characters can perform
regardless of their skills. If a player rolls a character's Awareness or less on 4D (!) the character
can do such things as block arrows with a sta or catch them in the air and put them in his own
quiver. Players are rewarded for being able to make extraordinary rolls. If a player rolls a triple 6
on 3 dice, preceding this by saying something to the eect of \watch me roll a triple 6!" then the
character can get a Wish. A player only gets three attempts to do this, afterwich the other players
should devise a suitable penalty for him not throwing three sixes.
Here are the skills you will nd in the game; adding a new skill must receive the unanimous approval
of all your fellow players.
2stroke:
Roll your Prowess or less on 3D and you may strike two blows at a time in a turn instead
of one. You may direct both blows at the same opponent, or at dierent opponents.
4stroke:
(2stroke enhanced by one level - there are also 6stroke, 8stroke, ect. . . )
Roll your Prowess or less on 3D and you can strike four blows in a turn the same as
with 2stroke
Evade:
Roll your Awareness or less on 3D and you suer escape harm from an attack in a turn.
You may attempt to Evade every attack directed at you (once per attack) during a
turn without any penalty for Evading multiple attacks. You may evade ranged and
non-ranged attacks with the exception of area spells and psychic spells. You may
22
not use the Evade ability on attacks made during your attacking turn due to other
abilities.
Counterbalance:
Roll your Awareness or less on 3D and not only do you block an attack completely, but
you also put your opponent o balance, causing them to have both their Awareness
and Prowess reduced by 1 for the next round. This only works on non-ranged
attacks.You may attempt this once for each non-ranged attack you face in a turn,
but you must subtract 1 from the amount you have to roll or less for every time
after the rst time you perform this in a round.
Counterstrike:
(Counterbalance enhanced)
Roll your Awareness or less on 3D and not only do you block your opponent's attack,
but you catch him o guard and deliver the same amount of damage to him as he
would have dealt you in that turn. Only works on non-ranged attacks and you must
gain this skill with each weapon or the shield individually. You may attempt this
once for each non-ranged attack you face in a turn, but you must subtract 1 from
the amount you have to roll or less for every time after the rst time you perform
this in a round.
Defense systems:
When you acquire this ability you need not roll anything. Any weapon or shield used to
defend which caused you to suer a penalty when rolling to block multiple attacks in
a single turn will now no longer impose that penalty. This ability may be combined
with others such as Counterbalance and Counterstrike, but you must gain this ability
independently for each weapon or the shield.
Stunning blow:
Roll your Prowess or less on 3D and you paralyse your opponent for the next round
as well as doing +1D damage. This ability must be gained independently for each
weapon.
Smite:
Roll your Psi or less before striking a blow; subtract 1 from the number of Dice you
were able to roll your Psi on and add that many Dice damage to the attack should
the attack be successful. It automatically combines with any non-ranged weapon
23
and can combine with any ability which involves a non-ranged attack and does not
involve rolling your Psi.
Combat key:
Roll your Awareness or less on 2D, then Roll your Psi or less; subtract 1 from the
number of Dice you were able to roll your Psi on and add that many points to your
Armor rating for that round only.
Sureshot:
Roll your Awareness or less on 3D when ring a bow and you will do an extra 1D damage.
It can be combined with spells and ranged weapons, but must be combined with
each individually.
Killshot:
(Sureshot take up one level) Roll your Psi or less on 2D then your Awareness or less on
3D and you kill any living opponent in one shot with an arrow. You may only use
this ability once in each battle.
Healing:
Roll your Psi or less on 2D and you get 3 Life points to distribute among yourself, your
comrades and animal companions if you see t. Every time you enhance this ability
by one level you gain another 3 Life points when your roll your Psi or less on 2D.
This may be cast during combat or outside combat, but you may only restore lost
Life points. You may not use this ability to give a character extra Life points.
Hiding:
This is not what you get for being naughty, it is the ability for a character to automati-
cally hide in a free forest (you can also get Hiding for free towns and free mountains)
at the beginning of combat. If the character is not in the territory where they can
automatically hide, they may roll their Awareness or less on 2D to hide and will
remain hidden until their enemy next rolls his Awareness successfully. While hidden
a character can launch ranged attacks without revealing their position. An area
spell or successfully cast psychic spell (one which you have not been able to block
by rolling your Psi or less on 2D) will still damage or aect you and reveal your
position.
Vanishing:
24
(Hiding taken up one level)
Roll your Awareness or less on as many dice as you can. Enemies can not nd you
they roll their Awareness or less on the same number of dice, or unless you use a
non-ranged attack. An area spell or successfully cast psychic spell (one which you
have not been able to block by rolling your Psi or less on 2D) will still damage or
aect you and reveal your position.
Charge:
After maneuvering in combat you can make a non-ranged attack in the same turn;
you can move up to an enemy and then attack them. This ability automatically
combines with any other attacking abilities, you don't have to roll any dierently to
charge, just Roll in order to move and attack as you would normally.
Kinship:
Kinship allows greater accord with a specic type of animal. It allows the character to
have an animal companion of that type, it does not prevent that type of animal from
attacking the player. You must gain Kinship with dierent animals individually, and
can never gain Kinship with a Mad Cow, you can only gain Kinship with an Ogre
if you have already killed an Ogre, you can only gain Kinship with a Dragon by
Wishing for it.
Familiarity:
(Kinship taken up one level)
You must rst have Kinship with that specic type of animal before you can gain
Familiarity with it. To use your familiarity you must rst encounter the animal,
then you must roll your Psi or less, minus the number of animal companions you
already have, on 3D to gain that animal as a companion. Red Dragons will only
stay around for 5 rounds, but if you have a Rally Horn you may recall them for ve
rounds at need.
Levitate:
Roll your Psi or less on 3D before moving and can pass over obstacles and enemies on
the battleeld or any obstacle (eg, a river) which is on the map as long as you do
not move further than the distance you have rolled.
Flight:
(Levitate taken up one level) You need roll nothing, you can pass over enemies or
obstacles on the battle eld and will not be hindered by terrain on the map. A
25
character must rst have the Levitate ability to gain
ight, and can only do so by
unanimous vote from all the other players.
Swoop:
As with charge you may make an attack after moving. You must rst have the Flight
ability to gain the Swoop ability. Charge does not automatically turn into Swoop if
the character who can charge learns to
y.
Grapple:
By rolling your Prowess or less on 3D you may make a non-ranged attack which prevents
your opponent from casting spell or making ranged attacks while you hold them.
