The Test of Sorcery

Atmosphere


The mindscape seems completely real to the sorcerer. He may not even know that it is illusion. A sense of unease hangs in the air, keeping the mage on guard. He should come to expect the unexpected and become suspicious of everything. The mage should believe that these things are truly happening, and should act accordingly. Even if the player knows it’s fake (he sneaked a peek at the booklet or reads a lot of DRAGONLANCE), his hero should not. This presents a role-playing challenge. Play accordingly.

Getting Started


Players must have a copy of The Last Tower: The Legacy of Raistlin to play this adventure.

Rest Areas


When the mage enters this area, the player does not play a Test Card. Instead, he discards the highest Test Card already face up. Before leaving the area, the hero regains all cards lost from his hands because of wounds, and gets all of his sorcery points back (mysticism points remain unaffected).

The Imperial Palace of Ergoth


As the hero finishes completes his mission in one Test Area, he finds a rolled up parchment wrapped with the imperial seal of Ergoth. The parchment is an invitation to partake of Ergoth’s hospitality. If he accepts, the hero finds himself before the golden gates of the Imperial Palace of Ergoth. Retainers rush to his side and usher him into the palace.

Overview


The sorcerer is immediantly brought into the palace, where he is shown to his own room. It is lush and decadent, and filled with precious baubles that he can admire (but not bring with him). Servants cater to his every whim, and he is pampered thoroughly.

The Test Continues


Nothing happens to interrupt the hero’s rest here. He may talk to the servants, but none of them have any important information.

Actions


If the heros speaks with the Palace staff or other occupants, he can learn about the adjacent Test areas. Getting the info requires an easy Presence action.

Characters


The staff includes several servants and maids, all with the same general characteristics.

Outcome


If the hero is foolish enough to attack anyone at the palace, five palace guards (same statistics as above) will arrest and execute the hero. The hero can escape, but he doesn’t heal or regain lost magic points. Otherwise, the he heals all wounds and regains lost sorcery points.

Battle Areas


The Test’s battle areas present the hero with straightforward fights. However, other elements, such as a friend in need, a damsel in distress, or other problem might be added to further the storyline.

Goblins!


The mage sees a thick forest, and hears the cries of a dear friend or ally. He also hears animal-like grunts and snarls.

Overview


The mage dashes off to help his friend, and stumbles into a clearing. In the clearing, a friend of mage is surrounded by six goblins. The friend is being tortured, and his weapons lie broken and scattered across the floor.

The Test Continues


The goblins continue to torture the hero’s friend until the sorcerer reveals himself. When he intervenes, all but one goblin spring to attack him.

Actions


The hero has a normal chance to surprise the goblins, and cannot be surprised himself.
His friend can offer no help, as he is bound to a tree. The goblins will fight to the death.

Characters


No matter what the hero does, his friend dies.

Outcome


If the hero kills all of the goblins, his friend utters the clues to the adjacent Test Areas with his last breath. Should the hero run away, he must forfeit his highest face-up Test Card.

Hazard Areas


The Test’s hazard areas are areas filled with danger and traps, and with problems that the hero will have to think quickly to solve.

Blind As A Bat


The hero hears a faint voice whisper "You will see only when you are blinded by darkness unending. . ." as a dark path unfolds before him.

Overview


If the hero chooses to walk the dark path, then he finds huimself in a dead forest at night. The path is made up of cobblestones, but they are pitch black! At some point, the road beneath the hero crumbles, and he falls (no action) down into a dungeon. The road closes up above him, and he is in total darkness. The hero must escape from this deadly cavern.

The Test Continues


The darkness is magical, and prevents the hero from casting "physical" spells. This means that the sorcerer may not transmute the cieling above him to air and escape, because he can’t see the cieling!. The dungeon is filled with deadly traps.
Every two minutes, draw a card. If the aura is white, give the hero two points, if the aura is red, give the hero one point, and if the aura is black, subtract one point from the total. Keep track of how many points a hero has.
Feel free to come up with all sorts of pit traps, spear traps, over even cieling traps to exhaust the hero. Be careful to limit the damage to a 5 dmg., and try to make it so an action can save him. Otherwise, just draw a cards, and consult the table below:

Card Number 		Trap
-------------------------------------------
    1-2			spear trap
    3-5			pit
    6-7			axe trap
    8-9			cave-in
    10			pit with giant ants

