by Robin D.

Laws
 Roll of Honor AUTHOR AND RUNE RPG DESIGNER

Robin D. Laws
RUNE PROJECT EDITOR COVER DESIGN INTERIOR ILLUSTRATIONS

Michelle A. Brown Nephew Scott Reeves Ross Bonilla, Tim Bowman,

and Pete Vatannatam Jeff DeWitt, Shane
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE Gurno,Ted Halsted, Greg
COVER ILLUSTRATION Marshall, and Scott Reeves
Timothy S. Gerritsen, Tim Bowman, Shane Gurno,
Alex Knapik, John Nephew and Scott Reeves RUNE CONCEPT

and Scott Reeves Human Head Studios, Inc.

ART DIRECTION,
GRAPHIC DESIGN, LAYOUT, RUNE VIDEO AND COMPUTER
PUBLISHER AND CARTOGHRAPHY GAME PRODUCER
John Nephew Scott Reeves Timothy S. Gerritsen

PLAYTESTERS
Hkan Acekgrd, Malcolm Allison, Brian Aucoin, David Blewer, Urban Blom, Jay Byington, Margaret Casey,
Nick Coucouvinis, Carl Cramr, Chris Czerniak , Matt Devney, Todd Dowling, Dion Dowling, Troy Duffy,
Lionel Dutilh, Mark K. Emmert, Timothy Ferguson, Derek Floyd, Joel O. Fry, Tim Gerritsen, James Harper,
Christopher Haywood, Frank Hix, Scott Holmes, Maya Hopkins, Dana Jacobson, Paul Jackson, Seth Johnson,
Lisa Henn, Peter Jones, Daniel Karlsson, John Kasab, Mark Kay, Alex Knapik, Joel LeBlan, David LeCompte,
Markus Kaipainen, Erick "Brian" Kilmer, Erik King, John Leitheusser, Robin Lim, Dan Madden, Gina Martins,
Josh McNiece, Cat Mercer, Mark Mickelson,Noel Montealegre, Craig Moulard, Michael Moulard, John
Nephew, Michelle A. Brown Nephew, Eric Nieudan, Nicholas Paterson, Jeff Peterson, Jon Peterson, Martial
Puig, Randall Rapp, Erik Richardson, Ted Riding, Scott Rightweiser, Dave Risk, Steve Robertson, Erik Rockwood,
Isabelle Rodriguez, Stphane Rodriguez, Matt Scott, Michael M. Scott, Doug Stalker, Sarah Steward, Scott
Sullivan, Dave Sonden, Kevin Tritz, Alex Truman, Chris Vinson, Roland Vogt, Wendy Wyman, and Alex Young

SPECIAL THANKS
Atlas Games would like to thank Jeff Tidball and Jerry Corrick
Human Head Studios would like to thank Jim Bloom, Devin Winterbottom, and Mike Wilson at Gathering of Developers

AUTHOR DEDICATION
Dedicated to my most stalwart jarls: Paul Jackson, Troy Duffy, and Joel LeBlanc.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Rune RPG is Copyright 2001-2013 Trident Inc. Robin D. Laws has long pillaged the naked shores of
d/b/a Atlas Games. The Rune RPG is based on the Rune the hobby game market, often under the blood-red
video and computer game produced by Human Head banner of the Atlas Games longship. His victories for
Studios, and contains artwork and other elements that them include the Feng Shui roleplaying game, extensive
are Copyright 2000 Human Head Studios, Inc., used contributions to the Over the Edge line, and the novels
under license. Rune is a trademark of Human Head The Rough and the Smooth and Pierced Heart. His mis-
Studios, Inc., used under license. Rune's game mechan- sions under other chieftains include the cruel and
ics derive from the roleplaying game Ars Magica, 4th devious Pantheon and Other Roleplaying Games
Edition, by Jonathan Tweet and Mark ReinHagen; (Hogshead Publishing), as well as principal design work
Copyright 1996 Trident Inc. Reproduction of this on Hero Wars (Issaries Inc.) and The Dying Earth
work by any means without written permission from the Roleplaying Game (Pelgrane Press.) The Valykries sing of
publisher, except for short excerpts for the purposes of his work on the King of Dragon Pass computer game.
reviews, is expressly prohibited. Robin recently made a devastating incursion into the
pages of Dragon Magazine, seizing the twin mantles of
columnist and contributing editor.
ATLAS GAMES
SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA
[email protected]
Digital Edition Version 0.9
WWW.ATLAS-GAMES.COM
 Contents
Introduction: Grab Your Axe, Viking Warrior! 4
Chapter 1: A Hero is Made 14
Chapter 2: Combat and Other Rules 40
Who Goes First? 42
Who Does What? 43
Performing Actions 48
Back to Step One 52
Chapter 3: Improving Your Hero 59
Chapter 4: Encounters 85
Find Your Budget 89
Encounter Concepts 95
Foes 96
Terrain 120
Difficulties 129
Traps and Hazards 141
Treasure 155
Other Gains 171
Advanced Adventures 176
Recap 183
Quick n Dirty Encounter Design 184
Chapter 5: Running the Game 192
Chapter 6: The Viking World 204
Chapter 7: The Stolen Rune 213
Appendix: Maps, Forms and Cheat Sheets 246
Index 255
 INTRODUCTION

Grab
Your Axe,
Viking
Warrior!

On the Threshold
of Blood and Valor
Welcome, young one. You stand on the threshold of
a grim but heroic world, one made for mighty war-
riors. Danger stalks our world. We, the Vikings,
feared by all around us for our lightning raids and
slashing swords, now feel terror in our own hearts!
The trickster Loki, enemy of our gods, has unleashed
a horde of horrors against us. He has turned many of
our own people into his cruel minions, the Dark

4
 Grab Your Axe,
Viking Warrior!

Vikings. They have declared grim and blood-spat- lightning will fill your veins, so
tered war upon us. Wave after wave of cruel attacks that you may leap forward and slash your sword
have we weathered. Our greatest warriors have fallen through a raindrop before it hits the ground. Your
on the field of glorious battle. Now they reside in thews will become like unto the gnarly roots of the
Valhalla, feasting, fighting, and perhaps looking world tree, Yggdrasil, granting superhuman strength
down to watch those they left behind. If they could to the swings of your all-hewing battle-axe. And
speak to you, young warrior, they would tell you that when the dread day comes when you, too, are felled
it is now your turn to stand and fight. Against Loki in battle for, like our gods, we Vikings are all
you will battle, against Dark Vikings, and against the doomed you shall stride proudly into Valhalla,
other denizens of our mythic world. You will battle where the greatest fighters ever will gather around
treacherous goblins and mysterious dwarves. You you. They will precisely measure your deeds, so that
will fight your way to the temples of Loki, where you your ranking among them might be proclaimed to
will hack down our foes and put an end to this war. all. Of your great accomplishments in a world of
blood and valor, there will be no doubt.
As you do this, you will rise from your present
station as a scrawny youngling into the ranks of our So step forward, young warrior. Seize this sword by
mightiest heroes. You will win the favor of the gods, the hilt. Place this helm upon your head. Ready your-
deities like wise Odin and battle-loving Thor. As you self for your hallowed destiny. For in mere moments,
prove yourself in battle, they will gift you with ever- you will be smiting our foes.
greater abilities, allowing you to stand against the
most powerful of Lokis demonic brood, the Sark
Amen. Your flesh will harden,
A Game Fit For Valhallas
to withstand axe blows that Feasting Halls
would cut a lesser man in
two. The Rune is a roleplaying game. Depending on how
speed of you came to pick up this book, that term may mean
one of several things to you. Or it might not mean
anything at all. Computer gamers, and complete
novices, should read the next section, and then skip
the section headed Introduction For Experienced
Roleplayers. Experienced roleplayers should read
that section, after first checking out the one imme-
diately below.

Computer Gamers,
Read This
You may have this book in your hands because
you played and enjoyed the computer game of the
same name from Human Head Studios. The Rune
computer game takes you on the first-person adven-
tures of the young Viking warrior Ragnar, who,
when its action begins, has just come of age.
Unknown enemies have launched terrible raids
against neighboring villages; even the women and
children have been slain. Ragnars people know who
is responsible: the cruel chieftain

5
 Introduction

When you play the Rune computer game, you

take on the role of Ragnar. You decide where he
goes and what he does, within parameters created in
advance by the games programmers. Theyve creat-
SUPPLIES BEFITTING ed countless encounters for Ragnar in a variety of
A WARRIOR stunningly modeled 3D environments, complete
with thundering music and bone-crunching sound
In order to play this game, you will need one ten-
sided die per player. These specialty dice can be found effects. You control Ragnars actions manually, by
at any hobby games store like the one where you hitting keys or manipulating a game pad. You never
probably bought this book. They can also be ordered know, when you try to have Ragnar do something, if
by mail over the Internet. he is going to succeed. His success or failure is deter-
You will also need pencils, scrap paper, and blank mined by the speed and precision with which you
hero sheets. Take the hero sheet at the back of this manipulate the game controls.
book and make as many photocopies of it as you need.
When you play the Rune RPG, you create a hero
On very rare occasions, well ask you to perform cal-
of your own, using rules laid out in this book. You
culations. For example, you might need to average
together four or five numbers in the single or low dou- gather together with one or more players. Together,
ble digits, or reduce a two-digit number by 25, 50, or 75 you recreate the world of Rune in your imagina-
per cent. One player should bring a calculator along tions, visualizing its strange vistas, talking in the voic-
to speed things up. es of your characters, and even supplying your own
sound effects as you pound down a door or loose a
crossbow bolt at a monster. You control your hero
by describing his actions to the other players. When
Conrack, who has pledged himself to Loki. Ragnar he attempts to do something, like slay a ferocious
accompanies the experienced warriors of his village goblin, you use the basic rules described later in this
to battle Conracks minions. A strange twist of fate section to see if he succeeds. Usually you roll a spe-
places young Ragnar in a mysterious network of cav- cial ten-sided die (available at any hobby game shop,
erns and passageways. He fights his way through like the one where you found this book) to see how
them, hacking his way past countless enemies, until lucky or unlucky your hero was in using his Abilities.
he finally confronts Loki himself. These dice are numbered 0 through 9. Always read 0s
as representing the number 10.
The computer game industry divides games into
several categories, one of which is called an RPG, Numbers we call game statistics govern your heros
or roleplaying game. The term is confusing chances of doing things, his present state of health, the
because it hijacks the name of another type of damage his weapons deal out, and many other impor-
game played without a computer. You are holding tant factors. The game statistics appear on your hero
one of those games in your hands right now. Some sheet, a handy piece of paper allowing you to keep
people call our type of game a pen and paper RPG, track of your heros status. In the computer game, the
a face-to-face RPG, or a tabletop game, to distin- terrain you fight in, the creatures you battle, and the
guish it from the computer game category. Those various tricks, traps, and puzzles that confound you
of us in the pen and paper roleplaying field tend are built right into the program. Here, you and your
to snarl and froth like angry berserkers when fellow players must swap off duties creating maps of
forced to make this distinction, because our kind encounters, populating the maps with creatures, and
of game came first. The first computer RPGs drew building in other interesting elements. The game pro-
their inspiration from the original wave of face-to- vides extensive rules for doing this, so that the person
face roleplaying games that sprang up in the 1970s. running the game doesnt take unfair advantage.
For the rest of this book, any reference to RPGs is
When you are the runner in charge of an
to tabletop gaming.
encounter, you will control other supporting char-

6
 Grab Your Axe,
Viking Warrior!

acters, mostly enemies for the other players to fight. seizing powerful magical artifacts
You design them and place them in encounters of but mostly for killing monsters. At the end of
your devising. During the encounter, you determine every game session, you determine who the winner
what they do. is, by seeing who has gained the most hero points.
You also keep track of an overall winner from one
This is important because the Rune RPG is dif-
session to the next.
ferent from other roleplaying games in that it is
competitive. You gain victory points for killing mon- A session is one gathering during which you play
sters, uncovering traps, finding useful information, the game. Your session might last for an afternoon or

IMPORTANT TERMS
Because this game cruelly smashes down the simple dis- actually gets used in your game. However, runners dont
tinctions found in other RPGs, leaving them in a bloodied always have to design their own encounters. They can use
heap on the longhouse floor, it requires a few more terms encounters by designers from other groups, by trading for
than usual to keep things straight. If you take a few seconds them on the Internet. Or they can use pre-fabricated
to learn these terms now, the rest of the game becomes encounters, like the sample ones that make up Chapter
much easier to understand at first glance. Seven of this book. You can never be a member of the
Horde during an encounter you designed.
Player is the all-encompassing term for everyone who sits
down together to participate in a game of Rune. Whether The runner always enjoys a competitive advantage using
youre taking charge of your hero or running the encounters hes designed himself. That way, he can be sure
encounter, youre a player. Players read this rule book, roll that none of the Horde will be prepared for his encounters
dice, gain victory points, and choose Divine Gifts for their surprises.
heroes.
The proxy is the member of the Horde who controls the
Heroes, unaware that theyre fictional characters in a role- runners hero while the runner takes charge of the
playing game, swing swords, slay foes, gain glory in the eyes encounter. So, during play, a group of six players will
of the gods, and win their magical boons. include one runner and five pillagers, one of whom will also
be the proxy.
When a player directs his heros actions in the struggle to
avoid traps, scoop up treasure, and cleave enemies in twain, During encounters, heroes will meet supporting charac-
he is called a pillager. A group of pillagers is called a Horde. ters. Some will be friendly, or at least not violently hostile,
but most will be foes. Theyre created by the designer, and
The runner is the player who, for the length of the current
controlled (according to the limits imposed by the rules and
encounter, turns over control of his hero to one of the pil-
encounter notes) by the runner.
lagers (the proxy) so he can take charge of the action, as a
sort of referee. The runner has read the encounter in Collectively, heroes and supporting characters are called
advance and knows its secrets. He springs them on the just plain characters. An opponent is any other player. A
Horde as they charge through it. The runner can win the foe or enemy is a supporting character with whom the
encounter, although he is subject to a different scoring hero will likely do battle.
method than the Horde. Other games might refer to the
During an encounter, both the runner and the pillagers do
runner as the Game Moderator or Game Master (GM), but
things that may earn them victory points. Pillagers get
here hes also a player and competitor so weve creat-
points when they maim or kill foes and when they succeed
ed a special term to avoid confusion.
at actions taken outside of combat. Runners get points
The designer is the player who devised the encounter in when the heroes are badly hurt without being killed, and
the first place. Detailed rules for encounter design start on when heroes fail in non-combat actions. (Both can win
p. 85; theyre the biggest part of this book and the main ele- points for other things, too, as youll see when you get to
ment differentiating Rune from other games. If you design the full rules for victory points.)
an encounter, you will also act as its runner assuming it

7
 Introduction

an evening. The average period of play who like killing monsters and taking their stuff are
is about three and a half hours. But you can play for forced to suffer through all kinds of plot develop-
short periods of time if you want, perhaps running ment and play-acting before they get to haul out
one or two fights over the course of a lunch hour. their battle-axes. But, by Odins frosty beard, this is
Likewise, if you want to schedule a day-long Rune a Viking game!
marathon, we will lift our mead flagons to your
Some of you will, after introducing yourself to
courage and endurance.
the roleplaying form through the Rune RPG, want
Each scene, usually involving combat, is called an to try injecting some plot development and charac-
encounter. Once youve all gotten used to designing terization into your diet, despite the disapproval of
and running encounters, your group can start run- the Vikings of old. If that day comes, you can inves-
ning adventures. Each adventure has a beginning, tigate other fine RPGs, such as Atlas Games Ars
middle, and an end, supplied by the runner/design- Magica (a game of medieval wizardry from which
er designated as plotter. (This is described in greater Runes basic rules derive).
detail in Chapter Four.
If the basic concept of roleplaying still seems
A saga is all of the sessions or adventures that you fuzzy to you, skip ahead to the Example of Play at
play as part of a larger whole. As the saga progress- the end of this chapter.
es, your hero grows progressively more capable,
ready to smite ever greater threats to all Odin holds
dear. Each session has a winner, as does the saga as Experienced Roleplayers,
a whole. Throughout a saga, you will vie for first
place with your fellow players.
Read This, Too
Did I hear outraged cries of heresy from some
Here you may have some advantage over sea- quarters as you read the above explanation? Lets
soned roleplayers. Theyre used to seeing roleplaying repeat: by Thors thundering hammer, this is a
games as some kind of Viking game! Rune is about spirited competition
weak-livered cooperative with your fellow players, and about swinging incred-
storytelling nonsense, ibly large axes to hew down goblins and demons.
in which players This is not to say that other roleplaying games which
do not enjoy Valhallas seal of approval are somehow
invalid. Theyre just not this game.
Anyone with any lengthy experience of roleplay-
ing games knows that gamers display a wide variety
of different tastes. Some people like to carefully sim-
ulate the cause and effect of real forces in an imagi-
nary world. Others like to cooperatively create
thrilling adventures like those they know from TV,
movies, and fiction. Still others use roleplaying as a
vehicle for detailed psychological exploration of the
characters they create. And a whole lot of players
just like to tromp through mazes filled with danger-
ous creatures and hack down anything that moves.
You dont have to be one of the all-seeing Norns of
Viking mythology to have guessed by now that
Rune caters to this last group.
The problem you face as a hack & slash player in
a conventional roleplaying game is that your Game

8
 Grab Your Axe,
Viking Warrior!

Master will eventually get bored with the style before want to play a robed, gray-bearded
you do. Players can have a grand old time undergoing fop! Clerics? What need have we of god-talkers, when
fight after fight, gradually building up the power of the bravest of warriors are already blessed by the
their characters, but this style of play pales for most gods? Warriors, we say! Warriors, warriors, warriors!
GMs after a while. All they get to do is draw endless
You may also have been trained to think of the
maps, play the role of hapless monsters who do little
word linear as an abomination against all that is
more than attack and get slain, and resolve rules dis-
good and right. The term refers to an adventure in
putes. Sooner or later most of them yearn to intro-
which the heroes are railroaded along a single path to
duce interesting supporting characters and grand sto-
a certain conclusion. Many gamers prefer stories that
rylines to justify their presence. If you dont humor
can branch in any number of directions, depending
them, theyll quit, or start playing another game that
on the decisions they make on their characters
does something completely un-Viking, like de-empha-
behalf. Well, in Rune we clout this time-honored pref-
size combat. So as you go along, you sit in your chair,
erence upside the head with a big old battle-axe. Rune
spending more and more of the session waiting for
is fanatically linear, and proud of it! Here, adventures
the chance to hit something.
dont branch at all. If I, as designer, go to the trouble
Rune solves that problem for you by distributing to create an encounter featuring a fiery ship, a sea ser-
the GMing duties to multiple runners throughout pent, and a whirlpool, the heroes are darn well going
the course of an evening. You can band together to meet up with a fiery ship, a sea serpent, and a
with like-minded gamers to hack and slash to your whirlpool! The idea of encounters constituting a story
hearts content. is one we Vikings accept only grudgingly, with nar-
rowed and suspicious eyes. Although advanced Rune
Gamers who prefer other styles can still enjoy
adventures have set-ups, developments, and climaxes,
Rune, though. It can provide a fun change of pace
individual scenes are almost better seen as an obstacle
in between more story-oriented games. After all,
course through which your heroes must barrel,
most current members of the other groups started
bloody axes held aloft. Runners can even take
out as enthusiastic goblin-slayers. Come on, admit it:
momentary control of your heros decisions in order
some nights, especially after a hard day of classes or
to lead you smoothly to the next event in their
an unending barrage of brain-deadening meetings at
encounters. This approach is essential to the competi-
work, theres nothing you need more than a little
tive aspect of the game.
harmless excursion into an imaginary world of howl-
ing demons and blood-spattering weapons. While were throwing our preconceptions about
the inferiority of non-linear adventures off the side of
Because it is completely episodic, and because
our dragon-headed longship, we might as well deliver
you can create encounters as you go, you can substi-
a few stout blows to the concept of real-world logic.
tute Rune for a session of your regular game if peo-
The biggest part of this book is our Encounters sec-
ple fail to show up. For the same reason, Rune
tion, which provides you with a long list of elements
makes a great pick-up game at conventions, or in
you can build into your encounters, from piles of
other situations where you decide on the spur of the
treasure to fanatical opponents to nasty traps. Each
moment to play a game.
element comes with a specific cost. In order to create
As an experienced roleplayer, you may be expect- and run Rune encounters, you must adopt its curi-
ing the typical arrangement whereby each player ous system of logic. If you want to build in an effect
chooses from an array of very different, but comple- or situation that the rules dont cover, you cant do as
mentary, character types, and each jealously guards you would in one of those namby-pamby other role-
his own unique specialties. Forget that errant non- playing games and just fudge something that seems
sense! Here we will all play stout and well-armored reasonable. Youre competing against the other run-
warriors, our abilities all honed in the forge of ners, and you all have to agree on what costs what. If
bloody combat! Stealthy thieves? Cowards, we say! everybody agrees beforehand, you can add your own
Clever wizards? Bah! No right-thinking player would rules to cover the situation we didnt

9
 Introduction

think to cover. Or you can bend your longships to drag their crews down to watery graves.
concept in order to express it within the structure we Giants stride through mountain passes, their noses
give you. Otherwise, youre just screwed. We dont hungry for the smell of manflesh. Elves both light
have special rules for steaming hot mud pits in this and dark dwell in woods too deep for men to live in.
book. You can either create your steaming hot mud Deep in the mountains lie trackless miles of caverns
pit so that it conforms to the general rules for traps, and passageways, infested with all manner of crea-
or you can skip it. Lifes tough, isnt it? Have we men- tures, from lowly but devious goblins to massive
tioned Ragnarok yet? wyrms who can devour an entire raiding party with-
out filling their monstrous bellies.
Dont confuse the rules with the world. The
world of Rune might be chockfull of steaming hot Men are but pawns in a war between gods, a bat-
mud pits that work the special way you want them tle that will reach its catastrophic climax when the
to. Its just that the heroes will never run into them. day of Ragnarok comes. The chieftain of the gods
Not until we release our steaming hot mud pit sup- dwells in Asgard, where he rules over two joined
plement, at any rate. families of gods, the Aesir and Vanir. He is Odin,
also called the All-Father, who cast out an eye and
hung himself from the cosmic ash tree to gain
The World of Rune divine wisdom. His son, Thor of the
thundering hammer, is our
The world of Rune offers both danger and warrior god, spurring
glory to young Viking warriors such as yourselves. us on to win glory
Enormous serpents in battle.
infest the seas,
ready to wrap
their tails
around

10
 Grab Your Axe,
Viking Warrior!

Balder is Odins fair-haired and glowing son of inno- Nidavellir, the underground realm
cence and light. The prophecies of the three weird of the Dwarves. Svartalfheim is the dense and woody
women, called the Norns, tell us that someday Balder domain of the Dark Elves, who will march in Lokis
will be slain by his half-brother, the cruel and ambi- armies in the final battles. Though they can be
tious Loki. Loki now writhes in chains in a secret reached by arduous far-travel, shortcuts exist to each
chamber far below the earth, imprisoned by Odin of these realms, and more, by following the network
and Thor in an attempt to stave off this predicted of caves and passageways beneath the earth. Only
murder. For when Balder dies at Lokis hand, the those who enjoy the blessings of the gods may use
final battle between giants and gods will commence. these faster and more hazardous routes. This
The grim ship Naglfar, made from the nail parings of shadowy domain is known by many names, but we
the dead, will lose its anchor as the sea monster call it the Underground.
Jormungandr, one of the monstrous spawn of Loki,
As you delve through the Underground, your
makes its way for the shores of Asgard, the godly
exploits will come to the attention of the many gods
realm. Lokis other progeny, Fenrir the wolf and Hel,
of the Aesir and Vanir. They will gift you with great
queen of the damned, head an army to fight our
powers that ordinary men can only envy. But beware
gods. The prophecies tell us that the forces of both
their machinations. Not all of the gods believe that
good and evil shall be utterly destroyed in this
Ragnarok brings all-encompassing doom. Many of
inevitable conflict, and, with it, our mortal world.
them scheme to position themselves to rule the exis-
You see that our legends are as dark and gloom- tence they believe will follow Ragnarok. Perhaps these
enshrouded as the cold and foggy fjords in which we ambitious gods are correct; if so, it would be wise to
make our homes. We believe in no ultimate victory accept their Gifts, in preparation for the rewards of
of good. Destruction is the ultimate fate of man and this unknowable new day. But if they are wrong, they
god alike. The best we can do is forestall this play merely into the hands of Loki, and hasten our
inescapable doom, by keeping Lokis forces in check. rush towards destruction. At any rate, there are few
This we do with axe and sword, felling those who Gifts that do not come with a price. The more Gifts
serve him, and those who stand in the way of this you accept from a single god, the more his puppet
goal. The winding caverns and passageways beneath you become. At times you will find your sword hand
the mountains and fjords connect our mortal realm moved, or stilled, by your patron god, as he uses you
to the realms of the gods. Those who fight well will to advance his scheme of the moment. It is best to
win the favor of the gods, gaining the superhuman take Gifts only from gods you can trust, or to take but
powers needed to cross over to those mythic places a few Gifts from each god. And though it is possible
and thrive despite their many perils. to earn the dark Gifts of Loki and his monstrous kin,
the perils of such greed are vast.
The world we live in, the place of births and har-
vests and feast days, is called Midgard. We have
explored it widely, having raided the homes of many
other peoples who share the world with us. They are
Rules Basics
ignorant of Ragnaroks approach, and worship gods You are one of the pillagers. Your hero is deep in
unknown to us. Though their beliefs are foolish, it is the underground, in a strange cavern that seems to
not for us to convert them to our ways. They will be swallow up and feed upon the light from his torch.
but bystanders in the ultimate battle between light He steps carefully forward. Suddenly, a net falls upon
and darkness. him! Can he avoid the net, or will he be trapped?
On the edges of these distant realms are found Of course he can avoid the net! He is a hero, and
the places of myth and story, which border between heroes make their own luck by the strength of their
Midgard and the lands of the gods. To the east is backs, the speed of their feet, and the quickness of
Jotunheim, the mountainous place where giants their wit.
stride. Further north than even we dare to dwell is

11
 Introduction

Looking at the hero sheet at the Often the difference between your roll total and
end of this book, you can see that your characters the Difficulty becomes important.
game statistics include Characteristics, Abilities, and
So, that net was falling on your hero. The runner
Gifts. Characteristics measure his innate mental and
has decided that it is Tough to evade that is, that
bodily talents, including the strength to wield an axe,
your bonus plus die roll must equal or exceed a tar-
the speed to hit an enemy before the enemy hits him,
get number of 9. The runner tells you which
and the wit to gather information before he enters a
Characteristics, Abilities, or Gifts to derive the
fight. Abilities are the everyday, non-magical skills the
bonus from; you can use the rules to remind him of
hero has learned in the course of his upbringing,
other applicable game statistics he may not have
from sparring to shipbuilding. Gifts are extraordinary
thought of. In this case, you get your bonus from
powers granted him by the various gods. They allow
your Quickness Characteristic (which is 3), plus your
him to do things that ordinary people cant, but may
Swiftness of Sleipnir Gift (which is 2). Thus you add
from time to time cause him to fall under the control
a total of 5 to your die roll. You roll a 3. 5 plus 3 is 8
of the god to whom he owes the greatest debt.
one less than the target number of 9. Looks like
When you try to do something in the game, and your hero will indeed fall prey to that net. But dont
the outcome of your attempt is uncertain, you roll a despair a mighty-thewed Viking has more than
ten-sided die and add it to your bonus, a number one way of overcoming the Undergrounds dangers.
derived from some combination of your heros
Almost any action undertaken by a warrior in the
Characteristics, Abilities, and Gifts. The runner then
heroic but doom-laden world of Rune carries with-
compares it to a Difficulty number listed in his
it the potential for both ovewhelming achievement
encounter notes. The tougher the task, the higher
or devastating misfortune. Whenever you roll a 10,
this number will be.
you score a triumph. Reroll, take the result and add
it to the 10 you already have. Unless, that is, that
TARGET NUMBER CHART
result also comes up as a 10, in which case you reroll
Degree of and add that, too.
Challenge Difficulty
Junie rolls a 10. She rerolls, getting a 3. She adds it
Very Easy 3 to her original 10, for a result of 13.
Average 6
Janie rolls a 10. She rerolls, getting another 10. She
Tough 9 rerolls, getting yet another 10. She rerolls, getting a 6.
Very Tough 12 Her result is a 36.
Nearly Impossible 15 However, if you get a 1 on your initial roll, you
Superhuman 16+ suffer a botch. Reroll and make the result a negative
number. If you get a 10 on the rerolled die, it
Various circumstances set out in the rules may becomes part of your negative total, and you keep
change your die roll either upwards or downwards. A rolling. Further 10s are also rerolled and added.
number added to your die roll is called an increase. A Junie rolls a 1. She rerolls and gets a 4. Her result is 4.
number subtracted from your die roll is a decrease.
Junie rolls a 1. She rerolls, and gets a 10. She rerolls,
Sometimes something bad will happen to your getting a 7. Her result is -17.
hero and he will suffer a decrease to every roll he
makes until the problem is rectified, either by your Botches dont always bring on disastrous conse-
actions or through the simple passage of time. This quences; it all depends on the situation.
state is known as Impairment. Each point of
decrease is called an Impairment point.

12
 Grab Your Axe,
Viking Warrior!

Example of Play
Roleplaying games proceed through conversation.
The runner describes whats going on. Players tell
the runner what their characters are doing in
response. When the heroes try to do something con-
crete, they or the runner roll dice and use the rules
to see whether they succeed or fail.
Runner: Okay, so youre deep in the Underground,
near the realm of the goblins. You hear a weird
whooshing sound.
Paul (playing Bork the Stout): Bork listens hard to see
if theres anything special about the sound.
Runner: Roll your Awareness.
Paul: Darn, I dont have that skill.
Runner: Well then youll have to take the penalty for Runner: No.
using an Ability you dont have. Paul: Good! Okay, so thats 32 points, minus Borks Soak
Paul: What is that again? of 6, so he takes a total of 26 damage. Ouch! Thats
[Runner flips through rulebook.] over my Wound Threshold, so it counts as a Wound.
Runner: -3. Runner: So he suffers a point of Impairment.
[Paul rolls a die, subtracts 3 from the result.] Paul: I hate Impairment.
Paul: I got a 2. Runner: Okay, now, on the heels of the wall of water,
Runner: The Difficulty was a 6, so you fail. I add 4 these weird little bent-over creatures come into the
potential victory points to my tally for the difference. corridor. They have webbed feet and fins and they
Okay, so all of a sudden a great rushing flood of water look sort of translucent.
comes barrelling down the narrow passageway. Joel: Hey, these arent in the book!
Troy (playing Asgrim the Obstreperous): Holy snot! Runner: Heh, heh. Everybody roll for Initiative.
Theres got to be a way we can avoid this! Paul: 9.
Runner: There are sturdy-looking stalactites above your Joel: 17.
heads. If you make Jump rolls, you can leap up and Lynne: 7.
grab onto them long enough for the flood of water to Troy: Oh, man, I flubbed the roll! Oh, man, I got a lousy 2!
pass by. Everybody make your rolls Difficulty 6. Runner: Okay, the creatures go on 16, 9, and 15. So
Troy: 7! I made it, and chalk up a victory point! Joel goes first.
Paul: 4! Curses! Joel: I step forward with my mighty battle-axe and slash
Runner: [tallying up another 2 victory points] Okay, at the closest one. My attack roll is 20.
you suffer the hazards effects. Anyone else? Runner: The creatures defense roll is an 11, so you
Joel (as Skarp-Hedin): I got an 11, so thats 5 victory hit him.
points for me. Joel: The difference is 9, my damage is 12, so thats a
Troy: And youre dangling from a stalactite. total of 21.
Joel: You got a problem with that? Runner: Its Soak is 5, so you do 16 points actual damage.
Lynne (as Gunnhild): I got a 7, so thats a victory point Joel: Yes! Another 16 victory points. And its probably
for me. wounded, right?
Runner: So only Bork the Stout gets hit by the oncoming Runner: Uh-huh.
wave and smashed repeatedly up into the sharp stalac- Joel: Yes!
tites. The hazard has a Damage rating of 30, so add that Runner: Okay, now it swings at you
to the difference between the difficulty and your total Joel: Hah! I mock its puniness.
Paul: Does this ignore armor? and so on

13
 CHAPTER 1

A Hero is
Made

This chapter shows you how to cre-

ate a beginning hero. He starts the game as
a warrior-to-be. The experienced warriors of his
home village have taught him a few simple skills, but
he has yet to prove his manhood by going on a raid
or braving the dangers of the Underground.
At the beginning of the game, your hero will be
more or less similar to those of your fellow players.
Only after you play for a while, and begin to add
Abilities and Gifts to your character sheet, will your
hero separate himself from the Horde by establishing

14
 A Hero is Made

his own distinctive qualities. Experienced roleplayers

will note that this pattern is different from most
other games, in which each character starts out con-
forming to a particular stereotype with a matching Suitable Names
set of unique gimmicks.
You can find suitable names for Viking heroes by
Because all players create heroes, this chapter is consulting histories or Viking sagas such as Njals
addressed to everyone. You means any player. Saga or the Eyrbyggja Saga. You can find these in well-
stocked bookstores or libraries (in paperback as part
of the Penguin Classics series.) Texts of many of the
Building Your Warrior sagas can also be found online. As of this writing,
The Online Medieval and Classical Library at
The hero creation process is as follows: http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL is a good
web source for the sagas.
STEP 1: NAME YOUR HERO
Or you can simply take a name from the list on
Your hero needs a suitably Norse name. Odin
the following page.
will not smile upon a Fred or Jimbo. He must be a
Thorleik or Ansgar to earn the favor of the gods.

STEP 2: BUY CHARACTERISTICS

In this step, youll juggle the numbers to give
your hero the talents you desire. AXE-WIELDING
WOMEN
STEP 3: BUY ABILITIES
The Viking women of real history played a powerful
Here youll do the same for skills. role in their societies, often dictating the length and
nature of feuds and imposing their considerable
STEP 4: CHOOSE YOUR WEAPONS strength of will on local politics. However, they egged
their men into battle instead of picking up sword and
Outfit yourself with as many weapons as you can shield themselves.
carry. On second thought, you should perhaps leave Since Rune presents a fantastical version of the Viking
some space in your pack for other useful items. Still, world designed to entertain its players, we have no
it is good to have a great many weapons. problem allowing you to play female heroes. Female
heroes are still an exception from the norm in our fan-
STEP 5: OTHER IMPORTANT NUMBERS tasy Norse society, but face no impediments to an
adventuring career. Your characters parents and fami-
Certain other game statistics are derived from ly may at first disapprove of her risk-taking and rule-
your combined Characteristic, Ability, and weapon breaking, but as soon as she demonstrates divine favor,
choices. These are figured here. shell face no impediments to her continued career.
When the gods anoint a warrior, no mortal may ques-
tion their choice.
STEP 6: START PLAYING!
Female characters face no particular rules disadvan-
To restate our point, character differentiation in tages. However, because the default warrior is male, we
Rune happens in play, not at the start. The sooner use the male pronoun throughout this book. We cer-
your character gets out into the world of adventure, tainly dont intend to offend any six-foot tall, sword-
the sooner you can make him the envy of all of swinging warrior princesses who happen to be reading
this book.
your opponents.

15
 Chapter 1

COGNOMENS
MALE NAMES Your hero needs a cognomen to separate himself
out from everyone else who shares the same given
Alf Hardbein Sumarlidi Thorod name. At the beginning of his career, this may not
An Helgi Svein Thorolf matter so much. He might be the only Hunbogi or
Ari Hjalti Sverting Ulfar Ganger in his village. So you can leave this entry on
Armod Hord Thangbrand Unn your hero sheet blank.
Arnkel Horik Thorarin Vandrad A beginning character hasnt done much to dis-
Arnor Hoskuld Thorbjorn Vermund tinguish himself. It is likely that his cognomen
Asgaut Hrapp Thorfinn Vigfus will be his fathers name. A male character adds
Asgeir Hrolf Thorgrim -sson to any male name to get a cognomen.
Audun Hunbogi A female adds -sdottir. So a male hero
might be Geirmund Thorkelsson, Helgi
Bard Ingolf
Vilfusson, or Kjallak Olafsson, while
Beinir Isleif
their sisters might be named Alfdis
Bersi Ketil Thorkelsdottir, Helga Vilfusdottir, or
Bjorn Kjallak Osk Olafsdottir.
Bolli Kjari
Most cognomens appear
Eirik Kjartan
after the given name, but
Eldgrim Knut they can appear as adjec-
Eyvind Magnus tives, too. You can be
Ganger Odd Thangbrand Long-Legs or
Geirmund Olaf Long-Legs Thangbrand.
Gest Orm Individuals nicknamed Killer
Gisli Ospak
always get it as an adjective, as
in Killer-Hrapp. (This name
Gizur Osvif
indicates that youre a murderer,
Gorm Ottar not a heroic slayer ofgoblins and
Gudlaug Rognvald dark elves.)
Gudleif Runolf
A beginning hero with a
Hakon Snorri
descriptive cognomen probably
Haldor Stein has an uncomplimentary one,
Hall Stigandi like the Whelp, the Feeble, or
Harald Styr Bent-Leg. If he came to his vil-
lage from somewhere else, he
may be known by his original
FEMALE NAMES homeland, as in Gizur of the Dales or Hakon the
Easterner.
Alfdis Groa Hild Osk
Astrid Gudny Hrefna Thorgunna Like any nickname, cognomens are chosen by
Aud Gudrid Ingibjorg Thorunn those around you; you cant become known by a
complimentary name like The Strong or The Good
Bergthora Gunnhild Ingunn Thurid
just because youd like to. You have to do something
Gerreid Helga Jorunn
to earn your fame-name. Your hero might go by sev-
Gjaflaug Herdis Melkorka eral names as his exploits establish his character to
the people of his area. Norse nicknames are often

16
 A Hero is Made

cruel, singling out unflattering physical traits or Each Characteristic is associat-

well-known character defects. However, it isnt nec- ed with a particular Norse god.
essarily fun to play a character with an insulting cog- Heroes with many Gifts boosting a particular
nomen, so weve left this matter out of the hands of Characteristic are apt to owe a great debt to that
the rules. If you want to be Knut Flat-Nose, thats patron deity.
up to you.
Strength (Str)
Even though realism dictates that you, as a fledg- Strength is muscle power, which you use to lift,
ling warrior, hold off on a colorful cognomen, we shove, push, manhandle, and above all hit those
encourage you to pick one if you think it suggests things in need of lifting, shoving, pushing, and hit-
something interesting about your hero that sets him ting. You use it to smash down doors and to increase
apart from his rivals. The Rune RPG doesnt trouble the damage done to your foes when you strike them.
itself with characterization as much as some other
Thor the Thunderer is the patron god of
roleplaying games do, but if you enjoy playing Hrolf
Strength.
the Troublesome Poet or Eldgrim the Gossip, more
power to you. Stamina (Sta)
Where its twin Characteristic measures the dam-
Fine-Hair Sleekstone-Eye The Good age you can dish out, Stamina shows how well you
Flat-Nose The Bald The Gossip can take it. Stamina allows you to push yourself past
Fringe The Black The Hot-Head the point of exhaustion, to resist diseases and poi-
Gray-Cloak The Deep-Minded The Lean son, and to keep your head above water where weak-
Killer- The Dueller The Learned er men would drown.
Long-Legs The Easterner The Noisy The brave, suffering god Tyr, who lost a hand in
Of the Dales The Feeble The Peacock battle, grants Gifts of Stamina.
Dexterity (Dex)
Dexterity measures the grace and precision with
CREATION POINTS which your hero moves. Most importantly, it deter-
Naming your character doesnt cost you anything. For mines your accuracy when wielding close-combat
the next steps, though, youll need to spend creation weapons. It also allows you to pick locks and stay on
points to purchase Characteristics and Abilities. You your horse when it rears back.
start the process with 60 creation points.
Ull, god of the hunt, is patron to the dexterous.
Quickness (Qik)
Characteristics If your hero has a high Quickness rating, he runs
fast and reacts quickly to sudden dangers. It allows
As previously mentioned, Characteristics are him to strike first in battle, to dodge blows, and to
basic talents resident within a heros body and mind. accurately fire missiles.
There are eight of them: Strength, Stamina,
Dexterity, Quickness, Perception, Intelligence, Njord, enigmatic god of the wind, extends
Communication and Presence. Quickness to those who please him.

Each Characteristic ranges from -3, the absolute Intelligence (Int)

worst possible score for any living human being, and Intelligence measures your heros memory and
+3 as the apex of mortal possibility. The vast majority Ability to reason his way through problems. He
of people from your home village have a score of 0 in might use it to recall the exact pattern of a series of
most of their Characteristics; it is the human average. runes he saw several encounters ago, or to figure
Through Divine Gifts, you may be able to increase out the answer to a riddle posed by a menacing
Characteristics beyond the human limit of +3. bridge troll.

17
 Intelligence is sometimes seen as PATRON DEITY REFERENCE CHART
suspect, for it is the trickster Loki
Characteristic Patron Deity
who, of all the gods, possesses it in abundance.
Strength Thor
Perception (Per)
Stamina Tyr
If your hero has a high Perception rating, he is
good at noticing fine details in the world around Dexterity Ull
them. His intuition allows him to sense dangers his Quickness Njord
conscious mind may not be aware of. He might use Intelligence Loki
Perception to see the telltale glint of light that
reveals a sword being drawn in the woods up ahead, Perception Heimdal
or to eavesdrop on a conversation between a priest Presence Odin
of Hel and one of her undead minions. Communication Freyr
Watchful Heimdal, who guards the Bifrost Bridge
linking Asgard and Midgard, is the god of
Perception. BUYING CHARACTERISTICS
Presence (Pre) In a world of clashing swords and cruel battles,
Presence measures a heros Ability to make an not all Characteristics are of equal worth. The fol-
immediate positive impression on others of his kind. lowing chart shows you what it costs to buy each
A high score means that he is considered handsome, possible rating in each Characteristic. The negative
according to the standards of his people, that he ratings for Characteristics below zero mean that you
walks with confidence, and that he attracts the rapt actually gain creation points by picking a lower than
attention of others. In some cases, Presence might normal rating. You may spend these on other
indicate a strong negative impression that nonethe- things. Be warned, though, that competing players,
less commands obedience: a fearsome warrior might when they act as runners, can trip you up by exploit-
be big, mean-looking, and speak in a deep, booming ing your weaknesses. Extremely low ratings can
voice shot through with menace. mean big trouble!

What impresses humans will have a lesser effect Characteristic -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

on a goblin, dwarf, or elf, but even beings of these Strength -12 -8 -4 0 4 8 16
other races can tell a man with a strong Presence Stamina -16 -10 -6 0 4 8 16
from one who lacks it.
Dexterity -12 -8 -4 0 4 8 16
Presence is the trait of chieftains and leaders, so Quickness -12 -8 -4 0 4 8 16
it is fitting that Odin, chieftain of the gods, grants it
to the heroes he favors. Intelligence -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 8
Perception -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 8
Communication (Com)
Communication allows a hero to speak clearly and Presence -2 -2 -2 0 2 4 8
persuasively. It determines his talent not only for talk- Communication -2 -2 -2 0 2 4 8
ing, but for listening to others, so as to best under-
stand how to convince them to do what he wants. Note that selecting especially atrocious ratings in
the less-used Characteristics of Presence and
Freyr, the god of growing crops and bulging purs- Communication yields you no special benefit. We
es, blesses his favored heroes with the powers of dont imagine too many players will want to do so,
Communication. but you always have the option to play a foul-
breathed social outcast or mumbling buffoon if
thats your idea of fun.

18
 A Hero is Made

Note to Beginning Players: Dont try anything you can only carry so many
fancy until you know the game well. Ratings less than things at one time. Load values
0 in the first four Characteristics, or less than -1 in the are explained in greater detail later on in this chap-
latter four, are recommended only for experienced ter; for now all you need to know is that high num-
players attempting tricky concepts in hero creation. bers denote heavy items.
Unless you lose it or otherwise dispose of your
Abilities equipment in the course of the adventure, you will
always have it with you when you need it. Without
After purchasing Characteristics, you buy your it, you suffer a -2 penalty to all die rolls on the
Abilities with the points left over. You are limited to Ability in question. (Exceptions sometimes occur.
a rating of 3 in any single Ability. Abilities divide into If youre using Intelligence + Ski to look at a snow-
two categories: primary and secondary. Primary capped mountain and determine whether its about
Abilities appear in play much more often than sec- to send an avalanche caroming down at you, your
ondary ones. The categories determine the cost of answer doesnt depend on having your skis handy.)
the various possible ratings in each Ability. Each
You can increase Ability ratings during play; see the
point of a primary Ability costs 2 creation points.
chapter on Improving Your Hero for more on this.
Each point of a secondary Ability costs 1 point.
You might not want to spend all of your creation RECOMMENDED ABILITIES FOR
points in the Ability stage, though, because you can BEGINNING HEROES
also use them to purchase hit points, which The Abilities most used in Rune will vary by
increase the number of injuries you can take before group, and change over time. When you design an
things really start to get serious. encounter, you may find it profitable to call on the
In almost all cases, you can try to succeed at any heroes to use Abilities few of them have. If every-
activity even when you do not have the relevant body begins to call on these Abilities, theyll all get
Ability. However, your roll faces a substantial -3 added to the heroes as they progress, making them
penalty. So dont short yourself on Abilities when less useful to designers, who will then pick on other
designing your character. Abilities, and so on.

Each Ability has a Governing Characteristic. Before that vicious cycle begins, however, youll
This is the Characteristic the runner will most often find that certain Abilities tend to crop up repeated-
ask you to pair with that Ability when you roll for ly in basic encounters. These especially useful
success. Runners may call for other Characteristics Abilities are italicized in the Ability List.
when they deem it appropriate. Some Abilities may The various Abilities are as follows. For ease of
encompass a number of common tasks, each of reference, they are divided up by sort of activity.
which draws on a different Characteristic. When this
is the case, examples of tasks are provided for each
Characteristic mentioned. Fighting Abilities
Many Abilities also come with their own There is no set of Abilities more important in
Equipment. This entry describes the gear you need Rune than those that allow you to hew, smite, and
to properly perform the tasks associated with the otherwise slay your monstrous opponents.
Ability. You cant ski without skis, or make a map
without parchment, ink, and a quill pen. At the Equipment is not listed for Fighting Abilities.
beginning of any adventure, unless you specify oth- Instead, youll choose from a vast list of weapons and
erwise, you are automatically assumed to have on armor a little later in the character creation process.
your person all of the listed gear. Some pieces of
gear include a Load value, reflecting the fact that

19
 Chapter 1

ABILITY LIST
Heres a list of all of the Abilities, in alphabetical order, for quick reference. The Load column gives you the weight
of the equipment associated with the Ability, if applicable.

Ability Category Set Characteristic Load Page

Animal Handling Secondary Exploratory Presence NA 22
Awareness Primary Exploratory Perception NA 22
Balance Secondary Exploratory Dexterity NA 23
Bargain Secondary Interaction Communication NA 27
Bows Primary Fighting Perception NA 21
Bravery Secondary Exploratory Stamina NA 23
Brawling Primary Fighting Dexterity NA 21
Carouse Secondary Interaction Stamina NA 28
Chain Weapon Primary Fighting Dexterity NA 21
Climb Secondary Exploratory Strength 2 23
Deception Secondary Interaction Presence NA 28
Demeanor Secondary Interaction Presence NA 28
Disguise Secondary Interaction Intelligence NA 29
Divine Awareness Primary Miscellaneous Presence NA 30
Dodge Primary Exploratory Quickness NA 24
Gamble Secondary Interaction variable 0.5 29
Great Weapon Primary Fighting Dexterity NA 21
Healer Primary Exploratory Dexterity/Perception 1 24
Insight Secondary Interaction Communication NA 29
Jump Secondary Exploratory Strength NA 24
Leadership Secondary Interaction Presence NA 29
Longshaft Weapon Primary Fighting Dexterity NA 22
Lore Secondary Exploratory Intelligence NA 24
Map Secondary Exploratory Intelligence 0.5 24
Music Secondary Interaction Communication 3 29
Pick Lock Secondary Exploratory Dexterity 1 25
Pursuit Secondary Exploratory Perception NA 25
Repair Secondary Exploratory Dexterity 1 25
Ride Secondary Exploratory Dexterity NA 25
Runes Secondary Interaction Intelligence NA 29
Seamanship Secondary Exploratory variable NA 25
Sing Secondary Interaction Stamina NA 30
Single Weapon Primary Fighting Dexterity NA 22
Skald Secondary Interaction Intelligence/Presence NA 30
Ski Secondary Exploratory Dexterity 4 25
Sleep Secondary Exploratory Stamina NA 26
Sprint Secondary Exploratory Strength NA 26
Stealth Primary Exploratory Dexterity NA 26
Survival Secondary Exploratory Intelligence 0.25 26
Swim Secondary Exploratory Strength/Stamina NA 27
Thrown Weapon Primary Fighting Perception NA 22
Traps Primary Exploratory Dexterity 0.5 27
Two Weapons Primary Fighting Dexterity NA 22

20
 A Hero is Made

BOWS
Category: Primary CHAIN WEAPON
Governing Characteristic: Perception Category: Primary
You can hit targets with long-range missile Governing Characteristic: Dexterity
weapons, like a crossbow or bow and arrow. (Make There is no arguing with the mystique of the chain
sure you take Brawling, or youll face a serious dis- weapon. Whether you fight with morning stars,
advantage when someone tries to hit you with a flails, or another flexible weapons, the distinctive
close-combat weapon.) clank of the chain links that grant its pummeling
head additional force is in itself nearly as satisfying
BRAWLING as the sound the weapon makes when it impacts
Category: Primary with a goblins skull.
Governing Characteristic: Dexterity
GREAT WEAPON
You are adept at unarmed combat. With fist and furi-
ous kick, you smash your foes. This is the best combat Category: Primary
Ability to use during drunken melees between com- Governing Characteristic: Dexterity
munity members and other friends. You can smash If you need two hands to wield it, and it rains down
one another around, establish who is the superior on its foe in a great slashing arc, its a great weapon,
man, yet still have each participant in fair shape by the whether it be a greatsword,
morning, ready to fight the villages true enemies. pole-axe, or dwarven bat-
This Ability is a must for missile users; you use it tle axe. Although
as the basis of your defense from close-com- cumbersome, any
bat attacks. Without it, you face a nasty hit with such an
penalty to your rolls to avoid blows. enormous
weapon can
be devastat-
ing to a
foe.

Viking Short Roman Viking Broad Dwarven Work Dwarven Battle

Sword Sword Sword Sword Sword

21
 Chapter 1

Exploratory Abilities
LONGSHAFT WEAPON
A Viking warrior does not establish his reputa-
Category: Primary tion through combat alone. When he leaves the safe-
Governing Characteristic: Dexterity ty of his village, he must be prepared for a range of
You can wield spears, pikes, and other long-hafted situations that might deprive him of life and limb.
weapons intended to be held two-handed and Exploratory Abilities provide that preparation.
jabbed into a foe.
ANIMAL HANDLING
SINGLE WEAPON Category: Secondary
Category: Primary Governing Characteristic: Presence
Governing Characteristic: Dexterity You can tame wild horses and train commonly
You fight well with comparatively small weapons domesticated animals like dogs to perform their tra-
meant to be wielded with one hand, including short ditional tasks. When confronted with wild animals,
swords, clubs, daggers, maces, and battle hatchets. you know how to behave to avoid arousing them to
And what do you do with your other hand? Use a attack you.
great honking shield, of course. Skill with single
weapons also assumes that youve learned to inter- AWARENESS
pose a heavy shield between the foes incoming Category: Primary
blows and your own precious hide. Governing Characteristic: Perception

THROWN WEAPON You are highly attuned to the world around you.
This is the Ability you use to spot the telltale clues
Category: Primary alerting you to danger. In the Underground or
Governing Characteristic: Perception wilderness, any unusual sight or out-of-place sound
You can ably hurl missiles at your enemies, whether can alert you to the presence of hidden enemies.
they be rocks, sling stones, or special daggers or axes You can spot hidden doors, sniff out the first hints
balanced for throwing. of poisonous vapors, notice trip-wires and other
indications of traps.
This Ability makes a nice supplement to your wreak-
ing of mayhem, but is not to be relied on as a pri- Even when your mind is occupied by other things,
mary method of violent self-expression. Thrown your senses are continually on the alert for hidden
weapons are useful in odd situations but not nearly dangers. However, if you want to be even surer that
as deadly as a gigantic sword or axe. you and your allies arent walking into ambushes or
booby traps, you can focus your attention fully on
TWO WEAPONS scanning the path ahead for trouble. This increases
your Awareness by +3 for up to ninety minutes.
Category: Primary Unfortunately, this level of sustained concentration
Governing Characteristic: Dexterity is mentally wearying. After you drop your concen-
You can fight with a single weapon (see above) in each tration, you rub your bleary eyes and allow your
hand, forgoing the protection of a shield for addi- mind to wander. You suffer a -3 penalty to Awareness
tional opportunities to strike your foe. The two- for the same amount of time you maintained your
weapon combinations are the fastest in the game, and concentration.
thus the most likely to give you multiple attacks dur- Sometimes the runner will secretly roll your
ing each round of combat. Awareness for you. Otherwise, the mere fact that he
asks you to make a roll would tip you off to the fact

22
 A Hero is Made

that something is awry, even if you fail the roll. worked to suppress your survival
Clever runners keep records of the Awareness rat- instinct, and can wade unmoved
ings of all other players heroes. into situations that would cause an ordinary mans
conscious mind to seize up completely. You never
BALANCE need to roll in order to stay in a run-of-the-mill com-
bat, even when your comrades die like flies around
Category: Secondary
you. However, your extreme Bravery can still be test-
Governing Characteristic: Dexterity
ed by supernatural manifestations, the presence of
You are blessed with a natural sense of balance. You malign deities, or other gruesome sights. Successful
can walk across narrow beams suspended over raging Bravery rolls allow you to keep your free will in the
rivers, fight confidently on the edge of a cliff face, face of these mind-crushing influences.
and avoid slipping in muddy or snowy terrain.
The chart below shows you the maximum distance
in paces you can move in a single round, if the sur-
face youre navigating is tricky enough to require a
Balance roll. (Actions and half actions are explained
in the next chapter, on p. 47.)
Your
Balance Half Full
Ability Action Action
0 3 paces 6 paces
CLIMB
1 5 paces 10 paces
Category: Secondary
2 7 paces 14 paces
Governing Characteristic: Strength
3 9 paces 18 paces
You can climb cliffs, walls or rocky surfaces without
4+ 9 + 2 paces for 18 + 4 paces for
falling. You can find and tightly grip available hand-
each point over 3 each point over 3
holds in all but the sheerest surfaces.

BRAVERY The chart below shows you how far, in paces, you
can climb during a single combat action. This
Category: Secondary assumes movement up a sheer face with plenty of
Governing Characteristic: Stamina handholds. (Actions are explained in the next chap-
The difference between a mewling babe and a Viking ter, on p. 47.)
warrior is that you have trained yourself over many Your
years to ignore the natural feeling of terror that Climb Half Full
grips a man in the face of danger. Like animals, ordi- Ability Action Action
nary people operate under the compulsion of pow-
erful survival instincts. They may think that their 0 7 paces 15 paces
minds exercise control over their actions, but, in the 1 10 paces 20 paces
face of danger, realize that these instincts, rooted 2 13 paces 25 paces
deep in the body, prevent them from doing as they
3 16 paces 30 paces
promised themselves they would. Even though they
may wish to stand and fight in the course of a dead- 4+ 16 + 3 paces for 30 + 5 paces for
ly battle, they are often seized with the irresistible each point over 3 each point over 3
urge to flee. Under such terrible stress, the ordinary
man fights only when cornered. You, however, have

23
 Chapter 1

Equipment: 50 feet of rope, pitons, The chart below shows you the maximum distance
grappling hook. Load: 2; Assuming in paces you can jump on a successful roll.
a surface with reasonable handholds, you dont need
Your
equipment to climb any distance equal to or less
Jump Jump Jump
than that listed above for your full action.
Ability Upwards Forwards
DODGE 0 1 pace 2 paces
Category: Primary 1 2 paces 5 paces
Governing Characteristic: Quickness 2 3 paces 10 paces
This Ability allows you to evade blows, rolling 3 4 paces 15 paces
rocks, bolts of arcane energy, and other swiftly
4+ 4 + 1 pace for 15 + 5 paces for
incoming threats to your continued existence. Chief
each point over 3 each point over 3
among these threats are missiles like arrows and
crossbow bolts. Although youre not a total sitting
duck for missile users if you forgo your Dodge skill, LORE
you may find yourself gazing enviously at your Category: Secondary
Dodge-adept comrades at the end of a fight, as you Governing Characteristic: Intelligence
pull one arrowhead after another from your bruised
and lacerated flesh. You listened carefully to the stories told by the older
warriors of your village when they returned from
HEALER their raids of foreign lands and forays into the dank
and dangerous underworld. As a result, you know all
Category: Primary sorts of odd and interesting facts about the hazards
Governing Characteristic: Perception (to diagnose an that await explorers. It isnt book learning by any
illness); Dexterity (to bandage a wound or set a splint) means, but that sort of nonsense is for the pillaged,
Wounds, from the merely vexing to the spectacularly not for the pillager. You know practical things, like
gaping, are a part of life for the Viking warrior and, the ways and wiles of your peoples usual enemies.
unless a man trained in their repair is at hand, a part
of death. With this skill, you can identify illnesses, MAP
stop wounds from bleeding, find healing herbs, brew Category: Secondary
primitive medicines, and otherwise save the lives of Governing Characteristic: Intelligence
your companions. You can even patch up your own
minor injuries. You can make reasonably accurate sketch-maps of
areas you explore. This Ability is especially useful in
For rules on healing injuries, see p. 54. the Underground, a maze of underground passage-
Equipment: Bandages, splints, grain alcohol, poul- ways in which it is easy to get lost. You can use the
tices, catgut, needle, and a variety of medicines. maps you create to find your way home when you
Load: 1 would otherwise lose your way.

JUMP If you come to Rune as an experienced roleplay-

er, you may find the way we handle maps a little
Category: Secondary bit different. In most games that use maps, the
Governing Characteristic: Strength players skill at making the map is what counts.
You can leap high in the air, or a great distance for- Here you, the player, dont produce a map that
wards. This allows you to move around in the exists in the real world. Instead, your hero makes
Underground, crossing its many raging rivers or leaping a map that exists only in his game world.
from one level to another. In the dangerous world of Sometimes he isnt even doing that; hes using his
Rune, a missed jump can result in injury or even death. skill at spatial relationships to keep track of where

24
 A Hero is Made

he is by making a mental map that exists only in REPAIR

his imagination. Category: Secondary
When there is a chance that your hero will become Governing Characteristic: Dexterity
lost, he must make a Map roll to stay on track. When important gear, including your armor and
Otherwise, hell become convinced of an incorrect weapons, is damaged, you are able to repair it in the
route and lead his party off in the wrong direction. field. You know how to sharpen dulled blades,
(Detailed rules on this situation are found in the straighten bent swords, and reattach stray axe heads.
Encounters chapter, on p. 152.) You can patch leather, sew scales back onto armor,
A good map of an Underground section is a coveted and reliably knot frayed rope back together. Your
and valuable item, not only to other Vikings, but repairs might not be pretty, but they extend the life
also to dwarves, elves, and even giants. If you speci- of damaged equipment until you can replace it.
fy that youre making a map, and make a successful Equipment: A hammer, pliers, glue, thread, nee-
roll during the Aftermath of each encounter, youll dles, and scrap leather. Load: 1
be creating an item of value which you can barter for
treasure, information, or favors. Or you can take RIDE
them back to your home community, to increase its Category: Secondary
store of valuable knowledge. Governing Characteristic: Dexterity
Equipment: An airtight, greased hide tube contain- You are a skilled rider of horses, and can avoid being
ing a piece of parchment, bottle of ink, and quill thrown when your mount leaps a gorge or rears up
pen. Load: 0.5 in terror when it sees a snake. You know how to pre-
serve your mounts health, sensing when he is tired
PICK LOCK and needs a rest. You can fight from horseback.
Category: Secondary Equipment: A saddle, bridle, and reins. Load: none;
Governing Characteristic: Dexterity your horse bears the weight.
If equipped with a few strong iron pins or wires, you
can, with time, open even sophisticated locks of SEAMANSHIP
mundane manufacture, whether they be on doors or Category: Secondary
guarding tantalizing chests which are surely full of Governing Characteristic: Stamina (avoid seasick-
valuable booty. Some locks are trapped though, and ness); Intelligence (navigation); Dexterity (repair
you may be in for a disturbing surprise if you do not damage to a vessel)
first use Awareness to detect them and Traps to Norse longships are terrors of the seas, serving as
remove them. launching platforms from which hordes of scream-
Equipment: A selection of small, metal picks and ing Viking warriors rush ashore to lay waste to a
saws. Load: 0.5 town, village, or monastery. You know your way
around a longship, having performed duties ranging
PURSUIT from repair to piloting.
Category: Secondary
SKI
Governing Characteristic: Perception
Category: Secondary
Escaping foes wont outdistance you for long. You Governing Characteristic: Dexterity
can follow the trail of an enemy through snowy
wilderness, rocky foothills, or even the moister The best way to travel down a wintry slope is on skis.
chambers of the Underground. You can guess his You can execute daring maneuvers on skis, especial-
planned route and figure out the best way to lay an ly when giving chase or being chased yourself.
ambush for him. Equipment: Skis and leather thongs to tie
skis to boots. Load: 4

25
 Chapter 1

SLEEP Your
Sprint Half Full
Category: Secondary
Ability Action* Action**
Governing Characteristic: Stamina
0 8 paces 15 paces
You guffaw now that you see Sleep listed as a skill, but
1 10 paces 20 paces
when you end up in a bone-chilling dungeon, your
eyes gummed over with mucus and your head swim- 2 12 paces 25 paces
ming with near-hallucinatory exhaustion, youll real- 3 15 paces 30 paces
ize that the Ability to fall asleep quickly and remain 4+ 15 + 2.5 paces for 30 + 10 paces for
in deep slumber is one any explorer covets. You can each point over 3 each point over 3
grab revivifying naps even in the direst of surround- (drop fractions)
ings, and can drift off to dreamland even when you
havent been awake for long. In this way, you can * Distance You Can Move and Still Take an Action
** Distance You Can Move By Forgoing All Other Actions
store up your sleep, remaining bright-eyed when your
companions eyelids begin to droop all around you.
STEALTH
If you want to fall asleep when you shouldnt be
Category: Primary
tired, roll Stamina against a Difficulty equal to 16 -
Governing Characteristic: Dexterity
the number of hours since you last woke up. You
may remain happily asleep for a number of hours up By carefully placing one foot in front of the other,
to the difference between the Difficulty and Sleep and moving with painstaking slowness, you can
total after rolling. advance into enemy territory without attracting the
attention of those who wish to slay you. You can step
Like any character, you can automatically fall asleep
on a twig without breaking it, slosh through water
once youve been awake for sixteen hours or more.
without splashing, and swat at a marauding biting fly
This Ability also helps you to wake up quickly after so that even it doesnt know youve killed it.
being knocked unconscious.

SPRINT
Category: Primary
Governing Characteristic: Strength
You can run very quickly for short distances. This
Ability is best used to outdistance pursuing foes, or
to leap upon enemies foolish enough to try to
escape your wrath. You may also have occasion to SURVIVAL
outrun other things, such as cascades of boulders or
eruptions of red-hot lava. Being able to run quickly Category: Secondary
is also an offensive advantage; without this Ability, Governing Characteristic: Intelligence
you cant properly charge into your opponents You are well versed in a variety of practical techniques
midst, hacking and slaying as you go. to keep yourself and your companions healthy, dry,
The following chapter shows you how far you can and relatively comfortable outdoors or underground.
action in one round if thats all youre doing (full You can keep torches dry, find safe places to camp, and
move) and how far you can move and still do some- tell beneficial plants and fungi from poisonous ones.
thing else, like attack a foe. Your crafty ways keep yourself and your allies from suf-
fering various minor complaints that can dull the edge
Heroes never have a move lower than that given for of your preparedness for battle. With this skill, you can
a Sprint rating of 0. feed yourself and your companions during journeys

26
 A Hero is Made

through the surface world. You know how to locate ally with Awareness, above), your
game animals and, after youve used a fighting skill like supple fingers and knowledge of
Bows to kill your prey, butcher them. trap construction pair up to allow you to dismantle
the trap without triggering it.
Equipment: Flint, three days worth of dry sticks
suitable as torches, magnetic compass, and a small You can also build traps. This becomes useful when
knife for butchery. Load: 0.25 youre hiding your loot in a hostile locale for later
pickup; your spikes, blades, and falling rocks deter
SWIM others from disturbing your treasure caches.
Category: Secondary Equipment: Rudimentary pliers, scissors, hammer,
Governing Characteristic: Strength (to cross a and pick. Load: 0.5
river or lake); Stamina (to tread water for long peri-
ods without going under)
Interaction Abilities
Whether tossed by the raging storms of the Nordic
oceans or dumped into the icy pools that dot the Sometimes success is not so easy as merely
cavernous passageways of the Underground, the descending into the hostile depths of the
Ability to swim keeps you from drowning. Underground to shatter the foemans bones. On cer-
tain occasions, you will have no choice but to inter-
The chart below shows you how far you can swim act with others in search of information or assis-
during a single combat action. This assumes a body tance. Once youve used interaction Abilities to gain
of water with a tranquil surface, at a temperature equipment, knowledge of your route, or clues as to
that will neither scald or freeze you. (Actions are the nature of your foes, then you can return to the
explained in the next chapter, on p. 47.) Mildly chop- hewing and hacking for which you were born.
py waters reduce these numbers by 50%; raging
waves or strong current by 25%.
BARGAIN
Your
Category: Secondary
Swim Half Full
Governing Characteristic: Communication
Ability Action Action
0 7 paces 15 paces Use this Ability when negotiating any reciprocal
arrangement, whether you be dickering with a smith
1 10 paces 20 paces
over the cost of a battle axe, convincing a dwarven
2 13 paces 25 paces chieftain to lend his forces to a sally against the dark
3 16 paces 30 paces elves, or trading political favors with the chieftain of
4+ 16 + 3 paces for 30 + 5 paces for a neighboring village.
each point over 3 each point over 3

TRAPS
Category: Primary
Governing Characteristic: Dexterity
The byways of the Underground are laden with
booby traps meant to maim or even kill unwary
intruders. The forest homes of the elves are similar-
ly larded with traps. This skill allows you to safely
proceed through areas your enemies wish to bar you
from. Once you or an ally have spotted a trap (usu-

27
 Chapter 1

The Viking era considerably pre- heavy wagers might be placed. Use it also when you
dates a time of printed catalogues need to quickly shake off the leaden-bellied after-
and comparison shopping. Although people know effects of a feast to engage the enemies who burn
whether an item is common or rare, no one has your steads.
memorized a list of exact prices that pertains
throughout Midgard. The precise value of any given DECEPTION
item can be determined only in the course of a hag-
Category: Secondary
gling session between a prospective seller and an
Governing Characteristic: Presence
interested buyer.
Like the trickster Loki, warriors with this skill have
When exchanging equipment for treasure, or vice
made careful study of the art of lying. They know
versa, you engage in a contest (explained on p. 57) in
how to present themselves as kindly and sincere indi-
which you pit your Bargain roll against that of your
viduals who have only the best interests of others at
negotiating partner. If the buyer wins the contest, he
heart. They speak with conviction, looking into the
gets a price on the upper end of the range for an item
eyes of those they address, as they tell outrageous lies.
of its availability category (either common or rare). If
the seller wins, the price is on the lower end of the
DEMEANOR
range. The range for common items is from 1 to 4 oz.
of silver; rare items are from 5 to 20 oz. of silver. Category: Secondary
Governing Characteristic: Communication
The degree of difference between the victors and
losers rolls determines the price. The chart below You know how to present yourself to others in the
shows the price of any item in ounces of silver, manner most likely to create a favorable impression.
depending on who won the contest and by how In most cases, this is accomplished by adopting an
much. The loser is never obligated to go through attitude of confidence in yourself and respect
with the transaction. towards those you address. You speak clearly and
boldly, with a sense of passion. You defer to your
Availability of Item betters without mealy-mouthed flattery. Naturally,
your sense of decorum is that of a Viking. The
Common Rare
Difficulty of most Demeanor rolls is the subjects
Buyer Wins By 6 + 1 oz. silver 5 oz. silver Communication + Insight. This will be modified
Buyer Wins By 2-5 2 oz. silver 10 oz. silver according to the subjects knowledge of your repu-
Buyer Wins By 1 3 oz. silver 15 oz. silver tation and actions. If you just killed a chieftains son,
Seller Wins By 1 4 oz. silver 20 oz. silver the Difficulty goes through the roof. If you just
Seller Wins By 2 - 5 5 oz. silver 25 oz. silver
saved his son from otherwise certain death, the
Difficulty decreases to 1.
Seller Wins By 6 + Difference Difference
between totals between totals x5 When dealing with foreigners or the inhuman races,
in oz. of silver in oz. of silver you find that your forthrightness and pride may not
be as well-received as among your own kind. You
CAROUSE face +6 Difficulty when trying to follow the rules of
decorum in a culture youre not familiar with. Each
Category: Secondary
time you succeed for that particular culture, the
Governing Characteristic: Stamina
Difficulty penalty decreases by 1 for subsequent
Vikings are impressed by a prodigious capacity for attempts. So after three Demeanor successes in deal-
food and alcohol, which this Ability allows you to ing with goblins, say, your Difficulty will be +3. You
demonstrate. Use it to ingratiate yourself with cant reduce the Difficulty penalty below 0. If you
Vikings from other villages or lands. It is also useful dont keep track of your successes, your Difficulty
to win contests of drinking or eating, on which remains at +6.

28
 A Hero is Made

Eccentric individuals may reject the usual rules of on a particular person can often
decorum for their cultures, adding a Difficulty increase your chances of success
penalty determined by the designer. You can reduce when you then go on to use other interaction
or eliminate this penalty by first making a successful Abilities on him. This increase is determined by the
Insight roll to see how the supporting characters designer of the encounter.
preferences depart from the norm. Each point of
difference between Difficulty and Demeanor total LEADERSHIP
after rolling reduces the penalty against the subse-
Category: Secondary
quent Demeanor roll by 1.
Governing Characteristic: Presence
DISGUISE You can convince others to follow your instructions.
Your chances of success increase if the people you
Category: Secondary
use your Leadership Abilities on already know and
Governing Characteristic: Intelligence
trust you, or if you hold some legitimate authority
You can disguise your appearance so that you appear over them.
to be someone other than a Viking warrior. Disguise
Minions of Loki and other villainous characters
gets harder as the difference between your true
exert Leadership by making others fear them, and
appearance and the one you wish to adopt increases.
you may on occasion be forced to resort to crude
Also, it is extremely difficult to impersonate a spe-
intimidation against potential followers who cant or
cific person if the people you want to fool are even
wont respect your heroic qualities.
slightly familiar with him.
MUSIC
GAMBLE
Category: Secondary
Category: Secondary
Governing Characteristic: Communication
Governing Characteristic: Intelligence (to win
honestly-run games in which skill is involved); You can play the lyre, a stringed instrument which
Perception (to spot cheaters); Quickness (to cheat often accompanies the rude and boisterous songs
yourself). Use without a contributing Characteristic the warriors sing as they carouse. Your spirited (or,
if the game is determined purely by luck. on occasion, soulful) playing can win the hearts of
hard-hearted battlers and dewy-eyed maidens alike.
You are good at winning non-physical games, includ-
ing die-rolling, stone-dividing, and board games. Equipment: A lyre. Load: 3
Card games dont really exist yet. Typically you con-
test (see contest rules on p. 57) against other charac- RUNES
ters Gamble Abilities.
Category: Secondary
Equipment: A set of bone dice and a game board Governing Characteristic: Intelligence
with pieces. Load: 0.5
Unlike most of your people, you can read. Your
alphabet is composed of runes, no doubt handed
INSIGHT
down to you by wise Odin.
Category: Secondary
Governing Characteristic: Communication If your rating at Runes is 3 or more, you can also read
Latin, a language shared by many of the peoples you
After spending a few moments in conversation with periodically raid. You may have noticed some similar-
an individual, you gain a sense for his character and ities between the runes and the Roman alphabet.
motivations. You can predict how he will react to
hypothetical situations, and what sorts of things he Unlike all the other Abilities in this chapter, you cant
wishes to hear from you. A successful use of Insight try to use this Ability if you have no rating in it.

29
 Chapter 1

Miscellaneous Abilities
SING
The following doesnt fit neatly into the other
Category: Secondary categories, and so it set off by itself.
Governing Characteristic: Stamina
A foreign visitor to Scandinavia once described the DIVINE AWARENESS
singing of the Norse as hoarse and barbaric yowling
Category: Primary
fit for no civilized ears. Your singing skill permits
Governing Characteristic: Presence
you to uphold that proud tradition. Spirited, pas-
sionate singing may create a favorable impression A few people are especially attuned to the workings
among your own people, or frighten away spirits of the gods. You are one of them. When the gods
and goblins. are watching you, or their handiwork is nearby, you
can tell. Perhaps the hair on the back of your neck
stands up. Maybe you feel a chill, or smell burning
metal in the air. When this happens, you know that
those among your raiding party who have been
blessed by the gods are soon likely to pay the some-
times terrible price their Gifts exact.
Divine Awareness also reflects your general luck, or
favor of the gods. When an encounter designer cant
think what the heck might help you in a given situ-
ation, but needs you to roll something, Divine
SKALD Awareness is the handy-dandy Ability of last resort.

Category: Secondary
Governing Characteristic: Presence (to impress Hit Points
others with poetry performance, or to deliver sting- A fight where a Viking warrior does not get
ing satire against a rival); Intelligence (to remember bloodied is hardly a fight at all. Your hero begins the
myths, historical facts, and laws) game with a number of hit points, which represent
The Viking people are heirs to a great tradition of his ability to keep going even while injured.
poetry. Poetry, passed down orally from one genera- Your starting hit points are determined by your
tion to the next, is the means by which your people combined Strength and Stamina Characteristics, as
remember their history, recount the deeds of the per the chart below.
gods, and preserve their ancient laws. You not only
recite the poetry of the past, but create your own. Strength + Starting
Poems are often expressed as kennings, brief and Stamina Hit Points
rhythmic phrases using strange metaphors. -4 or less 37
Kennings can damage your rivals; if you compose a -3 to -1 40
suitably scalding satire of another Viking and per-
form it ably, you bring dishonor and ridicule upon 0 44
him. He can erase this shame only by composing a 1 to 3 48
better kenning aimed at you (or hiring another skald 4 52
to do so for him), or by besting you in a duel.
5 56
Beware: Viking duels have few rules, and are often
fatal to the loser. 6 60

30
 A Hero is Made

You can buy additional hit points by spending bowels in an instinctive, yet hope-
creation points. The number of extra hit points you less, attempt to stuff them back
get for each creation point spent varies according to into your body cavity. Especially nasty hits are called
your Stamina rating. Wounds. Wounds make it harder for you to keep
fighting, and are tougher to heal than the run-of-the-
mill cuts, bruises and contusions you get from less-
Extra er hits. You suffer a Wound when the damage you
Stamina Hit Points take from a single blow, after your Soak has been
-3 +1 hit point taken into account, equals or exceeds your Wound
Threshold. The value of your Wound Threshold
-2 +2 hit points depends on your Stamina, as per the chart below.
-1 +3 hit points
Wound
0 +4 hit points Stamina Threshold
1 +5 hit points -3 2 hit points
2 +6 hit points -2 4 hit points
3 +7 hit points -1 6 hit points
0 9 hit points
A word of warning: the hit points of the enemies 1 12 hit points
you face are determined in relation to the hit point 2 15 hit points
ratings of the heroes. So if everyone buys huge num-
bers of hit points, no one benefits: you just make 3 18 hit points
your enemies tougher. (Students of game theory will
recognize this as a variant of the prisoners dilem-
Further details on Wounds and their delightful
ma, where it is good to be the only person claiming
consequences appear in the next chapter, starting
a benefit, but bad to be one of many.)
on p. 54.
Injuries can temporarily reduce your hit points
below your normal, or maximum level. Most injuries
you receive are purely picturesque punctures, abra- Weapons
sions, and contusions which make you look appro-
A mighty warriors weapons become an extension
priately courageous but do nothing to impair your
of himself. Your warrior begins the game equipped
actions. That is, unless you receive a Wound, an espe-
with a selection of common weapons created by his
cially nasty hit described immediately below.
villages smith. In the course of his adventures, he will
The specifics of the various conditions, and ways gradually accumulate even more powerful weapons.
to recover hit points, are covered in the next chapter. Some are so large that hell be able to use them prop-
erly only through the blessings of the gods.

Wound Threshold (Wnd) Weapons, just like heroes, have game statistics.
These are as follows.
With a few battles under their belts, young war-
Initiative Rating (Init)
riors will soon realize that the precise effect of being
The bigger the weapon, the shorter the distance
clouted by a gigantic battle axe, or skewered with a
between its killing surface and the skulls of your foes.
rusty-headed crossbow bolt, can vary considerably
The shorter the distance, the sooner you act. The
from one instance to the next. One hit might be a
faster the weapon, the higher the Initiative rating.
mere scratch, where another leaves you groping
downwards to grab up your exposed and looping

31
 Chapter 1

weapons can only be gained in the course of play,

either through trade or by looting the corpses of
Attack Rating (Atk)
the slain.
Some weapons are wieldier than others. The easi-
er it is to hit your foe with a weapon, the higher its
CHOOSING YOUR WEAPONS
Attack rating.
At the beginning of the game, you may pick up
Defense Rating (Dfn) to 3 common weapons.
Most close-range weapons can be used to parry
incoming blows. The more useful the weapon is
when avoiding the attacks of others, the higher its Armor
Defense rating.
Although you, as an eager warrior yet to be
Damage Rating (Dam) blooded, may have visions of running shrieking into
The Damage rating lists the amount of injury a combat, protected only by your screaming blades
weapon can do when it hits your foe. A bigger and the valor of your heart, veteran Vikings will tell
weapon equals bigger hurt. you that there is no substitute for good armor pro-
tection. Someday a treacherous foe will jab past your
Load parrying sword or blocking shield, and on that day
Load measures a weapons weight. You can only you will be glad you wrapped your hide in as much
carry so much, and your weapons contribute to the protective gear as you could muster.
total Encumbrance you suffer when lugging all of your
gear around. See p. 36 for more on Encumbrance. You can start the game with any one type of com-
mon armor, and one common shield of your choice.
Ability
The chart below notes the Ability you must use in Protection Rating (Prot)
order to wield the weapon. For example, youll see Each armor configuration, as youll note from
that a shortspear falls under the Single Weapon the chart, carries two values. The Init rating has
Ability, while a flail calls for the use of Chain Weapon. already been explained. Armor doesnt affect
your attacks or defensive moves,
Availability so it doesnt have ratings for
Weapons are either common or rare. these. The
Common weapons are made
by the smiths of your
home village. Rare

Hand Axe Goblin Axe Viking Axe Double-Bladed Dwarven Battle

Axe Axe

32
 A Hero is Made

Protection rating is taken into

MISSILE WEAPONS: account when calculating Soak, a
score described in the next section. It allows you to
RANGE AND AMMO shrug off blows that would injure a warrior wearing
The range of each missile weapon equals ten paces lesser armor.
times its Damage rating. You can still hit things past
that range, but do so at a penalty of 1 to your Damage No one willingly goes into battle without at least
rating for every 10 paces between the target and the an outfit of padded, quilted cloth, supplemented by
weapons standard range. Missile weapon targets must a collar of fur to deflect blows from the vulnerable
always be at least 5 paces from you. neck area. Hardened leather armor is even better. If
The range of thrown weapons is 4 paces per point of you stud that leather with metal, you increase its
Damage rating. As with missiles, you can hit objects capacity to absorb the force of enemy blows. Better
past range at a Damage decrease of 1 per 10 paces out- yet, a skilled leatherworker can sew hundreds of flex-
side range. Your targets must be at least 3 paces away
ible leather scales together into a suit; the scales fur-
from you.
ther deflect the impact of blows.
The Load value of every missile weapon includes a
dozen pieces of ammo. For each additional dozen A metal counterpart to leather scale mail is
pieces of ammo, add a Load equal to 25% of the orig- unknown in your village, or in Viking lands in general.
inal Load value. When traveling without ammo, However, there are other places in Midgard where it is
decrease the Load value of your melee weapon by 25%.
manufactured, and suits of such armor may be found
You may start the game with any amount of ammo
you desire. in the Underground or other dangerous locations.
Sling users are assumed to be able to pick up suitable
rocks wherever they go, at least while on land. Users
of other missile weapons will have to find ammo dur- Shields
ing their encounters if they run out in the midst of
an adventure.
Shields add their Init, Atk, Dfn, Dam, and Load
ratings to the ratings of the single weapon with
which they are paired.

Dwarven Battle Dwarven Work Four-Bladed Goblin Spiked Mace

Hammer Hammer Mace Club

33
 Chapter 1

WEAPON TABLE Init Atk Dfn Dam

Rating Rating Rating Rating Load Ability Availability
Barb-net -4 +0 +4 special* 2 Brawling Rare
Billhook +5 +6 +1 +8 1.5 Longshaft Rare
Chair +2 +2 +3 +1 N/A Brawling
Composite Bow -1 +1 n/a +8 0.5 Bows Rare
Dagger +2 +1 +2 +3 0.25 Single Common
Double-bladed Axe +6 +5 +7 +12 3 Great Rare
Dwarven Battle Axe +8 +7 +8 +14 4 Great Rare
Dwarven Battle Hammer +8 +8 +10 +14 3 Great Rare
Dwarven Battle Sword +8 +6 +10 +12 1 Great Rare
Dwarven Work Hammer +6 +6 +8 +10 2 Great Rare
Dwarven Work Sword +6 +4 +6 +8 1 Great Rare
Fist/Kick +1 +0 +0 +0 NA Brawling
Flagon** -1 +0 +0 +2 0.25 Brawling
Flail (2 handed) +2 +7 +1 +7 0.5 Chain Common
Four-bladed Mace +4 +4 +3 +7 0.5 Single Rare
Gauntlet +1 +0 +1 +1 0.25 Brawling Rare
Goblin Axe +4 +2 +2 +7 1 Single Rare
Goblin Spike Club +3 +2 +3 +6 0.5 Single Rare
Hand Axe +3 +1 +2 +6 0.5] Single Common
Heavy Crossbow -10 +2 n/a +14 1 Bows Rare
Light Crossbow -6 +2 n/a +12 0.5 Bows Rare
Long Bow -1 +1 n/a +10 1 Bows Rare
Mace +3 +2 +3 +5 0.5 Single Common
Morningstar (2 handed) +1 +5 +0 +8 0.5 Chain Rare
Net +0 +4 +2 +0 0.5 Chain Common
Pike +6 +4 +1 +6 1.5 Longshaft Rare
Polearm +6 +3 +5 +9 1.5 Great Rare
Puny Knife +1 +0 +1 +2 0.15 Single Common
Quarterstaff +6 +4 +8 +3 1 Great Common
Rock +4 +0 n/a +2 0.0 Thrown Common
Roman Sword +3 +1 +4 +4 0.5 Single Rare
Sap +1 +0 +1 +2 0.15 Single Common
Severed Arm +1 +1 +1 +1 NA Great See p. 52
Short Bow +0 +0 n/a +6 0.5 Bows Common
Shortspear +5 +1 +2 +3 0.5 Single Common

* On a successful hit, the barb-net encircles the subject and remains there. The subject suffers 20 points of damage each time he takes
an action. He can free himself by rolling Str vs. a Difficulty of 6 + the difference between the attackers ATK score + roll and his own
DFN score + roll. Each attempt to free himself, naturally, counts as an action and causes him to take the damage.
**Prepare to be mocked if you carry a flagon around with you for the express purpose of increasing your Brawling damage. This
is listed for its usefulness in impromptu, drinking-table altercations between (relatively) friendly Vikings.

