lost city of the dwarves codex

8/13/2019 Lost City of the Dwarves Codex

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Brian Banshee (order #5245604)


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Original story, title art and Dwarven Battle Dice game by Christopher J.A. YoungOriginal story artwork by Travis Hanson

Copyright 2011 All Rights reserved, Christopher J.A. Young and Pen & ForgeProductions.

Unauthorized reproduction except for the purpose of review is prohibited by law.Path of Legends, Title logo, Pen & Forge logo and all Dwarven Battle Dice artwork arecopyright 2012 by Christopher J. A. Young.

Published under the terms of the Open Game Licence version 1.0a, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast Inc.

Made in Canada, eh.



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CHRISTOPHER J.A. Y OUNG

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Rolling up a Character

Your character in this book has three main ability scores:Strength, or STR (determines how strong you are and how good

you are in melee combat), Dexterity or DEX (determines howagile you are and how good you are in ranged combat) and Con-stitution or CON (determines how healthy and tough you are).Take four six-sided dice, also known as four die-six (4d6), androll them, then add up the three highest dice. Record that num-

ber on a scrap piece of paper and repeat the process two more

times. Now you must decide how to arrange those three scores.If an ability is high enough then a bonus is awarded for certainactions, and if it is low (or gets lowered throughout the adven-ture) then a negative is applied for certain actions. The table be-low will tell you what adjustments are applied for certain scores.

These modi ers are applied a little dif -ferently depending on which ability theyare used for. When applied to Strength, the

modi er is added to your attack roll withmelee weapons, such as swords, and to dam-age done by melee and thrown weapons. ForDexterity, the bonus is added to your attackroll for ranged attacks, such as bows, cross-

bows and thrown weapons, to your armorclass, and to initiative. A bonus in Consti-tution adds to your hit points at each level.

Even with a negative modi er, no die roll is ever allowed to belowered below 1.

Rolling the DiceNow that your character is made its time to explain the rules

on how to adventure around in this story. Most of the time this will involve ghting monsters in combat rounds and rollingsome dice which are commonly referred to with the letter d .



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L OST C ITY OF THE D WARVES : D ISCOVERY

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Six-sided dice are called a d6 , twenty-sided dice are called a d20 and so on, and aside from some rare exceptions, the higher theroll the better.

COMBATTo help explain the complete combat process we will simulate

an encounter between yourself and two Hobgoblins that yourun into:

You turn the corner and encounter two angry Hobgoblinsthat attack you on sight!

HobgoblinInit:+0 HP:6 AC:14 Attack:+1 Damage:1D6+1HobgoblinInit:+0 HP:6 AC:14 Attack:+1 Damage:1D6+1

Rounds A round of combat is the time when all opponents in a ght

have had their chance to attack, also called a melee round , andeverybody gets one attack or action (usually). This is importantsince some elements of the story revolve around this speci cunit of time, telling you that you will have a speci c numberof rounds to use your bow before a charging enemy gets close,or to tell you that you must simply survive a certain number ofrounds before you are allowed to ght back against a monster.

Initiative (Init) When combat starts, you must roll one ten-sided die (1d10)

for yourself and one for the monsters. Whoever gets the higherroll gets to attack rst in combat, then you just continue to trade

blows back and forth until the monsters are all defeated or until you run out of hit points. A high Dexterity will give you a bonusfor initiative, but a low dexterity will give you a penalty. Some

monsters will have an initiative bonus that should be added totheir roll.



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You roll a d10 for the Hobgoblins and get a 5. They do not getan initiative bonus, so 5 is their initiative for this ght. You rollthe d10 again for yourself and get a 0, which is actually a 10!

If your Dexterity gives you a bonus then you can add it to yourroll, but in this case it doesnt matter. Your initiative is higherso you attack rst.

Attack (also known as to hit)Now that you know who goes rst, roll the d20 and add any

attack bonuses (or penalties if you are in bad shape) to see if

you hit your opponent. This is your attack roll. To hit your op-ponent, your attack roll plus bonuses or penalties must be equalto or greater than their Armor Class (AC). The Hobgoblins havean AC 14, so that is your target number. Well pretend that youhave a STR 15 and a Base Attack +1:

Having the higher initiative, you strike rst and swing yoursword at one of the Hobgoblins! You roll the d20 and get a 12,which isnt enough on its own, but adding the +1 for STR 15 and

your +1 Base Attack bonus you end up with 14. Just enough tohit the Hobgoblins AC 14.

Damage and Hit Points (HP) With every successful hit, damage must be dealt. There are

varying degrees of damage depending on the weapon beingused, and this is usually where the different dice come into play.

Knives and daggers usually only deal 1d4 damage, hand axesand shortswords deal 1d6 damage, longswords and battle axesuse 1d8 for damage, even larger battle swords do 1d10 damage,and the extra-large Greatsword uses two six-sided dice (2d6)for damage. There are many other types of weapons in the ad-

venturing world, but these are some common examples. Any melee weapon that can be wielded with two hands (1d8

damage or more) will do +1 damage if you use it that way in-

stead of using a shield. Whenever you successfully hit a mon-sters AC you roll the damage die for whichever weapon you areusing. That damage is then subtracted from the Monsters hit



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points (HP), of which these Hobgoblins each have 6. When theyare reduced to zero HP then you have defeated them. We willpresume that you have a shortsword for this example:

With a slash of your sword you hit one of the Hobgoblinsand roll 1d6, getting a 5. You then add your +1 damage bonus

for STR 15 to get a total of 6 damage, which is just enough toovercome the Hobgoblin. It falls to the ground, but the secondone moves towards you with its battle axe raised.

