Customer Reviews

Adventures in High Fantasy

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This is the second volume of the second edition of the core rule books for the High Fantasy game.

It is composed of three small adventures (Fortress Ellendar, Moorguard, Terra Ash) and rules for doing battles in the game (Lords of Conquest).

The game was pretty good for its time, though like the rest, it should be revised to match improvements in game design and doing some corrections. Notes for this are in this article.

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Fortress Ellendar. Please see the review for "Fortress Ellendar" which is when it was made for the first edition of the game. That review also contains information about this version as well.

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Moorguard. Please see the review for "Moorguard" which is when it was made for the first edition of the game. That review also contains information about this version as well.

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Terra Ash. This is an adventure where the player character group is given a mission to retrieve a magic weapon from buried temple, but they soon encounter treachery and strange events beyond a retrieval mission.

This adventure introduces the concepts of: gladiatorial combat and arenas, magic potion-like substances (comparable to alchemical substances), a religion of an agricultural goddess (Tatria) though only heretical fanatics here, some unusual magic items, some unusual alchemical items (like androids), traps, magics, etc. It has been implied in various writings for High Fantasy, that unusual technologies can be considered by the Judge to be governed by rules as being similar to potions, with Innate being used like Armorers or Healers for doing repairs and possibly other effects.

While it is okay as a "tournament" style adventure, the Judge would need to do a bit of work to fit into a larger game world and revising it to make it better.

It will be necessary to locate the time period and location of "Temple Tatria" itself on the continental map that appears in a later High Fantasy product and does not contradict other sources. It was supposedly one of the main temples to the goddess Tatria in a powerful agricultural empire until a volcanic eruption covered it over a few centuries ago (sometime in the late Second Age). In a later product, it is mentioned that Tatria is also worshipped in Irliss (though it is dying out). Since Nautpolis had its own powerful empire during the Second Age and there was another brief powerful empire around the Dehysic Canyon, I suggest the temple be located somewhere in the North-Westernmost mountain areas of the continental map with the exit being in one of the valleys (West of Irliss, assuming that the mountains were the volcanoes that erupted). Comments on the layout of former temple will be given later.

The present time for "Hero's Den" is a bit difficult as most of the products are apparently loosely in chronological order though with the other products it would seem that this is during the time that the Eastern Empire is subjugating the Western City-States and how "Hero's Den" manages to retain its apparent independence (given that it needed to hire a mercenary force to deal with assassin group turf war) and maintain its business (as it relies on nobles and various rich people to survive economically). Note that the mercenary force numbers "only" 50 which is significantly more than most adventuring groups, but is very small compared to most organized units in High Fantasy (generally several hundred each with multiple units acting together in a single battlefield). There is also the matter of how far its customers would be willing to travel (say one weeks travel on horseback at 210 miles for both nobles and rich merchants). Such a business would also needs a lot of support around or near it that is likely to be a town and there is at least one gold dragon cave at a distance a drunk can walk away from the bar (perhaps a mile away). One possible suggestion, it might be that the assassin groups make it a point to rely on assassinations on key people and the Eastern forces just prefer to avoid dealing with them and may be spread too thin to deal with them. Alternatively, the information given elsewhere is wrong about how effective the Eastern forces are and the area around Hero's Den have successfully kept the Eastern forces out of the area.

The religious aspects in the background and in the game world may need to be more developed by the Judge. There has been mention of religions in other products but mostly as simply enemies to be fought. Gods range from simply powerful beings, huge giants with magical powers, and possibly false beings that do not exist in the game at all. Some are more like magical spiritual beings, which Tatria appears to be one and may be dying from lack of true worshippers. In most games and "sword and sorcery" fiction of this time of publishing, religions tend be either background or suppliers of adventure (magical artifacts, fanatical enemies, etc.), though whether the Judge wants it to be more with the possibility of the player characters being followers of one religion or another is up to the Judge to decide and detail.