1-2; spear trap: The hero must make an average perception action to hear the trap being sprung. then, if he hears it, he must make a challenging agility action to dodge the spear. The spear does 4 dmg., and the hero may attempt a daunting agility action to avoid the spear if he did not hear it. Once released, a spear can be used to check for traps, and change the challenging agility action made each minute to an average agility action.
3-5; pit: The hero must make a daunting agility action to escape from this trap. Otherwise, the hero falls into a pit as the ground breaks beneath his feet. The hero is dealt 5 dmg., and loses a point from his total.
6-7; axe trap: As for the spear trap, the hero may make an average perception action to hear the trap being sprung. If he makes it, he can attempt a challenging agility action to avoid the large ax that falls from the cieling. Otherwise, the hero must make a daunting agility action. The ax does 5 dmg., and cannot be removes from the floor.
8-9; cave-in: The hero must make a daunting agility action to avoid the barrage of rocks that break off of the cieling and onto his head. These rocks do 5 dmg.
10; pit with giant ants: This pit is exactly like the first pit, only the hero doesn’t get hurt. The pit does have three giant ants though, and will attack him noisily. The ants suffer no penalty from the darkness, but the sorcerer duffers a -4 penalty.

Actions


Every minute, the hero must make a challenging agility action to avoid falling into a trap. If he hits a trap, come up with one, or go with the table above.
A hero may attempt to cast a spell that will shed light and allow him to see, however, these spells will not work, but they will not take up magic points either. A hero, at any point in time, may make a daunting perception action to listen for things. If they succeed, then will hear the sound of gushing water. If they choose to follow that sound, give them a +3 bonus to their point total. This action can only be successful once, though a player may attempt it many times. Remember, a hero with acute hearing gets an automatic Trump bonus to this action.
When a hero reaches 10 points, he’ll fall headlong into an underground river. He will be helpless against it’s currents, unless he succeeds at a 14 point hydromancy spell (before adjustments for invocation time) to control the water. If he follows the current, he will be swept out a pipe and into a small pond in the open.
A divination spell that costs 12 points before adjustments for invocation lends a +4 to the total. A summoning spell that costs 14 points before adjustments for invocation can teleport him near the water, but he might just teleport himself into a trap, or even in the wrong direction! The Narrator should decide, or consult the table below. 

Card’s Aura		Destination
-----------------------------------------------------------------
White			In the stream
Red 			Next to the stream
Black			Into a trap; consult the trap table above

Any spells that require sight cannot be used. However, a 14 point geomancy spell, without adjustments for invocation can negate all pit raps by firming the ground (just treat pit traps on the trap table as if nothing happens). A 12 point aeromancy spell, before adjustments for invocation could lift a mage up, and bring him to the stream without tripping any traps. However, he must succeed in a challenging Reason action every minute to keep from falling. The sorcerer must still gain ten points, and draws traveling cards normally in this fashion. Anything else a sorcerer tries has varying degrees of success, as determined by the Narrator.

Characters


At the bottom of some pits, lie two giant ants, who attack anything that falls into the pit, and fights to the death.

Outcome


If the hero makes it to the stream and follows its current, it leads him through a pipe and to the surface. he will find himself in a large cavern lit by sunlight pouring from a hole in the cieling. There are several tunnels which serve as exits. Descriptions of adjacent Test areas are chisled above the tunnels.

Portal to the Abyss


One must sacrifice everything for the magic, happiness, love, friendship, and even ones life, the sorcerer learns.

Overview


The mage finds himself in a small, 15’ cubed room. There a small swirling portal in the center of the floor, about 5 feet in diameter. As the sorcerer watches, he finds that it grows larger, and begins to steadily swallow the room.

The Test Continues


The portal is turbulent, and unsteady. it swirls with many colors, and clearly leads to a place beyond the room. It grows larger in diameter at about half-a-foot per minute. This means, that in about ten minutes, the sorcerer will be sucked in.

Actions


If the sorcerer gets within one foot of the portal, he will have to succeed in a challenging Endurance action to resist being pulled in. After six minutes, when there is only about two feet btween the portal and the room’s walls for the sorcerer to stand on, the hero will have to succeed in a challenging Endurance action, with the degree of difficulty increasing every minute afterwards, to resist being pulled into the portal. At ten minutes, the hero falls in no matter what.
The walls have no handholds for the mage to grab onto. Divination and summnonig spells will not work in the room, but they will not cost sorcery points either. Transmutation and geomancy spells will not work on the walls, cieling, or floor of the room, and as with the divination and summnoning spell, they will not drain sorcery points. The walls, cieling, and floor of the room, as well as the portal, cannot be damaged by spellcraft, or by conventional means. Spells meant to batter the hero free of the cell do cost sorcery points.
Falling into the portal involuntarily deals the mage 8 dmg. The only way for the hero to escape this area unharmed is to leap willingly into the portal. A hero who does this is not dealt any damage.

