What Lies Below: Players Handbook By: Troy M.

Costisick Copyright 2012 Chapter 1: Introduction Welcome to the Players Handbook. This tome will explain several important facets of play for What Lies Below. In these pages you will find rules explaining your characters equipment, advancement, spells, powers, and abilities. There is also one section devoted entirely to explaining how this game is played and what you, as the players, are responsible for doing during a session. What lies Below is a tactical fantasy roleplaying game. However, the tactics are not contained within the folds of this or any book. They are within you. The mechanics of this game are designed in a way to bring out your ingenious moves, your incredible stunts, your well thought-out strategies. You are not going to find a rote list of maneuvers that you have to memorize and use over and over in the same way for each encounter. You are not going to find rules that do the work for you. What you will find, is a free and open system that challenges you to step on up and take out your enemies with as little harm to yourself and allies as possible. As a player, you will be portraying one or more characters in the fictional world of WERTY. As explained in the Core Rules and Guild and Character Creation Guide, they belong to a guild that is built on the doorstep of the Underearth. The GM will be in charge of creating a scenario both for the lairs below the world and the Keep that is above it. Your job is to engage the NPCs however you see fit. Explore what interests you. Go after the devils and gremlins in the mines. Unravel the secrets within the Keeps towers. Pursue these two locals with all the vim and vigor you can muster and see how deep you can go into the perils that lie ahead. Chapter 2: Equipment and Fatigue If you are reading this chapter while making your character according to the rules in the Character and Guild Creation Guide, here is the equipment table mentioned there (rules for Fatigue and Encumbrance follow after): Fatigue Points Every heavy object that a character wears or carries has the potential to wear the character down or get in the way during challenging maneuvers. These items are rated with Fatigue Points (see Equipment Table above). Fatigue Points (FPs) represent the physical toll carrying equipment and doing work takes on a character. Characters accumulate FPs by carrying gear, moving, and fighting. As long as the number of FPs a character has is less than his or her Body Stat, the character does not suffer any penalties. However, if the number of FPs a character has accumulated is ever greater than the Body Stat, the character is considered encumbered. For each FP over the characters Body Stat, the Default Difficulty for any action is increased by 1 for the next round (rounds are 5 second increments of time in which characters take action). So if Ryan the Paladin has a Body Stat value of 6 and is carrying eight items with a total FP value of 10, he the target value (called the Default Difficulty) he must roll against to swing his sword, Parley with an adversary, disarm a trap, use a cleric power, or anything else that requires a roll is increased by 4 the next round. Rolling to complete actions is discussed in the next chapter: Resolution. For now, just remember that having more FPs than your Body Stat means your character will have some penalties as he or she tries to act. Fatigue Points are not cumulative from round to round. So if Johnny the Thief has 4 FPs in round 1, he will only have 4 FPs in round 2, round 3, and so on. The next few sections in this chapter talk about how various objects and actions can add or subtract Fatigue Points from your character. Containers