This another adventure that the Judge and the players would need to work together on. The beginning monologue should not be used directly as it could be considered "railroading" by the players. It would be better to use it to inspire how the players get hired by Eland. Another consideration is whether it is okay for the player characters to potentially kill everybody in Terra Ash as even with careful investigation they could end up deciding that the priests are too crazy to be allowed to live, the "Kingsmen" are too offensive to be allows to live (especially when they try to enslave their wizards), and the "Contaminated" are too much of a threat to their valuables (especially after the encounter TT8 at the "false cascade" trap). On the other hand, doing otherwise could end up with the player character losing all their valuables and being enslaved or killed.

Making magic items apparently can be done relatively quickly from what appears in Terra Ash section that would have been made by the buried wizards. There is also apparently a way to make a spring or "stream" be magical from the description of the "elvish stream" for the bath in Hero's Den.

An unusual note on part of the vagueness of the Familiar spell is that Eland/Oscan's familiar apparently has taken the form that looks like a young female human (Eland is an old male human though apparently immortal) and is apparently in telepathic contact with Eland even when transported to Terra Ash. The familiar also vanishes with Eland takes back the manna used to support the familiar to avoid taking damage from the backlash of damage and does so with split-second timing. This would imply the player character wizards should be able to do the same with their familiars as any enemy that knows anything about familiars would target them first to weaken the wizard.

In the Hollow Lands section on the "Singing Rock" and the "Demon Devolt", it is strongly implied (and which is also hinted in later supplements) that the description on the nature of aether and manna in the High Fantasy book is wrong (or at least some wizards interpretation of it). Magic is actually the manipulation of aether to alter reality. Aether is something that can be created by life itself (and at least some demons) and has a symbiotic nature with life (feedback to enhance it). Manna is an energy that wizards (and some magical creatures) make to manipulate aether. Not all magic items or magical beings use manna to manipulate aether. The Detect spell for manna sensing actually can detect aether flows and levels and manna, though it is up to the Judge if the wizard (and Psychics) knows enough to differentiate them and how fine details can be gotten.

The arena aspects of Hero's Den should be noted by the Judge for setting up and gladiatorial arenas, with some modification, in their own worlds for allowing players to get a feel for various forms of combat rules in practice and to let their characters to get experience points from them.

Hero's Den structure and layout could be revised. There could be a number of roads, supporting nearby towns and nearby power structures to support the business of Hero's Den for both supplies and customers (such as traveling merchants). There needs to be ways for supplies to come into the business, storage and wastes and other material to leave. In the later publication "Goldchester" it notes that the drink "Bacus Bashers" is apparently bottled and sold to other taverns (10 silver tams per drink). For the area and game genre, the sleeping arrangements are generally about 15 individual high class rooms and a cheaper common room that holds up to 20 occupants (not including owners and employees) and the bar/restaurant might seat from 50 to 75 (some individual and others in groups). Note that the descriptions imply that the larger rooms can hold around 6 occupants each and can apparently be leased for long enough periods to install secret doors and traps and have their own plumbing. Unless the guests are paranoid, most guest rooms should be located to have windows to the outside with good views and ventilation but not exposed to smells from the stables. Given that the arena could be good source of revenue, the business, Hero's Den could be made up of two separate areas (the high end resort section and a less expensive section mainly for the locals) with the arena in between them to maximize profits (note the size of the arena stands and how much people they can hold). On the other hand if Hero's Den is kept completely only for the very rich, there is likely to be somewhere nearby a competitor (say a few days or weeks travel) that is willing to cater to less rich customers and might even do business with memoriabilia of competitors and other sports related business. The stables, slave rooms should be located closer to the entrance and connected to the main entrance road for easy access. The stables might be best kept near the gladiatorial beast area (war stables) so the caretakers can handle both with overlapping needs though kept far enough away from the customers due to smells. The wash area, gladiatorial quarters, and the slave quarters should be kept near the other living quarters as they have similar supply needs and waste handling. Prices should be included and the rich section are generally on the order of a 10 silver pieces per item/service and higher. One of the sources of water is the "Elvish Stream" for the bath area that does not appear on the larger map or any other source of water. There should be some extra levels above and maybe below for extra rooms for both customers, employees, offices, and supplies. This includes alchemical equipment for the sauna and maybe for the bar tender. There could be professional massagers/cleaners for the bath and sauna areas. For the decadent guests, there could also be litters (vehicle type) for movement around the property. The stables and gladiatorial beast area should be better defines with the Animal Master investment units to also include breeding and so forth and could also include "attack forces" for helping defend the establishment against enemy forces. These changes could result in significant changes in the layout and how the business is handled by the Judge.

