91I An introductory module 9260

Official Game Adventure

 Basic Game Adventure
TSR LIBRARY
SHERIDAN SPRINGS ROAD
ake GENEVA, WI 53147

by Carl Sargent

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Dungeon Master’s Guide to D&D Adventure ............................ 3
Dungeon Master’s Guide to Karameikos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
DM’s Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Players’ Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

SPECIAL PULL-OUT PLAYERS’ REFERENCE SECTION

Credits: Players’ Reference Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Design: Carl Sargent DungeonMapping Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Editing: Jim Lowder Ready-to-Play Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Cover Artist: Clyde Caldwell
Interior Artist: Valerie Valusek What You Know about Karameikos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Cartographer: Diesel Character Recordsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Typographer: Gaye O’Keefe
Keyliner: Stephanie Tabat AreaMapandHandouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
AdventureClock(DMP1ay-Aid) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
©1989 T S R , Inc. All Rights Resewed. Printed in U.S.A.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and D&D are registered tradcmarkr

owned by T S R , Inc. KING’S FESTIVAL
T h e TSR logo is a trademark owned by T S R , Inc.
Distributed to the book trade in the United States by Random DungeonLevelI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
House, Inc., and in Canada by Random House ofCanada, Ltd.
Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors. Dis- DungeonLevel I1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
tributed in the United Kingdom by T S R Ltd.
New Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
This module is protected under the copyright laws of the United
States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of Experience Reference Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
the material or artwork herein is prohibited without the express
written permission o f T S R , Inc.
I DUNGEON MASTER’S MAPS
TSR Inc. TSR Ltd.
POB 756 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton Area Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Lake Geneva, Cambridge CBl 3LB
WI 53147 U.S.A. United Kingdom DungeonLevelI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inner cover
DungeonLevelII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . inner cover
Karameikos and its Neighbors ................................. inner cover

TSR, Inc.
PRODUCTSOF YOUR IMAGINATION“

ISBN 0-88038-746-7 9260

Welcome to the endless realms of The in this product. Creating characters, or- which players can record details of any
Dungeons G3 Dragons@game, players and ganizing play, playing the roles of mon- characters they play; a map to be given to
Dungeon Masters! King’s Festival is an sters and other characters, dealing with the players; a reference sheet of impor-
adventure pack or module, filled with in- common problems that crop up from tant details in the D&D game; and back-
formation and play aids to introduce you time to time-these and many more top- ground on the game world for players.
to a fantasy world where dragons wheel ics are discussed in depth. You will be a Finally, pages 31-32 give more refer-
in the skies and terrible monsters stalk much better prepared D M after reading ence material and the details of two new
remote wastelands, where creatures of this section, and you can be confident monsters players will encounter in the
darkness lie in wait in the gloom of that players will soon be clamoring for dungeon. Especially useful is the Experi-
dungeons and adventurers sharpen their you to run other challenging adventures ence Reference Chart (page 32), which
swords and ready their spells to over- for their characters! helps you keep track of treasure and ex-
come the forces of evil and Chaos! A first The DM’s Guide to Karameikos on perience gained as the player characters’
adventure for heroes beginning their ad- page 10 gives background information use weapons, magic, and wit to over-
venturing careers completes King’s Festi- on the fantasy setting of this adventure. come enemies and attain their goals.
val. You stand on the threshold of Next you’ll find a special introduction to Even the cover of this package is spe-
thrilling adventures! prepare everyone for the adventure cially designed for beginning Dungeon
If you are going to be a player in the ahead. Page 12 gives a full introduction Masters. Folded out, the inner 2 panels
D&D@game contained in this product, to the adventure and setting for the play- of the cover contain the maps you need to
you should read no further. Much of the ers. Then, pages 21-31 hold the adven- run the adventure. You can use this cover
material in the following pages is only for ture itself, with monsters and dungeon as a “screen” during play by standing it
the eyes of the Dungeon Master (DM)- rooms and treasures: the real heart of the around your notes and the text of the
the person who will unfold the adventure action. game. This will keep details of the adven-
before you. O n pages 13-20 is a special pull-out ture away from the prying eyes of the
section of game material for the players. players while letting you have the maps
This module has been specifically de- You can detach this and use it separately you need right in front of you.
signed for inexperienced players and simply by opening out the staples, re-
DMs, and it is an ideal first adventure for moving these pages, and pushing the sta- So read on and begin the adventure!
four or more 1st level characters. Pages ples flat again. In this section, you will
3-9 are the Dungeon Master’s Guide to find characters for players to use if they
D&D Adventures. There you will find a do not yet have their own; a mapping
wealth of tips on how to run any D&D sheet for recording details of the dungeon
adventure, not just the one you will find to be explored; a character sheet on

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 dungeon masters guide to d&d adventure

Getting Started used depends on the number of playei3-.. ,, spellcasters (magic-users,

Fi n al Iv.
(Playing this adventure with fewer than elves, and eventually clerics) are a cru-
You and the players should read through four players is not recommended.) If you cial part of any successful adventuring
most of the rulebooks in the D&D@Basic have four players, use PCs #1 through party. Make sure that players are well
Set before you begin play. Players should #4, and PC #6 should be used as a Non- aware of what their spells can and can’t
start by reading pages 2-12 of the Players Player Character (NPC) accompanying do and what the ranges, areas of effect,
Manual, then pages 48-52 (which won’t the group. You, the D M , play the role of and other specifics of their spells are.
be fully clear to them at this stage), then the dwarf as a “sidekick” of the party. If Since spellcasters have few spells in their
page 55 on Alignment. Next, they you have more than four players, add spellbooks to begin with, this won’t be
should read pages 23-28 and 37-47 on the PCs #5 through #7, in order. We don’t too difficult to deal with quickly.
different character classes in the D&D recommend you run more than seven
game. Finally, they should reread pages players in this beginning adventure, as Equipment
48-52, then read pages 53- 61. The DM, there will be too many people for game
should read this material, as well as the play to run smoothly. Of course PCs must have weapons, ar-
Dungeon Masters Rulebook. (You can If players strongly prefer to create mor, and the like, but there’s more to
skip pages 4-13 since you have an excel- their own characters, fine. Go through properly equipping a party of adventur-
lent first adventure in this product!) character generation with them, so that ers than that. A cleric cannot turn un-
Later, players will want to read through the rules are followed. The Players Man- dead without a holy symbol; a thief
the whole of the Players Manual, and ual is very specific here, but you should cannot open locks or check for traps
you should browse through all sections of practice generating a few sample charac- without his tools. If a character falls into
both the books in the D&D Basic Set. ters yourself so that you are familiar with a pit, a rope is vital for getting him out.
the rules and can help a player if a prob- PCs finding a big pile of treasure coins
Characters lem arises. can’t carry it without sacks, and so on.
We also suggest you allow a minimum So a well-equipped party has a major
T h e player characters (PCs) are the char- score when the first hit dice roll is made advantage, and it’s a good idea to have
acters in the D&D game whose actions for PC hit points. The minimum is 5 for the players check through the equipment
are decided by the players. Help your a fighter or dwarf; 4 for a cleric, elf, or their PCs have between them and list
players as their characters are created so halfling; and 3 for a magic-user or thief. what new equipment they need, as well
that everyone has a good idea of who If the dice roll is below the minimum for as ideas for how each item could be used
their PC is, what their character wants to a particular character, use the minimum effectively. This just might save a PC’s
achieve, and what resources are availa- instead. These minimums do not include life during the adventure. Give the play-
ble to that character. any Constitution bonuses or penalties- ers time to think this through. Remem-
Players may use the pregenerated PCs which should be applied as normal-and ber to check the cost of their purchases
provided in the Players’ Pull-out Section apply only to the first dice roll for hit correctly when they finally outfit their
on pages 15-18, or generate new charac- points. Allowing minimum hit points PCS.
ters using the rules in the Players Man- gives PCs a better chance to survive the
ual. We suggest using the pregenerated perils of 1st-level adventures. Preparing to Play
characters. This saves time, and players Next, go through the ability scores
usually want to start adventuring as with players to be sure that they have the Completed character sheets, dice, pen-
quickly as possible. bonuses and penalties for their PCs prop- cils, rulebooks, and erasers should be
T h e abilities, special talents, equip- erly recorded and the players know what handy as you prepare to play. It’s helpful
ment, and money of the pregenerated they mean. Ability scores are straightfor- to use paper for notes that can be kept in
PCs are fully detailed, but many of the ward, but special abilities may need a ring binder so players can store and re-
PCs’ characteristics have been left u p to more attention. Elves, dwarves, half- vise useful information they come across
the player. The sex, age, alignment, ap- lings, and thieves all have special talents in the game. Also, the mapping page on
pearance, and personality of each PC has (infravision, detecting sloping passages page 14 of this product is crucial for play.
not been filled in, so players may person- or secret doors, backstabbing). Players As with the Character Record Sheet, this
alize their characters. Finally, the pre- will learn to use these special skills as mapping page may be photocopied for
generated P C s are a well-balanced their PCs go on more adventures, but personal use.
adventuring group. Even if you decide they should be well aware of them and There is a special reference section on
not to use them, they are a useful guide have a few ideas on how to use them right page 13 of the Players’ Pull-out Section
to equipping and preparing groups of at the start. Going through them with the of King’s Festiual that lists lots of useful in-
PCs for any adventure. players will also refresh your memory of formation players will need during the
Which pregenerated PCs should be the uses of all these special abilities. game. Your players will want to have this

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dungeon master’s guide to d&d® adventure

handy for combats so that checks can be your own, there will be much more to do! game notes out of sight of the players be-
made quickly when needed. You must have maps of the area where hind the cover of this module.
Finally, you should photocopy the the action will take place, an introduc- When the adventure begins, help the
back outside cover of the d&D® Basic tion with background information for the players organize their characters as a
Set’s Dungeon Masters Rulebook-the PCs, full lists of monsters with armor group. The PCs will usually have a
Index. This makes it easy locate the an- class, hit points, and other stats fully re- standard “marching order” in a
swers to rules questions quickly. corded, and perhaps hand-outs for play- dungeon, the relative positions the PCs
Now you and your players are ready to ers (if PCs find some message or map). occupy when moving-usually with
undertake an adventure! This is a lot of paper to have floating fighters at the front, magic-users and
around at a game. Minimize the work thieves in the middle, and so on. It’s
The Organized Dungeon Master required to keep track of it all by being helpful to make a note of this so you
organized. don’t have to keep asking during the
Players have less to do in a game than Separate sets of notes, covering differ- game.
you do. Each player usually plays but ent dungeon levels or NPCs the players Organize how players will give infor-
one PC. You’ve got to run the whole ad- will encounter, can be kept in individual mation on their characters’ actions to
venture! In addition to keeping track of packets. Different colored paper can be you, too. Having a Caller-a person
all the players’ actions, you play all the very useful for this. Then, during the who tells the D M what the party is
monsters and people they encounter. A game when you’ve finished with one doing-is helpful. However, be sure to
good D M gives the players descriptions packet of game material, put it to one encourage players to discuss their actions
of the lands and creatures they encoun- side so it doesn’t get mixed with the notes before the Caller says who is doing what.
ter, too. There are many practical ways you still need. And, of course, players other than the
in which you can lighten the burden of Also be sure that you, like the players, Caller will sometimes need to tell what
good DMing. have paper, pencils, dice, and erasers their PC is doing (if, for example, a thief
First, the adventure you plan to run handy. You’ll need a good place to play, is acting as an advance spy, moving si-
must be ready for play. Here, life is easy, too. Usually a solid table, with comfort- lently and alone down a hall).
since you have a fully developed adven- able chairs and a place at the head of it
ture in this product. When you write for the D M is best. You can keep your

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 dungeon master’s guide to d&D® adventure

Time and Movement plicated scenarios, see pages 16-17 of the First, don’t be too sparing with de-
Dungeon Masters Rulebook. scription. Players will quickly become
Time in the game, referred to as “game bored if you describe all the rooms sim-
time,” is often crucial, but don’t be pre- Experience and Experience Points ply by their dimensions. Players will sim-
cise when it isn’t necessary. If PCs need to ply sigh, “Oh, it’s another 30 foot square
spend a day on the road traveling, don’t As the adventure progresses, PCs will ac- room with a door opposite us” if all the
count Turn (10 minutes) by Turn. That cumulate experience points (XPs) for rooms in your dungeon look the same. A
will only slow things down unnecessarily. monsters and enemies overcome, and few well-placed spider webs, dusty
If there are no encounters in the morning, treasures gained. You can record these as floors, creaking (wooden) or slippery
for example, just say “you spend a pleas- you go along, keeping a list, but there is (stone) floors, squeaks, odd noises (bats
ant morning strolling along through the another way of doing this in this particu- in the attic, harmless beetles scuttling
autumn sunshine and eat your lunch un- lar product that is even faster-the Expe- underfoot) can add a lot to a game.
der the shade of a beech tree” (or what- rience Reference Sheet on page 32, The other extreme to avoid is overdo-
ever fits the circumstances). which lists all the monster XPs and trea- ing your description. If most rooms have
When time does matter, monitor it sure to be found in the dungeon. symbols of evil all over the walls and
carefully. In combat, measure time in When the PCs defeat a monster, sim- dried blood on the floor, or every door
Rounds. With many spells that have a ply put a check by the monster-which is the PCs open creaks, the overuse of repe-
definite duration (like shield, which lasts listed together with the numbered tative sights and sounds destroys a genu-
for 2 Turns), keeping track of time in ei- dungeon area it is in-to record that the ine build-up of tension and excitement in
ther Rounds or Turns will be vital. The PCs have overcome it. Then, at the end players. Remember, some locations may
Adventure Clock on page 20 will be very of the adventure, you can simply add up be mundane and not worth a lengthy de-
helpful here-while this is in the Players’ the total monster XPs earned by the scription. A good D M will know what
Pull-out Section, it is primarily for your players. A similar procedure can be used the PCs need to see, hear, and smell.
use. You may photocopy this for personal for treasure gained. Note that the Expe- An important final point is that a good
use. rience Reference Sheet does not give D M details more than simply what PCs
Time spent searching rooms may be XPs for magic items the players might see. Don’t forget noises (scurrying ver-
important if PCs have spells running. To find. These items have no X P value: the min, voices, whistling wind, owl hoots,
make life easy, say it takes 4 rounds for a magic is reward enough. the scraping of something on stone-is it
party to make a basic search of a room Finally, as the Basic D&D Dungeon metal, chitinous claws, or something
20’ x 20’ or smaller; 7 rounds for 20’ x 20’ Masters Rulebook notes, XPs are even more horrid?), smells (food, gar-
to 40’ x 40’ (or equivalent); 1 Turn for awarded at the end of an adventure, not bage, the reek of a filthy ogre aiming a
anything bigger. This does not include at the end of an evening’s play. Charac- club at a PC), and tactile senses (“you
searching for secret doors or carefully ters should complete the adventure to feel hair rising at the nape of your neck,”
hidden items. their satisfaction and reach a place of or “the stone feels cold and slimy as you
Keeping precise track of movement is safety before any XPs are awarded. touch it”).
usually only important in combat or at-
tempted escapes, when characters are us- The Descriptive Dungeon Master Monsters and NPCs
ing their per Round movement rates to
close on enemies, rush to aid their col- Never forget that you are the eyes and Playing out encounters-whether it’s a
leagues, or flee from some angry and ears of the player characters during the battle with a giant or a meeting with a pa-
powerful monster. Can the cleric get to game. Players are wholly dependent on tron at a tavern-is the heart of the D&D
the fighter to help him before the ogre you to tell them what their PCs see, hear, game. The following notes on how to
lands a killing blow? Can the armor-clad and so on. Good DMs are able to convey deal with this important part of DMing
dwarf escape from the goblin horde? the feel and atmosphere of an adventure, should be very helpful to you as you run
Movement and time are important in the thrills and scares, by using good de- this or any adventure.
such common situations. scriptions of what actions are taking
Keep things simple: in normal combat place and what the PC can see around Wandering Monsters. Be careful with
situations, just make a rough check on them. wandering monsters (or WMs for short).
your dungeon map for the relative posi- Kin,’s Festival has sections of boxed It can be a disaster to have a weakened
tion of, say, a PC fighter and a potential text for you to read to players that will PC party meet a nasty W M because of a
opponent. If a PC wants to rush to the at- show you how to describe adventure lo- random dice roll. Use your best judge-
tack and can cover the distance in a cations and events. It’s a skill you ac- ment. If the players have been playing
round let him or her make the attack. quire with experience. Just avoid the two well or a battle with a wandering monster
With longer chases or other more com- extremes of D M description! would hurt the flow of the game, over-

