"You fail to find anything out of the Ordinary..." DM House Rules for Secret Doors and Traps

Have a Bottle of Wine...or a secret door to a hidden treasure room!

I am currently watching on Netflix Umberto Eco's "Name of the Rose" (1981) starring Sean Connery as a Franciscan friar investigating murders in a Benedictine abbey.  

Aside from being an excellent medieval mystery  film (which I had no interest in as a boy because it wasn't swords and sorcery or a shoot em' up) , there is a sequence with a secret door which, aside from giving me a new idea for one of those devices, inspired me to write briefly on how I handle secret doors and traps in my dungeons or other adventures.

I do not use…at least by itself…the  mechanic given in the Holmes Basic Edition or the later Basic and AD&D editions where a die roll is used to see if characters are able to detect secret doors and traps. 

That seems a little simple  and does not allow for really challenging the players and allowing much  DM 

creativity in creating novel secret doors. 

So  here are my house rules on secret doors, which I acquaint every new player with, usually when they are about to enter a dungeon wherein I have placed secret doors.

The rules state that Dwarves can find traps one third of the time (2 in 6 chance). However, I restrict this bonus to investigations involving  engineered  stone works, as that is reasonably the domain of dwarves. In my mind, there is no reason why a Dwarf would be any more able than other character classes to detect more subtle mechanisms such as hidden bookcase latches, turning paintings, etc.

Thieves on the other hand, have a remove traps percentage chance ability as a character class benefit. I have never understood why "find traps" was not added to the table so that is house ruled in for my game as a trap must be found before it can be removed. Thieves are opposite of dwarves in this endeavor--they are of little use in searching for traps which involve engineered stone works and I do not allow them to search for such traps  (at least with a simple die roll). they are confined to searching for those traps of  a delicate mechanical nature (locks, latches, trip wires, etc.).

Elves have excellent chances for finding secret doors due to their vision--merely passing by one allows for a 2 in 6 chance. make that 4 in 6 when they are actively searching for one. However, I think it goes without saying that this is in well lit conditions and so that is a house rule. Infravision (or Darksight as I prefer to call it in my game--less technological sounding) is good for seeing room dimensions and living things but it does not bestow a clarity of the sort to see secret doors. So I only give this bonus to an elf character if there is a least torch light present.

With the aforementioned in mind, like most DM's, I make the rolls for secret door and trap detection behind my screen when a player announces they are using the ability or an elf passes by a secret door.

 If the roll fails, I simply say "You fail to find any secret door, trap, etc."

 If they do succeed, I tell them if a trap is present or a secret door and if one is not I will sometimes  give some assurance such as "You are very confident it's not there" but I do not always as sometimes this is a give away to them --if I don't give them assurance and yet say "You detected no traps" they may surmise immediately that they simply failed the roll and a trap is indeed present. So I mix that up a bit,  usually saving assurance for when they are endlessly handwringing about thinking they failed and that a trap is present when yet they succeeded and one is not!

That said, just because someone finds a secret door, elf or otherwise, it does not necessarily follow that they know how to open it. So secret doors come in two basic models  in my games: the conventional, traditional dungeon sort and the Saturday Night Special variety.

The first category are a matter of a mere die roll as is stated in the rules and I generally employ them as a means of rewarding prudent and careful adventurers who are being reasonably mindful of their environment. Also for added interest for players and especially newer players. Of course in moderating this die roll I observe all of my previously stated house rules. Sometimes I will make it a freebie that when the secret door is found, the way in is readily apparent, i.e. push on the panel, slide it, move the altar aside, etc.).


Other times, as a mixture between these two models of secret doors (or traps, at times) I will require players to discover the mechanism I have designed into the adventure.


This might be pulling down on a candelabra chandelier hanging down over the room, a magic password,  turning a statue, emptying water from a stone vessel by means of a spout, lighting a fire in a hearth which will boil away water in a  vessel behind the hearth which will in turn, when it is lightened, relieve the weight on the mechanism holding the door shut etc. The list is really as long as your imagination as a DM (or the imaginations of those you borrow from) can make it.

A S.N.S. is a more complex matter.


This is something of a  design that I took the time to construct in a fashion as to make it  (hopefully) original and to challenge my players.


I'm not giving this one up on a mere die roll, not even to a pesky elf who has a 4 in 6 chance or a dwarf with a 2 in 6 chance... not unless the construction of the door is such that it is warranted, ans sometimes, not even then!

 Instead, players aren't going beyond the S.N.S. until they find it and trigger it by interacting with the room description and actively doing things to find and/or trigger the secret door (or trap). 

The room description holds the clues--if the furniture or fixtures of the room are intriguing enough, this can be a clue in itself. 

Other times they enter the maze with some clue already that there is a secret door, such a s a hidden rune saying so, a town rumor, or a portion of map which shows features of the maze which don't fit anywhere on their existing map made through initial exploration.


 In such a case, the  furnishing s of the room holding the S.N.S. can be completely mundane and unremarkable, it matters not;  the players will seek it there eventually through sheer process of elimination.

Unless I have some very compelling reason for doing so (like trying to conclude a series of games whose time has come for wrapping that chapter up), my general rule is that if you don't find the S.N.S., you will get not one clue beyond what I have written into the adventure and it is lost to you otherwise. Whatever  was truly lying behind the S.N.S. will always remain a tantalizing mystery, if indeed it was ever real at all…only the DM knows! This can even be the basis of further adventures!

Using the above listed approaches to secret doors has created some very interesting moments in our games. 

Sometimes, I felt like a chump as a door or mechanism I had thought quite clever was unraveled in seconds by a deductive player.


 Other times, it made for some very interesting tension in the game and a great sense of reward and accomplishment to the deducing player when it was unlocked .


And there were sometimes periods of frustration when it could never be found and I asked myself if I had made it too hard or escoteric or if, and I devoutly hoped it so, I had simply outwitted them!


 I do of course want all my S.N.S.'s to be eventually found and opened, but I like matching wits with my players as well! They best me at that game often enough, a DM needs some dignity.

I'll conclude with an example of a S.N.S.

I created a favorite one which combined both magical and stone construction mechanisms .

 The party was exploring a sunken Temple of Poseidon, the sea god. They came to a chamber where there stood a ring of pillars with statues facing out from the room's center ,wherein the floor  was carven with a circle of magic runes inlaid with electrum. The statues of warriors, clutching giant steel scimitars,  had jeweled eyes .

