2d Delves
2d Delves
Writing
Scott R. Pyle
Cover
Carrie Posing
Interior Art
Jan Annarella, William Henry Caddell, Joe Dragovich, Sky Hernstrom,
Tom Scioli, Chelsea van Tol, Rich Yanizeski
Hex Map
Gavin Dea
                                                                          1
                                           Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction & Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Afterword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
2
     1: Introduction & Basics
2D Delves: Solo & Co-Op Fantasy         CHARACTERS
Skirmish Adventures offers players      VS. MODELS?
a fun and immersive set of rules
                                        We use the terms “character,”
for playing classic dungeon-style
                                        “model,” and “figure”
games on their tabletops. Using
                                        interchangeably in these rules.
the game’s intuitive and fast 2D6
                                        We often refer to the player
mechanics, players will guide their
                                        characters (the protagonists) as
characters through grim worlds of
                                        PC (singular) or PCs (plural). The
dangerous adventure. Delves’ tables
                                        figures opposing the PCs are
and procedures help to take the
                                        often referred to as “AI models,”
place of a traditional game master
                                        “creatures,” “foes,” or “enemies”.
and allow a player or players to tell
tabletop stories on their time.
                                        MORE ON DICE
WHAT YOU                                Delves uses two six-sided dice
NEED TO PLAY                            (D6s) for combat and task
                                        resolution. When you attempt a task
Players need a thematic group of
                                        in the game, you roll 2D6 and add
28mm or 15mm figures or counters,
                                        the value of each die together for a
a handful of six sided dice, tokens
                                        rolled result between 2 to 12. There
or chits numbered 1–20, a tape
                                        are certain times when you will roll
measure or ruler marked in inches,
                                        more than 2D6, and we cover those
a deck of standard playing cards
                                        later in this section.
(optional), and a suitable play
surface or map on which to fight
their battles. We designed Delves
                                        CRITICAL SUCCESS
games to be taut skirmishes meant       Whenever you roll double 6s for
to be fought at close quarters.         a character, we call it a critical
Popular board, mat, and map             success, or just “critical.” This
dimensions like 24" x 24", 30" x 22",   usually increases any base effect
and 24" x 30" will all work well for    associated with the dice roll.
your games.                             See Chapter 3 for more on this.
                                                                             3
FUMBLES                                 3D6 and drop the lowest dice (also
                                        ignoring fumbles on double 1s).
Rolling double 1s can result in a
                                        A check with a Boon resulting in
fumble. Rolling a fumble on certain
                                        a 2, 4, and 5 would equal a 9.
task checks produces specific
negative outcomes. See Chapters 2
                                        Banes are the opposite. If you suffer
and 3 for more on this.
                                        a Bane on a check, you roll 3D6 and
                                        drop the highest dice (also ignoring
HEROIC MODE                             criticals on double 6s). A check
If you would rather your characters     with a Bane resulting in a 3, 5,
not have the chance to fumble in key    and 6 would equal an 8.
moments, you can play in Heroic
Mode. In this mode of play, double      If a Boon and a Bane apply to the
1s are never treated as a fumble, but   same dice roll, they cancel each
rather simply an automatic failure.     other out--roll 2D6 as normal.
4
DICE MODIFIERS                            If the roll matches or exceeds the
                                          difficulty, the character succeeds.
Any number of positive or
                                          We refer to the difference between
negative dice factors might
                                          a successful roll and the difficulty
add to a rolled result.
                                          of the task as the Result. A result
                                          of zero (i.e., meeting the difficulty
Example: Abby rolls a result of 8 on
                                          exactly) equals a very near
a melee strike, and also enjoys a +1
                                          success, while results of one or
from a stat bonus, and a further +1
                                          more indicate increasing levels of
from an ally, making her total result
                                          accomplishment. It is also possible
10 (8 + 1 + 1).
                                          to generate negative results when
                                          you fail a check. For example, if you
ROLLING VS. TARGET                        generate a total of 7 on a 10+ check,
NUMBERS (TN)                              that’s three negative results.
The core of Delves’ player-facing
mechanic involves rolling 2D6 (plus       EXTENDED CHECKS
modifiers) and trying to match or
                                          Sometimes you will want to set up
beat a set Target Number (TN).
                                          a situation where a character or
Whether facing some inert obstacle
                                          characters have to accomplish a
or the attack of a rampaging troll, you
                                          complex task. In the rules, we call
will always roll for your characters,
while the game itself will present
you with the TNs to roll against.
Throughout the rules we will present.
TNs using the following method: 6+,
8+, 10+, etc. Typical TNs include:
  • Easy = 5+
  • Routine = 6+
  • Moderate = 7+
  • Challenging = 8+
  • Hard = 9+
  • Very Hard = 10+
  • Extreme = 11+
  • Nigh Impossible = 12+
                                                                                  5
this an extended check. In these          FLIPPING
checks, a character must collect a
                                          Certain abilities or special
set number of results based on the
                                          circumstances might allow you
complexity of the task:
                                          to flip your results on a D66 check.
                                          For example, a 16 could become
    • Low = 6 results
                                          a 61, or a 46 could become a 64.
    • Medium = 12 results                 If you happen to roll doubles, you
    • High = 18+ results                  can instead add 1 to either the
                                          tens die or the units die.
6
OPPOSED CHECKS
In opposed checks, you will
generate a 2D6 total (also
adding any bonuses) for both
participants. The successful
participant uses their results to
help determine
the outcome. Ties go to the
defending participant.
MEASURING
You will measure all game
distances in inches using tape
measure to track the movement
and position of all the models
on the tabletop. When a
character moves, measure
from the front of the edge
of the character's base.
                                    7
         2: Characters & Magic
As a skirmish game, characters sit at      As we discussed in Chapter 1, stats
the heart of Delves. You will build your   add their bonus to the result of an
party by making characters using the       applicable dice check. Your stats
rules presented in this chapter            can increase over the course of a
                                           campaign, but individual stats max
Characters all possess the following       out at +4.
basic stats:
                                           NON-BONUS STATS
Strength (STR): Used to attack a
                                           We use three other “stats” for
foe in melee combat and perform
                                           characters that don’t act as
feats of physical might.
                                           bonuses to dice rolls:
8
Every player character starts with       Dwarf
the following profile and resources:
                                         Short, stout, and
                                         rugged people
Starting Profile                         with a penchant
STR+0 | DEX+0 | CON+0 |                  for hard work.
INT+0 | PER+0 | CHA+0                    Bonus: Grudge or Healthy
** Assign
        no more than +1 to
                                         Halfling
   any one stat.
                                         Short, dextrous, and
** Y
    ou can gain an extra trait          fun-loving people
   selection by reducing one             with a strong-willed
   of your +0 stats to -1. You can       love of life.
   do this up to two times at            Bonus: Contacts or Lucky
   character creation.
                                         Human
                                         Adaptable, resilient,
HERITAGE                                 and numerous
                                         people capable
You will need to select your
                                         of great and
character’s Heritage. This
                                         terrible deeds.
represents their cultural and
                                         Bonus: Lucky or Versatile
physiological development as one
of the sentient peoples of your
fantasy world. We list four Heritages
                                         CHARACTER
for you to choose from, but it’s easy    CLASS LISTINGS
to create more by simply looking         Once you know your character’s
at what we’ve already done here          Heritage, it is time to select their
and converting your own ideas            Class. Delves defines a character’s
to this format.                          purpose in the game with the Class
                                                                                9
trait. Delves offers four classes,         Priest
and a well-rounded adventuring band
                                           You’re a magic-user
will contain at least one of each Class.
                                           who draws their
                                           power from the gods,
When you select a Class for a
                                           or from nature itself.
character, be sure to add the
                                           Some higher power inspires you.
starting stat bonus listed for that
                                           Stat Bonus: +1 to CHA, STR, or INT
Class into your profile.
                                           Free Trait: Spellcaster
Expert
                                           CHARACTER TIERS
You’re a                                   AND ADVANCEMENT
professional
                                           Tiers are a rough measure of
of some kind. You might be
                                           character and creature power.
an explorer, researcher, thief,
                                           Characters begin each campaign
or something else.
                                           at Tier 1. This places them a cut
Stat Bonus: +1 to DEX, PER, or INT
                                           above your average townsperson
Free Trait: Finesse Fighter
                                           or soldier (Tier “0” characters).
or Professional
                                           They’re the capable and survivable
                                           protagonists of your own tabletop
Fighter
                                           fantasy adventure stories, but
You’re a                                   they’re not superheroes.
mercenary,
soldier, or                                Tiers become important when
warrior of some kind.                      (roughly) trying to balance your
Stat Bonus: +1 to STR, DEX, or CON         PCs against game opposition,
Free Trait: Deadeye Shot                   i.e., creatures, foes, and monsters.
or Mighty Attack                           As they adventure and battle, they
                                           earn advances, and slowly increase
Mage                                       their Tiers. We cover this process
You’re a magic-                            in detail in Chapter 4.
user who draws
their power from                           Building Your Party
the Essence, a magical, mystical           It’s up to you to decide how large
force that infuses all things.             you want your starting party of
Stat Bonus: +1 to INT, DEX, or CHA         adventurers to be. We recommend
Free Trait: Spellcaster                    four characters to start with,
10
including one of each of the four        Acrobat
classes. That will give your party the
                                         You treat vertical surfaces like
classic dungeon crawling feel from
                                         normal ground, and you never count
the halcyon days of fantasy RPGs.
                                         as being knocked down. You also
                                         gain +1 to your DEX stat on: jump
If you want to run five or six models,
                                         checks, checks to avoid falling and
extra Fighters are never a bad idea,
                                         falling damage, and checks to avoid
and a highly focused Expert will
                                         the effects of dangerous terrain.
come in handy as well.
Advanced Adventurers
Once you have a handle on                Backstabber
the basic systems, you can begin
                                         Once per turn, you can use a free
a campaign with more advanced
                                         action to make a DEX vs. PER check
PCs. Just start them with a number
                                         against a foe you outnumber in
of extra rolls on the Advancement
                                         melee. If your check succeeds, gain
table. See Chapter 4 for more
                                         +1 on your next attack against them.
on PC advancement.
                                                                            11
hand out to nearby allies. A single    So three foes against you would
character may receive up to two        get a +1 instead of a +2 to their
+1 bonuses in this manner.             attack totals.
12
Treat your companion as a normal        Deadeye Shot
member of your party, but they do
                                        This ability marks deadly accuracy
not gain advances or participate
                                        with ranged weapons. If you
in pre-battle activities. If they
                                        don’t move, characters targeted
should perish during the Post-Battle
                                        by you don’t benefit from cover.
sequence, replace them with
                                        Additionally, if you don’t move
a suitable successor.
                                        before firing into a melee, you can
                                        ignore the random target rules,
Contacts                                targeting just the model you wish.
You have many contacts from
various circles of society that grant   Critical: You can fire again. The
you a number of benefits on a           second shot may go against the
successful 8+ CHA check:                same target or a different one.
                                        Limit one extra shot per turn.
  • Gain a Boon on any non-combat
    AI model interaction rolls (see     Defender
    the end of Chapter 3 for more).
                                        Once per round, you can redirect a
  • You can flip the result on a        foe’s melee or ranged attack on an
    single Pre-Battle table roll.       ally within 3" of you to yourself. You
  • Adjust any roll on the Encounter    cannot combine the effects of this
    Balance table up by 1. This         trait with the Counterattack trait.
    allows for an extra ally.
                                        Critical: You can use this ability
                                        again this round.
Counterattack
If a foe misses you with a melee        Drive Back
strike and you rolled at least one
                                        You can launch ferocious assaults
6 on your defense check, your
                                        that can drive a foe back! If you
successful defense becomes an
                                        choose it, any successful melee
attack! Treat your defense total
                                        attack roll drives your target back
as the attack total in this case,
                                        2" on an 8+ STR check. You may
so a defense of 11 vs. an attack
                                        choose to follow or not. Driving
of 9 would become an attack
                                        a foe out of a combat where you
scoring 2 results. Be sure to
                                        outnumber them triggers free
add the damage bonus from
                                        attacks from your allies as if the
your melee weapon.
                                        target had left willingly. Unless your
                                                                             13
attack is magical in nature, you      creature who acts as your familiar.
cannot drive back foes larger         Use an appropriate model or token
than Ogre-sized.                      for this familiar. Once per game,
                                      you can use a free action to extend
Critical: Move the successfully       the range of a spell by 6" or gain
targeted foe back 2" AND knock        a Boon on a spellcasting check.
them down.                            Anytime you take damage, roll 1D6,
                                      on a 6+, your familiar takes all of the
Druid                                 damage, but is removed from play.
You have an affinity for the          Your familiar always returns for the
natural world. You have the           beginning of the next battle.
following abilities:
                                      Fetch
  • You can use your CHA to defend    You’re revealed
    against attacks from any foe      to be a
    with the Beast ability.           doppelganger
  • You can make an 8+ DEX            from the Fae
    check to move normally            realms! This
    through any non-aquatic,          revelation
    difficult wilderness terrain.     unlocks both
                                      hidden power and new limitations.
  • Any allied Beast companion in
                                      Roll 1D6 before each battle, and on
    melee with you gains an extra
                                      a result of 4+, your Fae nature takes
    +1 to its gang-up bonus.
                                      hold for that battle. Anytime you're
                                      dealt an odd initiative chit, you gain
Extra Attack                          a Boon on your next 2D6 check for
You can spend a Fate point to         that round. Anytime you're dealt
get an extra attack on your turn.     an even initiative chit, you suffer
This can be against the same foe      a Bane on your next 2D6 check
or a different legal target. This     for that round.
can be a second melee, ranged,
or spell attack.                      Finesse Fighter
                                      You utilize a fighting style based
Familiar                              more on agility and grace than
You must be a Mage to take this       power. You may make melee
trait. You possess a small beast or   attacks with light weapons and
                                      natural attacks using your DEX stat
14
instead of your STR stat. You also       Select your spell from ANY of the
don’t suffer a movement penalty for      spells listed later in this section.
wearing light armor, but you cannot      You cast this spell at +1 to its base
wear heavy armor or use shields.         TN, using either INT or CHA. Mages
                                         and Priests may not take this trait.
Grudge
Your people hold bitter grudges          Lucky
against many enemies. Before each        Whenever you
battle select the highest Tier foe you   spend a Fate point,
face and make an 8+ CHA check.           roll 1D6. On a 5+,
On a success you gain a Boon on          you get your Fate
your first attack and defense checks     point back.
of the battle against that foe.
                                         Mighty Attack
Critical: Gain a second attack Boon      You can deliver melee or ranged
against your foe.                        attacks with tremendous force
                                         and accuracy. Choose one of the
Hard to Kill                             following when you select this trait:
When you lose your last Health
point, make a 9+ CON check. If             • +1 damage on melee attacks,
you fail, you’re OOA as normal.              increases to +2 at Tier 3
On a success, you remain in the            • +1 damage on ranged attacks,
game but any further damage                  increases to +2 at Tier 3
automatically takes you OOA. You
may also alter the units die of any
                                         Critical: Your foe is knocked down.
Post-Battle survival check by 1.
For example, a 14 could become a
                                         Moving Shot
15, or a 35 could become a 36.
                                         Make a 6+ DEX check after
Healthy                                  charging. On a success, you can
                                         make a ranged attack. Your target
Add +4 to your Health total.
                                         gains +1 to avoid your attack.
Hedge Wizard
                                         Critical: Move an additional 2" after
You've picked up just enough             your shot.
knowledge to cast a single spell.
                                                                               15
Natural Attack                        Once per battle, you can gain a
                                      Boon using this stat. Decide if you
You are a deadly unarmed
                                      will use this bonus before rolling
combatant in melee. This could
                                      any dice. You can also trade this
come from martial training or
                                      bonus to gain an extra special
natural gifts or adaptations. You
                                      action during a turn.
always count as being armed, and
your natural strikes do +1 damage.
                                      Savant
Critical: If your strike total        You possess vast knowledge from
exceeds your target's CON TN          a long life or dogged research. This
by 3+ results, they lose their        grants you the following benefits:
next combat/special action.
                                        • Make an 8+ INT check prior to
Pathfinder                                any Advance roll. On a success
                                          you may adjust your 2D6 roll
You move well, even over broken
                                          up or down by 1.
ground. Add +1" to your base Move
value. With the exceptions of deep      • You gain +1 to any INT
water and vertical surfaces, ignore       checks made on non-combat
the effects of difficult terrain on       NPC interactions.
your Move value.
                                      Scout
Professional
                                      You’re a stealthy scout, at home in
You practice a                        wilderness and urban environments.
profession; examples                  At the beginning of every game,
include chirurgeon,                   make an 8+ DEX or PER check. On
historian, hunter,                    a success you may make one free
investigator, navigator,              move prior to the initiative phase
philosopher, soldier,                 on round 1.
thief, tracker, etc.
Select one of your                    Critical: One extra character may
stats to go with                      move up to 3" in your direction.
your profession.
                                      Scrounger
Once per pre-battle sequence, you
                                      You’re excellent at finding and
can gain a Boon using this stat.
                                      securing valuable items. Anytime
                                      you come across a treasure, you
16
can grab it with a free action        Slayer
instead of a special action.
                                      If your melee attack reduces a foe
Assuming you finish the battle in
                                      to zero Health, make an 8+ STR
possession of the item, you can
                                      check. On a success you can make
also make an 8+ PER check, and
                                      another attack vs. a foe within your
on a success, you earn +1 extra
                                      melee range. Limit one extra
QP for securing the item.
                                      attack per round.
Skirmisher                            Versatile
When in melee combat, you
                                      You can adjust any roll on the
can use a free action to make
                                      advance table up or down by 1.
an 8+ DEX check to leave that
combat without suffering any
                                      Warcaster
free attacks. You may only
attempt this check once per turn.     Unlike most casters, you can cast
                                      spells while in melee combat.
Critical: You gain +2" of             Additionally, you gain +1 to cast
extra movement.                       one damaging spell of your choice.
                                      This is your signature spell.