They can also not move or attack any other character but you and must do so with
their Prowess reduced by 1. Your character however can not do anything while
holding them, so you'd better have friends.
Theft:
Roll your Awareness or less on 3D in a town and you can take an item from the market
free, or 100 gold. If you should fail to roll your Awareness or less on 3D, you will be
beaten up (losing 1D life) and thrown out of the town. You may then not return to
that town for 5 turns.
Bargain:
When reselling an item in a town, you can nd an idiot by rolling your Awareness or
less on 2D and sell him the item for its cost +1D gold rather than -1D gold as you
would normally do.
4.3 Spells
Fireball:
Roll your Psi or less on 2D and you can direct a ball of re at a single enemy. Every
time you enhance this spell by one level you gain 1D damage per roll of you Psi or
less on 2D
Berserk:
Roll your Psi or less on 3D and you will go Berserk. You add 1 to your Awareness, 2
to your Prowess and 3 to your Armor and 3 to your Damage. You will go Berserk
for ten rounds during which time you may not use a ranged attack or cast a spell,
bribe a minion of the Dark Lord or use an item such as a potion or Rally horn. If
26
you defeat all your enemies before the 10 rounds expire you must attack your friends
and animal companions who will have to ght you or
ee. When the 10 rounds are
nished you suer 2 points of damage as a result of exhaustion.
Rodgering:
Roll your Psi or less on 2D and you cast an area spell which does 1D damage to
all enemies on the battleeld. The spell may not be blocked with a Shield, but a
character's Armor rating still aects the amount of damage done by the spell. Every
time you enhance this spell by one level you gain 1D damage per roll of your Psi or
less on 2D
Daze:
This is a psychic spell, which means that if one of the opponents you are casting this
spell on is able to roll their Psi or less on 2D the spell will not aect them. Roll
your Psi or less on 2D and you cast this spell on all enemies on the battleeld. If
you are successful then the enemies aected will have to make all their rolls on one
more dice than normal for the next 2 rounds.
Magic healing:
In combat roll your Psi or less on 3D and you can return 1D life to all characters and
animal companions on the battleeld. O the battleeld you must sacrice some
of your own life and then multiply it by 1D-1 and give that amount of life to all
characters and animal companions. You may only restore lost Life points, you may
not use this ability to give a character extra Life points.
Exorcism:
Roll your Psi or less on 3D and you remove Corruption from a territory or Possession
from a a character or animal companion. You must move up to the thing you want
to Exorcise on the map rst. You can cast Exorcism during battle.
Banishment:
Roll your Psi or less on 3D and you can send an enemy with a Psi of 10 or more back
to the underworld where it belongs. Only works in combat.
Teleportation:
Roll your Psi or less on 3D in combat and you can instantly
ee the battle. Or you can
use this skill to travel wherever you need on the map outside combat, or instantly
join combat without having to move to the battleeld, but you can not take your
animal companions or your friends with you when teleporting.
27
Curse:
Sacrice some of your Life points and multiply them by 1D-1. If you have personally
in
icted a would on a character in the last 5 rounds you may roll your Psi or less
on 2D, if not you must roll your Psi or less on 3D and you will do that amount of
damage to the character regardless of the character's Armor rating. This is a psychic
spell, so any character who can roll their Psi or less on 2D will not be Cursed and
the character casting the Curse can not regain the Life points used to unsuccessfully
attempt to Curse another character
Spite:
Roll your Psi or less on 2D, this makes a non-ranged weapon Spiteful which means
that it will in
ict 1D more damage, but should its wielder fail to make a successful
attack with the weapon it will do 1 damage to the wielder regardless of armor. It is
impossible to resell a Spiteful weapon.
Hungry wound:
This is a psychic spell, a character who rolls his Psi or less on 2D will not be aected
by the spell, however should the spell backre, the caster may not roll his escape
the wrongness by rolling his Psi or less on any number of dice. You must roll your
Psi or less on 3D, and in
ict a wound with a ranged or non-ranged weapon. If you
fail to in
ict a wound before the end of the battle, your character suers the eects
of this evil spell. If the spell is cast successfully it will last until the caster makes a
successful attack in that battle, but can only be used once and can be blocked. Once
the spell has been cast and a character is wounded but fails to roll his Psi or less
on 2D to block the spell that character will be required to roll his Psi or less on 2D
every turn to avoid suering 1 damage. If the wound was in
icted with a Spiteful
weapon then the character will suer 1D damage (the spell does not backre on the
caster if he misses with the Spiteful weapon and suers 1 damage). The damage
caused by the spell can be healed, but the spell can only be removed by Exorcism
or if the caster dies.
Feedback:
Roll your Psi or less on 3D when a spell is cast at and the character who cast the spell
will suer the eects of the spell himself.
Learnhard:
If a spell is successfully cast on you and you suer its eects you gain that spell at basic
level
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4.4 Item Specic Skills
These are abilities which can only be performed with a specic item and not without it. They can
not be gained with another item.
Replenish:
Roll your Psi or less on 2D and you can brew a nutritious broth outside combat which
restores 3 Life points to character or animal companion who drinks it. It may be
kept as an item for later in a character's inventory and combined with many herbs
to increase its healing properties. If it is combined with Elf herbs it will produce a
Healing Potion!
Requires: Hatchet
Ease:
Roll your Psi or less on 2D and your Awareness or less on 2D outside combat and
you will brew a bitter black potion which allows characters who drink it to perform
abilities requiring rolls of 3 dice or more on the number of dice minus 1. The potion
can be kept as an item.
Requires: Hatchet
Mend:
Roll your Psi or less on 3D and you can do improvised repairs to a broken or damaged
item which someone has, outside combat.
Requires: Hammer
Enhance:
Roll your Psi or less on 2D outside combat and you can conduct improvised modica-
tions to an item which is not broken. A weapon may have 1 added to the amount of
damage it in
icts in battle, this may be done to the same weapon only three times
(you may enhance a Quiver of arrows as though it were one weapon). Similarly,
a piece of armor may have 1 added to the amount it adds to a character's Armor
rating, again only three times per item.
Requires: Hammer
Metal fatigue:
Roll your Psi or less on 3D during combat and you can destroy all metal objects be-
longing to your enemies. Certain items such as the Bow (and its arrows), the Sta,
the Hide Jerkin, and the Shield are not aected by this spell
Requires: Keystone.
29
Rope bridge:
Roll your Awareness or less on 3D outside of combat to negotiate a small obstacle such
as a river or a chasm or cli. You can only travel as far as you have rolled by this
method and the movement must start on open ground, in a town forest or mountain
and end in a forest or mountain. You and your friends may cross the Rope bridge,
but animal companions must nd another way. After everyone has crossed you get
the Rope back.
Requires: Rope

