You have been hired by King Venmeer of the Kingdom of Elsnoor to complete a special task. Hired is a relative term, as you were actually absconded from the streets of Elsnoor by four of Venmeer’s guards.
The guards bring you to King Venmeer, tossing you down at his feet. You look up at the King, hoping that the rumors of his madness are not true. The look in his eye does nothing to reassure you.
“Is this my hero?” Venmeer asks the guards.
“Yes, your Majesty.”, The largest guard replies. “He volunteered just 10 minutes ago.”
“I…”, You just manage to spit out scrambling to come up with a defense.
“Good. Thank you, Brave Warrior, for your service. What is your name? Nevermind it does not matter. Are you familiar with my daughter, Quadrina?”
At the sound of the name Quadrina your mouth goes dry. You think to your self “Oh Gods, please don’t let this be the Challenge. Anything but the Challenge!” but to the King you manage to say “Uh, yes. I am.”
“Good! This is good.” Then the King begins to weep,”She’s been kidnapped! Stolen from me! Taken by goblins! FOUL STINKY GOBLINS! You must get her back for me. “
The King paces back and forth frantically.
“Will you get her back for me? Yes, yes you will! Zzabath! Come to us now.” The King is now in a rage.
A Wizard, robed in purple and black, glides from out of the shadows. You take it that this is Zzabath.
“What is your command O King?” Zzabath asks. His voice has a hint of serpent to it.
“This Brave Warrior has volunteered to rescue the Princess, my beloved Quadrina.”, Venmeer turns to face you, staring straight into your eyes. “I need reassurance that he won’t simply run off.”
Zzabath turns to face you as well with a look that would have you rather stare at a gorgon.
“Not a problem.”, Zzabath hisses. “Guards, if you would please.”
Two guards grab your arms, securing them, making sure you are not going anywhere. Zzabath approaches you and pulls what looks like a collar out of the air. He the places it around your neck. A few words are hissed. The collar tightens and begins to glow softly red.
“Brave Warrior”, Zzabath addresses you, “You have 24 hours to find our beloved Princess. If she is not returned in 24 hours, the collar that you now wear will activate a spell that will cause it to shrink…rapidly…while still around your neck. Am I clear?”
You meekly nod yes at the Wizard.
“Guards, take this Brave Warrior to the mouth of the Goblin cave and throw him in. Remain there until he returns, if he returns.”
With that, the guards pick you up and transport you to the Goblin cave.
Once inside the cave, every half hour is a “turn”. Zzabath had said that the collar is timed for 24 hours. However, you now have 23 since one hour was wasted in traveling. This means you have 46 turns to rescue the Princess before, well, you know. For each turn you must roll 2 dice and consult the chart below:
2-4 = Nothing happens/no encounter
5-7 = An encounter
8-9 = A trap
10 = A treasure is found
11-12 = Stairs to the next level. Up or down depending on which way you are going.
You are descending into the cave. Once you have found Quadrina, you may begin ascending back out. When you are on your way back out of the cave, on the first level a roll of 12 means you found the exit and have successfully completed your mission and released from the collar. Take 500AP and 500GP for your troubles and (Venmeer is mad, but he’s not unfair). Also when ascending back out, after 3 turns on the level you are on you may make a saving roll of that level against Luck(Level 3 of the cave would mean a 3rd level saving roll). If you make it you have found the stairs to the next level, if not then you must continue looking. The save roll can only be made once per cave level.
If there is a turn where nothing happens, you may use that time to cast a spell that affects you or your weapon(like Poor Baby, Vorpal Blade, etc.), take a healing potion. CON and WIZ lowered by damage or spell casting can have 1 point each restored during this time as well.
If a treasure is found use the Treasure Generator of the rule book you are using.
If you roll an encounter use the following charts for each level:
Roll | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 |
2 | Big Spider MR 12 | *Doom Jelly MR 26 | Ogre MR 48 |
3 | 1d6 of Rats MR 3 each | Really Big Spider MR 24 | 2 Goblins MR 36 |
4 | Cave Scorpion MR 14 | *Dethepede MR 25 | Humungous Spider MR 35 |
5 | Giant Slug MR 13 | Cave Scorpion MR 24 | Female Ogre MR 50 |
6 | *Shlyme MR 10 | Goblin Guard MR 26 | Goblin Guard MR 40 |
7 | Goblin MR 13 | 2 Goblins MR 24 | 3 Goblins MR 42 |
8 | Goblin MR 14 | 2 Goblins MR 26 | 3 Goblins MR 44 |
9 | *Sprickette MR 15 | *Living Rock MR 22 | Goblin Chief MR 44 |
10 | Snollygoster MR 18 | *Gobgre MR 30 | *Pet Wolf MR 30 |
11 | Killer Moth MR 16 | Goblin MR 18 | *Gobgre MR 50 |
12 | Giant Silverfish MR 11 | Carrion Eel MR 23 | Your found Quadrina! |
Any Encounter with an asterisk please consult the descriptions below.
The MR given for 2 or 3 Goblins is the total MR not for each individual.
Dethepede: Spiny centipede like creatures. They cause 2 points of spite damage instead of 1.
Doom Jelly: A greenish/yellowish blob that does an extra 1 die of damage when spite damage occurs.
Gobgre: The large mutated offspring of a Goblin and an Ogre. The epitome of big and stupid.
Living Rock: lizards with large rock like carapaces. Their carapace takes 3 hits.
Pet Wolf: One of the Goblin Chief’s pet wolves.
Shlyme: Amoebic like creatures that have a greenish color to them with a faint blueish glow. Edged weapons do half their dice when attacking Shlyme.
Sprickette: Copper colored 1′ long spiders with back legs like a cricket.
If a trap is rolled then roll 1d6 and consult the chart below. Damage taken is the difference between what you rolled and the target score. The level of the Save Roll is the same as the level of the cave you are on.
Roll 1d6:
1. Falling ceiling block. Save vs. Speed to avoid damage
2. Spikes from the floor. Save vs. DEX to avoid damage
3. Arrows from the walls. Save vs. Luck to avoid damage
4. Indescribable Muck. Save vs. STR to get unstuck from it. If you miss then you are stuck for another turn and must roll again.
5. Trip wire. Save vs. INT to notice. If you miss then you trip it triggering a war hammer to swing down from the ceiling.
6. Gas attack. Save vs. CON. If missed no damage is done but your personal adds are halved for the next 2 turns.
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