34
 Init Atk Dfn Dam
Rating Rating Rating Rating Load Ability Availability
Shortsword +4 +2 +3 +3 0.5 Single Common
Shortsword + Dagger +6 +5 +6 +5 0.75 Two Weapons Common
Sling +2 +2 n/a +3 0.1 Thrown Common
Spear (thrown) +0 +2 +0 +6 1 Thrown Common
Spear/Lance +5 +6 +4 +6 1 Longshaft Common
Throwing Axe +1 +1 +0 +4 0.5 Thrown Common
Throwing Knife +1 +1 n/a +3 0.2 Thrown Common
Two Hand Axes +4 +5 +3 +7 1 Two Weapons Common
Two Short Swords +6 +3 +5 +7 1 Two Weapons Common
Viking Axe +5 +3 +4 +10 1.5 Great Common
Viking Broadsword +5 +3 +4 +6 1 Single Common
War Maul +5 +2 +5 +10 1.5 Great Common
Whip +0 +6 +0 +2 0.5 Chain Common

SHIELD TABLE Init Atk Dfn Dam

Rating Rating Rating Rating Load Ability Availability
Buckler +0 +0 +2 +0 0.25 Single Common
Round Shield +0 +0 +3 +0 0.5 Single Common
Kite Shield -1 -1 +4 +0 2 Single Common
Tower Shield -2 -2 +5 +0 3 Single Rare

ARMOR TABLE Prot Init

Rating Rating Load Availability
Quilted/Fur 1 -0 1.0 Common
Heavy Leather 3 -1 1.5 Common
Studded Leather 5 -3 2.0 Common
Chain Mail 7 -5 2.5 Common
Steel Scale Mail 9 -7 3.0 Rare

ENCUMBRANCE TABLE Better Put No One Will

Over- Something Take This Much
Strength Light Loaded loaded Down Encumbrance
-3 Less than 0.5 0.5 1 2 4
-2 Less than 1 1 2 4 6
-1 Less than 2 2 4 6 8
0 Less than 4 4 6 8 10
1 Less than 6 6 8 10 12
2 Less than 8 8 10 12 14
3 Less than 10 10 12 14 16
4+ Add 2 per additional point

35
 Chapter 1

When you are Loaded or worse, you suffer an

Encumbrance Decrease to all rolls (including Atk, Dfn,
Important Numbers and Engagement), in which Strength, Stamina, Dexterity,
or Quickness are components. This includes Ability rolls in
Before you wade into combat, you need to calculate which one of the above is a governing Characteristic. The
some more game statistics and note them on your hero decreases are as follows:
sheet. Each of the following numbers plays an important
role in the smiting of your enemies, and youll do well to Degree of Encumberance Decrease
have them handy at all times. Light 0
Loaded 1
ENCUMBRANCE (ENC) Overloaded 3
Although many young warriors dream of being able to Better Put Something Down 5
carry every weapon they come across, veterans know that
No One Will Take 8
there is a limit to what even the strongest man can lug
This Much Encumbrance
about. Encumbrance measures the degree to which the
weight and bulk of the things you carry slows you down. When you pick your weapons and armor, as youll do in
There are five degrees of Encumbrance. From best to a moment, youll need to keep the Load value of all of your
worst, they are: Light, Loaded, Overloaded, Better Put weapons in mind. Unless you want to periodically decide
Something Down, and No One Will Take This Much whether to leave gear or loot behind, you should also leave
Encumbrance. To determine your level of Encumbrance, a bit of extra room for treasure youll pick up along the way.
use the chart on page 35 to compare your Strength with
the total Load of everything youre carrying. INITIATIVE SCORE (INIT)
Lop off any fractions attached to your Load value after It is always good to hit your enemies before they can
you total it up. As soon as you hit the number given for hit you. A high Initiative allows you to do this. Calculate
a degree, you suffer its effects, if any. your INIT score for each of your attacks using the formu-
lae below. Note that you have a different INIT score for
Thurids Strength is 3. Her total Load is 9. She has yet each weapon you use, and that it changes whenever you
to hit the threshold of 10, and so suffers only Light encum- add or discard items in your pack, which changes your
brance. As soon as her Load reaches 10, shes Loaded. Encumbrance. Also, armor only affects your INIT score,
When it hits 12, shes Overloaded, and so on. not your ATK or DFN scores. Unarmed INIT is deter-
mined using Brawling in place of a weapon ability.

INITIATIVE SCORE (ARMED):

Qik Characteristic + Weapon Ability + Weapons Init Rating + Init Ratings of Armor & Shield - ENC Decrease

INITIATIVE SCORE (UNARMED):

Qik Characteristic + Brawling Ability + Fist/Kick Init Rating + Init Rating of Armor & Shield - ENC Decrease

INITIATIVE SCORE (NON-COMBAT):

Qik Characteristic + Sprint Ability + Init Ratings of Armor& Shield - Your ENC Decrease

ATK SCORE (MELEE WEAPONS):

Dex Characteristic + Weapon Ability + Weapons Atk Rating + Atk Rating of Shield - ENC Decrease

ATK SCORE (MISSILE WEAPONS):

Per Characteristic + Weapon Ability + Weapons Atk Rating + Atk Rating of Shield - ENC Decrease

ATK SCORE (UNARMED):

Dex Characteristic + Brawling Ability + Fist/Kick Atk Rating + Atk Rating of Shield - ENC Decrease

36
 A Hero is Made

If a character is not trying to attack during the Initiative using a melee or thrown weapon, use
phase, but instead will be doing a non-combat move such as the formula below.
Healing or changing position, he makes a non-combat INIT
roll. His non-combat INIT score is figured using the non- Missile weapons use the straight Dam rating of the
combat initiative formula. particular weapon.

Remember that if you dont have the appropriate abil- SOAK

ity (like Brawling, Sprint or weapon abilities), youll need
to take a -3 penalty for using an Ability you dont have (see Although even the bravest Viking prefers not to be hit
p. 19). The same goes for figuring the ATK and DFN in the first place, he knows that eventually a foemans
scores discussed below. blade will taste of his flesh. When that time comes, it is
good to be tough, and have the capacity to shrug off some
of the damage. Your Soak score allows you to do that,
ATTACK SCORE (ATK)
and can be found at the bottom of this page.
A high ATK score increases your likelihood of actu-
ally hitting your foe in combat. Again, each weapon MOVE
grants you a different ATK score. You can find the
equations for ATK scoresat the bottom of page 36. Your Move is derived from your Sprint Ability (or lack
Missile weapons (those with range greater than Close) thereof). To save you some page-flipping, weve repeated
have their own formula. the relevant portion of the chart given in that Abilitys
description. Note your full Move on your hero sheet.
DEFENSE SCORE (DFN) Your Sprint Ability Full Move
Your DFN score measures the degree to which you can 0 15 paces
avoid being hit by opponents, either by getting out of the 1 20 paces
way of their blows, or parrying them with your weapon or
2 25 paces
shield. Missile weapons dont confer DFN scores; if youre
holding one when attacked, use your Brawling Ability (as 3 30 paces
modified by the fist/kick statistics on the Weapons Chart)
as the basis for your DFN score. RESPONSE (RES)
Your Response score is used by runners in creating
DAMAGE SCORE (DAM) game statistics for your foes. Youll need to write it down
for the runner at the beginning of each encounter. It is
Hitting your opponent is all well and good, but once
your highest overall modifier (that is, both governing
youve done it youll want to know whether youve just
Characteristic and Ability rating) of any of the following:
scratched his hide, or delivered a disemboweling death
Awareness, Balance, Bravery, Dodge, Sprint, or
blow. Your Damage score tells you how much harm you
Engagement. For this purpose, Engagement is your Str +
do to your foe. Once more, it varies by weapon. When
best melee weapon Ability.

DFN SCORE (ARMED):

Qik Characteristic + Weapon Ability + Weapons Dfn Rating + Dfn Rating of Shield - ENC Decrease

DFN SCORE (UNARMED):

Qik Characteristic + Brawling Ability + Fist/Kick Dfn Rating + Dfn Rating of Shield - ENC Decrease

DAM SCORE (MELEE WEAPONS ONLY):

Your Str + Your Weapons Dam Rating

SOAK SCORE:
Your Sta + Your Arnors Prot Rating

37
 Chapter 1
three choices: a quarterstaff, a war maul, or a Viking axe. The axe is by
far the coolest choice, so we take that without even looking at its game

Example of Character Creation statistics. We also take a war maul, just in case we come across something
we want to bash instead of slash. And, of course, theres always our fists
if we end up in unarmed combat.
1. NAME YOUR HERO Now on to our armor choice. We can pick one common shield and one
Our character will be named Ragnar, after the hero of the Rune common armor type. The trade-off here is that our Init goes down as our
computer game. Prot goes up: the less damage we take from enemy blows, the less likely
it is that we can score multiple attacks against our foes. Our choice,
2. BUY CHARACTERISTICS heavy leather, strikes a balance between these two things. We dont both-
er with a shield, because Ragnar needs both hands for his great weapon.
We start with 60 creation points.
Our first step is Characteristic purchasing. Given that Rune
is about combat, we want to focus on the first four Characteristics,
3
which matter in battle. Dexterity is the governing Characteristic RUNE HERO SHEET FIGHTING ABILITIES
of most combat skills, so we decide that Ragnar will be as dexter- 1 Rating Notes
Bows (Per) 1 1 1
ous as any mortal. Getting the price from the chart on p. 18, we HEROS NAME: Ragnar Brawling (Dex) 1 1
1 1
spend 16 creation points to give him a Dexterity of 3. That leaves WINS: TOTAL VPS: 1
Chain Weapon (Dex)
Great Weapon (Dex) 1 3 1
us with 44 points. We see him as a tough guy who can take plen- 1
Spent VPs: 1 Longshaft Weapon (Dex)
Single Weapon (Dex)
1
1
1
1
Free VPs: 1
ty of punishment, and so buy him maximum Stamina as well: a Thrown Weapon (Per) 1 1
1 1
2
Two Weapons (Dex)
rating of 3, costing us another 16 points. We buy him ratings of 2 CHARACTERISTICS HIT POINTS EXPLORATORY ABILITIES
in the other two physical Characteristics, Strength and Quickness. Rating Maximum Current
Rating Notes
That costs us another 16 points, all told. Were down to 12 cre- Strength (STR) 12 1
77 1 Animal Handling (Pre) 1 1
Stamina (STA) 13 WOUND THRESHOLD: Awareness (Per) 1 1
ation points. Uh-oh! Wed better get some points back by giving Dexterity (DEX) 13 18
1 Balance (Dex) 1 1 15/10
1 1 1
Ragnar below-average scores in the less important Characteristics. Quickness (QIK) 12 WOUNDS
Bravery (Str)
Climb (Str) 1 1 1
10/20
Intelligence (INT) 1-1 1
We give him -1 in each of these, giving us back 8 points for a total Perception (PER) 1-1 33333
33333
Dodge (Qik)
Healer (Per, Dex)
1
1
1
1
of 20 creation points left Presence (PRE) 1-1
-1 -2 -3 -4 -5 Jump (Str) 1 1 12/5
(INCAP)(DEAD) Lore (Int) 1 1
Communication (COM) 1-1 Map (Int) 1 1
1 1
3. BUY ABILITIES IMPORTANT NUMBERS IMPAIRMENT/INVIGORATION
Pick Lock (Dex)
Pursuit (Per) 1 1
Light 1 1
We now have 20 creation points to buy Abilities and extra hit Encumbrance (ENC) 1
33333
Repair (Dex)
Ride (Dex) 1 1
ENC Decrease None
1
points, should we want them. We start by picking a weapon Move 120 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 Seamanship (Sta, Int)
Ski (Dex)
1
1
1
1
Ability, Great Weapon, which we buy at the maximum, 3. Its a Soak 1 6 Sleep (Sta) 1 1
Response (RES) 1 5 Sprint (Str) 1 1 1
10/20
primary Ability, costing us a total of 6 creation points. Stealth (Dex) 1 1
5 Survival (Int) 1 1
Because it is much better to have a rating of 1 in an Ability than Swim (Str, Sta) 1 1 10/20
1
COMBAT SCORES Traps (Dex) 1 1
a rating of 0, we decide to get as many other Abilities as we can, ATTACK INIT ATK DFN DAM
never buying more than 1 rating point in any single one. We select Score Score Score Score INTERACTION ABILITIES
Viking Axe 9 9 9 12 Rating Notes
the following primary Abilities: Dodge (to avoid traps and missiles), War Maul 9 8 10 12
Bargain (Com) 1 1
Carouse (Sta) 1 1
Bows (to have missile capability when necessary), and Sprint (very Short Bow 2 0 2 Deception (Pre) 1 1
1 1
useful in allowing you to move about a battlefield). A rating of 1 in Demeanor (Com)
Disguise (Int) 1 1
each costs us a total of 6 points. Were now at 8 creation points left, Gamble (Int, Per, Qik) 1
Insight (Com) 1
1
1
and we want to save 3 points to buy hit points, giving us 5 left to Leadership (Pre) 1 1
Music (Com) 1 1
spend on secondary Abilities, which cost 1 point for a rating of 1. Runes (Int) 1 1
Sing (Sta) 1 1
We choose Balance, Bravery, Climb, Jump, and Swim. When its Skald (Pre, Int) 1 1
appropriate, we write down the half and full action values of our MISC. ABILITIES
skills in the notes column. Rating Notes
Fist or Kick -1 0 -1 2 Divine Awareness (Pre) 1 1
Now we spend our last 3 creation points on extra hit points.
Non-Combat Action 2
Checking the chart on p. 31, we see that, with a Stamina of 3,
each character point gets us 7 more hit points. So our bonus
will be 21 hit points. Looking at the chart on p. 30, we see that
the standard hit points for a character whose Strength and
Stamina add up to 5 is 56. 56 + 21 = 77.
Next we make note of Ragnars Wound Threshold. The chart on p. 31 5. IMPORTANT NUMBERS
tells us that a Viking with Stamina 3 gets a Wound Threshold of 18. Encumbrance: Now we figure out Encumbrance. Together,
Ragnars gear has a Load value of 5. His Strength is 2, and we see by the
4. CHOOSE YOUR WEAPONS chart on p. 35 that as long as the stuff hes lugging has a total Load less
Now we pick our weapons. We can have three common weapons. We than 8, his Encumbrance is Light. He suffers no Encumbrance Decrease.
want weapons which match Ragnars Abilities a great weapon and a
bow. Common bows are hard to find; the short bow is really our only Initiative Scores: Now we calculate Ragnars Initiative score for
choice. As far as common great weapons go, we have each weapon he wields. Initiative is Qik + weapon Ability + your

38
 A Hero is Made

weapons Init rating + armor/shield Init rating - your Enc Decrease. Attack Scores: Now for Attack ratings,
Ragnars Qik is 2. His Ability in Great Weapon is 3. His Viking axes which are again calculated for each weapon.
Init rating is 5. The rating for his armor is -1. His Enc Decrease is 0. 2 The formula for melee weapons is Dex + weapon Ability + weapon Atk
+ 3 + 5 - 1 - 0 = 9. His INIT score with the Viking axe is 9. rating + shield Atk rating - Enc Decrease.
His war mauls Init rating is the same as his Viking axe, so it too For his Viking axe, his rating is 3 (his Dex) + 3 (his Great Weapon
carries a combined INIT score of 9. Ability) + 3 (the Viking axes Atk rating) + 0 (since he doesnt have a
Ragnars Ability in Bows is 1. His short bow is rated at 0 for Init. shield) - 0 (his Enc Decrease), for a total of 9.
His Qik, Enc Decrease and armor Init rating remain the same. 2 + 1 + For the war maul, its 3 (his Dex) + 3 (his Great Weapon Ability) +
0 - 1 - 0 = 2. His Init rating with the short bow is 2. 2 (the war mauls Atk) + 0 (for having no shield) - 0 (his Enc Decrease),
To find Ragnars unarmed INIT score, we take his Qik + Brawling + for a total of 8.
Bows substitute Perception for Dex. So for his short bow,
the Atk rating is -1 (his Per) + 1 (his Missiles Ability) + 0 (the
short bows Atk rating) + 0 (no shield) - 0 (his Enc Decrease),
4
for a total of 0.
EQUIPMENT DIVINE GIFTS
WEAPONS Init
rating
Atk Dfn Dam Ability Load
rating rating rating Patron Level Unarmed, Ragnar gets 3 (Dex) + 0 (Brawling Ability) + 0
Viking Axe +5 +3 +4 +10 Great 1.5 (fist/kick Atk rating) + 0 (since he has no shield) - 0 (his Enc
Short Bow +0 +0 NA +6 Missile 0.5 Decrease), for a total of 3. But he also takes the -3 penalty for
War Maul +5 +2 +5 +10 Great 1.5
not having Brawling, so he ends up with 0.
Defense Scores: The next step is calculating DFN scores
for each weapon. The formula is Qik + Weapon Ability +
weapons Dfn rating + shield Dfn rating - Enc Decrease.
For the Viking axe, this is 2 (Ragnars Qik) + 3 (Great
ARMOR Prot Init Load Weapon Ability) + 4 (Viking axes Dfn rating) + 0 (he has no
rating rating
Heavy Leather 3 -1 1.5 shield) - 0 (Enc Decrease), which totals to 9. For the war maul,
this works out to: 2 (Ragnars Qik) + 3 (Great Weapon Ability) +
5 (war mauls Dfn rating) + 0 (rating for no shield) - 0 (Enc
SHIELDS Init
rating
Atk Dfn Dam Ability Load
rating rating rating
Decrease), or 10.
Missile weapons dont provide Dfn ratings, so we ignore the
short bow here.
Unarmed, Ragnar has 2 + 0 + 0 +0 - 0 = 2. Then he sub-
OTHER ITEMS Load
HELMS OF POWER Patron Level tracts 3 for not having Brawling, which gives him an
unarmed DFN score of -1 (were really wishing wed taken
Brawling at this point).
LEGENDARY ITEMS Patron Level
Damage Scores: A step near to any Vikings heart is
next. It is Ragnars Strength + the Damage rating of each melee
weapon. Ragnars Strength is 2, and both great weapons have
Dam ratings of 10, so the total for both is 12.
DIVINE CONNECTIONS
The missile weapon, the short bow, uses its Damage rating
LOOT number damage value in Load
of items modifier oz. silver
Deity Rating Deity Rating alone. It happens to be 4.
Angrboda 1 Odin 1 Unarmed, he gets his Strength of 2 + 0 Dam rating for
Asjandr 1 Thor 1
Freyja 1 Tyr 1
fist/kick, which equals 2.
Freyr 1 Ull 1
Ounces Silver Heimdal 1 Urd 1 Other Important Numbers: Now figure Ragnars
Ounces Liars Silver
Hoder 1 Soak rating, which is Stamina (in Ragnars case, 3) + his
Loki 1
TOTAL LOAD: 5 Njord 1
armors Prot rating (again, a 3), for a total of 6.
Ragnars full move is based on his Sprint Ability, which is
1. Looking on the chart on p. 37, that gives him a Move of 20
paces. His highest overall modifier (governing Characteristic +
Ability rating) is his Engagement modifier of Str + Great
the fist/kick Init rating + his Init rating from armor and/or shield - his Weapon, which equals 5. That means that his Res is a 5.
Enc Decrease. 2 + 0 + 1 - 1 - 0 = 2. But since he didnt take Brawling,
he gets a -3 penalty for using an Ability he doesnt have. This gives him
an unarmed INIT score of -1.
And lastly, his non-combat INIT score is Qik + Sprint + armor/shield
Init ratings - Enc Decrease. That comes out to 2 + 1 - 1 - 0 = 2.

39
 CHAPTER 2

Combat AND
Other Rules

This chapter shows you how your

hero fights, and also how he does the
other things that bring him to the attention
of the gods. It is addressed to you in your capacity
as a pillager.

Die-Rollers Versus Narrators

How your group handles combat is a matter of taste.
Some Hordes dont want to let a bunch of fancy
descriptions get in the way of their hacking and

40
 Combat and
Other Rules

slashing. Theyre content to call out numbers, roll each die roll and damage alloca-
dice, and rack up their point scores. They may be tion with detailed narration.
vividly imagining goblins flying left and right as
Were not here to tell you that one approach is
their implacable heroes wade through columns of
right and the other wrong. Who are we to instruct
cave-dwelling enemies, but they keep such images to
you in the proper way to have fun? Decide for your-
themselves. For these players, elements of play-act-
selves what you best enjoy. Youll show which type
ing are just a distraction from the game.
of players you are by what you do in the course of
Other groups find it more entertaining to share the game. Youll either naturally gravitate towards
their play-by-play of the action, describing dashing lots of description, or to a by-the-numbers approach.
maneuvers, devastating blows, and the agonizing cries
In fact, what will most likely happen is that, in
of the wounded. They want to do with narration what
each group, some runners will use plenty of descrip-
the computer game does with 3-D animation: create
tion and others will not. Dont let one faction pres-
an intensely imagined experience in which they con-
sure the other to conform. Find a middle ground.
trol the action. These groups will want to supplement
When a description-oriented player dons the run-
ners mantle, the limbs will fly and the halls
of the Underworld will echo with the battle
cries of furious Vikings. When a die-rolling
enthusiast replaces him, num-
bers will take center stage. Dont
blame yourselves for failing to
live up to someone elses stan-
dard of proper gaming fun.

Let the Battles

Begin!
Fights are played out according
to the following combat sequence.
They are broken down into rounds,
which occur as a series of steps.

ANATOMY OF A ROUND
A round is an approximate chunk of
time in which each character gets to do
one interesting thing, like rain a flurry of
blows upon a cringing goblin, throw a
spare axe to a disarmed ally, slide
down a rocky slope to dive upon
enemy reinforcements as they join
the fray, or rummage through a
stuffed pack in search of the per-
fect weapon for the job at hand. A
round is about five to twenty
seconds long. Thats all the precision
a true Norseman needs!

41
 Chapter 2

STEP ONE: Who Goes First?

Every character on the battlefield gets a roll to
see who goes first. Pillagers roll for their heroes.
The proxy rolls for the runners hero. The runner
rolls for all foes. Each player applies the charac- INITIATIVE SITUATIONAL
ters Initiative score for the weapon they plan to MODIFIERS
use (or their unarmed INIT score if they want to
just beat someone to a pulp) to this roll as a If your hero did nothing in the previous round except
jockey for a superior position from which to charge,
bonus. In some cases, the runner will declare fur-
leap into action, or otherwise join the fray with a great
ther modifiers on various characters rolls. See the advantage, add his Perception rating as a further bonus
Initiative Situational Modifiers sidebar for exam- to Initiative. Obviously, this is not a good strategy for
ples, and p. 36 for an explanation of how to figure heroes with negative Perception ratings.
out INIT scores. If he started the round on high ground, or in another
advantageous position, his Initiative increases by 3. If
Characters who intend to engage in an activity
he started on low ground or in a bad position, his
other than combat roll their non-combat Initiative Initiative decreases by 3. The runner decides if hes on
score to determine the order of action. This is also high or low ground.
discussed on p. 36.
Each character gets to act in the order of his
Initiative total, from highest to lowest. Even if you
botch and get a negative result, you still get to act. have the same number of Gifts, they roll tiebreaker
You probably stumble on a paving stone or slip on a dice. The runner decides ties between supporting
patch of wet grass first, though, no doubt provoking characters, according to their order of appearance in
hearty guffaws from your heros comrades. his encounter notes.
If a hero ties with one or more supporting char-
EXTRA ATTACKS
acters, he goes before they do. If two heroes tie, the
one with the most Divine Gifts (as explained in Especially high Initiative totals allow characters to
Chapter Four), goes first. Where two or more heroes attack more than once. (You can just as easily take
additional non-combat actions, but what fun is that?)
For each time that you can subtract 20 from your
result and still have a positive number, you get an
extra action. Your first action occurs on your normal
Initiative roll; your next 20 Initiative steps later, your
next (if you get one) twenty steps after that, and so on.
Ragnars player rolls a triumph; hes also using
a potion that boosts his Quickness. Ragnar gets an
astounding Initiative total of 45. He can subtract 20
from 45 twice and still have a positive number: 45
- 20 - 20 = 5.
Hes got the highest Initiative roll by far, and acts
first on Initiative step 45. He next acts on Initiative
step 25 (his original step minus 20). Hell act for a
third time another 20 steps later, on step 5.

42
 Combat and
Other Rules

STEP TWO: Who Does What?

When your turn comes up in the Initiative order, Once youve gained an advantage from either
the runner asks you what you want to your hero do. option, your hero cant switch to an incompatible
You can answer by following the flowchart. maneuver or attack form later in the round. Hes
stuck with your previous declaration.
A. TO HIT, OR NOT TO HIT?
These options are available only to heroes.
If your hero is trying to hit a target, you must
specify who or what the target is, and which E. CAN YOU MOVE WITHIN RANGE?
weapon will be employed in the smiting. Go to
This step is necessary if your hero begins his
Question B.
action with a foe out of range.
If you want your hero to do something other that
With the runners assistance, you must deter-
hit a target with a weapon, you must specify what
mine whether it is possible to move within range
this other action might be. Skip to Question G.
as part of your heros action. The number of
paces he can move and still attempt to attack
B. IS YOUR TARGET WITHIN RANGE?
someone depends on your Sprint Ability rating.
If your target is already within range of your Refer to the second column in the chart below.
hero, he has some extra time in which he can (This is the same chart found in the Sprint Ability
make other choices. Go to Question C. description, repeated here for your convenience.)
Heroes never have a move lower than that given
If your target is not within range, go to Question E.
for a Sprint rating of 0.
C. IS YOUR WEAPON READY?
Your
If your heros weapon is not ready, he has no Sprint Half Full
choice but to ready it. Then he hits as normal. Ability Action* Action**
0 8 paces 15 paces
If his weapon is ready, he has more options avail-
able to him. Go to Question D. 1 10 paces 20 paces
2 12 paces 25 paces
D. HOLD GROUND OR DUCK AND WEAVE? 3 15 paces 30 paces
If your hero started his action already in range of 4+ 15 + 2.5 paces for 30 + 10 paces for
each point over 3 each point over 3
the target, and with an appropriate weapon
(drop fractions)
already in hand, you can choose between two
advantageous maneuvers. * Distance You Can Move and Still Take an Action
**Distance You Can Move By Forgoing All Other Actions
By holding ground, he readies to strike from a
position of maximum leverage. Add 1 to your
ATK score for the duration of the round. If the distance between hero and target is equal
to or less than the number of paces he can move,
By ducking and weaving, you make it harder
go to Question F.
for others to launch counterattacks against your
hero for the duration of the round. Add 1 to If not, your proposed attack is impossible. Select
your DFN score for the duration. The higher a new opponent, or forego an action this round.
your INIT, the more advantageous it is to duck
and weave. A pace is about 30 inches, or three quarters of a
meter, give or take, kinda sorta.

43
 Chapter 2

do this in order to move your hero within range of

a particular enemy. You might also want him to seize
F. ONCE WITHIN RANGE, high or advantageous ground, which gives you com-
IS YOUR WEAPON READY? bat bonuses for as long as he occupies it. Your hero
If you must move your hero to get within range of can make a full move while seizing ground.
an enemy, you must have an appropriate weapon
Seeking Cover: This is exactly the same as seizing
already at hand. Otherwise, you cant hit him and
ground, except that youre looking for a good hidey-
must either select an opponent who is already
hole, not an advantageous position for further bat-
within range, or forgo your action this round.
tle. You may simply wish to protect your hero from
enemies by rushing behind a barrier of some kind.
G. WHAT IS YOUR NON-COMBAT ACTION?
In order for this to work, obviously, there has to be
If you choose not to have your hero try to hit a suitable barrier available. Your hero can make a
something, you have a number of choices avail- full move towards the barrier.
able to you.
Withdrawing: You back your hero carefully back
Seizing Ground: Your hero can move to any away from the fight. Your DFN score increases by 3
presently unoccupied spot. Most often, you will as he does this. Assuming normal terrain, he travels

ENGAGEMENT ROLLS
You may make an Engagement roll whenever you wish to Engagement roll represents a whole series of moves the
make a slight change in your heros position to gain an advan- combatants make throughout the round.
tage over an enemy. You may want him to jump up onto the
You may make one, and only one, Engagement roll per
lip of a platform, or move to the dry, stable paving stones
round. It will be difficult, for example, for your hero to
bordering a section of muddy ground. Add your Str +
keep the high ground when fighting off multiple oppo-
weapon Ability to a die roll to get your Engagement
nents.
total, and compare that against a similar roll by your
opponent. If youre Engagement roll is against a supporting You must make an Engagement roll even when your oppo-
character, compare your total to a Res roll made by the run- nent cannot or will not do so. If you botch and get a negative
ner on its behalf. If youre acting against an inanimate object, result, youve still done worse than the non-resisting oppo-
use the default Difficulty of 6, unless the encounter design- nents default Engagement total of 0, and he will still prevent
er pays for a higher one. you from making your desired move. However, if your result
is positive against a non-resisting you always succeed.
Engagement rolls do not require an action; theyre just a
part of the give and take of a combat exchange which you, On a successful Engagement roll, you can force your adver-
for rules purposes, need to determine separately from the sary backward in a direction of your choice. He always trav-
roll to hit. You can make them either on your Initiative, or els in a straight line. The distance you can shove him
prior to an enemy ATK roll. equals 1 + (your STR x 2) paces. You can move him less
than this distance if you want. If you put his back to a solid
When you contest Engagement with an enemy, youre try-
object, he stops, even if the distance youve shoved him is
ing to jostle, body-check, shoulder, shove, and otherwise
less than your maximum.
manhandle him so that he either gets out of your way or
remains in his present inferior position. (Picture a basket- Sometimes youll find yourself wanting to move your hero
ball player blocking the guy with the ball.) Dont let the fact past one or more of his fellows to get to a favored position
that we require just one roll fool you into thinking that the or be the first to perform a particular task. The runner
Engagement contest is a discrete thing that occurs and is determines who wins by requiring all contesting pillagers
then resolved, with the loser meekly accepting his loss. The members to make Engagement rolls against one another.

44
 Combat and
Other Rules

up to 15 paces backwards. (This supersedes the nor- within 3 paces of at any point
mal movement rules, because youre cautiously back- during his reckless move gets a
ing away.) free ATK roll against him during your own action.
(See above for further details, and Attacks of
Withdrawals are most often tactical. Youll usually
Opportunity on p. 46.) You must make a Fatigue
use them so that your hero can temporarily duck
roll after moving recklessly, adding 5 to the
out of the fight in order to return to it with a posi-
Difficulty (see p. 12). He may not take additional
tional advantage of some kind. With this kind of
actions during a round in which he makes a reck-
cautious backing-off, youll find it hard to perma-
less move.
nently escape from a foe who truly wishes to con-
tinue bashing your hero. Administer Healing: Your hero can try to use his
Healer Ability to patch up an injured ally. If you are
Fleeing: Your hero turns tail and runs from the
not within range of him, you may make a half move
fight. He travels a distance equal to twice his normal
to get there.
maximum for a full move, allowing every enemy he
comes within range of the opportunity to make a Changing Weapons: Your hero may put a weapon
free attempt to hit him during your action (See in its scabbard or in his pack, and withdraw a new
Attacks of Opportunity on p. 46). Taking the free one, ready for use. He can combine this action with
shot does not prevent them from completing their a half-move, or can duck and weave.
own actions later in the round. Nor does it stop ene-
He can carelessly chuck a weapon on the ground
mies who have already taken their actions from
and grab another one at his belt without taking an
attacking. Any enemies Engaged with your hero
action. Heroes can have only one weapon on their
when he turns and runs are most definitely included
belts at any one time.
in the list of foes who get that free shot. So are any
missile users on the field. He must travel in a straight Wait for Opportunity: You can forgo your action
line and may not take the time to maneuver around when your Initiative turn comes up. Then, after any
foes waiting to smack him. Unengaged foes may other character completes his action, you may inter-
freely move up to ten paces to intercept his flight. rupt the Initiative order and then have your hero
take any action.
Fleeing supersedes the usual movement rules.
(If an Initiative total over 20 has given an extra action,
Your hero cannot flee in a direction that would take
you cant delay your first action past Initiative step 20
him through, or leave him in the middle of, anoth-
without losing your second. Likewise, if you have
er Engagement.
three actions you cant delay the first past step 40 or
the second past step 20, and so on.)
ENGAGED You score an Initiative total of 32. You decide that
your hero, Ragnar, will wait for a goblin freak to
If your hero is within 3 paces of an enemy, he is con-
sidered to be Engaged with him, whether or not crawl down from its perch before whacking it. The
either has yet tried to hit the other. Heroes can be goblin finally moves on step 25. On step 24, Ragnar
Engaged by multiple enemies at the same time. takes the action he would normally have gotten on
step 32. He may still take a second action 20 steps
later, on step 4. If the goblin had come down on step
18, and Ragnar had acted on step 17, hed have lost
Reckless Move: A hero can travel a distance equal
the second action.
to twice his normal full move, taking no precau-
tions to stay out of the range of enemy blows. He Other: Special circumstances may motivate you to
travels in a straight line only, and cannot maneu- try some other action trigger a rock slide, set a
ver around traps or other terrain obstacles. As in fire, sing a demoralizing battle song, or whatever.
the case of fleeing (above), every enemy he comes The runner must judge whether your

45
 Chapter 2

hero has a chance in Hel of actually doing the thing

youve specified. He decides how hard your pro-
ATTACKS OF OPPORTUNITY posed move is, what Characteristic and Ability com-
bination best applies to it, and whether the hero can
If a hero passes within three paces of any foe with a ready complete it in the course of a single action.
weapon while moving across the field of battle on the way
to doing something else, the enemy can take a free shot The runner may also decide that special circum-
at him, regardless of Initiative order. If he has yet to take
stances affect your chances of success at the standard
his action this round, he can forgo that action in order to
make a careful strike at you. In this case, your DFN score actions listed above, or prevent them altogether.
is treated as 0; you still get a roll to add to it, though. If Using the encounter rules from Chapter Five, he has
he has already acted or chooses not to forgo his action, prepared a map of the area in which the encounter
your DFN score is treated as normal. If you are Engaged takes place. He may check the map to see if there are
with a foe and then disengage with him to go hit some- impediments, such as crevasses, stands of vegetation,
one else, he may always make a careful strike at you.
walls of flaming fire, and so forth, which prevent you
from reaching the object of your ire. If so, you may
have to forgo your desired action in order to over-
MINIATURES AND come them. For example, you might have to devote
this round to the non-combat action of jumping a
OTHER GAME PIECES fence, so that, in the subsequent round, you can
Because position matters greatly in many fights, your trounce the Dark Viking lurking on its other side.
group may find it useful to stock up on visual aids to rep-
resent the combatants and terrain. Many hobby game
shops sell a range of figures and terrain especially for this It may be the case that you can perform the desired
purpose. Metal figures can be a hobby in themselves; action, but that circumstances render it harder than
theyre fun to paint and modify to represent your own you might think. You might want your hero to hit
hero. If you dont care so much about exact representa- an enemy with a crossbow bolt in an underground
tion of your heros appearance, you can use other, cheap-
chamber while a troop of distracting imps throws
er figures to work out positions, like the plastic green
army men or cowboys available at most dollar stores. handfuls of sparkling light up into the air all around
you. In such cases, your runner should warn you
Runners can represent encounter terrain with reusable
plastic sheets marked off with squares or hexes (some-
when you propose the action that its chances of suc-
times called battle mats), also available from hobby cess will be less than normal. That way, you can
game shops. Using dry erase markers, runners can make either choose to go ahead with the desired action, or
scale representations of their encounter maps on which pick another one more likely to succeed.
your lead or plastic figures can glower and cavort. Or the
group might invest in a whiteboard from any office sup- Or it may simply be that the runner considers your
ply store and lay it flat on the floor or a table, for the chosen action impossible. You might say you want to
same effect. If all of your figures are to scale, runners can jump through a six-foot brick wall, but the runner
use a ruler to compute the number of paces that com-
knows not only that your hero is incapable of doing
batants can move. If not, they can just sort of wing it.
such a thing, but that he ought to know he cant. In
On the other hand, some people prefer to lay back com-
this case, the runner tells you the declared action is
fortably in their sofas and chairs, cheese puffs and mead
conveniently at hand, rather than spend the evening impossible and asks you to pick a different one. If you
hovering over a map and miniatures. Detailed maps and still want to go ahead and knock your hero against the
painted minis are not a necessity! All the runner needs wall, you can do so, but the runner has warned you.
to do, when distances become important, is to make a
few marks on his sketch map. Even groups who use This is important because a runner is the ultimate
minis rarely employ them with mathematical precision; arbiter of reality. If you and he have radically differ-
theyre just a visualization tool. When runners use just a ent mental images of the situation, you need to iron
map, it may be a little imprecise, but then the players are these out before you can make sensible choices.
less likely to notice, so it evens out.

46
 Combat and
Other Rules

The runners map provides an excellent visual aid in can perform a half action and
showing you the possibilities for movement and still make a plain, old, ordinary,
action. He should show it to you when asked, and unmodified attack roll, as well.
explain which of his squiggles represent which fea-
Sometimes youll be called upon to make rolls,
tures of the encounter area.
usually in reaction to another characters action,
which dont cost you time or otherwise cut into the
Actions, Half Actions, actions your hero can make. Usually we say this
and Free Rolls does not require an action. If we wanted to come
up with yet another game term, we could call them
When your hero gets to act, he normally gets to free rolls. But who wants that?
perform a single action, such as an attack. We some-
times call this a full action. The following chart lists some common rolls
heroes make in combat, and tells you which of the
Sometimes he can do things that take up only above categories they fall into.
half an action. If he is already Engaged with a foe, he

ACTIONS AND HALF ACTIONS

Activity Type of Action
Change weapons carefully Half
Carelessly drop current weapon, seize new one on None
your belt (only 1 weapon fits on your heros belt)
Climb Full or half, depending on distance; see chart, p. 23
Disarm trap Full
Disarm trap hastily (-5 to your roll) Half
Jump half your maximum distance, Half
either upwards or laterally
Jump your maximum distance, Full
either upwards or laterally
Move on tricky surface requiring Balance rolls Full or half, depending on distance; see chart, p. 23
Provide Healing to an ally Full
(hero can also heal himself)
Read Runes Full
Scan the battlefield for interesting hidden details Half
Spot an obvious danger, using Awareness None
Scan the battlefield for subtle hints of Half
divine presence, using Divine Awareness
Sense powerful divine aura, using Divine Awareness None
Swim Full or half, depending on distance; see chart, p. 27
Take full move Full
Take half move Half

47
 Chapter 2

STEP THREE: Performing Actions

In the order of their Initiative totals, from high- DAM score for that weapon added to the Thwack
est to lowest, the characters now attempt to perform Margin; see sidebar). The opponent subtracts his
their declared actions. They are resolved as follows. Soak from the Raw Damage; if the result is posi-
tive, he loses that number of hit points. (For more
on the results of hit point loss, see p. 54.) The for-
Missile Attacks mulae are as follows:
To hit a target within range of your missile MISSILE ATTACKS:
weapon, you contest your ATK versus your targets {[(Attackers Roll + ATK Score) - (6 + Attack Modifiers)]
+ DAM Score} - Soak = Hit Points Lost
Dodge. (Foes have a catch-all game statistic called
Response, or Res, and will use this in place of Dodge.)
MISSILE ATTACKS (DODGED):
Add the following Attack condition modifiers to your {[(Attackers Roll + ATK Score) - (Defenders Roll +
roll. It does not cost your foe an action to dodge your Dodge + Qik)] + DAM Score} - Soak = Hit Points Lost
missile. If he chooses not to dodge your missile,
youre rolling to beat a flat Difficulty of 6. Ragnar looses an arrow at a goblin named
Target Attack Meelu. The basic Difficulty is 6. The goblin is duck-
Condition Modifier ing and weaving, adding 3 to the Difficulty. So the
Difficulty is 9. Ragnars ATK score with the bow is
Target is within 3 paces No firing possible
now 2 (hes gotten better since character genera-
Target is obscured -3 tion). Its a tough shot, but Ragnar tries nonetheless.
Target is behind -3 You roll a 7, which combined with his ATK score is
one-third cover exactly as much as Ragnar needs to hit! The Raw
Target is behind half cover -6 Damage is 0 (the Thwack Margin) plus 4 (the short
bows DAM score), for a total of 4. The goblins Soak
Target is fully covered, -12 is 1, so he loses 3 hit points.
more or less
Target is holding ground 0 DIFFICULTY MODIFIERS
Target is ducking and weaving -3 If a hero fires into a pitched melee involving both
Target is taking half -6 friend and foe, he might well hit someone he didnt
or full move intend to skewer. Add 3 to the Difficulty for each
Target is fleeing or +6 other character within five paces of your target, and
recklessly moving for each character in your heros line of fire.
Target is Withdrawing +3 (To determine line of fire, use miniatures or lay
Target caught in +3 out tokens on a surface. Any other character stand-
grabber trap (p. 153) ing in the midst of any straight line that can be
drawn between you and your target counts as being
Target is Dodging -shields Dfn Rating
in your line of fire.)
with shield in hand
If you miss your intended target, and the
Difficulty modifier for firing into melee (or having
If your ATK + roll equals or beats either your another character in the line of sight) made the dif-
opponents Dodge + Qik + roll (if he has chosen to ference between success and failure, your hero has
Dodge) or the base Difficulty of 6 (if he has not), hit one of the characters who added to that modifi-
calculate your Raw Damage (your er. The runner uses a random die roll to choose the

48
 Combat and
Other Rules

victim of the hit. Determine damage as usual, ignor- and +3 for Vreek. Your ATK total is
ing the 3 added Difficulty points. a 9, just as it was when Ragnar first
pierced Meelus gobliny flesh. In other words, without
Later, Ragnar fires another arrow at Meelu the gob-
the 6 points of additional Difficulty for firing into a
lin, who is now warily facing off against one of Ragnars
melee and having another character in the line of sight,
fellow Vikings, Thurid Blonde-Braids. She is much clos-
his hit would have succeeded. Either Thurid or Vreek
er to the goblin than five paces, and so will also be a pos-
could take the hit meant for Meelu. The runner rolls a
sible target for Ragnars shot if it goes astray. A second
random die to pick the unfortunate victim. An odd roll
goblin, Vreek, is scampering towards Ragnars other
will mean Vreek; even, Thurid. The runner rolls a 6,
comrade, Thorleik. The runner can draw a straight line
meaning that Ragnar hits his friend Thurid! When cal-
on the miniatures map between Ragnar, Vreek, and
culating the damage, he uses the 9 Difficulty, not the
Meelu. Thorleik is more than fifteen paces away, and is
15. His Damage total is therefore 4, as before. Thurids
not in danger of being hit by a possible misfire. The
Soak is 3, so she loses only 1 hit point. However, she gri-
Difficulty, originally 9, now goes up to 15; +3 for Thurid
maces meaningfully at her reckless ally as she turns to

HITTING AND MAIMING

AT A GLANCE

The following steps determine the results of an attackers attempt to hit a defender. For the purposes of this exam-
ple, lets say that the attacker is a hero and the defender is a foe. (It works the same if the roles are reversed.)

1. The attackers player rolls and adds his ATK score and any attack modifiers to the result. We call this the ATK Total.
2. Determine the defenders DFN Total:
For melee attacks the runner rolls for the defender, adding his DFN score to the result.
For missile attacks which are not dodged, the runner adds any Attack Modifiers to the default Difficulty of 6.
If the defender opts to dodge a missile attack, the runner rolls and adds the defenders Dodge and Qik scores to the result.
3. If the attackers total equals or exceeds the defenders, the attacker has hit the defender.
4. Subtract the defenders total from the attackers. The difference between the two numbers is called the Thwack
Margin, or TM.
5. Add the TM to the DAM score the attacker has with his weapon. The result is called the Raw Damage.
6. Subtract the defenders Soak from the Raw Damage. The result is the number of hit points the defender loses. Now
compare that to the defenders Wound Threshold to see if he gets a Wound.
7. When we put everything together the process looks like this:

MELEE ATTACKS:
{[(Attackers Roll + ATK Score) - (Defenders Roll + DFN Score)] + DAM Score} - Soak = Hit Points Lost

MISSILE ATTACKS:
{[(Attackers Roll + ATK Score) - (6 + Attack Modifiers)] + DAM Score} - Soak = Hit Points Lost

MISSILE ATTACKS (DODGED):

{[(Attackers Roll + ATK Score) - (Defenders Roll + Dodge + Qik)] + DAM Score} - Soak = Hit Points Lost

49
 Chapter 2

Melee Combat
HANDY DIE-ROLLING HINT If you want your hero to attack an enemy with a
melee weapon, roll a die, which is modified by your
Every group has a different tolerance level for die ATK score. The runner responds with a die roll, mod-
rolling. Some players feel you can never have too many
ified by the enemys DFN score. The enemy gets the
die rolls; others feel you can never have too few. Youll
need to find a balance that suits the tastes of your own
DFN score associated with the weapon hes carrying
group over time. Our basic assumption is that people when attacked. Situational modifiers may adjust
who want to play a competitive Viking RPG want to either combatants relevant score. If your total match-
roll lots of dice. es or exceeds his, youve hit him. Add your DAM
One handy way to cut down on the die rolling is to score to this Thwack Margin. To get the number of
have the pillagers roll two dice of different colors when hit points the enemy loses, the runner subtracts its
they make ATK and DFN rolls. One color always rep- Soak rating from this Raw Damage total. Results of
resents the hero; the other always represents the less than zero are ignored; characters cant gain hit
enemy of the moment. (If you like, you can see the points by soaking damage. See the Hitting and
heros die as positive and the enemys as negative.) The Maiming at a Glance sidebar for more discussion on
player, equipped with the enemys game statistics as
the formula for hitting foes.
well as his own, does all the math, reporting only final
results to the runner. MELEE ATTACKS:
Other groups may wish to make DFN static. In this {[(Attackers Roll + ATK Score) - (Defenders Roll +
method, you simply add 5 to all Dfn ratings in the DFN Score)] + DAM Score} - Soak = Hit Points Lost
game. ATK rolls become standard rolls, not contests,
against that set number. In our opinion, this sacrifices Anxious to prove himself to Thurid, Ragnar drops
too much fun for the benefit, because it decreases by his bow and rushes into the melee to Engage another
half the chances that something remarkable (that is, a goblin which is advancing on his friend. You roll a 2,
botch or triumph) will happen. adding 9, the ATK score for his Viking axe. The gob-
Especially bloodless runners may wish to use a com- lins DFN score is 3. The runner rolls a 2. Ragnars
puter program to generate pages full of die results, and attack total of 11 is better than the goblins defense
simply go through the list crossing them off as rolls are total of 5. The goblin is hit. You combine the Thwack
called for throughout the evening. This seems most Margin (6) with his Viking Axes DAM score (12), for
un-Norse to us, but your tastes may vary. 18 Raw Damage. The goblin subtracts his Soak of 3,
losing a total of 15 hit points.
cleave the goblin in twain. Ragnar shudders. He knows For a melee combatant, a round represents more
hell face Thurids fiery temper when the battle is done. than a single swing with a weapon, which either con-
nects or doesnt. Youll be spending the round cir-
In some cases, you are more likely to hit your actu-
cling and watching your foe. Damage your hero deals
al target if you fire at your friend next to him. Except
may represent the results of several pinpricks, or a sin-
for this rule right here, which states that any such
gle decisive blow amid a flurry of feints.
attempt to hose the rules automatically fails.
Remember that your character is doing more in GOING BERSERK
the course of a round than engaging in the split-sec-
When your hero attacks, you may choose to have
ond action of loosing a missile at a target. Hes fol-
him go berserk, provided his current hit point total is
lowing the foes movements with his eyes, waiting for
at least 21. (He isnt consciously making this decision,
the best moment to fire. Hes keeping an eye out for
but you are.) You may add your DFN to your ATK
the other combatants, making sure that none of them
score for a single attack. However, once that attack has
come crashing into him. Although hes not concen-
concluded, the enemy (should he still be standing) gets
trating exclusively on dodging, he is on the lookout
the chance to make a free additional attack against your
for incoming missiles and weapon blows.
hero, as part of your action. In fending off his coun-

50
 Combat and
Other Rules

terattack, your DFN is 0. You can never take advantage of the other heroes. If more than
of any additional increases, whether from other tactics one ally qualifies for this dubious
like charging, or from various Divine Gifts, when going privilege, the one with the lowest INIT total suffers the
berserk. You cant do anything but attempt to deal good, hit. (The runner rolls randomly when all candidates
honest, Odin-approved damage to the foe. You get your share the same INIT total.) Your ally takes damage equal
ATK score plus your berserk modifier, and thats it. to your straight DAM score with that weapon, with no
additions or subtractions for your ATK roll. He may
Only heroes can go berserk.
apply Soak to this, as usual.
CHARGING If an ally stands directly between your hero and a tar-
get who is otherwise within your weapon range, your
If your hero must travel more than 20 paces towards
hero can take a shot at that target, but the penalty to avoid
an enemy to Engage him in melee combat, consider
hitting your ally is -6. If you take no precautions against
charging him, especially if you won Initiative or the
hitting him and fail your ATK roll, your hero hits him
enemy is holding off and waiting for you to act. The +3
when the difference is less than or equal to 6.
Attack increase for charging more than compensates for
the time hes had to stand his ground or duck and
THE DREADED RIPOSTE
weave. However, if he braces with a longshaft weapon, a
charge might not prove fruitful. On a very bad ATK total, a combatant not only fails
in an embarrassing manner, but opens himself up to an
Characters can only charge when the path
opportunistic return blow from his adversary. The
towards their foe is as the raven flies that is, more
adversary gets a free attack against him, which does not
or less straight.
count as an action and occurs regardless of the adver-
sarys Initiative status. The riposte does not permit him
FOG OF WAR to take additional actions, moves, or Engagement rolls.
When allies are within 3 paces of your hero, there is
The defender becomes eligible to make a riposte
a small chance youll hit them when you miss your tar-
when the Thwack Margin is -20 or lower. If it is -40 or
get. If you botch, reroll; if the rerolled total would have
lower, he gets two ripostes. At -60, he gets three
been good enough to hit your target, you instead hit one
ripostes, and so on.

MELEE MODIFIERS TABLE

The runner applies the following additional modifiers to attack or defense rolls made in melee.
Situation Modifier To Which Roll?
Using a single weapon held in off-hand -3 Both
Combatant has the high ground or another terrain advantage +2 Both
Combatant is mounted and his opponent is not +3 Both
Combatant has staged a successful ambush See Hiding Places, p. 171
Combatant is charging during the current round, +3 Attack
he had to sprint 10 paces or more to Engage with his foe
Combatant is jumping from a height (risking +3 Attack
falling damage on a failed Jump roll) onto a foe
Armed with a longshaft weapon, combatant braced against +3 Defense
a foe who had to move 20 paces or more to Engage him
Combatant is caught in a grabber trap (p. 153) -3 Both
More than one opponent is currently close enough to defending -2 per opponent* Defense

* after the first combatant to hit him with its melee weapons. No more than 4 opponents can ever
gang up in melee combat on a single human-sized defender.

51
 Chapter 2

STEP FOUR: Back to Step One

If there are still combatants on each side willing However, in some cases heroes set aside weapons
and able to fight, a new round now begins. Go back in pursuit of a goal other than the immediate death
to step one, and Initiative determination. of their foes. This is where brawling maneuvers
become important.

Special Cases Sometimes youll want your hero to stop a foe

from moving, escaping, or otherwise acting, without
Ask any slain warrior now carousing in Odins actually dealing serious harm to him. There are two
great hall: battle is replete with surprises and special ways to do this. You can put him in a hold, grabbing
situations. A few of the most common are described onto his neck or one of his arms so that he cant
in this section. move without injuring himself. Or you can attempt
to pin him, using the weight of your body to hold
BRAWLING MANEUVERS him against a wall or down on the ground.
Heroes can use fists and kicks to fatally bludgeon In either case, use the Brawling Ability to make
foes. Theyll do so only when they have no better a normal unarmed attack. However, instead of
weapons at hand or perhaps because some weird doing damage, you make a second roll to deter-
magic is at play, rendering normal weapons useless. mine the effectiveness of a successful move. For a
In such cases, just use the fist/kick entry on the hold, roll Dex + Brawling; for a pin, Str + Brawling.
weapon chart and employ the standard combat The Difficulty is your opponents DFN score. If
rules. you meet or beat the Difficulty, youve held or

NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH BEATING YOUR OPPONENT

WITH HIS OWN SEVERED ARM
If a hero ever delivers post-Soak damage equal to twice his death blow to him. If you are able to dispatch him with his
foes Wound Threshold with a sword or axe, you may spec- own severed arm, you gain points equal to his full Might.
ify that hes severed his enemys arm. The runner rolls a die; Just as a reminder, you can find the weapon stats for a sev-
on an odd result, the foe is, uh, disarmed. That is, youve ered arm in the table below.
lopped off his weapon arm. The maimed character will flee
The severed arm is a weapon of opportunity, not something
unless the runner makes a Res roll for him, at the default
you carry around with you. Characters who try to do so lose
Difficulty of 6, in which case he keeps fighting. To do so
a trillion gazillion victory points.
successfully, he must retrieve his weapon. His ATK score
decreases by one-half as he fights with his off-hand. Arm severing is a benefit enjoyed only by heroes; your foes
cant do it back to you. Is this blatant favoritism? You bet!
As youll see on p. 100, you normally gain victory points
Players buy game books; creatures dont.
equal to 1/2 a foes Might rating when you deliver the final

Init Atk Dfn Dam

Rating Rating Rating Rating Load Ability
Severed Arm +1 +1 +1 +1 NA Great

52
 Combat and
Other Rules

pinned your opponent. Keep track of the Thwack Difficulty levels suffered by mis-
Margin, if any. This is added to your victims sile users, as seen in the Melee
Difficulty if attempts to break free. In the case of Modifier Chart, p. 51.
a hold, you may force your opponent to drop his
If a hero jump outs from behind cover in order
weapon. If he carries an object in each hand two
to fire missiles of his own, enemies may ignore his
weapons or a weapon and a shield you may force
cover advantage by waiting for opportunity until
him to drop both.
immediately after he makes an attack. If more than
(Foes making Brawling maneuvers do so with one enemy is waiting for the opportunity to fire at
their Res ratings, which are explained on p. 99.) the exposed hero, all of them get to do so during his
split-second of full exposure.
The victim may take no further actions until he
breaks free or the other combatant releases him. The If no solid cover presents itself, a hero can still
successful brawler may release him at any time; make himself harder to hit in missile combat by
doing so does not cost an action. If you want your occupying an area where the vision of missile users
hero to keep his foe pinned, you must devote all of might be confused. He might hide in a useful patch
his actions to the effort. Your hero cant both pin of fog, position himself so that enemies are blinded
and pummel his enemy, for example. by the rays of the sun, or stand under branches that
continually shift in the wind, casting ever-moving
Heroes restrained by enemies may not jockey for
shadows that confuse the eye. In such cases, heroes
Engagement, move, or do anything else before coun-
are obscured. The benefits of being obscured equal
tering the restraint. Breaking free requires an action.
those of one-third cover.
If your hero is in a hold, you can break him free
In melee combat, it can also be helpful to put
by rolling Dex + Brawling, plus the Dfn rating of his
barriers between your hero and his enemies. Barriers
weapon or shield, if he still has one in hand. (Be sure
provide an advantage to the defter combatant. If
to subtract his Armor Dfn rating and his
your combined ATK score + DFN score exceeds the
Encumbrance Decrease, as well). If his is pinned,
combined ATK score + DFN score of your oppo-
you can break free by rolling this same formula, but
nent, you gain a +1 bonus on both ATK and DFN
substituting Str + Brawling.
rolls made against that opponent fighting you across
In each case, the Difficulty is 6, plus the Thwack a barrier. If your opponents ATK score + DFN score
Margin originally scored by your opponent when he are better than yours, he gets the bonus.
put you under restraint.
Examples of barriers include barrels, crates,
Allies can try to hit an opponent your hero has piles of driftwood, fallen logs, small streams, gul-
in a pin or hold; the enemys DFN score is halved. lies, pits, and monster carcasses. Your runner will
A risk awaits the unlucky: each miss is counted as decide how a barrier might be neutralized. For
a hit against your hero. He suffers damage equal example, a boulder can be easily ignored your
to your allys weapon DAM score, plus the differ- opponent just goes around it to get at you. A
ence between his failed total and the opponents trough blazing with unearthly fire might be a more
DFN total. difficult barrier to ignore.

COVER AND BARRIERS FALLING DOWN

Characters who take cover make it harder for mis- It is never good to slip or get knocked down in
sile-wielding enemies to hit them. Anything a person combat. This can happen to combatants fighting on
can hide behind works as cover, provided that mis- sloped or slippery ground (p. 126), or victims of the
siles cant pierce it. The effectiveness of the cover is Divine Gift Buffeting Gale (p. 66). Combatants who
determined by how much of a combatant it covers: fall down in mid-combat cant get up again until their
a third, half, or almost all. Cover increases the next actions. Then they must make

53
 Chapter 2

Balance rolls (Difficulty 6) to regain RECOVERING FROM INJURIES

their footing. If they fail, they must
Heroes heal up between every encounter; they
wait until their next actions to try again. They can still
also shed any Impairment points theyve gained due
make ATK and DFN rolls while fallen, but suffer a -4
to circumstances arising from the previous
penalty against both types of roll. Those wielding
encounter. However, sometimes heroes will find
longshaft weapons dont suffer the ATK roll penalty.
themselves sufficiently injured in mid-encounter
that theyll want to crawl off somewhere and heal
Injuries before continuing.
Superficial injuries heal on their own, given
As you learned during character creation, your
time and the consumption of food and drink.
hero sheet boasts two crucial numbers measuring
Unwounded heroes return to maximum hit points
his hit points and his Wound Threshold.
after eight hours of sleep and eight hours of rest.
When your hero suffers damage over and above his They cant gain partial hit point recovery by
Soak, temporarily reduce his hit points by that number. spending only part of that time. (Although it
might seem more realistic to introduce some grad-
When that damage is also equal to or greater than uated system for hit point recovery, we curse the
his Wound Threshold, he not only temporarily loses idea as a craven complexity only a machine-addled
that number of hit points, but also gains a Wound. dwarf would propose.)
He can take more than one Wound in a single A Wound is an injury too horrible to recover
hit. If the damage is equal to or greater than twice from by merely sitting up against a tree for a while
his Wound Threshold, he takes two Wounds. Unless, and giving voice to the occasional manly grunt. If
that is, it also is equal to our greater than three times your hero is wounded, a character with the Healing
his Wound Threshold, in which case he takes three Ability must get to work on him with his kit of
Wounds, and so on. splints, bandages, medicines, and poultices. Bleeding
For each Wound he suffers, he takes 1 point of characters can also benefit from a healer, but can, if
Impairment. As youll recall, you decrease every needed, heal up purely via the aforementioned
single roll you make by your heros current manly grunt method.
Impairment rating. In any case, the healer makes a Dexterity + Healer
So, as his state of health gets worse, his hit roll, the Difficulty of which is determined by the
point total temporarily decreases, and his Wound patients number of Wounds, like so:
total increases. Period
When his Wound total reaches 4, he becomes Number Between
Incapacitated. Hes still conscious, but in so much of Wounds Difficulty Attempts
pain that he cant move (except to writhe in pain), 0 Wounds 4 1 hour
think (except about the incredible agony hes 1 wound 5 3 hours
experiencing), or speak (although horrifying
groans are permissible). 2 Wounds 6 12 hours
3 Wounds 8 24 hours
The instant that his hit points reach 0, or his
Wound total reaches 5, the character is in danger of 4 Wounds 10 3 days
immediate death. Unless healed instantly (see 5 Wounds 12 1 week
below), you cough up some blood, utter a final curse
against your foes, loll your tongue out of your head,
collapse like a sack of rocks, and die.

54
 Combat and
Other Rules

Ignore all botches when making this roll (its a Your roll for Ragnar triumphs,
quality die roll). When you roll a 1, just add it to your with a total of 24 when his Dex is
rating as you would with any other die result. added and 5 subtraced for not having the Healer
Although medical malpractice was probably worse in Ability or equipment that goes with it. Although
the real Viking world than in our own, it really bites greater than Thurids Wound Threshold, the result is
to die just because another character screwed up his not twice the Wound Threshold. Thurid is cured of 1
healing roll, so a healer working on a patient other Wound and regains 24 hit points. Her hit point total
than himself is immune from botches. Yeah, were a is now 45.
bunch of sentimental old softies.
Heroes may attempt to heal themselves, but should
A healing attempt takes one round in combat, or remember that their healing rolls will take place under
about a minute otherwise. Impairment penalties. Its generally better to have an
unimpaired healer bind a heros Wounds.
Recovery works differently for the wounded and
unwounded. Upon a successful a Healing roll,
unwounded characters regain hit points equal to (1
+ the difference between the roll total and
Difficulty) x 4.
Thorleik has lost 29 hit points, none of them from
Wounds. His healthy hit point total is 76, but now he
has only 47. Ragnar tries to heal him. The Difficulty,
as we see from the above chart, is 4. You roll for
Ragnar, with a result of 6; a success that totals 10
when his Heal of 1 (which hes raised from the 0 he
chose in character generation) and Dex of 3 are
After a healing attempt, successful or otherwise,
added. The difference is 6; to which you add 1 before
the healer must wait for a period of time before he
multiplying by four, getting a 28 . Thorleik gets back
can fruitfully try again. That period depends on the
28 hit points. He goes from 47 to 75 hit points.
patients Wound count after the most recent healing
Healers can instead choose to remove Wounds. If attempt. Only one healer may attempt to patch the
the healer exceeds the Difficulty on the chart above, patient up for each interval. If one fails, another
the patient is cured of a single wound. He also cant immediately step up to make his own attempt.
regains a number of hit points equal to his Wound
In the above example, Thurid is left with 1 Wound
Threshold, or the margin between the Difficulty and
at the end of the healing attempt. She must wait 3
the healers total, whichever is greater.
hours before anyone can attempt to heal her again.
It is possible, if unlikely, for a healer to cure
An exception occurs if the patient suffers further
multiple Wounds at the same time. Where the mar-
damage while waiting for the next healing opportu-
gin is equal to or greater than twice the patients
nity. A healer may then immediately attempt to treat
Wound Threshold, he is cured of 2 Wounds. Where
the new injuries. Heroes cant, however, deliberately
it is equal to or greater than three times the
injure a patient simply so they can try to heal him
Wound Threshold, the patient is cured of 3
again right away.
Wounds, and so on.
Before the 3 hours expire, Thurid is mauled by a
Ragnar tries to heal Thurid, who has a maximum
rabid wolf. She loses 6 hit points before she and her
of 76 hit points, and a Wound Threshold of 21. Right
allies beat the thing off. Ragnar may immediately
now shes suffering from 2 Wounds, and has only 21
attempt to heal her.
hit points. The runner checks the above chart and
determines that the Difficulty of Ragnars roll is 6.

55
 Chapter 2

Simple potions that boost the

Healing Ability (see descriptions of Other Rules
potions on p. 159) allow you to make consecutive heal- The following rules are as important as rules not
ing rolls, ignoring the usual intervals between attempts. exclusively related to fighting can be.
Healing attempts are subject to the following
Difficulty modifiers to the healers die roll. USING ABILITIES YOU LACK
Runes Abilities are many and beginning char-
Situation Modifier
acters cant afford to buy a point in each.
Healer and patient are in a 0 Sometimes youll have to roll to use Abilities your
wilderness or hostile environment hero doesnt have.
Healer is making his attempt as +3
You can use any Ability your hero lacks, at a
an action during combat
penalty of -3 to your roll.
Healer and patient are in a warm, -3
safe, sheltered environment If the Ability requires equipment, and you
dont have it, the standard -2 penalty applies, for a
Patient is inhuman (for example, +3
total of -5. Ouch!
a dwarf or goblin)
Patient is undead +6 The Runes Ability provides an exception to this
rule. You cant even try to use this Ability if you have
no rating in it.
REVIVING THE DYING
The lack of certain innate Abilities, like
A character who is dying, either because hes lost Awareness or Sleep, indicates that youre worse than
all his hit points or gained 5 Wounds, can still be the average person at the tasks associated with them.
saved if a healer acts quickly. The healer must admin- Incompetence at more complicated Abilities, like
ister healing during his first available action after the weapon Abilities or Runes, is closer to the norm for
patient suffers the mortal blow. (More than one your society. This rationalization saves us from the
healer can try to do this.) He makes a roll against a additional level of complexity wed have to intro-
Difficulty of 12. If he succeeds on a patient reduced duce if we wanted to give each skill its own, separate,
to 0 or fewer hit points, the dying character gains 4 realistic penalty for unskilled use.
hit points. If he succeeds on a patient who suffered
a fifth wound, the victim still gets back only 4 hit MULTIPLE ROLLS FOR THE SAME
points, but is now at only 4 Wounds. ACTION
Eyrbygs Wound threshold is 18. He suffers a fifth Any single roll you make represents all of your
Wound and is dying. Thurid makes a healing attempt heros attempts to perform a task. If you fail, you
to stave off immediate death, and delivers. Eyrbyg cant try again unless your hero does something to
regains only 4 hit points, but is now considered to change the situation.
have suffered only 4 Wounds.
Thorleik attempts to pick the lock on a brass door
Heroes hit by blows that would take them below in Thorstadt. His player, Joel, rolls and fails. No matter
-20 hit points cant be revived. The final blow decap- how long Thorleik stands there sticking little pieces of
itates them, pounds them into paste, or otherwise metal into the lock, he cant get its tumblers to move.
renders them fit only for Valhalla. (This is the only The longer he stays in this Dark Viking stronghold in
situation in which Rune can be said to have negative futile struggle with the door, the more likely it is that
hit points.) hell be found out and forced to fight. Accepting defeat,
he skulks away into Thorstadts grimy shadows.

56
 Combat and
Other Rules

He finds his friends, Ragnar and Thurid. Thurid tries. He gets, say, three attempts
has something for him a special potion that can be at the lock. If he fails all three, the
poured into a lock to assist in its opening. Thorleik, acid burns him.
grumbling that she should have provided it to begin
with, heads off to the lock to try again. This change in CONTESTS
circumstance gives him one more try. Joel can roll
Although deadly combat is clearly the best, most
again. If he fails it, Thorleik must either give up or
important, and most heroic form of conflict in
seek yet another new advantage before a third attempt.
which your hero might become involved, it is not
This rule does not apply to actions undertaken in the only kind. Sometimes he will need to overcome
combat. If you miss your opponent with a sword, the active resistance of foes or opponents in non-vio-
you can always hack at him again the next time you lent situations. When this happens, the runner spec-
get a chance to act in combat. ifies the Ability each participant will contest with.
Another exception to this rule occurs when the The elfin queen offers a mighty sword to the
hero must act in a short period of time to stave off Viking warrior who convinces her hell do the
a disaster of some kind. In this case, the runner may most to bring peace between the Norse people and
specify, in designing his encounter, the number of hers. Thorleik the Shrewd will speak up for the
consecutive tries allowed before the bad thing hap- heroes of his home village. Contesting against him
pens. Usually he will get one try per round, often is Osk, a treacherous Dark Viking. Thorleik knows
during a combat situation. that if she gets the sword she will simply take it
and sacrifice it to Loki, as part of her sinister plan
If Thorleik has to pick the lock in order to pop to summon a host of Sark Amen to ravage Norse
behind the door before a torrent of acid comes crash- and elfin lands alike. The runner says that this
ing down the corridor at him and reduces him to a will be a contest of Demeanor.
collection of bones, the runner may allow multiple
A contest consists of a single roll. You roll and add
your Ability and its Characteristic, trying to beat the
total the runner gets rolling for the other contestant,
a supporting character. The character with the high-
est total wins.
The difference between your results indicates
the degree of success.
If your results are exactly the same, the
tie goes to the hero.

57
 Chapter 2

Joel rolls and gets a total of 8 for both ATK and DFN rolls made against pedestrian
Thorleik after his Demeanor and opponents. Add your Ride skill as a further bonus
Presence ratings are added. The runner rolls and gets a to Initiative. The full move of a steed is 200 paces.
total of 7 for Osk. Thorleik wins.
For more information on
Designers cant build contests between heroes horses and mounted com-
into their encounters. However, pillagers may bat see page 182.
choose contests between heroes as a way of resolving
disputes. They might, for example, arm-wrestle for
coveted magical items, in a contest of Brawling rolls.
Ties between heroes are resolved by rerolling until
somebody wins.
More Than Two Contestants
Contests can include multiple partici-
pants. Everybody rolls; the character
with the highest total wins. Ties
between supporting characters are
resolved with rerolls.
Thurid and Thorleik gamble
with two dwarves, Casin and
Foldo, for the right to smash
down a door and confront the
creatures inside. The game is an
honest one, so each rolls and adds
his Intelligence + Gambling. Joel rolls
for Thorleik; Paul, for Thurid; and the
runner, for Casin and Foldo. Their totals
are as follows: Thurid 8, Thorleik 10,
Casin 13, and Foldo 13. Thurid and
Thorleik are easily out-played by the two
dwarves, who are no doubt relying on their
advanced mathematical skills. Now the con-
test is between the two of them, so they
reroll. Casin gets an 8, while Foldo scores a
12. Foldo is the winner, and may lay first
claim on any treasure possessed by the crea-
tures behind the door.

MOUNTED COMBAT
Mounted combat is rare in Rune. Youll
spend most of your time crawling around
a dank network of underground passage-
ways no sensible horse would even con-
sider entering. You may find yourself
fighting on horseback during the occa-
sional wilderness encounter, though. If
mounted, you gain +3 to

58
 CHAPTER 3

Improving
Your Hero

This chapter lists the various ways

in which you can improve your hero dur-
ing play. Chiefly, hell progress by acquiring
Divine Gifts. These powers will place him far
beyond the capabilities of other men. The chapter
also shows you how heroes acquire these Divine
Gifts, and the hidden consequences of becoming
too much a part of the divine world. For good mea-
sure, it also explains how your character can
improve his Abilities in mundane ways that do not
bind him to the will of the gods.

59
 Chapter 3

luckier players. At his leisure, he should make anoth-

er copy of the sheet, in case he dies again. One pur-
Spending Victory Points chase of death insurance can protect against multi-
ple demises; the death of a character does not wipe
During each encounter, youll gain victory out the players investment.
points. Victory points are awarded according to a
process explained in Chapter Four. Victory points Players can buy death insurance as many times as
serve two purposes. First, as the name implies, they they want; they always get to use the most recent
provide the score used to determine which player saved character sheet. The death insurance lasts for
wins. Second, you can spend them to improve your a long as you play that character.
characters game statistics. Spending victory points
When restarting, the player may select only the
does not interfere with your chances of victory.
gear that a beginning character would get. He may
Every victory point you ever get, whether you spend
kiss a fond farewell to any magical goodies his old
it or not, counts towards your overall victory
hero had. The other heroes have probably already
score. Always keep this number updated; it not only
scooped it up. Some groups may have gentlemens
tells you whos winning the current saga, but is used
agreements allowing inheritance of equipment by a
by designers in building their encounters. Keep
players replacement hero. However, we recommend
track of how many points youve spent on character
that you take a Were Vikings, dammit, approach,
improvement; these are your spent victory points.
with the attendant mad scramble to loot the corpse
Your overall victory points minus your spent points
of a felled comrade.
equals your free victory points total. This tells you
how many points you have on hand to invest in char- Death insurance may remind you of computer
acter improvement. Well go into more detail on games, which you save every so often to preserve
using victory points to determine the winner of each your achievements. But in the world of Rune, what
game session in the next chapter. For now, our focus it represents is the favor of the gods, who insure that
is on character improvement. all great heroes have more-or-less identical, slightly
younger cousins Uh, no. That cant be it. Okay,
You can spend victory points on both Divine
okay, Ive got it: it reflects a tear in the space-time
Gifts and Mundane Abilities. Sometimes you can
continuum created by Loki, no doubt to Nah,
spend points as soon as you get them, immediately
screw it. This is exactly like saving your game on the
improving your character. Other Gifts and Abilities
computer. It makes absolutely no sense in the fic-
require your hero to do certain things in the game
tional reality of the setting, but it makes the game
world before the improvements take effect.
work better. So make good use of the rule, and try
not to think about it too much.
Death Insurance
At the beginning of any encounter, a pillager may
spend 25 victory points to purchase death insurance.
He makes a copy of his hero sheet and puts it aside,
leaving the name field blank. Death insurance does-
nt cover equipment, so any entries for equipment,
magical or otherwise, must be left blank, too.
If the character later dies at some point in your
saga, the player retrieves this sheet. He picks a new
name and writes it on the sheet. Voil, he has a new
character, ready to go, which allows him to build on
prior achievements and to keep up with

60
 Improving Your Hero

Ability Increases
In addition to the various Divine Gifts listed Additional Gear
above, you can spend victory points to increase Lost or damaged weapons are easy to replace by
your heros everyday Abilities. You can increase looting slain foes (see p. 164). Armor is another
Abilities in two ways: through experience, or matter. You may also gain new common equip-
through training. ment (or replace destroyed equipment) by return-
There is no mundane way to increase ing to your home base and bargaining for it with a
Characteristics. local craftsman or trader.

EXPERIENCE
Whenever you do something important with
Divine Gifts
your Ability, and succeed, you get a chance to learn Divine Gifts are powers from the gods. The
by experience. The Ability increase represents your gods use their limited powers of omniscience to
capacity to repeat the new trick you discovered in sense the activities of mighty heroes. When they
the heat of the moment. Whenever you succeed at become aware of these heroes, a connection estab-
an Ability roll listed in the runners encounter notes, lishes itself between hero and god. If the god
and you think you might be interested in increasing approves of the heros actions, the god sends him
the Ability in question, make a note of it. At the end a tiny fraction of his divine essence. Not only does
of the encounter, you may spend victory points to the hero not seek out the divine favor, it comes to
immediately increase any such Ability by 1. him without his conscious knowledge. However,
the first time he finds himself in a situation where
You may increase any weapon Ability if you the Gift might prove useful, he uses it involuntari-
beat a foes DFN total during the encounter, the ly, as if by instinct. In many cases, Divine Gifts are
Healer Ability if you used it to help a hero recov- not obviously supernatural: the hero might simply
er, or any Ability you successfully used to gain a become stronger, faster, more resistant to cold, or
battlefield advantage. whatever. Thus, the hero may not know that he has
Your best Fighting Ability costs 150 victory points gained a Divine Gift even after he begins to make
to increase by 1. Any Fighting Ability lower than that use of it. In other cases, anyone can see that a
costs 75 victory points for 1 point of increase. Other power is by nature divine. When you can make
primary Abilities cost 45. Secondary Abilities cost 30 your lost weapon fly through the air and leap into
victory points. your palm, it doesnt take a priest to know that the
gods are at work.
If youre lucky enough to successfully use an
Ability you dont have, you can use this procedure to Although your hero doesnt pick which Gift he
gain your first point of it. gets and might not even know hes gotten it; you,
the player, are still steering the longship. Each
TRAINING Divine Gift has a cost listed in its description. You
may at any time spend the requisite number of
If you want to learn a new Ability, and you points to gain a Gift. (Provided, of course, that you
havent been able to use it successfully during play, have them to spend in the first place.) And when we
you must train in it between adventures (not say any time, we mean any time, by Odins
encounters). You must pay 30 for secondary Abilities beard! If you want to buy a Gift between your
or 125 for primary Abilities. Initiative roll and your Attack roll during a combat
situation, you may do so. Just be quick about it
your fellow players have every right to hurl crushed-
up potato chips at you if you interrupt a

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 Chapter 3

DIVINE GIFTS
Gift Cost Patron Levels Page
Agony Postponed 30 Heimdal 5 64
Aura of Phlegmatic Acceptance 75 Heimdal 4 65
Banish His Blade 45 Loki Unlimited 65
Berserks Blessing 150 Odin Unlimited 65
Boon of Angrboda 150 Angrboda Unlimited 66
Bone Setters Blessing 30 Freyja Unlimited 66
Buffeting Gale 75 Thor Unlimited 66
The Chattering Squirrel 45 Loki Unlimited 66
The Clenched Jaw of Vengeance 45 Thor 4 67
The Clatter of Rushing Boots 250 Thor None 67
Comeuppance Postponed 250 Loki None 67
Craven Departure 250 Loki Unlimited 67
Curds of Utgardaloki 100 Thor 8 68
Destiny Reversed 400 Urd Unlimited 68
Dying Blow 30 Odin Unlimited 68
The Eager Arrow 75 Heimdal Unlimited 69
The Eight-Legged Horse 100 Odin Unlimited 69
The Ever-Flowing Cup 45 Freyja Unlimited 69
Eyes like Glowing Coals 45 Odin Unlimited 69
Flesh Cries Out for Piercing 150 Loki 8 70
From Lofty Asgards Peaks 125 Thor 8 70
Frost-Speeded Heels 75 Njord Unlimited 70
Gathering Thunder 40 Thor Unlimited 70
Gilded Tongue of Freyr 75 Freyr Unlimited 71
The Gnawing Stags 30 Loki Unlimited 71
Golden Apples Sweetness 75 Freyja Unlimited 71
Implacably Braced 75 Heimdal Unlimited 71
Imprecation of Doom 250 Odin Unlimited 71
Indefatigable Determination 75 Heimdal 10 71
The Knitting of Meat 45 Thor Unlimited 72
The Lie Turns to Truth 75 Loki Unlimited 72
Like a Wind-Tossed Leaf 125 Thor Unlimited 72
Like the Leaping Stag 75 Ull Unlimited 72
The Loyal Hilt 250 Thor Unlimited 72
Mantle of Odin 100 Odin Unlimited 73
Many-Impaling Spear 75 Thor 11 73
Might of Thor 300 Thor Unlimited 73
Mjolnir Awakes 30 Thor Unlimited 73

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 Improving Your Hero

Gift Cost Patron Levels Page

Naglfar Plows the Waves 30 Njord Unlimited 73
Njords Crust 75 Njord Unlimited 74
Nurturing of Yggdrasil 150 Freyja 4 74
Obscuring Mist 30 Loki Unlimited 74
On Valkyries Wings 45 Odin Unlimited 74
The Norths Cooling Sigh 30 Njord Unlimited 74
The Owl Hears the Viper 30 Heimdal Unlimited 74
Penetrating Lightning 30 Thor Unlimited 75
Plumed Up by Njordsbreath 45 Njord Unlimited 75
The Raven Plucks an Eye 30 Odin Unlimited 75
The Relentless Gales of Njord 400 Njord Unlimited 75
The Remorse of Hoder 75 Hoder Unlimited 75
Resist the Serpents Tears 30 Tyr Unlimited 76
Ripples from the Well of Knowledge 75 Odin Unlimited 76
Roaring Shout of Rage 45 Odin Unlimited 76
Rune Weapons See Insert p. 77 and p. 76-80
Scorn the Bite of Treachery 30 Thor Unlimited 80
Scourging the Fell Spirits 30 Odin 6 81
Shoulders Wide as Bifrost 75 Heimdal Unlimited 81
Skadis Ermine Cloak 30 Njord Unlimited 81
Sprig of Mistletoe 45 Loki Unlimited 81
Sudden as a Mountain Storm 150 Njord Unlimited 81
Survive the Lake of Flame 30 Tyr Unlimited 82
Swiftness of Sleipnir 75 Odin 8 82
Through the Cracks 30 Asjandr Unlimited 82
Thors Thews 75 Thor Unlimited 82
The Tireless Joy-Shout 30 Tyr Unlimited 82
The Trumpets Commanding Blast 75 Odin Unlimited 83
Tyrs Forbearance 75 Tyr Unlimited 83
Ulls Hide 75 Ull Unlimited 83
Ulls Sure Hand 400 Ull Unlimited 83
Valor of Tyr 75 Tyr Unlimited 83
Vigilance of Heimdal 100 Heimdal Unlimited 83
Wiles of Loki 75 Loki Unlimited 84
With Either Hand 30 Ull None 84
The Wounds Close Quick 75 Tyr 4 84
Wrestlers Blessing 75 Thor Unlimited 84
Zealous Sinews 45 Tyr Unlimited 84

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 Chapter 3

fast-moving combat to thumb inde- A character with the Divine Awareness Ability
cisively through this chapter looking can, by rolling Perception + Divine Awareness
for the perfect Gift to buy. against a Difficulty of 6, tell how much divine favor
a character enjoys; that is, he can glean the total of
To repeat: the hero gets no choice of his Divine
all of the characters Divine Connection ratings. By
Gifts, and does not know he has them until he uses
rolling against a Difficulty of 8, he can identify the
them. The player is completely in charge of which
characters primary god. Against a Difficulty of 10,
Divine Gifts his hero gets.
he can identify all of the gods from whom a charac-
ter has received Gifts.
CONSEQUENCES OF DIVINE GIFTS
The essence fueling a Divine Gift enters into the
heros body and soul, infusing him with a specific List of Divine Gifts
power. The psychic link between god and hero
remains active. You must keep track of which gods The list of Divine Gifts appears below. The for-
are associated with the Gifts youve chosen for your mat for describing Divine Gifts is as follows:
hero, and how many levels worth of Gifts each has Cost: This tells you how many victory points you
granted you. Each of these scores is called a Divine must spend to gain the Gift.
Connection rating.
Patron: Here we name the god who provides
After many game sessions, Ragnar has the follow- the Gift.
ing Divine Gifts: Curds of Utgardaloki (1 level, Thor),
Destiny Reversed (1 level, Urd), Implacably Braced (1 Levels: Most Gifts allow levels, meaning that
level, Heimdal), Imprecation of Doom (2 levels, they can be bought multiple times, with cumulative
Odin), Like the Leaping Stag (2 levels, Ull), Lofty effects. If they allow unlimited levels, this entry says
Asgards Peaks (1 level, Thor), and Vigilance of Unlimited. If they allow only a certain number of
Heimdal (1 level, Heimdal), levels, the number is given. If a Gift does not allow
levels, this entry says None.
His Divine Connection ratings are as follows: Odin
2, Thor 2, Ull 2, Heimdal 2, and Urd 1.
AGONY POSTPONED
Your highest Divine Connection rating indicates
who your primary god is. If you have more than Cost: 30
one deity tied for first place, each counts as your pri- Patron: Heimdal
mary god. (An exception occurs if your Divine Levels: 5
Connections are all rated at 1; in that case, you have Sometimes a Wounded warrior must keep fighting,
no primary god.) even if he must worsen his own injuries to fight at
Odin, Thor, Ull, and Heimdal all count as maximum skill. It is uncomplaining Heimdal who
Ragnars primary god. teaches this ability to the Norsemen. Your hero
may ignore one point of Wound-derived
Gods pay special attention to particular places Impairment for each level you possess in Agony
and situations in Midgard and the Underworld. If Postponed. When he stops fighting, he suffers 6
your hero encounters a place or situation of interest points of armor-ignoring damage (see p. 142) for
to his primary god, he may be compelled to act in each Impairment point he ignored.
accordance with the gods desires. He may find him-
self unable to do certain things, such as harm anoth-
er favored hero of the god. (To see how to build such
situations into an encounter as designer, see In
Defiance of the Gods, on p. 140).