[Midnight_Carnival]

5 Market
Every town has a market. To go shopping shue the deck and draw three cards. Adventurers may
not use the market in a town corrupted by the Dark Lord. When reselling an item in the market
you should subtract 1D gold from the original price of the item. Here are a list of items on sale at
the market:
Hide Jerkin:
(2,3,4 of clubs)
(item)
Adds 1 to the character's Armor rating and can be worn in conjunction with other types
of armor. It is destroyed if the character suers more than 25 damage in a turn -
regardless of whether the character lives or dies
cost: 3gp
Chainmail:
(5,6 of clubs)
(item)
Adds 3 to the character's Armor rating. Can be worn in conjunction with some other
types of armor. It is destroyed if the character suers more than 30 damage in one
round, regardless of whether the character lives or dies
cost: 6gp
Shield:
(7,8 of clubs)
(item)
If an enemy attacks you, roll your Awareness or less on 2D and the shield will block
that attack whether it is ranged or non-ranged. There is no penalty for blocking
30
multiple attacks in one round of combat with a shield. It will break if the character
suers more than 40 damage in a round
cost: 8gp
Sta:
(9,10 of clubs)
(item)
The Sta is a two handed weapon which adds 1 to the character's Prowess and 1D to
the character's damage when wielded. Roll your Awareness or less on 2D to block
a non-ranged attack. There is no penalty for blocking multiple attacks in a turn.
cost: 1gp
Healing potion:
(Jack, Queen, King, Ace of clubs)
(item)
Roll your Awareness or less on 2D to drink during combat, no roll in required outside
combat. It restores a character to their highest level of Life points during the Game,
but can be used only once.
cost: 15gp
Pony:
(2,3,4 of hearts)
(animal companion -mount)
A tough little beast often ridden by Dwarves. Adds 1D-1 to speed when ridden, you
can not ride it through forests.
Awareness:7
Psi:3
Life:12
cost: 12gp
Horse:
(5,6 of hearts)
(animal companion -mount)
A big hairy thing which eats grass and makes funny noises, you can ride on it. Adds
1D to speed when ridden, you can not ride it through forests or mountains.
Awareness:6
Psi:3
31
Life:15
cost: 10gp
Steed:
(7 of hearts)
(animal companion -mount)
A bigger horse bred to carry men into battle, it is trained to attack on command and
carry 2 people at a time for 1 round out of every 3. It can not be ridden through
mountains or forests, but can swim short distances provided that it starts on open
country and ends on open country. Adds 1D+3 to speed when ridden.
Awareness:8
Prowess:5
Psi:5
Damage:2D-3
Armor:0
Life:20
cost: 15gp
Hound:
(8,9,10,Jack of hearts)
(animal companion)
A dog bred for hunting or ghting, they range in size and temperament, but all will
attack on command.
Awareness:9
Prowess:7
Psi:4
Damage:1D
Armor:0
Life:1D+1
Speed:2D
cost: 3gp
Hawk:
(Queen of hearts)
(animal companion -
ying)
A bird of prey which is trained to tolerate its owner and obey simple instructions mostly
involving killing things. They are good for spotting hidden enemies.
32
Awareness:11
Prowess:7
Psi:9
Damage:1D-1
Armor:-1
Life:1D
Speed:3D (
ying)
Abilities: Swoop, Evade
cost: 7gp
Wolfhound:
(King of hearts)
(animal companion)
A large erce breed of Hound used in warfare and hunting Wolves
Awareness:8
Prowess:9
Psi:5
Damage:2D-3
Armor:0
Life:1D+3
Speed:2D
cost: 6gp
Flying Carpet:
(Ace of hearts)
(item, -
ying mount)
And enchanted carpet which can carry two people
ying, it gives it's riders the Flight
ability even in combat it is destroyed if the character suers more than 20 damage
in a round of combat
Speed:3D+5 (
ying)
cost: 75gp
Sword:
(2,3,4,5 of spades)
(item)
Wielding this weapon gives your character an additional 1 Prowess points and adds 4
to damage
33
cost: gp4
Quiver:
(6,7,8 of spades)
(item)
A quiver holds 8 arrows which disappear when red
cost: 2gp
Bow:
(9,10 of spades)
(item)
Roll your Awareness or less on 2D to re an arrow (from the Quiver) it does 1D+3
damage at range and can hit
ying targets
cost: 4gp
Battle Axe:
(Jack of spades)
(item)
This powerful weapon is so heavy that it reduces its wielder's Prowess by 2 points
unless that character is a Dwarf, an Orc, an Uruk or Troll or Ogre. Human or
Elvish Warriors only have their Prowess reduced by 1 when wielding it. It adds 8
to the damage in
icted by the wielder
cost: 8gp
Throwing Axes:
(Queen of spades)
(item)
A pair of light axes which can be wielded adding 5 points to the character's damage or
thrown at a range by rolling your Awareness or less on 3D in which case they do 3D
damage and disappear after use. Although light for axes, they can not be thrown
at
ying targets
cost: 8gp
Broadsword:
(King of spades)
(item)
A fantasy Broadsword is a one or two handed weapon which is superior to most other
types of sword, wielding one adds 2 to a character's Prowess (unless the character is
34
a Dwarf in which case it only adds 1) and 6 to the damage in
icted by a character
in battle
cost: 6gp
Falchion:
(Ace of hearts)
(item)
A heavy single edged cutting sword which adds 2D+1 to the damage a character can
in
ict during combat
cost: gp
Training:
(2,3,4,5 of diamonds)
(enhancement)
A character adds 1 to their Prowess
cost: 6gp
Fireball:
(6,7 of diamonds)
(enhancement)
A character acquires the spell or improves it by +1D damage
cost: 12gp
Ascendancy:
(8,9 of diamonds)
(enhancement)
Magic training, a character adds 1 to their Psi
cost: gp
Adjust:
(10 of diamonds)
(enhancement)
A character may subtract 1 from any attribute (except for Armor) and add it to any
other. If you subtract the 1 point from Life, then you must subtract it from your
initial life so that you can not be healed except by Healing Potion or Elf Herbs, not
just suer 1 damage
cost: 12gp
35
Rodgering:
(Jack of diamonds)
(enhancement)
A character acquires this spell or improves it by +1D damage
cost: 15gp
Berserk Potion:
(Queen of diamonds)
(item)
Roll your Awareness or less on 2D to drink during combat. It adds 3 points to Aware-
ness, 3 points to Prowess and 3 points to Armor, for three rounds only. Each potion
may only be drunk once
cost: 10gp
Magic Bolt:
(King of diamonds)
(item)
A spell which had been prepared and can be red once, even by a character with no
skill in magic. Roll your Psi or less on 2D to use in combat, if it is blocked with a
shield it will destroy the shield. It can be red at air targets too, doing 5D damage
cost: 20gp
Respawn Amulet:
(Ace of diamonds)
(item)
Subtract 2 form your Psi while wearing the Respawn Amulet. When you die it will
disappear and you will respawn in the town where you bought it. You will respawn
at a basic level without any equipment or gold and you will keep any skills you have