Containers use the bodys natural carrying capacity to offset the tiresome drudgery of having to lug gear through the uneven caverns in the Underearth. Each container has a certain capacity. The characters can fill the container to capacity without adding any additional Fatigue points to what the container ordinarily has. So for instance, a Backpack can contain six items. It can be any six items you want regardless of their size and weight. However, once you go one item over the containers limit, that item then counts against the total amount characters Body Stat can handle. A characters Body Stat is what his or her carrying capacity is. So if the number of containers plus items outside containers is greater than the characters Body Stat, you add a number of Fatigue Points to the characters total equal to that objects FP value. Characters may have only one of each container on their person. So they could wear one backpack, one quiver, one left belt pouch, one right belt pouch, one satchel, etc. Containers may be loaded up beyond their capacity within reason. The GM will decide whether or not something can fit inside a container. Also, just because a container can hold one item, doesnt mean it can hold any item. You cant stuff a claymore into a scroll case for instance! When in doubt, defer to the GM on this matter. Items Items are any objects that cant contain another object unless it is very small. Each item has a Fatigue Point value. Consult the Equipment Table on Page XX. If the characters come across some item that is not listed on that table, the GM should use the Equipment Table as a reference for assigning the new object an FP value. Once an FP value is established for an object, that will thence forth be the FP value for all objects of the same type and size. Small objects such as coins and gems do not count as items for the purposes of Fatigue. They are explained in the next section. Coins, Gems, and Pellets Very small objects do not have individual FP values. Objects like coins, gemstones, and small ammunition like stones or pellets for a sling only give FPs if there are 100 or more of them. For every 100 small objects (total) a character is carrying, that character adds one Fatigue Point. So a character with 388 coins would have 3 Fatigue Points. A character with 138 coins, 29 gems, and 45 stones for his sling would have 2 Fatigue Points. Slowing You Down For each item a character carries beyond the capacity of his or her containers and his or her body, the maximum movement rate for the character is reduced by one. So, for instance, if Melinda the Wizard has one item more than her carrying capacity can handle she can no longer Retreat (see character record sheet and Movement section below). If she has two more items than her carrying capacity, she can no longer Sprint. If three more, then she cannot Run. No matter what, however, a character can always crawl. Fatigue from Movement Moving around causes fatigue just like carrying objects. On the character record sheet you will notice a movement table on the right hand side. There are seven speeds at which a character can move: Crawl, Creep, Walk, Jog, Run, Sprint, and Retreat. Each has an associated Fatigue Point value. These are added to whatever Fatigue Points the character has accumulated through any other means. Fighting also causes fatigue. Each round of fighting gives the character 3 Fatigue Points. HOWEVER, like all Fatigue Point values, these are not cumulative. The maximum amount of FPs a character can ever have from fighting is 3, no matter how many rounds the fight takes. To review, for each FP beyond a characters Body Stat that he or she accumulates, the Default Difficulty is raised by 1. So if Harris the Human Thief has 8 FPs and a Body of 5, the DD would be raised from 13 to 16.

Lack of Rest If characters do not get rest daily, they will tire out. Humans, Half-Elves, Half-Dwarves, and Ogres require 8 hours of sleep every 24 hours. Elves, Dwarves, and Satyrs require 4. Angels require 2. If a character does not get his or her daily allotment of sleep, then he or she gain +1 Fatigues Points for each day without sleep. So if Maxine the Human Fighter has gone three days without sleep, she has 3 Fatigue Points added to her total. These points will not go away unless the character gets his or her allotment of sleep PER POINT. So in Maxines case, she would need 24 hours of sleep to eliminate her 3 FPs from lack of rest. Things that Dont Give Fatigue Points Clothing, jewelry, tattoos, hair, spectacles, and other small adornments do not give fatigue points unless the character just loads up with it. The GM has the authority to decide if someone has enough bling to warrant a fatigue point or two. Getting Rid of Fatigue Points Getting rid of Fatigue Points is fairly simple. If a character has FPs from gear he or she is carrying, then the character just simply needs to drop the gear, and the points will disappear after the next round. If the character has FPs from lack of sleep, the character needs to sleep. If the character has FPs from walking, running, or sprinting, then the character just has to stop moving and the FPs go away after the next round. Special Equipment As you read over the equipment list on page XX, you probably noticed several that an (*) after them. Items marked with an (*) are items that have special rules because their uses may not be obvious or they have tactical implications during combat. Each of these items is described below along with how to use the special rules that make them fun and useful down in the depths of the Underearth. Bear Trap Bolo Bow Caltrops Candle Cologne Crossbow Grappling Hook Helmet Holy Symbol Holy Water Lantern Lantern Oil Mule Shield Snare Net Torch Hirelings and Henchmen The Underearth is a nasty, hostile environment. Everything will work against you as you explore its reaches. Sometimes your party may not be enough to tackle a given encounter. In these instances, you must turn to your