64
 Improving Your Hero

AURA OF PHLEGMATIC ACCEPTANCE

Cost: 75
Patron: Heimdal
Levels: 4
ADDITION GOOD,
As guardian of Asgards gateway, the doughty god
Heimdal is prepared to suffer blows rained down on
MULTIPLICATION BAD
him by those who would seek to breach it. Your Several descriptions refer to the number of victory
hero, too, has learned to accept as an emblem of points youd normally get in a given situation. This
means the number derived from the scoring system in
honor the cuts and bruises dealt out by his foes. At
Chapter Four, before the additional benefits of any
the end of any encounter in which he was brought Divine Gifts or other unusual powers are taken into
below 20 hit points, or suffered 4 Wounds, you gain account. In other words, you can under absolutely no
20X extra victory points, where X is your level in circumstances multiply the victory point benefit of
Aura of Phlegmatic Acceptance. You are disqualified one Gift by that of another. And thats not just any
for this award during an encounter in which you old, under absolutely no circumstances, thats a
decline to defend against an attack. Viking under absolutely no circumstances with a
great big battle-axe to back it up. Keep this in mind if
your group wants to create new Divine Gifts for your
BANISH HIS BLADE game, or if youre adopting Gifts found on Internet
Cost: 45 fan sites or mailing lists.
Patron: Loki
Levels: Unlimited
The smirk that crawls across the face of Loki when a
foe stands disarmed before him is something to your berserk determination and is pleased by it. For
behold. It can crack earthenware and turn wine to each hit point of damage you lose due to the free
vinegar. For Loki, it is the moment of anticipation retaliatory blow a berserks surviving opponent gets,
before a helpless foe, more than the subsequent you gain 1 victory point per level in Berserks
sinking of blade into flesh, which brings him the Blessing. In other words, one level of Berserks
greatest pleasure. He has seen that your hero, too, Blessing cancels out the victory point penalty you
likes to knock the blade from your enemys hand normally suffer for losing hit points; each level after
before dispatching him, and has chosen to support that adds to your total.
and reward you. When you succeed in disarming an
opponent, his weapon travels the normal distance BOON OF ANGRBODA
times your level in Banish His Blade. If you damage
Cost: 150
him while he is disarmed, multiply the number of
Patron: Angrboda
victory points youd normally get from the strike by
Levels: Unlimited
(1 + your level in Banish His Blade). Add the result
to your victory point tally for the current encounter. Angrboda is the giantess who married dread Loki,
upon whom he sired three monsters: the Midgard
BERSERKS BLESSING Serpent, the ravening wolf Fenrir, and Hel, goddess
of the damned. She grants you the Ability to assume
Cost: 150
a monstrous visage, mimicking that of the foes who
Patron: Odin
attack you. When an enemy (other than a human or
Levels: Unlimited
craftwerk) chooses you as his target using the Foe
Odin is the patron of berserks, those who fight with Target Choice Flowchart (p. 196), or because he is
neither mercy nor care for their own fates. The most Self-Willed and the runner wants him to attack you,
reckless and deadly of them join the Einherjar, the he must roll his Res versus a Difficulty equal to your
fighters of Valhalla, after being slain. Odin has seen Disguise + level in this Gift. He may only

65
 Chapter 3

attack you if he succeeds; otherwise Buffeting Gale. If he fails the roll, the foe has fallen
he thinks youre one of his com- down. See p. 53 and 127 for the dire consequences of
rades. He automatically succeeds (no need to roll) if falling in mid-fight. Add 20X victory points to your
there is no other legal target for his attack, or if tally each time you knock a foe down, and for each
youve already attacked him. subsequent round he stays down, where X is your
level in Buffeting Gale. You can choose not to use
this power on any given blow your hero strikes dur-
ing its duration.

THE CHATTERING SQUIRREL

Cost: 45
Patron: Loki
Levels: Unlimited
The world tree, Yggdrasil, which connects and nur-
BONE-SETTERS BLESSING tures all of the realms of being, is infested by
destructive animals. One is an eagle, which clutches
Cost: 30
in its beak a death-bleached hawk. Another is a ser-
Patron: Freyja
pent, which continually gnaws at Yggdrasils roots.
Levels: Unlimited
Between them scampers Ratatosk, a chattering squir-
Although the gods of the Aesir, even those whom rel that carries words of evil from the eagle to the
the Vikings worship, can be grave and unforgiving as snake and from the snake to the eagle. Though some
they pursue the deaths of all who oppose them, the say it is the eagle and the serpent which threaten the
gods of the Vanir show greater mercy. Freyja, god- tree, neither of them would continue were it not for
dess of fertility and love, extends her blessing to the insidious words of the squirrel. Loki grants your
those healers brave enough to risk their own safety hero the power to degrade his enemies combat per-
to save others. When your hero expends an action formance by uttering a stream of guttural, ominous
during combat to administer healing, add 3X to his threats in the ancient tongue of the giants. Your
Soak, and 3X to the Soak of his patient, where X is hero must be within 3 paces of an enemy in order to
your level in Bone-Setters Blessing. The effect per- activate the Gift, which you do by beating his Res
sists until the end of the current round, by which total with a Divine Awareness + Presence roll. If you
time youll usually have completed your Healer roll. succeed, he suffers a penalty to his Soak equal to
This Gift does not work when you treat your own your level in this Gift. The penalty may not reduce
characters injuries. his Soak below 0. The effect is contagious. If he is
still alive at the beginning of the next round, the foe
BUFFETING GALE closest to him must make a Res roll versus a
Difficulty of 6, or suffer the same penalty. If that vic-
Cost: 75
tim is alive at the beginning of the subsequent
Patron: Thor
round, the unaffected foe closest to him must roll
Levels: Unlimited
Res versus Difficulty 6 or fall prey to it, and so on.
When Thor strikes a blow with his mighty hammer The chain breaks when a new round begins with the
Mjolnir, even the stoutest foe finds it nearly impos- most recent victim already dead. The penalties your
sible to retain his footing. When you strike a blow enemies suffer last until the end of the fight. You
with a melee weapon, it is with a buffeting force like may use this Gift only once per event. Use of this
unto Mjolnirs. After a successful strike (that is, Gift does not require an action.
when your ATK total exceeds your foes DFN total),
the runner must make a Res roll against
a Difficulty of 9 plus your level in

66
 Improving Your Hero

THE CLENCHED JAW OF VENGEANCE comes in addition to the usual +3

for charging. Additionally, for
Cost: 45
every level you have in The Clatter of Rushing Boots,
Patron: Thor
an opponent set for your charge suffers a decrease of
Levels: 4
1 to his Defense roll.
No hero brave enough to fight worthy foes may say
Dont bother with this Gift if you have a low
that he has never been defeated. But when an enemy
Sprint rating.
does strike your hero down, he rises again, sets his
jaw in implacable determination, and sets off to find
COMEUPPANCE POSTPONED
his foe, to return and magnify the blows that felled
him. This Gift comes into play after you are Cost: 250
Wounded by a specific enemy in combat. You may Patron: Loki
now strike at him with redoubled fury. For the Levels: None
remainder of the encounter (or until that enemy is
Lokis skill in battle, though far outstripping that of
dead, whichever comes first), add your level in The
most mortals, is but a fraction of that possessed by
Clenched Jaw of Vengeance to your Soak. The first
his Aesir foes, like Thor, Tyr, and Heimdal. Thus he
time you hit your foe after suffering the Wounding
has become adept in the art of escape, the secrets of
blow, add the damage from the Wounding blow he
which he has passed along to your hero. When he
struck you to your own. When you kill him, you gain
turns tail and flees, he retains the protection of a
20X victory points, where X is your level in this Gift.
character who is more carefully retreating: his DFN
Add the result to your victory point tally for the cur-
score increases by 3, even though he is facing away
rent encounter.
from the battle and running at a speed of two full
moves. Other foes on your escape route are only able
to take opportunistic potshots at you by overcoming
you in an Engagement roll. Also, add your Loki
Divine Connection rating to any Engagement rolls
you must make for this reason.

CRAVEN DEPARTURE
Cost: 250
THE CLATTER OF RUSHING BOOTS Patron: Loki
Levels: Unlimited
Cost: 250
Patron: Thor Loki reserves his most potent powers of escape only
Levels: Unlimited for those minions performing direct service for him.
When events go against his favorite servitors, he may
There is nothing Thor takes greater delight in than whisk them to safety. With this Gift, your hero dema-
the headlong charge towards a foe. His throat sings terializes, instantly and permanently disappearing
with fury and laughter as his hammer whirls from the current event. When the next event rolls
through the air, picking up force, and his enemy around, he rejoins the adventure, catching up with his
freezes in fear, blasted by the wind from his comrades after having been transported to a safe loca-
approach. Your hero, too, finds wild delight in the tion. In order to activate this power, you must succeed
charge, channeling it towards his foes destruction. in a contest against an enemy who is currently engag-
Extra-long charges add to your ATK score. A charge ing you in melee combat. Roll your level in Craven
must be at least 10 paces long; you gain an increase Departure against your foes Res. If you are currently
of 1 to your ATK score for every 3 paces by which Engaged by multiple foes, the runner picks the enemy
your charge exceeds that basic number. This increase with the best chance of success against

67
 Chapter 3

you. The foe is not aware of the fact equals your level in this Gift, you can reroll a die
that his innate magic is working to immediately after you see how it comes up. The orig-
suppress your attempted departure. Your hero must inal result is ignored; those around your hero do not
spend an action to activate the power, but your oppo- notice anything awry. He, however, is left with two
nent doesnt spend one to thwart it. memories: one of what actually happened, and one
of the disaster that nearly was.
CURDS OF UTGARDALOKI
Cost: 100
DYING BLOW
Patron: Thor Cost: 30
Levels: 8 Patron: Odin
Levels: Unlimited
When he visited Utgardaloki, the king of Jotunheim,
Thor fought one of the giants champions, a suit of There is no surer way to join Odins company of
shield-carrying armor that walked by itself and make warriors in Valhalla than to die executing one last,
the ground quake whenever it took a step forward. self-sacrificing stroke against a bitter foe. Though
Knowing that he could not defeat this foe with the Odin would never dream of depriving his worship-
blunt striking face of his war-mallet, Mjolnir, Thor pers of their chance at glorious death, he will guide
bit off its pommel. With his teeth, he sharpened their hands so as to make their final blows strike
Mjolnirs hilt to a point, which he then used to truer. When your hero takes damage that would deal
pierce the armor, defeating the giants champion a fifth Wound, or take him below 0 hit points, he
and winning from him a pot of magic cheese curds. may continue to fight for a number of rounds equal
Though Thor was at first angered to win such a mea- to his level in Dying Blow. You may add your level
ger-seeming treasure, he was later grateful when he in Dying Blow to any roll you make during your
learned that the curds could revive a dying warrior, heros final moments on earth. Further, any Wound-
so enabling him to win even greater glories before derived Impairment he suffered at the moment of
his inevitable journey to Valhalla. Your hero, too, the final blow is not only removed from your ATK
can partake of the magic of the curds when you total, but converted to a bonus.
receive this Gift. At any time, including when you
Hallgerd is at -3 Impairment from Wounds and suf-
are reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, you may spend
fers her final blow. Although the -3 Impairment is
25 victory points to regain 4X hit points, where X
still applied to her other rolls, all of her ATK rolls will
equals your level in Curds of Utgardaloki.
now be made at +3.
DESTINY REVERSED No power or action, not even the hand of Odin him-
Cost: 400 self, can rescue you from death once youve
Patron: Urd embarked on this final, fatal display of courage. As
Levels: Unlimited soon as the duration of the effect runs out, or the
fight ends (whichever is sooner), you are dead. But
Urd is one of the three mysterious Norns, the god- the keening song of the Valkyries who come to bear
desses of fate. Urd owns one of the two magical wells your soul to Odins hall will resonate with a special
at the foot of Yggdrasil, the world tree, where the ring of ultimate victory. Your contribution to the
Aesir meet in council. She is the Norn of the past. final battle of Ragnarok will surely be a mighty one.
Indifferent to the woes of men, she sometimes
accepts favors from mortals, asking them to perform If a player subsequently creates a new character to
inexplicable tasks that somehow bring foreordained replace the deceased instead of using death insurance,
events closer to fruition. In exchange for these the new hero starts his career with a pool of unspent
favors, she may allow for just-elapsed moments to be victory points equal to X times the total damage the
unraveled and rewoven, often producing a different previous one dished out after invoking Dying Blow,
result. X times per session, where X where X is the deceaseds level in this Gift.

68
 Improving Your Hero

THE EAGER ARROW you any number of his unspent

victory points in exchange for
Cost: 75
this favor. You are free to negotiate for other
Patron: Heimdal
things, like silver or magical items, instead of vic-
Levels: Unlimited
tory points. Even when you dont get something in
You heros arrows are too hungry to be satisfied return, you can still use the Gift. X is your level in
with the flesh of but a single foe. Nor are they this Gift.
content to be loosed from your bow only to miss
their chosen targets. You may at any time roll THE EVER-FLOWING CUP
Presence + X, where X is your level in The Eager Cost: 45
Arrow, to cause every arrow your hero has fired Patron: Freyja
during the current event to fly backwards through Levels: Unlimited
the air and back into your quiver. The Difficulty
of this roll is the distance in paces between him Thor boasted to the other gods that he needed no
and the furthest arrow 10. If you fail, the arrows help when fighting, because he was the greatest war-
remain where they are. When you succeed, arrows rior of all. Freyja laughed gently at his boastfulness,
that damaged currently active enemies, which for and said that there would come a day when he
these purposes are assumed to be still lodged in would call on her for a favor, and would admit he
their flesh, rip back out of their limbs and torsos, needed aid. In exchange, she would then ask him a
doing a bit of further damage. Each victim of this favor. Thor agreed, thinking he would never have to
effect suffers X points of armor-ignoring damage make good on the agreement. Yet the very next bat-
(see p. 142). Further, if your hero takes an arrow tle he fought, against giants with unblinking eyes the
he caused to unstick from a foes flesh, and fires size of shields, laid him low, and he found himself
it at that foe again, you gain a +X increase to your near death, ready to receive their finishing blows. He
ATK total. called upon Freyja, and a cup appeared before him;
he revived, and then fought and crushed the giants.
Although the above description refers to arrows, you When he got back to Asgard, Freyja had seven filthy
can use this Gift with crossbow bolts, too. sheep stables waiting for him, which he had to clean
up without benefit of a shovel.
THE EIGHT-LEGGED HORSE
This Gift will not fully revive your hero when lying
Cost: 100
near death, but, then again, you wont have to clean
Patron: Odin
up any sheep droppings, either. Your heros level in
Levels: Unlimited
this Gift equals the number of rounds he can survive
Odins majestic and terrifying steed is Sleipnir, an with 5 wounds or hit points below 0 without the assis-
eight-legged, coal-black horse spawned by Loki and tance of a healer (see p. 56).
given to the All-Father as tribute. Atop this mount,
Odin flies through the night sky, hunting and EYES LIKE GLOWING COALS
increasing his awareness of the mortal worlds Cost: 45
petty doings. Odin grants you a share of his lofty Patron: Odin
perceptions, allowing your minds eye to survey the Levels: Unlimited
entire battlefield. Armed with this knowledge, you
may shout complex tactical instructions, such as When Odin sets himself upon the battlefield, even
Watch out! or Hes got a spear! to your fellows. his direst foes cannot help but stand in awe of his
You may thereby grant another hero a +X bonus to grim visage. He has lent you a fraction of his forbid-
add to his next ATK or DFN total (his pillager ding demeanor. When your hero activates this Gift,
chooses which). You may do this X times per fight, enemies who wish to target your hero for missile
no action required. Any pillager may willingly give attacks must make a Bravery + Stamina

69
 Chapter 3

roll against a Difficulty equal to your foes will fight in Asgard, defending the high ground
level in Presence + Eyes Like Glowing at the end of Bifrost Bridge. Add 1 per level in From
Coals. If their Threat Category is Inferior or less, they Lofty Asgards Peaks to your ATK, DFN, DAM, and
must add the difference between the two ratings to Soak scores when your hero occupies high or supe-
their Difficulty. This roll does not require an action. rior ground.
Would-be missile users cannot fire at you, though
your fellow heroes remain perfectly suitable targets. A FROST-SPEEDED HEELS
foe attempting to target your hero after having failed
Cost: 75
this roll in a previous round must add 3 to the
Patron: Njord
Difficulty for each past failure. This Gift lasts for X
Levels: Unlimited
rounds once activated. If your hero Dodges a missile
during its duration, the power ends prematurely. When others are only thinking of drawing their
swords or leaping towards their enemies, your heros
FLESH CRIES OUT FOR PIERCING hand is already on his blades ready hilt. His chill eyes
already stare into the terrified faces of your foes.
Cost: 150
Patron: Loki For every level in Frost-Speeded Heels, add 2 to your
Levels: 8 INIT score. This Gift does not aid you in
gaining additional attacks. Subtract your
Clever Loki strikes best by waiting
Frost-Speeded Heels bonus from
for his foe to err. He blesses you when you fol-
your Initiative total when determin-
low his example. You may add 1 per level in
ing whether you can take additional
Flesh Cries Out for Piercing to
actions in the current round.
your ATK score when your
hero strikes out of Initiative
order, after Waiting for
GATHERING THUNDER
Opportunity. If you wait to Cost: 40
strike an opponent who has Patron: Thor
just failed to hit his adversary, Levels: Unlimited
you may add 1 per level to
Your heros fury builds,
your ATK score and 2 per level
as a thunderstorm gathers
to your DAM score.
strength in reaction to
the intolerable heat of
FROM LOFTY ASGARDS
PEAKS summer. After an initial
round of Engagement
Cost: 125 with a foe, you may add
Patron: Thor (your level in Gathering
Levels: 8 Thunder) + (the length of
When the day of Ragnarok comes, the the current combat, in
forces of darkness will fight at a disad- rounds) to your ATK
vantage, for their Aesir score. The effect lasts
for a single ATK roll.
You may activate it
once per session.

70
 Improving Your Hero

GILDED TONGUE OF FREYR Whenever your hero suffers

Impairment, you may roll
Cost: 75
Presence + your level in Golden Apples Sweetness
Patron: Freyr
against a Difficulty equal to 6 + your Loki Divine
Levels: Unlimited
Connection rating. If you succeed, your Impairment
Like golden, clever Freyr, your hero harvests a boun- decreases by 1. Impairment cannot decrease below 0.
ty of goodwill when he negotiates with others. Each You may use this Gift X times per session, where X
level you purchase in Gilded Tongue of Freyr is your level in Golden Apples Sweetness.
increases your Communication by 1.
IMPLACABLY BRACED
THE GNAWING STAGS Cost: 75
Cost: 30 Patron: Heimdal
Patron: Loki Levels: Unlimited
Levels: Unlimited
Like Heimdal, your hero is ready for the approach of
Among the immortal creatures that cause the con- any foe. When enemies charge, they learn to their
tinual destruction and suffering of the world tree, peril what it is like to contest against an immovable
Yggdrasil, are four deer that feed constantly from its object. Add 1 per level in Implacably Braced to your
youngest shoots, preventing it from growing or ATK, DFN, DAM, and Soak scores when you are
changing. In honor of their destruction, which holding ground, or set to receive a charge.
keeps destiny on course towards the grim conclu-
sion of Ragnarok, Loki rewards those who risk their IMPRECATION OF DOOM
safety to destroy material things. You gain 5X victo- Cost: 250
ry points, where X is your level in The Gnawing Patron: Odin
Stags, every time your hero disarms a trap, or Levels: Unlimited
destroys or moves a barrier, item of cover, or man-
made item (like a platform, ramp, or set of stairs) Doom awaits all, but you can hasten its grip on a
that adds multiple levels to the combat terrain. Your powerful enemy. Your hero may designate a foe to
hero must successfully disarm the trap or neutralize receive Odins wrath. For the remainder of the cur-
the terrain features, and must do so during combat, rent encounter, he takes 3X points of damage each
taking at least one action per item. time another foe loses 1 or more hit points from
your melee or missile strike. X equals your level in
GOLDEN APPLES SWEETNESS Imprecation of Doom. You may strike any number
of foes in order to cause this contagious damage to
Cost: 75
your target enemy. Damage from Imprecation of
Patron: Freyja
Doom is armor-ignoring (see p. 142). You may use
Levels: Unlimited
Imprecation of Doom once per session. Damage
Freyja, goddess of female fertility, tends the orchard dished out by this Divine Gift, as usual, counts
that yields the golden apples that protect the Aesir towards your victory point tally.
and Vanir from the effects of aging. After a battle,
when the Aesir are weary, they come to her begging INDEFATIGABLE DETERMINATION
for her apples so that their weary bones may regain Cost: 75
their strength, and so the victory celebrations might Patron: Heimdal
begin in earnest. Freyja has blessed you with your Levels: 10
own Ability to recover quickly from the rigors of bat-
tle and other exertion. When the fate of Asgard and Midgard hangs in the
balance, a true warrior cannot allow mere tiredness
of limb or cloudiness of mind to deter

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 Chapter 3

him from his mission. Or so claiming to have had it all along. X times per session,
Heimdal teaches the legion of fierce where X is your level in The Lie Turns to Truth, you
attendants who aid him in his watch on the Bifrost gain an increase of X to a die roll when using an
Bridge. X times per session, where X is your level in Ability you dont have (The usual -3 penalty is still
Indefatigable Determination, your hero may ignore factored in when determining your modifier, so this
any Impairment penalties that would normally Gift does not completely negate it until you have
accrue to a single roll. If you then succeed, you gain reached its 3rd level).
5X victory points, provided that the removal of the
Impairment penalty made the difference between LIKE A WIND-TOSSED LEAF
success and failure.
Cost: 125
Ragnar has 4 levels in Indefatigable Determination Patron: Thor
and suffers from 3 points of Impairment. He uses Levels: Unlimited
Indefatigable Determination to ignore it during an
Your movements are both swift and unpredictable;
Attack roll against a wild-eyed wendol. His ATK total is
you are no easier to strike with a sword than a leaf
a 12; the wendols DFN total is a 10. The two-point
caught in the wind. Add 1 per level in Like a Wind-
spread between ATK and DFN is less than the ignored
Tossed Leaf to your ATK, DFN, DAM, and Soak
Impairment, so Ragnar adds 20 victory points (5 times
scores when your hero is ducking and weaving.
his 4 levels) to his plus column.
LIKE THE LEAPING STAG
THE KNITTING OF MEAT AND BONE
Cost: 75
Cost: 45
Patron: Ull
Patron: Thor
Levels: Unlimited
Levels: Unlimited
Ull the Hunter has learned to emulate the animals
Thor gives the most favored of his warriors the
he stalks. When others seek to pierce him with
Ability to cause their torn flesh, smashed bones, and
arrows, he leaps like the stag, bounding into the
severed nerves to flow back into place, so that his
densest woods in an eyes blink. When your hero
champions might return quickly to the field of bat-
successfully Dodges missile fire (rather than accept-
tle. Roll Stamina + your level in The Knitting of
ing the standard base Difficulty of 6), you gain 20X
Meat and Bone against a Difficulty of 9. If you suc-
victory points, where X is your level in Like the
ceed, your hero regains a number of lost hit points
Leaping Stag.
equal to X times the difference between Difficulty
and the total of the roll, where X equals your level
THE LOYAL HILT
in this Gift. You must spend your entire round
doing this; unless you are behind cover during this Cost: 250
time, missile-using foes gain a +6 bonus to their ATK Patron: Thor
scores. You may do this as many times per Levels: Unlimited
encounter as you have level in The Knitting of Meat
Your weapons, like loyal hunting dogs, do not care
and Bone.
to part from you, and will return to your side if
some foe tries to drive you apart. By throwing your
THE LIE TURNS TO TRUTH weapon, you can make melee attacks against foes
Cost: 75 who are as far as 3 + 3X paces away from you, where
Patron: Loki X is your level in this Gift. If your ATK total is suc-
Levels: Unlimited cessful, your weapon flies out of your hand, hits the
foe, and flies back to your hand, ready to be used
Loki is so skilled at imposture that he can gain an
again. If it botches, the weapon flies 3X paces away
Ability, at least temporarily, by falsely
from you, following a straight line between you and

72
 Improving Your Hero

the foe you tried to hit. The weapon stops prema- the same sequence of blows. X
turely if it hits a wall or other solid object along this equals your level in Many-
trajectory, as determined by the runner in consulta- Impaling Spear.
tion with his encounter map. It is possible in some
cases to botch and still hit; when that happens, you MIGHT OF THOR
hit the foe but dont get your weapon back.
Cost: 300
You are not considered to be Engaged with foes you Patron: Thor
hit in this way, assuming theyre more than 3 paces Levels: Unlimited
from you.
The incomparable physical power of Thor fills your
heros veins and muscles. Each level you purchase in
MANTLE OF ODIN Might of Thor increases your Strength by 1.
Cost: 100
Patron: Odin MJOLNIR AWAKES
Levels: Unlimited
Cost: 30
You project an air of authority and gravity, as if Patron: Thor
Odin himself has lent you his robes of rulership. Levels: Unlimited
Each level you purchase in Mantle of Odin increas-
As the wondrous hammer of Thor leaps to his hand
es your Presence by 1.
at its masters merest whim, your heros weapons
speed to his grip with unearthly immediacy. X times
MANY-IMPALING SPEAR per encounter, he may switch one weapon for anoth-
Cost: 75 er at the speed of thought, without delaying any
Patron: Thor other action. Both weapons must be on his person
Levels: 11 when you invoke the Gift. X equals your level in
Mjolnir Awakes.
One day Thor strode through Jotunheim, to show
the giants that they should fear him. Two giants,
NAGLFAR PLOWS THE WAVES
Grjotgaard and Skagalam, stood in his path and
mocked him. So Thor took out his mighty spear, and Cost: 30
told Grjotgaard that he would wound both of them Patron: Njord
with a single throw. The giants laughed, until Thor Levels: Unlimited
did what he promised to do, and their blood ran out
The most powerful vessel ever to ply the waves of
on the ground. When your hero throws a spear at an
Midgard was the dread ship Naglfar, made from the
enemy and does more than 12 - X points of damage
nail parings of the dead. Now it lies moored near
to him (after his Soak is taken into account), the
Asgards shores, where it will remain until loosened
spear travels right through your foe and into a sec-
from its anchors by the upheavals of the Midgard
ond opponent, provided that one is appropriately
Serpent, during Ragnarok. Njord, who yoked the
positioned to receive the blow. The two opponents
ship to its anchor and is the patron of seafarers,
cant be further apart than 5 paces times your level
lends your hero a portion of its power to cut
in Many-Impaling Spear. You must make a new ATK
through the waves. For each level you possess in
roll against the second opponent. If you do more
Naglfar Plows the Waves, you gain a bonus of 3 on
than 12 - X points of damage to the second oppo-
any Swim attempt.
nent, the spear may continue its journey to a third,
should another enemy be appropriately positioned.
If you continue to be successful, the spear keeps
going until it runs out of new opponents to burrow
through. It never hits the same character twice in

73
 Chapter 3

ON VALKYRIES WINGS
NJORDS CRUST Cost: 45
Cost: 75 Patron: Odin
Patron: Njord Levels: Unlimited
Levels: Unlimited By the time the Valkryies, the winged warrior-
Njord hardens your heros body, just as the gods women who bear the honored dead to Valhalla, lift
chill breath hardens the top layer of mountain snow, their cargoes, they have become light as feathers,
turning it into a crust of ice. Each level of Njords shorn of the cares and terrors of mortal existence.
Crust permanently adds 10 to your maximum hit Odin sometimes lightens the load of his followers
point total. Other gods provide similar Gifts: Tyrs when they are still alive. For each level you possess
Forbearance, Ulls Hide, and Thors Thews. in this Gift, you may reduce the Init rating of your
armor by 1. You may not decrease it below 0.
NURTURING OF YGGDRASIL
THE NORTHS COOLING SIGH
Cost: 150
Patron: Freyja Cost: 30
Levels: 4 Patron: Njord
Levels: Unlimited
Although they often seem unsympathetic to the
doom faced by mortals and gods alike, the three Njord, god of icy slopes and chill winds, shields
Norns do sustain life and ensure the continuance of favored heroes from heat and flame. Each time your
the various realms of existence. It is they who water hero is damaged by heat, fire, flame jets, or lava, you
the world tree, Yggdrasil, keeping it alive despite the may subtract 3X from the damage he would other-
destruction wreaked by the various animals that wise suffer, where X is your level in The Norths
infest it. In tribute to the Norns, Freyja rewards heal- Cooling Sigh. Also, any heat, fire, flame or lava dam-
ers, who strengthen the fallen so that they might rise age that would otherwise be armor-ignoring (see p.
again. Whenever your hero successfully uses the 142) is now reduced by the Prot rating of your armor.
Healer skill to restore 12 more hit points to an injured
ally, you get 20X victory points, where X is your level THE OWL HEARS THE VIPER
in this Gift. When you revive a dying hero reduced Cost: 30
below 0 hit points, you gain 30X victory points. You Patron: Heimdal
do not qualify for extra points by healing yourself. Levels: Unlimited

OBSCURING MIST Because Loki is the patron of traps and trap makers,
his nemesis, Heimdal, lends his acute senses to those
Cost: 30 who must brave them. Add 3 per level in this Gift to
Patron: Loki any Awareness rolls you make to detect the presence
Levels: Unlimited of traps. The trap need not be mechanical in nature,
Loki, as god of deception and trickery, cloaks you in a but must have been put in place by some intelligent
mantle of obscuring mist, which protects you from force with the intention of harming others. Thus, a
the slings and arrows of outraged foes. Once per naturally occurring lava pit wouldnt trigger this Gift
encounter, you may spend an action to call up Lokis under normal circumstances. But if someone loos-
cloak of fog; it lasts for a number of rounds equal to ened the rocks around the lava pit in the hopes that
your level in this Gift. When it is in effect, your hero approaching heroes would trigger a slide and fall in,
counts as obscured for the purposes of your enemies it would activate the Gift.
missile combat modifiers, no matter what he is doing.

74
 Improving Your Hero

PENETRATING LIGHTNING When a foe your hero damaged

dies, you may roll your Odin
Cost: 30
Divine Connection rating versus the foes Res. If you
Patron: Thor
are successful, you may use, for a period of X
Levels: Unlimited
rounds, X of the foes game statistics in place of
When a cowardly foe conceals himself from Thors your own, where X is your level in this Gift. The
wrath, the Thunderer simply hurls a bolt of lighting game statistics you may choose from are: INIT, ATK,
at the tree, wall, or boulder that conceals him, shat- DFN, or Soak scores. Having 5 or more levels in this
tering it. Just before your hero fires a missile at a foe Gift extends the effect but does not allow you to
hiding behind cover, roll Dexterity + your Thor stack game statistics. You can always roll again when
Divine Connection rating. The runner rolls your a new foe dies, replacing your current substituted
foes Res. If your total exceeds his, his cover is game statistic with a better one.
reduced by one degree: almost all cover becomes
Using this Gift does not require an action.
half cover, half cover turns to one-third cover, and
one-third cover is reduced to no cover at all. The use
THE RELENTLESS GALES OF NJORD
of Penetrating Lightning does not require an action.
You can use it once per encounter per level you pos- Cost: 400
sess in this Gift. The effect on the covering object Patron: Njord
you target is permanent; a lightning bolt actually fol- Levels: Unlimited
lows the path of your missile to literally damage or
Your hero enters battle with the swiftness of the bit-
destroy the object your enemy hides behind.
ing winds that Njord, father of the Vanir, sends car-
oming down the wintry mountainsides. Each level
PLUMED UP BY NJORDSBREATH
you purchase in Relentless Gales of Njord increases
Cost: 45 your Quickness by 1.
Patron: Njord
Levels: Unlimited THE REMORSE OF HODER
Njord, master of the winds, aids his favored heroes Cost: 75
by slowing their falls with his icy breath. Whenever Patron: Hoder
he is falling, you can reduce the effective distance Levels: Unlimited
your hero falls by one increment of the falling dam-
Hoder is a humble, blind deity who numbers among
age chart on p. 151 for each level you have in this
Odins many Aesir attendants. Loki hastened
Gift. The Gift doesnt literally change the distance
Ragnarok by tricking poor Hoder into firing an
he falls, it just reduces the damage suffered.
arrow at the beautiful young god Baldur, who was
supposedly immune to all forms of harm. Loki then
THE RAVEN PLUCKS AN EYE
attached to Hoders arrow mistletoe, the only living
Cost: 30 thing that had not been asked to swear never to
Patron: Odin harm Baldur. Baldur was killed. Though innocent of
Levels: Unlimited any fell intentions, Hoder weeps to this day. His sole
blessing protects others from doing as he did.
Although Odin is the father of the gods, he is still a
dark and brooding figure possessed of many strange If your hero fires into melee and you get a total
magics, especially those that gather knowledge. He indicating hed accidentally hit an ally, you may roll
traded his own eye for wisdom, and is attended by Presence + Remorse of Hoder against a Difficulty of
two fearsome giant ravens that whisper secrets into (the number of paces between your hero and his
his ears. Like a raven feeding on the corpses left by unlucky comrade) 10. If you succeed, the arrow
a glorious battle, your hero plucks arcane knowledge swerves at the last minute and instead hits one of
from the foes he slays. your foes. The player of the nearly punc-

75
 Chapter 3

tured hero decides which foe takes ter of many weird magics. The magic granted by the
the arrow in his place. His choice is other gods of Asgard is but a reflection of his.
limited to foes within 20 paces of his current posi-
When at a shrine of Heimdal, Thor, Ull, Freyja, or
tion. Both you and the player of the near-victim
Freyr, the hero may roll Divine Awareness +
count the damage dealt to the foe towards your vic-
Presence versus a Difficulty of 6. If successful, he
tory point tallies; each gets the full victory points.
can also gain any benefit from the shrine that he
would from a shrine to Odin.
While at any shrine to Odin (or shrine function-
ing as a such, thanks to this Gift), he adds 5X vic-
tory points to his tally each time any pillager
(including his own) purchases death insurance or
a level in a Divine Gift, or repairs a damaged
Helm of Power. X is his level in Ripples from the
Well of Knowledge.

ROARING SHOUT OF RAGE

Cost: 45
Patron: Odin
Levels: Unlimited
When Odin is angered, the very heavens quake.
Your hero can throw his head back and emit a fear-
some bellow that sets his enemies knees a-quak-
RESIST THE SERPENTS TEARS ing. You may reduce the Res scores of all foes with-
in 10X paces of your hero by X, where X equals
Cost: 30 your level in this Gift. To do so, roll Presence +
Patron: Tyr your level in Roaring Shout of Rage versus a Res
Levels: Unlimited roll, which is made by the runner. He chooses the
Among the many forms of physical punishment highest Res of any enemy within range of the
from which Tyr protects his favored warriors is poi- effect. If you succeed, the Res scores of all enemies
son. Add your level in Resist the Serpents Tears to within range are reduced. Using this Gift does not
your Stamina rolls to resist the effects of poison. If require an action.
you fail but still fall within 3 points of the needed
Difficulty, you may reduce any damage suffered by RUNE POWER: DOUBLE-BLADED AXE
your level in this Gift. If a healer is attempting to Cost: 75
cure your hero of poisoning, he may add your level Levels: Unlimited
in Resist the Serpents Tears to his die rolls.
When your hero activates this power, any enemy
RIPPLES FROM THE WELL OF who would otherwise take post-Soak damage from
KNOWLEDGE his double-bladed axe must instead make a Res roll
against a Difficulty equal to your Great Weapon
Cost: 75
rating. If he fails, he is transformed into a crow. He
Patron: Odin
flaps helplessly about, unable to seriously harm
Levels: Unlimited
you. At the end of the duration, he falls from the
Odin cast one of his eyes into the Well of air. He must roll Jump to avoid having fallen
Knowledge to gain ultimate wisdom. down. He will be naked, his armor and gear lying
He is both god and sorcerer, and mas- in a heap on the floor where you first hit him. (At

76
 Improving Your Hero

the runners discretion, intelli-

gent foes, who have no doubt
heard of the legendary Rune Power of the double-
RUNE WEAPONS bladed axe, may choose to simply fly away at top
Long before they turned their back on the Aesir to speed when turned into crows. That way their
make blades and armor exclusively for Loki, the naked landings will occur far from the swinging
dwarves aided Odin and his kin by discovering a sys- axes of hostile heroes.) The power remains active
tem of magical correspondences between various for 1 + (X 2) rounds, X being your level in this
weapons and the elemental runes of power. Odin
Rune Power.
shared these secrets with the other Aesir, who in turn
parceled them out to their favored warrior devotees,
both on Midgard and in Valhalla. RUNE POWER: DWARVEN BATTLE AXE
Many weapons have an innate magical power unique Cost: 30
to their particular type. A hero of sufficient accom- Levels: Unlimited
plishment can learn to activate these powers for brief
periods of time, provided that he bears the required For a duration of up to X rounds, where X is your
weapon. He can use any version of that weapon, level in this Rune Power, your hero can activate the
including the common one he started out with, to acti- dwarven battle axe so that its Dam rating increases,
vate Rune Powers.
depending on the Threat Category of your oppo-
Unlike other Divine Gifts, Rune Powers can be used by nent, as seen in the following chart.
anyone who knows the secrets behind them. These
secrets were released by the dwarves after they con-
Dam
cluded that Odin had swindled them out of fair pay-
ment for their discovery. Even goblins, dwarves, elves, Level Bonus
the Dishonored, and trolls can use them. In fact, some Terrifying +6
Rune Powers are associated with weapons used by
dwarves and goblins.
Exceptional +5
Rune weapon powers do not increase your Divine Superior +4
Connection rating, nor do they have patron deities. Equal +3
Otherwise they work exactly as any other Divine Gift.
Inferior +2
Activating a Rune Power never requires an action, and
Rune Powers become dormant after use. You can acti-
Weak +1
vate them again only after a certain interval of time has Pitiful +1
passed. The interval is dependent on your level in the
relevant Rune Power, as per the chart below.
Recharge The power remains active for 1+ (X 2) rounds.
Level Time
1 3 days RUNE POWER: DWARVEN
2 24 hours
BATTLE HAMMER
3 12 hours Cost: 400
Levels: Unlimited
4 6 hours
6 3 hours This is a more fearsome version of the Rune Power:
Dwarven Work Hammer. The differences are as follows:
8 1 hour
10 30 min
The victim turns permanently to stone instead
of ice.
12 10 rounds
16 5 rounds It works on all Threat Categories except Terrifying.

77
 Chapter 3

transformation to a frosty statue, and the ice will

inevitably melt. You get no victory points for killing
RUNE POWER: DWARVEN BATTLE SWORD
victims in this manner. The Ability remains active for
Cost: 45 a number of rounds equal to your level in this power.
Levels: 8
Your hero may point his dwarven battle sword at a
RUNE POWER: DWARVEN WORK SWORD
chosen enemy, rolling Presence + your level in this Cost: 75
Rune Power against the enemys Res. If you succeed, Levels: Unlimited
the battle sword emits a beam of magical energy that
When your hero activates this power, lightning
deals 4X damage to your foe. It ignores all impedi-
launches out from the tip of his sword, seeking out
ments to missile fire, including cover, going around
as many as three enemies. Choose up to three foes
corners if necessary in order to strike the designated
within a 10X foot radius, where X is your level in this
foe. You may use this power for as many actions as
Rune Power. Roll Perception + Great Weapon. The
you can squeeze into X rounds. X is your level in this
opponent with the highest DFN score rolls it to
Gift. Using this Gift requires an action.
counter your roll. If you beat his total, lightning
strikes all chosen targets. This maneuver is treated in
RUNE POWER: DWARVEN
WORK HAMMER all other ways as a missile weapon attack, as if your
missile weapon has the following game statistics.
Cost: 250
Levels: Unlimited Init Atk Dfn Dam Load Ability
+6 +8 NA +12 0 Great Weapon
When your hero activates this power and then strikes
an enemy with the dwarven work hammer, he
immediately turns to ice. You can only do this Attacks with this power are sub-
to enemies whose Threat Categories are ject to all modifiers usually
Inferior or worse. The runner rolls DFN pertaining to weapon
or Res (whichever is higher) versus the attacks. Your hero may
attackers ATK score to avoid the make X attacks with
effect. If he the power
succeeds, he before it
remains becomes dor-
unfrosted mant again,
and takes 0 where X is
damage. If your level in
he fails, the Rune Power:
character Dwarven
isas good as Work Sword.
dead. There
is no recov-
ery from

78
 Improving Your Hero

RUNE POWER: FOUR-BLADED MACE age. You may also ignore the
effects of the following terrain:
Cost: 400
barriers, slippery ground, uneven ground, slopes,
Levels: Unlimited
and tube-strikers.
When your hero activates this power, he becomes
Add 4X to your DFN score and Soak, where X is your
the center of a raging fire (see fire rules on p. 152)
level in this power. Your heros weapons become
with a radius of 10X paces, where X is your level in
insubstantial, too, so subtract 4X from ATK and DAM
Rune Power: Four-Bladed Mace. The conflagration
scores. This power remains active for X rounds. It acti-
continues for one round for each level you possess
vates at the beginning of a round (when you roll for
in this power. If you move the mace, the conflagra-
Initiative) and deactivates at the end of the Xth round.
tion moves with you. Your hero is immune from the
Activating it does not require an action.
flame damage it causes, but his friends are not.
RUNE POWER: MACE
RUNE POWER: GOBLIN AXE
Cost: 75
Cost: 75
Levels: Unlimited
Levels: Unlimited
Your hero may cause his mace to emit a single blast of
When your hero activates this power, he may once
radiating force that buffets the X characters closest to
per round create a magical duplicate of his goblin
him. X equals your level in this Rune Power. You dont
axe, which he can then throw at an opponent using
choose the victims, and can hit your heros fellows if
his Thrown Weapons skill. The duplicate gains the
youre not careful in choosing when to let loose. Each
game statistics of a throwing axe. It can disregard all
victim is picked up and carried 10X paces through the
obstructions to missile fire. As soon as you either hit
air in a direction of your choice. When landing, each
or miss with a magical duplicate, it vanishes. The
must make a Balance + Dexterity roll Difficulty of 6.
power remains active for 2X rounds, where X is your
Those who fail fall down (see p. 53).
level in this power.
RUNE POWER: ROMAN SWORD
RUNE POWER: GOBLIN SPIKE CLUB
Cost: 75
Cost: 75
Levels: Unlimited
Levels: Unlimited
Your heros sword ignites, sheathed in fire that
When your hero activates this power, a cone-shaped
burns his enemies and other flammable things.
barrage of rocks fires outwards from the business end
This Rune Power activates automatically, without
of his outstretched club. You must make an ATK roll;
the need for a roll. When lit, your hero and every-
everyone in the area of effect responds with a DFN
one within 200 paces of him can see clearly in the
roll. The Dam rating of this attack equals your level
dark. When you strike an opponent, he must check
in this power. The cone is 10X paces long and 5X
to see if his clothing lights on fire, as per the rules
paces wide at its base, where X also equals your level.
on fire found on p. 151. Also, add your level in
You cant exempt allies from the attack; everyone
Rune Power: Roman Sword to your DAM score.
inside the cone suffers its effects.
The sword remains alight for a number of rounds
equal to your levels.
RUNE POWER: HAND AXE
Cost: 75
Levels: Unlimited
When your hero activates the Rune Power inherent
in his hand axe, he becomes insubstantial. He is
still visible, but is partially immune to most dam-

79
 Chapter 3

character currently attempting to harm your hero.

Against an impersonal source of damage, like a trap,
RUNE POWER: VIKING AXE
the Difficulty is a straight 6.
Cost: 75
Levels: Unlimited If you are successful, your Soak increases by X,
where X is your level in this Gift, for a number of
When your hero activates this power, any victim he rounds equal to your level in this Gift. This Rune
damages with his Viking axe must roll Res against a Power protects even against sources of damage that
Difficulty equal to your Great Weapon rating. If normally ignore armor.
the victim fails the roll, he becomes your heros
unthinking ally for X rounds, where X equals your SCORN THE BITE OF TREACHERY
level in this power. He fights on your behalf, treat-
Cost: 30
ing all of your foes as his. He chooses his targets
Patron: Thor
according to the Foe Target Choice Flowchart on p.
Levels: Unlimited
196. As soon as the X rounds expires, he switches
sides again. He will attack your hero. If this for Many times has cowardly Loki tried to harm Thor
some reason is impossible, hell use the flowchart from a distance, by making traps for him to walk
to attack another hero. He will not attack other into. And perhaps it is true that Thor is not the
comrades possessed using this power. The Rune wisest of gods, that he is easily fooled, and that
Power becomes dormant after X rounds. Keep in most of these traps have indeed closed their jaws
mind that the possession effect can outlast the around him. Thor has been buried in rockslides,
original duration of the power. Victims can prema- impaled by spring-loaded spears, and dropped into
turely shake off its effect if all of their original allies vats of ever-burning fire. But he has always pre-
flee or are slain. vailed through his ability to shrug off the harm
done by such treacherous assaults. Thor has
RUNE POWER: VIKING BROAD SWORD blessed your hero with an equal ability to survive
Cost: 200 that cowards weapon, the trap.
Levels: Unlimited When determining damage he suffers from traps,
When your hero activates this power, all actual your heros Soak goes up by 3 for each level you have
Damage he deals to opponents (after Soak is taken in this Gift. It does not protect him against natural-
into account) is added to your hit point total. Your ly occurring hazards like lava flows or whirlpools,
hit point total never increases beyond its normal only against harm suffered by the deliberate design
limit. The power remains in effect for a number of of an intelligent trap-maker. So the harm done by an
rounds equal to your level in Rune Power: Viking avalanche that rains down on him because of ordi-
Broad Sword. Only damage actually dealt by the nary snowmelt, or because he made a noise, is not
Viking broad sword is added to your hit point total. reduced by this blessing. However, if an enemy dug
a trench in the snow in order to trigger an avalanche,
RUNE POWER: VIKING SHORT SWORD the Gift does come into effect.

Cost: 75 When your hero is damaged by an armor-ignoring

Levels: 3 trap (see p. 142), roll Presence + your level in this Gift
against a Difficulty of 6. If successful, the damage no
When your hero activates the Rune Power of the longer ignores your heros armor.
Viking short sword, a glowing, translu-cent sphere
appears and shields him from damage. In order to If the designers encounter notes do not specify
activate it, roll Presence + your levels in Rune Power: whether a trap is the product of deliberate design,
Viking Short Sword against a Difficulty of 6 + Y, the runner makes a determination on the spot.
where Y is the highest Res score of any

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 Improving Your Hero

SCOURGING OF FELL SPIRITS

Cost: 30 SKADIS ERMINE CLOAK
Patron: Odin Cost: 30
Levels: 6 Patron: Njord
The gods are not the worlds only magical beings. Levels: Unlimited
Ghosts, imps, and other malign spirits prowl the land. Njords wife is the giantess Skadi. Although he
Although weak, their great numbers make them dif- prefers the shores and open sea, she dwells in the
ficult to tame. Nonetheless, Odin has blessed you snowy mountains. To encourage his visits, she gifted
with the power to ward off their weird magic. him with a cloak to keep the cold from seeping into
When confronting a weird magic terrain feature Njords damp bones. Njord now lends a portion of
that applies a penalty to the heroes or a bonus to the cloaks magic to those who please him.
their foes, you may roll Presence + X versus a This Ability works exactly like Scorn the Bite of
Difficulty of 6. If successful, you may subtract X Treachery, above, except that it applies not to traps,
from the penalty or bonus, even if X exceeds it! A but to all other hazards.
negative penalty becomes a bonus; a negative bonus
becomes a penalty. This power applies even when SPRIG OF MISTLETOE
heroes and foes suffer the same penalty or enjoy
the same bonus. Cost: 45
Patron: Loki
X equals your level in this Gift. If you designed the Levels: Unlimited
current encounter, your proxy must add 10 to the
Difficulty when rolling to activate it. To arrange the death of invulnerable Baldur, cun-
ning Loki tied a sprig of mistletoe to the arrow fired
SHOULDERS WIDE AS BIFROST at him by the blind god Hoder. The humble mistle-
toe, thought innocent by all, was the only living
Cost: 75 thing that was not asked to forswear its ability to
Patron: Heimdal harm Baldur. Hence, when Hoders shaft found its
Levels: Unlimited mark, Baldur was stricken and died, beginning the
The secret to successful battle is to force the enemy inexorable progress of Ragnarok.
to fight on your terms. You heros unyielding deter- Add your level in Sprig of Mistletoe to the Dam rat-
mination is like that of Heimdal, who waits on ing of your heros missile weapons.
Bifrost Bridge to repel Asgards would-be invaders.
You may add 3X to any Engagement roll, where SUDDEN AS A MOUNTAIN STORM
X is your level in Shoulders Wide As Bifrost. Cost: 150
You may make an extra Y Engagement rolls per Patron: Njord
round, where Y equals (X 3) + 1. Levels: Unlimited

You may prevent enemies from fleeing or Your blows rain down upon your foes with the
retreating by besting them in an Engagement speed and suddenness of a Njord-brewed storm.
roll (to which the above bonus applies). Whenever you roll an INIT total higher than 20, you
may add another 2X to your INIT total for that roll,
By making a successful Engagement roll, you where X equals your level in Sudden as a Mountain
may jostle aside an ally who intends to slay an Storm. This may grant you even more additional
opponent whose death you have already ear- attacks (see p. 42).
marked as your own. The ally is unhurt, but loses
his opportunity to attack.

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 Chapter 3

THROUGH THE CRACKS

SURVIVE THE LAKE OF FLAME Cost: 30
Cost: 30 Patron: Asjandr
Patron: Tyr Levels: Unlimited
Levels: Unlimited Though the goblins are bitterly opposed to
Goblins once fell upon Tyr and overwhelmed him, humankind, their king, Asjandr, occasionally needs
bearing him deep underground to a tower beside a humans to carry out his subtler schemes. He invei-
fiery lake. They told him that they would spare him gles them to obey him by providing to men the
if he would betray Asgard to them. He refused, and blessing of small stature. You may momentarily
they threw him, chained, into the lake. His flesh shrink to a small size, squeezing through barriers
aflame, the chains melted away and he emerged that would thwart a normal man.
from the lake to slay them all. With this blessing, You may do any of the following X times per com-
you may share Tyrs endurance of blazing agony. bat, where X is your level in this Gift.
This Gift protects not just against fire, but against all Treat any item of cover, or any barrier, as if it
escalating damage (see p. 142). For each level in this provides you full cover.
Gift, the onset of additional damage is delayed by one
round. During this delay period, you merely repeat the Ignore any limits on the number of heroes who
damage you took last round. Only when the effect has can flee through a given exit.
elapsed do you begin to suffer the escalating damage. Automatically escape further damage while flee-
Thorleik has 3 levels in Survive the Lake of Flame. ing (see p. 45); however, you lose any treasures
He is in the midst of a raging fire. A character with- you may be carrying.
out this Gift would take 4 points of damage the first
round, 6 in the second, 8 in the third, 10 in the THORS THEWS
fourth, and 12 in the fifth. Thorleik takes 4 (the Cost: 75
usual first-round damage), 4 during the second round Patron: Thor
(his first level of Survive the Lake of Flame), 4 in the Levels: Unlimited
third (his second level), 4 in the fourth (his last level),
then 6 in the fifth, 8 in the sixth, and so on. Your heros muscles swell with the power of Thor.
Each level of Thors Thews permanently adds 10 to
SWIFTNESS OF SLEIPNIR your maximum hit point total. Other gods provide
similar Gifts: Tyrs Forbearance, Ulls Hide, and
Cost: 75 Njords Crust.
Patron: Odin
Levels: 8 THE TIRELESS JOY-SHOUT
The All-Father invests you with the speed of his Cost: 30
eight-legged steed, Sleipnir. Patron: Tyr
Add 5X paces to your maximum half-move per turn, Levels: Unlimited
and 10X paces to your maximum full move per turn, Even when the battle grows grim and trails of gore
where X equals your level in Swiftness of Sleipnir. run from his flesh, Tyr draws strength from his
You gain 10X victory points whenever a) yours is the agony. He raises his sword to the heavens, bellows
first hero to make a melee attack against a foe during his war cry, and charges back into the fray, his deter-
the current event and b) more than 50 paces separated mination fortified.
you from the nearest foe when the first Initiative rolls This Gift works only after your hero has suffered
of the current combat were made. one or more Wounds, or his current hit points are

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 Improving Your Hero

at 20 or less. He must begin a round disengaged

from combat, and no more than a half-move away
from an enemy who is already Engaged by at least ULLS HIDE
one other hero. He releases an ear-splitting bellow
Cost: 75
and then leap at this foe, slashing away with his
Patron: Ull
melee weapon. Add 3 to your ATK score. After the
Levels: Unlimited
strike, your hero continues on, traveling a half move
away from his target. Assuming your hero keeps Your heros skin becomes tough and leathery, like
away from him until his next attack rolls around, the that of Ull the Hunter, who hardened his skin under
foe wont consider you as a target according to the sun, wind, and rain. Each level of Ulls Hide perma-
Foe Target Choice Flowchart (p. 196). nently adds 10 to your maximum hit point total.
Other gods provide similar Gifts: Thors Thews,
THE TRUMPETS COMMANDING BLAST Tyrs Forbearance, and Njords Crust.
Cost: 75
ULLS SURE HAND
Patron: Odin
Levels: Unlimited Cost: 400
Patron: Ull
Odin, as lord of the Aesir, wears a mantle of author-
Levels: Unlimited
ity that tempts even his enemies to serve him. X
times per combat, you may roll a die + X, where X Ull the Hunter strikes sure and true, so that the
equals your level in this Gift, against a chosen foes woodland creatures he hunts might fall swiftly and
Res roll. If you win, your foe takes a free attack without undue pain. Although when it comes to
against one of his own allies. If he is currently fight- goblins and Sark Amen, youre probably indifferent
ing with a melee weapon, there must be a foe close to the undue pain, each level you purchase in this
enough to him to hit in close combat. If he is using Gift increases your Dexterity by 1.
a missile weapon, he must be able to fire that
weapon at a foe. This extra attack does not cost the VALOR OF TYR
foe an action. If the foe hits his target, you add to
Cost: 75
your victory point tally as if your hero had scored
Patron: Tyr
the hit himself. If the target dies, you score the
Levels: Unlimited
death blow bonus.
Like determined Tyr, your hero can struggle on to
TYRS FORBEARANCE victory despite the aches and pains that would fell a
lesser man. Each level you purchase in Valor of Tyr
Cost: 75
increases your Stamina by 1. This does not change
Patron: Tyr
your Wound Threshold or hit point values.
Levels: Unlimited
Your hero gains brave Tyrs capacity to absorb and VIGILANCE OF HEIMDAL
withstand physical pain. Each level of Tyrs
Cost: 100
Forbearance permanently adds 12 to your maxi-
Patron: Heimdal
mum hit point total. Other gods provide similar
Levels: Unlimited
Gifts: Thors Thews, Ulls Hide, and Njords
Crust. However, as Tyr is the patron deity of Like ever-watchful Heimdal, your heros senses are
Stamina, his Gift is slightly more potent than well honed, so as to warn of danger. Each level you
those of his fellow deities. purchase in Vigilance of Heimdal increases your
Perception by 1.

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 Chapter 3

THE WOUNDS CLOSE QUICK

Cost: 75
Patron: Tyr
Levels: 4
Tyr, patron of the injured and suffering, provides
several healing Gifts. The Wounds Close Quick
speeds healing. For each level you possess in this
Gift, you may reduce the period your hero must
spend between Healer attempts, as given on the
chart on p. 54, by 1 increment.
Thurid has 2 levels of The Wounds Close Quick. She
is suffering from 3 Wounds. While a character with-
out this Gift would have to wait 24 hours between
healing attempts, Thurid can skip down two incre-
ments on the chart, to the interval for 1 Wound,
which is 3 hours.

WRESTLERS BLESSING
Cost: 75
Patron: Thor
Levels: Unlimited
WILES OF LOKI Though Thor takes rough joy in proving his superi-
Cost: 75 ority in battles of all kinds, he need not draw blood
Patron: Loki or do fatal damage to gratify his war-like urges. He
Levels: Unlimited takes as much pleasure from rough shoves and leap-
ing maneuvers as he does from the final hammer-
Your heros mind is like the ever-turning labyrinth
blow to his opponents skull.
of the Underworld, always ready to spring a new sur-
prise on your foes. Each level you purchase in Wiles Add 20X to your victory tally whenever you win an
of Loki increases your Intelligence by 1. Engagement contest that either grants you a terrain
advantage, or prevents your foe from gaining the
WITH EITHER HAND same. X is your level in this Gift.
Cost: 30
ZEALOUS SINEWS
Patron: Ull
Levels: None Cost: 45
Patron: Tyr
During his long nights on the hunt, Ull trained
Levels: Unlimited
himself so that his left hand was as skillful with a
blade as his right. When you gained his blessing, Tyr, who continues to struggle against his foes even
he passed the trick along to you. You have no off- when severely injured, has blessed the meat on your
hand, and can wield single weapons in either hand heros bones with strong memories of their proper
with equal facility. arrangement. When a Healer attempts to bring about
your recovery, your very flesh cooperates with his
efforts, as if eager both to please, and to rejoin the fray.
A Healer attempting to patch up your injuries adds 3
times your level in Zealous Sinews to his Healer roll.

84
 CHAPTER 4

Encounters

So far weve told you how to build,

play and improve your hero. This chapter
trains its attention to your other role in a game of
Rune: as encounter designer.
This chapter is addressed to you in your role as
encounter designer. Unless the context indicates other-
wise, you refers to the designer.

What Are Encounters?

An encounter is the basic unit of action in a game of
Rune. Each player takes turns as runner, administering

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a single encounter before passing Paul, Troy, Alex, Mark, and Dan show up for a
the baton to the next. The order in session of Rune. Paul begins the game by running
which you take the turns doesnt matter much you an encounter in which the Vikings come to the aid
can go clockwise around the table, counter-clock- of a nearby village, whose herds are being raided by
wise, mix it up so long as everyone takes on an mysterious creatures. Troy, Alex, Mark, and Dan
equal share of the runners burden. play their heroes as normal. Paul assigns Dan to
play his hero as well. The heroes investigate the cat-
When you run an encounter, you turn control of
tle thefts and soon find themselves in a pitched bat-
your hero over to another player of your choice.
tle with goblin marauders. When the fight turns
Dont worry too much about your heros fate the
against the goblins, they flee, and the heroes pur-
rules give the other players powerful incentives to
sue them to a tunnel entrance. This provides the
play him honestly, so that he survives and prospers.
exit point for Pauls encounter. Troy now takes over
They may even have their own heroes risk their
and runs the following encounter. He assigns Paul
hides to keep him alive.
to control his hero. Troy, picking up on the ending
When your turn as runner ends, you retake con- of Pauls encounter, chooses an Underworld setting
trol of your hero. Another player for his scene. The
becomes runner, and administers the heroes trek down-
next encounter. You, or one of the wards into the
other players, take control of his tunnel, where
hero for the encounters dura- they narrowly
tion. When he finishes his
encounter, he retakes control
of his own hero, a third
player assumes the runners
duties, and so on.

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 Encounters

stop themselves from falling down a natural slide into to face. You also have a limit
a raging underground river. Then they fight a wyrm. on the total number of points
When they kill the wyrm, Troys encounter is over. you can spend, depending on the encounters
Alex says that one of his encounters would fit in real- place in the overall adventure, and on the experi-
ly well at this point, so he takes over. Troy takes his ence level of the group. The Budget section starts
hero sheet back from Paul. Alex gives his to Mark, who on p. 89.
he assigns to run his hero. Mark and Dan take their
turns as runner after Alex. Now its Pauls turn again. 2. DEVISE YOUR CONCEPT
If you have played, but not Game Mastered, in Either way, before actually spending any points,
other roleplaying games before, you might be mut- you come up with the basic idea behind your
tering to yourself that running a game is too much encounter. The Concept section begins on p. 95
work. You just want to hit things! Well, rest easy.
This section is designed to break down the process 3. FOES
of devising encounters into a simple, formulaic No encounter is complete without enemies for
process. You dont have to invent encounters from the heroes to smite. See the Foes section, begin-
whole cloth just follow the step-by-step procedure ning on p. 96, for details on including them in
and youll have a bunch of encounters ready before your encounter.
you know it. You even have the option of devising
encounters randomly, so that you can quickly whip 4. TERRAIN
them up on the spur of the moment.
Adding interesting terrain to your encounter not
DESIGN TO WIN! only makes it more difficult for the players, it
makes combat more interesting for the runner, as
Just because youre the runner is no reason why well. The Terrain section begins on p. 120, and
you cant win an encounter. Although you shouldnt gives various different kinds of terrain designed
worry about it too much when youre just starting to frustrate even the most worthy heroes.
out, the choices you make when creating an
encounter influence your chances of collecting 5. DIFFICULTIES
more of those all-important victory points than your
players. Accordingly, we explain how victory points Heroes do not prosper by combat alone; they
are awarded before we go on to the basics of must face other tests, whether to avoid traps or to
encounter design. The section on Victory Points find treasure. All of these tests follow the same
begins on p. 89. rules and costs, which are explained in the
Difficulties section, p. 129.

How Do I Create an 6. TRAPS AND HAZARDS

Encounter? Through the judicious use of traps and other haz-
ards, you can scoop up victory points at the
Encounter design breaks down into the following heroes expense. The Traps and Hazards section
eight steps: begins on p. 141.

1. FIND YOUR BUDGET 7. TREASURE

You build encounters by spending encounter The simplest way to pay for the nasty traps and
points. Everything you include that makes life unforgiving difficulties youve built into your
tough for the heroes costs you points. You must encounter is by doling out treasure. The type of
earn those points by building in elements that treasure gained is determined by a random roll
reward the heroes or make their challenges easier made during play, so all you have to

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do here is choose how many points use point form descriptions, if it werent for the
you want to gain from each treasure. fact that we also want to encourage you to swap
See the Treasure section, p. 155. encounters with other groups over the Internet.
For the purposes of trading encounters with oth-
8. OTHER GAINS ers, youll want to make your descriptions clear,
though still brief. If youre just creating encoun-
In addition to treasure, you can gain encounter
ters for your own use with no thought of trading
points by including various other elements favor-
them, all your notes have to do is remind you of
able to the heroes, ranging from clues to chances
what you plan to say to the players when describ-
to trade in silver for gear, or vice versa. More on
ing the events. Even if you do prefer to write com-
this is in the Gains section, p. 171.
plete sentences, try not to just read the text
straight from your notes (or the notes of others, if
youre using an encounter someone else designed).
Some players read very stirringly, but most people
are more interesting to listen to when speaking off
the top of their heads. Notes should serve as cues,
not as a script.

Advanced Elements
To begin with, we assume that all encounters take
place in the Underground, and that the connection
between them is tenuous. Once your group becomes
Your Encounter Notes experienced with the basics of encounter design,
The runners encounter notes must make sense you can add a semblance of plot and continuing sto-
not only to him, but to his fellow players. After an ryline by designating one designer as plotter, who
encounter is over, pillagers can demand to look at creates a set of encounters that sets up a situation,
the designers notes. He may refuse them only in develops it, and finally resolves it in a great axe-
advanced play, when the encounter contains clues to swinging climax. The rest of the designers create
later encounters. Even in this case, he must turn unconnected cushion encounters that fit in
over his encounter notes after all of the encounters between the plotters encounters; all of these
hinted at have been played out. encounters combine into what is called an adven-
ture. With the addition of this innovation, you can
Encounter notes should look somewhat like expand the setting of Rune to the realms of the var-
those used in the sample adventure on p. 213. This ious non-human races, to foreign countries, and
isnt a civil service exam, though; as long as the even to the mythic realms of the gods.
runner and pillagers can understand them, theyre
fine. When designers create encounters, they Rules for adventures start on p. 176; but should be
should be thinking about the actual game play, not ignored until you and your fellow players are confi-
losing themselves in highly detailed passages of dent designers of simple encounters.
text that will either never come to the players
attention, or will glaze their eyes over with bore-
dom. Were not knocking other games in which Running Encounters
GMs are encouraged to read aloud or paraphrase Having created your encounter, its time to run it
long sections of descriptive text before proceeding for your opponents. Notes on doing this are provid-
to the hacking and slashing, but Rune is not that ed beginning on p. 192.
kind of game. Wed even advise you to

88
 Encounters

STEP ONE: Find Your Budget

Determining the budget for your encounters is a Josie, whose nasty encounter wiped out a couple of
two part process. First you measure the victory heroes, gets as her score for that encounter a deficit of
point levels of your players. Then you determine the 75. She has 23 unspent points, and decides to apply
number of encounter points you have available. them to the deficit. She now begins her next encounter
with a deficit of 52. Her next encounter, which she
spends as a Horde member, grants her 30 victory
Victory Points points. She doesnt get those points; they go to pay
down her deficit, which now stands at 22 (52 minus
To truly acquire Odin-like wisdom as an 30.) Her next encounter, also as a player, nets her 50
encounter designer, you need to know not only how victory points. She pays off her remaining deficit of 22
you, when you act as runner, can earn victory points, points, leaving her with 28 actual victory points.
but how players earn them, as well. After all, the
fewer points they win, the easier it will be for you to When you must apply victory points to a deficit,
beat them. you are treated, for the purposes of determining the
winner of a session, as if you never gained them.
HOW VICTORY POINTS WORK
Janie gets a raw 133 victory points but must apply
As an encounter progresses, you may do some- 40 of them to her deficit. The next-highest scorer,
thing that qualifies you for victory points. This is Junie, got 120 encounter points. Junie, not Janie, is
true whether youre running the encounter or act- the winner of the session.
ing as a member of the Horde. Take note of the
Nobody can ever lose unspent victory points won
number of potential victory points on a scrap piece
during previous encounters.
of paper. The total victory points youve jotted down
in this way comprises your victory point tally. You Victory points are tallied up at the very end of an
dont actually, immediately earn these points; you encounter, just as the heroes are ready to move on to
cant add them to your character sheet or spend
them on character improvements.
Participants permanently gain victory points
only at the end of an encounter. At that time, the
things you did to win points are balanced against LENGTH OF BASIC
the things you did to lose them. As a player, the ADVENTURES
worst you can do at the end of any encounter is to An adventure is a series of encounters. In the advanced
score 0 victory points. play option, it runs from the set-up to climax. In the
basic format youll be starting out with, an adventure
However, designer/runners who egregiously step consists X encounters, where X is 6 or the number of
over the line from giving the other players a tough, players, whichever is greater.
but winnable encounter into blatant, Loki-like At the end of each adventure, the heroes return home,
bloodlust, can suffer a worse fate than that. In at which time they can cash in loot for victory points.
extreme cases, they must accept a deficit. They can Designers can, in some situations, build in opportuni-
spend currently unspent victory points to reduce ties to return home early to drop off loot (see p. 173).
this deficit, but are not obliged to do so. Players suf-
fering a deficit must deduct it from all future victo-
ry point gains until the deficit is entirely paid for.

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 Chapter 4

gains 1 victory point.

the next one. Time spent The score is based on the
in tallying occurs in the real actual damage dealt after all
world but not in the game. Victory Armor Protection and other
points do not exist in the heroes world; they are a damage-reducing effects, such as divine gifts, are
game abstraction tof which the characters are blissful- taken into account. Only damage actually suffered
ly unaware. by the foe grants you victory points, so if a hero
deals damage in excess of the foes current hit
Victory Points for points, the Horde members gain is capped at his
hit point limit.
Players Your goblin adversary has only 6 hit points left. You
Horde members gain victory points in the fol- hit him for 12 points of damage. You score only 6 vic-
lowing ways: tory points from these hit points.
If a hero threw or maneuvered a foe into a trap
1. DAMAGE DEALT or hazard, his pillager gets points for any result-
For each point of damage a hero deals to a sup- ing damage. If more than one hero helped
porting character described in the encounter arrange this damage, the players vote to decide
notes as a foe, the Horde member whether to credit a pillagers hero, or distribute

90
 Encounters

the points evenly between the involved pil-

lagers. As always, the runner gets to cast an
extra, tie-breaking vote when the group dead-
locks (see p. 195).
KILL-STEALING
2. DEATH BLOWS
Astute readers will note that it is possible to rack up
When a hero kills a foe, his pillager gains victory victory points by allowing a fellow hero to whittle
points equal to 50% of the foes Might rating (see down a foe, and then step in to finish it off, deliver-
p. 100). (Drop fractions, as always.) This is in addi- ing the death blow and collecting its juicy Might rat-
tion to any awards for damage dealt. This bonus ing bonus. Is this not a mistake, they might ask.
Mistake? By Odins quivering beard, this is no error!
applies both to straight-up combat and to lethal Any warrior worthy of his own battle-axe is anxious to
damage from battlefield traps and hazards. prove himself to the gods, even if it means eclipsing
his friends. Of course heroes wish to steal each
3. SUCCESSES others kills! The Aesir do not reward heroes saddled
with a kindergarten teachers idea of fairness! Blood
Each time a hero succeeds at a roll specified in is good, but death is better! You wish a competitive
the encounter notes, his pillager gains victory game that is not really competitive? What kind of
points equal to the three times the difference Vikings are you?
between the Difficulty and result (roll + Ability). Attempts at kill-stealing are an expected part of the
Unless the encounter notes require heroes to game, adding interesting additional tactical considera-
make additional rolls, pillagers do not gain points tions to combat. The characters are aware of it, too,
for any successes after the first. because it gives them power and proves their superior-
ity over their comrades. The victory point rules
A combat encounter includes a chasm which heroes encourage a dynamic where the other heroes are your
must jump in order to get to their foes. Pillagers get comrades, but also your rivals. Forget to balance these
points for the first roll, but not if their heroes keep two roles at your peril.
gratuitously hopping back and forth over the canyon
once the fight is done. However, if the encounter
includes a sequence in which Lokis dancing bugs
burrow into the soles of heroes feet and force them them on their adventures to take advantage of its
to repeatedly jump the canyon, pillagers could get persuasive qualities or to purchase needed items
points for each leap. along the way. However, once the hero has gifted
his winnings to his community, he cant claw
4. LOOT them back. Generosity is a Viking virtue. (Though
For every ounce of silver heroes return to their oddly enough, the people theyre perennially
home base and give to their families or commu- raiding dont seem to see things that way.) Once
nity, pillagers gain 1 victory point. Other valuable a hero has won status by giving things away, it
items grant you victory points based on their would be unthinkable to ask for them back.
value in silver. Players get these points at the end
of each adventure. 5. PROXY SCORE
If you acted as proxy for the runners hero, you
A bronze mirror worth 5 ounces of silver grants you
gain half victory points for the things he did,
5 victory points.
minus the usual deductions. (The other half, also
Whenever a hero gains treasure, he faces a choice after deductions, goes to the runner.)
between turning it over to his community (so his
player gets victory points), or holding onto it for
personal use. Heroes may keep any amount of
the treasure they gain. They may take silver with

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 Chapter 4

Proxies may never cause the runners hero to

attack another hero.
Deductions for Players
6. VALHALLAS GAPING MAW
After tallying up all of the points you gained dur-
ing the encounter, pillagers must deduct from their Pillagers suffer a penalty for each hero, other
total for any of the following circumstances: than their own, who died in the course of the
encounter. Before calculating this, total up all
1. DAMAGE SUFFERED awards and deductions so far and determine pre-
liminary standings for the encounter: identify a
Pillagers deduct 1 for each point of damage their provisional winner, runner-up and second run-
heroes suffer, after Soak is taken into account. If ner-up. The amount of the penalty per dead hero
a hero heals in between bouts of damage, it is increases for players who would otherwise place
entirely possible for his pillager to take a deduc- well in the standings, as follows:
tion in excess of his hit point maximum. Heroes
do not negate their pillagers previous victory Provisional
point losses by gaining or regaining hit points Standing Deduction
during an encounter. Winner 75
Runner-up 45
2. YOUR HEROS DEATH
Second Runner-up 30
If a pillagers hero dies, his score is automatically 0.

3. WHOOPS, DIDNT MEAN TO KILL The death of a hero at the hand of another pil-
YOUR HERO, MR. RUNNER! lagers character does not trigger this penalty.
If the runners character dies, his proxys score is
automatically 0.
7. ODIN PUNISHES THE SLOTHFUL
If it was your turn to run but you punked out
4. LOSS OF STATUS and passed the duties onto one of your oppo-
nents, you lose 50% of your victory points.
Sometimes the encounter penalizes heroes for
Further, you will lose 50% of all victory points
dishonorable behavior. They might face a
from now on, until you actually run an
deduction for pausing to heal when your vil-
encounter. You face no deduction on the
lages reputation demands immediate action, or
encounter you finally run.
for wantonly slaying a bargainer or friendly sup-
porting character.

5. DAMAGE DEALT TO OTHER HEROES Victory Points for

If a pillager deliberately chooses to have his
Runners
hero attack another, he deducts 5 victory points Just because youre the runner doesnt mean that
for every point of actual damage dealt to his your character remains frozen in the blocks while
victim. If the hero he attacks dies, the aggres- the other heroes dash ahead of him, picking up vic-
sors score is automatically 0. Other players do tory points.
not suffer the usual deductions incurred by the
death of another players hero. You do not (Note that runners do not gain victory points
deduct points if your character was possessed when supporting characters use Divine Gifts, such as
when he dealt the damage. The attacked hero The Nurturing of Yggdrasil, that grant bonus victo-
can strike back, dealing damage in return, with- ry points to heroes.)
out facing a deduction.

92
 Encounters

Runners do gain points for the following: 5. PROXY SCORE

Runners get half the victory points, after deduc-
1. THANK YOU FOR PLAYING
tions are properly taken into account, from the
Runners get 30 victory points just for running actions of their own heroes, as controlled by the
the encounter. chosen proxy.

2. ALMOST DOWN, BUT NOT QUITE OUT 6. TRIFECTA

For each hero who is at any point during your If you served as both designer and runner of the
encounter reduced to 20 or fewer hit points, or encounter, and if you also got at least 1 victory
brought to exactly 4 wounds, the runner gains point from categories 2, 3, and 4, you gain an
victory points equal to 75 + (the heros total vic- additional bonus of 75 victory points.
tory points to date 10). Total victory points to
date includes the heros spent and unspent victo-
ry points so far, but not his current tally for the Deductions for Runners
present encounter.
The runner faces the following deduction. As
He collects only once per hero; he doesnt get previously mentioned, runners suffer a deficit if the
to double-dip if a hero is pulped more than total deduction exceeds his positive points.
once under his watch. He does not get these
points in the case of heroes who later die dur- 1. DEAD HEROES
ing the encounter.
For each hero (other than his own) who dies in
the course of his encounter, the runner loses 75
3. CHORTLE AT THE MISFORTUNES OF
OTHERS victory points.

Each time a hero fails a roll called for in the

design notes, the runner scores three times the Winning
difference between the Difficulty and result in
victory points. Failures at freestanding Ability At the beginning of each session, make a note of
rolls garner no victory points. your current victory point score. (A session is any
meeting at which you gather to play a game of
4. WHEN TERRAIN COMES INTO PLAY Rune.) The player with the highest score by the end
of the session wins.
Runners gain 20 points for each terrain feature
that motivates a hero to make an Engagement roll, Keep track of your wins. The player to rack up
move, or half move in order either to take advan- the most wins over the course of a campaign wins
tage of it, or avoid its ill consequences. that campaign. What is a campaign?, you ask
Runners also gain 20 points for each trap which, Before embarking on a campaign, you and the
during combat, motivates a hero to roll other players must agree on its nature. Campaigns
Engagement or any non-combat skill, to make a can either be finite or open-ended. A finite cam-
move or half move, or to spend an action doing paign ends after a predetermined number of ses-
something other than attacking an opponent. sions, or when the first player reaches a predeter-
mined number of total victory points. The overall
Tube-strikers do not count as terrain features for this winner is then declared. A finite campaign gives the
purpose. Runners get no points for terrain features winner a high-quality jolt of triumph when the cli-
which appeared in their previous two encounters. mactic moment comes. Having felt the tension build
The possible score for this category is capped at as the big moment approaches, he can war-whoop
80 points. and dance about the room, brandishing

93
 Chapter 4

DESIGNERS BUDGET TABLE

Average Victory Point Total Limit Increases By:
500 victory points 50 encounter points
750 victory points 75 encounter points
1000 victory points 100 encounter points
Each additional 250 victory points +25 encounter point limit increase

his imaginary battle-axe. (This behavior is not oblig- The total number of positive points a designer
atory.) However, it is possible that the group might can spend (or negative points he can earn, if you
feel a bit disappointed, having invested many hours want to look at it that way) starts at 350 points.
in building up their heroes, to bid them farewell. If
Everything that has a cost counts towards the
youre of the school that contends one should never
designers limit; he cant circumvent the limit by
retire a roleplaying character until, impaled on an
bundling items together.
enemys lance, he coughs up gouts of frothy blood
and painfully expires, the open-ended approach is Michelle creates a trap that, on its own, balances
probably for you. You and the other players can at out to 0 points. The trap includes features that cost
any time end the campaign by mutual agreement, 30 points, but also features that gain her 30 points.
but until that day comes, you still have a chance of The trap takes up 30 points of her budget, not 0.
surpassing your rivals scores and you get to keep
your hero in play until the valkyries claim him for A designers budget increases in step with the
Valhallas halls. players victory point totals. The chart above shows
how many encounter points a designer gets when
Alternately, you can compromise between the building encounters for experienced players. The
two approaches, carrying your characters over from value in the first column is a number of total victo-
one finite campaign to the next. ry points; if the majority of players (including the
designer/runner) have reached that benchmark, you
may increase your limit for any encounter by the
Encounter Points value provided in the second column.
Just as you built your hero using a set number of Limit increases are not cumulative.
points, you pay for the elements of each encounter
The Horde includes five players, three of whom
you design with encounter points.
have more than 750 victory points. You can spend
To gain positive encounter points which you 375 points per encounter.
will spend on things that harm or challenge the
heroes, the designer must earn at least as many
negative points by including elements which help
or reward them.
The encounter point cost of a slope that covers two
thirds of a combat area is 20. If you include one in
your encounter, it gives you another 20 points to
spend on risks and challenges.

94
 Encounters

STEP TWO: Encounter Concepts

An encounter is more than just a random assem- HOW MANY EVENTS ARE THERE?
blage of sword-clanging fights, fiendish traps, and glit-
An encounter must include one to four separate
tering treasures. But not too much more than that;
events. Each event revolves around a separate loca-
we wouldnt want to get carried away with ourselves.
tion. An event can include a combat sequence, any
When you devise a concept for a basic encounter, number of traps or other hazards, and any number
youre answering the following questions: of opportunities for treasure or other gains pro-
vided that you can pay for them all, of course.
1. Where does it take place?
2. How many events are there? WHAT HAPPENS IN EACH EVENT?
3. (For each event) What happens? For each event, think of a simple sentence that
sums up what will happen to the heroes when they
WHERE DOES IT TAKE PLACE? go through it.

This ones easy: until you get to the advanced The heroes fight a bunch of goblins who live
adventure options described on page 176, everyones under a fiery waterfall.
encounters take place in the Underground, the
An old crazy guy tries to hypnotize the heroes
sprawling subterranean network of caverns, tunnels, and take their equipment.
passageways, and chambers that connects the vari-
ous mythic realms to the Dwarves challenge a hero to fight their new
everyday world of robot, with a big treasure as the prize.
Midgard. Any foe you
At least one event in any encounter must include
can think of can
a combat sequence.
be found in the
Underground.
Now, Fill In Your
Encounter
Having answered these
questions, youre ready to
populate your events with
the desired mix of ele-
ments, spending and
gaining points as
necessary.

95
 Chapter 4

STEP THREE: Selecting Foes

This section is divided into two parts. The first must equal the number of heroes, and the total Mix
tells designers how to include enemy combatants in value of the second cannot exceed half the number
their encounters. The second describes the main of heroes.
sorts of foes the heroes face in the world of Rune,
Level Mix Ratio
and gives designers guidelines on creating new ene-
mies of their own. Terrifying 4 One foe for four heroes
Exceptional 3 One foe for three heroes
Designers must include one combat event per
encounter. You can include a second one, too, if Superior 2 One foe for two heroes
you want. Equal 1.3 Two foes for three heroes
Inferior 0.7 Three foes for two heroes
Combat Events Weak 0.5 Two foes for one hero
Pitiful 0.3 Three foes for one hero
This part of the Foes section shows designers
how to create and pay for the foes heroes will fight.
Designers can mix and match opponents from
several threat ratings. When adding up Mix values,
STEP ONE:
THREAT CATEGORIES ignore our usual rule on fractions and instead round
to the nearest whole number. Round down when the
Foes fall into seven Threat Categories. From fraction is 0.5.
most to least dangerous, the categories are:
Terrifying, Exceptional, Superior, Equal, Inferior, Your encounter includes only 1 combat event.
Weak, and Pitiful. When designing an encounter, There are six players in the group, including yourself.
the designer decides which of these categories each You decide to create an encounter in which the heroes
combat opponent falls into, but does not assign will face a Terrifying enemy. That takes up 4 of your
them precise game statistics. Instead, the runner available 6 points. You decide to add in one Equal and
determines the game statistics just before starting one Weak opponent, whose Mix values are 1.3 and
the encounter during a session. 0.5, respectively. Your total is 5.8, which rounds up to
6, your maximum number for the encounter.

STEP TWO: If the runner finds himself with more or fewer

NUMBERS OF FOES players than expected when the designer created the
encounter, the runner quickly alters the Threat cate-
Threat Categories allow designers to match the gories and numbers of foes so that the new Mix
number of opponents to the number of heroes. In value equals the number of heroes.
an encounter with a single combat event, the total
Mix value of all the foes in that event must equal
the number of heroes. STEP THREE:
FOE TYPES
A Terrifying enemy may be introduced only if there
are at least four heroes to fight it. On the other hand, Now the designer decides what kind of foe each
2 Weak opponents may appear for each hero. of these Mix values represents. He can use the foe
types that appear later in this section, or he can
For encounters with two combat events, the total come up with descriptions of new enemy types of
foe Mix value in one of these events his own creation.

96
 Encounters

Some of the foes we describe can never exceed a heroes survive the encounter.
given Threat category; rock goblins, for example, can Runners may also find themselves
never be better than Inferior foes. However, as wanting to whittle down the winning players hero.
youre about to see, each category is relative to the
Foes bound by the Foe Target Choice Flowchart
current strength of the heroes. So the party might
on p. 196 (which is the default option) are referred to
fight a Superior wendol in one designers encounter,
as Predictable.
and then a Terrifying one in the next.
You decide that your Terrifying combatant will be
a mechadwarf, your Equal one a dwarven centurion,
STEP FIVE (OPTIONAL):
THE ADJUST
and your Inferior one a dwarven laborer.
When using the standard foe types found later
When you get to the foe type descriptions at the in this section the runner can add a second step,
end of this chapter, youll see that some foes have the Adjust, which specifies changes to the com-
special Abilities to deploy against their prey; these batants game statistics, giving him recognizable
increase their Mix values. traits for his type. This adds flavor to the game, but
is not mandatory.
STEP FOUR: Adjusts for standard foes are given in their entries
SELF-WILLED, OR PREDICTABLE? in the Gallery of Fearsome Foes, in the second half
As explained on p. 197, runners dont normally of this section. When designers create their own
get to decide which heroes a particular foe will creatures, they can give them Adjust ratings, using
attack; instead, a flowchart makes the choices for the rules given on p. 119.
them. However, a designer can make any individual
Checking the entry for dwarven centurions on p.
foe Self-Willed by paying a number of encounter
108, you see that their Adjust values are: INIT -2,
points pegged to its Threat Category.
ATK -2, DFN -3 , DAM +7. You write these values in
Threat your encounter notes, so youll have them right at
Category Cost hand when you eventually run the encounter.
Terrifying +50 encounter points
Exceptional +35 encounter points STEP SIX (OPTIONAL):
Superior +25 encounter points MISSILE WEAPONS
Equal +15 encounter points You can arm certain foes with missile weapons.
Check the game statistics for this type of foe to make
Inferior +10 encounter points
sure it has the arrow icon (see the insert on p. 102),
Weak +5 encounter points which means that it can use them. (You decide
Pitiful +2 encounter points whether foe types of your own creation qualify.) Then,
decide whether the foe uses a bow or a crossbow.

A Self-Willed foe may attack any hero of the run- The designer gains 10 encounter points if none of
ners choice, unless the hero is already Engaged by the foes in a combat event use missile weapons, pro-
another Self-Willed foe. Self-Willed foes may even vided that at least half of the opponents (as mea-
break away from their current Engagements in order sured by their percentage of the total Mix value)
to switch opponents, if the runner so commands. have the arrow icon.

Self-Willed foes allow runners more control over Checking the game statistics for the foe types above,
the damage dealt in combat; this is advantageous you see that mechadwarves cant use missile weapons, but
because runners get victory points for reducing that centurions and laborers can. You decide to give the
heroes to 10 or fewer hit points, but only if the centurion a crossbow and the laborer a bow.

97
 Chapter 4

which one you circle.