                                                                              17
MAGIC AND SPELLS                          Gathering Power
Mages and Priests with the                Certain spells will allow casters to
Spellcaster trait wield arcane            increase their potential effects with
powers either from the Essence, or        a commensurate difficulty increase
from some higher power. In either         in their casting check number.
case, magical power brings both           We call that gathering power.
great rewards and, potentially, great
costs. Some of the spells listed in       When you choose to gather
this section offer extra effects if the   power, you increase the difficulty
caster rolls a critical on their check.   of your spell by 1 and increase the
This is the good side of magic.           effect by some set amount
                                          dictated by the spell.
Magical power is not unlimited. So
long as they continue to succeed          Sacrificing Vitality
on their check, a spellcaster may         Before casting any spell a Caster
cast a particular spell an unlimited      can decide to pour some of their
number of times during a game with        own life essence into it to increase
no inherent risk to themselves or         their chance of succeeding. They
their allies. Once they fail a casting    do this by sacrificing their own
check, they can still attempt to cast     Health before rolling any dice.
the spell, but its TN increases by        Every 2 Health sacrificed grants a
+1 with each failure.                     +1 to the casting check. Like normal
                                          damage, Health lost in this manner
If the caster rolls double 1s on such     returns before the next battle.
a check, they incur a backlash.
Roll 1D6 on the following Magical         Spell List
Backlash Table to see what
                                          The list of spells that follows cannot
happens! A caster may spend a Fate
                                          begin to cover all of the thousands
point to avoid rolling on this table.
                                          of cool spells written for fantasy
                                          RPGs and skirmish games. We
They can still cast other spells
                                          encourage you and your game
in their repertoire normally, but
                                          group to adapt spells from other
those spells are also subject to
                                          games into Delves using the spells
this rule of failure.
                                          listed here as your models.
18
                         MAGICAL BACKLASH TABLE
 D6     Result
  1     Explosive failure! Power radiates out from the Caster in all
        directions (12" radius). Every model touched by the effect must
        make a 9+ CON check. Any negative results count as unsavable
        damage. Remove the caster and resolve their fate on the Post-Battle
        injury table, but treat any 5s and 6s rolled on the tens die as 4s.
  2     Severe backlash. Caster loses the ability to cast the spell for the
        next battle as well and suffers 1D6 unsavable damage.
  3     Serious backlash. Caster suffers 1D6+1 unsavable damage and
        a really bad headache: -1 INT for the remainder of the battle.
  4     Troubling miscast. Caster suffers 1 damage and -1 INT for the
        remainder of the game.
  5     Mild miscast. Caster chooses: suffer 1 damage or -1 INT for the
        remainder of the game.
  6     Could have been worse! Caster loses either their Move or
        Special/Combat action next turn.
20
Critical: Increase the Curse effect     Critical: Your doorway remains
to -3.                                  on a 3+ instead of a 4+.
                                                                               21
Heal (P)                                   Illusions (M)
Range: 6" | Action: Special | 6+           Range: 12" | Action: Combat | PER TN
You can try to heal a nearby model.        Requires LoS. You can create
Use a special action to make a             phantasmal shapes and images
check. On a success, your target           that seem real and target a single
regains lost Health equal to 1 +           foe. If your check meets or exceeds
any results you score. Instead             the target’s PER, they cannot
of restoring lost Health, you can          penetrate your illusions. Use your
remove a character’s immobilized,          results to determine their behavior:
poison, or stun condition.
                                             • 0–1: Distracted. They cannot
Gather Power: +4 extra Health healed.          Move next turn.
Critical: Restore 2 extra Health points.     • 2–3: Attack the illusions!
                                               They lose their next turn.
Hex (M)
                                             • 4+: Charge and attack their
Range: 12" | Action: Combat | *                nearest ally.*
22
Light (U)                                 remove it. A character may
                                          only benefit from one protection
Range: 3" | Action:
                                          spell at a time.
Special | 6+
                                                                             23
Stun (M)                                always land on your feet after
                                        falling. Anytime you move within
Range: 12" | Action: Combat | CHA TN
                                        6" of an objective marker, you can
                                        use a special action to make a
On a success, your target loses
                                        6+ check. On a success, you take
either their next move or combat/
                                        control of that objective without
special action (your choice).
                                        having to move into contact with it.
Place this creature within 6" of        Create a 3" long x 3" high x 1" thick
you. You control them. Assign the       wall that you can place within 12"
creature an initiative chit starting    of you. Whether made of earth, ice,
with the next round of action.          plants, or pure magical force, the
Limit one creature per game.            effect is the same. Your wall blocks
                                        line of sight and creates a barrier.
Telekinesis (M)
Range: 6" | Action: Free/Special | 6+   It can be climbed or attacked
                                        (Health 10), and anytime it is
You and a single ally within 6" of      attacked, you must roll your casting
you (choose which one each time)        stat as the defense check. It must
suffer no damage from falls and         be reduced to zero Health to remove
                                        it from play, or you can remove it by
24
spending a special action (no check     Requires LoS. A magical web
needed) to banish it.                   centered on a single target (Ogre-
                                        sized or smaller) entangles it and
Critical: Increase your wall’s Health   every other model within 3" of it.
to 15.                                  They cannot move or fight unless
                                        they break out. See Chapter 3 for
Web (M)                                 more on entanglement.
Range: 12" | Action: Combat |
DEX/STR TN
                                                                             25
WEAPONS AND GEAR                       Expert Special Items
Characters can carry only a finite     1 Medium Melee Weapon
amount of stuff. Every character       2 Light Melee Weapons
has a number of Gear Slots equal       Light Armor
to 10 + their STR + CON stats.         Professional Tools
A character can carry up to two
points over their allowed total, but   Fighter Special Items
they will then be encumbered. See      1 Heavy Melee Weapon OR
Encumbrance in Chapter 3 for more      1 Medium Melee Weapon + Shield
details on hauling gear and the        2 Light Melee Weapons
effects of being overburdened.         1 Heavy OR Medium Ranged Weapon
                                       Quiver of Arrows/Bolts
Every character begins the             Heavy Armor OR Light Armor
campaign with a basic adventurer’s
kit and a number of special items      Mage Special Items
based on their class.
                                       1 Light Melee Weapon
                                       Book or Scrolls
Basic Adventurer Kit
                                       Spell Components
2 Torches
Rations                                Priest Special Items
Rope and Grapnel
                                       1 Medium Melee Weapon
1 Light Melee Weapon
                                       Heavy Armor OR Light Armor
                                       Light Shield (optional)
                                       Holy Symbol
                                       Healer’s Pouch
26
WEAPONS                                 • Medium weapons take up
                                          2 gear slots.
Delves divides melee and missile
weapons into three categories:          • Heavy weapons require two
Light, Medium, and Heavy. The             hands to use and thus the
following list includes many of the       wielder cannot also carry
most common types, and you can            a shield. They also take up
use them as templates to add new          3 gear slots.
weapons of your own into the game.      • Reach. Weapons with reach
                                          extend a model’s Zone of
Melee Weapons                             Control to 2", allowing a model
Light: +1 damage                          to attack in melee at greater
Dagger (Thrown 6")                        range than base contact.
Staff                                   • Knockdown. On a critical hit,
Whip (Reach 2", Knockdown)                any human sized or smaller
                                          target is knocked down.
Medium: +2 damage
Broadsword
Hand Axe (Thrown 6")
                                       Missile Weapons
Spear (Reach, Thrown 12")
                                       Light: +1 damage | Range: 6"
Heavy: +3 damage                       Bolas (Knockdown)
Bastard Sword                          Dagger
Battleaxe                              Hand Crossbow
Halberd (Reach 2")
                                       Medium: +2 damage | Range: 12"
Melee Weapon Notes                     Javelin
                                       Short Bow
 • Thrown. Certain Light and           Spear
   Medium melee weapons can also
   be thrown as missile weapons.       Heavy: +3 damage | Range: 24"
   Once a weapon is thrown it is       Crossbow
   gone for the game, but is assumed   Elf Bow
   to be recovered after the battle    Longbow
                                                                          27
Missile Weapon Notes                    Heavy Armor: -2 damage | -2" Move |
                                        2 Gear slots
  • Light missile and melee
    weapons come in braces of           Heavy Shield*: -1 damage |
    three and take up 1 gear slot.      -1" Move | 2 Gear slots
  • In the hands of a non-Elf, Elf
    Bows count as Short Bows.           Light Shield: +1 DEX vs. physical
                                        attacks | 1 Gear slot
  • Heavy missile weapons take up
    2 gear slots. Elf bows carried by
                                        *A
                                          heavy shield’s move penalty
    Elves take up only 1 gear slot.
                                         combines with other armor.
  • Any bow requires a quiver of
    arrows or bolts, and this takes
    up an additional gear slot.
  • On a critical hit with bolas, any   Other Gear
    human sized or smaller target       Your other gear can sometimes
    is knocked down.                    be just as important as weapons
                                        and armor. Gear slot costs are
                                        noted in parentheses.
Armor
                                        Books/Scrolls (1)
Characters
                                        This might be a spell book
may select and
                                        containing the current repertoire
wear one type
                                        of the caster’s magical might, or a
of armor based
                                        holy tome laying out the catechism
on their starting
                                        of the caster's faith. Either way, if
gear package.
                                        they become separated from these
Armor reduces
                                        for some reason, increase the TN
the damage a character takes
                                        of any spell casting check by +1.
from any successful hits from
STR- or DEX-based attacks. If you
                                        Healer’s Pouch (1)
roll double 1s on a DEX check,
                                        Once per game, use a special
reduce your armor’s protection
                                        action to make a 7+ INT check
by 1 for the rest of the game.
                                        for you or another character in
                                        base contact. On a success
Light Armor: -1 damage | -1" Move |
                                        regain or restore 2 lost Health,
1 Gear slot
                                        or remove a poison condition.
28
Professional Tools (1)                  Torches (1)
Lockpicks, scribe’s quills, or a        Light is not promised in the
chirurgeon’s instruments. These         darksome realms of fantasy
tools grant you +1 to your chosen       adventure. In Delves, no characters
stat check for relevant tasks.          can see in the dark. It takes a
                                        move or special action to light a
Rations (1)                             torch, and it illuminates an area
Your party can’t live on hope and       out to a 6" radius from the holder.
greed alone — they need to eat!         This includes two torches and the
Before you start an adventure, all of   components to light them. For
your characters must have rations.      more on torches and darkness,
If they do not, they could suffer       see Guard the Light in Chapter 3.
privation during the campaign turn.
This represents enough rations to
see a character through campaign
turn. See Chapter 4 for more on this.   Treasure
                                        Some of the adventures and
Rope and Grapnel (2)                    scenarios you will play might
Make a 6+ DEX check to ignore any       feature treasure tokens. Here are
falling damage and land on your         some simple rules for character
feet when you fall from any height.     interactions with such objectives:
Certain scenarios might also require
you to set your rope and grapnel to       • If you’re in base contact
gain access to a specific area of the       with a token, you can grab
battle map. Takes up 2 gear slots.          it with a special action.
                                          • Unless otherwise noted,
Spell Components (1)
                                            treasure takes up 1 gear slot.
A bit of bat wing. A piece of a
lizard’s tail. One dragon scale.          • Larger treasures will cost
A holy symbol of your god. You              2 or more gear slots.
decide what’s in your caster’s Spell      • If you’re taken out of action,
Component pouch, but no matter              you drop the item where you
the contents, they need them to             last stood.
cast their spells. Increase the TN
of any spell casting check by +1
should a caster become separated
from their spell components.
                                                                             29
MAGIC ITEMS                            2 lost Health. Once used, this item
                                       is gone.
Your characters cannot begin a
campaign with these items, but they
                                       Golden Charm (1)
might find them on their adventures!
                                       Once per game gain a Boon on any
Whenever a magic item’s nature is
                                       defense check.
not indicated, randomly select an
item from this list. Gear slot costs
                                       Protection
are listed in parentheses.
                                       Charm (1)
                                       Once per
      RANDOM MAGIC ITEMS
                                       game, reduce the
 D6    Result
                                       damage you suffer
  1    Minor Item
                                       from a CHA or INT-
  2    Potion                          based attack or spell by -2.
  3    Spell Scroll
  4    Magic Armor                     Scrying Glass (1)
  5    Magic Weapon                    This item gives you a better chance
  6    Major Item                      at spotting hidden or invisible
                                       models and objectives, or other
                                       items. Give up your move action
      MINOR MAGIC ITEMS
                                       to gain +1 to your PER checks.
 D6    Result
  1    Elven Cloak
                                       Trouble Doll (1)
  2    Fae Bread                       These dolls were crafted by a
  3    Golden Charm                    forgotten society to absorb their
  4    Protection Charm                pain and suffering. Anyone carrying
  5    Scrying Glass                   one ignores the first point of stat
  6    Trouble Doll                    loss they would suffer from an
                                       attack or condition. The doll then
                                       immolates and disappears.
Elven Cloak (1)
If you have cover from a ranged
                                       Potions (1)
attacker, you gain an extra +1 on
any DEX check when defending.          Potions are expendable, one-use
                                       items. It takes only a free action
Fae Bread (1)                          to quaff a potion. If you discover
Once per game, use a special action    a potion in a treasure cache, roll
to consume this item and regain        1D6 to determine its nature:
30
  • 1: Speed. +1" Move                   Priest Spells
  • 2: Might. +1 STR                       • 1: Augment
  • 3: Agility. +1 DEX                     • 2: Bless
  • 4: Iron. +1 CON                        • 3: Curse
  • 5: Will. +1 CHA                        • 4: Daylight
  • 6: Insight. +1 INT                     • 5: Heal
                                           • 6: Rebuke Undead
Effects last for 1D6 rounds.
                                         Magic Armor
                                         If you secure magic armor in a
Spell Scroll (1)
                                         treasure cache, randomly decide
Randomly choose a spell. This            its nature and characteristics
scroll lets the magic user cast that     using the following 1D6 tables.
spell as if they rolled a 10. Using a
scroll in battle requires the caster’s     • 1–2: Light Armor
full turn, i.e., no movement. Once a
                                           • 3–4: Heavy Armor
scroll has been used, it is gone from
the caster’s possession. Roll 1D6.         • 5: Light Shield
                                           • 6: Heavy Shield
Roll 1D6:
1–3: Mage Spell
                                         Magic Light Armor
4–6: Priest Spell
                                         (-2 damage, 0 Gear slots)
Mage Spells
                                         Magic Heavy Armor
  • 1: Arcane Armor                      (-3 damage, -1" Move, 1 Gear slot)
  • 2: Doorway
                                         Magic Heavy Shield*
  • 3: Enchant
                                         (-1 damage, 1 Gear slot)
  • 4: Fireball
  • 5: Magical Bolt                      Magic Light Shield
  • 6: Wall                              (+1 DEX vs. physical attacks)
                                         *A
                                           heavy shield’s move penalty
                                          combines with other armor.
                                                                              31
All magic armor provides one other     Weapon Type:
benefit. Roll 1D6 again:               1–3: Melee
                                       4–6: Ranged
  • 1: Aquatic. +1 to
    Swimming checks                    Weapon Weight:
  • 2: Glowing. Free action            1–2: Light
    to activate, counts as             3–4: Medium
    torch for 1 round                  5–6: Heavy
32
                                             Circlet of Wisdom (0)
        MAJOR MAGIC ITEMS
                                             Gain +1 INT while wearing
 D6      Result
                                             this item.
  1      Belt of Strength
  2      Boots of Speed
                                             Diadem of Majesty (0)
  3      Circlet of Wisdom                   Gain +1 CHA while wearing
  4      Diadem of Majesty                   this item.
  5      Lucky Dragon's Tooth
  6      Ring of Protection                  Lucky Dragon’s Tooth (0)
                                             Once per battle gain a free Boon
Belt of Strength (0)                         on any check.
Gain +1 STR while
wearing this item.                           Ring of Protection (0)
                                             Acts as Light Armor (-1), but stacks
Boots of Speed (0)                           with normal armor, and works vs.
Gain +1" Move while                          unsavable damage.
wearing these boots.
                                                                                   33
         3: Actions & Combat
Here we cover the ins and outs of   Rounds and Turns
action in the game.
                                    A Round consists of a number
                                    of Turns equal to the number of
THE COMBAT ROUND                    models involved in the battle. Each
The combat round structure helps    model gets a Turn to activate.
to organize the action.
34
PHASE 1: INITIATIVE                    If a new or unexpected model
                                       enters the game, add another chit in
Every combat round begins with
                                       the numbered order. If a game with
the Initiative phase. Before the
                                       nine models gets a new participant,
first round of any game, count
                                       add a chit labeled number 10.
up the number of models due
to participate in the battle. You
                                       Held Turns
will need a corresponding set of
numbered tokens or chits. So if        A PC can hold their turn if it seems
your game has nine models, you         more advantageous to take it later
will have nine chits marked 1 to 9.    in the round. When the moment
                                       seems right, they can declare
Place these chits in a bag, cup,       they're taking their held turn ahead
or box that you can draw from.         of the next model in line to go, but
When initiative begins each round,     they must make an 8+ PER check to
select a model from your side and      time it properly. If they pass, they go
randomly draw a chit for it. Place     ahead of the next model in line as
the chit next to the model on the      planned. If they fail, they go directly
board. Then do the same for one        after the next model in line. Only
of the opposing models. Continue       one PC per round may hold their
assigning chits back and forth until   turn. If a PC doesn’t use their
every model has a numbered             held turn, it is lost.
chit beside it.
                                       Example: Sky's four adventurers
Models activate in numbered order,     (Falgrim, Haldane, Jodri, and
starting from 1 and moving through     Annoka) are battling a Dragon!
to the last numbered chit. As a        So far, no one is in melee with the
model activates and completes its      beast, but all models are within
actions, remove its chit and place     charging range. Sky draws initiative
it back in the draw bag. Each round    chits for all five models, and things
you will repeat this process.          shake out as follows:
                                                                           35
Sky decides he would rather              Move Actions
Jodri go after Annoka, as Jodri
                                         Every model gets a Move Action
possesses the Backstabber ability
                                         during its turn. Most character
and Sky needs another model to
                                         models normally move 6", but
be in melee contact for it to work.