acquired only at the basic level for that skill.
cost: 100gp
Dagger:
(")
(item)
Adds 3 to damage. Roll your Awareness or less on 3D to throw at a range during
combat so it in
icts 1D+3 damage
cost:2gp
36
Knife:
(")
(item)
Adds 2 to damage in
icted during combat
cost: 1gp
Hammer:
(")
(item)
Necessary for all Smith abilities. When wielded it adds 3 to your damage
cost: 2gp
Hatchet:
(")
(item)
Necessary for all Cook abilities. When wielded it adds 3 to your damage
cost: gp
Helmet:
(")
(item)
Adds 1 to a character's armor and can be combined with all other types of Armor
including Chainmail. It will break if a character suers more than 25 damage in a
round of combat
cost: 4gp
Greaves:
(")
(item)
Armor for the lower legs, adds 1 to armor but only if worn in conjunction with other
types of armor or a shield. Will break if character suers more than 20 damage in
a turn
cost: 5gp
Keystone:
(")
(item)
37
Used by Alchemists and necessary for the Metal fatigue ability and to turn lead into
gold.
cost: 100gp (but only 20gp for Dwarvish Alchemists)
Great Saex:
(")
(item)
A large and heavy woodsman's knife, similar to a Falchion. Adds 1D+4 to damage
cost: 6gp
Holy Amulet:
(")
(item)
Reduces Psi by 1 while worn, but protects the wearer from Curses and Possessions. It
is destroyed after protecting the wearer from three nasty spells.
cost: 20gp
Glasses:
(")
(item)
A character with Awareness of 5 or lower will have their Awareness taken up to 6 while
wearing glasses
cost: 8gp
Spear:
(")
(item)
One or two handed weapon. When wielded it adds 4 to damage and 2 to Prowess.
Roll your Awareness or less on 2D and you can use it to block non-ranged attacks,
however there is a penalty of 1 point subtracted from your Awareness every time
you try to block more than one attack in a turn with it, the penalty only lasts for
your defensive turn. Roll your Awareness or less on 3D and you can throw it doing
1D+4 damage at range
cost: 5gp
Rally Horn:
(Black Joker)
38
(item)
When blown it teleports all characters and animal companions on your side to you. Roll
your Psi or less on 2D to use in combat.
cost: 30gp
Troll Brandy:
(Red Joker)
(item)
Roll your Awareness or less on 2D to use in combat. When drunk remove 2 points
from your character's Awareness and add them to your character's Prowess. It also
makes your character immune to all psychic spells, the eects of this potion last 4
rounds, after which you must subtract 1 from your character's Life (because of the
hangover)
cost: 1gp
6 Wilderness
This section largely concerns the map. There are traveling cards as well as obstacles which can
be placed on the battleeld to make it more interesting. There is no real system in place for
creating interesting battleelds, Their could be another deck of obstacle cards, but I didn't make
that because I was too lazy. Generally battleelds where either carefully designed by one player,
with other players having the power to veto anything, or they were made by taking a whole load of
tokens representing dierent obstacles found in the area and throwing them at the board then only
including those which stayed on the board more or less where they fell. Many types of obstacle are
possible, but most will largely be based on the ones I have already provided.
When traveling over the map a player may roll a 1 or a 6 when moving 1D distance, double 1 or
double 6, or a 1 and a 6 when moving 2D distance, and so on for 3D, ect. . . If a player rolls only
1s and or 6s when moving then the player may choose for their character to take a traveling card
instead of moving. Traveling cards represent an event encountered while traveling the wilderness,
traveling faster means you are less likely to encounter an event. Be warned though, this will not
only aect your character, but all characters within a 1 unit (mile or km) radius on the map.
Although there are interesting and helpful things which can be discovered, there are also many
perils. You can not know unless you stop and look, and that may be a deadly mistake.
39
6.1 Events
Here are some of the events which can be encountered while traveling during the game. Some are
items, some are characters who may help, while others are sicknesses, misfortunes and wild beasts
or monsters.
Red Poppies:
(Ace of hearts, diamonds)
(misfortune)
Until a character can roll their Psi or less on 2D, they must remain where they are,
unable to move or ght. For every inactive round they rest, regaining 1 Life point
Black Poppies:
(Ace of spades, clubs)
(misfortune)
Until a character can roll their Psi or less on 2D they must remain where they are,
unable to move or ght. For every inactive round they suer 1 point of damage
Elf Herbs:
(2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 of clubs)
(item)
Elf Herb may be picked and kept as an item, they can be sold for 10gp in a town. If
used, they will restore 1D Life to all characters and animal companions. A well
character who can roll their Psi or less on 2D may add 1D Life to their statistics.
Elves do not have to roll their Psi in order to do this, and injured Elves may add
any extra points to their Life if they are healed with Elf Herbs.
Hindrance:
(2,3,4,5,6,7 of spades)
(misfortune)
Trouble on the road. Stay where you are for that turn or loose 1D life regardless of
Armor
Mad Cow:
(8,9,10 of spades)
(beast encounter)
Avoid the meadow! This cow is not in a mood to be milked, The Dark Lord can not
Possess it as it is mad. If defeated, all characters who survived combat will go up a
level. Awareness:7
40
Prowess:8
Psi:7
Damage:3D+5
Armor:0
Life:30
Abilities:Charge
Short Cut:
(2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 of hearts)
(discovery)
Add 1D to the distance your character was going to move
Traveling Salesman:
(2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 of diamonds)
(discovery)
Each character may draw 1 Market card, you may buy it, but you may sell nothing
to him; you may also attempt Theft on the merchant if you have that ability. You
may also rob the Traveling Salesman of 1D gold or 1D market cards, but then you
must roll your Awareness or less on 2D as any characters who do not will suer 1D
damage before the merchant teleports to safety. Minions of the Dark Lord can only
rob the merchant as he will not trade with the forces of evil.
Snake:
(Jack of spades)
(misfortune)
Your character must roll their Awareness or less on 2D or suer 3D damage regardless
of armor
Ogre:
(Jack of diamonds)
(monster encounter)
This formidable adversary will attack your character and ght to the death unless your
character gives it all gold and all items. The Dark Lord may Corrupt the Ogre if
his minions encounter it, or they will have to ght it as well. The Ogre will never

