Adventuring: The Rules of the Game 33

Excavations is used or at least threatened. An enemy must be

brought to 0hp, or lose a Morale check, or surrender
in order to count as having been “defeated.” Sneak-
A single man can excavate 3 cubic feet of earth per ing past, tricking, or negotiating with an enemy
hour if he has proper equipment (Strength modifi- may prevent combat and lead to other rewards, but
ers apply to the number of cubic feet). He can dig at it does not translate to XP. Using magic to neutral-
half of this rate if he has improvised tools, and one ize or pacify an enemy does count, so spells such
quarter of this rate if he has no tools at all. as Sleep or Charm do count towards “defeating” an
opponent.

Experience Points Enemy Hit Dice XP Award

< 1
1
5
10
Experience Points (XP) are a measure of improve- 2 25
ment and progress for Player Characters. They are 3 50
the way that the game “keeps score.” However, like 4 75
many other concepts in this game, XP is an abstract 5 100
concept and not a literal measure of the experiences 6 250
that a character has had or what a character has 7 500
learned. Not all character actions and successes will 8 750
result in XP awards, nor will all adventures involve 9 1,000
XP. 10 1,250
At the end of every session of play, Experience 11 + 1,500
Points will be awarded to characters who partici-
pated in the game. These Experience awards are to be Sometimes enemies surrender and are ransomed or
divided equally amongst the surviving participants let free, or flee an earlier battle, and return to fight
of the adventure. Characters present for portions of again. An enemy can only count for XP once in any
the adventure should only get a share of Experience given game session.
for the activities in which they participated. Expe- Monsters with special abilities count as one Hit
rience Points are gained in two ways—Defeating Die more, and classed characters count as one Hit
Enemies and Recovering Treasure. Die more than their level.

Defeating Enemies Recovering Treasure

Defeating enemies is a minor way of gaining expe- This is the primary method for gaining XP in the
rience. This is not a game about combat or slaying game. However, not all monetary gains are counted
foes; these activities are simply frequent necessities as “treasure.” The following will gain the characters
in the harsh reality of the game. Characters who wealth, but they do not count for XP purposes:
prefer to fight when it is unnecessary are lunatics,
possibly psychotic, and not likely to survive long in ¶¶ Coins looted from bodies outside of adventure
a game run by a competent Referee. locations
To count for XP purposes, an “enemy” must ¶¶ Rewards
be a threat and predisposed to hostility towards ¶¶ Selling equipment stripped from foes
the player characters. Randomly slaying a villager, ¶¶ Selling magical items that have been used by a
slaughtering livestock, hunting, etc., does not count player character or retainer
towards XP rewards. ¶¶ Tax income
For purposes of XP, “defeating” is defined as ¶¶ Theft of wealth from mundane merchants, rulers,
winning a battle against a foe where force of arms and citizens �
34 Rules & Magic
¶¶ Trade, commerce, and other business activity Characters can only gain a maximum of one level
(including selling of mundane items stripped per game session. Any Experience Points over half-
from foes) way to the next level earned from a single session
is lost.

RPQOPS
The following treasures do count for XP purposes:

¶¶ All valuable objects recovered from uncivilized

or abandoned areas
¶¶ Money hoarded by creatures who have no actual
use of it

Treasure is calculated for XP only after it has been Foraging

returned to a secure location. One silver piece worth
of treasure is worth 1 Experience Point. Experience
is divided between all surviving party members
and Hunting
involved in an adventure. Characters may be able to find food and water
during their journeys overland. To find food in
Gaining a Level the wilderness, the character must roll against his
When a character earns enough Experience Points Bushcraft skill, with terrain modifying the skill as
to qualify for the next level, the change will happen follows:
the next time the character has returned to a secure
location. At that point the character’s level changes, Terrain Chance of Finding Food
and all benefits of that next level are immediately Plains +1 in 6
granted. Three points to consider when gaining a Mountain normal
new level: Forest +2 in 6
A damaged character that gains a level has his Desert –1 in 6
new additional Hit Points added to both the cur- Jungle +2 in 6
rent and maximum total. The character will still be Swamp normal
damaged for the same amount of points as before.
For example, a 1st level Fighter has a maximum of Hunting takes time, and the distance traveled during
8hp, but after a battle only has 3 hp left (5 points a day where successful hunting occurs is lessened by
lost). The XP gained from the battle and resulting 1d4 × 25%. Unsuccessful hunting takes all day. Suc-
treasure was enough to push him to the next level. cess means that 1d4 days’ worth of meals for a single
After returning to town, the player rolls 1d8 for the person has been acquired for the party.
character’s additional Hit Points for gaining a level. 1d10 units of ammunition are expended in the
The player rolls a 5, so the Fighter’s maximum Hit attempt. If a character does not have a proper mis-
Points increased to 13, and the current Hit Point sile weapon, the chance to find food is lowered by 1.
total becomes 8 (still 5 points lost). If a character has no missile weapon at all, reduce
Spellcasting characters must still prepare all spells the chance by one more. If it is winter, reduce the
as normal. The increased number of spells available chances by another point unless in the desert, where
to cast does not automatically make the number of this does not matter.
spells already prepared instantly increase as well. All food gained from foraging and hunting is con-
Magic-Users and Elves who gain a free spell for sidered to be the equivalent of “standard rations.”
their spellbook must still research that spell as usual Finding enough water to drink is easy in most
and take the usual amount of time. It simply will environments, but in the desert water can only be
not cost the money that researching a spell usually found if a Bushcraft roll is successfully made on
does. 1d12 rather than 1d6.
 Adventuring: The Rules of the Game 35

Getting Lost No Modifier –2

Dwarf
Elf
200 250
–4 Interval
300
Elves do not age
5

Characters can confidently follow trails, roads, Halfling 70 80 100 1

and other well-known landmarks without fear of Human 40 50 60 1
becoming lost. However, when traveling across the
wilderness it is easy to lose direction. At the start of If a character is aged by magical means, then all
each day of travel, the Referee will roll 1d6, and on saving throws that would have needed to be made
a 1 the party may go off course. The Referee should if the aging occurred naturally must be made imme-
then make a secret roll against the highest Bushcraft diately, with any ability score penalties also being
skill among the characters in the traveling party. If applied immediately.
this roll fails, the group is lost.
If the roll indicates that the party is lost, it likely Damage
will not realize it immediately. The party will con- When a character (or creature) suffers damage, the
tinue on in its travels, its members not understanding amount of damage is deducted from the character’s
that they are off course for days. The Referee will current Hit Points. When his Hit Points reach 0, the
decide which direction the group is traveling, and character becomes unable to take any action, and in
how far off it is from its intended direction. One most cases falls completely unconscious. The char-
option is to pick a direction only slightly off course. acter becomes mortally wounded at –3 Hit Points
For example, if the group intended to go south, it is and will die in 1d10 minutes. No healing, magical
actually headed southwest or southeast. or otherwise, can prevent death at this point. Death
is instantaneous at –4 Hit Points.

