BENEATH NIGHTMARE CASTLE
You are a travel-weary hero, returning to the town of Neuburg in Khul to visit your old friend Baron Tholdur, when a moment of carelessness lands you in captivity. Will you escape? And even if you do, what will you find in Neuburg? For things have changed there; all is not as it seems, and beneath the Keep lie hideous horrors, which you must face if you are to free the town from the ghastly hand of grim sorcery, and rid it once and for all from the resurrected terror of the past.
Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are a computer is all you need to embark on this thrilling adventure, which is complete with its elaborate combat system and a score-sheet to record your gains and losses.
Many dangers lie ahead and your success is by no means certain. YOU decide which routes to follow, which dangers to risk and which monsters to fight!
YOUR CHARACTER
You are a warrior, a skilled and hardy adventurer. Your last escapade was less than successful, and you face your adventure with little money and no food. Your abilities, however, are as noteworthy as ever; you will use dice to determine your exact attributes.[references to the book's character sheet cut]
Skill, Stamina, Luck, and Willpower
Roll one die. Add 6 to the result. This is your SKILL score.
Roll two dice. Add 12 points to the result. This is your STAMINA score.
Roll one die. Add 6 to the result. This is your LUCK score.
Roll one die. Add 6 to the result. This is your WILLPOWER score.
These are your Initial scores, and you must keep a permanent record of them. Any of your scores may change during your adventure, but they will exceed their except on very rare occasions, when you will be instructed on a particular Initial amounts only very rarely. You must keep a record of all changes to your scores—so write small or use a rubber.
Your SKILL score reflects your expertise in combat, your ability with weapons, and your dexterity. Your STAMINA is your health, fitness, and ability to survive wounds and physical hardship. Your LUCK score shows how lucky you are. WILLPOWER is a measure of your mental stability and determination; the higher it is, the more you can cope with pain, despair and unpleasant surprises.
(Rolled SKILL 11, STAMINA 18, LUCK 9, and WILLPOWER 10.)
COMBAT
During your adventure you will meet other people and creatures. Some of them will attack you; others you will decide to fight. The procedure for resolving battles is described below.
SKILL and STAMINA scores are given in the text for each adversary that you face. Write these numbers in the first vacant Monster Encounter Box on the Adventure Sheet. Make a note also of any special abilities or instructions that are unique to this particular opponent. The combat sequence is then:
1. Roll two dice for your opponent. Add the total rolled to its SKILL score. This is the Attack Strength of your enemy.
2. Roll two dice and add the total to your own current SKILL score. This is your Attack Strength.
3. If your Attack Strength is the higher, you have wounded your opponent: go to step 4. If your opponent's Attack Strength is higher, it has wounded you: go to step 5. If both Attack Strengths are equal, you have avoided each other's blows—start a new Combat Round from step 1.
4. Deduct 2 points from your opponent's STAMINA. You may be able to deduct extra points if you use your LUCK (see below) or if you have a special weapon. Go to step 6.
5. Deduct 2 points from your own STAMINA. You may use your LUCK to reduce the seriousness of this loss (see below.)
6. Make sure you have recorded on the Adventure Sheet all adjustments to the STAMINA and LUCK scores of either yourself or your opponent.
7. Begin the next Combat Round, starting again at step 1. This procedure continues until either you or your opponent has a STAMINA score of zero. If your opponent's STAMINA score reaches zero, you have killed it and can continue with your adventure. If your own STAMINA score reaches zero, you are dead.
You may from time to time be given the opportunity to escape from your opponent. If you decide to do this, the battle ends—but the enemy automatically wounds you once as you turn your back and flee. Note that you may use LUCK to minimize this wound, as for any other (see below.)
Often you will have to fight more than one opponent at a time. Sometimes you will treat them as a single opponent; at others, you will be able to fight them one at a time; and sometimes all of them will be able to attack you, while you defend yourself and may attack only one of them. Specific instructions will be given whenever you meet more than one opponent.
Using Luck in Combat
You can use your LUCK in combat to inflict a particularly serious wound, or to minimize a wound that has been inflicted on you.
Whenever you wound an opponent, you may Test your Luck: roll two dice. If the total rolled is equal to or less than your LUCK score, you have been Lucky. If the total is higher than your LUCK score, you are Unlucky. (Whatever your result, you must deduct 1 point from your current LUCK score.) If you are Lucky, you have inflicted a severe wound: deduct an extra 2 points from your opponent's STAMINA. If you are Unlucky, you have merely grazed it, and you deduct 1 point less than normal from its STAMINA.
If you have been wounded, you can Test your Luck in exactly the same way. (Remember to deduct 1 point from your LUCK whatever the result.) If you are Lucky, the wound upon you was only a glancing blow and you can deduct 1 less point of STAMINA than usual. If you are Unlucky, the wound is serious: deduct 1 extra point from your STAMINA.