Your attack is done, and now you must roll the dice for theHobgoblin in the same manner: d20 to see if it hits your AC(which will be determined during the adventure), then damagedice if it hits you, which you will subtract from your HP total.Once this is done, and both sides have made their attacks, thenthe combat round is over and the process is repeated until youhave defeated all of the monsters, or all of the monsters havedefeated you.

Natural 20

Rolling a 20 on a d20 is known as a natural 20 and results inan automatic hit against any AC. This does not include a 20 that

you get from adding attack bonuses to your d20 roll, only whenthe die itself shows 20. A natural 20 also results in a CriticalHit where you deliver double damage to your opponent; double

weapon damage, including bonuses, and double STR damageif you have any. It should also be known that rolling a natural 1is considered a critical fail which results in an automatic miss,

against any AC, no matter how many attack bonuses you have.

Melee Combat and Ranged CombatMany times you will be given the possibility of using a Ranged

Attack before your opponent closes in for close combat, alsoknown as hand-to-hand or melee combat. Ranged attacks areconducted the same way as a melee attack, rolling a d20 against

the monsters AC, except that you will get a number of free shots(typically 2 shots with a double crossbow, 3 shots with a bow, or1 thrown weapon unless explained differently on the page) be-



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fore the opponent closes in for melee combat. Bows and cross- bows cannot be used in melee combat; therefore you must havea melee weapon to switch to once the Ranged Attack roundsare over. Any bonuses that you would get from a Ranged Attack

weapon are not granted when using your melee weapon, and vice versa.

OTHER GAME ROLLSThere are some other die rolls that you will be asked to do dur-

ing the story besides the ones that you just read about. They willusually have a fail or succeed result, with either one directing

you to turn to a speci c paragraph or record a special event.

Roll for SurpriseTo do this, roll 1d6. If you roll a 1 or 2 then you have failed

the roll, and if you roll a 3, 4, 5 or 6 then you succeeded theroll. This is a catch-all roll to see if you are not only surprised ina situation but also to see if you have your wits about you, howobservant you are, or even if you are lucky.

Sneak Attack On some pages you will be given the option of performing a

Sneak Attack on opponents who are not yet aware of your pres-



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ence. To do this, you must catch them by Surprise . Surprise works for monsters the same way it works for you. If you roll a 1or 2 on a 1d6 then you are hidden from the monster, but if youroll a 3, 4, 5 or 6 on a 1d6 then the monster knows that you arethere and you cannot surprise it with a Sneak Attack. However,characters with a high Dexterity have a better chance of surpris-ing monsters. If you have a Dex bonus then you can subtractthat number from the monsters roll and try to lower it downto 1 or 2. If the monster is surprised then you get a +4 bonusto your attack roll and deliver double damage if you hit them ;

weapon damage and Strength bonus damage, if any, is doubled.

If you have not managed to surprise the monster then you at-tack normally, but you do get Initiative and attack rst. If youhave a Dex penalty, meaning your character is clumsy, then thatpenalty is added to the monsters Surprise roll, possibly raisingit up past 2.

Test Your Dexterity, Strength or Constitution

These are rolls based on your ability scores to see how agile,strong or tough you are in a certain situation. You usually needto roll a 10 or higher on a d20, adding any ability modi ers if

you have them. Thus a character with an 18 Dexterity (+3 modi-er) would only need to roll a 7 or higher on a d20 to succeed

with a Dexterity test, but if that same character only has a 10Strength (+0 modi er) then they will need to roll 10 or higherto succeed at any Strength tests.

BONUSES AND PENALTIESOnce your character sheet is complete it will be a fairly ac-

curate record of any modi ers that you can apply to dice rollssuch as initiative, attack and damage, and some of your modi-ers will improve as the story progresses. Also throughout the

book you will nd items and encounter situations that will affect your dice rolls in good and bad ways. While it may seem com-plicated at rst, its really nothing that some basic math skillscant handle.



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Items with a + An enchanted weapon will have a bonus that is applied to your

attack roll and damage roll when you use that weapon in combat, so a +1 shortsword (1d6) will give you an extra +1 to hit with your attack roll AND an extra +1 damage to add when you rollthe d6 for damage.

Armor works a little differently. All armor, magical or not, israted with a bonus that is applied to your armor class. A metalshield, for example, gives you a +2 AC when used, and chain-mail armor grants a +4 AC bonus when worn. An unarmoredcharacter starts with a base armor class of 10, wearing nothing

but regular clothes, but when equipped with the above armorand shield he gains +6 AC for a total armor class of 16. Enchant-ed armor simply grants more bonuses; a +2 metal shield andsome +1 chainmail would grant a total bonus of +9 AC and givethe character AC 19 in combat.

You will nd other magical items throughout the book thatgive speci c bonuses to hit points, your attack bonus, and soon. Simply record the item in your inventory, along with what

bonuses it provides, and apply the bonus to the proper statistic.Just remember that should you ever remove the item or lose itsomehow then you will need to reduce the proper abilities backto their original score, but that shouldnt happen much.

Applying a Negative Modifer Adventuring is a risky pastime, and you will come across traps

and other situations that will reduce your statistics and abilityscores. When this happens you must adjust your character sheetaccordingly until you can use a means to restore them, usually

with a potion.

Fighting multiple opponentsIn many situations you will face more than one creature or

character in combat. Sometimes you will have to ght them eachin turn, one after the other, and at other times you will have toght them all at the same time! When you are instructed to ght



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your opponents one at a time, the combat is resolved normally once you defeat an enemy, the next one-steps forward to ght

you immediately. When you nd yourself under attack from more than one op -

ponent at the same time, each adversary will make a separateattack on you in the combat round, but you become easier to hitand your armor class is lowered. You can face two opponents

without an armor class penalty, but for every additional op-ponent in the ght your AC is reduced by 1. So if you are fac -ing three separate attackers in combat, your AC is reduced by 1against all of their attacks until you can eliminate one of them.