                                         traits and gear can affect this total.
Jodri holds his action, then Anoka
                                         Creature models possess varying
goes on chit 2 and completes her
                                         rates of movement.
turn. Now it would normally be the
Dragon's turn, but Sky rolls his 8+
                                         A model may split this movement
PER check for Jodri and succeeds!
                                         up over the course of its turn,
He will now get to go before
                                         interspersing this movement with
the Dragon.
                                         the performance of other actions,
                                         including combat.
Optional Rule —
Group Activation                         Example: Jodri (Move of 6")
If your group is facing a number of      activates and moves 3" to attack
models with identical profiles, you      a foe at range. He expends his
can decide to assign them a single       combat action. He then uses the
chit for initiative. When their number   remaining 3" of his movement,
comes up, simply activate and            seeking cover behind a nearby wall.
complete the actions of each model
in turn until they have all activated.   Encumbrance
This works great for Tier 1 foes         Characters whose total carried
that come in groups of two or            gear exceeds their gear allowance
more (like Giant Rats).                  are overburdened. They suffer a
                                         Bane on all attack, defense, and
PHASE 2: ACTIONS                         spellcasting checks, and cannot
During this phase, every character       charge. A character can always use
gets a turn based on their initiative    a free action to drop an item to shed
chit. During their turn, a model gets    weight or to make room for another.
a move action and either a Special
or Combat action. They also get          Measuring and Base Contact
up to three Free actions.                Measure all movement in inches.
                                         If you’re using 10mm or 15mm
                                         miniatures, you can halve any listed
                                         ranges or movement rates. Measure
                                         movement from the edge of the
36
model's base to the edge of an          Models may move through friendly
opposing model's base (in the case      models and ignore their ZoCs, but
of measuring distances for melee        models must end their movement
and ranged combat).                     in an area large enough to
                                        accommodate their base size without
Base Contact occurs when one            sitting atop another model’s base.
model's base touches another
model's base. This is normally          Pre-Measuring
the only way enemy models               You may pre-measure distances
may fight in melee.                     at any time.
                                        Facing
  A Note On Basing
                                        Assume a model can see 360
  You can base models                   degrees around itself, so facing
  anyway you like — Delves is a         is not an issue.
  miniature-agnostic game. Use
  whatever figures you want from        Difficult Ground
  your collection, and don’t worry      Designate difficult ground before
  about how they’re based. The          each battle. This could include
  effects of different base sizes       areas like muddy fields, dense
  even out over the course of           jungle, deep water, etc. Models
  game play, so don’t sweat it!         moving through difficult areas
                                        halve whatever portion of their
                                        movement that occurs in them.
Zone of Control
Models cannot move through the          Other Types of Movement
space occupied by enemy models.         Characters have several other types
Every model in the game has a 1"        of movement available to them.
area all around it we refer to as its   These count toward the character’s
zone of control (ZoC). If a model       total move allowance for their turn.
moves within an enemy model’s
ZoC, all movement stops and the         Climbing
two models enter into combat.           Treat buildings and walls outfitted
Place them in base contact.             with stairs and ladders normally for
                                        purposes of calculating distance
                                        moved. Treat a surface without
                                        stairs or ladders as difficult ground.
                                                                            37
Flying                                   adjacent squares or hexes count
Models that can fly ignore enemy         as being within melee range.
model zones of control and treat
vertical terrain as normal ground.       Free Actions
They must end their move in a            Free actions require little time
space large enough to fit their base.    to complete and usually involve
                                         PER checks or activating a trait.
Jumping                                  A model may perform up to
A model that wishes to jump a            three free actions per turn.
chasm or vault an obstacle makes
a 5+ DEX roll. A model can jump          Drop Item
2" horizontally and 1" vertically        Dropping an item is a free action.
for every 2 results rolled.
                                         Hiding
If they fail a check to jump             If a character ends their move
a chasm, they fall. See Falling          in cover, they can use a special
under Environmental Hazards              action to hide. If an enemy tries
later in this section.                   to spot them through the cover,
                                         they gain +1 to their DEX to avoid
Swimming                                 detection. If the enemy can draw an
Deep water counts as difficult           unobstructed line of sight to them,
ground. This requires no roll as         they’re spotted automatically.
we assume all models can swim.
Traversing watery terrain with           PER Checks
dangerously swift currents does          Most PER stat checks are free
require an 8+ STR check. See later in    actions. A PER check most often
this chapter for rules on drowning.      occurs when a model is trying to
                                         spot a hidden or out of sight model
Grids, Hexes, Maps,                      (PER vs. DEX), or a hidden objective.
Theater of the Mind
Players can use two-dimensional grid     Quaff a Potion
or hex maps, or even hand-drawn          Drinking a potion costs a free action.
maps instead of three-dimensional
terrain. Simply treat each grid square
or hex as equal to 1". Don’t worry
about counting extra distance for
diagonal movement. Characters in
38
                                     Special Actions
Invisibility
                                     These are actions that cover a wide
All powers and spells that           array of options on the tabletop.
grant Invisibility will refer back
to here. A model cannot attack       Opening/Forcing Doors
an invisible foe unless they         Models may use a special action to
can detect them with a PER           attempt to force open a locked or
vs. DEX check.                       stuck door. Forcing a door requires
                                     a STR roll vs. the door's TN. Scoring
Invisible PC models gain             3+ results shatters the door.
a Boon against opposing
models on attack, defense,           A normal wooden door might have
and hiding checks.                   6+, while a reinforced door might
                                     have 9+ (reinforced with iron) to
If an invisible model makes          12+ (a stone door).
an attack or casts a spell, its
invisibility effect ends after its   A model may also open a locked
action is completed.                 door by making an INT check.
                                     Roll 2D6 to randomly determine
PCs attacking, defending             the lock’s TN:
against, or detecting Invisible
AI models suffer a Bane.               • 2: 12+
                                       • 3: 11+
Any attack, ability, or spell
that does not require line             • 4: 10+
of sight ignores the effects           • 5–6: 9+
of invisibility.
                                       • 7–9: 8+
                                                                       39
 Darkness                                Enter the Guard the Light
                                         mechanics! Whenever a PC or
 In Delves, your adventurers will
                                         ally rolls double 1s or double 2s
 often plunge into dark dungeons,
                                         on a 2D6 check, roll 1D6. On a 4+,
 night-haunted forests, or grimy
                                         they maintain their light. On a 1–3,
 sewers. None of these places are
                                         their light goes out! This includes
 very well lit! As your characters are
                                         any magical light from items
 not darkness adapted beings, they
                                         or the Light spell.
 will require torches, lanterns, or
 magical light to guide their way.
                                         In full darkness, moving at normal
                                         speeds can be dangerous.
 Unless otherwise noted in
                                         Any character affected by full
 Chapter 5 (Bestiary), treat all
                                         darkness can safely move 2" per
 creatures as darkness adapted.
                                         turn. If a character tries to move
 They suffer no penalties
                                         farther than this, they must make
 in darkness.
                                         an 8+ DEX check (with a Bane).
                                         If they succeed, they move as
 Maneuvering and fighting in
                                         normal. On a failure, they suffer
 darkness greatly reduces your
                                         any negative results as unsavable
 characters’ overall effectiveness.
                                         damage and finish their turn
                                         knocked down. If they had not
 When operating in full darkness,
                                         yet used their action for the
 PCs suffer from a Bane on all
                                         turn, they lose it.
 their actions! Thus it becomes
 critical to maintain torches or
                                         Let There Be (Slightly More) Light!
 magical lights while operating
                                         If you find the lights going off
 in complete darkness.
                                         too often in your games, try this
                                         kinder version of Guard the Light:
                                         Only check when someone
                                         rolls double 1s.
40
Use Item/Pick-up Object                 Minotaur
Some situations may call for the
                                        Marauding, massive horned beast
use/activation of a particular item,
                                        who charges headlong into foes
which could involve a specific
                                        with crushing fury.
stat check. Picking up and using
an item can often be done with a
                                          • Tier 3
single special action. This includes
lighting or re-lighting a torch.          • Base TN: 7+
                                          • STR 8+, CON 8+, INT 6+
Use Trait                                 • Health: 15 | Move: 6" |
Certain traits require the use of           Attacks: 2 x Massive Weapon
a special action. We explain the            (+4 damage)
specifics of how these abilities work
                                          • Gear: Light Armor (-1),
in Chapter 2. The most common
                                            Massive weapon
traits that require special actions
are spellcasting checks.                  • Role: Fighter
                                          • Powerful Charge. +1 damage
COMBAT                                      on successful charge attack.
Delves primarily features two
types of combat: melee and ranged.
A model may expend its Combat           The above TNs work for contested
action to do one of the two,            actions like melee or ranged attacks
but not both.                           and spot checks.
                                                                           41
Melee Combat                            the TN of the defending creature,
                                        they have hit, and their results equal
Melee combat requires combatants
                                        the base damage done by their
to be in base contact. A model
                                        attack. They also add in the damage
who wants to make a melee attack
                                        bonus of any weapon or natural
moves within their target’s 1" zone
                                        attack they possess, but subtract
of control — that brings them into
                                        any damage protection from armor
base contact. They then use their
                                        or special abilities their target has.
Combat action to attack.
42
total of 11. This exceeds the            Stat Damage
Goblin’s 8+ defense by 3! Adding         Some creature abilities cause
in Ingrid’s +2 Longsword makes for       stat damage or stat loss. If any
5 total damage, taking the Goblin        of a character’s stats drop below
(5 Health) to zero, and knocking         -3 during a game, remove that
them out of action.                      character from play and roll for them
                                         on the Post-Battle survival table.
In melee combat, a defending
PC rolls 2D6 + DEX (plus any             If the character survives, lost stat
situational modifiers) vs. the           points from these sorts of attacks
attacking creature’s STR TN (plus        fully return after the post-battle phase.
any situational modifiers). If the       Stat point loss as a result of injuries
defending PC fails their check,          sustained by rolling on the D66 Post-
they lose the exchange and suffer        Battle survival table is permanent.
damage equal to their negative           See Chapter 4 for more on this.
results, plus whatever the creature’s
attacking damage bonus was, but          Weapon Fumbles
minus any armor they’re wearing.         If you’re not playing in Heroic Mode
                                         (see Chapter 1), a PC who rolls double
If the defending PC’a defense total      1s on their attack could fumble! Roll
meets or exceeds their attacker’s        1D6 to determine what happens:
TN, they evade the attack and
suffer no damage.                          • 1: Your weapon shatters
                                                 or breaks!
Example: Ingrid (DEX +1, Armor -1)         • 2: Drop your weapon right
suffers an attack from a Minotaur                next to you.
(STR 8+). Ingrid rolls a 3 on her
                                           • 3: U
                                                 nsteady grip; suffer
defense dice and adds her +1 DEX
                                                a Bane on next attack.
for a final total of only 4. She’s hit
with 4 negative results! Adding in         • 4+: Just a miss!
the Minotaur’s +4 damage massive                  No further effect.
weapon, she would suffer 8 damage,
but remembers to subtract 1 for her      It takes a special action to pick up
armor. She is still left hurting with    a dropped weapon. If your weapon
7 lost Health from the savage attack!    is magical, add +1 to this check.
                                                                               43
Reach                                      grants a +3 (the maximum bonus).
Attacks with reach                         Models with a numerical advantage
extend base contact                        in melee may leave that melee
for the character by a                     without suffering a free attack.
set number of inches
based on the stated                        Example: Ingrid defends against
value. Reach changes                       three Goblin Warriors (STR 7+). She
the model’s ZoC from                       would make her defense checks
the base of 1" to a value                  against each of them vs. a 9+.
equal to its Reach range.
Unarmed Combatants
Unarmed models fight at
a disadvantage. If unarmed
characters do not possess a trait
that says otherwise, they suffer
a Bane to STR and DEX rolls
against armed foes in melee,
and do -1 damage if they hit.
44
  Common Conditions                    their immobilization. This requires
                                       either a Move or special action.
  Characters will encounter several
  common conditions through the
                                       Knocked Down
  course of their adventures.
                                       Knocked down models must
                                       spend 2" of their move action
  Entangled
                                       to stand up. Models attacking a
  Entangled models cannot move
                                       knocked down model enjoy +1
  or make attacks of any kind.
                                       to melee attacks. Knocked down
  Anyone attacking an entangled
                                       models gain +1 to their DEX for
  model gains +2 to their attack
                                       defense against ranged attacks.
  total. Unless otherwise noted,
  characters must make an
                                       Routed
  appropriate stat check against the
                                       A routed model must flee from its
  specific TN of the effect to end
                                       foes, using the most direct route
  their entanglement. This requires
                                       possible. PCs who rout must seek
  either a move or special action.
                                       cover out of sight from as many
                                       enemies as possible. Routing
  Immobilized
                                       AI models will flee off of the
  Immobilized models cannot move
                                       table edge opposite the party’s
  or make attacks of any kind.
                                       deployment edge. Routing models
  Anyone attacking an immobilized
                                       don't make attacks, cast spells,
  model automatically hits--treat
                                       or use special abilities, and don't
  the immobilized defender as
                                       grant a gang-up bonus in melee.
  if they had a defense result of
  a 2. Unless otherwise noted,
                                       Stunned
  characters must make an
                                       Stunned models lose their next
  appropriate stat check against the
                                       move or special/combat action.
  specific TN of the effect to end
46
If the PC attacker’s total meets          know who you've actually targeted,
or exceeds the defender’s TN,             you are committed and must make
the shot hits. Figure damage just         the attack check.
like in melee, covered in previous
sections. If the attacker’s total fails   In the unfortunate case where you
to meet or exceed the defender’s          accidentally target an allied PC or
TN, the attack misses.                    companion, make opposed checks
                                          matching your PER vs. their DEX.
Just as with melee, reverse the
process when a creature attacks a         Cover
PC with a ranged attack. Compare          If any part of a model’s base is
the creature’s PER TN vs. the PC          behind a piece of blocking terrain,
defender’s 2D6 + DEX check.               it gets +1 to its defense vs. ranged
                                          attacks. Enemy models can act as
Example: A Skeletal Archer (PER TN        cover for other enemy models.
6+) targets Jodri (DEX +1). Jodri’s
player rolls 2D6, getting a 2 and a 3,    Focused Fire
for a total of 5. Adding in Jodri’s DEX   Multiple shots against the same
+1 stat makes the final total a 6 —       target during a round enjoy an
Jodri dodges the Skeleton’s arrow!        increased chance to hit with each
                                          successive shot. The second shot
Ranged Attacks In Melee                   gains a +1, the third shot gains a +2,
You cannot use ranged attacks             the fourth shot gains a +3, and so
in melee.                                 on. Only ranged attacks that require
                                          a DEX defense count for this bonus.
Spellcasting In Melee
Unless a Mage has a special trait         Example: Ingrid defends against
that says otherwise, they cannot          four Goblin Archers (PER 6+). Her
cast spells while in melee.               first defense check would be vs. a
                                          6+, her second would be vs. a 7+,
Shooting Into A Melee                     her third would be vs. an 8+, and
You can shoot into a melee, but           her fourth would be vs. a 9+.
your shot may hit the wrong target.
Declare your shot into the melee,         Variable TNs
then use a single dice to randomize       In order to create some variability
the models in it, assigning each an       when using set TNs, you can
equal chance to be hit. When you          employ the following optional rules.
                                                                             47
                                       enjoys the difference between the
                                       two as a bonus on the exchange.
                                       The acting creature then makes
                                       a 2D6 check.
48
Out of Action                           MANEUVERS
When a character loses their last
                                        Charging
Health point they are taken out
                                        You can charge someone who is
of action (OOA) and beyond any
                                        at least 3" away from you. To do so,
help. Remove the model from the
                                        combine your move and combat
board. If you’re playing a campaign,
                                        actions and add +3" and +1 STR.
you will discover their fate during
                                        You can also just charge to cover
the Post-Battle sequence of play
                                        extra ground.
(detailed in Chapter 4).
                                        Disarming
Unsavable Damage
                                        You can disarm someone in melee
Some damage from creatures or
                                        contact with you. Declare your disarm
magical weapons or attacks is
                                        attempt and make an attack roll. If
unsavable. This means it bypasses
                                        you score 2+ results, your target’s
any armor worn by the target.
                                        weapon lands 3" away in a random
                                        direction. Disarms do no damage.
Environmental and Other Hazards
                                        You can also use this maneuver to
Characters also take damage from
                                        knock a treasure or objective counter
environmental hazards like heat,
                                        out of your target’s hands.
drowning, falling, and poisons. We’ve
listed sample TNs to hazards that
                                        Fully Defend
characters roll their DEX or CON stat
                                        You can go on full defense. To do
against. Here are some examples:
                                        so, give up your combat/special
                                        action and add +1 to any DEX or
  • 7+: A mild poison (CON)
                                        CON checks until your next turn.
  • 8+: Flame from a torch (DEX)
  • 9+: A fall 3 X the model’s          Tripping
    height (DEX)                        You can trip someone to knock
                                        them down. To do so, you must
  • 10+: Drowning (CON)
                                        win a STR vs. DEX TN check by
  • 11+: A fall 6 X the model’s         2+ results. Trips do no damage.
    height (DEX)                        A tripped PC model within 1" of a
  • 12+: Contact with molten            building or other high ledge must
    lava (CON)                          make an 8+ DEX check or fall. A
                                        creature falls on a 1D6 roll of 5+.
Any negative results translate into     You cannot trip a creature larger
unsavable damage.                       than Ogre-sized.
                                                                              49
Fate                                     Fly, You Fools!
PCs begin a campaign with 1 Fate         If you decide a combat encounter
point. They will likely accrue more      has gone totally wrong, you can
as they survive and advance in           declare your remaining party
their adventuring careers. PC Fate       members will attempt to flee at
refreshes (returns to its normal         the start of the next round. If you
maximum) at the beginning of             do so, they automatically drop any
each Campaign turn.                      objectives they are carrying. Also
                                         make a 9+ CHA check for each
You can decide to spend a Fate           model in your party. On a success
point to do one of the following         they escape with all of their stuff. On
things during a game:                    a failure, they drop one random item.