Characters


In the Abyss, the hero will meet a phantom version of Takhisis. The five-headed dragon will describe the adjacent Test areas to the hero, and will attack to kill if provoked. The dragon will not start a fight.

Outcome


After a hero falls into the portal, he will find himself confronted by a large, multi-hued, five-headed dragon. The dragon will tell him about the adjacent Test areas.

Task Areas


Task areas are areas in which a hero faces a unique problem that requires some serious thought, or a creative spell, to resolve.

A Damsel’s Plea


The hero learns that a damsel requires his aid.

Overview


The hero enters a small clearing next to a rather large and rocky hill. He sees a beautiful young woman wearing a flowing white gown weeping next to an old man in a plain tunic and trousers. The damsel is weeping uncontrollably, while the old man is sprawled on the grassy floor of the clearing, unconscious. Neither of them appear to be hurt.
This woman might be someone the hero knows, and an emotional attachment between tham would help. The old man is infamiliar to the hero.

The Test Continues


As soon as the hero comes into view, the damsel will joyously greet him and plead for his help. It seems that her father (the man on the ground), has become ill. He will die unless he eats the golden petals of the nightflower. She insists that the sphere of healing will not cure him. The night flower grows only on the top of the very hill next to the clearing. They were going to get a nightflower, when her father collapsed.

Actions


Should the hero refuse the damsels request, she reveals her true form, that of a banshee. She will then attack the hero, and kill him. Should the hero survive, he forfeits the Test card he placed for this area, and finds a scroll on the floor. This scroll tells him of the adjacent Test areas.
Climbing the rocky hill will prove very dangerous. The hero will have to succeed in five challenging Agility actions to scale the hill. If a hero should fail, he has to start all over again, and is dealt damage equal to the number of actions he has attempted. For example, a player who slips om the fourth action, will suffer 4 dmg. A mishap deals double damage. when the hero reaches the top, he will see a single, violet flower clinging tenatiously to the hilltop. The hero can easily pluck it, and begin his descent. On the way down, he must make the same actions, with the damage rules in reverse. For example, a hero slipping on the first action downward is dealt 5 dmg., while a hero slipping on the third action downwards is dealt 3 dmg. As before, mishaps double damage.
A geomancy spell costing 10 points before adjustments for invocation will allow the player to “ride” on the hill like an escalator to the top. Another one is required to get him down, unless he wants to descend normally. A transmutation spell costing 16 points before adjustments for invocation can transmute enough of the hill to air, or some other non-solid, so that the hero can easily pluck a night flower. An aeromancy spell costing 14 points before adjustments for invocation will allow the player to “fly” to the top of the hill, although a mishap will cause the hero to fall and suffer 8 dmg. A mishap deals the hero an additional 8 dmg. A summoning spell that costs 12 points before adjustments due to invocation can teleport her to the hilltop, but a sorcerer cannot summon the flower to him, as he has never seen a nightflower (it doesn’t really exist on Krynn), and he cannot see it from the bottom of the hill.

Characters


The woman is actually a banshee. The old man is spectre, although the old man will not interact with the hero.

Outcome


If the hero returns with the flower, the woman gives it to the old man, and he opens his eyes. The woman thanks the hero, and then they both disappear. A whisper in the wind describes adjacent Test areas. Should a hero refuse her request, the banshee will attack, and fight until, well, she’s really dead. Should the hero survive this, he must discard the Test card he played for this area.

The Beleaguered Hermit


A sign or passerby tells the hero that a terrible storm has recently passed by, destroying many things in its path.

Overview


The sorcerer comes across a small clearing at the edge of a forest. In the clearing is a small hut. The roof however, has been blown off, and now rests, in several pieces some twenty feet away. Two feet are sticking out from under the matted straw of the small huts ill-fated roof.