Likewise, if you are facing four attackers then your AC is re-duced by 2 against all of their attacks until you eliminate one ofthem, then your AC will only be reduced by 1 for the remainingthree attackers, and so on. Even if you are facing a group of en-emies that is greater than four, no more than four will be ableto attack you at the same time unless they are very small or areall attacking with ranged attacks. Also keep in mind that if youhave won the initiative roll and can eliminate one of your op-ponents before they attack then you may not suffer as large apenalty.

Retreating from BattleOn some pages you will be given the option of Retreating from

a battle should things be going badly for you. However, if you dorun away, your opponent automatically gets one free attack with

a +2 bonus to hit you as you ee. Such is the price of cowardice! You may only Retreat if that option is given to you on the page.

MoraleMorale is the measurement of con dence and hope in a large

group. Currently in this adventure the Dwarves morale is only1, but you will be able to raise that depending on certain accom-plishments that you achieve throughout the book. By the end ofthe story the Dwarves total morale will be used to determinetheir ghting strength, so the higher you get it the better.



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Potion of Healing: Restores 1d6+3 hit points.Potion of Extra Healing: Restores 3d6+9 hit points.

Potion of Restoration: Restores all damaged abilities totheir full value.Other types of potions grant magical abilities for a limited

time. It isnt realistic to try to measure the exact length of timefor which these effects will last, but you can use this general rulefor a potion that you took just before getting into combat: Oncetaken, a potions effects will last for the rst battle, and possiblyfor additional ghts after that, but you must Roll for Duration

to check. After every subsequent battle, usually when you turnto a new paragraph, roll 1d6 to see if the potion is still in effect.

Roll for Duration After the rst ght, if you roll a 1 on 1d6 then the potion has

already worn off. If you rolled a 2 or higher then you are still bene tting from whatever bonuses the potion gave you. If you

roll a 2 or less after the second subsequent battle then the po-tion has worn off, otherwise it could wear off on a roll of 3 or lessafter the third subsequent ght and so on. As you can see, onlya very lucky character will manage to bene t from a potion afterthe fth subsequent ght, where it will wear off on a roll of 5 orless, and no potion will still be in effect by the end of the sixthsubsequent battle. Keep in mind that if you ever drink a new po-tion of any kind before a previous potion has worn off then theprevious potion will end immediately as the new potion takeseffect, and all potions wear off after a period of extended rest.The following potions with durations may be found during youradventure:Potion of Fire Resistance: Makes you immune to normalre and take only half damage from magical re.Potion of Giant Strength: Grants +5 to hit and damage withmelee and thrown weapons.

Potion of Heroism: Grants +2 to hit and damage with all weapons.Potion of Invulnerability: Grants you +2 to your armorclass and allows you to ignore the rst 4 hit points of damage



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delivered to you by any non-magical weapon or attack.Potion of Regeneration: Allows you to recover 3 hit pointsevery melee round, even if brought to zero hit points.Potion of Speed: Gives you twice as many attacks per roundin combat, which also means that you will get twice as manyranged attacks before an opponent closes in for melee combat.

LEVEL UP At certain places in your adventure you will level up. You start

the adventure as a level 1 character, giving you full hit points

(10 plus any Constitution modi er) and a Base Attack of +1 toall of your attacks. Every time you advance a level you increase

your Base Attack by 1, so it is equal to your level, and roll 1d10and add that amount to your hit points, plus any Constitutionmodi er.

Using the Character Sheet

This example shows how to use the character sheet as youprogress through your adventure. The character Ricochet hasmade it to 2nd level, and as a result his Base Attack was raisedto +2 and 1d10 was rolled for his new hit points. I only rolled a4 to add to his beginning 10 hit points, and Ricochet only hasaverage Constitution which doesnt give him a hit point bonus

when leveling up, so he now has 14 hit points. The Initiative bonus is only based on Ricochets Dex bonus, so that stays thesame.

Ricochet has found some good items so far in his adventureand also has some decent armor. His Dex bonus, armor andshield bonuses give him a total AC of 17 when added to the base10 AC, which is pretty good. He also has a small assortment of

weapons now, plus a Belt of Battle which gives him +1 to hisattack bonus and +1 to any damage he delivers with a weapon.

There are now a few bonus numbers to add up whenever us-ing a weapon in a ght, so to simplify the combat process youcan add them all up with the weapon itself. Right now, Ricochet

gets +2 with any attack (Base Attack), an additional +1 from the belt, and these bonuses add to all of his attacks. For his ranged weapon (the crossbow or a thrown weapon) he adds his +2 Dex bonus for a total of +5 to hit. He gets +1 from his strength which



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adds up to +4 for any melee weapon attacks. How you recorda weapons damage is straightforward, but the damage bonusadded to the weapons die roll is another adding game. All of

the weapons bene t from the belts +1 bonus, and all of the me -lee weapons add Ricochets Strength bonus as well. The broad-sword also has the option of being wielded with two hands, giv-ing it another possible +1 damage bonus for +3 total. Since youlose you shield AC bonus when doing this, lowering Ricochets

AC to 15, you wont want to do it all the time and the damage bonus is written +2/+3 to remind you that the option is there.

Potions are recorded separately since they are expendable,and there is a counter to help you keep track of potion duration.Ricochet has already used his Potion of Healing, and is in theprocess of using a Potion of Heroism. After the second ght it isstill active, but you dont need to change the info on your weap-ons chart since its a temporary bonus. Just remember to addthe +2 to your attack and damage rolls until the potion wearsoff.

You can also see that Ricochet has managed to boost theDwarves morale by 1 so far, bringing it up to 2. This number

will change a lot throughout your adventure as you completequests and help the Dwarves, but how you chose to record it isup to you.