If many heroes share the same game statistics,
YOUR WORK HERE IS you may have situations where the second worst
DONE FOR NOW number is also the second best, or best, or whatever.
Dont worry about it.
As designer, you can move on to the other elements of
the encounter. Steps seven and eight are actually per- All of the heroes but one have a Soak of 7; the
formed by the runner, right before starting the other has a Soak of 10. You still circle the 10, even
encounter. We could have moved them to the chapter though it is also the best statistic.
on running encounters if we wanted to be impossi-
bly confusing. They make more sense here. Make the following adjustments when the num-
ber of heroes is less than four. For three heroes, use
the worst number in each column. For two heroes,
STEP SEVEN: use the worst number and subtract 1 from INIT,
THE ROLL OF VALOR ATK, DFN, DAM, Soak, and Res, and 10 from HP.
Before play begins, the runner gets the players to
fill out the Roll of Valor (found below, and in the
Appendix) with their heroes current statistics. The
players can fill in the Roll of Valor in any old order. ROLL OF VALOR
The runner wont be referring to it during play. He Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res
must remember to fill it in for his own hero! 10 10 8 14 7 48 6

The one column heading that isnt self-explana- Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res
tory is Res (which stands for Response). This is the 9 11 10 9 10 119 3
heros highest bonus for any action undertaken out-
side of combat. Usually this will be the bonus for an Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res
Ability, paired with its governing Characteristic. In 8 7 11 8 7 70 3
odd cases, it might be the roll used to activate a
Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res
Divine Gift or magical treasure.
9 7 7 12 7 58 4
If a heros Divine Gifts allow him to increase any
of the listed game statistics, his pillager must write Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res
down the maximum possible game statistic, with 10 12 12 9 7 52 4
Gifts taken into account, for each entry. If a Gift
Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res
permanently increases a stat, include it on the Roll;
2 7 1 7 7 48 2
ignore Gifts that temporarily boost a heros numbers
After everybody has filled it out, the runner cir- Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res
cles the second worst number in each column with
a highlighter or other marker. Treat ties as the
Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res
same number.
Check out the sample Roll of Valor, opposite. In
the ATK column, the lowest score is a 7; 3 heroes
share it. That makes the second-lowest number a 10, TALLY
not one of the 7s. (to be filled out by the Runner)
Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res
In the DAM column, the lowest score is a 7. The 8 10 7 9 6 52 3
next score up from that is a 9. It doesnt matter that
two heroes share it. Nor does it matter

98
 Encounters

STEP EIGHT: Finally, our Inferior dwarven

GAME STATISTICS laborer, for whom we subtract 2
Then use the Adjust Table to determine the from the first three columns, 1 from DAM, Soak and
game statistics of each creature according to its Res, and 10 from HP, with the following results:
Threat Category. An Equal opponents statistics will
be the numbers you circled in each column of the INIT ATK DFN DAM Soak HP Res
Roll of Valor. The runner creates statistics for less- 6 8 5 8 5 42 2
threatening opponents by subtracting from the cir-
cled numbers. For more threatening opponents, The Response Rating
add to those numbers. Foes use their Response (Res) ratings for any
and every roll (other than INIT, ATK, and DFN)
To get the game statistics for our three enemies, they must make during combat. The list of things
we first start with the tallied game statistics from the they use Response rolls for includes, but is not lim-
Roll of Valor. ited to: Engagement, Bravery, Dodge, Awareness,
Climb, Sprint, and Jump.
INIT ATK DFN DAM Soak HP Res Adjusts
8 10 7 9 6 52 3
If the designer included Adjusts for the foes, the
runner now uses them to modify his provisional
To get game statistics for our Terrifying mechad- game statistics.
warf, we add 6 to each of the first four columns, 3 to
As you noted when you designed the encounter,
Soak, 30 to HP, and 3 to Res. This is our result:
the centurions Adjust values are ATK -2, DFN -1 , DAM
+9. You perform those adjustments to your centuri-
INIT ATK DFN DAM Soak HP Res ons game statistics.
14 16 13 15 9 82 6

Now comes our Equal dwarven centurion. Thats INIT ATK DFN DAM Soak HP Res
8 8 6 18 6 52 3
easy; we just copy the same numbers from the Roll of
Valor tally.
When adjusting, treat all HP results below 10 as
10, and all Soaks and DAM scores below 0 as 0. INIT,
INIT ATK DFN DAM Soak HP Res
8 10 7 9 6 52 3 ATK, DFN, and Res can all go negative.

FOE MAKERS TABLE

INIT ATK DFN DAM
Category Score Score Score Score Soak HP Res
Terrifying +6 +6 +6 +6 +3 +30 +3
Exceptional +4 +4 +4 +4 +2 +20 +2
Superior +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 +10 +1
Equal - - - - - - 0
Inferior -2 -2 -2 -1 -1 -10 -1
Weak 4 -4 -4 -2 -2 -20 -2
Pitiful -6 -6 -6 -3 - -30 -3

99
 Chapter 4

Equipment Already Included

The game statistics you generate for foes are final
numbers, and include the benefits of weapons,
armor, and shields for those creatures that use them.
DEATH: THE PROPER Under no circumstances should you take the game
statistics garnered through this method and then
OUTCOME OF ANY BATTLE give them extra bonuses for gear!
Foes always fight to the death their own, or the
heroes. We concede that it isnt realistic, whatever in Wound Threshold
Odins name that means, for enemies to act with Most opponents have Wound Thresholds of 15.
bloodlust so fierce that they lose all sense of their own Those with more than 60 hit points have Wound
survival. But in practice runners always forget to have Thresholds of 18. Those with less than 20 have
their combatants flee, so lets just admit that running
Wound Thresholds of 12.
away isnt what this game is all about. Its simpler and
more fun to have the bad guys fight until crushed Might Rating
beneath the heroes boots.
When a hero kills a foe, he gets a victory bonus
of 1/2 the foes Might rating. The runner calculates
that rating as follows: (INIT + ATK + DFN + DAM +
Soak + (HP 10)) 2. Lop off any fractions at the
Missile Statistics end of the calculation. Ignore missile weapon values
To get statistics for a foes bow attacks, use its when tallying Might. Treat any negative values as 0.
melee attacks as a starting point, and then apply the The centurions Might is 24: (8 + 8 + 6 + 18 +
following modifiers: -1 to INIT, and -4 to ATK. The 6 + 5.2) 2.
DAM score stays the same, but cannot exceed 11. For
crossbows, the modifiers are -8 to INIT and -3 to
ATK; DAM cant exceed 14. In each case, use the
foes Res rating as its DFN when armed with a mis-
Gallery Of
sile weapon. Fearsome Foes
For the crossbow-wielding centurion, you reduce his In a world without enemies, there would be no
INIT of 8 by 8, bringing it to 0. You reduce his ATK glory. Fortunately for young Viking warriors aspir-
by 3, bringing it to 5. For DFN, you use his Res rat- ing to hallowed seats in the longhouses of Valhalla,
ing. His DAM is 17, and so hits the cap of 14. the Viking world offers foes aplenty. Encounter
designers draw their roster of blood-crazed combat
opponents from the foes described in this chapter.
INIT ATK DFN DAM
Melee Statistics 8 8 6 18 They arent restricted to the foes outlined in this
Missile Statistics 0 5 3 14 section, though. Guidelines for creating creatures
and giving them Rune game statistics are given at
For the bow-slinging laborer, you reduce INIT by the end of this chapter.
1, taking it to 5, and his ATK by 4, taking it to 4. Foe types use a standard format, with the follow-
DFN is its Res rating of 2. DAM is less than 11, and ing entries:
remains the same.
Max. Threat: Some creatures are meant to be
INIT ATK DFN DAM
challenges only in numbers, or to beginning heroes.
Melee Statistics 6 8 5 8
Missile Statistics 5 4 2 8 If a foe has a Maximum Threat Category listed, you
cant assign it a higher Threat Category. Use a more
respectable creature instead.

100
 Encounters

FOE REFERENCE TABLE

Bench- Foe Mzximum
mark Type Name Threat Move Adjusts Mix Page
2 Goblin Leader Weak 5 HP +50 0 114
3 Goblin Rock Inferior 15 None 0 111
3 Goblin Shaman Inferior 15 None 0 113
4 Goblin Rock Goblinesses Inferior 15 None 0 111
4 Goblin Vegetarian Inferior 15 INIT +1, DAM -3 0 115
5 Goblin Warrior Inferior 15 None 0 112
5 Land Crab Small Inferior 15 DFN -3, Soak +3 0 116
5 Craftwerk Spider-werk Equal 15 DAM +12, HP -10 +0.3 109
6 Dwarf Laborer Equal 15 None 0 107
6 Goblin Roving Slayer Equal 15 None 0 112
6 Craftwerk Beetle-werk Terrifying 100 INIT -15, ATK -4, DFN -4, DAM +6, +0.2 108
Soak +8, HP -20
6 Craftwerk Centi-werk Inferior 15 INIT +15, ATK -2, DFN -3 0 108
7 Viking Dishonored Superior 15 None +0.5 103
7 Goblin Senior Slayer Equal 15 None 0 112
8 Viking Dark Viking Terrifying 15 None 0 102
8 Dwarf Pit Boss Superior 15 DAM +5, Soak -1 0 107
8 Elf Mischief Maker Equal 30 INIT +3, DAM -3 0 110
8 Goblin Freak Superior 15 INIT +6, ATK +1, DFN -3, 0 113
DAM +3 , Soak -1
10 Land Crab Large Exceptional 15 DFN -3, Soak +3 0 116
10 Troll Terrifying 15 DFN -1, DAM +3 0 117
11 Dwarf Medic Exceptional 15 ATK -1, DFN -1, DAM +6 0 107
12 Dwarf Centurion Superior 15 ATK -2, DFN -1 , DAM +9 0 108
12 Dwarf Slaver Superior 15 INIT -2, DFN -2, DAM +4 0 107
12 Elf Courtier Terrifying 30 INIT +3, DAM -3 0 110
12 Tube-Striker Terrifying 0 None NA 117
15 Wendol Terrifying 15 INIT -3, DAM +1 0 118
16 Dwarf Clan Champion Terrifying 15 DAM +9 +0.3 108
16 Viking Sark Amen Terrifying 15 None +0.8 104
17 Craftwerk Mecha-Dwarf Terrifying 15 DAM +9 +0.3 109
20 Giant Terrifying 60 INIT -9, DAM +3 0 116
32 Craftwerk Mega-Dwarf Terrifying 45 None 0 109

101
 Chapter 4

Benchmark: The foes average INIT, ATK, DFN,

and DAM score. For a more detailed description of
bechmarks, see the insert on page 103.
ITS A SIGN!
Adjusts: Not every foe will have identical scores
A series of icons precede each foes game statistics. in INIT, ATK, DFN and DAM. When a foes scores
Heres what they mean: differ from the benchmark, well note it here.
Move: The maximum number of paces the foe
The arrow icon means that the foe some-
1 times uses missile weapons. You dont have
to give it missile weapons in every encounter
but you can if you want.
can move during one round of combat. He can
move half this distance and still act.
Mix: Some foes have a higher Mix value than
their threat category would indicate (see the table
The broken arrow ndicates that the creature on p. 96). Add this number to the foes normal

2 never uses missile weapons. If you want a foe

with those game statistics that uses a missile,
youll have two choices. You can either cre-
mix value.

ate a new creature type with a different Vikings

description and similar numbers, or come
up with some weird explanation of the Not all Vikings pursue the time-honored ways of
enemys missile use, like a dwarven glory. Some have fallen from the ranks of those des-
craftwerks experiment. tined for Valhalla, becoming minions of the dark
god Loki. These wretched creatures are heroes no
The battle axe means that the foe uses hand- more, and a quick death at the hands of an honor-

3 held weapons and can be disarmed. able Norseman is the best that is left to them.

DARK VIKINGS 135

The claw indicates that the creature uses
4 weapons that are a part of its body. It cant be
disarmed.
Max. Threat: Terrifying
Benchmark: 8
Adjusts: none
The howling goblin means that the creature Move: 15

6 always charges headlong towards the

heroes as soon as it gets wind of them. It
uses the Foe Target Choice Flowchart in
Mix: 0
Dark Vikings are ordinary Norsemen who have
pledged their allegiance to Loki. The chieftains and
chapter five to pick its target.
warlords among them believe that they will become
gods themselves under the new regime Loki will
The smirking goblin describes crafty foes
5 who, when seeing the heroes, can wait to
attack them. Theyll most often choose to do
so if they begin the encounter with some
impose after his inevitable victory at Ragnarok. Their
followers believe that they will be elevated in power
along with their masters, becoming warlords on
Midgard or semi-divine attendants in Lokis twisted
kind of terrain advantage, like high ground
or cover. version of Asgard.
Not every Dark Viking believes that ultimate glory
And finally, the crescent moon icon means
7 that the creature has night vision and is
immune to penalties from darkness
awaits him. Some agreed to follow him out of fear,
either for their own lives or those of their kinfolk.
Resigned and frightened, they know that they have
done something wicked and dishonorable, and

102
 Encounters

thing and cleave their sorry skulls

THE BENCHMARK from their traitorous bodies.
(Shamed warriors, when decapitated, are not ban-
For each standard foe type, we specify a benchmark. ished to Hels precincts; their souls are instead oblit-
This suggests the average INIT, ATK, DFN or DAM
scores for enemies of that type. This is just a guideline
erated entirely. Utter non-existence is the best a
for designers to mearsure their own creatures against. regretful Dark Viking can hope for; the concept of
The foes designers create never have to be average: they redemption is alien to the grim Viking worldview.)
can be weaker or stronger than the norm. (When was
the last time you met a totally average person, anyway?) The mountain city of Thorstadt serves as a major
The benchmark gives an indication of the relative stronghold for the Dark Vikings. In the dark times
power of various creatures. The game will be more fun of Ragnaroks imminence, more and more
if designers keep their foe statistics more or less in line Scandinavian villages are ruled by Lokis favorites.
with the benchmarks. That way, the heroes can enjoy
hacking their way through goblins at the beginning of Unlike most foe types, Dark Vikings range wildly
their career, and then progress to dwarves, in ability. Although the Benchmark represents an
Dishonored, wendols, and Sark Amen, just like they do average, individuals cover the entire range of
in the computer game. To get the usual INIT, ATK, Threat Categories.
DFN, and DAM scores for a specimen, start with the
benchmark and then perform the adjust.
The centurions benchmark is 12. When you apply the
THE DISHONORED 1367
Adjust to it, you get the first four game statistics of an Max. Threat: Superior
average centurion: Benchmark: 7
Adjusts: none
INIT ATK DFN DAM Move: 15
12 10 11 21
Mix: +0.5
Life may end for cowardly or treacherous Vikings,
We can see that the centurion we created for our but existence does not. When they die, they trans-
encounter is less capable than the norm. He must be migrate to the realm of Hel, goddess of the dead.
a new recruit, or an oft-wounded old veteran with Until recently, it was thought that they would list-
tired bones. lessly wander through that realm of flame and tor-
Designers can use the benchmark when choosing foe ment for a near eternity, until the final horn was
types. To do this, they must know in advance what the blown before the battle of Ragnarok. But recently
results of the Roll of Valor will be, give or take a point Hel found a way to aid her father, breaking the seals
or three. Average the projected INIT, ATK, and DFN on the gates separating her realm from the rest of
scores of the heroes. Then pick a foe with a benchmark
the Underworld. From the Underworld, the dishon-
at or around the average. To make this method easier,
the Foe Reference Chart on p. 101 lists foes in bench- ored can travel to any other divine or mortal realm.
mark order. Although they retain only a fraction of their memo-
ries, Intelligence and personality from life, and are
No foe can ever have Divine Gifts. Nor do they use
magical treasures. not especially skilled fighters, they can still be tough
opponents. Killing a man who is already dead and
moldering is difficult work.
worry that they have only postponed their doom. Loki and Hel use the Dishonored only for tasks suit-
They realize that, when killed, they will join the ed to essentially mindless, if highly motivated, min-
undead ranks of the Dishonored, which is a fate that ions. Often platoons of the Dishonored are led by
no one seeks. While some avoid combat in order to Dark Viking warlords.
stave off their dread fate for just a little while longer,
others hurl themselves headlong into battle, hoping The Dishonored are only completely stopped by
that a still-honorable Norseman will do the right extremely powerful blows. A killing blow

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 Chapter 4

regains X hit points at the beginning of each round.

If it is again reduced to 0 with a non-wounding hit,
and again not dispatched at the cost of a heros
action, the runner once more rolls his Res to see if he
gets back up again.

SARK AMEN 1367

Max. Threat: Terrifying
Benchmark: 16
Adjusts: none
Move: 15
Mix: +0.8
The most promising among the Dishonored are
bathed in the bubbling blood of Loki, from which
they arise as Sark Amen, the mightiest of undead
opponents. The blood baptism elongates their bod-
ies and reinforces their muscles. Sark Amen are
eleven to twelve feet tall, highly resistant to blows,
and capable of dealing hideous amounts of damage.
Sark Amen have all of the standard undead powers,
as described above. They are also extremely fast and
agile fighters, who disorient foes by leaping over
them and around the battlefield. Sark Amen ignore
the effects of barriers. During their Initiative, they
can make a bound of up to twenty paces, leaping
over any obstacle or combatant. This does not
must not only reduce the creatures hit points to 0, require an action. They can attack in mid-leap, levy-
but also meet or exceed its Wound Threshold. Non- ing a decrease equal to their Res to their victims
wounding hits knock them to or below 0 merely DFN rolls. It is often advantageous for them to
cause them to fall down. To finish off a Dishonored make a leaping attempt against a new opponent each
in this condition, a hero must spend an additional round, instead of continuing the same close-range
action to crush or sever its head. The heros pillager encounter from one round to the next. Accordingly,
does not get the death blow addition to his victory a group Sark Amen often spend a confrontation
point tally until he does this. If another hero com- jumping like grasshoppers around the battlefield,
pletes the finishing move, his pillager splits the death deftly switching off opponents. Runners are free to
blow bonus with the one who actually reduced it to 0 have Sark Amen trade off targets in this manner,
hit points. If no hero completes the finishing move regardless of the Foe Target Choice Flowchart (p.
before the Dishonoreds next action, the runner rolls 196), so long as these maneuvers do not change the
its Res against a Difficulty of 6 just before the net number of Sark Amen attacking any given hero.
Initiative step at the beginning of the subsequent
round. If the roll succeeds, the Dishonored recovers,
regaining X lost hit points, where X equals the differ-
ence between the rolls result and difficulty. Since its
back up again, no one scores the victory point award
for the previous death blow. Until it is once more
reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, it

104
 Encounters

Dwarves sources of might than the whims

of irrational deities. The dwarves
Dwarves are a race of being at least as old as the know that their doctrine will render the gods irrele-
gods. Endlessly they toil in the clanking mills and fac- vant. They do not fear Ragnarok, but welcome it,
tories of steam-shrouded Nidavellir. Once they pro- certain that it will usher in a new era in which their
duced items of great power for the Aesir, including technology will become predominant, and the non-
Odins spear, Heimdals helm, and Thors legendary sense and superstition of the gods will be washed
hammer, Mjolnir. More recently (that is, during the away like so much industrial waste. Which side they
events chronicled in the Rune computer game), the support in the upcoming struggle is ultimately of lit-
partly robotic, lightning-powered dwarven king threw tle consequence, so they might as well, they think,
in his lot with Loki and began production on special provide armaments to the group that makes the best
armor for the trickster gods undead shock troops, the offer. Unfortunately, there is no denying that the
Sark Amen. Although a Horde can agree that their gods are still wildly powerful, any one of them capa-
games take place during the dwarf kings rein, we ble of great damage to even the best-protected dwar-
think its more interesting if the heroes can interact ven installation. Until the cleansing tides of
with dwarves of varying allegiances. The rest of this Ragnarok sweep them all away, they and their Viking
description describes events that followed the heroic followers must be avoided, bargained with, or
swath cut by Ragnar, hero of the computer game, as pounded to a reddened pulp.
he rampaged through Nidavellir. Dwarven society is highly regimented. In order to
The technology of the dwarves exceeds the build mechanical things, it is essential to work in
understanding of men. The players will recognize its groups. The efficiency of the group is the most impor-
clunky, steam technology as a twisted and primitive tant thing. Groups are only efficient when they are
precursor of the early Industrial Revolution. To the strictly regulated, and each unit knows his duties and
heroes, dwarven steam power, electrical energy, and role within the larger whole. The worst act a dwarf can
scythe-bladed dwarf/robot hybrids will seem like the commit is the disruption of group efficiency.
direst magic. It remains enigmatic even to all-wise However, dwarves do not believe themselves capable
Odin. Odin has always lusted after the power offered of evil intent. To resent a superior is absurd, like a gear
by the product of dwarven forges. Loki thought it an feeling jealous of a piston. Rebellious or self-willed
essential element in his attempted conquest of dwarves are not immoral, they are defective.
Asgard. But the dwarves jealously guard their secrets. Squads of medics scour Nidavellir for defectives,
Any interloper into Nidavellir is immediately who are coveted as experimental subjects by dwarven
assumed to be a thief of technological secrets, and is hospital operators, who invariably double as
welcomed with battle cries and furious blows from researchers into steam-powered cybernetics. Defectives
the enormous hammers, swords, and axes typical of are set upon, swaddled in expansible steel restraints,
dwarven weaponry. However, it is possible to inter- and clouted into submission. The dwarven loathing of
act peacefully with the dwarves, especially if one malfunction is so great that passersby often assist in
comes bearing large quantities of silver or other the apprehension and bludgeoning process. Dwarven
goods calculated to stimulate the avaricious streak doctors open up the defectives skull and insert into it
that bedevils even the humblest of dwarves. their most up-to-date brain fixatives. The insertion of
Dwarves dwell in the world of the physical. They these whirring gearboxes, usually about the size of a
have no patience for worship, or gibble-gabble about fist, often does serious collateral damage to the sub-
magic and mystery. As far as theyre concerned, the jects brain. If this is the case, the head can still be sal-
Divine Gifts of the gods are an inferior route to vaged for use as part of a mecha-dwarf (see below).
power. They could figure it all out in concrete, mech- Cynical individuals might observe that the entire
anistic terms if they really wanted to, but steam and process seems designed merely to generate spare parts
electricity are much sturdier and less capricious for mecha-dwarves, but both cynicism and irony are
unknown in Nidavellir.

105
 Chapter 4

Dwarves are literal-minded, blunt- limbs of battling, metallic mega-dwarves. Despite dwar-
spoken people whose sense of ven condescension towards humans, Viking warriors
humor (if you can call it that) is mostly confined to might be able to enter into useful negotiations with the
puns and cleverly-worded threats of violence. factions of Nidavellir. In particular they might profit by
Dwarves lust after money, silver especially. They finding fragments of
hoard it in ingeniously-trapped mechanical safes, or the schematics for
simply spend it on new equipment. Dwarves can buy Hugirs robotic
their way into prestigious bloodlines, so silver pro- body, which
vides them their only means of advancing through the slain
the social hierarchy. They thrive in underground
environments amid noise, darkness, foul vapors, and
extremes of temperature. They like machinery and
events with predictable outcomes. They loathe
sunshine, flowers, forests, the sound of chirping
songbirds, and mild weather. They believe
that nature exists only to be mined for
ore and smelted down. Although they
respect the power of the Aesir, they
look down their prodigious noses at
the gods human worshipers, who
they consider superstitious weaklings
with no proper sense of self-reliance.
Goblins they see as nothing more than
potential slaves. Elves are totally useless,
not even good at forced labor.
Although dwarven society is rigidly orga-
nized, with few surviving dissidents, it is not
always unified. Several competing bloodlines
have for ages fought over the dwarven throne.
Dwarven wars of succession make feuds
between Viking villages look like a childs
game. Lately the heads of these dwarven clans
have taken to converting themselves into
mighty, gigantic mecha-dwarves to more effec-
tively battle one another in single combat. The
late dwarven king, Hugir, dispatched his
other cyborg opponents and then clamped
down on the technology to prevent their
relatives from also reconstructing
themselves as giants to challenge
him. Now that Hugir is dead, the
heads of the various ancestral lines
are racing to rebuild the technology
and themselves. Soon the massive
subterranean chambers of Nidavellir
will once again ring and shake with
the clashing

106
 Encounters

monarch secreted throughout the Underworld, to hide

them from his rivals. (He would have destroyed them,
but feared that repairs might be difficult if the original SLAVER 1357
plans were entirely lost.) Vikings entering Nidavellir
would be wise to remain wary of Hugirs kin, now vio- Max. Threat: Superior
lently embittered by their champions death at the Benchmark: 12
hands of a mere Norseman. Adjusts: INIT -2, DFN -2, DAM +4
Move: 15
Mix: 0
LABORER 1357 Slavers ravage the Underworlds goblin territories in
Max. Threat: Equal search of captives. Traveling in large parties, they
Benchmark: 6 attack with overwhelming force. Theyre happy to kill
Adjusts: none three goblins for every one they safely capture. As
Move: 15 dwarves are fond of saying, Goblins are a renewable
Mix: 0 resource. Slavers arent much interested in capturing
Norsemen; other human tribes might have breakable
This is your ordinary, running-the-mill dwarf that the
spirits, but Vikings are too damnably unpredictable
heroes might find manning a complex piece of dwar-
and hungry for freedom. Slavers might pass Viking
ven machinery. Hell be happily enjoying the rattle of
parties by, attempt to barter with them, or, if their
the engines and the banging of its pistons until he
sacks look to be bulging with silver, attack them for
sees the heroes. Then hell likely attack, certain that
their treasure. Slavers have learned to be wary of
the Vikings mean to sabotage the equipment hes
Norsemen, some of whom will attack slave caravans
duty-bound to protect, or to steal its secrets.
to show their love of freedom, even though they
Laborers often oversee gangs of goblin slaves, vicious- might try to kill the very same goblins if they came
ly clouting them whenever their energy flags. Unless across them as free beings.
working for an impoverished clan, they treat their
slaves as supremely expendable. Though not sadistic, MEDIC (DEFECTIVE-HUNTER) 1357
they are certainly indifferent to the goblins suffering.
Max. Threat: Exceptional
Heroes attacking dwarven work stations can safely
Benchmark: 11
expect that slaves will flee for the nearest exits if freed,
Adjusts: ATK -1, DFN -1, DAM +6
and will only reluctantly engage them in combat.
Move: 15
Mix: 0
PIT BOSS 1357
Medics patrol dwarven territories looking for signs of
Max. Threat: Superior
defective thinking, in order to capture the dissidents
Benchmark: 8
for treatment at the hospital that pays their wages.
Adjusts: DAM +5, Soak -1
Some dwarven hospitals also pay for captured humans,
Move: 15
who are used as subjects in medical experiments too
Mix: 0
risky to perform on actual dwarves.
The pit boss oversees teams of laborers. Although he
Barb-net: On a successful hit, the barb-net encircles
probably didnt design the equipment he toils over,
the subject and remains there. The subject suffers 20
he likely knows its quirks better than the dwarf who
points of damage each time he takes an action. He
drew up the original plans. Many pit bosses identify
can free himself by rolling Str versus a Difficulty of
strongly with the machinery they care for, treating it
6 + the difference between the attackers ATK roll
as a sea captain might his ship. They might defend
and his own DFN roll. Each attempt to free himself,
their machine to the death, but would think twice
naturally, counts as an action and causes him to take
before sacrificing themselves for a family member.
the damage.

107
 Chapter 4

dwarves are indifferent to such squishy distinctions.)

They can be set to automatically execute a range of
CENTURION 1357 behaviors. Any robot can be set to attempt to destroy
a being that enters a particular area. Simple craftwerks,
Regular Centurion like beetle-werks, centi-werks, and spider-werks, are
Max. Threat: Superior always Predictable in combat. Craftwerks with biolog-
Benchmark: 12 ical components, like mecha- and mega-dwarves, can
Adjusts: ATK -2, DFN -1, DAM +9 be Self-Willed.
Move: 15
Mix: 0
BEETLE-WERK 2467
Clan Champion
Max. Threat: Terrifying
Max. Threat: Terrifying
Benchmark: 6
Benchmark: 16
Adjusts: INIT -15, ATK -4, DFN -4 ,
Adjusts: DAM +9
DAM +6, Soak +8, HP -20
Move: 15
Move: 100
Mix: +0.3
Mix: +0.2
A centurion is a well-equipped, experienced dwarven
Beetle-werks are a cross between a robot and a con-
warrior. During lulls in the fighting between rival
veyance. Ten feet high, twenty feet long, and weigh-
bloodlines, centurions serve the king as bodyguards.
ing about one hundred tons, these are the work-
They rove the borderlands of Nidavellir looking to
horses of the dwarven robot fleet. A large cargo
keep in practice by hacking their way through
trunk sits where the carapace and wing case of an
would-be intruders. When in this mode, they glee-
actual beetle would be placed. They are not especial-
fully attack anything that moves, assuming their
ly fast, capable at maximum speed of only slightly
superiority over all comers. After a bruising
outrunning a sprinting Viking. Still, slightly is
encounter with superior warriors, they regroup and
enough to make this vehicle a formidable weapon.
adopt cleverer tactics that exploit their home terrain.
Beetle-werks move rumblingly forward on mam-
During times of internecine conflict, centurions moth treads capable of not just crushing but utterly
more carefully preserve themselves for only truly liquefying any living thing unlucky enough to get
important fights, whether against genuine outside run over by them. Heroes brought to 0 or fewer hit
threats to the realm or rival dwarves. Centurions points, or a fifth Wound, by a Beetle-werk are
may serve together under the king and then break assumed to have been run over and cannot be
away to battle their former brothers-in-arms when a revived by any means. Their non-fatal injuries are
war of succession breaks out. This sense of loyalty as assumed to be less conclusive: a victim may be
something that varies depending on the direction of rammed, have a foot run over, or whatever.
the political winds may seem obscene to honor-
obsessed Vikings, but comes perfectly natural to the CENTI-WERK 2467
phlegmatic, practical-minded dwarves.
Max. Threat: Inferior
Benchmark: 6
Dwarven Craftwerks Adjusts: INIT +15, ATK -2, DFN -3
Move: 15
Where slaves cannot or will not go, dwarves send
Mix: 0
their clanking, blocky artificial creatures. Powered by
lightning-charged batteries, dwarven craftwerks are Centi-werks look like ungainly mechanical centipedes,
based on a class of natural creature well-adapted to about as big as a mans arm. They scoot through the
subterranean life: the insect. (Well, okay, centipedes Underground, following trails and tunnels too small
and spiders arent really insects, but the even for dwarves to crawl through. These are the most

108
 Encounters

perceptive of dwarven craftwerks, capable of sniffing ranks of defectives who worsen

out non-dwarves and even of transmitting a simple on the operating table, and from
distress signal back to a receiver up to a mile away. honorable centurions near death in the wake of a
(The receivers are several stories tall and packed full of battle. They arent capable of intelligible speech,
volatile tubes which often blow, sometimes delivering although they sometimes seem to be trying to say
terrible shocks to the equipment operators.) If things. It is therefore unclear just how much
equipped for early detection, centi-werks are unable thought is still going on in their reinforced crani-
to fight. (In other words, treat this type of centi-werk ums. Their behavior conforms to your basic mind-
as a trap that, if the heroes fail to evade it, levies a less engine of destruction, but thats not exactly
stick penalty which applies during a subsequent uncommon among denizens of the Underworld.
battle with dwarves or their minions; see p. 144.)
The transmitter can be taken out and replaced with
MEGA-DWARF 2457
a set of steely fangs, which makes the centi-werk into Max. Threat: Terrifying
a foe, not a trap, with the above game statistics. Benchmark: 32
Adjusts: none
SPIDER-WERK 2467 Move: 45
Mix: 0
Max. Threat: Equal
Benchmark: 5 Aspiring plunderers of Nidavellir should act fast,
Adjusts: DAM +12, HP -10 before the mega-dwarves are rebuilt. These are mas-
Move: 15 sive, experimental versions of the mecha-dwarf. The
Mix: +0.3 technology for the successful manufacture of mega-
dwarfs is still shrouded in mystery and secrecy. Each
Spider-werks are cheaper and easier to make than centi-
family jealously hoards its own secrets, while fever-
werks, and are used for simple sentry duty. Theyre
ishly intriguing to steal those of their rivals. (Viking
about the size of an ottoman with long, metallic legs.
heroes might find monetary advantage in helping
They pierce foes with their bladed mandibles or sim-
one bloodline pillage the blueprints of another.) The
ply spear them with the sharpened ends of their dart-
now-dead King Hugir had the best selection of
ing forelegs. Though made of metal, they are not espe-
mega-dwarf technologies, but even he had to spend
cially sturdy and can be shattered with a stout axe-blow.
most of his time hooked up to a titanic grid con-
traption that fed him electrical power.
MECHA-DWARF 2467
One advantage all mega-dwarf designs enjoy over the
Max. Threat: Terrifying standard, smaller mecha-dwarf is that the head must
Benchmark: 17 retain its identity and intellectual vigor. Winning the
Adjusts: DAM +9 struggle for kingship is no good if one is left a bur-
Move: 15 bling vegetable plunked atop a colossal suit of armor
Mix: +0.3 and gears.
The second part of the term mecha-dwarf is a ter- Mega-dwarf armaments vary according to family
rifying misnomer, as these hellish concatenations of design traditions. The mega-dwarfs of the Guar clan
dwarf and robot stand about twelve feet tall. Theyre traditionally shoot fire from their eyes, while their
equipped with gigantic scything blades where their Haudranir counterparts emit a reeking, poisonous
arms should be. The blades pivot on an axis for a gas. Perhaps the most celebrated method is that of the
choice of horizontal or vertical slicing. Their drool- Jauptharir, whose mega-dwarves come equipped with
ing, half-mad dwarven heads can therefore decide twin buzz-saws, each ten feet in diameter and honed
whether to split a hero from stem to stern or simply with such diamond-sharpness that they can cut a wisp
go for the classic slash clear through the waist. The of cloud in two and make it rain.
heads of mecha-dwarves are harvested both from the

109
 Chapter 4

might feature in non-combat encounters, as many a

hero has been talked into participating in certain of
Elves their events by a wily, silver-tongued elfin courtier.
Elves are an ancient race of people more at home
in darkened woods than in the open fields honest Goblins
men favor. Though the stories tell of good elves who
Goblins are skulking, bestial humanoids who
dwell in a land called Alfheim and who will fight
will pose a danger to beginning warriors and a nui-
with the Aesir at Ragnarok, it is much more com-
sance to more experienced ones. Their chief habi-
mon to meet the dark elves, a cruel and dispassion-
tat is the Underground. They rarely make incur-
ate people who delight in mischief and intrigue.
sions into the world of men, but may infest out-of-
Their realm, Svartalfheim, is legendary as a place of
the-way pockets of Svartalfheim and Jotunheim.
treasure and danger. Elves shun the Underground,
Dwarves often raid goblin territory to capture
preferring always to hear the rustle of tree branches
slaves. Escaped goblin slaves, and their descen-
above their heads.
dants, are sometimes found cowering in
Elves are slightly taller than humans, but much Nidavellirs darkest corners, terrified that they will
slimmer. Their features are sharp, and their narrow be caught and sent back to the dwarves thunder-
eyes icy-blue. They are beautiful, but in a cold and ing, mechanized mills and factories.
alien way.
Goblins speak in a guttural, growling language.
They can either share their thoughts, or possess such
MISCHIEF-MAKER 1357 basic and obvious instincts that theyre able to act
together as if impelled forward by a hungry, reflex-
Max. Threat: Equal ively aggressive hive mind. When they see something
Benchmark: 8 moving, and it smells like it has meat on it, or looks
Move: 30 like something one of them once smelled that
Adjusts: INIT +3, DAM -3 seemed to have meat on it, they attack.
Mix: 0
Devoted carnivores, goblins will eat almost any-
Young elves are too foolish and impetuous to survive thing remotely meaty, except for living goblins.
in the oaken palaces of Svartalfheim, where poison Theyll happily devour their ill and slain.
and treachery rule. They are sent out into the woods
to cavort with giant spiders and soul-hungry pixies Some goblins are free-ranging, owing loyalty to
until they achieve both skill and wisdom. Nothing none but the other members of a small pack. Most,
pleases them more than finding mortals in though, are bound by psychic link to a goblin leader.
Svartalfheim. For these unwanted guests, they pre- Viking sages argue over the nature of these leaders.
pare a multitude of tricks and snares. Some wise men say that theyre priests and priest-
esses, capable of summoning the spirits of powerful
COURTIER 1357 ancestors. Others call them kings and queens, argu-
ing that they are nothing more than very big and
Max. Threat: Terrifying strong specimens of their kind capable of inspiring
Benchmark: 12 fear and awe in their followers.
Move: 30
Adjusts: INIT +3, DAM -3 Free-ranging goblins take slain enemies and drag
Mix: 0 them into well-protected hidey-holes, like the fis-
sures of rock in underground caverns. There they eat
An elfin courtier is always a skilled warrior as well as them, beginning with the soft fleshy parts and tasty
an accomplished schemer; both abilities are honed internal organs. After stripping the bodies of all
well by a lifetime of maneuvering for power in the flesh and skin, they crack open the bones and slurp-
high courts of Svartalfheim. These elves

110
 Encounters

ingly suck them free of marrow. Any hero making an armed, they attack with sweep-
Awareness roll with a Difficulty of 6 can identify a ing swipes of their oversized,
set of bones, human or otherwise, as having been clawed hands. Theyre about four and a half feet
gnawed upon by goblins. long from snout to toenail, and weigh about a hun-
dred and twenty pounds.
Bound goblins drag their catches back to the
throne rooms of their leaders, turning them over to a Rock goblins dont speak Norse, or any other lan-
typically well-fed functionary who mediates between guage, for that matter. Even if you could communi-
the monarch and his followers. The meat is then split cate with them, theyre not capable of thoughts
up and divided amongst the tribe. The hunter who more complex than, You smell like food, We kill
caught the meat may get an extra share, but the and eat you now, or We kill and eat you later. It
leader and his immediate circle get the best cuts. is therefore virtually impossible to interact with
them. Best just to cut off their freaking heads.
Goblins do not worship Loki but sometimes obey
his minions, out of fear. They are also sometimes
used as expendable troops by elves, dwarves, and
ROCK GOBLINESSES 2467
giants. Though sometimes they are overcome by Max. Threat: Inferior
their bloodthirsty instincts and will roil into battle Benchmark: 4
with headlong ferocity, theyre usually reluctant Adjusts: none
fighters when pressed to fight for others. Move: 15
Mix: 0
ROCK GOBLINS 2467 Goblin females are generally bigger, stronger, and
smarter than their rock goblin brothers born to the
Max. Threat: Inferior
same litter. Though similarly bestial and incapable of
Benchmark: 3
sophisticated judgments or meaningful interaction,
Adjusts: none
they are a bit cleverer than their male kin. They are
Move: 15
also somewhat more dangerous in combat.
Mix: 0
Female warriors sometimes lead parties of rock gob-
Vikings refer to the standard male warrior-hunters of
lins. Other packs avoid male company except when
goblinkind as rock goblins, because theyre often
in heat. Some Vikings swear that female goblins
found skulking around on the rocks of underground
hunt and eat their male counterparts, but this prob-
passageways. They cant resist attacking anything
ably isnt true. Its more likely that free-ranging
vaguely meat-like, even if their bellies are swollen
females defend themselves against gang attacks by
from previous kills.
rock goblins with unwelcome mating urges. They kill
Rock goblins are stupid and will rush forward to to protect themselves and then eat the corpses, as
attack a target even after seeing their predecessors any goblin would.
horribly mangled by him. Theyll also lope
Female warriors share the body type and character-
through an obvious trap one after another, the
istic movements of the rock goblin, but are about
later ones in the chain seemingly oblivious to the
five feet long and one hundred and forty pounds in
fact that every one of them gets slashed to tiny
weight. Whereas rock goblins rarely groom them-
chunks on the way through.
selves, female warriors are fastidious creatures, tak-
Rock goblins are small, grey humanoids who move ing special care to gnaw and sculpt their nails to
with a quadrupedal lope. Their movements com- maximum sharpness.
bine the hopping motion of the bullfrog with the
tentative, shivering energy of the squirrel. They can
stand up on two legs, but are better balanced on
four. They run and fight from this position. Rarely

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 Chapter 4

recover their lost goods. Although

sneaky enough to maneuver foes into positions
WARRIORS 1357 favorable to them, they show little tactical finesse
when the battle is actually joined.
Max. Threat: Inferior
Benchmark: 5 In goblin communities, goblin warriors enjoy a
Adjusts: none degree of status. They get to bully rock goblins and
Move: 15 female warriors, but are browbeaten in turn by slay-
Mix: 0 ers and freaks.

Goblin warriors are bigger and stronger than rock SLAYERS 1357
goblins. They know how to use weapons and show no
particular propensity for stupidly suicidal actions. Roving Slayer
They usually wear ragged armor of scrap leather. Max. Threat: Equal
Their stance and movement is less animalistic than Benchmark: 6
the rock goblins; they run and stand on two legs. Adjusts: none
Move: 15
Some of them form into free-ranging bands that sur- Mix: 0
vive by hunting and scavenging. Goblin warriors,
though as carnivorous as their more bestial cousins, Senior Slayer
can restrain their instincts. They might hold off on Max. Threat: Equal
attacking a foe until a terrain advantage presents Benchmark: 7
itself. A few of them even learn to interact with oth- Adjusts: none
ers. They learn bits and pieces of Norse as well as the Move: 15
languages of the non-human races. They use these to Mix: 0
bargain for food, trading scavenged equip-
ment, silver, potions, charms, and amulets. Slayers are the swaggering guardsmen who enjoy ele-
These goblin traders are only too happy vated status in goblin communities. As loyal guards-
to cheat travelers. Theyll also shadow men and lackeys to the leader class, they are permit-
and ambush trading partners after tak- ted to grow distinctive tufts of hair that run up the
ing leave of them, center of the head, from the base of the neck to the
hoping to crown of the skull. They dye these in wild colors to
increase their appearance of ferocity. Slayers usually
lead groups of goblin warriors into battle. Goblin
leaders have only so many of these bully-boys at
their disposal at any one time and feel queasy send-
ing them all off to fight and die. Though nowhere
near as stupid as rock goblins, slayers tend to puff up
with vainglory and are prone to overconfidence.
Though they grovel and whine in the presence of
their leaders, most slayers are sufficiently ambitious
to want to lay weapons and silver away for future
use. Each hopes to one day become a leader himself,
and dreams of a time when he will sit upon a couch
of moldering velvet, surrounded by green-skinned,
bulbous concubines, having become so corpulent
that he can scarcely exert himself to shift his bulk
from one lounging position to another. The key to a

112
 Encounters

rise through the goblin ranks to leader status is to cal smokes and vapors into the
become popular with ones fellow goblins. cage. These slowly pacify the
Ambitious types cultivate allies by secretly feeding freak, allowing it a modicum of self-control in the
them with meat captured out in the dangerous cor- presence of other goblins. At the end of this time, it
ridors of the Underground. The hope is that theyll reaches full maturity and is able to leave the cage
fight for their benefactor on the day when their without immediately setting upon and devouring
leader finally turns blue from apoplexy or chokes to the members of its own tribe. However, even the
death on his own spit-up. Slayers therefore often bravest slayer must still treat the freaks in their midst
stage raids without the knowledge of their leaders, with delicate respect, as the merest slight can drive
hoping to secretly gain food for this purpose. them into killing frenzy.
Leaders remember only too well how they schemed
Goblin leaders value freaks as their ultimate war-
to displace their predecessors, and are greedily alert
riors. They loose the creatures into the corridors
for signs that their slayers are holding out on them.
around their underground domains, allowing them
Slayers have to strike swiftly to evade their spies.
to eat whatever they kill. Their predations keep out-
Knowing what they risk, they tend to fight with a
siders at bay. Leaders command the freaks to stick to
nervous and desperate ferocity. When fighting on
the outlying areas of their realms; no one wants a
behalf of their leaders, on the other hand, they care-
creature with the hair-trigger unpredictability of a
fully preserve their own hides, ordering underlings
freak as bodyguard. Freaks are too bestial-minded to
into the fray to soften up their prey before risking
be interested in goblin politics or matters of succes-
their own entry into battle.
sion. They just want to kill and eat things. Although
most are too blood-hungry to do anything but leap
FREAKS 2467 immediately at anything that smells warm and alive,
Max. Threat: Superior a few of them exhibit a sadistic cunning. These
Benchmark: 8 unusual specimens like to play with their food
Adjusts: INIT +6, ATK +1, DFN -3, before killing it.
DAM +3 , Soak -1
Move: 15 SHAMANS 1357
Mix: 0
Max. Threat: Inferior
Freaks are the drooling, ferocious berserkers of gob- Benchmark: 3
linkind. Brightly-banded, sleek, fast, and primed for Adjusts: none
slaughter, these creatures are as formidable as gob- Move: 15
lins get. About one out of a hundred goblin whelps Mix: 0
is born a freak. To witness the birth of a freak is a
Goblins fear the gods and avoid their schemes
horrible thing; they usually tear their way out of
whenever possible. They know that the magic of
their mothers wombs, in a gush of putrid blood. As
the divine realms comes with a price. If they
the mothers dying shrieks echo off the cavern walls,
accept aid from either the Aesir or from Loki,
nervous, well-armored slayers dash about, attempt-
theyll have to fight in the final battle of
ing to corner the hissing, sharp-clawed newborn and
Ragnarok, a conflagration they want nothing to
whip a chainmail sack over its head. (Regular burlap
do with. The goblins expect to be skulking and
bags wont do; infant freaks can slash their way
scavenging long after the gods and their foolish
through cloth in an instant.) The baby freak is borne
followers succeed in killing each other off. So they
to a special feeding chamber and slapped into a
settle for the more modest magics that can be
metal cage rimmed with closely-spaced, barbed bars.
gained by calling on the ghosts and spirits of their
For a period of three to four years, perspiring atten-
ancestors. They also harvest subterranean plants
dants toss meat into its cage, watching in horror as
and fungi with magical properties, fermenting and
its razor-sharp teeth strip flesh from bone. During
drying them to make various burnable
this time, goblin shamans waft foul-smelling, magi-

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 Chapter 4

powders. They ignite these powders attempting to do so must have at least a bucket full
to create smokes and vapors with of water or sand on hand, must get to the brazier
magical properties. past probable opposition, and must then take an
action to douse the burning herbs. Burning braziers
Only a few goblins are born with the capacity to
bear the usual encounter point costs of weird magic.
become shamans. Theyre physically weaker than
But the same magic summoned up by chanting
warriors, but much smarter, and more greatly
shamans costs only half the usual amount. Goblin
attuned to the hidden world of shades and spirits.
magic is always attuned to benefit only them, or to
Shamans who follow goblin leaders enjoy privileged hamper only non-goblins.
status. They get some of the best meat, choosing
their cuts only after the leaders themselves, or some- LEADERS 2457
times the tribes top slayer. Goblin leaders tend to
Max. Threat: Weak
get stupider over time, as they grow ever grosser and
Benchmark: 2
more bloated, becoming increasingly dependent on
Adjusts: HP +50
their shamans for advice. In scenes of negotiation
Move: 5
with goblin leaders, it is often the tribal shaman who
Mix: +0
does the talking, as the leader grunts his assent or
punctuates the conversation with the occasional low, A goblin leader is an overgrown slayer who has out-
rumbling belch. Shamans speak proudly, as if they survived his fellows and seized the throne upon the
are the aides to great heads of state. They regard death of his predecessor. On rare occasions, hell be
Viking warriors with haughty disdain, but quickly a shaman whos maneuvered his way to power. He
turn to sweaty-browed wheedlers when their lives are rules a tribe of anywhere from several dozen to sev-
threatened. Then they show their true cowardly col- eral hundred rock goblins, female warriors, slayers,
ors. In their hearts, they feel simmering contempt freaks, and shamans. When he is not gorging himself
for the leaders they serve, and will without a gulp of on food provided to him by his wretched subjects,
conscience betray them in exchange for their own he carefully monitors the activities of his inner cir-
continued survival. cle of slayers and shamans, alert to signs of treach-
ery. Knowing that they want to succeed him, he
Some shamans are solitary, either by preference or
plays them off against one another, so that they
because theyve been exiled from their tribes by
spend their time trying to do one another in,
petulant overlords. They hide away in well-disguised
neglecting to consider just how soft his belly is, and
lairs protected by rings of traps, most powered by
how difficult it would be for an individual of his
their strange magic. They may barter potions or
bulk to dodge a surprise spear-thrust. Surprisingly,
knowledge of the Underground for precious, juicy
few goblin leaders are killed in coup attempts. Their
fresh meat.
leading cause of death is, naturally, the axes and
Shamans are best included in encounters as sources swords of righteous Viking warriors. Apoplexy,
of support for other goblin attackers, like warriors brought on by gross obesity, competes with choking
or slayers. Their braziers of smoking herbs generate as the number two cause of death.
weird magic (see p. 128) which typically benefits only
Constant eating causes great cascades of fat to sluice
the goblins. The cost and nature of these magics are
up into the goblin brain. Goblin leaders are struck
left up to designers, and must be paid for separately.
with a lethargy of thought as well as action. Their
Shamans can also call down weird magic simply by
favorite shamans often do the talking and governing
chanting to their ancestors. The disadvantage of this
on their behalf. (Especially cunning shamans know
is that the effect goes away if the shaman is slain or
that its safer to rule by proxy than to make them-
otherwise stopped from chanting, while the effect of
selves the target of jealous slayers by seizing the
the smoke braziers survives them. The braziers can
throne themselves.)
be extinguished, too, but its harder to
do this than to kill a shaman. A hero

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 Encounters

Even a comatose Viking warrior could probably best bring his revelations first to their
a goblin leader in combat. It is the leaders many own people, and then to men,
bodyguards, and the various traps that lace his giants, and dwarves.
throne room, that should give a hero pause. Leaders
If vegetarian goblins encounter Viking warriors, they
know much about their areas of the Underground,
may waylay them in hopes of making them into
and have caches of treasure secreted away to buy off
fungi-happy envoys bearing Hoders message of
the hostile intentions of Viking marauders. They
peace and repentance to Scandinavias fjords. Theyll
therefore serve as splendid non-combat opponents.
use their special attacks (see below) to render the
A goblin leader counts as a terrain feature for victo- heroes unconscious. Then theyll carry them off to
ry point determination purposes. their indoctrination chambers. Vegetarian goblins
always strip captured Vikings of all weapons, shields,
VEGETARIANS 2457 and armor. Any other Underworld denizens would
use the equipment themselves, or keep it in order to
Max. Threat: Inferior barter away later. The vegetarians regard the accou-
Benchmark: 4 trements of war as obscene and unclean, and do
Adjusts: INIT +1, DAM -3 their best to immediately destroy them, or at least
Move: 15 hide them where no one will find them. Theyll toss
Mix: 0 even the most precious of magical weapons into lava
Not all goblins are ravening, half-bestial fiends pits, or into bottomless wells.
whose lust for meat keeps them in a near-constant Captured Vikings face prolonged sessions of mush-
homicidal frenzy. A breakaway group of goblins room ingestion, after which theyre subjected to
seeks to convert its people from their lives of car- lessons in meditation. The new acolytes, as the
nivorous violence. The vegetarian goblins preach a vegetarians like to call them, are kept imprisoned in
doctrine of peace and goodwill towards all. They stout metal cages throughout this process.
subsist not on the hacked-off limbs of their enemies, Vegetarian goblins always seem not just surprised
but on the various herbs and luminous fungi that but shocked when the Vikings escape and begin to
light the otherwise darkened paths of the pummel them to death.
Underworld. These are often the same plants that
the shamans use to concoct their arcane powders They most especially want to convert the dwarves,
and potions, and, indeed, the vegetarian goblins who regard the vegetarians as easy pickings for their
seem to acquire both strange powers and a halluci- slave raids. Ironically, it is dwarven slavery that
natory view of the world. allows Vegetarians to spread their doctrine to other
tribes. In the mills and presses of Nidavellir, they
Though hostile to standard goblins, vegetarian gob- rub elbows with goblins from all over. Their preach-
lins cannot be considered the automatic allies of ing finds eager ears among enslaved goblins, who are
Viking warriors. They despise all killing, and look fed only on fungal ooze and are anxious to believe
with tongue-clucking disdain on the pursuit of mar- that their state is not as wretched as it seems.
tial glory that motivates any self-respecting hero. Ordinary goblins become demoralized and slack-wit-
They regard most of the Aesir as crazed and dan- ted under the yoke of slavery, leaving the vegetarians
gerous promoters of senseless murder. However, to maintain their dignity and organize sabotage and
they do profess to worship Hoder, the blind Aesir escape attempts. When escapes succeed, slaves
god who accidentally slew Baldur, as part of Lokis return to their home tribes to secretly promote the
attempt to accelerate the onset of Ragnarok. After vegetarian cause. Eventually they leave their tribes to
ingesting large quantities of glowing mushroom join all-vegetarian communities, often bringing their
paste, vegetarian goblins believe that they look own converts with them.
upon the face of sorrowful Hoder, who now
preaches against any use of arms. They wish to Goblin leaders mock the vegetarians as nave and
doomed, but see any hint of vegetarian-

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 Chapter 4

be treated as playthings, and it is well known that the

giants have a habit of breaking their toys. When
Ragnarok comes, the colossi of Jotunheim will fight
against the Aesir, as they have done in the past.

LAND CRABS 2467

Small Land Crabs
Max. Threat: Inferior
Benchmark: 5
Adjusts: DFN -3, Soak +3
Move: 15
Mix: 0

Large Land Crabs

Max. Threat: Exceptional
Benchmark: 10
ism in their own ranks as a sign of weakness and Adjusts: DFN -3, Soak +3
degradation. They see to it that their shamans and Move: 15
warriors ferret out any secret vegetarians in their Mix: 0
midst. If caught, theyre slain and then made the
centerpieces of special feasts. Land crabs are an omnipresent menace in the
Vegetarian goblins loathe violence but recognize Underworld. These air-breathing crustaceans hunt
their need to defend themselves. Fortified with magic by vibration, hugging the paving stones or hard-
fungi, they strike their foes with open, glowing palms. ened earth of subterranean passageways. When
When their attacks succeed, they do only stun dam- they sense movement, they scuttle with surprising
age (see p. 142). Stun damage ignores armor. speed towards its source, snipping away with its
sharp, crushing pincers. Though a land crab bite
can cause a nasty injury, the creatures are timid in
Other Foes the face of a stout defense. If hit hard enough, they
freeze into a defensive posture, withdrawing their
comparatively delicate claws, legs and eyestalks
GIANTS 1357 under their shells, which they clamp tight to the
surface below them. Land crabs adopt their defen-
Max. Threat: Terrifying sive posture after suffering any hit in which the
Benchmark: 20 ATK result exceeds the DFN roll by 10 or more.
Adjusts: INIT -9, DAM +3 This happens regardless of the actual damage the
Move: 60 crab takes. Although it is possible to overturn and
Mix: 0 kill a land crab, the effort is worth it only when one
Take a Viking, make him four times uglier than he is hungry. Some land crabs are quite tasty when
already is, blow him up to four times his height, boiled, but others take on the fungal taste of the
knock out a third of his teeth, and you have a giant. creatures they prey upon. It is impossible to know
These unruly titans, rarely seen outside before tasting it how edible a land crab will be.

the boundaries of their kingdom, are the ancient Remarkable camouflage abilities make land crabs
rivals of the gods. Although they seem peaceable difficult to avoid, especially in the Underworlds
now, content to drink, eat, gamble, and engage one gloom. Theyre capable of mimicking the color and
another in good-natured battles, the giants have a sin- textural appearance of virtually any surface they rest
ister side. Vikings caught by giants will upon for more than an hour. They retain these pat-

116
 Encounters

terns when they move onto other surfaces: a land

crab with a brick-like pattern on its shell will still be
colored red after it pursues its prey onto yel-
lowish sand. The minimum difficulty of
Awareness rolls to spot land crabs is 12.
The cost of this difficulty is already
reflected in the creatures Might score.
Land crabs are a dangerous nuisance,
not a foe a hero might boast about best-
ing when quaffing mead in Valhalla. Heroes
get victory points only for the land crabs they kill
and eat, and then only if they are low on rations and
must hunt for food.

TROLLS 1357
Max. Threat: Terrifying
Benchmark: 10
Adjusts: DFN -1, DAM +3
Move: 15
Mix: 0
Trolls, exiled from their shattered land of Trollheim,
long, whip-like neck, which bears a head resembling a
now scour the Underground for useful weapons and
lizard or dragon. Sometimes the jaws bite deep into a
magics to use in a coming war of liberation, in which
targets flesh. Alternately, the head grabs its prey and
their enslaved kin will be freed from thralldom in
lifts it up towards the top of the tube. Its tentacles
Svartalfheim. Or so theyll tell you. In truth, many of
contain receptors sensitive to both the weight of an
these hulking, thick-skinned, brutish-looking beings
object, and whether it is organic or not. If it succeeds
have given up on their dream of vengeance, and act
in grabbing and lifting an inorganic object, or a living
merely as petty bandits and waylayers.
thing too big to stuff down the two-foot diameter of
Trolls are human-shaped, but tend to be anywhere the tube, it then flings away the rejected prey. Tube
from ten to twelve feet high. Their hands, teeth, and strikers dont eat heroes, but they may well grab their
feet are out of proportion even for their size. weapons and toss them away, or toss the heroes
themselves into nearby lava pits, gorges, or flame jets.
TUBE STRIKERS 247 Whenever a tube-strikers Initiative rolls around, roll
Max. Threat: Terrifying a die to determine which of the two attack types it
Benchmark: 12 will use. It makes a bite attack on an even roll, and a
Adjusts: none grab attack on an odd roll. This random determina-
Move: 0 tion does not represent an action taken by the crea-
Mix: NA ture; its just a way for runners to simulate the
unpredictability of its instinctive reactions.
Tube strikers are overgrown, air-breathing relatives of
the coral polyp. Encased in upright, rock-hard skeletal A bite attack is like any other attack and requires no
tubes, they wait for moving prey to rumble past them. further explanation.
Fleshy suckers attach them to the floor of an under-
On a successful grab attack, roll another die: on an
ground chamber. These are sensitive to vibrations.
odd result, it grabs the hero; on an even result, the
When a creature passes by, the tube striker unfurls its
tube-striker grabs an object on his per-

117
 Chapter 4

son. It throws either in a random

direction. (Runners who use a minia-
tures mat or reference map with a hex grid should
take a garden variety six-sided die and roll it to deter-
mine the direction.) An object travels 8 paces per
point of difference between the tube-strikers ATK
roll and the heros DFN roll. Heroes are thrown a
mere 4 paces per point of difference.
Breaking through this creatures rock-like skeletal
tube is both phenomenally difficult and pointless.
Killing a tube striker earns no glory (that is, no vic-
tory points), and the ropy flesh of the tube striker is
no more edible than a tanned sheeps hide. Its DFN
score reflects the difficulty of hitting a tentacle. If a
Wendols belong to small family units, hunting along-
hero deals 8 or more points of actual damage with a
side their still-active parents and/or mature offspring.
sharp-edged weapon like an axe or sword, the tenta-
A few of them have expanded their range to the cav-
cle is severed. Tube-strikers have four tentacles each;
erns of the Underground. Their long fur is either
if all four are gone, they cant attack.
white, gray, or black, depending on their habitat. They
Tube-strikers are really more like traps that happen to fight with both formidably large clawed paws, and with
use the combat rules to adjudicate their effects. They the sharp, nail-shaped teeth that line their blunt, leath-
do not have Mix values and are priced as traps, not ery snouts. Their favorite tactic against smaller oppo-
combat opponents. Instead, they cost 7 encounter nents is the charge: they slam their massive bulk into
points per tube-striker, unless they appear as part of their prey, knocking it down and then pinning it. A vic-
the scenery during a fight with another opponent. tim trapped beneath its three-ton frame is in little
Then theyre considered a terrain feature and cost 7 shape to flee or properly fight back. The human, gob-
points per tube striker. Designers get points for, at lin, and elfin bones found near Wendol lairs often
most, four tube strikers, but can place more than that reveal broken ribs, indicating that their victims often
in their combat scenes if they want. Naturally, for die from crushing damage even before their throats are
maximum excitement, theyll want to place tube strik- torn out and soft belly meats devoured.
ers in scenes where their random flinging of combat-
Wendols do not discriminate between men, goblins,
ants might send them hurtling into mud pits, lava
dwarves, or any other type of being everything is
flows, or raging rivers.
meat to them. Theyll even attack the Dishonored and
Sark Amen. Like any large predator, theyre not averse
WENDOLS 2467 to scavenging carrion, and the fact that certain items
Max. Threat: Terrifying of carrion are still ambulatory means nothing to them.
Benchmark: 15 Absolutely fearless, they attack anything that moves.
Move: 15 On its first attack against a target, if the range
Adjusts: INIT -3, DAM +1 between them is 30 paces or greater, the wendol may
Mix: 0 make a charge attack. On a success, the target has
Wendols are gigantic, vicious animal predators. Their fallen down (see p. 53 of the Combat chapter.) On
fifteen-foot-tall frames cross body characteristics of any other success, the wendol is on top of the target.
apes, wolves, and big cats. Although they prefer a He not only takes the armor-ignoring damage given
quadrupedal stance, they can for short periods rear up above, and is treated as if he has fallen down, but he
on their haunches, like a grizzly bear. They inhabit the cant get up again until the wendol withdraws. If he
snow-covered wastes of Midgard. kills the wendol, he can climb out from under it,
which takes two rounds of effort.

118
 Encounters

Designers may pay an additional cost equal to that of tougher, slower, or more damag-
making the wendol Self-Willed in order to specify that ing than the standard foe of its
it will attack other non-wendol foes in the course of a threat category, he can specify one or more adjusts.
combat encounter. The creature treats all non-wendols
Creatures whose adjusts balance out are the easi-
on the battlefield as possible legal targets, according to
est to include in an encounter. To balance a crea-
the Foe Target Choice Flowchart. To make the wendol
tures adjusts, decrease one game statistic for each
both Self-Willed and capable of attacking other foes,
one you increase. Some game statistics are more
the designer must pay twice the normal cost of mak-
equal than others. The exchange rate between statis-
ing him Self-Willed. These wendol attacks are exempt
tics is as follows.
from the usual rules governing collateral damage to
foes (p. 197); in this case, the foe loses hit points or 3 INIT = 1 ATK = 1 DFN = 3 DAM =
possibly even dies, but none of the players gain victo- 1 Soak = 10 HP = 3 Res
ry points as a result. By including this feature, the run-
ner enjoys the benefit of depressing the possible vic- You want to increase the creature types INIT by
tory point tallies of his opponents, the pillagers. 3. You can balance that by reducing its ATK, DFN,
or Soak by 1, its DAM by 3, or its hit points by 10.

Creating Your Own You want to increase its HP by 60. You could
Creatures reduce its ATK and DFN by 3 apiece. You could just
as well decrease its DAM by 6 and its Soak by 4.
To invent a creature of your own, first write out a Downward adjustments to INIT, HP, and/or Res
brief description of its appearance and habits. This is a cannot be used to earn countervailing statistic
game of combat, so you dont need a scientific treatise increases, because including foes who are weak in
on its role in its ecological niche or the sociological sig- those areas does not pose a significant disadvantage
nificance of its mating rituals. You should, however, to the clever designer/runner.
think of at least one thing about it that makes it dif-
ferent from the creature types the game already has. Balanced creatures are preferable, especially if the
The game statistics of Rune are sufficiently fungible designer wants to use them again, or encourage oth-
that you dont need to create slight variations on exist- ers to use his creatures. Still, designers can create
ing creatures just to get a foe with the right power level. unbalanced creature types. Unbalanced types must
reflect their departure from normal game statistics
If it is an intelligent humanoid, it can probably with an adjusted Mix value. If the creature is weaker
use missile weapons; if it is of animalistic intelli- than the norm, its Mix decreases by 0.1 for each
gence or lacks standard human shape, it cant. point of difference. If it is stronger, its Mix value
Craftwerks, undead, magical beings, and creatures increases by 0.1 for each point of difference. A point
with very strange anatomies cant be knocked uncon- of Mix difference equals 3 INIT points, 1 ATK, 1
scious. Any other type of creature probably can. DFN, 3 DAM, 1 Soak, 10 HP, or 3 Res.

Decide whether the creature uses its natural Your new creature, the Pulsating Spew-Rat, has an
weaponry, or relies on equipment. Adjust of INIT +9, ATK -2. 3 points of INIT are
worth 1 point of ATK, leaving +3 INIT unpaid for. 3
Creatures at least as intelligent as the heroes points of INIT equals 1 point of Mix difference. The
can generally wait to attack. Otherwise, they rush Mix value of a Pulsating Spew Rat is +0.1.
in headlong.
A Skittering Mudfish has a -6 DAM rating, and no
ADJUSTS positive adjustments to offset it. 3 DAM equals 1
point of Mix difference, so this creatures Mix value
Just because a designer can work adjusts into is -0.2.
your new creature doesnt mean he should. But if
his concept of the creature really requires it to be

119
 Chapter 4

STEP FOUR: Adding Terrain

on whether the terrain feature favors or disadvantages
them. This will create maximum excitement in your
encounter, which is why we bribe you to do it.
BEGINNERS, Once you decide how much of your combat area
SKIP THE TERRAIN is affected by a terrain feature, map it out on graph
Groups just learning these rules should skip terrain for or hex paper. Count the squares/hexes to ensure
their first encounter or two. (The introductory adven- that the right number of them are marked as bear-
ture in Chapter Seven has minimal terrain features; ing that feature. If your encounter area bears more
beginners should probably use that anyhow.) When than one area-affecting feature, use colored pencils
running an encounter designed for beginners, runners to indicate their borders. That way you can have
get 20 extra victory points to compensate them for ter-
rain-related awards they would otherwise receive.
them overlap if you want provided that the over-
lap makes sense.

Barriers
As seen on p. 93, a runners chance of winning A barrier is any object that can interfere with one
increases if terrain features come into play during combatants attempt to hit or defend against another
fight scenes. This is our way of bribing designers to in melee combat; as seen on p. 53, it magnifies the
make the fights more fun and interesting. In order advantage of the defter combatant. Barriers also force
to cash in on this bribe, youre going to have to combatants to alter their routes as they charge
include terrain features in your encounter. This sec- through the battlefield. A combatant can either run
tion tells you how. around the barrier, or jump over it. Jumping a barri-
Designers can include as many terrain features er takes a half action, effectively halving the total dis-
in a combat event as they want, but only get tance a combatant travels that round.
encounter points for three features. They get to Examples of barriers include rotting timbers,
pick which three count. As you saw on p. 95, run- chairs, rolled-up carpets, braziers, chicken cages,
ners receive no victory points for terrain features piles of rocks, and trenches. The designer gets 3
that have no hope of coming into play. So design- points for each barrier he places in an encounter, up
ers should either bunch them close together, to to a limit of four.
make sure that the heroes at least come close to
them, or should add extra terrain features so the Unless the designer specifies otherwise, the
heroes will use or approach enough features to Difficulty of jumping a barrier is 6. The designer can
cover the points earned. make the Difficulty higher by paying the standard
costs for an increased Difficulty. When a designer
Encounters without combat opponents do not increases or decreases the Difficulty of jumping a
provide extra points for terrain features. barrier, he qualifies pillagers for victory points when
Some point costs vary depending on the percent- they score successes, and runners for victory points
age of the combat area the terrain feature takes up. If when they miss. As usual, the addition to the victo-
the affected area is sizeable, but does not cover the ry point tally equals 3 times the difference between
entire area, characters will have good reason to maneu- Difficulty and result.
ver their way in or out of it, depending

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 Encounters

Cover
Any object that a character might hide behind
to expose less of himself to missile fire is consid-
ered cover, and can provide encounter points.
Examples include large trees, walls, piles of
rocks, fallen support columns, half-buried
ships, and large items of furniture.
The points the designer gets depend on the
number of people who can conceal themselves
behind the object, and the degree of cover it pro-
vides. An object that provides one-third cover earns
3 encounter points. If it grants half cover, the run-
ner gets 6 points. If it covers almost all of a target, it
is called full cover and the runner earns 12 points.
Multiply the points garnered by the number of char-
acters who can hide behind the object (or objects),
to a maximum of 36 points.
During the running of an encounter, a
player might make a convincing case that
an object the designer included for
some other purpose ought to serve as
cover. Of course, the runner doesnt
retroactively gain encounter points for
this revelation.
Heroes can also use cover to conceal themselves
from Predictable foes, who ignore their existence for
the purposes of the Foe Target Choice Flowchart (p.
196.) Self-willed foes can spot them behind their hid-
ing places only by making Res rolls against the
Difficulties listed on the chart below. Unless they do
so, they arent allowed to run behind the cover and
Engage the hero.

For pillagers (and, conversely, runners) to qualify Degree of Cover Res Difficulty
for victory points, one of the following situations One-third cover 3
must apply: Half cover 6
The hero is moving towards an opponent, and the Full cover 9
straightest route towards him is over a barrier.
The hero is fleeing or retreating from an oppo- If the hero lies prone behind cover, he increases
nent, and the straightest route between him the Difficulty by 3. He can lie down only if a) the
and an exit, or him and an item of cover, is over cover could shelter three or more heroes and b) no
a barrier. other heroes are hiding with him.

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If a combatant pops up from Difficulties by paying the difference in cost between

behind full cover to fire a missile, the the new and standard Difficulties.
runner randomly chooses a missile-using enemy to
Michelle decides that her piece of broken wall,
fire an opportunistic shot at him. In the case of foes,
which provides full cover, is festooned with dwarven
those bearing the howling goblin icon lose their
barb-wire, increasing the Difficulty of jumping it
next action. If they bear the smirking goblin icon,
from 9 to 12. Checking the chart on p. 129, she sees
they do not lose an action. The opportunistic shot
that a Difficulty 9 (free in this case) normally costs
takes place as if the pop-up combatant is behind half
30 points, while a Difficulty 12 costs 60 points. 60 -
cover, and is resolved after that combatants action.
30 = 30, so her cost for changing the Difficulty from
9 to 12 is 30 points.
COVER AND ELEVATION
Combatants can take advantage of multiple levels When they change the standard Jump
(described later, on p. 124) to reduce the advantages Difficulties of cover items, designers qualify both
provided by the cover behind which their opponents pillagers and runners for success/failure additions to
cower. The Atk penalty (see Missile Attacks, p. 48) victory point tallies, using the rules given above,
to hit a target behind cover is reduced by 3 for every under Barriers.
10 feet of elevation the missile user has over the tar-
get. Conversely, if the target enjoys an elevation
advantage, the Atk penalty increases by 3 for every 10 Damaging Places
feet of elevation separating the two combatants. A damaging place is a terrain feature that caus-
Ragnar stands on top of a 20 foot platform, and es damage to all who enter a specific area. Examples
wants to fire his short bow at a goblin hiding behind include lava pits, expanses of flaming coals, dwar-
a toppled statue. Normally the statue would provide ven steam-presses, or places exposed to biting
half cover, for an Atk modifier of -6. The penalty to mountain winds. The heroes must be able to avoid
Ragnars ATK roll is reduced by 3 for each of the two the damage simply by keeping away from it. They
10-foot increments separating him from the goblin. must be able to automatically perceive its dangers.
When you reduce a penalty, you add a positive num- Designers may not include any other trap or terrain
ber to a negative number: -6 + 6 =0. The height dif- feature that forces the heroes into the damaging
ference completely negates the advantage of the cover. place. They can, however, have foes attempt to
The goblin might as well be capering about with a maneuver them into it.
flower between its teeth. Designers can lure a hero into a damaging place
Lets say, though, that the goblin and his cover by offering him treasures or other gains. He must
were up on that platform and Ragnar below them. be able to claim the prize simply by entering the
Ragnars Atk penalty would get worse, from -6 to -12. damaging place. Designers get no encounter points
for the treasures/gains they use as bait. If the hero
The more geometry-minded among you might must remain in the damaging place for 2 rounds to
point out that, for a semblance of accuracy, this cal- claim the prize, pay 10 encounter points. For 3
culation should really involve a triangulation or some rounds, pay 20 encounter points. The designer may
such nonsense. Bah! Norsemen do not triangulate! not require him to suffer the damage for more than
3 rounds.
JUMPING OVER COVER
A hero standing within a damaging places area
Items of cover can, like barriers, force heroes to must make a Stamina roll versus a Difficulty of 4 for
change their routes as they charge around on the every round of his exposure to it. Its encounter
battlefield. The Difficulty of jumping over an item point value is determined by its Dam rating.
of cover is 3 for one-third cover, 6 for half cover, and
9 for full. Designers may increase the

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 Encounters

Dam Rating Cost DECOYS

10 -10 encounter points Decoys are servants, slaves, relatives, or other
20 -20 encounter points associates of the events combat opponents who
25 -30 encounter points mean them no harm. They wont attack the heroes.
At the beginning of each round, the runner rolls a
30 -20 encounter points die. If the result is less than or equal to the number
35 -10 encounter points of decoys, one of them is designated as panicked.
The runner rolls Initiative for all panicked decoys, as
Runners cant use damaging places to kill off well as all those who have yet to clear the battlefield.
enemy combatants, which would deprive the heroes When a panicked decoys Initiative turn comes up,
of their rightful victory points. Runners cannot he will run thirty paces in a direction chosen by the
cause foes to run willy-nilly into a damaging area. runner via a random die roll. Whenever his path
Nor may designers introduce any other mechanism intersects with a terrain feature (such as a barrier or
forcing them into it. The only way foes can fall prey an area of slippery ground) or the position of anoth-
to the damage is if the heroes throw, shove, or oth- er character, he changes direction, until his 30 paces
erwise maneuver them there. Remember that the are up. Non-panicked decoys always run straight for
heroes still get victory points for damaging or killing the nearest cover or wall.
foes with terrain effects. Decoys count as possible accidental targets when
A damaging place can expand throughout the heroes fire into melee. Their frenzied leaps and ter-
combat. It begins by covering one hex (which can be rified caterwauls distract combatants on both sides
anywhere from 2 to 10 paces across, depending on of the battle; any character rolling an ATK while
your map scale), and every round expands to fill within 5 paces of a decoy suffers a -1 per decoy
each adjacent hex. The cost of an expanding damage decrease to his roll.
area depends on the size of your hexes: Although heroes gain no victory points for down-
Hex Size Cost ing decoys, they can do so by making a melee or
2 4 paces -20 encounter points missile combat ATK roll against a flat Difficulty of
6. The decoy is either slain or decides to play dead
5 paces -10 encounter points until the fight is over, hoping to be overlooked in its
10 paces -1 encounter points aftermath. If the runner needs to know which is
true, he rolls a die: on an odd result, the decoy lives.
Designers can give damaging places additional The designer gains 10 encounter points for each
trap-like features. For example, exposure to them decoy placed in an encounter, up to a total of 4
might also pose a threat to weapons and equipment. decoys. Decoys add to the complexity of running an
However, designers must pay for these as they would encounter, and designers should avoid including
any other trap. more than three of them until theyre experienced
as runners.
Extras
Extras are supporting characters who pose no
threat to the adventurers but may complicate their
attempts to mow down their true foes. Its funny to
think of other people as terrain features, but non-
combatants on the battlefield serve exactly the same
complicating function as the other entries in this
section, so thats where were putting them.
Extras come in two types: decoys and hostages.

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 Chapter 4

This assumes that only one hero per round can

escape through each exit. The designer can also
HOSTAGES include a single exit, through which only two heroes
can escape per round, and get 10 points for it.
Hostages are extras the heroes should want to
rescue from their enemies. Captors rarely allow their
prisoners to run about the battlefield; instead, they
hide behind them. An enemy hiding behind a
Multiple Levels
hostage adds 6 to his Soak score. The 6 points of Think of your encounter area as a movie set. A
damage instead accrue to the hostage, who has no single, flat floor does not an interesting set make.
Soak rating and can take 18 hit points before dying. An encounter area outfitted with multiple levels
An exception occurs if the heros ATK roll exceeds allows opponents to jostle for higher ground. (As
the hostage-takers DFN roll by 10 or more; in that youll recall from the Combat chapter, a warrior
case, the pillager can specify that his hero struck so fighting from ground higher than his opponent
deftly that he bypassed the terrified hostage. enjoys an advantage over him.) Examples of higher
Alternately, a hero can spend his action for the ground can include balconies, walls wide enough to
round on a special Engagement roll against the cap- fight from, staircases, rooftops of low-slung build-
tor; if he wins, the hostage is pulled from the foes ings, piles of rubble, and modest escarpments.
grip. Freed hostages act like decoys they run for For each additional level the designer builds into
the nearest wall or cover, but are subject to panic. a combat encounter, he gains 5 points, to a maxi-
Heroes suffer a 20-point victory point deduction mum of 3 levels.
for each hostage slain during a fight, and gain 20 vic-
tory points for each hostage freed.
Obscured Vision
A designer gains 10 encounter points for each
hostage he includes in an event, to a limit of 3 If heroes cant see, they will have trouble navigating
hostages per encounter. their way around traps and hazards. Theyll also face a
significant disadvantage in combat, especially against
Only crafty foes (with the smirking goblin icon) foes who can see in the dark. The Underground, the
can use hostages. A foe can use a hostage to shield environment in which the heroes will spend the
himself against, at most, two heroes. He can stop majority of their time, is often dark. Most of its inhab-
other heroes from poking at him by backing up itants, including goblins, dwarves, and the
against a wall or piece of cover. Dishonored, can see in very low light. Type descrip-
tions of foes with night vision are marked with the
crescent moon icon. (Dwarves and goblins find it tir-
Limited Exits ing to do so for long periods, though, and often keep
torches alight when not expecting axe-hefting compa-
If the combat takes place in an enclosed area and
ny.) Heroes without light sources will also face penal-
there is only one viable exit, the designer gains 20
ties when exploring or fighting outdoors at night. In
points. That exit is probably also the entrance
the Viking world, the night is something to be feared;
through which the heroes appear. If there are only
dark threatens in a way that we, who always have elec-
two viable exits, the designer gains 10 points.
tric lights at our disposal, find hard to imagine.
A viable exit is one which the hero can use to run
Some areas of the Underground are bathed in
away (see p. 45) without having to make a roll. If the
natural light. Torches may line inhabited corridors.
hero must climb a rope or jump a chasm to get to an
Phosphorescent fungi grow in many of its wilder,
exit, or must roll to avoid a trap positioned at its
uninhabited stretches, eerily illuminating caverns
threshold, it does not count as viable.
and fissures.

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 Encounters

But when it is dark, heroes must carry torches. er gains 5 encounter points for
This limits at least some of them in combat, forcing each area of varying intensity
them to choose between torch and shield. A torch within his combat area, up to a maximum of 3. He
reliably illuminates an area with a radius of twenty- should make each a good size to increase the chance
five paces. Heroes can act without penalty even with- of earning victory points when they affect play.
out a torch, provided that they are within that dis-
Designers may also use darkness and obscured
tance of someone elses light source.
vision as a justification for increased Difficulties
If the heroes face opponents who can see in very to non-combat rolls, for which they pay the stan-
low light, your decision to make a combat area dark dard cost.
actually costs you points, unlike most other terrain
features. If the heroes face opponents who must also
use torches or some other light source, it becomes a Obstructions to
regular terrain feature that gains you points. Missile Fire
Full darkness costs (or gains) a designer 10
The encounter area may present numerous
points. Heroes operating without a light source in
objects in the way of missile users, like multiple sup-
full darkness suffer a decrease of 4 to all rolls based
port columns, trees, jets of flame, or water spewed
on Strength, Dexterity, Quickness, Perception,
in an intricate pattern from an ancient fountain.
Communication, or Presence. This includes rolls
Whatever its nature, the obstruction forces the mis-
of game statistics derived from Abilities based on
sile user to spend an action moving whenever he
those Characteristics, such as INIT and DFN.
switches to a new target, or whenever his current tar-
Gloom costs (or provides) 5 encounter points. It get makes a move. Missile fire obstructions earn 10
is hard, but not impossible, to see in gloomy condi- points if theyre located throughout the area, or 5
tions. Characters without light sources suffer a 2 points if they obstruct only about half of it.
point decrease to all rolls based on the above-men-
Alternately, the entire area may be affected by a
tioned Characteristics.
condition which increases the Difficulty of missile
Various situations can render the use of torches fire no matter the where shooter moves. It might be
impossible. Other effects, like high winds or ongoing covered in fog, rendering all possible targets
and heavy snow or rain, douse torches and keep them obscured. Or perhaps conditions are too windy to
doused. These cost (or gain) an additional 10 points. accurately predict the missiles arc. Because missile
combat is contrary to the spirit of Rune, which
Darkness is not the only thing that obscures holds that the only truly glorious fight is one in
vision. Heavy fog reduces visibility in a way that which your foe gets a chance to bleed on you as he
torches wont deal with. So might thick swarms of goes down, designers get 5 encounter points for each
insects, or clouds of smoke. (Smoke may also cause penalty point they levy on missile users in this way.
damage if inhaled; remember to pay for any damag- The maximum penalty is 4. Designers may change
ing effects of smoke as a trap/hazard.) The degree to the Difficulty and the corresponding point, creating
which the low visibility hampers rolls based on the especially dense fog or high winds.
above-named Characteristics varies from one vision-
obscuring effect to the next. It might even vary in If you use this terrain feature, you cant also earn
intensity within areas of an encounter, as the heroes encounter points for including arrow icon-type foes
move from the source of the effect to its periphery, who dont have missile weapons. (See p. 102.)
or vice versa.
Anything that obscures vision in a way that the
heroes cant address costs (or gains) 5 encounter
points for each point of decrease it exerts. A design-

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 Chapter 4

At the beginning of combat, both Ragnar and his opponent

Slippery Ground are positioned on the same level of a slope. If he wins an
engagement roll, Ragnar can move to higher ground.
Areas of slippery ground slow movement and
make it likely that some characters will slip and fall. TOP OF SLOPE
They include muddy earth, rocks or paving stones
slicked by water and/or moss, or snow-covered
earth. Heroes with strong Balance ratings will want
to lure their opponents into a slippery area; those
prone to falling themselves will want to escape from
it. In the area of muddy ground, the length of full
and half moves is cut in two. Also, any character who
moves more than 2 paces in the course of a single
action must make a Balance (or Res) roll to avoid TOP OF SLOPE Ragnar wins the engagemnt
slipping. Any character who takes 10 or more points roll and gains the higher
ground advantage! As long as
of raw damage from an opponent in melee combat he maintains this position he
(that is, before Soak is taken into account) must will receive a +2 bonus to all of
make a second DFN roll, or will fall into the mud. his attack and defense rolls. He
The second Balance roll uses as its Difficulty the will also gain a +3 bonus to any
original ATK result scored by the opponent. None further engagement rolls.
of these rolls cost actions. But if the character does
slip, he has fallen. See the rules for falling down, on
p. 53 of Chapter Two.
The costs for slippery ground are: GAINING
-15 encounter points if two-thirds of the area THE
is slippery
HIGHER
-10 encounter points if half the area is slippery
GROUND
-5 encounter points if either one-third of, or
all of, the area is affected
Falling snow or rain might make an area slip-
pery in the course of an encounter. The cost is the To get the higher ground advantage over an
same as if the entire area were affected throughout opponent, a combatant must make an Engagement
the encounter. roll against him (see p. 44 of the Combat chapter).
How difficult this is depends on the combatants
current position in relation to his adversary. The
Sloped Surfaces combatant with the advantage gets an increase of 3
to his Engagement roll. If both combatants are
A sloped surface gives a higher ground advantage positioned on the same level of the slope (see the
to the character who manages to maneuver himself Gaining the Higher Ground Insert above), the
to the upward side of the slope. Missteps may cause Engagement roll is unmodified.
heroes to fall down. Heroes who fall down may con-
tinue to roll down the slope. On a sloped surface, any character who takes 15
or more points of Raw Damage from an opponent
in melee combat (that is, before Soak is taken into
account) must make a second DFN roll, or will have

126
 Encounters

fallen down see p. 53. If he fails the second DFN If, while rolling, a combatant
roll (which takes as its Difficulty the opponents hits another character, he might
original ATK result) by more than 5, he not only falls knock him over, too. The standing character may
down but begins to roll down the sloped surface. He make a Dodge roll (Difficulty 6, no action required)
comes to a stop at a distance of 3 paces for each to avoid falling down. If he fails the Dodge roll by 5
point of difference between Difficulty and result, or or less, he lands on top of the rolling character,
at the end of the slope, whichever comes first. bringing both to a halt. The two characters end up
tangled together. While each can get up as normal
The direction a combatant rolls in is determined
(see falling down rules, p. 53, fallen combatants suf-
by a roll as marked on the diagram below. The run-
fer an extra penalty if attacked while entangled in
ner rolls a die. On a result of 13, the victim falls
one anothers limbs. Their DFN rolls decrease by 9,
backwards at a 45 degree angle, to his adversarys left.
not the normal 6, and they cant attack at all, even if
On a result of 46, he falls directly backwards, ass
armed with a longshaft weapon.
over Viking teakettle. On a 710 result, he falls back-
wards at a 45 degree angle to his adversarys right. When moving up a slope, the maximum distance
a character can travel is halved. When moving down
a slope, it is doubled.
FALLING DOWN No more than two characters can enjoy higher
ON A SLOPE ground advantage over a single opponent.
Ragnar smites his opponent, dealing a mighty 17 points of Raw Designers gain 15 points if an entire area is sloped,
Damage. The goblin fails its second DFN roll by 6 and loses its
20 points if two-thirds of it is sloped. They gain 5
footing. The runner rolls a die to determine which way it rolls.
unless it reaches the end of the slope first, the goblin will roll points for each ramp, grade, or other slope placed
18 paces in this direction before coming to a stop. within a generally flat combat area, provided that each
sloped area covers at least 6 hexes of space. Were
4-7 assuming here that the designer picks a hex size thats
actually useful when it comes time to use the map, so
1-3 8-10 that his sloping areas arent just little tiny dots.

