@Martin Knight Great response, and it does makes sense, having trained a few puppies in my life. Cats I have found nearly untrainable, though they each managed to train me well enough… I love this feature of the game, managed to get and train a hunting dog for one adventurer and got really lucky with a scorpion for another. That was sweet! So far in World Builder have traveled two full maps without gaining a beast companion. I must find one!

Not to belabor this but I thought of this after I posted above… As Martin said, you can always pass on a side quest. Again, getting into the real “role-playing“ of this great Solo RPG… Using my imagination, I am a novice traveling sorcerer with a few adventures under my belt when I meet someone who tells me of a “side quest…” Is it a small HOLLOW with an “easy” monster with no chance of running into anything too nasty for just a little coin that you can get in and out of quickly? Or is it the DEN of a tougher creature that you’ll be well paid for but has a 10% chance of running into some unbeatable buggers? OR is it the LAIR of something tough that’ll pay you handsomely and have bards signing your praises to increase your Reputation… but a 40% chance of crossing paths with the big baddies… You can always say no thanks.

Pretty tough luck running into a couple dragons so early on, especially as a clumsy sorcerer with few magic spells yet. I would however recommend you try to play the game by the unmodified rules as written. Oh, I know the temptation to house rule, and I have certainly done some house ruling of my own. But having played this game several years now, I can assure you the rules as written are actually very well thought out and balanced. In fact, for a “simple” pen and paper solo RPG, it really provides a “realistic” experience. I mean, let’s face it, if you actually were a novice sorcerer with poor dexterity and few spells in your spell book, running into a couple dragons would most certainly be lethal. Just using my imagination, which is why I play (and where I think this game truly shines)… You are just five or so adventures in, maybe getting a little cocky, and you stumble across one of these unforgiving dragons. You try to escape and trip over yourself, maybe you drop your spell book, then can’t remember that spell off the top of your head, fumble with the incantation and boom - you’re dead. To me, that is just as fun of an experience. Oh, I’ve had a couple adventures die early on which made me sad. And if you are really attached to your adventurer you could always just play benevolent god and give them an extra fate instead of making a new house rule that you’ll have to note somewhere and try to remember if you want to be consistent. Bear in mind that as your Adventure grows in skill and gains spells, that house rule may make then things too easy for you. Or take away from the realization that you need to work on your lousy Dex, or try to avoid situations that rely on it, or specifically hunt for better spells, etc. I guess it all depends on the experience you’re looking for. I’ve rolled up I think 8 adventurers now, and played with my son as well as solo. There is incredible depth to this game as written. Try not to be discouraged. Give your notice sorcerer a blessing or two and keep playing as written and I believe you will love this game as much as so many of us do.

Sure hope you can get the hardbacks soon. I’m fortunately in the USA and have all the hardbacks and love them! Having played v2 since 2018, I upgraded to v3 in 2019 and then Jan to Feb 2020 I got hardbacks of the D100 base book, the Adventurer’s Companion and The Dragon Armor, as well as the mapping game, tracking mat, and spell cards. Then April 2020 the Lost Tome, July 2020 the Mapping Game add-on and extra gold, then Sept 2020 the Computer Companion on Steam, Feb 2021 The Dragons Return hardback and monster cards, and finally Oct 2021 World Builder. Fantastic game system and beautiful products!

I love the computer companion but have not used it since getting WB. Am super excited to hear you are working on updating it - presumably to include all the expansions AND WB ! ? ! ? Awesome!

These looks great. My son and I have already been playing jointly. We too have a common, shared map on which we travel together, and we each keep our own personal calendar as well as adventurer sheet. As for a leader, well we just take turns deciding which actions we will do next. So far we do the same actions together, like together we go fishing for a day or three, but of course we roll separately for our results. So far we have stayed in sync time wise but having played by myself as well I can see how we may become separated in time, such as if we have an event like lost or stranger which could cost a different amount of time for each of us. Though we probably will just rolled once for both of us to be lost together or deal with the stranger together. Either way I like the “do nothing “ and “regroup” rules, and also the fragmentation rule, which I had not considered . We did find a side quest, and did it together, as you suggest. Hadn’t thought about properties, so I like that. As usual you considered pretty much everything. I did spot a couple of typos: #5 toward the end “making a total of 12 times FOR the entire party. #11 adventureR (missing the R) and “fragmented, See“ you may want a period instead of a comma. Overall very nice and complete. Thank you Martin!

