Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
board could have all the dungeons, You also need equipment for adventur-
Start here dragons, monsters, and characters you ing. You are carrying a backpack and
A dungeon is a group of rooms and cor- will need! other items, very similar to what you
ridors in which monsters and treasures For now, while you are learning, you would carry when camping. Some of
can be found. And you will find them, as will play a role in your imagination. these items include food, water, rope, a
you play the role of a character in a fan- Later, when you play the game with oth- lantern, and so forth; for now, just as-
tasy world. There are many kinds of ers, you will all be playing different roles sume you have everything you need to
monsters, but dragons are the biggest and talking together as if you were the survive in the wilderness.
and most dangerous and have the characters. It will be easy, but first you With monsters around, you need pro-
most treasure. need to get ready. tection! You are wearing armor made of
You can start playing this game right links of chain (called chain mail) and a
now without learning any rules, and What role will I play? helmet. You own a beautiful sword, and
without anyone else to play with! Just start have a dagger tucked into one boot, just
reading, and you will discover the basics of Imagine: it is another place, another in case. You know how to use all of your
the game in a matter of minutes. time. The world is much like ours was, equipment properly.
During your first adventure, you will long ago, with knights and castles and no If you like, you can give your fighter a
only need one of the dice in the box. science or technology no electricity, name. It doesn't matter whether you are
The others will be used later, for now all no modern comforts of any kind. male or female.
you need is the roundish one with the Imagine: dragons are real. Were- All set? Let's go!
numbers 1 to 20 on it. Use the crayon to wolves are real. Monsters of all kinds live
fill in the numbers, and rub off extra in caves and ancient ruins. And magic
wax with a tissue so only the numbers really works!
are colored in. Imagine: you are a strong hero, a fa-
After you do that, get a pencil and mous but poor fighter. Day by day you
paper and you're ready to start! explore the unknown, looking for mon-
Read this booklet just like any book. sters and treasure. The more you find, the
Don't skip around! This edition has been more powerful and famous you become.
completely revised to introduce the
game to you, step by step. While you are Your character's basic abilities
reading the next sections, you will learn
many things about the game. You do not In the game, we need some way of de-
have to memorize everything as you go scribing your character, the fighter you
along. will pretend to be. We can say the fighter
By the time you have played the Solo is "strong, fairly nimble, not too smart"
Adventure (pages 13-22), you will know but we need to describe the character
how to play the basic game. The rest of a little better than that.
this booklet gives other details that you We call these descriptions abilities
will need when playing the game with (Strength, Intelligence, and others). We
others. measure each one with a number, called
In group games, one person is the an "Ability Score." The highest score
Dungeon Master, and everyone else is a possible is 18, and the least is 3 (for rea-
player. The Dungeon Master (or DM, sons we'll discuss later).
for short) runs the game, while the oth- You are a strong fighter; your Strength
ers play the roles of characters. The score is 17, nearly the highest possible!
other booklet in this set, DUNGEON You are "fairly nimble," which means
MASTERS RULEBOOK, gives all the that you can move swiftly. The name for
information needed for running group this ability is Dexterity. As a fighter, you don't
games. need a high Dexterity score. Your Dexterity
is 11 (which is a little above average).
What is "role playing"? A fighter often isn't very smart. Your
character isn't as smart as you are, but isn't
This is a role-playing game. That means stupid, either. Let's say your Intelligence is 9
that you will be like an actor, imagining (which is a little below average).
that you are someone else, and pretending Now make a note of your Ability
to be that character. You won't need a Scores. Anywhere in the middle of your
stage, though, and you won't need cos- sheet of paper, write:
tumes or scripts. You only need to imag-
ine. 17 Strength
This game doesn't have a board, be- 11 Dexterity
cause you won't need one. Besides, no 9 Intelligence
Your first adventure If you miss, the goblin tries again, but
misses. You can swing again; roll again
to see if you hit.
Your home town is just a small place If you hit the goblin, he screams and
with dirt roads. You set off one morning runs away, down the corridor and into
and hike to the nearby hills. There are the darkness. (Goblins can see in the
several caves in the hills, caves where dark.) You have wounded him.
treasures can be found, guarded by If you keep missing, keep rolling! The
monsters. You have heard that a man goblin is trying to hit you, but you keep
named Bargle may also be found in these dodging the blows. Remember: if you
caves. Bargle is a sort of bandit, who has hit the goblin, he runs away.
been stealing money, killing people, and
terrorizing your town. If you can catch Damage and hit points
him, you can become a hero!
As you approach the entrance, you In the game, when any creature is hit
look around. It's a nice day, and every- (either monster or character), damage is
thing seems peaceful. You know that caused. There is a way of keeping track
things aren't usually peaceful in caves of damage, called hit points.
where monsters live, and it's usually The number of hit points is the
dark, too. So you get out your lantern amount of damage that a creature can
and a tinderbox (matches haven't been You stop for a moment to be sure that
take before being killed. Hit points can you are all right, and then continue
invented yet, so the box has flint and be any number; the more hit points a
steel), and carefully light the wick. The down the corridor. There are no side
creature has, the harder it is to kill. We passages, no other way to go.
flame sputters a bit, but the oil soon often use an abbreviation for hit points:
burns with a soft glow. With your sword Ahead, the corridor leads into a wider
it is hp. area, which we will call a "chamber". You
ready, you step into the cave. Your fighter starts with 8 hp (hit
It's dark and musty inside. A passage carefully approach the chamber, shining
points) and still has all 8, since the goblin your lantern around to see if anything is
leads inward from the entrance, going never hit you. He may have hit your ar-
deeper into the hill. It looks like the only there. A hiss comes from a corner of the
mor or shield, but never got through room to your left, and there you see a
way to go, so you head in that direction, your protection, so these attacks are still
watching carefully for bats and other huge rattlesnake, almost ten feet long!
called "misses" they didn't actually Near it, on the floor, are hundreds of
nasty creatures. damage your character. gold and silver coins.
Suddenly, you see a goblin! He is
smaller than you are, and looks like an Constitution: Your health
ugly little man with gray skin. He sees
you, gives a scream, waves his sword, Your fighter is healthy, and can fight a Talking to a snake will do no good at all,
and attacks! You dodge his blow, and long time without tiring. This ability is and you can't just sneak past it. Again,
raise your sword to swing. measured by another Ability Score, you must fight. For this battle, you will
If the goblin hadn't attacked right called Constitution. Your Constitution is keep track of hit points. The snake has 3
away, you might have tried talking to 16, well above average but not perfect. hp. On your sheet of paper, near the
him; but now you have no choice. You bottom, write "Snake 3," leaving some
Your Constitution affects your hit room to keep track of the snake's
must fight for your life. points. If you have a low score, you damage.
might only have 2 or 3 hit points. On the
other hand, if you had an 18 Constitu- This time, you will need to roll an 11
How to hit tion, you might have as many as 10 hp, or higher to hit the snake. It's slower and
or more! easier to hit than the goblin was. But the
In the game, whenever you try to hit a snake has a better chance of hitting you
monster there is a chance that you will Write your new Ability Score under than the goblin did, because it's bigger
miss and, of course, a chance that you the others on your sheet. and tougher.
will hit. It is very hard for monsters to If you hit the snake, cross off the 3
hit your fighter, because of your fine 16 Constitution
and write a 2 next to it; you have
chain mail armor. The goblin isn't as damaged the snake. If you miss, don't
hard to hit, because his armor is not Near the top of the page, above the Abil- do anything.
nearly as good. ity Scores, make a note of your hit
points: The snake then bites at you, and hits!
To swing at the monster, you must At the top of the sheet, cross off the 8
make a Hit Roll. Roll the twenty-sided Hit Points 8 after the words "Hit Points," and write a
die. If you roll an 11 or less, your charac- 7 next to it.
ter misses the goblin. If you roll a 12 or Now back to your adventure: While playing a D&D game by your-
higher, you hit! (This number is part of self, you should use this method to keep
the Combat Rules. You will learn more track of your hit points, and the hit
about it as you continue.) points of the monster you meet.
Poisoned? find a small gem, a pearl, in one corner. toward a corridor leading out of the
It may be worth 100 gold pieces itself! room. "He came through here so fast I
This is a poisonous snake, which can be After resting a bit to catch your almost didn't see him. You hit him?
very dangerous. In the game, there is a breath, you shine the lantern around, Good for you! Goblins are nasty.
way of finding our whether the poison and see another corridor leading fur- "Since you don't know about clerics,
hurt you or not. Roll the twenty-sided ther into the darkness. Looking back the let me explain. Clerics are trained in
die again. If you roll a 12 or higher, that way you came, you see the light of day fighting like you, but we can also cast
means that you dodged before the snake shining in the cave entrance in the dis- spells. I meditate, and the knowledge of
could inject its poison (but you still take tance. It looks tempting, but you remind spells enters my mind. One of the spells
damage from the bite). If you roll an 11 yourself that you are a courageous fight- I can cast right now is a curing spell, and
or less, your fighter takes 2 more points er, and shouldn't run away just because you look like you need it!"
of damage from the poison (cross off the of a little fighting.
7 hp and write 5). Spell casting! You've heard of it, but
Remember, though, that you are know nothing about it. You are still cau-
You made this roll to see if you saved tious, but you watch as the cleric says a
yourself from trouble; this roll is called a hurt; if you continue on, beware! If you
see another snake, or something else few words and touches you lightly on the
Saving Throw, and will be used later in arm. Magically, your wounds are healed!
many other situations in the game. that looks as dangerous, you should
Your fighter swings again. Remember, probably go back. Don't get killed! Live
if you roll an 11 or higher, you hit, and to fight another day; the treasure will On your sheet, imss out your I lit
can subtract 1 hit point from the snake. wait. I'oinis and wriir down 8 the full
If you miss, do nothing. You carefully start down the corridor amoimi you .started with.
The snake bites your fighter again! into the unknown, your lantern held
You lose one more hit point, and must high and sword ready. "Feel better?" she asks. "Would you
make another saving throw; remember, The corridor leads to another small care to sit and rest a bit? I'd like to tell
if you roll 12 or higher, you don't lose cave. As you approach, you hear a voice, you a few things that you will need to
extra points. If you roll an 11 or less, you and see a light. know later." You sit down, happy to rest,
lose another 2 hit points from poison You pull the shutters closed on your but keeping your sword handy in case of
damage. lantern, so you can hide better, and care- trouble. She sits down next to her lan-
fully peek around the corner. To your tern.
You can now swing again. If the snake
still lives, it bites and misses. (In this bat- right, sitting by the cave wall, is a beauti- "If you didn't know about clerics, you
tle, the snake won't hit any more; in a ful woman, wearing armor like yours. probably don't know about magic-users.
regular game, it might kill your fighter She has no sword, but has a rod with a They are adventurers, like you and me,
before you hit it at all!) metal ball on one end; this is a weapon but they study only spells, and rarely
The snake will keep attacking, but it called a mace. A lit lantern is on the floor fight. They have different spells than we
will keep missing. Your fighter may have next to her. She seems to be meditating clerics do, and instead of meditating,
to swing many times, but sooner or later or praying. they learn their spells from books.
you will kill the snake. Make all the prac- You decide she might not wish to be There are a few magic-users living in
tice rolls you need. disturbed. But as you try to quietly tip- town, but not many.
When the snake's hit points become toe past, she looks up and says:
zero, the snake is dead. (If your hit "Greetings, friend! Looking for the
points ever reach zero, you're dead!) goblin? You might Oh! You are hurt!
May I help?" She watches you carefully,
in case you are dangerous, but seems to
You are hurt, but there is nothing you want to help.
can do about it right now. The damage You apologize for disturbing her, but
your fighter has taken can be healed by a you wonder what she knows about the
few days' rest. goblin, and most of all how she
The dead snake is not dangerous, so could help you. But wait; she might be
you get to work. You pick up the many an enemy. Keeping your sword ready,
coins and put them in cloth sacks you you move closer. She stands, and says:
brought with you. As you are doing this, "My name is Aleena. I'm a cleric, an
you notice that, besides the gold, there adventurer like yourself. I live in the
are three types of silvery coins. Most are town nearby, and came here seeking
silver, but others are more valuable met- monsters and treasure. Do you know
als called electrum and platinum! about clerics?"
This is a rich treasure; snakes usually Stop and imagine what your character
have none. The treasure probably be- would say. Back in town, she might be
longed to someone else who tried to kill one of your neighbors, you are not sure,
the snake but failed. but you don't know about clerics.
Sometimes treasure could be hidden. After listening to you, she says, "Well,
Looking carefully around the room, you the goblin went that-a-way," and points
"If you are attacked by a bad magic- Sharing adventures dangerous, and we should continue on
user, you might be able to avoid the our way. I was lucky to Turn them, and it
magic, but it's harder than avoiding poi- As your fighter talks with the cleric, you might not work again."
son. Spells can be helpful, but they can get to know each other a little better. She As you continue down the corridor to-
be very dangerous, too. offers to come along, to help in the ad- gether, she explains. "We call this Turn-
"By the way, that looked like a snake venture. Although this means that the ing Undead', you see. Only clerics can
bite that I cured. That can be very bad, treasure should be split between you, it do it, and sometimes it doesn't work.
because most poison is deadly; you also means that together you can defeat Ghouls are only one of many kinds of
were lucky that it didn't cause more more dangerous monsters, and find undead monsters; there are also skel-
damage. Some other creatures also more treasure. And two adventurers etons, zombies, and much worse. If you
have special attacks, like poison. Some have a better chance of success than ei- had been alone, you could easily have
can paralyze, and some can even turn ther does alone. You decide that it would been ambushed, and probably slain.
you to stone by just looking at you be a good idea, and together you set off "Let's hurry, because the Turning only
unless you look away in time. And down the next corridor. lasts for a few minutes. There are too
dragons are the worst! They can many of them for us to handle."
breathe fire, acid, or other deadly
things. You can never avoid all the
damage from their breaths, but you Side by side, you quietly walk down the
can lessen it if you cover up in time. dark passageway. You see another corri-
dor branching off to the right, about
twenty feet ahead. Keeping your lan-
Your chaiarlcr has different S.i\,inj> terns half-shuttered, so you can see what
Throws for each of ihe special aitaik you are doing without attracting much
forms; these will be explained laiei.
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
Charisma: Your personality feet away, down the side corridor. But
they make no noise at all quiet as the
Your fighter gets along fairly well with dead. They look like they are waiting for
the cleric; she was friendly right away. some poor victim to come along.
This is the effect of another Ability Before you can speak, the cleric
Score: your Charisma. Since your fighter touches your arm, and points back the
is a likeable person, your Charisma score way you came. The two of you back up a
is above average, 14 (remember, 18 is the few feet so the creatures won't hear you.
best possible). If you had a low score, the "They're ghouls!" she whispers. "If
cleric would have been very cautious, one hits you, it could paralyze you!
and might not have offered to cure you Ghouls are undead monsters, very nasty
at all. things; neither dead nor alive, but some- You see a door ahead, to the right. This
thing horribly in between. We clerics is unusual in caves, and you approach it
Wisdom, Your common sense have some power over these creatures of slowly and quietly. The corridor con-
darkness. Follow me, and wish for luck." tinues past it, into the darkness.
A cleric is very wise. This is another You move forward again, but with the Together you examine the door. It is
Ability Score, different from intel- cleric leading the way. Peeking around made of wood, with heavy iron bands
ligence. For example, imagine that you the corner, you see the ghouls. Luckily, across it; the hinges seem to be on the
feel wet drops on your arm. Your Intel- they don't seem to have heard your other side. A large keyhole is below the
ligence would tell you that it's raining; whispers. The cleric pulls a necklace out curved metal handle.
your Wisdom would tell you to go indoors from under her armor, and you see that "I don't see anything dangerous," says
to avoid catching a cold. there is a symbol of one of the town the cleric, "but then, I don't know much
Your fighter is not very wise; your churches on her silver chain. She boldly about the traps you sometimes find on
Wisdom score is 8. The cleric has a steps out, holds up the symbol, and says doors. It's worth a try." She tries to open
Wisdom of 17, but is fairly weak, with a harshly "BEGONE, vile things!" it, but the door seems to be locked.
Strength of 9. Each type of adventurer When she steps out, the ghouls "Could you try to force it open?" she
has a different specialty; magic-users, quickly turn to attack. But now, as she asks.
for example, have high Intelligence, but thrusts the symbol out, the ghouls You back up a bit and, with a short
often low Strength. pause; and suddenly, in a rush, they run, slam into the door. But try as you
Put these two Ability Scores on your scramble away down the side corridor, might, you can't break it open.
sheet: into the darkness, and all in dead si- "What a pity!" murmurs Aleena.
lence. "There is probably some nice treasure in
8 Wisdom "Don't bother to chase them," she there, but we can't get to it. We need a
14 Charisma mutters. "As I said, they can be quite thief!"
Seeing the puzzled look on our face, ner, and see a tall bearded human in a the goblin hits you again, causing 2 more
she explains. "You may think that thieves black robe standing in a room. A goblin points of damage. Remember to keep
are bad, but many of them aren't. is crouched by one wall, watching. The track of hit points for both the goblin
Thieves are adventurers too; some of robed magic-user is moving his hands and your fighter.
them are quite nice folks, really. You do and saying works you don't understand If your hit points reach zero, the en-
have to keep an eye on your coin purse, and suddenly he disappears! emies win this battle. You will not see
but a thief can be very helpful finding The goblin crackles with glee, and home again.
traps, opening locks, climbing walls, and says "Ah, master, it worked! Nobody can If you are still fighting, the magic-user
doing other things. see you now, and what a surprise those stays back in the corner, thinking about
"I'm sure we could do better if we had nasty people will have. And I'm next! what spell to throw next. Roll again; the
a thief along, and a magic-user could Make me invisible too, master!" goblin keeps missing.
help, too. I usually go adventuring with The cleric whispers, "Now! Before The goblin started the battle with 2 hit
those types, plus a couple of big fighters they can do any more!" And you charge points. So the second time you hit the
like you to handle the rough stuff. Un- into the room together. creature, his hit points reach zero, and
fortunately, nobody else wanted to come The goblin jumps up and meets your he shrieks and falls dead on the floor.
along this time. charge with a swing of its sword. It You have overcome one enemy, but the
You try the door again, but it won't magic-user remains!
open. So, with a sigh of regret, the two When the goblin falls, the magic-user
of you continue down the corridor. The goblin lias 2 hit points, and you starts looking worried. Watching you
The corridor curves to the left, and still need to roll a \2 or boner 10 hit. carefully, he starts saying magic words
you see a light ahead. You stop and lis- Roll the die and keep track of the bat- and waving his hands. He's casting a
ten, and hear voices. One sounds like a tle in the same way as you did with spell at you.
man, but the other sounds like a goblin. the snake. You run at him, hoping for a chance
"Get UP, you wimpy weakling!" to swing before he can complete the
growls the man. "Who else did you see, As you battle the goblin, Aleena looks spell. But it's too late a magical force
besides this fighter and a cleric!" wildly around for the invisible magic- touches your mind.
"Please, master! Don't hurt!" whim- user, waving her mace to and fro in the Roll the die once again. You must
pers the goblin. "Nobody else, nobody. I air. It seems to hit something, and you make a Saving Throw against the spell.
hurt the fighter real bad. I come to tell hear a deep grunt. She keeps waving her If you roll a 16 or less, the magic takes
you right away!" mace, but without further success, so she effect; read the next section, Ending #1
The goblin's lies don't seem to fool the stops and casts a spell. You don't see for this adventure. If you roll a 17 or
human. "Get UP, I say, or I'll turn you what her spell does, so you concentrate higher, your fighter avoids the spell;
into a toad. You probably ran away with- on fighting. skip to Ending #2 on page 8.
out even trying. Nobody else, you're
1 In- i>ul]|iii hii mm liijli'ri fnr '_'
sure?" | i n i i i [ > u l i l ; i i i ] . i ^ c i Y o n n\\ !> 1
"Nobody else, master, I swear!" [ m i n i n l d . i i r u j j t ' w h e n \ m i h i : . >III
"Hrmph. They could still mean trou- p . m - i l i n flu.- g u l i l i n ^ J : b u i i h r g u l i l m
ble. Perhaps we can trick them, and kill u i i K h , i * '_' fin { m i n i s . >ii n \ ,i t.iii
them without a fight . . ." I j ^ l i i . R o l l .lLf.iin i n sic if v i m liii [lit-
Aleena taps your arm once again, and (him. If vcm MUM. tin- gohlui
you back up to discuss the situation. .mil m i w i
"I recognize that man's voice!" she
says. "It's Bargle, one of those bad Aleena can't iind Bjiglc, and ib alai t-
magic-users. He has probably cast a spell ing to look worried. Suddenly, the sound
on the goblin to force it to serve him. of a spell comes from a far corner of the
"If we go back, we should be safe. Oh! room! The cleric turns and runs in that
I almost forgot. The ghouls are back direction, waving her mace and shout-
there. If Bargle only has one goblin, we ing, the black-robed magic-user appears
should risk this battle, rather than face in the same corner as the spell noise,
all those Undead. Besides, he's not ready with a glowing arrow floating in the air
for us yet." beside him. He points at Aleena; the ar-
Listening carefully, you hear the row shoots out, and hits her! She wails
magic-user and the goblin planning how and falls with a sigh, collapsing in the
to trick you and Aleena. The two of you middle of the room. The glowing arrow
also make plans. The magic-user is the disappears.