Terra Ash section would need similar revisions. The Judge may want to first draw up loosely what the layout of the original temple looked liked first and what supplies were available and what changes have undergone since then while keeping in mind the limited resources available. One change is that the "cascades" (melted enchanted jewels) should be located where the windows/openings along the perimeter was located. The Judge would have to decide when and how the "Bottomless Pits" occurred, when, and how high does the pits extend upward. Also compare the location of the pits with the location of the adjacent Cascades and rooms and whether they make sense in terms of history of the area. The Judge would need to decide what the "Code-of-Ethics" actually are and keep in mind that all three societies would be willing to kill the others if an opportunity appeared and there is nothing to say that anyone would not lie about the others breaking them. It would be necessary to decide on the light source of the whole area as it would otherwise be very dark for even its inhabitants. An item to consider is how wastes and cleaning are handled, possibly with the "Tillers" having to wheel around a cart carrying empty and full chamber pots and water jars and cleaning supplies or to have each group handle it themselves somehow.

The rooms in the adventure should be moved to where it makes sense for them to be located whether as the rooms in their original use or changed due to the fights between the various groups. One example is that "Titus I" is imprisoned right at the entrance of the Kingsmen area which should have been noticeable to them if it happened. Another example is the room with the 2 androids should be moved to a more distant area within the "Contaminated" section and not close to the priest and kingsmen areas.

There are missing sections from around the priest area description to the "Contaminated"section. This areas TT 24 and 25. To fill in the descriptions, note the following. The number of priests is roughly the same as the number of kingsmen. Some of the items elsewhere could have copies here (such as eternal flame torches, the items in the crypt, etc.). It is also suggested that a few copies of "amulet of the goddess" from the High Fantasy treasure section be included since in a later product "Murder in Irliss" is information that Tatria opposes undead creatures.

Any digging due to the "land burrows" (in the Kingsmen section) should be in areas that make sense by who is holding them and their paths and use (more rooms, attempts to get strategic advantage over others, or get to the surface). The tunnels to the surface should have a start area that makes sense (generally the highest ground level point accessible and moving in an upward slope in the direction of the deepest and largest valley or low point (which presumably would also be least deep that was covered over in lava). This would be a straight tunnel unless some unusual obstruction gets in the way. Hostile areas could simply have a Wall spell of stone blocking off those areas. The existing descriptions (Oscan's escape, the use of water elemental raft escape, and the illusion trap access) and map (which is twisting and not all sloped upwards) does not follow this as some make it sound like the path goes down for some distance first. Aside from having it take a straight upward slope, the Judge should keep in mind that supposedly the land burrows were used for about a year before the fighting broke out for laying out the distance of the path of the Hollow Lands and how high up did they get to and how far to the surface was left.

Some player groups could end up doing the following for the adventure: The group included supplies and procedures for investigating their employer and for the expedition to Temple Tatria (about a month assumed in hostile territory with no re-supplies). With the use of psychics and subtle use of magics (intelligence gathering types) and a little use of thief skills the affiliation of Eland with the Black Assassins and the connection with the Disturbance was found (as well as the unrelated cheater in the arena games which was related to the security for handling and reward). The information was given to the security on the promise that they would burst in after the player group was transported so the security could get all the Black Assassins at once while Eland was exhausted from teleporting the player group and for the security to keep the player groups involvement secret to avoid retaliation.

