HOW TO VANQUISH THE PORTAL OF EVIL
You are a warrior, a skilled and hardy adventurer. At the moment you are down on your luck: you have no money, and your backpack contains Provisions for only two meals. Your abilities, however, are more noteworthy and remarkable than ever. You will use dice to determine your exact attributes.[references to the book's character sheet cut]
Skill, Stamina, and Luck
Roll one die. Add 6 to the result. This is your SKILL score.
Roll two dice. Add 12 points to the result. This is your STAMINA score.
Roll one die. Add 6 to the result. This is your LUCK score.
These are your Initial scores, and you must keep a permanent record of them. Any of your scores may change during your adventure, but they will exceed their except on very rare occasions, when you will be instructed on a particular Initial amounts only very rarely. You must keep a record of all changes to your scores - so write small or use an eraser.
Your SKILL score reflects your expertise in combat, your ability with weapons, and your dexterity. Your STAMINA is your health and fitness, and your ability to survive wounds and physical hardship. Your LUCK score shows how lucky you are.
Roll one die. Add 6 to the result. This is your SKILL score.
Roll two dice. Add 12 points to the result. This is your STAMINA score.
Roll one die. Add 6 to the result. This is your LUCK score.
These are your Initial scores, and you must keep a permanent record of them. Any of your scores may change during your adventure, but they will exceed their except on very rare occasions, when you will be instructed on a particular Initial amounts only very rarely. You must keep a record of all changes to your scores - so write small or use an eraser.
Your SKILL score reflects your expertise in combat, your ability with weapons, and your dexterity. Your STAMINA is your health and fitness, and your ability to survive wounds and physical hardship. Your LUCK score shows how lucky you are.
Restoring Skill, Stamina, and Luck
Skill
Your SKILL score will not change much during your adventure, and you should change it only if given specific instructions to do so in the text. As SKILL is a measure of combat prowess, it can be reduced by losing your weapon or by the effects of poison, for instance; acquiring a magical weapon could increase your SKILL - but remember that you can only use one weapon at a time!
Stamina
Your STAMINA score will change frequently during your adventure as you suffer wounds and then recover. At various times you will be given opportunities to eat meals and to acquire Provisions. Eating a meal normally restores up to 4 points of STAMINA, although there will be times, when you get very hungry, when you will need to eat a meal simply to avoid losing STAMINA; you may eat only one meal at a time, even though you may have more in your backpack. Unless specifically stated, your STAMINA may never exceed its Initial score.
Luck
There will be times when the success or failure of your exploits will depend entirely on your LUCK. You will be instructed to Test Your Luck; the procedure for this is as follows: roll two dice. If the result is equal to or less than your current LUCK score, you are Lucky. If the result exceeds your current LUCK score, you are Unlucky. Whatever the outcome, you must deduct one point from your current LUCK score every time you Test your Luck. As you will see, the more you use your LUCK, the less likely you are to be Lucky. There will be occasions when you will be able to recover some points of LUCK; however, unless specifically stated to the contrary, your score cannot exceed its Initial value.
Your SKILL score will not change much during your adventure, and you should change it only if given specific instructions to do so in the text. As SKILL is a measure of combat prowess, it can be reduced by losing your weapon or by the effects of poison, for instance; acquiring a magical weapon could increase your SKILL - but remember that you can only use one weapon at a time!
Stamina
Your STAMINA score will change frequently during your adventure as you suffer wounds and then recover. At various times you will be given opportunities to eat meals and to acquire Provisions. Eating a meal normally restores up to 4 points of STAMINA, although there will be times, when you get very hungry, when you will need to eat a meal simply to avoid losing STAMINA; you may eat only one meal at a time, even though you may have more in your backpack. Unless specifically stated, your STAMINA may never exceed its Initial score.
Luck
There will be times when the success or failure of your exploits will depend entirely on your LUCK. You will be instructed to Test Your Luck; the procedure for this is as follows: roll two dice. If the result is equal to or less than your current LUCK score, you are Lucky. If the result exceeds your current LUCK score, you are Unlucky. Whatever the outcome, you must deduct one point from your current LUCK score every time you Test your Luck. As you will see, the more you use your LUCK, the less likely you are to be Lucky. There will be occasions when you will be able to recover some points of LUCK; however, unless specifically stated to the contrary, your score cannot exceed its Initial value.