Tube-Strikers
In some circumstances, the creature known as
the tube-striker acts as a terrain feature. See its
description on p. 117 of the Foes section.

Uneven Ground
Uneven ground impedes movement but poses lit-
tle falling risk. Examples of uneven ground include
rubble-strewn ruins, the slopes of hills or ravines,
and Underworld passageways whose flooring stones
have heaved up.
Uneven ground reduces the maximum distance of
full and half moves by 50%. It costs -7 points if it cov-
ers one-half to two-thirds of an area, -3 points if it
covers all of an area or less than half of it.
TOP OF SLOPE

127
 Chapter 4

or benefits only their opponents, it costs points. If

it affects both heroes and their opponents, hampers
Weird Magic only their opponents, or benefits only the heroes, it
earns points. The maximum adjustment to game sta-
The strange magic of the gods, especially the
tistics is 3. Designers can apply this to a single sta-
trickster sorcery of Loki, can make any combat
tistic, or spread the maximum 3 points around on a
action more difficult. Grasping, partially incorpore-
number of statistics.
al hands may appear out of nowhere to seize a war-
riors weapons. Shrieking imps may manifest them- Weird magic cannot apply to:
selves on an attackers blade, guiding it inexorably
towards the defenders innards. Ill winds might both DFN and ATK
sharpen sword edges or weaken shields. both DAM and Soak
Weird magic can add or subtract any number foes INIT rolls
from any roll made during combat, including INIT,
ATK, DFN, or the various rolls to activate Divine
Powers. Or it can alter game statistics not normally Drawing Maps
rolled, like Damage.
Every combat scene needs a map. It can be a
Weird magic costs 10 points for each point of rough scrawl on a piece of scrap paper, a lovely
addition or subtraction to a roll or game statistic. If computer printout created with mapping software,
it hampers only or a gorgeous work of hand-colored art. (We like
the heroes you to use the second option, because you can
then easily trade the encounter with other runners
via the Internet. But pay no mind to our naked
self-interest.)
A map shows the players where their heroes are
in relation to their foes. It should be to scale. If it
isnt, the runner should be able to quickly and fair-
ly extrapolate a scale from it when the distance
between a combatant and an enemy or piece of ter-
rain becomes relevant.
The designer must place all of your chosen
terrain features on the map. He can also note
the starting positions of enemy combatants
on the map, but this is optional. Starting
positions are completely up to the designer,
who neednt pay points for arranging foes
to their (and his) advantage.

128
 Encounters

STEP FIVE: Assigning Difficulties

Whenever the encounter notes call on a hero to If the roll is based on a non-governing
make a roll, whether hes avoiding a trap or hazard Characteristic for the Ability, or the Ability has sev-
or snapping up a treasure or gain, the designer must eral governing Characteristics, make sure to specify
decide how difficult the roll is, and which, if any, the Characteristic in your encounter notes.
special case rules apply to the situation. This section
These costs assume that every hero gets to roll,
explains the costs for various difficulties and their
and that each heros result determines only his own
related special cases.
fate. If successful, he avoids the trap/hazard or
secures his share of the treasure or gain. The other
Basic Cost heroes are all rolling for themselves, succeeding or
failing separately. This is called a Standard roll.
The cost of any roll, if victory would lead to a
gain or prevent a negative event of some kind, is
dependent on its Difficulty, as per the chart below. Opposed Rolls
Difficulty Cost In some cases, the hero, instead of rolling against
4 -20 encounter points a flat Difficulty, will be trying to exceed a support-
ing characters roll. The basic cost of an Opposed
5 -10 encounter points
roll is keyed to the total bonus (typically
6 +0 encounter points Characteristic + Ability) the supporting character
7 +10 encounter points applies to his roll, as follows:
8 +20 encounter points Bonus Cost for Singular Roll
9 +30 encounter points 0 -20 encounter points
10 +40 encounter points 1 -10 encounter points
11 +50 encounter points 2 +0 encounter points
12 +60 encounter points 3 +10 encounter points
13 +70 encounter points 4 +20 encounter points
14 +80 encounter points 5 +30 encounter points
6 +40 encounter points
The heroes reach a labyrinthine section of 7 +50 encounter points
Underground passageways, its maze-like hallways 8 +60 encounter points
obviously designed to confuse intruders. In order to
9 +70 encounter points
find their way back to their camp and cache of food,
one of the heroes must make a Map roll against a 10 +80 encounter points
Difficulty of 12. This roll costs 35 encounter points 11 +90 encounter points
to build into an encounter.
Difficulties may not exceed 14. Supporting characters cant have bonuses in
In the case of rolls to acquire treasure, designers excess of 11.
gain no encounter points for Difficulties lower than 6.

129
 Chapter 4

ROLL TYPES QUICK REFERENCE

Situation Type of Roll: Page
Each hero rolls once; successful heroes gain benefit or avoid negative Standard Roll 129
consequence; unsuccessful heroes lose benefit or suffer negative
consequence
A pillager rolls for his hero; the runner rolls for an opponent. If the Opposed Roll 129
pillagers roll meets or exceeds the runners, the hero gains a benefit
or avoids a negative consequence.
One hero rolls; if he succeeds, all heroes enjoy the benefit or suffer the Singular Roll 132
negative consequence.
Any number of heroes may roll; if even one roller succeeds, all heroes Singular Roll: 132
gain benefit or avoid negative consequence; if no one rolls successfully, No-Fault
all heroes all lose benefit or suffer negative consequence.
One hero rolls; if he succeeds, he alone enjoys the gain or suffers Singular Roll: 132
the pain. Rush
Any number of heroes may roll, each suffering or enjoying the Singular Roll: 133
consequences of only their own rolls. Heroes who do not roll are Scramble
unaffected.
Any number of heroes may roll; if all rollers succeed, all heroes gain Singular Roll: 133
benefit or avoid negative consequence; if even one roller fails, all Dogpile
heroes all lose benefit or suffer negative consequence. Heroes may
choose to abstain from rolling. If no one rolls successfully, all heroes
all lose benefit or suffer negative consequence.
All heroes must roll; if even one roller fails, all heroes lose benefit or Weak Link Roll 133
suffer negative consequences.
All heroes must roll; if even one roller fails, all heroes in front or Weak Link Roll: 133
behind failed hero suffer negative consequences. Line of Doom
All heroes must roll; if even one roller fails, all heroes in front or Weak Link Roll: 134
behind failed hero must roll again to avoid negative consequences. Domino
During combat, the heroes must, between them, score 2 or more Multiple Rolls: 135
successes at a task; each attempt requires a combat action. Action Sink
One hero must make one successful roll per round until one or more Multiple Rolls: 135
other heroes succeeds at a separate Singular/Extra roll. If all of his Panic Button
rolls during this period are successes, all heroes gain benefit or avoid
negative consequence; if even one roll fails, all heroes lose benefit or
suffer negative consequence.
All heroes must roll a predetermined number of times. Heroes who Multiple Rolls: 136
fail even once either suffer a negative consequence or fail to make Endurance Test
a gain. (Standard)

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 Encounters

Situation Type of Roll: Page

A hero must make a roll a predetermined number of times. If he fails Multiple Rolls: 136
even once, the entire group loses the benefit or suffers a negative Endurance Test
consequence. (Singular)
All heroes may roll; to succeed, they must get a collective total of X Multiple Rolls: 137
successes, in the course of Y rounds. X and Y are specified by the Countdown
designer.
A single hero makes a series of Opposed rolls against an opponent; if Multiple Rolls: 137
the hero is the first to tally a predetermined number of success, he Scoreboard
gains a benefit or avoids a negative consequence.
A Standard or Singular roll in which the pillager is allowed to roll more Extra Rolls Allowed 138
than once, needing only one success to gain the benefit or avoid the
ill consequence.
Any roll in which more than one Ability can be used. Alternate Method 138
A Standard or Singular roll in which the hero is required to make Simultaneous Rolls 138
two separate rolls with different modifiers; to gain the benefit or avoid
the ill consequence, the pillager must succeed at both rolls.
Any roll in which failure leads to more than one ill effect. Combo Trap 138
Any roll in which success leads to more than one gain. Combo Gain 139
Any roll in which success leads to a gain, but failure leads to an ill effect. Lady or Tiger Roll 139

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 Chapter 4

Both Thurid and Thorleik try to read the wall

covered in Runes. Thurid succeeds and Thorleik
Singular Rolls fails. Although the best reading of the runes Thorleik
can muster is, Its something about not going some-
A Singular roll is one that needs to be made by
where and not doing something, his thickheaded-
just one character. If he succeeds, he avoids a bad
ness doesnt prevent Thurid from correctly reading it
consequence or secures a gain, possibly for the
as a warning not to go down the corridor which
entire Horde. (Remember, a Standard roll is one in
screams like the wind, unless you carry sweets for
which every hero must roll, and each hero suffers
the spirits that live there.
individual good or bad consequences depending on
whether he succeeds or fails.)
RUSH
Singular rolls have an encounter point cost of 0. In a Rush roll, only one hero need make the roll,
Youd think theyd earn points, since success for the and only he enjoys the benefit of success or the con-
heroes is more likely in a situation where they can sequences of failure.
pick the best Viking for the job, let him roll, and
breathe a sigh of relief when he gets a high result. A door has been trapped so that a spear will dart
out from it when it is opened. Only the hero who
The mad sailor Hrapp will give a map to the opens it is at risk of being impaled.
heroes if one of them impresses him with his bravery,
by sitting without flinching as an albatross comes to The first hero to seize a golden orb from the top
peck at his eyes. of the pole will receive 2 points of Invigoration (see
p. 173) during the next combat.
A wheeled dwarven machine which periodically
emits a blast of magical green fire whips blindly Two or more heroes may want to attempt a Rush
around a corridor. Only one hero need use his Traps roll. To see who gets the chance, they must physical-
Ability on it to deactivate it. If he does so, everyone ly jockey for position. All contestants make
reaps the benefit. Engagement rolls (Str + Brawling) to see who gets to
try. Pillagers can avoid the jockeying by simply reach-
The heroes find a wall with some writing on it. ing an agreement designating a single hero to
Only one of them needs to successfully use his Runes attempt the roll.
Ability to read its message.
A situation where a single hero is targeted by a
This is balanced, however, by the fact that only trap one that fires missiles, for example is tech-
that character gets a shot at winning the favor of the nically a Rush roll, even though no other hero is like-
gods that is, scooping up victory points for a suc- ly to want to shoulder his way past the fellow in the
cessful roll. Given the victory point award at stake, crosshairs to take the hit instead.
heroes may in some situations wish to all try their
hands at the task in question. This is where several Rush rolls allow the designer to limit the benefit
different variants of Singular rolls come into play. the group gets from certain gains, or the harm
dished out by certain traps. They also accentuate the
NO-FAULT competition between pillagers, making game play
more interesting. Designers neither gain nor lose
A sub-category of the Singular roll is the No-
points for including Rush rolls, and are certainly free
Fault, in which all characters can roll and the fail-
to judge for themselves whether its economical for
ures do not cancel out the successes. No-fault rolls
them to use Rush rolls in any given situation.
most often occur when the heroes are performing
purely mental tasks, like trying to figure out clues.
Because No-Fault rolls always favor the heroes, they
gain the designer 15 encounter points.

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 Encounters

NEW DESIGNERS, READ NO FURTHER

If youre just learning the game for the first time, you can skip the rest of the Difficulties section. When first designing
encounters, make all of your rolls Standard, Singular, Singular: Rush, or Singular: No-Fault. Once youve got the basic hang
of things and want to do more complicated things with the rolls you require, come back and look at the options found
in the rest of this section.

More Singular Rolls Successful rollers still qualify for victory points,
but the bad consequences of the roll come to pass,
or the good consequences fail to materialize.
SCRAMBLE
A Scramble roll is just like a Rush, except that
any number of heroes can choose to try the roll, and Weak Link Rolls:
each hero suffers or enjoys the consequences of his When All Must Succeed
own roll.
In some situations, every hero must succeed at
Valykries show up to challenge the heroes to a spar- the same roll, or everyone fails. No one gets the gain
ring match. The winners each get 20 victory points, or treasure, or everyone falls victim to the trap or
while losers suffer damage. Heroes not willing to take hazard. These are called Weak Link rolls. They cost
the risk can sit out; they neither suffer nor gain. an extra 40 encounter points. Designers may or may
not find this a price worth paying, depending on the
DOGPILE number of heroes in their groups.
A Dogpile allows each hero to try the task simul- The elf queen looks at the heroes through her
taneously. However, the failure of one hero means magic lens to see if they are worthy of receiving her
failure for all. silver cup. Each must succeed at a Demeanor roll in
Ragnar, Thurid and Thorleik all decide that their order to win the prize.
Bravery Abilities are high enough to earn them a In the case of certain traps, some heroes may still
shot at a juicy encounter-point award, so they all have a chance to evade the ill effects of a Weak Link
troop out to the middle of Hrapps marooned ship to roll, depending on their position in relation to the
wait for the albatrosses to come. The Difficulty is 8. failed heroes. In neither case does the runner have
Alex, rolling for Ragnar as your proxy, gets an 11 to tell the pillagers which Ability hell be testing
and becomes eligible for 3 victory points (the dif- when he asks what order the heroes are marching in.
ference between Difficulty and result). Paul, rolling
for Thurid, gets a 12, earning 4 victory points. But LINE OF DOOM
Joel, rolling for Thorleik, botches, scoring a -8.
Thorleik not only flinches when the albatross If all heroes standing either immediately in front
comes: he squirms and whines like a little baby! of or behind the failed rollers are automatically
Hrapp frowns, comments that Vikings are much spared the effect, the designer has specified a Line
more cowardly than they were in his day, and tears of Doom roll. The designer must specify whether
the much-needed map into tiny little pieces before the source of the danger is to the front or rear-guard
the heroes disappointed eyes. of the party. If the source of the danger

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is to the rear of the party, all heroes the gremlins station, and out of the range of the boil-
ahead of the failed roller who is clos- ing oil. When Canute fails, the gremlin jumps on the
est to the front of the line are spared. If the danger trigger, hitting him and everyone behind him.
is in front, all heroes behind the failed roller who is
A Line of Doom roll costs 10 points, not the
closest to the back are spared.
usual 40 for a regular Weak Link roll.
Amundi, Bjarni, Canute, Dagfin, and Ufnal,
marching in that order, must make Stealth rolls to DOMINO
avoid alerting a gremlin hidden in the walls. If he
If all heroes either in front or behind of the failed
hears them, hell pull a lever, dropping molten oil
rollers are forced to make a second roll to avoid the
down on them from above. Canute and Ufnal fail
original trap, the designer has called for a Domino
their rolls. The source of the danger is behind the
roll. Note that in some cases this last option may
party. Canute is failed roller closest to the front of the
cause a Domino effect, where a hero succeeds at his
line. This means that the heroes ahead of him,
first roll, is forced to make a second, fails it, forcing
Amundi and Bjarni, managed to creep quietly past
the next hero in line to reroll, and so on.

CONDITIONAL ELEMENTS
CONDITIONALLY AVOIDABLE specifying that it remains in effect provides 0 points.
TRAPS AND HAZARDS If it fits the situation at hand, the designer can specify that
Designers can create traps and hazards that heroes can a hazard that remains in effect can only be triggered a cer-
avoid automatically, provided that their pillagers make cer- tain number of times before its ability to harm the heroes
tain choices. Most commonly, the pillagers choose not to is exhausted. This option is included for purposes of atmos-
do certain things, like touching a booby-trapped object or phere and garners the designer no extra points.
entering a dangerous area. If the designer forces the heroes
to fulfill the triggering condition, whether through his CONDITIONALLY AVAILABLE GAINS
description or by requiring a roll, the roll is not condition-
Designers can also declare that heroes can secure gains
ally avoidable.
without having to make a roll of any kind. The pillagers
Even when they make the choice that triggers the hazard, may have to figure out what simple choice to make in order
the heroes still get a roll to avoid its effects. to claim the gains, however. Note that the designer cant
If a Standard roll is conditionally avoidable, a single hero create complex puzzles, riddles, or other brain-twisters for
can make the choice that triggers the trap, but all heroes the pillagers to solve: those are the sorts of things heroes,
must roll to avoid its effects. Making a Standard roll condi- not their players, do, and they do them with die rolls.
tionally avoidable gains the designer 10 encounter points. The choice must be one that is achievable in the normal
If a Singular roll is conditionally avoidable, only heroes course of the encounter without having to succeed at any
who make the triggering choice must roll, and only they rolls or risk any damage. An exception to this general rule
suffer the ill-effects of failure. Designers gain an additional occurs in the aftermath of a battle; it is perfectly legal to
20 encounter points by making a Singular roll conditional- state that the heroes automatically secure any gains after
ly avoidable. killing their foes and undertaking an inspection of their
corpses and belongings.
The designer must specify whether the triggering condi-
tion works on first exposure (in which case only the first For that matter, the designer can always leave treasure or
hero or group of heroes to trigger the condition must roll) other tangible gains out in plain sight.
or remains in effect (in which case a hero could theoreti- Designers get no points for this. The advantage they get is
cally make the choice several times, exposing himself to in minimizing the number of rolls they require, thus
danger and requiring a new roll in each instance). First thwarting the Rule of Escalating Buffness (p. 136).
exposure gains the designer 5 additional encounter points;

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Amundi, Bjarni, Canute, Dagfin, and Ufnal are

climbing a rope, in that order; Amundi is the highest
climber. A gust of icy wind blows them hither and Multiple Rolls
yon. This trap calls for Weak Link rolls (Climb versus
Designers can make heroes roll multiple times to
Difficulty 6) under the Domino option. Any charac-
score benefits or avoid bad results. There are five
ter immediately below a failed roller must roll again.
kinds of Multiple rolls.
On the first roll, everyone except Bjarni succeeds.
Bjarni falls off the rope, and also forces the hero
ACTION SINK
immediately below him, Canute, to reroll. Canute
rolls again, successfully, ending the chain reaction. If If the heroes must score several successes, and
hed failed, hed have fallen off the rope and forced the only cost of the additional attempts is the loss of
Dagfin to reroll, and so on. actions in combat, the cost is 10 per success
required. The heroes must be allowed unlimited
A Domino roll costs 20 points.
Extra rolls, for which the designer does not earn the
usual encounter points.
Combat Action Required To get to a platform from which theyll be able to
neutralize their foes cover advantage, the heroes must
Designers may specify a hero can only roll to avoid toss four heavy barrels off the staircase. This requires
a bad result or get a benefit by forgoing one of his four successful rolls, undertaken during combat.
actions in the middle of a fight. This costs 10 points.
In the case of a trap/hazard, the designer pays an
If the hero must score a number of successes, additional 20 points to specify that the negative con-
and each try requires a combat action, multiply the sequences are triggered if the heroes do not score the
cost by the number of successes he must score. (As required successes by the end of the combat. In this
seen on p. 135, this is a kind of Multiple roll called case, the number of successes needed cant exceed 4.
the Action Sink.)
Obviously, this requirement only makes sense if the PANIC BUTTON
opportunity to snag the gain occurs during combat. If the designer requires a hero to keep making suc-
cessful rolls every round to maintain a benefit or
stave off some undesirable result, he must pay an
Equipment Not Needed additional 25 encounter points. In order to include
Designers gain 5 encounter points for including this feature, he must allow the heroes an opportunity
rolls for which the standard equipment associated to end the situation requiring their continual suc-
with the Ability in question is not needed. This situ- cesses. To take advantage of the opportunity, theyll
ation most often rears its head when the character is usually have to succeed at a roll of some kind or
using the knowledge arising from a physical Ability. another. The designer must pay the usual Difficulty
Usually the roll will be based on Intelligence instead costs associated with the roll to end all Multiple rolls.
of its governing Ability. Examples include: A defective dwarven craftwerk will explode, send-
Repair rolls to judge an objects durability. ing white-hot shrapnel ricocheting through the cham-
ber, unless Thorleik can use his Sing skill successful-
Map rolls to follow a map made by someone else. ly each round. By holding a particular note, he is able
to mimic the sound-activation device that accesses the
Climb rolls to guess the distance you might fall
craftwerks controls. This keeps the bot from blowing
if you slip off a ledge.
up, but doesnt solve the problem. To do that, Thurid
This point gain is unavailable if the Ability rolled must use her Repair Ability on the craftwerk, to safe-
does not come with standard equipment. As the ly deactivate it. As soon as she succeeds, Thorleik can
Norns would say: duh! stop singing.

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or trap/hazard by the number of Extra rolls required

to get the final cost of an Endurance Test.
ENDURANCE TEST
An Endurance Test is like the above, except that In the case of a gain, the cost escalates with each
the heroes can end the condition simply by lasting a additional round after the first.
predetermined number of rounds. # of Rolls After the First Cost
It will take Ragnar 4 rounds to cross a wet and rick- 2 Rolls +25 encounter points
ety bridge buffeted by fierce gusts of wind. If he does 3 Rolls +40 encounter points
not make a successful Balance roll for each round spent
4 Rolls +60 encounter points
on the bridge, he will plummet into the chasm below,
taking heavy-duty falling damage. 5 Rolls +85 encounter points

Endurance Tests can be Standard or Singular rolls.

In either case, no Endurance Test can require
In the case of a trap or hazard, the designer mul- more than 5 rolls.
tiplies all other positive costs associated with his gain

THE RULE OF ESCALATING BUFFNESS

There is no hard and fast limit on the total number of rolls well as rolls not specified in the runners encounter notes,
a designer may call for in a single encounter. However, from as long as they use non-Combat Abilities. (Note that most
the seventh roll onwards, the heroes enjoy the increasing Engagement rolls are based on a Combat Ability and there-
attention and favor of the gods, giving them a +1 bonus to fore dont get the benefit of Escalating Buffness.)
their non-combat rolls, which is cumulative with each addi-
Your encounter includes 11 rolls which meet the above criteria.
tional roll. This is called the Rule of Escalating Buffness.
The heroes make their way through the encounter. The third roll
To count towards the total of seven rolls, or to subsequent- is optional and the heroes skip it. They make all the other rolls.
ly add to the heroes Escalating Buffness bonus, a roll must On the seventh roll (the eighth listed in your encounter notes),
meet the following criteria: they get a +1 bonus. They then make a Freestanding roll, to
which they also apply the +1 bonus. It does not increase the
It uses something other than a Combat Ability.
bonus, though. The combat sequence follows; during that
It is listed in the encounter notes. sequence, one hero makes a Jump roll and another, a Divine
It is not a Freestanding roll. (As youll see on p. 172, Awareness roll to trigger a Divine Gift. Both of these rolls enjoy
Freestanding rolls give victory points to successful the benefit of the bonus, but do not increase it.
heroes, but do not reward runners when the heroes fail.) After the fight, the heroes search for treasure. One makes
At least one hero actually attempts the roll. an Awareness roll to find a cache of loot, as called for in
your notes. He applies a +2 bonus to the roll. Then he must
During the encounter, the runner keeps track of the num- roll Dodge to avoid the loots protective booby-trap. The
ber of rolls made which meet the criteria. Starting with the bonus increases to +3.
seventh applicable roll, the Escalating Buffness bonus kicks
in, increasing with each separate roll. Heroes may apply the The Rule of Escalating Buffness is a limitation on the num-
new bonus to the roll that triggers it. If Extra rolls are ber of rolls a designer includes because, as youll recall (p.
required (see p. 138), each Extra roll counts towards the 93) the runner gets victory points when the heroes fail rolls,
Escalating Buffness total. while the pillagers get them when their heroes succeed. So
if a designer includes too many rolls in your encounter,
Heroes may apply their Escalating Buffness bonuses to any hell hit a point of diminishing returns where, when he acts
rolls other than those using Combat Abilities, even when as runner and the bonuses to the heroes keep stacking up,
those rolls do not meet the criteria to further increase the hes awarding more points than hes getting.
bonus. Accordingly, they can apply to Freestanding rolls as

136
 Encounters

COUNTDOWN The designer then chooses the

number of attempts the heroes
In a Countdown, the heroes must score a num-
get, from 1 to 5. To get the final cost, he multiplies
ber of successes in the course of a number of
the base cost by the cost multiplier.
attempts. If they succeed, they get a reward or avoid
a trap/hazard. # of Attempts
Permitted Cost Multiplier
In a standard Countdown, the designer chooses
how many attempts the heroes get to make, and how 1 3
many total successes they require. The number of 2 2
successes required can equal half the number of 3 None
heroes, the number of heroes, half again the num-
ber of heroes, or twice the number of heroes. 4 0.5
5 0.25
There are four heroes in your group. You can
require 2, 4, 6, or 8 successes.
You decide to give the heroes four attempts to
The cost of a Countdown is determined in two score the required number of successes. Your cost
steps. First, use the chart below to find the base cost. multiplier is 0.5. Your final cost is 20 x 0.5, or 10
Pick the higher of the two possible base costs. encounter points.
Difficulty Cost refers to all positive costs associat-
ed with the Difficulty not just the Difficulty In a variation of the Countdown, the heroes may
Number, but any other charges, such as for Exotic be required to score a set number of successes in
rolls or rolls modified by divine ratings. order to end recurring or escalating damage (p. 142)
theyre already suffering. In this case, the designer
How Many just uses the base cost, without a multiplier.
Successes Required? Base Cost
# of heroes 2 20 encounter points Countdowns can never also be No-Fault or
or (Difficulty Cost x 2) Freestanding rolls (see p. 172).

# of heroes 40 encounter points During a Countdown, even though it typically

or (Difficulty Cost x 4) occurs outside of combat, heroes may roll for
# of heroes x 1.5 60 encounter points Initiative to see who goes first, and if any of them
or (Difficulty Cost x 6) get extra actions. If the roll is of a non-combat
Ability, the heroes treat Qik + the Ability as their
# of heroes x 2 80 encounter points INIT score.
or (Difficulty Cost x 8)
SCOREBOARD
You decide to require a number of successes equal to Scoreboard rolls simulate a match, race, or other
half the number of heroes. Checking the chart, you see contest. They employ Opposed rolls (see p. 129). The
that the base cost is 20 encounter points or 2 times the hero and an adversary race to be the first to achieve
Difficulty cost. Youve chosen a Difficulty of 7, which 3, 4, or 5 successes. Think of this as a series of rounds
normally costs 10 encounter points. 2 times 10 is 20. in a contest. This rule is best used to add suspense to
The two choices are equal, so your base cost is 30 races and games.
encounter points.
Thorleik gambles against another Viking. The first
If you had chosen a Difficulty of 8, it would nor- to score 4 successes wins a locked chest, to which they
mally cost 20 encounter points. 2 times 20 is 40, have both laid a claim.
which is the highest of the two choices. Your base cost
would have been 40 encounter points.

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The additional cost of making an If there is more than one way to do a particular
Opposed roll into a Scoreboard roll thing, the designer gains 10 encounter points for
depends on the modifier the opponent applies to each method after the first.
his rolls.
In the above example, you allow two methods the
Opponents Cost Per Success Divine Awareness plus the missile attack and there-
Total Modifier Required After the First by get 10 encounter points for the second method.
3 or less +5 encounter points
3-5 +10 encounter points
Simultaneous Rolls
6-8 +20 encounter points
Sometimes the designer will want to force heroes
9 or more +40 encounter points
to make two separate rolls, each against a different
Ability, at the same time.
Extra Rolls Allowed You create an encounter in which the hero must
If the designer allows a character to make mul- stand on a rolling log and shoot at a target with a mis-
tiple attempts at a non-combat action (including sile weapon. He must roll both Balance and the mis-
rolls of non-combat Abilities during a fight), he sile Ability of his choice.
gains 5 encounter points per Extra rolls allowed The designer first pays the usual costs for both
after the first. rolls as if they occurred separately. Then he suffers a
If there is no set limit to the number of rolls a 15 encounter point charge for each new Ability roll
hero can make, the designer nets 20 encounter points. after the first.
If simultaneous rolls occur in combat, only one
can require an action. The others must all be possi-
ble without spending an action.
DISTANCE: CLOSING
A LOOPHOLE In the above example, the missile shot could
require an action, but the Balance roll cant.
If a hero must reach a particular spot before he can
make a roll, that spot may not be more than 60 paces
from any other spot on the map.
Combo Traps
One trap can have more than one bad effect. For
example, a trap might make noise as it damages the
Alternate Methods heroes, so that it also serves as a stick (see p. 144)
granting INIT bonuses to foes in the next room.
Some tasks can be completed in more than one way. The cost of a combo trap is a surcharge equal to 50%
The mocking visage of Loki appears in a cavern to of all points the designer must pay for the traps
mock the heroes. If they dont dispel this apparition, Difficulty and roll type.
they suffer Impairment. They can avoid the trap You create a trap that deals both damage and
either through a successful Divine Awareness roll (in Impairment. The Difficulty is 9 (cost 30) and your
which the hero wills the apparition to vanish by roll type is Weak Link (cost 40.) The combo surcharge
invoking the name of Odin) or simply by hitting the is (30 + 40) 2 = 35.
floating visage with a missile.
If a cost the designer pays for the roll type applies
Designers may include up to three ways of only to one of the effects of the trap, he may ignore
accomplishing any particular goal. it when calculating the surcharge.

138
 Encounters

Lets say that, in the above example, heroes can

avoid the Impairment if they personally succeed, but
suffer the damage if any single hero fails. The avoid-
ance of the Impairment is treated as a Standard roll,
but the damage part is a Weak Link roll. Because CLUMPING PENALTY
youre only taking advantage of the Weak Link aspect
once, you dont have to pay for it again as part of the If a designers encounter includes more than three
rolls against a particular secondary Ability, he pays a
surcharge. Under these conditions, youd only take into clumping penalty for making so much ride on that
account the 30 point cost of a Difficulty 9; half of that one Ability. For each roll after the third, the cost
hits you with a surcharge of 15 encounter points. increases by 15x, where x is the number of rolls against
the Ability previously included in the encounter.
When calculating the surcharge, the designer
must ignore any points earned from lenient Your encounter includes 5 Skald rolls, all at Difficulty
6. The first three cost 0 points, which is the standard
Difficulties or roll types. cost for a Difficulty 6 roll. The fourth costs 45 points:
Your trap deals damage and a victory point deduc- the standard cost of 0 plus 15 points for each of the 3
previous rolls. The fifth costs 60 points: the standard
tion. The Difficulty is 7 (cost 10) and your roll type
cost of 0 plus 15 points for each of the 4 previous rolls.
is Singular: No-Fault (cost -15). You ignore the -15
altogether, leaving 10 points of positive cost. Your The clumping penalty is necessary because the runner
gets victory points when players fail rolls. Freestanding
combo surcharge is half of that, or 5 points. Ability rolls (see p. 172) dont grant you victory points,
so the clumping penalty does not apply to them.

Combo Gains
The designer can create a single roll that leads to
more than one gain if the hero scores a success. The If the hero is only allowed to add his
cost of doing this is the (positive cost of the Characteristic to a roll (that is, if no Ability can log-
Difficulty, if any) times the (number of separate ically be applied to it), add 20 to the cost.
gains.) This can be an advantage when the designer
wishes to cut down on rolls in order to stay clear of If the roll requires an Ability none of the heroes
the Rule of Escalating Buffness (p. 136). Clever have, add 40 to the cost.
designers may find other uses for it. Its also a time- If the game statistics of the runners hero are
saver when an event includes a long list of gains. such that the number hell add to his roll is greater
than that of any other character, we call it a Stacked
roll. Add 75 to the cost of any stacked roll.
Lady or Tiger?
If the designer calls for a roll of INIT, ATK, or
Most traps grant a hero only an addition to his DFN, he does not predetermine a specific
victory point tally when he succeeds. Likewise, most Difficulty when creating the encounter. Instead,
gains do nothing bad to the hero when he fails the he chooses a modifier to the baseline. That modi-
roll. However, in a Lady or Tiger roll, the hero fier can range from -2 to +8 for ATK and DFN. The
scores a gain on a success but suffers a trap/hazard runner determines what the baseline is just before
on a failing roll. There is no cost associated with a the roll is made; it equals the number for the rel-
Lady or Tiger roll. evant statistic on his Roll of Valor. (The Roll of
Valor, explained on p. 98 of the Foes section, gives
the runner a sorta-kinda-not-really average of the
Exotic Rolls heroes game statistics, from which he derives the
stats for their opposition.) Costs for baseline mod-
If a roll calls for anything other than a
ifiers are listed in the chart below.
Characteristic + Ability roll, its cost increases.

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 Chapter 4

Astute readers will note that this is Deity Cost

the general Difficulty chart, with a Freyja +10
modifier of +0 in the place of Difficulty 6.
Heimdal +15
Modifier Loki +15
to Baseline Cost
Njord +15
-2 -20 encounter points
Odin +20
-1 -10 encounter points
Thor +25
0 +0 encounter points
Tyr +15
+2 +10 encounter points
Ull +10
+3 +20 encounter points
Any other deity +5
+4 +30 encounter points
+5 +40 encounter points
Note that a designer can exactly offset this cost
+6 +50 encounter points
by installing a shrine to the deity somewhere else in
+7 +60 encounter points the encounter (see p. 174). It even makes sense that
+8 +70 encounter points a god would exert greater control over his followers
+9 +80 encounter points when theyre close to one of his shrines.
Try to make the action the god encourages or
hinders match its agenda. Freyja wants to protect
Designers may never include tests in which the
growing things, and stop the heroes from defiling
only way for heroes to succeed is to roll their levels
fertile areas, no matter who controls them. Heimdal
in a particular Divine Gift.
might force the hero to take action against the
undead, or objects sacred to his enemy, Loki. Loki,
Failure Leads to Trap of course, delights in destruction and trickery, and
might stop the heroes from doing honest or helpful
If the consequence of a roll is that a hero or things. Njord hates heat and stillness, and might
heroes are then forced to make a subsequent roll to make the heroes extinguish fires or fix wind
avoid a trap, the designer must add 10 to the cost. machines. Odin desires items that bring him knowl-
edge, and might force the heroes to make maps for
him. Thor may force the heroes to acts of thick-
In Defiance of the Gods skulled bravery, even stopping them from retreating
in the face of a superior foe. Tyr encourages acts of
One of the risks of acquiring a large number of spectacular suffering; he might expect heroes to
Divine Gifts is that the hero loses some of his free honor his deeds by walking into traps. Ull may force
will. If a god who has rewarded a hero with many heroes to take valuable time from their journey to
Gifts wants him to do something, the deity may be pursue elusive game animals.
able to reach into his body and make a puppet of
him. In other cases, the god may want to prevent If one of the players has over-specialized in the
him from doing something. Gifts of a particular deity, a designer can use this
encounter element to target him for a hose-down of
Designers can specify that heroes must apply mythic proportions.
their Divine Connection rating for a single, specific
deity as an increase to the Difficulty of any roll. The
cost of doing so varies by deity.

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 Encounters

STEP SIX: Traps and Hazards

Heroes do not reach 20 or fewer hit points by
combat alone. Traps and hazards allow runners to Trap Damage
whittle down the pillagers, without the risk that Most traps deliver damage. The number of hit
theyll pick up victory points by the bucketful from points a hero loses when he fails to avoid a trap is equal
dying blow bonuses. to the traps Dam rating plus the difference between
As far as the rules are concerned, traps and haz- heros failed roll and the Difficulty, minus his Soak.
ards work in the same way: theyre situations in TRAP DAMAGE
which one or more heroes must make a successful Dam Rating + (Difficulty - Result of Failed Roll) - Soak
roll or suffer some ill consequence, usually damage.
A trap is a situation created by an intelligent being. Ragnar enters a cavern where melting, spear-like
They range from hunters snares to steam-powered, icicles dangle overhead. One of them falls from the
deafening dwarven contraptions. Hazards, from roof. As his player, you must roll Dodge versus a
avalanches to slime pits, occur naturally. Difficulty of 8 to avoid it. Its Dam rating is 12. You
roll a 4. The raw damage he suffers is 16 (the Dam
Important Limit:
rating plus the 4 points of difference between
No encounter can include more than 8 traps. No
Difficulty and result). Ragnars Soak is 6; his actual
combat event can include more than 4 traps.
hit point loss is 10.
In addition to any costs for the Difficulty of its
Elements of a Trap or roll to avoid, the designer pays for a traps Dam rat-
Hazard ing. If the Dam rating of the hazard is 15 or less, the
cost equals the Dam rating.
Every time you include a trap or hazard, you
The icicle hazard has a Dam rating of 12. Its base
must decide the following:
cost is 12 encounter points.
1. What does the hero roll to avoid it?
If the Dam rating exceeds 15, the cost is the Dam
2. Whats the Difficulty? rating plus a surcharge. The surcharge is given in the
chart below.
3. Do any special case rules relate to the roll?
Dam rating Surcharge
4. What ill-effect does the hero suffer if he fails?
16 20 +5 encounter points
5. What special case rules, if any, affect the opera-
21 25 +10 encounter points
tion of the trap or hazard?
26 30 +15 encounter points
To answer the first three questions, refer to the
31 35 +20 encounter points
Difficulty rules, which you saw in the last section.
This section is devoted to questions four and five. 36 40 +25 encounter points
41 - 45 +30 encounter points
When a hero fails his roll to avoid, he suffers the
traps ill effects. 46 50 +35 encounter points

No trap carries a Dam rating higher than 50.

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You create an alpine encounter in 4, and a 9. She adds the 4 point difference to the total
which the heroes are at risk of suffer- of the damage rolls, getting a raw damage tally of 29.
ing 20 points of damage from an avalanche. Your cost
The cost of random damage depends on the
is 25 encounter points; 20 points for the Dam rating,
number of dice a trap deals out.
plus the +5 surcharge.
Dice Cost
ARMOR-IGNORING DAMAGE 1 +2 encounter points
If a hazards effects ignore armor, pay an addi- 2 +7 encounter points
tional 10 encounter points. The character may not
3 +15 encounter points
subtract the Prot portion of his Soak score from the
damage dealt. 4 +22 encounter points
5 +26 encounter points
Ragnar triggers a poison needle trap and suffers
14 points of raw damage. Because the poison deals 6 +30 encounter points
armor-ignoring damage, Ragnar may deduct his Soak 7 +43 encounter points
rating (3 points) but not his armors Prot rating (3 8 +50 encounter points
points). He loses 11 hit points.

RANDOM DAMAGE No trap may dish out more than 8 dice of damage.
To create a trap/hazard that deals a random RECURRING/ESCALATING DAMAGE
amount of damage, choose any number of d10s. When
the damage is dealt, roll that number of d10s sepa- After a hero is exposed to recurring damage, he
rately for each victim, totaling the values. Damage dice continues to lose a set number of hit points per
can botch or triumph, just like most other rolls. The round until someone performs an action (usually
difference between the result and the Difficulty of the requiring a roll) to put a stop to it. If a roll is
heros roll is added to the result of the damage roll. required, the designer must always allow unlimited
retries, for which he does not earn the usual
Ragnar encounters an avalanche that does 4 dice encounter point gain.
of damage. You roll for him, failing his Ski roll by 4
points. The runner rolls four dice, getting a 3, a 9, a Ragnar is constricted by a craftwerk snake of
dwarven manufacture. It has a damage rating of 4,
and recurs. Ragnar is allowed a Strength roll to avoid
its grip, against a Difficulty of 6. You, his player, fail
the roll by 2. He takes 6 points of damage (the Dam
rating + his difference between Difficulty and result)
immediately, and will take 6 points of damage each
round after that, until he can make a Traps roll to
deactivate the craftwerk.
To get the cost of recurring damage, the design-
er takes the normal cost for the amount of the
damage rating and multiplies it by 2.5. Take into
account any surcharges before multiplying. Lop off
fractions, as usual.
A trap with a recurring Dam rating of 2 would
cost 5 encounter points; 2 x 2.5 = 5. A rating of 21
points of recurring damage would cost 77 encounter
points; (21 + surcharge of 10) x 2.5 = 77.5.

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 Encounters

Escalating damage is recurring damage that not

only continues from one round to the next until
stopped, but increases the number of hit points
dealt with each succeeding round. The Dam rating
increases by 2 each round. The damage the victim WHAT IMPAIRMENT
suffers each round is the original difference between
Difficulty and result, plus the current Dam rating.
AFFECTS
Heres a clarification which we, for simplicitys sake,
Ragnar falls into a vat of caustic oil. He gets a left out of the introductory definition of Impairment:
Stamina roll to resist. Its Difficulty is 10. You fail that Impairment only alters a heros rolls. It does not direct-
by 3 points. The caustic oil has a Dam rating of 4. ly alter game statistics that are not rolled, like Soak. It
The first round, Ragnar suffers damage of 7 (the Dam does, however, modify every single roll you make.
rating plus the difference between Difficulty and Thats why it costs so much.
result). The next round, he suffers damage of 9 (the
difference plus 6.) The round after that, he suffers
damage of 11 (the difference plus 8), and so on.
The cost of escalating damage is (base damage x Like injuries, Impairment acquired during an
2.5) + 15. encounter is removed before the next encounter starts.
The base cost of Impairment is keyed to the number
An escalating Dam rating of 2 would cost 20 of rolls still to come in your encounter, as follows:
encounter points; 2 times 2.5 is 5, plus 15 equals 20.
A rating of 21 points of escalating damage would cost For each combat sequence: +30
67 points; 21 times 2.5 is 52, after we drop fractions; For each roll to avoid a trap: +5
add 15 for a total of 67.
For each roll to trigger a gain: +5
In both cases, the hero is usually given a roll to
avoid the effect in the first place, and another roll to For each Freestanding Ability roll (see p. 172): +3
put a stop to it. The hero gets one chance per round
to end the effect; doing so requires an action. His allies Multiply this base cost by the number of
may also spend their actions in attempts to end the Impairment points.
effect. Designers must pay the usual Difficulty costs
for both the roll to avoid and the roll to end the effect. Impairment doesnt have to last until the end of
Although the victim gets multiple chances to end the the encounter. Designers can designate a point in
effect, he doesnt get to take the usual discount for a your encounter during which the Impairment is
situation allowing Multiple rolls (see p.135). removed. They pay only for the combat sequences and
rolls appearing between the onset of Impairment and
its cure. The maximum Impairment penalty a hero
Impairment can suffer from sources other than Wounds is 2.

Sometimes a hero will suffer an effect that Some Impairments are specific; they affect only
decreases all of his rolls by a set number for a par- one Ability or another type of roll derived from an
ticular period of time. The effect may be physical or Ability (like Engagement). In this case, the designer
mental, but it is so distracting that it affects every- pays for only the affected rolls. If the Impairment
thing he does. The shooting pain in his leg may effect directly or indirectly affects INIT, ATK, DFN, or
make it harder for him to concentrate on his map- Engagement, you pay +10 for each combat sequence.
ping. The hallucinations of Ragnarok that haunt his Note: Once you include an Impairment effect in
mind blur his vision when battle comes, making it an encounter, you never gain points for low Difficulties
harder for him to strike his foes. in tests to which the Impairment will apply.

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Sticks
A stick is any roll that, if the pillager fails, sticks
him with a penalty to a roll appearing later in the
SLEEP DEPRIVATION same encounter.
One splendid source of general Impairment is sleep Examples of sticks include:
deprivation. Heroes in the midst of long journeys
learn to take their rest in all sorts of unlikely places. Alarms, such as trap that warns enemies of the
They learn to sleep like logs in dank underground cav- heroes approach, giving them time to prepare for bat-
erns, on the decks of ships plying the roiling waves, tle. If an alarm goes off, all foes in the upcoming fight
or in the frosty embrace of Jotunheims mountains. get a bonus to their Initiative rolls which lasts for a
Unless theyre anxious to join the ranks of the restless given number of rounds. Different alarms might be
dead, theyll set up sentries to keep enemies and
predators from assailing them while they slumber.
avoided by various Abilities, like Awareness, Stealth,
Only in extraordinary situations will they be unable or Traps.
to sleep at all.
A Demeanor roll which, if failed, enrages the
Such situations might include: heros foe, giving him an ATK bonus.
proximity to dwarven machinery emitting an ear-
pounding racket
A Bravery roll which, if failed, causes the heros
hands to shake, decreasing his chances of picking a
an area so heavily populated with enemies that crucial lock.
any attempt to camp will soon be interrupted by
attackers The cost of a stick equals (the penalty to the sub-
a place haunted by unseen ghosts and spirits who sequent roll x 5). If, as in the alarm example above,
give off an aura of fear so strong that even the it affects a series of rolls taken over a set number of
bravest cannot rest rounds, multiply the cost by the number of rounds.
Begin counting sleep deprivation after 16 hours of The basic decrease cant exceed 6.
being up, when he would normally go to sleep. After
18 hours of sleep deprivation, heroes suffer 1 point of A stick may also give foes a bonus to INIT,
Impairment. After 36 hours, they suffer 2 points. Sleep ATK, or DFN rolls. If the designer wants the
deprivation obeys the standard costs for traps causing bonus to benefit all of the foes in his encounter,
general Impairment. the roll to avoid must be a Weak Link roll (see p.
133). ATK and DFN bonuses for foes cost (bonus x
5 x number of rounds the bonus remains in
effect). INIT bonuses cost five points for each +3
You design an encounter. A hazard generating 2 increase, times the number of rounds the bonus
points of general Impairment appears at its begin- remains in effect.
ning. Later in the encounter, you create a trap that
(Designers who want to create alarm traps that
the heroes can roll Dodge to avoid. You consider mak-
alert foes to the heroes presence can do so with
ing the Difficulty of that roll 4, in order to earn the
sticks that increase foes first-round INIT rolls.)
usual 10 encounter points. But then you remember
that the Impairment prevents you from snagging Sticks are an important part of Runes unusually
those points. Might as well make the Difficulty a 6. linear approach to roleplaying. In many games, you
might include a roll that leads to a branch in the
You go back and turn the Impairment event into
plot. If the heroes succeed in breaking down the
2 points of specific Impairment to the heroes DFN
door to the vampires castle, they can explore it and
rolls. You can now earn the 10 encounter points from
face a number of plot complications. If they dont,
the Difficulty 4 Dodge trap, as the heroes rolls to
they never go down that branch, and none of those
avoid it wont be lowered by the preced-
events happen.
ing Impairment effect.

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 Encounters

In Rune, there are no branches. Failed rolls never

entirely preclude the heroes from taking part in a
given event. Instead, they just create a disadvantage
when they do enter that event. To take the castle
STICK AND CARROT
door example above, a failed Pick Lock roll doesnt COMBOS
mean that the door never opens. It means that the As youll see on p. 171, a carrot is the opposite of a
door opens later than the hero would like, and that stick: a successful result grants the recipient a bonus to
something bad happens as a result: the vampire a subsequent roll.
stands ready to bite him, gremlins have had time to The designer can devise rolls that lead to a carrot if
better hide a potion, or whatever. successful, and a stick if unsuccessful.
The hero stands at a castle door. If he succeeds in his
Adopting this slightly different way of thinking
Pick Locks roll, he opens the door quickly and gains an
may be the biggest challenge Rune players used to increase to his Initiative rolls, because hes catching
other RPGs face when they devise encounters. Once the vampire before its ready for him. If he fails, his rat-
youre used to thinking in this way, though, youll tling at the lock alerts it to his presence, giving it an
find the concept simple and easy to apply. Initiative bonus.

Loss of Status If the designer makes the increase from the carrot
equal to the decrease from the stick, the cost balances
to 0. Neither increase nor decrease can exceed 6, or
When among their own people, the heroes may remain active for more than 3 rounds. A designer is,
sometimes risk a loss of status if they do not under- however, free to make the two asymmetrical. If the car-
take a particular dangerous action. For example, they rots increase exceeds the sticks decrease, the designer
might want to stay at home and heal up, but are gains 5 encounter points per point of difference. If the
urged by their village elders to get a move on and imbalance goes the other way, he pays 5 encounter
points per point of difference.
track down the enemies who threaten them all. If the
heroes flout their wishes, they lose some or all of the The designer pays (or gains) only once for the
victory points they would otherwise gain for the cur- Difficulty associated with the roll.
rent encounter. The cost equals the victory point
deduction. Deductions come in increments of 5, and
Example of Choice Method: A parasitic worm
cant exceed 20. 20 is the maximum per encounter.
lurks under the lid of a chest full of silver. Only the
hero who opens the lid risks falling prey to it. The
Special Cases actions of the players, not the decisions of the runner,
determine who meets the worm.
Here are some oddball options advanced design-
Example of Random Roll: A poisonous bat will fly
ers will want to consider.
from its perch to bite one of the heroes. The runner
rolls a die to decide which one gets fanged.
LIMITED TARGETING
Designers pay less for limited targeting, depend-
If the trap or hazard affects all of the heroes, use
ing on the maximum number of heroes who can
the encounter point costs unmodified.
suffer the effects of the trap.
Limited targeting comes into play when a trap
# of Heroes Cost
affects less than the entire party, but the runner
cant tell in advance from his encounter notes which 1 -15 encounter points
of the heroes will be at risk of falling victim to it. 2 -10 encounter points
The victim is chosen either when the players decide 3 or more +0 encounter points
to have their heroes do things that trigger the trap,
or via a random roll by the runner.

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the map. Typically a character increases or decreases

his roll to avoid by 1 for every 10 paces of distance
between him and a particular point. If he decreases
his roll, the relevant distance is that between him
REPEAT SHOTS and the perimeter of safety, beyond which hed be
rolling normally.
Any limited-targeting trap can keep harming targets
round after round, until deactivated. Each round, the A pot of boiling oil drops from the ceiling, onto a
runner makes a random roll to see which heroes get point youve marked on your map as ground zero.
targeted. The additional cost of repeat shots depends Everyone must roll to avoid the splash. Those 80
on how many characters the trap targets per round.
paces or further away from it roll normally. Everyone
Targets else is inside a zone of danger. Those inside it
Per Round Cost decrease their rolls by 1 for each ten paces between
1 +25 encounter points them and the zones outer border. So if Ragnar is 30
2 +50 encounter points paces away from ground zero, hes 50 paces away
3 +75 encounter points from the safe zone. Accordingly, he suffers a 5 point
4 +100 encounter points decrease to his Dodge roll.
5 +150 encounter points Sometimes heroes can increase their rolls by stand-
6 +200 encounter points ing inside a zone of safety. The relevant distance is
that between them and the edge of this zone.
Use the costs given here, not those given above for A blast of frigid air threatens to freeze the heroes
non-repeating limited targeting trap. bones, but Ragnar stands near a magical bonfire. He
The designer must specify how the heroes can stop the is ten paces away from it; its protective zone extends
trap from sending out repeat shots. If this requires a for 70 paces. The difference between the two is 60
roll, the designer must pay all points associated with paces, so Ragnar adds 6 to his Stamina roll to resist
that roll, as usual. However, if it only requires an action,
the colds damaging effects.
the designer pays no additional cost.
The designer decides how large the zone of safe-
ty or danger is, and thus the maximum increase or
decrease. The cost of an increase is 5 points times
the maximum modifier. The gain from a decrease is
Limited-targeting traps that trigger only on the
5 times the maximum modifier. The designer cant
heroes choices almost always also qualify as condi-
gain more for a decrease than he spends on the
tionally avoidable (p. 134). However, not all condi-
traps damage.
tionally avoidable traps count as having limited tar-
geting, because some affect the entire party. The worst penalty victims of the boiling oil trap
can suffer is -8, because the zone of danger is 80
Note that for this purpose one trap can include a
paces in diameter. The cost is 80 encounter points.
number of separate objects that do the same thing.
For example, a set of four bear traps, each of which The best bonus enjoyed by heroes inside the bon-
has the same game statistics, counts as a single trap fires zone of protection is 7, because that zone is 70
capable of damaging four heroes, not four separate paces in diameter. The designer would get 35
traps, each of which affects only a single hero. encounter points for including it. However, the Dam
rating of the trap is only 20, and costs just 25 points.
POSITIONAL MODIFIERS The designer gets only 25 points back for the zone of
Some characters may find themselves at an advan- safety modifier. Nonetheless, he leaves it as is, because
tage or disadvantage when a trap goes off, thanks to he intends to the use size of the zone to maneuver the
their position in relation to an item on heroes into another of his cunning terrain features.

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 Encounters

The designer can only use positional modifiers A combatant is disarmed

if the runner is going to keep track of the heroes A combatant falls down
relative positions on a map. A combatant falls down from a cause other
than terrain
TRAPS DURING COMBAT A combatant activates a Divine Gift
Traps that go off during combat can add to the A combatant goes berserk
runners score, because theyre treated like terrain A hero uses a missile weapon
features for victory point determination (see p. 93). A specific foe dies
A specific foe botches or triumphs
These traps never hit the foes, no matter what.
Designers should prepare to explain why the trap
never hits the foes, only heroes. They gain no extra
Carnage Off-the-Rack
points for making these explanations plausible. The Certain hazards always work the same way.
easiest way to design such a trap is to make it con- Instead of building them from scratch each time,
ditionally avoidable, and then see to it that the foes designers use the following package deals to buy
never take the action that trips it. standard traps like acid, fire, and falling.
Goblins know that the river is full of flesh-eating
fish, and so never venture into it.
ACID (AND OTHER CAUSTIC SUBSTANCES)
A bridge over a lava pit is designed to collapse. The
Heroes should look before they leap into any
immortal Roman centurion who built it knows
pool of liquid, especially if it seethes and bubbles.
enough not to try to cross it.
Traps that immerse heroes in acid, roiling demon
A designer could just as well create weird magic guts, or other caustic substances deal recurring,
traps smart enough to ignore the heroes foes, tube- armor-ignoring damage. The designer can pick any
strikers that hate the taste of dwarf, and so on. Or flat Dam rating. Damage from immersion doesnt
the runner can simply declare that the foes auto- vary much from one victim to the next; random
matically succeed in any attempt to avoid damage is not recommended.
a trap, without having to roll for them.
If the pool of caustic liquid is deep enough, it
Designers may find it interesting to might also pose a drowning hazard. The designer pays
design traps so that theyre triggered for that using the drowning rules, later in this section.
by specific events during combat:
Immersion in acid also damages armor and other
equipment, and the designer must pay for this qual-
ity, too, using the rules given later in this section.

AMBUSH OPPORTUNITIES
An ambush is an attack made against an unsus-
pecting foe. Heroes can ambush foes, or vice versa. In
the first case, the designer gains points; in the latter,
he pays points. Ambush opportunities for heroes are
gains; those for foes are traps. But it saves space to dis-
cuss both situations in one place, so here we go.
There are two kinds of ambush opportunities:
hiding places and lax sentries. A hiding place is
a well-concealed area in which either the heroes or
their opponents can hide themselves

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long enough to stage an ambush DROWNING

against the other side. In a lax sen-
Longship journeys across wind-lashed seas offer
try situation, the targets are encamped in such a
the Viking warrior a wide range of drowning oppor-
way as to invite a surprise incursion by enemies.
tunities. So do the raging underground rivers that
When heroes wait in a hiding place or advance surge through various passageways of the Underworld.
towards lax sentries, the group makes a Weak Link Whenever a hero finds himself suddenly in a body of
Stealth roll, against a Difficulty indicating the quali- water too deep to stand up in, his player must roll his
ty of the hiding place or the attentiveness of sen- Swim Ability to avoid drowning. The basic Difficulty
tries. Particularly good hiding places and especially is 4, as modified according to the chart below.
bleary guards carry low Difficulties. Poor hiding
Situation Modifier
places and sharp-eyed sentries carry high
Difficulties. A successful Weak Link roll makes foes Waters surface is tranquil -3
suffer the ill effects of ambush, explained below. Waters surface is mildly choppy 0
When heroes pass by an enemy hiding place or Waves rage across the waters +3
camp out in such a way as to encourage foes to creep surface
up on them, the group makes a Weak Link A mighty undercurrent is at +5
Awareness roll against a Difficulty indicating the work below the waters surface
quality of the hiding place or the stealth of To get to shore, hero must swim +3
approaching foes. Poor hiding places and careless against slight current
stalkers carry low Difficulties. Good hiding places
and especially silent creepers levy high Difficulties. A To get to shore, hero must swim +6
failed Weak Link roll subjects heroes to the ill effects against strong current
of ambush. Hero is not just treading water, +2
but trying to swim in a
During the first round of a successful ambush, all particular direction
surprised combatants suffer a -6 penalty to their
ATK, DFN and Engagement rolls. During the sec- Hero is pulling another person +4 plus
ond, they suffer a -3 penalty to their ATK and DFN with him as he swims persons Sta
rolls. The third round brings a mere -1 decrease. At Hero has been thrown a rope, - (3 + allys Str)
Initiative time in the second round, each combatant which is held by a strong,
may roll Bravery (or, in the case of foes, Res) against well-braced compatriot onshore
a Difficulty of 9; if he succeeds, he faces only penal- Hero has been in the water for +1 per round
ties of -2 during that round and no decreases the more than 1 round
next. If he fails, he may roll again next Initiative to
ignore the third rounds decrease. These rolls do not
cost actions. The heros player must roll Swim for each round
spent in the water.
Designers pay 50 points, plus Difficulty cost, to
give foes ambush opportunities. They gain 50 points If the hero can swim towards shore, an island, a jut-
to give heroes ambush opportunities. ting rock, or some other object on which he can haul
himself out of the water, he can end his risk of drown-
Lax sentry situations in which foes ambush the ing. The distance he can swim per round is given in
heroes make excellent conclusions to healing oppor- the description of the Swim Ability, on p. 27.
tunities. Tricky runners will show the heroes the
area map only when the ambush occurs, so that the On a failed Swim roll, the hero goes under and
pillagers are surprised that the previously undefined starts to drown. Drowning damage ignores armor
area their heroes have been resting up in turns out and escalates, starting at 6 points. See
to be the middle of a battle scene. Recurring/Escalating Damage, on p. 142.

148
 Encounters

Once a hero starts drowning, he can do nothing

to stop it. Another hero can jump into the water to
drag him to shore. Drowning victims flail about,
involuntarily resisting their rescuers. The would-be
rescuer must make a Brawling attack against the
drowning victims Brawling defense in order to wrap
his arms around him and stop his resistance. He
must also make his own Swim rolls for every round
he remains in the water, or start to drown himself.
The sagas mention many brave warriors who died
trying to save others from drowning.
A rolling log trap knocks Ragnar into a cold under-
ground river. Its current is mild, but Ragnar will have
to swim against it to return to shore. The Difficulty is
4 (basic) + 3 (swimming against current), or 7.
Ragnar has picked up 1 point of the Swim Ability
since we last met him, so hes ready for the challenge.
You roll his Str + Swim, for a result of 5. Not good
enough. He begins to drown. He loses 6 hit points.
His total is now 58.
The total cost of a drowning trap or hazard
depends on the conditions.
Waters Cost
Tranquil +10 encounter points
Upon exposure to a trap that damages equip-
Choppy +30 encounter points ment, the heros player must make a roll for each
Raging Waves +60 encounter points piece of equipment the hero carries. These rolls
Mighty Undercurrent +80 encounter points take place after the runner determines how much
damage your hero suffered. Especially robust pieces
of equipment get modifiers added to these rolls.
These basic costs increase if the hero must swim For weapons, armor, and shields, the modifier
against a current to haul himself out of the water. A equals the items Load x 2. Ignore fractions after
mild current costs an extra 30 points; a fast-moving doubling. Dwarven items, like the dwarven battle
current costs an extra 60 points. axe, battle hammer, and so on, are especially
rugged and gain a further +3 bonus. Magical
Some waters, especially in the Underground, are
weapons, armor, and shields gain a +6 bonus.
infested with barracuda, stinging jellyfish, and other
Magical dwarven weapons get both bonuses.
nuisance animals. See the entry on nuisance ani-
mals, p. 154. Among other things, Thurid carries a double-
bladed axe, a buckler, and a full set of leather scale
EQUIPMENT DAMAGE armor. The Load value of the double-bladed axe is
3. Doubled, its roll modifier is 6. The bucklers
All sorts of things can damage a heros weapons,
Load value is 0.5; doubled, its roll modifier is 1.
armor, shields, treasure, and magical goodies. Prime
The armors Load value is 4; doubled, we get a mod-
culprits are acid immersion, high temperatures, low
ifier of 8.
temperatures, and weird magic. A trap that deals
damage to equipment costs 40 points.

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 Chapter 4

but remains above 0, the armor pieces can later be

fixed with a successful Repair roll. If its Prot is 0 or
Modifiers for other equipment cant be deter-
less, it is destroyed beyond repair.
mined using the handy Load value system. Instead,
we must resort to a mewling and cowardly chart: For the armor, Thurids difference is 3. 2 goes into
3 only once, ignoring fractions, so her leather armor
Item Type Modifier
loses a mere 1 point of Prot value. It goes from a Prot
Climbing Kit 2 of 8 to a 7.
Trap Disarming Kit 4
Damage to Weapons
Gambling Kit 2 Weapons lose 1 point apiece of Atk and Dfn, and
Healers Kit 1 2 points of Dam for every point of difference
Lyre (Musicians Kit) 1 between Difficulty and result. If at least one of these
ratings remains above zero after the damage is
Mapping Kit 1 applied, the item can still be fixed with a successful
Lock Picking Kit 4 Repair roll. Otherwise, it has just become junk to
Riding Tackle 3 heave angrily against a wall.
Repair Kit 3 For her double-bladed axe, Thurid got 5 points
Skis and Accessories 4 less than she needed. The Atk, Dfn and Dam ratings
for the weapon are, respectively, 5, 5, and 12. She
Survival Kit 3
subtracts 5 points from both Atk and Dfn, leaving
Potion 4 those values each at 0. She subtracts twice the dif-
Charm 6 ference, or 10 points, from Dam, taking it from 12
Amulet 8 to 2. Since one value is still above 0, the weapon is
still repairable.
Helm of Power 10
Legendary Item 15 Damage to Shields
Shields lose 1 point apiece of Dfn for each point
of difference between Difficulty and failed result. If
Magical kits get a +6 bonus to the above modifiers. Dfn remains above 0, a damaged shield can later be
repaired. If not, it is no longer of any use.
If the trap did damage to the hero, the Difficulty
for each roll equals one-half of the total Raw Thurids difference for the buckler is 12. Its Dfn
Damage it dealt. (Raw Damage is the figure before value is 2, far below the damage. 2 minus 12 is -10.
Soak was taken into account.) The buckler is utterly destroyed.
Thurid took 16 points of raw damage from an Damage to Kits
acid trap. The Difficulty of her equipment survival Acid-washed kits are either Slightly, Mostly, or
rolls is 8. Totally damaged. If the roll failed but was within 4
points of the Difficulty, the kit is Slightly damaged.
If the hero suffered no damage, the Difficulty is 3. Users suffer a -1 Impairment to the relevant Ability
If a roll for a piece of equipment succeeds, it is while using a Slightly damaged kit. On a difference
essentially undamaged, though it may look the between 5 and 8, the kit is Mostly damaged, and the
worse for wear. The consequences of failure depend Impairment is -2. On a difference of 9 or more, it has
on the type of item. gone to equipment Valhalla, and users suffer the
standard -3 penalty for attempting the Ability with-
Damage to Armor out the necessary kit.
Armor pieces lose 1 point of Prot rating, plus 1
for every 2 full points of difference between result Thurids mapping kit goes into the acid bath with
and Difficulty. If Prot rating is reduced her. She rolls a 3, adding to it the kits modifier of 1,

150
 Encounters

for a result of 4. Thats 8 less than the Difficulty of Damage to Legendary Items
12 (the acids Dam rating). Her difference is 8, which When a legendary item is dam-
makes her gear mostly damaged. Until she can get a aged, the cost of buying levels in its power doubles. It
new mapping kit, her cartographic skills suffer 2 cannot be repaired.
points of Impairment.
FALLING
Gambling kits are an exception to the general
rule. If a hero has even a slightly damaged kit, oppo- Damage ratings for falls vary by height. Designers
nents will refuse to play with him unless they have pick the amount of damage they want a fall to dish
a kit of their own, which they will insist on using. out, and choose its length accordingly. Falling
heroes are permitted a Jump roll (Difficulty 6); if
Damage to Potions, Charms, and Amulets they make it, they enjoy the benefits of a good land-
Potions are completely destroyed by a failed roll. ing. If they fail, they suffer a bad landing. Falling
A damaged charm or amulet has its bonus reduced damage ignores armor, which, along with the vari-
by 1, plus 1 for every 3 full points of difference able damage, is already accounted for in the costs
between Difficulty and result. If its bonus is reduced listed at the bottom of this page.
below 0, it becomes completely useless.
Were not going to lie to you and tell you that
Damage to Helms of Power this chart accurately reflects the real-world hazards
A damaged Helm of Power loses 1 level of the of falling from great heights. We tried throwing
Divine Gift levels it grants, plus 1 for every 5 full suitable subjects off the top of a tall building and
points of difference between Difficulty and result. scientifically recording the results, but rapidly ran
If the number of Gifts it grants is reduced below 0, out of Norsemen.
it becomes completely useless. It can be restored to
its full potency by a hero whose main deity is the FIRE
god who grants the helms Divine Gift; to do so,
the hero must roll Divine Awareness against a Vikings respect fire as a terrible weapon. When they
Difficulty of 6. This may be attempted once per feud with one another, they strike at their rivals by
encounter. Damaged Helms of Power can also be burning down their houses. Sometimes they wait out-
fully repaired simply by entering a shrine (p. 174) side a burning longhouse for the terrified people to
dedicated to the governing deity. emerge. Then they cut them down as they try to flee.

FALLING TABLE
Dam rating: Dam rating:
Good Landing Bad Landing Length of Fall Cost
5 10 10 15 feet +17 encounter points
10 20 16 20 feet +25 encounter points
20 30 21 25 feet +42 encounter points
25 30 26 30 feet +52 encounter points
30 35 31 40 feet +62 encounter points
35 40 41 60 feet +72 encounter points
40 45 61 80 feet +82 encounter points
45 50 81 100 feet +92 encounter points
50 55 100 feet or more +102 encounter points

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Fire is frightening because it not The escalating damage starts at 12 points. The
only ignores armor, but feeds upon Difficulty of the Dex roll is 6. Raging fire hazards
it, doing further harm to its victim. If allowed to cost 36 points.
catch fire, the quilted cloth beneath a heros
The designer must still give the hero a roll to
armor will ignite. For victims wearing flaming
avoid exposure to flame in the first place!
clothing, or otherwise in constant contact with
fire, the damage escalates. Encounter terrain may offer other ways of
putting out fires. Immersion in water (or other non-
flammable liquids) immediately extinguishes flam-
ing clothing. If a designer places a water source large
enough for a hero to completely douse himself near
the fire trap, he gains encounter points. If the water
is within 20 paces, he gets 15 points. If it is within 40
paces, he gets 5 points.
Flame Exposure If the fire trap goes off during combat and a
When a hero is first exposed to flame, the runner flaming hero moves towards the water feature, or if
rolls an unmodified die against a Difficulty of 6 (4 if a hero douses himself in it in the course of a fight,
the hero is wearing quilted/fur armor) to see if the it counts as a terrain feature coming into play and
Norsemans clothing catches fire. If it does, the victim helps the runner earn victory points.
suffers escalating damage (as explained on p. 142),
starting at 6 points plus the difference between the Fire is impossible to reliably use against foes in
Difficulty and result. To end the escalating damage, melee. While it is easy to set a wooden house aflame
the hero can spend an action to smother the flames (assuming youve crept up to it without alerting the
by pressing the burning clothing against a wall or by people inside), there is no good way to directly set
rolling on the ground. This requires a Dex roll against people aflame. Lantern oils of the Viking age do not
a Difficulty of (4 + the number of previous failed make for good molotov cocktails.
rolls). Flame exposure hazards cost 16 points.
GETTING LOST
Ragnar is hit by a trap that spits flame at him. He
Heroes suffer a variety of consequences when
wears fur/quilted armor, so the runners Difficulty
they lose their way. Getting lost costs them time,
when determining whether his clothing catches fire is
energy, and morale, and exposes them to wander-
4. The runner rolls a 5. The difference between the
ing monsters.
Difficulty and result of the roll is added to the fires
starting damage of 6 points, and so Ragnar suffers 7 Heroes avoid getting lost by making successful
hit points of damage as one of his sleeves begins to Map rolls. Every failed roll means that the heroes
catch fire. He tries to dash the fire out against a damp have gone off in an incorrect direction, wasting time.
nearby wall. You roll his Dex versus a Difficulty of 4. In order to get back on the right track, the map-draw-
He fails. On his next round, he takes 9 points of dam- ing heros must make X consecutive successful Map
age (last rounds damage plus 2) and must roll against rolls, where X is the number of rolls failed in the
a Difficulty of 5 (base of 4 plus 1 failed round) to put course of the current incident, plus 1. X is capped at
it out. This time he rolls a 7, adds his Dex of 3, and 4, no matter how many times the heroes roll. Any tri-
puts the fire out with plenty of margin to spare. umph is treated as two consecutive successful rolls.
Raging Fire The Vikings descend into a twisting network of
Heroes in the midst of a raging fire automatical- narrow, interconnected passageways. Paul rolls
ly suffer escalating damage, regardless of what Thurids Map skill versus a Difficulty of 6. He fails
theyre wearing. They must leave the conflagration his first roll. The value of X is now 2; he must score
before trying to smother the flames. 2 consecutive successes before getting out.

152
 Encounters

Heroes can trade off mapping duties. You botch Ragnars Stealth roll,
for a result of -4. Because the
You convince the group to let Ragnar try. You roll
Difficulty was 4, this leaves a difference of 8. This
and fail. Now someone has to roll three consecutive
means that the group was attacked by Inferior wan-
Map successes for the group to get out of the mess.
dering monsters.
X is now 3. Paul keeps rolling for Thurid. He rolls
Designers pay a base cost of 30 for any threats of
a triumph, then a success. The triumph counts as 2,
getting lost. If the Difficulty of the map roll exceeds
so the group has its 3 consecutive successful rolls.
6, the designer must pay an additional surcharge
After the heroes find their way again, the pil- equal to twice the Difficulty cost.
lagers roll twice for each hero.
Troy designs an event with a hazard of getting lost.
The first roll is Stamina + Bravery. The Difficulty The Difficulty of the mapping rolls is 7. He pays the
for this roll is the total number of mapping rolls base cost of 30, plus the normal fee of 10 for a
attempted (whether successfully or not) while lost Difficulty of 7, plus a surcharge of 20, which is twice
and trying to get oriented. The runner should keep the Difficulty cost, for a total of 60 points.
track of this while its going on. On a failed roll, the
hero suffers armor-ignoring damage; the pillager GRABBER TRAPS
rolls a single die, treating the result as the damage A grabber trap holds its victims in place, pre-
rating. This represents the general exhaustion he suf- venting them from leaving their current positions
fered from stumbling around lost, plus various until it is disarmed. Designers will find them of lit-
nicks, scratches, and other minor hurts he incurred tle use outside of combat. Examples of grabbers
on the trail. include bear traps, snares, quicksand pits, land
On a botch, the hero suffers 1 point of clams, and glue traps. To free himself from a grab-
Impairment from demoralization. ber trap, a hero must spend an action and make a
roll, usually STR + Traps. Another hero, assuming
The Difficulty for the Bravery roll after getting that hes not grabbed himself, can spend one of his
lost is 4; Thurids first failure + Ragnars failure + own actions to make the roll on the trapped com-
Thurids triumph + Thurids final success. You roll rades behalf. (Okay, it could happen ) Heroes can
Ragnars Stamina + Bravery, and fail by 1. You roll a spend as many actions as they require to free them-
d10, getting a 7, which is the Dam rating. You take 8 selves or others.
points of armor-ignoring damage.
A grabber trap may or may not do damage in
The second roll is Stealth, also with a Difficulty addition to its immobilization effect. If so, the
of the total number of map rolls made while lost. designer pays for its Dam rating, as normal.
For each hero who fails, the heroes suffer one wan-
dering monster encounter. The Threat Category of Heroes caught in grabber traps cant make
each encounter is determined by the difference Engagement rolls. Missile-using foes gain a +3 ATK
between Difficulty and result, as per the chart below. bonus when shooting at them. In melee combat,
trapped heroes suffer a -3 modifier to both ATK
Difference Threat Category and DFN.
13 - 15 Superior
Grabber traps cost 40 points. The Difficulty of
10 - 12 Equal getting out of the trap is 6, unless the designer spec-
7-9 Inferior ifies otherwise, paying the normal cost for
4-6 Weak Difficulties other than 6. Costs for the roll to avoid
the trap in the first place are also as normal. These
3 or less Pitiful
rolls are always Standard or Singular. In the first
instance, the entire group runs into a number of
grabber traps at least as great as the size

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of the party. The latter case describes flight from the creatures. To avoid fleeing, characters
a single trap, or a number of traps must make a Bravery roll, the Difficulty of which is
less than the size of the party. 6 plus the number of points of damage theyve suf-
fered from the creatures during the current
(You can figure out what a land clam is, right?)
encounter. Even if they succeed, they suffer a
decrease of 1 to all rolls, as a result of the distraction
NUISANCE ANIMALS caused by the movement of the animals and the
Not all creatures are created equal. While some pain of their bites or stings. The Bravery roll must be
are big and dangerous enough to count as combat made once per round.
opponents, others are merely nuisance animals. If
The basic encounter point cost of nuisance ani-
given the chance to gnaw on, sting, or infect a group
mals is keyed to the damage they can collectively do
of heroes, theyll obey their instincts and do so.
to a hero in the course of a single round.
However, the damage they mete out is minor.
Further, theyre too small to fight as one would a DAM Score Cost
proper combat opponent. It is very hard to kill a 1 1 encounter point
fast-swimming barracuda, buzzing wasp, or scuttling
rat with a gigantic battle-axe. Nuisance animals gen- 2 2 encounter points
erally appear in swarms. Heroes get no victory 3 4 encounter points
points for dispatching them. If they want to avoid 4 6 encounter points
their teeth or stingers, their best course is simply to
5 10 encounter points
leave the area they infest.
6 15 encounter points
Examples of nuisance animals include: rats, bar-
7 20 encounter points
racudas, small jellyfish, wasps, horseflies, and vam-
pire bats. 8 25 encounter points
9 30 encounter points
Even though the actual harm they do is minimal,
most people find that their instincts take over when 10 35 encounter points
they are attacked by swarms of hostile creatures.
Unless they can check their natural impulses, theyll
Nuisance animal damage is armor-ignoring. It
run away from the crea-
assumes that most of the attacks made by the
tures. While fleeing,
swarm are deflected by the armor, but that so
theyll suffer a decrease
many separate bites or stings occur that a few of
of 3 to all rolls devoted
them must inevitably find their way through gaps
to any action unrelat-
in the armor to the victims flesh. Heroes with an
ed to immediate
armor Prot rating of 2 or less suffer triple damage
from nuisance animals.
Characters may take an action to attempt to
evade swarming nuisance animals. They roll Dodge
against a Difficulty equal to 6 plus the possible dam-
age. Any success negates all damage.
Many nuisance animals are territorial and will
attack only characters who enter a particular area.
Others are confined to a single environment: bar-
racudas and man-o-war jellyfish are found only in
the water, for example. Nuisance animals never
attack the heroes foes.

154
 Encounters

STEP SEVEN: Adding Treasure

Any physical object that the heroes covet is con-
sidered treasure. Treasure falls into two main cate- Placement
gories: loot and gear. Any treasure for which a designer gets points
Loot is silver or any valuable item that can be val- must be placed in the encounter in a way that allows
ued in ounces of silver. Heroes want loot because, if the heroes a fair chance of actually laying their
they successfully haul it back home, they can con- greedy little mitts on it. It must either be sitting out
vert it to victory points by giving it to their families. in plain sight, where a hero can automatically suc-
ceed in picking it up, or must be available to a hero
Any item that increases the heroes chance of suc- who makes a die roll.
cess in the game is considered gear. This includes
rare pieces of equipment, which the Vikings can Success in non-violent confrontations can also
only acquire through looting, or magical items that earn the heroes treasure. They may get a magic
increase their Abilities. Gear does not directly pro- amulet by impressing a Viking captain with their
vide victory points, although in some cases heroes Carousing Abilities, or a bag of silver from a giantess
may find merchants willing to trade silver for equip- pleased by their Demeanors.
ment, or vice versa. If the treasure acquisition requires a roll, use
the regular Difficulty rules to determine the cost
for that roll, as you would for a trap or another
Categories kind of gain.
When a designer includes treasure in an Designers pay nothing to make a treasure auto-
encounter, he gains points to spend elsewhere. matically available without a die roll. A designer can
Except when including small amounts of loot, he require the hero to survive a combat or hazard in
does not specify exactly what type of treasure order to get at it. The most common example of this
appears. Instead, he picks a category of treasure. is treasure the heroes find after they search the lair
Only at the moment in the actual game when the and belongings of their vanquished opponents. The
heroes first see the treasure does the runner deter- designer cannot create an automatic triggering con-
mine what it is, by randomly rolling on the chart dition under the runners control: the designer cant
provided for that category. The richer the haul a cat- give a treasure to the first hero to be attacked by a
egory provides to the heroes, the more encounter self-willed opponent, for example. It must be the
points it provides. choice of the pillagers, not that of the designer/run-
The treasure categories, and the points they pro- ner, that determines which hero gets an automatic
vide, are as follows: treasure or gain.

