ABOUT FUDGE

FUDGE is a role-playing game written by Steffan O'Sullivan, with extensive input from the Usenet community of rec.games.design. The basic rules of FUDGE are available on the internet via anonymous ftp at ftp.csua.berkeley.edu, and in book form or on disk from Grey Ghost Games, P.O. Box 838, Randolph, MA 02368. They may be used with any gaming genre. While an individual work derived from FUDGE may specify certain attributes and skills, many more are possible with FUDGE. Every Game Master using FUDGE is encouraged to add or ignore any character traits. Anyone who wishes to distribute such material for free may do so - merely include this ABOUT FUDGE notice and disclaimer (complete with FUDGE copyright notice). If you wish to charge a fee for such material, other than as an article in a magazine or other periodical, you must first obtain a royalty-free license from the author of FUDGE, Steffan O'Sullivan, P.O. Box 465, Plymouth, NH 03264.

DISCLAIMER

The following materials based on FUDGE, entitled The Wizard's Tower, are created by Anthony Roberson and made available by Anthony Roberson, and are not authorized or endorsed in any way by Steffan O'Sullivan or any publisher of other FUDGE materials. Neither Steffan O'Sullivan or any publisher of other FUDGE material is in any way responsible for the content of these materials. Original FUDGE materials (c) Copyright 1992-1995 Steffan O'Sullivan, All Rights Reserved.

I would suggest that you first download the FUDGE rules themselves and ideally the 5-point character rules as well. You will also need to have a character before you can play this adventure. You can either create one using Steffan's 5-point rules or you can just use the sample character that follows. If you create a character, make sure you choose skills that are appropriate for a thief or rogue type character. These include Move Quietly, Climbing, Pick Locks, etc. You might also make do with a character that is a straight warrior type but it won't be as appropriate for the adventure and will limit some of your options.

The main FUDGE mechanic to remember is the action roll. Keep in mind that action rolls come in two flavors, opposed and unopposed. Unopposed actions are not influenced by someone else and opposed actions are. The default difficulty level for an unopposed action is Fair. If you do not have FUDGE dice, you can use 4D3-8 for your action rolls.

There are lots of optional rules for conducting combat in the FUDGE rules. To simplify things for this adventure, I recommend that you use Simultaneous Combat Rounds without a damage roll. Here is a simple outline for conducting combat.

1. Make an opposed action roll using the appropriate combat skill for both combatants. The winner hits the loser. A differential of zero is a stand-off and a minimum result of at least Poor is needed to hit (for roughly man-sized opponents). Make sure to note the relative degree that the winner won the roll by. If the winner won by a relative degree of 1 then the result is a Scratch. Hurt combatants are at -1 to action rolls and Very Hurt combatants are at -2.
2. The winner adds the relative degree he won the action roll by to his Offensive Damage Factor and subtracts the opponent's Defensive Damage Factor. Finally, he looks up the resulting number on the Wound Table. Scratch wounds cannot accumulate to a wound level of greater than Very Hurt.

Your newly created character starts off this adventure with 2 FUDGE points. You can use those points during the adventure for the following things:

1. You can spend a point to automatically succeed at one unopposed action or to automatically get a +4 result to one unopposed action without rolling.
2. You can spend a point to reduce a wound by one level or you can spend two points to reduce a wound to a Scratch, no matter what level it is.

The man says "my name is Cyrus Mons and I have a proposition for you". He leans forward and speaks in a low tone. "Have heard of the wizard Morduk?" You nod your head that you have. His tower lies just north of the clock tower. Cyrus tells you "that damned wizard stole something from me". "The item is not valuable", he says "but I am sentimental and want it back. All I ask is that you sneak into the wizard's tower and retrieve it".

You start to open your mouth again to tell him he is insane. Cyrus quickly lays a bulging leather bag on the table. He loosens the string around the neck and discretely tilts it toward you so you can see the contents - gleaming coins of gold and silver. He quickly closes the bag and stows it in his sleeve. Cyrus tells you "the wizard is out of town currently and even better, I have bribed a slave and gotten a key to the servant's entrance. It should be a relatively easy task for someone like you to get in and get the item. Do you accept the job?"

You look him in the eye and tell him that he still hasn't told you what you are supposed to be looking for. He smiles and tells you. "It is simply, a red velvet bag". He describes it to and says that it even has his initials SV on it. Finally, he says the bag is probably in the wizard's own quarters.