The statues were intended by me as a red herring--first off, I wanted the party to wonder, "Will they come to life at some point, attacking us?". 

Secondly, I wanted them to be distracted by the swords--the simple fact is they were not magical at all and the hilts were so constructed as to be fastened to the stone hands and not removable without breaking them. This lured players away from thinking about secret doors at all! Finally, the jeweled eyes were there to tempt the party to pry them out (easy enough) and keep as loot.

However, they possessed a sure word from the person who had sent them on the quest that a hidden tomb lay within the Maze, one that had been searched for but never found. The tale had been told in such a way that little doubt  was left in the player's minds that it was the truth.

Thus they knew, after exploring the maze and not finding the tomb, there must be a secret door somewhere. 

The secret to the door was to turn the statutes inward towards the magic circle. When the last statue clicked into place, beams of light shot out from the jeweled eyes towards the runes, which began to glow. Then, magically, a hole appeared in the floor  in the size and shape of the magic circle. Steps led down to the hidden tomb, where the adventure's end and the treasure were both to be found!

In using this kind of a portal, I would not allow an elf or a dwarf any die roll to find it, though if they specifically declared searching for something I might make such a roll behind the screen to mislead them!


You say "How will they ever know?"


They know the die roll is not always the end of the matter because as I said I have thoroughly explained all of these rules on secret doors and traps to my players.

Some may object that this negates the elf and dwarf's special abilities ("The dwarf would see it!").

 I disagree, since I do make use of these abilities in Class 1, non- S.N.S. doors and traps, giving them ample opportunity to use their racial abilities normally.

But even allowing for those abilities, I don't think it unfeasible that some ancient civilizations or very clever architects could design mechanisms that would baffle even the trained  eyesight of the elf and the dwarf or the nimble fingers of the thief.

What do you think of these rules? Unfair? 

I disagree that it is unfair, but in any event if you go with a simple die roll you miss out on some awesome opportunities to give your dungeons a new depth, taking away the chance of both giving your players a great intellectual challenge (which to me is a major part of the dungeon adventure, not just monster bashing), and denying yourself some real fun in writing out your dungeon keys!

Comments are welcome. Now, back to the climax of my movie!

Update to Post: Excellent film! If you have not seen it you must. And if I had a party of players who had never seen it, I would not hesitate to lift the plot, events and characters whole cloth for an entire adventure of a vey different and refreshing genre. Aside from  being a great medieval story, it is stock full of great ideas from NPC's to traps, poison books, secret doors and abbey details.  

Obscure Items on My Shelf Review: Martin Hackett's "Fantasy Gaming"

Author: Martin Hackett
Publisher: Sutton Press, 2007
Large Paperback, 266 Pages
No Longer in Print.

Fantasy Gaming as a Book

Fantasy Gaming is an intensely interesting read that combines fantasy role playing rules with miniatures war gaming mechanics, along with a very great beginner's guide to the hobby. There is even advice on painting miniatures and creating scenery.

A medium sized volume with a very durable cover and large print on glossy pages, the book is profusely illustrated with evocative photographs of painted miniatures and terrain. One of the best is a photograph of Hackett's model of the Battle of the Five Armies that is quite remarkable, with it's mock up of the gate of the Dwarf Kings in the Misty Mountain and the river that issues out of it and flows across the plains below with the armies standing around it. Truly awesome, as you can see:

The Armies Assemble Beneath the Misty Mountain (Click for larger View)

Here is a close up of the Five Armies, battling away.  Dwarves and Elves fight together against the vicious Wargs as goblins advance:

As you can see, Mr. Hackett is a talented model builder with a  great attention to detail.

The Rules

As for the rules themselves, I can't say much regarding the war gaming rules as I as a DM have yet to run a true "war game" on my table, other than skirmishes, and when I do, I will be using my copy of "Chainmail". Hackett's mechanics seem, upon my single reading of them, to be quite sufficient and logical if one wanted to use them and include complete Army Lists to get you started right away.

On to the fantasy role playing rules. If I were to summarize them in a nutshell I would say they are at about the complexity level of Moldvay/Cook Expert D&D Rules but with much closer attention paid to medieval social order and culture.

The rules fit a Tolkien-esque setting fused with real Dark Ages history and Hackett appears to use a setting based on feudal Europe...for example he has a village of Shrewsbury. The non human player character races are Halfling, Dwarf, and Elf. There are no character classes but rather it is skill based, with your skills being partly determined by education which is based on social order. Social status is the result of a random roll.

There are no detailed skill lists, rather simply broad headings such as Flora, Fauna, Craft, Fighting Ability, etc. One flaw of the rules is that no detailed guidelines are provided as to how players gain skills under these categories. The best I can make of it is that you attempt to do a thing in the course of the game, using the base chance that falls under the related skill heading, if you succeed you get better at it. So you would write action down under the appropriate Skill heading and keep track of it from then on.

The mechanics are percentile based only, except for weapon damage  and spell effect dice which use the other polyhedral dice.  You begin with a base percentage in a set of broad skill areas related to your natural physical and mental abilities and each time you successfully use them, you gain 1 action point. When you reach 50 A.P. in a given field, you go up 1% in your percentage chance. It is a relatively simple system.

Magic is based on a power points system with a list of some 300 spells and many of the spells, while very brief in their descriptions, are interesting variations of standard D&D spells. A very good number are specifically written as to be of use in large scale table top battles by means of the war gaming rules.

What I Don't Like About It

There is little more difference between playing a Dwarf, Elf or halfling character than there is in playing a human character, other than some adjustments to your attributes and skills. They have no listed racial abilities, such as Darksight or Infravision. It would be easy enough for a DM to house-rule these in, though.

If played precisely by the rules, Character Generation is totally random. You have no idea what you are going to be (which I suppose could be interesting but try getting players to go for it) and if you want a spell caster or thief type character, you must get lucky with the dice. Again, the DM could house-rule this part out and let you choose a spell caster, and Hackett even mentions this, but this would negate the use of the very elaborate social class tables which to me, are the most interesting part of the game.

What I Do Like About It

Aside from the rules, it is a beautiful book in it's own right and a great introduction to miniatures for people wanting to get into painting and modeling or just adding minis to their game if they've never done so.