50
PLAYING SOLO/                             always charge to either contact a foe
CO‑OP GAMES                               in melee or get closer to a distant
                                          foe by covering extra ground. If they
While there are many things to
                                          have no hope of reaching a foe in
consider when running Artificial
                                          melee, they will use a ranged attack
Intelligence (AI) models, you will
                                          if they have one.
quickly internalize these rules after
a few games and learn to make
                                          Shooters
intuitive adjustments based on
                                          A shooter should always seek cover
your model roles, the scenario,
                                          when possible, but their primary
and the situation.
                                          goal should be finding a line of sight
                                          to enemy models and shooting
No set of rules can cover all things
                                          them. This takes precedence over
a solo game might conjure, but if
                                          everything else for them. Whenever
you apply these rules and a little
                                          possible, Shooters will attempt to
common sense, you should be able
                                          do Focused Fire, concentrating
to work through any issues. When
                                          their shots on the same target.
in doubt, roll 1D6. On a 4+, rule in
your party’s favor.
                                          Specialists
                                          These characters will generally avoid
Solo/Co-op Games
                                          melee if possible. For example, a
and the AI
                                          Kobold Sorcerer will use their magic
This system uses an AI model’s Role
                                          instead of weapons whenever possible.
to drive its actions. Use the following
                                          They will usually only enter melee as
guidelines when determining what
                                          a last resort, or if they can gang-up.
a game model does.
                                          Nemeses
Champions
                                          Akin to the
These characters blend aspects of
                                          classic “boss"
other roles into their own. They often
                                          monster from
act as leaders of a force of lesser
                                          so many
creatures. They usually have one or
                                          games, these
more dangerous attacks, and maybe
                                          characters
a more specialized ability as well.
                                          will often be
                                          outnumbered.
Fighters
                                          They will seek to eliminate the
They prefer melee combat to ranged
                                          weakest link among their foes,
attacks whenever possible. They will
                                                                             51
concentrating their attacks on the       the spirit of the scenario and the
foe with the lowest Health until         campaign you’re crafting.
they are taken out of action. They
will often have multiple attacks,        In the specific case where an enemy
and when dealing with PC foes of         model is not visible, move the AI
identical Health, direct one attack to   model in a random direction, but
each PC available PC target. If they     never having it leave the battlefield.
face a foe who presents a more
obvious danger to them, they will        Attacking the Light
instead focus on that foe.               When multiple darkness-adapted
                                         foes are in melee with a PC or ally
General Rules                            holding a light source, the first
Unless a scenario specifies              Fighter to act that round will always
otherwise, hostile AI characters         attack their light. This counts as a
will follow the guidance outlined        disarm attempt. On a success the
by their roles.                          lantern, torch, or light spell affected
                                         item automatically goes out.
If the scenario features a primary
objective, this could alter a model’s    The Rule of Equidistant Models
basic behavior. The scenario may         If two (or more) enemy models are
direct all or certain AI models to       equidistant from an AI model, the
move toward it or remain near to         AI model will move toward and/or
it to either guard or secure it.         attack the target with the lowest
If the model’s
normal role-
based AI
guidance
seems unclear,
no enemy
model is
visible, and
the scenario
lacks a primary
objective, apply
common sense
and follow
52
Health. If all targets have equal      First, roll 1D6 to determine the
Health, decide randomly.               character’s disposition toward you:
Certain creature types are immune      Use your results as a guide to your
to morale checks, and they don’t       success in these interactions:
have to make them.
                                         • 0–1: Moderate (+1 bonus)
Non-Combat AI Interactions               • 2–3: Excellent (+2 bonus)
Not every situation calls for combat
                                         • 4+: Spectacular (+3 bonus)
with a creature or NPC character.
Some creatures possess incredible
intellects, and there are times        Apply any bonuses you earn as
where conversation, interpersonal      one-time bonuses to stat checks in
interaction, and negotiation are       a specific situation or roll that you
called for. In these instances, if a   work out ahead of time. For example,
particular scenario does not dictate   if you’re trying to learn about a
a specific stat check, randomly        daemon’s weaknesses from an old
determine how this plays out           hermit, you could apply your earned
with a few 1D6 rolls.                  bonuses to attacks your characters
                                       make against the daemon.
                                                                           53
4: Campaigns & Advancement
When you build your adventuring           QUEST POINT
party and start playing games             REWARDS AND PACING
of Delves, your models will
                                          Decide before your first campaign
slowly develop into fully fledged
                                          round how long you want your
characters complete with goals,
                                          campaign to go. You can do this by
problems, triumphs, and tragedies.
                                          setting a specific story goal, i.e.,
You can use the rules in this chapter
                                          restoring the lost monarch to their
to craft adventures and encounters
                                          throne. You can then arrange a
of your own devising, or you can
                                          series of turns, played one after
adapt adventures from the scores
                                          the other to determine how this
of existing products in the dungeon
                                          quest turns out.
fantasy genre.
54
  • Loot/Treasure/Objective                SPENDING QP FROM
    Tokens: 1 QP per token*                YOUR TREASURY
  • New Bitter Enemy or                    Your Treasury QP represent your
    Respected Rival: 1 QP                  ready reserve of influence and wealth.
*T
  his can vary based on the               You can use it to maintain your
 scenario you played.                      supplies, bring in back up adventurers
                                           when a PC goes down, pay the cost
Legendary vs. Treasury QP                  to replace a dead or retired PC, or
Whenever you earn QP after a               acquire/replace equipment. You can
battle or from the results of a D66        also spend QP to buy Fate points,
check, decide whether to place             and satisfy conditions on Pre- and
some or all of them in either your         Post-Battle tables. See the Basics
Legendary or Treasury QP pools.            later in this section.
Any QP you place in your Legendary
pool counts toward your campaign           Legendary Quest Point Goals
goal. Think of them as the collective      Set your game’s Legendary Quest
achievements, exploits, and                Point (LQP) goal based on the length
reputation your party has built over       of the campaign you want to play:
time, but they can also represent
stable assets like a manor house.            • Short: 10 LQP (8–10 games)
                                             • Medium: 20 LQP (11–20 games)
Once you place QP in this pool,
                                             • Long: 40+ LQP (21+ games)
you cannot normally take it back
out unless your need is dire. If
you ever fall to zero or less QP
in your treasury (see later in this
section), you can take QP from your
Legendary pool, but at a rate of
2 for 1. For example, if you needed
to take 2 QP from your Legendary
pool, it would actually cost you 4 QP
to do so. This represents your party
backsliding in some way, tarnishing
their legend a bit for a short term
gain, or selling off that seaside villa.
                                                                              55
QUEST GENERATOR                                  flourish, you can roll on the random
                                                 quest generator that follows.
You can play through the campaign
rounds just as we describe in the
                                                 Simply roll 1D6 to select your row,
following sections of this chapter
                                                 then roll 1D6 three times, moving
without any need for a specific
                                                 across the row and generating a
story or theme. We designed the
                                                 cool, mysterious, and hopefully
tables to provide you with story
                                                 inspiring quest theme.
hooks to grab onto and make your
own. However, if you want to start
                                                 Roll 1D6 for your row:
things off with a bit of thematic
 Quest Row B
 1: Battle for the      1: lost souls                1: of Hanuman's elder army.
 2: Seek out the        2: wan messengers            2: of She Who Waits.
 3: Hunt for the        3: blasting white horn       3: of the Ivory Goddess.
 4: Stand for the       4: ghostly children          4: of Other Vale.
 5: Put to rest the     5: Joyous Chorus             5: of the Undying Ones.
 6: Heal the            6: Wandering Avatar          6: of the forgotten pantheon.
 Quest Row C
 1: Reconnect the       1: lost paths to             1: the Astral Vale.
 2: Cross the           2: burning bridge to         2: the Gold King’s Funeral Barge.
 3: Recover the         3: broken maps to            3: the Green Devil’s armory.
 4: Unleash the         4: forgotten power of        4: the Elves’ greatest folly.
 5: Unlock the          5: awful secret of           5: the Lich’s dark heart.
 6: Learn the           6: true name of              6: Orb’s eldest dragon.
56
You can also easily cross dice            of travel, resource generation, and
rolls between multiple rows. This         non-combat interactions for each
will create hundreds of potential         member of your party, team, or crew.
combinations for quest themes!
                                          The Journey Table
Example: Sky rolls 1D6 for his row        At the beginning of each campaign
and gets a 3 — Row B. He then rolls       turn, decide if you want your band to
1D6 three times and moves across          travel. The nature of this travel will
the row. He gets a 2, 5, and 3 in         vary based on your party’s current
succession. His quest is “Seek out the    location and the means available
Joyous Chorus of the Ivory Goddess.”      to them. You get to decide that.
                                          It might be a sea voyage, airship
Example: Stuart decides to roll a         ride, camel-back caravan, or
quest by crossing over multiple           a hard trudge on foot.
rows. He rolls a 2 for Row A, column
1 (Discover the), a 4 for Row B,          If you decide to try to journey this
column 2 (ghostly children), and a        round, select or randomly generate
1 for Row C, column 3 (the Astral         one of your band’s characters
Vale). With just the addition of one      as your navigator. Have your
word, Stuart gets “Discover the           designated navigator make a 7+ INT
ghostly children [of] the Astral Vale.”   or PER check. Failure means you
                                          cannot get things together to make
Campaign Turn Steps                       the trip this campaign turn.
The campaign turn breaks down
into three steps:                         If you succeed, roll on the Journey
                                          Table in the following section, and
  • STEP 1: Pre-Battle                    tailor the results to your campaign’s
  • STEP 2: Battle                        particular setting.
  • STEP 3: Post-Battle
                                          Hex Maps
                                          You can use a hex map, a staple
We outline the details of each step
                                          of old-school gaming for decades,
in the following sections.
                                          to better guide and visualize your
                                          party's travels. Simply pick a
STEP 1: PRE-BATTLE                        starting hex for your campaign on
This phase of the campaign turn           Turn 1, and whenever you decide to
involves a potential combination          journey, start from there. Success
                                                                             57
                                        make a 9+ PER check. On a failure,
                                        someone in your band might be
                                        badly injured. Randomly select a
                                        model from your band. They must
                                        immediately make a roll on the
                                        Post-Battle injury table. Treat any
                                        1s rolled on the tens die as 2s for
                                        purposes of determining the
                                        nature of the injury.
                                                                          59
random. That individual can either       must make an 8+ CHA check. On
miss the coming battle and travel        a success, they gain +1 QP, but on
with the Carnival (earning 1 QP)         a failure, they lose 1 QP, or if they
or reject them. If the latter choice     have no QP, deduct 1 from their
is made, add the Carnival to your        next QP reward.
party’s list of Bitter Enemies. If you
roll this result with them already       31: Lost. Select a model to make
as Bitter Enemies, choose a PC to        an 8+ PER check. On a failure, your
make an 8+ CON check. On a failure,      band gets lost and loses 1 QP. On
they suffer the negative results as      a success, you make your arrival
damage going into the next battle.       deadline and your band gains 1 QP.
60
35: The Gray Pilgrim. You meet          43: The One True Way. You pick
a strange old man who appears           up excellent insights on the terrain
to be more than what he seems.          around your coming battle. Select
Choose a PC to match wits with          a party member to make a 7+ PER
him. If they make an 8+ INT check,      check. On a success, you can flip the
he gives them a mysterious key.         results on the Weird Events table.
This key takes up no gear slots, and
automatically opens the next locked     44: You’re My Only Hope. A mission
door your party encounters.             specific message reaches your
                                        band on their journey. You can reroll
36: Skirmish. Your band wanders         your result on the Motivation battle
into a battle between two other         table. If you get the Rescue result
forces. Randomly choose a model         and succeed in the battle, your
to make an 8+ STR or DEX check.         band earns +2 QP.
On a failure, randomly select a piece
of gear from this model or another      45: Gleaning. Spotting edible flora
model if this character has none.       on your journey can add to your
That piece of gear is damaged and       party’s reserves. Select a party
cannot be used in the next battle.      member to make a 7+ PER or INT
On a success, this character            check. On a success, gain +1 QP.
gains +1 QP.
                                        46: Destination Destiny. Choose a
41: Gaming. Over the course of          random character from your band.
your journey, your crew does a lot      On a successful 8+ CHA check, they
of gaming. Select two random            gain +1 Fate for the next battle only.
members to make 7+ CHA checks.
If they both succeed, your band         51: Pre-planning. The journey
gains +1 QP.                            gives your band time for some
                                        pre-planning. Choose a character
42: Chance Meeting. A random            to make a 7+ INT roll. On a success,
meeting with a fellow traveler          you gain a +1 on the Encounter
results in some good information        Balance table.
for your band. If you choose, adjust
any one D6 result on the Battle         52: The Peaceful Cottage. Your party
tables in the following sections        stops at a hamlet redolent with the
up or down by one result.               scents of baked goods. Select a party
                                        member to make a 7+ CHA check.
                                                                           61
On a success, every party member
gains one serving of Fae Bread.
62
Pre-Battle Activities Table                      PRIVATION TABLE
Each member of your party can take       D6     Result
part in some pre-battle activity.         1     Malnourished. Two random
                                                characters start the battle
The Basics                                      at -1D6 Health.
You must pay a QP upkeep cost             2     Poorly Rested. Choose one
at the beginning of each new                    random PC. Each initiative,
campaign turn to cover the basics:              select them first, draw two
obtain new rations, torches,                    chits, and assign them the
supplies, weapon maintenance,                   higher one.
etc. This cost is 1 QP per PC in
                                          3     Poor Upkeep. Weapons
your party, plus 1 QP per three
                                                break on a fumble result
companions, hirelings,
                                                of 1–2*.
or henchmen.
                                          4     Poor Training. Choose
                                                one random PC. They
You do not have to pay this cost on
                                                suffer a Bane on their
the first turn of a new campaign.
                                                first attack, defense, or
                                                spellcasting check of
You must also pay to replace any
                                                the upcoming battle.
non-magical items lost or destroyed
                                          5     Lights Out. Poor torches
during the last battle or Post-Battle
                                                and flint, -1 to Guard the
sequence. Just 1 QP will cover any
                                                Light rolls.
number of conventional items or
                                          6     Make Do With Less.
weapons. At this point, you can also
                                                Your party squeaks by
spend QP to acquire single use Fate
                                                with no ill effects.
points for individual characters.
One Fate point costs 2 QP, and
once it’s spent, it’s gone.             * While magical weapons can’t
                                           break, they will become “upset”
If you can’t pay your QP upkeep,           if not properly cared for. Roll 1D6
your party suffers from privation          for each magic item in your party
during the rest of the campaign            before each battle. On a 1–2, that
turn. Roll 1D6 on the Privation            magic item acts as a normal item
Table to see the result:                   for the battle. It is still unbreakable,
                                           but otherwise conveys none of its
                                           other benefits or powers.
                                                                                63
Trading                                D66 Result
In addition to hunting for resources
                                       11: Robbed! You’re robbed! Choose
and looking for magical lore
                                       either PER or STR and make a 9+
(see following sections), each of
                                       check. On a success, deduct just
your characters can trade three
                                       one QP from your band’s total. On
conventional items or weapons for
                                       a failure, deduct 2 QP and have the
1 QP. They can also trade one magic
                                       character roll on the Post-Battle
item for 2 QP, or one cursed magic
                                       injury table. Treat any 1s, 2s, 5s,
item for 1 QP. You can use these QP
                                       and 6s on the tens die as 3s.
to make up for an upkeep shortfall
and avoid privation.
                                       12: Swindled. Someone attempts
                                       to cheat you out of some resources.
Resources and Research
                                       Make a 9+ INT check. On a success,
In between adventures and battles,
                                       you avoid the scam. On a failure,
your PCs will return to civilization
                                       deduct 2 QP. If you can’t pay,
and pursue various interests.
                                       instead lose a random item.
Assign each of your PCs to roll on
one of the two following tables.
                                       13: Cursed Weapon. You acquire
Their outcomes could result in new
                                       a random magic weapon, but it
adventure leads, extra QP, or deeper
                                       carries a curse! Anytime your attack
magical knowledge. Many of these
                                       dice total while wielding the weapon
activities come with some risk,
                                       is odd, you suffer 1 damage from it.
but that’s part of the fun!
64
16: No Luck. You find no items           23: The Gray Pilgrim. You meet a
or info, but at least you don’t lose     strange old man who appears to
anything or suffer any injuries.         be more than what he seems. He
                                         challenges you to match wits with
21: Rumors. Some rumors may be           him. If you make a 9+ INT check,
true, but how to sort out which ones?    he gives you a map that aids you
Make an 8+ CHA check. On a success,      on your next Journey check. On a
gain 1 QP. On a failure, lose 1 QP.      success, you can flip the results
                                         on the Journey table. On a failure,
                                         he steals one year from you.
                                         Permanently lose 1 Health.
                                                                            65
selection from the Gear section of       supplies before they rocket in price.
Chapter 2. Make a 9+ INT or DEX          On a success, add 1 QP to your
check to repair it. If you succeed,      treasury. On a failure, deduct
you can give it to any model in          1 QP from your treasury.
your band. If you fail, it’s junk.
                                         35: Moon Calendar. You acquire
31: Town Crier. More than a mere         a rare Moon Calendar. Subtract
rumor, you learn some bit of news        1 QP and gain +1 on your next
that might help your band. Make an       check to determine a scenario’s
8+ CHA check, and on a success,          lightning conditions.
gain +1 QP for your band.
                                         36: Gambling Again. There’s
32: Veterans’ Fund. A beggar             nothing like a bit of degenerate
claiming to be a veteran of the last     gambling to really feel alive. Make
war asks for help. Make an 8+ CHA        an 8+ PER check. On a success,
check. On a success, you discern         win 2 QP; on a failure, lose 3 QP. If
his story is true and gain 1 QP.         your band does not have 3 QP in its
On a failure, you run afoul of           current cache, the character is dealt
another con. Lose 1 QP.                  with harshly. Roll on the Post-Battle
                                         injury table for them. Treat any 1s,
33: Sad Menagerie. You come upon         2s, 5s, and 6s on the tens die as 3s.
a sad menagerie of mistreated
beasts. You can ignore their plight or   41: Old Friend/Old Flame. An old
attempt to free them. If you ignore      acquaintance (or perhaps more
them, you gain nothing. If you try to    than that) shows up in an unlikely
free them, make an 8+ STR check.         spot. Make a 7+ CHA check or miss
On a success, you free them and          the next battle as the two of you
gain a Beast Companion for the next      reminisce about the old days. If you
battle only. On a failure, you take      succeed with 3+ results, they join in
your negative results in damage,         the next battle! Build them using
starting the next battle injured.        the Companion rules, but give
                                         them +1 extra trait.
