These are the non-standard portions of the rules, or the ones that include mood-setting flavour text, however:
Magic
During your adventure you may come across some magic items, although at first you may not realize that they are magical or even know what they can do! Such items may give you the ability to cast a magic spell or create a magical effect, if you find such an object, you will be instructed in its use in the relevant paragraph. To begin with however, you are not a mage but a brave warrior, and you must overcome your enemies by your wits and courage and by your prowess with your sword!
There is also a box on your Adventure Sheet for recording Honour. Your Honour is your sense of decency, fairness, Compassion and justice, and it has a further meaning of special importance to this adventure: respect for the dead. Your Initial Honour score is 6, so you do not need to roll any dice to find this out but you can simply record this score in the box on the Adventure Sheet. Honour will be affected by the nature of the deeds you both perform and avoid performing during your adventure.
[…]
Your Honour score will change during the adventure as you perform honourable acts, or refrain from selfish and dishonourable ones. There are certain advantages to having a high Honour score as you will discover during your adventure. However, there are occasions where you may have to behave selfishly in order to gain some important item or clue! You will have to tread a fine line between being overly grasping and thus losing Honour, and failing to take what you need on key occasions.
[…]
Your Honour score will change during the adventure as you perform honourable acts, or refrain from selfish and dishonourable ones. There are certain advantages to having a high Honour score as you will discover during your adventure. However, there are occasions where you may have to behave selfishly in order to gain some important item or clue! You will have to tread a fine line between being overly grasping and thus losing Honour, and failing to take what you need on key occasions.
You will start your adventure with a bare minimum of equipment, but you should find other items during your travels. You are armed with a sword and protected by a shield and a set of leather armour, trimmed and padded with furs- where you are going you will need the protection the fur offers against the cold! You have a backpack to hold your provisions and any treasures or other items you may find; in it you carry a thick fur blanket which you will need to keep out the cold at night. You also carry a lantern to light your way when necessary.
You may acquire a crossbow and some crossbow bolts during your travels. If you do, you must keep a record of how many crossbow bolts you fire from it and how many you have left. When you have no bolts to fire, the crossbow is useless as a weapon until you find more bolts.
You may acquire a crossbow and some crossbow bolts during your travels. If you do, you must keep a record of how many crossbow bolts you fire from it and how many you have left. When you have no bolts to fire, the crossbow is useless as a weapon until you find more bolts.
In the first part of this adventure- finding the Ice Palace- it is vital that you don’t take too long getting there. On the adventure sheet you will find a Time Elapsed box, and here you must record the number of days that pass between the start of the adventure and your arriving at the Palace. Each time you stop for the night to sleep, 1 day has elapsed, so all you have to do is to add a further day to the total time elapsed whenever you stop to sleep. Fortunately for you, time is important only during the first part of the adventure!
Your stamina score will go up and down a lot during your adventure as you fight enemies and undertake arduous tasks. As you near your goal, your stamina score may drop dangerously low and battles may become particularly risky, so be careful!
Your backpack contains enough Provisions for ten meals. You may rest and eat at any time except when fighting, but you may eat only one meal at a time. Eating a meal restores up to 4 stamina points. When you eat a meal, add 4 points to your current stamina score (making sure that the new total does not exceed the Initial score of your Stamina) and deduct 1 point from you Provisions on your adventure sheet. A separate provisions remaining box is included on the Adventure sheet for recording details of Provisions.
Remember that you have a long way to go, so use your provisions wisely. Remember also that your STAMINA score may never exceed it’s Initial value unless a paragraph specifically instructs you otherwise.
There will be times during your adventure when you will be told that you must eat a meal. When you are told to do this, you must deduct 1 of your Provisions on your adventure sheet, but you do not regain any lost stamina for doing this. If you are told that you have to eat a meal but
you don't have any Provisions left, you must deduct 2 points from your current STAMINA score on the Adventure Sheet.
Dunng your adventure however you should be able to acquire at least a few extra Provisions to add to the store you begin with; these will enable you to maintain your STAMINA throughout the adventure. However, you cannot carry more than ten provisions at any time.
Your backpack contains enough Provisions for ten meals. You may rest and eat at any time except when fighting, but you may eat only one meal at a time. Eating a meal restores up to 4 stamina points. When you eat a meal, add 4 points to your current stamina score (making sure that the new total does not exceed the Initial score of your Stamina) and deduct 1 point from you Provisions on your adventure sheet. A separate provisions remaining box is included on the Adventure sheet for recording details of Provisions.
