MKD ADVENTURE

 

Setup. 2

Create Heroic teams. 2

Build Dungeon. 2

Setup Treasure Chests. 4

Create Dungeon Accessories Pool 4

Place WMTs. 4

Create Monster Pool 5

Play. 5

Turn Based Activations. 5

WMT Movement Rules. 6

WMT Reveal Rules. 7

Monster Decision Making. 8

Reinforcements. 9

Thievery. 10

Experience. 11

Treasure. 11

Discovery Rules. 11

Multi-floor Dungeons. 12

Special Abilities. 13

Other MKD Changes. 15

Campaigns. 17

Town and Treasure. 17

Experience. 18

Roll Tables. 20

WMT Movement 20

WMT Multiple Monster Reveal 20

Monster Decisions. 20

Unexpected Monster actions. 20

Reinforcements. 20

Monster Theft Maneuver 20

Chamber Discoveries. 20

Accessories in Chambers. 20

Hallway Discoveries. 20

Alternate Scenarios. 21

Rescue mission. 21

Stealth mission. 21

Kidnapping mission. 22

Timed mission. 22

Split up mission. 23

Additional Credits. 23

 


MKD Adventure is an easy to play variant of Mage Knight Dungeons, which allows both solo play, and co-operative play among multiple players, without the need for a dungeon master.  Adventures can range in length from short, stand-alone 15 minute dungeons, to 3 hour multi-floor dungeons, to epic, month-spanning campaigns, all the while providing plenty of variety and surprises during play.  Every attempt has been made to ensure that the basic feel of MKD remains intact, complete with WMTs, Heroic teams, Artifacts, and basic MK gameplay, ensuring countless hours of good old-fashioned dungeon crawling alone or with friends.

 

Note:  A solid understanding of regular Mage Knight Dungeons play is required for MKD Adventure play.  Unless stated otherwise, assume regular MKD rules are in effect to resolve any gameplay issues you may come across.

 

Setup

 

Create Heroic teams.

 

Each player creates a Heroic team composed of one or more Heroes.  The higher the value of the Heroes, the greater the difficulty of the Monsters that will be found in the dungeon.  2 Hero teams, each under 50 points, are ideal for a speedy game experience, but the point value can be increased to create larger scale adventures. 

 

Heroes begin the game at level 1, but optionally, Heroes with a lvl 1 value of over 30 (Shayle, Priestess Wylune, etc.), can start the game damaged one click, effectively becoming level “0” Heroes.  This defines the spot on the dial that they heal to until they gain a level, at which point they’ll be level 1 and act as normal.  If this option is taken, the affected Hero’s starting value is 20 points.

 

Build Dungeon

 

  1. Dungeon tiles are added to the game in sets of 5, with at least 1 hallway and 3 chambers per set – favor hallways over chambers for easier play.  Provide at least one set of tiles to create the dungeon.  Add additional sets to increase the length and complexity of the game.  For a quick game (15 minutes or so), 1 set is ideal;  for an average length two player game, 2 sets will do nicely.

 

  1. Create a “Dungeon Stack” by randomizing the tiles order, rotation, and facing.  Ensure the bottom tile is a hallway.

 

  1. Place the top tile from the Stack anywhere on the play surface.

 

  1. Determine the number of possible entryways to the N, S, E, and W of all outer edge tiles of the entire dungeon as it currently exists, and assign a sequential number to each.  Roll 1d6 (or 2d6/3d6/etc if there are more than 6/12/18/etc. exits) to determine which exit to place the next tile on.  Re-roll until you get a number matching an exit with a number assigned.  Note:  for the purposes of this step, an “entryway” to a tile is considered to be a square (or a set of adjacent squares) on any edge of the tile that (1) does not already connect to another tile, and (2) is not so close to the edge of the playing surface that placement of an adjacent tile on that side would not fit.

 

  1. Place the top tile as it appears on the Stack adjacent to the randomly chosen exit. Attempt to have tiles align centrally to each other if possible.  If the tile can’t line up in such a way as to create a  traversable connection, rotate it clockwise until it does.  If it still doesn't fit, flip it over and repeat.  If it still can't fit, re-roll for another exit to place the tile on and repeat this step.

 

  1. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until the final tile (a hallway) is placed.  This is the dungeon entrance.  If this hallway tile has more than one entryway, randomly choose which is the entrance (roll 1d6). 

 

  1. Determine the chamber that requires the largest number of tiles to be traveled through to reach from the dungeon entrance.  This is the Central Chamber.  If there is more than one tile equidistant from the entrance, roll a 1d6 to decide.

 

  1. Confirm that there is at least one passable path from the entrance to the Central Chamber.  If crossing a crevice is absolutely required to make it through the dungeon, rotate and/or flip the offending tile as in step 5 above to rectify the problem.