34: Whispers in the Market. The
Merchants Guild members whisper          42: Recruited. Recruiters from
of a coming trade war. Make an           the local kingdom’s military
8+ INT check to correctly time the       establishment recruit you for
markets and purchase the right           service. If you turn them down,
66
they get a good look at you and          46: Nice Find. You find an item
record your name. If you roll this       equal to one selection from the
result again for the same PC, they       Gear or Weapons section of
are press-ganged into serving and        Chapter 2.
miss the next battle. If you accept,
you gain +1 QP but arrive late to        51: Fresh Provisions. You track
the next battle, showing up at           down fresh provisions for your
the beginning of round 3.                band. As a result, one of your
                                         injured band members heals faster
43: The Last Unicorn? You meet a         than expected. Choose an injured
rundown, talking horse who claims        model and reduce their number of
to be the mythical Last Unicorn. She     campaign turns out of action by 1.
begs you to free her from captivity.     If none of your models are currently
If you agree, make a 7+ DEX check.       injured, gain +1 QP.
On a success, you free her and
she transforms before your eyes.         52: Procession. You come across
Gain +1 Fate for you or another          a funerary procession for some
PC in your party for the next battle     recently dead fighter. Is the
only. If you fail, you’re arrested for   deceased someone you knew,
attempted horse thievery.                or perhaps a foe from your last
Pay 1 QP for your bail.                  battle? You get a chance to speak
                                         to one of the processioners. Play
44: Singing Lessons. After               out this interaction using the NPC
having one too many ales, you’re         interaction rules presented
conned into taking some singing          at the end of Chapter 3.
lessons. Subtract 1 QP. If you ever
acquire a magic weapon with the          53: Friendly Druid. You meet a
Singing quality, you harmonize           friendly Druid. Make a 7+ CHA
with it beautifully and it does          check. On a success, you gain a
+1 extra damage.                         free Move at the beginning of your
                                         next battle fought in a wilderness
45: Quality Components. You              or natural environment.
acquire some high quality spell
components for your party’s              54: Training Schools. You connect
spellcasters. Each of them enjoys        with an academy or school. You
a Boon on one of their casting           may adjust your next advancement
checks in the next battle.               roll up or down by +/-2.
                                                                              67
55: That Ranger Fellow. If you’re        convince them to join you for the
forced to retreat during your next       next battle? Make a 6+ CHA check.
battle, all the party’s models gain      On a success, they join you for one
a Boon on the check to do so and         battle. Randomly decide their class
may retain any objective markers         and build them as a starting PC
and personal items.                      with two advances.
56: Cheap Help. You find a               62: Holy Places. The city you find
desperate Hireling willing to work for   yourself in is rife with temples and
cheap. Gain a free Companion for         places of worship. Whether you’re
your next battle. Build them using       spiritual or not, you find some
the Companion rules from Chapter         peace in their shadows. Gain +1 QP.
2. If you win the battle, select a
PC to make a 9+ CHA check. On a          63: Houses of Healing. You find
success, the Hireling becomes a          a connection in your current city’s
permanent party member.                  House of Healing. Restore a lost
                                         stat point on one character. If none
61: Old Companion. You come              of your PCs are down a stat point,
across an old companion from             you can save this result for a time
past adventuring days. Can you           when one of them is.
68
64: Odd Jobs. You earn +1 QP           D66 Result
helping out around town. On a
                                       11: Explosive failure! Your magical
successful 8+ stat roll of your
                                       researches or your attempts to
choice, you earn an extra +1 QP.
                                       commune with a higher power fail
                                       spectacularly! Make a 9+ CHA or
65: Nicer Find. You find a minor
                                       INT check. On a failure, you suffer
magic item! See Chapter 2 to
                                       the permanent loss of 1D6 Health,
determine its nature.
                                       or if you choose, one random spell
                                       which you can never learn again.
66: Relic Weapon. You find a
seemingly rusted or ruined old
                                       12: Unwanted Attention. Your failed
weapon in a forgotten corner of
                                       dabblings have attracted some very
an ancient armorer's shop, but
                                       sinister attention. Roll 1D6 after you
something about it catches your
                                       set up your next battle. On the result
eye. If you have it, spend 1 QP. You
                                       of a 1, add a Lesser Devil from
buy the old weapon and it turns out
                                       Chapter 5 to the enemies you will
to be magical! Randomly generate
                                       face. This creature will attack you
its type and nature using the
                                       exclusively unless attacked by
rules in Chapter 2.
                                       one of your companions.
                                                                          69
15: Grimoire Dust. Make a 9+ CON       If you have as yet have no Bitter
check. If you succeed, you gain a      Enemies, you instead suffer the
Boon on your next casting check.       Accused! result from #21.
If you fail, you suffer a permanent,
hacking cough that gives you a         23: Mirror Curse. Your study of
Bane anytime you try to hide.          arcane mirrors bears bitter fruit.
                                       Anytime you enter a non-natural
16: Flirting With Disaster. Your       environment, roll 1D6. On a 3 or
misplaced actions nearly crossed       less, a mirror rests in the middle of
the line, but you escaped with your    a random wall. Anytime you pass
life (and soul) intact! Make a 9+      within 6" of it, you must make a
CHA or INT check. On a failure,        9+ CON check. On a success, you
your party loses 1 QP.                 gain +1 QP. On a failure, you’re
                                       shunted 2D6" in a random direction
21: Accused! Your ill-conceived        (ignore walls and other barriers)
activity leads to harsh accusations    and knocked down.
from the local magical guild or
temple servants. This uproar will      24: Haunted. A nameless spirit
haunt you and those you associate      haunts you until the end of the
with. Make a 9+ CHA or INT check.      next battle, giving you a Bane on
On a failure, your party loses 1 QP.   all checks that lasts the first two
                                       rounds of that battle. If you choose
22: Bitter Enemies Appear. Some        to confront them, use the NPC
of your Bitter Enemies appear from     interaction rules from the end of
nowhere and attack! Set up a battle    Chapter 3 to determine the nature
on an appropriate 12" x 12" board or   of this meeting. If you succeed on
map. Select another party member       your check, the Bane is removed
or hireling to come to your aid. The   and the spirit grants you insight
two of you must face 1D6 + 1 Tiers     into coming events. If you fail, the
of Bitter Enemies. You must fight      haunting lasts an +1 extra round.
at least three rounds of combat
before deciding to flee. Roll on the   25: Lost Texts. While rifling
Post-Battle survival table as normal   through the belongings of a recently
if you’re taken out. Gain +1 QP for    deceased magical savant, you
fighting the battle, and another       have a chance to discover hidden
+1 QP if you win!                      knowledge, or hidden danger.
                                       Make a 9+ CHA or INT check.
70
On a success, gain a random spell     hidden fastness. Finding this stone
scroll. On a failure, you start the   edifice, you come across some
next battle with damage equal         cryptic writings that may have been
to your negative results.             hers. Make an 8+ INT check. On
                                      a success, you gain the one-time
26: Puzzle. You stumble across a      ability to remove a petrification
magical or ontological puzzle that    condition from a character. You
has bedeviled philosophers for        can use this immediately or save
generations. Make a 9+ CHA or         it for a later use. If you fail, your
INT check. On a success, gain +1      sloppiness may attract the attention
Legendary QP. On a failure, deduct    of the Odesoni herself or another of
1 Legendary QP. If your party has     her Medusa minions. On your next
no current Legendary QP, deduct       Wandering Monster check of a 1,
1 QP from any future earnings.        a Medusa shows up!
32: The Odesoni Knows. Odesoni,       35: Bane Lore. You learn an arcane
the stone mother of all Medusae, is   secret to defeating a deadly and
said to have once dwelt in a nearby   monstrous foe. Choose one
                                                                          71
creature with the Nemesis role or       43: Secret Society. You are
a creature of Tier 8 or higher. In a    anointed into a secret society or
future battle against that creature,    sect. Make an 8+ CHA check after
you may use a special action to         each battle and gain +1 QP.
invoke this secret and the power it
unlocks by making a 9+ INT check        44: Higher Mysteries. You discover
at that time. On a success, everyone    meta-magical feats beyond those
in your party gains a Boon on their     your old masters taught you. Can
next attack, defense, or spellcasting   you master them? Make a 9+ CHA
checks against this creature.           or INT check. On success, gain a
                                        Boon on one of your spellcasting
36: Fool's Scroll? You find what you    checks each battle.
think is a great deal on a magical
scroll. If you wish, pay 1 QP, then     45: Magical Renown. Your presence
make an 8+ CHA or INT roll. If          and accomplishment grant those
you succeed, the scroll is indeed       around you good fortune. On a
magical. Use the rules in Chapter 2     successful 8+ CHA or INT check,
to randomly determine its nature.       gain +1 QP.
If you fail, its powerless, but at
least suitable for framing!             46: True Name. You gain a piece of
                                        a powerful creature’s True Name.
41: A Scrap of Knowledge. You           Even this is enough to aid you
gain a scrap of knowledge useful        against them. The next time you
to your power progression. The next     face a creature with the Nemesis
time you roll on the advancement        role, you gain a Boon on your first
table, you can adjust the result        attack, defense, and spellcasting
up or down by 1.                        checks you make against them.
42: Key Knowledge. You read             51: Vikra's Vaunted Vial. You root
multiple texts or speak to other        around a little curio shop and find
practitioners and gain more insights    a forgotten vial containing the tears
into your inner power. The next time    of a long-dead goddess, Vikra the
you roll on your advancement table,     Sky Matron. While only a single drop
you can adjust the result up or         remains, it is nonetheless potent.
down by 1D6.                            This vial takes up one gear slot, and
                                        you can use a free action to quaff
                                        its contents or give them to an ally
72
within 2" of you. The magic restores       cost. Each time you use it, you must
2D6 + 1 Health. One use only.              permanently lose 1 Health. This
                                           ability allows you to leave combat
You can only find this item once           without suffering free attacks.
per campaign. If you roll this result
again, replace it with a 7+ CHA or INT     Every time you roll this result after
check, and on a success gain +1 QP.        the first time, you can choose to
                                           take it again or not. If you take
52: Procession. You come across            it again, you can use the ability
a funerary procession for some             another time during the battle, but
recently dead spellcaster. Is the          each use permanently drains 2
deceased a stranger to you, or             Health, and so on with subsequent
perhaps a one-time rival from your         selections of this ability.
apprenticeship? You get a chance to
speak to one of the processioners.         55: Elementalist. You gain a Boon
Play out this interaction using the        on any attempts to use the Charm
NPC interaction rules presented            spell against an Elemental foe.
at the end of Chapter 3.                   You also gain +1 on any defense
                                           checks against Elemental foes. If
53: Tarnished Lamp. Rummaging              you roll this outcome again, you
through some old junk, you find a          instead gain a chance for a random
tarnished lamp. Roll 1D6. On a 6, a        stat boost: Make an 8+ INT or CHA
Djinni dwells within. It is within their   check. On a success, roll 1D6: 1–2:
power to do one of the following for       +1 STR, 3–4: +1 DEX, 5–6: +1 CON.
you or an ally: remove a permanent
condition like petrification, raise        56: Touch of Power. While deep
the dead back to life, or grant            in study, a chance meeting with a
you or an ally a permanent                 wandering madman bears some
Fate point or +5 Health.                   fruit. While others in your vicinity
                                           treated him unkindly, you offered
54: Portals. Your study of Astral          him refreshment and succor. In
Space results in the occasional            thanks, he touches your staff or
ability to travel without moving.          weapon and it briefly glows with
Once per battle, you can spend             a mighty light. You gain 2 free
a Fate point to place yourself             Boons on one check of your
anywhere on the battlefield. This          choice during your next battle.
power does not come without great
                                                                                  73
You can only have this interaction        of magical might. Make a 7+ CHA
once per campaign. If you roll            or INT check. On a success, you
this result again, replace it with        earn +1 QP.
a 7+ CHA or INT check, and
on a success gain +1 QP.                  64: Visitation. A god, devil, force of
                                          nature, or other powerful spirit visits
61: Death’s Secret. You gain              you. Roll 1D6. On a 6+, you intrigue
the knowledge and implements              them enough to grant you a slightly
necessary to attempt a one time           longer life by mortal reckoning. You
ritual to bring a slain comrade           gain 1D6 permanent Health.
back from the dead. Make a 9+
CHA or INT check. On a success,           65: Spell Lore. Whether through
a character who died during the           extensive research or fervent prayer,
campaign is brought back from the         you discover the insight needed to
dead! On a failure, this powerful and     attempt to learn a new spell. Make a
risky magic costs you the permanent       7+ CHA or INT check. On a success,
loss of one point of CON. You do not      select a new spell that you now
have to use this immediately; you         know moving forward. If you score
may save it for just the right time.      5+ results on your check, you may
If you choose to save it, make a          select and cast without penalty
note on your character sheet.             a spell you would normally suffer
                                          a Bane on casting.
62: Remove Curse. You gain
the knowledge and implements              66: Follower. No matter how you try
necessary to remove a cursed              to dissuade them, a lesser member
condition like petrification. Make an     of your order decides to follow you
8+ CHA or INT check. On a success,        on your adventures. Build them
a character who has been petrified        using the rules for Companions
or cursed in some other way can be        in Chapter 2, including the Hedge
returned to normal. You do not have       Wizard trait from that chapter. They
to use this immediately; you may          now count as a party member. You
save it for just the right time. If you   can only ever have one follower.
choose to save it, make a note
on your character sheet.                  If you roll this result again while
                                          you still have a follower, replace it
63: The Contest. You are engaged          with a 6+ CHA or INT check, and
by a rival in a non-lethal contest        on a success gain +1 QP.
74
BATTLE SETUP                             Destruction
                                         Your party must destroy a specific,
Each time you play a game, you will
                                         centrally located building, statue, or
proceed through a series of steps
                                         other valuable and powerful object.
to set up and play your battle. Each
                                         It has 7+ resistance (8+ vs. ranged
step offers random options for
                                         attacks), Heavy Armor (-2), and
you to roll, or if you have a specific
                                         40 Health. Destroying this object
element in mind, select it.
                                         earns your party +2 QP, and more
                                         importantly removes any remaining
Step 1: Motivation
                                         foes from play as they flee in
  • 1: Chance Battle                     despair of its loss.
  • 2: Destruction
                                         Your foes defend the item with
  • 3: Escape
                                         great zeal. Deploy two Tiers worth
  • 4: Excavation                        of enemy models within 6" of the
  • 5: Raid                              objective, and deploy the rest
  • 6: Rescue                            according to the normal rules
                                         presented in Step 4.
Chance Battle
                                         You can also use a special action
While hunting for lore or treasure,
                                         to search the immediate area within
your party stumbles upon a group
                                         3" of it for magical treasure. On a
of creatures or foes and violence
                                         PER check of 9+, you find one!
ensues. Set up five distinctive
terrain pieces on the board, spacing
                                         If you finish the game in possession
them far enough apart to cover
                                         of any items your party gains +1
most of a roughly 2' x 2' area. Place
                                         QP per item. Roll 1D6 for each
five treasure tokens, one in each
                                         to determine if any of them are
structure or terrain piece.
                                         magical. On a 5+, they are! Use the
                                         rules presented in Chapter 2 to
Each treasure token you control at
                                         determine an item’s magical nature.
the end of the battle is worth 1 QP.
Also make a 1D6 check for each
                                         Escape
treasure token you control. On a
                                         Your party has secured some treasure
roll of 6+, it’s also a magic item.
                                         and now they must escape to safely
                                         reap their rewards. Assign a treasure
                                         token to three of your characters.
                                                                             75
Each one costs 1 gear slot to carry,    Your party must spirit the item off of
and each one is worth 1 QP.             the opposite board edge to secure
                                        victory. Doing so also gains them +1
You start on a random board             QP. Randomly determine what type
edge and must exit off of the           of magic item your treasure is using
opposite board edge.                    the rules presented in Chapter 2.
At the end of the scenario, roll 1D6    You can also task party members to
for each treasure token your group      search each site for lesser treasures.
holds or successfully carries from      They must use a special action and
the battlefield. On a 5+, a treasure    make a 9+ PER check. On a success,
token is also a random magic            they find 1 QP worth of booty
item. Use the rules in Chapter 2        costing 1 gear slot to carry. Once
to determine its nature.                you discover a lesser treasure at a
                                        site, it counts as being picked clean.
Excavation
You search for some lost magical        Raid
treasure. Set up five distinctive       Rumors and legends have placed
terrain pieces on the board, spacing    your party on the trail of a valuable
them far enough apart to cover          item located in a specific structure
most of a roughly 2' x 2' area. When    in your immediate area. Place
one of your PCs enters one of the       this structure in the center of your
five sites, they can use a special      board or map. Your foes defend
action and roll 1D6. On a result of     it. Place a single treasure token in
a 6+, they have found the item and      the center of this structure. This is
also count as having secured it.        the objective. Setup a number of
The item takes up one gear slot.        other terrain features or structures
Once you search a site and fail,        around it, spacing them far enough
mark that site off. If you get to the   apart to cover most of a roughly
last unsearched site without having     2' x 2' area.
found the treasure, it rests within
this final location. One of your PCs    The item is magically locked in
must still enter the site and use a     place and requires an extended
special action to secure it.            7+ INT check (6 total results) to
                                        unlock it so that it may be moved.