Remember that you have a long way to go, so use your provisions wisely. Remember also that your STAMINA score may never exceed it’s Initial value unless a paragraph specifically instructs you otherwise.
There will be times during your adventure when you will be told that you must eat a meal. When you are told to do this, you must deduct 1 of your Provisions on your adventure sheet, but you do not regain any lost stamina for doing this. If you are told that you have to eat a meal but
you don't have any Provisions left, you must deduct 2 points from your current STAMINA score on the Adventure Sheet.
Dunng your adventure however you should be able to acquire at least a few extra Provisions to add to the store you begin with; these will enable you to maintain your STAMINA throughout the adventure. However, you cannot carry more than ten provisions at any time.
It has been a long, hard trek from market in the city of Zengis, but you are almost home now. Within the hour you should be back at the family hearth, a tankard of warm mead in your hand and your furred leathers hanging in the corner of the hut. Doubtlessly our friends will come around to talk of their exploits while hunting when you were away at the market, and they will probably mock you gently for not having gone hunting with them. Still, someone had to haggle to get a good price for the furs and, as the chieftain pointed out, it might as well be someone with a few brains and a little sense. So you had got the job.
Perhaps, you imagine, life would be easier in one of the southern lands of Allansia you have heard of: wicked port Blacksand to, the south and west the endlessly Flatlands with their proud, wild horses and prouder riders; Even Arantis, so far away, with its Overpriest and teeming pirate ships. Anywhere might be better than this bitingly cold region where you have spent your life, in the shadow of the Icefinger Mountains. Perhaps, when the next caravan sets out from Zengis to the Flatlands, you may find a merchant who needs a strong and honest bodyguard. But that’s a fantasy and what is real now is the cold.
Except that now it isn't as cold as it seemed to be a minute ago. lt should be, because the sky is darkening as dusk descends it should be quite chill indeed. But why is the sky darkening? You realize that it is not long since the watery afternoon sun was at it’s zenith. And what is the horrible screeching and booming sound coming out of the sky?
You spin round and face the direction from which the ever louder sound is coming- and throw yourself down to the ground in abject terror! With a great wail like a thousand screaming demons, the black sphere of rock soars past overhead, fire and smoke raining in its wake. A chunk of molten rock plummets and crashes to the ground close to you, hissing and spitting as it embeds itself in snow and ice-hardened ground. You get up, shake the snow off your clothes and run forward to the head of the valley.
Peering down, you see that the valley is shrouded in smoke, and you can make out tongues of flame rising from the place where you know your home is. You rush on down to find out what terrible fate has befallen your home and people.
Perhaps, you imagine, life would be easier in one of the southern lands of Allansia you have heard of: wicked port Blacksand to, the south and west the endlessly Flatlands with their proud, wild horses and prouder riders; Even Arantis, so far away, with its Overpriest and teeming pirate ships. Anywhere might be better than this bitingly cold region where you have spent your life, in the shadow of the Icefinger Mountains. Perhaps, when the next caravan sets out from Zengis to the Flatlands, you may find a merchant who needs a strong and honest bodyguard. But that’s a fantasy and what is real now is the cold.
Except that now it isn't as cold as it seemed to be a minute ago. lt should be, because the sky is darkening as dusk descends it should be quite chill indeed. But why is the sky darkening? You realize that it is not long since the watery afternoon sun was at it’s zenith. And what is the horrible screeching and booming sound coming out of the sky?
You spin round and face the direction from which the ever louder sound is coming- and throw yourself down to the ground in abject terror! With a great wail like a thousand screaming demons, the black sphere of rock soars past overhead, fire and smoke raining in its wake. A chunk of molten rock plummets and crashes to the ground close to you, hissing and spitting as it embeds itself in snow and ice-hardened ground. You get up, shake the snow off your clothes and run forward to the head of the valley.
Peering down, you see that the valley is shrouded in smoke, and you can make out tongues of flame rising from the place where you know your home is. You rush on down to find out what terrible fate has befallen your home and people.
Will you:
*Leave and follow the trail of the Sphere?
*Look around for things that will be of help to you on your trek after the Sphere?
*Look for the village wise man?
*Do what you can to help the injured?
Our Vengeful Fur-clad Adventurer (please write in your preferred dick reference name)
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 20/20
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Sword, Furred Leather Armour, Shield, Backpack, 10 Provisions
Those are supremely average rolls, but we're probably the toughest dude in a furry leather suit around!