Combat
During your adventure you will meet other people and creatures. Some of them will attack you; others you will decide to fight. The procedure for resolving battles is described below.
SKILL and STAMINA scores are given in the text for each adversary that you face. Write these numbers in the first vacant Monster Encounter Box on the Adventure Sheet. Make a note also of any special abilities or instructions that are unique to this particular opponent. The combat sequence is then:
1. Roll two dice for your opponent. Add the total rolled to its SKILL score. This is the Attack Strength of your enemy.
2. Roll two dice and add the total to your own current SKILL score. This is your Attack Strength.
3. If your Attack Strength is the higher, you have wounded your opponent: go to step 4. If your opponent's Attack Strength is higher, it has wounded you: go to step 5. If both Attack Strengths are equal, you have avoided each other's blows - start a new Combat Round from step 1.
4. Deduct 2 points from your opponent's STAMINA. You may be able to deduct extra points if you use your LUCK (see below) or if you have a special weapon.
5. Deduct 2 points from your own STAMINA. You may use your LUCK to reduce the seriousness of this loss (see below.)
6. Make sure you have recorded on the Adventure Sheet all adjustments to the STAMINA and LUCK scores of either yourself or your opponent.
7. Begin the next Combat Round, starting again at step 1. This procedure continues until either you or your opponent has a STAMINA score of zero. If your opponent's STAMINA score reaches zero, you have killed it and can continue with your adventure. If your own STAMINA score reaches zero, you are dead.
You may from time to time be given the opportunity to escape from your opponent. If you decide to do this, the battle ends - but the enemy automatically wounds you once as you turn your back and flee. Note that you may use LUCK to minimize this wound, as for any other (see below.)
Often you will have to fight more than one opponent at a time. Sometimes you will treat them as a single opponent; at others, you will be able to fight them one at a time; and sometimes all of them will be able to attack you, while you defend yourself and may attack only one of them. Specific instructions will be given whenever you meet more than one opponent.
SKILL and STAMINA scores are given in the text for each adversary that you face. Write these numbers in the first vacant Monster Encounter Box on the Adventure Sheet. Make a note also of any special abilities or instructions that are unique to this particular opponent. The combat sequence is then:
1. Roll two dice for your opponent. Add the total rolled to its SKILL score. This is the Attack Strength of your enemy.
2. Roll two dice and add the total to your own current SKILL score. This is your Attack Strength.
3. If your Attack Strength is the higher, you have wounded your opponent: go to step 4. If your opponent's Attack Strength is higher, it has wounded you: go to step 5. If both Attack Strengths are equal, you have avoided each other's blows - start a new Combat Round from step 1.
4. Deduct 2 points from your opponent's STAMINA. You may be able to deduct extra points if you use your LUCK (see below) or if you have a special weapon.
5. Deduct 2 points from your own STAMINA. You may use your LUCK to reduce the seriousness of this loss (see below.)
6. Make sure you have recorded on the Adventure Sheet all adjustments to the STAMINA and LUCK scores of either yourself or your opponent.
7. Begin the next Combat Round, starting again at step 1. This procedure continues until either you or your opponent has a STAMINA score of zero. If your opponent's STAMINA score reaches zero, you have killed it and can continue with your adventure. If your own STAMINA score reaches zero, you are dead.
You may from time to time be given the opportunity to escape from your opponent. If you decide to do this, the battle ends - but the enemy automatically wounds you once as you turn your back and flee. Note that you may use LUCK to minimize this wound, as for any other (see below.)
Often you will have to fight more than one opponent at a time. Sometimes you will treat them as a single opponent; at others, you will be able to fight them one at a time; and sometimes all of them will be able to attack you, while you defend yourself and may attack only one of them. Specific instructions will be given whenever you meet more than one opponent.
You can use your LUCK in combat to inflict a particularly serious wound, or to minimize a wound that has been inflicted on you.
Whenever you wound an opponent, you may Test your Luck: roll two dice. If the total rolled is equal to or less than your LUCK score, you have been Lucky. If the total is higher than your LUCK score, you are Unlucky. (Whatever your result, you must deduct 1 point from your current LUCK score.) If you are Lucky, you have inflicted a severe wound: deduct an extra 2 points from your opponent's STAMINA. If you are Unlucky, you have merely grazed it, and you deduct 1 point less than normal from its STAMINA.