ee combat. Awareness:6
Prowess:10
Psi:9
41
Damage:6D
Armor:2
Life: 40-1D
Guru:
(Jack of clubs)
(discovery)
You meet a short bearded man wearing a turban, a loincloth and levitating. He tells
you he can unlock the mysteries of the universe and asks if anyone wishes to be
Enlightened. If a character does, this will cost 8gp and increase their Awareness by
2 and their Psi by 1D (this may cause your character to gain a level!). If no one
wants to be enlightened he will do 2D damage to all characters regardless of armor
and teleport to safety before anyone can respond.
Fever:
(Jack of hearts)
(misfortune)
Until your character rests in a town, nds Red Poppies or is cured with herbs or mag-
ically healed or drinks a healing potion, they will loose 1 point of Life every turn
and 1 point of Awareness every 3 turns. After the Fever is cured your Awareness
is automatically restored to its former value, but your Life is not automatically
restored.
Sphinx:
(Queen of Spades)
(misfortune)
Any character who can not roll their Awareness or less on 2D (to answer the riddle) will
be strangled and eaten. The Dark Lord may Corrupt the Sphinx who will help him
by transporting 1 minion anywhere on the map before disappearing (and of course
by not eating any of his minions this time)
Ferryman:
(Queen of diamonds)
(discovery)
For the price of 1gp per character or animal companion he will travel with you until
you need to cross a river or body of water and then take you safely across
42
Valkyrie:
(Queen of clubs)
(discovery)
The shield maiden will either carry a character anywhere on the map or travel with them
until their next battle in which she will grant them +4 Awareness and +6 Armor
for the rst three rounds. Since this is a temporary enhancement your character can
not gain a level because she has taken the value of an attribute to 12 or more. Sadly
for the Dark Lord, if his minions nd the Valkyrie, she will strike down all within a
1 (mile or km) radius.
Vendetta Spell:
(Queen of hearts)
(discovery)
Your character may in
ict 6D damage on any character (with the exception of a Dark
Lord) anywhere on the map for vengeance. This spell is aected by the character's
Armor rating.
Red Dragon:
(King of spades)
(monster encounter)
So evil that no amount of gold or blood will ever satisfy it. Too evil for the Dark Lord
to Possess. Luckily it will go away after 5 rounds. Unluckily it is very powerful and
has a ranged reblast attack
Awareness:10
Prowess:10
Psi:11
Damage:7D
Armor:10
Life:30
Abilities:Flight
Treasure Trove:
(King of diamonds)
(discovery)
Each character can take as much gold as they are able to carry (100gp), this causes the
Dark Lord's minions to go into retirement if they nd the gold.
43
Arms Cache:
(King of hearts)
(discovery)
Deal 6 Market cards per character, disregard any spells, enhancements or animal com-
panions. Take what you want!
Green Dragon:
(King of clubs)
(monster encounter)
They have the reputation for not being as bad as the Red Dragons, but the reason for
this remains a mystery. Like Red Dragons they have a powerful reblast attack and
horric attributes, unlike the Red Dragons they do not go away after 5 rounds. If
the Dark Lord can corrupt this monster he will have a terrible servant indeed, but
must pay 100gp as well as losing control of 4 territories he controls in order to do
so. He will regain them if the attempt to corrupt the Green Dragon is unsuccessful
Awareness:9
Prowess:9
Psi:10
Damage:6D
Armor:6
Life:40
Speed:3D (
ying)
Abilities:Flight
Djinn:
(Joker)
(misfortune)
Forget stories you have read about good and helpful Djinn who reward people for setting
them free from bottles! The terrible spirit can not be killed (but it can be Banished)
or Corrupted. It stays around for only one round, but will do 4D damage to all
characters unless a character can roll their Psi or less on 3D to outsmart the Djinn
in which case it will grant them a Wish. A character can Wish for an ability or
enhancement, any item from the market or for 100gp.
Wild Garlic:
(")
44
(item)
If eaten this potent herb will cure fever, or allow a character to perform abilities which
require a character to roll their Psi or less on 3 dice on only 2 dice for the next 4
turns. Roll your Psi or less on 2D to use it to remove a curse or spell and on 3D to
use it to Exorcise a character. It can be combined with the Replenishment ability
so that the broth restores 1D Life instead of 3 Life
Wild Onion:
(")
(item)
If eaten this herb will cure fever or restore 1 point of Life. It can be combined with the
Replenishment ability so that the broth restores 4 points of Life instead of 3 Life
Wormwood:
(")
(item)
This dangerous herb will restore 1D-2 Life if eaten. It will also reduce your Awareness
by 1 point, but improve your Psi by 2 points for the next 3 rounds