Disease
Hazards Characters exploring in godforsaken ruins, ancient
tombs, and trackless wilderness can become
exposed to all sorts of plagues and illnesses. Natu-
Ability Score Loss ral, chronic illnesses will not normally be a part of
Loss of ability scores only affects the character so the game as far as player characters are concerned.
much as their modifiers and bonuses will change. A That said, the Referee is free to introduce an NPC
character dropping from Strength 13 to Strength 12 stricken by cancer or some other illness.
will no longer have any Strength modifier, for exam- Diseases are individual in nature, but all have the
ple. This is most striking with Constitution, as any following characteristics: incubation period, infec-
change in Constitution modifier is applied immedi- tion time, interval, and effect.
ately to both current and maximum Hit Points. When exposed to a disease, the Referee will make
A character who falls to zero in any ability score a save versus Poison on behalf of the character. If
dies. the save is failed, then the character has contracted
the disease. The incubation period describes the
Aging length of time before the character is affected, and
Characters who grow old will lose their faculties at that point the character must make another save,
and eventually die. The chart below gives the start- and then another save at every interval point for
ing age that characters must make a saving throw the duration of the infection time, or else suffer the
versus Paralyzation, at what ages there are penalties effect for each failed save. Each save after the disease
to the modifier, and how often the saving throw is contracted is made with a –2 penalty if the charac-
must be made. A failed saving throw means that ter is not at rest for the duration of the infection.
one randomly determined ability score will perma- For example, the Green River Fever has an incu-
nently decrease by one point. bation period of one week, an interval of four hours,
36 Rules & Magic
an infection time of three days, and the effect of starvation recover at twice the usual rate with rest
lowering Intelligence. So beginning one week after and proper nourishment.
a character has been infected, that character must
make a saving throw versus Poison every four hours Sleep Deprivation
for three days (a total of 18 saving throws), or lose a A character must sleep at least four hours per twen-
point of Intelligence for each failed save. ty-four hour period in order to function properly. If
this is not the case, the character suffers a –1 pen-
Drugs & Alcohol alty to all rolls (10% penalty for 1d00% rolls) until
Drugs are treated much as poison would be, but the the situation is corrected. If the character continues
effects of a failed saving throw (no save if intention- on further without taking adequate sleep, there is a
ally using drugs) are usually much less severe than cumulative –1/10% penalty for each additional day
death. The Referee will determine the effects of spe- that passes without proper rest being taken.
cific drugs in his campaign.
Alcohol is far more pernicious, as it is quite
common for most everyone to use it to excess, as
beer and wine are often safer to drink than plain
water. Teetotalers will be extremely rare. Drunk
Healing
characters are –2 to Dexterity and all saving Damaged characters who have at least half of their
throws. Hit Points remaining recover 1 hp after a peaceful
night’s rest. Taking a watch shift does not prevent
Falling this recovery unless something happens during the
Characters suffer 1d6 points of damage per 10' that shift. Damaged characters who have at least half
they fall, up to a maximum of 20d6 for a 200' fall. of their Hit Points remaining can also recover an
additional 1d3 hp by resting a full day. To count
Poison as a full day of “rest,” a character cannot engage in
There are a variety of ways that a character can any strenuous activity, including, but not limited to
become poisoned. When exposed to poison, the traveling, fighting, researching, running, searching,
character must make a saving throw against Poison hunting, or foraging, and the character must have
or suffer the effects. Typical effects of a poison are adequate food and water. Basically, the character
instant death, falling into a deep slumber, the loss can do no more than converse and walk around his
of Hit Points, or perhaps the reduction in one or immediate area.
more ability scores. Only all-or-nothing effects are Characters who have less than half of their Hit
considered to be poison. Poisons that cause gradual Points remaining are in worse shape. They recover
or incremental effects are considered to be drugs for nothing from a night’s rest, and recover only 1 hp by
rules purposes. resting a full day.
A character at zero or fewer Hit Points will wake
Starvation up after 1d6 hours. The character will not be able to
A character must eat at least one full meal a day and carry any equipment or stand up, but can communi-
drink water every day or suffer ill effects. cate and crawl at a movement rate of 10'.
For every 24 hours that a character goes with- If the character rests the entire day in a comfort-
out food, the character must make a save versus able bed in a clean room, then an additional 1 hp is
Poison or one Constitution point is lost. For every recovered.
24 hours that a character goes without water, his Characters who have suffered temporary abil-
Constitution drops by half unless he makes a save ity score loss recover at a rate of one point (for all
versus Poison. After three such failed saves against affected ability scores) per day of rest. All affected
Poison due to a lack of water, the character will be ability scores regain an additional point at the end
dead. Constitution losses due to dehydration or of a full week of rest.
 Adventuring: The Rules of the Game 37
Characters can make no recovery if resting in a
dungeon or similarly hostile environment.
Healing restores Hit Points and ability scores
only to their normal maximum, never more.

Languages
Most Characters are assumed to begin play being
fully fluent in their native tongue, and are literate as
well if they have an Intelligence of 7 or greater. Elves
and Dwarfs will know the local human tongue in
addition to the tongue of their particular clan (Hal-
flings use the local human language).
When a character comes into contact with
another language, his chances of knowing the lan- are unable to surprise opponents, because the light
guage is 1 in 6, with the character’s Intelligence gives them away ahead of time.
modifier applying. If a character has a Languages The Referee’s judgment will determine how far
skill at a greater level than 1 in 6, use that as the base characters can see in other situations.
chance instead.
There is a –1 penalty if the language is not local to
the culture (Spanish, French, Swedish, English, and
German would be part of the same “cultural group”
to use a real-world example). The penalty is –2 if the
Mapping
language is considered to be exotic (English versus Mapping a structure or underground complex
Japanese, for example, or the tongue of a different requires one character in the party to have paper
race to use a more common game situation), and –3 and ink and two free hands. The Referee is only
if it is an ancient, dead language. obligated to give verbal descriptions of the area,
A character gets one attempt to know any partic- and if asked by a player how his map compares to
ular language. If that one attempt fails, the character the real map, the Referee is only obligated to point
simply does not know the language. out very obvious errors.
Magical languages cannot be known using this If the player characters are moving at “explora-
method. tion” speed, then the Referee should give exact
dimensions of hallways and areas—taking such
measurements is one reason why the party’s prog-

Light and Vision ress is so slow.

Extremely irregular areas, such as natural caves,
can best be left to rough descriptions, since accu-
Underground, or other places with no light, require rate mapping without a full survey team is simply
characters to carry light sources in order to see. impossible.
Torches and lanterns emit light in a 30' radius. Can- Outdoor mapping is not as exacting a process.
dles emit light in a 10' radius. Lanterns use flasks If using the hex map system of overland travel, the
of oil as fuel; a lantern can burn continuously on 1 Referee simply informs the players what sort of ter-
flask of oil for 24 turns. Torches burn continuously rain their that characters are moving into and the
for 6 turns before burning out. Candles will burn surrounding terrains as well (unless other terrain
for 12 turns. Characters that carry a light source obstructs their vision).
 Movement track of such things during a game. However, the
Referee has the authority to call an audit of a char-

and Encumbrance acter’s inventory at any time, so each player should

make sure that his character is carrying a reasonable
amount of equipment and that all of the equipment
A character’s movement rate is determined by fits somewhere on the character or in a pack. Worn
how much gear he is carrying, or how much he is items, such as cloaks, jewelry, backpacks, etc., do not
encumbered. In the strictest sense, this should be themselves count as items for encumbrance pur-
determined by adding up the weight of all the gear poses. Carried sacks full of stuff count as an oversized
that a character is carrying. Realistically, no one keeps item. 100 coins count as one regular item.

Character is wearing chain armor* +1 Point

  plate armor* +2 Points
Character is carrying 6 or more different items overall** +1 Point
  11 or more different items overall** +1 Point
  16 or more different items overall** +1 Point
  21 or more different items overall** +1 Point
Character is carrying an oversized item*** +1 Point per item

* Chain and Plate armor add to the number of for encumbrance purposes. All weapons count as
Encumbrance points but do not get recorded with separate items. Very small single items do not count
the rest of the usual equipment for encumbrance for encumbrance purposes. Oversized items are
purposes. counted separately.
** Multiple small items of the same type (spikes, *** Oversized items include great and other two-
arrows, etc.) count as one item for this purpose. handed weapons, any item that requires two hands
Worn clothing, armor, and jewelry do not count to carry or is as tall as the carrying character.