You easily scramble over the wall.

Make an unopposed action roll using your Climbing skill. If you do not have Climbing skill, use your Agility-1 for the roll.

If you fail with a result of Poor or better, you may try again.

The gates are apparently barred from the inside, but there is a small door set in the left gate.

The compound is roughly circular with the wizard's tower in the center. The area outside the tower is a well-manicured garden with bushes, trees and shrubbery. A brick path leads from the main gate to the front door. You cannot see the servant's entrance from where you are.

You foot slips as you near the top of the wall and you fall hard. As you get up, pain shoots through your ankle. It does not appear to be broken, but it is definitely twisted.

Man an unopposed action roll using your Pick Locks skill.

You carefully creep around the perimeter of the compound until you spot a small wooden door set in the rear of the tower.

You successfully operate the lever and open the gate.

If you have a prepared missile weapon, you may make one roll to attack before the creature reaches you. Otherwise, you go straight into melee combat. Use simultaneous combat and a Min-Mid-Max die roll for damage. Statistics for the wolf creature are as follows:

Wolf

Fangs: +1

Strength Good: +1

Offensive damage factor: +2

Thick Fur: +1

Damage Capacity Good: +1

Defensive damage factor: +2

The wolf will fight to the death

If you lose, the wolf drags your body into the bushes and has a meal...THE END

The dead body of the creature lies at your feet. You clean your weapon and catch your breath.

The servant's entrance door is set in the tower wall directly opposite the front entrance. It has a small keyhole below the iron handle and after checking, you determine the door is locked (unless you previously unlocked it).

You find yourself in a small room that looks like a pantry and kitchen. Several hams and an unplucked goose hang from ceiling. There is a large fireplace with a fire burning it and a pot bubbling on it. A doorway lies to the right of the fireplace and a very narrow staircase winds down beside the small servant's entrance door.

You put your shoulder into the door and try to bash it open. Make an unopposed action roll using your Strength.

You swing open the door and carefully enter.

Halfway across the compound, you hear a growl. Turning, you find yourself facing a large, four-legged creature that looks a cross between a dog and a wolf. Snarling, it rushes to attack....

The main gate is a large affair bound in iron. It is barred from the inside with a mechanism that is operated by a large lever.

You wait and watch for awhile. Nothing happens.

You wait and watch for awhile. A few minutes later, a large four-legged creature that looks like a cross between a wolf and a dog comes trotting around from behind the tower. It stops for a minute and sniffs the air. It pricks up its ears for a second, but finally continues on its way, disappearing into the trees on the other side of the compound.

Nothing happens.

A few moments later, you here the sound of footsteps and the door opens. A large man stands in the doorway dressed in chainmail. A shiny helm is on his head and his hand is resting on the scabbarded sword at his side. He takes a look at you and almost shouts "who are you are what are you doing here?!".

He angrily confronts you. "You aren't supposed to be here. No one is allowed in the master's compound without me being first informed and I haven't been told you were coming. I am taking you right back to the gate this instant."

The guard is a very competent fighter. Use simultaneous combat and a Min-Mid-Max die roll for damage. Statistics for the guard are as follows:

Guard

Broadsword: +2

Strength Good: +1

Offensive damage factor: +3

Chainmail: +2

Damage Capacity Good: +1

Defensive damage factor: +3

If the guard defeats you, he dumps your sorry corpse outside the front gate. THE END

The guard escorts you to the nearest guard station and turns you over. After you spend the next week in jail, you are finally brought before the magistrate. He sentences you to 20 lashes for trespassing and after you receive your lashes, you are released. You are left with only the scars for your trouble... THE END

You are in what looks like the main room of the tower's bottom floor. There is a large stone staircase winding its way up across the room. There is also one doorway off to your left that appears to be the entrance to a pantry or kitchen and a closed door to your right.

A guard wearing chainmail is standing in the middle of the main room. He has not noticed you yet. He is standing by what looks like the front door of the tower and another closed door is beside him. A stone stairway winds up on one wall and on the other side of the room from the guard is a doorway.

You get one free round of combat against the guard. He gets no defensive factors for that round. After that, conduct combat normally.

If you have Move Quietly or some similar skill, make an opposed action roll versus the guard's Perception, which is Good. If you do not have an applicable skill, you may roll versus your Agility-1 or -2 if you are wearing metal armor.

The guard spots you and immediately attacks.

