Your home town is just a small place with dirt roads. You set off one morning and hike to the nearby hills. There are several caves in the hills, caves where treasures can be found, guarded by monsters. You have heard that a man named Bargle may also be found in these caves. Bargle is a sort of bandit, who has been stealing money, killing people, and terrorizing your town. If you can catch him, you can become a hero!
As you approach the entrance, you look around. It's a nice day, and everything seems peaceful. You know that things aren't usually peaceful in caves where monsters live, and it's usually dark, too. So you get out your lantern and a tinderbox (matches haven't been invented yet, so the box has flint and steel), and carefully light the wick. The flame sputters a bit, but the oil soon burns with a soft glow. With your sword ready, you step into the cave.
It's dark and musty inside. A passage leads inward from the entrance, going deeper into the hill. It looks like the only way to go, so you head in that direction, watching carefully for bats and other nasty creatures.
Suddenly, you see a goblin! He is smaller than you are, and looks like an ugly little man with gray skin. He sees you, gives a scream, waves his sword, and attacks! You dodge his blow, and raise your sword to swing.
If the goblin hadn't attacked right away, you might have tried talking to him; but now you have no choice. You must fight for your life.
How to hit
In the game, whenever you try to hit a monster there is a chance that you will miss — and, of course, a chance that you will hit. It is very hard for monsters to hit your fighter, because of your fine chain mail armor. The goblin isn't as hard to hit, because his armor is not nearly as good.
To swing at the monster, you must make a Hit Roll. Roll the twenty-sided die. If you roll an 11 or less, your character misses the goblin. If you roll a 12 or higher, you hit! (This number is part of the Combat Rules. You will learn more' about it as you continue.)
If you miss, the goblin tries again, but misses. You can swing again; roll again to see if you hit.
If you hit the goblin, he screams and runs away, down the corridor and into the darkness. (Goblins can see in the dark.) You have wounded him.
If you keep missing, keep rolling! The goblin is trying to hit you, but you keep dodging the blows. Remember: if you hit the goblin, he runs away.
Damage and hit points
In the game, when any creature is hit (either monster or character), damage is caused. There is a way of keeping track of damage, called hit points.
The number of hit points is the amount of damage that a creature can take before being killed. Hit points can be any number; the more hit points a creature has, the harder it is to kill. We often use an abbreviation for hit points: it is hp.
Your fighter starts with 8 hp (hit points) and still has all 8, since the goblin never hit you. He may have hit your armor or shield, but never got through your protection, so these attacks are still called "misses" — they didn't actually damage your character.
Constitution: Your health
Your fighter is healthy, and can fight a long time without tiring. This ability is measured by another Ability Score, called Constitution. Your Constitution is 16, well above average but not perfect.
Your Constitution affects your hit points. If you have a low score, you might only have 2 or 3 hit points. On the other hand, if you had an 18 Constitution, you might have as many as 10 hp, or more!
Write your new Ability Score under the others on your sheet.
16 Constitution
Near the top of the page, above the Ability Scores, make a note of your hit points:
Hit Points 8 Now back to your adventure:
You stop for a moment to be sure that you are all right, and then continue down the corridor. There are no side passages, no other way to go.
Ahead, the corridor leads into a wider area, which we will call a "chamber". You carefully approach the chamber, shining your lantern around to see if anything is there. A hiss comes from a corner of the room to your left, and there you see a huge rattlesnake, almost ten feet long! Near it, on the floor, are hundreds of gold and silver coins.
Talking to a snake will do no good at all, and you can't just sneak past it. Again, you must fight. For this battle, you will keep track of hit points. The snake has 3 hp. On your sheet of paper, near the bottom, write "Snake 3," leaving some room to keep track of the snake's damage.
This time, you will need to roll an 11 or higher to hit the snake. It's slower and easier to hit than the goblin was. But the snake has a better chance of hitting you than the goblin did, because it's bigger and tougher.
If you hit the snake, cross off the 3 and write a 2 next to it; you have damaged the snake. If you miss, don't do anything.
The snake then bites at you, and hits! At the top of the sheet, cross off the 8 after the words "Hit Points," and write a 7 next to it.
While playing a D&D game by yourself, you should use this method to keep track of your hit points, and the hit points of the monster you meet.
Poisoned?