The Test Continues


The hero sees someone trapped underneath the remnants of the huts roof. If the sorcerer investigates, he will find an unconscious hermit. The old man will thank the hero. The hermit will explain that a storm passed by recently, and his roof was blown off. He need to repair his roof, but he fears that he might not be strong enough to do the work by himself.

Actions


Should the hero offer to help, the hermit will joyously accept. If the mage tries to fix the roof with the hermit manually, it will take several hours, and require three challenging Reason actions. Success means that the roof is complete and brand new. Should the mage fail an action, the roof will still be a roof, but it will not be a very good one. Should the hero fail all three actions, or suffer a mishap, he will have to start over.
The sorcerer can also attempt sorcery actions to aid in the labor. These should be regulated by the Narrator, and have varying degreees of success based upon ingenuity, practicality, and dependability.

Characters


The old man is a hermit. He’s dressed in tattered tunics and breeches.

Outcome


If the hero does an exceptionally good job on the roof (he succeeded in all three actions), the hermit will offer the mage a normal staff. Otherwise, the hero gets nothing. The hermit will describe the adjacent Test areas. Should the hero refuse to help the old man, he immediantly forfeits the card he played for this area. If he attacks the man, he fails the Test and is immediantly ejected the maximum distance from the Tower.

Magic Areas


Magic areas pressent the hero with challenges that needs magic can solve. These areas usually target a specific school, but good ones can offer a broad selection of schools that can solve the problem.

A Dragon in Need


The hero learns that sometimes, even the mightiest of creatures need a little help.

Overview


A resplendent young bronze dragon lays sulkily among great stacks of large boulders. He is half-buried, and only his head (which is as long as an average human) and one taloned arm are out of the rubble.
This is a test that targets geomancy, but nearly any school will suffice.

The Test Continues


When the dragon sees the wizard, he will ignore him. It will take a successful average Presence(Spirit) action to convince the dragon to talk. Once talking, the dragon will introduce himself as Shratang. The rubble around him was one his lair, until continued abuse caused the cavern to collapse on his head. Shratang will try to bully the sorcerer to help him, and he does have one claw free. Also, Shratang can employ his breath weapon.

Actions


The hero can try to move the rubble manually, but Shratang will just snort and insult the mage’s intelligence. A transmutation spell that costs 14 points before adjustments for invocation will allow the mage to transmute most of the rubble into a substance that Shratang can more easily break free of. A geomancy spell costing 12 points before adjustments due to invocation will allow the mage to shift most of the rubble off of Shratang, and allow him to escape. A summoning spell that costs 14 points before adjustments due to invocation can teleport some of the rock off of Shratang, and allow him to break free. However, Shratang is too big for the mage to teleport out from under the rock pile. Using spells, if a her can cause forty five damage points to the rock pile, he can knock it off of Shratang. This can be lightning, or wind, or even shards of ice. However, the sorcerer must succeed in a challenging Reason action to prevent half of theat damage to go to Shratang. In his weakened, buried state, Shratang cannot resist magic. A mishap means the spell fully affects Shratang.

Characters


Shratang is a young bronze dragon.

Outcome


If Shratang is released unharmed, then he will heal all wounds the character has suffered and describe the adjacent Test areas. If he has been hurt accidently, he will not hurt the sorcerer, but will still describe the adjacent Test areas. If the hero has refused to help him, attacked him, or accidently hit Shratang fully with a damaging spell, Shratang will attack. Should the hero miraculously survive, he must forfeit the Highest Test card that he has played.

The Escaped Convict


The hero learns that nothing is truly black or white, but intershangeable shades of gray.

Overview


The hero finds himself at the edge of a field of corn. It is night, and he sees a large mob of torch wielding townsfolk approaching the area.
This Magic area is a test for spectramancy and divination, although pyromancy, and electromancy could work. Other spell effects may also suffice, as determined by the Narrator.

The Test Continues


The townsfolk stop, and explain their situation to the hero. They are searching for an escaped convict. Apparently he had killed the mayors son. The town had locked him up, and was going to execute him the following morning, but he broke out of jail. A woman claims she saw him dash into this cornfield, and now the townsfolk are hunting him down. They ask the hero to use his considerable magical talents to help search for the escaped convict. The townsfolk spread out, and assign the hero a “chunk” of the field to cover.