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dungeon master’s guide to d&D® adventure

rule the dice and don’t use the encounter. the monsters are fanatical or their king A similar logic applies to “friendly”
O n the other hand, you might have a has drummed it into his troops that hu- reaction rolls. A friendly NPC will con-
bunch of over-cautious players taking mans always kill their prisoners. What verse and be helpful, but will not neces-
too much time to act. Often these players goblin is going to surrender then? Use sarily hand over money or go completely
will take a long time to check every door your best judgement. out of his way to assist the PCs. What-
for noises and traps or crawl along with a ever the reaction roll is, what happens
pole, checking for pits everywhere (even Reactions. Again, use this rule sensibly. must make sense in terms of your cam-
after you’ve told them that it really isn’t If a group of fighters has decimated a paign and the situation at the moment in
necessary). Then you should decide that goblin den, they can hardly expect to ne- the game.
you’ll have a W M encounter whatever gotiate with the surviving goblins easily,
the dice say, and tell players that “this regardless of a positive reaction roll. As a Running Combat
can happen if you take so long to do eve- rule of thumb, reaction rolls are only
rything.” plausible when negotiation is a realistic O n page 13 of this module you will find a
possibility-which usually means that Combat Sequence Table that lists all the
Morale. As with wandering monsters, whoever the PCs are negotiating with are steps involved in combat. You should re-
override the dice on morale rolls if this is fairly neutral about what the PCs are do- fer to this continually to organize com-
sensible. As one example of when you ing. bats smoothly. The players will also have
should override the dice, consider a final You should also interpret the results of a copy of this on the Players’ Reference
showdown in an adventure-the “Big any reaction rolls in a way that makes Sheet, which also contains full charts and
Fight Climax,” Using a morale roll that sense. For example, when a group of tables for weapon damage, armor class,
has the monsters surrender after one is well-armed PCs try to talk to a single, saving throws, and other factors impor-
wounded will be a disappointment to the unarmed goblin, it is very unlikely that tant in combat. You might consider mak-
players if they’ve been working toward the goblin will attack them, regardless of ing a photocopy or two of this page, for
this battle for many nights of gaming. the reaction roll. Instead, a negative re- which permission is given for personal
If you don’t want monsters to surren- action role will usually be interpreted in use.
der for a good reason, they don’t have to this situation as the goblin being un- Combat rules are straightforward and
because of a single morale roll. Maybe friendly and rude toward the PCs. after one or two fights you and the play

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 dungeon master’s guide to d&D® adventure

ers will find that determining combat re- most cases it takes a full round to draw a cleric in the Kinx’s Festival adventure, is
sults becomes faster and easier with prac- weapon or switch weapons (e.g., from a described physically (one of the first
tice. However, there are some specific sword to a bow). While it does take a full questions a PC may ask about an NPC
points on combats you should under- round to switch to a dagger, it does not is, “what does he look like?”), and so is
stand before you begin. take a full round to draw a dagger (which his general personality-with a little
means you can draw this particular quirk, the fact that he is mildly claustro-
Surprise. Sometimes, the situation of an weapon and attack with it in the same phobic (one of the reasons why he’s de-
encounter or combat dictates that sur- round). lighted to see the PCs and why he doesn’t
prise is not a realistic possibility for one want to go down a dungeon with them!).
or both sides involved. For example, if This is a Role-Playing Game! NPCs who may be around for some
the party has listened at a door and heard time in a campaign are worth more work
goblin speech beyond, they are unlikely Much of the above has been about com- by the D M in terms of their appearance,
to be surprised by the goblin guards in bat and fighting. These are essential beliefs, motivations, guilty secrets, and
the room when they open the door! parts of the D&D@game for almost all so on. The more work the D M puts into
Again, if a guard has run away from one gamers a climactic combat is an almost these important NPCs, the more believ-
fight with the PCs and warned guards mandatory ending for most adventures, able his world will be-and the more re-
deeper in the dungeon, they will be allowing built-up excitement and tension warding it will be for players to run their
highly alert and probably not surprised to be dissipated, generating thrills and PCs in that world.
when they encounter the PCs. Some- fun in the process. Further, players of Even “ordinary” monsters are worth
times, you may rule that surprise is im- strong fighters, tough dwarves, and most thinking about. They want to survive, to
possible or unlikely (so that surprise only other characters enjoy the challenge of a have shelter and food and (usually)
occurs on a roll of 1 on ld6, rather than tough combat against evil foes. The safety. They’re not kamikaze attackers
the usual 1 or 2 on ld6). forces of evil and Chaos are there to be (except in rare circumstances). They
overcome, after all. have their own goals and motivations-
Two-handed Weapons. Several weap- However, this is not just a combat plunder, revenge, banditry, security, clan
ons need two hands for use: all bows, the game. It’s a lot more than a small- scale, loyalty, territory, and the like. You should
battle axe, the pole arm, and the two- sword-and-sorcery tactical skirmish think of most of the monsters in your
handed sword. Characters or NPCs us- game. What makes it much more than campaign as “people” too-at least in
ing these weapons always strike last in this is the existence of player characters terms of development as NPCs.
the round. (and the non-player characters played by First-time players often aren’t too
Initiative is only important with these the DM) as interesting fictional crea- worried about role-playing. Players just
weapons if one or more combatants on tions, characters with their own person- want to bash something. To some extent
both sides in a fight are using a two- alities, goals, motivations, and that’s to be expected: their PCs haven’t
handed weapon. Men or monsters using idiosyncracies. gained a depth of character through
two-handed weapons still strike after ev- The development of a detailed persona shared adventures and experiences yet,
eryone else has done so in the round. for a PC is an important stage in any and as players, they don’t yet under-
However, the combatants fighting with player’s enjoyment of the D&D@game. stand all the subtleties of the game. How-
two-handed weapons, who also have the T h e player enjoys creating a well- ever, while it’s good to learn the game’s
initiative, strike before the combatants developed character, not just rolling dice basics by bashing a few goblins, in the
who lost the initiative and are fighting and adding up XPs. The D M can play long run, a campaign that doesn’t de-
with two-handed weapons. an important part in the creation and de- velop strong role-playing elements, with
velopment of player characters, espe- a cast of interesting, credible NPCs and
Actions Allowable per Round. A char- cially through a creative use of NPCs. well-developed PCs, won’t be a long-
acter can only perform one action per It can be very rewarding for a player to lived one.
round-a cleric cannot cast a spell, try to have his character live in a world with in-
turn undead, and also take a swing at the teresting and powerful NPCs, and to in- The Dungeon Master’s Problem Guide
monster trying to skewer him in the same teract with them-in political intrigue,
round! You must enforce this rule. Over- cooperation, combat, or just fellowship At some stage during,an adventure or
enthusiastic players often want their PCs and good companionship (especially for campaign, somewhere along the line,
to do more than they can in a round. Lawful characters). something will go wrong during a game.
There are a few exceptions to this rule. It is always worth a DM’s effort to cre- Since this can happen in many ways, not
The one special case you are likely to ate NPCs who have anything other than all possibilities can be covered in this sec-
encounter quickly as a new D M is when a minor role in an adventure with at least tion, but some advice on the more com-
a PC tries to switch or draw a weapon. In a little detail. For example, Aralic, the mon problems is included here to help

7
dungeon master’s guide to d&D® adventure

you to avoid or solve many of these com- they may be unable to open a lock or reaction rolls) be sure to take factors
mon glitches. solve a riddle because they haven’t found other than simple ability numbers into
a key or a clue, and the adventure grinds account. For example, if the PC’s wear-
The PCs Do Something Awkward to a halt. ing heavy armor (such as plate mail), this
T h e important thing to remember clearly makes the attempted leap harder.
You want the P C s to travel from point A here is that you should have a back-up Then, you might add 4 to the number
to point B. O u t of sheer orneriness (or plan for providing the information or rolled on the ability to reflect this in-
curiosity), the players decide to go to C item (such as a key) the PCs need to com- creased difficulty.
instead, despite your polite prompts. You plete the dungeon. Just move the clue to In most cases, all you need to do to de-
don’t have the right maps for area C , and another location where the PCs will find termine if a PC can or cannot do some-
you’ve got no adventures written for that it. You may want to script a possible al- thing is determine which ability is most
area. To get the game moving again, you ternative when you are setting up the important to the action being attempted,
need to steer the PCs to B. dungeon, so that it looks plausible to the such as Strength in the pole vaulting
Solving this is not too difficult. Use your players and not obviously contrived if case. Then, consider if the task at-
NPCs to give the characters incentive to go you need to use it. tempted is easy (in which case allow
where you want them to go and keep them Then again, you may give the players some number to be subtracted from the
away from where you don’t want them to an important clue and then they forget it. dice roll) or hard (here, add a number to
go. Have an NPC adventurer tell the PCs (This is especially common if your play- the dice roll).
that “there’s a terrible outbreak of plague ers aren’t taking notes.) If this happens, Remember, however, while a natural 1
in C” or “I hear they’re paying good you can allow the most intelligent PC an on the dice usually guarantees success
money to adventurers in B for fighting in- Intelligence Check before the lack of in- and a natural 20 guarantees failure, in
vading goblins.” If the players still go to C formation proves fatal. Ask the player in- the case of an Ability Check, high die
instead of B, create a reason why they volved to roll ld20. If the roll is equal to rolls mean failure (the exact reverse of
should be lured back to B, chased out of C , or lower than the PC’s Intelligence, that combat hit rolls and saving throws).
or whatever, using NPCs to do your dirty PC remembers the clue and you give the
work. information again. If he fails, too bad; Quiet Players
Sometimes it’s just one player, and not they really have forgotten.
the entire party, who insists on doing It’s always a good idea to try not to Try to draw quiet, unassertive players
something that you know will disrupt the script an adventure where success or to- into the game by asking their PCs about
game. H e or she may decide to offend the tal failure hangs on just one such clue- plans and actions. You can also have
law, attack or kill an NPC you’ve set u p which may be lost by the players or NPCs deal with their character in order
to provide information, or so on. T h e perhaps never even found. to involve them more in the game. Good
standard rule is: warn the player clearly players will often help quiet players be
about this (“There are six members of A PC Tries an Action Not Covered in more involved spontaneously, but if they
the Watch and one has a whistle ready to the Rules do not, your cue may wake them u p to
blow for reinforcements, so you might the need to involve everyone in the ad-
want to reconsider fighting the guards- The D&D® game rules cannot possibly venture .
man.”) If the PC persists, try the same cover all the actions players might attempt
method used to get the party to go where during a game. For example, what do you Disruptive PCs and Players
you want them to. Of course, if that fails, do if a fighter tries to pole vault across a
you can always be harsh and punish a PC wide but shallow pit using a 10’ pole? As- A player character may step out of line
for such actions. suming this isn’t absolutely impossible too often and annoy other PCs. There
(which it would be if the pit were 20‘ deep), are many ways for a P C to play against
The PCs Don’t Do (or Find) Some- what are his chances? The rules don’t spec- the party-a thief might steal from his
thing They Should ify, so you have to create your own rule. own party or an impetuous fighter might
In this case, you might use an Ability act rashly all the time and land others in
You put an important clue (a scroll or Check like the one used earlier for Intelli- trouble. In cases like these, the DM
book) in a dungeon room, with a warn- gence (if a PC had forgotten something). should encourage the other PCs to lay
ing about a major danger deeper in the You might consider that Strength is the down the law to the troublesome PC and
dungeon. T h e PCs never enter the room important ability, and allow a check make it clear what they will and will not
where the clue is, press on, and may get against that. Of course, the PC won’t tolerate.
splattered all over the floor later because know if he or she succeeds until the feat is As a DM, however, you should en-
they didn’t get the warning and entered a attempted. courage players to work together. O n e
dangerous area below full strength. Or, As with other rules (like morale and way to do this is to create adventures that