Mandrake:
(")
(item)
This magic herb can be eaten in which case it will remove any spells or curses and
reduce the character's Awareness by 2, but increase the character's Psi by 3 for ve
rounds. It can also be worn as an amulet in which case it will protect the wearer
from one spell or curse or Possessions, it will not protect the character from spells
directed at the environment, such as Storm and Earthquake spells
Feverfew:
(")
(item)
If eaten this herb will cure fever and restore 1 point of Life. If fed to horses, ponies or
steeds, it will restore them to their highest Life level
Nightroot:
(")
(item)
45
If eaten, this magic herb will add 1 point to the character's Awareness or Psi, depending
on which value the character can roll on the highest number of dice.
Pack Wolf:
(")
(beast encounter)
Wild Wolves seldom attack humanoids except when rabid or starving. When they do,
however, they provide a worthy challenge for even the strongest warrior. They are
ruthless an savage. Packs usually contain between the number of individuals rolled
on 3D
Awareness:9
Prowess:9
Psi:6
Damage:2D-1
Armor:0
Life:10-1D
Abilities: Grapple
Lone Wolf:
(")
(beast encounter)
More cunning than the Pack Wolves, the wily Lone Wolves will do anything to survive
They band together in small packs of 1D individuals. These skittish beasts will
ee
if one of them is killed and the enemy has more than 3 Life points
Awareness:10
Prowess:8
Psi:7
Damage:2D-2
Armor:0
Life:10-1D
Abilities: Evade
Bear:
(")
(beast encounter)
A formidable opponent! Anyone surviving combat with a Bear will automatically gain
1 level after it is killed
46
Awareness:7
Prowess:9
Psi:6
Damage:4D
Armor:0
Life:4D
Abilities: 2stroke, Smite
Boar:
(")
(beast encounter)
The Boar is not a predator, and in the beginning of if a character can roll their Psi -2 or
less on 2D (and not sue the roll to cast a spell) the Boar will leave everyone alone.
Should it be hurt or angered, the Boar displays a suicidal recklessness which make
even Trolls weary of attacking it. All characters who survive combat with the Boar
will automatically gain a level of experience after the Boar is killed
Awareness:7
Prowess:10
Psi:5
Damage:4D
Armor:1
Life:15
Abilities: Charge, Berserk
Moorcat:
(")
(beast encounter)
These elusive creatures can grow to the size of a Wolfhound and are strong enough to
kill a horse and drag it up a tree
Awareness:11
Prowess:10
Psi:9
Damage:4D
Armor:0
Life:4D
Abilities: Evade, Hide (forest, mountain), Charge (only in the rst turn or combat),
47
Smite
Great Stag:
(")
(beast encounter)
This noble beast grows larger than a horse and keeps its great antlers all year. Despite
being highly territorial, it will not attack if you an convince it your are not a threat
by rolling your Psi -1 or less on 2D before it is hurt in battle. It is able to use its
great antlers to keep enemies at by, it can parry non-ranged attacks by rolling its
Awareness or less on 2D; these same antlers can be sold for 15gp in a town
Awareness:7
Prowess:8
Psi:8
Damage:3D+4
Armor:0
Life:30
Abilities: Charge
Yak:
(")
(beast encounter)
Even a rabid wolf pack would not attack the dreaded ox of the mountains. Yaks fear-
lessly attack anything for no reason at all. They can be tamed if captured at an
early age in which case they make formidable defenders of livestock and property or
obstinate but sturdy pack animals. Anyone using a non-ranged attack on the Yak
will be surprised that something so big can move so fast, their agility is frightening
to behold an they can turn the tables on their attackers with their goring horns and
mauling hooves. Any character surviving combat with a Yak automatically gains a
level of experience when the Yak is killed
Awareness:6
Prowess:8
Psi:7
Damage:4D
Armor:1
Life:35
Abilities:Counterstrike, Charge
48
6.2 Obstacles
These are things which can be found in on a battleeld. Some of them can be climbed and some
require characters making ranged attacks which pass through them to do so with penalty. The
number of penalty points are subtracted from the relevant attribute (most likely Awareness or
Psi) when making the attack. Area and psychic spells are not aected by the penalties caused by
obstacles, regardless of the position of those making the attack and the defender relative to the
obstacle. Here are some obstacles, many others can be made by modifying these:
Smooth Stone:
Size:1-4 squares
Armor:10
Life:100
Penalty:2
Found: anywhere
Attributes: can not be climbed
Flat Stone:
Size:1-2 squares
Armor:10
Life:100
Penalty:0
Found: anywhere
Attributes: Can be moved up to and climbed in the next turn. A character on the
stone gains 1 Awareness point and 1 Prowess point when attacking a character o
the stone
Dead tree:
Size:1 square
Armor:2
Life:25
Penalty:0
Found: anywhere