This is a poisonous snake, which can be very dangerous. In the game, there is a way of finding our whether the poison hurt you or not. Roll the twenty-sided die again. If you roll a 12 or higher, that means that you dodged before the snake could inject its poison (but you still take damage from the bite). If you roll an 11 or less, your fighter takes 2 more points of damage from the poison (cross off the 7 hp and write 5).
You made this roll to see if you saved yourself from trouble; this roll is called a Saving Throw, and will be used later in many other situations in the game.
Your fighter swings again. Remember, if you roll an 11 or" higher, you hit, and can subtract 1 hit point from the snake. If you miss, do nothing.
The snake bites your fighter again! You lose one more hit point, and must make another saving throw; remember, if you roll 12 or higher, you don't lose extra points. If you roll an 11 or less, you lose another 2 hit points from poison damage.
You can now swing again. If the snake still lives, it bites and misses. (In this battle, the snake won't hit any more; in a regular game, it might kill your fighter before you hit it at all!)
The snake will keep attacking, but it will keep missing. Your fighter may have to swing many times, but sooner or later you will kill the snake. Make all the practice rolls you need.
When the snake's hit points become zero, the snake is dead. (If your hit points ever reach zero, you're dead!)
You are hurt, but there is nothing you can do about it right now. The damage your fighter has taken can be healed by a few days' rest.
The dead snake is not dangerous, so you get to work. You pick up the many coins and put them in cloth sacks you brought with you. As you are doing this, you notice that, besides the gold, there are three types of silvery coins. Most are silver, but others are more valuable metals called electrum and platinum!
This is a rich treasure; snakes usually have none. The treasure probably belonged to someone else who tried to kill the snake — but failed.
Sometimes treasure could be hidden. Looking carefully around the room, you
find a small gem, a pearl, in one corner. It may be worth 100 gold pieces itself!
After resting a bit to catch your breath, you shine the lantern around, and see another corridor leading further into the darkness. Looking back the way you came, you see the light of day shining in the cave entrance in the distance. It looks tempting, but you remind yourself that you are a courageous fighter, and shouldn't run away just because of a little fighting.
Remember, though, that you are hurt; if you continue on, beware! If you see another snake, or something else that looks as dangerous, you should probably go back. Don't get killed! Live to fight another day; the treasure will wait.
You carefully start down the corridor into the unknown, your lantern held high and sword ready.
The corridor leads to another small cave. As you approach, you hear a voice, and see a light.
You pull the shutters closed on your lantern, so you can hide better, and carefully peek around the corner. To your right, sitting by the cave wall, is a beautiful woman, wearing armor like yours. She has no sword, but has a rod with a metal ball on one end; this is a weapon called a mace. A lit lantern is on the floor next to her. She seems to be meditating or praying.
You decide she might not wish to be disturbed. But as you try to quietly tiptoe past, she looks up and says:
"Greetings, friend! Looking for the goblin? You might — Oh! You are hurt! May I help?" She watches you carefully, in case you are dangerous, but seems to want to help.
You apologize for disturbing her, but you wonder what she knows about the goblin, and — most of all — now she could help you. But wait; she might be an enemy. Keeping your sword ready, you move closer. She stands, and says:
"My name is Aleena. I'm a cleric, an adventurer like yourself. I live in the town nearby, and came here seeking monsters and treasure. Do you know about clerics?"
Stop and imagine what your character would say. Back in town, she might be one of your neighbors, you are not sure, but you don't know about clerics.
After listening to you, she says, "Well, the goblin went that-a-way," and points
toward a corridor leading out of the room. "He came through here so fast I almost didn't see him. You hit him? Good for you! Goblins are nasty.
"Since you don't know about clerics, let me explain. Clerics are trained in fighting like you, but we can also cast spells. I meditate, and the knowledge of spells enters my mind. One of the spells I can cast right now is a curing spell, and you look like you need it!"
Spell casting! You've heard of it, but know nothing about it. You are still cautious, but you watch as the cleric says a few words and touches you lightly on the arm. Magically. your wounds are healed!
On your sheet, cross out your Hit Points and write down 8 — the full amount you started with.
"Feel better?" she asks. "Would you care to sit and rest a bit? I'd like to tell you a few things that you will need to know later." You sit down, happy to rest, but keeping your sword handy in case of trouble. She sits down next to her lantern.