8
 dungeon master’s guide to d&D® adventure

require teamwork from players to com- course, you can always try to play take long to catch up with the others. At
plete. You can also discourage a disrup- through the problem, too. Just use your higher levels, clerical help with returning
tive P C by using NPCs to punish that most important tool as a D M : your best the dead to life (as explained in the D&D
character’s actions and reward others for judgement and common sense. Expert Set) may be possible, but only for
showing cooperation. If the players’ map is wrong, ask to see a very hefty donation to the NPC cleric’s
The dilemma, of course, is that the the map and place it next to yours. What temple.
player of the problem PC may take this exactly has gone wrong? Try to redraw One special point about PC death is
kind of reaction to his or her character the players’ map to fit yours or, in ex- important to remember when you come
personally. However, if it is plain that the treme cases, draw a fresh map to give to to write your own adventures. At some
player insists on playing a character who players. Just say to the mapper, “There stage, you will script a tough fight, usu-
is disruptive and creates problems, that was a mistake by someone-me, you, or ally the climax to the adventure. You will
player should firmly but politely be asked both of us. This is how the place should often use powerful enemies who will give
to leave the game. Disruptive PCs and look.” Then give the players the cor- the PCs a hard fight, and if you script
players have been the death of more than rected map. poorly you may have several dead PCs in
one gaming group. If you missed a crucial encounter, ask your dungeon and a number of unhappy
yourself if you can move it to another lo- players at your table.
Characters and Alignment cation and run it there. This type of You can reduce the chances of an un-
change is easy to rationalize, too. If a balanced encounter taking place by play-
As a D M , you should be watchful for messenger the players knew they should ing through the battle on your own
PCs acting against their alignment. For meet at a certain location isn’t there, he before running the adventure. Play out
clerics especially, acting out of alignment was obviously delayed because his horse the actions of both sides with a sample
is a serious rules violation-a denial of went lame. Of course, if the PCs don’t party at full strength and see how it goes.
the character’s faiths and beliefs-and even know they were supposed to If you avoid overkill either way (not too
should be anathema to them. encounter someone or something in a hard for the PCs, but not too easy either)
If a P C is consistently acting out of particular spot, they never need to know you’re on the right track.
alignment, you have to step in and dis- things have changed! Next, you should run the simulation
cuss the problem. Always be sure to give again with the PCs about 25% down on
at least two specific examples of how the A PC Dies hit points and spells. Does this make a
PC stepped out of line. Novice players crucial difference to the body count at the
will find it difficult to follow a strict align- If there were no possibility of a PC end of the battle? If it does, you can place
ment, and they may need constant, but dying, the game would probably lose its clues in the adventure, warning the PCs
friendly reminders of the limits of their thrill. Occasionally, a character will per- of the dangerous nature of the impend-
chosen alignment. ish. But this should not happen often, ing combat, so they can rest and be at full
unless you are being careless with the strength for it.
You Make a Major Blunder strength of enemies facing the PCs or You can slightly reduce the power of
cruel. “Killer dungeons” are dreadful the enemies, too. After scripting and
It happens. You mess up the map horri- and should be avoided at all costs. running a few adventures, you’ll get a
bly, totally forget that something that was There are ways of avoiding PC death, better sense of what will and won’t work
supposed to happen during a combat, or dealing with it after it has happened. If in a game. The old saying applies to
kill off a PC when in fact the monster he it happens because of a mistake by you DMing, too: Practice makes perfect!
was fighting took enough damage to (you forgot a protective spell the PC had
drop but you weren’t paying attention, up or you miscounted damage), then
and so on. Now what do you do? simply let the PC be knocked uncon-
You can recover from almost any er- scious, but still revivable (He has 1 hit
ror. The first thing to remember is that point). If your error takes some time to
no one expects you to be perfect. Next, discover, make sure the PC can somehow
try to recover from mistakes in as calm a rejoin his friends-for example, the PC
manner as possible. If you are in the is helped out of a dungeon by a party of
middle of some important action in the NPCs.
game and you discover a major mistake, If the PC really is dead and you made
don’t panic. Resolve the action as best no error, this is a sad moment, but the
you can and then inform the players that PC will live on in the memories of the
there is some confusion in your notes and survivors. The player concerned can roll
you’d like a timeout to check them. Of up a new 1st-level character; it won’t

9
dungeon master’s guide to karameikos

Karameikos is the country in which and home to some 20,000 people. are rumors of ambitious and arrogant
King’s Festival is set. O n the inside cover To the north from Penhaligon, a road nobles within the duchy who seek to
of this module, you have a map of Kara- leads to the Duke’s Road Keep, a well- overthrow Duke Stefan. There are also
meikos and its neighbors. In the Players’ manned fortress protecting the mountain stories of villainous secret gangs of slav-
Reference Section, you will find a hand- passes. Trade routes pass beyond the ers and criminals operating across the
out with some basic details on Kara- borders of Karameikos here, and go on duchy. However, such nefarious evils
meikos for the players. Here, some to Selenica, capital of the Republic of are-as yet-only rumors to the PCs in
additional detail about the area is pro- Darokin. this adventure.
vided for you, so that if curious players Penhaligon itself is the closest major The population of Karameikos is di-
ask questions about the land you will be town to Stallanford, where the adventure vided into two groups: immigrants from
able to answer at least some of them. of King’s Festival is set. Just under 4,000 Thyatis who have settled in the duchy,
But Karameikos is far too big to be ex- people live there, under the rule of Lady and natives, known as Traladarans (Tra-
plained fully in this product. If you want Arteris Penhaligon, a renowned fighter ladara being the old name for one domi-
to learn more about the history and poli- who succeeded her father Arturus in the nant nation within the Karameikan
tics of this area, you should purchase the position when he died four years ago. lands).
official D&D@ game supplement, GAZ Penhaligon is a brisk, bustling town, Thyatians are taller, more cultured,
1, The Grand Duchy of Karameikos and the with burgeoning trade by river and by and often consider themselves superior
rest of the B-series of D&D modules. road. It is well-fortified to protect the to their countrymen. The smaller, often
Duke’s Road trade route, and while there illiterate, and notably superstitious Tra-
History and Geography are occasional skirmishes with orcs and ladarans feel rather resentful of their
goblins-even bugbears and hob- Thyatian “conquerors,” as they are
Karameikos is a large and prosperous goblins-the town is usually peaceful. sometimes wont to regard them. To the
land, with thriving trade and commerce. Traladarans, reading tea leaves and in-
It is also a young nation, having only re- Dangers Within the Duchy terpreting natural events as auguries
cently become independent of the great isn’t superstition anyway-it’s just com-
Empire of Thyatis, which lies to the east Despite its wealth and sound rulership, mon sense.
(again the right-hand inside cover of this Karameikos has its share of problems. You may not want to present all of this
module shows the situation of Kara- Orcs and goblins and their kin (notably information to the players right away, as
meikos and its neighbors). the bigger and tougher hobgoblins) are it does not directly affect the adventure in
It was only thirty years ago that Duke plentiful in the hilly and mountainous this product and may distract them from
Stefan Karameikos I11 made a deal with northern lands, especially in the their goal. However, since intrigues and
the Thyatian emperor and gained the northeast-including the countryside unrest are an important part of Kara-
lands of Karameikos for his own. A wise around Penhaligon and Stallanford! meikan society, you should be aware of
and popular ruler, Stefan has united the Bugbears are common in the southwest- them. It may help you to develop inter-
fragmented lands into one nation, which ern forests, and ogres infest the hills esting NPCs for this game that might be
bears his name. north of those wooded tracts of land, of use in an extended campaign based in
It is rumored that some people in high where even an occasional giant or troll Karameikos.
places do not care for Stefan and wish has been sighted.
him ill. However, such intrigues are only More mundane creatures that can be
whispered in hushed voices by cowled dangerous to adventurers-such as
and cloaked figures who prefer to talk in wolves and bears-can be found all over
dark and hidden places. the duchy. This isn’t surprising given the
Karameikos has many wooded and large areas of foothills and woodland in
fertile lands, and agriculture is a rich the country. Great cats are a hazard in
source of income. The hilly area, in the northern hills, but they rarely attack
which Kinf’s Festival is set, lies in the humans unless very hungry or provoked.
northern half of the country, near the city
of Penhaligon. Political Unrest Within Karameikos
The capital city of Karameikos, Specu-
larum, is on the Shutturgall River, some The worst enemy of mankind (and of
110 miles south from Penhaligon along gnomes, dwarves, elves, and their kin)
the Duke’s Road. Half-way between the is, of course, Man himself. While Kara-
capital and Penhaligon is the city of Kel- meikos has good political relations with
vin, ruled by Baron Desmond Kelvin 11, most of its neighboring countries, there
\
\
10
Before you try to run the adventure in hP Hit Points Strategic Retreats
this product, read through it first. You L Lawful
should be very familiar with all of the ML Morale At some stage, before overcoming the
encounters and locations in the adven- MU Magic-User orcs, the PCs may well have to leave the
ture if you want to run a successful game, MV Movement Rate adventure to rest and recover lost hit
so read carefully. Also take some time to N Neutral points. They can go back to Stallanford
study the maps included in the module. NM Normal Man to do this, but it takes 3 hours to return to
The text of the adventure in King’s Fes- PP Platinum piece the village.
tival is keyed to the maps. When PCs en- SA Special attacks The PCs will encounter a Neutral
ter a specific location, details of what Save Save As (CladLevel) cleric, Moravan (2nd level) on their first
they see are given in boxed text for you to SP Silver piece return to town, who will sell them a cure
read to the players. You will need to add THACO see information below lkht wounds spell for 2Ogp. He is only
details to this sometimes, depending on XP Experience points earned by passing through and will not help with
the actions of the players. However, you overcoming monster the adventure or wait around to provide
should find that the descriptions in the further healing.
adventure cover most questions players THACO: This is an acronym for “To Hit If the PCs need help again in the
will ask about the dungeon. Armor Class 0 (zero),” and it is the mini- dungeon, encourage them to rest some-
When a monster is described in an in- mum number needed on a d20 roll to hit where closer to the orc lair, and not re-
dividual location, its abilities are given in an enemy that has ACO. To work out turn to Stallanford. Point out that a full
abbreviated form. The following infor- what an attacker needs to hit other Ar- day of rest will enable each PC to recover
mation is covered: mor Classes, simply subtract the AC of 1 hit point.
the creature or character the attacker is Allow the PCs to find a small, empty
Name (number); Armor Class; Hit Dice cave a mile or so away from the orcs’
fighting from the THACO given. For ex-
(or Class and Level for an NPC); hit caves, where they can rest safely until
ample, if a monster has THACO = 18, it
points; Movement per turn (and per
hits AC 1 on 17 + , AC2 on 16 + , and so they are well enough to continue. Coins
combat round in brackets); Number of and the like can also be buried there to
on.
attacks per round; THACO (special-see reduce encumberance when the PCs re-
If you know a monster’s THACO and
below); Damage per attack; Special at- turn to the dungeon.
a PC’s Armor Class, this will save a lot of
tacks (poison, etc.); Save as (Class and
time checking on the combat tables to see
Level); Morale; Alignment; X P value The Adventure’s Goal
if a PC has been hit during combat!
for overcoming monster (if there are sev-
eral of the same creatures, the number Initially, the PCs’ goal is to overcome the
Wandering Monsters
shown is per individual monster, not for orcs and rescue Aralic. In Dungeon
the group); and Other abilities (if any). Level 11, the goal is to overcome the
Wandering monsters are rare in
Further details may be added for unu- Dungeon Level I; the orcs drive out in- source of evil Aralic senses-Petrides,
sual or important monsters and NPCs. truders. You should only roll once per the Chaotic cleric, and his undead min-
hour for a W M , which arrives on a roll of ions. Above all, however, the adventure
Abbreviations 1 on ld6. Use the table in the Dungeon in Kinf’s Festival is meant to serve as an
Masters Rulebook for WMs, save that exciting introduction to the world of The
The following abbreviations are used in the monster is a group of 1-3 orcs (patrol- DUNGEONS & DRAGONS@game for
the text; it looks like a terrifyingly long ling guards) on a roll of 1, 7-10, 13 or 14 you and your players.
list, but you’ll soon get used to them. on the table. For Dungeon Level 11,
check for WMs every half hour, using the
AC Armor Class
Alignment standard table.
AL
#AT Number of attacks per round
Chaotic Doors, Lighting, Orcish Equipment
C
CP Copper piece
Doors are unlocked unless the text says
d Type of dice (or die)
otherwise. Locations occupied by orcs
Dmg Damage per attack
are torch-lit. All other locations are not
eP Electrum piece
lit, and PCs need torches or lanterns in
F Fighter
dark areas. Orcish equipment and weap-
gP Gold piece
ons do not count as treasure-they can-
HD Hit Dice
not be sold.
ntroduction \ pLaya2s