guild for help. Assistance can be found in two forms: hirelings and henchmen. They each serve a similar purpose: help the player-characters overcome a challenge beyond their current capabilities, but they do it in different ways. Hirelings Hirelings are NPCs that you can rent from the guild to help you defeat the Accursed on your adventure. There are four different types of hirelings: porters, watchmen, heroes, and elite guards. Porters are servants, basically. They do their best to carry the PCs extra gear and treasure while staying out of the way during a fight. If they are attacked, porters will defend themselves, but they arent very good at it. Each porter the PCs hire costs them 10 bronze pieces per day (in-game) plus an equal share in the treasure. Porters will follow the group closely and obey all commands as they are given. The second type of hireling is called a watchman. Rather than follow the group, watchmen guard a specific area. This frees the PCs to leave something behind, ensure their escape route, or have someone protect them as they sleep. Watchmen will only leave their post to help in a nearby fight or return to the Keep. Unlike PCs, they do not generate Wandering Monster checks for the GM, so he or she will stay safe if left alone. Watchmen cost 20 BP per day plus an equal share in the treasure. Third, we have heroes. All hero hirelings are limited to the human species, but they are not limited to any class. PCs are free to pick whatever class of hero they need in order to get the job done. Heroes cost 30 BP per day plus an equal share in the treasure in return for total obedience. Finally, there are the elite guards. Hiring an elite guard is expensive but often worth it. Elite guards are all angelic paladins, templars, or mage hunters. They are quite capable in a fight. Having one or two on your side completely tips the scales in your favor. Elite guards have a cost of 50 BP per day plus a double share in the treasure. Elite guards will follow all commands of the players, but may occasional pursue a foe even if instructed against doing that. All hirelings expect the first days payment up front and at the beginning of each subsequent day past that. There is no limit to the number of hirelings a guild may have. Character record sheets for hirelings can be found at the end of this book. Henchmen Sometimes you may just decide that youd rather let someone else tackle a particular mission in the Underearth rather than your characters. In these instances, the PCs can hire henchmen. Each henchmen guild is allotted a certain number of henchmen units (one for every 50 members). When the players hire a unit, they must pay 500 Bronze Pieces up front. The costs may increase or decrease depending on the results. The PCs must then give them a mission to accomplish. The task must be simple and narrowly defined, and anything on the boss tier will be rejected flat out. It cant be something like, Kill all the monsters on the fifth tier. That is too large of a task. Something like, Kill all the monsters in a specific room and bring back their treasure or bring back five myconid caps or Find a key to the secret room on the third tier GMs can haggle with and reject offers from the PCs according to how he or she thinks the henchmen might react to their request. Once a mission is over, the henchmen will return to the keep and give the PCs anything the unit captured on the mission including skins, trap components, treasure, and magic items. Your GM will have rules for determining the successfulness of a henchman unit.