You find yourself on a small landing. There is a wooden door off to your left and another wooden door to your right. Behind you, a stone staircase winds down.

You burst into the main room. A guard is standing in the middle of the room and your sudden entrance takes him by surprise.

You are in a damp cellar room there are various bags and boxes stacked around and some shelves on the hold jars of what appear to be preserved fruits and vegetables. Other than that, the room appears empty.

You carefully search the room. The bags and boxes hold various foodstuffs. The jars appear to have fruits and vegetables in them. You can take some of the food if you wish. Make an unopposed action roll using your perception.

The door is not locked.

This room is a small bedroom containing two simple beds, a table and a couple of chairs.

You search the room for several minutes but do not find anything of value. The beds have straw mattresses and the table has only a candlestick and candleholder, which you can take if you like.

You find a trapdoor carefully hidden in the floor. You pull on its inset ring and it swings up and open. Dust boils out of the opening.

You are in front of an open trapdoor. A wooden ladder leads down to a dirt floor about 8 feet below.

The woman is white as a sheet. The front of her rags is stained dark reddish-brown. She falls back to her knees begging. "Please free me. The wizard has kept me here for many moons, please help me".

Make an unopposed action roll using your Strength.

You bash on the ring holding the chain in the wall. After several tries, it shatters and the woman is free

The iron key easily fits into the shackles on the woman's hands. You unlock them and she is free.

You tear the chains free from the wall with brute force. The woman is free.

The woman falls into your arms. "Thank you, thank you for freeing me kind sir. I have only this to offer you as your just reward." She stares intently into your eyes, her own eyes gleaming. Make an opposed action roll using your Willpower versus her ability of Great.

You back away from the woman, your head reeling. She bares fangs and you now see that her fingers end in ragged claws. The vampire leaps forward to attack you.

You find yourself lost in the woman's gaze. You hardly notice as her fangs sink deep into your neck. She drains you completely of blood, leaving your corpse on the floor of the cell. THE END

Use simultaneous combat and a Min-Mid-Max die roll for damage. Her weakened condition means she is not a terribly tough opponent. Statistics for the vampire woman are as follows:

Vampire

Claws and Fangs: +1

Strength Fair: +0

Offensive damage factor: +1

Damage Capacity Mediocre: -1

Defensive damage factor: -1

If you wound the vampire down to Near Death, she pleads for her life.

The vampire grovels and thanks you for sparing her. She goes over to a stone in the wall and claws the mortar around it free. She pulls out the stone and retrieves a golden necklace set with a blood red ruby. She places it on your neck and thanks you again for not slaying her. Suddenly, she bolts up the ladder into the cellar. You here her clambering up the staircase and fleeing out the servant's entrance.

You are in what appears to be a lavishly appointed bedroom. A large canopied bed lies against the only narrow window of the room. At the foot of the bed is a large iron trunk. Against one wall is a nightstand with pitcher and bowl. Against the other wall is a large wooden wardrobe.

This looks like the wizard's work room. A fairly large window is on one wall. There is a pentagram marked out on the floor with what looks like white sand or chalk. Swirling cryptic letters and patterns are also drawn inside the pentagram. Candles burn at each point of the symbol. A bookstand lies nearby with a large open volume on it. Also in the room is a large worktable covered with glassware. Several shelves are against the far wall with a wide array of jars and pots on them.

You tear apart the bed. You pull back blankets and rip off the silk covers. Finally, in desperation you slash and rip into the feather mattress and pillows. Just when you are about to give up, you toss a shredded pillow onto the floor and you notice that it hits with a distinct 'thunk'. Intrigued, you pull out the feathers to find a small red velvet bag. The letters CM are embroidered on the outside of it and a silk cord and wax seal tightly close the neck.

You examine the pentagram more closely. The candles burning at it's points are not dripping and they hardly flicker at your approach. You smell a strange burning odor as you near it.

You find the trunk is locked (unless you have already picked the lock. If you have, go to Section 72).

The book on the reading stand is very large, almost 2 feet by 2 feet. It is open to one page covered with cryptic writing and another page that is illustrated with a snarling demonic figure.

You find that the candle knocks over or blows out easily. As soon as the candle is blown out or knocked over, you here a terrible sound like a clap of thunder and you are knocked from your feet.

Make an unopposed action roll using your Pick Locks skill -1 to represent the difficulty of the lock.