Make sure the players have their characters help them in any way, they are informed
thoroughly prepared, and then give them After a good meal and a chat with that the village can provide free equipment
the Players’ Background material from the your friends, you settle down to sleep for the party, since the PCs are helping to
pull-out section (page 18) to read. Give in a comfortable bed with clean linen. destroy the orc menace, but nothing else.
them the Players’ Map (page 20)-it is very Just before dawn you wake to the Janner will urge the PCs to hurry in
useful to photocopy this page in advance. sound of shouting in the streets, and pursuit, but in half-an-hour the villagers
Let them know that they can enter the town you can see flickering flames through can come up with normal equipment for
together or separately, but that they will all your window! Hurriedly, you dress, this type of adventure: rope (2 lengths),
see the same things when they first arrive in grab your possessions, and go out- oil (2 flasks), iron spikes (24), a 10’ pole,
Stallanford. Then, read the following boxed side. a tinder box, and 18 torches. This is all
text aloud to the players. Townsfolk and travelers mill about, the PCs can have-the place is in tur-
some crying in panic or fear. You see moil, and this is all that they can lay their
that the small temple in the town is hands on at short notice.
You have arrived at the town of Stal- Items taken should be added to the
ablaze! A tall man dressed in gray
lanford, on the Duke’s Road. T h e Character Record Sheets. Finally, if you
robes walks over toward you and begs
town is bustling and busy, with many have only four PCs, the dwarf (PC #6 in
for your help.
visitors and merchants’ wagons seek- the Pregenerated Characters) can walk
“The orcs have raided us! They
ing hostels and stables for horses. This u p and offer to accompany them at this
have burned our temple, and Aralic
is no ordinary day, for tomorrow is the stage. This happens only if there are four
the Priest cannot be found. They
first day of the King’s Festival! or less PCs. You run this dwarf as an
must have kidnapped him! T h e
Karameikos has no king, but this NPC (non-player character).
wretched orcs have to be found and
long-held festival honors a great hero of Now read the final section of boxed
slain, or they will be back to loot and
the distant past, King Halav. Long be- text to the players.
kill again. Two of our people are dead.
fore Karameikos was a nation, King
Will you help?”
Halav of the Traldar folk fought with his
At once, another man-older with
warriors against evil Beast-Men. In a You follow Janner at a slow walking
graying hair and angry eyes, wearing
great battle, Halav and the king of the pace as he traces a trail that you can
leathers-steps forward beside the
Beast-Men fell, but the evil ones fled only see part of the time-a blood
gray-robed fellow and holds out his
and the safety of the humans was en- stain in the grass here, a tuft of mate-
arms to you.
sured. rial or hair there, some heavy foot-
“If you want to follow the orcs, I
You’re rather late in arriving, and marks in damp patches. But after a
can track ’em for you. One bunch of
many folk are asleep. You sniff the couple of hours Janner stops and
warriors has already gone off looking,
pleasing aroma of cooking meat and points to some foothills about two
but they’ve got the wrong trail. I can
warm bread, and you make for the miles in the distance.
show you how to find ’em. My name
tavern, the Hungry Halfling, for a “There”, he says. “Head for those
is Janner and I want to help. My son
meal and some rest. caves. That’s where the orcs’ll be. I
lies dead from their swords.”
T h e inn is busy, but you find a table wish I could come with you, but an
His voice breaks as he points into
right away. T h e friendly old halfling old man like me would slow you
the distance, where the orcs have
who owns the hostelry charges 5 silver down.” Though he clearly wishes he
gone.
pieces for dinner, a bed, and break- could fight with you, Janner turns
Here is the adventure you sought!
fast. It’s good value though-the joint and heads back to Stallanford.
There are evil orcs to fight, a goodly
of beef you see on the table will fill You march on warily, and soon you
cleric to rescue, and maybe treasure in
your stomach after your long journey! see a hilly mound with an unmistak-
the caves you are told the orcs inhabit!
able narrow, dark entrance. You are a
hundred feet or so away, but the rock
PCs should deduct 5 silver pieces from
The PCs have plenty of incentive to get cover is such that you can probably get
the money listed on their character sheet.
started! Now, ask the players if their a lot closer without being detected.
(1 gold piece equals 10 silver pieces, so if
characters wish to set off right away. What plans will you make against the
1 gold is paid, change is 5 silvers.) If the
Dawn is breaking, and if the PCs ask, orcs within?
PCs have not met each other before, tell
Janner will tell them it will take about 3-4
the players their PCs see other adventur-
hours to get to the orcs’ caves.
ers drinking the good ale here and have The adventure has begun! Go to the
If the PCs set off right away, read the
the PCs introduce themselves to each start of the script, located on page 21.
boxed text below at once. If they ask
other. After this, read the following:
whether the villagers of Stallanford can

12
 COMBAT SEQUENCE WEAPON DAMAGE

A. Players announce their intended actions (who will strike at whom, where spells will Id4 points Club, Dagger,
be targeted, etc.). The D M determines the planned actions for the opposing mon- of damage: Sling Stone, Torch
sters, non-player characters, and so on.
Id6 points Arrow (long or short
B. Each side rolls for initiative, using ld6. Higher roll wins.
of damage: bow*), H a n d Axe,
C . The side that wins the initiative acts first:
Mace, Quarrel (cross-
1. Morale Check (monsters and non-player characters only)
bow*), Short Sword,
2. Movement (using speed per round), including Defensive Maneuvers Spear, War Hammer
3. Missile Fire Combat
a. make hit rolls Id8 points Sword (Normal),
b. roll damage for hits of damage: Battle Axe*
4. Magic Spells Id10 points Pole Arm*,
a. make Saving Throws if applicable of damage: Two-handed Sword*
b. apply results immediately (e.g., roll damage for a magic missile spell, etc.)
5. Hand-to-Hand (Melee) Combat * These weapons require two hands for
a. make hit rolls use; the attacker may not use a shield,
b. roll damage for hits and these weapons strike last in the
6. Turning of Undead by Clerics round.
D. The side that loses the initiative then completes all the steps in C above. Strength bonuses and penalties apply to
E. Characters using two-handed weapons strike last, after all other actions. If there damage caused by hand-held weapons.
are characters/monsters on both sides using such weapons, those on the side win- If you are using a Character Record
ning the initiative strike first. Sheet, adjust the damage figure recorded
F. T h e D M handles all retreats, surrenders, and other special for melee weapon(s) to include any bo-
results. nus or penalty from Strength.

SAVING THROWS ARMOR CLASS TABLE

a. Death Ray or Poison d. Dragon Breath

Armor Type Armor Class
b. Magic Wands* e. Rods, Staves, Spells*
No armor 9
c . Paralysis or Turn to Stone
Leather armor 7
a b C d e Chain Mail armor 5
Plate Mail armor 3
Cleric 11 12 14 16 15
Shield bonus of - 1*
Fighter 12 13 14 15 16
Magic-User 13 14 13 16 15 * A shield reduces AC by 1 place-thus a
Thief 13 14 13 16 15 character in Plate Mail armor is AC3,
Dwarf 8 9 10 13 12 one with Plate Mail and shield is AC2.
Elf 12 13 13 15 15 Dexterity is a bonus or penalty to AC
Halfling 8 9 10 13 12 (high Dexterity lowers AC). Adjust the
Normal Man 14 15 16 17 17 AC recorded on the Character Record
Sheet for any Dexterity bonus or penalty.
Wisdom bonuses and penalties apply to Saving Throws marked with an asterisk (*) but
not to others (Death Ray and Poison saves will be affected only if a magical attack is in-
volved). If you are using a Character Record Sheet, adjust the figures above for any
bonuses or penalties arising from Wisdom score.

13
PC #1: Fighter What your tutor told you:
“Usually, your job is to be at the front
Name: of the group, fighting monsters and ene-
Age : mies, and protecting those who don’t
Sex: fight as well as you. But guarding a party
Equipment List:
Alignment: needs different tactics sometimes. Don’t
(as chosen by player) Plate mail and shield forget that someone needs to protect the
Sword (normal) rear!
Strength: 16 ( + 2 bonus to melee Hit rolls and Dagger “A sword is your best friend, but with
damage, + 2 bonus to opening Backpack your Dexterity a bow is useful too. Buy
doors) Standard rations one as soon as you have the money. If
Intelligence: 7 Oil, 1 flask you’re traveling outdoors, make sure at
Wisdom: 8 (-1 penalty to Saving Throws Large sack least one party member has a missile
against Magic) 6 Torches weapon readied for a long range attack.
Dexterity: 13 ( + 1 bonus to missile fire Hit 50’ Rope You’re strong enough to carry a spare
rolls, -1 bonus to Armor Class) 10’ Pole, wooden sword with you, so buy one when you
Constitution: 16 ( + 2 bonus to hit point rolls) 12 Iron spikes and can-you never know what might
Charisma: 10 small hammer happen! ”
Armor Class: 1 (includes Dexterity bonus) Waterskin
Hit Points: 8 (includes Constitution bonus)
Money: 6gP
XP: 0
Bonus to XPs earned: 10%
XPs needed for 2nd level: 2,000

PC #2: Cleric What your tutor told you:

“You have to prove yourself before you
Name: can become an adept and use spells. To
Age: Special Abilities: begin with, your most important role is
Sex: (1) Turning of Undead as a support fighter. When you have the
Alignment: (2) Clerical spells (gained money to do so, buy yourself some plate
(as chosen by player) at 2nd level of experi- mail so you are better protected. Don’t
ence) forget your sling-with your Dexterity
Strength: 13 ( + 1 bonus to melee Hit rolls and this can be a useful weapon, and the
damage, + 1 bonus to opening Equipment List: fighters at the front will often have
doors) swords drawn and no chance to use a dis-
Intelligence: 9 Chain mail and shield
tance weapon.
Wisdom: 17 ( + 2 bonus to Saving Throws Mace
“When you can use spells, you will
against Magic) Sling and 30 stones
usually have cure light wounds. This spell is
Dexterity: 14 ( + 1 bonus to missile fire Hit Holy symbol
vital to sustain any adventuring group.
rolls, -1 bonus to Armor Class) Backpack
But if your party is healthy and you know
Constitution: 9 .Standard rations
you have a fight coming against one or
Charisma: 12 Waterskin
two powerful enemies, don’t forget that
Armor Class: 3 (includes dexterity bonus) Small sack
your spells can be used offensively, too! ”
Hit points: 5 50’ Rope
Money: 4gP 6 Torches
XP : 0
Bonus to XPs earned: 10%
XPs needed for 2nd level: 1,500

15
ready-to-play C hcharacters

PC #3: Elf Special Abilities: Spellbook:

(1) Infravision, 60’ range Your spellbook contains three spells-
Name: (2) Immunity to ghoul pa- your tutor was generous! These are detect
Age: ralysis magic, read magic, and mafic missile. You
Sex: ( 3 ) Speak extra languages: can only memorize and use one spell per
Alignment: elven, gnoll, orc, hob- day, however!
(as chosen by player) goblin
(4) 2 in 6 chance for find- What your tutor told you:
Strength: 13 ( + 1 bonus to melee Hit rolls and ing secret doors
damage, + 1 bonus to opening “You are the slowest to gain experience
doors) levels, but the most powerful at any
Equipment List: level, for you can fight well with sword or
Intelligence: 13 ( + 1 language known)
Wisdom: 9 Chain mail and shield bow and use magic-user spells, too. I f
Dexterity: 15 ( + 1 bonus to missile fire Hit Sword, normal possible, try to be in the middle of a
rolls, -1 bonus to Armor Class) Dagger group, so you can move to fight-or sup-
Constitution: 14 ( + 1 bonus to hit point rolls) Backpack port with spells-if an attack should
Charisma: 9 Standard rations come from the front, the back, or to one
Armor Class: 3 (includes Dexterity bonus) 50’ rope side. You will usually memorize magic
Hit Points: 6 (includes Constitution bonus) Small sack missile for adventures, and this spell is
12 Iron spikes and powerful-the missile always hits. Use
Money: 1gP
XP : 0 small hammer the spell carefully; it is excellent for spoil-
Bonus to XPs earned: 5 % Waterskin ing the spell of an enemy magic-user
XPs needed for 2nd level: 4,000 Wineskin with 1 quart should you meet one.”
of red wine

PC #4:Thief Special Abilities: What your tutor told you:

Open Locks 15% “Thieving isn’t dishonorable if you use
Name: Find Traps 10% your skills for the right reasons. You
Age: Remove Traps 10% aren’t much of a fighter and you need
Sex: Climb Walls 87 % strong fighters to protect you, clerics to
Alignment: Move Silently 20 % heal you if you are hurt, and spellcasters
(as chosen by player) Hide in Shadows 10% to support you, so don’t anger them by
Strength: 9 Pick Pockets 20 % stealing from them. If you need to pick a
Intelligence: 11 Hear Noise 1-2 on d6 roll lock, have a strong protector with you,
Wisdom: 10 and it isn’t your job to open the door or
Double weapon damage on
Dexterity: 18 ( + 3 bonus to missile fire Hit the chest-get the fighter to do that!
a successful backstab ( + 4
rolls, -3 bonus to Armor Class) “Don’t rush into fights-try to hide in
bonus to Hit roll)
Constitution: 13 ( + 1 bonus to hit point rolls) the shadows and sneak about trying for a
Charisma: 13 ( + 1 bonus to reactions) backstab. While you don’t want to be
Equipment List:
Armor Class: 4 (includes Dexterity bonus) toe-to-toe with a monster with your
Hit points: 5 (includes Constitution bonus) Leather armor sword, you’re a real expert with a bow
Money: 1gP Sword, normal because of your Dexterity. For you, the
XP : 0 Crossbow arrow is mightier than the sword.
Bonus to XPs earned: 10% Quiver with 30 quarrels “Never lose your thieves’ tools; you
XPs needed for 2nd level: 1,250 Thieves’ tools can’t use your special thieving skills
Backpack without them. Don’t forget that not all
Standard rations treasure is coins and gems, either. Just
50’ ropes, 2 look at this valuable antique urn I, er,
Small sack borrowed last week. . . .”
Waterskin

16
 PC #5: Magic-User What your tutor told you:
“Never get into a melee if you can help
Name: it! You’re not so easy to hit as some
Age: Mediums (because of your superior Dex-
Sex: Spellbook: terity), but you won’t last long in a battle
Alignment: because of your feeble strength. But no
(as chosen by player) Your spellbook contains two
? spells-read magic and sleep. matter. Use your Intelligence to succeed,
Strength: 5 (-2 penalty to melee Hit rolls and You can only memorize and and start by making sure that the group’s
damage, -2 penalty to opening use one per day, though. marching order has you in the middle
doors) where front and rear attacks get to some-
Intelligence: 17 ( + 2 extra languages spoken; Equipment List: one else first!
player’s choice) “Your sleep spell is very powerful. YOU
Wisdom: 13 ( + 1 bonus to Saving Throws Silver dagger can take out a whole group of enemies
against Magic) Holy water, 1 vial with this. But don’t forget that it affects a
Dexterity: 16 ( + 2 bonus to missile fire Hit Backpack whole area and you cannot choose only
rolls, -2 bonus to Armor Class) Iron rations to affect certain creatures or people with-
Constitution: 13 Steel mirror in that area! Never cast the spell into an
Charisma: 9 Lantern area where any of your friends are or you
Armor Class: 7 (includes Dexterity bonus) Oil, 2 flasks will probably affect them as well, which
Hit points: 4 (includes Constitution bonus) Waterskin could be disastrous.
Money: 5gP “Always think about the spells you
XP : 0 have and how you can use them best. A
Bonus to XPs earned: 10% clever, original use of a spell can surprise,
XPs needed for 2nd level: 2,500 overcome, and demoralize an enemy.”