 

  1. (Optional) Check the map for aesthetics.  If need be, shift any tile one square in any direction to create a more “aligned” map arrangement, and shift adjacent tiles to match.  I.E. due to the use of 3x5 tiles, you may find that some of the tiles don’t line up as well as they might, and if you were to shift a row N, S, E, or W one square, the dungeon would make a bit more “sense”.

 

  1. (Optional) For every tile, roll a 1d6 and subtract 2 from the total.  Place this many hindering terrain markers and/or water markers randomly in the tile. 

 

  1. At this point, the dungeon is complete, and any entryways other than the dungeon entrance are considered to be dead ends.  Players must also agree which direction is North at this point.

 

Setup Treasure Chests

 

  1. Build a Chest Pool by providing at least one chest for every chamber tile added to the Stack during the dungeon building phase.  Note:  use the difficulty level of the chests to help define the difficulty of the game.

 

  1. Pick one chest randomly from the Chest Pool.  Place it in the Central Chamber in the square farthest away from entrance tile, and facing towards the entrance tile (if there’s more than one square equidistant from the entrance, roll 1d6 to decide).  Move/rotate the chest as necessary to ensure legal chest placement.  This is the Quest Chest.

 

  1. Keep the remainder of the Chest Pool available for potential discovery during play.

 

Create Dungeon Accessories Pool

 

  1. Provide at least 1 door and 1 terrain marker for every hallway added to the Stack during the dungeon building phase, and (optionally) 1 artifact or dressing set (a collection of chairs, tables, and columns at that will be placed in a chamber in a pre-determined fashion) for every chamber. 

 

  1. For each terrain marker, decide now which side (obstacle or special) is the intended use for the square piece. 

 

  1. This is the Dungeon Accessory Pool.  Keep it available for potential discovery during play.

 

Place WMTs

 

  1. Provide 6 WMTs (Wandering Monster Tokens) for each tile set added to the Stack.  Combine these tokens and randomize them to create the WMT Pool.  The specific color of the WMTs the players provide is based on the total value of the Heroic team(s).  Specifically:

 

Total Hero Value

WMT Pool Result

50 and under

6 yellow, 0 blue, 0 red

51-100

3 yellow, 2 blue, 1 red

101-150

1 yellow, 2 blue, 3 red

151-200

0 yellow, 2 blue, 4 red

201-250

0 yellow, 1 blue, 5 red

251-300

0 yellow, 0 blue, 6 red

301-350

6 red, +1 to all WMT reveals

351-400

6 red, +2 to all WMT reveals

401-450

6 red, +3 to all WMT reveals

451-500

6 red, +4 to all WMT reveals

501-550

6 red, +5 to all WMT reveals

551-600

6 red, +6 to all WMT reveals

601-650

6 red, +7 to all WMT reveals

651-700

6 red, +8 to all WMT reveals

701-750

6 red, +9 to all WMT reveals

751 and up

6 red, +10 to all WMT reveals

 

  1. Choose the highest level WMT token from the WMT Pool (if there’s more than one of the highest color, choose randomly from one of these) and place it in a square within the front arc of the Quest Chest.  This is the Guardian WMT.

 

  1. Place one randomly chosen WMT from the pool in the center square of every chamber in the dungeon (including the Central Chamber, which means this tile will have 2 WMTs in it – the random WMT and the Guardian WMT).  If the center square of a chamber is occupied, place it in the nearest square adjacent to the center square (roll 1d6 is necessary to randomly choose between multiple squares adjacent to the center square). 

 

  1. Keep the remainder of the WMT Pool available for potential discovery during play.

 

Create Monster Pool

 

Follow the same rules as regular MKD for creating the Monster Pool.  If you have the resources, be creative.  You could create an undead horde to swamp the Heroes, with a single Gate Lord as their master, or a set of various level Heroes to make the dungeon a villain hideout, etc.

 

Play

 

Turn Based Activations

 

Basic play is very similar to regular MKD play.  The overriding difference comes from the fact that players only control their Heroic teams.  Monsters or WMTs are controlled by chaos (i.e. a set of rules driven by random chance from die rolls).  The basic structure of gameplay is defined by the order of turns.  On each turn, activations are made and the game is played.  The order of turns is:

 

  1. Heroic team(s) – Before the Heroes enter the dungeon, determine the order of player turns (i.e. my heroes go first, then Bob’s, then Betty’s).  During play, the second player may not activate any of his Heroes until the first player has completed his Hero activations, and player turns are set in stone at the beginning of the game (Heroes with Command can alter the order of player turns, however).  During a Player’s turn, he gets exactly one activation for each of his Heroes that are in the dungeon during that turn, although he can choose to forgo any number of these activations.  Move on to WMT activations once each Hero in the dungeon has gotten the opportunity of an activation.