Great! I look forward to seeing it!

Sounds good, I will play it as 1 day minimum. Thank you for the fast reply and for such a great game!

Quest time question: When you complete a quest in under a “day” should you mark a minimum of one day on the calendar? I figure you headed out that day for the Quest, and if you maybe managed to get it done in just a few hours you might have time for something else that day but more likely you should consider travel and handing in and or going to collect your reward, if applicable. Otherwise the last marked day on the calendar would when my adventurer was doing something else, be it an event or travel or scouting or hunting… also if less than 12 hours, having not eaten food in the dungeon, I’d think I should spend a ration. Thoughts?

Thinking about this a bit, here’s something to consider. In the standard “leveling system” we bump a characteristic by +5 each time we fill 10 pips, each of which requires a roll of 10 or less on a test, ignoring boosts/curses, elixirs, bonuses or buying pips through training. So to go from say 50 to 80 would take 6 “levels” of 5-point gains, or 60 rolls of 10 or less, again ignoring boosts etc. Thinking about Martin’s suggestion of +5 for <=50, +2 for 51-60, and +1 for 61-79, again ignoring boosts etc, starting with 50, you’d go to 55, then 57, 59, 61, 62, 63… if I counted right it would be 23 “levels” to 80, or 230 rolls of 10 or less. That’s just under 4 times the base rules. This should definitely prolong your “leveling” experience rate. I am a little concerned that might be too slow for my liking, since I enjoy making new and varied adventurers as much as I like playing out one. I considered this: <=60 +5, 61-65 +4, 66-70 + 3, 71-75 +2, 76-80 +1. Again ignoring boosts etc, starting at 50, it would be 11 “levels” to 80: 55, 60, 65, 69, 72, 74, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80. That’s just under 2 times base game. Factor in that as you gain experience you also should accumulate gold, and CAN train and buy pips, costing 20,000 per level. If straight up paid for, levels from say 50-80, at 2000 per pip, 20k per level, in the base game it would cost 120k, Martin’s suggestion 23 x 20k = 460k, my suggestion 220k. In actual play you will certainly gain levels through a combination of good rolls, boosts (and maybe lose some with curses), buying pips, and drinking elixirs. Plus you can of course augment with bonuses from brews, potions, legends, spells, and time track modifiers. This is all food for thought. I’m going to try my leveling scheme with my current adventurer in World Builder, a Mt. Dwarf Hunter made with Quick Adventurer starting at 50 Str, 45 Dex, 25 Int, Fast Track boosted to 50 Str, 50 Dex, 25 Int, game play to date up to 57 Str, 58 Dex, 27 Int. Will let you know how it goes!

Good question. For as long as I’ve played (since 2018) I have truncated, just to keep it a bit more challenging.

Martin, great suggestion. This would also be consistent with most other graduated leveling systems. I will try it with my current character playing World Builder and report back.

I have maxed out a couple adventurers and made a total of now 7 adventurers, see my Nov 6th post under “What Type of Adventurer are you?” I guess if you don’t want to retire them, take your adventurers to World Builder. Maybe make up a story, like to get there they traveled through a mystic portal that reset them to 3 lives, and sucked the “legendary” from their armor or something. So far I am really enjoying World Builder. Maybe a bit off topic for this particular thread, but it does offer new challenges for you, like foraging, hunting, fishing, which I have already done with my newest adventurer, Tygron. He actually is struggling with his first quest, since he is new and low level with little armor. But in World Builder, instead of failing such a quest, Tygron can simply exit it. He plans to do some more hunting, scout adjacent hexes, with any luck have a couple “events”, and make his way to Quest 3, “Rat Problem” in the Old Marshlands, which looks easier. After that, with hopefully improved skills and armor, will return to the Grasslands of Strength to finish finding the ingredients for Quest 1, “Witches’ Broth.”

