Story by: Bret Winters
Cover: Ted Chesky
Artwork: Suzanne Winters, Dario Corallo
Playtesters: George Dew, Karen Duke, Alec Groathouse, Sean Groathouse, Tony Groathouse, Todd Johnson, Aaron Keisch, Sean Mathews, Jerry Meyer Jr., Kat Shults
Copyright © 2011 Dark City Games
Redpoint is in upheaval. Gomar has broken from Demetrian rule and declared himself to be king. A series of alliances with certain upland despots and beast-man nations has given him power, which he is now consolidating in campaigns to the south of the city-state.
With King Gomar’s attention focused elsewhere, several groups have gained power. The slavers guild has doubled their traffic through the port; a rise in illicit trade has generated two additional thieves guilds to compete with the ancient original; killers in dark robes have been spotted all over the city; and hideous beings terrorize neighborhoods neglected by the watch.
The Maul is an old region of the city, in the common district and swept by decades of slaves and other immigrants. It is now a series of slums, and a low priority of the city watch.
There is a new evil with the Maul as its home. Murders and abductions are at an alarming high, and those responsible seem to be the robed men, perhaps aided by grotesque minions. It is beneath the notice of the government, and the people are powerless and scared.
You are raw adventurers, ready to make your way through the world with your steel and your wits. Despite all the martial and criminal activity ongoing throughout the city, it is seemingly impossible to find work as independent blades. But then you hear old rumors of a Sorcerer’s treasure somewhere in the Maul. Considering your lack of prospects, you decide these are worth investigating.
You learn the location of the Sorcerer’s Manor from Honest Alzander, a crazy map-seller in the bazaar of the Maul. It is an ancient structure that pre-dates the current civilization in Redpoint, that at one recent time housed a strange man of great power. He has not been seen in decades, but none who have tried to burgle or collect taxes from the manor have returned. Now it is the rumored home of ghosts and demons. And some odd comings and goings...
Even though you are inexperienced, you are confident in your abilities. So it is in the pre-dawn darkness that you climb over the wall and drop to the courtyard beyond. The great stone house is fairly a fortress. But the central doors hang ajar, and with the first light you will enter.
The adventure comprises a series of numbered entries. Do not read the entries sequentially, they are intentionally scrambled. As you play, you will be directed to the different numbered entries.
While reading an entry, you will find options directly followed by numbers in parentheses. If you decide to take an option, turn immediately to the corresponding entry number. Continue playing from that point.
Occasionally, an upper case word in parentheses follows a sentence or phrase. This indicates that you have now acquired this plot word. Retain all plot words until specifically instructed to discard them. Plot words have an impact on your fate.
Letters correspond to locations on the game board. For example, you might read that “You are at A in a Type III room.” Find the Type III room on the game board and place your characters on the hexes marked A. If all A hexes are full, place your characters immediately adjacent.
Any option preceded by a tilde (~) requires that one character in the party attempt a 3/IQ check. If the character passes, turn immediately to the corresponding entry. If the character fails, the option is not available.
Whenever the party selects the attack option, the party has the initiative. Whenever the party selects the talk option, players must decide what they will say before proceeding. Unless otherwise stated, adversaries fight to the death. Dead adversaries do not rejuvenate upon subsequent visits. Only once all adversaries are defeated can the party loot bodies, search the location or leave through a different entrance than the one used to enter.
When the party is asked to pass a check at an encounter, the party elects one character. That character has one chance to pass the check, or he fails and the party suffers the consequences. Characters
All characters are fully provisioned with food and water. Normal characters begin with a weapon, armor up to Chainmail, and either a shield or an additional weapon. Magic characters start with a staff of capacity equal to the character’s ST. Each character begins with 10S (silver shillings).
A party may leave companions behind, but upon returning to that entry, one player rolls one die. On a one or two, the companion is still there in the same condition as before. Otherwise the companion is gone, never to be heard from again.
Money is denominated into Copper Pennies (C), Silver Shillings (S), Gold Crowns (G) and occasionally, Gold Royals (R). There are 10C to 1S, 10S to 1G, and 20G to 1R, which is more of a bar than a coin.
Since the adventure takes place over the span of one day, there is no opportunity for wound recovery.
The six grey circles on the board denote columns. These spaces are completely off-limits. The columns block all movement, sight and missile weapons fire. Unless otherwise noted, these columns are always in play.
Conversely, the stairway in the middle of the board is non-existent unless otherwise noted.
See Appendix A for information on races.
Go to (000) and begin.
The Sorcerer’s Manor Copyright © 2011 Dark City Games