 

  1. WMTs – Within this turn, the order of individual WMT activation is immaterial.  Move the WMTs in any order through the dungeon using the rules for WMT movement. 

 

  1. Monsters – The order of Monster activations during this turn is random.  Roll 1d6 to decide.  This turn is over once each Monster has gotten an activation (except for Monsters that were recently revealed… see WMT reveal rules for specifics) and used the Monster decision making rules to make his move.

 

  1. Start over with the Heroes and continue these steps until all the Heroes have either escaped the dungeon, or been slain by the Monsters. 

 

WMT Movement Rules

 

WMTs will always use their activations to move randomly around the dungeon.  When they decide to move in a direction (based on a die roll), they will take the shortest route possible to reach their goal.  Roll a 1d6 when a WMT is activated to see specifically where it will go:

 

 

When a 2-5 comes up, the WMT will decide to move as many tiles directly N, S, E, or W as possible from the one they are currently in.  If there is no adjacent tile in the direction they have chosen, they will still move as directly as possible in the direction chosen until they reach the edge of their current tile, whereupon they will stop.  While moving, if an equal opportunity presents itself for moving a certain way to get around an obstacle, roll 1d6 to decide which way they will go.

 

When a 6 comes up, rather than moving to a randomly chosen tile, the WMT will get an impulse to move, via as short a route as possible, to the tile that the nearest Hero is in (call it a “gut feeling”).

 

WMTs will open doors and then close them to move in the direction chosen by the die roll.  WMTs can ignore any traps on the door, but still must pay the 2 speed points to open and 1 speed point to close them.  WMTs will always close wooden doors after they pass through them.

 

The Guardian WMT does not use activations during the WMT turn.

 

WMT Reveal Rules

 

WMTs can potentially be revealed during any turn, even during a Monster’s activation.  Any Monster or Hero who moves into a tile containing a WMT or a square adjacent to a WMT, for any reason, will reveal the WMT.  When the time comes for a reveal, immediately end the activation of whatever caused the reveal (either the Hero or the Monster), unless it has the Nimble or Stealth ability, in which case it can continue to use whatever speed points it has remaining in its activation after the reveal has occurred.

 

When revealing a single Monster, choose the highest valued Monster(s) possible from the Monster Pool.  If there’s a tie between equally valued Monsters, roll 1d6 for a tie breaker.  When more than one Monster must be revealed from a WMT, roll 1d6. 

 

 

 

Swarm rules – On making any WMT reveal, if the maximum value of any and all of the Monsters in the Monster Pool (who are eligible for a reveal) is less that 50% of the WMT roll value, use as many Monsters from the Pool as possible to fill the WMT requirement, ignoring all other rules for reveal combinations.  Example: the WMT calls for 1 monster with a value of 50, yet all the Monsters in the Pool who are under 50 (and therefore eligible for the reveal) are in the 8-10 range.  So, pick 5 Monsters from the Pool to get as close to the WMT value of 50 as possible.  If there had been a Monster in the Pool worth 30 points, that Monster would have been chosen instead because it’s value was over half the WMT reveal value (50).

 

Monsters are revealed either facing the direction they were moving (if they were revealed during the WMT turn), or in a random direction (roll 1d6 and use WMT movement results 1-4) if they were revealed during the Heroic team turn or the Monster turn.  When multiple monsters are revealed, place the first chosen one on the square where the WMT was, and any following Monsters are placed in randomly chosen squares (roll 1d6 if necessary) adjacent to the first Monster.

 

When revealing the Guardian WMT, add 2 to the roll for every 100 points of the Heroic team(s) value over 100 (i.e. a 95 hero team has nothing added to the roll, a 330 point team has 4 added to the roll).  Base this bonus on the level of the team(s) when they first entered the dungeon.  This addition replaces any addition made normally for WMTs related to Hero level.

 

When Monsters are first revealed, they’re considered to be “surprised”, and don’t get an activation during the following turn, even if they normally would (they can still counterattack, however).  This translates as follows:

 

 

Revealed Monsters with the Nimble or Stealth ability don’t suffer the surprised penalty and can activate as normal.

 

Monster Decision Making

 

As a general rule, Monsters are only interested in one thing:  killing the nearest Hero!  An active Monster is aware of every Hero in the dungeon, and will only move if they need to in order to reach a square where they can attack their chosen target.

 

A Monsters always errs to the side of attacking the Hero that requires the least amount of movement (travel through squares and/or spinning in place) to be able to hit him, either with ranged or close attacks.  A Monster will prefer to attack with a range attack, but will not move to ensure that happens (i.e. if the Monster is standing next to a Hero, it has no desire to move away and fire from a distance).  The Hero who fits the bill as defined in this paragraph is the Monster’s “first choice” target.  If more than one Hero is equidistant from the Monster and eligible for first choice status, roll 1d6 to decide which Hero to attack. 