For me, the answer is “All kinds of adventurers!” Sylvester was my first D100 Dungeon Adventurer. Made with v2.2 rules, he had no race or hero path per se. I wanted to start with a ranger, so set his initial characteristics with Dex>Str>Int. He eventually earned a 2H Arbalest, and though found spells and scrolls never used them. Sylvester was then upgraded to v3 as a Half Elf Druid. He survived a 2 and even 4 level deep dungeon, then tamed a Hell Hound for his beast companion, then defeated the Lich Lord in the Dragon Armor Adventure! Next I rolled up Garrick Enjor, an Elf Scoundrel, Dex>Int>Str, eventually finding a Sup Warhammer, he became wise enough to cast spells, especially using Clone and Magic Armor before going in for the kill. Ermelis was a High Elf Arcane Wizard, Int>Dex>Str, who liked to fire off a Fireball and follow up with his Recurve Bow. Melgron was a Dwarf Warrior, Str>Dex>Int, he became quite unstoppable after getting his hands on a Mighty Claymore. Arofar (born Hermi) was by far my most developed adventurer to date. A Halfling Driud, Dex>Int>Str, he soon acquired a Superior Longbow, would cast Clone to protect himself, completed the Goblin & Goblet adventure, during which he accumulated Legendary and even some Exceptionally Legendary Armor, actually had the temerity to keep the Goblet of Invisibility, forced to change his identity, took on the name Arofar, built Castle Hermié (in a smug form of defiance, morphing the pronunciation of his birth name to herm-ē-Ā), in which he stored a variety of parts for his witchery experimentation (rubs hands, Mwu-ha-ha-ha)! Aroson, son of Arofar - who grew old and reclusive, spending his days lost in his witchery experiments. Aroson is a Halfling Paladin, Srt>Int>Dex, currently following up his father’s prior exploits embarking on the Dragons Return adventure (just finished chapter 13). He he now wields the Sword of Halgon, protects himself with Magic Armor, Clone, and a Pavise Shield, and with a Cloak of Life on his back and a few Greater and Superior pieces of armor, he fully intends to complete his quest! NOW I have World Builder, and just today rolled up Tygron Thretgard, a Mountain Dwarf Hunter. I used Quick Adventurer and Quick Equipment rules from The Lost Tome of Extraordinary Rules and the Fast Track rules from the Adventurer’s Companion, so he is starting with Str 51, Dex 52, INT 26, HP 23, Rep 2, Fate 1, Life 2, 670 gold, a studded leather helmet, leather cloak, leather cuirass, mail sleeves, studded leather belt, mail cuisse leggings, studded leather solarets, and a 2H halberd. His home town is Brightquartz in the Stolen Mountains, a roadless region with a river running north-south, bifurcating to the southeast. He hears of 3 quests: Witches Broth to obtain 4 ingredients for some witches in the Grasslands of Strength, just one hex to the south; Relic Collector: a quest to find a lost relic for an Arcane Wizard in the Sea of Druids, two hexes to the north; Rat Problem: a Cleric is willing to pay 100 gold to eliminate 4 pesky Giant Rats in the Old Marshlands, three clicks to the southeast. Wish him luck!

@neklord007 Haven't perused the forum for a while so just seeing this tonight - literally laughed out loud!!! You lightened an otherwise stressful day! Cheers!

Got it! Nicely explained. And thank you for replying so quickly!