Movement per Turn Movement per ROUND

Points Encumbrance Exploration Combat Running Miles per Day
0–1 Unencumbered 120' 40' 120' 24
2 Lightly Encumbered 90' 30' 90' 18
3 Heavily Encumbered 60' 20' 60' 12
4 Severely Encumbered 30' 10' 30' 6
 5+ Over Encumbered 0' 0' 0' 0
 Adventuring: The Rules of the Game 39

Mounts the animal as well. Multiple mounts pulling a vehi-

If an animal is pulling a cart or other vehicle, the cle divide the total encumbrance points between
load of the vehicle (as per this scheme) is applied to them.

For every Human or Dwarf riding the animal +5 Points (plus rider’s Encumbrance Points)
  Elf riding the animal +4 Points (plus rider’s Encumbrance Points)
  Halfling riding the animal +3 Points (plus rider’s Encumbrance Points)
Animal is wearing leather barding +1 Point
  chain barding +2 Points
  plate barding +3 Points
Animal is pulling a vehicle –10 Points against vehicle load per axle
Per 5 items that the animal is carrying +1 Point
A Teamster has packed the animal’s load –5 Points

Movement per Turn Movement per ROUND

Points Encumbrance Exploration Combat Running Miles per Day
0–10 Unencumbered 240' 80' 240' 48
11–15 Lightly Encumbered 180' 60' 180' 36
16–20 Heavily Encumbered 120' 40' 120' 24
21–25 Severely Encumbered 60' 20' 60' 12
26+ Over Encumbered 0' 0' 0' 0

Mules subtract five points from their encumbrance Characters can choose to perform a forced march,
load, but move at half the listed speeds. Ponies traveling 12 hours per day. If this is done, add an
move at the listed speeds, but automatically start additional 50% to the distance traveled. Each day
with 6 points of Encumbrance. of forced march performed after the first inflicts
All per-day travel distances include periodic 1d6 damage on the characters, and also inflicts this
rests. Characters apply their Constitution modifier damage on animals from the first day. An animal
to their per-day travel distance on foot. that suffers 5 or 6 points of damage in this manner
The movement rates shown on the table above dies at the end of a day’s journey.
are figured based on an 8 hour day of travel on open
road. The terrain type will alter the rate somewhat,
as shown on this table:

Terrain Adjustment
Searching
Jungle, Mountains, Swamp × ⅓ Many items and features of interest are hidden from
Desert, Forest, Hills × ½ open view, with secret doors or compartments
Clear, Plains, Trail × ⅔ being the classic example. To find these things,
Road × 1 characters must search for them. Under normal
conditions, searching takes one turn per character
Bad weather also affects travel: per 10' of area searched. Hidden items or features
have a base 1 in 6 chance of being found per turn of
Conditions Adjustment searching. The Referee can create hidden elements
High Winds or Precipitation × ½ that are more difficult (or easier) to detect at his dis-
Storm Conditions × ⅓ cretion. If a character’s Search skill is greater than
40 Rules & Magic
1 in 6, use that as the base chance to find something encumbered have a likelihood of drowning, though
during a search. this is at the Referee’s discretion. Heavily encum-
Note that finding a secret door does not auto- bered characters, wearing plate mail armor and/or
matically grant a character an understanding of carrying a large proportion of treasure, probably
how it works. The Referee may require additional have a chance of 90% or more of drowning. Charac-
rolls or other actions to be taken before the door ters carrying less treasure or wearing lighter armor
can be opened. may have as little as a 10% chance of drowning.

Sleight of Hand Time

Picking the pockets of an unaware person, hiding a Within the game, time passes as is convenient for
small object from a search, readying a weapon with- play. If the characters are simply waiting for what-
out any observers noticing, swapping out an object ever reason, then the Referee can say, “Two days
on a weight-sensitive plate with a similarly-weighted pass,” or whatever is needed. If nothing of impor-
bag of sand, these and more are examples of Sleight tance happens, then players merely mark off their
of Hand. A character has a base 1 in 6 chance to suc- characters’ food supplies or upkeep costs as appro-
cessfully perform such an activity. priate, and handle any other business that occurs
during that time.
There are periods when keeping a strict record

Stealth of time is important. Most measures of time are

self-explanatory in the rules, as they match our real
measurements of time. However, there are three
Stealth allows a character to sneak around and units of time that have special meaning in the game.
hide. In order to use the Stealth skill, those that the The “Turn” is ten minutes long. This is often used
character wishes to hide from must not already be as a measure of time for spell durations and under-
aware of the character’s presence, and there must ground exploring.
be somewhere to hide. Stealth is not invisibility! The “Round” is six seconds long. This is primar-
For example, if the character hears enemies coming ily used for time management during combat and
down a bare hallway, he would not be able to simply for the duration of combat-oriented spells.
hide because of the lack of available cover. In a room The “Segment” is one second long. During each
with furniture, the character would be able to use round of combat, characters will act in different
Stealth to hide, but if someone were to conduct a orders. The exact moment when a character’s action
search of the room, the character would be found. occurs is called the “Segment.”
If a character attacks after successfully using
Stealth, that attack is always considered to be a Sur-
prise attack, even if the enemy is already engaged
in battle. Tinkering
Manipulating small mechanical objects is an activ-

Swimming ity called Tinkering. Tinkering is often used to open

locks or remove small mechanical traps. Note that
only mechanical locks where the character has
It is assumed that every character knows how access to the keyhole (or other opening mecha-
to swim. Characters move at half their normal nism) are able to be manipulated in this manner.
movement when swimming. Characters that are Only traps which have been found, and which have
 Adventuring: The Rules of the Game 41
a mechanism that is accessible to the character, Referee will decide what is required to trigger
can be disarmed. For example, a tripwire is a trap a trap, and what happens when the trap is trig-
which a character can attempt to disarm, as is a lock gered. In general, there must be some way to avoid
with a poison needle. A pressure plate which, when or reduce the effect of the trap being sprung. For
pressed, collapses the ceiling, would be an exam- instance, a save versus Paralyzation is often used
ple of a trap that the character could not disarm, to avoid falling into a covered pit, while spear-
because the mechanism itself is behind the walls, throwers, automated crossbows, and the like are
floor, or ceiling. sometimes treated as if they were monsters (attack-
Other uses of Tinkering (setting traps, for exam- ing the victim’s Armor Class at a given Attack
ple, or jury-rigging impromptu devices) should be Bonus).
adjudicated by the Referee on a case-by-case basis. Any character can use the Search skill (base 1
A character gets one attempt to use Tinkering in 6 chance) to determine if an area or object has
on any particular object. If that one attempt fails, any secret mechanism or function, including traps.
the character must gain a level before attempting to A successful use of this skill does not tell what the
manipulate that object again. function is (it may very well be something that the
The base chance of success for Tinkering is character should want to trigger!), but will let the
1 in 6. character know that it is there and how it is trig-
gered. The search takes one turn per 10' square
searched.