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 If your fighter hasn't slain the goblin yet,
cast up ahead. You peek around the cor- roll again. But while you are swinging,
Ending #1: YOU MISS THE you are. Bargle's reply isn't in a language coming out. Then you remember
SAVING THROW you can understand; you stop and turn, Aleena's words, "creatures of darkness."
and see him softly chanting a spell, Maybe they hate the sunlight, and only
waving his hands at you. Before you can come outside at night. You'd better hur-
As you get near the magic-user, a funny ask what's going on, you begin to feel ry, to get back to town before dark.
feeling comes over you. Why, he doesn't very sleepy. Everything goes black.
look so bad; in fact, Bargle seems to be a * * *
pretty nice guy! You think you used to Something lands on your face, and you
be friends, but you are not sure just start to wake up. Opening your eyes, you
where or when. see a leaf, apparently fallen from the
"Feeling better?" he asks. "You were tree above you. You are lying by a cave,
overcome with rage for a moment. Are and it's late afternoon. You can make it
you okay now?" back to town if you hurry. But suddenly,
"Sure," you reply, somewhat con- you remember what happened BAR-
fused. "You seem to be okay, Bargle old GLE! The fight with the goblin, Aleena
pal, and I only took a little damage from falling, the strange bad-but-nice feeling
that goblin. Say, I saw some ghouls back about the magic-user Horrors! You
there; we should get moving." were ENCHANTED! And where is the
"Indeed?" replies Bargle. "Well, let's treasure?
pack up the goodies, and move on." You get up quickly, brushing the
Together you collect the treasure: a leaves off your face and equipment.
small bag from the goblin, and a larger Perhaps Bargle was afraid to kill you,
one from the cleric. Bargle picks up a and just stole all that he could find. Or,
black velvet bag, explaining that he more likely, Bargle was scared away by
dropped it while he was fighting the something before he could slit your
goblin. throat.
As you get ready to leave, you blurt Your dagger is missing, and some
out "Shouldn't we take the cleric's body food, but your sword is in its sheath and It's hard to run with the cleric across
back? She helped me out, earlier." your pack is still there. One sack re- your shoulder, but you finally get back
"That would be nice," Bargle replies, mains, and from the pain in your back, just as the sun goes down. Once there,
"but we're carrying all we can. We all you must have been sleeping on it. It you take her body to her church. It's too
take our risks, here in the dungeon." contains some of the coins you found by late to help her, but they can give her a
Something seems wrong about that. the snake and the tiny gem. The rest is proper burial. They thank you for your
You argue with Bargle a bit, but he missing. kindness, and offer a small bottle as a
convinces you that nothing could be You remember what happened to reward.
done for her, and bringing her along poor Aleena. You should take her back "What is it?" you ask.
could slow you down maybe enough to town; they might be able to help, and "It's a magical potion, of course!" he
that the ghouls would catch up. So you even if it's too late, she should get a exclaims. "It's a Potion of Healing. If you
head off down the corridor, as if the best proper burial. As you prepare to return are hurt, you can drink this and be
of friends. to the caves, you find that your lamp has cured, somewhat like our magical curing
The corridor leads to another room, gone out, the oil all burned away. spells. It's a nice magical treasure; save it
which is empty. You search it together; There is still one oil flask in your pack, for an adventure in your future, in case
nothing can be found. But looking down so you refill the lantern, light it with a cleric you are traveling with runs out
the next passage, you see a light! your tinderbox, and head back into the of spells. It's the least we can do."
"Bargle!" you exclaim. "Look here!" darkness. The clerics thank you again for your
"Ah, I see," he says. "That must be a You pass through one empty room, help, and you thank them for theirs. You
way out! We're in good shape now. Lead and then find the bodies of the cleric leave the church and head for your
on, fierce fighter! I shall watch for the and the goblin in the next. But you see home on the other side of town, think-
ghouls." dark, quiet shapes in the darkness ing about your adventure and all you
You head down the corridor towards beyond; it's the ghouls! Quickly, you put have learned.
the light. Sure enough, it's a side the cleric's body over your shoulder and
passage, leading out of the hill into the run for your life.
sunlight. As your stomach grumbles, The ghouls follow, snapping at your
you remember that it's after noon. You heels. You can't move as fast as usual Now pretend that you made the Saving
missed lunch in all the excitement. with the weight of the cleric on your Throw, and read the next section to see
"Shall we head back?" you ask, as you shoulder. But you win the desperate what might have happened.
squint out into the daylight, much race, and get outside once again! If you have already read the next
brighter than your lantern. You pause for a moment, out of section, skip to the Winning section af-
"Surely!" he replies. As you head out- breath. Looking back, you see the ghouls terward.
side, you start to talk about how hungry in the cave but they don't seem to be
Ending #2: YOU MAKE THE It won't spoil; save it for an adventure in
SAVING THROW your future."
The clerics thank you again for your
help, and you thank them for theirs. You
Bargle's magic doesn't seem to work! He leave the church and head for your
pauses, surprised, as you swing. home on the other side of town, think-
ing about your adventure and all you
Kull tin- dn 1 . II w>ii loll M nr highi-i. ; have learned.
M>U liii. A mil (if 7 nr It-is n i f . m s ilia!
Mm mitrd. II you citn gif <!').< m
ilifin, iii.i^u-uscr? me- ( i l i t n IMNV in
tin. r t i c \ .in 1 iKK MM \ il.mi;criiiis m a
If you haven't read Ending #1, "You
i IHM1
Miss The Saving Throw" go back and
If you hit, the magic-user gives a cry do that now, pretending that you were
and falls, dead. You have won! enchanted by Bargle's spell.
If you miss, Bargle screams and runs
down the next corridor, into the dark- Winning
ness. You start after him, but then you
stop. Who knows what magical powers You have just played a D&D game!
the man might have, waiting there to This adventure was designed to show
trap you? Better to see if Aleena is alive, you some of the basic parts of the game.
and rest a bit. You played a fighter, who tried to sur-
You kneel by the cleric, and gently vive in the dungeon, while finding mon-
turn her over. Alas, Bargle's magical sters and treasures. You succeeded so
spell has taken her life. Mourning the your character "wins."
loss of your new-found friend, you de- Think a moment. Why do we play
cide to take her back to town for a games? To have fun. Each player "wins"
proper burial. You tidy her up while by having fun so if you had a good
keeping an eye out for monsters and time, you win! You can have fun even if
listening carefully in case Bargle comes your character gets killed and if that
back; but nothing happens. happens, don't worry. You can always
The goblin had very little treasure, make up another one!
just a few copper pieces in a small bag. Winning a role playing game is like
Searching the room, you find another "winning" in real life; it's just succeeding
bag, a finer one of black velvet. It must in doing what you wanted to do, and
be Bargle's, dropped in the heat of the living through it. The fun comes from
battle! Opening it, you find several valu- Peering into it, you find that the corri- doing it, not ending it! This is why we
able gems and a small bottle. You put the dor leads outside, into the midday sun. say that in this game, everybody wins
treasure away, planning to examine the Carefully, in case Bargle is waiting to and nobody loses.
bottle later. ambush you, you walk outside and all Is this a game or a story, you ask? It's a
Nothing else of value is in the room. is clear and calm. little of both. As you learn more about it,
You pick up the poor cleric and carry You rest a bit, pick up the cleric, and it will become more and more like a
her on one shoulder. Should you con- head back to town. Once there, you take game. You still have many game details
tinue down the dark corridor, or head her body to her church. It's too late to to learn, so continue reading.
back the way you came? help her, but they can give her a proper You have met some monsters, and
You suddenly see shadowy shapes ap- burial. They thank you for your kind- won the battles. You have found some
proaching from the way you came. The ness, and offer a favor in return. You treasures not only coins and gems,
ghouls must have returned! Now there remember the strange small bottle in but a magical potion.
is no choice; you must hope that the Bargle's bag, and get it out, asking Most important, you have learned
magic-user ran away, and that a way out whether they can tell you what it is. how to use your own imagination, while
lies in that direction. Fighting the ghouls One of the clerics opens the bottle, using the rules of the game. Could you
would mean your death. and sniffs at it. "Why, it seems to be a see, in your mind, the wicked magic-user
You stagger under the weight, but magical potion!" he exclaims. "Let me Bargle? Or the kind, wise cleric Aleena?
manage to run down the corridor, hold- see, now, I'm sure I've smelled that Can you imagine the gold and silver
ing your lantern shakily with one finger. before. Ah! I remember. It's a Potion of scattered on the floor by the huge,
You enter a room, but it looks empty. No Growth! If you drink it, you will become deadly rattlesnake and the fierce bat-
time to search; you continue onward. As a giant for a short time, for one to two tle afterward?
you head into the next corridor, you see hours and can do double normal This is another part of the fun in a
light ahead! And as you approach, you damage when you hit a monster. Con- DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game.
see that it's coming from a side passage. gratulations, it's a nice magical treasure!
Alignment: How characters Throws, and so forth are written In the box above the words Hit
and monsters behave down for you on a sheet in the middle of Points, put 8. You should know what
this booklet, along with other details. that means, from your first adventure.
Take a moment, now, and think about This description of your character is It's a measure of how much damage
how your character behaved. The called a Character Sheet. your fighter can take.
fighter was one of the "good guys." You Remove the character sheet by care- At the top right corner, there is a
wanted to do the right things; for exam- fully folding it along the dotted line and place for the name of your Dungeon
ple, you brought the cleric back home then tearing it along the perforation. Master. In group games, this is the per-
with you. On the other hand, the magic- You will find the scores for other son who plays the monsters, while you
user and the goblin were the "bad guys." character types in the center of this play your character. You don't have one
They didn't care whether you lived or booklet too. These are for when you yet, so leave that blank. Later, when
died, just what they could get from you play with a group. You will have to write you're playing in a group, one person
selfish, and nasty besides. the information on copies of the blank will be the Dungeon Master.
There is a way to describe how your character sheet on the back of this book. Below that line is a rectangle labeled
character behaves in the game; it is Do not use any of these characters for Character Sketch or Symbol. You may
called Alignment. Your fighter's Align- the Solo Adventure in this booklet. wish to draw a picture of your character
ment is called Lawful, he tries to protect Use a pencil whenever you need to there, a "character sketch." You may skip
others and defeat monsters. write on a character sheet, not a pen. this part of the character sheet, if you
Aleena the cleric was also Lawful. Many of the notes you will make are wish; it won't affect the game, but might
This is one reason why you became temporary, like the amount of money you help you imagine what your character
friends. Your Charisma helped when have, your equipment, and so forth. looks like. Or instead of a sketch, you
you first met her, but if your Alignments Get out the rest of the dice and the may want to pick a symbol something
were different, you probably wouldn't crayon. If you have the dice, the crayon, that your character will be connected
have been so friendly to each other. a pencil, and your character sheet, you with. Your symbol could be a bird, or a
Bargle, the magic-user, had a dif- are ready to learn some more. tree, or anything you wish. For example,
ferent Alignment than yours. He was if your character's name is Hawk, you
Chaotic, the opposite of Lawful. He was may wish to draw a falcon-like bird in
selfish, cared only about himself and The Character Sheet this rectangle.
steals from others. Most people don't Let's look at the whole character sheet, The middle part of the character
like chaotic's. You two wouldn't normally bit by bit. sheet gives all your Ability Scores and
become friends at all (except for the At the top of the sheet, fill in your Saving Throws.
spell he cast, that magically forced you to name above "Player's Name."
be his friend for a short time). What's your character's name? It
Monsters have alignments, too. The could be the same as yours, or you could Ability Scores
goblin and the ghouls were Chaotic. But make one up. Write the name in the Let's take a closer look at your character.
the snake wasn't really bad or good (al- place for it, under your own. Your fighter has the following Ability
though it certainly was dangerous). Its Your fighter is one of the "good guys," Scores:
Alignment is called Neutral. It will fight to so your Alignment is Lawful. This has
protect itself and will help others, if that already been filled in on your sheet, and 17 Strength
will help it, but is mostly concerned with shouldn't change. If you want to play a 9 Intelligence
surviving. Neutral doesn't mean stupid Neutral character (or, if you want to take 8 Wisdom
(Alignment has nothing to do with Intel- the chance, a Chaotic one), you should 11 Dexterity
ligence); it means a balance, an average put the Alignment on the character 16 Constitution
between the Law and Chaos. The snake sheet for that new character. 14 Charisma
was just a typical animal, trying to stay alive The Class of your character is the
and get something to eat. type of adventurer you are playing. In the adventure, it said "your Ability
Alignment will be explained in more Fighter has already been filled in, be- Score is . . . ," because your starting
detail later in this booklet, on page 55. cause once a Class is chosen, it will never character was already made up. Later, if
change. you would like to play another character,
Now where do you go? You are just starting, so your Level is you can use any of the others included in
1, or "first" (1st). You will learn more this booklet. But when you are ready to
You can have more adventures by your- about a character's "level" very soon. make up a completely new character,
self! Another adventure has been de- Armor Class is a measure of how you will roll for your Ability Scores,
signed just for your fighter. It starts on hard it is for monsters to hit you; abbre- using the dice. This is explained in more
page 13. But before you play that adven- viated AC. It can be any whole number, detail on page 48.
ture, you will need to know a few more 9 or less. The lower the number, the Every D&D character has these six
details about your fighter, and how to smaller the chances are that you. will get Ability Scores (though the numbers are
use all the dice. hit. Since your fighter is wearing sturdy usually different, of course). The num-
All the details of your character armor, your Armor Class is 4; write that bers are always from 3 to 18, the total of
your hit points, Ability Scores, Saving number in the shield shape. three six-sided dice.
Adjustments Dexterity: Your Dexterity is average, so this is not a "special ability." Most other
there are no adjustments here. If you characters can't fight as well, but have
There is a place on the sheet for "adjust- were clumsy (with a low Dexterity score), Special Abilities which they need for
ments" next to your Ability Scores. If you would have trouble using missile survival and success. The Special Abili-
any Ability Score is very high or low, weapons like bow and arrow (which you ties of each character class are given in
there may be adjustments, which can be will learn about later in this booklet). the class descriptions (pages 23 - 47).
good or bad. The adjustments will apply You might also react a little slower than
to certain die rolls in the game. An the monsters. But your average score EXAMPLES: Clerics can Turn L n-
"average" Ability Score is any number here keeps you even with them. dead monsters. Magic-users i.im cast
from 9 to 12, and has no adjustments. spells (as tun clerics anil el\es).
Constitution: Your Constitution score is Thieves (-;in pick locks.
Strength: With a low Strength score, it high, so you get a + 2 bonus here. As we
would be harder to hit monsters, and explained in the adventure, you have 8 Combat Chart
you would have a "minus" adjustment, a hit points; without your good Constitu-
penalty. But your great Strength gives tion, you would only have 6 hit points. If You know how to roll when your charac-
you a bonus, the "plus" adjustment. you had a low Constitution score, you ter wants to hit a monster; this is called a
Your + 2 bonus helps you in fighting; it might have even less. A higher Constitu- "Hit Roll." You will always use a twenty-
is added to both your Hit Rolls and to tion score would mean more hit points. sided die for Hit Rolls.
the Damage you do. It also helps when You will not need to use this Combat
you try to perform feats of strength Charisma: Your Charisma is also above Chart until you play in a group game.
like breaking open a stuck door, or average, and you get a + 1 bonus when When you read a one-player adventure,
lifting a huge rock. meeting and talking to others. Your the Hit Roll you need will be given. This
The + 2 adjustment has already been Charisma will affect their reactions; they will include your Strength adjustment as
included in your Hit Rolls for the Solo will probably like you, and you can prob- well as the monster's Armor Class.
Adventures in this booklet. ably get your own way a little more In group games, you will use a slightly
often, because of your Charisma bonus. different procedure, using this chart. In
Intelligence: Your Intelligence is aver- As with your other bonuses, your the D&D combat system, every creature
age so there are no adjustments here. Charisma bonus has been accounted for has an Armor Class, whether it is wear-
Because of your intelligence, your char- in the Solo Adventure to come. ing armor or not. If your roll (including
acter can speak two languages. You can the Strength adjustment) is a number
speak the same language as all the other Saving Throws high enough to match or beat the num-
humans, which we call "Common." ber listed under the target's Armor
Your fighter can also speak a code In the first adventure, you made Saving Class, you will hit the target, and can
language, called an "Alignment Throws against poison and magic spells. then roll Damage. This will be explained
Tongue." This is used to speak privately When you try to save yourself from a in more detail later.
with someone else of the same Align- special attack, you roll the twenty-sided
ment. (In your first adventure, you die; if the result is equal to or higher TURN THE SHEET OVER
could have spoken to Aleena the cleric in than your number you succeed in avoid-
the Lawful tongue, and Bargle the ing the attack. We are done with the hardest parts, but
magic-user wouldn't have understood There are three other Saving Throws, there are a few more things to come. Be
what you were saying; he speaks Cha- against Magic Wands (if someone shoots very careful when you get to "Money"
otic.) Characters usually don't use their one at you), Paralysis (which would have and "Experience."
Alignment tongue unless they have to. been used if one of the ghouls had hit
You can say that you speak "Common" you), and Dragon Breath (dragons can
and "Lawful." Near the bottom of the be very dangerous, so there weren't any
sheet is a place to write the names of in your first adventure). You will always
your languages. use a twenty-sided die to roll a Saving
Throw.
Wisdom: Your Wisdom is 8, just below For most characters, the easiest Saving
average, so you have a penalty adjustment Throws to make are those against Poison
of 1. As with your Strength bonus, your and Magic Wands, and the hardest are
Wisdom penalty has been included in the those against Dragon Breath and Magic
Solo adventure to come. Spells. Saving Throws are explained in
In group games, you will subtract one more detail in the Dungeon Masters
from your die roll each time you make a Rulebook.
Saving Throw against a magic spell.
Aleena the cleric had a bonus against Special Abilities
magic spells, because of her high Wisdom,
but she had a penalty on her Hit rolls, Your character does a better job at fight-
because of her low Strength score. ing than any other type of character, but
10
Magic Items
Whenever you find a magic item, write it
down here. This includes the magic po-
tion you found in your first adventure!
In this box, write Potion of Healing the
magic item you found in Ending #1.
(Since you probably missed the Saving
Throw against Bargle's spell, we will use
that ending for your character's adven-
ture. You will need the Potion of Healing
in your next adventure.)
Normal Items
This is where you list the equipment that
your character has. Copy the following
list into the box, and look it over so you
know what you are carrying. For now,
don't worry about how much the items
cost or where they came from.
You have a dagger and other normal
equipment again, even though Bargle
stole some. We will assume that you kept
spare equipment at home but the list
here is all that remains.
2 Flasks of oil
1 Tinderbox
1 Rope, 50' goblin. You brought home a little of To find the Total value (200 gp), you
1 Leather backpack each, though Bargle stole most of it. need to know more about the D&D
1 Standard rations (preserved food) This is where you make a note of the money system.
1 Waterskin (leather canteen) treasure you have, adding to the list for Think of copper as pennies, silver as
1 Lantern any more treasure you find. We use dimes, and gold as dollars. Electrum
2 Torches abbreviations for the types of coin (listed pieces are like half dollars, but platinum
2 Small sacks here in order, starting with the most is expensive; one platinum piece is like a
Large sack valuable): five-dollar bill. Study the Money Con-
Suit of Chain Mail armor version Table on this page.
Shield platinum pieces = pp
Dagger gold pieces = gp
Sword electrum pieces = ep MONEY CONVERSION TABLE
silver pieces = sp
copper pieces = cp 100 cp = 1 gp 2 ep = 1 gp
Other Notes 10 sp = 1 gp 5 gp = 1 pp
These abbreviations are often used, so 1 pp = 5 gp = 10 ep = 50 sp = 500 cp
This is a way to help you remember who you should get to know them well. To
your character has met, and where you write down the treasure you found, copy
have gone. You should write down this into the Money box on your charac- When you find treasure in an adven-
"Caves near town; met Bargle, Chaotic ter sheet: ture, write it down on a separate piece of
magic-user." Make more notes as you paper. At the end of the adventure, add
play more adventures. the treasure to your list, and Figure out
pp: 7 1 gem: 100 gp
gP : 50 your new total.