PC #6: Dwarf What your tutor told you:

Special Abilities: “You’ll be the pride of the clan if you know
Name: (1) Infravision, 60’ range what your strengths and weaknesses are.
Age: (2) Extra languages- You’re incredibly strong and healthy, and
Sex: speaks dwarven, able to swing an axe against the best of
Alignment: gnome, goblin, kobold ’em. But, well, you’re not the smartest or
(as chosen by player) (3) Detection of traps, nimblest dwarf on two feet. Leave the
Strength: 18 ( + 3 bonus to melee Hit rolls and sliding walls, sloping planning to others unless you’re under-
damage, + 3 bonus to opening corridors, new con- ground or coming up to a big fight, when
doors) structions (2 in 6 what you know is important. Best to leave
Intelligence: 6 chance) any negotiations to those who will get bet-
Wisdom: 11 ter reactions than you, too.
Dexterity: 7 (-1 penalty to missile fire Hit rolls, Equipment List: “Let the thieves and those with good
+ 1 penalty to Armor Class) Dexterity use bows-keep your axe to
Plate mail (dwarf-sized) hand and try to fight enemies hand-to-
Constitution: 14 ( + 1 bonus to hit point rolls)
Shield hand. Your plate mail is good protection
Charisma: 7 (-1 penalty to reactions)
Hand axe but you’re slow and your Dexterity is
Armor Class: 3 (includes Dexterity penalty)
Dagger poor, so try to grab any magic protec-
Hit points: 7 (includes Constitution bonus)
Backpack
7, Money:
XP :
IgP, 5SP
0
Standard rations
tions you can-like a magic shield or ring
of protection if your party finds one.
Waterskin “Fight at the front-it’s where your
Bonus to XPs earned: 10%
Large sack melee skills are best placed. It’s also
XPs needed for 2nd level: 2,200 Engraved pewter tankard where you can see pits, and sliding walls
and flagon with 4 pints
and traps. Dungeons are the best place to
of dwarven Skullburster be for a dwarf, save for the tavern.”
dark ale

17
PC #7: Cleric What your tutor told you:
“Never betray your beliefs; they are the
Name:
very heart of a cleric’s being. You will not
Age:
Special Abilities: progress to use clerical magic unless you
Sex:
stay true to your ideals! Your exceptional
Alignment: (1) Turning of Undead Wisdom should make you an outstand-
(as chosen by player) (2) Clerical spells ing cleric-if you survive the grim perils
(gained at 2nd experi- of adventuring!
Strength: 9 ence level) “Your Strength is not good, so you
Intelligence: 9
should leave frontline fighting to fighters
Wisdom: 18 ( + 3 bonus to Saving Throws Equipment List: and dwarves, but with your fine Dexter-
against Magic)
Chain mail and shield ity your sling is a useful weapon. When
Dexterity: 17 ( + 2 bonus to missile fire Hit
Mace adventuring, try to keep a position that
rolls, -2 bonus to Armor Class)
Sling and 30 stones allows you to use this weapon, and draw
Constitution: 9
Holy symbol your mace only when you must. Your de-
Charisma: 7 (-1 penalty to reactions)
Backpack fensive strength as a hand-to-hand
Armor Class: 2 (includes Dexterity bonus)
Standard rations fighter will be improved when you can
Hit points: 5
Torches, 6 buy some plate mail, so do this as soon as
Money: 1gP you gain the money! Always keep your
XP: 0 Waterskin
holy symbol ready-around your neck is
Bonus to XPs earned: 10%
a good place-should you meet undead
XPs needed for 2nd level: 1,500
and need to turn them.”

What you know about the world: might bring. . . , steel and magic is still in your ears, and
If you are a halfling, you have come you hope that you have learned well what
You are young adventurers in the land of from a small community of the little folk he taught you!
Karameikos, setting out to seek fame along the Duke’s Road, where you have If you are a dwarf, you have grown
and fortune. Karameikos is a great, lived with humans. Halflings are curious tired of the tradition and regular habits
wide, young nation; a country of hills creatures, and while hot food (lots of it!) of your clan in their subterranean homes
and mountains to the north, of verdant and a good fire in the hearth are plea- in the foothills west of the Shutturgal
woodland, forest, and rolling farmland sures to return home to, something tells River. You have many happy memories
to the south. There are ample opportuni- you that a young halfling should be a bit of your home, where gnomes and
ties for adventure in this vast country, more ambitious. This shocked some of dwarves share their work and laughter,
and you have left your homes to prove the more sedate souls in your family, but but you feel wanderlust.
yourselves. you were not to be deterred. You’ve cho- Such is the way of many young
If you are a human character-a sen to seek your fortune along the road, dwarves. After traveling, most dwarves
fighter, cleric, magic-user, or thief-you and set off to see who may have need of return to their homes, but they feel the
were born in one of the small towns on your skills! same incurable desire to see something of
the Duke’s Road, the trade route that If you are an elf, you have traveled the great world beyond their heartland as
runs from the far-distant capital of Spe- some way from your clan and home. you do. The grumpy old dwarf who
cularum to the south into the northern From the cool, leafy tree-houses of your taught you how to use a weapon and to
Altan Tepes mountains and beyond. people, in the southeastern Karameikan feel comfortable in armor, had good ad-
Just before you left, your tutor-the forests and woodlands, you have vice for you, and you think this over as
kindly soul who first taught you the rudi- trekked. You have chosen to head for the your tired feet trudge along the road.
ments of skill in your chosen career-had bustling towns and cities of the human
a few last words of wisdom for you, and folk to see what excitement and adven-
wished you good luck and good fellow- tures may be found there. With a
ship on your journey. Taking the equip- sheathed sword and a small book of mag
ment you needed and the little money ic, you bring your skills as a warrior and
you had, you set out on a cool, crisp early wizard with you. The final advice of the
autumn dawn to see what your destiny old elf who taught you understanding of

18
 Player’s Name Character’s Name

CHARACTER PROFILE
Physical Appearance Personality
Sex
Age
c Class
Level
Alignment

Armor Armor SPECIAL ABILITIES

Class Points :
Shield

Other Protections LANGUAGES SPOKEN

Target Armor Class AC9 AC8 AC7 AC6 AC5 AC4 AC3 AC2 ACl ACO AC-1

Needed to hit: Melee

Needed to hit: Missiles

WEAPON USED 1 DAMAGE 1 SAVING THROWS

Poison, Death Ray
Magic Wand
Turn to Stone/Paralysis
Dragon Breath
ABILITY SCORES Spells/Magic Staff
Ability Adjustment
STRENGTH
INTELLIGENCE Points Earned XPs
WISDOM
DEXTERITY NORMAL EQUIPMENT CARRIED
CONSTITUTION
CHARISMA
Treasure Treasure
Owned: Carried:

19
abventuw clock & hmbouts

ADVENTURE CLOCK

6 Rounds = 1 Minute 10 Minutes = 1 Turn 6 Turns = 1 Hour

1 0 3 0 5 0 6 0

7 0 9 0 1 1 0 1 2 0 12 Hours = 1 normal adventuring day

(allow 12 hours rest and sleep)
13 0 15 0 1 7 0 1 8 0

19 0 21 0 2 3 0 2 4 0 1 0 2 0 313 4 0 5 0 so
25 0 27 0 2 9 0 3 0 0

31 0 33 0 3 5 0 3 6 0 NOTES

37 0 39 0 4 1 n 4 2 0

43 0 45 0 47[51 4 8 0

49 0 51 0 5 3 0 5 4 0

55 0 57 0 5 9 0 6 0 0
I I
60 Rounds = 1 Turn

To the wizard Kavorquian:

Urgent andgrave news! Peril stalks the
land. A force grows not f a r from here,
1 commanded by one who walks in
shadow with wickedness and madness.
Her mind is warped; she is exploited by
, one of cunning and evil among her fol-
lowers. I was told by the mercenary
who escaped her service that this
ccqueen” determines daily to bring a

harvest of death to the land. . .

HANDOUZ # 1

1 b€X = 3 M i l f s

20
The PCs stand a hundred feet or so from themselves (they heard the sounds from through this step by step with the play-
a dark, forbidding cave entrance. They within). If the PCs do something to give ers. This will slow combat down, but it
need to get closer to see if the orcs really themselves away, like throwing a stone gives the players a chance to understand
are in there. When one or more PC is into the cave or firing an arrow (which how combat works.
within 10 feet of the entrance, read the will automatically miss), then the orcs Only make a Morale Check when two
following boxed text: will be ready for them. orcs have been slain. If the third is still
The statistics for the orcs are: alive and fails a Morale Check, he will
Orcs ( 3 ) ;AC6; M V 120’ (40’); H D 1; hp surrender; if he passes it he fights to the
You see that the cave entrance is about 7 (orc at table), 5, 3 (orcs in bunks); #AT death.
10 feet wide. A passageway leads 1; THACO 19; Dmg ld6 (short swords); Lawful characters should not kill or
north from it for about 10 feet and Save F1; ML 8; AL C ; X P 10. torture a creature that surrenders, nor
opens into a larger cave. You can’t see allow it to be killed or tortured by others
much in there because the flickering If the PCs have surprise, read the boxed
by “looking the other way.” Point this
torchlight is dim, but you hear a loud text below; if not, skip it.
out if Lawful PCs are considering killing
grunt and snoring. What will you do? or torturing a captive.
You have surprised the guards! The Captured orcs will not negotiate with
PCs with infravision cannot see into the sitting orc grabs his sword, but he is the PCs. And unless a PC speaks Orcish
darkness, for they are standing in the slow and cannot attack this round. he cannot converse with an orc anyway!
light. (Infravision does not work if the The two orcs in the beds wake and PCs should take the captured orcs back
PC is standing in, or looking into, any- reach for their swords, but they too to Stallanford, but they will not want to
thing brighter than dim torchlight.) cannot fight you yet. You have a free do this now. In the meantime, the pris-
Get the PCs to form a marching order round! oners should be tied and gagged, then
if they haven’t done so already. Once left at the cave entrance. Gags can be
they form a clear plan of action, begin on ripped from the clothing of the orcs, and
If the PCs do not have surprise, read the there is some rope in this cave that can be
Dungeon Level I. following boxed text: used for binding them.
DUNGEON LEVEL I If the PCs search this cave, they find
The sitting orc grabs his sword and the following: by the east wall are a 50’
1. ORC GUARDS heads for you! The two in the bunks rope, a pair of spears, and a sack full of
also grab their weapons and leap moldy cheese and biscuits. O n the table
down, ready to fight if they must! is a pewter tankard (worth lgp) and a
You move along the passage and into flagon of disgusting orcish beer. The
the cave beyond. The cave is roughly bunks have only straw and lice in them.
square, 30 feet on each side. The only The PCs have two basic choices, whether However, one orc has a leather pouch
other entrance you see is a 10-foot they surprise the orcs or not: talk or with 8sp and 15gp, and a second has a sil-
wide passage opposite you, in the fight. ver belt buckle with a gem that is en-
middle of the north wall. There are a The orcs will not negotiate. They are crusted with dirt-cleaned and polished,
couple of rough bunks by the west trained guards, and they know that the this could fetch 50gp.
wall with orcish forms dozing on them PCs are probably here because the orcs
with short swords nearby. A single orc burned the temple and kidnapped the 2. THE STORES
sits by a table holding a tankard. H e cleric Aralic. They are expecting an at-
also has a short sword. As he sees you, tack. This applies to all orcs in this
his half-animal face breaks into a sav- dungeon. You have entered a small, dark room
age snarl! There are items on the If the PCs try to negotiate, the guards filled with sacking, barrels, lengths of
table-you see the glint of metal!- just attack anyway. If the PCs had sur- rope, wood, and the like. There are a
and something stacked by the east prise, all the benefits of this are lost as the few earthenware flagons and glass
wall. orcs grab weapons and attack. If they did bottles as well. It looks fairly clean and
not have surprise, the orcs gain + 2 to the cared for. There might be some useful
initiative roll for the first round of com- equipment here, if you want to
rhere are three orcs here, two in the bat while the PCs waste time trying to search, but this will take time.
beds, dozing, and one at the table who is parley with them.
awake but half-drunk. If the PCs enter When running the combat, use the
quietly, they will gain surprise on a roll of It takes 1 Turn to search and find useful
Combat Sequence Table (middle panel items. Most of the items are of no value.
1-4 on d6; the PCs cannot be surprised of inside cover of the module). Go

21
king’s festivak the adventure

The barrels have bad beer, the flagons a

thick, sour mead, and the sacks poor a long sticky tongue shoots out at you small boxes on a side-table, and a col-
quality grain. However, there are two from what you thought was a rock on lection of weapons. There are also
50’ ropes usable by the PCs, and also 2 the floor. three orc guards.
flasks of oil, 12 torches, and a tinderbox.
There is also a monster here. Lurking
The furry animal is a giant ferret, left Orcs (3): AC6; H D 1; hp 5, 8, 3; M V
behind a barrel by the east wall is a
kobold, who will attack the first PC to here by its orc trainer to catch water rats. 120’ (40’); #AT 1 short sword; THACO
The “rock” is a young horned chame- 19; Dmg 1-6; SA F1; M L 9; AL C ; X P
search near barrels. As a PC gets close to
the kobold, read the following: leon lizard. Both the ferret and the lizard 10.
attack. The lizard’s attack surprises the
The guards here protect the way to their
party on a roll of 1-5 on ld6. The ferret chief (location #15) and the visitor who
A small creature jumps out from only surprises on a 1-2 on ld6. (Deter-
has just arrived (location # 7 ) . They are
behind the barrels and lashes at you mine separate surprise chances for these
tough and have a superior morale,
with his dagger! He is about 4 feet tall, two monsters.) It is possible for both,
although they will surrender if a Morale
and looks like a dog-man hybrid. He neither, or just one to surprise the PCs. Check is failed after one is killed.
is unarmored, and he looks fright- Giant Ferret: AC5; H D 1 + 1 ; hp 5; M V If a fight breaks out in this room, the
ened, but he is doing his best to hit 150‘(50’); #AT 1 bite; THACO 18; Dmg orc in location #6, along with his pet, will
you! 1-8; SA F1; M L 8; AL N; X P 15. enter after 2 rounds.
The pole arms are ornamental and have
Horned Chameleon Lizard (Young):
Kobold: AC7; HD1/2; hp 4; M V no value, likewise the shield. The weapons
AC3; H D 3 + 1 * ; hp 9; #AT 1 bite and 1
90’(30’); #AT 1 dagger; THACO 19; that can be used are two crossbows, and
horn; THACO 16; Dmg 2-7/1-4; M L 7;
Dmg 1-3 ( l d 4 minus 1, minimum 1); SA two quarrels of bolts (25 and 20 bolts), plus
AL N; X P 75.
N M ; M L 6; AL C ; X P 5. a silver dagger, which is worth 3Ogp.
The lizard shoots its tongue up to 5 feet, The boxes also have treasure: one has
The kobold will surrender as soon as it is
and if it hits someone, the victim is a bag with 8Osp and 4Ogp, the other has a
hit (if not killed), and will beg for its life
dragged to its mouth and bitten for 2-7 leather pouch with 25gp and lOpp, and a
(speaking kobold, but its gestures will
( l d 6 + 1) points of damage. It can also gold brooch with silver filigree and a red
have obvious meaning, too). It is a slave
use its horn to attack a second PC, and bloodstone gem, worth 1OOgp.
of the orcs and knows nothing about the
flails with its tail at a third-a hit from
dungeon. It will run away outside if
the tail causes no damage, but it knocks 6. THE FERRET TRAINER
allowed to.
the victim down so that he cannot attack
that round.
3. ENTRANCE PASSAGE If the PCs look around the pool care- This dirty, disheveled room smells of
fully after the battle-this takes 1 Turn- orc-and something else, too. There
one PC will see that a “stalagmite” on are two large iron cages along the
The passage opens out into a fairly
the ground is actually a limed-over skele- south wall, with straw and feeding
large cavern ahead, and you can just
tal arm. If an iron spike or such is used to bowls inside them. Close by is a bed of
see blue-veined stalactites on the ceil-
chip at the skeletal hand, a gold ring with dirty furs and straw, and above this
ing, stalagmites and rocks on the there is a whip on a shelf hammered
floor. You can hear the dripping of a green gem setting can be found. This is
worth 1OOgp. into the wall. A small table is covered
water, although there are no pools in
in dirty cracked plates and similar
the part of the cavern you can see.
5. ORC GUARD POST mess. A large orc with an eye patch
over his left eye stands in the middle of
the room with a giant ferret at his side.
4. WATERY CAVERN The room you enter has straw bed-
ding on the floor, and a large table
Ferret-Training Orc: AC6; HD 1 + 1; hp
By a pool in the northeast corner you with chairs down the center of the
8; M V 120‘ (40’); #AT 1 sword; THACO
see a flurry of white fur and hear a room. On the south wall you see an
18; Dmg 1-8; SA F1; M L 9 (12); AL C;
loud squeak! Your entrance into the ornate shield with a pair of pole arms
X P 15.
cavern is not unnoticed, and suddenly crossed above it, and a wooden plaque
that has a stuffed dwarfs head trophy Giant Ferret: AC5; H D 1 + 1; hp 4; M V
upon it. There are a couple of 150’ (50’); #AT 1 bite; THACO 18; Dmg
1-8; SA F1; AL N; X P 15.