Chapter 3: Advancement When you made your characters in the Guild and Character Creation Guide, the rules hinted that they would change as you played. This is indeed true. As your characters explore the lair, they will come into contact with monsters. If the players defeat the monsters, they will win treasure-usually in the form of bronze pieces. This treasure is used to buy fame and glory for the characters. It is this fame and glory that improves their prowess as heroes. Earning Experience Points Each of the Accursed has a certain EXP value. Thats how many bronze pieces that NPC is worth. When a party returns from delving in a lair and splits the bronze pieces amongst itself, each character that helped haul that treasure gets 1 EXP per bronze piece awarded. How you go about getting that bronze, though, can be as wildly varied as your imagination can create. Most of the time, though, there are four main ways playercharacters can extract coinage from a defeated foe. Method #1: Stealing It Some monsters like to hoard shiny objects. There is no rhyme or reason, they just do. Undead are notorious for this. They like to pile up discarded weapons, armor, and coins in one of their rooms and guard it from intruders. Presumably, whoever created them in the first place wanted undead to collect such things to be used later by their masters. Now they do it on their own. Other monsters carry change purses on their belts or around their necks. Most kobolds, goblins, minotaurs, and orcs do this as they have a thriving underground economy amongst themselves. Halflings are also known to carry coins, and even wear them as ornamentation. Regardless of which method the Accursed prefers, if you set the EXP value for the monster to be represented by coins, then those coins should be nearby or on the person of the monster. In these instances, a crafty PC can try to steal them. Often, this is left to thieves. Thieves have the Pick Pocket skill. On a successful roll, they swipe all coins or weapons or other small object held by the target without the targets notice. On a failed roll, the target obviously catches them in the act. However, one need not be a thief to steal. Other characters of different classes can make a series of Body Stat Checks to pilfer coins or items. They should make one check to sneak to their target, another check to take the item, and a third to sneak away. All of these would be modified by the targets Mind stat. If all three checks are successful, then the PC gets what he or she was after. Method #2: Killing For It If all that sneaking around is too much of a hassle for you, theres always the direct approach. You can just attack and kill your enemies. This is pretty clear cut. You kill something, you search its body and take what you can. Most Accursed use their claws when attacking, but some carry weapons. Remember, most artisans and merchants at the Keep will only give you 50% of an items value if you want to sell it to them. Method #3: Harvesting the Kill Some monsters have skin that can be harvested and turned into magical armor. For instance, dire bats, orcs, trolls, and dragons all have skin that is valuable for protection. The process to turn hide into armor is complex. It requires the ability to make magic items. Bards, Templars, and Wizards are the only PC classes that can do this. If there is an alchemist at the Keep or if you befriend one in the Underearth, he or she can make such armors as well. Hides from these specific creatures have a resale value as follows: Dire Bat Hide: 20 BP, Orc Hide: 100 BP, Troll Hide: 500 BP, Dragon Hide: 2,500 BP. Again, an artisan will buy them but at half price.

Method #4: Talking them Out of It There are those who say that if violence isnt the answer, youre not asking the right questions. But not everything has to be resolved in the Underearth by the edge of a sword. You can try to extort Bronze Pieces and other treasure by agreeing not to attack them in return for payment. This tribute system may be lucrative for the players. Each time you successfully do this, your characters will receive EXP for it. PCs can also bargain with the Accursed if they so desire. For instance, they might agree to attack a group of orcs that is harassing a clutch of halflings. As payment, the halflings would give them a certain amount of treasure. If the agreement is honored, the PCs will get EXP for their payment. Traps All traps have some kind of mechanism that allows them to work. The skill and expertise it takes to make a functional trap is considerable. Also, the materials that go into making a trap are valuable. You can salvage a trap mechanism and sell the parts for bronze pieces. The bronze value of the trap will be determined by the GM when he creates it. Just to mention this once again, artisans will only give you half of the parts worth if you would like to sell it, and you only get EXP if you do sell it. Magic Items All that glisters is not gold. Sometimes, you will get magic items for treasure instead of bronze. To figure a magic items BP value, look at sale values the component parts (the gems, metals, minerals, and objects that went into making it). Halve the total value of them and that is how much an artisan will give the PCs for such an item provided it is still fully functional with all its charges and properties intact. This is also the EXP value of the item. Any time a character is given a magic item when the party is dividing loot (See Chapter X: How to Play), that character then receives the EXP award for it. If the party chooses not to give the item to a specific character (say they want to keep it for anyone in the group to use), then no character is awarded EXP for finding it. Troupe EXP You might assume that the only characters who can earn EXP are those who were fighting inside a lair, bringing up bronze pieces from the Underearth. That is the fastest way to earn EXP, for sure, but it is not the only way. When a party returns to the Keep, each character that is in the Troupe but was not in the party is awarded bonus EXP equal to 25% of what the average character in the party received. So if your average party member earns 1100 EXP from one trip to lair, then each character that wasnt in the party gains 275 EXP. This is because the successful adventurers return to the Keep with stories about their exploits through which the inactive characters learn. Also, those who went on the adventure into the lair will practice with those who didnt and teach them the new tricks and moves they learned. Earning EXP this way is slow compared to actively adventuring, but it will count for something! Gaining a Level Gaining a level is a major accomplishment in What Lies Below. It opens new doors and increases a characters potency in fighting. Characters gain levels according to a schedule. This schedule has a certain threshold of experience points a character needs to earn before raising his or her level. If you recall when you made your characters, there were EXP modifiers for both species and class. These modifiers are multiplied by 100. So if you are playing a human fighter, your total would be 300 EXP. If you are playing an elven wizard, your total would be 600 EXP. If you are playing an angel templar, your total would be 800 EXP. That value is the number of EXP your character would need to earn in order to gain a level.

