S L a Y E R S
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S L A Y E R S WRITTEN & DESIGNED BY Christopher Lawrence & J.C. Connors EDITING Ben Knight ART DIRECTION Jason Behnke LAYOUT DESIGN David Shaw COVER DESIGN Tyson Milbert ARTWORK Jason Behnke, Steve Holmes, Mark Glidden, Reagan Heller ADDITIONAL ARTWORK Mark .orrer, Tyson Milbert, Kurt Miller PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Phyllis Opolko IN-HOUSE PLAYTESTING Ben Knight, Ryan SHannon, Ed Rice, Steve Holmes, Jason Behnke, Bill Levay, Tyson Milbert, Mark Hall, Billy Aguiar OUTSIDE PLAYTESTING Eric Brinkley, Chuan Lin, Dan Heinrich, Nathan Summar, Andy Welch, Glenn Kyle, Marc Walwrath, David Evans, Denson Conn, Jason Holmgren, Steve VCilling, LH, Michelle Powers, Jennifer Lawrence, Martin Goodson, Larry Hols Table of Contents Introduction 1 Chapter I: Khragmar 2 Chapter II: The Glacier Rifts 12 Chapter III: The Castle of Madness 22 Chapter IV: Creating a Warrior 37 WarClans 39 Races 59 Creating a Warrior 67 Chapter V: $eats and Hazards 76 Chapter VI: Combat 88 Combat Tactics 94 Chapter VII: Runes 104 Runes of Enchantment 105 Glyphs 111 WarClan Runes 119 Chapter VIII: The Armoury and the $orge 139 Armor and Weapons 142 Weapon Maneuvers 158 Chapter IX: The Bestiary 169 Chapter X: The Runemaster 205 Mountain of the Mud God 216 Introduction At such deadly quarters, the long knife was more effective than the scimitars and tulwars. Conan had mastered its every use, whether the downward swing that splits a skull or the upward rip that spills out a man's entrails. It was buthcher's work, but Conan made no false motion. He waded through that melee of straining bodies and lashing blades like a typhoon, leaving a red wake behind him... Robert E. Howard, The $lame Knife Considered one of the classic roleplaying games because of its detailed background worlds, realistic combat, and mysterious magicks, RuneQuest has been a part of the roleplaying tradition for three decades. RuneQuest: Slayers is a completely new game, though it keeps the strengths of the original. The campaign worlds are brand new and the rules reworked from the ground up. Unlike the previous editions, RuneQuest: Slayers focuses on only one type of adventurer the warrior. But what is a warrior? Is it the half-naked, muscular barbarian? The scarred mercenary who fights for greed alone? The noble knight who sharpens his sword to rescue his love? Or perhaps the girl who picks up her dead fathers spear to defend her home against a ravaging troll? All of these men and women are warriors, and RuneQuest: Slayers allows you to step into the roles of these brave fighters. Only your imagination will determine what, exactly, a warrior is and is not. RuneQuest: Slayers is a game of high adventure. It is a world where impossibly-high towers hold treasures undreamed. It is a world of nefarious sorcerers, mystic symbols, beautiful maidens, and cruel tyrant-kings. Above all, it is a world where steel rules supreme! Slayers returns the roleplaying game to the imagination. You will not find endless lists of skills and attributes in Slayers. Your heroes come from a variety of occupations and professions, but ultimately you decide what they know and how they act. Can a blacksmiths Basic RuneQuest Terminology knowledge and abilities be summed in any number of skills or proficiencies? Think of all the tools he knows Player You! how to wield, all the knowledge of metals, and heat, and famous blacksmiths that he aspires to meet and talk trade Runemaster The player who controls the game with. In Slayers, your character's past is something to and acts as both narrator, storyteller, and gamemaster. draw from and use, not a crutch of special abilities. PC Player Character. A warrior you or your Whether you are new to roleplaying games, or a friend plays the game with. Your PC will brave many longtime fan, fasten your armor, sharpen your axe and dangers and deadly traps, though you won't. ride for high adventure! NPC Non-Player Character. A character Terminology and Dice controlled by the Runemaster. You'll need two different types of dice for RuneQuest: Slayers a handful of ordinary six-sided d6 One six-sided die. Two six-sided dice would dice, and several ten-sided dice. You can find these dice at be abbreviated 2d6, three would be 3d6. 