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CODEX

Dwarven Numerals(also known as Roman Numerals)

Dwarves still use the age-old method of representing numeri-cal values with letters, but there are only 7 speci c numbers,each represented by their own letter, from which all the otherDwarven Numerals are formed:

I = 1 V = 5X = 10L = 50C = 100D = 500M = 1000To create any other numerical values you will need to com-

bine two or more of these letters and add them together. Forexample, number 2 is II (1+1=2), 3 is III (1+1+1=3), but 4 is

represented by IV. Dwarves consider placing four of the samesymbol in a row to be unmanageable, so the number 4 is created by placing I in front of V and subtracting 1 from 5, which equals4. This same pattern is followed with all Dwarven Numerals;numerical values are written from highest to lowest and thenadded together: CLXVIII = 168 (100+50+10+5+1+1+1). A lowernumber is only placed in front of a higher number when it is to

be subtracted from the larger number in front of it, like IV (4),and only to prevent four of the same numeral appearing oneafter the other. Thus, instead of VIIII representing 9, it is shownas IX (1 subtracted from 10), XL=40, XC=90, and so on. Justremember that any numerals following the subtraction are thenadded: XCVII=97 (10 subtracted from 100, then add 5+1+1). Itcan be a little confusing, but once Dwarves nd a way of doingsomething it is very dif cult for them to change their ways.

It should also be noted that, being natural engineers, Dwarves were very keen on geometry. They were particularly fond ofsquares and the four compass corners (North, South, East and

West), and they were also fascinated with the geometry of thecircle, speci cally how they are divided into 360 degrees.



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Dwarven Battle Dice After many centuries of battle training and combat practic-

es, and when one can no longer improve on their techniquesof weapon smithing and armour forging, elderly Dwarves taketo drinking the nest of Dwarven meads and playing DwarvenBattle Dice to while away their spare time. The exact origin ofthe game is written somewhere in the middle of a very long scrollthat sits in the library of histories, but it is generally agreed thatthe game was invented as a means for the mature Dwarf torelax and unwind after dealing with younger Dwarves all day.

Both players have a pair of six-sided dice marked with bat-tlement defences, another pair marked with attacking forces,and one standard six-sided die for keeping track of their six hitpoints which they each start out with. Both players repeatedlyroll their offensive and defensive dice at the same time and pittheir attacks against each others defences to try to reduce eachothers hit points. The player to be the rst to reduce his oppo -nent to zero hit points is the winner.

Defensive Die Results Wall The Wall blocks a regular Ballista but falls tothe Axe, nor can it block the boulder.

Tower The Tower is higher and stronger than the Wall and blocks the Axe, the regular Ballista and theBoulder. Also, if you roll a Tower in conjunction with

a Ballista, the attack is automatically promoted to araised Ballista enabling you to attack over your op-ponents Wall and Tower. Keep in mind that only one

Ballista will t on one Tower.

Moat A Moat sits in front of your Wall andTower, effectively blocking Axe attacks fromreaching your other defences, but it cannot block

regular Ballista or Boulder attacks. The wideMoat (a double Moat) can block your opponents Axe, Boulderand regular Ballista but a raised Ballista may still attack over it.



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Shield A Shield protects you and will reduce anydamage that you have taken by 1 point. The Shielddoes not protect your defences in any way and thuscannot keep a Wall or Tower from receiving damageand falling.

Offensive Die ResultsGenerally, all base attacks deliver 1 point of damage, but not

all attacks can damage battlements.

Axe Damage from one Axe can take down one op-ponents Wall but does no hit point damage to the op-ponent in that same attack unless combined with theHorn. However, a second Axe rolled in the same round

could then deliver 1 hit point of damage to your opponent. The Axe cannot cross a Moat, nor can it damage a Tower.

Ballista A Ballista (hereafter referred to as a regu-lar Ballista) can attack across a Moat to deliver 1 hitpoint of damage to your opponent. It cannot attack

over your opponents Wall or Tower unless raised up on one of your own Towers (hereafter referred to as a Raised Ballista).

Boulder The Boulder is designed to be launchedover your opponents Moat and/or Wall to deliver 1hit point of damage. A Boulder does not destroy anydefences, nor can it go over a Tower or be raised off of

the ground like the Ballista.

Horn When you roll a Battle Horn in conjunction with another attack it adds force to that attack as fol-lows: one Axe may take down one Wall and deliver

one hit point of damage or take down one Tower but deal no hitpoint of damage to your opponent. A Boulder can be launchednormally to deliver 2 points of damage or it may go over a Toweror double Moat and do 1 point of damage. A regular or raisedBallista can deliver 2 points of damage when it would normallydo 1 point or attack across a double Moat for 1 point of dam-



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age. Since the Horn itself is not a weapon on its own and must be combined with another attack to be fully effective, rolling adouble Horn results in the player having no attacks that round.

Explanation of Play The basic idea of the game is that both players are sitting

across from each other, attacking with their forces while beingprotected by a length of various battlements. Each roll of thedice represents the battle that is being fought at one particularplace along the battlements in that round. The many differentcombinations of offenses vs. defences will result in one, both or

neither of the players receiving damage. While each player is initially protected by two battlements in

each round, their arrangement will determine how effective theyare against attacks. For example, if you roll the defences Walland Tower, and your opponent rolls the attacks of two Boulders,

both Boulders may attack over your one Wall, but both boulders would be completely ineffective against a Moat & Tower combo.Double attacks are not combined as one forceful attack but are

treated as two separate attacks. Thus, a double Axe would takedown one of your opponents Walls and then deliver 1 point ofdamage through the breach, but it wont take down your oppo-nents Tower as if you had a Horn & Axe combo.

Random Event Die A random event die may be used by one or both of the players

to make the game more interesting. This extra die is rolled eachround along with the players offense and defence dice, with theresulting event being added into play. Some of the events affectonly the roller of the die and some affect both players in thatround.