Each time you gain a level, you may add +1 to any of your Ability Stats. On the Character Record Sheet, notice there is a column to the right of your ability stats marked Level. This is where all level bonuses will be recorded. At level 2, they should all add up to +1. At level 5, they should all add up to +4. At level 10, it should be 9. This is very important. Do not forget to add this modifier each level. You may not think it would be easy to forget about it, but your characters also earn intermittent bonuses and modifiers for their species and class as well. Those bonuses are explained in the next two sections. Character Species When one of your characters gains a level, you will need to check the tables below to see if he or she has gained some new bonus or ability. If your character has, mark it on your character sheet. Advancement Bonuses for Angels: At 3rd level gain +2 to ROH At 5th level gain the ability to fly At 10th level gain immunity to poisons At 15th level gain one Ancient Secret. At 17th level movement increases to 40 per round At 20th level deal double damage to all enemies At 25th level gain one Ancient Secret. At 30th level ROH becomes per round instead of per hour At 35th level gain one Ancient Secret.

Advancement Bonuses for Dwarves: At 6th level gain a favored enemy you gain 1 extra die to roll and deal Dmg = to your Body stat At 12th level gain all armor prevents 1 additional damage At 18th level gain ability to see in darkness 30

Advancement Bonuses for Elves: At 5th level gain +1 to ROH At 10th level can find any hidden object or door within 20 on a roll of 4 or higher on a d6 (no modifiers) At 15th level gain +1 to Body, Mind, and Soul At 20th level gain one Ancient Secret. At 22nd level gain the ability to walk through walls At 30th level gain one Ancient Secret.

Advancement Bonuses for Half-Dwarves: At 8th level gain +1 to Body At 16th level movement increases to 20 per round At 24th level gain +2 to Body At 32nd level gain ability to see 20 in any darkness

Advancement Bonuses for Half-Elves:

At 4th level gain +1 to ROH At 8th level gain the ability to see 10 in any darkness. At 16th level movement increases to 30 per round At 24th level gain +2 to Body, Mind, and Soul At 32nd level gain one Ancient Secret.

Advancement Bonuses for Half-Ogres: At 5th level gain +1 to Body and Spirit At 10th level no longer suffer fatigue points from armor At 15th level gain +1 to Body and Spirit At 20th level movement increases to 30 per round

Advancement Bonuses for Humans: At 3rd level gain +1 to Stat of your choice At 6th level gain +1 to Stat of your choice At 10th level increase all coins found in Underearth by 10% (round down) on a roll of 4 or higher on a d6 each time your character loots a corpse. At 12th level gain +1 to Mind At 18th level gain +1 to Soul At 26th level deal double damage to boss characters At 38th level get -2 to Body and +3 to Mind and Soul At 45th level gain one Ancient Secret.

Advancement Bonuses for Ogres: At 3rd level gain +1 to Body At 6th level does not get fatigue points from fighting At 9th level gain +1 to Body At 12th level deals double damage to non-boss medium creatures like undead, orcs, myconids, etc. At 15th level gain +1 to Body At 21st level deals double damage to boss characters

Advancement Bonuses for Satyrs: At 4th level gain +1 to Mind Stat At 8th level gain +1 to Body Stat At 12th level gain +1 to Mind Stat At 16th level may use two special capabilities per round At 20th level gain ability to see 10 in any darkness

Character Classes When one of your characters gains a level, you will need to check the tables below to see if he or she has gained some new bonus or ability. If your character has, mark it on your character sheet. Advancement Bonuses for Bards At 2nd level, gain 1 Thief Skill.