76
Your goal is to secure this item             They are not fighters and possess
and spirit it off of your deployment         no real weapons. Assume the
edge. If you manage this, your               commoners have set up rough
party gains +1 QP, and roll 1D6 to           barricades that have held until now.
determine the item’s nature:                 Unless they leave the structure, your
                                             foes cannot contact or attack them
  • 1–4: Rare Item (+1 extra QP)             until the beginning of Round 2.
  • 5–6: Magic Item
                                             Depending on how many commoners
                                             you roll, break them into two or three
If it is a magic item, roll its type using   small groups and assign them one
the rules presented in Chapter 2.            initiative chit per group. They cannot
                                             move until Round 2. Once they see
Rescue                                       that rescue is a possibility, their
Your group has been engaged to               primary goal should be to run toward
patrol the hinterlands of some               the safety of either of your party's
prosperous, but embattled,                   deployment edges.
community. Break your party into
two subgroups, then place each               The primary goal of your foes will
one on a random table edge. A cry            initially be to slay commoners. Once
goes up! A horn sounds! A nearby             they see and contact your PCs, they
settlement, farmstead, outpost, or           will shift their focus appropriately.
other inhabited structure is under
attack by raiders. Place this key            You gain 1 QP for each commoner
location in the very center of               you can escort off of one of your
your board or map.                           deployment edges. The battle ends
                                             when the last commoner is either
Place 1D6+1 Commoner models                  rescued or slain.
within the structure, and array your
                                             Step 2: Location
foes 6" around it. Here is the basic
                                             and Darkness
profile for the Commoner models:
                                             Once you roll or select your location,
Commoner                                     you will need to place your terrain
STR+0 | DEX+0 | CON+0 |                      elements on your board. In addition
INT+0 | PER+0 | CHA+0                        to any focal terrain pieces, also
Add +1 to one stat of your choice.           consider placing additional bits of
Health: 5 | Move: 4"                         scatter terrain appropriate to the
                                             setting you have rolled or selected.
                                                                                77
If your collection is short on terrain,   5: Village. Roll 1d6:
don’t let this stop you! Simply           1–2: Farmstead
conscript household items like bowls,     3–4: Smithy
small card boxes, plastic plants, food    5–6: Town Square
containers, etc., to your cause. And
when you don’t have a ready terrain       6: Wilderness. Roll 1d6:
board or printed commercial game          1–2: Aquatic
mat, nothing works better than a          3–4: Forest/Jungle
black sheet or table cloth!               5–6: Mountain Foothills
                                          City
                                          Your terrain board should contain
                                          at least five buildings with one large
                                          one in the center. Include extra cover
                                          in the form of carts, wagons, shop
                                          stalls, low walls, statues, etc. If it
                                          makes sense for the layout, include
                                          at least one building, room, or
1: City. Roll 1D6:                        portcullis with a locked door or gate.
1–2: Marketplace
3–4: Sewers                               Desert
5–6: Tavern                               Your terrain board should contain
                                          at least five large rocks or boulders
2: Desert. Roll 1D6:                      with one larger one in the center.
1–2: Caravanserai                         Include extra cover in the form
3–4: Dune Sea                             of palm trees, sand dunes, or
5–6: Oasis                                a caravanserai. If you’re lucky
                                          enough to have museum models
3: Dungeon. Roll 1D6:                     of appropriately scaled dinosaur or
1–2: Natural Cavern                       animal skeletons, they also make
3–4: Tomb                                 great cover for a desert scene.
5–6: Mushroom Forest
                                          Dungeon
4: Ruins. Roll 1D6:                       Your terrain board should include
1–2: Fallen Castle                        at least five distinctive features.
3–4: Haunted Village                      This is the classic underground
5–6: Overgrown Temple                     cavern or chamber. If you have 3D
78
dungeon terrain, now is the time           include at least one house or hovel
to use it! If not, many commercial         with a locked door or gate.
maps (gridded or non-gridded) will
work for this as well. Combine this        Wilderness
base with appropriate boulders,            Your terrain board should contain
slime pits, stalagmites, and the           at least five large stands of trees
occasional man made structure.             or bushes. Include extra cover in
                                           the form of rocks, foliage, small
If it makes sense for the layout,          bodies of water, ruined temples,
include at least one passageway            overgrown statues, etc. If you rolled
or room with a locked door.                the Aquatic setting, do your best to
                                           make half the board some kind of
                                           water feature, and make the feature
                                           dangerous in some way. See Hostile
                                           Environments in the next section
                                           for more ideas on this.
                                           Hostile Environments
                                           and Traps
                                           You can designate certain
                                           structures or terrain sites as hostile
Ruins                                      environments or trapped in some
Your terrain board should include          way. If you do, roll 1D6 for each
at least five ruined structures with       piece to determine what sort of stat
one larger one in the center. Include      test is needed to avoid its danger:
extra cover in the form of low walls,
overgrown rubble, trees and shrubs,          • 1: STR
etc. Ruins can also contain areas
                                             • 2: DEX
blocked by locked doors or a portcullis.
                                             • 3: CON
Village                                      • 4: INT
Your terrain board should contain
                                             • 5: PER
at least five small dwellings with
one larger one in the center. Include        • 6: CHA
extra cover in the form of stables,
a small copse of trees, or a water         Anytime you enter or leave the terrain
well. If it makes sense for the layout,    site or move within 2" of it, make an
                                                                              79
                                         nicely, as will most standard size
                                         foldable flip mats.
                                         Darkness
                                         Here’s where you determine
                                         the darkness conditions for the
                                         upcoming battle. Unless you create
8+ check to avoid the hazards.           a specific circumstance where
On a failure, treat any negative         lighting exists, always assume
results as unsavable damage.             Caves, Deep Tunnels, and Tombs are
                                         in full darkness. In the same way,
For watery sites require a Swimming      always assume any Taverns or other
check, with any PC or ally wearing       busy interior battle areas are well lit.
armor suffering a Bane on the check.     For just about all other battle areas,
                                         roll 1D6 on the following chart:
If traps are the source of the hostile
environment, a PC disarms it if their                 DARKNESS
check garners 3+ results.                 D6    Result
                                          1–2 Night (Full Darkness)
Your foes will usually be immune to        3    Dusk* (Partial Light)
any hostile terrain.                       4    Dawn** (Partial Darkness)
                                           5+   Day (Full Light)
Table Sizes
As we discussed in Chapter 1,             *R
                                            ounds 1–2: Full Light;
depending on your resources and            Full Darkness thereafter
space, your boards should be
around 24" x 24". Commercially           ** R
                                             ounds 1–2: Full Darkness;
available folding boards in the             Full Light thereafter
30" x 22" size range will also work
80
Example: Stuart wants to determine      The following tables provide
the darkness conditions for his         encounters through PC Tier 5+, and
coming battle. He rolls a 4 on his      assume a party of four adventurers,
1D6 check — the Dawn condition.         but you can make adjustments
He will begin the battle in darkness    based on your own party’s size and
and it will last two rounds. At         composition. The multipliers listed
the beginning of round three, his       in the entries indicate the total
adventurers will enjoy full light for   number of models of that type.
the remainder of the battle.
                                        If you don’t have all of the models
Ready For The Dark                      suggested in these tables, make
If your scenario begins in full         substitutions, use proxies, or
darkness, you can designate which       otherwise come up with figures
members of your party begin with        that make the games your own.
lit torches. The Daylight or Light
spells still need to be cast during                    TIER 1
the course of normal play.               D6    Foes
                                          1    Thugrog's Band
Step 3: The Opposition                         (Goblin Shaman, Goblins x6)
If you haven’t devised a scenario         2    Firescale's Fiends
with a specific opposition in mind,            (Kobold Sorcerer, Kobolds x6)
craft a group of foes roughly equal       3    Unliving Horde
to your band by making a 1D6 roll              (Skeletons x4, Zombies x6)
on the table appropriate to your          4    Dungeon Vermin
party's power level. Consider the              (Giant Centipedes x2, Giant
average Tier level of your party. For          Rats x8, Giant Spiders x2)
example, if your party comprises
                                          5    Bandit Raiding Party
four characters of Tiers 3, 2, 2,
                                               (Human Bandits x8)
and 1, that’s an average of Tier 2.
                                          6    Nature's Vengeance
Now multiply that average by the
                                               (Wolves x4, Dire Wolf)
number of models in your party.
That equals the total number of
Tiers of foes you will face. In the
case of the example cited earlier, it
would be eight Tiers worth of foes.
                                                                              81
              TIER 2                                  TIER 4
 D6   Foes                               D6   Foes
 1    Gobsmack’s Mob (Minotaur,          1    Against the Giants (Giants x3)
      Orcs x2, Wolves x2)                2    The Grisly Lab (Golem x2,
 2    Unholy Alliance                         Malefic Meringue x2, Astral
      (Chaos Follower, Minor                  Hunter x2)
      Devil, Beast Folk x6)              3    The Haunted Swamp
 3    Nature's Wrath (Dire Wolf               (Lizardfolk x6, Shambling
      x2, Evil Adventurer [Mage],             Heap x2)
      Wolf x2)                           4    Coming of the Goblin Kahn
 4    Baba Yaga's Curse (Hag,                 (Hobgoblins x6, Troll)
      Burrowing Hulk, Beast Folk x4)     5    Tremulous Planes
 5    Marshland Marauders                     (Earth Elemental x2,
      (Lizardfolk Conjuror, Lizardfolk        Burrowing Hulk x2)
      x4, Deep Dweller x2)               6    Curse of Manfred Manor
 6    Watery Grave (Lesser Water              (Ghost x3, Zombies x12)
      Elemental, Deep Dwellers x2)
                                                     TIER 5+
                                         D6   Foes
              TIER 3                     1    Firewing (Dragon, Chaos
 D6   Foes                                    Knight, Lizardfolk Conjuror,
 1    Elemental Fury                          Lizardfolk x4)
      (Greater Air Elemental x3)         2    Gobei Evil-Eye's Court
 2    Evil Adventurers                        (Ovoid Eye-Beast, Troll x2,
      (Expert, Fighter, Mage, Priest)         Mantle Bat x8)
 3    Mythical Monsters                  3    Count Orlok's Castle (Vampire,
      (Medusa, Minotaur,                      Ghost, Skeletons x12)
      Beast Folk x10)                    4    Otherworld War Party
 4    Nature's Vengeance II                   (Ganglion Mind-Hunter,
      (Dire Wolves x6)                        Golem x2, Minor Devil x2)
 5    Doom of Old Town                   5    Knights of Apocalypse
      (Chaos Knight, Chaos                    (Chaos Lord, Chaos Knight
      Follower, Evil Adventurers              x2, Chaos Followers x4)
      [Fighter, Mage])                   6    Lair of Dark Disciples
 6    The Horde (Ogre x2, Goblin              (Manticore, Oni Mage,
      Shaman, Goblins x6)                     Human Bandits x3)
82
Once you’ve settled on your base         Wandering Monsters
opposition, roll 1D6 and consult         Starting after round three, roll 1D6 to
the following table to adjust their      make a Wandering Monster check
power level.                             at the beginning of each new round
                                         before determining initiative. Check
 ENCOUNTER BALANCE TABLE
                                         your result on the following table:
 D6    Strength
  1    +4 Tiers                            • 1: Tier +2 foe
  2    +3 Tiers
                                           • 2: Tier +1 foe
  3    +2 Tiers
                                           • 3: Tier +0 foe
 4–5 Even strength battle
  6    +1 Hireling Companion**             • 4+: No new foe
 *R
   oll 1D6; on a 1–2, the extra         Tier refers to the average PC Tier.
  foes are Bitter Enemies from a         Any new foe or foes show up on
  previous battle. If you have no        a random board edge. Be sure to
  Bitter Enemies yet, ignore this        include a new initiative chit for
  result and just add more levels        them. Let your collection of foes
  of the foes you already settled        and creatures guide you in exactly
  on for the encounter.                  what type of threat shows up.
                                         It could be related to the party’s
** R
    oll 1D6; on a 6, your ally is not   current enemies, or something
   a simple hireling, but rather a       completely different.
   Tier 2 model from one of your
   Respected Rivals. If you have         Ramping Up The Danger
   no Respected Rivals yet, ignore       If you want to increase the danger
   this result and add the hireling      level of your games, here are two
   as normal.                            dials you can manipulate to make
                                         things harder on your PCs:
Through the first four PC Tiers, the       • Increase the roll for no new
max Tier of any one foe should not           foes from 4+ to 5+. Tier +0 foes
exceed the average Tier of the party,        show up on a 3–4 result.
plus one. So in any encounter,
                                           • Add +1 to any arriving
an average Tier 1 party should
                                             monster’s Tier.
face at most a Tier 2 foe.
                                                                             83
If a round begins where the PCs           models together (i.e., three Kobolds),
control all of the objectives or have     place them in a group.
accomplished their primary goal,
and there is no active foe in play,       Use the details you have built from
the game ends, and you do not             previous steps to help dictate any
make the Wandering Monster roll.          special placements. For example,
                                          if it’s a rescue or a raid, place at
Tamping Down The Danger                   least one or two models on guard
If you’re finding wandering monsters      within 6" of the objective.
are showing up too often for your
taste, simply add +1 to all of your       Step 5: Roll For
Wandering Monster checks. This            Weird Events
means a really dangerous (Tier +2)        This step adds unpredictable
foe will not show up, and it will be      elements to your game. Roll D66
more likely that no extra foes arrive.    to generate some weird ambiance,
                                          effects, or chaotic conditions
Step 4: Model Placement                   for the coming battle.
Once all of the terrain is in place,
set up your adventuring band              D66 Result
on a random board edge. If your           11: Rain of Blood. The blood of
particular adventure or scenario          gods or daemons showers down
does not specify model placement,         upon the battlefield. Each round at
roll 1D6 for the proximity of each of     the beginning of their turn, every
your enemies’ starting placement:         PC must make an 9+ CON check
                                          or suffer 1 unsavable damage. A
     MODEL PLACEMENT TABLE
                                          spellcaster may use a special action
 D6    Result
                                          to make a 9+ CHA or INT check
  1    6"
                                          to end this condition.
 2–3 12"
 4+    Opposite board edge                12: Choking Mists. A foul fog
                                          descends on the battlefield. Anytime
Add +1 to any proximity rolls for         a PC or one of their allies charges,
Nemesis and Specialist models.            they must make an 9+ CON check
                                          or suffer any negative results as
Place foes in the most logical starting   unsavable damage.
positions based on the terrain. If it
seems logical to keep a group of like
84
13: The Dead Keep It. The battlefield      any negative results as unsavable
sits on an ancient burial ground.          damage. The area remains unsafe
Deploy 3 Tiers worth of Skeletons          to any PCs who enter it.
or Zombies along a board edge not
occupied by you or your primary            22: Earthquake. Seismic shifts
foes. They are hostile to you and          rock the ground of the battlefield.
indifferent toward your enemies.           Anytime one of your foes acts first
                                           during the round, resolve a quake
14: Ball Lightning. Anytime one            event. Before your foe takes the
of your foes acts first during the         first activation of the round, each
round, resolve a ball lightning strike     member of your party must make
against a random member of your            an 8+ DEX check or be immediately
party. They must make a 9+ CON             knocked down.
check or suffer their negative
results as unsavable damage.               23: Torrential Rains. The terrible
                                           weather makes darkness even
15: Sinkhole. Choose a random              deadlier. Make Guard the Light
PC. At the end of their first turn,        Checks during Full Darkness
that character must make a 9+              conditions on double 1s, 2s, and
DEX check or suffer 1 damage               3s. Also, all ranged attacks are
and be knocked down.                       limited to 12" or less during
                                           conditions of normal light.
16: Transposition. After determining
initiative on round 1, switch chits        24: Spectral Thief. Before initiative
between two random models.                 on round 1, an invisible thief tries to
                                           pilfer a random weapon or magic
21: Traps! The terrain around you          item from a random party member!
seems alive with hidden dangers!           Have that PC make an 8+ PER
Each time a PC model enters a              check. On a failure, they lose the
piece of terrain (building, copse of       item for the battle. On a fumble,
trees, crater, etc.) for the first time,   they lose it for good!
they must make a 9+ PER, DEX, or
CON check. Success means they              25: Tough Casting. Randomly select
neutralize the danger and are fine.        one of your spellcaster characters.
Mark the area safe. No further             That character’s spell components
rolls needed for it. Failure means         may have been compromised prior
the area is trapped. They suffer           to the battle. They must make an 8+
                                                                                85
INT or CHA check. On a success,          34: Vile Disenchantment. Roll 1D6
their components are fine. On            each round for any beneficial spells
failure, they must fight the             cast on PCs or allies. On a 4+, those
battle without them.                     spells remain in effect, otherwise
                                         their effects cease.
26: The Disks of Displacement.
After determining initial model          35: The Gray Pilgrim. Just before
placement for both sides of the          the battle, you meet a strange old
battle, switch the positions of two      man with a pair of ravens perched
random models, one from each side.       on his shoulders. Randomly choose
                                         a PC to match wills with him. If they
31: Sightless Curse. The Sightless       make an 8+ CHA check, he shares
Ones are displeased. Choose a            a grim augury with them. Should
random player character. They            any attack take them OOA in the
must make an 8+ CON check or be          battle, they can instead ignore the
Stricken Blind — they suffer a Bane      blow and its effects. Keep track of
on all checks until they are dealt       the number of times this occurs
an even initiative chit, at which        during the battle. They still roll on
point their blindness fades.             the Post-Battle table afterward, but
                                         they must take -1 from the tens
32: Fae Curses. The battlefield          die for each time they avoided
rests near the threshold between         being taken OOA.
the mortal and Faerie realms. The
violence angers them. Choose a           36: Darkness Returns. If your
random PC. They must make an 8+          battle was supposed to take place
CHA check. Success grants them a         in Full Light, it instead takes place
Boon on their next 2D6 check, and        in Full Darkness. Otherwise ignore
failure curses them with a Bane on       this event.
a random stat for the remainder of
the game. If the character is a Fetch,   41: Essence Flows. Magical energies
they gain a Boon on their check.         roil about, possibly empowering a
                                         random PC. Roll 1D6; on a 5+, a PC
33: Old Enmities. This battlefield       gets +1 PER for the battle.
was once sacred to both Elves and
Dwarves. If you have both within         42: Magical Lightning. Can your
your party, they do not grant each       Mage harness this power for the
a gang-up bonus in melee.                good of the party? On their first turn
86
(only), they may use their combat       53: Magic Mushrooms. Along the
action to make an 8+ INT or CHA         way to the battle, you encounter
check. On a success, a random           magical mushrooms that could
enemy model suffers 1D6 damage.         enhance your Spell Components.