22
 king’s festival t h e adventure

T h e orc here is a villain of exceptional chief will see him shortly, he hopes he is superior morale due to their drunken
size and ugliness. H e trains ferrets to comfortable, and so on. Note that the courage, and do not make a check until
keep down rats and chase off intruders. bugbear does not have a superior sur- half of them have been killed.
H e is fanatical about his hatred of elves, prise chance here, since he is not sneak- The beer, kegs, copper plates, and oth-
and if the party includes an elf, he has a ing up on the PCs. er items in the room are valueless, but
morale of 12, and always tries to attack These two creatures will certainly the orcs themselves have treasure in
the elf. attack the PCs. Once the orc is slain, pouches and as loose change on the table.
If a battle breaks out in this room, the however, the bugbear will offer peace if A total of40cp, 30sp, 80ep, and 35gp can
orc guards from location #5 will rush in reduced to 4 hit points or below. If the be collected. One orc also has a silver
two rounds after the battle starts. PCs agree, the bugbear is 50% likely to drinking goblet worth 25gp, while a sec-
The ferret trainer has a thick silver leave for good, and 5 0 % likely to ond has a gold ring worth 50gp stuffed in
bracelet with writing in dwarvish on it; ambush the PCs later-together with its pocket.
this reads “happy coming of age, ld4 orcs it bullies into serving it-when
Dalmund” (he took it from Dalmund the the PCs finally make their way back to 9. BARRACKS
dwarf after killing him). This little detail Stallanford from this dungeon. By this
should infuriate any dwarf PC. The time it will have regained ld8 hit points
bracelet is worth 35gp. There is nothing from natural healing. This large room is clearly a barracks.
else of value in this room. T h e wolf furs are worth lOOgp There are nearly a dozen simple
(encumbrance value 100cn), and among bunks and piles of straw, some spare
7. BUGBEAR VISITOR the small pile of weapons is a dagger with orcish clothing and weapons, and a
a jeweled hilt, worth 130gp. The bug- rather unpleasant looking row of
If PCs successfully hear noise at the door chamber pots. There is also a small
bear has a silver ring with a white moon-
to this room, they will hear the creatures chest on a table standing by the south-
stone. This is a magical ring of
inside conversing in Orcish. However, west corner of the room! However, to
protection + I , but unless the PCs use
the bugbear has a deep, resonant voice get at the treasure within you will
detect magic they will not know this; it
quite different from normal orcs. When need to overcome the orcs who occupy
looks like a valuable ring worth 1OOgp.
the PCs enter, read the following: the room first!
The bugbear also has a leather pouch
which contains 30gp and 12pp.
This room differs from others you Orcs (4): AC6; H D 1; hp 7, 7, 4, 2; MV
have seen-it is large and fairly clean, 8. DRUNKEN ORCS 120‘ (40’); #AT 1 short sword; THACO
with wolf-fur bedding at the far end, a As the PCs approach this room, they will 19; Dmg 1-6; SA F1; M L 8; AL C ; X P
table of cleaned and polished weap- hear the singing, shouting, and jeering 10.
ons, a small chest, and even a large from the orcs inside. As they enter the Note that there are two ways to enter this
earthenware bowl with an urn of room, read the following: room, directly from the north and via the
water by it. Sitting at the table is a east door and the passage beyond. The
bugbear, and an orc is is standing in orcs inside this room are smart, and
the center of the room. This room smells terrible. The reek of
when attacked from only one direction,
stale beer, sweat, and foul pipeweed two of them will head for the other exit
smoke fills the air. Only a few stools, a
Orc: AC6; H D 1; hp 2; M V 120’ (40’); and try to get to the rear of the party and
table with cards and dice, some lit-
#AT 1 short sword; THACO 19; Dmg 1- attack them!
tered kegs, firkins, and utensils deco-
6; SA F1; M L 8 ; AL C ; X P 10. The orcs have, in pouches and pock-
rate it, but there is a sizable group of ets, a total of 30sp, 22ep, and 13gp, but
Bugbear: AC4; H D 3 + l*; hp 14; M V orcs here and they are not too drunk the main treasure is in their chest. This
90’ (30’); #AT 1 sword; THACO 16; to fight! is, however, locked. A thief may try to
Dmg 2-9 (Id8 + 1); SA F3; M L 12; AL
open it or the key that fits it may be taken
C ; X P 75. The bugbear has a ringofpro-
Orcs (7): AC6; H D 1; hp 8, 6, 6, 5, 4, 2, from location #lo. Smashing the chest
tection + I which gives him AC4 and
1; M V 120’ (40’); #AT 1 short sword; automatically breaks the glass bottle
adds + 1 to his saving throws.
THACO 20; Dmg 1-5 (ld6-1, minimum inside.
The bugbear is a representative of a dis- of 1); SA F1; M L 10; AL C ; X P 10. The chest contains a bag with 180sp, a
tant tribe that the orc chief wants to help second, smaller bag with 125gp, and a
The orcs here are - 1 to hit and damage
with the attacks on Stallanford and vil- small casket containing a pair of gold
because of their drunkeness, and the PCs
lages around it. The orc here is just flat- earrings with jade inlays (stolen from a
can surprise them on a roll of 1-4 when
tering the bugbear and saying that the slain victim) worth 1OOgp. There is also a
they enter. However, the orcs also have

23
small green glass stoppered bottle, which flasks of oil, rope, torches, food, iron fight and reduce him to 2 hit points or
contains a syrupy yellow liquid that spikes, and similar mundane items. H e below (without killing him), he will beg
smells of primrose. This is a magical cannot get weapons, though. Harribal is for his life.
potion ofhealingand will restore 2-7 lost grateful for his release and will pay for He will offer to dupe his chief by lead-
hit points for a PC who drinks it. 5gp worth of equipment for the PCs him- ing the PCs to the door of location #15
self, but he is poor and will have to ask and calling out in Orcish for admission.
10. ORC LIEUTENANT AND PET the PCs for extra money if they want This ploy will give the PCs surprise on a
items costing more than this. roll of 1-4 on ld6 if they agree, but the
H e is Lawful and will bring back what- lieutenant will not help them to fight
A large orc stands in this room, which ever the PCs give him money for, but he against his chief-he’ll run off at once.
has a bunk and other furniture, will not come back to the caves. Instead, The orc will not give an explanation
watching a huge furry spider the size he will return to an arranged meeting for his bloodied sword, but the PCs will
of a dog stalking a halfling who is place a mile or so outside. He also says, find the answer in location #13.
chained to the floor. The halfling has “I’ll tell my boss who the brave adven-
only a bent knife to keep the monster turers fighting these vermin are,” which 13. LIEUTENANT’S ROOM
at bay. The orc gloats and laughs as he should please PCs wanting a heroic repu-
waits for his pet to kill and eat the pris- tation!
oner! A grim trail of blood leads across the
11. SECRET DOOR floor to the north wall, where an orc’s
body hangs limply, chained and man-
Because of the orc’s absorption in this The PCs will probably need to search acled to the wall. The room is other-
fun, he is surprised on a roll of 1-3 on carefully for this. They will realize there wise bare, save for a table on which
ld6. The halfling will cry out for help as are more orcs around, since they will not rests a few cruelly barbed and snagged
soon as the PCs enter, and the spider will have found Aralic. This may take some knives, and a pallet bunk with straw
at once move to attack the intruders. time and the players may get frustrated, covering. The orc does not move.
Orc Lieutenant: AC6; H D 1 + 1; hp 7; so you may want to be helpful and allow
M V 120’ (40’); #AT 1 sword; THACO 18; the PCs to see an orc in the distance
This chamber is the personal room of the
Dmg 1-8; SA F1; M L 9; AL C; XP 15. heading to this area and passing through
orc encountered in #12. The orc is fresh-
the secret door if the PCs haven’t found
Giant Hunting Spider: AC8; H D 2; hp ly dead, having crossed the bullying cow-
it and are looking in all the wrong places.
14; M V 120’ (40’); #AT 1 bite; THACO ard lieutenant once too often.
18; Dmg 1-6; SA F2; M L 8; AL N; X P 12. SURPRISE? “Discipline” can be swift and bloody
20. among these orcs!
This room has a comfortable bunk with a
As you move to the bend of the pas- 14. COVERED PIT
fine bearskin on it (value 80gp, but it has
an encumbrance of 125 cn.), a table with sage, an orc walks straight around it This pit is 10‘ long, 5’ wide, and 10’
a decanter of good brandy (25gp value), and almost walks right into you! You deep, covering the southern half of the
see with horror that dripping blood corridor. If PCs are marching along two
and two glasses (5gp each). The orc has
7gp and 5pp in his pockets, plus a brass coats the sword he carries, and fresh abreast, the PC at front right will fall into
key on a chain (this opens the chest in spatters of crimson cover his clothes! the pit, suffering 1-6 points of damage,
location #lo). The spider has a leather unless the party is checking for pits or
collar with a silver pendant worth 1Ogp. Orc Lieutenant: AC6; H D 1 + 1; hp 5; there is a dwarf at the front of the party
There is nothing else of value. M V 120’ (40’); #AT 1 sword; THACO who detects the pit. Since the pit is newly
The halfling, Harribal Flatfeet, was 19; Dmg 1-8; SA F1; M L 9; AL C; X P worked, a dwarf will see the covering for
captured by the orcs while out rabbiting. 15. what it is and realize that there is a pit
H e works at Lernan’s farm (shown on underneath on a roll of 1-3 on ld6.
Roll surprise normally for both sides. If
M a p #2) and is of Lawful alignment. His A PC who falls down a. pit cannot
the orc gets surprise, he will run at full
ability scores are: Str 11, Int 13, Wis 10, climb out if wearing metal armor, but
speed toward location #15 (avoiding the
Dex 15, Con 9, Cha 10, and he has 3 hit needs to be hauled out on a rope by two
pit at location #14), and warn his chief of
points. H e is no fighter and just wants to other PCs. An unarmored or leather-
the intrusion. clad P C can escape if he makes a
be allowed to go home.
The orc has a pouch with 12gp, and he
However, if the PCs ask politely, Har- Strength Check (rolls Strength or less on
carries a silver dagger with a blue-green
ribal is prepared to bring supplies of ld20), or if he makes a Climb Walls roll
zircon gem setting worth 120gp. He is
ordinary equipment from the farm- (for a thief PC).
cowardly, and if the PCs force him to

24
 king’s festival the adventure

15. ORC CHIEF’S THRONE ROOM tion #12 above escaped the PCs, he will
This large room is dominated by a be here as well. If there are six or more
This room contains the strongest group PCs in the party, there will be an extra
of enemies on this dungeon level and heavy wooden throne that stands on a
raised area at the eastern end of the lieutenant, so the total here will be 2-4
PCs must be prepared for a tough fight lieutenants.
here. When they can see the door to this room. You can see doors on the north
room, read the following: and south sides at the far end, and a Orc Lieutenants (2-4): AC6; HD 1 + 1;
heavy black wall hanging covers part h p 6 each; M V 120’ (40‘); #AT 1 sword;
of the north wall, with Orcish runes THACO 18; Dmg 1-8; SA F1; M L g ; A L
T h e door at the end of the north pas- and symbols smeared in blood on it. C ; X P 15.
By the throne stands a huge, battle-
sage is made of stout, dark wood, and Orc Spellcaster: AC6 (but see below);
has a forbidding symbol etched in scarred orc, wielding a heavy mace.
By his right side, behind a heavy ta- H D 2**; hp 10; M V 120‘ (40’); #AT 1
blood on it! dagger; THACO 18; Dmg 2-5 (1-4 + 1);
ble, stands a smaller orc, waving his
hands and muttering something. Be- SA MU2; M L 9; AL C ; X P 30. H e has a
If any PC can speak and therefore also tween you and the smaller orc stand magical duffer + I and can cast two
read Orcish, tell that PC the symbol other guards who will block your way spells: mazic missile and shield.
stands for “great chieftain.” Even if the if you try to get to their leader. They O r c Chief AC5 due to exceptional
PCs don’t decipher this, hopefully the carry swords, and with their chief, toughness; H D 3; hp 15; M V 120’ (40’);
warning will lead them to be careful they are going to do their best to #AT 1 sword; THACO 16; Dmg 2-9 (1-
about entering if they are much below bludgeon and slash you to death! 8 + 1); SA F3; M L 12; AL C ; X P 35.
full strength. Their red eyes glow with hatred as The chief has a magical sword + 1, giving
they advance upon you! him + 1 to hit and damage rolls (in-
cluded in stats).
The number of guards is variable. There O n the first round, the chief will charge
will always be at least two orc lieuten- to attack the strongest-looking P C
ants, but if the orc encountered in loca- fighter. The lieutenants will advance on