 

Once a Monster’s first choice is decided upon, roll 1d6 for the Monster decision:

 

 

When a monster does something unexpected, roll 1d6 again and check the results.

 

 

 

 

When moving to a position to attack a Hero, the Monster will take the shortest route possible, ignoring all Heroes other than its target.  It will try to run right by other Heroes and break away, rather than spend extra time running around Heroes through another passage. 

 

When a Monster finds itself needing to make a breakaway attempt to reach his target hero, if it fails, it will give up on trying to reach its current target and begin to attack that Hero, unless the Monster is demoralized, in which case it will continue to try to break away.

 

A Monster will only attempt a pass-through if there is no other way to reach it’s goal.

 

When attacking, Monsters always turn to face as directly as possible their target

 

Monsters always do freespins whenever they can, even when surprised.

 

Monsters always attempt to use their optional abilities, unless stated otherwise in the Special Abilities section.  If a Monster has more than one optional ability that he could use in a given activation, roll 1d6 to decide which he’ll use.

 

Reinforcements

 

To seek reinforcements, the Monster looses 4 speed points and then uses maximum speed to move to the nearest tile containing a WMT, or the nearest square that will put them adjacent to a WMT.  The Monster will continually attempt breakaway rolls to achieve this, will pass through any Hero regardless of the consequences, and if need be, will take multiple turns trying to reach a WMT.  When a WMT is reached, the WMT(s) are revealed, and the retreating Monster’s activation is ended.   During the Monster’s next activation, he will act normally and chase after Heroes. 

 

If no WMTs are left in the dungeon, the retreating Monster will attempt to move to the dungeon entrance and leave the dungeon.  When he successfully exits the dungeon, his activation is ended.  On his next activation, he will come back into the dungeon and resume his normal behavior.  Once he ends the activation wherein he re-entered the dungeon, roll 1d6.  On a 4, 5, or 6, choose a random WMT from the Pool and reveal at the dungeon entrance, whereupon it will wait it’s activation turn as a surprised Monster. 

 

While searching for reinforcements, if a Monster’s only path to his target (the nearest WMT, or the dungeon entrance) is blocked (by multiple adjacent heroes, or a crevace, for example), he will cease searching and return to normal attack behavior immediately. 

 

Thievery

 

If Monster rolls a 1 when making an “unexpected decision” roll, he will move to attack the nearest Hero with a chest item and attempt a theft maneuver.  If the Monster cannot attempt a theft maneuver this turn, he will act as if a 2-5 was rolled on the “unexpected decision”.  Follow regular rules for the actual theft attempt.  If the Monster succeeds, the chest is immediately closed and the trap reset, and is transferred to the Monster (who does not use the abilities of the item in the chest).  Roll a 1d6. 

 

 

 

 

If the thief Monster’s path is blocked on his way to his goal (by multiple adjacent Heroes, or crevices), he’ll drop the chest on the spot, the trap will be reset, and he’ll continue his normal behavior.

 

Experience

 

All Heroes and Heroic teams share one experience Pool as if they were on one big team, and the players mutually decide which heroes get heals and levels at 50 point intervals.

 

Treasure

 

Chests are not spread evenly amongst the team(s), but are carried by individual Heroes.  2 speed points can be spent to transfer a chest between adjacent Heroes. 

 

There is no maximum allowed number of chests per player.  However, each Hero can only carry two chests, and gold cannot be transferred between chests. 

 

1 speed point can be spent to drop a chest into a tile adjacent to the carrying Hero.  The chest is left open for any other hero to take for 2 speed points.  However, if a Monster is adjacent to an open chest during it’s activation, it will close it, resetting the trap, using no speed points in the process.

 

Chest item effects from swords, cloaks, and the like, are only useable during the Hero turn.  Potions, however, last through the WMT and Monster turns, until the beginning of the Hero’s next turn, at which point they are spent and can’t be reused.

                       

If a Hero dies, the chest(s) he was carrying are dropped on the square they were occupying (and adjacent squares, if need be) and can be picked up by Heroes as normal for 2 speed points.  The chests are left in an open state, and so their traps are not reset.