Recover The roller gets 1 hit point back at the be-ginning of the round before any attacks are made.

Morale This event acts as both the Horn and Shield

bonus for the roller. It can be very potent (and oftenfatal for the rollers opponent), if combined with an-other Horn and a successful attack.



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Fire Fire enshrouds your defences with the follow-ing effects; Walls and Towers cannot be touched bythe Axe; the Fire Moat destroys all Ballista attacks thatcross it; a Fire Shield cannot be touched by the Axe

and it destroys all Ballista attacks that hit it. The Axe, Ballistaand Boulder with the Fire event all attack normally but deal 1extra point of damage to the player, but not to battlements.

Thunderbolt Your offenses and defences are em-powered with the forces of lightning and thunder.

Any Axe attacks made against your defences will af-fect them normally, but the attack die or dice used tostrike down the Wall or Tower will be stunned for thenext round, making them unusable. Your opponent

will only be able to roll their defence dice for the fol-lowing round, plus any attack dice that did not come into con-tact with your battlements. Any of your offenses empowered

by the Thunderbolt deal 1 extra point of damage to the player. While the Thunderbolt event will not allow your attacks to bringdown battlements any easier, those that do fall are stunned forthe next round and cannot be rolled by your opponent, whichmeans that unless they manage to roll a Moat on the next round(presuming that your opponent gets to roll a defensive die at all)they will have a breach for you to attack through.

Mountain This Elemental Power gives your of-fenses and defences the might of a mountain for-tress. All mountainside battlements are raised upand inaccessible to attacks as if they had a moat in

front of them, plus they are stronger and resist one extra pointof damage before falling, including the Shield. All attacks areconsidered to be combined with the Horn, and both the Bal-lista and Boulder are considered to be raised even if you have noTowers. This is the only instance when a Boulder can be raisedto attack over Towers and Wide Moats. Dice with the Mountain

event ignore the stunning effect of the Thunderbolt, but you will still receive extra damage from a Thunderbolt attack if it breaches your defences.



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Hammer The power of the Hammer is versatility. Any of your Walls are immediately upgraded to Tow-ers, and those Towers can withstand an extra point ofdamage before falling. Additionally, any Boulders can

be upgraded to Ballistae, and all Ballistae and Axes doan additional point of damage.

Mithryl Mithryl, represented by the anvil,makes your Walls and Towers impregnable, but theBallista and Boulder can still go over them as they

normally would. A Mithryl Shield prevents you from taking anydamage from any attack. All Mithryl offenses are considered to

be combined with the Horn and the Ballista will also ignore theFire event. You are unaffected by the Disaster event when youroll the Elemental Power of Mithryl. This is the only time whendamage can be avoided from the Disaster event.

The History of the DiceTraditionally, all Dwarves made their own set of four dice from

hewn cubes of common stone. Size of the cubes varied slightly between each Dwarf, and stone type and colour differed, but theplacement of the carved symbols was standard and unchang-ing with any set. It wasnt until the introduction of the origi-nal Event die that higher standards came into play. It was thendeemed that if a player wanted to use an Event die in conjunc-

tion with his other four dice, all ve dice had to be carved fromthe exact same type of stone, making them a matching set, andthats when making a set of Dwarven Battle Dice became an artform.

The skill of dice carving grew over the decades, with more care being taken to engrave the symbols and nish the stone, butit was the introduction of the Element of Power that changedeverything. Nobody remembers who made the rst of cial

set, with an Element of Power on the Event die in place of the blank face, but everybody remembers that it was made of pol-ished black granite with red glazed symbols to match the power



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face of Fire. It is said that the game wasnt played for an entire week after that while every Dwarf went about to create a newset of dice for themselves that would outdo all others. The re-sults were spectacular; gleaming white marble dice with inlaidgold symbols; black onyx with silver inlay; semi-precious gem-stone dice of all sorts inlaid with every type of metal imaginable.Every set was an heirloom masterpiece to be handed down forgenerations.

Since the Century Siege, however, few complete sets have survived. These dice have been scattered throughout the ruinedcity and are coveted more than the most precious gem. Findingone masterpiece die is considered good fortune, but to collect anentire set is considered to be the accomplishment of a lifetime.Most game players have a favorite container to hold their diecollection, typically composed of a mix of the various individualdice that has been collected over the years. Accomplished play-ers will usually put together a few complete lesser sets dur-ing their gaming career, composed of four standard dice carvedfrom a common stone; truly accomplished players will have alsoobtained the accompanying Event die which usually has a blanksixth side. Few have ever found an Event die with an Element ofPower face, and to collect a complete set is rarely heard of.

While some players may only want a quick game of dice con-sisting of just one battle, the standard Dwarven method of playis the Battle Campaign, where each battle is only a single roundin a series of games between two opponents. At the end of each

battle round the hit point counters are reset, except the losermust start with one less hit point than what he had previous.Thus, after the very rst round in a Battle Campaign, the win -ner of that round starts the next with 6 hit points, but the loseronly starts with 5 hit points. When they lose again they will onlystart the next round with 4 hit points, and so on. This appliesto both opponents, and rolling Recover cannot heal a player uppast their new starting hit points. The Battle Campaign contin-ues until one player loses after starting the round with only 1

hit point.Traditionally, gamers play by the unwritten code of Victor

Takes Choice; the winner of a game of Dwarven Battle Dice gets



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to choose one die from his opponents collection. The only truerule for this selection process is that a complete set may not be broken up except to complete the victors set. So no matter hownice your opponents polished blue quartz set is, you cannot takeone of them unless it completes your own polished blue quartz set.

With younger players, it is probably best if both players setaside the winners trophy before the game is played. Agreeing onthe dice that each player is willing to part with, and feels is a wor-thy prize, can help to avoid con ict at the end of a long battle.Sometimes a few common dice can be used as a prize in place ofone that is more dif cult to nd if it will help an opponent builda complete set.