25
king,s festival the adventure

other PCs, fighting with swords. The orc 16. FEMALE ORCS AND YOUNG 18. ARALIC’S PRISON
spellcaster will cast his shield spell. If suc- Six female orcs and three young cower in
cessfully cast, this will improve his AC, this chamber, which has only bedding filthy and pitch-black cell con-
which becomes 4 (or 2 to missile attacks). and nothing of value. These orcs will not a pile of stinking straw, a bowl of
It also allows him a saving throw against fight, and beg to be allowed to go free: and Aralic the cleric, who
spells if a P C casts a mafic missile spell at The PCs may decide to take them pris- only tattered rags and has been
him. If he makes his save, he takes no oner if they wish. However, no XPs are
damage. earned for doing this, since they do not
Because the orc spellcaster is almost 40 fight or offer any danger to the PCs. Kill-
feet from the PCs and a table stands be- Aralic the Priest
ing these orcs is a highly Chaotic act.
tween him and the PCs, the only way the Cleric, 3rd level
spellcaster can be stopped from casting 17. CHIEF’S BEDCHAMBER Strength: 11
his spell is if a P C has a missile weapon or Intelligence: 10
offensive spell ready and hits him. A hit Wisdom: 16
will spoil the spellcaster’s concentration This is clearly the chiefs bedchamber. Dexterity: 13
and ruin the spell (he will not be able to A large pallet bed, draped with furs, Constitution: 9
try it again). In any case, the PCs need stands in the center of the room, and Charisma: 14
initiative to stop the orc from casting his on a table beside it stands a bronze
spell. urn and an enamel bowl. Some tat- Alignment: Lawful
O n the second round, the chief and tered clothing hangs on pegs, and a Armor Class: 3 (chain mail and shield)
lieutenants will continue fighting while copper plate with scraps of food has Hit Points: 11
the spellcaster will cast mafic missile at a been carelessly thrown on the floor.
P C trying to attack him. O n later But what catches your eye at once is Spells used: cure light wounds (x2)
rounds, the chief and lieutenants con- the treasure chest that stands beside Magic items at home: mace + 1, contin-
tinue to fight while the spellcaster tries to the bed! ual light gem (see below), scroll of spells:
get at a PC thief or magic-user to attack cure light wounds (x2)
with his dagger. The furs on the bed are worthless be-
Make no Morale Checks while the Aralic is 44 years old, 5’ 8’’ tall and of
cause they are heavily infested with lice medium build. He has curly brown hair
chief is still alive. After the chief dies, and are moth-eaten. However, if they are
make a Morale Check for the orcs only and green-hazel eyes. H e is a kindly,
searched carefully, a gold clasp with a friendly man. His adventuring days are
when at least two of the orcs other than tiny ruby can be found pinned to one of
the chief are dead. You should only make over, and he prefers to tend to the people
them; this is worth 175gp. The other of Stallanford, curing any injuries they
one Morale Check for these orcs, how- valuables are all in the locked chest.
ever. If they pass the first check, they will have and preaching at his small temple.
The chest contains a sack with 400sp, An important psychological quirk is that
fight to the death. a second sack with 520gp, and a bar of
Searching the orcs turns up a total of he is fairly claustrophobic.
solid platinum equal to 40pp weight. The H e has only 3 hit points currently, and
80sp, 40ep, and 65gp in coins. The chief PCs can also find a sealed glass vial with
has a silver neckchain set with small his equipment was not brought with him.
green liquid which smells of rosewater; H e has no memorized spells at the
gems worth 250gp, and the spellcaster this is a magical potion of healing.
has a gold bracelet with ivory inlays present time.
Tucked under the bags is a leather- Aralic wants the PCs to help him back
worth 14Ogp. bound book-the spellcaster’s spellbook.
The chief also has a set of keys on a to Stallanford, after thanking them pro-
A PC spellcaster will need to use read fusely for his rescue. His claustrophobia
heavy chain. These keys will open the mafic to read it. This book contains the
doors to locations #16, #17, and #18, the has made his confinement a real tor-
spells mafic missile, protectionfrom evil, and ment, and he desperately wants to get
secret door # 19, and his treasure chest in
shield. out of the dungeon.
location #17.
There will be additional treasure in the H e will explain that the orcs hoped to
When the PCs are searching the orcs, form of a casket of jewelery and trinkets,
they will hear faint moans from location force him to cast cure light wounds for
but the value of this depends on the num- them, healing wounded orcs to enable
#18. If they listen at the door, they will ber of PCs in the party. The total value
hear faint pleas for help, spoken in the them to carry out more raids on the vil-
will be 250gp per PC, so, for example, if lage. H e refused, even after being
Common tongue. there are five PCs in the party, this jewe- beaten. He can walk, albeit shakily, and
lery is worth l ,250gp. he needs to get back to be celebrant at the
King’s Festival. Without him, the cele-

26
 kinq’s festival t h e adventure

brations and rituals cannot go on as spell are in the D&D Expert Set, but in The steps descend a total of 40 feet over a
planned. essence this is like a light spell, only per- 160 foot distance; a fresh mapping sheet
Aralic will point out the secret door manent in effect. The gem gives clear should be used when the PCs get close to
(location #19) to the PCs, hidden behind light in a 20-foot radius. location #20.
the orc chief‘s throne. Aralic says that he Aralic himself cannot come with the
knows that the orcs have uncovered some PCs-to his regret. The festival is far be- 20. CAVERN OF THE WORMS
old evil in deeper caves beyond, although hind schedule and he has many duties to
he does not know what this is. He will attend to.
You stand in this bare, rock-strewn ca-
beg the PCs to go and investigate it, but When the PCs go back, all surviving
orcs will have fled; the PCs can get to lo- vern wondering which direction to go.
not before they return to Stallanford with
Suddenly there is a rumbling under-
him so he can rest and relearn spells to cation #19 without meeting any enemies.
foot and two hideous, writhing worm-
cast cure light wounds for them. This is the
like forms thrust through the surface
best plan for the PCs, since Aralic clearly
DUNGEON LEVEL I1 and snap at you with their ugly, sharp-
needs an escort home.
toothed maws!
RETURN TO STALLANFORD Notes for the Dungeon Master
The monsters-red worms (see New
This part of the dungeon is unlit, save for
The townsfolk will greet the PCs as he- locations #29, #30, and #31, which are lit Monsters)-will surprise the PCs on a
roes upon Aralic’s return, and will make roll of 1-3 on ld6, but are not surprised
with oil-burning lamps. Floors are gen-
sure they are treated to a superb meal at themselves. They have sensed the PCs
erally dusty and dirty, walls are cob-
the Hungry Halfling. People will point and are hungry!
webbed or slippery with water and
to them in the street and wave. Let the growths of mold. Add extra descriptive Red Worms (2): AC7; H D 2 + 2; hp 12,
PCs bask in their glory as the town gets details to the boxed text; there should be 9; MV 90’ (30’); #AT 1 bite; THACO 17;
back to normal, preparing for the King’s plenty of scuttling animals, moans (Un- Dmg 1-4 and special; SA poison bite,
Festival, now that Aralic is back with dead!), dripping water, and the like. victim must save versus Poison or suffer
them. You may award XPs now if you PCs within the radius of the continual an extra 1- 4 points of damage; Save F3;
wish; players will appreciate this! light gem can only see 20 feet from the ML 9; L C ; X P 35.
The PCs can also buy equipment (this gem-carrier. A PC who wants to use
should be paid for; the villagers have The worms have no treasure, and the
infravision must move outside the radius
given free help once). Further, they can tunnel they have burrowed is too small
of the magical effect to use this ability.
also buy weapons and even armor. The for a PC to enter (save for a halfling).
You will need to give different descriptive
armorer, a dwarf named Dalmarek, Should a halfling be foolish enough to go
details, depending on how far PCs can
charges normal prices. The main useful- down alone, a third red worm will attack
see.
ness of this to the PCs is that plate mail that PC. However, because of the close
PCs may well wish to use hit-and-run
can be bought for those who do not have confines of the tunnel, the PC won’t be
tactics here, retiring to a nearby cave for
it (except for elves-the dwarf does not able to fight back.
rest and recovery after an encounter or
make it in elven size). two. The monsters in this dungeon level
If the dwarf is shown the silver bracelet 21. OLD BURIAL CHAMBER
are mostly unintelligent and normal Mo-
from location #6, he will say that he knew rale Checks can be made, unless the text
the dwarf it was taken from and would says otherwise. The map on the left inner This chamber looks like an ancient
like to take the item back to his friend’s
panel of the cover, shows the layout. burial room. There are depressions
family. H e will pay 35gp for it.
carved into the stone floor, which have
After a night’s sleep (accommodation 19. SECRET DOOR stone slabs laid atop them. Any marks
will be paid for by townsfolk), Aralic will
or carvings that might have identified
come to the PCs in the morning. H e is
this place have been obscured with
prepared to cast two cure l k h t wounds Carved stone steps lead down quite
age. There are six tombs here, three
spells for them. H e beseeches them to re- some distance to the east. The air is
each along the east, north, and west
turn to the orcs’ lair and investigate the damp and dank, and the passage is
walls.
deeper evil within. unlit. In the distance you hear some
If the PCs agree, Aralic will give them faint scrabblings and a low moan, and
magical help. He will give them his scroll you feel a shiver of apprehension Before the PCs have a chance to open
and also the magical gem (which is only a about the evil Aralic warned you of! any tombs, a monster will enter from the
l g p gem). This gem has a special spell- southern corridor. If the PCs have posted
continual light-cast upon it. Details of the

27
king’s festival the adventure

a guard there, they will have warning; if but it only stays turned for 1 Turn, and Skeletons (5): AC7; H D 1; hp 5 each;
not, roll for usual surprise chances. The will try to come back to this location. M V 60’ (20‘); #AT 1 short sword;
monster is a carrion crawler. Read its After the PCs have overcome the mon- THACO 19; Dmg 1-6; Save F1; M L 12;
description from page 27 of the Dungeon ster, you may allow a cleric a Wisdom AL C ; X P 10. Immune to charm and sleep
Masters Rulebook. Although it has 8 Check. If he rolls his Wisdom or below spells.
attacks per round, it may only attack one on d20, tell him that he now recognizes
As with location #23, if the PCs enter this
enemy per round. the undead monster as a ghoul and
room and start a battle, the skeletons
knows that he can try to turn it.
Carrion Crawler: AC7; H D 3 + 1*; hp from the next room will rush in after 1
The ghoul wears its only treasure: a
19; M V 120’ (40’); #AT 8 tentacles; round and join the battle.
superb gold neckchain with chrysoprase
THACO 16; Dmg Paralysis; SA Paraly-
(deep green) gem settings, worth 250gp.
sis (lasts 2-8 Turns); Save F2; M L 9; AL 25. RUBBLE PILE
N; X P 75.
23. SKELETON CHAMBER
After they fight the carrion crawler, A pile of rubble blocks the way here,
the PCs may want to examine the tombs. although you can see that you can
Each stone slab needs two or more PCs As you enter this small, seemingly
climb over it easily enough and get to
with combined strength of 25 or better to barren chamber, something moves to
the passage beyond.
lift it. Then the PCs will get a surprise. attack you. Skeletons! Slack jaws
There are no bodies, skeletons, or trea- seem to leer in a mindless grin as the
sure of any sort in the caskets! shield-wearing undead move forward Ifthe PCs climb over the rubble (which is
As the PCs investigate, allow the most with rusted short swords at the ready! about 3 feet high), or if they try to clear it
intelligent PC a n Intelligence Check (roll away, they will be attacked by the snakes
Intelligence or below on d20). If this is lurking within the rocks.
Skeletons (5): AC7; H D 1; hp 5 each;
made, the PC sees from scratch marks on M V 60’ (20’); #AT 1 short sword; Snakes, Giant Racer (2): AC5; H D 2; hp
the slabs and little marks in the tombs THACO 19; Dmg 1-6; Save F1; M L 12; 9, 5; M V 120’(40’);#AT 1 bite; THACO
that they have been opened recently. AL C; X P 10. Immune to charm and sleep 18; Dmg 1-6; Save F1; M L 7; L N; X P
spells. 20.
22. GHOUL CAVERN
The skeletons here have been command-
26. BEETLE LAIR
ed by Petrides (location #31) to attack
You enter a rock-strewn cavern. From any who enter, save for himself, and they
behind a large boulder in the north- do so when the PCs enter this chamber. This large cavern is covered with
east corner, a snarling creature leaps Two of them will move south and rocks and stones, and there are small
at you. Its filth-encrusted claws reach through the secret door to attack the rear pools of water on the floor in various
for your throat! Dressed only in rags, of the party. places. Water seeps slowly down the
this half-human thing is consumed by If a fight breaks out in this room, the walls, and thick patches of fungus spot
hatred and frenzy, and the charnel skeletons from location #24 will rush into the walls and floor.
stench of death is strong around it! the room and attack the PCs. This will
occur one round after the fight begins.
When the PCs are close enough to see
A 1st-level cleric may turn skeletons if
Ghoul: AC6; H D 2*; hp 12; M V 90’ within 20 feet of the east wall, read this
he rolls 7 or higher on 2d6. A separate
(30’); #AT 2 claws/1 bite; THACO 18; text to them:
2d6 roll is made to determine how many
Dmg 1-3/1- 3/1-3, each with special; SA
undead are turned.
Paralysis (lasts 2-8 Turns, elves are
O n closer examination, the PCs find You see the gleam of yellowed bone by
immune); Save F2; M L 9; L C ; X P 25.
six stone-slab-topped tombs similar to the wall. It looks like a skeleton! Then
The ghoul is immune to charm and sleep
those in location #2 1, with no bodies or you hear the scuttling of something on
spells.
treasure, but the same signs of recent the stone floor. You see the carapace of
Do not tell the PCs that this is a ghoul interference. a giant beetle and the thick black
(they’ve never seen one before). If its mandibles probing for food- it wants
special attack works, they may have 24. CHAMBER OF SKELETONS to eat you!
some idea of what it may be. A 1st-level
This room is identical to location #23. If
cleric may attempt to turn the ghoul,
the PCs enter this room before #23, read
needing to roll 11 + on 2d6 to do so. If Oil Beetle: AC4; H D 2*; hp 7; M V 120’
the description for that room. If not,
turned, the ghoul will flee this chamber, (40’); #AT 1 bite + special; THACO 18;
improvise a simple description.