Traps Trap detection may not be allowed if the trap

is purely magical in nature; on the other hand, in
such cases Magic-Users, Elves, and/or Clerics may
Dungeons and ruins frequently contain traps, be able to detect magical traps at the given 1 in 6
including spear-throwers, covered pits, etc. The chance, at the Referee’s discretion.
 Maritime Adventures

Miles per Day Ship
Watercraft Required Crew Sailing Rowing Cargo (tons) Hit Points
Raft 1 – 18 0.3 1
Canoe 1 – 18 0.5 3
Lifeboat 1 – 18 0.75 4
Trireme 170 24 18 65 24
Quadrireme 170 24 18 320 36
Longship 75 24 18 40 15
River Galley 20 24 18 50 12
Riverboat 16 24 18 10 6
Sailboat 1 24 – 3 5
Cog 20 48 – 150 20
Caravel 35 72 – 100 25
Carrack 82 48 – 685 34
Galleon 150 48 – 150 104
Cutter 20 72 – 190 27
Brig 45 72 – 250 42
Corvette 84 96 – 270 51
Frigate 84 72 – 610 60

¶¶ Good vessels have 5% greater speed

and Ship Hit Points.
¶¶ Excellent vessels have 10% greater speed
Water Vessels
and Ship Hit Points. Characters might employ any number of watercraft.
¶¶ Advanced vessels have 15% greater speed The Watercraft Table details different kinds of water
and Ship Hit Points. vessels, as well as their speeds when rowed or sailed,
¶¶ Poor vessels have 10% less speed their Ship Hit Points and maximum cargo load.
and Ship Hit Points. Ship Hit Points (SHP) operate in the same
¶¶ Awful vessels have 25% less speed manner as Hit Points do for monsters and char-
and Ship Hit Points. acters, except that 1 SHP represents 10 Hit Points
of damage. Any attack which does less than 10 Hit
43
44 Rules & Magic
Points of damage does not cause the loss of a Ship ships are unable to move any significant distance
Hit Point. If a vessel is damaged to 0 or fewer Ship under these conditions.
Hit Points, it will no longer move and the ship’s
weapons will no longer function. The ship will sink Movement Wind
within 1d10 rounds. Roll Adjustment Conditions
2 No Sailing No Wind
3 –¾ all movement Greatly Unfavorable

Water Conditions 4
5
6–8
–½ all movement Unfavorable
–¼ all movement Slightly Unfavorable
None Normal
When traveling on rivers, the listed distances vari- 9 +¼ all movement Slightly Favorable
ous vessels can travel in a day can be modified if the 10 +½ all movement Favorable
current is particularly fast or if the vessel is moving 11 × 2 all movement* Greatly Favorable
upstream. Adjust the average miles traveled each 12 × 3 all movement** Fierce Wind
day up or down by 1d8+4 miles, as appropriate.
The Referee might invoke other penalties, depend- * All ships have a 10% probability of taking on water
ing on what hardships a vessel encounters on a river. (20% for galleys), which will incur a penalty of –½
Shallow water, waterfalls, twisting waters, rapids, or to movement instead and inflict 3d6 SHPs worth of
sandbars all might impact on a ship’s travel times. damage on the ship.
There are many possible conditions at sea that ** The ship will travel in a random direction deter-
might impact the average travel times listed for mined at the Referee’s discretion, as discussed
each vessel. The Referee should check water condi- previously. Galleys will sink 80% of the time. All
tions at the start of each day by rolling 2d6. A result ships take 5d6 SHPs worth of damage.
of 12 indicates strong winds and storms while a 2
means that the day is completely devoid of wind
and a ship that is incapable of rowing cannot move
for the entire day. Any vessel with sails can attempt
to move with the wind to avoid damage from
Crew
strong winds. However, this may not carry the ship If there are fewer crew members on board than
in the direction of preferred travel. The direction the minimum listed, a ship cannot be operated at
will be chosen by the Referee. The vessel travels at normal levels of efficiency.
the average speed × 3. If the ship encounters land If there is less than a full crew, but more than
during this travel, it has a 25% chance of finding three-quarters of the full crew, a ship’s speed is
a safe place to take refuge along the shore. Other- reduced by 25% or the ship takes 1d6 SHP in
wise, the ship is driven onto the shore and breaks damage that day.
up because either it collides with the harbor wall If there is less than three-quarters crew, but
or its hull is ripped open on the rocks in shallow more than one-half of the full crew, a ship’s speed
waters. In these windy, stormy conditions a galley is reduced by 50% and the ship takes 1d6 SHP in
(defined for these purposes as any ship with a damage that day.
rowing speed listed) has an 80% chance of being If there is less than one-half crew, but more than
overrun with water and sinking. If it is near shore one-quarter of the full crew, a ship’s speed is reduced
when the storm hits, a galley can find a safe harbor by 75% and the ship takes 1d6 SHP in damage that
100% of the time if the shore has clear terrain. day.
Otherwise, a galley will find a safe harbor on a roll If there is less than one-quarter of the full crew,
of 1 or 2 on 1d6. Note that if the roll indicates no then the ship cannot be controlled. It drifts as
wind for the day, ships that can move by rowing can decided by the Referee and the ship takes 1d6 SHP
move their normal rowing speed for the day. Sailing in damage that day.
Encounters at Sea
Monsters can surprise a ship, but because mon-
sters native to the water cannot generally be seen,
or “sneaked up on,” a ship can never surprise a
monster. When the Referee rolls for a random
encounter, the distance between the monster and
the ship is 4d6 × 10 yards.

Waterborne Chases
When two waterborne vessels, or a ship and a mon-
ster, encounter one another, one party may choose
to flee. The distance between each of the groups
is determined as per a normal encounter. Success
depends entirely on luck and the difference between
the speeds of the pursued and the pursuer.
If the fleeing party is faster than the pursuer, the
base chance of escape is 80%. The base chance is
50% if both parties have the same movement rate,
but decreases by 10% for every 30' movement that
the escapee is slower than the pursuer (to a mini-
mum of 10%). If the fleeing party is successful, the
pursuing group cannot try to catch up with the flee-
ing party for 24 hours, and then only if a random
encounter roll indicates an encounter. If the pur-
sued monster or ship fails its roll to flee, the pursuer
will gain on the fleeing party at a rate of 10 yards per
round if the pursuer is slower than the other party
or if the pursuer’s speed is no greater than 30' more
than the fleeing party. If the pursuer’s speed is more
than 30' faster than the fleeing party, the pursuer
will gain on the fleeing party at a rate equal to the
pursuer’s speed per round.

Waterborne Combat
Time and movement functions in the same way in
water combat as it does in other encounters. How-
ever, one of the major differences to note is that
attacks and damage can be directed at waterborne
vessels in addition to characters and monsters.

Vessels and Damage

It takes a half of a crew’s complement a full day to
repair 1 SHP while a full complement of crew can
repair 2 SHP in a full day. As long as the vessel
never loses half or more of its SHP, all damage can
46 Rules & Magic
be repaired at sea by the crew. If the ship takes more crew members, this time can be reduced by 1 Turn
than half of its SHP in damage, then the ship cannot to a minimum of 1 Turn. A catapult cannot be used
be repaired to more than half its original SHP with- to attack a ship that is closer than the minimum
out returning to a proper port where the ship can range indicated.
be beached and refitted. Similarly, a ship that has
suffered damage that reduces its SHP to below 25% Ram
of its original SHP cannot be repaired to more than Small Ship Ram Damage: (1d4+4) × 10 SHP
25% its original SHP without returning to a proper or 3d8 hp
port. Large Ship Ram Damage: (1d6+5) × 10 SHP
or 6d6 hp
Ship-to-Ship Combat
Combat between ships is usually fought by either The first amount listed for each size of ship is the
catapults or rams, both of which are detailed amount of SHP damage inflicted when ramming
below. another vessel. The second amount is the Hit Point
damage inflicted when ramming large aquatic
Catapult monsters.
Rate of Fire: variable; ¹∕₅ rounds with 4 crew;
¹∕₈ rounds with 3 crew; ¹∕₁₀ rounds with 2 crew Boarding Vessels
Range: 150–300 yards When one vessel closes with another and comes
Attacks as: Fighter level equal to crew number alongside it, the crew, marines, or occupants aboard
firing either can attempt to board the other. If the occu-
Area effect: 10' square pants of both ships wish to board the other ship,
Damage: 3d6 SHP or 1d6 SHP in fire damage their mutual intent makes the action succeed with
per turn no chance of failure. If only one side wishes to board
the other, then the side that wishes to board has a
Catapults can be operated by a variable number 35% chance (–35 on 1d100%) of being able to suc-
of crew which will affect the rate of fire and attack cessfully maneuver its ship into a position along the
ability as indicated above. Catapults fire either solid other from where it can launch a boarding action
metal-tipped bolts, or combustible loads such as pull them together with grappling hooks. Once the
pitch. A bolt inflicts the standard 3d6 damage, while members of both crews come into contact with
a combustible load sets the target ship alight and each another, combat ensues following the stan-
does the indicated fire damage. It takes a minimum dard combat rules. When characters are in the act
of 5 crew members 3 Turns to extinguish flames of boarding another ship, they suffer a penalty of –2
caused by a fire attack. For every five additional to their attack rolls and Armor Class.