After the teleportation the player group set up a barricade and warded a room as a base and began careful recon and exploration in old school gaming style. While Eland's description of the inhabitants were discovered to be lies, the various societies actions had angered the player groups with attacks and threats to their lives, property and freedom to the point that as far as the player group were concerned they were all enemies to be killed or neutralized with minimum risk to themselves. After the player group mapped everything up to the main doors for each group and the secret doors and the time period when all three groups were at the least active (sleeping) and their supplies, the group had a wizard with a familiar made with including the Transumutate and Wall. In a quick timed attack, all the doors for all the groups were sealed by the Wall spell in thick stone and iron, and the bridge to the priests was completely destroyed with Transmutate effects and the openings sealed in stone. With regular patrols, the player group waited until all the other groups died from lack of supplies, before re-opening the sealed areas through other walls. The Judge will have to determine if the Titus 1 scroll can be applied to existing magical swords. It will likely end up being applied to the Retaliator sword.

Eventually the player group made its way into the Hollow Lands. After studying the Singing Rocks and what it implies regarding manna, they mined it of everything they could. The effect of approaching the Demon Devolt resulted in retreating and experimentation and what it means on the nature of aether. This included on whether the aether could be manipulated to super-charge spells as described in the High Fantasy book. Another experiment was to cast Exhaust Aether and study the effects and whether the aether would flow into it and whether there was a "shadow effect" form the spell blocking it flow from an area of of high concentration to low concentration and how the Singing Rock interacts with the flow. The player group eventually used their experiments to create Symbol spells made on the faces of non-magical shields for non-wizards to advance ahead while spaced sufficiently and with non-magical weapons and armor. The demon and its guardians were neutralized by the strategy and allowed the rest of the group to advance with their magic items. The Symbols on the shields and the use of the Titus 1 sword were the key to wrap up the adventure, with the player group wondering where they were after exiting.

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Lords of Conquest (LoC) is the land warfare rules part of the game. It also contains information that should be incorporated seamlessly into the rest of the rules.

The main revisions needed are to make all references to the distance and time scalings the same. In the end, the scalings should be based on the size of the "stands" of the "Figures" (one figurine or 10 equipped humans in the appropriate formation). The existing information (by comparing numbers to other references) has scalings ranging from one inch being 5 feet to 50 feet and time with LoC turns ranging from 30 seconds to 1 day. It is suggested to first convert all measurements to "real measurements" in feet and minutes (use other references to do corrections). Note that grouped magic by wizards here is for increased effect on the same plane and not single increase in plane effect. Then include a note for scaling. The width of the infantry stand should be changed to 2 inches and the width of the cavalry should be 4 inches. Distance scaling should be 1 inch equals 50 feet. Time scaling should be 1 LoC turn equals 5 minutes or roughly 10 individual High Fantasy turns. Use this information to incorporate into the High Fantasy book information.

Since figurines may be hard to get, these days it could be easier to use a computer print-out to do it. Just draw and color the appropriate figures from the front and back view (so you can fold them to view from both sides) and print them out in a size from 20 to 25 mm height (about 1 inch). Then glue or tape the feet to the stands. Other sized creatures can be sized appropriately.

Character and monster Size effects are found in the Impact Offense and Missile Defense modifier information. Use this to modify the player character sheet for character Size effects. Note that certain Size 5 creatures are in a situation where a single creature is represented by a single physical figure and multiple figures in terms of combat. An example is a single dragon uses a single physical figure and acts as 5 figures in combat.

Weapon Size effects can be found in the table of information in the back. Note "row size" can be treated as roughly 5 feet. This should be copied into the melee weapon equipment section. This means that pole arms can be used to hit others with smaller weapons first even if they have bad Quickness effects.

Copy environmental movement and combat effects into the main rules in the appropriate parts.

Copy all tables for use in making a Judge's game shield.

These changes will help make the second edition more like a third edition.

There is an alternative battle rules in the "Goldchester" product that is far more generalized, though the author recommends against that one.

This review is now essentially complete.