Battle Dice Additional Rules
Quests & Artifacts
by Dave Sanborn
sanborn@us.ibm.com
Before rolling on a given turn, a player may announce that he's questing.
He may select as many dice as he wants to form a "questing party", and the rest of the dice
act as his army. The army is rolled as per the standard rules against the opposing player's
army. If a player has dedicated dice to his questing party on a given turn, and his army is
wiped out in that turn, then
the game is over and the player loses. Army casualties may never be applied to dice in the
questing party, and vice versa.
Dice used for initially forming a questing party may only consist of Infantry, Archers, and
Mages. Cavalry, Generals, and
Monsters may not go on quests, and must always stay with the army. If a player wishes an
Artifact to accompany the quest,
he may add it to the questing party, keeping in mind the specific rules for its use
(more on Artifacts later).
The opposing player acts as the "Dungeon Master" (for lack of a better term), and constructs
an encounter roster for the questing player to face. The DM player selects a number of dice
(NOT from his own army) equal to the number of dice in the questing player's party.
The encounter roster may contain Infantry, Archers, Mages, and Monsters, though Monsters
must be purchased on a one-for-two basis.
The two players conduct combat as per the normal rules, keeping in mind that Tactics and
Maneuver rules don't change (though it will be difficult for either player to generate Tactics
and Maneuver points). If a mage rolls on the spell-effects table, and rolls
a '6' (the Summon spell) the player may add ANY type of dice to his party, INCLUDING
Cavalry, Generals, and Monsters.
If either army is destroyed or routs (after a morale check) the quest is over.
If the questing player still has non-Artifact units left in his questing party at this point
(whether his party routed or he won), he may return ALL dice in his questing party to his
army. If only Artifacts are left, they are considered lost, and may NOT be returned to the
questing player's army. The DM player may NEVER add the contents of the encounter roster
to his own army.
Should the questing player win, he rolls on the following Artifact Table to determine which
Artifact he has procured. Artifacts are dice which are rolled in battle which give some kind of
positive bonus. Some Artifacts have restrictions on them (other dice must exist in the
party/army, can only be used once, etc.) which are explained in the following section.
When using Artifacts, keep in mind the logical limits to their use (for example, if you only
have one Infantry unit, that Infantry unit CANNOT use more than one magic sword at the
same time, or multiple shields; a single Mage unit COULD NOT use two wands at once).
Also keep in mind that effects are NOT cumulative, except where noted (if you have two
Infantry units, and two Swords + 1, each Infantry unit would be eligible for a +1 modifier;
you could not apply a +2 modifier to a single unit).
ARTIFACT TABLE
1d20 Artifact:
1 Gold Cache (Hire Troops)
2 Wand of Healing
3 Wand of Resurrection
4 Sword + 1
5 Shield + 1
6 Bow + 1
7 Banner of Bravery (bonus on morale)
8 Sword + 2 (+2 to infantry)
9 Shield + 2 (-2 from enemy dice)
10 Bow + 2 (+2 on archery)
11 Scroll of Summoning (Summon Monsters)
12 Staff of Wizardry (+2 on magic)
13 Wings of the Pegasii (+2 on maneuver)
14 Crown of Command (+2 on tactics)
15 Orb of the Archmagi (one up or one down on spell effects table)
16 Orb of Kings (one up or one down on tactics result table)
17 Orb of Legions (one up or one down on maneuver table)
18 Wand of Death (instant death result)
19 Sword + 3
20 Bow + 3
GOLD CACHE
1d4 Effect Notes
1 Small Cache May immediately hire one unit. This unit may consist of any type except Monsters.
2 Medium Cache May immediately hire 1d4 units. These units may consist of any type except Monsters.
3 Large Cache May immediately hire 1d6 units. These units may consist of any type except Monsters.
4 Mother lode May immediately hire 2d4 units. These units may consist of any type except Monsters.
Note: The Gold Cache is ALWAYS discarded after one use.
WAND OF HEALING
1d4 Effect Notes
1 No Charges Left Discard Artifact
2-3 No Effect -
4 Healing Overturn the death of any one unit that has been killed this turn
Note: You must have at least one Mage unit in your army/party in order to use a Wand of Healing.
WAND OF RESURRECTION
1d4 Effect Notes
1 No Charges Left Discard Artifact
2-4 Resurrection Overturn the death of any one unit that has been killed this turn
Note: You must have at least one Mage unit in your army/party in order to use a Wand of Resurrection.
SWORD + 1
1d4 Effect Notes
1-2 No Effect -
3-4 Magic Attack Add one to the roll of a single Infantry unit this turn
Note: You must have at least one Infantry unit in your army/party in order to use a Sword + 1
SHIELD + 1
1d4 Effect Notes
1-2 No Effect -
3-4 Magic Defense Subtract one from the roll of a single enemy Infantry or Archer unit this turn
Note: You must have at least one Infantry unit in your army/party in order to use a Shield + 1.