Category Cost The only way a designer can include a treasure

that the heroes cannot actually get is to forgo the
A -10 encounter points points hed otherwise earn for it.
B -20 encounter points
Your encounter includes a trapped staircase. You
C -30 encounter points place a Category D treasure at the top of the stairs in
D -40 encounter points plain sight. (When the heroes get close enough to see
E -50 encounter points it, youll roll on the Category D table and tell them
what they see.) As soon as the trap is acti-
F -75 encounter points

155
 Chapter 4

vated, a hidden tube-striker reaches assume that their share of a cache of liars silver is the
forward and zaps the treasure away. real thing. Each pillager must make a roll for his own
The heroes have no chance of recovering it, so you gain hero. The players know its liars silver, but cant make
no points for including it. But you got the discount for their heroes jettison it unless their Encumbrance
making the trap conditionally avoidable after all, the class is Better Put Something Down or worse. Even
heroes didnt have to go up that staircase, did they? so, if they have real silver as well, they must abandon
the true and the false in equal quantities. Liars silver
PALTRY AMOUNTS & LIARS SILVER can be left at a loot cache, but must be picked up at
the same time as the rest of its contents.
Designers can place up to 9 ounces of silver in
any single event, gaining 1 encounter point for each Designers may include 9 or fewer pieces of liars
ounce. You can also place 9 pieces of liars silver in silver in any encounter; otherwise it appears only as
any single event. You can leave these paltry caches a result of dire rolls on the treasure charts.
out in plain sight, or require a roll to get at them.
Any greater treasure must use the treasure categories Lokis creation torments even us, because it does-
and random charts. nt really fall into any of the categories on our check-
list: its neither trap nor terrain feature. So weve put
Loki finds great amusement in the lust for wealth it on the Gains sheet, even though it costs encounter
that plagues mortal men. As a jape, he creates false points and is not a thing to be desired.
silver and sends his minions forth to seed it in places
where treasure-seekers might find it. If fooled by its MIX UP THOSE CATEGORIES!
luster, explorers haul it back to their home villages,
Designers may gain encounter points for no
struggling against its weight when goods of real
more than 3 treasures of the same category in a sin-
value could instead be filling their packs. When they
gle event, and for no more than 5 of any one cate-
open their sacks of booty to show to their excited,
gory in an entire encounter.
gathered relatives, the coins turn to crawling and fly-
ing bugs that bite and exude a noxious substance
that burns eyes and fouls crops.
Random Treasure Charts
Each piece of liars silver looks and weighs
exactly like a regular ounce of silver. Like the gen- The random charts for the various treasure cate-
uine article (see p. 158), its Load value is 1 for every gories are listed below. After certain charts, youll see
thirty-two pieces. a line that looks like this:

Although it is easy to fall for this ploy of Lokis, Modifiers: A: -4, B: -2, E: +2, F: +4
explorers suffer losses to their reputation when they It shows the roller what to add to, or subtract
haul back sacks full of liars silver. Those whove from, when determining the nature of treasures in
been too long in contact with money touched by certain categories. In this example, a Category A
Loki are thought to be cursed with ill luck, especial- treasure requires him to subtract 4 from the roll;
ly in matters of livelihood. Many villagers believe hed add 2 for a Category E treasure.
that their business affairs will suffer if their relatives
bring them back coins touched by Loki. Heroes may Even with these modifiers, results cant go above
therefore lose victory points when they take liars sil- or below the values provided on the chart. Unless
ver back to their home bases. They must deduct 1 otherwise specified, treat all results of less than 1 as
victory point per piece of false silver from any victo- 1s. If the chart goes up to 10, roll 1d10 and treat all
ry point gains they get from returning real silver to results greater than 10 as 10s. Likewise, if the chart
their villages. (See Gaining Victory Points, p. 91.) goes up to 100, roll 2d10, specifying one die as the
tens place and the other as ones, and treat any result
Unless they make successful Lore rolls versus a higher than 100 as 100.
Difficulty of 8, heroes automatically

156
 Encounters
The actual nature of a treasure is determined when CATEGORY D
a hero first lays eyes on it. Although the runner can Roll Treasure
do the rolling, its generally more fun if a pillager
01-10 100 + (2d10 x 4) ounces of liars silver
does the rolling. The runner should give the nod to
11-40 loot worth 100 + (2d10 x 4) oz. of silver
the one whose hero first saw or gained the treasure.
41-45 Equipment
CATEGORY A 46-47 2 pieces of Equipment
48-49 3 pieces of Equipment
Roll Treasure
50 4 pieces of Equipment
1 1d10 ounces of liars silver
51-55 Potion
2-5 loot worth 1d10 ounces of silver
56-57 2 Potions
6 loot worth 2d10 ounces of silver
58-59 3 Potions
7 Equipment
60 4 Potions
8 Potion
61-65 Charm
9 Charm
66-67 2 Charms
0 Roll on Category B chart instead
68-69 3 Charms
CATEGORY B 70 4 Charms
Roll Treasure 71-75 Amulet
1 (2d10 x 2) ounces of liars silver 76-77 2 Amulets
2 loot worth 2d10 ounces of silver 78-79 3 Amulets
3-5 loot worth (2d10 x 2) ounces of silver 80 4 Amulets
6 Equipment 81-85 Helm of Power
7 Potion 86-90 Legendary Item
8 Charm 91-00 Roll on Category E chart instead
9 Amulet CATEGORY E
0 Roll on Category C chart instead
Roll Treasure
CATEGORY C 01-10 200 + (2d10 x 20) ounces of liars silver
Roll Treasure 11-40 loot worth 200 + (2d10 x 20) oz. of silver
1 (2d10 x 4) ounces of liars silver 41-45 2 pieces of Equipment
2-4 loot worth (2d10 x 4) ounces of silver 46-47 3 pieces of Equipment
5 Equipment 48-49 4 pieces of Equipment
6 Potion 50-52 2 Potions
7 Charm 53-55 3 Potions
8 Amulet 56-60 4 Potions
9 Helm of Power 61-63 2 Charms

0 Roll on Category D chart instead 64-67 3 Charms

68-70 4 Charms
71-73 2 Amulets
74-77 3 Amulets
78-79 4 Amulets
81-85 Helm of Power
86-90 Legendary Item
91-00 Roll on Category F chart instead

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ture. With cached loot, heroes dont have to worry

CATEGORY F
about its Load value, or its getting damaged in tran-
sit. For more on these, see the Gains section, p. 174.
Roll Treasure
01-10 300 + (2d10 x 30) ounces of liars silver (In real life, pre-industrial farming societies like
that of the Vikings treated the cow as a basic unit of
11-40 loot worth 300 + (2d10 x 30) ounces of silver
exchange. However, it is neither heroic nor practical
41-45 3 pieces of Equipment
to herd cattle through dank, goblin-ridden under-
46-47 4 pieces of Equipment ground passageways, so were mentioning this fact
48-51 3 Potions only to ignore it.)
50-52 4 Potions
Whenever the runner gets a loot result, he then
53-57 3 Charms
rolls on this chart to see what form it takes. Some
58-59 4 Charms forms of loot are light and easily portable; others are
60-63 3 Amulets awkward and impose high Load values. Some are
64-67 4 Amulets more durable than others; low Equipment Damage
68-76 Helm of Power Modifiers increase the chance that theyll be ruined
77-78 2 Helms of Power when exposed to equipment damage hazards (p. 149).
79-88 Legendary Item Equipment
89-90 2 Legendary Items Damage
Roll Form Load Modifier
91-00 Roll twice on this chart, ignoring all
further results over 90 01-10 Furniture 1 per 5 items 4
11-15 Sculpture 1 per 3 items 6

Loot Charts 16-20

21-30
Tapestries
Ceramics
1 per 10 items
1 per 15 items
3
2
Heroes win status by returning valuables to their 31-90 Oz. of silver 1 per 32 items 15
communities. Vikings measure wealth in ounces of 91-00 Jewelry 0 4
silver. It rarely appears in the form of coins. Instead,
Vikings take looted silver items, like cups, plates, or
works of art, and cut them up into pieces that weigh Minor Magical Items
about an ounce.
The Viking world offers a wide variety of minor
Thirty-two ounces of silver carries a Load value of magical items powered not by the divine essence of
1. (Yes, theoretically every piece of silver has a Load the gods, but through the performance of various folk
rating of 0.03125, but youll recall that we lop off rituals handed down from one generation to the next.
fractions in this game, so it doesnt count until you Although not nearly as effective as Divine Gifts, they
hit that threshold of thirty-two ounces.) can often make the difference between success and
failure. These items are not purchased with victory
At the end of an adventure (or when the heroes points. Heroes can gain them only in the course of
enjoy the benefit of an early return to base; see p. their adventures. They may seize them as booty, or
173), the heroes can cash in the loot they carry for receive them as rewards for slaying the minions of evil.
victory points. Until then, they must carry it around
with them from one encounter to the next. Load val- Potions, amulets, and charms usually work by
ues for various types of loot are given on the Loot adding to Ability rolls. A few items may temporarily
Chart, below. increase other game statistics. Amulets, for example,
might increase a heros Prot value.
Designers can build loot caches into their
encounters, which allow heroes to temporarily hide Most potions, and all amulets and charms, give
their loot until the end of the adven- heroes a set bonus to rolls using either a specific

158
 Encounters

Ability or a particular Characteristic. Items that POTION TYPE

boost Characteristics can be used on raw Roll Type
Characteristic rolls, or on any Ability roll deriving 1-2 Simple; roll on Potency and Ability
from that Characteristic. charts
Ragnar gains a potion that increases his 3-8 Ability; roll on Potency, Duration, and
Ability charts
Leadership Ability by 3. He can swig it before deliv-
ering a stirring speech to freed dwarven slaves, 9-0 Characteristic; roll on Potency,
Duration, and Characteristic charts
encouraging them to rise up against their masters.
Thurid has a potion increasing her Presence. She Modifiers: A: -4, B: -2, E: +2, F: +4
could use it to do the same as Ragnar, or on any other
Ability requiring Presence, or on a situation calling POTION POTENCY
for a raw Presence roll. Roll Bonus
Once activated, the effect of a potion, charm, or 1-5 +1
amulet works for a set period of time. Some last for 6-8 +2
only a round; others, for multiple rounds. 9 +3
0 +4

Potions Modifiers: A: -5, B: -2, E: +2, F: +3

Potions are liquids brewed from a variety of POTION DURATION

ingredients often best left to the imagination. They Roll Duration
can only be used a certain number of times. To take 1-2 1 round
effect, they must be consumed by the user, or, in
3-4 2 rounds
rare cases, poured out on a target object. Potions
contain only a limited number of doses; once a char- 5-6 3 rounds
acter consumes the last one, its as gone as any 7-8 4 rounds
flagon of mead. 9 5 rounds
0 5 + d10 rounds
Ragnar has three doses of his Leadership potion.
Once hes used them, all he has left is an empty flask. Modifiers: A: -6, B: -2, D: +2 E: +2, F: +4

A simple potion may do nothing more than give

POTION DOSES
a player a second attempt at a check hes already failed.
It does not negate or erase a previous failure; it simply This chart gives you the total volume of the
allows a pillager to take another attempt in a situation potion, counted in the number of doses that it
where his tries would otherwise be exhausted. affords. This is how many times you can use the
potion before it runs out.
It takes an action to swig a dose of potion.
Roll Amount
Start with the Type chart; the result of that roll
1 4 doses
tells runners which subsequent charts to roll against.
The Ability Chart and Characteristic Charts, used 2-3 5 doses
for potions and several other treasure types, appear 4-7 6 doses
on p. 162. Finally, roll on the Potion Doses chart to 8-9 7 doses
determine how many times you can use the potion.
0 8 doses
Modifiers: None

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 Chapter 4

CHARM RECHARGE CONDITION

This specifies what condition the owner must ful-
Charms fill before the charm recharges.
When a hero makes use of a charm, it cant be Roll Recharge Condition
used until it recharges, which happens when a set 01-15 Deliver death blow to a foe of Equal or
condition is fulfilled. The player controlling the Better threat category
hero decides when to use it. 16-21 Score a Triumph on a QIK-based Ability roll called
for in the encounter notes
Ragnar has a charm which increases his Great
22-27 Score a Triumph on a STA-based Ability roll called
Weapon Ability. He can activate it once every six hours.
for in the encounter notes
It does not take an action to activate a charm. 28-33 Score a Triumph on a DEX-based Ability roll called
for in the encounter notes
Use the following charts to work out the type,
34-39 Score a Triumph on a STR-based Ability roll called
bonus, duration, and recharge condition of a charm. for in the encounter notes
Again, look on page 162 for the Ability and
40-45 Score a Triumph on a PER-based Ability roll called
Characteristics charts. for in the encounter notes
46-51 Score a Triumph on an INT-based Ability roll called
CHARM TYPE for in the encounter notes
Roll Type 52-57 Score a Triumph on a COM-based Ability roll called
for in the encounter notes
1-8 Increases Ability; roll on Bonus, Duration,
Recharge Condition, and Ability charts 58-64 Score a Triumph on a PRE-based Ability
roll called for in the encounter notes
9-0 Increases Characteristic; roll on Bonus,
Duration, Recharge Condition, and 65-70 Make a successful roll to activate a Divine Gift
Characteristic charts 71-74 Visit a shrine
Modifiers: A: -4, B: -2, D: +2, E: +4, F: +6 75-85 Owner visits a shrine devoted to his primary deity
86-95 Wait until next event
CHARM BONUS 96-00 Wait until next encounter
Roll Bonus
1-5 +1
6-8
9
+2
+3
Amulets
0 +4 Amulets are typically defensive in nature; their
magic activates whenever a set condition is met. An
Modifiers: A: -5, B: -2, E: +2, F: +3
amulet works for an indefinite period, but its
magic wanes a little each time it fails to protect its
CHARM DURATION
current user.
Roll Duration
1-2 2 rounds Thurid has an amulet that increases her Prot value.
It can fail six times before it becomes useless. It activates
3-4 3 rounds
whenever a servant of Loki tries to hit her. However, if
5-6 4 rounds
a servant of Loki does succeed in damaging her, she
7-8 5 rounds must make a mark next to the entry for the amulet on
9 6 rounds her character sheet. When that entry has six marks
0 6 + d10 rounds beside it, its magic fades and it becomes worthless.
Modifiers: A: -6, B: -2, D: +2 E: +2, F: +4 Amulets activate automatically when their con-
ditions are met; this do not cost the user an action.

160
 Encounters

They stop working after a predetermined number AMULET FAILURE

of failures. This chart gives you the total
The following charts allow runners to determine number of failures the amulet can withstand before
the properties of an amulet. Roll on all three. it becomes useless.
Roll Useless After:
AMULET BONUS 1 4 failures
Roll Bonus 2-3 5 failures
1-5 +1 4-7 6 failures
6-8 +2 8-9 7 failures
9 +3 0 7 + d10 failures
0 +4 Modifiers: None
Modifiers: B: -2, E: +2, F: +3

AMULET ACTIVATION/EFFECTS Bonus

Roll Effect Activates Whenever: Applies To:
01-04 A Dark Viking tries to hit user with a melee weapon DFN
04-08 A goblin tries to hit user with a melee weapon DFN
09-12 A dwarf tries to hit user with a melee weapon DFN
13-16 A Sark Amen/Dishonored tries to hit user with a melee weapon DFN
17-20 A land crab tries to hit user in close combat DFN
21-24 A wendol tries to hit user in close combat DFN
25-28 A Dark Viking tries to hit user with a missile weapon Dodge
29-32 A dwarf tries to hit user with a missile weapon Dodge
33-36 User poisoned Stamina
37-40 User exposed to disease Stamina
41-44 Users Prot is reduced by damage to weapons or armor Prot
45-48 Users HP total is 10 or less, and any opponent tries to hit him in melee combat DFN
49-52 As per above, but with missile combat Dodge
53-56 One or more fellow heroes have scored a kill in current combat, but user has not INIT
57-60 User suffers non-Wound Impairment ATK
61-64 User suffers Wound-derived Impairment ATK
65-68 User was first hero to Sprint towards the foe INIT
69-72 User faces a trap dealing fire damage Roll to avoid*
73-80 User faces a trap dealing standard damage** Roll to avoid*
81-84 User faces a trap dealing drowning damage Roll to avoid*
85-88 User faces a trap dealing falling damage Roll to avoid*
89-92 User faces a trap dealing acid damage Roll to avoid*
93-96 Users current adversary delivered one or more Wounds to him during present combat ATK
97-00 User has fewer total victory points than any other player ATK
*Roll to avoid refers to any roll you make to determine whether your hero is affected by the trap.
**Standard damage includes any kind of damage not covered by another entry in the chart.

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 Chapter 4

sof common equipment arent gained as treasure. As

explained in the sidebar on p. 164, the heroes can
Equipment replace their lost or damaged common equipment by
looting defeated weapon-using opponents.
Warriors are always keen for chances to pick up
new killing instruments. Even those who consider
themselves well-equipped know that weapons, EQUIPMENT TYPE
shields, and armor can easily be lost or destroyed. By Roll Type
putting new weapons and gear in their path, you 1-5 Rare item; roll on Rare Equipment chart
grant the heroes a benefit, and therefore get 6-0 Magical item; roll on Magical Equipment
encounter points to spend elsewhere. Weapons, chart, then, as appropriate, Shield/Weapon or
armor, and shields are all described in chapter two. Armor potency charts

Roll on the following charts to determine the Modifiers: A: -5, B: -3, E: +3, F: +5
game statistics of equipment treasure. Ordinary piece-

ABILITY AND CHARACTERISTIC CHARTS

These charts are used to determine the effects of several treasure types. If you get a result lower than 1, reroll until you
get a result under 30. If you get a result higher than 100, reroll until you get a result over 30. Ignore category modifiers
when rerolling.

ABILITY
Roll Ability Roll Ability Roll Ability Roll Ability
01-02 Music 23-24 Animal Handling 45-46 Pick Lock 70-72 Bravery
03-04 Sing 25-26 Demeanor 47-48 Stealth 73-76 Disarm Trap
05-06 Repair 27-28 Sleep 49-50 Bargain 77-79 Healer
07-08 Disguise 29-30 Brawling 51-52 Awareness 80-82 Sprint
09-10 Pursuit 31-32 Insight 53-54 Divine Awareness 83-85 Dodge
11-12 Seamanship 33-34 Runes 55-56 Bows 86-88 Longshaft Weapon
13-14 Ski 35-36 Survival 57-58 Swim 89-91 Two Weapons
15-16 Ride 37-38 Skald 59-60 Chain Weapon 92-94 Thrown Weapon
17-18 Carouse 39-40 Lore 61-63 Balance 95-97 Great Weapon
19-20 Gamble 41-42 Leadership 64-66 Climb 98-00 Single Weapon
21-22 Deception 43-44 Map 67-69 Jump
Modifiers: A: -30, B: -15, D: +5 E: +10, F: +15

CHARACTERISTIC
Roll Characteristic Roll Characteristic
01-15 Quickness 57-68 Perception
16-28 Stamina 69-80 Intelligence
29-44 Dexterity 81-90 Communication
45-56 Strength 91-00 Presence

Modifiers: A: +10, B: +5, D: -5 E: -15, F: -30

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 Encounters

RARE EQUIPMENT
Roll Item Roll Item Roll Item
01-05 Barb-net 36-40 Goblin Spike Club 71-75 Four-bladed Mace
06-10 Gauntlet 41-45 Composite Bow 76-80 Dwarven Work Sword
11-15 Billhook 46-50 Double-bladed Axe 81-85 Dwarven Work Hammer
16-20 Morningstar (2 handed) 51-55 Roman Sword 86-90 Dwarven Battle Axe
21-25 Polearm 56-60 Heavy Crossbow 91-95 Dwarven Battle Sword
26-30 Pike 61-65 Light Crossbow 96-00 Dwarven Battle Hammer
31-35 Goblin Axe 66-70 Long Bow
Modifiers: A: -20, B: -10, E: +20, F: +40

MAGICAL EQUIPMENT
This chart specifies what kind of magically-potent equipment appears. If the result is a shield or weapon,
then go to the Shield/Weapon Potency chart to see just how its game statistics differ from a normal item of
the same type. For Armor, consult the Armor Potency chart. Kits give a bonus to the relevant Ability, so go to
the Kit Potency chart to find out what it is.
Roll Item Roll Item Roll Item
01 Barb-net 31-32 Shortspear 71-72 Steel Scale Mail Armor
02 Billhook 33-36 Heavy Leather Armor 73 Tower Shield
03-04 Knife 37-38 Mace 74-75 Skis and Accessories
05 Sap 39-40 Hand Axe 76-77 Gambling Kit
06-07 Dagger 41-42 Studded Leather Armor 78-79 Repair Kit
08 Net 43-44 Short Bow 80-81| Mapping Kit
09 Gauntlet 45-46 Shortsword 82-84 Survival Kit
10 Whip 47-48 Spear 85-86 Lock Picking Kit
11 Buckler 49-50 Throwing Knife (set of 5) 87-88 Trap Disarming Kit
12 Morningstar (2 handed) 51-52 Leather Scale Armor 89-90 Climbing Kit
13-16 Goblin Axe 53-54 Throwing Axe 91-92 Healers Kit
17-19 Goblin Spike Club 55-56 Composite Bow 93 Four-bladed Mace
20 Pike 57-59 Kite Shield 94 Roman Sword
21 Polearm 60 Light Crossbow 95 Double-bladed Axe
22 Quarterstaff 61 War Maul 96 Dwarven Work Sword
23-24 Quilted/Fur Armor 62 Long Bow 97 Dwarven Work Hammer
25 Flail (2 handed) 63-66 Viking broadsword 98 Dwarven Battle Axe
26 Sling 67-69 Viking Axe 99 Dwarven Battle Sword
27-30 Round Shield 70 Heavy Crossbow 00 Dwarven Battle Hammer

Modifiers: A: reroll results over 80; E: reroll results under 30; F: reroll results under 60

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 Chapter 4

SHIELD/WEAPON POTENCY (BONUS)

Roll first for the bonus granted, then for the
game statistic to which the bonus is applied.
Roll Bonus
1-5 +1
6-7 +2
SHIELD/WEAPON POTENCY (STATISTIC)
8 +3
For shields, reroll results of 2 or less. (Yes, this
9 Roll two more times on this chart, ignoring means that a rare few shields will increase the heros
results above 9. Each bonus applies to a
different game statistic; roll twice on next
Dam rating bonus.)
chart to see which ones. Reroll if the second Roll Statistic
result is the same as the first.
1-3 Dam Rating
0 Roll three more times on this chart, ignoring
4-5 Atk Rating
results above 9. Roll three times on the next
chart to see which game statistics receive the 6-7 Init Rating
bonus; results are cumulative if you get the 8-0 Dfn Rating
same statistic more than once.
Modifiers: None
Modifiers: A: -5, B: -2, C: -1, D: +1, E: +2, F: +3
ARMOR POTENCY
Roll Statistic
LOOTING COMBAT 1-2 Init Rating +1
OPPONENTS 3 Init Rating +2
At the end of a successful battle, the heroes can scav- 4 Init Rating +3
enge 2 melee weapons from any foe whose type bears
5 Prot Rating +1
the axe icon (see Foes section) and 1 missile weapon
from any foe who used one in the course of the fight. 6 Prot Rating +2
Because combat statistics for enemies are derived in 7 Prot Rating +3
relation to the heroes, their numbers dont necessari- 8 Prot Rating +4
ly match up to the Characteristics of particular
weapons. We agree that this seems a little odd at first, 9 Prot Rating +5
but, because this asymmetry is necessary to prevent 0 Prot Rating +6
the heroes from being unexpectedly pounded to crap
on a regular basis, we bet youll eventually forgive us. Modifiers: A: -4, B: -2, E: +2, F: +4
The players decide which common weapons they find
on slain enemies. They should feel free to take advan- KIT POTENCY CHART
tage of this by choosing weapons of their favored type, Roll here for the Ability bonus provided by the
for replacement purposes. If well-stocked with replace- kit. The bonus does not apply to tests in which
ments, they can trade these looted weapons for silver equipment is not required.
when given bargaining opportunities. That silver
counts for victory point purposes if hauled home. Roll Bonus
Designers gain no additional encounter points for 1-5 +1
looted weapons; they come with the package.
6-8 +2
Armor worn by enemies is always assumed to have
9 +3
been shredded to bits in the course of the killing blows
that downed them. Again, please accept this as a con- 0 +4
venient game contrivance.
Modifiers: B: -2, E: +2, F: +3

164
 Encounters

Helms of Power time. A helm neither increases

nor decreases the heros usual
A Helm of Power is a helmet that grants its armor protection when worn in place of his usual
wearer one or more levels in a particular Divine Gift. headgear. Each carries a Load value of 2.
A hero must have been wearing the helmet since at If you already have the Divine Gift the helm
least the end of the previous event in order to make grants, it is cumulative with your pre-existing levels.
use of the Gift. Only one helm may be worn at one

HELMS OF POWER (DIVINE GIFTS)

Roll Helms Gift Roll Helms Gift Roll Helms Gift
01 The Loyal Hilt 34-35 Frost-Speeded Heels 66 Scorn the Bite of Treachery
02 Naglfar Plows the Waves 36 Gathering Thunder 67 Shoulders Wide as Bifrost
03 The Norths Cooling Sigh 37 Gilded Tongue of Freyr 68 Swiftness of Sleipnir
04 Resist the Serpents Tears 8 The Gnawing Stags 69 Through the Cracks
05 Scourging of Fell Spirits 39 Golden Apples Sweetness 70 Thors Thews
06 Skadis Ermine Cloak 40-41 Implacably Braced 71 The Trumpets Commanding Blast
07 Survive the Lake of Flame 42 Indefatigable Determination 72 Tyrs Forbearance
08 With Either Hand 43 Like a Wind-Tossed Leaf 73 Ulls Hide
09 The Chattering Squirrel 44 Like the Leaping Stag 74 Wiles of Loki
10 The Clenched Jaw of Vengeance 45 Many-Impaling Spear 75 Wrestlers Blessing
11 Dying Blow 46 Mjolnir Awakes 76 Zealous Sinews
12 The Ever-Flowing Cup 47 Njords Crust 77 The Lie Turns to Truth
13 Imprecation of Doom 48 On Valkyries Wings 78 Mantle of Odin
14 Obscuring Mist 49 The Owl Hears the Viper 79-80 Sudden as a Mountain Storm
15 Plumed Up by Njordsbreath 50 Penetrating Lightning 81 Vigilance of Heimdal
16 Roaring Shout Of Rage 51 The Raven Plucks an Eye 82-83 The Clatter of Rushing Boots
17 Sprig of Mistletoe 52 The Remorse of Hoder 84 Comeuppance Postponed
18 The Tireless Joy-Shout 53 Ripples from the Well of Knowledge 85-86 The Knitting of Meat and Bone
19 Agony Postponed 54 Rune Power: Viking Short Sword* 87 Rune Power: Dwarven Work Hammer*
20-21 Aura of Phlegmatic Acceptance 55 Rune Power: Roman Sword* 88-89 Berserks Blessing
22 Banish His Blade 56 Rune Power: Viking Broad Sword* 90 Craven Departure
23 Boon of Angrboda 57 Rune Power: Dwarven Work Sword* 91 Destiny Reversed
24 Bone-Setters Blessing 58 Rune Power: Dwarven Battle Sword* 92 Might of Thor
25-26 Buffeting Gale 59 Rune Power: Hand Axe* 93-94 Nurturing of Yggdrasil
27-28 Curds of Utgardaloki 60 Rune Power: Goblin Axe* 95 The Relentless Gales of Njord
29 The Eager Arrow 61 Rune Power: Viking Axe* 96 Rune Power: Four-Bladed Mace*
30 The Eight-Legged Horse 62 Rune Power: Double-Bladed Axe* 97 Rune Power: Dwarven Battle Hammer*
31 Eyes Like Glowing Coals 63 Rune Power: Dwarven Battle Axe* 98 Ulls Sure Hand
32 Flesh Cries Out For Piercing 64 Rune Power: Mace* 99 Valor of Tyr
33 From Lofty Asgards Peaks 65 Rune Power: Goblin Spike Club* 00 The Wounds Close Quick

*Note that when using a helm that gifts your hero with a Rune Power, he still needs to use the applicable weapon. The helm
just gives him the power without your having to spend victory points on it.

Modifiers: A: reroll any result higher than 18; B: reroll any result higher than 76; D: reroll any result lower than 19;
F: reroll any result lower than 77

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 Chapter 4

Legendary Items
Legendary items were made by the dwarves
back when they were allied with Odin. Though not
IDENTIFYING unique, each one is very rare, and the mere posses-
MAGICAL TREASURES sion of one significantly enhances a warriors repu-
tation. Roll on the chart below to determine which
Although it would be realistic to say that heroes cant legendary item the players have found.
use these items until they identify them, it turns out
to be a pain in the butt to administer this kind of Roll Legendary Item
secrecy. We therefore assume that Vikings are suffi- 01-05 Armor of Inflexible Surety
ciently attuned to the acquisition of loot that they can
automatically identify all magical goodies on sight. 06-10 Absorption Armor
11-15 Axe of Glory
16-20 Blade of Fair Title
21-25 Blinding Armor
If a Gift has a level restriction, a helm can, at 26-30 Blood Tribute Armor
most, bring the user up to the maximum level, no 31-35 Blue Cloak of Treachery
matter how many levels it normally provides, or how 36-40 Blunting Armor
many your hero has without it. If the random rolls
41-45 Demon Maw Helm
determine that a helm provides a number of levels
46-50 Einherjars Armor
in excess of the Gifts maximum, it provides only the
maximum levels. 51-55 Even-Handed Torc
56-60 Golden Blade
Helms of Power increase their users rating in the
61-65 Light-Treading Boots
worship of the deity associated with their Divine
66-70 Loki-Thwarting Armor
Gifts. Even when removed, this effect continues
until the beginning of the next event. 71-75 Loki-Trouncing Wand
76-80 Mantle of Grim Justice
A helm which grants 2 levels of Agony Postponed
81-85 Ring of Alberich
increases its users Heimdal rating by 2, provided
86-90 Shield of Fury
that the user is wearing it, or only removed it during
the current event. 91-95 Spitting Armor
96-00 Torc of Alberich

HELMS OF POWER (LEVELS)

Roll Level These different legendary items are described
1-5 1 level below.
6 2 levels To activate the powers of a legendary item, you
7 3 levels must spend victory points on it, just as you would a
8 4 levels Divine Gift. Also like Divine Gifts, most legendary
9 5 levels items allow you to buy multiple levels. If the entry
0 6 levels for Levels in a legendary items description says
Unlimited, it allows unlimited levels; None
Modifiers: B: -2, E: +2, F: +3 means it does not allow levels. Keep in mind that,
like any piece of equipment, a legendary item does
not carry on to a saved character (see p. 60). Heavy
investment in the powers granted by legendary items
is therefore riskier than that in ordinary Divine

166
 Encounters

Gifts. On the other hand, the cost of raising levels is

generally cheaper.
Some legendary items give the hero a Divine ABSORPTION ARMOR
Connection rating for every level the player buys, Equipment Type: Any Armor
just like Gifts. Patrons are listed for items to which Cost: 30
this applies. Levels: Unlimited
Legendary items are almost always pieces of When the user is struck by an enemy, the foes
equipment. In addition to their special powers, they weapon may adhere to the heros armor, and, in a
also count as magical equipment, and carry bonuses rainbow flash, is immediately absorbed into it. To
making them superior to ordinary pieces of their prevent this effect, the foe must roll Res against a
type. Roll on the appropriate magical equipment Difficulty equal to the heros levels in Absorption
charts to see what those bonuses are, and which sta- Armor. If he fails, his weapon is instantly sucked up
tistics they apply to. into the users Armor, never to be seen again.
Needless to say, he is disarmed. Until the end of the
Armor pieces made for Loki were fashioned by
current event, you may add (the absorbed weapons
undead smiths from the still-living bodies of gigan-
Dfn rating 5) to your Prot. This item is only effec-
tic, demonic insects, and look like it. They gleam
tive against foe types bearing the axe icon.
in sickly, iridescent colors, and are riddled with
broken compound eyes, shattered mandibles, and
AXE OF GLORY
pulsing stingers.
Equipment Type: Any Axe
If the entry for Equipment Type says Any
Cost: 30
Armor, roll on the following chart to see what kind
Levels: Unlimited
it is:
Each time the user strikes a foe with this weapon,
Roll Armor Type
the victory point bonus for scoring the dying blow
1 Quilted/Fur
against him increases by 10X, where X is the users
2-3 Heavy Leather levels in this power.
4-7 Studded Leather
8-9 Leather Scale BLADE OF FAIR TITLE
0 Steel Scale Mail Equipment Type: Viking Broadsword
Cost: 30
Levels: Unlimited
ARMOR OF INFLEXIBLE SURETY
The power of this sword comes into effect when
Equipment Type: Any Armor another pillagers hero slays a foe the user previous-
Cost: 30 ly struck with it, provided that the blade dealt more
Levels: Unlimited total damage to the foe than your opponent did
For each level the hero possesses in this armor when he scored his death blow. If this is the case,
power, he may add 3 to any roll to resist Impairment deduct 5X from the other heros victory point tally
or to gain Invigoration. and add it to the users. X equals the users levels in
this power. The number of points transferred in this
way cant exceed the death blow bonus.

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 Chapter 4

BLUE CLOAK OF TREACHERY

BLINDING ARMOR Equipment Type: A Deep Blue Cloak
Cost: 30
Equipment Type: Steel Scale Mail Armor
Patron: Loki
Cost: 30
Levels: Unlimited
Levels: Unlimited
The user is immune from the victory point penalty
Whenever a foe strikes the users armor, it gives off a
for dealing damage to other heroes. Penalties hed
shower of sparks that dazzle the foes eyes. The after-
otherwise suffer from the deaths of other heroes are
image of the sparks lingers, making it harder for him
reduced by 25X, where X is his levels in this power.
to see for a short period. On any successful hit, he
must roll Stamina against a Difficulty equal to the
users Divine Awareness + levels in Blinding Sparks. If
BLUNTING ARMOR
he fails, he suffers a penalty equal to the difference Equipment Type: Any Armor
between Difficulty and result to any action requiring Cost: 30
clear sight. This includes all combat actions. He suf- Levels: Unlimited
fers the effect for a number of rounds equal to the
Any melee weapon of normal (that is, not magical
users levels in Blinding Sparks. If he suffers the effect
or dwarven) manufacture used to score a hit against
more than once, he adds the penalties and rounds of
the user is at risk of being damaged. Whenever a
duration together. The use of Blinding Sparks does
foe scores a hit, he must roll his weapon Ability
not cost the user an action. Although the users
against a Difficulty equal to the users Divine
armor still sparks when hit by missile weapons, it is
Awareness + levels in Blunting Rigidity. If he fails,
effective only against melee attackers.
the weapons Dam rating decreases by the users
levels in Blunting Rigidity. Weapon-using foes may
discard and replace a damaged weapon as per the
normal rules on being disarmed. The use of this
power does not cost an action.

DEMON MAW HELM

Equipment Type: Helm of Power
BLOOD TRIBUTE ARMOR Cost: 45
Patron: Loki
Equipment Type: Any Armor Levels: Unlimited
Cost: 45
Patron: Loki This helm looks like an enormous demonic head
Levels: Unlimited which the user places over his own. He can cause it
to open its jaws and emit a low, horrible bellow that
The user can command this armor to grow dozens shakes the bowels of his foes. This requires an
of tiny, sharp-ended feeding tubes which jut into his action. He can do it once per encounter. Thereafter,
flesh and drink from it an amount of blood speci- any character wishing to strike the user in combat
fied by the controlling pillager. For every 10 hit must roll his primary god Divine Connection rating
points worth of blood the user feeds it, he may add against the users Loki Divine Connection rating. If
his levels in Blood Tribute to any single roll. he fails, he faces a penalty to his ATK rolls equal to
Alternately, he can increase the armors Prot value three times the users levels in Demon Maw Helm.
by 1 for every 4 hit points fed to it. In this case, the The effect lasts until the end of the current event.
effect lasts until the end of the current encounter, or
until the user regains the same number of hit points
he just spent, whichever is sooner.

168
 Encounters

EINHERJARS ARMOR d10 roll, or 10 to any percentile

roll, where X is the users levels in
Equipment Type: Any Armor
Golden Blade. The user suffers a 20X victory point
Cost: 45
deduction unless he then becomes the sole owner of
Levels: Unlimited
the treasure.
The einherjar, Valhallas honored dead, conduct con-
stant mock battles against one another in anticipa- LIGHT-TREADING BOOTS
tion of Ragnarok. As that battle will be bloody, there Equipment Type: pair of boots
is nothing to be gained in pulling blows or fighting Cost: 30
with blunted weapons. So they strike freely against Levels: Unlimited
one another, plunging blades into chests and enthu-
siastically lopping off limbs. Yet when the eerie sun X times per combat, where X is the users levels in
that shines over Asgard sets behind its bordering this power, he may make a move, half move or
peaks, the warriors slaughtered during the day Engagement roll or action due to terrain or the
revive, collect their lost limbs and organs, and presence of a trap, without qualifying the runner
become whole once again. Then they march to for the victory point award hed usually get from
Odins great hall, to drink and carouse until sunrise, the users action.
at which point they again trudge off to do bloody
battle against one another. LOKI-THWARTING ARMOR
This armor allows the user to do the same, though in Equipment Type: Any Armor
a much more modest fashion. At the end of each com- Cost: 45
bat round, he regains a number of lost hit points equal Levels: Unlimited
to his levels in Einherjars Armor. This happens auto- The user gains extra protection against Sark Amen,
matically and does not require the use of an action. Dishonored, and Dark Vikings. Each time they
attempt to hit him, his Prot rating increases by 1. In
EVEN-HANDED TORC the course of single event, his total Prot increase can-
Equipment Type: Silver Torc (neck jewelry) not exceed his levels in this power. His Prot rating
Cost: 30 returns to normal at the end of the event.
Levels: Unlimited
LOKI-TROUNCING WAND
When another pillagers hero activates a Divine Gift
which normally adds to his possible victory point Equipment Type: Quarterstaff
tally, the user may force him to contest the users Cost: 30
Presence + X versus his Presence. X equals the users Patron: Odin
levels in this power. If the user succeeds, the num- Levels: Unlimited
ber of victory points the opposing hero gains is The possessor may use this power on any Sark
reduced by 10X, but cannot be reduced to a negative Amen, dishonored, Dark Viking, or hero with a
number. The user may use this power X times per Loki Divine Connection rating. The user contests
encounter, where X is his levels in it. his Odin Divine Connection rating + levels in this
power versus the targets Res (for foes) or Loki
GOLDEN BLADE Divine Connection rating (for heroes). If the user
Equipment Type: Dagger wins, the target loses his next action. Characters
Cost: 75 who lost their previous actions to this effect are
Levels: Unlimited immune to it. The possessor must hold the quar-
terstaff in his hand, as a ready weapon, in order to
When the runner rolls on a treasure chart for an use the power. He may not gain levels in this power
item the user is the first to pick up, he adds X to any when his Loki Divine Connection rat-

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ing is equal to or greater than his SHIELD OF FURY

Odin Divine Connection rating. If
Equipment Type: Round Shield
his Loki Divine Connection rating later becomes
Cost: 30
equal to or greater than his Odin Divine
Patron: Loki
Connection rating, he immediately and irrevocably
Levels: Unlimited
loses all levels in this power.
X times per encounter, where X is the users levels
MANTLE OF GRIM JUSTICE in this power, he may choose a foes next target,
Equipment Type: Ermine-fur Collar (to be trumping both the foe choice flowchart and, in the
attached to a cloak) case of self-willed foes, the runners discretion. If the
Cost: 30 foe is unengaged, the user succeeds automatically. If
Patron: Odin the foe is already Engaged with a hero, the user may
Levels: Unlimited cause it to disengage from its current target and
attack a new one, by successfully contesting his lev-
The possessor may use this power on any hero els in this power versus the foes Res score.
whose Loki Divine Connection rating is higher
than his Odin Divine Connection rating, provided SPITTING ARMOR
that the user has a higher Odin Divine Connection
Equipment Type: Any Armor
rating than Loki Divine Connection rating. He
Cost: 30
may use it X times per encounter, where X is his
Patron: Loki
levels in this power. Each time his target succeeds
Levels: Unlimited
at a roll called for in the encounter notes, he con-
tests his Loki Divine Connection rating against the Whenever an enemy damages the user with a
users Odin Divine Connection rating. If the user melee weapon, he also pierces a piece of this bug-
wins the contest, the victory points the target like armor. It sprays green acidic blood towards
would get for the roll instead transfer to the users the attacker. He must make a Quickness + Dodge
victory point tally. versus a Difficulty equal to the users Loki Divine
Connection rating, or take 3 points of armor-
RING OF ALBERICH ignoring damage for every level the user has in
Equipment Type: A Ring with a Cloudy Amber Acidic Spray.
Gem
Cost: 30 TORC OF ALBERICH
Levels: Unlimited Equipment Type: Copper Torc (neck jewelry)
Cost: 15
This item adds to the victory points the user gains
Levels: Unlimited
whenever you succeed with an Ability roll called for
in the encounter notes. It works on one Ability only. This item reduces by 3X the victory points the run-
When the ring first appears, roll on the Ability ner would otherwise gain when you fail an Ability
Chart, p. 162, to see which Ability it boosts. Multiply roll called for in the encounter notes, where X
all point gains from successes with this Ability by equals the users levels in this Gift. The runners
the users levels in this power. award cant be reduced below 0.

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 Encounters

STEP EIGHT: Choosing Other Gains

Treasure is not the only thing the heroes might
want to find during their adventures. The items Carrot
described in this section, which we lump together A carrot is our slightly slangy term for any situa-
under the catch-all term gains, also gain designers tion in which the heroes make a roll and, if success-
encounter points. ful, get an increase to a subsequent roll. (Weve
Like treasure, designers can specify that the already described its opposite, the stick, on p. 144.)
heroes receive a gain only on a successful roll, or The heroes get a chance to make an Awareness roll
automatically, by fulfilling a simple condition. The to spot a cloud of dust in the distance. This indicates
notes on Placement (p. 155 of the last section) that the Bedouins are moving on the horizon. If they
apply equally to everything in this section. spot it, they get bonuses to their Initiative rolls when
the nomads make their imminent attack. The bonus
lasts for 3 rounds.
Ambush Opportunities A small sealed tube hangs from a rope, which in
When heroes can ambush foes, it counts as a turn dangles from a stalactite a hundred feet above
gain. The rules are a reversal of those for foes the heroes heads. A successful Bow roll severs the
ambushing heroes, and therefore appear in the rope, dropping the tube to the floor below. Inside the
Traps section, on p. 141. tube is a map to a labyrinth up ahead. Possession of
it provides a bonus to the heroes Map rolls when
attempting to navigate the labyrinth.
Bargaining Opportunities A trio of Dark Vikings stands watch over a room
Heroes welcome opportunities to exchange sil- behind a big brass door. A successful Disguise roll
ver for equipment, or vice versa. If a designer allows a hero to convince them that he, too, is a servant
includes an encounter with a supporting character of Loki, sent to inspect the room. Inside the room a
able to exchange goods with them, he earns 15 group of undead alchemists brew up a potion.
encounter points. Prospective bargainers include Knowledge of the potions ingredients provides a bonus
wealthy Vikings, traveling trollish merchants and to Healing rolls, which will become necessary in a later
canny dwarves. Some of the gods, particularly encounter when the heroes are poisoned with it.
Odin, adopt the guise of dust-covered peddlers
when they choose to walk the land of Midgard. The encounter point cost of a carrot equals five
Bargaining is a contest, so designers must pay for times the increase given to the later roll. Increases to
the merchants Bargaining skills as per the usual INIT cost 5 encounter points for every 3 points of
Opposed roll cost rules on p. 129. INIT gain. If, as in the Bedouin Awareness example
above, the carrot affects a series of rolls taken over a
Rules on how to run Bargaining scenes are in the number of rounds, the designer must multiply the
Ability description, on p. 27. encounter point cost by that number. Although a
carrot can grant as high an increase as a designer
Although the pillagers can specify that their
wishes, he only gets encounter points for the first 6
heroes kill and rob any bargainers they run across,
points of increase (or first 18 points of INIT) and for
they never get victory points for the silver they may
the first three rounds of repeated rolls.
steal from these victims. Nor can they spend the sil-
ver on equipment in later bargaining sessions; they The designer cant include a carrot granting a
blow it all on mead or culturally inappropriate horns bonus to a non-existent roll.
for their helmets.

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 Chapter 4

safe harbors in which to recuperate between events

in their encounters. Remember that heroes always
Freestanding Ability heal up at the end of any encounter.
Rolls Time alone does not make for a healing opportu-
Some Ability rolls lead neither to a lessening of nity. Designers must build into their encounters a
risk to the heroes, nor any particular gain. Designers safe place where they can rest up, free from enemies
include them to contribute to a sense of atmosphere. and protected from the elements.
These are called Freestanding Ability rolls. Most The encounter points gained for inserting heal-
often, these rolls provide information to the players ing opportunities into encounters are pegged to the
which is interesting but not absolutely essential. maximum time the heroes will be able to spend in
The heroes find a smashed statue. You allow them their haven.
to make Lore rolls to identify it as a statue of Tyr. Time Gain
Although success gives the players a hint as to what
1 hour -5 encounter points
lies ahead people or creatures who really hate Tyr
it doesnt provide a bonus to a future die roll, as 3 hours -10 encounter points
would an actual carrot (as described above). 12 hours -15 encounter points
Freestanding Ability rolls count as gains because 24 hours -20 encounter points
pillagers can still earn victory points when their 3 days -22 encounter points
heroes succeed at them. Further, they offer no risk 6 days -24 encounter points
to the pillagers, because runners do not get victory
12 days -26 encounter points
points when heroes fail.
24 days -28 encounter points
Points garnered for adding Freestanding rolls
No limit -30 encounter points
vary by Difficulty. Use this price structure for
Freestanding Ability rolls, ignoring the standard one
on p. 129. Designers only get points for healing opportuni-
Difficulty Gain ties the heroes can actually use. They may freely
include a healing opportunity if it is preceded by a
6 -10 encounter points
combat event, and followed by another. Otherwise,
8 -8 encounter points they cannot get more points from healing opportu-
10 -5 encounter points nities than they spent on trap/hazard damage. This
12 -3 encounter points damage must precede the healing opportunity; the
opportunity must also be followed by either a com-
14 -1 encounter points
bat event, or another chance to take at least as much
damage as the opportunity is worth. (Since heroes
Designers do not get extra points for making a always heal between encounters, a designer does
Freestanding Ability Singular and No-fault. them no favors by including a chance to heal right
near his encounters conclusion.)
Your first event includes several traps for which
Healing Opportunities you spent a total of 25 points. Checking the above
It is to the heroes advantage to spend long peri- chart, you see that you qualify to earn points for a six-
ods of time between dangerous incidents. Time to day healing period after this event, provided that you
heal makes it more likely that theyll face their next follow it up with either a combat event, or another
fight in peak Viking condition. Designers gain array of traps and hazards for which you spend at
encounter points by giving the heroes least 24 points on damage.

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 Encounters

Runners end their healing opportunities by

threatening the heroes with wandering monsters.
See p. 199. Healing opportunities also allow heroes
the opportunity to recharge certain Divine Gifts.

Invigoration
Invigoration is the exact opposite of
Impairment; it increases all of the heroes rolls by a
given number over a number of rolls. Perhaps the
heroes become divinely inspired, blessed by magic,
or just confident.
Invigoration cancels out Impairment, and vice
versa. Heroes lose any Invigoration they might enjoy Reason to Go Home
when each encounter ends. In a standard roleplaying game, the players
Like Impairment, Invigoration costs vary accord- decide when their characters haul themselves out of
ing to the number of rolls still to come in the the dungeon environment in order to heal up, bar-
encounter, like so: gain with local craftsmen for new gear, and invest
their mountains of coins in unicorn futures.
For each combat sequence: -30 encounter points
The doughty Viking heroes of Rune arent so
For each roll to avoid a trap: -5 encounter points cooperative. Maybe you, the players, want them to
go home, but they, the characters, almost always
For each roll to trigger a gain: -5 encounter
prefer to stay down in the deep, dank dark, looking
points
for more enemies to slaughter and greater treasures
For each Freestanding Ability roll (see p. 172): -3 to haul home. After all, if they go home theyll have
encounter points to take baths and listen to their nagging parents.
The troves of silver are always fatter around the
Multiply this base cost by the number of
next passageway.
Invigoration points.
To have their heroes return home at the end of
If for some reason you want the Invigoration to
an encounter, all players must roll Lore versus a
end before the conclusion of your encounter, just
Difficulty of 10. The runner adds together the dif-
specify the point at which it ceases. Naturally, you
ferences between Difficulty and result for all of the
gain points only for rolls and combat sequences
successful heroes, and compares it to the same
prior to that point.
number for the ones who fail. Only if the first
Some Invigorations affect only one Ability or number is greater than the second do the Vikings
another type of roll derived from an Ability, like decide to go home.
Engagement. We call this a Specific
Designers gain encounter points by making the
Invigoration. In this case, you gain for only the
decision to return home easier. This is expressed as
affected rolls. If your Impairment effect singles
a bonus applied to each heros roll. The designer gets
out INIT, ATK, DFN, or Engagement, you gain 10
5 encounter points for each point of bonus. The
for each combat sequence.
maximum bonus is 5.
A designer may use this gain only if hes
included at least 75 points worth of treasure in
the encounter.

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 Chapter 4

cessful, the runner makes a note of the difference. It

Loot Cache becomes a bonus to the Presence + Divine Awareness
roll made by the then-current runner when the
A loot cache is a location, such as a cave, an area heroes return to see if the loot is still there. This may
of loose ground, or grotto, in which the heroes can occur many encounters down the road, so every play-
temporarily stash their own loot so they dont have er should keep accurate records of cache contents,
to suffer its Load value or risk damaging it in tran- recovery difficulties, and trap bonuses. Use the record
sit. They leave it in the cache and retrieve it after the sheet at the end of this book. A sample is given below.
end of the adventure, on their way home. The When the heroes decide to return home, the then-
encounter point value of a loot cache varies accord- runner, who is not necessarily the same person who
ing to its reliability, as seen in the chart below. ran the encounter including the loot cache, asks a for
Recovery Difficulty Gain a list of outstanding loot caches. For each cache, a sin-
gle hero (chosen by the pillagers) rolls Divine
4 40 encounter points
Awareness, reflecting his divinely-granted luck, against
5 30 encounter points a Recovery Difficulty chosen by the designer. If he suc-
6 20 encounter points ceeds, the loot is still there. If not, its been found and
7 10 encounter points borne off by gremlins, goblins, other Vikings, or who-
ever. The heroes never get another crack at a lost cache.
A hero can increase the safety of a loot cache with
a successful Traps roll, made when the loot is first
hidden. Hes not disarming a trap, but building one
Shrine
to deter robbers. The Difficulty of the roll is 6; if suc- A shrine is a small holy place dedicated to one of
the gods. At a shrine, players may buy death insur-
ance (see p. 60), an action they can normally take
LOOT CACHE RECORDS only at the beginning of an encounter.
List the location of the cache in the first column. In
the next column, indicate the real-world date on which
The designer specifies the god to whom the shrine
you played the encounter in which the treasure was is dedicated. Heroes may save their characters for a
cached. Then list the runner for that session, the mere 12 victory points at a shrine of their primary
Recovery Difficulty (found in the encounter notes), god. Heroes may also gain any Divine Gift granted by
and the bonus, if any, gained by booby-trapping the the shrines god at a 30% cost discount. They do not
cache against intruders. Use the large lower box to have to have the shrines god as their primary deity
make a detailed record of the caches contents. You
to qualify for the Divine Gift discount.
can find the Loot Cache Record, along with several
other helpful forms and cheat sheets, in the Appendix. The encounter point value of a shrine depends
on the god to whom the shrine is dedicated:
LOOT CACHE RECORD

Location Date Runner Recovery Difficulty Trap Bonus Deity Cost

Troll Cave 2/2 Alex 6 +4
Freyja -10 encounter points
Contents Heimdal -15 encounter points
rth 40 oz of Silver
5 Pieces of Furniture wo Loki -15 encounter points
th 12 oz of Silver
6 Pieces of Pottery Wor
Njord -15 encounter points
2 Viking Broadswords
Odin -20 encounter points
1 Leather Armor
Thor -25 encounter points
32 oz of Silver
Tyr -15 encounter points
Ull -10 encounter points
Any other deity -5 encounter points

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 Encounters

If a heros primary deity is Thor, Odin, or Composing a satiric poem to

Heimdal, and he gets death insurance or gains a shame a dishonorable Viking
Divine Gift at a shrine of Loki, he must roll Divine chieftain: 10 victory points.
Awareness versus a Difficulty of 8, or suffer 1 point
Refusing to taste the effete food of outlanders,
of Impairment.
even though it earns the hero a penalty on a
The encounter designer can require a roll to recog- later interaction roll: 10 victory points.
nize or find the shrine, but is not obligated to do so.
If a designer includes an action that is not listed
Designers gain points for no more than two here, fairness requires him to give the players at least
shrines per encounter, and these must be dedicated a chance of realizing that it is worth victory points.
to different gods. Designers should remember that He can either have a supporting character come
they cant cash in victory points for Gifts or death right out and tell them that the action in question is
insurance while acting as runners, and that there is the sort of thing expected of mighty Viking warriors,
therefore no point in skewing shrine choices to favor or he can require a Demeanor roll to allow them to
their own heroes. figure out the correct course of action.
Many of these actions can be performed by only
Victory Point Bonuses one character. For example, it would be absurd and
undignified for an entire party of heroes to whack
Sometimes designers will want to reward the away at a dying ally. The hero who actually per-
heroes for behaving in a properly heroic, Viking man- forms the action gets the full victory point total. All
ner. They do so by directly awarding victory points. other heroes get half that amount each, provided
that they do not stand in his way. If heroes squab-
Victory point gains should always involve some risk, ble or jostle one another over the right to perform
or at least emotional cost, on the part of the heroes. the action, no one gets any victory points. This is
They should get victory points to compensate them for called a singular award.
taking actions that Viking warriors would undertake
without question, but that players may be reluctant to Other actions, like the refusal of food example,
perform because they dont make sense if you look at can be undertaken by any number of heroes, each
the heroes in a cold-blooded fashion, as game pieces. of whom gets the full award. This is called a
Alternately, you can award them to reward the heroes mutual award.
when they act like Vikings, as opposed to modern-day
Players get victory points only for situations built
people wearing furs and funny hats.
into the encounter. So if a helper happens to get
The list below provides some examples of actions unexpectedly eviscerated by a spider-werk, the
worthy of direct victory point awards, and rough heroes gain no victory points for delivering the blow
estimate of the victory points each action deserves. that sends him to Valhalla, no matter how vigorous-
This is not an exclusive list. Designers should try to ly the players cajole the runner.
make situations of their own invention comparable
Like any other victory point awards, these add to
to the awards given here.
the heros tally, and are subject to deductions at
Dispatching a dying, sympathetic Viking sup- encounters end.
porting character, to give him an honorable
For fixed victory point awards, the designer gains
death: 10 victory points.
encounter points equal to the maximum number of
If a hero gifts a skald in recognition of his stir- victory points available to be won by any single hero.
ring poetry, he gets victory points, provided that For variable awards, where the exact number of the
his gift is more valuable than anyone elses. His victory points won is dependent on the choices of
victory point award equals the value of the gift the players or game statistics of the heroes, the
in silver ounces, times two. designer nets a flat 10 encounter points.

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 Chapter 4

Designing Advanced Adventures

By choosing to run advanced adventures, you Plot encounters bookend the sessions other
make your campaigns more like stories, with begin- scenes and contribute to a feeling that the heroes are
nings, middles, and endings. Dont worry, it wont doing important things instead of just aimlessly
mean that youre going soft: there will still be plen- wandering around killing things. They turn the
ty of random, gratuitous violence. heroes activities into a story though its a simple
one made up mostly of fight scenes.

How They Work So, if in a four-player group, an adventure would

map out as follows:
Each time you play Rune, a single player is desig-
nated as the plotter. His job, when he takes his turn
as runner, is to run the plot encounters. Just as all Runner Encounter Type
players share designer/runner responsibilities, each Player 1 (the Plotter) Plot: Set-Up
player should take his turn as plotter. Make your
Player 2 Cushion #1
groups biggest keener start out as the first plotter.
He may be the person who first bought a copy of the Player 3 Cushion #2
rulebook, and/or the one who usually GMs when Player 4 Cushion #3
you play conventional roleplaying games. Player 1 Plot: Development
Collectively, all of the encounters the plotter Player 2 Cushion #4
designs, plus all of the encounters designed by other Player 3 Cushion #5
players, in between yours, are called an adventure. The
plotter creates encounters which serve as its beginning, Player 4 Cushion #6
middle, and end. Theyre called plot encounters. The Player 1 Plot: Climax
rest of the designers create encounters that sandwich
in between the plot encounters. They share a basic set-
ting with the plot encounters but are otherwise as free- A five-player adventure would map out like this:
floating as the unconnected Underground encounters Runner Encounter Type
everyone has been designing until now. These are
Player 1 (the Plotter) Plot: Set-Up
called cushion encounters.
Player 2 Cushion #1
Player 3 Cushion #2
Player 4 Cushion #3
BUDGET INCREASES Player 5 Cushion #4
FOR PLOT Player 1 Plot: Development
ENCOUNTERS Player 2 Cushion #5
Designers get more points to play with when they cre- Player 3 Cushion #6
ate plot encounters. Add 30% to the overall budget for
the set-up encounter, 15% for the development
Player 4 Cushion #7
encounter, and 50% for the climax encounter. Player 5 Cushion #8
Player 1 Plot: Climax

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 Encounters

This assumes that you have three or more players designers. Most of the time, the
in your group. In two-player games, the plotter hook should simply be a broad
should run cushion encounters, too. setting where a bunch of fights and other interesting
things take place as the heroes progress through a
Runner Encounter Type
series of encounters.
Player 1 (the Plotter) Plot: Set-Up
The plotter must give the other players advance
Player 2 Cushion #1
word of the hook, so that they can keep it in mind
Player 1 Cushion #2 when devising their own encounters.
Player 2 Cushion #3
The default hook in a Rune game is the
Player 1 Plot: Development Underground. This means that all of the encounters
Player 2 Cushion #4 take place in the vast underground tunnel complex in
Player 1 Cushion #5 which the computer game is set. The Underground is
the ideal hook because its really easy to connect one
Player 2 Cushion #6 encounter to the next. Each encounter is simply set
Player 1 Plot: Climax in a different room of this enormous complex. The
heroes can get from one encounter to the next just by
walking down a corridor or kicking in a door. This is
The starting budget depends on the type of how youve been playing all along; the only difference
encounter. Dont forget to up the point limit for is that youll be adding a semblance of narrative to
experienced characters, as seen on p. 94. the familiar setting.
Encounter Type Point Limit
Plot: Set-Up 350 encounter points
Cushion 300 encounter points
Plot: Development 350 encounter points
Plot: Climax 450 encounter points

Plot Encounters
As shown in the adventure maps above,
each adventure includes three plot
encounters: the set-up, the development,
and the climax. But before designing
these, the plotter needs to determine
what his hook is.

THE HOOK
The first thing the plotter
determines, before designing
his encounters, is the hook for
the story. The hook is a very
basic concept uniting not only
plot encounters, but the cush-
ion encounters of the other

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 Chapter 4

Nidavellir, the strange domain of the mechanistic

dwarves. All or most encounters will be with
dwarves or their mysterious devices. Carefully-
engineered traps of incomprehensible workman-
HOME BASE ship abound.
The default assumption of this game is that the heroes Svartalfheim is the thick, gloomy forest where the
home base is an isolated Viking village somewhere in elves live. Encounters take place in the wilder-
Scandinavia. All of the heroes are more or less the same ness. Opponents often include unusually fero-
age, and all want roughly similar things. First and fore- cious wild beasts. Traps consist of snares and
most, they wish to prove their worthiness to the gods,
so that, after death, they might join the ranks of the
other outdoorsy hazards.
Einherjar. Secondly, they wish to increase the worldly Foreign Lands: The players go to another region
status of their extended family within their home com-
of Midgard and lay waste to it in search of trea-
munity. Status is measured by the familys ability to
uphold cherished Viking values, but also by its wealth. sure. They might burn down wealth-laden
So when heroes bring back silver or jewels from their abbeys in England, battle hostile natives on the
adventures, they build their familys status. Although cold and rocky shores of Newfoundland, or
the game doesnt focus on this fact, the heroes family serve as mercenaries in the Holy Land. This
members are farmers most of the year. They launch the hook works splendidly if everybody is a history
occasional raid during the growing season, when there
buff, but should be used with care if some of
is little to do on the farm. When the heroes begin to
show their mettle as a potential warrior, they earn spe-
your fellow players couldnt tell a Varangian
cial privileges. No longer do their relatives expect them guard from a Valencia orange.
to toil in the fields. Theyre better off honing their
weapon skills, so that they can bring them more trea-
Underwater: The heroes all take advantage of
sure from the Underground and elsewhere. magic that allows them to breathe under the
oceans surface. They find themselves doing bat-
Once youve become jaded old hands at the game, your
Horde might want to transplant the heroes to a new
tle in a realm of mermen and manta rays.
and exotic home base. It could be in Paris, Byzantium, Other Dimensions: The heroes visit another fanta-
or even Asgard. Make sure that your unconventional
sy world or game setting with which all of the
home base gives the heroes a reason to go out and get
into trouble, and provides some sort of rationale for players are already familiar, in order to sack and
bringing treasure back to cash in for victory points. pillage it. The further afield you go from a
Viking world, the more work it is for you and the
other players to warp concepts like guns, laser
cannons, and caped superheroes into the closed
framework of the encounter design rules.
Other hooks might include:
Some of these hooks are described in more detail
Scandinavia. The adventure takes place in various in Chapter Six.
wilderness locations and villages near the heroes
home base. Theyll be negotiating with other Plotters may also make more specific requests of
Vikings, occasionally fighting them, and braving the other players as they devise their encounters.
the hazards of travel in difficult, rocky territory. They may want all of the Underground caverns
they explore to be obscured by fog, or to start out
Jotunheim, the mountains where giants live. frost-covered and end up meltingly hot. They might
The heroes face the dangers of cold weather
insist that everyone draw from the same narrow set
and treacherous mountain terrain, as well as
of foe types. We recommend that you wait until
the threats, puzzles, and challenges posed by
everyone is comfortable with the advanced mode
giants. Giants are sometimes friendly, some-
before trying to get fancy. Let people first get used
times hostile.
to creating encounters that are essentially unrelated

178
 Encounters

to one another. Once youve all mastered the tricks landmarks in it to lead them
in this chapter, you can start working together in to the isolated fjord where
innovative ways. the deep pit, smoking with the fumes of the
Underworld, is located.
Once a plotter has chosen and announced the
hook, he needs to actually create his plot encounters. Not Dead Enough. The dead are rising from their
graves, at the behest of Hel, the death goddess.
SET-UP The empty graves connect up to a network of
tunnels, which lead the heroes to the portion of
The set-up is the very first encounter in the plot.
the Underground that is Hels.
It takes the heroes from their home base, introduces
them to a problem, and transports them to a con- Paid to Avenge. A wealthy trader from another
frontation with forces arising from or related to that village promises the village a new longship if
problem. The default beginning for any story will be: the heroes will track down and take vengeance
Youre all training, drinking, and perhaps wooing against the man who besmirched his daugh-
prospective spouses, when something mysterious ters honor.
happens. You go to investigate The story gains
impact if sympathetic characters face some kind of Stolen Child. A child with great potential as a
potential harm which the heroes can prevent. priestess has been kidnapped. The heroes must
Finding the source of the trouble should start the retrieve her from the minions of Loki who
heroes on a journey that will take them to the loca- took her.
tion youve chosen in your hook. The situation Having established a motivation and a goal for
should be such that the heroes will be able to tell the heroes, the plotter then proceeds to design the
when their job is done and they can return home to storys first encounter, using the same process you
tell people that the threat has passed. would for any other.
Set-ups should be very simple. Plotters shouldnt After you finish running your set-up, each of the
be trying to outdo Tolstoy or Dickens. All theyre other players runs a cushion scene.
doing is creating a very basic story idea to make fun,
but otherwise unrelated, scenes of adventure hang DEVELOPMENT
together in a coherent (okay, semi-coherent) whole.
The next time the plotters turn to run rolls
Here are some set-ups for you to plunder as needed: around, he deploys a development encounter. In
Call of the Slain. Ghosts of the dead haunt a the development, the heroes are reminded of their
heroes hall, demanding that the Vikings avenge original goal, and advance towards it. Typically, their
their murders. The ghosts lead the heroes to the reward for surviving the dangers of the encounter is
camp where they were slain. From there they fol- a clue or a definite step towards eventual victory.
low clues to the first encounter. Perhaps the heroes fight and defeat an identifiable
henchman of the main villain. Or they might be
Cruel Assault. Raiders attack the heroes village. rewarded with information directing them towards
They follow the raiders trail to the adventures the final scene.
starting point.
Lets look at possible development scenes for the
Dread Affliction. A prominent person in the various set-ups listed above.
village has been laid low by an incurable dis-
ease. The village god-talker says that the dis- Call of the Slain. The heroes travel to the hall of
ease was sent by the minions of Loki. When the family that the ghosts blamed for their
she concentrates, she has a vision of the demise. After a furious fight, they slay the most
heroes entering a deep pit, and later fighting hot-headed of the defenders. Only then, from the
Lokis demon minions. The vision has enough surviving noncombatants, do the

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 Chapter 4

heroes learn that the family couldnt ought to be able to do according to the rules. In this
possibly have committed the crime. game, if you let your primary villain appear before
They explain that a cruel band of elves, which has the climax, you cant cheat to keep him alive. If the
hated them ever since they heedlessly cleared a heroes dispose of the villain during the develop-
holy grove, must have assumed their shapes and ment, there will be nothing interesting for them to
gone off to kill someone who they knew would do during the climax.
be avenged. The falsely accused family tells the
Plotters who take this risk will need to have a sec-
heroes how to find the elves.
ond villain to substitute for the original when the cli-
Cruel Assault. The heroes find and defeat some max rolls around, should the first one succumb to
of the mercenaries who participated in the raid. the heroes axes. In this case, the plotter must quick-
Interrogating them after the fight, they learn ly change his conception of the story so that the now-
who ordered the raid and get directions to his dead character who seemed to be the main villain
home village. turns out to be a mere henchman of an even more
diabolical fiend. This can be unsatisfying, though, if
Dread Affliction. After defeating a wyrm, the
the new main villain just turns up out of the blue.
heroes sort through its treasure trove. They find
a magic book containing the incantation that Most of the time, plotters should allow their vil-
caused their village elders illness. In the front of lains only indirect appearances during the develop-
the book is a map, which may take them to the ment. Here are some ways to do this:
books owner.
The heroes meet a witness to the villains das-
Not Dead Enough. A gate of skulls around the tardly acts, which are recounted in vivid, first-
entrance to the next encounter warns the hand detail.
heroes that theyre close to Hels home. The
The heroes find clues like a map or journal
heroes gain a magic scepter that will protect
revealing the villains sinister plan. Make sure
them from Hels wrath, and force her to grant
that the bad consequences of the villains acts
them one favor.
upon innocent or sympathetic characters are
Paid to Avenge. The heroes reach the village where clear to the heroes.
the despoiler of the womans honor lives, only to
In place of the main villain, an equally nasty but
find it swarming with dwarven slavers who
somewhat weaker henchman leads a battle
attack them. The heroes defeat the slavers but
against the heroes. During the fight, he taunts
learn that many captives have already been sold
them with threats detailing what his boss will do
to the elves of Svartalfheim.
to them.
Stolen Child. The heroes find one of the girls
The fight takes place in one of the main villains
slippers in a pile of junk gathered by a goblin
hideouts, against his lesser minions. The objects
scavenger.
in the hall torture implements, bloody altars,
gigantic statues of hideous, grinning Sark Amen
ESTABLISHING YOUR VILLAIN
establish the villains evil nature. Their massive
When possible, plotters should use the develop- scale huge staircases, vaulted ceilings, enor-
ment to allow the heroes to better know and hate mous tapestries creates a sense of his power
the main villain behind the story. It is dangerous and importance.
to have the villain show up in person, because the
heroes will do everything in their power to kill him The heroes fight unwilling opponents whove been
right then and there. Unlike traditional single-GM coerced by the villain into defending him against
roleplaying games, Rune doesnt let you cheat by the PCs. In the battles aftermath, they discover
just declaring that the villain gets away, this, and, through their opponents fear of the vil-
in spite of what the player characters lain, begin to understand how loathsome he is.

180
 Encounters

CLIMAX
The final encounter you run wraps up the adven-
ture with a satisfying concluding battle, followed by
a resolution of the plot. The battle is invariably with
the main villain. If possible, it occurs mere moments A SENSE OF
before he sets his evil plan in motion. Clues found PROGRESS
in the aftermath of the battle answer any questions If your group is well into a saga and the heroes have,
posed in the set-up or development. Pull out all the over time, presented their community with bushel
stops to make this the most nail-bitingly exciting after bushel of silver pieces, plotters should remember
action sequence possible. A plotters best and tricki- to take this fact into account when devising the hooks
est ideas should go here. and plot encounters for their adventures. They should
describe the changes the village has gone through
Here are possible climaxes for our sample since the heroes first started their careers of glorious
adventures: plunder. It will build fortifications of ever-increasing
strength, from ditches lined with stakes to massive
Call of the Slain. The heroes hack through the stone walls equipped with high watchtowers and stur-
gnarled briars guarding the elven tribes strong- dy battlements. Its cattle herds will be large, fat, and
hold, and do pitched battle against their chief- healthy. Its men will don the finest cloaks; women will
adorn themselves with jewels.
tain and his finest warriors. As they fight, they
learn that the elves intend to seed the area with Your communitys newfound wealth does not fore-
killer plants which will choke out the pasture- close adventure possibilities; it just changes them. The
richer you are, the more inviting a target you become
land and starve out human farmers including
for rival plunderers, Dark Vikings, dwarven raiders,
the people of their own village. and other fortune-seeking foes. Wealth may make your
people complacent, or create strife as they begin to
Cruel Assault. The heroes enter the home village
squabble over the distribution of your spoils. In short,
of the killers in disguise, and feast with them abundance leads to as many interesting and dangerous
until their hosts reveal that they performed their situations as poverty.
acts of cruelty in order to win the favor of Loki.
Their headman, bristling with new Gifts bestowed
on him by Loki, sniffs out the heroes subterfuge
and lays an ambush for them.
and the magic scepter is taken from them. They
Dread Affliction. The heroes follow the map to a battle her undead minions, recovering the
lair of trolls, where the shamans boast of their scepter at the last minute. They use it to force
ability to cause diseases among humans. They her to withdraw the plague of undead. Angered
intend to sicken the greatest leaders in your but unable to harm them, Hel expels them
area, to leave the Norse people weak and from her domain, returning them to their
unready for an all-out troll invasion. The heroes home village.
must destroy the scroll containing the disease
incantation. When they do so, they not only set Paid to Avenge. After fighting many battles on the
their village elder on the road to recovery, but road to Svartalfheim, the heroes discover that
remove the trolls chance of weakening the the rightful lord of an elfin domain has been dis-
Viking people. Naturally, they must fight the placed by a murderous usurper who just hap-
biggest, baddest trolls to get the scroll away pens to be advised by the man the heroes hunt.
from them. A force of loyalist elves gathers to retake their
lords castle and rescue him. This gives them the
Not Dead Enough. The heroes enter the halls of chance to slip in through a secret passageway
Hel and gain an audience with the goddess her- while the elves launch a distracting frontal
self. She tricks them into lowering their guard, assault on the captured stronghold.

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 Chapter 4

should feel the sting when they decide to place them

in harms way.
Stolen Child. Plunging deeper into the
Underworld, the heroes follow a trail of carnage A hero may start his adventures with a horse if
and torture to a dank cavern defended by espe- his player spends 150 victory points. This represents
cially vicious goblins. As the heroes press the the status you forgo to wheedle a steed out of your
goblins, they learn that the leader they so fear is extended family or home village. (A truly legendary
the young priestess directing the actions of a Viking wouldnt need a horse, would he? Why, in my
magical lightning-bolt thrower. The heroes must day, we wouldnt dream of asking our elders for a
destroy the goblins, defending themselves horse! We trudged out to the Underground a hun-
against her without actually hurting her so that, dred miles through the snow, in bare feet! And any-
during the aftermath, they can use Divine body who dared complain, we gave him the blood
Awareness to lift the spell thats been placed on eagle, and he liked it!)
her and return her to her right mind.
Theres no point in purchasing a horse until the
player knows the hero can make use of it.
Horses in Encounters The game statistics of a horse can be found in the
insert below.
Horses dont show up in Underground adven-
tures; theyre not much interested in Underground A horse can bear a Load of -20, suffering 1
exploration. But as advanced adventures expand the Impairment point and a reduction of its Move by 10
scope of the game to include wide open spaces, play- for each additional point of Load. The horse may
ers may find themselves wanting rules for horses use Res to Jump or do other stunts. Its rider must
and mounted combat. roll Ride to stay on top of the jumping horse, and
gets a +3 ATK and DFN bonus against pedestrian
Heroes may take horses along with them on
opponents. Add your Ride Ability as a bonus to
adventures in Scandinavia, Svartalfheim, or other
Initiative.
outdoor locations, given the permission of the plot-
ter. When running encounters, remember that any A player may increase the quality of his heros
predatory creature (including wendols, land crabs, horse by spending additional victory points. Pay 25
goblins, and the Dishonored) will treat horses as victory points for
suitable targets for attack. To them, horses represent
gigantic, walking, comparatively defenseless store- each additional 10 hit points (you may do this up
to 3 times)
houses of tasty meat. Dwarven craftwerks attack
them because they move. More intelligent foes, like each additional DFN point (you may do this up
Dark Vikings, dwarves, and elves, will attack only to 3 times)
horses being used in mounted combat.
each additional 10 paces of Move (you may do
Remember also that horses should also be subject this up to 5 times)
to damage from your encounters traps and hazards.
Horses are valuable resources, and the players each additional point of Res (you may do this up
to 6 times)

MIGHTY STEEDS: STATISTICS FOR HORSES

INIT ATK DFN DAM Soak Prot HP WT Res Mov Might
Trample 6 7 1 8 0 0 48 9 1 200 10

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 Encounters

RECAP: Designing Your Encounters

An encounter consists of one to five tion by creating a map. The map can be
events, scenes that take place in simple or elaborate, depending on
different locations, possibly how much individual designers
with long breaks of time like making maps.
in between.
Traps and hazards
The total number are bad things that can
of encounter happen to the heroes;
points the design- they can be includ-
er spends during ed in any event.
an encounter
Treasures
must be offset
earn the designer
by other ele-
encounter
ments favor-
points; during
able to the
encounter cre-
heroes, which
ation, all he has
earn points.
to do is select a
The total
category of trea-
points spent
sure. During the
on a beginning
running of the
event cant
encounter, when a
exceed 300. Other
hero fulfills the con-
ceilings are given
ditions to earn the
on p. 94.
treasure, his player rolls
One or two of these on the charts provided on
events should include a pages 157 through 167 to find
combat event, in which the out what it is.
heroes confront one or more foes.
Gains are other events favorable to
The designer chooses one of seven threat
the heroes.
categories for each foe, ranging from Pitiful to
Terrifying. The number of foes designers can Designers must always give heroes a chance to
include per hero differs for each threat category. avoid a trap or hazard or to realize a treasure or gain.
Designers can include foes of various threat cate- They do so by choosing an Ability (or other game
gories provided that the overall mix value equals statistic) which the hero must roll, and a Difficulty
the number of heroes who will face them. he must beat. The higher the Difficulty, the greater
the encounter point cost. A designer can make any
Designers can earn encounter points by includ-
roll straightforward, or impose a variety of special
ing terrain features in their combat events. If they
conditions on it, as discussed on pages 140 through
come into play when the encounter is actually
129. He can forgo rolls for treasures and gains,
played, the runner also gets victory points.
instead making them automatically available to
(Designers almost always run the encounters they
heroes whose players specify that they undertake
create, motivating them to build the encounter to
simple actions.
maximize runner victory.) Designers must indicate
the relative locations and scale of the combat loca-

183
 SPECIAL SECTION

Quick and Dirty

Encounter
Design
Now that weve looked at the various pieces that make up an encounter, its time to
put them all together. This section provides designers with a quick and dirty method for
creating their first few encounters.
This system ignores many of the more complicated options given in the previous sec-
tion. Youll want to use it to start off with, and possibly when youre pressed for time
later on. The encounters it helps you create arent optimized to win you the highest pos-
sible number of victory points when you run. You can do that for yourself after you run
a few encounters, and start to get a sense of what pays off in your group.
Dont over-rely on this system. Experienced players will quickly come to recognize the
limited types of encounters it generates. Use it to learn the game and then throw away
the training wheels.
This system assumes a beginning encounter level. You have an encounter point ceil-
ing of 300.
This encounter will include 3 events. The first two events will include traps/hazards, gains,
and treasure. The final event will include combat, terrain features, and some more treasure.

Event Number 1
The first event includes one or more traps. Use Trap Chart 1 chart to see how many-
traps there are: Then roll on Trap Chart 2 to determine their difficulty.

TRAP CHART 1: HOW MANY? TRAP CHART 2: DIFFICULTY

Roll # Traps Roll Difficulty Cost
1-4 1 trap 1-2 4 -20
5-8 2 traps 3-4 5 -10
9-0 3 traps 5-6 6 +0
7-8 7 +10
9-0 8 +20

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 Quick and Dirty Encounter Design

TRAP CHART 3: WHAT GETS ROLLED

For each trap, roll 2d10 on the following chart, designating one die as the tens
place and the other as ones. This tells you which Ability the heroes must roll, how
many of the heroes must roll, and under what circumstances. If you cant think of
a trap that would test a given Ability, use the example as a starting point.

Roll Ability Roll Type Cost* Example

01-04 Animal Handling Singular +0 Calm nuisance animals
04-08 Any Weapon Ability Dogpile +0 Damage trap mechanism
09-12 Awareness No-Fault -15 Notice innocuous item is booby-trapped

13-16 Balance Standard +0 Stay on tightrope or plank

17-20 Bows Dogpile +0 Damage trap with missile weapon
21-24 Bravery Dogpile +0 Disbelieve otherwise damaging illusion

25-28 Brawling No-Fault -15 Knock over a craftwerk

29-32 Climb Standard +0 Escape trapped floor
33-36 Traps Singular +0 Disable snare

37-40 Disguise Singular +0 Fool craftwerkic sensors

41-44 Divine Awareness No-Fault -15 Sense evil presence
45-48 Dodge Standard +0 Evade spring-loaded spear

49-52 Jump Standard +0 Leap over rolling logs

53-56 Lore No-Fault -15 Remember legends of this trap type
57-60 Map Singular +0 Spot false wall where trap is hidden

61-64 Music Singular +0 Outplay a magical instrument

65-68 Pick Lock Singular +0 Open case protecting trap mechanism
69-72 Repair No-Fault -15 Fix a broken bridge

73-76 Runes No-Fault -15 Read instructions to avoid pitfall

77-80 Ski Standard +0 Escape avalanche
81-84 Sleep Standard +0 Remain conscious when gassed

85-88 Sprint Standard +0 Outrun rolling rocks

89-92 Stealth Standard +0 Avoid sound-triggered trap
93-96 Survival No-Fault -15 Avoid frostbite

97-00 Swim Standard +0 Avoid drowning

* In encounter Points

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 Special Section

Total the cost of the trap so far. Subtract that from 30. Spend the remaining amount
on the traps damage. Remember, the first 15 points of damage cost 1 encounter point
each, and higher amounts of damage are 1 encounter point each plus a surcharge, as
shown on this chart, repeated from the Traps section:
Dam Rating Surcharge Cost
0 15 None +0 to +15 encounter points
16 20 +5 encounter points +21 to +25 encounter points
21 25 +10 encounter points +31 to +35 encounter points

26 30 +15 encounter points +41 to +45 encounter points

31 35 +20 encounter points +51 to +55 encounter points
36 40 +25 encounter points +61 to +65 encounter points

41 45 +30 encounter points +71 to +75 encounter points

46 50 +35 encounter points +81 to +85 encounter points

The surcharge may mean that no Dam rating costs exactly the number of points
you have to spend. If so, buy the highest Dam rating you can with the number of
points you have.
Repeat as necessary for the number of traps youve chosen for this event. Keep
track of the total number of encounter points youve spent.
You start by rolling on the first chart. You get a 2, indicating a single trap for
this event. You roll a 2 on the Difficulty Chart: the Difficulty will be 4. You roll
on Trap Chart Three, getting a 50. The roll to avoid is a Standard one, testing the
entire groups Jump Ability. Heroes succeed or fail based only on their own rolls.
You decide that steel wheels with razor-sharp protrusions will appear at the top
of a ramp, roll down towards the heroes, and slice the ones who cant jump over
them. Now you total the cost of the trap so far: 30 - (-20) = 50. (Subtracting a neg-
ative number is like adding a positive one.) There is no Dam rating you can buy
for 50 points, according to the surcharge and cost chart; the closest you can come
within your limit is a Dam rating 30, for 45 points.
Now youll purchase off-setting treasures/gains to earn the encounter points you
spent on traps. The number of treasures/gains in the event equals the number of traps.

TREASURE/GAINS CHART 1: DIFFICULTY

For each treasure/gain, roll on this chart to find the Difficulty of the roll.
Roll Difficulty Cost
1-4 No roll required +0 encounter points
5-6 6 +0 encounter points
7-8 7 +10 encounter points
9-0 8 +20 encounter points

On a result of no roll required, the gain is automatically available to any hero who
performs a simple act (say, searching the area) after the gains accompanying trap goes off.

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 Quick and Dirty Encounter Design
TREASURE/GAINS CHART 2: WHAT GETS ROLLED
If the treasure/gain carries a Difficulty, roll here to see what kind of roll it is.
Roll Ability Roll Type Cost* Example
01-03 Animal Handling Singular +0 Train a foreign earls truculent falcon
04-08 Awareness No-Fault -15 Spot disturbed ground
09-11 Balance Standard +0 Grab treasure suspended from high ceiling

12-14 Bargain Rush +0 Convince a merchant to tell you of a treasure cache

15-17 Bows Dogpile +0 Win an archery contest
18-20 Bravery Dogpile +0 Survive a gauntlet of drunken Vikings

21-23 Brawling No-Fault -15 Win an arm-wrestling contest

24-26 Carouse No-Fault -15 Impress a hard-living jarl
27-29 Climb Standard +0 Scale a wall up to hidden niche

30-32 Deception Singular +0 Convince a dwarf his treasure gives off toxic fumes
33-35 Demeanor Dogpile +0 Impress a valykrie
36-38 Traps Singular +0 Disarm a booby trap for caverns new inhabitants

39-41 Disguise Singular +0 Impersonate a merchant expecting payment from moronic goblins
42-44 Divine Awareness No-Fault -15 Impress a pious jarl
45-47 Gamble Singular +0 Win at dice

48-50 Healer Dogpile +0 Heal a wounded jarl

51-53 Insight No-Fault -15 Flatter a generous jarl
54-56 Leadership Singular +0 Restore the confidence of rescued carls

57-59 Lore No-Fault -15 Recall the spot where your grandfather cached loot
60-62 Map Singular +0 Present a well-made map to a wealthy sage
63-65 Music Singular +0 Outplay a hermit musician

66-68 Pick Lock Singular +0 Open a chest full of treasure

69-71 Pursuit Dogpile +0 Catch a goblins lost pet
72-74 Repair No-Fault -15 Fix a goblins arrow quiver

75-77 Ride Standard +0 Advise a jarl on the likely winner of a horse race
78-80 Runes No-Fault -15 Read a letter for an illiterate goblin
81-83 Sing Singular +0 Entertain an elfin duchess

84-86 Skald Singular +0 Through satire, shame an ungenerous jarl

87-89 Ski Standard +0 Win a skiing competition
90-92 Sprint Standard +0 Win a foot race

93-95 Stealth Standard +0 Sneak into an encampment of snoring goblins

96-98 Survival No-Fault -15 Spot a disturbance in the snow where something is buried
99-00 Swim Standard +0 Win a swimming contest

* In encounter Points
Examples given in italics suggest situations that might be better handled as opposed
rolls against a supporting character. If you do want to use an Opposed roll, you can get
the bonus applied by the supporting character by subtracting 4 from the Difficulty
you got on Traps/Gains Chart 1.

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 Special Section

TREASURE/GAINS CHART 3: TYPE OF TREASURE/GAIN

Roll on this chart to see what type of treasure or gain youll include. Each is worth
30 encounter points.
Roll Treasure or Gain Type
01-07 Bargaining Opportunity + 12 Hours Healing Opportunity
08-16 Limitless Healing Opportunity
17-24 Loot Cache, Recovery Difficulty 5
25-32 3 Freestanding Ability Rolls, Difficulty 6
33-57 Category C Treasure
58-84 Category A + Category B Treasures
85-92 Shrine to Thor + 5 Ounces of Silver
93-96 Shrines to Odin & Freyja
97-00 Shrines to Heimdal & Njord

You roll on the Treasure Chart 1, getting a 5, which indicates a Difficulty of 6.

On Treasure Chart 2, you roll a 14, getting Bargain as the Ability to be rolled. You
decide that a foreign merchant has been cowering in a corner of the passageway,
afraid to trigger the trap. After the brave Vikings deal with it, he comes out of
hiding. A hero can convince the merchant to reward them by beating a 6 with his
Bargaining. On Treasure Chart 3, you roll a 78. If successful, the merchant will
give them a Category A and Category B treasure.

Event Number 2
For Event #2, repeat the instructions for Event #1. Whew, that was simple.

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 Quick and Dirty Encounter Design

Event Number 3
Event #3 is a bit more complicated, as it features our climactic battle.

COMBAT CHART 1: FOE TYPE

Roll on this chart to pick the type of foe the heroes will confront.
Roll Foe Type
01 20 Viking: Dark Vikings
21 26 Viking: Dishonored
27 30 Viking: Sark Amen
31 33 Dwarven Craftwerk: Beetle-werk
34 36 Dwarven Craftwerk: Centi-werk
37 38 Dwarven Craftwerk: Spider-werk
39 42 Dwarves: Laborers, possibly led by Pit Bosses
43 44 Dwarf: Slaver
45 Dwarf: Defective Hunter
46 49 Dwarf: Regular Centurion
50 51 Dwarf: Clan Champion
52 Dwarven Craftwerk: Mecha-Dwarf
53 54 Elves: Mischief Makers
55 57 Elves: Courtiers
58 60 Goblins: Rock Goblins
61 62 Goblins: Female Warriors
63 65 Goblins: Roving Slayers
66 67 Goblins: Senior Slayers
68 69 Goblins: Freaks
70 Goblin: Shaman
71 74 Land Crab: Small
75 77 Land Crab: Large
78 80 Trolls
81 90 Wendol
91 00 Other

If you get a result of other, just think up a weird visual description for the creature.
It gets no adjusts or other distinguishing features.
Look up the foe type you get, finding out which threat categories it can belong to.

189
 Special Section

COMBAT CHART 2: THREAT CATEGORY

Roll on this chart until you get a Threat category legal for the foe type chosen above.
Ratio of
Roll Category Foes to Heroes Mix
1 Terrifying 1:4 4
2 Exceptional 1:3 3
3 Superior 1:2 2
4-5 Equal 2:3 1.3
5-6 Inferior 3:2 0.7
7-8 Weak 2:1 0.5
9-0 Pitiful 3:1 0.3

Taking into account the number of heroes you expect to go through the encounter,
pick the proper number of foes using the Mix value rules on p. 96. Add in other foes
of lesser or greater threat categories to reach the correct Mix value total.
You roll a 55 on Combat Chart 1, which tells you that the heroes will be fight-
ing elfin courtiers. You check their description on p. 110 and see that they can
belong to any Threat category. You roll on Combat Chart 2, and get Equal oppo-
nents. Checking the ratio for that category, you see that you must include 3 elves
for every 4 heroes. You happen to have 4 heroes in your group, so your total num-
ber of foes is 3.

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 Quick and Dirty Encounter Design

COMBAT CHART 3: TERRAIN

Roll three times on this chart to find the types of terrain which will be present in
your combat event. Reroll duplicate results.
Roll Feature Cost
01-12 Cover, half protection, shelters up to 5 combatants -30
13-18 Extras: 3 decoys -30
19-24 Extras: 3 hostages -30

25-36 Hiding Place, allows heroes to ambush foes, Awareness Difficulty 15 -30
37-48 3 additional levels -15
49-60 Slippery ground, 2/3 of area -15

61-72 Six 6-hex sloped areas -30

73-80 4 tube-strikers -28
81-85 Weird magic: -3 to DFN, all combatants -30

86-90 Weird magic: +3 to ATK, all combatants -30

91-95 Weird magic: +3 to DAM, all combatants -30
96-00 Weird magic: -3 to Soak, all combatants -30

You roll on the above chart for three terrain features. Your first roll is a 74,
which gives you four tube-strikers, and grants you 28 encounter points. Next
you get a 37; 3 additional levels, for 15 encounter points. Finally, you roll a 70,
specifying 6 sloped spots, each at least 6 hexes in area, which gives you 30
encounter points.

MAP
Draw a map showing the combat area. Mark the entrance through which the heroes
will charge, several exits, the relative locations of the terrain features, and (if you want)
the starting locations of the foes.

BUYING TRAPS WITH YOUR TERRAIN POINTS

Total the points you get from terrain features. For each feature, buy another trap,
using Trap Charts 2 and 3. When determining the traps damage use the gain from the
offsetting terrain feature as your budget.
You build three traps, worth 28, 15, and 30 encounter points, respectively.

Get Ready To Play!

And there, by Odins lonely eye-socket, you have a quick n dirty encounter. It may
not be surprising, or provide you the best chance of winning the evening, but its a start.
You didnt spend your whole budget of 300 points, but you never have to do that. The
important thing is that the points you gained equal or exceed the points you spent.

191
 CHAPTER 5

Running
the Game

Now that youve seen how to design

an encounter, its time to look at your role
as runner.

The Runners Duties

The runners responsibilities are to:
Be thoroughly familiar with the contents of his
encounter notes.
Describe whats happening.