At every 3rd level, gain a Song. At every 4th level, gain 4 Mana Points. At every 4th level, gain 1 new Language. At every 5th level, the number you need to succeed on a Thief Skill roll increases by one for all skills you currently have. At every 6th level, gain 1 cleric power. At every 7th level gain one new Thief Skill. For every 8th level, deal 1 extra damage with all weapons to all targets. At every 12th level gain the ability to tame and control one animal with a Body Stat less than Bards Mind Stat. At level 20, gain the ability to make magic items.

Advancement Bonuses for Beastmasters: At Every 3rd level, gain a Beastmaster Feat. At every 7th level, gain the ability to tame and control one additional animal with a Body Stat equal to or less than your Soul Stat. At 10th level, no animal in control of itself will attack Beastmaster without provocation

Advancement Bonuses for Clerics: At second level gain the Turn Undead, Smite Undead, Dominate Undead, and Absorb Undead Powers. At every odd numbered level, gain a new Cleric Power. For every 5 levels of experience your character achieves, Holy Symbols provide an additional +1 protection to your Spirit Stat.

Advancement Bonuses for Elementalists: At every 3rd level, gain 4 mana points. At every 4th level, get an elemental pet (see Pet Chart). You may have only one pet active at a time. At every 4th level, gain 1 new Language. At every 5th level, select an element (Air, Water, Fire, Earth). You may dominate that elemental on a roll of 1 on a d6, for a # of hrs = to level. At every 6th level, select an element. You are immune to all negative effects (including, suffocation, drowning, etc.) from that element. At every 7th level, add +1 to the success number of your dominate skills. At 10th level, gain access to all spells on the Advance List for Arcane Spells.

Advancement Bonuses for Fighters: For every 3rd level, deal 1 extra damage with all weapons to all targets. At 5th level you can dual wield weapons without having to split your Body stat (your full Body Stat counts for both). For every 6th level Shields provide +2 Body Protection (even Magic shields). For every 10th level, You gain 1 additional action per round.

Advancement Bonuses for Mage Hunters: At every even level, gain 2 MP. At every 4th level, gain +1 to Mind Stat while defending or making a Reaction roll.

For every 6th level, deal 1 extra damage to Wizards, Templars, Bards, and Elementalists. At 7th level gain ability to drain mana points at 1MP per level per round. You must make a successful Mind check vs. the targets Mind Stat to use this ability each round. At every 8th level, gain 1 new Language. At 14th level gain ability to disintegrate magic items with a touch. Use this ability only once per session.

Advancement Bonuses for Paladins: At every 3rd level, deal 1 extra damage vs. Undead. At every 5th level, gain a cleric power. At every 4th level gain an Imbue Sword ability. At level 5, you can always sense when someone is lying to you. At level 10, you no longer accumulate Fatigue Points. At level 15, you become immune to all poisons and diseases. At level 20, you cannot be damaged by non-boss Undead.

Advancement Bonuses for Templars: At every even numbered level, gain 2 mana points. At every 3rd level, gain 1 cleric power. At every 4th level, gain 1 new Language. At every 5th level, gain +1 to ROH. At 10th level, gain ability to make Magic Items. At every 12th level, gain ability to make one addition action per round. At 15th level, gain access to all spells on the Advance List for Arcane Spells. At every 17th level, gain an Ancient Secret.

Advancement Bonuses for Thieves: At every 3rd level, add +1 to the success number of each of your Thief Skills (so if they would currently succeed on a 1, they would not succeed on a 2). At every 4th level, gain 1 new Language. At every 6th level, gain one new Thief Skill.