"If you didn't know about clerics, you probably don't know about magic-users. They are adventurers, like you and me, but they study only spells, and rarely fight. They have different spells than we clerics do, and instead of meditating, they learn their spells from books. There are a few magic-users living in town, but not many.
"If you are attacked by a bad magic-user, you might be able to avoid the magic, but it's harder than avoiding poi¬son. Spells can be helpful, but they can be very dangerous, too.
"By the way, that looked like a snake bite that I cured. That can be very bad, because most poison is deadly; you were lucky that it didn't cause more damage. Some other creatures also have special attacks, like poison. Some can paralyze, and some can even turn you to stone by just looking at you — unless you look away in time. And dragons are the worst! They can breathe fire, acid, or other deadly things. You can never avoid all the damage from their breaths, but you can lessen it if you cover up in time.
Your character has different Saving Throws for each of the special attack forms; these will be explained later.
Charisma: Your personality
Your fighter gets along fairly well with the cleric; she was friendly right away. This is the effect of another Ability Score: your Charisma. Since your fighter is a likeable person, your Charisma score is above average, 14 (remember, 18 is the best possible). If you had a low score, the cleric would have been very cautious, and might not have offered to cure you at all.
Wisdom, Your common sense
A cleric is very wise. This is another Ability Score, different from intelligence. For example, imagine that you feel wet drops on your arm. Your Intelligence would tell you that it's raining; your Wisdom would tell you to go indoors to avoid catching a cold.
Your fighter is not very wise; your Wisdom score is 8. The cleric has a Wisdom of 17, but is fairly weak, with a Strength of 9. Each type of adventurer has a different specialty; magic-users, for example, have high Intelligence, but often low Strength.
Put these two Ability Scores on your sheet:
8 Wisdom 14 Charisma
Sharing adventures
As your fighter talks with the cleric, you get to know each other a little better. She offers to come along, to help in the adventure. Although this means that the treasure should be split between you, it also means that together you can defeat more dangerous monsters, and find more treasure. And two adventurers have a better chance of success than either does alone. You decide that it would be a good idea, and together you set off down the next corridor.
Side by side, you quietly walk down the dark passageway. You see another corridor branching off to the right, about twenty feet ahead. Keeping your lanterns half-shuttered, so you can see what vou are doing without attracting much attention, you move up to the corridor and peek around the corner.
Four beast-like humans in tattered clothes are standing in a group about ten feet away, down the side corridor. But they make no noise at all — quiet as the dead. They look like they are waiting for some poor victim to come along.
Before you can speak, the cleric touches your arm, and points back the way you came. The two of you back up a few feet so the creatures won't hear you.
"They're ghouls!" she whispers. "If one hits you, it could paralyze you! Ghouls are undead monsters, very nasty things; neither dead nor alive, but something horribly in between. We clerics have some power over these creatures of darkness. Follow me, and wish for luck."
You move forward again, but with the cleric leading the way. Peeking around the corner, you see the ghouls. Luckily, they don't seem to have heard your whispers. The cleric pulls a necklace out from under her armor, and you see that there is a symbol of one of the town churches on her silver chain. She boldly steps out, holds up the symbol, and says harshly "BEGONE, vile things!"
When she steps out, the ghouls quickly turn to attack But now, as she thrusts the symbol out, the ghouls pause; and suddenly, in a rush, they scramble away down the side corridor, into the darkness, and all in dead silence.
"Don't bother to chase them," she mutters. "As I said, they can be quite
dangerous, and we should continue on our way. I was lucky to Turn them, and it might not work again."
As you continue down the corridor together, she explains. "We call this 'Turning Undead', you see. Only clerics can do it, and sometimes it doesn't work. Ghouls are only one of many kinds of undead monsters; there are also skeletons, zombies, and much worse. If you had been alone, you could easily have been ambushed, and probably slain.
"Let's hurry, because the Turning only lasts for a few minutes. There are too many of them for us to handle."
You see a door ahead, to the right. This is unusual in caves, and you approach it slowly and quietly. The corridor continues past it, into the darkness.
Together you examine the door. It is made of wood, with heavy iron bands across it; the hinges seem to be on the other side. A large keyhole is below the curved metal handle.