HINTS ON PLAY
Skill
Your SKILL will not change much during your adventure, and you should change it only if given specific instructions in the text. As SKILL is a measure of combat prowess, it can be reduced by losing your weapon or by the effects of poison, for instance; acquiring a magical weapon could increase your SKILL—but remember that you can use only one weapon at a time!
Stamina
Your STAMINA will change frequently during your adventure as you suffer wounds and then recover. At various times you will be given opportunities to eat meals and to buy provisions. Eating a meal normally restores up to 4 points of STAMINA; you may only eat one meal at a time, even though you have more in your backpack. Unless specifically stated, your STAMINA may never exceed its Initial score.
Luck
There will be times when the success or failure of your exploits will depend entirely on your LUCK. You will be instructed to Test your Luck, the procedure for which is as follows. Roll two dice. If the result is equal to or less than your current LUCK score, you are Lucky. If the result exceeds your current LUCK score, you are Unlucky. Whatever the outcome, you must deduct one point from your current LUCK score every time you Test your Luck. As you will see, the more you use your LUCK, the less likely you are to be Lucky. There will be occasions when you will be able to recover some points of LUCK; however, unless specifically stated to the contrary, your score cannot exceed its Initial value.
Willpower
WILLPOWER works in exactly the same way as LUCK, and the procedures and comments described above for LUCK apply equally to WILLPOWER. As with LUCK, you must remember to deduct a point from your WILLPOWER score after each time that you Test your Willpower. There is, however, one extra pitfall: at the start of your adventure you are already tired, and you are about to meet a succession of horrible and unnatural creatures. If your WILLPOWER drops below 6 points, and you then Test your Willpower unsuccessfully, you will lose your grip on sanity, and your adventure will be over.
Equipment
You trudge down the hills with only your armor, your sword and your backpack. You have no food and very little money.
Getting Started
Neuburg is a dangerous place, and you are very unlikely to succeed in your mission at the first attempt. It is recommended that you make notes and draw a map as you explore. There is a way to succeed that involves little risk of death or madness, even if you start with low Initial scores. There are many more routes that lead to failure and unpleasant fates.
BACKGROUND
Captured! Netted, strung up and helpless! You curse yourself for an inattentive fool.
So much for the peace and quiet of civilization! It was daydreaming about the comforts of home that got you into this mess. But even the hardiest adventurer can tire of life in the wilderness and begin to yearn for a soft bed, and it was difficult to think of anything else as you trudged to the summit of the last of the foothills and glimpsed the town of Neuburg basking in the afternoon sun.
You know Neuburg; you have been here once before. It is not a large settlement, but you remember it as peaceful and prosperous. The black battlements of the Keep of Neuburg seem to loom threateningly over the little town; but Baron Tholdur, the Margrave of Neuburg Keep, is an old friend of yours. He is more than a friend, in fact—he is a comrade-in-arms. The two of you fought side by side at the Battle of Helm Hill, a renowned victory which has, so far, prevented any further incursions by the Southerners of the steppes. You had been looking forward to seeing the old warrior again; and instead you have let yourself be caught by a band of those very same southern barbarians.
Nearing the end of a hard trek down from the mountains, with the roof-tops of Neuburg in sight and your head filled with thoughts of a hearty meal, you failed to notice the warning signs. The bushes at the side of the trail rustled—and not quite at the same time as the wind gusted across the hills. Bird-song broke out as you approached a solitary tree, and you should have noticed that it was not entirely like any bird-song you had heard before. At any other time you would have stopped and looked around before stepping under that overhanging branch—it was such an obvious place for a trap.
And then the ground gave way beneath your feet. Voices shouted in an unfamiliar tongue. You struggled, but could hardly move. And here you are. It's dark: you're in a pit. The ropes about you are pulled tighter. You move upwards, out into the light. You are in a net, hanging from a branch, and you are surrounded by silent swordsmen swathed in flowing robes. As you spin slowly, their glittering eyes and gleaming blades seem to circle you. You glimpse the lowering shape of Neuburg Keep, and then something very heavy hits the back of your head. Pain…flashing lights—you lose all consciousness.
NOW TURN OVER
You wake. A particularly insistent Dwarf blacksmith seems to be using your head as an anvil. Your hands and feet are tightly bound, and a blindfold covers your eyes. You cannot move, you cannot see, and you can hear only distant, indistinct sounds.
Time passes. The pain in your head subsides to a dull throb. Nothing else happens. Then you hear a voice, an urgent whisper: 'My friend! Hush! Say nothing! I have a sharp knife, but I dare not stay long. I cannot enter through this small space; you must pull yourself a little to your right and I will sever your bonds. Hurry!'
Do you
trust this unknown voice and shuffle nearer in the hope that your ropes will be cut? Or do you
reject this offer of help?
[Name to be determined]
SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 18/18
LUCK 9/9
WILLPOWER 10/10
Equipment: Sword, Armor
Provisions: None
Gold Pieces: Very Little
EDIT: tried to fix fucked up spoiler tags