RPQOPQOPS
 Retainers

Monthly Space Requirements
Retainer Daily Wage Wage Live-In Wage (in feet square) Share
Accountant 5% of amount handled 10'+20' –
Alchemist – 250 sp 187 sp 15' –
Animal Handler 14 sp 140 sp 105 sp 10' –
Armorer – 50 sp 37 sp 10' –
Butler – 150 sp 112.5 sp 10' –
Coachman 6 sp 60 sp 45 sp 10' –
Craftsman – 100 sp 75 sp 10'+ 20' –
Guard 8.4 sp 84 sp 63 sp 10' –
Guide 14 sp – – – ¹∕₁₀
Henchman – – – 10' ½
Laborer 5.6 sp 56 sp 42 sp 10' –
Linkboy 4.2 sp 42 sp 31.5 sp 10' –
Mercenary, Archer – 125 sp 93.75 sp 5' ¹∕₅
Mercenary, Cavalry – 200 sp 150 sp 5' ¹∕₅
Mercenary, Infantry – 100 sp 75 sp 5' ¹∕₅
Mercenary, Polearm – 150 sp 112.5 sp 10' ¹∕₅
Physician 28 sp 280 sp 210 sp 20' –
Sailor – – 63 sp – ¹∕₅
Sailor, Captain – – 250 sp – 1
Sailor, Navigator – – 100 sp – ½
Sailor, Oarsman – – 30 sp – ¹∕₅
Scholar – 100 sp 75 sp 10' –
Servant 5.6 sp 56 sp 42 sp 10' –
Slave (1 sp) – – 5' –
Slave Master – 70 sp 52.5 sp 10' –
Spy – 200 sp – – –
Teamster 10 sp 100 sp 75 sp 10' –

47
48 Rules & Magic
An adventuring party is often more than just the sum receive shares is due a death benefit payable to his
of the player characters. A support network of NPCs family (or the local magistrate should no family be
is often necessary to really allow an expedition into known) equal to one hundred times his daily wage
the unknown to reach its full potential. Once the (or twelve times their monthly wage if no daily wage
expedition reaches its destination, who is going to is given). The family of the retainer who would nor-
excavate the area around the Pharaoh’s tomb so that mally receive shares can expect a death benefit equal
the entrance can be discovered? Afterwards, who is to half of the usual share that the retainer would
going to carry all that treasure back? Are the pack normally receive. In either case, the death benefit
animals efficiently utilized? Who is guarding the received is paid out in silver rather than Experience
camp? And what is to be done with all that treasure Points. Should a retainer die in service, there is a
after it has been recovered? Surely the player charac- 50% chance that the recently deceased retainer has a
ters are not a traveling gold caravan? Where do the family that will try to collect the death benefit.
player characters live? Surely not in a hovel if they
have become successful treasure seekers. If so, who Details of each type of retainer are found below.
looks after their household when they are away?
These support characters are called Retainers. Accountant
Households are largely disorganized affairs. Any
The basic types of retainers and their basic stats are household with five or more retainers that does not
listed in the table on the previous page. include an accountant increases its running costs
by 1d20% in any particular month as money slips
¶¶ The Daily Wage is the cost of hiring one person through the cracks.
of that type for a single day. The Monthly Wage is
the cost of hiring a worker long-term, although the Alchemist
worker retains his own residence and is expected An alchemist reduces the amount of laboratory
to work no more than one third of any particular time needed for any magical research by 1d6 days
day. If no long-term contract is worked out, or the per project. The alchemist must be present for the
length of employment is unknown at the start, then entire project, and paid by the month.
the Daily Wage must be paid, even if the length of
employment lasts longer than a single month. Animal Handler
¶¶ The Monthly Live-In Wage is for those retainers While it is assumed that an odd animal here and
who live on their employers’ property and have there can be taken care of by its owner, having large
room and board included in their wages. numbers of animals on a property without anyone
¶¶ The Space Requirements detail how much living to see to their proper management creates a chaos
space the retainer requires for living space on the of its own. Any property which has at least five ani-
property. If there is a “+” number, the second mals (meant for hauling, work, or riding) needs an
number is the work space that they require in Animal Handler, and one Handler is required for
addition to their living space. each twenty such animals.

Most retainers will absolutely not subject them- Armorer

selves to danger. Those that are willing to place Armorers are required to forge new armor and
themselves in dangerous situations will receive a weapons and to keep existing armaments in good
share of treasure gathered (and Experience Points) condition. One armorer per fifty armed troops is
as noted. Note that these shares are only for those necessary.
actions that the retainer takes a direct part in.
It is common for retainers to negotiate for their Butler
families to receive death benefits should they die A household can be a very disorganized place. If a
while in service. Any full-time retainer who does not character wanted to deal with all of the aspects of
 Retainers 49
handling the day-to-day issues of running both his Guide
household and his retainers, then he would be a Guides are adept at finding their way in the wilder-
boss rather than an adventurer or explorer. A Butler ness. With a guide in tow, the chances of becoming
(sometimes called a Steward) acts as head of the lost are reduced, with the Bushcraft skill roll for
household and interacts with the staff so that the becoming lost being made with a two point bonus.
master of the house does not have to. If there are at
least three different types of retainers (not counting Henchman
sailors or mercenaries), then a Butler is necessary or Henchmen are different in that they are not exactly
the Morale of the retainers drops by one. hired help, but actually adventuring sidekicks. They
also are classed characters. Characters can only hire
Coachman henchmen that are at least two levels below their
A coachman is a character’s personal driver, on call own. Henchmen are often found during adventures
to transport the player character about town. For as allies, and make for great replacement player
short-term employment, see the Coach Charters characters if and when a player’s character dies.
in the Services section of Equipment. Coachmen
do not travel across the frontier or go anywhere Laborer
that is not a safe, civilized area on reasonably Laborers do construction work, excavations, heavy
maintained roads. If an adventurer wishes to hire lifting, and other physical sorts of labor. For every
someone who will drive his coach or wagon across ten laborers, a foreman who is paid twice the aver-
the frontier, then he should hire a Teamster (see age laborer’s wages is needed.
below).
A coachman’s wages do not include the coach Linkboy
itself or the animals to pull it. A linkboy is a servant who is a torch/lantern bearer.
They do not do heavy labor or carry equipment
Craftsman (else the linkboy is treated as a laborer).
Craftsmen include carpenters, masons, metalwork-
ers, tailors, and other types of workers that take raw Mercenary
materials and make finished goods. Each craftsman Mercenaries are paid warriors-for-hire. If recruited
hired specializes in a single trade, but an estate can from the citizenry, all equipment must be supplied
hire one general craftsman to work as a handyman by their employers. To hire an existing mercenary
who will help maintain its infrastucture. company, its employer must hire at least 20 at once,
and even then the standard gear is leather armor and
Guard a mêlée weapon. Mounted mercenary troupes cost
Guards are much like mercenaries, but they are not ten times the normal amount.
expected to travel. They will guard property and act For every ten mercenaries hired, there must be
as bodyguards for members of the household when one sergeant, who earns double what the average
out and about. mercenary does, or their Morale drops by one. A