Found a couple more Typos. Not sure if you mind me posting here or if there is another way to bring these to your attention, in case you do not already know about them: Pages 22, 40, 58, the description for “Large” monster ability IS there, but the word, the title “Large” is not. Page 69, at the bottom, all the Door types are in all caps except Magic. Page 75 #24 the first word “as” not capitalized. Hope this is helpful to you. This has been an asset to my game play

Hardback arrived today! I can’t decide which adjective does it the most justice: beautiful, wonderful, fantastic, excellent, outstanding, magnificent, extraordinary, remarkable...

Martin, fantastic job on the Tome! So many fine additions to an already excellent game. Hard to say what my favorite is for now. I have read through all of the tome, and so far have added the Combat Experience tracker to my play. Next I plan to Tame a Beast Companion, then add Artisan skill. For anyone interested, my unsolicited review: Beast Companions. I love it! Just to be sure I understand correctly: pg 6, Beast Abilities, Confuse - the monster’s “Attacks ability” is reduced by 1 point for the next combat round. At first I thought you meant the monster’s AV, but it must mean for when fighting monsters that have the Ability “Attacks #” where # is a number of attacks per round the monster gets, that # gets reduced by 1, right? On Table Y, I like that the explanation of the abilities are listed. Just thinking it also might be helpful to have the Tame and Train formulae there too for quick reference. Artisan Skill: this one may take some play time to get the hang of it, but your write-up seems pretty clear for a first read through and definitely a nice alternative to just selling unneeded found or looted items. Investments Made Easy: Helpful table. Though I never really had much trouble figuring it, this will save some time. Mapping Alternative: the square corners and black outline sharply contrasts with the colors making the exits and doors really easy to see. This may be especially helpful for us with older-eyes, but I personally like the original. Combat Experience: this I really like! Am anxious to take advantage of the bonuses. Already accumulating pips. I am starting with my current quest, but was considering tallying up pips from prior kills as I have several Combat Tracker sheets already for my adventurer at this point. Arcanist: looks like a great option as well. Already a Druid, I think this is a definite path for my current character to attempt. I especially like the idea of limiting armour and weapon types for a Magic user, and drawing upon a Magic energy source other than my precious few hit points that deplete all too quickly. I am a little worried about the prism though, and hope to not break arcane law or at least not get caught. Having put so many hours into my character, I would hate to lose him or see him so devastated. Property! Great addition. For those of you who may have played that “original” RPG so long ago, this harkens to the time when leveling up and amassing gold was not just for better weapons and armour, but for earning a stronghold or castle, and eventually lording over a part of the realm to contribute to the fate of the world as more than just a monster killer and loot grabber. Quick Adventurer: gave this a spin, rolling 70, 3, a Half Giant Sorcerer with S/D/I of 45/45/30, stars on Bravery +5, Int, Magic +5, Lucky +5. Added the 2 additional (non-starred) skills of Escape and Strong. Rolled a 21 on equipment, chose strength, picking up a Spiked Club, Scale mail boots, plate mail greaves, and buckler shield. In under 5 minutes I was ready to roll with a truly unique character with a combination I otherwise would not have considered. I can see following this with Adventurer Fast Track as well. I like it! And I do like the idea of making the Hero Champion roll-only and rare. Special Blues: rolled for a few and they appear very challenging, but the rewards on Table TD are, well, Exceptional, and in some cases Doubly Legendary. Definitely something I will add when my adventurer has greater skills, and HP! PS I rolled on 85-86 “Making a Connection” and noticed one tiny typo, third to last line toward the right, the word ‘trac,k’ has a random comma in it. A final note, the Art is generally excellent. Some of it is a bit flat, 2-dimensional, like the adventurers on pg 17 and the champion on pg 26, some of the B&W sketches of potions, scrolls, and armour a bit simple, but most of it is terrific, evocative, full of color, and nicely rounds out an excellent tome. I very highly recommend this Tome, maybe not for a brand new player, but definitely for anyone who has played for a while, has had at least a character or two gone through all the training quests and a good handful of other quests, maybe filled a combat tracker or two, and is ready for some new experiences and challenges to enhance their game.

Got it. Thank you for the reply and for creating this awesome game!