 

Discovery Rules

 

When a chamber other than the Central Chamber is entered by a Hero for the first time, immediately make a discovery roll to determine if any special items are in the chamber.  Roll 1d6:

 

 

 

 

If a dungeon accessory is present in the chamber, roll 1d6 again to discover what it is:

 

 

 

 

 

When a hallway is entered by a Hero for the first time, immediately make a discovery roll to determine if any special items are in the hallway.  Roll 1d6: 

 

 

 

 

 

Multi-floor Dungeons

 

For a multi-floor game, choose ahead of time how many levels deep the dungeon will be (roll a 1d6 if desired), and how many tile sets each floor is comprised of (again, roll 1d6 if desired).  Then follow the rules as normal for the first floor (choose Heroic teams, build the dungeon, create chest, WMT, Monster, and accessories Pools, etc).  However, instead of placing a Quest Chest with a Guardian WMT, place a staircase token in the center of the farthest chamber from the dungeon entrance (and no Guardian). 

 

This staircase is the player’s goal on every dungeon floor except the final one.  To move to the next level of the dungeon, a Hero must use the staircase, which requires 3 speed points to use once the Hero is standing on it.  Heroes cannot use the staircase if any Monsters are in the same tile.  Once a Hero has gone down the staircase, remove him from the dungeon floor, as he waits on the next floor for his companions.  Once removed from the floor, a Hero can’t return to it (just as when leaving the dungeon).  When all Heroes have used the staircase, the floor is completed and can be discarded.

 

Once a floor is completed, build a new floor using the same rules as you used for the first floor.  Treat the creation of the WMT pool as if the Heroic team(s) still have their starting values.

 

When the new floor for the dungeon is built, treat the entrance to this floor as an exit out of the dungeon.  That is, if a Hero exits this floor of the dungeon, he has exited the entire dungeon and may not return.  Monsters looking for reinforcements, however, can still leave and come back.

 

When the final floor is reached, place a Quest Chest and a Guardian WMT as usual.  Once the Heroes have retrieved the contents of the Quest Chest, they need only travel back through the entrance of that floor to complete the dungeon.

 

In multi-level dungeons, Monsters seeking reinforcements can use the stairs down to the next level in addition to the dungeon entrance.  The monster will choose whichever is closer.

 

Special Abilities

 

Quickness – If quickness is used, the Monster or Hero will receive 4 additional speed points, but may move normally between squares, and open and close doors (no attacking, opening chests, etc.).  Monsters will use quickness when trying to reach a target that they would not be able to attack during their activation normally. 

 

Magic Levitation – Monsters will choose to use this against Heroes on a 1d6 roll of 1, 2, or 3.  When the Monster attempts to levitate a Hero, movement is determined via the same mechanism as the WMT movement… roll a 1d6 and move N, S, E, or W as best they can into adjoining tiles.  If a 5 or 6 is rolled, roll again.  If the Hero is forced to leave the dungeon while being levitated, he cannot come back in, and is out for the remainder of the adventure.

 

Stealth – Monsters will always use this ability, except when they have the opportunity to reveal a WMT.  Monsters with Stealth do not suffer being surprised when revealed from a WMT, and Heroes or Monsters with Stealth don’t have their activations ended by causing the reveal of a WMT.  Also, Monsters with Stealth do not suffer being surprised when revealed from a WMT, and Heroes or Monsters with Stealth don’t have their activations ended by causing the reveal of a WMT. 

 

Nimble – In addition to the normal attack speed bonus, Monsters with Nimble do not suffer being surprised when revealed from a WMT, and Heroes or Monsters with Nimble don’t have their activations ended by causing the reveal of a WMT. 

 

Demoralized – demoralized Monsters will try to take the shortest route possible to reach a Monster with Command.  If there is no available path for them or there is no Monster with Command, they will move to exit the dungeon.  If they leave the dungeon, they will not return.  If there is no path available to the exit of the dungeon, they will move the shortest distance necessary to reach a tile containing no Heroes.  Once there, they will forfeit any activations unless a Hero enters their tile, whereupon they will continue to retreat to the next tile with no Heroes.  If they have no movement options available at all, they’ll simply wait to die.  Demoralized Monsters, like all Monsters, can reveal WMTs.

 

Necromancy – Monsters will choose to do this on a 1d6 roll of 1, 2, or 3, if they meet the rest of the requirements for the ability.  If a Monster attempts necromancy, he always opts to bring back the most powerful Monster (as measured by it’s value) that has been removed from the dungeon. 

 

Command – Every friendly figure in the same tile (or in a square adjacent to) a character with Command gets an additional 2 speed points during their activation, in addition to potential healing if they are demoralized. Teams with Command Heroes in them can opt to go first during the Heroic turn, even if another player was declared as being the first player.

 

Magic Freeze – Monsters will choose to do this on a 1d6 roll of 1, 2, or 3.

 

Magic Confusion – Monsters choose to do this on a 1d6 roll of 1, 2, or 3.  If a Monster confuses a Hero, the Hero’s confused movement is determined via the same mechanism as the WMT movement… roll a 1d6 and move N, S, E, or W as best they can into adjoining tiles. If a 5 or 6 is rolled, roll again.  If the Hero is forced to leave the dungeon while confused, he cannot come back in, and is out for the remainder of the adventure.