"I don't see anything dangerous," says the cleric, "but then, I don't know much about the traps you sometimes find on doors. It's worth a try." She tries to open it, but the door seems to be locked. "Could you try to force it open?" she asks.
You back up a bit and, with a short run, slam into the door. But try as you might, you can't break it open.
"What a pity!" murmurs Aleena. "There is probably some nice treasure in there, but we can't get to it. We need a thief!"
Seeing the puzzled look on our face, she explains. "You may think that thieves are bad, but many of them aren't. Thieves are adventurers too; some of them are quite nice folks, really. You do have to keep an eye on your coin purse, but a thief can be very helpful finding traps, opening locks, climbing walls, and doing other things.
"I'm sure we could do better if we had a thief along, and a magic-user could help, too. I usually go adventuring with those types, plus a couple of big fighters like you to handle the rough stuff. Unfortunately, nobody else wanted to come along this time.
You try the door again, but it won't open. So, with a sigh of regret, the two of you continue down the corridor.
The corridor curves to the left, and you see a light ahead. You stop and listen, and hear voices. One sounds like a man, but the other sounds like a goblin.
"Get UP, you wimpy weakling!" growls the man. "Who else did you see, besides this fighter and a cleric!"
"Please, master! Don't hurt!" whimpers the goblin. "Nobody else, nobody. I hurt the fighter real bad. I come to tell you right away!"
The goblin's lies don't seem to fool the human. "Get UP, I say, or I'll turn you into a toad. You probably ran away without even trying. Nobody else, you're sure?"
"Nobody else, master, I swear!"
"Hrmph. They could still mean trouble. Perhaps we can trick them, and kill them without a fight . . ."
Aleena taps your arm once again, and you back up to discuss the situation.
"I recognize that man's voice!" she says. "It's Bargle, one of those bad magic-users. He has probably cast a spell on the goblin to force it to serve him.
"If we go back, we should be safe. Oh! I almost forgot. The ghouls are back there. If Bargle only has one goblin, we should risk this battle, rather than face all those Undead. Besides, he's not ready for us — yet."
Listening carefully, you hear the magic-user and the goblin planning how to trick you and Aleena. The two of you also make plans. The magic-user is the most dangerous, and Aleena will try to fight his spells with hers. Your job is to fight the goblin.
As your return, you hear a spell being cast up ahead. You peek around the corner, and see a tall bearded human in a black robe standing in a room. A goblin is crouched by one wall, watching. The robed magic-user is moving his hands and saying works you don't understand — and suddenly he disappears!
The goblin crackles with glee, and says "Ah, master, it worked! Nobody can see you now, and what a surprise those nasty people will have. And I'm next! Make me invisible too, master!"
The cleric whispers, "Now! Before they can do any more!" And you charge into the room together.
The goblin jumps up and meets your charge with a swing of its sword. It misses!
The goblin has 2 hit points, and you still need to roll a 12 or better to hit. Roll the die and keep track of the battle in the same way as you did with
As you battle the goblin, Aleena looks wildly around for the invisible magic-user, waving her mace to and fro in the air. It seems to hit something, and you hear a deep grunt. She keeps waving her mace, but without further success, so she stops and casts a spell. You don't see what her spell does, so you concentrate on fighting.
The goblin hits your fighter for 2 points of damage. (You only do 1 point of damage when you hit, compared to the goblin's 2; but the goblin only has 2 hit points, so it's a fair fight. Roll again to see if you hit the goblin. If you miss, the goblin swings and misses again.
Aleena can't find Bargle, and is start¬ing to look worried. Suddenly, the sound of a spell comes from a far corner of the room! The cleric turns and runs in that direction, waving her mace and shouting, the black-robed magic-user appears in the same corner as the spell noise, with a glowing arrow floating in the air beside him. He points at Aleena; the arrow shoots out, and hits her! She wails and falls with a sigh, collapsing in the middle of the room. The glowing arrow disappears.
If your fighter hasn't slain the goblin yet, roll again. But while you are swinging,
the goblin hits you again, causing 2 more points of damage. Remember to keep track of hit points for both the goblin and your fighter.
If your hit points reach zero, the enemies win this battle. You will not see home again.
If you are still fighting, the magic-user stays back in the corner, thinking about what spell to throw next. Roll again; the goblin keeps missing.