Actions


A simple spectramancy spell that costs 6 spell points before adjustments due to invocation can light up the hero’s portion of the corn field. A pyromancy or electromancy spell costing 8 points before adjustments for invocation can do the same thing, but the hero needs to succeed in an average Reason action to prevent starting a fire. A failure means that the hero started a small fire that can be put out with an easy Endurance action. Failure in that action, or a mishap in the first action causes the fire to become large, burning down the cornfield. A mishap in trying to put out a small fire creates a large fire and deals the hero 6 damage. A divination spell costing 8 points before adjustments for invocation will reveal the fugitive’s position. Other spells may drive the convict out with varying degrees of success, depending on the Narrator.
If the hero decides to search this field manually, he doesn’t find the convict.

Characters


The townsfolk are all wearing simple clothes, and carrying torches. The convict is a desperate human in ragged clothes.

Outcome


Refusing to search for the fugitive forfeits the Test card that the hero played for this area. Burning down the corn field will also forfeit the Test card that the hero played for this area. Should the hero immediantly call for the townsfolk, the convict will be led away, and a woman will describe the adjacent Test areas.
Should the hero confront the convict, the convict will attack. The hero can attempt a challenging Presence(Essence) action to calm the convict, or subdue him. If kept conscious, the convict will tell the hero of his plight.

"I didn’t mean to kill the mayor’s son! I swear it! You see, the bastard attacked my Kaitya, tried to force himself upon her! He was roarin’ drunk, he was, and he kept touchin’ my Kaitya! I couldn’ let him do that, so I pushed ‘im away! ‘Get ‘way!’ I yelled at the drunkard. He charged me like a bull and we went crashin’ to the floor! When I got up, he was dead! He had fallen on his own dagger! I swear I didn’t kill nobody! I just wanted to protect my precious Kaitya! I swear sir, I never killed nobody! I swear!"

Any divination spell will reveal that he is telling the truth. If the hero frees him, draw a random card from the deck, and add it to the hero’s pile of Test cards. If he still brings the convict in, don’t apply any penalty unless the you, as the Narrator, deem fit. In the event that the hero frees the convict, the convict will describe the adjacent test areas.

Rockslide


The hero recieves a warning about a treacherous crossing.

Overview


The hero is walking along the floor of a small canyon. It’s only about twenty feet wide, a hundred feet up, and thousand hundred feet across. On the far end of the canyon, the hero can see the entrance to a cavern.
This test targets a spellcasters geomancy and transmutation spells, although summoning could work. Damaging schools such as electromancy and pyromancy would also be useful.

The Test Continues

The hero should make his way to the cavern. A glance behind him will reveal a sheer rock wall that is unclimbable. The canyon sides, while rough, provide no good handholds, so a hero cannot scale those either. After a few minutes of walking, rocks will begin pouring down the sides of the canyon.

Actions


To avoid being hit by one of these rocks, a hero must succeed in a challenging Agility action every minute. Running would take the mage ten minutes. When a hero reaches the cavern, a large slab of granite will fall over the entrance to the cavern, effectively cutting off the only way in. There is no end to the falling rocks, and each rock does 6 damage. A mishap deals double damage.
Geomancy and transmutaion spells can alter the canyon’s sides to hold back the rock, but this spell will cost 14 points before adjustments for invocation. This will hold back the rock for five minutes. Mages in the open casting spells, with invocations greater than instant, have their actions to avoid debris become greater by two degrees. A geomancer can also attempt to graft the falling rock onto the canyon side, and this will cost 12 points before adjustments due to invocation, and will stop the rocks for two minutes. Geomancy spells and transmutation spells costing 5 points before adjustments for invocation can stop a rock from hitting a mage. A clever geomancer or transmuter can create an overhang to block the debris, and each category on the Area chart will stop one minute of rock. This makes it a spell costing 9 points before adjustments due to area and invocation.
A summoning spell with a cost of 14 points before adjustments for invocation will teleport a hero to the mouth of the cavern, but not within. The slab still cuts off the hero’s entrance. Spells that do 20 damage will destroy the slab and grant the hero entrance to the cavern. A transmutation or geomancy spell costing 12 points before any adjustments for invocation can move the slab, and let the hero seek refuge from the rockslide. Another summoning spell costing 6 points before adjustments for invocation can teleport a hero past the slab and into the cavern. Clever spells a hero can use to make his way through the rockslide have varying degrees of success, which are determined by the Narrator.

Characters


There are no characters in this Test area.

Outcome


If a sorcerer makes it to the cavern, he finds finds a large pool of water in the center of the small room. Written around the pool are the descriptions of the adjacent test areas.

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