As for the rules, the aforementioned social status tables are the most comprehensive I have ever seen and even if you did not use Hackett's percentage based system, any DM could make use of them in his campaign with any set of rules. There are a number of rolls that gradually narrow it down. It goes into detail with royal and court titles, administrative occupations, craftsmen, and religious, magical and military orders on down to, of course, serfs and criminal types.

This is another notable feature. If an Illegal type character has been determined, there is a fairly comprehensive list of interesting and felonious type skills and tricks. Aside from the usual pick pocketing and stealthy movement and hiding, there are skills like escaping bonds, throwing one's voice, disguise, conceal items on person, and feigning death. Neat stuff.

The magical orders are very interestingly detailed, and there are four such Orders: Natural (Druidic), Necromantic (Evil Wizard), Psychological (Good Wizard), and Religious (Clerical). Out of the very lengthy spell list, there are some spells which can be cast by any spell caster but a large number can be cast only by members  a certain Order. The PC is somewhat answerable to his Order to a dgeree to be determiend by the individual DM since this is not detailed and only implied. A non-spell caster can join a magical order but it is very difficult and costly and they will never be as powerful as spells casters who began the game as such.

Another great things about the rules is the exhaustive and minutely detailed equipment, weapons, and items lists, which would fit perfectly into any D&D campaign. Lists can include such things as herb types, gaming cards, mining pans, individuality clothing pieces, lodging and even equestrian gear in additon the usual weapons and armor listings. The monetary system is based on real medieval coinages such as florins, groats  pennies, shillings, Sovereigns, etc.

Another thing in the game's favor is that it is highly mutable and you could easily add material to it for customizing it to taste without seriously changing any core rules.

Finally, what I like best about Fantasy Gaming is that it is one stop shopping. You hold in your hands all the rules you will ever need for a campaign that can include ample war gaming if you so desire. The tables are neatly set up for ease of play and you are given a sample adventure (which is rather tepid in my opinion) to show how to construct a scenario. I think a beginning DM would find this set of rules rather easy to use once he digested them.

Summary

Overall Martin Hackett's "Fantasy Gaming" belongs on your shelf, if nothing else then for the good medieval source material. It would give you a lot of good ideas. I'm glad I have my two copies (one was bought for the players to consult), and they are still widely available online and very cheaply at that. I have read reviews of this game in the past where some people have disparaged the rules and Mr. Hackett and made all kinds of fun of the book, which I personally find unreasonable as they are very playable rules from a person who deeply loves the hobby and who seems to have a real desire to introduce new players. Think of it as a professionally produced "Hombrew" system. 

I have not ruled out running a game based on these rules. Four Stars!

The D&D Experience; A Documentary

Some months back while perusing Youtube, I came across this series of segments from a documentary film made about D&D some years back.

It is very informative about the game, and is certainly a fan effort, though the student film making is very good.

It only briefly addresses the anti-D&D sentiments that affected the hobby in the 1980's. It mainly interviews players, films some games, relates the history of the game, and showcases some truly amazing artistic creations by players.

If you want to know more about D&D and D&D players, it's a very good place to start.

Be advised, though, that the subjects of the film are some of the rarer sorts, that is, groups that go in for a very immersing style of play and involvement. Their honesty and transparency is refreshing, but the vast majority of gamers you might join at a table usually provide much lighter fare and do not speak in strange voices and play by candle light--much to the detriment of the hobby! Our gaming group here in my town only minimally resembles the film's participants, but we have still have a great time!

A Video of Our Friday Night Gandalara Game and Thoughts on " Free- Form" and "Rules Light" System

I made a short movie of one of my gaming group's Gandalara meet ups last year.

The Gandlara Campaign lasted about seventh months, had four different DMs, and had a fair numbers of players pass through it, some first timers to the role playing hobby.

It represented my experimenting with free form or rules light, off the cuff system. Overall, I loved it and we had some of the most memorable games I ever played.

Essentially, characterful creation was dice-less and guided by some very simple rules of common sense mutually agreed upon between player and GM. The only real game mechanic was a roll of the two ten sided dice generating a number from 1-100 ...the lower you rolled, the better off you were, while the higher rolls meant trouble.

I think the games produced some of the very best characters I have ever seen. Really, each one sticks in my memory like characters from novels or movies rather than gaming characters. They let player individuality come like I've seldom seen with rolled characters in standard game systems. And we had some very exciting and funny moments that will always stick out, like when my character Captain Hachar got his hand cut off by his ally Kanamack the Dwarf when Kanamack was turned insane by a magical rune on a gate. Lord Bast, a cat-man sorcerer, eventually granted the Captain his hand back through magic--but decided it best for him to have a Cat's Paw instead.

How Well Did Free Form Work?

While it was fun, it was also somewhat frustrated. Not having set rules made battle a little difficult to conduct, set challenge levels of encounters, and have a magic system that was balanced. If a gentleman's agreement not to Powergame is not strictly observed, the referee can quickly find his job a nightmare and some players can get bored. In the end, we left it, but I would like to play again sometime.

The video is decent enough, not Cannes film festival material though. You can see from the game that it was largely the realm of GM fiat and some of it made no sense by conventional D&D standards--a fire elemental that could be harmed by a non-magical steel sword? And you can see from our use of the miniatures that movement was largely a player whim. Still, we did have some great games, and I did not conclude my experiment with free form gaming a failure by any means but if you do I believe you must have some more detailed rules on magic use. The session was GM'ed by my good friend Fish, who prepared some of the most interesting source material for the game I have ever seen. he read it aloud to us and it was excellent writing.

We used a rotational referee system where you could run a game from 1-5 sessions and then you had to turn it over to the next GM. Players and GM's were allowed to create any source material they wanted providing it did not arbitrarily displace previous creations of their fellows and worked in concert with them.

I am unseen in the video but I am the player running  Captain Hachar. The first minute and a half  or so is a  a commentary on Gandalara showing of the characters--the character parts are a little illegible but they don't last very long. To explain some of what you hear, the setting we used--a mixture of home brew mishmash and a published one from a very excellent series of novels...is in a world without any horses or camel like animals. The closest thing Gandalara had to such an animal was the vlek, a wooly six legged pack animal about the size of a small deer, timid and stupid and given to running away at the slightest provocation--hence a popular farewell in Gandalara is "May Your Vlek Never Bolt"!