Known Dice SetsThe following is a catalogue of the known Dwarven Battle Dice

sets that have been collected thus far, along with the ElementalGlyph of Power, if any, that is found on the Random Event die.Each set is indicated whether it is common (C), dif cult to nd(D) or a rare mastercrafted set (M).

BOULDER CHIP (C) : Brown stone with white runes. Element: None.MUDSTONE (C) : Brown stone with black runes. Element: None.SLATE (C) : Gray stone with black runes. Element: None.FERRIS (C) : Gray iron ore with rust colored runes. Element: None.C AVE R OCK (C) : Beige stone with black runes. Element: None.M ARBLE (C) : White stone with brown runes. Element: None.FROST QUARTZ (D) : Light blue stone with white runes. Element: Ice.FLAME STONE (D) : Red stone with yellow runes. Element: Fire.SHOCK SHALE (D) : Black stone with yellow runes. Element:Lightning.MOUNTAIN J ADE (D) : Green jade with silver runes.Element: Mountain.OBSIDIAN (M) : Black stone with silver runes.Element: Hammer

M ITHRYL (M) : Gray mithryl ore with silverrunes. Element: Mithryl.



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Treasures of the City While the Dwarven city is bound to hold countless treasures

and wondrous items, these are a few of the treasures that youcould come across while adventuring in the Lost City of theDwarves, keeping in mind that only the most pursuant of ad-

venturers has a chance to nd all of them.

A MULET OF THE A POTHECARY : Usually a simple necklace with asingle, rune-carved, golden crys-tal, these one-use magical amulets

have the power to bestow upon you the effects as if you had usedany basic potion of your choice;Extra Healing, Heroism, Invul-nerability, Restoration or Speed.

Another advantage of this item isthat it can be used instantaneous-ly in battle.

A XE OF CRIPPLING (1d6): While this large throwing axe can beused in melee battle, its enchantments are geared for a rangedattack. When thrown, the axe never misses unless you roll a 1and it reduces the opponents initiative and attack rolls by 2.If a natural 20 is rolled for the attack then the opponent is alsostunned for one round, being unable to attack or defend itselfuntil the next round of combat.



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B ELT OF B ATTLE : This wide,leather belt is studded with Bluesteelrivets and nished with a large, Bluesteel axe head buckle. The

belts enchantment raises your ATTACK and DAMAGE by 1 when worn, and the buckle has an extra bonus; it doubles as agrip-blade. The axe head slips out from the buckle and can be

wielded in close combat, brass-knuckle style, for 1d4 damage.

B LADE R UNNER G AUNTLETS :These grey leather gloves withBluesteel bindings grant the

wearer the dual-wielding ability,allowing you to ght with twomelee weapons; a medium weap-on, up to 1d8+1 damage, and alight weapon, up to 1d6+1 damage.

When using a one-handed blade ineach hand you can ght two op -ponents simultaneously or get twoattacks on one opponent, keeping inmind that different weapons may dodifferent damage and grant different

bonuses per attack. Additionally, the wearer gains a +1 bonus to attack anddamage with each strike when using two weapons.

B ROACH OF I NSIGHT : This jewelled brooch increases yourperception and awareness so that you only fail a Surprisecheck on a roll of 1 and you also receive +1 to your armorclass.



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D WARVEN A RMOR : This special Dwarven Mail is a combinationof Mithryl chain and Bluesteel plate armour, making it intricateand durable. Dwarven Mail gives you a +5 armor class bonus,plus it allows you to reduce the damage from any attack by 1.Thus, an attack that only deals 1 damage to you is completelyignored when wearing this armor.

D WARVEN G RENADE : One of the few new itemsthat can be found in the Dwarven city, these metalcylinders are an innovation of the clockwork mech-anism and alchemy. Being a non-magical item,these grenades are viewed with mixed feelingsamongst the Dwarven population when comparedto the reliable rune crafting technique.

The process of winding the internal mechanismand then pulling the lock pin causes the two ingre-dients, stored separately at each end, to be collect-ed into the central tube. At the end of this collectingcycle the ingredients are mixed together with a sudden snapoperation that results in a volatile explosion.Tossing a grenade is considered a Ranged Attack and can be done

whenever you have the option of using a bow or crossbow. Due tothe sequence needed to arm and throw a grenade only one may

be used before an enemy closes in for Battle. A successful attackagainst AC 12 indicates that as many as six opponents receive 6



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points of damage from the blast. For every 1 that you roll above AC 12 on your attack roll, 1 extra point of damage is done to yourenemies, to a maximum of 6 extra damage, so a total attack rollof 17 with a grenade delivers 5 extra points of damage. Rollingunder AC 12 results in less damage AND fewer opponents affect-ed by the grenade blast. For every 1 that you roll under AC 12 on

your attack roll, 1 less opponent is affected and the blast does 1less damage, so a total attack roll of 10 would reduce the damageto 4 and only up to 4 enemies will be caught in the blast, whilean attack roll of 6 results in no enemies being damaged. Rollinga natural 1 indicates that the grenade was faulty and detonates

immediately, delivering 1d6+6 damage to you!

E LVEN CLOAK OF L ONGEVITY : Golden thread has been used to weave Elven runes of health all along the hem of this white,hooded cloak. While you wear the Elven Cloak, you are immuneto all forms of poison or disease, and after a full night of rest you

will regain all lost hit points and ability score damage.

E LVEN CROWNS : These two slender, metal bands are so wellcrafted that they look as if they were woven from vines of goldand silver. Wearing the crown allows you to see everythingaround you clearly, even in the complete absence of light.