Attributes: it can be moved up to and climbed in the next turn. A character in the
tree gains 2 Awareness points and 1 Prowess point when attacking a character not
in a tree.
49
Ruin:
Size:4-8 squares
Armor:10
Life:100
Penalty:2
Found: anywhere
Attributes: fallen buildings are quite easy to negotiate
Morass:
Size:1-20 squares
Armor:0
Life:innite
Penalty:0
Found: forest, river, open country
Attributes: characters who want to cross it in combat must roll their Awareness -2 or
less on 2D to do so unless they have the Levitate or Flight abilities. No character
may stand in the treacherous Morass
Shallow Water:
Size:1-50 squares
Armor:0
Life:innite
Penalty:0
Found: rivers
Attributes:characters who want to cross it must rst move into it and then cross it in
the next turn. A character in the water suers a penalty of 1 to their Awareness
while in it.
Deep Water:
Size:1-50 squares
Armor:0
Life:innite
Penalty:0
Found:rivers
Attributes: only characters with the Flight or Levitate ability can cross it during combat
Oak Tree:
50
Size:1 square
Armor:2
Life:70
Penalty:1
Found: rivers, open ground, towns, forest
Attributes: It can be moved up to and climbed in the next turn. Characters in the tree
gain 1 Awareness point and 1 Prowess point when attacking characters who are not
in the tree.
Pine Tree:
Size:1 square
Armor:2
Life:50
Penalty:1
Found: town, forest, mountain
Attributes: characters must move up to it and can climb it in the next turn. Characters
in the tree gain 2 Awareness points and 1 Prowess point when attacking characters
who are not in the tree.
Thorn Trees:
Size:1-3 squares
Armor:2
Life:30
Penalty:2
Found:forest, open country, mountain
Attributes: can not be climbed
Reed Bed:
Size:1-20 squares
Armor:0
Life:innite
Penalty:1
Found: rivers
Attributes:characters who want to cross it must rst move into it and then cross it in
the next turn. A character in the water suers a penalty of 1 to their Awareness
while in it.
51
Thorn Bushes:
Size:1-6 squares
Armor:1
Life:30
Penalty:1
Found: forest, open ground, town, mountain
Attributes: characters can move up to it in one turn and into it in the next, should
they want to move through it they can do that in the turn after. When inside it
a character gains 1 point to Prowess when attacking characters outside the thorn
bush, but looses 1 Awareness point while in it.
Wall:
Size:4-6 squares
Armor:10
Life:50
Penalty:2
Found:town
Attributes:characters can move up to it in one turn and onto it in the next. Characters
on the wall gain 2 Awareness points and 1 Prowess point when attacking characters
who are not on the wall.
Ridge:
Size:5-8 squares
Armor:10
Life:100
Penalty:2
Found:mountain
Attributes:characters can move up to it in one turn and onto it in the next. Characters
on the ridge gain 2 Awareness points and 1 Prowess point when attacking characters
who are not on the ridge.
Trench:
Size:3-6 squares
Armor:5
Life:50
Penalty:0
52
Found: town, open country
Attributes: characters can move up to it in one turn and into it in the next, should they
want to move out of it they can do that in the turn after. When inside it a character
gains 1 point to Prowess when attacking characters outside the trench, but looses 1
Awareness point while in it.
Chasm:
Size:5-20 squares
Armor:0
Life:innite
Penalty:0
Found:mountains
Attributes: only characters with the Flight or Levitate ability can cross it during combat
7 Other Variants of the Game
With surprisingly little improvisation you can play your favorite RPG-book according to the con-
ventions of this game, it is particularly well suited to those which have a good storyline but boring
combat; just a warning though, it will probably not make the adventure any easier to complete.
If the story asks you to test an attribute you do not have then you can improvise: what is the
nature of the test? Tests of re
ex, balance and dexterity, stealth even intelligence can be resolved
by rolling your Awareness or less on 2D. Tests of intuition, wisdom, charisma ect. . . can be resolved
by rolling your Psi or less on 2D. If there is a test which is not suited to any of the attributes in this
game improvise further: a test of pure blind luck can be resolved by
ipping a coin! Scary monsters
in many adventures will often not have a counterpart in this game, but they can be facsimilated,
for example a minotaur could be an Ogre with the Charge ability.
You could also make your own quests up. A simple way of doing this would be for an item to
be somewhere on the map and for the adventurers to have to retrieve it (it could have a nasty
guardian) and take it somewhere else on the map in order to win, while the Dark Lord need only
take it back to the stronghold to win the game.
Have fun!
I don't care if you have fun playing this game or not, just have fun.
It is for fun.
53