RPQOPQOPS
50 Rules & Magic
hired group of one hundred or more mercenaries messages, and generally make life convenient and
must have a captain (paid ten times as much as an comfortable for the master of the house. Guests of
individual soldier). importance will feel that they are in a home of ill-
Mercenaries are always 0 level, with sergeants breeding if they are not greeted, and waited upon,
being 1st level Fighters. Captains will be from 1st by a servant. There should be one servant per five
to 3rd level Fighters. rooms on the property and one servant per ten indi-
viduals living on the premises.
Physician
A character under the care of a physician in com- Slave
fortable, safe surroundings (not in a dungeon or in Slaves are intelligent beings who are owned by
the wilderness) recovers double the usual number others. Many societies frown upon (to various
of Hit Points as listed under Healing. degrees, some quite severely) the owning of slaves
that are the same race/religion/ethnicity as the pre-
Sailor dominant population, but look back to real world
Sailors, it will come as no surprise, man ships of history and one can find a great many examples of
the sea. They can handle every duty on board, from slavery in practice. The role and extent of slavery in
scrubbing the decks to repelling pirates. For every the campaign world is determined by the Referee.
ten sailors, there must be a mate to organize them A slave costs 50 sp, or 20 sp if purchased as a
or the sailors’ Morale drops by one. child. A slave will cost more if he has a specialized
Sailors are assumed to live on their ship. skill.
A slave counts as half a person in a property’s
Sailor, Captain food budget since they are often fed leftover or sub-
A ship full of sailors is not going to respect a land- standard fare, even when otherwise treated well.
lubber, no matter how competent (or rich) he is.
A proper sea captain is necessary to organize and Slave Master
command a ship’s crew, else the crew’s Morale Even well-treated slaves are still slaves and not will-
drops by one. ing workers. For every ten slaves, a slave master is
needed to oversee them.
Sailor, Navigator
Every vessel that leaves sight of land requires a Navi- Spy
gator on board, or else it has an increased chance of Well-to-do households and powerful families need
getting lost. to know what is happening in the private halls of
others like them—even if just to be made aware of
Sailor, Oarsman hostile intentions. Just the same, every household
If a vessel an oared ship and not a sailing ship, oars- of influence will be targeted by others hoping to get
men can instead be employed. Other than their pay, information about it and its master. As his cover, a
oarsmen are essentially the same as sailors. spy will perform the tasks of a regular retainer, but is
paid an extra sum to snoop around a bit and report
Scholar all relevant information back to his employer. A spy
A scholar reduces the amount of laboratory time is always a long-term employee.
needed for any magical research by 1d4 weeks per
project. The scholar must be present for the entire Teamster
project, and paid by the month. A teamster is an expert at efficiently packing animals
and preparing them to haul cargo (or pull carts and
Servant wagons) over long distances. Teamsters alleviate
Every proper household requires servants to answer some of a pack animal’s encumbrance and lessen the
the door, bring the tea, cook meals, tidy up, run chance of vehicles breaking down while traveling.
 Retainers 51

Hiring Retainers Roll Accept Position? Loyalty/Morale

3 No 2
In most civilized areas, it is not difficult to find 4 3
people who are out of work. The Referee will deter- 5 4
mine how many qualified applicants are available for 6 5
any particular position, and it generally costs about 7 6
2 sp to get word out about the job opening. 8 6
When the applicant meets the hiring charac- 9 7
ter, there are three or four factors which influence 10 7
whether the applicant takes the job, and how loyal 11 Yes 7
he is: 12 7
13 8
¶¶ Payment 14 8
¶¶ Employer’s Charisma 15 9
¶¶ Term of Service 16 10
¶¶ Living Quarters, if long term employment is 17 11
offered 18 12

There is no adjustment to loyalty if the offered pay

is standard. For every 50% increase above the stan- be checked. A change in their superior may also
dard rate, add one to the rolls below. For every 10% cause a check, while any change in pay or living
decrease below the standard rate, subtract one. conditions would certainly trigger a check. Being
The employer’s Charisma modifier applies to asked to perform duties beyond their normal job
both rolls. description would cause a check as well.
If employment is promised to be ongoing, that is For positions where danger is expected, any
for at least three months, then add one to both rolls. opportunity to greatly profit at the employer’s
If the long-term employment involves the expense (say treasure is found) would cause a
employee residing on the character’s property, the check, and being asked to do obviously dangerous
size of the employee’s living space is an issue. If it is things would also prompt a check. Using retainers
as listed, there is no adjustment. If it is half as large, as cannon fodder or trap testers will cause an imme-
there is a –2 modifier to the rolls, but for every 50% diate check, not only of the employee so treated, but
increase, there is +1. for every one of that character’s retainers.
Roll 3d6 twice on the following table when a For actual combat situations, see the section on
character attempts to hire a retainer. The first roll Morale under the Combat section.
will determine if the applicant accepts the position, In situations where the servant’s employer is
while the second roll on the same table will deter- not clearly the one behind the orders, a check is
mine the retainer’s loyalty (or Morale) score. in order. Retainers are hired by specific characters,
The Referee will make both of these rolls and and will not stand to be treated as part of a “servant
the results will be kept secret. Players should never pool” by the entire group of player charcters!
know exactly how (dis)loyal their retainers are. It is up to the Referee what happens as a result
of a failed roll, although it should have something
When Loyalty Should Be Checked directly to do with the retainer’s function (for exam-
For domestic retainers, Loyalty should be checked ple, an Accountant might embezzle his employer’s
whenever there is any danger encountered during money) or the trigger of the Loyalty check (a maid
the course of their normal duties. If anything scan- might go to the authorities if she discovered crimi-
dalous or illegal happens, their Loyalty should also nal activity, for example).
 Property and Finance

Comparing the wages of common workers and these rules, which assume that the characters are
the starting money for player characters makes it explorers and adventurers.
obvious that the average starting player character is
already in a position of privilege. That the character Upkeep
will then likely pursue further wealth, and indeed It costs 1 gp (50 sp) per month for food and other
since such wealth is necessary to advance in level, essential supplies per resident of the household.
makes it obvious that successful characters in this A landowning character must pay 1d6% of the
game will become quite rich. property’s value every year just for simple main-
What to do with all that wealth? tenance. This is increased by 1d10% if there is no
accountant on staff, and by another 1d4% if there is
no handyman or craftsman on the payroll.

Property Taxes
A landowning character must pay 1d4+3% of the
Owning property is a great way for characters to property’s value per year in taxes, adding another
both spend, and invest, their wealth. The prices 1d10% if there is not an accountant on staff.
given for property in the Equipment section are
averages; the Referee is of course free to create
custom price lists for different locations and con-
ditions. At the very least, a place to store excess
treasure will be needed, as well as people to
Investment
guard it and run things while the character is off Another method of using (and hopefully growing!)
adventuring. wealth is investment. Merchant houses importing
Owning property also gives a character a stake in and exporting goods, explorers looking for spon-
local politics and will lead to many NPCs becoming sors for their latest expeditions, craftsmen looking
involved in the character’s life. for capital to open their own shop in town—all of
Note that for the purpose of these rules being a these give a character opportunity to invest and earn
landowner does not imply rulership over anything a profit from his accumulated wealth.
other than the household staff. The complexities These rules will be handled abstractly, unless
of being a political power are beyond the scope of the Referee wants to be specific. The player merely