Money and Treasure ep: 20 In your adventures, look for the most
sp: 40 valuable treasure. If you are carrying all
You found many gold and silver pieces cp: 100 you can, you may have to drop some
when you killed the giant snake, and a treasure to pick up more valuable coins;
few copper pieces when you killed the Total Value: 200 gp drop copper first, of course.
11
Experience experience for treasure, and not much finally have this many XP, adding up
for killing monsters? It's better to avoid your points from each and every adven-
In the game, your character will become killing, if you can, by tricking monsters ture, your character will no longer be
more powerful each time you complete an or using magic to calm them down. You Level 1; you will move up in power, to
adventure. The way of measuring this can sometimes avoid the risks of combat. Level 2. This doesn't mean that you lose
"power" is another number, called Experi- But you will have to fight many mon- any XP; you will keep adding more as
ence Points; the abbreviation is XP. sters to get their treasures. you get them.
When your character started, you had Remember your "Level" at the top of You will probably work your way up to
no Experience Points. But in your first the front of the sheet? That relates to XP Level 3, 4, 5 and so forth, becoming more
adventure, you killed a giant snake and a (Experience Points) in the following powerful each time. And human charac-
goblin, and found some treasure. You get way; if you gain enough experience ters can go all the way to 36th level,
Experience Points for each of these things. points your level goes up. though this should take hundreds of
For the treasure you found, you get When your Level goes up, you be- games. For low level your goal doubles for
200 XP (one experience point per gold come more powerful. Each time this each Level: 4,000 XP for 3rd Level, 8,000
piece value). For killing the monsters, happens, you will get more Hit Points. XP for 4th Level, and so forth.
you get 30 more. That adds up to 230 Sometimes (but not every time) when
XP, but it's not your total. You also get a your Level goes up, your character will Now you should know how to use each
bonus because you are a Fighter and be able to make Saving Throws a little part of your Character Sheet. If you
have an above average Strength score. easier, and hit things a little more often. didn't understand something, STOP!
This bonus is + 10% of your XP. Since So the more Levels you gain, the longer Go back and read the details again.
you earned 230, you get 23 bonus you can survive, and the more treasures You will have a character sheet for
points, for a total of 253 XP. In the you can collect. each character you play. It will have all
Experience box at the bottom of the On the line at the bottom of the the details you need to play the charac-
page, write "253." Experience box, write the number ter properly.
Did you notice that you get a lot of "2,000." This is your goal. When you
Dice number, counting zero as "no tens." Roll roll two 4-sided dice at once, adding the
a second time for the "ones" number. results normally.
This is a very important section If both rolls are "zero", the result is Some examples:
Be sure to read it carefully. one hundred.
d% Roll the ten-sided die to find
EXAMPLES: A roll ol 5 followed bv a the "tens" number, and again
When you have several dice, they are roll ol 3 gi\es a mial result of .Vi. If ihc to find the "ones" number.
just called "dice" but one is called a 3 were rolled fiisi. the result would be 4d8 Roll an eight-sided die four
"die." Each side of a die is called a "face." 35. A mil ol 0 Followed by a roll oi i times
Each type of die is named for the num- gi\es a total o( 06. or simph 6.
ber of faces it has. The dice, and the 9dl2 Roll the twelve-sided die nine
abbreviations for them, are used in times
Now stop and color in the numbers on ld20 Roll the twenty-sided die once
every adventure, so you should get to all the other dice by rubbing the crayon
know them well. across the grooves and using a tissue to Sometimes you will find a number after
Check to be sure your set has all the wipe off the extra way. the "d" that's not a kind of die; for
dice you need: example, Id3. In this case, it means that
The four-sided die looks like a pyra- We often use abbreviations for the kinds the result should be 1, 2, or 3. To make a
mid. Try to spin it as you throw it, to be of dice: a "d," followed by the number of "Id3" roll, roll Id6 and divide by 2
sure of making a fair roll. When it lands, faces. For example: d8 means an eight- (rounding up), to get a result from one
only the bottom number on each face is sided die. to three.
right-side up; this is the result of the The roll of a ten-sided die twice, to Using the same principle, you can
"roll." For all the other dice, roll them on find a Percentage, is abbreviated "d%," find the result of Id2 (Id4 divided by 2)
a table or flat surface, and the number and sometimes called a "Percentage roll" and Id5 (ldlO divided by 2).
on top is the result of the roll. or "Percentage dice."
The ten-sided die has a zero on one Whenever a number appears before If you have read everything so far
face, which is read as "ten." the "d," it means the number of times
The ten-sided die can also be used to you need to roll the die. So "2d4" means YOU ARE READY FOR YOUR NEXT
find a Percentage (a number from 1 to "roll a four-sided die twice, and add the ADVENTURE!
100), in the following way. Roll the die results," for a total of 2-8. Or, if you have
once and read the result as the "tens" more than one set of dice, you can just To Start, just turn the page.
12
In the following one-player adventure, "Looks good!" he exclaims. "Just a bit promise to come here first the next time
you will explore a dungeon, looking for here, and a bit there . . . want to trade in you need better armor or more weap-
monsters and treasures. Part 1 is a shop- that chain mail you had on? Looked to ons. Agreed!" He stomps off, grum-
ping trip in town. In Part 2, you will be in pretty good shape . . . ." bling, then stops and turns. "You can
learn more about battles. And in Part 3 "Wait a minute!" you reply. "Don't you pick it up Tuesday. Pay the clerk on your
you will visit the dungeon. You will often have anything lighter than this stuff? I'm way out!"
be given choices, and asked to pick one. not going to be able to carry as much Subtract 30 gold pieces worth of coins
Each choice gives a number; turn to that treasure if I wear all this metal!" from the Money on your character
number to find the results of your "Ah, well!" he says, soothingly. "If you sheet. You can either subtract it from
choice. Your adventure will continue want better protection, you have to use your gp, or use some coins of lesser
from there. this. Unless, of course, you can somehow value if you understand the Conversion
find magical armor." Table. Change the numbers on your
Plate mail will improve your Armor sheet to account for your spending, and
Part 1: Town Business Class to AC 2, better than your current change your Equipment List. Then turn
AC 4, so it would be nice to have. the sheet over, and change your Armor
You spend a few days in town, letting Class to 2.
your wounds heal. Since you found so "Well, how much?" you ask.
much treasure on your first adventure, "Well . . . 75 gold pieces as is. Want to You come back to the shop in a few
you go shopping for some better armor. trade in that chain mail?" he repeats. days and pick up your heavy Plate Mail
Armorer Baldwick knows you well. "Oh, I guess so," you reply. "How (it's not ready on Tuesday, but you have
He's a jolly fellow, getting a bit gray. You much?" time to wait). You spend the time look-
remember snitching apples from the big "For you, well . . . since you're trying ing around for other adventurers any
tree in his yard when you were young to get started, and since I've known you help would be welcome but the few
and foolish. so long . . . 50 gold pieces, with your you find all just want to relax, have a
trade-in." good time, and heal up from their last
"Well, well!" he booms, as you enter adventures.
his shop. "How have YOU been these You talk with him a bit more, using
days? All grown up now, I see!" your Charisma, and bargain him down So, fully equipped but still alone, you
to a better price. set off one morning for the caves near
You chat for a few minutes about your
younger days, and then you ask if he has "Okay, OKAY!" he says finally. "Just town, remembering to watch out for
any armor that would fit you. 30 gold pieces with the trade-in, and you ghouls.
"Why, surely! Let me see, let me see
. . ." He pushes his way through racks of
armor of all kinds, as you follow closely
behind. There are dozens of sets of
armor, for people of all sizes, but most of
them need repair.
"AHA!" he exclaims, pulling an
armload of metal down. "Try this on!"
The armor you are wearing is made
of round chain links, all skillfully inter-
woven to form a covering for most of
your body. But this armor is different.
Large pieces of well-crafted metal are
fastened to chain mail and leather, fash-
ioned into pieces that you could wear.
"Plate mail, of course; just finished it a
week or two ago. Want to try it on? I
think it'll fit."
You go to a back room and remove
your chain mail, and try this heavier
armor on for size. Sure enough, it fits,
almost as if it were made just for you.
The metal plates hang from leather
straps and chain mail links, forming a
tough protective suit. But it's very heavy,
almost twice as heavy as your chain mail.
You come out to show him, and he
walks around you, carrying a piece of
charcoal and marking the armor here
and there for some necessary adjust-
ments.
13
14
Part 3: Into The Caves 5 You decide to go back to the statue 13 You kill the two skeletons! As each
room. Return to 1. one "dies," its bones collapse in a heap,
Since you explored some of the caves and the rusty sword drops to the floor
earlier, you find yet another entrance to 6 You go back to the statue room. Read with a clang.
venture into this time. After finding a 58. You search the area, but find no treas-
suitable cave, you pause to be sure you ure. However, there is a door in the east
are ready. 7 You turn the corner and follow the wall of the room. Do you want to:
The caves are dark and dreary, as you passage back to a room. Read 9.
remember from the last time, so you get Go South? Read 62
out your lantern and light the wick, 8 After the turn, the corridor goes 50' Open the door? Read 27
using your tinderbox. Then, carefully, west and opens into a room. Read 54
you step into the first "room." after you add Entry 8 Map to yours: 14 You go west, and come to another
room. It has an exit south, leading out-
Tear the sheet of graph paper out of 9 You may go one of three ways. Do side, and another corridor heading west.
the center of this booklet. Then, starting you want to: You don't want to go west, the ghouls
near the bottom, copy Entry 1 Map: are in that direction.
Go North? Read 21 You recognize this room as the en-
1 The room you are in is fifty feet Go East? Read 53 trance for your very first adventure!
square, with 10' wide exits in the middle Go back to the Statue room? Read 36 This is where you hit the goblin, and he
of the north, south, east, and west walls. ran away. Do you want to:
The ceiling of the room is 15' up, but the 10 If you have already killed the mon-
corridors are only 10' tall. sters and taken the treasure from this Go back East? Read 62
The walls, floor, and ceiling are made part of the dungeon, read 9. If not, Go South? Read 3
of rough rock. There are some cracks continue:
and crevices in the rock walls, all very The corridor goes 20' north from the 15 If you have already killed all the
small. Standing in the exact center of the room and then turns right. You peek monsters in this part of the dungeon,
room is a stone statue of a woman in around the corner, and see that the read 61. If not, continue:
armor. You examine it carefully, and corridor goes 20' and opens into an- The corridor goes north and opens
finally even touch it but it is merely a other room. Read 54. into a room. The area looks like Entry 15
statue, nothing magical or special. Map (add it to your map):
You have entered this 50' square 11 You quietly approach the room, and As you peer into the room, you see
room by the southern corridor, which you don't see anything unusual. But as two skeletons with rusty swords standing
leads out to fresh air and sunlight. The you step into the room, some giant rats about 10' from you, around the corner.
other corridors are dark. The light from leap out from the corner to your right, Without making a sound, they step for-
your lamp helps, but shadows linger in and attack! Two of them hit you, for a ward, grinning horribly, and swing at
the corners of this large room. Do you total of 3 points of damage. You are you. One of them hits, for 2 points of
want to: suddenly in battle, and cannot escape. damage. Read 26.
L_
Read 83.
Stop and Listen? Read 42
Search the room? Read 57
i-
12 Talking to the creature doesn't do
Go down a corridor? Read 58 any good. It attacks, and gets one free
swing while you are talking! Read 86,
2 You are back outside! If you want to and run the battle normally after giving
go back inside, read #1. If you want to the monster one free attack.
quit, stop reading here; your fighter
goes back to town. If you killed any
monsters or found any treasure, read 88
to find how many Experience Points you
have earned. If you want to go shopping Entry 8 map
for supplies, read 89.
16 You are leaving the Rust Monster looks like Entry 21 Map (add it to your on your answer). Whatever answer you
room, heading west. Have you mapped map): gave, the mouth laughs and says "Come
this part of the dungeon yet? You search the room carefully and back again some time!" The invisible
find one small bag by the door, appar- barrier is gone, and you can leave the
No Read 28 ently dropped by one of the goblins. room. You cannot find anything more
Yes Read 62 The bag contains 10 sp, 5 gp, and a here, nor will the mouth speak to you
key! Now do you want to: again.
17 The corridor goes north 30', and Read 40.
then there is a side passage to the left Open the door? Read 66
(west). The main corridor continues an- Go back? Read 37 2 5 You decide that the rats look dan-
other 30' and then turns left. When you gerous, and you head back the way you
get to the side passage, you see that it 2 2 If you have been in this room be- came. The rats don't notice.
goes 10' west and opens into a strange fore, please read 39. Otherwise, con- Read 58.
room. Read 49. tinue:
You enter the strange room to investi- 2 6 You are facing two skeletons. Do
18 You carefully enter the room, and gate. The room is empty and clean, and you want to:
see two goblins in a far corner. They the only feature is the orange mouth on
have swords, and seem to be expecting the far wall, about 8' long. The room
looks like Entry 22 Map (add it to your Talk to them? Read 30
you. They attack, and each gets a free Turn them? Read 47
swing before you can react. Read 85 and map): Run away? Read 72
run the battle normally, but give each You search the room, listening and Fight? Read 84
goblin one free swing to start. looking carefully, but you find nothing.
Suddenly, as you are about to leave, the
lips of the giant mouth move, and in a big 2 7 You carefully examine the door,
19 You think that there are goblins up and fine nothing strange about it. There
here, so you keep your lantern shuttered booming bass voice it says, "Surprise! You
are here for double-or-nothing! Ready or is a keyhole in it. Have you found a key?
and sneak up to peek into the room. You
hear soft talking in a language you don't not, here we go. O-T-T-F-F-S-S. What's
next in line? If you solve this riddle, your Yes Read 80
understand. Read 46
treasure will double. If you fail, it will all No
Peeking around the corner, you see
two goblins to your right, at the south disappear. What is your answer?"
end of the room. They seem to be If you try to leave, you find the way 2 8 The corridor goes only 10' west
talking about something and don't blocked by an invisible force. "You must before connecting to another corridor
notice you. Do you want to: answer, y'know!" bellows the mouth. heading north; the main corridor con-
Think about it, and decide what the tinues west, into darkness. The north
answer is. Then read 82. corridor goes 30' and opens into a
Go back? Read 32 room. Do you want to:
Talk to them? Read 50
Attack? Read 63 2 3 You go back to the room where the
giant rats were and continue through, Go North? Read 15
arriving back at the first room. Read 58. Continue West? Read 14
2 0 You decide to leave the goblins
alone. But as you start to back off, the
goblin you have been talking to draws its 2 4 You suddenly feel different (either 2 9 You go back to the statue room.
sword and attacks! The other one leaves, more or less weighted down, depending Read 58.
going north and turning left. Do you
want to:
3 0 The skeletons ignore your chatter, 3 8 You go east down the long corridor, 4 5 You go into the room and look
and swing again. One of them hits you, around the corner heading south, and around. There is nothing here but the
doing 2 more points of damage. Return come to the side passage leading into the reddish dust. When you look closely at
to 26. strange room. Read 49. the dust, however, you realize that it's
rust!
31 You go north from the strange 3 9 The mouth roars, "YOU again?! Go You hear a snort, and when you look
room. If you have already been through away, pest!" You can't find anything of up, you see a strange looking creature
this part of the dungeon, read 7. If not, value here. Read 40. coming into the room from the western
read 8. corridor. It looks like a giant armadillo
4 0 From here, do you want to: with a long tail, and has 2 feathery
32 You decide to go back. The goblins feelers on the front.
don't notice you, and you return to the Go North? Read 31 It charges at you! Do you want to:
statue room. Read 58. Go South? Read 4
Talk to it? Read 12
3 3 You decide to attack the goblins 4 1 The creature is feasting on rust, and Run away? Read 56
before they can get help. You leap out ignores you. You run past it through the Fight? Read 86
and block the first goblin's escape, and room and arrive back at the statue room.
they both draw swords and attack you. Read 58. 4 6 You try to bash the door open with-
Read 85 and run the battle normally. out using a key, but without success. The
solid door remains securely closed. You
3 4 As you keep talking to the goblin eventually give up, passing the scattered
you see 3 more coming from the north. skeleton bones as you head out to the
They look mad. Do you want to: main corridor. Read 62.
51 You try to keep talking, but the 5 6 As you turn to run away, the mon- 6 0 Your armor, shield, sword, and dag-
goblin attacks; it misses. You suddenly ster quickly attacks, and gets in your way. ger have all been turned to rust by the
hear more goblin noises to the north, You cannot retreat! Read 86. fearsome Rust Monster! But now that
and see 2 more goblins coming, with you have no more metal, the creature
their swords out and looking very angry. 5 7 You search the room carefully, and turns away from you, not interested any
Do you want to: you find a small scrap of paper in a more. You can see, now, that it has no
niche (small hole) in one wall. Opening teeth or claws, and can't actually hurt
Run away? Read 73 it, you discover a note, written in the you!
Fight? Read 87 Common tongue: You watch as it ambles over to one of
the piles of rust, and it starts to eat,
52 You go around the corner and look RATS EAST ignoring you completely.
in the room, but nobody is there. There GOBLINS NORTH Keeping a careful eye on the creature,
is nothing here to find, so you go back BEWARE WEST! you look around the room. There are
around the corner to the last room you gems here and there, some covered by
were in. Read 9. rust; you collect six of them! Their total
You can also see parts of the corridors
leading out of the room, which look like value is 300 gp.
5 3 If you have already mapped this of Entry 57 Map. Since you are unprotected and un-
the dungeon, read 38. If not, continue: You find nothing else in the room. armed, you go east to the first room and
The corridor goes 50' east from the Return to 1. then go outside, heading for town.
room and then turns right, to the south. To find how many Experience Points
Peering around the corner, you see that you have earned, read 88. You will also
the corridor goes 30' south, and a side 5 8 From this room, you can go many
ways. Do you want to: have to go shopping for more armor
passage then opens to the west. When you
get to that point, you see that the side and weapons. The shopping list is given
passage goes 10' west and opens into Go East? Read 79 in 89.
another room, with blue walls and a huge Go West? Read 43
orange mouth on the opposite wall. Go North? Read 10 61 You peer into the skeleton room,
Read 49 after you add Entry 53 Map Go South? Read 2 and see that nothing has changed. If you
to your map: already investigated the door, there is
5 9 As you approach the room, you nothing more to do here; read 62.
5 4 The room looks like Entry 54 Map hear more squeaks. You wisely shutter If you want to investigate the door in
(add it to your map): your lantern, leaving only a dim reddish this room, read 27.
What are you expecting here? If you glow, and peek into the room. You see
didn't find or hear any clues, read 18. three giant rats scurrying around and 6 2 You are at an intersection of the
If you found some information about some scattered treasure nearby. Do you corridor to the north and the east-west
the creatures in this direction, read 19 want to: corridor. Do you want to:
instead.
Go back? Read 25 Go North? Read 15
5 5 You continue through the Rust Talk to them? Read 74 Go East? Read 48
Monster room, and get back to the Try to scare them? Read 77 Go West? Read 14
statue room. Read 58. Attack? Read 68
j
IIII
/JNI
Entry 53 map Entry 57 map
6 3 You leap out and attack the goblins! 7 0 You have slain the horrible Rust 7 6 You arrive in the rat room; it is
You will get two free swings before they Monster! Searching the room, you find empty. Do you want to:
can get their swords out. Read 85, and 10 gems laying about, some in cracks and
run the battle normally after taking your crevices, and some in the piles of rust. Go north? Read 17
2 free attacks. The total value of the gems is 600 gp! Go west? Read 6
Now do you want to:
6 4 You attack the goblin. Your first 7 7 You decide to scare the rats. You
swing misses, and the goblin misses you. Go west? Read 28 leap out and scream, waving your sword
But you see, coming from the north cor- Go back east? Read 6 and flashing the light around. One of
ridor, two more goblins, waving swords the giant rats runs off to the north, but
and looking very angry. Do you want to: 71 You approach the room with cau- the others attack you! Read 83.
tion, listening to the squeaking. But sud-
Keep fighting? Read 87 denly, three giant rats jump out of the 7 8 You have won the battle with the
Run away? Read 73 shadows and attack! One of them bites giant rats! Searching the room, you find
6 5 You have won the great goblin you for 1 point of damage. Read 83. 100 cp and 100 sp scattered in the messy
fight. Congratulations! It was a tough rat lair, and you put them in the sacks
battle for one lonely fighter. Don't forget 72 You turn to run and a skeleton hits that you are carrying. Now do you want
that you started the adventure with a you again for 1 more point of damage. If to:
Potion of Healing, which can cure all your you are still alive, you run south to a
damage if you haven't already used it. corridor, where you can turn east or Go North? Read 17
Searching the area, you find 100 sp west. Looking back, you see that the Go West? Read 6
and 50 gp in small sacks that the goblins skeletons are not following you. You stop
were carrying. Their swords look rusty and catch your breath. Read 62 7 9 If you have already been through
and worthless, and they have nothing this part of the dungeon, read 76. Oth-
else of value. Do you want to: 7 3 You decide to flee. As you turn to erwise, continue
run, you are hit by one goblin's sword The corridor goes 50' east and opens
Go west? Read 36 for 2 points of damage. (If your hit into another room. What are you ex-
Go north? Read 21 points reach zero, you are dead unless pecting here, and why? You may have
Go east? Read 53 you can drink the potion; otherwise, found one or two clues.
continue.) You run back into the first If you haven't found or heard any
66 You try to open the door, but with- room, and continue through it and out clues, read 11.
out success. Your key doesn't seem to the south passage, toward sunlight. If you only found a note that men-
work. You hear a goblin voice say from A group of goblins is running after tioned creatures, read 44.
the other side, in Common, "Go away! you, shouting and waving their swords. If you only heard creature sounds,
We don't want any!" You may keep try- They stop at the cave entrance, and keep read 71.
ing, if you wish, but the goblins seem to screaming and waving their swords; but If you did both (heard noise and
have barred the door. there are too many of them. You decide found a note), read 59.