If you have been wounded, you can Test your Luck in exactly the same way. (Remember to deduct 1 point from your LUCK whatever the result.) If you are Lucky, the wound upon you was only a glancing blow and you can deduct 1 less point of STAMINA than usual. If you are Unlucky, the wound is serious: deduct 1 extra point from your STAMINA.
Whenever you wound an opponent, you may Test your Luck: roll two dice. If the total rolled is equal to or less than your LUCK score, you have been Lucky. If the total is higher than your LUCK score, you are Unlucky. (Whatever your result, you must deduct 1 point from your current LUCK score.) If you are Lucky, you have inflicted a severe wound: deduct an extra 2 points from your opponent's STAMINA. If you are Unlucky, you have merely grazed it, and you deduct 1 point less than normal from its STAMINA.
If you have been wounded, you can Test your Luck in exactly the same way. (Remember to deduct 1 point from your LUCK whatever the result.) If you are Lucky, the wound upon you was only a glancing blow and you can deduct 1 less point of STAMINA than usual. If you are Unlucky, the wound is serious: deduct 1 extra point from your STAMINA.
Far to the east of the great port of Kelther, a line of snow-capped peaks divides the fertile lands from the deserts and wastes that make up the interior of the continent of Khul. To the humans who have settled along the streams that run from the northern half, the peaks are known as the Cloudhigh Mountains. Half-way down the range a spur extending to the west marks the southward limit of human habitation - or, rather, it did until recently. From the southern half of the range, streams rush through narrow valleys between hills that are covered with impenetrable woodlands, and drain into an inland sea. The forest is home to wild beasts and to Goblins, whose name for the huge lake is Mlbuz.
No humans had set foot in the forest within recorded history. Southern tribesmen and, in later centuries, armored Neubergers had shunned the inhospitable hills. A few years ago, however, a small band of trail-blazers set out from the frontier town of Kleinkastel and disappeared into the forest. Months later, two survivors returned - with gold nuggets. Gold - that soft, malleable metal, useless for making weapons or tools or even lodestones and yet, in a way, a magnet. Its matchless luster attracts, not other metals, but human greed.
Within days, as if drawn by an invisible force, humanity began to invade the forest from north and south. Some came alone, with just a pickax and shovel; others came as families, or in entire tribes; some groups were as big as small armies. There were miners; and there were those who provisioned the miners, and others who swindled them; there were robbers of all sorts, from desperate outlaws to clerks and lawyers; finally, there were the Margrave's men, come to tax everyone else.
Bridges were slung across raging cataracts; giant trees were felled; battalions of man-eating Goblins were defeated and dispersed. Bands of outlaws roamed the hills, more deadly even than the forest creatures. In an effort to restore law and order, and generate income, the Margrave of Kleinkastel declared the whole forest to be part of his demesne. Now, his foot soldiers march across the hills, chasing bandits, selling mining licenses, and dealing summarily with unlicensed miners. To the miners, the Margrave's soldiers are just one more irritation. Like the Goblins and the southern bandits, they interfere with the serious business of digging for gold. The most successful miners are already wealthy enough to defy the Margrave. They employ teams of less fortunate migrants to work the richest seams, located deep under the higher mountains, and they organize caravans to transport ore from the highland diggings through the forest to Kleinkastel, now a bustling boom town, where equally wealthy merchants wait to weigh, assay and buy their loads. Most of the most successful mine-owners is Gloten. Recently he sent out invitations to selected warriors, including yourself, to come to Kleinkastel and work for him as caravan guards. At the time you had better things to do than trudge back and forth through a hilly forest at the beck and call of a wealthy mine-owner, and you declined the offer.
Now, however, something is very wrong in the forest. Gloten has sent out messengers with another story: miners, and sometimes entire families, have gone missing from their villages; strange beasts, the like of which have never been seen before, are terrorizing the woodlands; and Gloten pleads for one of Khul's renowned warriors to come to Kleinkastel and investigate these mysterious occurrences. He declares that he will pay the warrior's own weight in gold in return for restoring normality to the forest. You could refuse neither the appeal for help nor the lure of such a reward.