53
54 Rules & Magic
specifies how much the character wishes to invest minimum number is rolled, roll again, and subtract
and what level of risk the investment involves. It is that number from the return (without a modifier),
assumed that even if a character owns a business, he and keep rolling and subtracting as long as the mini-
will not be involved in the day-to-day operations, mum number is rolled.
since the character is an adventurer! A character can only freely withdraw his invest-
ment at the time of the yearly return. Otherwise,
Yearly Return there is a penalty of –1d6+4% on his investment.
A stable investment will grow by 1d8–4% a year. A All figures include taxes due on the investment.
risky investment will grow by 1d20–10% a year. A
wild investment will grow by 1d100%–50% a year. Bankrupt!
Add +1d10% if the character making the invest- There is a chance that an investment will simply go
ment has an accountant on his staff. bust during any given year, and the character will
If the final growth is a positive number, the char- lose every last copper he has made in that invest-
acter will receive that much money in cash, to be ment. The chances are:
kept, spent, or re-invested as the character wishes. If
the final growth is a negative number, the character Investment Type Chance of Bankruptcy
receives no money and the value of the investment Stable  5%
decreases. Risky 10%
These yearly return amounts “explode,” either Wild 25%
positively or negatively. If the maximum number on
the die is rolled, roll again, adding the new number
(without the modifier), and keep rolling and adding
as long as the maximum number is rolled. If the

Example 1
A character has 50,000 sp invested in a Risky
venture. On the yearly roll, he rolls a 20, mean-
ing a 10% gain (alas, he has no accountant).
Because he rolled a 20, he rolls again, and gets
a 3. He adds this 3 to the original 10, totaling
a 13% gain. At the end of the year, his invest-
ment returns him 6,500 sp!

Example 2
The same character has 10,000 sp invested in a
Stable venture. On the yearly roll, he rolls a 1,
meaning a 3% loss (again, he has no accoun-
tant, the fool!). Because he rolled a 1, he rolls
again, and gets a 7. He subtracts that 7 from
the original –3, for a total loss of 10%. The
character makes no money that year and his
investment loses 1,000 sp in value.
 Encounters

Encounters are any situation where the player options available for an encounter. Attack? Parley?
characters meet other characters or creatures in Run? Sneak around? All, and more, are possible
uncertain circumstances. There is no limit to the actions and outcomes…

55
56 Rules & Magic

Surprise Roll Reaction

2 Hostile
When surprise is possible, roll 1d6 for each side 3–5 Unfriendly
which might be surprised; most normal characters 6–8 Indifferent
are surprised on a roll of 1–2. Surprised charac- 9–11 Talkative
ters are unable to act for one Round. Characters 12 Helpful
or creatures which are well hidden and prepared
to perform an ambush act from surprise on a roll
of 1–4 on 1d6. Some characters or creatures are
described as being less likely to be surprised; reduce
the range by 1 for such creatures.
Combat
The foes of surprised characters can take a free
action before Initiative is rolled. Initiative
Note that explorers traveling in a large party There are two methods of determining Initiative:
underground with light sources and metal armor
clomping on stone floors are not going to surprise ¶¶ One player rolls 1d6 for the player characters’
anything or anyone. side, and the Referee rolls 1d6 for the opposition.
The winner’s side acts first, the loser acts second.
¶¶ All player characters roll 1d6 for initiative indi-

Encounter vidually, and the Referee rolls initiative once for

each type of enemy they are facing in combat.

Distance Then the Referee counts down from 6 to 1 (with

each of these units being a Segment of the
combat Round), with everyone acting on
Encounters begin with the closest opposing charac- their particular Initiative Segment.
ters 3d6 × 10' apart, unless there are specific details
which would define the encounter distance, such as If opposing groups roll the same Initiative
being in fog or a forest. In environments with lim- number, break ties using the Dexterity modi-
ited visibility (such as underground), the maximum fier. For creatures without a Dexterity score, the
encounter distance will be the visibility distance. Referee can roll 3d6 to determine their Dexterity
Note that creatures that can see in the dark and have for purposes of Initiative only. If there are still ties,
ranged combat capabilities will certainly attack from then all tied combatants act simultaneously.
beyond the range of their opponents’ vision.
Things to Do in One Round
These given options certainly do not consist an