Advancement Bonuses for Wizards: At every even level, gain 4 Mana Points. At every 3rd level gain one Imbue Staff ability. At every 4th level, gain 1 new Language. At 5th level, gain ability to make Magic Items. At 7th level, gain access to all spells on the Advance List for Arcane Spells.

Followers Beginning at 10th level, characters will begin to attract followers. Each time your character gains a new level, roll on the Followers Table according to your Class. The result will tell you who or what has come to the Keep to be your loyal retainer. Each follower has a cost, but those costs do not have to be paid until you start your own Keep. As long as you remain a member of your guild, the guild will provide for them. See Chapter 7: Followers for the tables and descriptions of the devotees who will eventually join your characters.

Taxes Guilds charge their members a small fee to maintain their membership. 10% of all the Bronze Pieces characters bring in from the lairs must be paid to the Keeps vault (guilds do not tax magic items). This is used to buy supplies for the guild members and fund repairs and improvements for the facilities. If the PCs refuse to pay the taxes, they will not be allowed to use guild facilities and will have to buy their own food and drink. Loans The vault keepers and moneychangers at the Keep can make loans to guild members if the members need extra cash to provision themselves. Interest on loans is a flat, 20% that is to be paid at the end of a one month or three month cycle depending upon the agreement. If the principle and interest arent paid, then the moneychangers may commandeer items belonging to the delinquent PC until payment is made. Retirement All stories come to an end. Sometimes your characters die. Sometimes they become captains of a Keep. And sometimes they just fade away. There is nothing wrong or improper with getting tired of playing a particular character. The natural ending for all relationships, both fictional and in the real-world, is abandonment. Therefore, if you grow weary of portraying a particular character, you can retire him or her. Simply write Retired across the top of the Character Record Sheet and hand it to the GM. The GM may use your character as an NPC from that point forward or just allow the character to remain in obscurity forever. Chapter 4: How to Play The players main job is to explore the Keep and the lair created by the Game Master. How you do this, when you do this, and the strategies you use to do this are entirely up to you. The Game Master will not push you in any direction but instead facilitate your desires. This chapter will give you suggestions on what you can do at the Keep, in the lairs, and at higher levels. It will also talk about rules you will develop as you play. Adventuring in the Keep At first glance, the guild may seem like a mission-driven place where all the characters work in a very cooperative environment. This is true in a lot of cases, but like any organization made up of imperfect people, there is always intrigue. The GM has designed conflicts among guild personnel. These conflicts tend to be minor, but can result in undermining the Keeps safety if they fester too long. If you choose, your characters can investigate these mysteries. There might be a reward in it for you. A good place to start is in the Keeps tavern. The barkeep talks to more people than anybody else in the guild. But mysteries arent the only sources of adventure in the Keep. Look back at the facilities and artisans you chose when you created your guild. There are plenty of places to explore and plenty of people to befriend. You never know when the local alchemist or priest could become an important ally. Offer to perform errands for members of the guild while you are in the lairs. They will likely reward you with Bronze Pieces or owe you a favor in the future. Adventuring in the Underearth Tackling the monsters in the lairs is a dangerous undertaking. If the first thing you do when you start playing your characters is to head off into a dungeon, you will almost certainly fail. Monster-bashing must be taken seriously and your characters should be well prepared.