You must eventually go back, so read to go home.
37. This is the end of this adventure.
Read 88 to find your Experience Points
67 Since you didn't kill the Rust Mon- and treasures. If you wish to buy some
ster, it's still there, eating rust. Are you supplies, the Equipment List is given in
dragging a large chest full of coins? 89.
Yes Read 81 7 4 You try to talk to the rats, but talk-
No Read 41 ing doesn't work. You only give yourself
6 8 You jump out and swing at the rats. away, and they attack! One of them bites
Read 83, but take 2 free swings before you for 1 hit point of damage. Read 83
the rats can do anything! Then run the to run the rest of the battle.
rest of the fight normally.
7 5 You have defeated the pair of
6 9 You keep talking as one goblin goblins! But before you can look around
leaves, going north and turning left. the room, you hear noises from the
The other tries to seem friendly, but you north. Three more goblins are coming
can tell that he doesn't like you. Sud- down the north corridor. They have
denly, you hear more goblin noises from their swords out and look angry. Do you
the north. Do you want to: want to:
Attack? Read 64 Run away? Read 73
Run away? Read 73 Talk? Read 35
Keep talking? Read 34 Fight? Read 87
19
8 0 You put the key in the lock and turn You look through, and see a short corri-
until you hear it "click." Putting the key dor that goes north 20' and turns left. GIANT RATS: 17 D: Id3
away you open the door. To the east, by the turn, is a large door You: 10 hp: 2 each
There is a small room behind the with two stout bars across it. A goblin is
door! The area looks like Entry 80A standing by the door, apparently on
Map (add it to your map): guard. The area looks like Entry 80B Run the battle normally, using the
The room is empty except for one Map. Combat Checklist to be sure that you are
large chest by one wall. You walk over to doing it correctly. If you don't remem-
There is a crack in the wall near this
it, and discover that it's made of heavy ber what "Id3" means, read the section
peep hole. You suddenly realize that the
wood with metal bands around it. It isn't on "Dice" again (page 12).
crack might be the edge of a secret door!
locked (luckily), so you carefully open it. This treasure chest must belong to All the rats will fight until dead. If you
But alas it's trapped. Make a saving decide to run away, one rat will bite you
goblins! However, you can't open the se-
throw vs. Magic Wands! (You need to as you turn to run (roll for damage). But
cret door, so you drag the chest back out,
roll a 13 or higher on ld20.) then, if you are still alive, you can go
past the scattered bones of the dead skel-
This Saving Throw is used for many back to the statue room. If so, read 58.
etons and south to the main corridor.
things. Generally, it indicates whether If you kill all the rats, read 78.
Read 62.
you jump out of the path of danger If the rats kill you, read 90.
such as the beam of a magic wand. How- 81 Oops! As you enter the room, the
ever, in this case, the danger is a blade, Rust Monster looks up from its feeding,
mounted on the edge of the chest and 8 4 You are fighting two skeletons.
grunts, and runs toward you. It rushes
connected to a metal spring. When you to the chest you are dragging, and be-
open the lid, the blade sweeps out fore you can escape, it dissolves the SKELETONS: 16 D: Id6
toward you. metal bands around the chest. The chest You: 10 hp: 4 each
If you made the Saving Throw, you comes apart, coins falling everywhere,
jump back as the blade misses you. How- and the creature gleefully turns all the Use the checklist to run the battle.
ever, if you missed the Saving Throw, coins to rust! Do you want to: The skeletons will fight until slain. If you
you take 4 points of damage! decide to run away, read 72.
If you are struck down to zero hit If you kill the skeletons, read 13.
Go East? Read 29
points or less, you can grab your potion If the skeletons kill you, read 90.
Go West? Read 16
if you still have it and drink it be-
Attack the creature? Read 86
fore you pass out. It will cure you some- 8 5 You are fighting two goblins!
what, but only back up to 4 hit points. If
you don't have the potion left sorry, 8 2 If you guess the answer correctly,
but you are dead! (Special note: In group you may double the amount of treasure GOBLINS: 17 D: Id6
games, you will not be allowed to do this. you have. If not, it all disappears, and You: 11 hp: 5 each
Zero hit points indicates death, with no your character is left with none.
extra time to do anything.) The answer is "E." The letters stand Remember to make two rolls for the
If the trap kills you, read 90. But if for One, Two, Three, four, Five, Six, monsters; each one gets a swing after
you survived the trap, continue reading. and Seven. The "next in the series" is you make yours.
You look in the chest and see hun- Eight!
Use the checklist to be sure that you
dreds of coins 500 cp, 200 sp, and 200 Now read 24. are running the battle correctly.
ep. You start to close the chest and drag If you decide to run away, read 73.
it out with you. But as you close the lid, 8 3 You are having a battle with giant If you kill the goblins, read 75.
you see a peep hole in the north wall, rats. Three of them are here, unless you If the goblins kill you, read 90.
about an inch across. It was blocked by scared one off. The area looks like Entry
the door as you entered. 83 Map.
1
i 1 L n
Entry 80A map Entry 80B map Entry 83 map
20
Third Hit: Your sword turns to rust! ure you found to the money you already
COMBAT CHECKLIST You must get out a dagger if you want had.
to continue the fight.
Player Actions Fourth Hit: Your dagger turns to I- \ \MI'[.I-.: Imagine ih.it von killed
1. Make a Hit roll rust! You have no more weapons. rhe Kusi Minister ,tml found li fjems
2. If you hit, roll Id6 to find the Read 60. there, whh a v.ilue oi liUu v\i. You jlsn
damage done to the monster, killed A giant i.irs. timlins; 100 qi .md
adding 2 for your Strength bonus; Special Note: When you lose your ar- Inn -,p. Imagine ihur von hint mi
then: mor or shield, you become easier to hit. Ollll1] lliltl't.
3. Subtract that damage from the All monsters you encounter afterward
monster's hit points. When its hit will gain bonuses to their Hit Rolls. If Looking on the conversion chart, you
points reach zero, the monster is you lose your shield, give them a + 1 see that 100 cp = 1 gp; 100 sp = 10 gp.
dead. bonus. If you lose your armor, give them Adding that to the gem value, your
a total bonus of + 7 to their Hit Rolls. newly found treasure is worth a total of
Monster Actions Note this special bonus on your scrap 611 gp.
paper, and apply it to all battles until you For monsters, you get 300 XP for the
4. Make Hit Rolls, 1 for each mon- get new armor or shield.
ster (there may be more than one rust monster, plus 15 XP for the giant
monster attacking at the same rats (5 each). That total is 315. Adding it
time!); 8 7 You are fighting three goblins! to the 611 for treasure, your total XP
5. For each attack that hits you, roll award is 926.
GOBLINS: 17 D: Id6 To find your 10% bonus, drop the 6.
to find the Damage done to you,
using the dice indicated. Then: You: 11 hp: 5 each Add the bonus of 92 to the award of
6. Subtract that damage from your 926, for an adjusted total XP of 1018.
hit points. If your hit points reach Remember to make three rolls for the Then you add that to your current 523
zero, you are dead. monsters; each one gets a swing after XP, for a new total XP of 1541 less
you take yours. than 500 XP from 2nd Level! Lastly, you
Use the checklist to be sure that you add the actual treasure 6 gems (worth
are running the battle correctly. 600 gp), 100 cp, and 100 sp to your
8 6 You are fighting the Rust Monster! treasure list.
If you decide to run away, read 73.
RUST MONSTER: 13 D: rust If you kill the goblins, read 65.
If the goblins kill you, read 90. That finishes this adventure. You may
You: 15 hp: 15 go to the next adventure, or you may
wish to go shopping. If you want to buy
Use the checklist to be sure that you 8 8 When you complete this adven- something now, read 89.
are running the battle correctly. ture, you get Experience Points. First,
If the rust monster hits you, it does no add up all the treasure you brought out
damage at all. Instead, it makes metal of the dungeon (ignore anything you
turn to rust! As you run the battle, use lost), and figure out how much it is all
the following notes to find the effects of worth, in gold pieces. (The explanation
each hit. of the Money system is on page 10.) You
If you decide to run away, the monster will get 1 XP for each 1 gp worth of
gets one free attack, but only needs a Hit treasure you find in addition to get-
Roll 9 or better. You can run away after ting the treasure.
that, but you can only run either east (back After adding up the treasure,findout
to the statue room) or west. If you run how much Experience you get for slay-
east, read 1; if you go west, read 28. ing monsters, according to this chart:
If you kill the rust monster, read 70.
If you have been here before, you Giant Rats 5 each
Goblins 5 each
might not have some of the items men- Skeletons 10 each
tioned below. Resume the battle wher- Rust Monster 300
ever you left off, and remember to keep
track of the equipment you have left. Add that total to your treasure total to
get the total number of Experience
First Hit: your shield turns to rust Points awarded for this adventure. To
and falls apart. Now the Rust Mon- determine your +10% bonus, drop the
ster only needs an 11 or better to hit last number, and add it to the total
you. Read the "Special Note" below. awarded. Then add the adjusted total
Second Hit: Your Armor turns to XP earned to the current XP on the back
rust. Now the creature only needs a of your character sheet, to find your new
roll of 6 or higher to hit. total overall. To finish up, add the treas-
21
8 9 You want to go shopping. Instead 9 0 Your character has been lost in the
of making an adventure out of it (like dungeon. Don't be upset; it can happen
the beginning of this trip), you may sim- in any DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
ply imagine that you are visiting the vari- game, and often does, through no fault
ous shops in town, buying whatever you of yours. That is the end of this adven-
need. The items you may buy armor, ture.
weapons, and other equipment are You may start over, if you wish. To do
listed below, along with their prices. that, be sure not to keep any treasure you
To make a shopping trip, first write may have found before you died. The
down the items you want, and their character should have exactly the same
prices, on a piece of scrap paper. Then equipment, treasure, and hit points as
add up the total cost. If you can afford when you started this adventure. In
what you want, subtract that total cost other words, you start over. If you want
from your treasure. Write the items in to do this, read 1.
the "Normal Items" section on the back
of the Character Sheet. Be sure to write After the adventure . . .
the new total treasure in the Money box.
A map of the entire dungeon is given
here. Check your map against it to see if
WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT you made any mistakes.
If you had problems with any part of
Item Cost (in gp) the dungeon, go back and read the diffi-
cult section again. Now that you have
Weapons learned the basics of the game, you will
Dagger 3 probably see what went wrong.
Sword 10
Armor
Leather Armor 20
Chain Mail Armor 40
Plate Mail Armor 60
Shield 10
Other Equipment
Backpack, leather 5
Flask of Oil 2
Lantern 10
Mirror (hand-sized, steel) 5
Pole (wood, 10' long) 1
Rations:
Iron Rations
(preserved food
for 1 person
for 1 week)
Standard Rations
(unpreserved food
15
wm. Skeletons
for 1 person
for 1 week) 5
Rope (50' long) 1
Sacks:
Small 1
Large 2
Tinder Box (flint, steel, dry
wood shavings and twigs) 3
Torches (6) 1
Waterskin (or wineskin) 1
Wine (1 quart) 1
What comes next? starting the game. It explains all the infor-
mation needed, and includes a step-by-
the Character Class (pages 24-47), even
if you are still playing your fighter. Sev-
You have now learned most of the de- step game for everyone to enjoy while eral players can all have the same fighter
tails needed to play a character in DUN- learning. But a new DM should not try to character, if different names are used.
GEONS & DRAGONS games. You may run a game before looking at that book. Fighters are always needed. If you have
now play more Solo Adventures, if you A group game is best with 3-6 players. 4-6 people in the group, try to play most
like. Several Solo Adventures are sold Each player should know how to play. If of the characters given.
separately, including: adventure module there is time, each person should read If you have time, read the rest of this
Ml, Blizzard Pass and M2, Maze of the through this booklet, just as you have. You booklet to see what other information is
Riddling Minotaur. may also teach someone yourself, by ex- given. More details on group games are
However, most of the fun of a DUN- plaining what you have learned, giving given on pages 53-58. Some additional
GEONS & DRAGONS game comes from them one of the simple characters in this rules, to add when you are familiar with
playing in a group. To play in a group, one booklet (the Fighter, or Dwarf for exam- playing in a group, are explained on
person must be the Dungeon Master (or ple), and helping them during the game. pages 59-62. Don't try to memorize
DM). The DM is the person who plays the When you play in a group, you may everything, but try to remember the
parts of the monsters and runs the game. play your fighter, or you may choose any types of things explained. During a
A new DM should read the first section of of the other six characters included in game, use the Index on page 64 to locate
the other booklet in this set, the DUN- the center of this booklet. Before the information you need.
GEON MASTERS RULEBOOK, before game, be sure to read the description of
Character Classes
Most D&D characters will be humans. A the Prime Requisite Adjustment Table.
human can be a Cleric, Fighter, Magic- If the PR is below average, a penalty is
User, or Thief. Humans are the most applied.
widespread of all intelligent beings. The Prime Requisite for each class is
A character may also be a non- given in each class description. Finding
human: a Dwarf, Elf, or Halfling. Each the bonus or penalty is part of the pro-
of these classes is also a separate race of cedure for creating new characters. You
beings. They are all commonly known as will not need it until then.
"Demi-humans," because they seem to
be partially human. The demi-human PRIME REQUISITE
races are all distantly related to the ADJUSTMENT TABLE
human race.
One sample character for each of the Prime
seven classes is included in the center of Adjustment to
Requisite Experience
this booklet. You may play those charac- Score
ters in group games, but before you do,
be sure to read the full description of the 3-5 - 20%
class. 6-8 - 10%
You may create a new character in- 9-12 No adjustment
stead of using those in this booklet. 13-15 + 5%
When you do, you will roll dice to deter- 16-18 + 10%
mine Ability Scores. If the scores are
high enough, the character can be a
demi-human; otherwise, the character Saving Throws
must be human. The rules for creating
characters are given on pages 48-52. Each character class will have a Saving
Throw Table. Copy the numbers onto
Prime Requisite your character sheet. Your Dungeon
Master will tell you when you need
Each character class has a specialty. For them. To make a Saving Throw, roll
example, a fighter's specialty is Strength; ld20. If the result is equal to or greater
a cleric's is Wisdom. This specialty is than the number given your Saving
called the Prime Requisite for the class Throw is successful.
(abbreviated "PR").
If a character's PR score is above aver-
age, the character gains a bonus every
time Experience Points are earned. See
23
Cleric
Description
A cleric is a human character who is ded-
icated to serving a great and worthy
cause. This cause is usually the cleric's
Alignment; for example, a cleric may be
dedicated to spreading law and order. A
cleric has good fighting skills, and can
also learn to cast spells after gaining a
Level of Experience. A first level cleric
cannot cast any spells.
In D&D games, as in real life, people
have ethical and theological beliefs. This
game does not deal with those beliefs. All
characters are assumed to have them, and
they do not affect the game. They can be
assumed, just as eating, resting, and other
activities are assumed, and should not be-
come part of the game.
A cleric's spell powers come from the
strength of the cleric's beliefs. The cleric
sits and meditates, and mystically learns
spells. These spells can then be used
during an adventure. Most clerical spells
are for curing, protection, and gathering
information. Cleric spells are different
from magic-user spells. Clerics can use
only their own type of spells.
Your cleric also can fight monsters. A
cleric can wear any type of armor, like a
fighter, and must be ready for combat at
any time. Unlike magic-users, whose
spells are often used during battles, a
cleric's spells are usually needed after
battles (such as cures) or for general ex-
ploring (such as detecting things).
If your party has enough fighters,
your cleric should not need to fight
often. But you are equipped for fighting Title: Your cleric should use this title Other Details:
if your combat skill is needed. Watch for when talking with other characters. In-
ways that your spells can help, whether stead of saying "I'm Clarion, a Second Prime Requisite: A cleric's PR is
before, during, or after battles. Level cleric," the character should say Wisdom. If a cleric has a Wisdom score
"I'm Clarion, the Adept." of 13 or more, the character gains a
bonus to Experience Points earned in
Spells: The number of spells a cleric can every adventure.
CLERIC SAVING THROW TABLE cast, and their level of power, are given
Death Ray or Poison 11 here. Spells are explained in detail be- Hit Dice: A six-sided die (Id6) is used to
Magic Wands 12 low, under "Special Abilities." determine a cleric's hit points. A cleric
Paralysis or Turn to Stone 14 starts with 1-6 hit points (plus Constitu-
Dragon Breath 16 tion bonus, if any) and gains Id6 more
Rods, Staves, or Spells 15 hit points (plus bonus) with each Level
CLERIC EXPERIENCE TABLE of Experience.
No. of
Explanation of Cleric Spells/ Armor: A cleric may wear any kind of
Experience Table XP Level Title Spell Level armor, and may use a shield.
0 Acolyte None
XP: When this number of Experience 1500 Adept 1 First Weapons: A cleric cannot use any weapon
Points have been earned, the cleric auto- 3000 Priest (or 2 First with a sharp edge; this is forbidden by the
matically moves up to the next Level of Priestess) cleric's beliefs. A cleric may only use a
Experience. mace, club, war hammer, or sling.
24
Special Abilities
CLERIC TURNING UNDEAD TABLE
A cleric has two Special Abilities: Turn-
ing Undead monsters and casting Cleric Cleric's Undead Monster
Spells. Level Skeleton Zombie Ghoul Wight
1 7 9 11 N
1. Turning Undead 2 T 7 9 11
3 T T 7 9
A cleric has the power to force away cer-
tain monsters called the "Undead" (skel-
etons, zombies, ghouls, wights, and
other more powerful types). No other
class has any special effect on the Un-
dead. This special ability is called "Turn- Success: If the attempt at Turning Un- at a target, and you must tell the DM
ing" the Undead monsters. dead succeeds, the Dungeon Master will what the target is. The player does not
When a cleric encounters an Undead roll 2d6 to determine the number of Hit have to learn any special words. For ex-
monster, the cleric may either attack it Dice of Undead monsters that turn ample: "I'm casting a Cure Light Wounds
normally (with a weapon or spell), or try away. You might not Turn all the mon- on Ruggin, the dwarf."
to Turn it. The cleric cannot both attack sters encountered, but if you succeed in When the cleric casts a spell, the mem-
and Turn Undead in one round. Turning, at least one will be affected. A ory of that spell is forgotten. Imagine
When you want your cleric to try to Turned monster will not touch the cleric that your cleric's memory is like a black-
and will flee as far from him as possible. board. The knowledge of the spells ap-
Turn Undead, just tell your Dungeon
Master "I'll Turn the Undead." pear on it, but each spell is erased as it is
The Undead monsters are not auto- 2. Clerical Spells cast. If your character knows two of the
same spells and casts one, the other still
matically Turned by the cleric. When the remains to be used.
encounter occurs, the player must refer When a cleric reaches the 2nd Level of
to the Cleric Turning Undead Table to Experience (having earned 1500 XP or The character must be able to gesture
find the effect the cleric has. more), the cleric can use spells. and speak normally to cast a spell. While
casting a spell, the cleric must stand and
Learning Spells: concentrate. Spells cannot be cast while the
Using the Cleric Turning character is walking or running. If the
Undead Table: cleric is disturbed while casting a spell, the
To learn a spell, the cleric meditates. The
memory and details of the spells appear in spell will be ruined, and will still be
When the cleric encounters an Undead the cleric's mind. The spells may be cast at "erased," just as if it had been cast.
monster, find the cleric's Level of Experi- any time thereafter. The cleric will remem- Spells must be cast one at a time. If the
ence on the left side of the chart. Then ber each spell until it is cast, even if it is not character wants to cast more than one (for
read across to the column under the name used for days or weeks. example, two Cure Light Wounds spells
of the Undead monster, and apply the re- As a player, all you need to do is just after a battle), the fastest they can be
sults immediately. If the attempt succeeds, choose whatever spells you want your cast is one each round.
one or more of the Undead monsters will character to have. This can only be done
retreat, but may soon return. at the start of an adventure. You may Types of Spells:
choose any of the spells described here-
Explanation of Results after. You may not choose any magic- Some spells have an instant effect. For
user spells; they are a different type. example, a Cure Light Wounds spell in-
7, 9 or 11: Whenever a number is A 2nd Level cleric can cast one spell stantly cures damage. Other spells may
given, the cleric has a chance to Turn per adventure. A 3rd Level cleric can be different; the cleric may cast a spell to
the Undead monsters. The player cast two spells per adventure. gain special abilities for a short time, or
rolls 2d6 (two six-sided dice). If the In more advanced games, adventures give those abilities to a friend. For exam-
total is equal to or greater than the may last more than a day. In such cases, ple, a Remove Fear spell helps the recip-
number given, the attempt at Turn- a cleric can gain spells each morning, if ient (the creature upon whom the spell is
ing Undead is successful. A cleric's completely rested. Any and all spells cast) to resist fear caused by magical
chances improve as more Levels of may be changed at this time, if desired. effects or spells.