The goblin started the battle with 2 hit points. So the second time you hit the creature, his hit points reach zero, and he shrieks and falls dead on the floor. You have overcome one enemy, but the magic-user remains!
When the goblin falls, the magic-user starts looking worried. Watching you carefully, he starts saying magic words and waving his hands. He's casting a spell at you.
You run at him, hoping for a chance to swing before he can complete the spell. But it's too late — a magical force touches your mind.
Roll the die once again. You must make a Saving Throw against the spell. If you roll a 16 or less, the magic takes effect; read the next section, Ending #1 for this adventure. If you roll a 17 or higher, your fighter avoids the spell; skip to Ending #2 on page 8.
Ending #1: YOU MISS THE SAVING THROW
As you get near the magic-user, a funny feeling comes over you. Why, he doesn't look so bad; in fact, Bargle seems to be a pretty nice guy! You think you used to be friends, but you are not sure just where or when.
"Feeling better?" he asks. "You were overcome with rage for a moment. Are you okay now?"
"Sure," you reply, somewhat confused. "You seem to be okay, Bargle old pal, and I only took a little damage from that goblin. Say, I saw some ghouls back there; we should get .moving."
"Indeed?" replies Bargle. "Well, let's pack up the goodies, and move on." Together you collect the treasure: a small bag from the goblin, and a larger one from the cleric. Bargle picks up a black velvet bag, explaining that he dropped it while he was fighting the goblin.
As you get ready to leave, you blurt out "Shouldn't we take the cleric's body back? She helped me out, earlier."
"That would be nice," Bargle replies, "but we're carrying all we can. We all take our risks, here in the dungeon."
Something seems wrong about that. You argue with Bargle a bit, but he convinces you that nothing could be done for her, and bringing her along could slow you down — maybe enough that the ghouls would catch up. So you head off down the corridor, as if the best of friends.
The corridor leads to another room, which is empty. You search it together; nothing can be found. But looking down the next passage, you see a light!
"Bargle!" you exclaim. "Look here!"
"Ah, I see," he says. "That must be a way out! We're in good shape now. Lead on, fierce fighter! I shall watch for the ghouls."
You head down the corridor towards the light. Sure enough, it's a side passage, leading out of the hill into the sunlight. As your stomach grumbles, you remember that it's after noon. You missed lunch in all the excitement.
"Shall we head back?" you ask, as you squint out into the daylight, much brighter than your lantern.
"Surely!" he replies. As you head outside, you start to talk about how hungry
you are. Bargle's reply isn't in a language you can understand; you stop and turn, and see him softly chanting a spell, waving his hands at you. Before you can ask what's going on, you begin to feel very sleepy. Everything goes black.
Something lands on your face, and you start to wake up. Opening your eyes, you see — a leaf, apparently fallen from the tree above you. You are lying by a cave, and it's late afternoon. You can make it back to town if you hurry. But suddenly, you remember what happened — BARGLE! The fight with the goblin, Aleena falling, the strange bad-but-nice feeling about the magic-user — Horrors! You were ENCHANTED! And where is the treasure?
You get up quickly, brushing the leaves off your face and equipment. Perhaps Bargle was afraid to kill you, and just stole all that he could find. Or, more likely, Bargle was scared away by something before he could slit your throat.
Your dagger is missing, and some food, but your sword is in its sheath and your pack is still there. One sack remains, and from the pain in your back, you must have been sleeping on it. It contains some of the coins you found by the snake and the tiny gem. The rest is missing.
You remember what happened to poor Aleena. You should take her back to town; they might be able to help, and even if it's too late, she should get a proper burial. As you prepare to return to the caves, you find that your lamp has gone out, the oil all burned away.
There is still one oil flask in your pack, so you refill the lantern, light it with your tinderbox, and head back into the darkness.
You pass through one empty room, and then find the bodies of the cleric and the goblin in the next. But you see dark, quiet shapes in the darkness beyond; it's the ghouls! Quickly, you put the cleric's body over your shoulder and run for your life.
The ghouls follow, snapping at your heels. You can't move as fast as usual with the weight of the cleric on your shoulder. But you win the desperate race, and get outside once again!
You pause for a moment, out of breath. Looking back, you see the ghouls in the cave — but they don't seem to be
coming out. Then you remember Aleena's words, "creatures of darkness." Maybe they hate the sunlight, and only come outside at night. You'd better hurry, to get back to town before dark.