A Narrative of the Session Events

This was perhaps Fish's second or third attempt at ever having really DM'ed after many years of playing...and he did great. Our party was shipwrecked by a magical storm in a place called simply "the Land". We befriended an old shaman and his mistrustful apprentice at his hut in the rain forest and he constructed magical conch necklaces which collected our voices, and by means of an enchantment allowed us to then speak and understand the language of the Land. We then traveled to a mountain fastness where there was an academy for training both warriors and wizards. Meeting a local ruler we learned that the factions of humans, demi-humans and humanoids from Gandalara had had discovered the Land centuries past and sought to invade it and wrest it from each other. By some unknown power. the Land  had disappeared and reappeared in a magical sea where there was no way to get there but by means of the storms. How to get out was a mystery.

The local warlord told us that since that time, the Land had been a place of perpetual war between the factions, usually ending in bloody stalemate, but with each side attempting to gain a new edge to defeat the others. And yet with each tribe there was a collective memory of their lost ancestral home of Gandalara (whose name was now forgotten since continual war had created a survival and not scholastic oriented culture). And all hoped to return there someday. The Land was ruled by 3 demi-gods and one of them met us at the mountain stornghold and sent us on a quest to basically try and unite all of the tribes and when this would happen, ostensibly, a way home would be accomplished. Two of the demi-gods were willing to do business while a 3rd was capricious and quite content with the way everything was.

In order to get around my "no riding beasts" feature of the setting, Fish created these bridals made of  woven horsehair and had the demi-goddess give us each one. They were the remains of horse like creatures that had once lived in Gandlara in the ancient past and when you held a bridal and concentrated, you could summon a "spirit steed" which would materialize in a shimmering mist and although it was incorporeal, it could bear you about! Really creative stuff!

How different was Fish's adventure? Well, the Elves of the land were 7-9' tall, grassland dwelling and dressed in primitive animal furs and rode Manticores--real ones not spirit steeds. They worshiped Zhet, an elf demi-god who we met and found that he was more amused by us than threatened and had his fun by creating an illusion of us all being slain one by one which actually convinced some of our players that their characters had been killed!  The form he chose to meet us in first was a fire elemental in humanoid shape with a great black iron crown hovering over his fiery head. But he showed his ture form after his illusion trick. Then, because we had slain his Fire Elemental Guardian, he gave us a choice: all of us fight one by one against his best warriors, or, as a group, face one creature of his choosing in his Gladiator Pit. If we won we went free, since he liked our spirit! The creature we fought was the strangest I have ever heard of--an UNDEAD Fire Elemental--yea, the very one we had already slain brought back from Fire Elemental Valhalla. And now he was made of blue and white fire that was icy cold and he was unharmed by steel weapons!

You truly never know what to expect  in a role playing game!

Anyway, I think Fish is probably one of the most original DM's I know.

You can see my homely but serviceable battle map cnsisting of a painted piece of cardboard marked off in 1 inch squares and overlaid with plexi-glass from Lowes, as well as my two d20's that I converted into percentile dice with paint. One set of dice function as my d100, d20, and d10.

Please note that my glorification of Captain Hachar and overly dramatic exclamations were for humor and should in no manner imply that I am truly as geeky as this video suggests...I think.

Part Two of the Under City of Kravekos

Having learned of the Legend of the Gate of the Sorrows of Kravekos and the existnece of a Jennerak ruin beneath the old city, Chinka, Drakon and Eastwood made these things known to the Priest Synn and all agreed to enter the Maze if they could gain the king's permission. Straight away with the coming of dawn they went to Castle Kravekos and sought audience with King Garl and Queen Nemia. As soon as they made the cause of their pleas known to the Castle Guard, the astonished soldiers bustled them to the Great Hall where the sad an wizened old King heard them, attended by all his courtiers and nobles as well as his lovely Queen and a Bishop of the church of Illuvion. We now resume our tale where we left off in Part One, and from henceforth, the narrative will follow only the events of the actual game itself. While events are exact (even down to one of my players deciding to take dogs into the dungeon with them!), I have included player dialogue as best I can remember it, trying to leave none out, but in a few places adding some for the sake of clarity or interest.


Note: The game did not strictly follow a Holmes or AD&D rules format as it allowed multi-classed characters and m.c. humans at that! Eastwood is a human fighter-magic user played by my son Levi, Cardinal Synn is a human cleric played by my friend Juan, a school teacher, Drakon is a fighter-thief in training to become a bard, played by my friend Matt, another teacher, and Chinka was a Halfling fighter-thief played by laura, Matt's wife. I was the game referee this time around. The game lasted 3 sessions at about 10 or 11 hours total playing time and we had a lot of fun!

The Undercity of Kravekos

Part Two:

"Descent into Darkness"

by J.E. Becker

The entire assemblage within the Great hall of castle Kravekos fell silent as soon it was known to all what these strange outlanders desired of their liege. All ears and eyes were upon him and the four adventurers, amazement plainly showing upon the face of every courtier. Queen Nemia sat suddenly upon the very edge of her throne, forgetting her Queen's poise at the mention of the dreaded Under City. Her mind was filled suddenly with the faces and events of the distant past, and the vision of those sorrows cast their shadow upon her visage.

Perceptive courtiers saw a flicker of the same shadow upon the worn face of their beloved king, but only for the barest second, for he steeled himself against those emotions as quickly as they assailed him, leaving him with only a tired and weary countenance which seemed to express skepticism rather than hope at the heroes' words. Regarding this band of humans and the lone halfling with a jaded gaze, he rose slowly from his throne and descended a step towards them. Somehow, in spite of the years of sorrow, he still cut a kingly figure in the rays of the sun that fell upon him through the stained glass windows above.

"Am I to understand, then," he began, "That you four…persons…consider yourselves to be the conquerors foretold in the oracle's prophecy?"

"That remains to be seen, my Lord," said Drakon. "If we were to fulfill the words of his vision, then perhaps we are. If, however, we die in the attempt, then we were assuredly not the prophesied saviors."

"Quite logical," said Garl.

He looked over each of them again.

"But to my eyes, you seem an insufficient force. I sent a small troop into the pits twenty years ago, led by my best warrior and accompanied by a worthy court magician and a cleric of Illuvion… and they failed. And my own son, sole heir to my house, perished with them. Where so many of skill and noble blood failed, do you trust that you will overcome the evil?"