Experience are earned.
Casting Spells: Saving Throws versus spells:
T: The attempt at Turning the Undead
automatically succeeds. In the game, when you want your char- Some spells only have full effect if the
acter to cast a spell, just tell your Dun- victim fails a Saving Throw vs. Spells. If
N: No Effect. The cleric cannot Turn geon Master. The DM may ask for some a Saving Throw is allowed, it is men-
that type of undead. details; for example, some spells are cast tioned in the spell description.
25
Clerical Spell Explanations: given diameter, or a square or rectangu- mlled .i (i. i in mi; a t o u l (if 7 point* ui
lar "box" of a given size; both are mea- d.1111:1141'. Inn VIIIIT liil point*. reLuiiifd
Each spell has a listed Range, Duration, sured in feet. in f. ilit- .unmmi von waited with
and Effect. I In- "I'Mr.i" * [ m i n i s wi-ic urn
Spell Power: mined
Range: The character should be sure
that the target is within range before When a cleric reaches 4th level, more
casting the spell. If the description says powerful spells can be cast. These are Detect Evil
"Range: 0," the spell may only be used given in the D&D EXPERT Set. The
by the cleric, and cannot be cast on power of a spell is described in a way Range: 120'
others. If "Range: Touch" is given, the similar to the power of a character. Duration: 6 turns
spell can be placed on any creature the Spells of the lowest level of power are Effect: Everything within 120'
cleric touches including the cleric called "First Level" spells. The D&D
himself (or herself, as the case may be). EXPERT Set describes spells of the Sec- When this spell is cast, the cleric will see
ond, Third, Fourth, and Fifth level. evilly enchanted objects within 120'
Duration is given either in rounds (of 10 Sixth and Seventh level spells are de- glow. It will also cause creatures that
seconds each) or turns (of 10 minutes scribed in the D&D COMPANION Set. want to harm the cleric to glow when
each). If the description says "Duration: they are within range. The actual
Permanent," then the spell has an in- thoughts of the creatures cannot be
stant and permanent effect that does not Clerical Spell Descriptions heard. Remember that "Chaotic" does
go away after a given duration. not automatically mean Evil, although
FIRST LEVEL CLERIC SPELLS many Chaotic monsters have evil inten-
Effect of the spell gives either the num- tions. Traps and poison are neither good
ber of creatures or objects affected, or 1. Cure Light Wounds* nor evil, merely dangerous.
an area or volume of space. If an area is 2. Detect Evil*
given, it is measured in square feet (a flat 3. Detect Magic
4. Light* Detect Magic
area). If a 3-dimensional volume is af-
fected, it is either a round "ball" with a 5. Protection From Evil
6. Purify Food and Water Range: 0
7. Remove Fear* Duration: 2 turns
8. Resist Cold Effect: Everything within 60'
Range: 10'
Duration: Permanent
Effect: See below
27
Fighter
FIGHTER SAVING THROW TABLE FIGHTER EXPERIENCE TABLE
Description
Death Ray or Poison 12 XP Level Title
A fighter is a human who studies com- Magic Wands 13
bat. Fighters usually have greater Paralysis or Turn to Stone 14 0 1 Veteran
Strength than other characters. They Dragon Breath 15 2000 2 Warrior
usually hit monsters more often, and Rods, Staves, or Spells 16 4000 3 Swordmaster
inflict more damage.
In the D&D game, fighters protect the Explanation of Fighter
weaker characters. A party of all fighters Experience Table:
would probably survive most dungeons,
even where magic would be useful. XP: When this number of Experience
Every group of explorers should have at Points have been earned, the fighter
least one or two fighters. automatically moves up to the next Level
Strength is needed in many game of Experience.
situations. For example, a door may be
stuck, or a huge boulder may block the Title: Your fighter should use this title
party's progress; a strong fighter can when talking with other characters. In-
often solve these problems. Magic might stead of saying "I'm Fleetwood, a Second
also work, but magic is limited, and a Level fighter," the character should say
fighter can use strength as often as "I'm Fleetwood, the Warrior."
needed.
Your fighter could probably survive a Other Details:
dungeon adventure when exploring
alone. This is why your Solo Adventures Prime Requisite: A fighter's PR is
have been designed for fighters. The Strength. If a fighter has a Strength
other classes are not as self-sufficient as score of 13 or more, the character gains
the fighter. Magic-users and thieves are a bonus to Experience Points earned in
much weaker, and although clerics can every adventure.
wear any type of armor, they are limited
in other ways. Hit Dice: An eight-sided die (Id8) is
In group adventures, your fighter used to determine a fighter's hit points.
should stay in front. If there are three or A fighter starts with 1-8 hit points (plus
more fighters in the party, one should Constitution bonus, if any) and gains
stay in the back, in case a monster tries to Id8 more hit points (plus bonus) with
sneak up on you. Whenever a battle each Level of Experience.
occurs, don't be afraid to move in; your
character is better equipped for combat Armor: A fighter may wear any kind of
than any other type. armor, and may use a shield.
When a group is surprised, the mon-
sters may damage the characters before Weapons: A fighter may use any kind of
they have a chance to react. Fighters weapon.
have a better chance at surviving these
dangers, since they have more hit points. Special Abilities:
A fighter character should know
more about the many weapons than Fighters need no special abilities to sur-
other characters. Be sure to read the vive and prosper. Their great strength,
Combat section, on page 59, to learn hit points, strong armor and many
how to use both hand-to-hand and mis- weapons make them a powerful charac-
sile weapons. Learn the forms of Defen- ter class.
sive Movement described in the same
section, so you can play your fighter
most effectively when those rules are
added to your game.
Fighters often look for magical heal-
ing potions, since they are usually hurt
in battles. Magical weapons are also valu-
able, adding bonuses to Hit and Damage
Rolls.
28
4. Roll for Hit Points (see Character Classes) (No minimum scores for human characters)
5. Roll for Money (gp = 3d6 x 10)
DEMI-HUMANS
6. Buy equipment: (see Equipment List)
Class Minimum Scores Prime Requisites
7. Figure out your: Dwarf Con 9 Str only
Elf Int 9 Str + Int
a. Armor Class Halfling Con 9 Str + Dex
b. Character Hit Roll Table Dex 9
c. Saving Throws (see Combat)
*These weapons may be used by a cleric (Note: Items will be added to this list in the D&D EXPERT Set.)
ARMOR
Item Cost (in gp)
Leather Armor 20
Chain Mail Armor 40
Plate Mail Armor 60
Shield 10
29
CLERIC ELF
Hit Dice: Id6 per level Hit Dice: Id6 per level
No. of Spells/ No. of Spells/
XP Level Title Spell Level XP Level Title Spell Level
0 1 Acolyte None 0 1 Veteran-Medium 1 First
1500 2 Adept 1 First 4000 2 Warrior-Seer 2 First
3000 3 Priest 2 First 8000 3 Swordmaster-Conjurer 2 First
(or Priestess) plus 1 Second
DWARF
Hit Dice: Id8 per level MULE MOVEMENT/ENCUMBRANCE
XP Level Title
Encumbrance Movement Rate
0 1 Dwarven Veteran up to 3000 en 120'/turn
2200 2 Dwarven Warrior 3001-6000 en 60'/turn
4400 3 Dwarven Swordmaster 6001 en or more 0
30
Lars Hjertstedt (order #6605655)
DUNGEONS 8c DRAGONS Character Record Sheet
Class Level
Armor Hit
Class Points
ABILITIES: SAVING THROWS:
POISON or
STRENGTH
adjustment \Z DEATH RAY
INTELLIGENCE
adjustment MAGIC WAND
WISDOM
adjustment TURN TO STONE or
PARALYSIS
DEXTERITY
adjustment
J5~ I DRAGON BREATH
4 CONSTITUTION
adjustment
SPELLS or
CHARISMA MAGIC STAFF
adjustment
LANGUAGES:.
SPECIAL SKILLS: Spells, Thief's abilities, Cleric's turning, etc.
TARGET AC: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
HIT ROLL ' ' ' ' ' ' ' "~~
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
NEEDED
) 1980,1983 TSR Games
31 All Rights Reserved.
Lars Hjertstedt (order #6605655)
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Character Record Sheet
EQUIPMENT CARRIED
MAGIC ITEMS NORMAL ITEMS
PP: GEMS:
GP:
EP:
SP:
CP: RONTT TS/PF.M A T TV-
TOTAL VALUE:
32
Lars Hjertstedt (order #6605655)
j
One sample of each character class is To start one of these characters, copy The Saving Throws for each character
provided here for your convenience. the information onto a character sheet are given in the character class description
You may use these characters in group (sold separately) or onto a piece of blank (pages 24 - 47). Be sure to read the full
adventures, but not in the Solo Adven- paper, using your first fighter's charac- description before you play the character!
ture in this booklet. ter sheet as a guide.
35
36
Lars Hjertstedt (order #6605655)
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS characters (character class human)
37
Spell Books: also be carried during adventures, to be ine that the magic-user's memory is like
cast as needed. Any magic-user can cast a blackboard. When studying, the char-
Your Medium (1st Level magic-user) a spell found on a scroll as if it were acter "writes spells on the blackboard,"
starts with a spell book, containing two memorized, regardless of the level of the but each spell is "erased" as it is cast. If
First Level spells. Your Dungeon Master spell. If the spell is cast, it disappears your character has studied a spell twice
will tell you what spells your character from the scroll. and casts one, the other still remains to
starts with. The spell book is a large You, the player, need only keep a list be used.
bulky thing, and cannot be easily car- of which of the many spells are in your
ried. A spell book is about 2 feet square, character's book. Keep the list on your EXAMPLE: .'The;
2-6 inches thick, and weighs at least 20 character sheet, under "Special Abili- onius the Seer
pounds. It will not fit inside a normal ties." Scrolls are magic items, listed on Sleep and Shield;
sack of any size, but may be carried in a the back of the character sheet. adventure,'he <fa
backpack or saddlebag. twice (as he can. _^,
When your character becomes a Seer, Learning Spells: adventure). He <*
you will add another First Level spell to and still remembefj;0!(*
the book; again, your DM will tell you To learn a spell, the magic-user must be to be used later in thai i
which spell. Upon reaching 3rd Level of completely rested. A good night's sleep
Experience, a Second Level spell will be is enough. The character then gets out The character must be able to gesture
gained. When the 4th Level of Experi- the spell book and studies the spells to be and speak without interruption to cast a
ence is reached, another Second Level used, which takes an hour or less. The spell. While casting a spell, the magic-
spell is added to the book. (Magic-users character is then ready for adventure, user must concentrate, and may not
of levels 4-14 are explained in the D&D and is able to cast the spell or spells move. A spell cannot be cast while the
EXPERT Set.) studied. character is walking or running. If the
Assume that your character is given A Medium can cast one spell per ad- magic-user is disturbed while casting a
these additional spells by a teacher, a venture. A Seer can cast two First Level spell, the spell will be ruined, and will
powerful magic-user of 7th Level or spells per adventure. A Conjurer can still be "erased," just as if it had been
greater. All magic-users of less than that cast 3 spells per adventure, two of the cast.
level must have teachers. These teachers First Level of Power and one of the
never go on adventures with characters. Second Level. Types of Spells:
They will not affect most games. In more advanced games, adventures
Different magic-users often have dif- may last more than a day. In such cases, Most spells have an effect that lasts for a
ferent spells in their books. For example, a magic-user can study spells each morn- given time. For example, a Magic Missile
you might start with the Read Magic ing, if completely rested. A mule should spell creates a glowing arrow that follows
and Sleep spells, and find another be brought along on long adventures, to the magic-user around, either until it is
magic-user who knows Read Magic and carry the spell book along with normal shot or until a turn passes (10 minutes).
Magic Missile. But magic-users never equipment. But beware! If the book is However, some higher level spells may
trade spells, nor do they ever allow lost, the character is in big trouble. If have "instant" duration. A Fire Ball spell
anyone (except their teachers) to read that happens, ask your Dungeon Master creates an explosion which causes
their spell books. The risk of losing the what you should do. damage. The damage remains until
book or having it damaged, is too great. Don't confuse the spells memorized cured, but the spell itself only lasts part
If a magic-user's book is lost, the charac- with spells in a book! Your magic-user of a second, much less than a round.
ter cannot memorize any spells to cast! character will eventually have many
One magical treasure which may be spells in a spell book, but can still only
found during an adventure is a magic memorize a few each day.
scroll. Some scrolls contain magic-user
spells. If a new spell is found on a scroll, it Casting Spells:
may be added to the magic-user's book
but this can only be done once for each In the game, when you want your char-
scroll spell, and uses up the scroll in the acter to cast a spell, just tell your Dun-
process. If the spell is of too high a level to geon Master.
be cast, it cannot be put into the book.
KXAMI'LE: "I'm casing u Slei'p spell
K\ \MFI F. A Medium find*, .i *in>J! di LIIC goblins." Hit- DM ma\ ask loi
ut erne Second [.I*M"1 spi'II The ipi-11 some details: for example, MUIH-
(diiiidi be put into a book until the spells are i.ist at .i tdigei. ;md wui Saving throws vs. Spells:
ihar.icU'i Ixi nines A ('tmjuier iMrrl miiM tell Lhe DM whji LIM- t.ugri is.
Ifvc-li .jnd i .lblc tci list1 ,i S l 'I he player dues mu hint- in Icdin JI>\ Many spells only have full effect if the
I IM-1 I 1 victim fails a Saving Throw (vs. spells). If
a Saving Throw is allowed, it is men-
A spell on a scroll may be saved, to be When the magic-user casts a spell, the tioned in the spell description.
put into a book at a future time. It may memory of that spell is forgotten. Imag-
38
Magic-user Spells: Spells. If the Saving Throw is successful, after casting this spell, a magic-user
the spell has no effect. If it is failed, the walks into a room containing a door
Each spell has a given Range, Duration, victim will believe that the magic-user is locked by magic, a magical potion laying
and Effect. its "best friend," and will try to defend nearby, and a treasure chest containing a
the magic-user against any threat, magic wand. All the magic will glow, but
Range: The character should be sure, whether real or imagined. The victim is only the door and potion will be seen;
before casting the spell, that the target is "Charmed." the light of the glowing wand is hidden
within range. If the description says As a general rule, the "persons" af- by the treasure chest.
"Range: 0," the spell may only be used fected by this spell are all creatures
by the magic-user, and cannot be cast on which look similar to humans in various Floating Disc
others. If "Range: Touch" is given, the ways. It will not affect animals, magical
spell can be placed on any creature the creatures (such as living statues), or Range: 0
magic-user touches including the human-like creatures larger than ogres. Duration: 6 turns
magic-user himself (or herself, as the You will learn, through trial and error, Effect: Disc remains within 6'
case may be). which monsters can be charmed.
If the magic-user can speak a lan- This spell creates an invisible magical
Duration is given either in rounds (of 10 guage that the Charmed victim under- horizontal platform about the size and
seconds each) or turns (of 10 minutes stands, the magic-user may give orders shape of a small round shield. It can
each). If the description says "Duration: to the victim. These orders should carry up to 5000 en (500 pounds). It
Permanent," then the spell has an in- sound like suggestions, as if "just be- cannot be created in a place occupied by
stant and permanent effect that does not tween friends." These orders will usually a creature or object. The floating disc is
go away after a given duration. be obeyed, but orders that are contrary created at the height of the magic-user's
to the victim's nature (alignment and waist, and will always remain at that
Effect of the spell gives either the num- habits) may be resisted. A victim will height. It will automatically follow the
ber of creatures or objects affected, or refuse to obey if ordered to kill itself. magic-user, remaining within 6' at all
an area or volume of space. If an area is times. It can never be used as a weapon,
given, it is measured in square feet (a flat EXAMPLE: Allot Bargle Charmed because it has no solid existence and
area). If a 3-dimensional volume is af- \ou. hi1 ordered you to leave lhe moves slowly. When the duration ends,
fected, it is either a round "ball" with a cleric's body behind. You resisted, be- the floating disc will disappear, suddenly
given diameter, or a square or rectangu- cause that was against your nature. dropping anything upon it.
lar "box" of a given size; both are mea- B.ugle had lo talk, YOU into doing
sured in feet. what he wanted. If he had ordered Hold Portal
you lo go away, you would h;ne re-
Magical Spell Descriptions sisted that, too: you considered him a Range: 10'
friend! Duration: 2-12 (2d6) turns
Effect: One door, gate, or similar
FIRST LEVEL MAGIC-USER SPELLS
A Charm may last for months. The portal
victim may make another Saving Throw
1. Charm Person every day, week, or month, depending This spell will magically hold shut any
2. Detect Magic on its Intelligence. If you are Charmed, "portal" for example, a door or gate.
3. Floating Disc your DM will tell you when to make the A Knock spell will open the Hold Por-
4. Hold Portal new Saving Throw. tal. Any creature 3 or more hit dice
5. Light The Charm is automatically broken if greater than the caster (including char-
6. Magic Missile the magic-user attacks the victim, acters) may break open a held portal in
7. Protection from Evil whether by spell or by weapon. The one round's time, but the portal will
8. Read Languages victim will fight normally if attacked by relock if allowed to close within the
9. Read Magic the magic-user's allies. duration of the spell.
10. Shield
11. Sleep Detect Magic EXAMPLE: Am .'nil level char.nter
12. Ventriloquism ma\ bleak through a Hold Portal
Range: 0 spell ia<i bv a 2nd level k
Duration: 2 turns
Charm Person Effect: Everything within 60'
Range: 120' When this spell is cast, the magic-user
Duration: See below will see all magical objects, creatures,
Effect: One living "person" (see below) and places within range glow. This effect
will not last very long, and should be
This spell will only affect humans, demi- saved until the magic-user wants to see if
humans, and certain other creatures. something found during an adventure
The victim is allowed a Saving Throw vs. is, in fact, magical. Example: Shortly
39
41
Locate Object user need not concentrate; the images moves, takes any damage, or fails any
will remain until the duration ends, or Saving Throw, the concentration is bro-
Range: 60' + 10' per Level of the until hit. The images are not real, and ken and the phantasm disappears.
magic-user cannot actually do anything. Any suc- This spell never inflicts any real
Duration: 2 turns cessful attack on the magic-user will damage! Those "killed" by it will merely
Effect: One object within range strike an image instead, which will fall unconscious, those "turned to stone"
merely cause that image to disappear will be paralyzed, and so forth. The
For this spell to be effective in finding an (regardless of the actual damage). effects wear off in 1-4 (Id4) turns.
object, the magic-user must know ex-
actly what the object looks like. A com- Phantasmal Force Web
mon type of object, such as a flight of
stairs, can also be detected by this spell. Range: 240' Range: 10'
The spell will point to the nearest de- Duration: Concentration (see below) Duration: 48 turns
sired object within range, giving the Effect: A volume 2O'x2O'x2O' Effect: A volume 10' x 10' x 10'
direction but not the distance. The range
increases as the magic-user gains Levels This spell creates or changes ap- This spell creates a mass of sticky strands
of experience. For example, a Seer can pearances within the area affected. The which are difficult to destroy except with
locate objects up to 80' away; a Conjurer, magic-user should create the illusion of flame. It usually blocks the area affected.
up to 90'. something he or she has seen. If not, the Giants and other creatures with great
DM will give a bonus to Saving Throws strength can break through a web in 2
Mirror Image against the spell's effects. If the magic- rounds. A human of average Strength (a
user does not use this spell to attack, the score of 9-12) will take 2-8 (2d4) turns to
Range: 0 illusion will disappear when touched. If break through the web. Flames (from a
Duration: 6 turns the spell is used to "create" a monster, it torch, for example) will destroy the web
Effect: The magic-user only will be AC 9 and will disappear when hit. in 2 rounds, but all creatures within the
If the spell is used as an attack (a phan- web will be burned for 1-6 (Id6) points
With this spell, the magic-user creates tasmal magic missile, collapsing wall, of damage. Anyone wearing Gauntlets
1-4 (Id4) additional images which look etc.), the victim may make a Saving of Ogre Power (a magical treasure) can
and act exactly the same as the magic- Throw vs. Spells; if successful, the victim break free of a web in 4 rounds.
user. The images appear and remain is not affected, and realizes that the
next to the magic-user, moving if the attack is an illusion. The phantasmal Wizard Lock
magic-user moves, talking if the magic- force will remain as long as the magic-
user talks, and so forth. The magic- user concentrates. If the magic-user Range: 10'
Duration: Permanent
Effect: One portal or lock
This spell is a more powerful version of
a Hold Portal spell. It will work on any
lock, not merely doors, and will last
forever (or until magically dispelled).