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 Running the Game

Answer questions about what the heroes see and

can do.
Look up rules; make preliminary decisions
Running Techniques
when their interpretation is in doubt. (Runner In greater detail, the basic principles of running
decisions on rules interpretations can be over- Rune are as follows.
ruled through the dispute resolution mecha-
Speak clearly. Think of yourself as a Norse skald
nism given on p. 195 of this chapter.)
and your players as a longhouse full of inebriated,
Roll dice and make decisions for supporting grouchy Viking raiders. You need to capture their
characters. Attack choices of Predictable foes attention and hold it for the length of your
are constrained by the Foe Target Choice encounter. If you let them get bored, youre in trou-
Flowchart, which appears on p. 196. ble. Theyll miss crucial descriptions of their sur-
roundings, and fail to understand whats going on.
Roll dice to make any other random determi- When they do start paying attention like when
nations called for in the encounter notes. their characters get hurt or suffer other fates sure to
Keep things moving. cost them victory points theyll get annoyed with
you. (Thats better than what happens to a skald
Maintain a friendly atmosphere. when his Viking audience gets bored, but you still
dont want it to happen.)
Speak in a voice loud enough to be heard.
Enunciate, so that players can tell what youre say-
ing. Vary your tone: nothing is more sleep-inducing
than a droning monotone issuing from a runners
mouth. For many runners, these techniques come
naturally; thats why they gravitate towards the game
masters role in games that use a puny single GM
per saga. If you havent run a game before, you
might be a bit intimidated. Dont be! These tech-
niques can all be learned. In particular, if you think
your verbal skills need a bit of punching up, spend a
little bit of time listening to sports announcers on
television or the radio. Listen to the rhythms they
adopt to keep listeners on the edge of their seats.
Youll sound odd if you copy a sportscasters style
down to the last inflection, but they still provide a
useful model. Running is a play-by-play where you
get to make up the details; youre just describing
goblins being hacked to bits instead of basketballs
going into nets.
Your words, plus the players imaginations, must
provide a decent substitute for the excitement gen-
erated by the music, production design, and anima-
tion of the computer game.
Keep it moving. Another way to hold the play-
ers attention is to make sure that something is
always happening. Someone, possibly the

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up: you know which rules youre going to need to

draw on during your encounters. If your encounter
includes a drowning hazard, make sure you review the
THE AXE RITUAL drowning rules before running it. If an encounter
When you switch from one runner to another, we calls for a roll against a rarely-used Ability, take a sec-
recommend that you conduct the axe ritual, in which ond look at the Ability description. Shield yourself
you pass a prop item from the old runner to the new. from players ready to wield their rules knowledge like
If you can find a toy Viking axe, thats great, but there
a battle-axe.
are all sorts of other props you can use. Dont use real
weapons, though. Thatd be freaky. When you dont know a rule, look it up.
As you pass the ceremonial axe, speak the following Although you should know the rules well, there will
words: be times when youre caught without an answer on
the tip of your tongue. Despite the above paragraph,
Old Runner: Now finished, my encounter has gone
to Valhalla. Who steps up to wield my axe? you should never be ashamed to flip open the rules
and check on a rule in the case of a genuine question.
New Runner: I do, doughty warrior.
Above all: dont worry, its easier than you
Old Runner: Are you worthy, young one?
think! You may be daunted by the idea of running a
New Runner: One day I will be old and feeble, like game, especially if youve played in other RPGs where
you. But now my mind is clear, and fortified with caf- the GMs job is half rules expert, half author, and
feinated beverages. I am strong and just enough to wield half improvisational performer. Well, in Rune you
that axe. Give it to me before I frikkin clout you one,
dont have to think on your feet. Your encounter is
old man.
completely pre-programmed. The pillagers cant yank
Old Runner: Your words mark you as a true Viking. your plot in an unexpected direction. There are no
You shall bear the mighty axe of Rune! surprises to worry about. Some effete outlanders will
New Runner: With honor I shall wield it! point to this as a flaw of the game, but as far as the
inexperienced runner is concerned, the total linearity
Everybody: URGH! URGH! URGH! VIKINGS!
of encounters is a vital feature.
URRRRRGH!

medieval Icelandic poet Snorri Sturlussson, once

Your Proxy
said that fiction is like life with the boring bits left As he begins his encounter, the runner selects
out. Rune isnt much like life, but you should still the proxy, another player who will faithfully run his
leave the boring bits out. hero for him. He might not allow your hero the
same opportunities he gives his own, but hell work
Know the rules. The better you know the rules,
to give your hero a roughly equal share of the action,
the faster youll be able to run your encounters.
and to keep him as safe from harm as a self-respect-
Nothing stops an exciting game dead in its tracks like
ing Viking is willing to get.
a rules question. This is a game where the other play-
ers may be as well acquainted with the rules as you Although the runner can make suggestions about
are; knowing the rules inside-out gives you a strategic his heros actions, the proxy doesnt have to follow
advantage. The more aggressive of your pillagers will them. If he finds the runners entreaties too intense,
be waiting to one-up you with their superior rules he can request that the runner silence himself.
knowledge which, oddly enough, always leads to When a proxy invokes this rule, the runner may not
interpretations in their own favor. Dont be scared; be suggest or request any actions for his hero to take.
prepared. Because Rune encounters are highly struc- No hinting, mugging, or signalling.
tured, you wont find the adventure going off in an
unanticipated direction, as it does in Dont worry; runners dont rely purely on the
many other games. This gives you a leg goodwill and altruism of their competitors during

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 Running the Game

the game. The proxy gets a goodly share of the vic-

tory points from the actions of the runners hero.
On the punitive side of things, he suffers a signifi- Resolving Rules Disputes
cant victory point deduction if hes unfortunate
With true Viking attention to fine detail, weve
enough to see his ward keel over during his watch.
done our best to ensure that the rules in this book
Runner heroes are protected from the capricious are simple, easy to understand, and resistant to unin-
violence of other players, too. The victory points tended interpretation. Any rumors that we may have
rules already discourage combat between heroes, whiled away our testing period in the drinking of
and frown with special vigor on other players who mead and the inebriated exchange of furtive sexual
hope to screw over a proxy by arranging the death of advances are, we assure you, vile slanders repeated by
the runners hero. All players lose victory points if those who do not respect our ancient traditions. Fie,
he dies. They all have an incentive to keep his hide we exclaim, we have aimed for a level of quality con-
intact. Theyll likely be more cautious with him than trol at least as good as Microsofts! However, just as
you would be yourself. the gods of Asgard must look forward to inevitable
destruction on the day of Ragnarok, game designers
The following rules provide additional protec-
queasily anticipate the weeks following a new game
tion from would-be abusers of the proxys position
release, when it is equally foreordained that hideous,
of trust:
gaping rules problems unnoticed during months of
The proxy may not give away, trade, sell, or oth- playtesting will suddenly reveal themselves to legions
erwise dispose of the runner heros possessions of readers, who will then leap towards the send
without the runners permission. buttons on their email programs with the ferocity of
Norsemen crazed with lust for rapine and slaughter.
The runner may veto any non-combat action the
proxy wishes his hero to take, if that action As rules questions rear their ugly heads, well
requires a roll. The veto rule overrides a proxys attempt to smack them back down again on our web
request that the runner remain silent about his site. Some masochistic soul will be appointed as our
heros actions. official rules arbiter, and will issue clarifying rules
with a grim supremacy rivaling that of Odin himself.
The proxy may not keep the runners hero out Go to www.atlas-games.com to find out how to
of the fight, either by refusing to join it, or by contact this Norn-like authority, and to read his pro-
retreating or withdrawing, without the runners nouncements. The official errata and rules clarifica-
permission. tions on the Atlas web site should be treated as an
The proxy may not spend his charges victory extension of this book. If a player can point to an
points. (The runner may still buy Gifts, death answer to the question under dispute on the web
insurance, or make other victory point expendi- site, it must be accepted unequivocally.
tures on his hero between encounters.) If you manage to find a completely new rules
The proxy may not take any action that will question, you must resort to democratic vote to
result in his charges gaining additional ratings resolve it. The current runner gets two votes. Each
in any of his Divine Connections. pillager gets one vote. Once the group makes a deci-
sion on a rule, it must be inscribed on a special note-
The proxy cant cause the runners hero to attack book page designated as the Book of Iron Law.
another pillagers character. That ruling becomes a precedent to which you must
adhere for the rest of your saga, future votes
notwithstanding. Thus it is a bad idea to vote for a
patently absurd or abusive rules interpretation just
because it happens to favor you at the current
moment. You can be certain that the bit-

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ter supporters of the more reason-

able, but losing, side will engineer House Rules
their next encounters to ensure that your bogus Sometimes the group will perfectly understand a
rules interpretation repeatedly bites you on the ass. rule but still not like it. Your group can at any time
Two exceptions allow you to void a precedent create a new rule, or change an official one, through
enshrined in the Book of Iron Law. One occurs if less the above procedure. Write the new rule down in
than half of your play group was present to vote on the Book of Iron Law.
the original ruling. It can then be overturned any For example, you might find that one or more
time that a) the situation covered by the precedent players uses the same tricks over and over again in
comes up again and b) more than half of the play their encounter designs. You can make the game
group is now present. The second exception allows a more fun, and encounter design more challenging, by
majority of players to at any time vote to adopt a new jacking up the encounter point costs of those features.
official ruling dealing with the question at hand.

FOE
TARGET CHOICE ARE YOU
FLOWCHART BEING
WHALED
ON? *
YES NO
IS MORE IS THERE AN
THAN ONE UNENGAGED
HERO HERO TO
DOING THE ATTACK?
WHALING?

YES NO
YES NO

HIT THE IS THERE DOES ONE

HAVE ANY GUY MORE HERO FACE
OF HITTING THAN A SMALLER
THEM HIT YOU ONE? NUMBER
YOU? OF FOES?

YES NO YES NO YES NO

HAS ONE HIT THE IS ONE OF

HIT YOU GUY WHO THEM
HIT THE HIT IS ONE HERO
CLOSER
FOR MORE FIRST UNENGAGED
DAMAGE TRIED TO
CLOSER
THAN THE
HERO THAT THAN
THE
THAN THE
OTHERS?
HIT YOU OTHERS? GUY! OTHERS?

YES NO YES NO YES NO

HIT THE HIT THE

HIT HIT THE
GUY WHO
HIT ONE THAT HIT ONE THAT
WENT
THAT FIRST HIT THAT FIRST THIS THAT WENT
GUY! YOU FIRST THIS
GUY! ROUND
GUY! ROUND

* Note that whaled on includes being peppered with missile fire or targeted with thrown weapons.

196
 Running the Game

The drawback of house rules is that they reduce Sometimes youll reach the
your competitive edge when you play outside the entry Hit The One Who
confines of your usual group. You may make deci- Went 1st This Round but all of the potential
sions based on your extensive knowledge of rules targets have yet to act in the current round. In
unknown outside your own circle. this situation, pick the one with the highest ini-
tiative result.

Choosing Foes Targets In melee, once a Predictable foe has chosen his
target, he does his best to continue attacking
Although runners make most decisions for sup- until his adversary is dead. If a hero breaks away
porting characters, they cant always choose who from his engagement with the foe, the runner
foes attack. Unless the designer paid encounter consults the flowchart to see if he pursues the
points to make a particular foe Self-Willed, the tar- disengaging hero or switches to another.
gets of its attacks are determined by the following
If firing missiles, Predictable foes check the flow-
procedure, which is also outlined in the flow chart
chart with every new attack, and may, depending
on the opposite page.
on circumstances, pick a different target each time.
Not all foes are necessarily thinking the exact
Self-Willed foes switch targets at the runners
thoughts implied by the flowchart. Nor are they nec-
whim, provided that the target still has 30 or
essarily conscious of the initiative order or the exact
more hit points and less than 4 Wounds.
amounts of damage being dealt out by particular
blows. They make their decisions instinctively. A runner can only send Self-Willed foes after
his own hero (being played by the proxy) if a
The runner must supply the players with the
Predictable foe, in the same situation, would
opponents game statistics whenever he is asked for
attack the runners hero.
them. This is not remotely realistic chaos and con-
fusion reign on real-life battlefields but Rune is a Foe types bearing the howling goblin icon must
game in which the runner is competing for points always seek to attack the heroes. Crafty foes
with the players, and so must keep his cards on the (with the smirking goblin icon) neednt attack,
table. Face-up, that is. but, when they do, use the flowchart (unless
theyre Self-Willed, of course). No foe ever flees
If the number of foes equals or exceeds the
the area delineated by the encounter map.
number of heroes, foes always attempt to engage
Runners may, however, make any other decisions
every single hero on the field.
for the foes, such as when to take advantage of
In general, foes divide up their attacks according terrain conditions, disengage in pursuit of an
to who moves first. During the first round of a advantage, make Engagement rolls, wait for
battle, each enemy picks his chosen target. His opportunity, and so on.
choice of target is determined by the flowchart.
The questions are written in the second person,
as if addressing the foe. When Foes Suffer
At the beginning of every round, the foe again Collateral Damage
uses the flowchart to choose his next target. This Runners cant deprive heroes of their rightful vic-
allows foes to divide up their blows when tory points by whittling away the foes hit points on
engaged by multiple heroes. We admit that this their own.
rule isnt realistic, strictly speaking. But it pre-
vents one player from losing an encounter and Some situations that come up during play may
probably his hero just because he had the lousy suggest that a foe ought to be injured by a force
luck to be singled out by a ravening wendol. other than the heroes. For example, he

197
 Chapter 5

might try to jump a chasm to pur- benefits. In the event

sue a hero, but then fail his Res roll. of a veto, the runner
Or he might step into a Damaging Place along with must instead use the
the heroes. When situations like this come other option,
up, the runner may choose one of two ways above.
in which to deal with them:
Explain it away; the foe takes
no damage. The runner is free
to dream up any wild justifica-
tion for why the foe is
unharmed. He might have
consumed a potion that
protects him from falling
damage, or wear special
armor protecting him
from poison gas. Although
the foe ought to be hurt,
he isnt.
Randomly decide
which player
benefits. The
foe takes damage,
as circumstances
warrant. The run-
ner makes a ran-
dom roll, assign-
ing victory points
equal to the foes
lost hit points to the
lucky pillagers tally.
If the foe dies, the
recipient also gets its
final blow bonus. The
runner includes himself
among the possible recipi-
ents. The runners right to
choose this option is cur-
tailed after the total victory
points given out to all pil-
lagers in this manner exceeds
20. After that point, any sin-
gle pillager may veto the
runners subsequent
choice to assign
random

198
 Running the Game

Default Difficulties out paying for it. However, he can

specify that a roll is modified by
Often runners find that heroes want to use the a pair of Characteristics, with no Ability involved:
designers lovingly-crafted terrain features in sur- Dex + Str to squeeze through a fence, for example.
prising ways, in order to gain positional advantages The boundaries of your encounter area (assuming
over their enemies. Thats a good thing; runners it takes place in the Underground, inside a building,
even get points when heroes take advantage of ter- or in a similar enclosed place) are, despite this rule,
rain. Heroes might figure out other convincing- inviolate. The heroes cant bash new exits in solid
sounding ways to prevail over the obstacles you set rock or run through heavy stone walls simply by
in front of them. Just because their solution isnt in rolling against a Difficulty 6.
the encounter notes doesnt mean that it cant work.
If a player suggestion seems plausible to you (that is,
youd want a fair-minded runner to accept it if it was
you proposing it as a player), by all means allow it.
Wandering Monsters
Sometimes, usually because theyve been hurt
The default Difficulty of any Ability check the and want to heal up, heroes will want to linger in the
designer hasnt built into an encounter notes is 6. location of an early event. Unless the designer paid
Youve included different levels in your encounter. for a healing opportunity, the runner must get them
Alex wants his character to jump down from a high up and moving towards his next event.
level onto a wendol below, gaining the +3 attack for Runners keep heroes moving with wandering
such death from above maneuvers (p. 129). You monsters, creatures of any type who rove about dan-
havent specified a Difficulty for moving from one gerous places opportunistically looking for victims to
level to the next, so its Difficulty is automatically 6. attack. Many are predators prowling about in search
Needless to say, the designer doesnt have to pay of a meal. Some may be robbers who ambush heroes
for these default difficulties. For one thing, for their equipment and treasure. None of them
Difficulty 6 is always free anyway. For another, if the carry anything useful, aside from the weapons they
designer doesnt know theyre not going to happen, use in their attacks against the heroes. There is no
he cant exactly pay for them, can he? advantage or glory in fighting them. Heroes get no
victory points for fighting wandering monsters.
This is not to say that you cant prepare in Wandering monsters have no treasure; nor does their
advance by specifying Difficulties for making rolls in defeat offer gains of any other kind. In fact, battles
relation to your terrain elements, or anything else. with these creatures are not played out in full.
Just remember to pay for these Difficulties as you Instead, the runner abstracts the fight, describing it
would any other. in a few sentences. If this were a movie, the heroes
Seeing how devastating Alexs maneuver ends up battles with wandering monsters would not be shown
being, you resolve to assign a Difficulty of 8 to any in full. It might appear as a montage sequence, per-
attempt to climb up or jump off your levels in future haps with shots from several fights cut together to
encounters. show that time is passing but the events unfolding are
too uninteresting to depict in real time. In short,
Although the Difficulty for unanticipated actions wandering monsters are meaningless opponents who
is set in stone at 6, the runner may specify a differ- exist only to keep the heroes moving through your
ent Ability roll than the pillager desires or expects. encounter, and to reinforce the idea that the adven-
He may wish to Jump a large steel fence, but you turing environment is a dangerous one. They work
may deem it more realistic that he Climb it. more like a trap than actual combat opponents.
The runner cant call for the roll of a single Whenever you need to move the heroes along,
Characteristic in place of an Ability, because thats use a random die roll to choose a collec-
effectively the same as increasing the Difficulty with-

199
 Chapter 5

Before unleashing wandering monsters on

dawdling heroes, you must give the pillagers some
indication that roving nasties are a-prowl. The heroes
might hear a distant growl or the patter of goblin
PROVIDING footsteps against flagstones. They might apprehend
a fetid odor or simply feel the hackles on the backs
INFORMATION of their necks rise. If they quickly get up and go on
At the end of any given encounter, the runner must be their way, they avoid the wandering monsters and
prepared to show his notes to the pillagers. no roll is required.
During a fight, the runner must supply the game sta-
tistics of the foes to the pillagers. But he neednt reveal
Sometimes the heroes will decide that theyre so
the statistics of a given foe until the moment that a badly injured that theyre better off risking further
hero succeeds in dealing damage to it in combat. wandering monster attacks than moving on to the
next fight. In this case, additional waves of wander-
ing monsters, each with the same threat categories
as the first, periodically appear. In the case of a heal-
ing interval, they come after a period of time equal
tive threat category rating for the wandering mon-
to that interval. You neither gain nor pay encounter
sters, as per the chart below. When the heroes
points for extra waves of wandering monsters, no
encounter them, each player must roll an unmodi-
matter what their threat categories.
fied die vs. a Difficulty that varies by threat catego-
ry. If the hero fails, he adds the difference to the Meetings with wandering monsters are also one
DAM score given below. Even if he succeeds, he of the possible ill consequences of getting lost (see
takes damage equal to half the DAM score. This p. 199). Wandering monsters met by lost heroes lack
damage is applied directly, ignoring Soak. The dam- the safety valve mentioned above; the damage they
age is assumed to have been suffered as a number of deal doesnt stop when heroes reach the four hit
blows throughout an extended combat; it never point threshold.
counts as a Wound. Wandering monsters sponta-
neously employed by the runner to move characters Except as a risk of getting lost, designers cant
can never reduce heroes below 4 hit points. build wandering monsters into their encounters.

Threat
Roll Category DAM Difficulty Run Away! Run Away!
1-2 Superior 36 7 Sometimes, despite the runners best efforts to
3-4 Equal 28 6 hurt the heroes without killing them, the pillagers
5-6 Inferior 24 5 will decide that their heroes are on the brink of
death, and that running like stink is the better part of
7-8 Weak 20 4
valor. Realistically speaking, foes that move as quickly
9-0 Pitiful 16 3 as they do should pursue the heroes, smash them to
a crimson pulp and, depending on their predilec-
Ragnar meets Superior wandering monsters. He tions, possibly eat them. However, thats not very
rolls a 5, 2 less than the Difficulty. He suffers 38 much fun. Instead, we assume that when the heroes
damage (36 plus the difference). He does not Soak decide to cheese it, they get away from their foes.
this damage, nor does he earn a Wound. On the other hand, it would be a shame to let
The heroes always defeat the wandering mon- them do so without the possibility of taking some
sters. If more heroes than not score positive results, further lumps. When the heroes wish to flee all at
they slaughter the interloping creatures gruesomely. once, the runner calls for a Standard Opposed roll of
Otherwise, they drive them off. the heroes Sprint Abilities. Any hero who does not

200
 Running the Game

meet or beat a Res roll by the fastest-moving surviving When youre running short on
foe is reduced to 5 hit points in the course of his time, you can grab an encounter
escape. (Heroes already below 20 hit points are from the Internet and bring that to the game. Of
immune to this effect.) Pillagers must therefore weigh course, this system will only work if everyone is as
the risks of remaining in the fight against those of generous with their time as they wish others to be
allowing the runner to rack up additional almost with theirs. Make sure you contribute your own
down, but not out victory points at their expense. encounters to the rest of the Rune community.
(This is the designers equivalent of winning status
If foes are crafty (they have the smirking gob-
by bringing silver back to his home village.)
lin icon in their listing), the runner may choose,
instead of reducing a hero to 5 hit points, to strip
him of one or more treasures. This indicates that
the hero was briefly captured by the foes, then
League Play
rescued by his comrades before the enemy could If absolute, crushing victory over a small circle of
strip him of armor or weapons. (Or maybe he friends tastes sweet, then victory over a larger group
had to drop the treasures to slow their pursuit, or is like drinking the honeyed mead of Asgard itself.
was just clumsy. The exact justification is up to In league play, you can strive to prove yourself the
the pillager in question.) The number of pieces of most capable Viking of them all.
treasure he loses equals 1 + (the difference
between his Sprint result and the lead pursuers Your league may consist of attendees at a con-
Res result 3). As usual, discard fractions. He vention, fellow habitues of a single game store, or
cant lose more than he has, obviously. If the employees of a big information-economy company,
hero carries more treasures than hes supposed to ready to stomp through its bleached and forbidding
lose, the runner rolls a random die to see which cubicles in search of mighty-thewed opponents.
ones are spared. The runner is never obligated to League play requires an organizer to coordinate
strip his own hero of Treasure. play and settle disputes. The league coordinator is
If the designer included limited exits as a ter- called a Champion of Heimdal. Like Heimdal, he
rain feature (p. 124), only one hero can flee per must keep his eyes forever peeled for dishonorable
round, per exit. The others must continue to stand and treacherous activities, and must be prepared to
and fight. The first hero to get to an exit is the one mercilessly cut down unworthy souls who seek to
who gets to go through it. enter Asgards gates by foul means. Metaphorically
speaking, of course. To preserve his impartiality, the
Like any roll not called for in the designers Champion of Heimdal does not actually play. You
encounter notes, successful flight rolls dont add to should therefore show great gratitude to your local
heroes victory point tallies; nor do failures pump up Champion. Buy him much mead. Or, if he is a game
the runners tally. store proprietor, you might wish to reward him by
purchasing a great many Rune products from him.

Encounter Sharing The first step in creating a league, as with any

noble and bloodthirsty activity, is to give it a suitable
Creating encounters is fun but takes time. name, so that the legend of the winner may better
Thanks to the Internet, a technological marvel echo through eternity. You might call your league
that even Odin would approve of, a short-cut is at The Paragons of Might, the Fighting Scandinavians,
hand. We encourage you to trade the encounters the Madison Madmen, or whatever tickles your
you create with other Rune players via mailing fancy. Name creation is usually the province of the
lists, web sites, and chat rooms. Start with Champion of Heimdal, though he may certainly
www.atlas-games.com, the online gateway for solicit input from his fellow skalds.
Rune RPG players.

201
 Chapter 5

League play is best organized person game, only the winner scores. In a four-per-
around a central location, like a cof- son game, only the winner and runner-up score.
fee shop, game store, or the meeting place of a role- For all three top finishers to score, you need at
playing club. If all members of the league place a least five players. Two-person games never qualify
high degree of trust in one another, actual play can for a league score.
happen anywhere. If dishonorable wretches dwell
After each session, the plotter submits a score
among you, it may be necessary to hold all sessions
sheet to the Champion of Heimdal, accompanied by
in the central location, so that the Champion or one
the verifying signatures of the other participants. If
of his deputies can verify that the sessions took
the Champion, in his eternal vigilance, senses that
place, the game was played in good faith, and its
all is on the up-and-up, he adds the scores to the
results are valid.
players tallies.
League members should announce play sessions
Inexorable Death Trudges always last for a set
ahead of time. The person announcing the session
period of time. You can hold an entire Death
serves as its plotter, letting participants know the
Trudge over a single long weekend, or throughout
hook so they can prepare cushion encounters for it.
the length of a game convention. Or you can drag it
Naturally, he also specifies the time and place for
out to truly heroic proportions, stretching it out as
the game.
long as three months. Needless to say, the Death
There are two types of league play: Inexorable Trudges deadline must be determined by the
Death Trudge and Weak-kneed Outlanders Rules. Champion of Heimdal and announced to all partic-
ipants before play commences.
INEXORABLE DEATH TRUDGE
When the deadline arrives, the player with the
The Inexorable Death Trudge rewards your highest score is the winner. You may also want to
lunatic persistence in setting aside all other activities recognize the second- and third-place finishers.
and family relationships to play Rune until you start
to sound, look, and smell like an authentic Viking war- If you are true Vikings, you will wish to compete
rior. The more sessions you play, the better your for booty of some sort. Perhaps league members can
chances of winning. The scoring system compensates all chip in to buy a gift certificate or other prize to
for the fact that individual sessions may vary widely as sweeten victorys coppery tang.
to their length and the number of participants. In a It is also possible to run an open-ended
display of Viking generosity, it also recognizes run- Inexorable Death Trudge. Players keep the same
ners-up and even third place finishers. The winners heroes, periodically stopping to recognize a winner,
league score equals the sessions total number of and reset the overall scores, then keep playing. Some
encounters times 4. The runner-ups score equals leagues may wish to keep track of their ber-
twice the number of encounters; the third-place Winner, the player who scores the largest number of
Viking gets a score equal to the number of encounters. periodic victories throughout the course of an open-
Joel, Troy, and Paul, all stalwart members of the ended Inexorable Death Trudge.
Beverley Street Bashers, come out on top in a league
play session which was five encounters long. Joel comes WEAK-KNEED OUTLANDERS RULES
in first, and gets 20 points (three times the number of This set of rules, which we naturally include only
sessions). Troy, in second place, gets 10 points. Paul, in under protest, recognizes that some people, non-
third, gets 5. Robin and Alex, who played valiantly but Vikings to a man, are fixated on thin-blooded
did not prosper, are left out in the cold. notions they call fair and reasonable. In a Weak-
kneed Outlanders league game, players are limit-
In order to qualify for your league score, how-
ed to a number of sessions predetermined by the
ever, there must be at least two other participants
Champion of Heimdal. All sessions must be the
who did worse than you. So in a three-
same number of encounters in length. Players get 4

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 Running the Game

points for each win, 2 points for each second place

finish, and 1 for each third place. As in the
Other tournament styles are as follows:
Inexorable Death Trudge, you can only score if at
least two players did worse than you.
BOOK OF THE NORNS
These blatant inferiorities aside, a Weak-kneed
In Book of the Norns play, participants do not
Outlander league game unfolds in the same manner
design their own encounters. Tournament organiz-
as the Inexorable Death Trudge.
ers design the encounters and hand them out in
advance of each session. Participants should all
RULES DISPUTES IN LEAGUE PLAY receive their encounters at the same time, so that no
If a rules dispute arises in the course of a league one gets the advantage of extra preparation time.
game, you resolve it via the usual means, except that Players are randomly assigned to groups, and one
you are not bound to the ruling after the current player per group is randomly chosen as plotter.
game expires. However, if a player suspects that hes
Each group runs the same encounters at the
being colluded against, and that his rivals are band-
same time, under the watchful eye of the Emissary
ing together to make utterly wonky rulings simply to
of the Norns. This tournament is played elimination
stab him in the back, he may protest to the
style. Only the top placer for each group (or, when
Champion of Heimdal. The Champion is empow-
you have only a few groups, the top two placers)
ered to nullify any score gained by a player during a
advance to a semi-final round. Each groups semi-
game in which he engaged in clear abuse of the rules
final winner moves on to the final round, where the
dispute mechanism. The Champion of Heimdal is
top scorer is declared overall victor.
the final arbiter of all such cases.
HAND OF THE NORNS
Tournament Play In Hand of the Norns play, tournament orga-
nizers recruit impartial deputies, each of whom will
Tournaments occur at game conventions, where serve as runner for all the encounters for a single
participants may come from far and wide. Although group. It is otherwise similar to a Book of the Norns
tournament organizers can simply play an tournament, employing the same adventures for all
Inexorable Death Trudge that lasts the length of a groups and using an elimination format.
convention, this may become unsatisfying, because
the opportunities for un-Viking behavior greatly RULES DISPUTES IN TOURNAMENT PLAY
increase. It is unlikely that all participants will know
one another. They wont feel like part of a commu- Tournament play resolves rules disputes differ-
nity, necessarily, and might not feel the same fear of ently. If your group cannot resolve a rules question,
exposure that would stop them from cheating in you must call on the Emissary of the Norns for a
league play. Weve run other play-wherever-and- ruling, which he will make based on his interpreta-
whenever-style tournaments at conventions, and tion of the Rune rule book and an up-to-date ver-
found many of the submitted score sheets to be sion of the online rules clarifications. His instant
fishy indeed. ruling must be considered infallible. Anyone arguing
with the Emissary of the Norns after he has made a
The simplest solution to this is to restrict ruling suffers a 25 point victory deduction for the
Inexorable Death Trudge play to particular times and current encounter. The Emissary must keep his rul-
places, so that a tournament judge, called the ings consistent within any given tournament.
Emissary of the Norns, can patrol the area, solving
rules disputes (see below), and seeing to it that tourna-
ment score sheets honestly reflect actual games played.

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 CHAPTER 6

The Viking
World

The following background material,

though not essential to your enjoyment of the
game, can help you to add atmosphere and fun
descriptions to your encounters, especially advanced
ones set outside the closed realm of the Underground.
As you might have noticed from the material
youve read so far (one word: mecha-dwarves), Rune
does not exactly take historical accuracy as its
main goal in portraying Norse culture. Even the
mundane information in this chapter, like the
description of your home village, is keyed more to

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 The Viking World

the design and mood of the computer game than convert to Christianity. (In the
to what we know about real-life Norse sites. Were real world, this process began in
having fun with a gleefully whacked-out, gorgeous- the seventh century; most of the records we have of
ly-rendered, fantasy version of Viking myth. So, Norse religion are by writers looking back on it from
kids, dont mistake this for the real thing and write the Christian era.) With Odin, Loki, and the other
any history assignments on the role of vegetarian gods routinely manifesting themselves in the lives of
goblins in the economic development of medieval men, it is possible that the Christian era will never
Norway, okay? come to Runes version of Scandinavia. After all,
Ragnarok is brewing; perhaps the entire world will
Seriously, we know that there exists a vociferous
be destroyed when the gods battle. Or maybe
cadre of Viking enthusiasts eager to play a histori-
Ragnarok will mark the passing of the old gods, cre-
cally accurate game of Norse culture and mythology.
ating an opening for Romes missionaries. Who
We hope you like Rune for other reasons, but rec-
knows? The real point here is that the Rune era is
ognize that this may not be the game you may be
both no time and every time. Outside the Viking
looking for. You might want to consider playing Ars
world, our portrayals of other cultures also mix ele-
Magica, a more sober-minded fantasy roleplaying
ments spanning from the Dark Ages to the Medieval
game, also published by Atlas Games, using its excel-
Period. What year is it? Who cares, when there are
lent Ultima Thule: Mythic Scandinavia supplement, by
plenty of goblins left to behead?
Paul Williams.
And yes, we know that real Vikings didnt wear
horned helmets. Your Upbringing
You grew up in a village on the banks of a fjord
Mythic Time somewhere in Scandinavia. (You and your group can
agree to get more specific about your homeland if
The action of a Rune game takes place in a myth- you want, using the information given later in this
ic time-frame with no exact parallel in history as we chapter on regional differences between Norse cul-
know it. The state of technology matches the later tures.) Since childhood you have thrilled to the tales
medieval period, but the Norse lands have yet to told by the men of your village when they return
from their raiding expeditions. The raiders, led by a
chieftain, would be your villages most admired men
even if they didnt go off to engage in wild and
bloodthirsty adventurers. Theyre the brave and able-
bodied men from the villages richest families, who
can afford the silver needed to equip them with
weapons, armor, ships, and horses. Luckily, your
own ancestors assured your family a small bit of
wealth, by risking their lives in foreign lands and in
the Underground. Now that you are old enough to
swing a sword and to attract the attention of watch-
ful Odin and battle-eager Thor, you intend to join
their ranks.
Your village houses a few hundred people. They
live together as extended families in large wooden
buildings called steads or longhouses. These hous-
es have few interior walls; everybody lives, eats,
drinks, and farts together, in a spirit of true Viking
togetherness. You grew up in these

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crowded, raucous circumstances, defend the village from enemies, but rarely go out
with a roof of turf above your head. raiding. Though they are laborers, they are also free
You would feel strange if forced to sleep in a room men, and can vote when the village meets in its
all your own. Only the wealthiest villagers sleep in things. At the thing, the villagers decide matters of
beds; the floor and a blanket is enough for any stur- law, choose targets for the jarls sons to raid, and, on
dy young warrior. rare occasions, depose foolish leaders. The murder of
a karl is a serious matter, but the compensation due
The village women take wool sheared from the
for it is rarely more than one horse or thrall. Feuds
sheep baa-ing on the pastureland outside your vil-
that erupt over slain karls tend to remain in families,
lage and weave it into clothing. Men wear cloth
and wont necessarily embroil entire villages.
trousers and leather jerkins over long woolen shirts.
Women wear dresses of pleated linen. When it is Thralls are indentured laborers who enjoy few
cold, you don fur hats and heavy cloaks for warmth. rights. They may be captured hostages from foreign
When a man dons a blue cloak, it means that he lands or rival villages, outlaws stripped of their free
intends to murder an enemy. status, or unfortunates born to this wretched status.
A thing may grant an especially admired or worthy
thrall the status of a karl, but it will mean little
Jarls, Carls, and Thralls change in his circumstances unless he can also some-
how acquire a small landholding. Thralls are not
There are three types of people in your village: trusted with weapons and dont participate in village
jarls, karls, and thralls. You are lucky enough to be defense. The murder of a thrall is treated as a prop-
the son of a jarl, the wealthy class that equips its erty crime against the jarl or karl holding his inden-
young men and sends them out raiding. One day ture; it is more serious to kill a mans horse than to
you might be the leader of your village, or a gray- slay one of his thralls.
bearded priest of Odin and the other Aesir gods. If
you live that long. Because only one son from any In their skalding (satiric verse) contests, jarls
family can fully inherit its lands and silver, it is per- mock karls as cowardly, bumpkinish peasants. Carls
haps convenient that many young men of this in turn make fun of the jarls arrogant airs and
favored class meet premature ends at the hands of adventure-shortened lifespans. However, the power
mecha-dwarves and wendols. of each group is well-balanced, and the people you
grew up with accept their respective lots in life.
Killing a member of the jarl class is a major crime Thralls, naturally, are excluded from such considera-
one likely to start a feud between villages. Only by tions; if one of them engaged in satiric verse against
paying a hefty fee of compensation, called wergild, his better, hed be slain out of hand.
numbering many horses or thralls, can tempers be
cooled and years of bloodshed averted. Among jarls and carls, women are accorded great
respect. At the thing, their voices are at least as impor-
Another layer of authority knits together your vil- tant as the mens. In the world of Rune, a jarls
lage with those around it. You are ruled by a king, daughter is as likely to don armor and clank off into
elected by the jarls of each village, who in turn must the trap-laden byways of the Underground as his son.
listen to the voice of the village assembly, or thing. No one has trouble believing the stories of the fierce,
Both jarls and kings must take care to rule wisely, winged Valkyries, because everyone knows a warrior
and with the consent of the freemen under them, or woman he wouldnt dare face on the field of battle.
theyll be deposed. Although it is good to be wealthy
and to descend from a line of valorous leaders, HOLMGANGS AND BLOOD EAGLES
authority means nothing unless it is properly used.
As you grew up, you learned that the best way to
Carls are the peasants who work the land. Like settle disputes between equals was through a duel,
the jarls, they are landowners, but their holdings are which is called a holmgang. This roughly translates
small. They take up sword and shield to as going off to an island to beat the crap out of each

206
 The Viking World

other and settle it like men. Your people have devel-

oped many variant rules for holmganging; sometimes
they tie the opponents to stakes so that no cowardly
running can interfere with the proper laying on of
the harm. In other instances, they make a sort of HOLMGANGING
primitive boxing ring out of cowhide strips.
Sometimes the combatants trade blows one at a BETWEEN HEROES
time, to see who can take the most punishment. In The Rune rules provide no guidelines for settling dis-
other duels, they slash away at each other in freeform putes between heroes. Its up to the players to decide
style, just as they would in a fight to the death. how to divvy up silver, potions, charms, and so on.
Sometimes youll want to decide the distribution of a
The blood eagle is an especially gruesome form coveted item, or select a volunteer for a dangerous
of execution favored by some Viking cultures. It assignment, by entering into a holmgang.
involves the opening of the screaming victims chest For this purpose, heroes can put a cap on the damage
cavity so that the two sides of his rib cage can be they deal out to one another. For example, you can
pulled out and exposed. This is pretty nasty stuff specify that no blow can reduce an opponent by more
even for an RPG based on an M-rated computer than 8 hit points after Soak is taken into account. Any
damage results above that threshold are simply
game, and we can see why you might want to ignore
ignored. The first duelist to deal more than X points
its existence. But many Viking enthusiasts take a dis- of damage to his opponent wins the holmgang, and gets
quieting interest in this particular custom, so we whatever benefit is at stake. X is a number you decide,
thought wed better mention it. so you pick a target that ensures in advance that no
one will be killed by the duel.
You do not lose victory points for damage dealt to a
Your Religion fellow hero in the course of an agreed-upon holmgang.

Worship of the Aesir has been a big part of your

life ever since you can remember. You learned the
grim tale of how Odin cast out his eye for wisdom.
Youve thrilled to various tales of Thors exploits, priestess calls upon all of the female gods. Their
which may cast him either as staunch hero or mus- most important duty is the performance of fertility
cle-bound buffoon. Mention of the gods and their rituals to bless crops and domestic animals. When
myths appear throughout this book, so we wont the gods are strong, and Lokis minions are weak,
repeat them in detail here. food will be plentiful. When Loki is on the rise, the
forces of death and madness strengthen, withering
PRIESTS AND PRIESTESSES grain plants and drying up the wombs of cows and
Priests and priestesses are usually of the jarl class. mares. Often the best way to strengthen village
No one chooses to be a priest. A high Divine magic is to send mighty young warriors off to slay
Awareness ability is something that settles on a per- Lokis minions.
son, whether he likes it or not. Although priests are Priests and priestesses are also called upon to
respected for the important tasks they fulfill in per- remember the stories of the gods, and to supply
forming necessary rituals, the position is sometimes counsel to the troubled and weary. Their voices
a terrifying one. Even the good gods, like Odin, can carry great weight at the village assembly. If they say
be terrifying to confront. Priests sometimes meet Odin wishes something to be done, the people tend
the gods face to face, in dreams and visions. Priests to believe this. However, villagers carefully watch a
are often retired heroes, because the Aesir invest priests behavior to make sure he hasnt been cor-
those who destroy their foes with great powers. rupted by Loki. Those who succumb to the trick-
Priests never specialize in the veneration of a sin- sters temptations may be put to the blood eagle.
gle deity. A priest represents all of the male gods; a

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 Chapter 6

Viking Places
THE VILLAGE RUNE
Just because a neighboring land is Viking is no
In a central courtyard stands your village Rune, reason not to raid it. Maybe its bad to raid other
an artifact gifted to your ancestors in the ancient Aesir-worshippers when Loki is strong. But when
past by Odin himself. It is a large slab of rock with Odin has the upper hand, your neighbors are as
one of the letters of Odins runic alphabet carved good a target as any. If you can successfully raid
into it. When the gods are near, or when Lokis them, that means theyre weak. Once youre long
machinations bring Ragnarok another step closer, gone, and their women are done lamenting the
the rune pulses and glows. By giving his people destruction youve left in your wake, theyll strength-
proof of his existence and concern for them, Odin en their defenses and better train their young men.
strengthened his position against Loki. Perhaps it is Youre doing them a favor, really.
true that the gods depend as much on their wor-
shipers as the other way around, and that, without NORWAY
belief and prayer, they would wither and die. This
could be why Loki recently sent his Dark Vikings to Norway is a place of pleasant climate and poor
attack nearby villages and destroy their Runes. Stone farmland. Everyone knows that Njord has blessed
carvers throughout Scandinavia now work to recre- the place that bears his name, and blows mild winds
ate the Runes, in the hopes that rituals by village across it. Alas, its soil is mostly rocky or boggy; all
priests can reach Odins ears and cause their power right for pasture but little else. Its only good land is
to be rekindled. The few villages still guarding intact around rivers and on a few isolated plains. Its war-
Runes now protect them with added ferocity, for riors have been toughened by this deprivation, and
fear that Loki might finish the job before the new are aggressive raiders. Its biggest town is called
Runes can be finished and properly dedicated. Trondheim; many exotic foreign items, gained as
plunder, can be found in its marketplace.

Geography DENMARK

When you listened to the Viking raiders of your Denmark is a land of islands, and its people, like
fathers generation, you learned of the other places all islanders, become a little crazy at times and are as
in the world. Your sense of geography is determined happy to slay one another as outlanders. Its biggest
by which places are good to raid, and which are not. island, Jutland, is sparsely populated because its land
When you play a Rune hero, you must forget your is poor. (We addled moderns would call Jutland a
modern conception of geography. You know that peninsula, but whos counting?) Denmark is
the world is flat, and that Scandinavia is the center Scandinavias gateway to the rest of Europe, so it is
of the world. Ringing the Viking lands are a number good that its people are mad and stubborn, for they
of foreign places, which are good to raid. They are are better able to resist the cunning ways of foreign-
ringed in turn by the realms of myth, from dwarfish ers. Or perhaps it is proximity to outlanders, and not
Nidavellir to dread Nifleheim. The exact relation- island living, that has crazed them. They have erect-
ships between these places is unknown, though, and ed a great earthen wall called the Danevirke to keep
complicated by the fact that they are best reached the weak-kneed outsiders in their place. Its major
through shortcuts that run through the settlements are Ribe, Aarhus, Malmo, and the twin
Underground. By tramping through subterranean border region towns of Slesvig and Hedeby.
passageways, you can reach the land of the giants
faster and more safely than youd get to Britain or to SWEDEN
France, which require journeys across treacherous, The Swedes are really two nations: the Svear and
storm-tossed seas. the Gotar. The Svear used to live in the east; the
Gotar, in the south. Now they have intermingled

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 The Viking World

but still regularly revive their ancient feuds, at least

when Loki is weak and it is safe for Viking to battle
Viking. It is no wonder that they fight so enthusias-
tically, for Sweden is a land of honey and fat cows,
the most fertile place in the Viking world. It is INTOLERANCE IN RUNE
blessed by Freyr, no doubt. Its women are beautiful,
Vikings are not politically correct. They evaluate all
and no wealthy man is satisfied unless he has two or
outsiders according to their attractiveness as targets. As
three of them. They will reach for their axes over a we hope youve already noticed, were treating this
womans honor even quicker than they will over theme in a winking way ultimately meant not to cele-
land or tribal pride. Its towns are Birka, Skara, brate national prejudice, but to underline its absurdity.
Sigtuna, and Uppsala. However, sensitivities vary. If anyone feels that their
fellow players are taking the joke too far while not real-
ly getting it, or that their personal sensitivities are
ICELAND
being trod upon, we suggest that you dial this whole
Iceland is a volcanic island in the middle of a element way back, and return to killing imaginary ene-
cold and forbidding ocean. Only a small portion of mies like wendols and centi-werks.
it is good for farming. Icelanders are crazier than
Danes, tougher than Norwegians, and more eager to
fight than Swedes. Or so the Icelanders claim. Many
fissures in the Icelandic earth lead directly to the ENGLAND
burning halls of Nifleheim, and to the heart of
dwarf lands. Lokis minions have on several occa- Vikings have already conquered one-third of
sions tried to set its volcanoes to erupting, driving England, a place rich in good farmland. The coast-
Odins warriors from this remote outpost. So its line of its unconquered areas is conveniently dotted
people are highly vigilant against his workings, and with monasteries, ill-defended places full of silver
the night-roamings of the Dishonored who climb up and other treasures, so it is a good place to go. The
from its caves. Saxons were once proud warriors but have allowed
themselves to become weak; they putter about in
GREENLAND gardens speaking in whimpering accents. The
Normans have recently attacked them and taken
Greenland is a great expanse of forbidding, icy over another third of their lands. The Saxons so hate
rock, cleverly named to confuse enemies into com- the Normans that they sometimes pay Vikings to act
ing here instead of the relatively more hospitable as mercenaries and attack their towns. Thus Vikings
Iceland. Several exile colonies have attempted to are doubly rewarded for their raids there. Perhaps
establish themselves here, so far with little luck. Its they can also get the Normans to pay them to pil-
white expanses are the domain of wendols and snow lage Saxons.
elves. Some say the wendols in its harsh interior are
intelligent, and have a cannibal kingdom. At least its IRELAND
fjords remind a Viking of home.
Vikings have plundered deep into Ireland many
times. Like England, it places many monasteries on
Places to Raid its coastline, to better serve Viking raiding needs.
Although the Roman religion is strong in the settle-
When Loki is strong, Vikings should gird them- ments, the people in the countryside still worship
selves for battle by raiding foreigners, so that they gods that are more like those of the Norsemen, but
can arm themselves for the real battle. are also strange. It is hard to tell which of these
deities are Loki in disguise, and which others might
be useful allies of the Aesir. Better, when in doubt,
to kill all foreign priests. The Celts have

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many kings, who fight one another GERMANY

all the time. Sometimes they will pay
The Saxons, whose kings are always named Otto,
Vikings to fight in these petty wars, but it is impor-
are a dangerous people. One must admire their brav-
tant not be ensnared and end up Irish.
ery as one hews them down with ones mighty axe.
They used to have gods of their own, but now wor-
NORMANDY
ship the Roman religion, after having it forced on
Normandy is a place completely in the cruel grip them by the Frankish king, Charlemagne. This
of Loki. Vikings went there and conquered the old, humiliation now lies in their past; their kings have
foreign kings, who were called the Franks. But the grown bold of late, rudely attacking Denmark.
conquerors were infected with the weird foreign Whenever they do so, it is the Vikings duty, as true
thoughts of the locals, and have begun to adopt sons of Odin, to subject them to savage reprisals.
their ways. They have lost Odins holy runic lan-
guage, and now call themselves Normans. If honest FINLAND
Vikings are not vigilant against Lokis wiles, they,
Finland is inhabited by reindeer-herding tribes-
too, will be degraded into mere Normans. It is safe
men who are good at running away. They can some-
to assume that any Norman is a servant of Loki, and
times be made to pay tribute of walrus teeth,
worthy only as sword-food.
bearskins, and bird feathers. Their mountainous,
frost-bitten land borders on the mythic realm of

To Nidavellir

GREENLAND

Rus

Trondheim

Trollheim

SWEDEN
ICELAND Sigtuna
Uppsala Finland
NORWAY
Birka

The Baltics
Sarka

Malmo
Arhus

Ribe
DENMARK
Hedby

England
Svartalfheim
Ireland Germany

To Rome
Vinland
Normandy

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 The Viking World

Jotunheim. Some Finns are helpful, because theyve

learned the sneaky ways vital to the successful slay-
ing of giants. Inhuman Lands
Certain places sit strangely on the boundaries
THE BALTICS
between the ordinary world and the places of myth.
A people called the Balts live in these lands. The These are the realms of the races older than human-
Swedes have had contact with them for as long as ity: the giants, dwarves, elves, and trolls.
anyone can remember. Sometimes their royal fami-
lies have even intermarried with those of Swedish JOTUNHEIM
kings. It is hard to know whether to trust them, for
The frosty peaks of Jotunheim serve as home to
their gods are unlike those of the Vikings.
the giants. They dwell in gigantic caves, which, if you
believe their stories, were the wombs of the first
RUS
giants, when the mountains lived and giants were
Even further away than the Baltic lands is a place made of stone. The massive silver treasures of these
we Vikings named Rus. You have heard that some of immense caverns are legendary, but so is giantkinds
your people went there a long time ago, settled happy joy in violence. In Jotunheim, you must
down, and have not come back. If you took the trou- always be ready to outdrink and outfight surly, dim-
ble to go there, you would surely find that they rule witted beings four times your size. Some giants dis-
the place, for this is what happens eventually when- dain their half-kin, Loki, but others may welcome
ever Vikings move in on the territory of outlanders. him. Certain giants strongholds may shelter the
tricksters gathering armies.
ROME
It is possible to reach Asgard by traveling through
Far to the southeast is a nation called Rome, Jotunheim, but mastery of obscure magics is
ruled by a king who practices a strange religion. required to move from the profane world to the
From time to time, he sends priests to Viking lands sacred one. Neither giants nor godlings approve of
to convince the Norse they should practice it, too. this sort of travel, so heroes attempting it should be
Your people show them their village Runes, and prepared for much Terrifying opposition. To travel
prove to them that Odin exists. Some of these from Asgard to Jotunheim, gods go east.
Romans stay to become priests of your faith, though
they are not talented at it. Others go away, dejected. NIDAVELLIR
They tell you not to raid their monasteries in
England and Ireland, but this is advice youd be fool- Nidavellir, the realm of the dwarves, is a twisting,
ish to take. ever-turning warren of passageways which were once
straight and regular but have been reengineered so
CONSTANTINOPLE many times over the eons that even an experienced
map-maker can easily become lost in them.
Even further away than Rome is the golden tur- Strangers navigation problems are compounded by
reted city of Constantinople, a gateway to an entire the miles of tubing, ducts, and wires that run along,
world of strange peoples and glittering riches. From through, and across many of the corridors. Huge
what youve heard, Viings have not conquered it, but grates issue forth great clouds of steam, some of it
have formed a mercenary group called the Varangian scalding. Gigantic machines clatter away twenty-four
Guard, that serves the kings of the city. Rumor has hours a day, offering those unfamiliar with them
it that they have heaped themselves in gold, wine, multiple opportunities for grievous injury. Bladed
women, and battle-glory. windmills, stamping presses, enormous gears, smash-
ing pistons, and gale-force wind machines have all
claimed their share of over-curious Vikings. Other
machines build enemies for the heroes

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 Chapter 6

right before their eyes, churning out

a steady stream of spider-werks and Realms of Myth
other mechanical killers. Some places are known to exist in the sacred
You can reach Nidavellir by sailing north through world; men must use magic to approach them.
frigid waters, and then scouring its glaciated surface
for an entryway to its subterranean reaches. But with YGGDRASIL
so many underground tunnels wending their way Yggdrasil is the world-tree, the center of all exis-
through there, this would seem foolish. tence. The Norns nurture its roots to keep it alive,
while verminous animals sent by Loki gnaw and nib-
SVARTALFHEIM ble at it, seeking its death. Everyone knows that
Yggdrasil marks the center of the world, and that by
To a Viking, a forest is no leafy and verdant par-
climbing it, one may reach Asgard, home of the Aesir.
adise: it is a frightening place, full of things that
However, each nationality of Viking claims that
want to kill him. Nowhere is this truer than in the
Yggdrasils roots surely reach deep into his own native
tangled pines of Svartalfheim, home to the elves.
soil. The Swedes say it is in Sweden; the Norwegians,
Tall, slim of figure, with knife-sharp features, the
in Norway, and so on. Perhaps one must have great
elves are largely indifferent to the affairs of men, so
priestly powers to find it at all. Maybe it is in a divine
long as they dont intrude on their forest territories.
realm that just seems to intersect with our own.
The elves maintain a complicated hierarchy of kings
and titles, and endlessly murder one another in pur-
ASGARD
suit of authority over Svartalfheims briars and thick-
ets. Unlike the unsubtle thunderings of dwarven Asgard is the perfect realm where the Aesir live. It
civil strife, struggles in Svartalfheim are waged with can be reached only by climbing the world tree,
whispers, laws, and insidious poisons. Visitors who Yggdrasil, and then leaping onto Bifrost, the rain-
are not immediately pounced upon by the forests bow-hued bridge connecting Asgard to the Viking
population of giant, hungry spiders may be drawn world of Midgard. Bifrost is guarded by the mighty
into elfin politics, used as pawns, and discarded. If it guardian deity Heimdal, so one had better be pure
werent for the legends of vast silver hoards in of intention and strongly connected to the gods
Svartalfheims oaken palaces, no sensible Viking before petitioning him for entry.
would ever go there.
The realms of Asgard are many, but of special
interest is Valhalla, where the honored dead go.
TROLLHEIM
There they fight and drink and ready themselves for
The mountainous home of the once-proud trolls the real battle to come.
sits between Jotunheim and Svartalfheim, a location
that explains its present, sorry state. Its lofty stone NIFLHEIM
halls have been smashed by giants, their inhabitants
Niflheim is the grim realm of Hel, mistress of the
taken as thralls to labor for indolent elfin jarls. These
Dishonored. Although Viking myth records it as a
places may still be worth exploring, for the trolls, an
frosty place where the bones of the shamed dead suf-
ancient, tricky-minded race, knew much strange
fer from eternal chill, youve heard from heroes
magic alien to man and god alike. However, the easy
whove been there that other portions of it are licked
looting has all been done. What treasures remain are
by unquenchable flame. As part of Lokis recent plot
guarded by clever traps laid by escaping trolls.
against the Aesir, Hel broke through from her realm
Though most surviving, free trolls have decamped to
into the Underground, so it is now possible to get
the Underground to plot their vengeance against
from one place to the other. The Dishonored have
both giants and elves, a few desperate souls may still
flooded the Underground; whether its creatures have
be found here, seeking allies and victims.
colonized Hels kingdom is a question you may soon
have the chance to answer.

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 CHAPTER 7

Sample Adventure:
The Stolen
Rune

This sample adventure, The Stolen

Rune, is designed for beginning groups
using newly created characters. Appoint one play-
er as plotter to run the plot encounters. This should
be the player most familiar with the contents of the
book. Everyone else gets to run cushion encounters.
We assume here that your Horde has six players.
Youll need to change the numbers or threat cate-
gories of enemy combatants if your group boasts a
different number of players.

213
 Chapter 7

The adventure hook is the Narration: Passages of text for the runner to
Underground, except for the first read out (or paraphrase) to the pillagers are
encounter, which takes place in Scandinavia. accompanied by the chanting skald icon.
They describe what the heroes see on a cursory inspec-
Like an advanced adventure, The Stolen Rune tion of an area when they first enter it.
includes set-up, development, and climax encoun-
ters. Until your group learns the ropes of
encounter design, your own encounters should Closer Inspection: Passages of text appearing
skip this element. with the magnifying glass (a cunning dwarvish
invention) icon contain information the pil-
Note that these adventures are intended to teach lagers can discover if their heroes take a closer look
the game to your group in a fun and entertaining around, or undertake certain specified actions such as
manner. We do not claim that they are built to max- making a roll called for in the encounter notes.
imize the runners chance of winning. For that,
youll have to apply your devious nature to the
design of your own encounters. Background: These sections of text contain
information the heroes could never logical-
ly learn, but which explain the underlying

Format Notes situation. The runner can use this information when
called upon to react to unexpected actions by the
heroes. The pillagers may enjoy reading it after the
This adventure adheres to the following format. encounter has finished.
You can replicate it if you want when designing
encounters of your own, but neednt feel obliged to Instructions for the runner, including descrip-
do so. Do what works for you. Just remember that tions of traps, gains, and foes, appear in unboxed
you have to show your encounters to the pillagers text. Theyll often include bold-faced text to remind
when you finish running them, so they should be the runner of the paragraphs contents at a glance.
understandable by others. A clear format also makes
When combat maps are necessary, you can find
your encounter more valuable to other runners
them in the photocopy section on p. 246 - 249.
should you choose, as we fervently desire, to make it
available on the Internet. So, on second thought,
adhere precisely to this format or well burn down
your longhouse and steal your horses.

214
 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

Encounter 1: Taken In the Night Type: Plot Set-up Encounter Hook: Scandinavia.

Event 1: Awakened in Terror Event 2: The Grim Discovery

Narration: Each hero is asleep in his bed when Narration: Crawling out of their beds, the
he wakes up, sweating, with a beating heart, heroes go to the village square, where they see
knowing that some terrible omen has manifest- that some force has knocked a huge hole in the
ed itself upon him and his home village. stone walls guarding the courtyard where the rune obelisk
The heroes home village protects one of the last few is kept. They know that the obelisk is twenty feet high,
divine runes on Midgard. A very long time ago, these made of rock, and inscribed with a rune that glows when
big granite obelisks were inscribed with magical runes Odins foes are strong in the land, and brave warriors
by Odin himself and gifted to the villages that had must go out to combat them.
given rise to Valhallas most honorable warriors. Loki A set of strange parallel tracks runs from the smashed
and his minions forever scheme to seize these runes, courtyard up to the hills surrounding the village.
hoping to strangle the power of the Aesir. If a village
loses its rune, everyone is shamed. Also, people owe
their power and confidence to the runes, at least in GAIN CARROT #1: WEIRD MACHINERY
part. Without this divine connection, everyone will suf-
fer. Milk cows will dry up. Children will get sick. Men
Singular: No-Fault roll; roll Lore vs. Difficulty 6
will be unlucky in battle. to learn the following:

Closer Inspection: Although stealing runes is

the sort of thing Loki would do, the tracks indi-
TRAP IMPAIRMENT: FRIGHT cate some sort of weird machinery which
Because everyone is magically connected to the means that dwarves are at fault here.
rune, they suffer an immediate fright, even before
they know for sure what has happened. Heroes who Hero gains +4 increase to the Awareness rolls
fail their Bravery rolls will be afraid that they are made to score the next Carrot, which appears in
doomed. Their fear makes this a self-fulfilling the next event.
prophecy. The Impairment reflects their fear.
Points Spent: 0 (Difficulty 7)
This is a Standard roll; roll Bravery vs. Difficulty
6, heroes who fail suffer 2 points of Impairment Points Earned: -15 (No-Fault); -20 (+4 increase @ -5
until end of encounter. encounter points each)

Points Spent: 0 (Difficulty 6); 90 (Impairment Whether or not the heroes guess the significance
affects 1 combat sequence [30] and 3 rolls to avoid of the tracks, they can certainly follow them up
traps or trigger gains [3 rolls @ 5 pts each], for a the hillside.
total base cost of 45, which is then multiplied by
2 [the number of points of Impairment])

215
 Chapter 7

Closer Inspection: The goblins have huge

Event 3: Goblin Dupes raised scars that run across each ones torso; the
heroes deduce that dwarves have surgically
installed explosive devices inside their chest cavities.
Narration: The heroes encounter a group of
goblins skulking about on a flat area outside Points Spent: 0 (Difficulty 6)
their village. Moonlight is bright enough to illu-
minate the battlefield, eliminating any darkness penalties. Points Earned: -20 (+4 increase @ -5 encounter
points each)
Background: The rune has been stolen by
dwarves, who intend to use it in the construction TERRAIN NONE
of a mecha-dwarf. The dwarves brought enslaved Because this is an introductory encounter, there is
rock goblins with them to slow the progress of any pursuers.
no terrain.
Theyve been promised their freedom if they just wait for
twelve hours and fight any Vikings who come their way.
TRAP BOMBS IN GOBLINS
GAIN CARROT #2: RAISED SCARS Background: The goblins stayed to fight
Standard roll; roll Awareness vs. Difficulty 6, +4 because they know that their surgically-
increase for winning last carrot, heroes who make implanted explosive devices will blow their
heads off if they leave the area before the time their cruel
the roll see the following: dwarven masters specified. One of their number did try
They gain a +4 increase to the Dodge rolls they to escape. He exploded all over a thornbush, and the sur-
vivors had a heck of a time getting at his tasty, instantly
must make if they inspect the bodies in the wake of cooked flesh without being pricked by thorns. The gob-
the battle. lins fight to the death, because they know theyll also
blow up if interrogated.

EVENT 3 COMBAT OPPONENTS EXPLODING GOBLINS

Threat Predictable/
Name Type Mix Move Category Adjusts Self-Willed
Gull Rock Goblin 0 15 Inferior none Predictable (+0)
Shreek Rock Goblin 0 15 Inferior none Predictable (+0)
Blomp Rock Goblin 0 15 Inferior none Predictable (+0)
Thornweed Rock Goblin 0 15 Inferior none Predictable (+0)
Daza Rock Goblin 0 15 Inferior none Predictable (+0)
Cringe Rock Goblin 0 15 Inferior none Predictable (+0)

Points Spent: 0
Before the encounter begins, use this table and a Roll of Valor to determine the goblins statistics and note them
on a Foe Sheet. For the example below, we used the sample Roll of Valor from page 98.

Name: Gull Soak: 5

1 COMBAT SCORES
Type: Rock 1 Goblin Hit Points: 42
1 INIT ATK DFN DAM
Score Score Score Score
Threat: Inferior
1 Wound Threshold: 1
15
Adjusts: None
1
Melee 6 8 5 8
IMPAIRMENT AND
Move: 115 WOUNDS INVIGORATION Missile

Mix: 1 0 66666 66666 Special:

-1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -2 -1 0 +1 +2
Might: 118 (I) (D)

Self Will? (Y/N) Cost: 1 0

216
 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

Once the goblins are dead, the bombs still pose a

threat. Theyre set to go off each time a slain goblins
body is interfered with. Closer Inspection: Even more interesting than
the necklace, however, are treasures in two of
Singular: Rush, conditionally avoidable if hero the goblins packs.
does not go near goblin bodies; roll Dodge vs.
Difficulty 6, failed heroes suffer harm: Dam rating Background: The bombs implanted in their
16. Conditional trigger remains in effect (see p. slaves made the dwarves less watchful of the
134), but expires after all seven goblin bodies have goblins than they otherwise would have been.
been interfered with. Winners of previous carrot They stole a treasure from the dwarven stronghold, hop-
ing to bury it nearby after fulfilling their mission.
gain +4 increase to their rolls.
Points Spent: 0 (Difficulty 8); 21 (Dam rating 16);
Points Earned: -20 (Category B); -10 (Category A)
0 (Remains In Effect)
Points Earned: -20 (Singular: Conditional) Segue to Further Encounters
GAIN SILVER Narration: By following the tracks, the heroes
No roll required; one pillager must specify that his reach a hole in the ground. It looks like some-
hero is carefully searching the goblins bodies thing mammoth has burrowed up from the
earth. Part of the upturned mound of earth has been
mowed back down again, as if the burrowing thing later
Closer Inspection: One of the goblins has six
crawled back into the hole. They go down into the hole,
ounces of silver hidden in his boot, in the form of
cautiously sliding down its dirt wall, until they find them-
a thin chain necklace wrapped around his ankle.
selves in an smooth-walled underground chamber. There
are a bunch of dead goblins in the room. Their wooden
Points Earned: -6 (6 ounces silver @ 1 point per hovels are still standing. The heroes conclude that the
ounce) goblins must have lived here. Some of their bodies are
scorched; and others are sliced to bits. Putrefaction hasnt
GAIN TREASURE set in, so theyve probably been dead for less than a day.
No roll required; at least one pillager must specify
that his hero is carefully searching the goblins
packs, 1 Category A and 1 Category B treasure.

ENCOUNTER 1 COST TABLE

Points Points
Item Spent Item Earned
Impairment Trap 90 Carrot #1 No-Fault -15
Combat: Exploding Goblins 0 Carrot #1 +4 Increase -20
Terrain None 0 Carrot #2 +4 Increase -20
Bomb Trap Dam Rating 16 21 Bomb Trap Conditional: Singular -20
Silver 6 -6
Category B Treasure -20
Category A Treasure -10

Encounter Points Spent 111 Encounter Points Gained -111

Balance 0

217
 Chapter 7

Encounter 2: Its the Lava for You, Putrid Human

Type: Cushion Encounter Hook: Underground

Narration: The heroes trudge through dark and gloomy underground corridors for a long time without seeing any-
thing of interest. They hear skittering noises, which might be goblins following them, but they never get attacked. A
banging sound echoes through the corridors, shaking the floor beneath their feet, but nothing comes of it.

Event 1: Kill Me, Before I food for the land crabs. They have taken Eldgrim up yon-
der, no doubt for further torture. His family is rich, and
am Further Shamed! will reward you if you rescue him.
When you fight your captors, know that the biggest troll,
Narration: The heroes continue along, reach-
the leader, favors his left side. Fight him with a dagger or
ing a part of the Underground composed of
other small weapon, and thrust up into his ribs, hitting
rough, unfinished caverns. Ahead, they hear
him on his right side. Stick him a good one, for me.
human screams of pain. The corridor ahead widens. They
see a pair of large land crabs feeding on a man stuck on
a wooden door by two spears that impale him at the Points Earned: -25 (5 point increase @ 5
shoulders. As soon as they sense movement from the encounter points each)
heroes, they attack, instinctively protecting their kill from
other predators. GAIN VICTORY POINT AWARD: KILLING LEIG
Singular, no roll required; pillagers may use Rush
GAINS CARROT #1: TROLLS DID THIS! rules (p. 132) to see which hero shoulders aside the
others to perform the deed, hero adds 20 to his vic-
No roll required, conditionally available for
tory point tally.
killing the land crabs; +5 increase to Single Weapon
rolls made against Haurapir, the lead troll who
appears in Event #4. Heroes learn the following: Closer Inspection: As for me Im done for.
I ask that you put me out of my misery, so that
Closer Inspection: If the heroes do kill the I might die honorably, and not in shame. A
land crabs, they see that the creatures have fed man eaten by land crabs while helpless ends up not in
heavily on the unfortunate victims belly. The Valhalla, but in dismal Hel. Cleave my neck from my
sight is a horrifying one. He doesnt have long to live, but shoulders with one of your bold axes! Kill me, before I
sputters out a warning: am further shamed!

Trolls did this! They ambushed me and my companion,

Points Earned: -20 (20 point victory point award @
Eldgrim! They believe we know where a treasure map is
located. We have not heard of this map, and cursed them 1 point each)
as fools. So they staked me to this door, leaving me as
Be sure to describe the Vikings death in appropriate-
ly melodramatic terms. His name is Leig, by the way.

EVENT 1 COMBAT OPPONENTS LAND CRABS

Like any wild beast, land crabs fight with the utmost ferocity when defending the food theyre eating.
Threat Predictable/
Name Type Mix Move Category Adjusts Self-Willed
#1 Large Land Crab 0 15 Equal DNF -1, Soak +3 Predictable (+0)
#2 Large Land Crab 0 15 Equal DNF -1, Soak +3 Predictable (+0)

Points Spent: 0

218
 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

Event 2: Random Gremlin

. Event 3: Isnt It Alarming?
Narration: As the heroes head in the direction Narration: The heroes continue on in the
specified by Leig, they see a quick-moving crea- direction Leig indicated. They hear a commo-
ture coming their way. It is a gremlin, carrying tion up ahead, as they reach a place where the
a cloth bag with an object of some kind inside. corridor curves, so that its terminus is out of sight.

GAIN CARROT #2: GREMLIN-SPOTTING TRAP/STICK TRIP WIRE

Singular: No-Fault; roll Awareness vs. Difficulty 6 A trip wire trap leads to a sheet of metal affixed to
to see the gremlin early and get a good chance at the ceiling (it was scavenged from Nidavellir by the
whacking it; if any hero is successful on this roll, any trolls in the next room). If the wire is tripped, shards
hero attempting the roll immediately below gains a of metal shake loose from it, raining down on those
+5 increase. below. Though the heroes might assume that it was
meant to harm them, its real purpose is to alert the
Points Earned: -25 (5 point increase @ 5
trolls in the next room to approaching intruders.
encounter points each)
Standard: Weak Link (p. 133); roll Awareness vs.
GAIN CATEGORY A TREASURE Difficulty 6, failed heroes suffer Dam rating 4
Singular: Rush; roll INIT vs. Baseline +3 (see (this is the Standard portion successful heroes are
Opposed rolls p. 129) to quickly lash out to bowl the unharmed); even a single failed roll gives all foes in
gremlin over with a melee weapon, or even a kick. the subsequent combat a +9 Initiative bonus,
On a success, the gremlin drops its bag, which con- which lasts for 1 round. (This is the Weak Link part.)
tains a Category A Treasure Points Spent: 0 (Difficulty 6); 40 (Weak Link); 4
Points Spent: 30 (Baseline +3) (Dam rating 4); 18 (+9 INIT bonus to foes @ 2
per point); 0 (Combo trap surcharge: Weak Link
Points Earned: -10 (Category A Treasure) applies only to one effect, Difficulty cost is 0)

219
 Chapter 7

Event 4: Eldgrim and the Lava Pit TERRAIN ADDITIONAL LEVEL

1 additional level
Narration: A big troll is torturing a Viking, Points Earned: -5 (1 level)
who must be Eldgrim, as you burst into the
room. Hes been hogtied to the end of a
strange metal device, a big metal crane, and is suspended
TERRAIN BARRIERS
upside down over a lava pit. Eldgrim is attempting to 1. Pile of rocks
remain stoic in the face of doom, but anyone can see that 2. Rusted metal parts, once part of crane
his flesh is being roasted off, and that he will soon die 3. Iron maiden, rusted shut
unless rescued.
4. Hardened magma flow

Background: The troll brigand Haurapir Points Earned: -12 (-3 per barrier; does not count
knows that a Viking stole his map to a fabu- against 3-feature limit)
lous treasure. Because all Vikings look alike to
him, he captures them whenever he finds them, torturing TERRAIN LAVA PIT
them for information they dont actually have. The crane
is abandoned dwarven technology. Haurapir thinks that
Lava pit acts as Damaging Place, Dam rating 25
all Vikings are united in their attempt to keep him from (p. 122). Heat damage occurs on hexes adjacent to
his rightful treasure map. Hell attack on sight. the lava pit, as well as in the pit itself.
Points Earned: -30 (Damaging Place, Dam rating 25)
TRAP FALLING DEBRIS
As heroes charge into the room, Haurapir will TRAP LAVA PIT
spring another falling debris trap, showering the Singular roll, conditionally avoidable (by staying
heroes with more shards of metal. out of the actual lava itself), remains in effect (p.
Standard; Dodge vs. Difficulty 8, failed heroes 134); roll Divine Awareness vs. Difficulty 6, or suf-
suffer Dam rating 18. fer Equipment Damage (p. 149).

Points Spent: 20 (Difficulty 8); 23 (Dam rating 18) Points Spent: 0 (remains in effect); 0 (Difficulty 6);
40 (Equipment Damage)
TERRAIN CRANE Points Earned: -20 (Singular: Conditionally
Crane offers full cover, can shelter 1 extra com- Avoidable)
batant.
Points Earned: -12 (full cover); -12 (shelters extra
combatant)

EVENT 4 COMBAT OPPONENTS TROLLS

Threat Predictable/
Name Type Mix Move Category Adjusts Self-Willed
Haurapir Troll 2 15 Superior None Self-Willed (+25)
Zalnaup Troll 1.3 15 Equal None Predictable (+0)
Urjordir Troll 1.3 15 Equal None Predictable (+0)
Mikko Troll 1.3 15 Equal None Predictable (+0)

Points Spent: 25 (Self-Willed, Superior Foe)

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 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

GAINS VICTORY POINT AWARD:

SAVING ELDGRIM
Singular: Solo; roll Disarm Trap vs. Difficulty 7, TRAP/HAZARD IRON MAIDEN: SPEAR
combat action required, to gain 10 victory The iron maiden (listed above as a barrier) is also a
points, by getting to the cranes controls, figuring trap, if opened. The trolls know not to open it, but
them out, and moving Eldgrim out of harms way. the heroes might well do so during their post-fight
Hero may make 3 extra attempts after initial fail- search for treasure. If the lid is lifted open loose, a
ure. After four failures, Eldgrim dies, and with him spring-loaded spear shoots out of the trap. If the
goes the victory point award. opener is standing where the lids handholds are
located, the spear zips right towards his chest.
Points Spent: 10 (Difficulty 7); 10 (combat
action required) Singular: Rush; conditionally avoidable (by not
lifting the lid, or by opening it from an odd angle or
Points Earned: -10 (10 victory points @ -1 per
in an unusual or inventive way); Dodge vs.
point); -15 (3 extra attempts after initial failure @
Difficulty 6, failed hero suffers Dam rating 15.
-5 per point)
Points Spent: 0 (Difficulty 6); 15 (Dam rating 15)
GAIN CATEGORY B TREASURES:
HIDDEN IN CRANE
Hidden inside the crane (conditionally available) are
a pair of Category B treasures.
Points Earned: -40 (2 Category B Treasures @
-20 each)

ENCOUNTER 2 COST SHEET

Points Points
Item Spent Item Earned
Combat Opponents: Land Crabs 0 Carrot #1: +5 to Single Weapon -25
Gremlin Treasure Baseline +3 30 Victory Point Award: Kill Leig -20
Trip Wire Trap 62 Carrot #2: +5 to INIT -25
Combat Opponents: Trolls, Haurapirs Self-Will 25 Category A Gremlin Treasure -10
Falling Debris Trap Diff. 8 20 Crane: Full Cover -12
Falling Debris Trap Dam 18 23 Crane: Shelters Extra Combatant -12
Lava: remains in effect 0 Additional Level -5
Lava: Difficulty 6 0 Barriers -12
Lava: Equipment Damage 40 Lava: Damaging Place, Dam. 25 -30
Save Eldgrim: Diff 7 10 Lava: Conditional Avoid, Singular -20
Save Eldgrim: Action Required 10 Save Eldgrim: 10 Victory Points -10
Iron Maiden trap: Diff 6 0 Save Eldgrim: 3 extra attempts -15
Iron Maiden trap: Dam 15 15 Category B Treasures (2) -40

Encounter Points Spent 235 Encounter Points Gained -236

Balance -1

221
 Chapter 7

Encounter 3: Instrumental in Your Downfall

Type: Cushion Encounter Hook: Underground

Event 1 Lyre, Lyre Background: The lyre exaggerates some-

what the danger the heroes are in. Although
Narration: The heroes trudge along through the unnamed individuals whose remains
the murk of the Underground for a while now litter its chamber did choose to stay and listen
until they hear a sound up ahead. The heroes forever to its plucking strings, the heroes can leave at
find the sound soothing even before they realize what any time. However, theyll forever be haunted by the
it is. They identify it as beautiful music being played music they heard here. The distraction will cause them
on a lyre. all to suffer Impairment unless one of the heroes
can outplay it.

GAIN CARROT: HAUNTING MUSIC HAZARD IMPAIRMENT: LYRE CONTEST

Singular: No-Fault; roll Music vs. Difficulty 6, Singular: Dogpile, Lady or Tiger roll (success
equipment not needed, heroes rolling successfully allows heroes to scoop up category F treasure, fail-
gain a +5 bonus on their first Music rolls in the ure dishes out 1 Impairment and lasts until end
upcoming contest, realizing the following: of encounter); heros Music roll is opposed by foe
modifier of 4.
Closer Inspection: The music is splendidly
played but also a little unearthly. It is not being
made by a human. And although it is soothing, Closer Inspection: If they lose, the heroes
there is something subtly wrong and disturbing about it. can leave, but suffer Impairment from distract-
Everyone should be ready for weird magic. ing memories of the eerie and beautiful music;
they cant bear to take the treasure.
Points Spent: 0 (Difficulty 6) If they win, the heroes can leave without suffering
Impairment, and can cheerfully grab up the treasure.
Points Earned: -15 (No-Fault); -5 (equipment
not needed); -25 (+5 carrot x 1 round @ 5
points each) Points Spent: 20 (+4 Opposed Roll); 30 (1 point
of Impairment affects 1 combat sequence);
Narration: The heroes follow the sound to a 65 (Impairment affects 13 rolls @ 5 per roll);
small chamber lined with bones and silver. 4 (Impairment affects 4 Freestanding rolls @ 1
High up in an alcove is a lyre, playing by itself.
per roll)
Through its music, the heroes feel it welcoming them.
They will stay forever, the music tells them, as did those Points Earned: -75 (Category F Treasure)
whose bones they stand among. They will die at peace,
lost in the music.
The heroes see the silver and gems scattered amongst
the bones around them, but somehow cant bring
themselves to grab the treasure. Tinkling coins might
disrupt the perfection of the music. Neither can they
bear to even consider knocking down the lyre with an
arrow, or otherwise damaging or even coming into
contact with it.

222
 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

Event 2: Thunder Drums To end escalating damage:

Countdown roll, requires successes equal to num-
Narration: The heroes continue on for a while ber of heroes; roll Missiles or Thrown Weapons
longer, passing nothing more interesting than a vs. Difficulty 6.
few rats fighting over the decaying body of a wall
lizard. Then they hear a pounding sound up ahead. There Points Spent [roll to end damage]:
is no way around whatever it is thats making the noise; the 0 (Difficulty 6); 40 (Countdown requires success-
corridor has continued for miles without exits or turn-offs. es equal to number of heroes, base cost of 20,
The heroes enter a large cavern. At the other end of the escalating damage is a special case requiring no
cavern, near its only exit, is a set of seven gigantic drums, multiplier charge)
each of them pounding away deafeningly as if being hit
by a frenzied, invisible drummer.
Suddenly a creature lurches out at them from behind a Narration: The heroes hear more weird
limestone column. Its a young wendol. Its shrieks of sounds as they progress further along the way.
agony cant be heard above the pounding of the drums. This time its a big rhythmic pounding sound.
The air gets damper. A cold mist fills the tunnel.

Let the players think theyre going to have to fight the

wendol. Then, before actually rolling for Initiative: Event 3: Pounding Waves
Narration: The wendol collapses at the heroes STICK SNEEZING HAZARD
feet, apparently dead. Some kind of reddish
The bone-chilling cold might make one of the
ooze comes out of its ears.
heroes sneeze, alerting the robots in the next room.

GAIN HEALING ROLL Weak Link roll; roll Stamina vs. Difficulty 4, gives
foes +6 INIT for 1 round if tripped.
Singular: No-Fault, Freestanding roll; Healing vs.
Difficulty 6, equipment not needed, successful Points Spent: 40 (Weak Link), 20 (Exotic Roll:
hero learns the following: Characteristic Only); 10 (6 points of INIT bonus
to foes @ 5 points for each +3 increment)
Closer Inspection: The healer diagnoses the
cause of the wendols death. The oozing mate- Points Earned: -20 (Difficulty 4)
rial is its brain, mushed to a pulp by the inces-
sant pounding of the drums. GAIN CORPSE TRIGGERS
FREESTANDING ROLLS
Points Earned: -10 (Freestanding, Difficulty 6); -5 Narration: Up ahead, curled up into the fetal
(Equipment Not Needed) position, lies the corpse of a man in Viking
armor. Sticking out of him at various points are
TRAP/HAZARD MAGIC DRUMS six-inch long crescents of some strange, highly worked
metal. The edges of the crescents are extremely sharp.
The drums will do the same to the heroes unless One of the crescents pierced his helmet, although it
destroyed. looks like the wound it inflicted was only minor. It was
the several crescents piercing his guts that doubtless
Standard roll; Stamina vs. Difficulty 6, or suffer
claimed his life.
Dam rating 2, escalating damage.
Points Spent [roll to avoid damage]:
0 (Difficulty 6); 20 (Exotic Roll: Characteristic
Only); 2 (Dam rating); 20 (escalates [original
Dam rating of 2 x 2.5] + 15)

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Freestanding Roll (#1), Singular: Freestanding Roll (#3), Singular: No-Fault;

No-Fault; roll Lore vs. Difficulty 6 roll Divine Awareness vs. Difficulty 6 to learn
to learn the following: the following:

Closer Inspection: The crescents look like Closer Inspection: Although he clearly died
dwarven work. The successful roller remembers in terrible agony, alone and without comrades
hearing the hoary-bearded older warriors of his to recount his epic deeds, his corpse still gives
village talking about strange dwarven machines that move off the aura of a worthy hero. He is doubtless in Valhalla
around like living things. Some of them are like guard even now, feasting with Odins champions.
dogs, who react to Norse raiders by trying to kill them.
Some fire bolts of lighting. Others might well throw
Points Earned: -10 (Freestanding Difficulty 6);
these crescent things.
0 (No-Fault)

Points Earned: -10 (Freestanding Difficulty 6); GAIN TREASURE

0 (No-Fault) Conditionally available (search body); 1 Category
Freestanding Roll (#2), Singular: No-Fault; roll E Treasure, 2 Category C Treasures, 1 Category
Healer vs. Difficulty 6 to learn the following: A Treasure and 5 pieces of silver.

Closer Inspection: A search of the body

Closer Inspection: Hes been dead for about
reveals two treasures. If the heroes are clever,
a day. He looks like he died more recently than
theyll realize that this suggests an unintelligent
that, but the chill of the Underground has kept
creature ahead. Not that it makes any difference. Well,
him from decomposing as rapidly as he otherwise would.
maybe you can give them chocolates or something.
There are no flies down here to lay their eggs in him, and
hence no maggots to gnaw his flesh.
Points Earned: -50 (Category E Treasure);
Points Earned: -10 (Freestanding Difficulty 6); -60 (2 Category C Treasures @ 30 points each);
0 (No-Fault); -15 (Equipment Not Needed) -10 (Category A treasure); -5 (5 oz. of silver @
1 point each)

EVENT 3 COMBAT OPPONENTS SPIDER-WERKS

Threat Predictable/
Name Type Mix Move Category Adjusts Self-Willed
#1 Spider-werk 0.9 15 Inferior DAM +5, HP -10 Predictable (+0)
#2 Spider-werk 0.9 15 Inferior DAM +5, HP -10 Predictable (+0)
#3 Spider-werk 0.9 15 Inferior DAM +5, HP -10 Predictable (+0)
#4 Spider-werk 0.9 15 Inferior DAM +5, HP -10 Predictable (+0)
#5 Spider-werk 0.9 15 Inferior DAM +5, HP -10 Predictable (+0)
#6 Spider-werk 0.9 15 Inferior DAM +5, HP -10 Predictable (+0)
#7 Spider-werk 0.9 15 Inferior DAM +5, HP -10 Predictable (+0)
#8 Spider-werk 0.9 15 Inferior DAM +5, HP -10 Predictable (+0)
#9 Spider-werk 0.9 15 Inferior DAM +5, HP -10 Predictable (+0)
Points Spent: 0

Background: This cavern was once the experimental headquarters of a dwarven engineer intent on proving him-
self to the clan that exiled him by building a bigger and better spider-werk. These off-the-shelf models were his
guardians to protect him while he worked. Unfortunately, he succumbed to pneumonia, leaving behind these
robots to protect his bones. They attack anything that moves, provided that its bigger than themselves. Their sensors are
sophisticated enough to ignore ambient movement, such as the continual action of the waterfall in this chamber.

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 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

TERRAIN SLOPE Spider-bots dont have lungs, but

The banks of the river count as 2 sloped places their workings are messed up by
prolonged exposure to water, and they can sink to the
Narration: The cavern is dominated by a big bottom. So conveniently enough, if a hero maneuvers
waterfall, which empties into a surging under- them into the water, we can treat them exactly as if
ground river. Swift currents have dug a big theyre suffering drowning damage.
trench through the middle of the cavern. The banks of
the river are sloped. Each bank counts as a slope. (Well, thats how these spider-bots work. Were still
free to have waterproof spider-bots in other encoun-
ters. There are various models, you know.)
Background: The dwarf engineer diverted the
flow of the waterfall, setting up turbines to
generate power for his experiments. The
machine has since broken down, returning the waterfall
to its original path.

within larger area, covering at least 6 hexes each.

Points Earned: -10 (2 slopes @ 5 points each)

TERRAIN COVER

Narration: A big dwarven contraption, its

bolts and facings corroded, sits rusting in front
of an alcove near the caverns northwest corner.
Its a big, boxy device about two feet high and twenty feet
long. Various dials, wheels, and brass displays cover its
oxidized surface.

Background: The heroes can theorize about

this until the cows come home but will never
figure out for certain what it is. (It was a piece TRAP/HAZARD PROTOTYPE CRAFTWERK
of monitoring equipment meant to test the flow capaci-
ty of the robots. Or something like that.) Anyhow, its Background: The next trap on the agenda is
only use now is as a piece of potential cover. the dead engineers prototype robot.