"My Lord," said Chinka respectfully, "We are willing to take the risks, and we could find out at last what really happened to your son. You would lose nothing in letting us go."

"You are a long way from the Shire, Little One," said Garl. "Don't you ever wish to see its fields and cottages again? I have sealed the evil up, set a gate and a watch it can never break through. All future Kings and Queens of Kravekos must take an oath to keep that watch faithfully. Why not let the demons sleep in their pits from now until the world ends?"

The Robber Mage Drakon nodded. "The demons sleep, my Lord," he said "But they may awaken. Would it not be better for us to find their lairs and send them to the darker pits of the Land of the Dead? Then the City could truly be free, and you would be celebrated for all time."

The King's face softened somewhat, as if something in the voices of the heroes had reached past his cynicism and disbelief and stirred forgotten memories of chivalry and valor.

"By Illuvion, I believe you mean it," Garl said, smiling. "Perhaps I underestimated you. If I were even a middle aged man again, I would willingly go with you."

"Your kingdom needs you here," said Eastwood. "Only grant us your leave to go, Excellency, and we will return with the answers you seek."

The King looked at his Queen. Some wordless communication passed between them, the kind engendered between lovers long bound together amid life's trials. He turned and fastened his eyes upon them.

"So be it," he said. "I, King Garl,  do grant you leave to pass beyond the Gate of Sorrows. But know this…when I built the Domed Gate, I commanded the old stair to be demolished, creating a shaft as deep as any of the Dwarves. And indeed, patrons of my court from Silver Hammer did, at my request, build a great chain and gears, the likes of which have never been seen. For twenty years, my men have oiled and maintained that chain and its levers. Inside the Dome is a cage. If you go down in it, we will raise it and lower it again  each day for seven days. On the seventh day, if you do not appear, we will count you among the dead and it will never go down again until some other takes the challenge. Knowing this, do you still wish to go?"

"Aye," said Drakon."We shall depart this very hour."

"Then it is done," said Garl. He turned to a chamberlain. "Bring me the Key to the Gate of Sorrows."

"Begging pardon, O great King," spake the  Priest Synn, gathering surprised looks from his companions. "If I may speak?"

"Say on," Garl said, looking at the cleric intently with all his court.

Synn bowed and smiled with the airs of a trained churchman.

"Be not wroth with my words, O King," he said, "But may I humbly inquire as to what reward might be bestowed upon those who hazard their lives on behalf of thy city? And what boons might we hope to receive at thy most gracious hands to take with us into the ruins of the Jennerak? We face perils undreamed of…what shall our profit be?"

Eastwood squirmed uncomfortably, and Drakon resigned himself to whatever reaction the old king might display, but Chinka smiled at the mention of reward and looked eagerly for the King's response.

Garl did not seem to take any offence whatsoever. He was a King who was wise in the ways of trade as much as statecraft and war, and he accepted that most men and women were motivated, to one degree or another, by such concerns.  

"Profit," he said. "That does lie at the bottom of most every endeavor does it not…even Kingdoms. Say no more, Son of Hextor. It goes without saying that you shall all be richly rewarded and honored if you return victoriously. As well, you may keep all treasure and magical devices you might find in the Maze…including the Sword of Lothia. As for boons, we have few to spare. What say you, Bishop?"

The white robed Bishop standing upon the dais regarded the rival priest coolly, but he called to a  nearby attendant and whispered something to him. The servant left.

"The Church sends you with its blessings," he said. "May Illuvion grant you speedy and safe return with abundant triumph. My initiate has gone to gather for you elixirs which were sent to the King from the High Seer of Avamere…they bring healing to those who are wounded. Likewise, a parchment with blessed runes which, when spoken by anyone with knowledge of the gods, will banish disease and plague from a body. These are all we can give you. Use them carefully and wisely."

Synn did not appear completely satisfied with the offerings, but he was wise enough to bow in acknowledgment of them and leave the matter.

"I have but one claim upon whatsoever comes out of the ruins," said Garl. "Any books or scrolls containing the writings of the Old Ones must be delivered to our sages, that the wisdom of the Jennerak may be known to men once more."

"It shall be done," said Eastwood.

"And now, let us sup and drink together," said Queen Nemia. "Come, and partake of these delights. You have a great journey before you." And she then began to serve the heroes herself, as though she were subject to them. So is the custom of the Northerners when they honor great warriors.

At her words and actions, a hopeful and optimistic spirit seemed to suddenly energize the crowd, and the adventurers found themselves  pressed upon as though heroes returning from a war. Somehow, in spite of great temptation, Chinka managed to refrain from collecting any purses or rings from the nobles who crowded her with well wishing.

Thus the party passed one last pleasant hour, and as they ate, the gifts of Illuvion's sect were brought to them, and the gilded, rune covered key which would open the way into the Underworld was entrusted by the King to his Captain, who would escort them. When this was done, the castle guards escorted them out of the palace and into the avenues of Kravekos.

To their astonishment, the streets were lined with citizens of every class and occupation, all looking at them with wonder, fear, and admiration. Word had crept out of the Castle into the city. As they strode through the streets toward the way to the Gate of Sorrows, people warmly saluted them, some even threw flowers, and they heard many amazing exclamations.

"They are the ones spoken of in the prophecy!"

"Look, three Men and a Shire dweller face the Ancient Evil alone!"

"See how fearless they are!"

The Guards firmly pushed aside anyone who got too close, but even they seemed elated that after two decades, someone was willing to brave curses and monsters to regain the honor of their city and to destroy, rather than contain, all that might threaten it from those obsidian depths.

Soon they had passed through the derelict section of Kravekos and come to the end of the plaza that contained the Domed Gate. Guards busied themselves with setting a wide perimeter between the citizens and the steps of the ramp. The heroes were about to pass through when a baying of dogs was heard.

Chinka, Drakon and Eastwood looked in wonder as a peasant woman called to Synn, leading behind her a pack of sleek, gray guard dogs. Synn waved at her and they met together. He took the leashes of four of the dogs and motioned to her to follow him towards the Gate.

"What meaneth this?" Drakon exclaimed.

Synn smiled at him. "Meet my Gray Company," said the priest. "I bought them yesterday in the markets. They cost me well but I deem it worthy. While we were feasting I sent word for them to be brought here."

"Whatever do you want with a pack of curs!?" Drakon said. "And at this moment, of all times?"