However, a Knock spell can be used to
open the Wizard Lock. A wizard locked
door may be opened easily by the magic-
user casting the Wizard Lock, and also
by any magic-using character or crea-
ture of 3 or more Levels (or Hit Dice)
greater than the caster. Any such open-
ing does not remove the magic, and the
lock will relock when allowed to close
(just as the Hold Portal spell).
42
Thief Most thieves have high Dexterity Armor: A thief may only wear Leather
scores. Since this can affect missile fire armor, and may not use a shield.
Description (see Advanced Combat, page 58), you
should learn the rules for missiles, and Weapons: A thief may use any missile
A thief is a human who specializes in carry missile weapons. A sword or dag- weapon, and any other weapon usable
stealth, lockpicking, trap removing, and ger will be needed in situations where with one hand (two-handed weapons are
other activities. Thieves are the only you can't avoid close combat. prohibited. For more information, see
characters that can open locks and find Thieves are found in most groups of "Advanced Combat," page 58).
traps without using magic. As the name adventurers. The task of staying alive by
indicates, however, thieves do steal, sneaking and using your wits, instead of
though rarely from members of their just fighting, can be an exciting game
own groups. Any thief who steals from challenge.
friends is usually not permitted to ad-
venture with them ever again!
In the D&D game, all thieves belong to Explanation of Thief
an organization (sometimes called a Experience Table:
Guild). Every town has a building, called
the Guild Hall, where thieves may live and XP: When this number of Experience
eat (for a price, of course). Every thief Points have been earned, the thief auto-
learns "The Arts" (a thief's unique skills; matically moves up to the next Level of
see Special Abilities, below) from teachers Experience.
at the Guild. Thieves are a normal part of
D&D life, because of their unique skills, Title: Your thief should use this title
but they are not usually welcome in the when talking with other characters. In-
better parts of towns. stead of saying "I'm Greegan, a Second
While adventuring, your thief should Level thief," the character should say
avoid danger whenever possible. The "I'm Greegan, the Footpad."
thief's job is to use the Special Abilities
where needed. A thief's skills can be
very useful, as they can be used over and Other Details:
over. For example, a magic-user may use
a spell to open a lock, but the spell only Prime Requisite: A thief's PR is Dex-
works once; a thief may try to open locks terity. If a thief has a Dexterity score of
whenever desired. 13 or more, the character gains a bonus
to Experience Points earned in every
When an encounter occurs, your thief adventure.
should stay out of the way. You may try to
sneak around a monster, either to steal its
treasure or to attack it from behind. You Hit Dice: A four-sided die (Id4) is used
should not fight hand-to-hand unless you to determine a thief's hit points. A thief
have to. A thief has few hit points, and starts with 1-4 hit points (plus Constitu-
although some light armor may be worn, tion bonus, if any) and gains Id4 more
it is not much protection. hit points (plus bonus) with each Level
of Experience.
THIEF SAVING THROW TABLE
XP Level Title
0 1 Apprentice
1200 2 Footpad
2400 3 Robber
43
Special Abilities: MOVE SILENTLY will always seem suc- one works. The attempt will automat-
cessful to the thief. However, the DM ically fail if improperly used. For Exam-
Thieves know how to Open Locks, Find will know (based on the Percentage roll) ple: An ogre is charging at the party, so
and Remove Traps, Climb Walls, Move whether the thief's movement is actually you say "My thief will Hide in Shadows
Silently, Hide in Shadows, Pick Pockets, heard by nearby enemies, who may then and get out a dagger." The DM replies,
and Hear Noise. They also learn the skill take appropriate action. "The ogre sees the movement, and
of "Backstabbing." heads straight for your thief!"
HIDE IN SHADOWS means that the
Except for "Hear Noise," each number is thief moves into and remains in shad- Backstabbing: If a thief can sneak up on a
the Percentage chance that the thief is ows, also using neutral concealment. victim, completely unnoticed, the thief
successful in using that Special Ability. Movement is possible while hiding, but may Backstab. If the intended victim sees,
Your Dungeon Master will roll d%; if the not attacking. The attempt will always hears, or is otherwise warned of the thief's
result is equal to or less than the Percent- seem successful to the thief, but only the approach, a Backstab may not be taken,
age given, the thief's attempt is success- DM will know for sure. but the thief may still attack normally.
ful. "Hear Noise" is determined in a When Backstabbing, the thief gains a
similar way, using Id6. PICK POCKETS may be risky. If the bonus of +4 on the Hit Roll, and if the
DM rolls a number greater than twice target is hit, the damage done is twice
Explanation of Thief Special Abilities: the given chance for success, the thief is normal.
n o f n n l v s e e n b v t h o s e n e . i r h v b u t is
OPEN LOCKS may only be tried once <.111_; 11T i n i h e ,ii i l>\ i l i e i i i i e n d e d \ ic l i m . EXAMPLE: An Apprentice is carry-
per lock, and only if "Thieves' Tools" are u l l o I I I , I \ 1,111(1 n l l e l l d u e s i l e u I 1111- ing a sword, and sees an ogre ap-
carried. The thief may not try again with l.iwu.ll'h. proaching the partv. The player sajs
that lock until gaining another Level of 'Til Hide in Shadows." The 1JM rolls
Experience. EXAMPLE: An apprentice tries to pick W on drji. so ihe ogre does not see rhc
the pocket of a hired tighter (a non- thief (but the DM docs not announce
FIND TRAPS may also be tried only playcr character, played by the DM). that fact). During the batik:, the ogre
once per trap. If a trap is found, the Rolling IdlO twice (see "Dice." page V2), eis turned around, with its back
thief may attempt to remove it. the DM rolls 11. so the thief is caught in towards the thief. '1 he player says "I'll
the an. The DM then rolls to deter- try to move in for a Backstab!" The
REMOVE TRAPS may only be tried if a mine the reaction of the fighter, who DM decides that the ogre doesn't
trap is found. It may be tried only once might attack the rhic-1! notice the thief's approach (no roll i
per trap. made: it depends on the situation,
HEAR NOISE (checked using Id6) ap- and the I)Ms judgment) and savs
CLIMB WALLS applies to any steep plies both to listening at doors and hear- "'I he ogre doesn't notice you; roll for
surfaces, such as sheer cliffs, walls, and ing the footsteps of approaching mon- a Baikstab." The thief player then
so forth. The chances for success are sters. However, there is too much noise makes a Hit Roll, adding 4 lo it. li the
good, but if failed, the thief slips at the during battles to hear anything unusual. ogre is hit, the player rolls for
halfway point and falls. The DM will roll damage, doubling the result.
for success only once for every 100' Using thief special abilities
climbed. If failed, the thief takes 1-6 Watch for opportunities to use Special When no battle is in progress, a Back-
(Id6) points of damage per 10' fallen. Abilities, and simply tell your Dungeon stab attempt may require a "Move Si-
Failure during a 10' climb will inflict 1 Master when you want your thief to use lently" check. Your DM will make all the
point of damage. one. Be sure you understand how each necessary rolls.
Open Locks 15 20 25
Find Traps 10 15 20
Remove Traps 10 15 20
Climb Walls 87 88 89
Move Silently 20 25 30
Hide in Shadows 10 15 20
Pick Pockets 20 25 30
Hear Noise (Id6) 1-2 1-2 1-3
46
Halfling
Description
A halfling is a short demi-human, and
looks much like a human child with
slightly pointed ears. A halfling stands
about 3' tall and weighs about 60
pounds. Halflings rarely have beards.
They are outgoing but not unusually
brave, seeking treasure as a way to gain
the comforts of home, which they so
dearly love. Halflings are woodland folk,
and usually get along well with elves.
They have special abilities in the out-
doors. A halfling character must start
with a score of 9 or greater in both
Dexterity and Constitution.
Halflings behave similarly to fighters
and dwarves. Read the description of
the fighter class for some tips on playing
your halfling. Remember your special
abilities (see below), and use them when- Other Details: Combat: Halflings often use missile
ever possible. A halfling's Saving Throws weapons, and are better at dodging the
are as good as those of dwarves, and you Prime Requisite: A halfling has two attacks of large creatures than are other
may survive where others fall to magic Prime Requisites: Strength and Dex- characters. All halflings gain the follow-
or poison attacks. terity. If either of these Ability scores is 13 ing bonuses when in combat.
or greater, the character gains a 5%
Explanation of Halfling bonus to Experience Points earned in - 2 bonus to Armor Class when at-
Experience Table: every adventure. If both of these scores tacked by creatures larger than
are 13 or greater, the XP bonus is 10%. man-size;
XP: When this number of Experience + 1 bonus to the Hit Roll when using
Points have been earned, the halfling Minimum Scores: A halfling character any missile (see Additional Rules,
automatically moves up to the next Level must have a score of 9 or greater in both page 59)
of Experience. Dexterity and Constitution. + 1 bonus to Individual Initiative (op-
tional combat rule, page 59)
Title: Your halfling should use this title Hit Dice: A six-sided die (Id6) is used to
when talking with other characters. In- determine a halfling's hit points. A half- Hiding: Outdoors, halflings are difficult
stead of saying "I'm Touchberry, a Second ling starts with 1-6 hit points (plus Con- to spot, having the ability to seemingly
Level halfling," the character should say stitution bonus, if any) and gains Id6 vanish into woods or underbrush. In
"I'm Touchberry, the Warrior." more hit points (plus bonus) with each such cover, they can only be detected
Level of Experience. 10% of the time (the DM will roll).
Halflings can even hide in dungeons,
HALFLING SAVING THROW TABLE Armor: A halfling may wear any kind of though not with as much success. In
armor, and may use a shield. However, normal light, if a halfling finds some
Death Ray or Poison 8 their armor and shields must be specially shadows or cover to hide in (remaining
Magic Wands 9 made for their small size. Even dwarf- absolutely quiet and not moving), the
Paralysis or Turn to Stone 10 sized armor is too large for them. attempt at hiding will succeed Vs of the
Dragon Breath 13 time. To use this ability, tell your DM.
Rods, Staves, or Spells 12 Weapons: A halfling may use any small The DM will roll Id6; a result of 1 or 2
sized weapon (such as a dagger, short indicates success at hiding, as long as the
sword, or short bow). Halflings may not character does not move or make any
use two-handed swords, longbows, battle noise.
HALFLING EXPERIENCE TABLE axes, pole arms, or other large weapons. Magical light, such as a cleric's Light
XP Level Title spell, will ruin the attempt. If the charac-
Special Abilities: ter is carrying any light, it will be impos-
0 1 Halfling Veteran sible to hide.
2000 2 Halfling Warrior A halfling gains several combat bonuses
4000 3 Halfling Swordmaster (some due to their small size) and can
hide easily in woodlands.
47
4. Roll for Hit Points badly hurt, down to 2 hit points in your 7. Figure out your Armor Class, Hit
adventures? If so, you could have been Roll chart, and Saving Throws
Different Classes have different num- dead but you were saved by the bonus
bers of hit points. Fighters and Dwarves for your high Constitution! a. Armor Class
need many because they take damage in Each time you gain a Level of experi-
battle. Magic-Users and Thieves have ence, you will roll for more Hit Points. Armor Type
less hit points, and should try to stay out And each time you roll, you adjust the
of fights. Other Classes are in between, roll according to your Constitution Your Armor Class is a combination of the
and can fight if they must, but often score. type of armor you are wearing, plus any
avoid it if possible. adjustments due to Dexterity. First, find
Find your character's Class on the 5. Roll for Money your armor type on the chart below:
chart below, and roll one die to find your
starting Hit Points. Your character starts out with no posses-
sions except for normal clothes and a ARMOR CLASS
little money, saved up over many years. Armor Type Armor Class
Class Hit Point Dice You will need to go shopping for equip-
ment, but first you must find out how
Fighter Id8 No armor 9
much money you have. Leather 7
Dwarf Id8 Roll 3d6 (the total of 3 rolls of a six-
Cleric Id6 Chain Mail 5
sided die), and multiply the total by 10. Plate Mail 3
Elf Id6 (For example, if you roll 12, the total is
Halfling Id6 Shield Bonus of 1*
120.) This is the amount of gold pieces
Magic-User Id4 that you start with. Write that on the
Thief Id4 back of your character sheet in the *If you bought a shield, subtract 1 from
"Money" box. your Armor Class number. For example,
Now find your Constitution Score on the Chain Mail alone is AC 5, but with a
6. Buy equipment shield it drops to AC 4.
Bonuses and Penalties for Ability Scores
Table below, and apply the bonus or Now you can spend your money on the
penalty to the number of hit points you Dexterity Adjustments to Armor Class
equipment you need to go adventuring.
rolled. But whatever the adjustments, There is a complete list of equipment in
your hit points cannot be lowered to Find your Dexterity Score on the
the center of this book. Bonuses and Penalties Table and for
zero; you will have at least 1 hit point for There are restrictions on what items
each roll. every +1 bonus, subtract 1 from your
you are allowed to have, especially on Armor Class and for every - 1 penalty,
armor and weapons. Before you go add 1 to your Armor Class.
BONUSES AND PENALTIES FOR shopping, be sure you have read the full
ABILITY SCORES description of your Character Class l-.XAMPLF.S: II >mi arc wearing
(pages 39 47). For Example, a Magic- Chain Mail ,rad A <liield (AC !). bin
Ability Score Adjustment User cannot wear any armor at all, and li.ivc a I)c\ri"rit\ Store of 1:"> ( - 1
can only use a dagger for a weapon! It bonus), yoni Armor (-lass ruimbei
3 - 3 Penalty would be a waste of money for this Class i)fs donn. It) 3. If von are wearing
4-5 - 2 Penalty to buy a sword or shield; instead, money Plate Mail and shield (AC 2) bin have
6-8 - 1 Penalty can be saved or spent on oil, torches, and a Di-Mi'rily Score of 5 (- 2 p<:n:ilt\).
9-12 No adjustment other items. Thieves, on the other hand, \iiui" Armor ("lass gm'S up to 4.
must buy Thieves' Tools to be able to
13-15 + 1 Bonus Open Locks.
16-17 + 2 Bonus /;,, )!__> iln_- k m r i ilu- \ ( iniiiilici,
18 + 3 Bonus On a piece of scrap paper, write down the harder you are to hit. A minus
all the equipment you want to buy and (Penalty) to Armor Class actually raises
add up the cost. If it's more than you the number, making you easier to hit.
(This chart is used for adjustments for have, you must put something back. If your AC is even better than zero
most of the Ability Scores, and you will When you can pay for your list of equip- for example, with a Dexterity Score of 18
refer to it later.) ment, subtract the cost from your and wearing Plate Mail and Shield
money, and write the equipment down then "minus" numbers are used. In this
You can immediately see the benefit of on the back of the Character Sheet. case, the AC would be "minus one" ( - 1).
having a good Constitution score. Your Be careful shopping! You may forget to
first character, the Fighter with a Con- buy rope, for example, and suddenly find
stitution of 16, had a + 2 bonus to hit a need for it during an adventure and if
points. Therefore, your starting roll for you didn't buy it, you don't have it. But
that character would have been a 6 (out remember also that money can be saved
of 8 possible), plus a bonus of 2, for a for buying expensive equipment later.
total of 8 hit points. Did you ever get Only buy what you need.
50
b. Hit Roll Chart a magic spell, your Wisdom score may Languages can be important when you
Every starting character has the same cause an adjustment. Find your Wisdom are trying to talk to a monster, or talk in
chances to hit. You will not change the score on the "Bonuses and Penalties" private with another character.
chart until your character gets at least to chart, and write the adjustment down on
the Character Sheet. Charisma
4th level. You may find magic weapons
as treasures, which help your chances to i.x.wiri i s . \ Mint uiiii.1 WIM1I.NI Your Charisma will affect the reactions
hit as well as the damage done. nt :"i iiiviN in !"!! A 17 m liiulu-i in of others, whether monsters or charac-
Copy the numbers below into the in.ikc j >i:iMiif> I h n m Lig:iin-r .i spell. ters, when you are talking to them (but
boxes at the bottom of the Character A (.In if wilh .i Wi-doni i>l IM nnl\ not unless you are talking). If you try to
Sheet (Hit Roll Needed): I It < t Is .1 M>11 ill 12 ill lirllt-l hire retainers (bodyguards, assistants,
When you try to hit a monster, roll ld20. and so forth), your Charisma will deter-
8. Note adjustments for Ability Scores mine the number of them that you can
Adjust the roll for your Strength, and
find the total on the bottom line of the You should now have most of the adjust- hire, and how loyal they will be. Your
chart. You hit the Armor Class on the ments for Ability Scores noted on your Dungeon Master will tell you if any
chart just above the roll. Announce what Character Sheet. Your Strength, retainers are available, and will play the
Armor Class you hit, and the DM will tell Wisdom, Dexterity, and Constitution roles of the retainers you find and (pos-
you whether you hit or missed your bonuses or penalties have been ex- sibly) hire.
target. For example, if your total is 15, plained in the steps taken so far. You Find your Charisma Score on the
you say "I hit AC 4." If the target was AC should double-check to be sure they are Charisma Adjustment Table, and note
4 or higher (AC 5, AC 6, etc.), then you correct, using the Bonuses and Penalties the details on your Character Sheet.
have successfully hit. Table. All of these adjustments (if any)
should be written on your Character Whenever you are talking to another crea-
If your adjusted total is 9 or less, then ture in the game (whether monster or
you miss, whatever the target is. If your Sheet in the spaces provided for them,
next to the Ability Scores. character), tell the Dungeon Master what
adjusted total is 20 or more, then you hit, your Reaction adjustment is. If your Dun-
whatever the target is as long as it's Using the chart, fill in the bonus or geon Master allows the use of Retainers,
possible to hit it. (There may indeed be penalty for your Intelligence Score. The you will need to give your Maximum
things you can't hit; you will know this is Charisma Score uses a different chart. number, as well as the Morale score (which
the case if your Dungeon Master says you is a measure of loyalty and courage). You
missed, even with a total of 20 or more.) Intelligence
will not need to adjust any of your rolls due
The adjustments to the roll are based A character of "average" Intelligence (a to Charisma; only the Dungeon Master
on your Strength score, according to the score of 9-12) knows 2 languages: the will need the information.
"Bonuses and Penalties" chart above. If Common tongue and an Alignment
you have an adjustment, write it down tongue. The character can read and
write those languages. LANGUAGES TABLE
now, next to "Strength," and remember
to use it each time you make a Hit Roll. If the adjustment is a bonus, this is the Intelligence
number of additional languages the Score Use of Languages
c. Saving Throws character can read and write. Your Dun-
Your Saving Throws are based on your geon Master will tell you what languages 3 Has trouble with
Character Class and Level of Experi- are available. You must choose your speaking, cannot
ence. However, your Saving Throws will added languages before you play the read or write
not change until you reach 4th level (or character in a game. 4-5 Cannot read or write
higher, for some Classes). All of your If the adjustment is a penalty, then the Common
beginning Saving Throws are given in character has trouble either writing or 6-8 Can write simple Com-
the description of your character's Class. speaking, as given on the Languages mon words
When making a Saving Throw against Table:
51
9. Give your Character a Name and your first adventure, and is covered in not just the way the character should
Alignment detail on page 59. Select an Alignment, behave.
and write it on your character sheet. The other characters don't need to
Names Remember that Alignment is the way know what your Alignment is, but they
you actually want to play the character, should be able to figure it out by the way
Your character may have a normal you play the character.
name, like "Gary" or "Candace," or may
have a fantasy name like "Felonius," or 10. Get ready to play
just a nickname, like "Eagle-Eyes." Your
Dungeon Master might have some hints. If your character can cast magic spells,
For example, if your home town is in a you will need to select spells before
forest, the DM may encourage fantasy starting your adventure. Magic-Users
names like "Silverglade" or "Whisper- get 1 spell to start. Clerics do not get
rain." spells until they reach 2nd Level. Magic-
Choose a name carefully. It should User spells are explained on pages 39 -
represent the character in some way, or 42, and cleric spells are explained on
at least be a name you like. If you give a pages 26 - 27.
character a silly name, you might regret Your character will be adventuring
it later. with others, so you should talk with the
other players to find out something
Alignment about their characters. Before starting,
you should understand how to play in a
Be sure you understand what Align- group. This is explained on the follow-
ment is; it was explained briefly during ing pages.