It's hard to run with the cleric across your shoulder, but you finally get back just as the sun goes down. Once there, you take her body to her church. It's too late to help her, but they can give her a proper burial. They thank you for your kindness, and offer a small bottle as a reward.
"What is it?" you ask.
"It's a magical potion, of course!" he exclaims. "It's a Potion of Healing. If you are hurt, you can drink this and be cured, somewhat like our magical curing spells. It's a nice magical treasure; save it for an adventure in your future, in case a cleric you are traveling with runs out of spells. It's the least we can do."
The clerics thank you again for your help, and you thank them for theirs. You leave the church and head for your home on the other side of town, thinking about your adventure and all you have learned.
Now pretend that you made the Saving Throw, and read the next section to see what might have happened.
If you have already read the next section, skip to the Winning section afterward.
Ending #2: YOU MAKE THE SAVING THROW
Bargle's magic doesn't seem to work! He pauses, surprised, as you swing.
you hit. A roll of 7 or less means that you missed. If you can get close to them, magic-users are often easy to hit. They are not very dangerous in a close fight.
If you tut, the magic-user gives a cry and falls, dead. You have won!
If you miss, Bargle screams and runs down the next corridor, into the darkness. You start after him, but then you stop. Who knows what magical powers the man might have, waiting there to trap you? Better to see if Aleena is alive, and rest a bit.
You kneel by the cleric, and gently turn her over. Alas, Bargle's magical spell has taken her life. Mourning the loss of your new-found friend, you decide to take her back to town for a proper burial. You tidy her up while keeping an eye out for monsters and listening carefully in case Bargle comes back; but nothing happens.
The goblin had very little treasure, just a few copper pieces in a small bag. Searching the room, you find another bag, a finer one of black velvet. It must be Bargle's, dropped in the heat of the battle! Opening it, you find several valuable gems and a small bottle. You put the treasure away, planning to examine the bottle later.
Nothing else of value is in the room. You pick up the poor cleric and carry her on one shoulder. Should you continue down the dark corridor, or head back the way you came?
You suddenly see shadowy shapes approaching from the way you came. The ghouls must have returned! Now there is no choice; you must hope that the magic-user ran away, and that a way out lies in that direction. Fighting the ghouls would mean your death.
You stagger under the weight, but manage to run down the corridor, holding your lantern shakily with one finger. You enter a room, but it looks empty. No time to search; you continue onward. As you head into the next corridor, you see light ahead! And as you approach, you see that it's coming from a side passage.
Peering into it, you find that the corri¬dor leads outside, into the midday sun. Carefully, in case Bargle is waiting to ambush you, you walk outside — and all is clear and calm.
You rest a bit, pick up the cleric, and head back to town. Once there, you take her body to her church. It's too late to help her, but they can give her a proper burial. They thank you for your kindness, and offer a favor in return. You remember the strange small bottle in Bargle's bag, and get it out, asking whether they can tell you what it is.
One of the clerics opens the bottle, and sniffs at it. "Why, it seems to be a magical potion!" he exclaims. "Let me see, now, I'm sure I've smelled that before. Ah! I remember. It's a Potion of Growth! If you drink it, you will become a giant for a short time, for one to two hours — and can do double normal damage when you hit a monster. Congratulations, it's a nice magical treasure!
It won't spoil; save it for an adventure in your future."
The clerics thank you again for your help, and you thank them for theirs. You leave the church and head for your home on the other side of town, thinking about your adventure and all you have learned.
If you haven't read Ending #1, "You Miss The Saving Throw" go back and do that now, pretending that you were enchanted by Bargle's spell.
Winning
You have just played a D&D game!
This adventure was designed to show you some of the basic parts of the game. You plaved a fighter, who tried to sur¬vive in the dungeon, while finding monsters and treasures. You succeeded — so your character "wins."
Think a moment. Why do we play games? To have fun. Each plaver "wins" by having fun — so if you had a good time, you win! You can have fun even if your character gets killed — and if that happens, don't worry. You can always make up another one!
Winning a role playing game is like "winning" in real life; it's just succeeding in doing what you wanted to do, and living through it. The fun comes from doing it, not ending it! This is why we say that in this game, everybody wins and nobody loses.