"To protect my person, of course" said Synn. "And to use their eyes and noses in the Under City."

Chinka laughed.

"You cannot bring them into the labyrinth," she said. "They will have every creature in those cellars upon us in an hour."

"Nay, Good Lady," said Synn. His tone implied that he did not consider her to be good or a lady. "These dogs have been trained by the finest handlers hereabouts. They will not betray us unless something or someone is near enough to be a threat, and then we will be desirous of a warning."

Drakon began to argue the point, then realized it was futile. He knew the churchman all too well.

He was rescued, however, by Elegot, the Captain of the Guard, who happened to be following closely.

"Master Synn," he said, "I regret to say that the cage cannot hold your party and these animals as well."

Impatience showed in the cleric's eyes.

"Then can you not lower the cage twice?" he asked.

"Nay," said Elegot. "It is great labor. I am afraid you can take only as many as will fit in the cage with you on the first descent."

Seeing there was no choice but to assent, the Priest of Hextor begrudgingly chose three dogs from out of the pack and made arrangements with Elegot for the keeping of the others.

"See that they come back to me, I charge you, Captain," said Synn.

Elegot nodded, scarcely able to conceal his own growing displeasure with the manners of the Priest. As he turned to a pair of soldiers at the perimeter's edge and bade them take the dogs, one of the men-at-arms  who had seen the display shook his head.

"What's with that one?" the man-at-arms asked Elegot.

"He worships Hextor, the God of War, Slaughter and Discord," replied the Captain. "Some say the high priests of that faith are assassins and poison makers, whatever their declarations of loyalty to Avamere. Mark me--behind his courtly gestures lie dark and selfish ends."

****

The archway that spanned the Domed Gate was ornately and intricately carved with reliefs of the likenesses of the men who had died beyond its threshold those many years ago. Chinka reached out and ran her fingers across the image of one handsome and youthful warrior--the detail was so great that his chain mail hauberk and the studs on the rim of his helm could be clearly discerned. So could the short beard he wore. Below his place in the arch was inscribed the name Evald and the title "Son of Garl."

"He was young," Chinka said. "And handsome. A pity."

"His soul is no doubt in the glad halls of the great warriors," said Eastwood. "It was very brave of him to have played his ruse."

"He would have made a fine king one day," said Drakon, but he was more intently studying the relief of another warrior, a towering Northman who clutched a great sword very prominently depicted and marked with the name "S'rd Voca un Lothia"…Old Common for the Talking Sword of Lothia.

The Gate itself consisted of the finest adamantine overlaid with electrum decorations. It was cut into two arched halves by an almost imperceptible seam and a single key slit in its exact center. The electrum gildings were runes and magical symbols which Eastwood, the only user of arcane arts in the party, immediately recognized as glyphs of warding whose enchanting had been the work of powerful wizards. He had not seen a notable presence of spell casters in Kravekos, even in the King's court. Perhaps the mages of Kravekos liked to be inconspicuous. He stored that thought carefully away.

"Even demons would be hard pressed to break beyond these glyphs," he said.

"Very true," said Elegot. He pulled the runic key from his surcoat. "None but the gods themselves can open the door without this key."

Chinka arched an eyebrow. "No door or lock made by men is fool proof, Captain," she said.

"Perhaps," Elegot replied. "Be it as you say, neither man nor demon has passed the door since it was set. But behold!"

Elegot set the key into the key slit. Suddenly, the key, the glyphs, and the seam began to glow with an eerie blue light. All stepped back in wonderment, but as quickly as it had appeared it was gone. There was a sound of rasping metal, and the doors moved slowly inward of their own accord.

Beyond them lay a circular domed chamber about eight feet in height and about fifteen feet in diameter. The sun plainly illumined its interior.

The walls were plain, smooth white stone, but from the ceiling by an adamantine chain there hung a large round cage, made of the same adamantine. It's top was bell shaped. The cage might admit seven to eight full sized men very closely positioned. The portion of the cage which faced the magic gate had no bars. Its bottom was woven more closely with bars than its sides to give sure footing.

Below the cage bottom and directly aligned with its edges was a smooth round hole which dropped away into impenetrable darkness. There was not even a hair's space between the bottom of the cage and the lip of the hole..the whole thing was a marvel of Dwarven craftsmanship. From up out of the pit there arose cold, dank air that smelled of stone and water and time.

The party entered with Elegot and the dogs, which, oddly enough, seemed merry, as if on a hunt.

Chinka's nostrils sniffed at the air.

"Odd," she said. "A lot of water down there somewhere, or I'm a goblin."

"Indeed," replied Elegot. "That much was learned when the shaft and cage were constructed. The Dwarves did go to the bottom several times. The lower entrances are natural caves, yet oddly have flagstone floors. They are of a make that dates them in the time of the Old Empires, so those folk knew of the Undercity. They inscribed the floors with warnings not to disturb the Old Places. The true threshold to the Jennerak ruin lies much farther in. The Dwarves were investigating only as far as the King's edict allowed for their work… they heard an underground river. But a strange spectral figure was seen in the distance, and it struck fear even into those dungeon delving folk. They finished their lower works and never did a soul from Kravekos set foot therein again. But that is all that is known of the labyrinth."

"It is enough," said Drakon. "The time has come."  

After the heroes made one final check on the soundness and security of their arms and amour and their supplies, they bid the Captain farewell and steeling their nerves against the shadows of the black pit, stepped over it into the cage. When they and the animals were situated, Elegot saluted them.

"Farewell, brave friends," he said. "The levers for the cage are operated from a room built onto the back side of the platform. I go now to command their release. After I close this door, may Illuvion bring you back in seven days time or this is our final meeting."

"We shall return, mark that," said Synn. "By the might of Hextor, though, and not of Illuvion."

"As you desire," said Elegot. Then, he stepped back, spoke a word of command that no one in the party recognized, and the Gate of the Sorrows of Kravekos swung to with the ringing of adamantine, plunging them a darkness as deep as that of death.

End of Part One

Read Part Two

An Overview of the Hidden Kingdom Arthurian Role Playing Game

This is the Game I am currently about to begin as soon as I gather a crew to play with. I owned this game once in the mid 80's and somehow lost it. By amazing luck I managed to ferret out the title of it again, which I had forgotten. try finding a game if you don't have any name, designer, game or publisher--wasn't easy. It's pretty rare but someone on Amazon is selling them for a cool $70.99 (that's with S&H)...and for me, it was worth every penny. And no, I am not said seller nor do I have any idea who is.