2d6+1 your local hobby or game store. Slayers uses some would indicate two six-sided dice added together, plus terminology specific to roleplaying games. one. So, if you rolled a 3 and a 4, the result would be 8. Note on this Edition d10 A ten-sided die. RuneQuest: Slayers was at the printers when Hasbro bought The Avalon Hill Game Company. The press was, literally, halted. This edition has been reas- sembled from the original notes and files from the designers with new layout by J.C. Connors. $rom fields of blood rode the Ten Hearts of iron, Clothes of steel Wielding weapons forged less fine Than their own sinews These are the Slayers Ten among thousands Might. Courage. Steel. None seek the same destiny $ew will see tomorrow Branded in their minds is the Quest The search for the symbols that Make them stronger than Gods Enter now the RuneQuest The Song of Ur Dthar, Martyr of War KhraghMar the elVen retreat Rise of the Warclans rUINS of W A R fragments of Empire betraYal Chapter I Khragmar he city that in ages past sparkled with unearthly lights was no more. The piles of stone were largely overgrown with tall weeds and vines which Tobscured the timeworn carvings that might have once identified the builders. Shattered obelisks, greater than the works of Man even in their downfall, loomed above wide areas of grass that may once have been roads. Of the towering heaps of debris that littered the city, none could say what their purpose had been: mighty temples and palaces perhaps, or more arcane structures beyond the ken of mortals. The streets were now silent. Even the animals of the wild did not stray into the eerie silence of the deserted city. Only the cold wind sighed through the fallen stone like the whispered memories of lost souls. THE TIME O DREAMS Much of the recorded history of Khragmar has vanished in the age following the collapse of the Empire of Aratan. Only fragmentary legends remain, over which scholars study and philosophers argue. or many a long age, it is believed, the land of Khragmar was tended by a host of beings known now only as the Ancients. Whether they created the world or were created by it, the legends do not say. Even their form remains a mystery, as they revealed themselves only to the Elves. The Dwarves say that the Ancients created the major races of the world, each with its own special talents and responsibilities. The cryptic Ancients created the Elves, or Vindanari, as the guardians of their world. Under their influence, the Elves constructed magnificent cities of platinum and gold, the likes of which are never to be seen again. or untold ages the Elves ruled under the tutelage of the Ancients, never doubting that their reign would continue unchanged forever. This perception was shaken, however, by the creation of Humans, who did not seem to fit into the ordered arrangements of the Elves. or a thousand years have we maintained this land for our creators. Each according to its own ability, the children of the Ancients fulfill their roles: the Dwarves mine the deep earth, the Gulpi maintain the balance of the woods, the Gracht hunt the prairies, and we, the Vindanari, rule the lesser servants. Myriad are the creatures that the Ancients have created, bizarre in form with purposes known only to us, their favored children. Yet we are troubled, for a new race has awakened whose purpose is a mystery to us. They are of neither unique form, nor are they of definable value. Curious and adaptive, they serve no role that we can discern. This bodes watching. -Vindanari scholar on the emergence of Humanity THE ALL O THE VINDANARI The Elves had little time to ponder the role of this new race before a terrible calamity overcame them. In a single night, the Ancients vanished. Whether they fled, perished, or simply felt their role had ended, even the Elves did not know. The great works of the Elves, all created with the magic of the Ancients, collapsed into ruins. A terrible cataclysm rocked Khragmar, leveling mighty mountain ranges and creating others. The southern half of the continent separated along the Great Shear, a huge precipice stretching 3 for leagues. Many of the exotic, specialized creations of the Ancients disappeared, unable to survive without mana from their creators. Overnight, the entire civilization of the Vindanari tumbled into chaos. With the failure of Elven power, the subject races revolted. Led by the Dwarves, the major races moved against their former overlords. Only the reclusive Gnomes, themselves descendents of escaped Dwarf slaves, refused to leave their hidden caverns. The Vindanari, shaken by the unexplained disappearance of their masters, were powerless to resist the sudden onslaught of their servants. It is said that even the mighty heroes of the Great Revolt did not understand why they rose against their masters. It was as if a single voice called to everyone, driving us to destroy the order under which we had lived and worked for all time. But what matters the reason? The Elves are gone; we are free. That is all that matters. -rathrar son of Grathrar, Dwarf Stonewarden In a brief, bloody war, the Vindanari perished. What few survived the revolt scattered into the hinterlands, to vanish from the memories of Man.