Reactions exhaustive list of possible actions. The Referee

has the final say in what can or cannot be done
in one Round.
In most instances, NPCs’ reactions will be obvious
based on the circumstance of the encounter. If there
is any doubt, consult the following chart.
This chart can also be used in any situation
where someone is attempting to convince an NPC
as to a course of action and there is doubt as to the
outcome.
 Encounters 57
Attack ¶¶ Press: This is a fierce attack made at the expense
A character can attack if there is an enemy within of defense. +2 to hit, –4 AC penalty.
striking range. The Referee will inform the player ¶¶ Defensive Fighting: This is a more conservative
what the opponent’s AC is, and the player rolls a attack, emphasizing defense more than offense.
d20 to determine if his character hits. If the result is +2 AC bonus, –4 to hit.
equal to or greater than the defender’s AC (includ-
ing all modifiers), then the character inflicts the Armor Class adjustments remain in effect until the
weapon’s damage upon the opponent. character’s action in the following Round.
Strength modifiers are added to the Attack Attacking ends a character’s Round.
Bonus in mêlée. Dexterity modifiers are added to
the Attack Bonus in ranged combat and to Armor Cast a Spell
Class. Casting a spell during combat is a very risky propo-
Fighters, Dwarfs, and Elves have two extra sition because the caster leaves himself completely
options when attacking in mêlée. They are: helpless and open to attack while doing so. Magic-
Users must have both hands free (a staff or wand
58 Rules & Magic
in hand is acceptable), Elves need just one free Parry
hand, to cast a spell. Clerics must have their holy Characters can decide to defend themselves in
symbol in one hand for the entire Round. A char- combat at the expense of all other possible activ-
acter wishing to cast a spell cannot drop anything ity. No other action is allowed during a Round in
at the beginning of the Round or move at all during which a character parries, although the player is free
the whole of the Round. His attention must be on to decide that his character is parrying at any point
casting the spell for the entire Round. during the Round, even out of Initiative sequence,
Spells with an instantaneous or permanent dura- provided that the character has not yet acted. This
tion take effect right away. All other spells take effect gives a +2 AC bonus for the Round, or a +4 bonus
at the beginning of the next Round before Initiative for Fighters, Dwarfs, and Elves.
rolls are made.
If a character has taken any damage earlier in Use an Item
a Round, the character cannot cast a spell that If an item is in a character’s hands, or handy on
Round. his belt, the character can use it freely. If the item
is in a pouch, the item will take 1d3+1 rounds to
Change Weapons and Attack ready (including the first Round). If the item is in
If a character is not holding the weapon that he a sack or backpack, it will take 3d6 Rounds. During
wants to use, he can drop what is in his hands and this time, the character can be attacked as if from
draw a weapon (assuming the weapon is in an acces- behind; if the character defends himself with his
sible place such as on a belt scabbard). There is a –2 normal AC, the Round does not count as searching
penalty to hit during the Round that this happens. for an item as he is concentrating on avoiding being
hit rather than readying the desired item. It is not a
Hold Action good idea to sit there and rifle through one’s pack
Sometimes winning the Initiative over a foe is not all while somebody is trying to kill you.
that advantageous because it is important to know
what the opponent is going to do before deciding Other Combat Issues
for oneself. Any action can be held until the end of
the Round, and at the time the action is taken, it Aiming
happens simultaneously, not before, other actions If using a missile weapon, a character can decide to
are taken. For instance, if waiting for an enemy to take a full Round to aim. This means taking abso-
close later in the Round before attacking, when that lutely no action for an entire Round except aiming,
enemy closes both attacks happen simultaneously; during which time the aiming character has no Dex-
the one holding his action does not act first. terity modifiers to his AC. On the following round
the aiming character receives a +4 to hit when firing
Move on his action. The aiming time is in addition to
A character can move up to ⅓rd of his normal normal reload times.
movement rate in feet every Round, and can also
attack during this Round if there is an enemy within Attacking from Behind
that distance. If a character is attacked from behind by an enemy
Alternately, a character can charge, moving his he is not aware of, he loses all Dexterity and shield
full rate and doing double damage, but suffering a modifiers to AC and the enemy receives a further
–2 AC penalty for that Round. +2 bonus to hit.
Characters with weapons that can receive a
charge automatically strike first against an enemy Cover
closing into mêlée range with them, unless they Cover is protection behind something that can actu-
have already acted that Round, and do double ally block incoming attacks, such as a wall or arrow
damage against the charging enemies. slit. Cover bonuses are as follows:
 Encounters 59
counts as two people in the mêlée when the Referee
Cover AC Bonus comes to determine the targets. For example, if a
25%  +2 character fires into a combat where two of his allies
50%  +4 are fighting a lone enemy, normally there would be
75%  +7 an equal chance of targeting each of the three com-
90% +10 batants. After aiming, the enemy would count as
two figures, giving a full 50% chance that the enemy
would be the one targeted.
Firing into Mêlée Significantly larger characters or monsters in a
Firing into mêlée with a missile weapon is a very mêlée count as two characters for random target-
uncertain thing. If doing so, randomly determine who ing purposes, and truly gargantuan creatures can be
in the mêlée is actually targeted—the firing character fired upon using the normal rules.
does not get to choose—before rolling to hit. Dexterity modifiers do not apply, for either the
If the firing character takes a full Round to aim, firing character or the targets, when resolving mis-
one possible target of the firing character’s choice sile fire into mêlée.
60 Rules & Magic
Helpless Opponents opposition (and they do not outnumber their
Helpless opponents, defined as those sleeping, opponents), and again when they are reduced to
bound, magically frozen, etc., are automatically hit half strength (either by numbers if more than one
for maximum damage by anyone attacking them NPC or monster, or by Hit Points if the NPC is
with a mêlée weapon. alone). For this purpose, enemies incapacitated by
Sleep, Charm, Hold, or similar spells or magic are
Holy Water counted as if dead.
Holy water can be sprinkled on an opponent within The Referee can apply adjustments to an enemy’s
mêlée range, and the opponent will always be con- Morale score in some situations, at his discretion.
sidered AC 12 in this situation unless using actual Generally, adjustments should not total more than
armor and/or shield. This takes up both the attack- +2 or –2. No adjustment is ever applied to a Morale
er’s hands and actions for the full Round. score of 12. An NPC that fails a Morale check will
Holy water, if in a glass container or flask, can be generally attempt to flee; intelligent monsters or
thrown with the same range modifiers as a rock. If NPCs may attempt to surrender, if the Referee so
it hits, it will only break and unleash the holy water desires.
75% of the time. Otherwise it simply does the same Note that special rules apply to retainers; see the
damage as a thrown rock. relevant rules in the Retainers section.
Holy water inflicts 1d8 damage against appropri-
ate targets such as undead, summoned creatures, Mounted Combat
innately magical beings such as Elves, etc. Mounted characters receive +1 to hit (unless using
minor or small weapons) and a +1 AC bonus when
Invisibility and Darkness in mêlée combat against enemies on foot. Mounted
Characters fighting opponents that they cannot see characters receive a –5 penalty to hit with missile
suffer a –6 penalty to hit in mêlée and all attacks fire while mounted.
against them by the unseen party are considered to
be “from behind” (if the unseen party is able to see, Oil and Fire
of course!). Missile attacks against unseen targets Lobbing flasks of flaming oil is a popular tactic of
automatically miss, although that Referees may explorers. Here is how that works:
decide to check to see if a random character is hit The oil flask must be in hand, its lid or stopper
in the dark if a character fires wildly into occupied removed, and a wick of some sort (usually a bit of
dark space. cloth) already prepared and lit.
Lamp oil is not napalm. If a creature is sub-
Morale jected to ignited lamp oil, it will suffer 1d4 points
NPCs and monsters do not always fight to the of damage. If the damage roll is 4, then the victim
death; in fact, most will try to avoid death when- must make a saving throw versus Breath Weapon or
ever possible. Each NPC, monster, or group of the else suffer another 1d4 damage on his next action.
same monsters should include a Morale score, a If that roll is a 4 as well, then the victim becomes
figure between 2 and 12. To make a Morale check, engulfed in flames.
roll 2d6; if the roll is equal to or less than the Morale A creature completely engulfed in fire is in trou-
score, the NPC, monster, or monster group is will- ble. The creature suffers 1d8 damage per Round
ing to stand and fight. If the roll is higher than the until he either dies, or the fire is put out. Creatures
score, the NPC, monster, or monster group has lost who are alight usually react by immediately fleeing
their nerve. NPCs, monsters, or monster groups in search of water, or failing that, simply run aim-
with a Morale score of 12 never fail a Morale check; lessly until collapsing.
they always fight to the death. Of course any fire has a chance to set alight wood
In general, Morale is checked when an NPC, structures or objects, not to mention material such
monster, or monster group first encounters as curtains, carpets, tapestries, etc.
 Encounters 61
Pursuit No mapping or other record keeping is allowed
When one character or party is running from during a pursuit. The Referee will declare in general
another, it is not merely a matter of movement rate terms where the character goes. “You run down the
which decides the outcome unless the chase is over corridor, past two doors, and duck to the left in a
open territory. Otherwise, both sides in a pursuit passageway,” is perfectly fine description in a dun-
roll 1d20 and add their movement rate divided by geon, with the character not being told details along
10. For example, characters with 120' movement the way. After all, the character has been running for
roll d20+12. The higher roll wins. Individual rolls his life with a flickering light source through hos-
for those with different movement rates can be tile territory! Wilderness pursuit will be rather less
used at the Referee’s discretion. You do not have mysterious of course.
to outrun the enemy, you just have to outrun your Dropping items or money or treasure or food
slowest ally! might make pursuers break off pursuit, depending
62 Rules & Magic
on why they are pursuing. If a character drops Wrestling
valuable goods, or treasure, in the path of trea- A character may attempt to wrestle another char-
sure-seeking enemies, those enemies must make acter to either immobilize or take something out of
a Morale check to stop pursuit. If an unintelligent that character’s hands.
creature is pursuing, then food is what it wants, The attacker must have both hands free. The
and the appropriate food dropped causes a Morale defender, if he is armed and has not yet acted
check, with failure meaning the creature stops to eat during the round, can immediately make an attack
the food. Dropping an obstacle, such as flaming oil, against the aggressor before the wrestling attempt
will normally stop pursuit as well. is resolved.
Wrestling is resolved with a contested roll. Both
Unarmed Combat parties roll 1d20 and apply both their mêlée Attack
Fists are treated as minor weapons, doing 1d2 hp Bonus and Strength modifier. Ties are decided by
damage. Dexterity modifier, or a die roll if both are still tied.
The winner decides whether the loser is immobi- weapons), the defender must make a save versus
lized, if he will attempt to disarm the loser of the Paralyzation to keep hold of the object that his
contest, or if he releases the loser. attacker is attempting to take.
An immobilized opponent can usually take no While wrestling, attacks are made against all
action other than attempting to escape on his next involved as if they were surprised.
action, but can instead attack a grappling opponent If there are multiple opponents attempting to
with natural or minor weapons. Resolve this with wrestle a single defender, all attackers make their
another wrestling roll. Any character immobilized rolls as normal, but only the best roll is used with a
for three successive wrestling contests is considered +1 bonus for each additional attacker.
pinned and helpless—no further attempts to escape Creatures whose physiology or special abilities
can be made. suggest that they have an advantage when grappling
If disarmament is attempted (and this includes (tentacles, adhesive, multiple limbs) gain a further
snatching any held object, not just taking away +1 bonus to their wrestling roll per Hit Die.