 

Limited Invisibility – Monsters will always use this ability except when they have the opportunity to reveal a WMT.

 

Healing – Monsters will always use this ability on themselves if they are wounded, and if not, they will always move (using regular decision making) as necessary to heal the nearest wounded monster in the dungeon and attempt it with him until he is fully healed.  If there are no wounded monsters in the dungeon, they will ignore this ability and attack as normal.

 

Magic blast – Monsters will always use this ability unless it forces them to move to attack when they otherwise would not have to move to attack.

 

Flame/Lightning – Monsters will always use this ability, even if other Monsters will be affected.

 

Shockwave – Monsters will always use this ability unless it forces them to move to attack when they otherwise would not have to move to attack.

 

Magic Healing – Monsters will always attempt this ability on themselves if they are wounded, and if not, they will move (using regular decision making) as necessary to heal the nearest wounded monster in the dungeon and attempt it with him until he is fully healed.  If there are no wounded monsters in the dungeon, they will ignore this ability and attack as normal.

 

Sneak attack – Monsters with this ability will use regular decision making with the following caveat:  when deciding which Hero is their “first choice”, they will determine distance to move based on all the Hero’s rear arcs, and if they choose to attack their first choice, they will move as necessary to reach a position to attack through the rear arc.  If the chosen Hero’s rear arc cannot be reached during the activation, but the Hero can still be attacked, the Monster will abandon it’s attempt to approach from the rear.

 

Other MKD Changes

 

Passing through

Heroes and Monsters are able to pass through a character even if the character is adjacent to an opposing figure, but when doing this, they get no counterattack after the opponent’s rear attack.  Characters can also pass through multiple opponents in one turn, if they have the speed points, but they have to suffer an attack from the rear from each opponent they pass through, and they do not get a counter attack.

 

Breaking away

Heroes have the option when a Monster is about to perform a break away (either to seek reinforcements, reach another Hero, or run away demoralized) to allow the Monster to move freely.  If the player makes this choice, the Monster does not need to make the break away roll, but does need to spend 2 points to make the move.

 

Ranged combat

Heroes and Monsters are able to fire at opponents even if they (the shooter or the target) are adjacent to another opponent, but they suffer -1 to their attack roll. 

 

Automatic Attacks

Players have the option allow their Heroes to not make any automatic attacks when the opportunity presents itself, either after an attack by a Monster, or after a Monster has passed through them.

 

Mounted Units

Mounted figures can be used in the Monster pool, and when revealed in the dungeon, use the following special rules:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doors

Doors follow all MDK basic rules.  In addition, doors are usually booby trapped.  When the Hero is adjacent to a door, he can check the door (as he would a chest) for traps without using any speed points.  Pick a chest at random from the Chest Pool and roll a 1d6 to determine the trap present on the door.  Door traps work exactly as chest traps, with rules for slow or fast disarming, and experience gains taking effect for the outcome.  If a trap calls for Monsters to be activated, place them on the side of the door opposite the side where the Hero is.  Once the trap is sprung or disarmed, it will never be active again on that door.  Monsters and WMTs can use doors without springing traps.  WMTs will always close wooden doors once they pass through, but Monsters will not.  The traps on these opened doors are ignored by Heroes.  However, if they are later shut by a Hero or a WMT, the traps will still need to be disarmed, if they had not already been dealt with.  If a door with an active trap is destroyed by a Magic Blast or Shockwave, the traps is destroyed as well, and there will be no opportunity for experience gain.

 

Teleport markers

If only one teleporter has been found by Heroes, when used, roll 1d6 (or more if necessary) to choose a random tile that Hero will be teleported to.  The Hero will be teleported randomly to chosen tile as a one way trip and placed in the center square of that tile (or as close to the center square as possible).  Other Heroes using same teleporter may to go other tiles chosen randomly.  If more than one teleporter marker is in the dungeon, the Hero may choose which destination square he’ll be teleported to, or can opt for a random teleporation. 

 

Vortex markers

When turning a tile, ensure that you’re rotating it around it’s center square.  When a vortex is used in a hallway, it’s very possible that turning a tile can cause it to overlap with its neighbor tiles, or cause gaps in the dungeon that are un-crossable.  This is acceptable, with the following caveat:  when a tile overlaps another tile, anything in the non-rotating tile that was on a square that is now covered by the rotated tile is considered destroyed.  Chests, doors, terrain markers, artifacts, dressing, Monsters, WMTs, or Heroes are immediately removed from the dungeon.  If the tile is rotated back and the overlap is no longer present, wherever overlap occurred, place a hindering terrain marker (unless hindering terrain already existed on the square in question) regardless of whether or not something was destroyed in that square.