A charge runs through you like a bolt of lightning. Take 2 wounds. You immediately drop the book.

Mist seems to fill the entire room. You find that your feet are rooted to the spot. The mist finally coalesces into the form of a gigantic horned demon. He looks down at the ruined pentagram and silently wags a finger 'no-no' in your face. The last thing that you know is the ringing of demonic laughter. THE END.

You can determine that the book has to do with summoning and binding a powerful demonic being. The pentagram seems to serve as both a prison to keep the demon in and a barrier to prevent his harming the summoner.

The trunk is lined with cedar and almost filled to the top with junk. There are floppy hats covered in stars, thick winter coats, several sets of beds heets, some badly executed landscape drawings on parchment, old ink wells and lots of other miscellaneous items. You continue to search the trunk and finally discover a pretty badly hidden false bottom.

You successfully smudge or disturb the pentagram.

A stream of dust sprays out of the lock into your face. You find yourself coughing, gagging and rubbing the burning stuff from your eyes. Finally you wipe it all away and seem to suffer no ill effects. Mark the letter 'P' on your character sheet. The lock is beyond your skill.

You open the wardrobe. It has lots of clothes hanging in it and the bottom is filled with personal items. You rummage around for several minutes. You find nothing else that seems interesting or of value in the wardrobe, but you can take any of the clothes or personal items like combs, cloak pins, etc that you like.

The worktable is literally covered with glassware, bottles, clay pots, metal pliers and even a large hammer like one that would be used for woodworking. You search the table, but don't find anything interesting. You can take any of the items that you like.

You find a small cloth bag. It contains 9 cut gems of various sizes and colors. You also find a small leather-bound book. You can take either of the items.

The shelves are filled will jars and bottles of all shapes and sizes. Some of the contents make you shiver as you make out a variety of eyes, ears and who knows what else. Nothing seems obviously of value, but you can take anything that you like.

You attempt to read the book and find that it is written in the common tongue that you are familiar with. It seems to be the wizard's diary or journal. One section written about a week ago seems particularly interesting.

Thorsday, 5^th Day of Spring Planting

That fat lout Palus is becoming more and more of a bother. I should have never taken him the demon's tear to have it valued. He has offered a dozen times to buy it from me and a dozen times I have told him no. A gem like that does not need to be in the hands of such a pompous idiot. I don't think he is foolish enough to try and send an agent to retrieve it, but I have hidden it in my quarters just in case.

The spores that have worked their way into your lungs quietly grow and expand in their new warm and moist environment. You quietly die in your sleep. THE END

You make enough money from the gems to live extravagantly for a month or quite well for three months.

You wait at the Strangled Hobbit for what seems like an eternity. Finally, the fat little man shows up and seats himself at your table. He has an impatient look on his face and dabs at his forehead with a handkerchief. "I hope you were successful in your task he says".

If you have a 'D' marked on your character sheet, go to Section 86.

If you do not have a 'D' marked on your character sheet, go to Section 88.

The man's whole expression changes after you give him the bag. He quickly looks inside and carefully peeks at the contents. Finally, he almost cackles with laughter. He tosses you your payment and walks away. The bag contains enough money for you to live extravagantly on for about a week or comfortably on for about a month (double that amount if you confronted him after reading the journal). THE END

You never see Cyrus Mons again, but you always remember your adventurer into the Wizard's Tower. THE END

Cyrus Mons never shows up. Go to Section 86.

A week later, you are walking along Cook Street when you run into someone almost knocking them down. Apologizing, you look to see the fat face of Cyrus Mons. He screams at you "where is my bag thief. I want my bag or I will flay your sorry hide!

You confront the man. "I know all about your game Palus. I don't think the bag belongs to you and I KNOW what it contains". You lean back in your chair with a smile. Palus frowns and thinks for a moment. "You drive a hard bargain, but I applaud your resourcefulness. I double my initial offer of payment. I think that is quite fair is it not?"

Cyrus Mons demands the bag. He grows angrier and angrier as you refuse. Finally, he points his finger at you and declares "you will be sorry that you have not provided me with what I seek. You will not sleep in safety from this day forward"

The dragon drops you unceremoniously onto the ground. With a mighty roar, he takes to the sky and flies away. You feel lucky to still be alive. THE END

For the next week, you think you are being followed almost every day. Concerned, you finally leave town and board a ship for other lands. Only the future can tell how far the arm of Palus's revenge truly reaches. THE END