E LVEN B ROADHEAD A RROWS : These exceptional +1 arrows have been crafted speci cally to be shot from magical Elven bows. Any of these arrows, when drawn from an Elven quiver and shotfrom an enchanted Elven bow, will magically return to theirquiver when their ight has ended. Even if an arrow is brokenor damaged upon impact it will instantly appear back in thequiver, fully intact and ready again for use. The wide, crescent-shaped arrowheads also grant one other bonus. If these arrowsare used in a successful Sneak Attack against man-sized crea-tures or smaller, the attack will deal triple damage.



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F INE D WARVEN M EAD : Usually found in pint-sized crystal carafes that are covered with a goldfoil seal, drinking this legendary beverage hasincredible recuperative effects. Not only will onepint restore 3 hit points but any damaged abili-ties will also be restored by 1 point each.

F LAMING A RROWS : Nothing more than regular arrows sittingin an oil-soaked rag, they will ignite when touched to any resource. Once lit, these arrows deliver an extra 1 point of damage.

F OLDED B LADE (1d8): A masterfully crafted Dwarven broad-sword that is lighter than their usual weapons of choice. Thishas been accomplished by folding Mithryl with Bluesteel duringthe forging process, creating a light yet strong blade. Thoughnot magical, the swords perfect balance grants you a +1 to at-tack whenever you use it in battle.

F URNACE B RACERS : These black, metalarmbands with a hammered texture areeach set with a large, round gem that ap-pears to icker like a red hot coal. On

command, any weapon that you are hold-ing will be coated in magical ames that donot damage your weapon but do an extra 1d6points of damage to your enemies. This magical



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ame damage does not stack with a weapon that is already am -ing, such as a burning arrow. Your shield will also be coated iname, dealing 1d6 points of damage to anything that strikes youin Battle. For obvious reasons it is nearly impossible to makeSneak Attacks when these bracers are ignited.

G ARDEN N ECTAR : A potent, viscous liquid that will restore 6 hitpoints and 2 points to any damaged ability scores. This rare liq-uid is always stored in a decorative vial made of chitin, which isthe same material that bug exoskeletons are made of.

J OURNEYMAN SHIELD : This is the basic yet well made & balancedDwarven shield used by all new recruits. When used in battle

you can face three enemies at once without suffering a penaltyto your armor class. Many a new Dwarven soldier have survived

battles thanks to this essential piece of military gear.

T HE L ADY S G RACE : While not an actual item, this powerful en-chantment will be placed upon your weapon of choice at a cer-

tain point in the adventure. The purity of this magic will keepcertain creatures of darkness at bay and deal an additional 3points of damage to them when struck with your weapon in

battle. Additionally, the Ladys Grace grants you one oatingpoint to use in combat each round. This +1 bonus point may beadded to either attack or damage, against any creature, and itmay be used differently each round as long as the weapon is on

your person. You do not need to be using the weapon to gain this

special +1 bonus, you only need to have the weapon with you.

L EGEND B LADE (1d10): This large sword has an ageless qualityabout it yet looks as if it has seen many battles. The true originof the Legend Blades is unknown, but is generally attributed to

the collaboration of a Dwarven and Elven weaponsmith. It issaid that no two Legend Blades are alike, and range from axes todaggers to swords of all sizes. What each one does have in com-



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mon is a +2 enchantment, and that once a day it can bestow theeffects of a Potion of Extra Healing or a Potion of Restorationupon the wielder.

L IGHTNING R UNE : This artefact will give you the optionof making a Lightning Strike with an Elven Broad-head arrow. While not quite the ability to hurllightning bolts, this will be one of the most power-ful attacks that you will gain. To make a LightningStrike you must rst successfully hit your oppo -nent with the Ranged Attack, applying damage fromthe attack normally, after which you roll an additional2d6 of lightning damage. This is how many points of additionaldamage will be delivered to your opponent and up to six othercreatures around him, friend or foe. Due to the widespread ef-fects of this attack, a Lightning Strike can only be used when yourenemies are a safe distance from yourself or any of your allies.

P OTION OF THE BERSERKER : This potent elixir taps into warriorsadrenalin, temporarily turning them into a ghting machine.Not only will it restore all of your hit points, but for the durationof one Battle you gain the bene ts of a Potion of Heroism and aPotion of Speed. Remember that these bonuses will only last forone entire Battle, so it is best used wisely.

P SION STONES : These rare gemstones are cut and polished bythe Dwarves to bring out their mystic potential. They are alwaysfound attached to some sort of band, usually leather, that can

be wrapped around the head, neck or arms, though a few aremade to be wrapped around the handle of a weapon. The effectsof a Psion stone are permanent as long as the item is worn, buta person may only wear up to three stones at one time or havetwo stones on one weapon at a time.



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Q UICK D RAW (1d8): This +1 enchanted Elven bow is made fromrare Spiritwood and inlaid with Mithryl runes. The bows mostdistinguishing feature, from where it gets its name, is that itgrants the user one free shot at the beginning of every Battle or

wave of enemies (but not every combat round) before regular

ranged combat takes place.

R ING OF P ROSPERITY : Looking like it has been woven from gold and silver cords, this ring be-stows a dual effect on its wearer. Whenever yourestore your hit points any damaged abilitiesalso get restored by 1 point each.

S HIELD OF THE CLAN F ATHERS : A per-fect example of Dwarven crafts-manship at its nest, this +2metal shield is crafted withrunes and gives you a total +4

AC bonus when used in battle.

S ILVER S HORTSWORD (1d6+1):This light sword, made from aSilver-Mithryl alloy, has beencrafted with such precisionthat the blade maintains its razorsharp edge without enchantments.