Preparing to Go to the Lairs There are very few natural light sources in the Underearth. Glowwurms and phosphorescent fungus are about it, and they dont provide a ton of light. So the first thing you need to do is make sure you have enough light sources for every character who cant see in the dark. Think about how long you would like to spend in the lair. Then examine how long torches, lanterns, and candles last. Make sure you have enough of each to last your quest time. Next, check your provisions. Your character will consume one ration of food and one ration of water per day. Water can usually be found in the Underearth easily enough, but food is scarcer. Again, think about how long you will want to be down there. Then take an extra weeks worth of food if at all possible. The guild will provide you with food and water rations at no cost. Finally, examine your equipment. What weapons and tools will you really need? Is there something you can leave behind? Is there something you need to buy? Considering what to bring will become increasingly important the deeper you go into the lairs. Monsters become more vicious and tougher to kill. Boss monsters present special challenges that you will need to think carefully about. Dont pack everything you own with you each trip. You can always leave something with your Troupe members who arent going with you on the expedition. Exploring the Tunnels Attacking the lair is not a race. You should never just try to get as much as explored as fast as possible. That is a recipe for disaster. The Underearth is dangerous. The Accursed are insidious. Approach them with caution. This portion of the Players Handbook may seem to contradict itself, but it is, in fact, that contradiction that makes play so much fun. The first rule of lair exploration is to never split the party. The second rule is to always send one or two characters ahead to scout a room before entering it. Splitting the party makes everyone vulnerable. The monsters are tougher than you, and it will take everyone to defeat them. Also, for each hour one or more characters are stationary, a wandering monster will happen upon them. Getting caught unprepared by a wandering monster can be devastating for a party. At the same time, entering a room without scouting it first can result in an ambush. Ambushes are the fastest way for a group of PCs to die. If you arent sure whats coming, then you are taking a big risk. And that is the contradiction. You cant split up, and you cant stay together. How you and your fellow players manage these two difficult aspects of play will determine your success in the tunnels. Order of March Players must set an order of march which is the assumed position of each character relative to each other. Unless the players stipulate otherwise, this is the formation the GM will assume the characters are using at all times. You may be represented with miniatures, but it is not necessary. Order of march may have to be modified from time to time because of the size of the tunnels in a lair. Assume a character needs a 3 Radius to walk comfortably. So two standing abreast would be 6 across, three would be 9, etc. If there is less than the 3 each character needs to be comfortable, they can alter their order of march or be forced to act under the cramped quarters modifiers mentioned in Chapter 3: Resolution in the Core Rules. Resting Very likely, your characters will spend the night in the tunnels at some point. Your characters will need their rest to heal damage and recoup mana points. It is best to find a place in the Underearth that was empty when

you first entered. More than likely that room or tunnel is seldom used. Also, it is advisable to place yourself so that wandering monsters can only gain access to your party from one direction. There is a great chance each night that some Accursed will find your group. If so, you need to be defended against attack as best as possible. Returning to the Keep After a time, your characters will need to return to the Keep. They may get low on provisions, overburdened by treasure, or need the services of some of the artisans of the guild. Never be afraid to go back to the Keep. It is the only place where you can divide treasure, switch out which PC youre going to play, and provision for future expeditions. The Keep can also provide a welcome break from the violent climaxes of exploring the Underdark. Combat is terrific, but it cant be all that you do. Establishing Your Own Guild Inevitably, your characters will gain levels. Some may even achieve high levels. When this happens, you will accumulate followers as discussed earlier in Chapter 3. Once your Troupe accumulates 50 followers or more, the guild may ask you to form your own, new guild near another entrance to the Underearth. If this happens, then there are certain steps you need to take to establish a new Keep. [NEEDS WORK!] To Do Something, Do It Dont be afraid to try difficult or fancy things during play. If you want your character to swing from a stalactite, drop behind an enemy, and cut him down from the back, then do it. Just ask the GM what the modifier for such an attempt would be, and then roll. There arent rules, powers, feats, or spells in this game that will tell you what your character is capable of doing. That comes from your imagination. There really is not limit to what your characters can do other than the limits you and your group put on them. Rules not in This (or any) Book This book contains a lot of rules and suggestions. However, as you play, you will create rules, procedures, expectations, and mechanics of your own. These rules arent printed in this text, or in any text for that matter. For instance, there are no rules for searching a room, scouting ahead, deciding who will be on watch, who will carry what items, how to divide treasure, how to make a character fall in love, or when to make magic items. These are just a few of the rules you will invent as you play. This isnt because these books are incomplete; it is simply a part of roleplaying and part of the fun. Chapter 5: Spells, Powers, and Secrets See Appendix. Chapter 6: Pets See Appendix. Chapter 7: Followers