BOW + 1
1d4 Effect Notes
1-2 No Effect -
3-4 Magic Missile Add one to the roll of a single Archer unit this turn.
Note: You must have at least one Archer unit in your army/party in order to use a Bow + 1.
BANNER OF BRAVERY
1d4 Effect Notes
1-2 No Effect -
3 Rally Subtract one from the number of dice which show a '2' or '3' during a Morale Check
4 Inspire Subtract two from the number of dice which show a '2' or '3' during a Morale Check
Note: You must have at least one General unit in your army/party in order to use a
Banner of Bravery. If you have multiple Generals, and multiple Banners, the
effects ARE cumulative.
SWORD + 2
1d4 Effect Notes
1-2 No Effect -
3 Magic Attack Add one to the roll of a single Infantry unit this turn
4 Magic Attack Add two to the roll of a single Infantry unit this turn
Note: You must have at least one Infantry unit in your army/party in order to use a Sword + 2
SHIELD + 2
1d4 Effect Notes
1-2 No Effect -
3 Magic Defense Subtract one from the roll of a single enemy Infantry or Archer unit this turn
4 Magic Defense Subtract two from the roll of a single enemy Infantry or Archer unit this turn
Note: You must have at least one Infantry unit in your army/party in order to use a Shield + 2.
BOW + 2
1d4 Effect Notes
1-2 No Effect -
3 Magic Missile Add one to the roll of a single Archer unit this turn
4 Magic Missile Add two to the roll of a single Archer unit this turn
Note: You must have at least one Archer unit in your army/party in order to use a Bow + 2.
SCROLL OF SUMMONING
1d4 Effect Notes
1 Battlecry May immediately hire 1d4 units. These unit may consist of any type except Monsters.
2 Minor Conjuration May immediately hire 1d4 units. These units may consist of any type.
3 Major Conjuration May immediately hire 1d6 units. These units may consist of any type.
4 Call of the Hordes May immediately hire 2d4 units. These units may consist of any type.
Note: The Scroll of Summoning is ALWAYS discarded after one use.
You must have at least one Mage unit in your army/party
in order to use a Scroll of Summoning.
STAFF OF WIZARDRY
1d4 Effect Notes
1-2 No Effect -
3 Power Add one to the roll of a single Mage unit this turn
4 Power Add two to the roll of a single Mage unit this turn
Note: You must have at least one Mage unit in your army/party in order to use a Staff of Wizardry.
WINGS OF THE PEGASII
1d4 Effect Notes
1-2 No Effect -
3 Flight Add one to the roll of a single Cavalry unit this turn
4 Flight Add two to the roll of a single Cavalry unit this turn
Note: You must have at least one Cavalry unit in your army/party in
order to use the Wings of the Pegasii.
CROWN OF COMMAND
1d4 Effect Notes
1-2 No Effect -
3 Leadership Add one to the roll of a single General unit this turn
4 Leadership Add two to the roll of a single General unit this turn
Note: You must have at least one General unit in your army/party in
order to use a Crown of Command
ORB OF THE ARCHMAGI
1d4 Effect Notes
1-2 No Effect -
3-4 Omniscience The orb can be used to manipulate one Magic Effects Table
result, by either subtracting one, or adding one.
Note: You must have at least one Mage unit in your army/party in
order to use an Orb of the Archmagii.
ORB OF KINGS
1d4 Effect Notes
1-2 No Effect -
3-4 Foresight The orb can be used to manipulate one Tactics Effect Table
result, by either subtracting one, or adding one.
Note: You must have at least one General unit in your army/party in
order to use an Orb of Kings.
ORB OF LEGIONS
1d4 Effect Notes
1-2 No Effect -
3-4 Intuition The orb can be used to manipulate one Maneuver Effect Table
result, by either subtracting one, or adding one.
Note: You must have at least one Cavalry unit in your army/party in
order to use an Orb of Legions.
WAND OF DEATH
1-2 No Charges Left Discard Artifact
3 No Effect -
4 Death Kill one enemy unit this turn.
Note: You must have at least one Mage unit in your army/party in
order to use a Wand of Death.
SWORD + 3
1d4 Effect Notes
1 No Effect -
2 Magic Attack Add one to the roll of a single Infantry unit this turn
3 Magic Attack Add two to the roll of a single Infantry unit this turn
4 Magic Attack Add three to the roll of a single Infantry unit this turn
Note: You must have at least one Infantry unit in your army/party in order to use a Sword + 3
BOW + 3
1d4 Effect Notes
1 No Effect -
2 Magic Missile Add one to the roll of a single Archer unit this turn
3 Magic Missile Add two to the roll of a single Archer unit this turn
4 Magic Missile Add three to the roll of a single Archer unit this turn
Note: You must have at least one Archer unit in your army/party in order to use a Bow + 3.
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