 

Campaigns

 

Town and Treasure

 

Once Heroes leave a dungeon in a campaign setting, the dungeon is sealed to them and they cannot go back in.  Heroes are now “in town”.  The order of events in town is:

 

  1. Divide experience earned from kills and traps among the surviving Heroes
  2. (Optional) Pay to have fallen Heroes resurrected
  3. Receive reward for successful completion of dungeon (if the Heroes retrieved the quest chest)
  4. (Optional) Recharge/buy/sell equipment
  5. (Optional) Pay to have fallen Heroes resurrected
  6. (Optional) Pay for Hero training
  7. Start a new adventure!

 

Abilities and effects from Artifacts are removed once in town.  They cannot be sold.

 

Chests must be carried out of the dungeon to bring the gold and items to town.

 

The value of items found in chests is determined as follows: ((bonus to speed) + (bonus to attack) + (bonus to defense) + ( 2 for each special ability) * 200 ( / 3 if item is potion)).  Example:  a +3, +3, +3 sword would be valued at 1800 gold, while a +0, +1, +0 potion that gives flight is worth 200 gold.

 

Once the Heroes are in town, the items they have become worthless from a gameplay point of view because their magic charge wears out (whether they were used or not) and no longer give any bonuses.  They can be sold for ½ of their value (except for used potions, which cannot be sold), or, for ½ the value of the item, the player can pay to have them recharged for the next dungeon.  If the players cannot afford to pay the recharge cost once they leave the dungeon, the items will permanently lose their charge, and might as well be sold.

 

Heroes can use gold to buy items in town.  Items are bought as chests, and cost twice the value of the item, as evaluated above.  These chests that are carried into dungeons act as normal chests found in dungeons… they can be passed around, dropped, and stolen by Monsters and have their traps reset.  However, they contain no gold, so ignore the gold value listed next to the item.

 

Once in town, fallen Heroes can be resurrected for 1000 gold.  This happens after experience has been divided, but before rewards for successfully completing the quest are given, so resurrected heroes can only earn experience if the quest was a success.. 

 

Experience

 

Leveling is slowed down in a campaign setting.  Rather than leveling every 50 points, Heroes require 10 times their current level value to advance.  For every level past 5, Heroes require ((value of hero at level 5) * (current level) * 2) experience points to advance.  So, for example, Shayle’s level advancement would run:

 

 

Heroes over level 5 have a point value equal to the exp necessary to reach the next level divided by 10 (i.e. level 7 Shayle is worth 126 points).

 

For every level past five, choose one ability on the Hero’s dial and give it to them permanently.  When Heroes reach a level beyond the point where all the skills available on their dials have become permanent abilities, they can add other abilities, not on their dials, as temporary skills, only available at the level where they were assigned.  It is possible to have multiple conflicting abilities assigned to a Hero via this advancement system, and the player can choose which one to use during any activation.

 

Heroes do not level in the dungeons, but in towns.  Once in town, evenly divide experience among the entire group (except for Heroes who died during in the dungeon).  If a Hero has enough experience points to gain a level, he must pay 500 gold and the appropriate amount of exp to get training.  It is possible to get trained multiple levels if there’s enough exp assigned and gold to spend.  Once the Hero has leveled, reset his experience total to 0.

 

For successfully completing an adventure (bringing the Quest Chest out of the dungeon), the Heroic team(s) get additional bonuses to be divided evenly amongst the Heroes (this happens after resurrection, so even fallen Heroes get a little something for the trouble): 

 

 

 

 

While in the dungeon, Heroes can still get exp heals every 50 points, but after a hero reaches level 6, they can only receive one every 100 points, rather than every 50.


 

Roll Tables

 

WMT Movement

 

WMT Multiple Monster Reveal

 

Monster Decisions

 

Unexpected Monster actions

 

Reinforcements

 

Monster Theft Maneuver

 

Chamber Discoveries

 

Accessories in Chambers

 

Hallway Discoveries

 


 

Alternate Scenarios

 

Rescue mission

 

Rather than retrieve a Quest Chest, the Heroes attempt to rescue a Hero figure who is trapped in the Central Chamber.  In this scenario, the Guardian WMT is not placed in the Central Chamber as normal, but rather placed aside at the beginning of the game.  A regular WMT is placed as normal in the Central Chamber along with the prisoner Hero.  This captured Hero is one click from death, and will not move, reveal WMTs, or be attacked by Monsters until (s)he has been “rescued”. 

 

To rescue the Hero, a member of the Heroic party must move to a square adjacent the captured Hero and check for traps (as if he were checking a door for traps – i.e. pick a chest at random and roll 1d6 to see if there is a trap present). 