With the last two coins you possessed, you have bought a map of the area (it is reproduced on the inside front cover of this book) and you have it safely stowed in your backpack, along with what remains of your provisions - after your long journey from Kelther, you now have enough for only two more meals. You are wearing leather armor; your trusty sword hangs in its sheath at your belt. You reached the forest without incident; however, thanks fo a rainstorm and the flooding of a ford, you managed to miss the road that links Neuburg and Festham to Kleinkastel and found yourself in the depths of the woodlands. Last night you slept rough in the undergrowth; this morning, you came across a well-worn track, leading south-west, which you hope will lead you out of the forest and towards Kleinkastel, where you expect to find Gloten and offer your services to him for the promised fee. With luck, you will reach the little town before dusk.
No humans had set foot in the forest within recorded history. Southern tribesmen and, in later centuries, armored Neubergers had shunned the inhospitable hills. A few years ago, however, a small band of trail-blazers set out from the frontier town of Kleinkastel and disappeared into the forest. Months later, two survivors returned - with gold nuggets. Gold - that soft, malleable metal, useless for making weapons or tools or even lodestones and yet, in a way, a magnet. Its matchless luster attracts, not other metals, but human greed.
Within days, as if drawn by an invisible force, humanity began to invade the forest from north and south. Some came alone, with just a pickax and shovel; others came as families, or in entire tribes; some groups were as big as small armies. There were miners; and there were those who provisioned the miners, and others who swindled them; there were robbers of all sorts, from desperate outlaws to clerks and lawyers; finally, there were the Margrave's men, come to tax everyone else.
Bridges were slung across raging cataracts; giant trees were felled; battalions of man-eating Goblins were defeated and dispersed. Bands of outlaws roamed the hills, more deadly even than the forest creatures. In an effort to restore law and order, and generate income, the Margrave of Kleinkastel declared the whole forest to be part of his demesne. Now, his foot soldiers march across the hills, chasing bandits, selling mining licenses, and dealing summarily with unlicensed miners. To the miners, the Margrave's soldiers are just one more irritation. Like the Goblins and the southern bandits, they interfere with the serious business of digging for gold. The most successful miners are already wealthy enough to defy the Margrave. They employ teams of less fortunate migrants to work the richest seams, located deep under the higher mountains, and they organize caravans to transport ore from the highland diggings through the forest to Kleinkastel, now a bustling boom town, where equally wealthy merchants wait to weigh, assay and buy their loads. Most of the most successful mine-owners is Gloten. Recently he sent out invitations to selected warriors, including yourself, to come to Kleinkastel and work for him as caravan guards. At the time you had better things to do than trudge back and forth through a hilly forest at the beck and call of a wealthy mine-owner, and you declined the offer.
Now, however, something is very wrong in the forest. Gloten has sent out messengers with another story: miners, and sometimes entire families, have gone missing from their villages; strange beasts, the like of which have never been seen before, are terrorizing the woodlands; and Gloten pleads for one of Khul's renowned warriors to come to Kleinkastel and investigate these mysterious occurrences. He declares that he will pay the warrior's own weight in gold in return for restoring normality to the forest. You could refuse neither the appeal for help nor the lure of such a reward.
With the last two coins you possessed, you have bought a map of the area (it is reproduced on the inside front cover of this book) and you have it safely stowed in your backpack, along with what remains of your provisions - after your long journey from Kelther, you now have enough for only two more meals. You are wearing leather armor; your trusty sword hangs in its sheath at your belt. You reached the forest without incident; however, thanks fo a rainstorm and the flooding of a ford, you managed to miss the road that links Neuburg and Festham to Kleinkastel and found yourself in the depths of the woodlands. Last night you slept rough in the undergrowth; this morning, you came across a well-worn track, leading south-west, which you hope will lead you out of the forest and towards Kleinkastel, where you expect to find Gloten and offer your services to him for the promised fee. With luck, you will reach the little town before dusk.
Will you help to defend the monster, or will you stand aside and await the outcome of the confrontation?
(Can we not help a talking dinosaur?)
Bajinga Ladyparts (as suggested)
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 23/23
LUCK 11/11
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor
Provisions: 2 meals (+4 STAMINA)
Backpack Items: Map
EDIT: fixed typo
DOUBLE EDIT: BAJINGA LADYPARTS