Players are not characters! and the DM says "It hit you; save vs.
Poison, please!" then all the players
character, but it is very important to re-
member that the player is a different
It is important to remember that the know that the monster is poisonous. But person.
player and the character are two dif- the better players will ignore that in- This should not be used as an excuse
ferent persons. The more the two are formation. Their characters don't know for bad or selfish play. The DM should
kept apart, the better your games can be. about the poison, and shouldn't use that watch all the role playing closely to help
The most obvious example of this is the "player information." The characters everyone have the most fun. Since the
dice rolls you make. All dice rolls are called will probably find out after the battle, object of the game is to have fun by
"game mechanics," as are other details when they talk to their wounded friend playing roles, stupid or weak characters
such as Armor Class, Hit Points, and so and discover that the wound "stung, like can be as much fun as smart, powerful
forth. These things would not be part of a poison," or is discolored. (All of such ones if the roles are played well.
character's knowledge. The characters descriptions are left to the DM's imag- The Dungeon Master may say, at any
would talk about armor, health, and at- ination.) time in the game, "You don't know that!"
tacks, but never about Ability Scores, Hit A question like "What time is it?" or "You wouldn't think of that." Good
Rolls, or other parts of the game. Every- could be answered two different ways: in players will learn to avoid this type of
one can usually tell whether the players "real time," which any player can find by problem by keeping the character knowl-
are in the role of the characters or being looking at a clock, and "game time," of edge and player knowledge separate.
themselves, handling game mechanics. which the DM should be aware, but of
If there is any doubt, the player which the characters might only have a
should clarify. general idea. The DM could reply, "Real
Suppose that a player has a Chaotic time, it's 7:30. Game time, it's past noon,
character (unusual, but not impossible). but you are not sure exactly."
The character will act wildly at times, but When the players remember the dif-
the player should remain calm while ference between themselves and their
dealing with the others. If the player acts characters, everyone can have more fun in
Chaotic, the game will become very con- Role Playing. If a character has low Intel-
fusing and less fun. ligence and Wisdom scores, for example,
There are many ways that this can and then does something stupid, the
affect the game, especially when a play- player can honestly say "I was playing my
er knows something that the charac- character," and others should remember
ter doesn't. For instance, if a character not to get mad at the player. Their charac-
starts to fight a new, unknown monster, ters may indeed get mad at the stupid
52
Treasure
Before the adventure begins, all the
players should decide how the treasure
will be divided after it is found. This is a
very important decision, as characters
earn more XP from treasure than from
anything else. The method of division is
left entirely to the players!
The most common method is de-
scribed on page 55. You may use it if you
wish, or you may make up your own.
The method should be chosen before
starting, to avoid arguments later.
Marching Order the normal positioning of the characters Ending the Adventure
as they proceed down corridors. In
You should arrange your characters in a empty rooms and after battles, party The end of a D&D game often comes
line, either singly or two-by-two, for a members usually spread out to search when the party's resources have been used
"Standard Marching Order." If figures for hidden treasure, but someone up for example, when spell casters have
are used, the DM can easily see every- should be left to watch for approaching used most of their spells, or when several
one's position; otherwise, write the monsters. The DM will keep track of characters are wounded (having lost half
Marching Order on a piece of paper for who is doing what, in case a monster of their Hit Points, or more) and have no
the DM's reference. appears. available magical cures.
You should have at least one Fighter When creatures are encountered, Even if all goes well, the game should
in front, as this is where most of the Fighters, Dwarves and Halflings usually end 15-30 minutes before the planned
action takes place. A short person (half- move toward the encounter, while stopping time. The remaining time is
ling or dwarf) should also be in front of Magic-Users move back to avoid attacks, used by the DM to calculate and award
taller folk. Those behind may still see adding their magical powers to the bat- Experience Points, and by the players to
clearly, and are able to cast spells or tles where needed. Thieves may also divide the treasure.
shoot arrows over the shorter characters' move back, or may try to slip by the If characters are still in the dungeon
heads. encountered creatures if possible. A when they decide to end the adventure,
Thief can help turn the tide of battle by they must still find their way out and
Weaker characters (Magic-Users and attacking a monster from behind (if the
Thieves, especially) should be in the back home. When they have arrived at a
creature doesn't notice the Thief first). safe location, the adventure ends.
center of the Marching Order, protected
front and rear by Fighters or Clerics. If Remember, however, that a clever DM Most Dungeon Masters allow shop-
this is not possible, the characters with may have monsters arrive at the rear of ping after the adventures, so characters
the best Armor Class and/or Hit Points the party, occasionally when other mon- may restock items used (such as oil,
should occupy the outer positions. sters are at the front. The rear of the torches, and so forth). If this is left for
party should never be left defenseless. the next game, players might forget to
If you change the Marching Order Clerics can often fill the need for a
during the game (if a front Fighter is restock, and can find themselves short of
strong guard, as they can wear armor supplies while deep in a dungeon.
badly wounded, for example), be sure to and fight well.
correct the figure setup (or the DM's Players must keep track of items used,
diagram) accordingly. If an encounter is peaceful, those and the DM should be strict about sup-
characters with high Charisma Scores plies. However, everyone should re-
should do most of the talking. If they are member that the purpose of the game is
Tactics of Play weak, negotiations should be made from to have fun, not bookkeeping. The DM
a distance (ten to twenty feet is fine). should make allowances for beginners.
When you are ready to go, your Dun- When special needs arise, those best Characters who return to a safe place
geon Master will start telling you what equipped to handle them should move resume their normal day-to-day lives.
the characters see. In beginning games, to the scene, while the rest of the charac- Beginning players and DMs do not nor-
the characters often start at the dungeon ters stay in the Marching Order. For mally deal with this during games. The
entrance; the DM then describes the example, a Thief should move forward "town business" that would naturally oc-
entryway, asking questions of the Caller each time a door is found, to search for cur can become an adventure in itself. If
when choices can be made ("Turn right traps and pick locks. After doing the job, the DM has all the details of the Home
or left?"). All the players should listen the Thief should move back into posi- Town available (either those given in the
carefully to the descriptions, and play tion. Thieves normally do not open D&D EXPERT Set or details made up
the roles of their characters as they react doors, preferring to leave that task to the by the DM), town adventures can be
to the situations that develop. stronger Fighters in case there is a mon- very entertaining. They do not normally
The Marching Order will be used as ster waiting on the other side! involve much fighting.
54
Dividing the Treasure If all the characters in a party get a Law (or Lawful) is the belief that every-
permanent magic item, divide all normal thing should follow an order, and that
The amount of treasure your characters treasure equally, whatever the division obeying rules is the natural way of life.
find is decided by the Dungeon Master, of any temporary magic items. Lawful creatures will try to tell the truth,
who places the treasures and monsters If everyone gets a magic item but one obey laws, and care about all living
in the dungeons. The DM is also respon- or more of the items are temporary, things. Lawful characters always try to
sible for giving Experience Points to the each character with a permanent item keep their promises. They will try to
characters at the end of the adventure. gets Vi share of normal treasure. obey laws as long as such laws are fair
The division of treasure is usually left If there are not enough magic items for and just.
to the players, though some DMs have one to be gained by each character then Vt If a choice must be made between the
their own rules for it, especially with share of normal treasure goes to each benefit of a group or an individual, a
well-developed fantasy worlds. There character with a temporary magic item, Lawful character will usually choose the
are several methods for dividing treas- but a character with a permanent magic group. Sometimes individual freedoms
ure, as both normal (coins, gems, and item gets no share of normal treasure. must be given up for the good of the
jewelry) and magical (potions, wands, Finally, divide the total normal treas- group. Lawful characters and monsters
etc.) treasures can be found. ure by the number of shares (adding the often act in predictable ways. Lawful
As a rule, the division of treasure number of V'i shares and full shares behavior is usually the same as behavior
should not be based on the amount of according to the instructions above), to that could be called "good."
work done by the different characters. find the value of each SHARE. Each
Fighters will usually be more active than character then takes one share, Vi share, Chaos (or Chaotic) is the opposite of
others, and thieves may have little to do; or no share, depending on the distribu- Law. It is the belief that life is random,
though the role may be played well, tion of magic items. and that chance and luck rule the world.
there may be few traps and locks to deal This method is fair; those who receive Everything happens by accident and
with. But each character risked danger permanent magic items, which can be nothing can be predicted. Laws are
in search of treasure, and each should used in every adventure, get less treas- made to be broken, as long as a person
have done special work as needed; it is ure. can get away with it. It is not important
not the character's fault if few needs to keep promises, and lying and telling
arose. the truth are both useful.
Beginning players should use the fol- Character Alignment To a Chaotic creature, the individual
lowing method for dividing treasure. is the most important of all things. Self-
Other methods are discussed at the end Three basic ways of life guide the acts of
both player characters and monsters. ishness is the normal way of life, and the
of this booklet. But whatever methods group is not important. Chaotics often
are used, they should be decided upon Each way of life is called an alignment.
The three alignments are named Law, act on sudden desires and whims. They
before the party goes on the adventure, to cannot be trusted, their behavior is hard
avoid arguments afterwards. Chaos, and Neutrality. Each alignment
has a language that includes hand sig- to predict. They have strong belief in the
nals and other body motions. Player power of luck. Chaotic behavior is usu-
Magical Treasure ally the same as behavior that could be
characters always know how to speak
their alignment language in addition to called "evil."
Magical treasures are usually divided
first, as the results affect the division of any others they may know. If a monster
is able to speak, it will also be able to use Neutrality (or Neutral) is the belief that
normal treasure. the world is a balance between Law and
Each character may pick one item its alignment language.
Chaos. It is important that neither side
(each) from the magical treasure found. Players may choose the alignments get too much power and upset this bal-
The order in which they choose may they feel will best fit their characters. A ance. The individual is important, but so
either be decided as a group or by player does not have to tell other players is the group; the two sides must work
random roll. If by random roll, each what alignment he or she has picked, but together.
player rolls ld20; the player with the must tell the DM. Most Lawful charac-
ters will reveal their alignment if asked. A Neutral character is most interested
highest roll picks first. If there is a tie, in personal survival. Such characters be-
everyone rolls again. When all the magic When picking alignments, the charac-
ters should know that Chaotics cannot lieve in their own wits and abilities rather
items have been taken, divide the nor- than luck. They tend to return the treat-
mal treasure. be trusted, even by other Chaotics. A
Chaotic character does not work well ment they receive from others. Neutral
with other player characters. characters will join a party if they think it
Normal Treasure is in their own best interest, but will not
The alignments give guidelines for be overly helpful unless there is some
Count the number of shares to be given, characters to live by. The characters will sort of profit in it. Neutral behavior may
using the following method. try to follow these guidelines, but may be considered "good" or "evil" (or nei-
Some magic items are "permanent." A not always be successful. If a DM feels ther), depending on the situation.
magic sword, for example, is never that a player is not keeping to a charac-
"used up," but a potion is only good for ter's chosen alignment, the DM may
one use. A potion is called a "temporary" suggest a change of alignment or give
magic item. the character a punishment or penalty.
Example of Alignment Behavior ter will try to save himself (or herself), even ognize when another alignment lan-
at the expense of the party. guage is being spoken, but will not un-
THE SITUATION: A group of player derstand it. Alignment languages are
characters is attacked by a large number A Chaotic character might fight the mon- not written down, nor may they be
of monsters. Escape is not possible un- sters or might run away. The character learned unless a character changes align-
less the monsters are slowed down. will not care what happens to the rest of ment. When this happens, the character
the party. forgets the old alignment language and
A Lawful character will fight to protect starts using the new one immediately.
the group, whatever the danger. The Alignment Languages Note that playing an alignment does
character will not run away unless the not mean a character must do stupid
whole group does. Each alignment has a secret language of things. A character should always act as
passwords, hand signals, and other body intelligently as the Intelligence score
A Neutral character will fight to protect the motions. Player characters and intel- shows, unless there is a reason to act
group as long as it is reasonably safe to do ligent monsters will always know their otherwise (such as a magical curse).
so. If the danger gets too great, the charac- alignment languages. They will also rec-
Adventuring Rules
Here are some additional details you will
need at some point during your adven-
tures.
Time Movement
Using Your Equipment
Time in D&D games is usually kept track In D&D games movement is given as the
Some of the standard equipment may be of in turns of 10 minutes in "game time." A number of feet a character may move in
new to you. The following items can be turn is not a measure of real time, but is a one turn.
used in various handy ways: measure of how much a character can do A single character moves up to 120'
in the game in a given amount of time. per turn in a dungeon-like setting unless
Iron spikes and Hammer: These can During encounters and combat, the a lot of weight (such as armor) is carried.
be used to wedge doors open, pro- DM uses rounds of 10 seconds of "game, The movement speed may slow down to
vide grips for climbing, pry things time," instead of turns, and each charac- as little as 30' per turn, depending on
loose, and so forth. ter can perform only one action during a the amount carried. Groups move at the
Mirror: Some creatures can turn you round a swing of a sword, a spell, rate of the slowest character. A character
to stone with their gaze. If you use a some movement, or other action. A bat- wearing heavy armor moves at half the
mirror to look around corners, exam- tle normally lasts only a minute or two, normal rate: 60' per turn.
ine empty rooms, and so forth, you but is counted as a full turn because your Though 60' per turn may seem very
might avoid a nasty surprise. characters rest afterwards, clean up their slow, it includes many assumed actions
Rations and Wineskin: Your charac- equipment, and do other assumed nor- mapping, peeking around corners,
ter food and drink. Standard rations mal actions. resting, and so forth.
may become moldy and unusable if In D&D games, it would take too long During encounters, movement is
you stay in a dungeon overnight, so for you to describe each action your much faster. Characters can move Vh
carry Iron (preserved) rations when- character takes. Many actions are as- their movement rate per round, up to
ever possible. Standard rations are sumed, and do not need to be talked 40' per round during battles (20' per
fine for long trips overland. about such as eating, resting after and round if in armor). In addition, you may
Rope: This can be tied to an iron during travel, normal careful behavior, run away from creatures, at the even
spike and used to climb up steep and so forth. The DM should decide faster rate of 120' (or 60' if armored)
walls. It may also be useful in tying up how long any action takes. per round. However, you may only run
captured prisoners, pulling doors, Time for you, the players, is called for 20 rounds at most (5 minutes) before
open, etc. "real time" to avoid confusion. A game becoming exhausted. If you are ex-
Wolfsbane: This herb is useful when usually takes 2-3 hours of real time, but hausted, you must rest for 3 turns (30
fighting werewolves and other ly- may last for days in game time. The DM minutes).
canthropes. You may use it as a weapon may say, for example, "you take two If you are forced to fight without rest,
try it and see what happens. hours to walk to the dungeon, and . . . ." the exhausted characters are penalized
Wooden Pole: A character in front of On the other hand, it may take you half in combat. Monsters gain a + 2 bonus to
a party may sometimes avoid being an hour of real time to play a battle that their Hit Rolls, and you must subtract 2
surprised if a pole is used to tap on lasts only a few minutes of game time. from all your characters' Hit Rolls and
the floor ahead, poke into corners, Damage Rolls. (Any successful hit will
touch suspicious-looking items, etc. still inflict at least 1 point of damage.)
56
Listening doorknob, and possibly a lock, either a found inside a lock, and may be poi-
You should always listen carefully while padlock hanging on a latch or a lock soned for many different effects (paral-
you are exploring a dungeon; you may inset into the door. Normal doors can ysis, damage, death, etc.).
hear noises that give clues about what often be forced or broken open, but a If you wish to search for a trap, tell the
lies ahead. To hear anything, all the strong bar of wood mounted on the DM where you are searching, and the DM
characters must stop moving and be other side will prevent this. will roll to see if you find anything. You
very quiet. Armor and weapons clank To open a normal door, just tell your might have no chance to find a small trap,
and rattle when you move, spoiling your DM that you are doing so. The DM will such as the type on a door or treasure.
attempts at listening. assume that you are turning the handle, Thieves have a percentage chance at de-
To listen for noise, simply tell the DM pulling the ring, or pushing on it gently. tecting any type of trap. Dwarves have
that you are doing so. The DM will roll If it doesn't open, you may tell the DM better chances at finding large traps (such
to see if you hear anything. When listen- "I'll force the door." Your character is as pits) than other characters.
ing at closed doors, each character can then using Strength to open it, which It takes 10 minutes (1 turn) to search for
try once. Thieves have better chances may be successful if the door is merely a trap in a small area, such as a 20' square
than other characters. Undead crea- stuck quite (quite common in dun- room or a 20' long section of corridor. If
tures, like skeletons and ghouls, make no geons). If the door still does not open, it less time is spent, no trap will be found.
noise at all. may be locked, barred, or closed mag-
ically; or your attempt might have sim- Wandering Monsters
Light ply been unsuccessful, based on a dice You will usually encounter monsters in
roll. Try again! However, if a door is not rooms, rather than corridors. But the
Most dungeons are dark. Be sure to opened on the first try at forcing it, any
bring a tinderbox, which contains wood DM makes dice rolls to see if any Wan-
monsters on the other side will not be dering Monsters come by. This type of
shavings, flint rocks, and a small piece of surprised by your party.
steel. (No matches or lighters in this creature usually has little or no treasure,
medieval world!) and is a dangerous nuisance.
A secret door does not look like a door.
You will also need something to light It may simply be a section of wall that Wandering monsters are often deter-
with your tinderbox. A torch is cheapest, can be moved, or may be a small normal mined by the type of dungeon. For
and will burn for 6 turns (1 hour). It door hidden behind a curtain, rug, or example, caves could contain wandering
cannot easily be "turned off." A lantern is some other furnishing. Any character animals. A castle ruin might contain
more expensive and uses oil. One flask of may look for secret doors, but they are wandering skeleton guards.
oil will burn for 24 turns (4 hours) in a usually hard to find. Your DM will roll to
lantern. The lantern must then be refilled, Miniature Figures
see if you succeed, but you must tell the
using another flask of oil. A lantern has DM that you are searching for one, and As you try to imagine your characters
shutters, which can be closed for tempo- where. and the areas they explore, it is helpful
rary darkness, if desired. A torch or lan- to use miniature figures to represent the
tern shines 30' in all directions. KXAMPI.K: I'll .search for s e e m characters and monsters. Several types
If you are carrying a light source (a doors along the east wall of I lic-
of miniature figures are available from
torch or lantern), other creatures will toy and hobby shops worldwide, made
probably see the light as you approach, of metal or plastic and suitable for paint-
and will not be surprised. ing. You should be able to find figures
it takes 10 minutes (1 turn) of search- that look very similar to your characters.
Remember that you only have two ing a 10' x 10' area to find a secret door.
hands. If you are carrying a light source Official DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
Less time will mean automatic failure. figures are available.
in one hand, then the other hand may
hold a weapon or a shield but not both. Traps To keep track of the party marching
Dwarves and elves have Infravision, a order, line up the miniature figures on
special ability which enables them to see Dungeons often contain traps. Old ruins the playing table. You may use a large
60' in the dark by seeing heat. This usually have more traps than caves. The piece of graph paper to draw the rooms
means that they can move and fight most common trap is a hidden trap door, and corridors found by the characters,
without light, but it's risky. They cannot which falls open as a character walks on it, and simply move the figures around on
see a pit in the floor, for example, unless dumping the character into a pit. There the paper. Several types of more perma-
it is warmer than the air above it. They could be something in the pit spikes, nent playing surfaces are available in
may also stumble over objects which are deep water, or a monster. Beware! plastic and vinyl, and the rooms drawn
the same temperature as the floor, un- Many other traps are possible. A chest on them can be easily erased.
less they are very careful. or treasure may be coated with poison;
deadly if touched, but easily removed by Scale Movement: When using miniature
Doors rinsing with water. Some poisons are figures on a playing surface, a ruler is
sticky, and can only be removed with wine. used to determine distance moved. One
You will find two kinds of doors in A blade trap may be found nearly any- inch represents 10 feet. A movement
dungeons, normal and secret doors. where, and usually inflicts enough damage rate of 60' per turn means that the
A normal door is made of wood, and to kill a 1st or 2nd level character. figure moves 6 inches each turn. Spell
often has metal reinforcing strips across Doors may be trapped on the handles, ranges and other ranges are easily deter-
it. Some have metal hinges, a ring or locks, or surface. Small darts may be mined when an accurate scale is used.