Essential Elements of Hidden Kingdom

The Game Components

The Game  Rules Book, in a 3 ring Binder. With appendices, it is over 300 pages, but the actual rules are 200 pages long. This shouldn't be daunting though, as it is divided into sections and you need not incorporate all sections into play when you first begin, only the most simple. Also, much of it is familiar ground to people used to gaming. Conversely, for people new to rpgs, I have never seen a better  and more concise description of some of the key concepts.


It also has a two part hexagonal Map of Britain and Ireland, nice character sheets with a front and back including a place for your coat of arms(which is important to the game), a bag of dice with three ten siders in addition to one each of all the other standard polyhedrals (and a d6), and a large glossy fold out sheet that is sort of like a DM's screen--it has nearly everything you need to run a game smoothly with very little reference to the rule books for either players or DM.


The game has a very durable slip cover box which allows you to keep it on a  bookshelf.

How Does One Play?


There is a giant Map of Britain and Ireland, 459 A.D. 


It is divided by numbered hexes, and the hexes are marked for terrain type, major political boundaries, and smaller provinces. Every single town, chapel, monastery, and individual castle of the game world is marked on the Map. Further, a source book tells the name of every King, Queen, Knight and Lady who inhabits every single castle on the Map. There are 300 of these castles and the Lord or Lady of each is playable as a character in the game. 


These are the only characters one can have in the game, and they are all drawn from Classical Arthurian Romantic literature. They are of four sorts,: Chivalrous Christians, Renunciate Christians, Chivalrous Pagans, and Powerlord Pagans. In most cases, the characters world view is already listed but some are open.



The Four Alignments and Character Types

These four character types represent the four alignments of the game, a major focus of play. 


Some of these characters come to the table with alliances, enmities, family, spouses and paramours as well as, in a few cases, special abilities. 


Actual Play

When you have chosen a character, you begin on the map where the book states that your castle is.


The Game Book also has a listing of the number of peasants and militia in each province, as well as its monthly food production and the amount of gold owned by each and every king.


You leave your castle and travel the map to go upon quests. 


These quests can be small and seemingly mundane in nature, such as traveling to another castle to attend a jousting tourney, or some great adventure such as to seek a lost relic.


You could simply be traveling to meet up with the other players if they are your friends or allies so you can all go on an adventure together.


A game begins on a certain day of a certain month and generally each game will encompass the events within a month. 


You can manage your province as well as your individual character by announcing to the Game Guide what you want to do --the GG also has special tables and it possible for various Acts of God to occur in month that could weaken your kingdom/province.


The Game Guide must keep track of a calendar and notes of character actions that will affect them later in the game. There is a Harvest month that increases provincial holdings once per year, trade with other players or non-player Kings and Queens can also increase holdings. Warfare can increase or decrease them, as well.


There are movement rates for the Map that depend on your means of travel and the terrain. Each "empty" hex you enter (no town, chapel, castle or monastery) has a chance of a random encounter. These encounters can be with Men-Types, Faery-Types, Monster-Types, or Special Situations. Encounters can unfold to become quests, end up as role playing encounters, or become dangerous battles ...or all three. 

The Game Book has a long list of Special Situations.


If you enter a castle hex, there is a table for castle reactions to you, modified by any special alliances, family, or enemies your character might start with or incur later in the game. Castle reactions determine whether a castle is hospitable to you, hostile, indifferent or hosting a tournament when you show up.


In a town or castle hex or with merchant encounters in the wilderness, you can trade and buy and sell goods.


Monasteries are like hospitals and if you reach a hex with one in it you can get healing. Certain miracles can also heal, as can all Queen and lady Characters (Just something about a woman's touch...). Certain spiritual beings can also heal characters.


The Four Modes of Play



There are 4 Modes of play, look at each at a degree of magnification of the time and events taking place.


1st Mode is traveling the map and/or taking care of provincial affairs. 


2nd Mode is when an encounter occurs and you get into role playing.


3rd Mode is actual individual combat during an encounter, or sundry options a character can undertake in a town, monastery, chapel, or castle ...hide, search, send message, or negotiate..or supernatural intervention such as the use of magic or petitioning for miracles. 


4th mode is large scale mass combat, tournaments, or the traditional role playing type adventure of a mapped out ruin or dungeon. I should mention that warfare is usually resolved in a  few turns and is largely a matter of writing down one's troop actions secretly, handing them to the person running the battle (the GG or other helping player), and doing a set of detailed math equations when results are compared. If players opt to have their own character go along in the battle, individual battle between them and the provincial or kingdom overlord is computed separately. Outcomes can be being surrounded, routed, victory, or utter defeat. Utter defeat has a simple mechanic--it simply means the losing region pays tribute from then on to the other. If this is too complicated for players tastes, players can simply avoid mass warfare altogether.


These four modes can change as a result of the focus of the players and game guide or by chance through how play unfolds. The game can have any level of complexity or simplicity desired. 


While all role playing games have these modes, very few have such a detailed and comprehensive map with peasant populations and production, as well as castle inhabitants already detailed and pre-built with character dynamics that depend on a players character choice. A great deal of the GM's world building work is already done.


Role Playing and Game Objectives

How you play your character depends on the Alignments we have mentioned, and inded, this, alignment, is a central focus of the game.


The premise of the game setting is that the Pagan Order is still preeminent in the Isles but Arthur has become King of Logres and he is a Christian but rather than seeking to establish Christianity he seeks to unite the Pagans and Christians of the Isles to repel all outer threats. The new order he proposes to achieve this unification is an order based on Chivalry.


Chivalrous Christians and Chivalrous Pagans have accepted the new order and promote it by their behavior actions and goals. 


Renunciate Christians reject this compromise and serve only pure spiritual Christianity.


Powerlord Pagans likewise reject the new order and seek only their own power and advancement in the tradition of the warlord or the Pagan sorceress.


Nothing in these world views dictates that those of opposing alignments are necessarily enemies or must attack or oppose each other. Players of widely divergent alignments can all quest together if desired if there is a logical common end in mind .



There is a Faith Rating, a Power Rating, and a Chivalry rating. 