                                        Make an 8+ INT check to recognize
43: Essence Flows. Magical energies     their value. On a success, gain a
roil about, possibly empowering         Boon on your first two spellcasting
a random PC. Roll 1D6; on a 5+,         checks of the battle.
a PC gets +1 STR for the battle.
                                        54: Essence Flows. Magical energies
44: Blessings Before Battle.            roil about, possibly empowering
Before round 1, randomly select a       a random PC. Roll 1D6; on a 5+,
PC to make a 7+ CHA check. On a         a PC gets +1 CHA for the battle.
success, they gain a Boon to their
first 2D6 check of the battle.          55: Finding the Way. Before the
                                        battle begins but after all models
45: Essence Flows. Magical energies     are placed, randomly select one of
roil about, possibly empowering         your models to move up to 2D6"
a random PC. Roll 1D6; on a 5+,         in any direction you choose.
a PC gets +1 CON for the battle.
                                        56: Essence Flows. Magical energies
46: Forward Scouts. Before the          roil about, possibly empowering
battle begins, but after all models     a random PC. Roll 1D6; on a 5+,
are placed, move two random             a PC gets +1 INT for the battle.
enemy models 2D6" forward.
                                        61: Wondrous Find. A random
51: Essence Flows. Magical energies     member of your party finds
roil about, possibly empowering         a scroll with the Enchant spell.
a random PC. Roll 1D6; on a 5+,
a PC gets +1 DEX for the battle.        62: Hidden Placements. Before the
                                        battle begins but after all models
52: Time Flux. After initiative chits   are placed, move up to two PCs of
have been placed but before q           your choice 2D6" in any direction.
begins, swap the highest numbered
chit for the PCs with                   63: Blessing of Sight. Choose
the lowest numbered chit for            a random PC to make a 7+ INT
their enemies.                          check. If they succeed, multiversal
                                                                           87
possibilities unfold to them.               current foes, or they will defeat you
Anytime they receive an even                (i.e., your party either fled or were all
initiative chit, they can swap it with      taken OOA). Starting after round four,
another model’s even chit prior to          if you begin a round where no active
the start of the combat round.              foes are present on the battlefield
                                            and you roll no new wandering
64: Hidden Treasure. After set              monsters, the game ends.
up on round 1, select a random
character to make a 7+ PER check.           Consider any objective or treasure
On a success, they notice a hidden          tokens not held or controlled by
treasure located at the end of their        an active character lost.
first move. It requires a special
action to retrieve and takes up             THE POST-BATTLE
1 gear slot. If they finish the battle
                                            When the fighting is over, you
with the item in their possession,
                                            will need to sort out exactly what
they gain +2 QP.
                                            happens to your adventuring party.
                                            Did your fallen members survive?
65: Wondrous Find II. A random
                                            Did your band advance its own story
member of your party finds a scroll
                                            in your campaign? What’s next for
with the Arcane Blast spell. They
                                            them? Read on and find out!
find it at the end of their first turn,
and must use a special action
                                            Part 1: The Fate of
to secure it.
                                            the Fallen
                                            Any of your PCs, companions,
66: Lone Survivor. A survivor
                                            or hirelings who were taken out
of a previous battle with your
                                            of action during the most recent
current enemies joins you on the
                                            battle must make a D66 roll on the
battlefield. Generate them using the
                                            following table to determine their
Companion rules from Chapter 2.
                                            ultimate fate in your campaign. Any
                                            PC injuries sustained from rolling
Step 6: Fight!
                                            on the table below are permanent
Play out a battle using the rules
                                            unless otherwise noted. Stats
outlined in Chapter 3. Then come back
                                            can go into the negatives
here for the Post-Battle segment.
                                            from this process.
                                                                             89
41: Harrowing visions. Make an         place out! Your party must attempt
8+ CHA check or suffer a Bane on       to Journey at the beginning of the
one specific stat check (choose        next campaign turn.
randomly) throughout your
next battle.                           51: Healing, friend? You have a
                                       chance to make friends with the
42: Hobbled. -2" Move for the next     local healer. Make an 8+ CHA check
battle only.                           and gain a Healing Potion (Restore
                                       1D6 + 1 lost Health).
43: Drunkard. Your experiences
drive you to drink in excess. Make     52: Valhalla is real. You survived! If
a 7+ CON check after every battle.     you weren’t religious before, you are
If you fail, you cannot roll on any    now. If you were a Priest, you’re now
Pre-Battle tables before the next      ready to recommit with new zeal.
battle. Each time you roll this        You permanently gain +1 Health,
result, increase your TN by +1.        but you must “donate” 1 earned QP
                                       from your next two battles to your
44: Squeamish. Your experience         god or goddess.
has made you hesitant in battle. You
cannot use the Charge maneuver to      53–55: Just lucky, I guess. You
contact a foe in melee unless you      survive unscathed and unharmed.
first make a 6+ CHA check. If you
ever score a critical on this check,   56: Visit with the Gods. Whether real
this condition goes away.              or imagined, you briefly journeyed
                                       to the Outer Realms and sought
45: Hardened loaner. You survive,      counsel with the Gods. The insight
but your near miss temporarily puts    this experience brings allows your
you on the outs with another party     party to flip their next D66 check on
member. Randomly choose another        the Weird Events table.
PC; you don’t grant them a gang-up
bonus in the next battle.              61–62: Inspiring story. Your
                                       inspiring story of survival buoys
46: Far pavilions. While near          your fellow party members. +1 QP.
death, you dreamed of a new place
with hidden treasures. Your ardor      63–65: Even luckier, I guess. You
in describing your experience          survive unscathed and unharmed
convinces your party to seek this      and earn +1 QP and gain +1 Health.
90
66: Grizzled veteran. Your near-         They must be paid 1 QP after each
death experience hardens you.            battle they take part in (and survive)
Gain +1 to a random stat.                or they will leave your employ.
                                                                            91
The outcome of your battle can           They will make a roll on the
affect this roll:                        Character Advancement Table
                                         every time they earn an advance.
  • -1 if your enemy’s
    leader survived                        CHARACTER ADVANCEMENT
92
General            Priest
1: Baron           1: Bishop
2: Duke            2: Cardinal
3: Earl            3: Cleric
4: Lord            4: Monk
5: Seneschal       5: Penitent
6: Warden          6: Petitioner
Fighter
1: Armsman
2: Champion
3: Lord Militant
4: Protector
5: Sergeant
6: Warlord
Mage
1: Arcanist
2: Conjurer
3: Magician
4: Warlock
5: Witch
6: Wizard
                                                     93
            5: Creatures & Foes
Creatures and monstrous                  [Creature Name]
humanoids form the backbone of
                                         Descriptive text.
any fantasy RPG rogues gallery.
Your adventuring party must risk
                                         Tier X [rough gauge of threat level
danger and death at the hands of
                                         from 1 (least) to 9+ (most)]
creatures and savage peoples from
                                         Base TN: X
out of the mists of legend, lore,
                                         Exceptional TNs
and beyond.
Role: Fighter
                                        • Tier 1
                                          Health 5–10, Max Stat = 7+,
Powerful Charge. +1 damage
                                          Max of 1 or 2 special abilities
on successful charge attack.
                                        • Tier 2
                                          Health 10–15, Max Stat = 8+,
The Minotaur listed above                 Max of 2 or 3 special abilities
possesses better STR and CON            • Tier 3
(8+ vs. its standard 7+) and poorer       Health 15–20, Max Stat = 9+,
INT (6+ vs. 7+). It would attack in       Max of 3 or 4 special abilities
melee with an 8+, while it would
                                        • Tier 4
defend with its standard 7+.
                                          Health 20–25, Max Stat = 10+,
                                          Max of 4 or 5 special abilities
                                        • Tier 5
                                          Health 25–50, Max Stat = 11+,
                                          no limit on special abilities
Step 2: Set Up the Profile                  • Depending upon a creature’s
                                              Health, Immunity to morale might
  • Assign the model’s main TN                also prompt a +1 Tier increase.
    at one below its max for its Tier.      • If the creature is humanoid and it
  • Assign up to two stats a TN               makes sense, supply them with
    at +1 higher than the main TN.            suitable gear. Use your models
  • Assign up to two stats a TN               and common sense as your
    at -1 to -2 lower than the main           guide when outfitting these foes.
    TN. For beasts or creatures of            We should note that massive
    limited intellect, feel free to           humanoids like Ogres and
    set INT values even lower.                Minotaurs never suffer movement
                                              penalties from wearing armor or
  • Tier 1 creature profiles with
                                              carrying a heavy shield.
    fewer than 10 Health per
    model should get two, three,            • Add or subtract Health as you see
    or even four models per Tier 1            fit. Adding 10+ Health to a creature
    increment. For example, Giant             should raise its Tier by +1.
    Rats have 2 Health and count
    as 4 models at Tier 1. We note        Air Elemental,
    this in their profile with a (x 4).   Greater
                                          Royal sylph of
Step 3: Add Extras                        the plane of Air.
Once you have your baseline creature
stats, you can tweak them as follows,     Tier 4
noting any Tier increases as you go.      Base TN: 8+
                                          DEX 9+, PER 9+
  • Creatures should have a default
    of 1 attack per round. Assigning      Health: 20 | Move: 12" | Attacks:
    them more attacks should raise        2 x Shearing Winds (+3 damage), 24"
    their Tier by +1 per extra attack.
  • Creatures with save or die            Role: Champion
    powers like Petrification
    should be +1 Tier.                    Flight. Ignore difficult terrain, enemy
                                          zones of control, and falling damage.
  • Immunity to normal weapons
     should also raise a creature's
                                          Swift. +6" Move
     Tier by +1.
                                          (already reflected in profile).
96
Immunity. Immune to damage              Bandit, Human
from non-magical attacks.
                                        Desperate criminals seeking plunder.
Role: Shooter
                                        Beast Folk
                                        Hulking, hirsute hybrids
Astral Blast. 8+, 12" vs. DEX,          of man and beast.
2 unsavable damage.
                                        Tier 1 (x 2)
Astral Sight. Ignore the effects        Base TN: 6+
of Invisibility.                        STR: 7+, PER 7+
Role: Fighter/Shooter
                                                                             97
Burrowing Hulk                        Role: Fighter
                                      Beast.
Tier 3
Base TN: 8+
                                      Poison Bite. 6+ vs. CON.
STR: 9+, INT 6+
                                      Save or target immobilized.
Role: Fighter
98
Chaos Knight                             Chaos Lord
Dark champion against the Balance.       Anointed commander of disorder.
Tier 4                                   Tier 7
Base TN: 8+                              Base TN: 10+
CON 9+, CHA 9+                           CON 11+, CHA 11+
Gear: Heavy Armor (-2 damage),           Gear: Heavy Armor (-2 damage),
Heavy Weapon                             Heavy Weapon
                                                                            99
Deep Dweller                           Flight. Ignore difficult terrain, enemy
                                       zones of control, and falling damage.
Humanoid hybrids of men and fish.
Role: Fighter
Devil, Major
Dark duke from the hellish realms.     Devil, Minor
                                       Evil servitor from the hellish realms.
Tier 4
Base TN: 9+
                                       Tier 3
STR 10+, INT 10+
                                       Base TN: 7+
                                       STR 8+
Health: 20 | Move: 8" (F) | Attacks:
2 x Claw (+3 damage)
                                       Health: 15 | Move: 6" | Attacks:
                                       2 x Claw (+2 damage)
Role: Nemesis
                                       Role: Fighter
Blackout. Free action, roll 1D6:
5+, all light sources within 12"
                                       Infernal Resistance. (Armor, -
automatically go out.
                                       1 damage)
100
Dragon, Adult                              • 1: Flame vs. DEX. +4 damage,
                                             Unsavable
Massive, wrathful, and covetous wyrm.
                                           • 2: Poison vs. CON. +3 damage,
Tier 9                                       Unsavable, Ongoing (recheck
Base TN: 10+                                 each turn)
CON, STR: 11+                              • 3: Cold vs. STR. +4 damage,
                                             Unsavable
Health: 40 | Move: 10" (F) |
                                           • 4: Fear vs. CHA. Targets Rout,
Attacks: 2 x Claw (+4 damage),
                                             Ongoing (recheck each turn)
1 x Bite (+4 damage), or Breath
Weapon (see below)                         • 5: Psychic vs. INT. +3 damage,
                                             Unsavable
Role: Nemesis                              • 6: Flash vs. PER. Targets
                                             blinded (suffer a Bane), Ongoing
Breath Weapon. 10+, all models               (recheck each turn)
within 12". Limited. (Must roll 1D6
each turn after first use. Only usable
                                         Flight. Flight. Ignore difficult
again on a result of 5+). Roll or
                                         terrain, enemy zones of control,
choose which type:
                                         and falling damage.
                                                  Scales. As Heavy
                                                   Armor (-2).
                                                                            101
Earth Elemental,                     Gear: Light Armor (-1), Blade,
Greater                              Short Bow, Quiver, torches
Craggy captain of
                                     Role: Fighter/Shooter
the plane of Earth.
Role: Champion
                                     Evil Adventurer (Fighter)
                                     Tier 3
Quake. 8+, 12", Up to two targets    Base TN: 8+
(within 3" of each other) who fail   STR 9+, CON 9+, INT 7+
their DEX check are knocked down.
                                     Health: 15 | Move: 6" | Attacks:
Immunity. Immune to damage           2 x Heavy Melee Weapon
from non-magical attacks.            (+3 damage)
                                     Brute. As PC trait.
Evil adventurer (expert)
Tier 3                               Multi-Attack. One extra attack per
Base TN: 8+                          turn (already factored in profile).
DEX 9+, PER 9+, CON 7+
                                     Needs Light. Not darkness adapted.
Health: 15 | Move: 6" | Attacks:
1 x Light Blade (+1 damage) or
1 x Short Bow (+2 damage), 12"
102
Evil Adventurer (Mage)               Gear: Heavy Armor (-2), torches
Tier 3
                                     Role: Specialist
Base TN: 8+
INT 9+, PER 9+, STR 7+
                                     Needs Light. Not darkness adapted.
                                                                         103
Fire Bolt. 9+ vs. DEX, 24", +3 damage    Ghost
                                         Vengeful spirit of a
Immunity. Immune to damage
                                         long-dead adventurer.
from non-magical attacks.
                                         Tier 4
  • Lesser Version: Tier 4,
                                         Base TN: 8+
    -1 from all TNs, -5 Health,
    -1 Burning Hands attack.
                                         Health: 12 | Move: 6" | Attacks:
                                         1 x Chilling Touch (+2 damage)
                                         + Spirit Drain
Ganglion Mind-Hunter
Tentacle-faced, shambling hunters        Role: Fighter
from beyond the veil of worlds.
                                         Ethereal. Ignore all terrain and
Tier 6                                   falling damage.
Base TN: 9+
DEX 10+, INT 10+, STR 8+                 Immunity. Immune to damage
                                         from non-magical attacks.
Health: 25 | Move: 7" | Attacks:
1 x Medium Blade (+2 damage) AND         Spirit Drain. 8+ vs. CHA. On a
1 x Brain Suck or Mind Blast             successful melee attack, target
(see below)                              must save or reduce CHA by -1.
Tier 5                              Tier 2
Base TN: 8+                         Base TN: 7+
STR 9+, DEX 7+, INT 6+              CHA 8+, DEX 8+, PER: 6+
                                                                       105
Goblin Warrior                     Golem, Stone
Wiry, smallish humanoids with a    Sinister animated statue.
greenish hue and bad attitudes.
                                   Tier 4
Tier 1 ( x 3)                      Base TN: 7+
Base TN: 6+                        STR 8+, CON 8+, PER 6+
STR 7+, DEX 7+
                                   Health: 15 | Move: 6" | Attacks:
Health: 5 | Move: 5" | Attacks:    2 x Stone Hands (+3 damage)
1 x Short Sword (+2 damage) or
1 x Short Bow (+2 damage), 12"     Role: Fighter
                                   Grizzly Bear
                                   Massive ursine predator.
                                   Tier 4
                                   Base TN: 8+
                                   STR 9+, PER 9+, INT 5+
Role: Fighter
Beast.
106
Hag                                  Role: Fighter/Shooter
Vengeful crone
                                     Brute. As the PC trait.
possessing
hideous
                                     Night Fighter. +1 STR/+1 PER
strength and
                                     during Full Darkness conditions.
dark magic.
Tier 3
Base TN: 8+
STR 9+, CHA 9+
                                     Kobold Sorcerer
                                     Diminutive, red-skinned
Health: 20 | Move: 6" | Attacks:     spellcasters with lizard-like
1 x Hag’s Claw (+2 damage) or        tails and dog-like snouts.
Hag’s Curse (see below)
                                     Tier 2
Role: Specialist                     Base TN: 7+
                                     INT 8+, PER 8+
Hag’s Curse. 9+ vs. CHA, 12".
Target must make a CHA check         Health: 10 | Move: 6" | Attacks:
or suffer a Bane on any activities   1 x dagger (+1 damage) or Spells
related to their highest stat
(randomize between tied stats).      Gear: Dagger, Spell Components
Role: Specialist
                                       Tier 1
Role: Fighter/Shooter
                                       Base TN: 6+
                                       STR: 7+, CON 7+
Pack Fighters. Attacks do
+1 damage when the target
                                       Health: 10 | Move: 5" | Attacks:
is outnumbered in melee.
                                       1 x Medium Weapon (+2 damage)
                                       or Spear (+2 damage), 12"
Role: Fighter
108
Malefic Meringue                     Manticore
These sinister protoplasmic blobs    Legendary
possess just enough rudimentary      amalgam
intelligence to know hate.           of man, lion,
                                     dragon, and
Tier 4                               scorpion.