57
Encounter Rules This is called Initiative. If you have the You may evade monsters if you can
initiative, you get to act first, before the move faster than they can and if you
Surprise monster. know where you are going so once
In all of your group's encounters, you again, a map becomes important. If the
There is more to an encounter than just will roll to see who has the initiative. The monsters are catching up, try dropping
walking into a room and seeing a mon- DM rolls Id6 for the monsters, and one things! Unintelligent monsters may stop
ster. For example, you might have of the players rolls Id6 for the charac- to eat food. Intelligent monsters may
sneaked up on the creature or it ters. It doesn't matter which player rolls. stop to pick up treasure. In each case,
might have sneaked up on you! You Whoever gets the higher number wins there is a 50% chance that the monsters
might turn a corner, and be completely the initiative, and swings first. will stop or slow down. Your DM will
surprised to find a monster right there. When the party has the initiative, the make all the necessary rolls.
But if the monster is surprised, too, then characters may use the time to talk,
you would both stop for a moment and attack, move (fighters moving to the ORDER OF COMBAT
look at each other. The mutual surprise front, for example), or run away. Some
on both sides would cancel out, for no monsters will also have similar choices, A. Each side rolls for initiative, using
effect except a short delay. but most will either talk or attack. Very Id6.
For example, let's look back at your few monsters run away before anything B. The side that wins the initiative
very first encounter with the goblin. happens. acts first:
You entered the room, and the goblin If a monster has more than one at- 1. Morale Check (monsters and
screamed and swung his sword at you, tack, it will get all of its attacks before non-player characters only)
but missed. You didn't get to do any- yours if it wins the initiative. 2. Movement (using speed per
thing before he had swung, because you If each side rolls the same number, round), including Defensive
were surprised. then all the action happens at once; the Maneuvers
In the one-player adventure in this actions are "simultaneous," and neither 3. Missile fire combat (additional)
booklet, surprise has already been side wins the initiative. Attacking charac- a. Choose targets
worked out. The description tells you ters can try to Hit, but whatever the b. Make Hit Rolls
whether you or the monsters or both! result, the monsters may also make all of c. Roll Damage for hits
are surprised. their attacks, even if you kill them with 4. Magic spells
In group adventures, you roll to see your first attacks' a. Choose targets
who is surprised, and by how much. A b. Make Saving Throws if nec-
six-sided die (Id6) is rolled for each side, Pursuit and Evasion essary
and the results are compared in the c. Apply results immediately
following way: If either side decides to run away, the 5. Hand-to-Hand combat
other side may chase. Time is measured a. Choose targets
You are only surprised if you roll a 1 or a in rounds for as long as the chase occurs. b. Make Hit Rolls
The side running away is "Evading," and c. Roll Damage for hits
2; the same applies to the monsters. those chasing are in "Pursuit." C. The side that loses the initiative
If both sides are surprised, neither side then completes all the steps given
can move or fight during that round. above.
The mutual surprise cancels out. For D. The DM handles all retreating,
the next round, either side might go surrender, and other special re-
first, so another roll (on Id6 again) is sults.
used to decide. This is called rolling
for Initiative, and is described below.
Combat Sequence
If one side surprises the other, the During a battle, the actions do not all
surprised side must wait during the happen at once. Your DM will use a
first round, while the other side acts. checklist to be sure that the battle is run
Those that can act might spend the properly. The list is also given here for
time attacking, talking, or moving your reference.
even running away!
This Combat Sequence includes sev-
eral optional rules. If you are not using
If neither side is surprised, the DM the rule referred to (such as Missile
must determine which side acts first Fire), simply skip that step.
in the round, by checking Initiative.
Repeat steps A through D as needed
until the battle is over.
Initiative
When an encounter begins, you might
act first, or the monster might go first.
58
The following rules should not be used thrown, Strength bonuses are used in-
by beginners. They may be added after stead of Dexterity, and no adjustments
you have played two or three group are made for Range or Cover. A dagger
games. or hand axe may be thrown at an oppo-
nent within range. Each spins in the air
striking with the blade forward.
Missile Weapons A spear is a long shaft of wood or
You have learned what to do when your metal with a sharp tip, and can be
character gets into a fight, but so far, you thrown straight at an opponent. It has
have only used a sword or dagger. These the best range of any thrown missile.
are called "hand-to-hand" or "melee" Holy Water: This is water which has
weapons (pronounced MAY-lay). Other been specially prepared by a Cleric for
types, called "missile weapons," such as use against Undead creatures. It can be
bow and arrows, are handled somewhat used by any character. Holy Water must
differently. be kept in small, specially prepared glass
Missile fire is a type of combat used bottles (known as vials) for it to remain
when the enemy is too far away to fight Holy. The effect of one vial of Holy
hand-to-hand in other words, more Water on an Undead creature is 1-8
than 5 feet away. Missile fire can be (Id8) points of damage. For it to cause
affected by the distance to the enemy damage, it must successfully strike the
(Range), objects that the enemy can hide target, thus breaking the vial. It may
behind (Cover), the attacker's Dexterity either be thrown (using missile fire
Score, and magic adjustments, if any. rules) or used hand-to-hand (using nor-
Not all missiles are actual weapons. mal combat rules.
Missile fire rules also apply when a char-
acter throws something at a monster, hand-to-hand combat, or against targets
within 5 feet. Oil: Oil is carried in small bottles
such as oil or holy water. (known as Flasks), and is often thrown as
A crossbow is similar to a normal bow
The various types of Missile fire you (long or short), but is held horizontally missiles. It may also be spread on a floor.
can use, and the ranges for them, are and shot by pulling a trigger, which In either case, it will be slippery but not
listed on the Missile Fire Table: releases the string. dangerous until it is lit by flame.
A sling is a leather pocket with long One flask of oil will make a pool 3' in
The first group of weapons are devices strings; the user holds the strings and diameter, which will burn out in one
that fire missiles; the second group are puts a stone in the pocket. The stone is turn if lit. Burning oil will cause 1-8 (Id8)
missiles your character throws by hand. thrown by swinging it around and re- points of damage per round to victims in
Whenever your character buys one of leasing one string at the right time. A the flames, including any creature trying
these items, you should make a note of sling is the only missile weapon usable by to cross a pool of burning oil. Oil thrown
the ranges. For example, a Long Bow Clerics. at a creature will either miss (forming a
should be listed as 70-140-210, the long- pool where it falls) or hit. If it hits, it will
est distances it can shoot in each Range drip off in a few rounds; if lit, the victim
Thrown Weapons: A spear, dagger, or will take damage for 2 rounds at most.
category. hand axe may be either thrown or held.
They are good weapons to use when the Oil may be lit with any flame, such as a
Device: A missile fire device is a weapon monsters are nearby, as the character torch. If a torch is thrown at a creature,
that fires missiles, such as a bow or can use any thrown weapon in hand-to- another Hit Roll must be made, but the
crossbow. Devices cannot be used in hand combat. If the weapon is not creature's normal AC is not used; the
target of any thrown torch is treated as
AC 10, regardless of the actual Armor
MISSILE FIRE TABLE Class of the target (but the roll is ad-
Maximum Ranges (in feet) justed as explained below).
Weapon Short (+1) Medium (0) Long ( - 1 ) As with Holy Water, oil may be used
either as a missile or in hand-to-hand
Crossbow (Lt) 60 120 180 combat.
Long Bow 70 140 210
Short Bow 50 100 150 Missile Fire Hit Roll Modifications
Sling 40 80 160
Spear 20 40 60 Missile fire rules are used when the
Oil or 10 30 50 target is 5' away or more. Normal com-
Holy Water bat rules are used if the target is within
Hand Axe 10 20 30 5'. A missile fire device will automat-
or dagger ically miss a target within 5' unless the
target cannot move.
59
When your character tries to use any applies here. In your adventures, you Combat Maneuvers
type of missile fire, adjust your normal may discover magical missiles arrows,
Hit Roll for the following things: crossbow bolts, and so forth and The following special forms of defensive
bonuses from such magic also apply to movement are usable by any character in
1. Dexterity your Hit Roll. hand-to-hand combat. They may also be
2. Range used by monsters. If a player wants to
3. Cover use one of these maneuvers, he or she
4. Magic Variable Weapon Damage must say so before rolling for initiative.
These maneuvers may not be used if not
1. Dexterity: Include any bonuses or Whenever you hit a monster in your declared before that roll.
penalties to your Hit Roll due to high or adventures so far, your character's If a character is near a battle but is not
low Dexterity. You may have an adjust- weapon inflicted 1-6 (Id6) points of fighting hand-to-hand, that character may
ment from - 3 to + 3 , depending on damage. But if we consider the battle move normally. The movement rate de-
your Dexterity Score (as given in the realistically, a dagger should do less pends on the amount of weight carried, as
"Bonuses and Penalties for Ability damage than a sword (for example). explained in the section on Encumbrance.
Scores" chart, on page 50). This advanced damage system allows Any monster or character using a
different weapons to inflict different maneuver explained hereafter is called
amounts of damage. The damage done the "defender." The opponent is called
2. Range: A weapon can only be thrown by each weapon type is given on the
or shot to the longest distance on the the "attacker."
chart below.
chart. This is called weapon's range. For
example, you can't throw a spear any Some weapons can only be properly Fighting Withdrawal
further than 60 feet. used with two hands. These are noted
with an asterisk (*). If a defender is engaged in combat and
Ask your DM what the range to the The large amount of damage done by
target is, in feet. The DM may prefer to wishes to back up slowly whilefighting,the
two-handed weapons is balanced by two maneuver is called a Fighting Withdrawal.
give you the general range instead of the penalties: the attacker cannot use a shield,
exact distance, and may ask you which The defender must have room to
and will always lose the initiative, whatever back up. In crowded situations, those
missile weapon you are using. the roll may be. The lack of a shield will
If the range is short, you add 1 to your behind the defender will get in the way,
reduce the character's Armor Class preventing the maneuver from succeed-
Hit Roll. If the distance to the target is while that weapon is being used (unless,
between the numbers given for short and ing! If room permits, the defender may
of course, no shield was used in the first move at Vi the normal movement rate,
medium ranges, there is no adjustment. If place).
the distance to the target is greater than or less. The attacker may follow and
the number given for medium range, but continue attacking, but the defender
VARIABLE WEAPON may attack in return.
still within the maximum range, you DAMAGE TABLE
must subtract 1 from your Hit Roll. (The
bonus and penalty are noted on the Id4 (1-4) points of damage: Retreat
chart, as a reminder.) Club
Thus, a crossbow can shoot farther If a defender wants to back out of a fight
Dagger at more than Vi the normal movement
than any other weapon, and an axe or Sling stone
dagger can only be thrown at a nearby rate, the maneuver is called a Retreat.
Torch
target. Id6 (1-6) points of damage: The attacker gains a + 2 bonus on all
Hit Rolls, and the defender's AC is cal-
*Arrow (long or short bow) culated without a shield. The defender
3. Cover: The enemy may be harder to Hand Axe may not attack in return.
hit because it is hiding behind some- Mace
thing; this is called cover. Cover could be *Quarrel (crossbow) r\ VMI'l \ H I I \ I I - \ i-
gained by hiding behind a table or chair, Short Sword in- |j].ni' m.iil .irniM and A shield i \ ( .
or a tree or boulder outdoors. A shield Spear '_'). H e i)|)i-Hs ;i <liii)i .iiuJ is .iritiikfil
does not provide cover. War Hammer In ,i _;.! 1 tili\It. Hi- h a s ln-.llil ill.11
If cover is used, your DM should Id8 (1-8) points of damage: i;.iri;iit U >. i J I I IIIIK h e 111' liv in-j.vii'
mention that the monster has cover and Sword (normal) \ \ I ; I | ) I > M V , i i i d hi 1 ti.ii m i l l iniriii.il
will apply penalties to your chances to *Battle Axe uiic-".. . \ [ llu- uiDiiifiiL. h e ii h l o i k i n i j
hit. You should always be told if the ldlO (1-10) points of damage: tin- liuum.n lit- nirs in im- .1 Ii|r|u-
monster has cover, but you might not *Pole Arm IMI; uiiluliriw:il MI u i h r r
know how many penalties apply. These *Two-Handed Sword i.in uc I m i " llic li;iiili.
penalties are determined by the DM and A" lie K II.II kina u p . ilif
range from 1 for partial cover to 4 h'HiMiK linn II.KIK. H e d<'i idc- in
for full cover. *This weapon requires two hands for r. .'!/ i n s u m \ f . I lit- i;.nyiivlc- .il
use. Attacker may not use shield and i.i' k hiiii .i1- In* n i n i . i^.imitii; ,i _'
4. Magic: If you are under a magic spell always loses initiative. l
M l l l l nil it"> ( l l . l f l i r t I " hll \C ^
which helps your chances to hit, that : | l . l \ k \ - \ C V II III Mil 'lili'lili
60
Paired Combat This can become silly, if allowed to If a character is wearing metal armor,
continue. Your characters may even- whether Chain Mail or Plate Mail, and
When you begin a battle, both sides roll tually find vast dragon hoards of thou- carrying other normal equipment, the
for initiative. This one roll has applied to sands of coins, weighing hundreds of basic encumbrance is 700 en. The charac-
everyone on each side. pounds, and the DM should not permit ter moves at 90'/turn, and may pick up
Your DM may choose, for small battles, you to pick it all up and walk out! 100 coins and still use that line of the chart.
to determine initiative for each monster or Encumbrance is the name for the A character carrying more than 2400
character instead of the whole group. amount of weight that your character is en (240 pounds) cannot move. Some-
When this is done, each player rolls for carrying. The more you carry, the thing must be dropped or given to other
initiative, adjusting the roll by Dexterity slower you move, according to the fol- characters.
bonuses or penalties as given on the fol- lowing chart. One new abbreviation is
lowing table. The DM will roll for each used. One coin of treasure, whatever the Using Encumbrance
monster involved in actual combat, adjust- type (gp, ep, and so forth) weighs about
ing the roll if the monster is very slow or Vm pound. Since coins are the com- Find the basic encumbrance for your
very fast. Most monsters have no adjust- monest of treasures, the coin (not the character, as explained above, and write
ments to Paired Combat. One other initia- pound) becomes the simplest unit of it on the back of your character sheet,
tive roll may be needed for other monsters weight. From now on, the weight of all under "Equipment." Remember to add
not in hand-to-hand combat, if any, com- treasures, equipment, and so forth will to it whenever you pick up any treasure;
pared to a similar roll for characters not be measured in coins, abbreviated en. your DM will tell you how many coins
engaged in battle. are found. A gem is counted as 1 en, and
other treasures (potions, jewelry, and so
Encumbered Movement Rates forth) are counted as 10 en each.
DEXTERITY ADJUSTMENT A more detailed system of en-
TO INITIATIVE "Normal speed" is used when your char- cumbrance, calculating the weight of
(Optional) acters are walking through a dungeon. each piece of equipment, will be given in
"Encounter speed" is used whenever the D&D EXPERT Set. But remember
Dexterity Initiative time is kept in rounds, such as during a that the fun of the game comes from
Score Adjustment battle. role playing, not bookkeeping, and your
"Running speed" is used whenever the DM may merely wish to use a simple
3 -2 party is running away from an encounter. system for determining encumbrance.
4-5 -1 Time is still kept in rounds, rather than
6-8 -1 turns, and the party must rest afterward. Containers
9-12 No Adjustment (See Movement, page 56.)
13-15 +1 Your character could not possibly carry
16-17 +1 Basic Encumbrance even a few hundred coins unless they
18 +2 were placed in a sack or backpack. These
If a character is wearing no armor, or items will hold:
merely leather armor, and carrying the
Encumbrance normal equipment taken on an adven- Small sack 200 en
ture, the basic encumbrance is 300 en. Backpack 400 en
There have been no rules in your games That type of character can pick up 100 Large sack 600 en
thus far dealing with the amount a char- coins and still use the top line of the
acter can carry. You have been allowed chart. If more treasure is carried, the Mules
to pick up as much treasure as you can rest of the table is used to find the
find, and take it home. movement rate. Saddlebags may also be used if your DM
allows mules to be bought. A saddlebag
will hold 1000 en. A mule normally
moves at the same rate as a character,
SPEED VS. ENCUMBRANCE TABLE 120' per turn, and can carry up to 3000
en while doing so. A mule can carry
Normal Encounter Running 6000 en at most, which cuts its move-
Speed Speed Speed ment rate in half.
(Feet per
Encumbrance turn) (Feet per round) MULE ENCUMBERED
MOVEMENT RATES
up to 400 en 120 40 120
401-800 en 90 30 90 Encumbrance Normal speed
801-1200 en 60 20 60
1201-1600 en 30 10 30 up to 3000 en 1207turn
1601-2400 15 5 15 3001-6000 en 60'/turn
2401 and more 0 0 0 6001 en or more 0
61
Retainers name, Class, Level, race, Armor Vi the normal award, and is treated as Vi
Class, Hit Points, weapons and equip- character for the division.
A retainer is a person hired by a charac- ment carried, Money, Experience
ter to help on an adventure. Retainers Points, and any other information r \ VMI'I.t: .WO \1 air r a m a l \n "i
are sometimes called "hirelings." Re- you wish to remember. i hai ,u if) s ,iml 1 u-umiM iJiMtliiikj
tainers are never characters run by play- .">.">i> bv J*J (couriling the retainer a-. -:
ers; the DM always plays the part of any Using Retainers <h ii.itten. tin- it-Milt is 10(1 XI' ii
retainers hired. They are called Non- M< h dijr.n if i. .ni'l V; \ P > j urn rn.ilj
Player Characters, or NPCs. All the When you check your character to see if tur rtu- irtJiucr.
people in any D&D game other than the you are ready for adventure, check the
characters, are NPCs. retainer sheet at the same time. Remem- You must keep track of the XP for
ber that you must buy all the equipment your retainer, using the retainer sheet. A
Ask your DM if retainers are permit- that the retainer needs.
ted in the game. You cannot use re- retainer may have a bonus or penalty to
tainers if there are plenty of player During the adventure, tell your DM the XP awarded, calculated in the same
characters, or PCs to do the jobs. In a whatever you want to tell the retainer; manner as XP for characters (explained
game with only one or two players, the DM will play the role of the retainer. in the D U N G E O N MASTER'S
retainers are often used. A retainer will not simply do whatever RULEBOOK). In the example above, if
you want, though most reasonable in- the retainer's Prime Requisite score was
structions will be obeyed. The retainer 8, the retainer would only get 45 XP (a
If you want to hire a retainer, use the might run away from danger, despite 10% penalty).
following procedure: your instructions. This is determined by Your retainer may quit the job if
dice rolls made by the DM. treated badly. Otherwise, the retainer
1. Find NPCs interested in working as Your retainer does not normally get a will stay either until dismissed by your
retainers. share of the treasure found on an ad- character or until gaining one or more
2. Tell them about the job, including the venture. When you hire a retainer, be Levels of Experience. For example, if
pay you offer, what is expected of sure to clearly state the amount you will you hire a retainer for 1 month, the
them, and how long you intend to pay. If you find enough treasure to pay retainer will probably leave at the end of
keep them. the retainer a bonus, that may make the that month. But if the retainer is close to
3. Some NPCs will turn down your of- retainer more loyal. In other words, the gaining a Level, he or she may ask to stay
fer, but some will probably accept. If well-treated retainer will face greater a bit longer. The decision will be up to
you find one that is acceptable, buy dangers without running away, and will you.
all the equipment the NPC will need. obey your instructions more often. When your retainer quits, give the
4. Make a "retainer sheet" to be kept When the DM calculates XP at the retainer sheet to the DM. The DM can
with your character sheet. This end of an adventure, the total XP use that character, and you may meet
should be similar to the character earned by the group is divided by the the retainer again later, in another game
information, including the retainer's number of characters. A retainer gets or in another town!
EQUIPMENT CARRIED
Player's Name Dungeon Master MAGIC ITEMS NORMAL ITEMS
Class Level
Armor Hit
Class Points
ABILITIES: SAVING THROWS:
STRENGTH POISON or OTHER NOTES including places explored, people Ic monsters met
adjustment DEATH RAY
INTELLIGENCE
adjustment MAGIC WAND
^ M
WISDOM
adjustment
M TURN TO STONE c
PARALYSIS
DEXTERITY
adjustment
MM
DRAGON BREATH
CONSTITUTION
adjustment
HH
SPELLS or
CHARISMA MAGIC STAFF
adjustment
I AMP.IIAr.FS.
PP: GEMS:
GP:
EP:
TARGET AC: 9 1 0 SP:
CP: ROMIIS/PFNAITV-
HIT ROLL
10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
NEEDED TOTAL VALUE: Needed for Fipiff level:
(This form may be reproduced for personal use in playing DUNGEONS & DRAGONS* GAMES.)
1980, 1983 TSR Hobbies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.