The first is the only concern of Renunciate Christians, while Powerlord Pagans care only about their Power Rating. Chivalrous Christians and Chivalrous Pagans are concerned with their Chivalry Rating, but Chivalrous Christians must pay some heed to their faith rating as well. 


There is a detailed list of behaviors and actions possible within the game that can give bonuses or penalties to these ratings, depending on character actions. The object of the game is to have the highest rating possible in the score that matters to your characters alignment .


Magic and Miracles


Supernatural intervention can come in the form of Magic or Miracles. 


Only Pagan characters can use magic. 


There are five levels of magical power and a small but well rounded list of spells under each level. Using magic has a percentage chance of being successful, the lower level the spell the greater chance it will work.


However, magic also has a chance to unleash powerful negative forces in a character's life--the chance this will happen, and how serious these effects are, goes up with the level of the magic being used.


If successful, spells are instantaneous and grant such powers as invisibility, flying, immunity to certain effects, and changing one's appearance, as examples. 


Since the Code of chivalry holds that such unfair advantages as magic violate its focus on manly physical prowess and courage, male Chivalrous Pagans who use magic incur penalties against their Chivalry Rating.


Miracles can only be sought by Christians. 


Miracles are healing, protective, restorative and guiding in nature. 


They come as a result of prayer or through encounters with very spiritual beings such as hermits, recluses, or angelic beings. 


Prayers are aided by fasting and being near chapels, and the power of a miracle is more comprehensive the less selfish is its petition.


Game Mechanics


Complex as the game sounds, actual mechanics are very simple.


Here is a sample Knight:


Name: Bertilak

Alignment: Pagan Chivalrous

Kingdom (Province): Gore (Riding)

Blazon: Ver, a battle axe in bend argent (note: heraldic terms defiend in the rules and illustrated).

Born: 10/397

Leadership Bonus: 0

Weight: 204 Swordplay Roll: 11 Offensive Bonus: +3 Defensive Bonus:-2

Unseating Number (Jousting Bonus): 16 (0)

Special Ability: By the word of Queen Morgan Le fay, can become the Great Green Knight for one day per month, whereby he becomes green in color and all wounds taken are healed at the end of the day, even fatal wounds, and none cause him to cease functioning.


And a sample Lady Character:


Name: Queen Morgan Le Fay of Gore

Alignment: Pagan Powerlord

Home Castle: Maidens Castle in Gore

Blazon: per fess Or and azure, in chief a dragon rampant sable and in base a ram's face Or.

Born: 9/395

Weight: 124

Beauty Rating: 7

Family: Husband, king Uriens; Son, Uwayne le Blanchmains; Mother, Dame Igraine; Sisters, Queen Elaine and morgause;Half-brother, king arthur.

Paramour: Accolon and Hemyson.

Enemies: King Arthur

Special Ability: (+30%) Success probability on casting spells.
Special Beginning Equipment: The Drinking horn of Chastity, Morgan's Mantle.


I have picked two examples of the more colorful Characters, but most characters have no special abilities like these do. But nor do they have the enemies or weaknesses of these two! Note that Bertilak has a no Leadership Bonus. This is a weakness--some Knights have no special powers but have a better Swordplay Roll, a Leadership Bonus, Weigh more, etc. 


All Women have a base Swordplay Roll of 17, but they also have an attribute that male characters do not have, a Beauty rating, which can be used to compel characters (players and non player characters) to grant requests to them or gain service!



How simple is the combat mechanic in this game? 


The Sword Play Roll is a character's base chance to hit with a d20, modified by the size of the weapon they are using, larger weapons being harder to wield but doing more damage.


Weight is the equivalent of Hit Points. 

Armor is handled uniquely--there is a hit location chart and if you are not wearing armor, there is an add on to your damage.

Character Sheet-Front

Character Sheet-Back

Very Customized Game Possibilities

There are many ways Hidden Kingdom can be played.


It is designed to be played without miniatures but it can adopt miniatures as well, and there is actually potential for a strong war gaming element if one desires.


It can be run like a traditional role playing game (4th Mode) and each person can become the game guide once they design a maze, dungeon, Ruin or what have you. 


The Kingdom and provincial building aspects (trade, politics, etc) can be played to a degree desired or largely ignored.


If politics becomes a focus (beyond alignment), the depth and degree of it will depend on the gaming group's grasp of such matters as little historical material is given, though a wide bibliography is recommended and can only improve play.


If one wishes, players can oppose each other and work against each other to varying degrees, not only against non-player characters



There is very ample opportunity for role playing and the social factor for the game is high. 


While a group should be small until the rules are mastered, there is no reason why a very large number (10-12 players) could not be involved once there are people present who are able to help fellow players resolve their turns, such as undertake combats, while the GG is conducting the rest of the game . 



House rules could be introduced, such as making Stonehenge give power to Pagan Characters the way Chapels give power to Christians. 


There may also be a way to make the Alignment Ratings more relevant to actual play in the game (like increasing chances in miracles and encounters), since as is they are really just a score.



I don't want to mess with the rules for awhile though.



I intend to keep a tally of my players ratings while they play and the player with the highest score becomes Lord or Lady of the Chalice, a special drinking cup they hold while occupying the position.


L.O.t.C. will have certain very limited but significant veto and decision making powers during the game, such as what Mode to close a session out with (this can affect someone's character if they don't want a lot of time to pass I the game world before the next adventure) and other things.


Each player could also bring some small tribute (a candy bar or the like) and whoever gets L.O.t.C. gets the loot at the end. There are other things one could do to make for a unique game, such as the use of props, themed music, or watching the occasional film and feasting and making merry instead of paying the game.


Or, you could just play the game without such nonsense.



In short, if you come to the table looking specifically for what you get out of D&D or even ballpark, you will likely not find Hidden Kingdom to your taste at all as the flavor could not be more different.


But if you like Arthurian style games, and a different kind of feel and tension in the game from the unique alignment system and the ever changing 4 modes of play, you will greatly enjoy it! The artwork form the game is beautiful and interspersed with a  lot of quotes from authors of Arthurian literature.


In closing, I propose that the core engine of the game could be adapted to any sort of role playing game. A Middle Earth campaign would be very interesting using these rules, although it would require a great deal of work. For now, though, I am excited about running the game as is!

One of Paula Lamb's many fine Illustrations from Hidden Kingdom

Xerxez

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Hidden Kingdom