The equipment provides 1/3 protection, shelters 5 Narration: Theres a large machine that
extra companions looks like a big upright box with a pivoting,
pointy head.
Points Earned: -3 (1/3 cover); -15 (extra combatants)
When any target enters the cavern, the craftwerk
TRAP DROWNING HAZARD
senses it and starts firing razor-sharp crescents. The
The river is a drowning hazard. craftwerk strikes at the beginning of each round, as
Conditionally avoidable (stay out of river), if it were a character that wins Initiative every time
Drowning, Choppy Waters (off-the-rack, see p. 148). out. It uses the Foe Target Choice Flowchart (p. 196)
to choose its target. Although it will be firing at the
Points Spent: 30 (Drowning Hazard, Choppy heroes during the fight, its sensors are good enough
Waters) to avoid ever hitting a spider-bot.

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 Chapter 7

To avoid blades: Singular, limited Then succeed at a simultaneous action; Balance

targeting vs. 1 victim, repeat shots; vs. Difficulty 7, does not require an action, failure
roll Dodge (does not cost combat action) vs. leads to trap (drowning hazard; see above)
Difficulty 6, failed roller suffers Dam rating 7.
Heroes who fail the Balance roll fall into the river,
Points Spent [avoid blades]: 0 (Difficulty 6); where they fail prey to the drowning hazard (see above).
7 (Dam rating 7); 25 (Repeat Shots: 1 victim Points Spent [disarm blades]: 10 (Traps vs.
per round) Difficulty 7); 10 (combat action required);
Points Earned [avoid blades]: -15 (Limited 15 (simultaneous action); 10 (Balance vs. Difficulty
Targeting: 1 victim) 7); 10 (failure leads to trap)

To stop repeat shots: Singular: Rush; roll Disarm Points Earned [disarm blades]: -20 (unlimited
Trap vs. Difficulty 7, unlimited extra rolls extra rolls)
allowed, requires combat action

ENCOUNTER 3 COST SHEET Points Points

Item Spent Item Earned
Lyre Contest: +4 Opposed Roll 20 Musical Carrot: No-Fault -15
Lyre Contest: Impairs 1 combat 30 Musical Carrot: Equipment Not Needed -5
Lyre Contest: Impairs 13 rolls 65 Musical Carrot: +5 Increase -25
Lyre Contest: Impairs 4 Free Rolls 4 Lyre Contest: F Treasure -75
Avoid Drums: Exotic Roll 20 Dead Wendol: Free Roll Diff 6 -10
Avoid Drums: Dam 2 2 Dead Wendol: No Equipment Needed -15
Avoid Drums: Escalates 20 Sneezing: Difficulty 4 -20
Destroy Drums: Countdown 40 Corpse: Free Lore Roll Diff 6 -10
Sneezing: Weak Link 40 Corpse: Free Lore Roll No Fault 0
Sneezing: Exotic Roll 20 Corpse: Free Heal Roll Diff 6 -10
Sneezing: +6 Init to foes 10 Corpse: Free Heal Roll No Fault 0
Combat Opponents: Spider-werks 0 Corpse: Free Heal Roll No Equipment -5
Drowning Hazard 30 Corpse: Free Divine Roll Diff 6 -10
Avoid blades: Diff 6 0 Corpse: Free Divine Roll No Fault 0
Avoid blades: Dam 7 7 Treasure: Category A -10
Avoid blades: repeat shots, 1 victim/round 25 Treasure: Category C (2) -60
Disarm Blades: Diff 7 (1) 10 Treasure: Category E -50
Disarm Blades: Diff 7 (2) 10 Silver: 5 ounces -5
Disarm Blades: Combat Action Req. 10 Slope -10
Disarm Blades: Failure Leads to Trap 10 Cover -18
Disarm Blades: Simultaneous 15 Avoid Blades: Limited Targeting -15
Disarm Blades: Unlimited Extra Roll -20

Encounter Points Spent 388 Encounter Points Gained -388

Balance 0

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 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

Encounter 4: The Temple of Loki

Type: Plot Development Encounter Hook: Underground

Event 1: Picking Up the Trail allowed one roll per item. The dogpile only comes
into play if two heroes are simultaneously trying
to dicker with LeClerc over the same item.
Narration: The heroes enter a large cavern
Because he is not a foe, the heroes gain no victory
with a floor largely covered in wet, sandy soil. It
is the first stretch of raw flooring theyve points for any damage they inflict on him. He is
passed in quite a while. An underground river flows qui- not an especially formidable opponent. He fights
etly through the cavern, depositing banks of silt. In the with a shortsword.
silt, the same kind of tracks the heroes saw back at their
home village are clearly visible. Closer Inspection: When asked about the
The cavern is inhabited. A stooped-over figure in tracks, LeClerc knows nothing useful. He was-
burlap robes has a bunch of weapons laid out on a nt in the area when they appeared and knows
threadbare velvet cloth. Several big goblin slayers stand nothing about them. He usually keeps his ear to the
across from him, stroking their chins as they contem- ground for good gossip, because that lubricates many a
plate his merchandise. transaction.
If the heroes tell him the story of their missing rune, he
ventures that its probably the minions of Loki at work.
GAIN BARGAINING OPPORTUNITY He knows that there is a temple to Loki down to the left
and past the waterfall.
Closer Inspection: The man in the burlap
robes is LeClerc, a crazy foreigner who decided
hed rather live in the Underground than in his
homeland. He makes his living by scavenging items and
CARROT WATERFALL WARNING
then trading them to dwarves, goblins, and human If the heroes impress LeClerc as upstanding sorts
explorers. LeClerc is willing to exchange silver for good unlikely to come back and bushwhack him for the
weapons. He waits until the goblins have gone before goods theyve sold him, he volunteers some handy
revealing his stash of money.
advice. He judges only those who attempt to
impress him.
Singular: Dogpile; roll Bargain vs. bonus of 3. Singular: Dogpile; roll Demeanor vs. Difficulty
Points Spent: 10 (Opposed roll vs. bonus 3) 8, to gain +6 increase to Awareness roll in the
next event.
Points Earned: -15 (bargaining opportunity)
Points Spent: 20 (Difficulty 8)
Each item the heroes wish to sell is treated as a
separate situation; as normal, the heroes are Points Earned: -30 (- +6 increase x 5 x 1 round)

LECLERC CRAZY FOREIGN MERCHANT

Name Type Move INIT ATK DNF DAM Soak HP Might

LeClerc Human 15 6 4 5 4 1 48 9

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 Chapter 7

Event 2: The Water Nymphs Grave Event 3: Hard Days for Minions
Narration: The heroes trudge through gloomy Narration: As the heroes continue past the
Underground corridors until they begin to hear waterfall, the flames from the torches on the
the sound of a waterfall. As they approach it, it walls around them begin to gutter and flicker,
sounds like a typical loud and relentless sound of falling throwing eerie shadows all around. What might be the
water pounding against rocks. But when they turn the cor- sound of laughter echoes in the distance.
ner and actually see the waterfall, the sound changes.
Suddenly they hear not crashing water but a sweet, soothing
song that makes the water seem inviting. A beautiful woman GAIN LOKIS HERE!
rises up from the swirling waters at the base of the falls and Some characters may feel the presence of Loki rais-
holds out her arms in a beckoning gesture.
ing the hackles on their necks.

TRAP DROWNING Freestanding roll, Singular: No-Fault; roll Divine

Awareness vs. Difficulty 10 to detect the following:
Heroes who fail victim to the siren call of the water
nymphs ghost willingly jump headfirst into the
Closer Inspection: Lokis foul aura is in the
wrenching whirlpool. Once they hit the cold surface air. The feeling gets stronger as the heroes pass
of the water, they regain their wills and can try to a particular corridor. It leads them to the shat-
save themselves from drowning. tered doorway into the scene shown on the map.

Closer Inspection: The heroes can interact

with the ghost of the water nymph after they Points Earned: -5 (Freestanding Difficulty 10)
have all dealt with the threat of drowning. She
pouts unhappily if none of them join her. She says she
was slain by a deceitful mortal who claimed to love her; TERRAIN BARRIER: TRASH PILE
instead he stole her treasure. Now she seeks a male com- A trash pile has gradually accumulated in the room.
panion to live with her forever in the waterfall, and in
order to snare one she must coax him into drowning for Points Earned: -3 (-3 per barrier; does not count
her. She knows nothing about strange tracks or minions against 3-feature limit)
of Loki. She has been a ghost for many hundreds of years
and is indifferent to mortal affairs. TERRAIN COVER: ALTAR
The altar gives 1/3 cover, and can shelter 2 extra
Standard; roll Awareness vs. Difficulty 6, failed combatants
heroes zsuffer Drowning (p. 148) with Mighty
Undercurrent. Points Earned: 0 (Not counted as one of the 3 ter-
rain features worth points)
Points Spent: 80 (Drowning, Mighty Undercurrent)
TERRAIN COVER: STATUE
GAIN TRICK THE NYMPH FOR TREASURE
A large statue of Loki gives half cover, and can shel-
Singular: Dogpile; roll Deception vs. Difficulty 6, ter 1 extra combatant
on a success, group receives Category B Treasure.
Points Earned: -6 (base cost x 1 additional per-
Closer Inspection: The nymph knows that son it shelters)
there is a treasure hidden underneath a rock on
a grotto shelf opposite her waterfall. She will
tell the heroes about its location to reward them, if they
TERRAIN COVER: SE BARRICADE
trick her into thinking that they will lure a fine-looking Wooden barricade in SE corner give almost com-
mate to her waterfall, so she can ensnare him. plete cover, can shelter 4+ extra combatants
Points Earned: -36 (base cost -12 x 4 additional peo-
Points Earned: -20 (Category B Treasure) ple it shelters, reduced to the maximum allowable)

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 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

TERRAIN COVER: DOOR BARRICADE TRAP BEAR TRAPS

The wooden barricade around the door offers full Lokis minions have placed bear traps in the only
cover, and can shelter 4+ extra combatants. clear entrance to their lair.
The barrier actually acts as an obstacle channeling Singular, conditionally avoidable (take alternate
entering heroes through the bear traps (described route into combat area), first exposure (traps
below). It is possible to squeeze through the crudely tripped on successful roll, but do not catch the
constructed wall of splintered, rotting wood: heroes); roll Jump vs. Difficulty 6 to clear them,
grabber trap (p. 153), Dam rating 10.
Points Earned: 0 (Not counted as one of the 3 ter-
rain features worth points) Points Spent: 0 (Difficulty 6); 30 (Grabber Trap);
10 (Dam rating 10)
NON-DEFAULT DIFFICULTY BUSTING
DOWN THE BARRICADES Points Earned: -25 (Conditional Avoid, First
Exposure + Singular)
Heroes can neutralize any hex worth of barricade by
tipping it over. This takes an action and requires a TRAP CHASM
STR roll.
Singular, combat action required, no set limit on Background: When Ragnar recently cleared
out this temples mightiest defenders, Odin
extra attempts; roll STR vs. Difficulty 8.
aided him by opening up this chasm in the
Points Spent: 20 (Difficulty 8); 20 (Characteristic earth, swallowing many Sark Amen and powerful Dark
only); 10 (Combat action required) Vikings. Now its a hazard to anyone who attempts to
leap it in the heat of combat.
Points Earned: - 20 (no set limit on extra attempts)
Standard, conditionally avoidable (dont cross or
TERRAIN REDUCED EXITS get pushed into chasm); roll Jump vs. Difficulty 8,
There is only one exit failed rollers suffer falling damage, Dam rating
20/30 (21 25 feet), see p. 151.
Points Earned: 0 (Would be -8 but this is not
counted this as one of the 3 terrain features Points Spent: 30 (Difficulty 9); 42 (21 25 feet fall)
worth points) Points Earned: -10 (Conditionally Avoidable)

EVENT 3 COMBAT OPPONENTS DARK VIKINGS AND DISHONORED

Threat Predictable/
Name Type Mix Move Category Adjusts Self-Willed
Oddi Dark Viking 1.4 15 Equal ATK +1 Predictable (+0)
Snurri Dark Viking 1.3 15 Equal None Predictable (+0)
No Nose Dishonored* 1.3 15 Inferior None Predictable (+0)
Maggot Breath Dishonored* 1 15 Weak None Predictable (+0)
Svein the Suppurator Dishonored* 1 15 Weak None Predictable (+0)
* See p. 103 for Dishonored special powers.

Points Spent: 0

Background: The minions of Loki in this temple are the survivors of a recent attack by the legendary Viking war-
rior Ragnar, who fought them with the aid of Odin himself. Theyre dispirited and desperate but will fight fanat-
ically, because theyre cornered. They start out the fight hiding behind the southeast barricade.

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 Chapter 7

TRAP MALFUNCTIONING TELEPORT DEVICE GAIN SILVER

8 pieces of silver lie on the floor beside the telepor-
Narration: In the temples northwest corner
is a glowing ball of green energy, which occa-
tation trap.
sionally shoots off sparks. It makes a sporadic Points Earned: -8 (8 silver ounces @ 1 point each)
humming noise.
COMBAT TACTICS
Background: Once used to transport
Dishonored back and forth from Hel to this Narration: The Dark Vikings and Dishonored
quadrant of the Underground, it was damaged begin the fight behind the SE Barricade. They
during Ragnars attack. Now it disintegrates the bone and fire through spaces in the barricade at the
flesh of anyone who comes into contact with it. heroes as they navigate the narrow, trapped entrance to
their room. Oddi warns the heroes to stay away, or face
death at the hands of Lokis finest warriors.
Singular, conditionally avoidable (remains in
As soon as two heroes bust through the barricade or all
effect); roll Divine Awareness vs. Difficulty 6,
of the bear traps have been sprung, theyll try to maneu-
failed roller suffers Dam rating 26. ver the heroes into the chasm or the malfunctioning tele-
Points Spent: 41 (Dam rating 26) port trap. They may also run for the high ground of the
raised platform in the middle of the temple, seeking
Points Earned: -20 (Conditionally Avoidable: cover behind the altar or statue.
Remains In Effect)

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 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

GAIN FREESTANDING INSIGHT GAIN CATEGORY F & C TREASURE

Freestanding roll, Singular: No-Fault; roll Insight One of the Vikings slain by Ragnar hid some trea-
vs. Difficulty 6 to learn the following: sure from the others.

Closer Inspection: Although it was wise to Singular: No-Fault; rollers must specify theyre
assume that the theft of your rune was the searching the chasm, roll Awareness vs. Difficulty
work of cruel Lokis minions, these pathetic 8, success finds 1 Category F and 2 Category C
wretches are clearly in no shape to have stolen even a treasures in a scooped-out shelf inside the chasm.
spavined pony. Curse it! The sinister dwarves must be
working on their own! Points Spent: 20 (Difficulty 8)
Points Earned: -75 (Category F Treasure);
Paoints Earned: -10 (Freestanding Difficulty 6) -60 (2 Category C Treasures @ 30 each)

ENCOUNTER 4 COST TABLE

Points Points
Item Spent Item Earned
LeClerc: Opposed roll Bonus 3 10 LeClerc: Bargaining Opportunity -15
Waterfall Warning: Diff. 8 20 Waterfall Warning: +6 Carrot -30
Drowning 80 Trick the Nymph: Category B Treasure -20
Combat Opponent: Dark Vikings & Dishonored 0 Lokis Here -5
Bear Traps: Grabber 30 Barrier: Trash Pile -3
Bear Traps: Dam 10 10 Cover: SE Barricade -36
Chasm: Diff 9 30 Cover: altar not counted
Chasm: 21 25 feet fall 42 Reduced Exits not counted
Teleport Trap: Dam 26 41 Cover: door barricade not counted
Barricade Busting: Diff 8 20 Cover: Statue -6
Barrier Busting: Costs an action 10 Bear Traps: Conditional Avoid -25
Barrier Busting: Char. Only 20 Chasm: Conditional Avoid -10
Treasure: Diff 8 20 Teleport Trap: Conditional Avoid -20
Barrier Busting: No Set Limit -20
Freestanding Insight Diff 6 -10
Treasure: Category F -75
Treasure: Category C (2) -60
Silver: 8 -8

Encounter Points Spent 333 Encounter Points Gained -333

Balance 0

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 Chapter 7

Encounter 5: Jellyfish, Glorious Jellyfish

Type: Cushion Encounter Hook: Underground

Narration: The heroes find themselves in a If no heroes have fallen, the point man in the marching
corridor that slopes downwards at a 45 angle. order can peer down into the cavern and see the goo and
the feeding centi-werks. The robots pay no heed to the
Vikings peering down at them from the hole in the ceiling.
At this point, make the players specify the order in
which their heroes are standing.
GAIN TO JUMP OR NOT TO JUMP?
There is room for the heroes to walk two abreast,
Freestanding roll, Singular: No-Fault; roll
though they can choose to go single file if they want.
Awareness vs. Difficulty 6, to note the following:
Narration: As the heroes progress through it, Closer Inspection: The goo looks bouncy
the corridor becomes more like a tunnel. Then enough to break your fall if you leap down into
it gets damp. Moss slicks its walls and floor. it. (In game terms, your characters will auto-
Finally the combination of slope and slick surface com- matically succeed and dont have to make Jump rolls to
bine to turn the tunnel into a slide that threatens to dump avoid falling damage.) Heroes voluntarily jumping into
the heroes into the mucky midst of the next fight scene. the goo wont suffer the effects of ambush, as theyve
already seen the centi-werks and will be ready for them.
TRAP/HAZARD MOSSY SLIDE
This is actually an ambush trap that works in an Points Earned: -10 (Freestanding roll, Difficulty 6)
unconventional way; instead of forcing the heroes to
make Awareness rolls to spot their foes in advance, TRAP/HAZARD PROTOPLASM AVOIDANCE
they must make Balance rolls to avoid being plopped However, the heroes may still, for other reasons, be
right in the middle of their enemies. The effect is reluctant to go goo-diving. They may fear all sorts of
the same, though. hazards that arent actually in play, worrying that the
Domino roll; roll STR + Balance vs. Difficulty goo is acidic or damages armor or whatever. The goo
8, or suffer ambush effects (p. 147) during combat counts as Slippery Ground (see below) but is other-
that follows. wise pretty benign. Your players have probably grown
up watching horror movies, in which an eternal rule
Points Spent: 20 (Domino); 20 (Difficulty 8); of survival is: Dont touch the gooey stuff! If so,
50 (Ambush) they may wish their heroes to descend to the floor of
the battle scene without landing in the goo. This is
What Happens To Non-Sliders more easily said than done. The opening is right over
the goo pile. Theyll need to climb down on ropes
Closer Inspection: Heroes who finish this (Climb roll) and then swing the rope (Jump roll) to
sequence still on their feet can carefully approach land outside the goo perimeter. (I signed on to write
the endpoint of the tunnel, which is in the ceiling
this game only so I could use the phrase goo perime-
of a big cavern. If their comrades have tumbled down into
the cavern, they see that theyve landed in an enormous (as ter in a sentence, by the way.)
in twenty feet in diameter and twelve feet high) blob of semi- Singular, conditionally avoidable (by choosing to
translucent sticky goo. They also see a number of centi-werks
turn from seemingly feeding on the goo to moving towards
fall), first exposure; roll Climb vs. Difficulty 7
their friends, mechanical mandibles menacingly a-clicking. Then also make a simultaneous roll; Balance vs.
Difficulty 6, or suffer 21 25 foot fall, dam rat-
ing 20/30.

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 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

Points Spent: 10 (Difficulty 7); 15 (Simultaneous TERRAIN LIMITED EXITS

Roll); 42 (21 25 foot fall) There are only two exits (not counting the one in
Points Earned: -25 (conditionally avoidable, first the ceiling, which isnt exactly accessible), and each
exposure) one is narrow, allowing room for only one person to
squeeze through.
Once the heroes are on the same level as the centi-
bots, whether willingly or unwillingly, the combat Points Earned: -10 (2 exits, 2 heroes can run away
can commence. per round)

TERRAIN SLIPPERY GROUND GAINS TREASURE IN THE GOO

Background: The goo is in fact a big jellyfish- Background: The jellyfishy thing crawled up
like creature that crawled up from a well in on top of a pile of scavenged equipment,
search of food. Blobs not being the smartest which its salvagers abandoned when they
creatures in Midgard, it wasnt able to crawl back into the beheld the gooey stuff.
well and has been slowly dying ever since.
Heroes willing to scoop their way through the crea-
If youre in or on the blob, youre on slippery tures oozy tissue and through the various pieces of
ground. The slippery ground affects 2/3 of area discarded equipment gain a category B treasure.

Points Earned: -15 (2/3 of area) Conditionally available; 1 Category A Treasure

and 1 Category B Treasure
TERRAIN COVER: WELL Points Earned: -10 (Category A Treasure);
An abandoned well leads to another branch of the -20 (Category B Treasure)
underground river the heroes have been encounter-
ing throughout the adventure. Its big enough to TRAP/HAZARD PARASITE IN THE TREASURE
lend half cover to a single hero.
Background: A slimy, blood-sucking slug has
Points Earned: -6 (half cover) nested itself inside the sack containing the
treasure. Without blood to suck gooey jelly-
fish just dont cut it the parasite has gone dormant.

COMBAT OPPONENTS CENTI-WERKS

Threat Predictable/
Name Type Mix Move Category Adjusts Self-Willed
#1 Centi-werk 1 15 Weak INIT +15, ATK -2, DNF -3 Predictable (+0)
#2 Centi-werk 1 15 Weak INIT +15, ATK -2, DNF -3 Predictable (+0)
#3 Centi-werk 1 15 Weak INIT +15, ATK -2, DNF -3 Predictable (+0)
#4 Centi-werk 1 15 Weak INIT +15, ATK -2, DNF -3 Predictable (+0)
#5 Centi-werk 1 15 Weak INIT +15, ATK -2, DNF -3 Predictable (+0)
#6 Centi-werk 1 15 Weak INIT +15, ATK -2, DNF -3 Predictable (+0)
Points Spent: 0

Background: These centi-werks were altered by a dwarven researcher so that theyd go out and gather interesting pro-
tein samples. He intends to use them to make a food-like paste especially nutritious to mecha-dwarves. Not that the
heroes will ever know this; they just see the centi-werks feeding on the blob.
When the centi-werks sensors sniff out the heady presence of sweating Viking, theyll stop gnawing at the blob and try to kill the
heroes in order to collect their tissue samples. Their owner kept their poison bites intact for just this sort of eventuality, hoping to
catch some big, strange creature rich in food value.

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 Chapter 7

GAIN BRAVERY IN THE FACE OF

PARASITISM
Closer Inspection: When it senses a warm-
blooded Viking mammal messing about with the The victim may make a Bravery roll to avoid embar-
treasure, the slug-like creature springs into action, rassing himself with frightened outbursts, showers
seeks out some exposed flesh, and burrows its way in. of flop-sweat, or other expressions of unseemly con-
cern over the slug rooting around under his skin.
Singular roll, conditionally avoidable by not root- Freestanding, Singular; roll Bravery vs.
ing around in goo for treasure, first exposure; roll Difficulty 6
Awareness vs. Difficulty 8, or suffer Dam rating
9, armor-ignoring, recurring. Points Earned: -10 (Freestanding Difficulty 6)

Any character can make the healing roll necessary to GAINS BUCKET TREASURE
find the parasite after it has burrowed under the vic-
tims skin, cut an incision, and then drug the slug Closer Inspection: Down the old well is a buck-
with medicine in order to make it go limp. It can et, covered over with burlap. Under the burlap
then be pulled out in one piece. are some treasures and some pieces of silver.

To end recurring damage: Singular: No-Fault; roll

Healing vs. Difficulty 6. Singular roll; roll Climb vs. Difficulty 6 to get 1
Category B, 1 Category E Treasure and 7 ounces
Points Spent: 20 (Difficulty 8); 22 (Dam rating 9 x of Liars Silver.
2.5 multiplier for recurring damage); 10 (Armor-
Ignoring) Points Spent: 0 (Difficulty 6); 7 (7 oz. Liars Silver
@ 1 each)
Points Earned: -25 (conditionally avoidable, first
exposure); -15 (roll to end damage is No-Fault) Points Gained: -20 (Category B Treasure);
-50 (Category E Treasure)

ENCOUNTER 5 COST TABLE

Points Points
Item Spent Item Earned
Slide Trap: Domino 20 To Jump?: Freestanding Diff. 6 -10
Slide Trap: Diff 8 20 Avoid Goo: Conditional Avoid -25
Slide Trap: Ambush 50 Slippery Ground -15
Avoid Goo: Diff 7 10 Cover: Half -6
Avoid Goo: Simultaneous 15 Limited Exits -10
Avoid Goo: 21 25 foot fall 42 Goo Treasure: Category A -10
Combat Opponents: Centi-werks 0 Goo Treasure: Category B -20
Parasite: Diff 8 20 Parasite: Conditional Avoid -25
Parasite: 9 Recurring Dam 22 Parasite: No-Fault -15
Parasite: Armor Ignoring 10 Parasite: Freestanding -10
Bucket Liars Treasure 7 Bucket Treasure: Category B -20
Bucket Treasure: Category E -50

Encounter Points Spent 216 Encounter Points Gained -216

Balance 0

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 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

Encounter 6: Longship of the Dead

Type: Cushion Encounter Hook: Underground

Event 1: A Fiendly Local Narration: When mollified, Mord claps the

speaker on the shoulder, explaining that it is
good to meet brave Vikings in such a dire place.
Narration: The heroes trudge along an under-
ground passageway until they meet a hunched, Here you lean forward and, as Mord, stage-whisper into the
one-eyed fellow who points a glowing staff at players ear: Cant be too careful, you know. These hall-
them. Halt, undead dogs of Loki! he cries, Or with my ways are crawling with undead.
Norns-staff I shall render your bones to paste! Mord invites the heroes back to his hidey-hole, assuring
them that it is warm and dry. Charms protect it from the
ever-sniffing noses of hungry zombies. They can rest,
Background: This is Mord, a thoroughly heal, and eat a humble yet hearty meal.
crazy member of the Dishonored who believes
himself to be still alive, still honorable, and Mord leads them down a narrow passageway. You hear an
still an implacable foe of all things undead and un-Viking. echoing sound like distorted song. Mord shudders. The
If the heroes approach him correctly, hell shelter them Dishonored sing to celebrate the deaths of more craven
for an evening, giving them a blessing to boot. (Later hell wretches, who will soon join their ranks.
be overcome by bestial hunger and start thinking about He sidles into a very narrow passageway. The heroes must
devouring their brains, but, hey, perfect hosts are hard to squeeze their way along it. Its a tight fit, especially for
find in the Underground.) the bigger members of the party. Finally it widens out
again. The heroes see a small wooden door, which Mord
unlocks with a rusty key at his belt. The door creaks open
GAIN MORDS BLESSING and Mord beckons them to enter.
The heroes must try to convince Mord that they are
honorable Vikings. GAIN SMUDGED CHARMS
Singular: Dogpile; roll Demeanor vs. Difficulty 6 Freestanding Roll, Singular: No-Fault; roll Lore
to gain 1 point of Invigoration (lasts until end of vs. Difficulty 6 to learn the following:
encounter) and access to shrine of Odin.
Closer Inspection: Observant characters may
Points Earned: -30 (1 combat); -20 (Invigoration notice that the charms chalked around the
affects 4 rolls to avoid traps or trigger gains); doorway and its threshold were once proper
-20 (Invigoration affects 2 Freestanding rolls); and efficacious wards against the undead, but that each
-20 (Shrine to Odin) and every one of them has been smudged. Although
theres a chance that the markings might still keep the
Dishonored out, it seems unlikely.

Points Earned: -10 (Freestanding Difficulty 6)

GAIN NOT ACTUALLY FISH

Freestanding Roll, Singular: No-Fault; roll
Awareness vs. Difficulty 6 to learn the following:
Closer Inspection: You realize that hes cook-
ing patties made of mulched moss and mush-
rooms, patted together to look like fish.

235
 Chapter 7

If the heroes still want to stick around and

heal, they begin to hear whisperings carried
Background: The food is perfectly safe and
to them by the peculiar acoustics of the pas-
nutritious. It tastes like chicken if chicken
sageway outside Mords hovel:
were made from fungus, that is.
Mmm, Mord is dead. Mmm, the living dwell within his
hovel. Mmm, we shall slay them.
Narration: Mord looks after the heroes for
about a day, but then warns the them away,
telling them that he has a prophetic gift, and If the players want to stand and fight, just come out
that terrible things will happen to them if they stay. He and tell them that these will be wandering monsters,
looks extremely haggard, and his hands are shaking. worth no victory points.

Background: After a day Mord begins to get GAIN LOOT CACHE

shaky. His bestial instincts are coming to the
If they kill Mord, they can use his place as a loot
fore again, and hes finding it harder to sup-
press them. He still wont admit his true nature, least of cache, with a Recovery Difficulty 6.
all to himself, but he has no intention of allowing the Points Earned: -20 (Difficulty 6 Loot Cache)
heroes to fall prey to his monstrous urges.

GAIN MORDS END Event 2: Skull-Lined Path

Singular: No-Fault roll; roll Insight vs. Difficulty Narration: The heroes continue along their
7 to learn the following, which leads to 20 victory way, gradually entering a sector of the
point gain. Underground that reeks of undeath. They reach
a narrow corridor allowing them to stand, at most, two
abreast. It slopes downwards slightly. The passageways
Closer Inspection: Mord has a secret he floor is paved with what at first seem to be very large cob-
wont admit even to himself. Hes afraid that blestones made of some soft and chalky stone. Then the
hell harm you, and so wants you to leave heroes realize that theyre treading on a carpet of human
before hes driven to commit an evil act. skulls. Some of the skulls are upturned, so that you can
If confronted with this, Mord breaks down and begins to see their faces.
weep. Finally he accepts what he is, and begs the heroes As the passageway continues, its walls and ceiling begin
to slay him once and for all. Although he will never get to display these mortar-embedded skulls, until the entire
to Valhalla, at least he can keep himself out of Hels tunnel is lined with them.
clutches, and will not be made to march against the gods
when Ragnarok comes.
The tearful, shuddering Mord does not resist his beheading. Background: Some of the skulls are magical
traps created with Hels blessing to harm
intruders into her realm.
Points Spent: 10 (Difficulty 7)
Points Earned: -20 (20 victory points @ 1 each) Ask the heroes what order theyre standing in.

If he is slain in this manner, 10 of the above victo- TRAP/HAZARD SKULL ORCHARD

ry points go to the hero who discovered his secret,
and 10 to the one who performs the execution. Narration: One of the skulls glows red, emit-
Obviously, if the same hero does both, he gets all ting an eyebeam that sweeps the corridor, final-
ly directing itself at the two heroes at the head
20 points. of the marching order, and the one in the back. They
If heroes cant agree on who gets to kill Mord, they stand shuddering in the beams for a few moments, their
hair curling and beards burning.
can jockey with one another, in a Rush (p. 132.)

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 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

Standard roll, limited targeting (chooses targets

by marching order); Divine Awareness vs.
Event 3: The Dread Ship Itself
Difficulty 6 or suffer 5 Impairment to Single Narration: The skull-lined passageway leads
Weapon Ability, lasts for next combat sequence. directly to a large cavern. As the heroes
approach it, they realize that theyd been hear-
Points Spent: 0 (Limited Targeting, 3 heroes); ing something, but had been too distracted by snapping
50 (5 points of specific Impairment @ 10 and eye-beaming skulls to pay full heed. The singing they
points each) heard earlier is emanating from the chamber theyre now
approaching.
Narration: Then the skulls underneath the Dominating the chamber is a Viking longship cobbled
heroes feet all shift in the mortar to bring their together from rotting wood. Sitting on the deck and
snapping jaws up towards the soles of Viking carousing with upturned flagons is a group of
boots, and start chomping away. Dishonored, pathetically pretending that they are still
alive and cruising towards home along the Baltic Sea,
their ship laden with booty.
TRAP/HAZARD SNAPPING JAWS
When they see living Vikings entering their domain, they
Standard; roll Jump vs. Difficulty 6, extra rolls are overcome with envy for the living, and attack.
required: 3 rounds,* 3 dice Dam rating,
ignores armor.
TRAP/HAZARD BONY BALLISTA
*Three rounds is how long it takes to get through
Mounted on the sides of the ship are gigantic,
the section of corridor with the biting skulls.
bizarre missile weapons born of an unholy union of
Points Spent: 15 (3 extra rolls); 15 (3 dice Dam Lokis magic and dwarven technology.
rating); 10 (Ignores Armor)
There are three of these large, metallic contraptions,
each the size of a man. From long barrels they fire
flaming skull missiles at the heroes. Each requires two
Dishonored to operate; one to turn the big wheel that
pivots and aims the barrel, the other to load blood-
soaked skulls into its breech. Once fired, the skulls
acquire a halo of black flame that trails behind them
as they swerve through the air towards the heroes.
Singular: Rush, only targeted heroes suffer effects if
they fail, limited targeting zeroes in on three

EVENT 3 COMBAT OPPONENTS DISHONORED

Threat Predictable/
Name Type Mix Move Category Adjusts Self-Willed
Heiki Dishonored 1 15 Weak None Predictable
Injald Dishonored 1 15 Weak None Predictable
Asgerd Dishonored 1 15 Weak None Predictable
Starkadt Dishonored 1 15 Weak None Predictable
Grim Dishonored 1 15 Weak None Predictable
Ketil Dishonored 1 15 Weak None Predictable
Busla Dishonored 1 15 Weak None Predictable

Points Spent: 0

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 Chapter 7

heroes who scored highest INIT results this round; TERRAIN ADDITIONAL LEVELS:
roll Dodge vs. Difficulty 11 to avoid 1 point of DECKS OF LONGSHIP
Impairment, specific to DFN; extra rolls There are three additional levels. The outer deck of
required, every round until one of the two the longship is 10 feet from the ground; the center
Dishonored operating each of the three cannons is deck is five feet lower than that, and the front deck
drawn into melee combat. 5 feet higher.
Points Spent: 50 (Difficulty 12); 0 (Limited target- Points Earned: -15 (3 levels @ 5 per level)
ing: 3 heroes); 10 (1 point of specific Impairment
for 1 combat sequence @ 10 points each); TERRAIN WEIRD MAGIC
25 (extra rolls until condition is met)
The ancient longship gives +2 to both sides DAM
scores
TERRAIN BARRIERS: JUNK ON DECK
1. Discarded planks Points Earned: -10 (+2 increase @ 5 each)
2. Corpse of slain Dishonored, decapitated in a
recent argument
3. Rocks
4. Empty amphorae (ancient clay jugs)
5. Rotting crate
6. Chair
Points Earned: -12 (-3 per barrier [up to 4]; does
not count against 3-feature limit)

ENCOUNTER 6 COST TABLE

Points Points
Item Spent Item Earned
Mords End: Diff 7 10 Mord: Combat Invigoration -30
Skull Orchard: Impairment 50 Mord: 4 rolls Invigoration -20
Snapping Jaws: 3 extra rolls 15 Mord: 2 Freestanding Invigoration -20
Snapping Jaws: 3 Dam Dice 15 Mord: Shrine to Odin -20
Snapping Jaws: Ignores Armor 10 Smudged Charms: Freestanding 6 -10
Ballista: Diff 12 50 Not Fish: Freestanding 6 -10
Ballista: Impairment 10 Mords End: 20 Victory Points -20
Ballista: Extra Rolls 25 Loot Cache -20
Combat Opponent: Dishonored 0 Barriers -12
Additional Levels -15
Weird Magic -10

Encounter Points Spent 185 Encounter Points Gained -187

Balance -2

238
 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

Encounter 7: Rescue of the Rune

Type: Plot Climax Encounter Hook: Underground

Narration: As the heroes continue on through further natural limestone caverns, none of which betrays signs of
the precision engineering and workmanship typical of the dwarven realm, they begin to hear crashing and banging
noises which definitely do remind them of dwarf machinery. The sound seems to come from all around them, yet
they spend many fruitless hours following the noises down dank and circuitous passageways, none of which end up at an
entrance to a dwarven area.
A clattering noise of metal on stone periodically repeats. On several occasions, they spot its source: spider-werks, nosing
around after them. They keep moving and avoid the spider-werks.

If a player gets over-eager and wants to go charging after the spider-werks in search of victory points, remind
him that these count as wandering monsters.

Event 1: Ill Have Vegetarians Background: Indeed, these goblins are here

With That, Please to send one of their number off on a holy pil-
grimage. He intends to go to the truth-forsak-
en land of Nidavellir, where the ignorant, benighted
Narration: Finally the heroes reach a promis- dwarves live. The pilgrim, whose name is Vuja, will preach
ing-looking chamber. The room is typical lime- to them, bringing them enlightenment which will inspire
stone cavern, but smack dab in the center of them to abandon slavery, the eating of meat, and the use
one of its walls is a fifteen-foot-high door, made of some of helpless living creatures in their strange experiments.
unfamiliar gleaming metal. The door seems to vibrate, as Or so the plan goes.
if rattled by some enormous thrumming machine on the
other side. Enthusiastic about their cause, the goblins are only
Gathered around the door are about half a dozen sickly- too happy to share the above information if asked.
looking goblins, all wearing robes and walking with an Until the Vikings make clear their nonviolent inten-
upright posture more typical of men (well, effete out- tions (assuming they exist), the vegetarians will eye
landers) than of goblinkind. them warily, as they would any blood-maddened,
predatory beasts.
GAIN SPOT THE VEGETARIAN However, a friendly approach will not only put the gob-
Freestanding roll, Singular: No-Fault; roll Lore lins at their ease, but bring about an invitation to trade.
vs. Difficulty 6 to learn the following: GAIN BARGAINING OPPORTUNITY
Points Earned: -10 (Freestanding Difficulty 6)
Singular: Dogpile; roll Demeanor vs. Difficulty 6
to get bargaining opportunity (vs. +1 bonus) with
Closer Inspection: Heroes making successful
Lore rolls identify these goblins as vegetarians. Vujas comrades.
Their strange religious beliefs cause them to Points Earned: -15 (Bargaining opportunity);
forswear violence and the consumption of flesh includ-
ing that of wary explorers. The goblins might try to bore
-10 (Opposed bonus 1)
the Vikings with annoying talk of their false beliefs, but The goblins are traders. Cashing in silver for equip-
will not attempt to harm them.
ment and vice versa supplements their meager living.
It also gives Viking raiding parties motivation not to
kill them. They will buy any equipment the heroes
wish to sell, exchanging it for silver. The oldest-looking
goblin, whose name is Bluvon, does most

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 Chapter 7

of the talking. He requires the Vikings down into the ground. If he is with Vuja, the goblin is
to swear on their gods to trade honest- pulped, as above. If he took the device from Vuja, he
ly, and that they will not engage in ambush during the feels the thing vibrate in his hand as he gets closer to
exchange. Thus if the heroes do decide to kill the gob- the door. It wont work except within the trap range.
lins and take their stuff, the displeasure of their gods
cancels out any victory points theyd otherwise get for TRAP/HAZARD CRUSHING TRAP
the silver. (The Aesir have no problem with their peo- Singular: Rush, conditionally avoidable (by let-
ple killing outlanders and taking their goods, but look ting Vuja open the door himself) on first exposure;
on oath breakers as the spawn of Loki.) roll Dodge vs. Difficulty 6, or suffer Dam rating
If the heroes wont swear on their gods, the goblins 25, ignores armor.
wont trade with them, revising any favorable Closer Inspection: If the heroes prevented
impression created by the above Demeanor roll. The Vuja from approaching the door, he, naturally,
goblins are non-combatants; killing them yields no survives this incident. He tells them that they
victory points, either. If the heroes decide to attack have obviously been sent by the martyred prophets of
anyway, despite all indications of the worthlessness vegetarianism to aid him in his holy quest.
of the attempt, dont waste time rolling up the fight.
Just describe the gruesome, piteous deaths of the Points Spent: 35 (Dam rating 25); 10 (Ignores Armor)
defenseless vegetarians in a few sentences, and then
get on with the adventure. Points Earned: -25 (Conditionally avoidable, first
exposure)
Narration: When all trading is taken care of,
Vujas comrades bid him a solemn farewell, If Vuja is alive, get the players to specify their march-
wishing him luck on his heroic pilgrimage. ing order as they cross the threshold of the now-open
Bluven says he looks forward to the valiant tales he will door into the passageway beyond. Make sure you find
tell upon his return. Then the others depart. Vuja stands out where Vuja is in this order. As soon as he crosses,
in front of the big door, in nervous anticipation. He with- he is targeted by another trap. A pair of craftwerk ten-
draws a glowing wand and points it at the door.
tacles shoot out from the walls towards him. This hap-
pens no matter where he is in the marching order.
Closer Inspection: If asked, he explains that
they found this key in a gremlin lair, and reck- GAIN TENTACLE DEFLECTION
on that it might open the door.
The hero either directly in front of or right behind
What happens next depends on how controlling the Vuja can make a Freestanding roll to catch the ten-
heroes wish to be. tacles with a shield or parrying weapon, deflecting
them from Vujas head and saving his life.
If Vuja is allowed to proceed unmolested:
Freestanding roll; roll Single Weapon, Great
Narration: Vuja approaches the door, points Weapon, Longshaft Weapon or Two Weapons vs.
the wand at it, and furrows his brow, as if try-
ing to work the thing with his mind. The gigan-
Difficulty 6.
tic door then slams down flat on the ground in front of Points Spent: -10 (Freestanding Difficulty 6)
it, like a drawbridge, crushing Vuja to pulp. Orange-tint-
ed goblin blood oozes slowly out from under the door. If the heros roll fails (or is not made), one of the
tentacles scythes forward with its bladed business
The heroes may now waltz in across the lowered end and, in one bloody stroke, pops Vujas head off
door, entering Nidavellir. its shoulders. The other tentacle grabs his severed
head by the hair and repeatedly bashes it against the
If the heroes interfere with Vujas actions:
metal walls until it is just a red, meaty ball.
Any hero standing directly in front of the door, with-
in 15 feet of its threshold, is himself The heroes face no danger from this trap. This next,
caught under the trap when it slams one, however, threatens everyone.

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 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

Event 2: The Shaking Room

Closer Inspection: A character well-versed in
Narration: The party continues through corri- adventuring lore (ie. one who makes a successful
dors of worked metal. On several occasions Lore roll) will recall that dwarf traps are some-
they narrowly avoid spider-werk attacks by times triggered by tiny magical eyes the dwarves install in
quickly ducking behind corners, evading the machines the corridors of Nidavellir. The little glass eyes, which are
detection abilities. Then they enter a large square room. very hard to see, notice when objects pass by them, and
activate the trap. Usually there is an eye situated on either
side of the corridor, directly across from each other. In
TRAP SHAKEN LIKE DICE IN A CUP rare circumstances, you can see dust motes caught between
Singular: No-Fault; roll Lore vs. Difficulty 9 to the two eyes; they sparkle like red fairy-dust.
recall the info in the text block, below.
If the heroes score at least one success on each roll,
Then also make a simultaneous roll, Singular: No- they see the chest-height magic beam and can
Fault; roll Awareness vs. Difficulty 6 to spot and carefully limbo under it, avoiding the trap.
avoid the detectors
If not, steel doors immediately slam shut as soon as
Both rolls are No-Fault, meaning that everyone can they enter the room, both at the entrance they came
try and the heroes need only a single success at each. through, and at the exit opposite it. Then, with the
If no one makes this, suffer 7 dice Dam rating, whirring of well-oiled gears, the entire room lifts up
ignores armor; acts as an alarm, grants upcoming and turns upside down. It then vibrates up and
foes +7 INIT bonus on first round of combat. down at an extremely rapid rate, tossing the heroes
Points Spent: 10 (Difficulty 7); 15 (Simultaneous like dice in a box being shaken by a monstrous child.
Roll); 43 (7 dice damage); 10 (ignores armor); In addition to the foes immediately below, the alarm
14 (grants foes +7 INIT @ 2 encounter points also benefits the dwarves in the next encounter.
per INIT point)
Points Earned: -15 (Lore No-Fault); -15 (Awareness
No-Fault)

EVENT 2 COMBAT OPPONENTS DWARVEN CENTURIONS

Narration: A quintet of dwarven centurions await the heroes when the trap stops shaking and its other door opens. The
door opens as soon as a hero gets nose-to-nose with it. This leaves him open for an attack by the centurion standing on
the other side when the steel door zips up into the wall above it. (The door the heroes came through stays shut.)

To take advantage of his +7 Initiative bonus, the dwarf in the lead attacks right away, so that at least the ini-
tial exchange takes place in the doorway. His companion wont be able to fight until he moves or falls; like-
wise, only one hero will be able to attack the point man. However, if the hero retreats back into the room, both
dwarves will enter, brimming with foolish overconfidence.
Threat Predictable/
Name Type Mix Move Category Adjusts Self-Willed
Deugrasch the Eager Centurion 0.6 15 Inferior INIT -2. ATK -2, DNF -3, DAM +7 Self-Willed (+10)
Thembrodt of the Varicolored Robe Centurion 0.6 15 Inferior INIT -2. ATK -2, DNF -3, DAM +7 Predictable
Yarosh of the Questioning Gaze Centurion 0.6 15 Inferior INIT -2. ATK -2, DNF -3, DAM +7 Predictable
Zangschidt the Humorless Centurion 0.6 15 Inferior INIT -2. ATK -2, DNF -3, DAM +7 Predictable
Florian the Fleet Centurion 0.6 15 Inferior INIT -2. ATK -2, DNF -3, DAM +7 Predictable

Points Spent: +10 (Deugrash Self-Willed)

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 Chapter 7

TERRAIN LIMITED EXITS We figure that the blood ought to cover about
There is only one exit, the other door will lock half of the area, but this will vary from one run
behind them; two heroes can exit per round. of this encounter to the next. Blood spills can,
naturally, overlap.
Points Earned: -10 (1 exit, 2 heroes per round)
If youre playing quick and loose, without a hex
TERRAIN SLIPPERY GROUND map or miniatures, just designate roughly half of
the area as blood-covered.
The floors of the steel room are made slippery by
the heroes own blood, as extracted from them by Points Earned: -10 (slippery ground, half of area)
the impact damage of the shaking-room trap. For
every hero who suffers actual damage from the trap,
one area of the floor is bloodied. The size, in hexes, GAIN POCKET CHANGE
of the blood pool, depends on the amount of dam- Between them, the centurions have 7 ounces of silver.
age the donating hero suffered.
Points Earned: -7 (7 silver @ 1 per)
Heroes suffering actual damage of 10 or less
create splatter pattern #1, as seen in the dia-
gram below.
11 to 19 lost hit points leads to splatter pattern #2.
20 to 29 hit points arrange themselves into pat-
tern #3.
Hit point losses of and 30 and up manifest them-
selves in pattern #4.

BLOOD SPLATTER DIAGRAM

In this diagram, each splatter pattern has an X in or near the middle. This is its originating hex. For each bleeding hero,
randomly position the center point of the blood spatter by rolling one d10 for the horizontal axis and another for the
vertical. Each axis is divided into ten hexes, which are numbered for your convenience. If a center point is too close to
a wall to draw the full pattern, just ignore the bits that otherwise would go beyond the wall.

PATTERN 1
(10 HP or less)
PATTERN 2
(11-19 HP)
PATTERN 3
(20-29 HP)
PATTERN 4
(30 or more HP)

242
 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

Event 3: Save the Rune! Part A: The Scaffold

Singular: Scramble, conditionally avoidable by
Narration: The action picks up again with the declining to save the rune (remains in effect),
heroes moving through the gleaming hallways unlimited extra rolls allowed, requires a combat
of Nidavellir. If they set off the trap but beat
the centurions, theyre probably traveling quickly, know-
action; roll Climb vs. Difficulty 8, any failure caus-
ing that theyve already alerted anyone else in the com- es 21 25 foot fall (Dam rating 20/30).
plex. Otherwise, theyre probably heading cautiously
Points Spent: 10 (requires combat action);
down the eerily well-lit corridors. Finally they reach a
door in need of opening. 10 (Difficulty 7); 32 (21 25 foot fall)
Points Earned: -20 (Conditionally avoidable, remains
CARROT/STICK COMBO DOOR OPENING in effect); -20 (unlimited extra rolls allowed)
Singular: Rush; roll Pick Locks vs. Difficulty 6, Part B: Knocking Off the Technicians
success grants +9 INIT for 3 rounds, failure grants
same to foes. Detaching the hose is easy, but first the heroes must
dispose of the four technicians who are each affixing
Points Spent: 45 (+9 INIT bonus to foes @ 5 per 3 a hose. They count as noncombatants and do not
points x 3 rounds) garner victory points. All the heroes have to do is hit
Points Earned: -45 (+9 INIT bonus @ 5 per 3 them once (making an ATK roll vs. an uncontested
points x 3 rounds) Difficulty of 6) and they plummet from the scaf-
folding. They land in the huge pool of electrically
Narration: When the heroes bust the door charged gel below the rune. On their way down,
down, they see a steam-filled room lined with theyre hit by bolts of lightning (see below) that arc
strange dwarven equipment. This equipment
out of the pool. They land, smoldering and singed,
lines most of the walls, and is stacked almost to the top
of the chambers forty-foot-high, domed ceiling. In the in the pool, and are either incapacitated or dead.
middle of the room is the heroes village rune; it is sus- Singular: Action Sink (p. 135; 4 successes need-
pended from heavy chains, which are in turn attached to
a scaffold. As the heroes enter, dwarven technicians are
ed); roll Brawling or any melee weapon Ability
affixing huge metal tubes to the surface of the rune. Ever- vs. Difficulty 6, or all heroes suffer 20 point victo-
enlarging cracks spider-web out from each of these points ry deduction.
of attachment. The rune itself pulses erratically; the lumi-
nous magic that usually illuminates the letter is now ema- Points Spent: 40 (4 successes needed @ 10 each);
nating from the cracks, too. 20 (trap triggered if successes not scored by com-
bats end); 20 (20 victory point deduction @ 1 each)
GAIN THE RUNES IN DANGER! TERRAIN ADDITIONAL LEVELS: SCAFFOLD
Freestanding roll, Singular: No-Fault; roll Divine The scaffold also figures as a terrain feature, provid-
Awareness, Difficulty 6 to know the following: ing 3 additional levels. The scaffold has levels of
planking at the 5, 15, and 25 foot levels.
Closer Inspection: If the heroes dont get
those hose things off the rune in the next few Points Earned: -15 (-5 per level)
rounds, it will be destroyed. Their village will
face ruin, and Lokis power over the Aesir will grow.
TERRAIN DECOYS: TECHNICIANS
These decoys are 3 additional technicians who are
Points Earned: -10 (Freestanding Difficulty 6)
located on ground level when the fight begins. (The
TRAP/HAZARD SCAFFOLD AND RUNE technicians on the scaffolding dont act like stan-
dard decoys, because they exist only to be shoved off
The heroes must risk one hazard (climbing the scaf- the platform, at which point they are out of play.)
fold) in order to deal with the other (loss of status
from runes possible destruction.) Points Earned: -30 (3 decoys @ 10 each)

243
 Chapter 7

TERRAIN SLIPPERY GROUND: POOL OF GEL

TRAP LIGHTNING BOLTS The aforementioned pool of blue gel lies in the
Bolts of electricity continually course between dwar- middle of the room. It counts as slippery ground
ven machines and the pool of gel; once per round, but garners no points, as it covers less than a third
one of them is powerful enough to deal damage to of the rooms area.
a combatant on either side of the fight. These are
normal laboratory conditions for the inhabitants of TERRAIN MEGADWARF
the room, and theyve grown adept at anticipating Rising from the blue gel, with the rune suspended
the path of the lightning and at dodging when above it, is the brass frame of a megadwarfs arms and
theyre wrong. In other words, as usual, the foes are torso. The biological portion of this work in progress
never in danger from the designers traps. has not yet been installed. The thing waves around its
clockwork arms whenever anyone gets close to it, but
Singular, repeat shots (targets 1 hero, random its flailings are not fast enough to constitute a hazard
check each round, heroes behind covers or obstacles to either the heroes or the dwarves. Each time one of
not counted in random roll, to end repeat shots 1 the hoses is detached from the rune, the frame begins
hero must spend an action destroying some dwarven to rattle and smoke. When the last one is removed, it
machinery, no roll required); roll Dodge vs. deactivates completely, accompanied by a brief shower
Difficulty 6 or take Dam rating 20. of sparks and a loud crackling noise.
Points Spent: 25 (repeat shots, targets 1 hero per
round); 25 (Dam rating 20) TRAP THE OBLIGATORY FINAL EXPLOSION
Narration: Not long after the last dwarf falls
TERRAIN ADDITIONAL LEVEL:
TRACKED VEHICLE to Viking axes, the equipment in the room
begins to shiver and shake, giving off clouds of
Also present is the large tracked vehicle used to dense and acrid smoke. The Vikings must either run for
truck the rune from the heroes home village. It is the exit or the cab of the weird vehicle, to shield them-
parked too tightly against the wall to act as cover. selves from an imminent explosion.
However, it is high and flat, and heroes could treat
it as yet another additional level (10 feet high at the Characters get one rounds worth of movement to
cab, 5 feet high in the back) if they so desire. position themselves for the blast.

EVENT 3 COMBAT OPPONENTS DWARVEN TECHS AND WERKS

Threat Predictable/
Name Type Mix Move Category Adjusts Self-Willed
Helmspur the Runator* Medic 1 15 Equal ATK -4, DNF -3, DAM +4 Predictable (+0)
Prototype Y** Mecha-dwarf 3 15 Exceptional None Self-Willed (+35)
Heino Centurion 0.5 15 Weak INIT -2, ATK -2, DNF -3, DAM +7 Predictable (+0)
Yona Centurion 0.5 15 Weak INIT -2, ATK -2, DNF -3, DAM +7 Predictable (+0)
#1 Spider-werk 0.3 15 Pitiful DAM +12, HP -10 Predictable (+0)
#2 Spider-werk 0.3 15 Pitiful DAM +12, HP -10 Predictable (+0)
#3 Spider-werk 0.3 15 Pitiful DAM +12, HP -10 Predictable (+0)

* Helmspur is the technician in charge of the experiment and the mastermind behind the rune theft. He cackles maniacally whenever
he acts in combat.
** Prototype Y doesnt deliver the extremely nasty damage typical of his kind. Hes tough enough as it is. Perhaps his blades are due for
a sharpening or something.

Points Spent: 35 (Prototype Y Self-Willed)

244
 Sample Adventure:
The Stolen Rune

Standard roll; roll Sprint vs. Difficulty 7, or suffer Tell the hero with the highest rat-
effects of raging fire (p. 152). ing in Traps or, failing that, Pick
Lock, that hes succeeded in starting the thing up.
Points Spent: 10 (Difficulty 7); 36 (raging fire)
Dont require a roll, as this is just background detail.
GAINS TREASURE Narration: The heroes follow the vehicles tracks
After this final outburst of destruction, the heroes out through the other exit and manage to retrace
can search the smoldering wreckage for various trea- its trail out of Nidavellir, through the
Underground, and home. Although a few monsters appear
sures. They find 1 treasure each from Categories A, to briefly menace them, most would-be enemies seem
C, D, and F plus two Category B Treasures. intimidated by the giant vehicle and give them a wide berth.
Points Earned: -10 (Category A); -40 (2 Category B); When they arrive back in their home village, a throng of
-30 (Category C); -40 (Category D); -75 (Category F) hopeful relatives await them. When they see that the
heroes have recovered the rune, there is much rejoicing.
Central to the celebrations is the ritual burning of the
Finishing Touches foul and unclean dwarven vehicle. Thatll show them!
The heroes are toasted long into the night. Soon even the
Once the heroes have dispatched the dwarves and heavily injured ones look forward to finding an excuse to
located their loot, they can rev up the strange trudge back into the mysterious world of the
dwarven vehicle and head back to Scandinavia. Underground so they can kill things and take their stuff.

ENCOUNTER 7 COST TABLE

Points Points
Item Spent Item Earned
Crushing Trap: Dam 25 35 Spot Vegetarian: Freestanding 6 -10
Crushing Trap: Ignores Armor 10 Goblin Bargaining Opportunity -15
Shaking Trap: Diff 7 10 Goblin Bargaining Opp. Bonus 1 -10
Shaking Trap: Simultaneous Roll 15 Crushing Trap: Conditional Avoid -25
Shaking Trap: 7 dice damage 43 Tentacle Deflect: Freestanding 6 -10
Shaking Trap: Ignores Armor 10 Shaking Trap: No-Fault #1 -15
Shaking Trap: Grants Foes +7 INIT 14 Shaking Trap: No-Fault #2 -15
Combat Opponents: Centurion Self-willed 10 Limited Exits -10
Door Opening: +9 INIT for 3 rounds 45 Slippery Ground -10
Scaffold: Combat Action Required 10 Pocket Change: Silver -7
Scaffold: Diff 7 10 Door Opening: +9 INIT for 3 rounds -45
Scaffold: fall 32 Scaffold: Conditional Avoid -20
Techies: Action Sink, 4 40 Scaffold: Extra Rolls Allowed -20
Techies: Triggered if successes <4 20 Scaffold: Terrain, 3 levels -15
Techies: Victory Deduction 20 Decoys -30
Lightning: Repeat Shots 25 Freestanding: Rune in Danger Diff 6 -10
Lightning: Dam rating 20 25 Treasure Category A -10
Combat Opponents: Prototype Self-willed 35 Treasure Category B (2) -40
Explosion: Diff 7 10 Treasure Category C -30
Explosion: Raging Fire 36 Treasure Category D -40
Treasure Category F -75

Encounter Points Spent 455 Encounter Points Gained -462

Balance -7

245
 Appendix

Maps, Forms, and

Cheat-Sheets
Here you will find all the maps, hero sheets, and runners aids nesessary for a proper
game of Viking mayhem. Feel free to photocopy any of the material in this section for
your personal use. Its also available for download at our website: www.atlas-games.com.
The first few pages of this appendix contain the maps for our sample adventure, The
Stolen Rune. Clever (and possibly Loki-touched) pillagers will notice we didnt include
maps for Encounter 1 or the first combat event of Encounter 2. Since neither of these
events contain terrain we didnt think special maps were necessary.
The final section is devoted to Hero Sheets, Foe Sheets, and several forms to help you
design and run encounters.

ENCOUNTER 2, EVENT 3
ELDGRIM AND THE LAVA PIT

Rock
Pile
Iron Maiden

Crane
Hardened
Magma Flow

Trolls
Haurapir
Metal ENTRANCE
Debris
Lava Pit

Lower Level

Copyright 2001 Trident Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use.
 ENTRANCE

1 HEX = 4 PACES ENCOUNTER 3, EVENT 3

POUNDING WAVES
Underground
Spider-Werks River

Sloped Banks
Turbines
(No Cover)

Waterfall

Spider-Werks

Prototype
Craftwerk

Rusting
Dwarven
Contraption
ENTRANCE

Busted Door

ENCOUNTER 4, EVENT 3
HARD DAYS
FOR MINIONS Barricades
Dark Vikings
and Dishonored
Trash

Barricades

Altar Second Level

Glowing
Thing
Chasm

Statue of Loki

1 HEX = 2 PACES

Copyright 2001 Trident Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use.
ENCOUNTER 5 1 HEX = 2 PACES
JELLYFISH,
GLORIOUS JELLYFISH
Centi-werks

ENTRANCE
(From Ceiling)

Well

ENCOUNTER 6 EVENT 3
THE DREAD SHIP ITSELF

Body
Chair

Outer Deck
Front Deck
Planks Ballista Center Deck

Longship
Dishonored Crate

Amphorae
Rocks

ENTRANCE

1 HEX = 2 PACES

Copyright 2001 Trident Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use.
 ENCOUNTER 7 EVENT 2
1-1 1-2 1-3 1-4 1-5 1-6 1-7 1-8 1-9 1-0
THE SHAKING ROOM
2-1 2-2 2-3 2-4 2-5 2-6 2-7 2-8 2-9 2-0

3-1 3-2 3-3 3-4 3-5 3-6 3-7 3-8 3-9 3-0

ENTRANCE
(Locked During 4-1 4-2 4-3 4-4 4-5 4-6 4-7 4-8 4-9 4-0 Centurions
Combat) Enter Here
5-1 5-2 5-3 5-4 5-5 5-6 5-7 5-8 5-9 5-0

6-1 6-2 6-3 6-4 6-5 6-6 6-7 6-8 6-9 6-0

7-1 7-2 7-3 7-4 7-5 7-6 7-7 7-8 7-9 7-0

8-1 8-2 8-3 8-4 8-5 8-6 8-7 8-8 8-9 8-0

9-1 9-2 9-3 9-4 9-5 9-6 9-7 9-8 9-9 9-0

0-1 0-2 0-3 0-4 0-5 0-6 0-7 0-8 0-9 0-0

1 HEX = 2 PACES
ENTRANCE
ENCOUNTER 7 EVENT 3
SAVE THE RUNE!

Centurion
Centurion

Technician
Scaffold Partial Mega-dwarf
(3 Levlels) and Rune
(suspedned above)

Technician Technician

Strange
Dwarven Medic
Machinery

Tracked Vehicle
(Extra Level)
Mecha-dwarf

1 HEX = 2 PACES

Copyright 2001 Trident Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use.
 RUNE HERO SHEET FIGHTING ABILITIES
Rating Notes
Bows (Per) 1 1
HEROS NAME: Brawling (Dex) 1 1
Chain Weapon (Dex) 1 1
WINS: TOTAL VPS: 1 Great Weapon (Dex) 1 1
Spent VPs: 1 Longshaft Weapon (Dex) 1 1
1 Single Weapon (Dex) 1 1
Free VPs: 1 Thrown Weapon (Per) 1 1
Two Weapons (Dex) 1 1

CHARACTERISTICS HIT POINTS EXPLORATORY ABILITIES

Rating Maximum Current Rating Notes
Strength (STR) 1 1 1 Animal Handling (Pre) 1 1
Awareness (Per) 1 1
Stamina (STA) 1 WOUND THRESHOLD: Balance (Dex) 1 1
Dexterity (DEX) 1 Bravery (Str) 1 1
1
Quickness (QIK) 1 Climb (Str) 1 1
1 Dodge (Qik) 1 1
Intelligence (INT) WOUNDS Healer (Per, Dex) 1 1
Perception (PER) 1
Presence (PRE) 1 33333
33333 Jump (Str)
Lore (Int)
1
1
1
1
Communication (COM) 1 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 Map (Int) 1 1
(INCAP)(DEAD) Pick Lock (Dex) 1 1
IMPORTANT NUMBERS Pursuit (Per) 1 1
Repair (Dex) 1 1
1 IMPAIRMENT/INVIGORATION
Encumbrance (ENC) Ride (Dex) 1 1
1 1 1
33333
ENC Decrease Seamanship (Sta, Int)
Move 1 Ski (Dex) 1 1
-2 -1 0 +1 +2 Sleep (Sta) 1 1
Soak 1 Sprint (Str) 1 1
Response (RES) 1 Stealth (Dex) 1 1
Survival (Int) 1 1
Swim (Str, Sta) 1 1
Traps (Dex) 1 1
COMBAT SCORES
ATTACK INIT ATK DFN DAM INTERACTION ABILITIES
Score Score Score Score Rating Notes
Bargain (Com) 1 1
Carouse (Sta) 1 1
Deception (Pre) 1 1
Demeanor (Com) 1 1
Disguise (Int) 1 1
Gamble (Int, Per, Qik) 1 1
Insight (Com) 1 1
Leadership (Pre) 1 1
Music (Com) 1 1
Runes (Int) 1 1
Sing (Sta) 1 1
Skald (Pre, Int) 1 1

MISC. ABILITIES
Rating Notes
Divine Awareness (Pre) 1 1
Fist or Kick
Non-Combat Action

Copyright 2001 Trident Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use.
 EQUIPMENT DIVINE GIFTS
WEAPONS Init Atk Dfn Dam Ability Load Patron Level
rating rating rating rating

ARMOR Prot Init Load

rating rating

SHIELDS Init Atk Dfn Dam Ability Load

rating rating rating rating

OTHER ITEMS Load

HELMS OF POWER Patron Level

LEGENDARY ITEMS Patron Level

LOOT number damage value in Load DIVINE CONNECTIONS

of items modifier oz. silver
Deity Rating Deity Rating
Angrboda 1 Odin 1
Asjandr 1 Thor 1
Freyja 1 Tyr 1
Freyr 1 Ull 1
Ounces Silver Heimdal 1 Urd 1
Hoder 1
Ounces Liars Silver
Loki 1
TOTAL LOAD: 5 Njord 1

Copyright 2001 Trident Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use.
 RUNE DESIGNERS NOTES
EncounterTitle:
Type: Event Title:
Hook: Event Number:

Narration: Closer Inspection: Background:

Cost Sheet
Item Notes and Details Cost

ENCOUNTER POINTS SPENT/GAINED:

Copyright 2001 Trident Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use.
 RUNE FOE SHEET

Name: Soak: 1 COMBAT SCORES

Type: 1 Hit Points: 1 INIT ATK DFN DAM
Score Score Score Score
Threat: 1 Wound Threshold: 1
Melee
Adjusts: 1
IMPAIRMENT AND
Move: 1 WOUNDS INVIGORATION Missile

Mix: 1 66666 66666 Special:

-1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -2 -1 0 +1 +2
Might: 1 (I) (D)

Self Will? (Y/N) Cost: 1

Name: Soak: 1 COMBAT SCORES

Type: 1 Hit Points: 1 INIT ATK DFN DAM
Score Score Score Score
Threat: 1 Wound Threshold: 1
Melee
Adjusts: 1
IMPAIRMENT AND
Move: 1 WOUNDS INVIGORATION Missile

Mix: 1 66666 66666 Special:

-1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -2 -1 0 +1 +2
Might: 1 (I) (D)

Self Will? (Y/N) Cost: 1

Name: Soak: 1 COMBAT SCORES

Type: 1 Hit Points: 1 INIT ATK DFN DAM
Score Score Score Score
Threat: 1 Wound Threshold: 1
Melee
Adjusts: 1
IMPAIRMENT AND
Move: 1 WOUNDS INVIGORATION Missile

Mix: 1 66666 66666 Special:

-1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -2 -1 0 +1 +2
Might: 1 (I) (D)

Self Will? (Y/N) Cost: 1

Name: Soak: 1 COMBAT SCORES

Type: 1 Hit Points: 1 INIT ATK DFN DAM
Score Score Score Score
Threat: 1 Wound Threshold: 1
Melee
Adjusts: 1
IMPAIRMENT AND
Move: 1 WOUNDS INVIGORATION Missile

Mix: 1 66666 66666 Special:

-1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -2 -1 0 +1 +2
Might: 1 (I) (D)

Self Will? (Y/N) Cost: 1

NO MISSILE WEAPONS: +10 ENCOUNTER POINTS SPENT/GAINED:

(Only if at least half have the 1 Icon)

Copyright 2001 Trident Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. Permission granted to photocopy for personal use.
 ROLL OF VALOR
Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res Location

Contents
Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res

Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res

LOOT CACHE RECORD

Date

Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res

Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res

Runner

Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res

Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res

Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res

Recovery Difficulty

Copyright 2001 Trident Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. Permission Granted to photocopy for personal use.
TALLY
(to be filled out by the Runner)
Trap Bonus

Init Atk Dfn Dam Soak HP Res

 Index

A Blade of Fair Title 166, 167 courtier, elf 101, 110 drowning 148 149 free victory points 60
Blinding Armor 166, 168 cover 53, 121 122 ducking and weaving 43 freestanding Ability rolls 172
Ability chart for treasure 162 blood eagle 206 207 cover, seeking 44 dwarf foes 105 108 From Lofty Asgards Peaks
Ability descriptions 19 30 blood splatter diagram 242 crabs, land 101, 116 117 dwarven battle axe 34 62, 70
Ability increases 61 Blood Tribute Armor 166, 168 craftwerks, dwarven 108 109 Dying Blow 62, 68 Frost-Speeded Heels 62, 70
Ability table 20 Blue Cloak of Treachery 166, Craven Departure 62, 67
Ability, penalty when lacking 168 E G, H
19, 56
Absorption Armor 166, 167
Blunting Armor 166, 168 D Eager Arrow, The 62, 69 gains, combo 139
Bone Setters Blessing 62, 66
acid 147 bonuses, victory point 175 creating new creatures 119 Eight-Legged Horse, The 62, Gamble 20, 29
Action Sink rolls 135 Book of Iron Law 195 196 creating new Divine Gifts 65 69 Gathering Thunder 62, 70
actions, full and half 43, 47 Book of the Norns 203 creation points 17 Einherjars Armor 166, 169 gauntlet 34
actions, non-combat 44 47 Boon of Angrboda 62, 65 creation, hero 14 37 elevation 122 gear (see also equipment)
actions, performing 48 51 bow, composite 34 crescent moon icon 102 elf foes 110 61, 155
adjusts for foes 97, 99, 102, 119 bow, long 34 crossbow, heavy 34 elf lands, description of 212 Germany 210
adventure, sample 213 - 245 bow, short 34 crossbow, light 34 Emissary of the Norns 203 getting lost 152 153
adventures, advanced 88, 176 Bows 20, 21 Curds of Utgardaloki 62, 68 encounter design recap 183 giants 101, 116, 211
182 Bravery 20, 23 cushion encounters, def. 176 encounter design, quick 184 Gilded Tongue of Freyr 62, 71
Agony Postponed 62, 64 brawling maneuvers 52 53 dagger 34 191 Gnawing Stags, The 62, 71
alternate methods, rolls for Brawling 20, 21 damage dealt to foes, victory encounter notes 88, 200, goblin foes 110 116
138 broadsword, Viking 35 points for 90 appendix goblin spike club 34
ambushes 147 148, 171 broken arrow icon 102 damage dealt to other heroes, encounter points 94 gods 10 11, 140, 207 208, 212
ammunition 33 buckler 35 victory points and 92 encounters 7, 85 - 91 Golden Apples Sweetness
amulets 150, 160 161 budget, encounter 94, 176 damage from traps and haz- encounters, sharing 201 62, 71
Animal Handling 20, 22 Buffeting Gale 62, 66 ards 141 142 Encumbrance (Enc) 36 Golden Blade 166, 169
animals, nuisance 154 Damage rating (Dam) 32 Encumbrance Decrease 36 grabber traps 153 154
Damage score (DAM) 37 Encumbrance table 35 Great Weapon 20, 21
Armor of Inflexible Surety
166, 167
C damage suffered by heroes, Endurance Test rolls 136 Greenland 209
armor table 35 cache, loot 174 victory points and 92, 93 enemy, def. (see also foes) 7 Hand of the Norns 203
armor 32 33, 35 Carouse 20, 28 damage to equipment 149 Engagement 37, 44, 45 hazards, traps and 141 154
armor, chain mail 35 carrots 145, 171 151 England 209 Healer 20, 24
armor, damage to 150 categories of treasure 155 damage to foes, collateral 197 equipment as treasure 162 healing opportunities 24, 45,
armor, heavy leather 35 caustic substances 147 198 164 54 56, 172 173
armor, quilted/fur 35 centi-werk 101, 108 109 damaging places 122 123 equipment damage 149 151 Hel 212
armor, steel scale mail 35 centurion, regular dwarf 101, Dark Vikings 101, 102 103 equipment not needed 135 Helms of Power 150, 165 166
armor, studded leather 35 108 darkness 124 125 equipment, penalty when hero sheet 38 39, appendix
armor-ignoring damage 142 chain mail 35 death blows, victory points for lacking 19, 56 hero, def. 7
arms, severed 34, 52 Chain Weapon 20, 21 91 Escalating Buffness, Rule of hiding places 147
arrow icon 102 chair as weapon 34 death insurance 60 136 high ground 126
Asgard 212 champion centurion, dwarf death of hero 56, 92, 93 escalating damage 142 143 hit points 30 31
ATK Total 49 clan 101, 108 death, foes and 100 Even-Handed Torc 166, 169 hitting 49
Attack rating (Atk) 32 Champion of Heimdal 201 Deception 20, 28 events, def. 95 holding ground 43
Attack score (ATK) 36, 37 changing weapons 45 decoys 123 Ever-Flowing Cup, The 62, 69 holmgang 206 207
attacks and modifiers, melee character, def. (see also default Difficulties 199 exits, limited 124 home base 173
50 51 hero) 7 Defective-Hunter, dwarf 101, Exotic rolls 139 140 hook 177 179
attacks and modifiers, missile Characteristic chart for trea- 107 experience 61 Horde, def. 7
48 50 sure 162 Defense rating (Dfn) 32 Exploratory Abilities 22 27 horses 58, 182
attacks of opportunity 46 Characteristics 17 19 Defense score (DFN) 37 extra rolls allowed 138 hostages 124
attacks, brief summary of 49 charging 51 Demeanor 20, 28 29 extras 123 124 house rules 196 197
Aura of Phlegmatic charms 150, 160 Demon Maw Helm 166, 168 Eyes like Glowing Coals 62, howling goblin icon 102
Acceptance 62, 65 Chattering Squirrel, The 62, Denmark 208 69
availability of weapons 32 66 designer, def. 7 I, J, K
Awareness 20, 22 23 clan champion, dwarf 101, 108 designers budget table 94 F Iceland 209
Awareness, Divine 20, 30 Clatter of Rushing Boots, The designers notes 88, 200,
62, 67 appendix failure leads to trap 140 icons 102
axe icon 102 falling damage 151 identifying magical treasures
Axe of Glory 166, 167 claw icon 102 Destiny Reversed 62, 68
Clenched Jaw of Vengeance, development encounters 179 falling down 53 54, 127 166
Axe Ritual, The 194 Fighting Abilities 19 22 Impairment 54 56, 143 144
axe, double-bladed 34 The 62, 67 180
climax encounters 181 182 Dexterity (Dex) 17 Finland 210 211 Implacably Braced 62, 71
axe, dwarven battle 34 fire 151 152 Imprecation of Doom 62, 71
axe, goblin 34 Climb 20, 23 24 DFN Total 49
club, goblin spike 34 Difficulty cost chart 129 first exposure 134 improving heroes 59 84
axe, hand 34 fist/kick 34 Indefatigable Determination
axe, throwing 35 clumping penalty 139 Difficulty modifiers, melee 51
cognomens 16 17 Difficulty modifiers, missile flagon as a weapon 34 62, 71
axe, Viking 35 flail 34 Inexorable Death Trudge 202
axes, two hand 35 collateral damage to foes 197 48 50
198 Difficulty 12 flame exposure 152 Initiative rating (Init) 31
combat action required 135 Difficulty 129 140, 199 fleeing 45 Initiative score (INIT) 36 37
B combat, melee 50 51 Disguise 20, 29 Flesh Cries Out for Piercing Initiative situational modifiers
Balance 20, 23 combat, mounted 58 Dishonored 101, 103 104 62, 70 42
Baltics, The 211 combo gains and traps 138 disputes over rules 195 196, foe sheet 216, appendix Initiative, rolling for 42
Banish His Blade 62, 65 139 203 Foe Target Choice Flowchart injuries 54 56
barb-net 34 Comeuppance Postponed 62, distance loophole 138 196 Insight 20, 29
Bargain 20, 27 28 67 Divine Awareness 20, 30 foes and collateral damage 197 insurance, death 60
bargaining opportunities 171 common weapons 32 Divine Connection rating 64 198 Intelligence (Int) 17 18
barriers 53, 120 121 Communication (Com) 18 Divine Gifts 61 84 foes 7, 96 119 Interaction Abilities 27 30
battle axe icon 102 composite bow 34 Divine Gifts, creating new 65 foes, creating new 119 intolerance 209
beetle-werk 101, 108 computer gaming 5 8 Divine Gifts, table 62 63 foes, looting 164 Invigoration 173
benchmark 102, 103 conditional elements 134 Dodge 20, 24 foes, table of 101 Ireland 209 210
berserk 50 51 Constantinople 211 Dogpile rolls 133 fog of war 51 jarls 206
Berserks Blessing 62, 65 contest rolls 57 double-bladed axe 34 freaks, goblin 101, 113 Jotunheim 211
billhook 34 Countdown rolls 137 dreaded riposte 51 free rolls 47 Jump 20, 24

255
 Index
jumping over cover 122 moon icon 102 Quickness (Qik) 17 set-up encounters 179 Thors Thews 63, 82
karls 206 morningstar 34 quilted/fur armor 35 severed arms 34, 52 thralls 206
kill-stealing 91 mounted combat 58, 182 shamans, goblin 101, 113 114 Threat Categories 96, 100
knife, puny 34 Move for foes 102 R sharing encounters 201 Through the Cracks 63, 82
knife, throwing 35 Move 37 Shield of Fury 166, 170 throwing axe 35
Knitting of Meat, The 62, 72 move, reckless 45 raging fire 152 shield, kite 35 throwing knife 35
multiple levels 124 Ragnarok 10 11 shield, round 35 Thrown Weapon 20, 22
raiding 209 211
L Multiple rolls 56 57, 135
random damage 142
shield, tower 35 Thwack Margin (TM) 49
138 shields 33, 35, 150 time, mythic 205
laborer, dwarf 101, 107 Music 20, 29 range 33, 43 shortspear 34 Tireless Joy-Shout, The 63, 82
Lady or Tiger rolls 139 mutual award of victory rare equipment chart 163 shortsword + dagger 35 Torc of Alberich 166, 170
land crabs 101, 116 117 points 175 rare weapons 32 Shoulders Wide as Bifrost 63, tournament play 203
lax sentries 147 myth, lands of 211 212 Raven Plucks an Eye, The 63, 81 training 61
leaders, goblin 101, 114 115 mythic time 205 75 shrines 174 175 traps and combat 147
Leadership 20, 29 mythology, Viking 10 11, 207 Raw Damage 49 silver 156, 158 traps and hazards 141 154
league play 201 202 208, 211 212 recap of encounter design 183 simple potions 159 Traps 20, 27
legendary items 150, 166 170 reckless move 45 Simultaneous rolls 138 traps, combo 138 139
levels, multiple 124 recurring damage 142 143
liars silver 156 N, O Relentless Gales of Njord, The
Sing 20, 30 traps, grabber 153 154
Single Weapon 20, 22 treasure categories 155
Lie Turns to Truth, The 62, 72 Naglfar Plows the Waves 63, 73 63, 75 singular award of victory treasure charts 157 158
Light-Treading Boots 166, 169 names 15 16 religion, Viking 207 208 points 175 treasure 155 170
Like a Wind-Tossed Leaf 62, 72 net 34 remains in effect 134 Singular rolls 132 133 trifecta victory points 93
Like the Leaping Stag 62, 72 Nidavellir 211 212 Remorse of Hoder, The 63, Skadis Ermine Cloak 63, 81 trollheim 212
limited exits 124 Niflheim 212 75 Skald 20, 30 trolls 101, 117, 212
limited targeting 145 146 Njords Crust 63, 74 Repair 20, 25 Ski 20, 25 26 Trumpets Commanding
Line of Doom rolls 133 135 No-fault rolls 132 repeat shots 146 slaver, dwarf 101, 107 Blast, The 63, 83
Load 32, 35, 158 non-combat action 44 47 Resist the Serpents Tears 63, slayers, goblin 101, 112 113 tube strikers 101, 117 118, 127
Loki-Thwarting Armor 166, Normandy 210 76 sleep deprivation 144 Two Weapons 20, 22
169 Norths Cooling Sigh, The 63, Response (Res) 37, 98, 99 Sleep 20, 26 Tyrs Forbearance 63, 83
Loki-Trouncing Wand 166, 169 74 Ride 20, 25 sling 35
longhouses 205 Norway 208 Ring of Alberich 166, 170
Longshaft Weapon 20, 22 notes (see encounter notes) Ripples from the Well of
slippery ground 126 U-Z
sloped surfaces 126 127
loot cache record 174, appen- nuisance animals 154 Knowledge 63, 76 smirking goblin icon 102 Ulls Hide 63, 83
dix Nurturing of Yggdrasil 63, 74 Roaring Shout of Rage 63, 76 Soak 37 Ulls Sure Hand 63, 83
loot 91, 155, 158 obscured 53, 124 125 rock as a weapon 34 social hierarchy, Viking 206 Underground, The 11
looting combat opponents Obscuring Mist 63, 74 rock goblinesses 101, 111 spear (thrown) 35 uneven ground 127
164 obstructions and missile fire rock goblins 101, 111 spear/lance 35 upbringing 205 206
Lore 20, 24 125 roll failures, victory points and special section, encounter Valor of Tyr 63, 83
lost, getting 152 153 On Valkyries Wings 63, 74 93 design 184 191 vegetarians, goblin 101, 115
Loyal Hilt, The 62, 72 opponent, def. 7 Roll of Valor 98, appendix Specific Invigoration 173 victory points 60, 89 94, 175
opportunity, attacks of 46 rolls, chart of types 130 131 spent victory points 60 Vigilance of Heimdal 63, 83
M opportunity, wait for 45 rolls, contest 57 spider-werk 101, 109 Viking foes 101, 102 104
Opposed rolls 129 rolls, Engagement 44 Spitting Armor 166, 170 Viking life 204 212
mace 34 overall victory score 60 rolls, free 47 Viking religion 207 208
mace, four-bladed 34 Sprig of Mistletoe 63, 81
Owl Hears the Viper, The 63, rolls, freestanding Ability 172 Sprint 20, 26 villains 180
magic, weird 128 74 rolls, Multiple 56 57 vision, obscured 124 125
magical equipment chart 163 Stacked rolls 139
rolls, types of 129 140 Stamina (Sta) 17 wait for opportunity 45
magical items, minor 158
159 P, Q Rome 211 Standard rolls 129 wandering monsters 199 200
round, def. 41 status 92, 145, 206 warriors, goblin 101, 112
magical treasures, identifying paltry amounts of silver 156 Rule of Escalating Buffness Weak Link rolls 133 135
166 Panic Button rolls 135 steads 205
136 Stealth 20, 26 Weak-Kneed Outlanders
Mantle of Grim Justice 166, panicked decoys 123 rules disputes 195 196, 203 Rules 202 203
170 patron deities (see gods) 18, steel scale mail 35
rules, brief 11 13 sticks 144 145 weapon availability 32
Mantle of Odin 62, 73 64 Rune Powers 76 80 weapon table 34 35
Many-Impaling Spear 62, 73 Penetrating Lightning 63, 75 Strength (Str) 17
Rune Weapons 77 studded leather armor 35 weapons 31 32, 33, 34 35,
Map 20, 24 25 Perception (Per) 18 rune, village 208 45, 150
maps for sample adventure Pick Lock 20, 25 successful rolls, victory points
Runes 20, 29 for 91 weird magic 128
appendix pike 34 runner, def. 7 wendols 101, 118
maps, drawing 128 pillager, def. 7 Sudden as a Mountain Storm
running away 45, 200 201 63, 81 wergild 206
maul, war 35 pit boss, dwarf 101, 107 running encounters and victo- whip 35
Maximum Threat Category placement of treasure 155 supporting characters, def. 7
ry points 92, 93 Survival 20, 26 27 Wiles of Loki 63, 84
100 156 running the game 192 203 winning 93
mecha-dwarf 101, 109 player, def. 7 Survive the Lake of Flame 63,
Rus 211 82 With Either Hand 63, 84
medic, dwarf 101, 107 plot encounters 176 Rush rolls 132 withdrawing 44 45
mega-dwarf 101, 109 Plumed Up by Njordsbreath Svartalfheim 212
Sweden 208 209 women, Viking 15
melee combat 50 51 63, 75
Midgard 11 polearm 34
S Swiftness of Sleipnir 63, 82 world-tree 212
Swim 20, 27 Wound Threshold (Wnd) 31,
Might of Thor 62, 73 potions 150, 159 sap 34 54
Might rating 100 Power, Rune 76 80 Sark Amen 101, 104 sword, dwarven battle 34
sword, dwarven work 34 Wound Threshold for foes
miniatures 46 predictable foes 97 saving characters 60 100
Miscellaneous Abilities 30 Presence (Pre) 18 Scoreboard rolls 137 138 sword, Roman 34
swords, two short 35 Wounds Close Quick, The
mischief-maker, elf 101, 110 priests 207 Scorn the Bite of Treachery 63, 84
missile attacks 33, 48 50, 125 primary god 64 63, 80 Wounds 54 56
missile weapons for foes 97, progress 181 Scourging the Fell Spirits 63, T Wrestlers Blessing 63, 84
100 Protection rating (Prot) 32 81 target choice for foes 196 197 Yggdrasil 212
Mix value 96, 102 33 Scramble rolls 133 target conditions, missile 48 Zealous Sinews 63, 84
Mjolnir Awakes 62, 73 proxy 7, 91, 93, 194 195 Seamanship 20, 25 target numbers 12
modifiers, melee 51 puny knife 34 seizing ground 44 targeting, limited 145 146
modifiers, missile 48 50 Pursuit 20, 25 self-willed foes 97 terrain 93, 120 129
modifiers, positional 146 147 quarterstaff 34 sentries, lax 147 thing 206
256