Base TN: 8+
DEX 9+, CHA 5+, INT 5+               Tier 6
                                     Base TN: 9+
Health: 20 | Move: 4" | Attacks:     INT 7+
2 x Pseudopod (+2 damage)
                                     Health: 25 | Move: 6" (F) |
Role: Fighter                        Attacks: 2 x Claw (+3 damage),
                                     1 x Tail sting (+3 damage) + Poison
Acid Splash. When suffering
a physical attack that results in    Role: Fighter
2+ damage, any models within
2" or less of Meringue suffer        Flight. Ignore difficult terrain, enemy
1 unsavable damage.                  zones of control, and falling damage.
                                                                           109
Role: Fighter                          Petrifying Gaze. 9+ vs. CON, 6".
                                       Save or OOA. Permanent.
Flight. Ignore difficult terrain and
falling damage.                        Serpent Tresses. 8+. If a foe
                                       successfully attacks Medusa
Light Eater. 6". If the Mantle Bat     in melee, they must make a CON
ends its turn in range of any model    check or suffer negative results
holding a light source (mundane or     as unsavable damage.
magical), make a Guard the Light
check as if they had rolled double
1s or 2s. Only models within its
range are affected.                    Minotaur
                                       Marauding,
                                       massive horned
                                       beast who charges
Medusa                                 headlong into foes
Snake-tressed                          with crushing fury.
gorgon with a
deadly gaze.                           Tier 3
                                       Base TN: 7+
Tier 4                                 STR 8+, CON 8+, INT 6+
Base TN: 8+
DEX 9+, CHA 9+                         Health: 15 | Move: 6" | Attacks:
                                       2 x Massive Weapon (+4 damage)
Health: 20 | Move: 6" | Attacks:
1 x Spear (+2 damage)                  Gear: Light Armor (-1),
or Petrifying Gaze                     Massive weapon
110
Ogre                               Oni Mage
Massive, bad-tempered humanoids    Spell-slinging
who usually work as shock-troops   humanoid distantly
and bodyguards.                    related to the
                                   Western Ogre.
Tier 4
Base TN: 8+                        Tier 5
STR 9+, CON 9+, INT 6+             Base TN: 8+
                                   INT 9+, PER 9+
Health: 20 | Move: 6" | Attacks:
2 x Massive Weapon (+4 damage)     Health: 20 | Move: 8" (F) | Attacks:
                                   1 x Spear (+3 damage, Reach 2")
Gear: Heavy Armor (-2),            and 1 x Spell
Massive Weapon
                                   Gear: Massive Club
Role: Fighter
                                   Role: Champion
                                                                       111
Orc Warrior
Martially minded
marauding humanoids.
Tier 2
Base TN: 7+
CON 8+
Role: Fighter
                                                                       113
Spider, Giant                          Role: Fighter
Tier 4
                                       Life Drain. On a successful bite,
Base TN: 9+
                                       Vampire regains lost Health equal
DEX 7+, INT 6+
                                       to target’s negative results, and
                                       target must make 10+ CON save
Health: 20 | Move: 6" | Attacks:
                                       or reduce CON by -1. If CON drops
2 x Claw (+3 damage)
114
to -2 or lower, target is OOA and       • Lesser Version: Tier 4,
possibly cursed.                          -1 from all TNs, -5 Health,
                                          -1 Smashing Waves attack.
Tough. As Light Armor (-1 damage).
Tier 5                                Beast.
Base TN: 8+
STR 9+                                Bounding Charge. Charge range
                                      is +4".
Health: 20 | Move: 6" | Attacks:
2 x Smashing Waves (+3 damage)        Pack Fighters. Attacks do
or Drown                              +1 damage when the target is
                                      outnumbered in melee.
Role: Champion
                                      Role: Fighter
Immunity. Immune to damage
from non-magical attacks.
                                                                         115
Beast.                              CREATURES BY TIER
                                    Tier 1
Bounding Charge. Charge range
is +4".                              • Bandit, Human (x 2)
                                     • Beast Folk (x 2)
Pack Fighters. Attacks do
                                     • Centipede, Giant (x 2)
+1 damage when the target is
outnumbered in melee.                • Goblin Warrior (x 3)
                                     • Kobold Warrior (x 3)
                                     • Lizardfolk Warrior (x 2)
                                     • Mantle Bat (x 2)
Zombie
                                     • Rat, Giant (x 4)
Shambling undead corpses
seeking living flesh.                • Skeleton (x 3)
                                     • Spider, Giant (x 2)
Tier 1 (x 4)
                                     • Wolf (x 2)
Base TN: 5+
STR 6+, CON 6+                       • Zombie (x 4)
116
Tier 3                         Tier 5
 • Air Elemental, Lesser        • Earth Elemental, Greater
 • Burrowing Hulk               • Fire Elemental, Greater
 • Devil, Minor                 • Giant
 • Earth Elemental, Lesser      • Oni Mage
 • Evil Adventurer (Expert)     • Shambling Heap
 • Evil Adventurer (Fighter)    • Water Elemental, Greater
 • Evil Adventurer (Mage)
 • Evil Adventurer (Priest)
                               Tier 6
 • Hag
                                • Ganglion Mind-Hunter
 • Minotaur
                                • Manticore
                                • Vampire
Tier 4
 • Air Elemental, Greater
                               Tier 7
 • Chaos Knight
                                • Chaos Lord
 • Devil, Major
 • Earth Elemental, Lesser
 • Fire Elemental, Lesser      Tier 8
 • Ghost                        • Ovoid Eye-Beast
 • Golem, Stone
 • Grizzly Bear
                               Tier 9
 • Malefic Meringue
                                • Dragon, Adult
 • Medusa
 • Ogre
 • Troll
 • Water Elemental, Lesser
                                                             117
Appendix: Quick Rules Reference
BASICS                                  WEAPONS
 • Roll 2D6 and add the dice            Basics of weapons and
   together for a total of 2–12.        damage ratings.
 • Add bonuses from stats or
   situational modifiers.               Melee Weapons
118
DARKNESS                               COMMON CONDITIONS
  • Scenario generation procedure      Immobilized
    determines light/darkness           • Cannot move or make attacks
    status                                of any kind.
  • Models affected by darkness         • Attackers automatically hit —
    suffer a Bane on all checks           defender treated as if they had
  • Guard the Light checks prompted       a defense result of a 2.
    by rolls of double 1s and 2s        • Special action to make stat check
                                          against TN of the effect to end it.
WEAPON FUMBLES
When a PC rolls double 1s on their     Knocked Down
attack, they could fumble! Roll 1D6     • Must spend 2" of their
to determine what happens:                move action to stand up.
                                        • Attackers gain +1 to
  • 1: Your weapon shatters
                                          melee attacks.
    or breaks!
  • 2: Drop your weapon right
                                       Stunned
    next to you.
                                        • Stunned models lose their next
  • 3: Unsteady grip — Suffer
                                          move or special/combat action.
    a Bane on next attack.
  • 4+: Just a miss!
    No further effect.
                                       ROLL 2D6 TO
It takes a special action to pick up   RANDOMLY DETERMINE
a dropped weapon.
                                       A LOCKED DOOR’S TN:
                                        • 2: 12+
If your weapon is magical,
add +1 to this check.                   • 3: 11+
                                        • 4: 10+
                                        • 5–6: 9+
                                        • 7–9: 8+
                                        • 10–11: 7+
                                        • 12: 6+
                                                                         119
                                                     Index
Advancement Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92                • Tripping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Advanced Adventurers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11                   • Unarmed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  44
AI Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51–53         • vs. AI Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
• Attacking the Light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52            • Weapon Fumbles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  43
• Equidistant Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52              Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
• Morale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53     Critical Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
• Non-Combat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53           D66 Checks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
• Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51   Darkness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  40, 80
Banes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4, 19, 36, 40          Dice Modifiers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Battle Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75–88            Difficult Ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
• Darkness Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80           Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
• Step 1: Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . 75–77                 Drinking a Potion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
• Step 2: Location & Darkness. . . . 77–81                         Encounter Balance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
• Step 3: Opposition. . . . . . . . . . . . 81–84                  Encumbrance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
• Step 4: Model Placement . . . . . . . . . . 84                   Environmental Hazards. . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
• Step 5: Weird Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84              Entangled. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Bestiary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  96–116         Expert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
• Building Creatures. . . . . . . . . . . . 95–96                  Extended Checks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
• Creatures by Tier . . . . . . . . . . .  116–117                 Fate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8, 50, 63, 89
Boons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4   Fighter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Climbing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37     Flipping D66 Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41–50           Flying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
• Breaking From Melee. . . . . . . . . . . . .  44                 Fumble. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4, 43
• Charging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49      Health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8, 42, 48
• Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47   Held Turns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
• Criticals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48    Heritage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
• Damage & Health. . . . . . . . . . . . .  42, 48                 Heroic Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
• Disarming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49       Hiding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
• Focused Fire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47         Immobilized. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
• Fly You Fools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50        Initiative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
• Fully Defend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49        Invisibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
• Gang-ups in Melee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  44               Jumping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
• Grapple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45–46          Knocked Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
• Melee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42–43         Mage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
• Out of Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49        Magic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18–25
• Ranged. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46–47          • Backlash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
• Reach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  44     • Backlash Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
• Shooting into a Melee. . . . . . . . . . . . . 47                • Casting Spells. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
• Stat Damage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  43           • Gathering Power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
120
• Sacrificing Vitality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18            • Defender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
• Spell List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19–25           • Drive Back. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13–14
Measuring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7         • Druid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Movement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36–37                • Extra Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
PER Checks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38           • Familiar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Post-Battle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88–93             • Fetch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
• Enmity Roll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91         • Finesse Fighter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14–15
• Experience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92         • Grudge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
• Non-Random Advancement. . . . . . . . 93                           • Hard to Kill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
• Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93    • Healthy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Pre-Battle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  57–74           • Hedge Wizard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
• Hunt for Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  64                 • Lucky. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
• Journey Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57–62                 • Mighty Attack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
• Magical Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . 69                  • Moving Shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
• Privation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63      • Natural Attack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
• Trading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  64       • Pathfinder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
• Upkeep. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63       • Professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Priest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10    • Savant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Rounds & Turns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34             • Scout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Routed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45      • Scrounger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16–17
Quest Generator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56              • Shield Bash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Quest Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54–55                • Skirmisher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
• Awards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54–55            • Slayer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
• Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55     • Spellcaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
• Legendary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55          • Versatile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
• Starting QP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  54           • Warcaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
• Treasury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55       Traps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Starting Profile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9          Treasure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29–33
Stats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8   • Magic Armor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31–32
Stunned. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45        • Magic Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Swimming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38           • Major Magic Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Target Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5             • Minor Magic Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Tier Levels (Enemies). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81                • Picking Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Traits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11–17      • Potions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30–31
• Acrobat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11       • Spell Scrolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
• Backstabber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11           • Random Magic Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
• Bard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11    Variable TNs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47–48
• Beast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12     Wandering Monsters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
• Brute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12    Weapons & Gear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26–29
• Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12            • Armor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
• Companion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12–13                • Other Gear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28–29
• Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13        • Slots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
• Counterattack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13            • Weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26–27
• Deadeye Shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13            Zone of Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
                                                                                                                               121
122
                  2D DELVES CHARACTER SHEET
                                                                    BATTLES
Name                                 Heritage
Class                                     Move
Fate             1    2    3    4    5    6      7   8    9    10      Gear   Slots
        HEALTH
STR              11   12   13   14   15   16    17   18   19   20
DEX              21   22   23   24   25   26    27   28   29   30
CON     Traits
INT
PER
CHA
                                                                    BATTLES
Name                                 Heritage
Class                                     Move
Fate             1    2    3    4    5    6      7   8    9    10      Gear   Slots
        HEALTH
STR              11   12   13   14   15   16    17   18   19   20
DEX              21   22   23   24   25   26    27   28   29   30
CON     Traits
INT
PER
CHA
Name Heritage
Class                                     Move
Fate             1    2    3    4    5    6      7   8    9    10      Gear   Slots
        HEALTH
STR              11   12   13   14   15   16    17   18   19   20
DEX              21   22   23   24   25   26    27   28   29   30
CON     Traits
INT
PER
CHA
                                                                                      123
                    2D DELVES CAMPAIGN SHEET
  Campaign Name               Treasury Quest Points
  Campaign Length             Legendary Quest Points
            Party Members                         Notes
  Bitter                      Respected
  Enemies                     Rivals
124
                                  CREATURE/FOE SHEET
Name                                                                      Tier
Primary TN                                       Move                     Role
Exceptional TNs
         1    2    3    4    5     6   7    8    9    10   11   12   13   14     15   16   17   18
HEALTH
         19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32     33   34   35   36
         37   38   39   40   41   42   42   44   45   46   47   48   49   50     51   52   53   54
Attacks
Special
Abilities
                                  CREATURE/FOE SHEET
Name                                                                      Tier
Primary TN                                       Move                     Role
Exceptional TNs
         1    2    3    4    5     6   7    8    9    10   11   12   13   14     15   16   17   18
HEALTH
         19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32     33   34   35   36
         37   38   39   40   41   42   42   44   45   46   47   48   49   50     51   52   53   54
Attacks
Special
Abilities
                                  CREATURE/FOE SHEET
Name                                                                      Tier
Primary TN                                       Move                     Role
Exceptional TNs
         1    2    3    4    5     6   7    8    9    10   11   12   13   14     15   16   17   18
HEALTH
         19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32     33   34   35   36
         37   38   39   40   41   42   42   44   45   46   47   48   49   50     51   52   53   54
Attacks
Special
Abilities
                                                                                                     125
2
                                                    8
                              4
         4
                                         6
BANDIT   BANDIT    SKELETON   SKELETON   SKELETON   SKELETON
1
                                                    7
                              3
                   1
                                         5
BANDIT   BANDIT    SKELETON   SKELETON   SKELETON   SKELETON
2
                              2
         2
                                         2
PRIEST   FIGHTER   FIGHTER    EXPERT     MAGE       VAMPIRE
1
                              1
         1
                                         1
PRIEST   FIGHTER   FIGHTER    EXPERT     MAGE       GHOST
                                                               126
                                                      127
4
                                             8
         8
                                    4
KOBOLD   KOBOLD   GOBLIN   GOBLIN   ZOMBIE   ZOMBIE
                                             7
3
                           7
         7
                                    3
KOBOLD   KOBOLD   GOBLIN   GOBLIN   ZOMBIE   ZOMBIE
                                             6
2
                           6
         6
                                    2
                  2
KOBOLD   KOBOLD   GOBLIN   GOBLIN   ZOMBIE   ZOMBIE
                                             5
1
                           5
         5
                                    1
                  1
KOBOLD   KOBOLD   GOBLIN   GOBLIN   ZOMBIE   ZOMBIE
                     4
4
ORC   3
      CHAOS KNIGHT   OBJECTIVE
                     2
2
      2
                                          OGRE
ORC   CHAOS KNIGHT   OBJECTIVE
                     1
1
      1
ORC   CHAOS KNIGHT   OBJECTIVE
                                 DRAGON   MINOTAUR
                                                      128
                                                                                   129
                                     4
FIRE ELEMENTAL MINOR DEVIL           GIANT RAT
                                     3           AIR ELEMENTAL   FIRE ELEMENTAL
EARTH ELEMENTAL   MALEFIC MERINGUE   GIANT RAT
                                     2
                                                                 EARTH ELEMNETAL
WATER ELEMENTAL   GOBLIN SHAMAN      GIANT RAT
                                     1
AIR ELEMENTAL KOBOLD SORCERER        GIANT RAT
                                                 MANTICORE       WATER ELEMENTAL
                                                                                                  INVISIBILITY INVISIBILITY
                                                                                                   +1 +1
                                                                                                     +1
                                                                                                   +1 +1
                                                                          OBJECTIVE OBJECTIVE OBJECTIVE
•�B
•�B
•�B
•�B
                                                                                                                                       •�B
    OON
OON
OON
OON
OON
                                                                                                                            OON
                  OON
OON
OON
OON
OON
                                                                                                                                          OON
 •�B
•�B
•�B
•�B
•�B
•�B
�BA E •
�BA E •
�BA E •
�BA E •
                                                                                                                         �BA E •
                •�B
•�B
•�B
•�B
•�B
                                                                                                                                        •�B
    N
                                                                                                                            N
                   ANE
ANE
ANE
ANE
ANE
ANE
130
         1
 6                2
                          1
         D6
 5                3
                          2
         4
                          3
                      4
                          4
                      5
1    2   3    4   5
                      6
6    7   8    9 10
11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20
                              131
                       Afterword
I have played a lot of D&D-like RPGs
over the last year and half. Most
often it has been the brilliant Kelsey
Dionne’s Shadowdark RPG. Running
this amazing fantasy game inspired
me to revisit my own work. Twelve
years ago, I published Goalsystem
Delves, a game with the subtitle
“Dungeon Skirmish Role-Play."
I felt like it was time to return to
this particular corner of our hobby
and try again. This time I also took
inspiration from another amazing
game I have played a lot over the
last year or so, Five Parsecs From Home. Five Parsecs, and its fantasy
counterpart, Five Leagues From the Borderland, are procedural skirmish
games meant for solo and cooperative play. I fell in love with solo and
co-op gaming during the pandemic, and so I wanted to build on what I had
already done in Techno-Fantasy Adventure and Super Skirmish Gaming.
I combined my current inspiration with a new 2D6 engine and new
player-facing mechanics. That got me to 2D Delves, and I hope you
enjoy it as much as I have! Roll high!
Scott R. Pyle
May 2024
132
2D Delves gives you the tools
to build a party of fantasy
heroes and guide them through
amazing adventures! This solo/
co-op procedural fantasy system
allows you to tell incredible
tabletop stories with ANY
models in your collection as
the stars. Along with those
models you will need: a
handful of six sided dice,
chits numbered 1 to 20,
a tape measure marked
in inches, a map or small
collection of terrain, and
paper and pencil to track
the action. Our intuitive AI
rules assign your enemy
models simple roles that
govern their reactions to your
heroes’ actions. Play out story-
driven skirmishes right from
this book, or adapt your favorite
dungeon fantasy adventures.
Explore the depths of your
imagination with 2D Delves!