[AI]

What kind of editor and format did you make it in? I suggest LaTeX, basically text plus layout/formatting commands, it also has a built-in pdf converter. Gzipped or bzip2-ed, it shouldn't be over 10k.

[Skizzaltix]

I'm afraid I don't have time to read quite through this form back to front ATM, but it's looking good--I'll keep working on it as I have free time

But, just by going as far as I have... I like the card idea. In fact, I'd wouldn't bother making special cards, if I were you--Using a normal deck of playing cards will be easier for everyone involved, and will work just as well.
I also like the "no character stats" idea--It's a good one, if you can pull it off well.
Unfortunately, I just searched my hard drive, and... It looks like I lost/deleted my sets of rules one or two computer switches back
However, I'm perfectly happy to give you feedback just by reading the rules here--This game looks like fun!

[jonathantan86]

Well, all "fi", "fl", and "ff" are missing (e.g. figure -> gure), so he presumably *is* using LaTeX (or some variant of TeX) which automatically combines those characters into ligatures which didn't show up here. Either that, or he used Find and Replace in his word processor to replace these characters with their corresponding ligatures (I used to do that in Microsoft Word after seeing TeX's output).

Midnight_Carnival, maybe you could zip or tar.gz it up and upload it here. Not sure if that will circumvent the pdf restrictions.

So...if I'm reading this correctly, what you're describing is generally a square-tile or hex-tile battlefield with possibly varying terrain where people control units to fight? Also, maybe you could expand on Combat a bit more...for melee weapons, do you role a 2D (a.k.a. 2d6) against your prowess to see if it hits? Thanks.

[Midnight_Carnival]

So...if I'm reading this correctly, what you're describing is generally a square-tile or hex-tile battlefield with possibly varying terrain where people control units to fight? Also, maybe you could expand on Combat a bit more...for melee weapons, do you role a 2D (a.k.a. 2d6) against your prowess to see if it hits? Thanks.

Your reading is correct, but the map does not need squares or hex.

For the use of melee weapons: Assume that my character's Prowess is 6, wielding the sword takes this up to 7. I must roll 7 or less on 2D to strike a blow at an oponent on an ajacent square, my oponent then gets to respond. If he has a shield or staff, ect... he may attempt to parry my attack, if he has the Evade ability he may choose to use that. Although it is not a written rule, people generally get sick of people who try to parry the blow with a shield, and if that fails try to evade it. If the attack is sucsessful and my character's Damage is 1D+1, wielding the sword takes this up to 1D+5, this ammount (minus my oponent's armor rating) is subtracted from the oponent's Life.

Not entirely sure what you meant by "expand": so I have explained it.
I tried to make the game fairly open to expansion and customisation. For example, I have only given you the Fireball and Rodgering non-psychic combat spells. One is a target-specific spell, the other an area spell, I hoped that this would inspire others to make their own. Similarly, I only gave you fairly generic cliche'd character types, the guildless types of Elf, Man and Dwarf could act as a sort of rough guide for more imaginative character types.






Wow! I'm mostly reading positive comments and useful advice!
If I open my mouth on the Off Topic thing people mostly jump down my throat.

Sorry I took so long to address the issues you raised. I'm affraid I had a rather regretable incident which left me hospitalised for a while and typing is not mych fun when your right hand is in a cast and both arms are badly briused. -I'll not say anything about my Prowess...

By the way, I do Use LaTeX, it roxxxorzz! I will try to post the PDF in various compressed formats and not go off the deep end if it doesn't work. It is a lot easier to read. Thanks

Also, I wanted to make my own special deck of cards, but never had the time (right now I do not have the required no. of functional fingers either)

ENDLESS PARTY!!!!!!!
(it is for fun)