28
 king’s festival the adventure

D m g 1-6 + special; SA squirts oil; Save where to look. Constitution: 15

F1; M L 8; Align N; XP 25. If the PCs find the secret door, read the Charisma: 14
I n addition to its bite, the beetle squirts a
following boxed text. This should let Armor Class: 1 (plate mail and
them know that the enemies in locations magical shield + I )
blistering oil. Any PC hit (a hit roll is
needed, maximum range for the squirt is
#29-30 are dangerous, and the PCs need Hit Points: 15
to be at full strength to fight them. MV: 90’(30’)
5 feet) develops painful blisters, and will
be - 2 on all hit and damage rolls for 24 #AT: 1 mace
Dmg: 3-8 with magical
hours (or until a cure light wounds spell is You must be close to the source of evil
used). mace + I
here. The air feels cold and clammy as THACO: 17
A careful search of this cavern (takes 2 you open the secret door, and you
turns) will turn up 15gp scattered about,
ML : 11
know that what you may meet here AL : Chaotic
and a gold bracelet close by the harmless could be extremely dangerous!
skeleton, worth 75gp. XP: 65

27. LAIR O F THE THOUL 29. ZOMBIE GUARDS Spells known: cure light wounds, protection
from euil
Petrides is 38 years old, 6’ tall, of me-
This bare, undecorated chamber has dium build, with black hair and green
a few rocks and stones on the floor. you can see a single door across from
you. This may lead to the treasure eyes. His crooked smile is best seen when
The only unusual thing here is a pile he is about to kill someone. He is totally
of rotten wood and material of some that was looted from the tombs! But
two gray-skinned humans stand in devoted to Chaos, and has come to these
sort by the south wall. The pile of caverns for tomb-looting. He carries the
sacks moves and a creature that looks your way.
brass key to his treasure chest in a
like a hobgoblin races toward you. pocket, and has a fine silver and gold
Zombies (2): AC8; H D 2; hp 7 , 12; MV bracelet worth 15Ogp.
Thoul: AC6; H D 3**; hp 17; MV 120’ 90’ (30’); #AT 1 claw; THACO 18; Dmg
(40’); #AT 2 claws; THACO 17; Dmg 1- 1-8; Save F1; M L 12; L C ; XP 20. Zom- Before emerging from the room to fight,
3/1- 3; SA Paralysis; Save F3; M L 12; L bies are immune to charm and sleep spells, Petrides will cast his protection from evil
C ; XP 65. but always lose the initiative. spell to protect him against his enemies
There is also a covered pit in this room, (the PCs). Despite his nature, this spell
The thoul is a tall, hairy humanoid with
as shown on the map, and any PC head- still protects him. This makes the PCs -
sharp claws. It regenerates; if the crea-
ing straight for the door from the en- 1 to hit him, and gives him + 1 on all sav-
ture is hit, it gets back 1 hit point to its to-
trance will fall into it. The pit is 10’ deep, ing throws. (Note: he also has + 2 on
tal each round.
and a fall causes 1-6 points of damage. saves versus magic of all kinds from his
This particular thoul has been driven
An armor-clad PC cannot get out of high Wisdom.)
into this lair by the undead, and is too
the pit without help, and one in leather Petrides will attack with his mace. If
frightened to try to escape. Since it is
(or unarmored) must make a Strength he is reduced to 5hp or below, he will try
backed into a lair with no other exit, it
Check (roll Strength or below on d20) to to run away to location #3 1. If he has ini-
fights desperately against any creature
get out. A thief should try a Climb Walls tiative, he will slam and lock the door to
that enters. It will not talk or surrender.
roll to escape. #3 1 and will cast his cure light wounds spell
The thoul has collected treasure in a
After 2 rounds, the cleric from loca- on himself to regain hit points, and also
sack, which is hidden under a pile of rot-
tion #30 will come out and join the battle use the staffofhealinf (see below) to regain
ted wood, filthy cloth, and the like. The
or confront the PCs. H e knows where the a further 2-7 hit points.
sack contains 80p, 60ep, and 60gp, and
pit is, so he will not fall into it. Then, if the PCs haven’t opened the
also a comb made of ivory with jet inlays
door, he will sneak back down the 5‘ corri-
in the handle worth 40gp.
30. THE CHAOTIC CLERIC dor and appear through the southern se-
cret door in #30, surprising any PC in this
28. BEYOND THE SECRET DOOR Petrides, Evil Priest room on a roll of 1-4 on ld6. If he can’t
This is the secret entrance to the lair of Cleric, 3rd Level lock himself in location #3 1, he will try to
Petrides, the Chaotic cleric who com- Strength: 14 cast his spells anyway. Petrides is sneaky
mands the undead here and has looted Intelligence: 10 and should give the PCs quite a fight!
the tombs. The secret door may take Wisdom: 17
some finding if the PCs don’t know Dexterity: 9

29
king’s festival - the adventure

When the PCs enter location #30 after Petrides qot into the caves in the first Each hit inflicts 1-3 points of damage
killing or while pursuing Petrides, read place. The chest contains a bag with 400ip, a
the following: sack with 700sp, a bottle of odorless
31. THE TREASURE ROOM green liquid (a magical potion oflevitation),
and-in a wooden casket-a spectacular
This chamber is defiled and horrible. gold tiara set with emeralds and rubies.
The bare walls are spattered with This is clearly where the tomb- The value of this depends on the number
blood, and a pile of old bones rests by robbing cleric who commanded the of PCs; its value is 600gp per surviving
the south wall. O n a large wooden undead has cached his treasures! PC (so, for example, if there are four
table is the body of a warrior, half- Beside the rough pallet bed is a chest. PCs, the value is 2,400gp).
stripped of his chain mail. Blood drips Resting by that is a staff of ashwood. If the players haven’t found the note
onto the floor from the body. There are a couple of bags on a table, on the corpse, you may wish to place it in
and a black cloak hanging on a peg by the chest.
the far wall.
Searching this corpse turns up nothing of
value, save for a note (give the players
handout #1 on page 20 if you wish to do The cloak is of fine material, with silk lin-
this-see Concluding the Adventure ing and gold clasps, and is worth 1OOgp.
below). If a detect magic spell is used, the O n e bag contains 350gp, the other
fact that the armor is chain mail + I , 1OOpp. The staff is a magical staffofheal-
which will fit a fighter, cleric, or elf, will ing (see the Dungeon Masters Rulebook,
be revealed! page 45).
If the PCs search for it, they may dis- The chest is locked and trapped. If the
cover the secret door in the west wall that trap is not found and removed by a thief,
leads to a long passage. It emerges above six darts will fly out when the chest is
ground a mile northeast of where the opened (range 30’, THACO IS), ran-
PCs entered the caves. This is how domly striking any PC within range.

30
 concluding the adventure

Allow the PCs to return to Stallanford see what their PCs gain, and extra hit adventure to King’s Festival, and have
safely, where the last night of the festival points can be rolled. Aralic introduce it to the PCs if you wish.
is being prepared for. Alas, the PCs have Of course, division of treasure and Next, you can buy and play the mod-
missed the fair, but what tales they will magic must be made before XPs are ule B12, Queen’s Harvest, which is a
have to tell at the final night’s feast, computed. Although this is for players to follow-up product. If you wish to do this,
where the finest food, ales, and wines are decide, it is strongly suggested that equal Aralic will tell the PCs he has heard of the
served during a six-hour celebration. If shares of the treasure should be taken be wizard Kavorquian, mentioned in the
you wish, you could even allow the PCs each party member. note the PCs found. T h e cleric also
to have some fun at final pre-feast The PCs can convert their encumber- knows that the wizard lives close to
games-trials of strength, tug-of-war, ing treasures into gems by selling items Penhaligon. Aralic can give directions if
and so on. (You will need to make up to merchants in Stallanford. These items the PCs want to find out what the note
some rules and N P C opponents, will lose 5 % of the value in the trade, but means.
though!) not XPs. Note that magical armor is not Finally, you can buy the mega-module
Finish the paperwork by working out encumbering, so that any PC who has B1-9, In Search ofddventure. All the adven-
XPs. Clerics and thieves should certainly found any should record this fact on his tures take place in the Grand Duchy of
be 2nd level after this adventure. Fight- character sheet. Karameikos, so your PCs are already in
ers and halflings may just have made 2nd the right area!
level, and dwarves and magic-users will What to do now? You have three choices. Actually, your choices are endless.
have made good progress towards it. The First, you can write your own follow-up The adventure has only just begun!
players can study the Players Manual to

NEW MONSTERS

RED WORM GIANT HUNTING SPIDER

Armor Class: 7 Armor Class: 8
Hit Dice: 2 +2* Hit Dice: 2
Move: 90’(30’) Move: 120’(40’)
Attacks: 1 bite Attacks: 1 bite
THACO: 17 THACO: 18
Damage: 1-4 + poison Damage: 1-6
No. Appearing: 2-12 No. Appearing: 1-4
Save As: Fighter: 3 Save As: Fighter: 2
Morale: 9 Morale: 7 or 8
Treasure Type: L Alignment: Neutral
Alignment: Chaotic XP Value: 20
XP Value: 35

These grotesque, fleshy red worms reach lengths of up to 10 Giant hunting spiders are fur-covered spiders the size of dogs,
feet and may have a diameter of 2 feet. They are the immature and are used as watch-creatures and hunters by some primitive
form of a foul, fire-breathing monster (the fyrsnaca), but fortu- tribes and even some humanoids. They may be found in any
nately they cannot breathe fire themselves. However, their bite terrain, with their fur color suiting their environment. Wild
is mildly venomous. A character who is bitten by a red worm hunting spiders do not build webs, but stalk their prey, some-
must save versus Poison or the damage done by the bite is dou- times in packs. They attack with their large, but non-
bled. Red worms are subterranean and can burrow through poisonous, jaws. Wild hunting spiders have a morale of 7.
rock, surprising victims on a roll of 1-3 on d6. Tamed hunting spiders have a morale of 8.

31
 Check off monsters overcome and treasures acquired as the PCs win combats and gain treasures.

MONSTERS TREASURES
DUNGEON LEVEL I DUNGEON LEVEL I
XPS Location Treasure gained
Location Monster(s) earned CP SP zp pp others
#1 - Orcs: #1 #2 #3 10 x 3 #1 - 8 15 - belt 50gp: tankard lgp
#2 - Kobold 5 #4 - - - - ring lOOgp
#4 - Giant Ferret 15 #5 - 80 65 10 brooch 60gp: dagger 30gp
#4 - Young Horned Chameleon Lizard 75 #6 - - - - bracelet 35gp
#5 - Orcs: #1 #2 #3 10 x 3 #7 - - 30 12 furs 1OOgp: dagger 130gp:
#6 - Ferret-training Orc 15 (ring lOOgp*)
#6 - Giant Ferret 15 #a 40 30 35 - goblet 25gp: ring 50gp
#7 - Orc 10 #9 - 210 138 - ear-rings lOOgp
#7 - Bugbear 75 #10 - - 7 5 furs 80gp: brandy 25gp:
#8 - Orcs: #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 10x7 2 glasses lOgp
#9 - Orcs: #1 #2 #3 #4 10 x 4 #12 - - 12 - dagger 120gp
#10 - Orc Lieutenant 15 #15 - 80 35 - neckchain 250gp
#10 - Giant Hunting Spider 20 bracelet 140gp
#12 - Orc Lieutenant 15 #17 - 400 520 - platinum bar = 40pp:
#15 - Orc Lieutenants: #1 #2 #3 #4 15 x 2 (3/4) clasp wlruby 175gp
#15 - Orc Spellcaster 25 jewels = 250 gp per PC
#15 - Orc Chief 35 *Note: this is magical. It counts as treasure only if PCs do not
Monster XPs earned, Level I ....... .... . realize it is magical, and sell it.
Treasure XPs earned, Level I . ....... ...

DUNGEON LEVEL I1
DUNGEON LEVEL I1
#22- - - - - neckchain 250gp
#20 - Red Worms: #1 #2 35 x 2 #26 - - - 15 - bracelet 75gp
#21 - Carrion Crawler 75 #27 - 80 60 60 - comb 40gp
#22 - Ghoul 25 #30- - - - - bracelet 150gp
#23 - Skeletons: #l #2 #3 #4 #5 10 x 5 #31 - - 700 750 100 tiara 500gp per PC
#24 - Skeletons: #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 10x5
#25 - Snakes: #1 #2 20 x 2 Treasure XPs earned, Level I1 .... . . ....
#26 - Oil Beetle 25
#27 - Thou1 65 MAGICAL ITEMS
#29 - Zombies: #1 #2 20 x 2 Location Magical item
#30 - Petrides the Cleric 65 #7 Ring of Protection + I (worn by bugbear)
Monster XPs earned, Level I1 .... . ...... #9 Potion of Healing
#15 Sword + I (used by orc king)
#15 Dagger + I (used by orc spellcaster)
TOTAL MONSTER XPS EARNED .... .. #17 Potion of Healing
#30 Shield + I (used by cleric)
#30 Mace + I (used by cleric)
#30 Chain M a i l + I (on body)
#3 1 Potion of Levitation
#3 1 Staff of Healinz

32
 Offir Cramp Adventurt

King’s Festival
By Carl Sargent

Some”lre has “borrowed” a Cleric, anu witnout

him, the fabled King’s Festival cannot go on.
Unfortunately, it looks like t h e orcs have him,
and your characters must rescue him.
A great learning adventure, King’s Festival
provides players and DMs with a valuable in-
troduction to fantasy role-playing in t h e land of
Karameikos. Full of helpful hints for the play-
ers and the DM, this module also provides a full
dose of excitement! Orcs, carrion crawlers,
-nd villains -‘.allenge the character=’ fighting
kills, and a 1st of traps and Duzzle onfound
eir wits!

TSn Ltd.
oc -ch End, Cherry Hinton
Cambridge CB1 3LB
UnitnA Kinadom

Y 0-88031