Is this a game or a story, you ask? It's a little of both. As you learn more about it, it will become more and more like a game. You still have many game details to learn, so continue reading.
You have met some monsters, and won the battles. You have found some treasures — not only coins and gems, but a magical potion.
Most important, you have learned how to use your own imagination, while using the rules of the game. Could you see, in your mind, the wicked magicuser Bargle? Or the kind, wise cleric Aleena? Can you imagine the gold and silver scattered on the floor by the huge, deadly rattlesnake — and the fierce battle afterward?
This is another part of the fun in a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game.
Excerpted from Dungeons and Dragons Basic Players Manual
©1983 TSR Hobbies, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson
Described within the limits of this adventure is a Dungeon. Your task is to draw that dungeon as a map and where possible, post in this thread.
100 years ago the sorcerer Zenopus built a tower on the low hills overlooking Portown. The tower was close to the sea cliff west of the town and, appropriately, next door to the graveyard. Rumor has it that the magician made extensive cellars and tunnels underneath the tower. The town is located on the ruins of a much older city of doubtful history and Zenopus was said to excavate in his cellars in search of ancient treasures.
Fifty years ago, on a cold wintry night, the wizard's tower was suddenly engulfed in green flame. Several of his human servants escaped the holocaust, saying their master had been destroyed by some powerful force he had unleashed in the depths of the tower. Needless to say the tower stood vacant for a while after this, but then the neighbors and the night watchmen complained that ghostly blue lights appeared in the windows at night, that ghastly screams could be heard emanating from the tower at all hours, and goblin figures could be seen dancing on the tower roof in the moonlight. Finally the authorities had a catapult rolled through the streets of the town and the tower was battered to rubble. This stopped the hauntings but the townsfolk continue to shun the ruins. The entrance to the old dungeons can be easily located as a flight of broad stone steps leading down into darkness, but the few adventurous souls who have descended into crypts below the ruin have either reported only empty stone corridors or have failed to return at all.
Other magic-users have moved into the town but the site of the old tower remains abandoned. Whispered tales are told of fabulous treasure and unspeakable monsters in the underground passages below the hilltop, and the story tellers are always careful to point out that the reputed dungeons lie in close proximity to the foundations of the older, pre-human city, to the graveyard, and to the sea.
Portown is a small but busy city linking the caravan routes from the south to the merchant ships that dare the pirate-infested waters of the Northern Sea. Humans and non-humans from all over the globe meet here. At the Green Dragon Inn, the players of the game gather their characters for an assault on the fabulous passages beneath the ruined Wizard's tower.
The Dungeon Master should read the background material above to the assembled players and then let them decide how they will proceed. Because of the nature of some of the traps in the dungeon, it is highly recommended that no one attempt it alone. If only one player is taking his or her character into the dungeon, the Dungeon Master should recommend employing one or more men-at-arms. These non-player characters can then be "rolled up" and hired out for a share of the treasure. The stairway from the surface leads twenty five feet straight down and ends in the corridor marked START on the Dungeon Master's map.
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dungeon here
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By the time the adventurers have worked their way through this, the Dungeon Master will probably have lots of ideas of his or her own to try out. Design your own dungeon or dig new passages and levels in this one. What lies in the (undiscovered) deeper levels where Zenopus met his doom? Do the pirates have other treasure troves hidden in the sea caves? What inhuman rites are practiced deep in the ghoul haunted passages beneath the graveyard? What are the townspeople going to do when they discover that our friends are tampering with Things Better Left Alone?
"Rules for Fantastic Medieval Role Playing Adventure Game Campaigns
Playable with Paper and Pencil and Miniature Figures
By Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson
Edited by Eric Holmes"
Also expand this
You go west, and come to another room. It has an exit south, leading outside, and another corridor heading west. You don't want to go west, the ghouls are in that direction.
You recognize this room as the entrance for your first adventure! This is where you hit the goblin, and he ran away.
The problem with this text is that it should really be the snake room (you didn't see a chamber/room until the snake; the goblin was in a corridor).
This means that the east corridor from the snake room should be at the far north of the room since your fighter didn't notice it first time. There are a few places that allow choices for design, but any instances of "left" or "right" help.
I like the one that curves north in Aleena's cave.
Agreed.
Roger
Havard