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Psion Stone found

Roll 1d201-2 +5 hit points - personal3-4 +1 armor class - personal5-6 +1 attack - weapon7-8 +1 damage - weapon9-10 +1 initiative - personal11-12 +1 Strength - personal

13-14 +1 Dexterity - personal15-16 +1 Constitution - personal17 Maximize health (healing aids restore maximum hit points)- personal18 Combat Regeneration (heal 1 hit point/melee round in com-

bat only) - personal19 Fate stone exchange any d20 roll for a natural 20 1/day -

personal20 Damage Resistance (ignore 1 hit point of damage from allattacks) - personal



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Notes



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W ORD P UZZLESOn the next pages are various word puzzles that will help to

build your vocabulary, which is your knowledge of the words thatyou use every day. Think of your vocabulary as your language toolbox. With a basic tool box, such as a hammer, an adjustable wrenchand a multi-bit screwdriver, you can pretty much get all of the sim-ple jobs done to get you through life, but doing anything else isdif cult, if not impossible, not to mention very frustrating. Hav -ing a small vocabulary does the same thing. Increasing your word

knowledge allows you to communicate better with more people,and makes it a lot easier. It also allows you to enjoy more interestingbooks when you can understand the broad and diverse vocabulary.

By solving these word puzzles and unscrambling the clues, you will be rewarded with an item that will help you through the LostCity of the Dwarves, and you can solve them at any time. Its upto you whether you get them all done before starting the adven-ture, to better equip your character from the get go, or wait untilyour are in a tight spot and could use an extra item to help youalong. The main thing is that you enjoy the puzzles, learn somenew words, and get a little reward along the way. How you goabout it is completely up to you.



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D WARVEN C ROSSWORD P UZZLE I

You have found a special storage room while exploring the Lost Cityof the Dwarves, but its locked! In order to get past the door you mustrst solve this crossword puzzle. All of the answers are words that can befound while reading this book, but if you need extra help then you canlook at the Word Search word list at the back of this book.



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ACROSS1 A building used for growing plants.

4 The main tool for a blacksmith.5 A large castle gate that is raised and lowered.6 A heavy iron block.7 A term used to describe items that have been made or built.9 An old word for glasses.11 A blacksmiths furnace.12 A settlement that is usually temporary.13 The title of someone who makes and sells medicines.17 The opposite of gigantic.19 Something the Dwarves drink out of.20 What a bugs armour is made of.21 Armoured bands worn on the forearm.

DOWN2 Beneath the ground.

3 To glow dimly in the dark.8 Suggesting something without actually saying it.10 A large, old book.14 When someone is very happy or excited.15 Where a large amount of water is stored.16 A customer at a tavern can be called this.17 To be inactive for a long time.18 A container made of glass or crystal.

When you have completed the crossword puzzle, take all of theletters within the circles and rearrange them below to spell outthe paragraph you can turn to for your reward.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _



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D WARVEN C ROSSWORD P UZZLE II

You have found a special storage room while exploring the Lost Cityof the Dwarves, but its locked! In order to get past the door you mustrst solve this crossword puzzle. All of the answers are words that can befound while reading this book, but if you need extra help then you canlook at the Word Search word list at the back of this book.



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ACROSS3 A type of room.

4 A brick of metal.5 A sign or warning.7 A sword with a wide blade.11 A type of paper.12 Someone who is the opposite of loyal.13 Overtaken by vermin.15 A miners main tool.17 A measurement of food.18 To have magical properties.21 Poison produced by an animal or creature.

DOWN1 A large population.2 A mechanical bolt launcher.3 A large group, usually of one or more families.

6 Flower juice.7 A fearsome and crazed warrior.8 A place where protective gear is made or stored.9 Run-down or falling apart.10 A time span of 100 years.14 To take over a city or stronghold.16 A book of instructions.19 A wide gap in the ground.20 Found in the earths veins.

When you have completed the crossword puzzle, take all of theletters within the circles and rearrange them below to spell outthe paragraph you can turn to for your reward.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _



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rtnadom _ _ _ _ _ _ rmyroa _ _ _ _ _ gitno _ _ _ _

tnnoai _ _ _ _ _ eefsindt _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ccstaeslpe _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

rhanmpcte _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ frceaa _ _ _ _ _

-

piideadladt _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ nctsyveoraor _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ roe _ _

liiocmtipna _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ roowcssb _ _ _ _ _ _ _ bechram _ _ _ _ _ _

atbnoircifa _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ neom _ _ _ nrtoap _ _ _ _ _ ivlan _ _ _ _ tacisetc _ _ _ _ _ _ _

evonm _ _ _ _ rfgoe _ _ _ _

-

W ORD S CRAMBLEUnscramble the words, then arrange the boxed letters to nd your

reward! The Word Search words on the next page may help.



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lcna _ _ _

memhra _ _ _ _ _

aternc _ _ _ _ _ tmoe _ _ _

adatkrn _ _ _ _ _ _ rkeeersrb _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ miuitdevin _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ polsurlitc _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

endacetnh _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ vresoierr _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

cneetapmnm _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

sdrrowobad _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ kciaxpe _ _ _ _ _ _

orethyapac _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ mousnlui _ _ _ _ _ _ _

esrbcra _ _ _ _ _ _ tirorta _ _ _ _ _ _ oanstri _ _ _ _ _ _

nmuala _ _ _ _ _ runteyc _ _ _ _ _ _

esgei _ _ _ _ iichnt _ _ _ _ _

-



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W ORD S EARCH I

There are no rewards for nishing this puzzle, other than the satisfac -tion of a job well done!



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apothecaryanvilarmoryberserkerbracers

broadswordcarafe

chasmchitinclanconservatorycrossbow

dilapidateddiminutive

encampmentenchantedfabricationforgehammer

implicationinfested

manualnationnectaromenore

parchmentpatron

rationsreservoirsiegespectaclessubterranean

tankardtome

W ORD S EARCH II

Same words, different puzzle, still no reward. Have fun!

lost city of the dwarves codex

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