 

Once the trap has been either sprung or disarmed, the prisoner Hero can move and act normally (and can be attacked by Monsters), assuming he wasn’t killed by the effects of the trap.  However, he cannot be healed. 

 

At the same time that the Hero is freed, the Guardian WMT is revealed at the entrance of the dungeon, and begins to track the Heroes as they make their escape.  However, the Monster(s) revealed by the Guardian WMT will always choose the prisoner at their “first choice” target when deciding their moves (i.e. there’s a 50% change with every activation that they’ll go after the prisoner Hero no matter where he is in the dungeon). 

 

The mission is a success if the captured Hero is brought out alive.

 

Stealth mission

 

In this scenario, the Monsters patrolling the dungeon are inclined to destroy the contents of the Quest Chest, rather than allow the Heroes to retrieve it, so the Heroic party must reach the Quest Chest and retrieve it’s content while trying to avoid revealing any WMTs.  There is no Guardian WMT in this scenario. 

 

All Monsters in the dungeon, when making their decision roll, will choose the Quest Chest as their “first choice”, so there is always a 50% chance for every Monster that he’ll want to destroy the Chest.  Once a Monster has made this decision (with a 1-3 on the decision roll), they will single-mindedly try to reach the Central Chamber for the remainder of the adventure, unless there is no valid path for him to follow, at which point he’ll return to normal attack patterns (similar to when a Monster gives up on searching for reinforcements).

 

When a Monster reaches the Quest Chest, he will “attack” it until he successfully scores a hit.  For the purposes of being attacked, the Quest Chest has a defense value of 5.  Monsters will not use special abilities, or ranged attacks when trying to destroy the Quest Chest.  When a Monster successfully attacks the Quest Chest, the contents will be “destroyed”, and the mission will be a failure. 

 

Monsters will continue to try to destroy the Quest chest even when a Hero has it in his possession.  If they choose to destroy the chest on a given activation, they’ll try to attack the Hero carrying it.  If they successfully hit the Hero, the chest will be destroyed.

 

Kidnapping mission

 

In this scenario, there is a specific Monster in the dungeon that the players are trying to capture and bring out alive.  There is no Quest Chest.  This target Monster is found when the players reveal the Guardian WMT, who is placed during game setup in the Central Chamber as normal.  However, unlike normal play, the Guardian WMT will move around the dungeon during the game, just like regular WMTs (as such, the Guardian WMT should be marked in some way to ensure it’s not mistaken for a regular WMT). 

 

When the Guardian WMT is revealed, if more than one Monster comes out, roll 1d6 to determine which is the Monster to be kidnapped.  This “kidnappee” Monster will always attempt to exit the dungeon to escape from the Heroes.  He will always attempt to break-away or pass-through as necessary, and if he escapes the dungeon, the Heroes will have lost the mission.

 

To “capture” the monster, the Heroes have to do enough damage to the Monster to demoralize him (or, for Monsters who do not become demoralized, damage him enough until he’s one click away from death).  Once this has been accomplished, he is considered “captured”.  From this point on, if he begins his activation with a Hero in an adjacent square, the players will be able to override his normal logic and direct him where to go (within his normal speed limits).  If there is not a Hero in an adjacent square at the beginning of the captive Monster’s activation, he will attempt to escape using normal demoralized rules.

 

If the target Monster is killed, the Heroes lose the mission.

 

Timed mission

 

For an added challenge, the adventure can have a timer placed upon it, and if the Heroes don’t reach their goal and leave the dungeon before time runs out, they will lose.  In a timed mission, the Heroes get 3 turns for every chamber tile in the dungeon, and 1 turn for every hallway tile.  So, for example, the Heroes would have 24 turns if the dungeon were composed of 7 chambers and 3 hallways.  Keep track of how many turns have passed during play.

 

In a campaign setting, if a timed mission is completed successfully, add an additional 50% to the reward experience gained, and an additional 250 gold.

 

Split up mission

 

For an added challenge, the Heroes can start out in different places in the dungeon.  To do this, allow at least 2 hallways in the Dungeon Stack.  Half the Heroes enter the dungeon at the normal entrance (the hallway farthest from the Central Chamber), and the other half enter in the hallway closest to the Central Chamber.  In this hallway, place a staircase marker to represent this additional entrance to the dungeon.  When any figure (Hero or Monster) is attempting to leave the dungeon, they can choose either of these two exits.

 

In a campaign setting, if a split up mission is completed successfully, add an additional 50% to the reward experience gained, and an additional 250 gold.

 

Additional Credits

 

Additional ideas, suggestions, or issues were borrowed from or inspired by posters on MKRealms forums:

 

Gaku

Borrowed his basic rules for Mounted Unit movement

 

Zylox

Borrowed his basic rules for Command and Quickness modifications

 

Mad

Raised issue of destroying doors with traps still active