Official Game Rules for Legendary QuestÔ By John Kirk Mark Chester * Leroy Hills * Denys Carrico-Bockmon * Mike Patrick www.legendaryquest.com The Monsters of the MediterraneanThe Manual and Legendary of Mythology Quest are trademarks of LoreWeaver, Inc. i he Grimoire of Game Rulesä and all associated books (The Tome of Terrors, The Lexicon of Lore, The Manual of Mythology, Celtic Creatures and Nordic Nightmares, The Monsters of the Mediterranean, and The Handbook of House Rules) are Copyright ã1996-2003 by LoreWeaver. All rights reserved. You may Tmake unlimited electronic copies of this book and may print out individual copies for your own personal use; provided the work is copied in its entirety and you make no alterations to its content. You may make limited numbers of hard copies at a printing service (no more than 5 copies at a time), provided said printing service does not otherwise act as a publishing house and provided said printing service charges fees for the copies that are commensurate with its general copying services. You may be reimbursed by the recipients of those copies for the copy fees, but may not otherwise charge those recipients any amount over this cost. In other words, if you try to sell this book for profit, we’ll sue the pants off of you. On the other hand, if you are a publishing house that wants to sell this book for profit, get a hold of us and we’ll talk turkey. (Note: If you’re one of those “publishing houses” that charges its writers for the privilege of having you publish their books, don’t even bother asking. Real publishers pay writers, not the other way around.) All characters are fictional; any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. LoreWeaver intends to protect its interests in this game to the full extent of the law. However, it does not intend to hinder free discussion concerning the game or its contents. If you wish to create, produce, and/or publish a Legendary Quest™ supplement (book, module, etc.) or other derivative work, please send an explanatory e-mail to [email protected] for terms and conditions. (We’ll be reasonable if you will.) The Grimoire of Game Rules™, The Manual of Mythologyä, The Tome of Terrors ä, and Legendary Questä are trademarks of LoreWeaver, a business based in Albuquerque, NM. Any questions or comments about this book or Legendary Quest should be directed to [email protected] . Or, if you prefer, visit us at our website at www.legendaryquest.com . Most of the illustrations in this book are selected woodcuts, drawings, and etchings taken from old artisans (such as the famous woodcut master Albrect Dürer). However, some of the drawings of the various faery races (elves, dwarves, orcs, and nymphs) were created in modern times by Matthias Bäuerle. As their creator, Matthias Bäuerle retains all rights to his works but has allowed us to incorporate them with the same copyright restrictions described above. If you like Matthias's work and would like to contract his talents for your own commercial venture, feel free to contact him at [email protected]. www.legendaryquest.com June 14, 2003 The Manual of Mythology i ii Acknowledgements game as highly developed as Legendary Quest™ could not exist exclusively from the writing and playtesting of only a few authors. Many Awonderful suggestions came from others deserving tremendous credit. Matt "the Orc" Ault, David "Run Away" Bailey, Justin "BAMF" Bailey, Bill "Silver Tongue" Beezley, Blake "Axe-Man" Brandt, James "the Thief" Bockmon, Bob Brown, Mike "the Original" Brown, Dan “Eeepster” Budd, Dan "Paranoid" Coppersmith, Gregg "Bundyman" Fiehler, Howard "Horseshoe" Hampton, Rich “Shakespear” Higgason, Tom "Thank you, sir, may I have another?" Hildrich, Darren “Private Eye” Hinesley, Dave “Weasel-Master” Julian, Melissa "Cat Burglar" Kirk, Andy "Please pass the" Mayo, Jason "I've got 5th level Fire Darts!" McDowell, Charles "Parasite" Nickell, Ben "Tyrone" Rhodes, Job "you killed my horse!" Roberts, Sherry "the Wench" Steinberg, Curt "the Evil" Suddarth, Mike "Archmage" Valet, Paul "the Oppressor" White, Brandi “Dark Sorceress” Wilson, and Karl “Frankenstein” Winters contributed years of playing and playtesting Legendary Quest™. Thanks go to them for their efforts. We must also thank John “Gunsmith” Coulborn for his research and suggestions on medieval arms and armor and for introducing us to the wargaming aspects of fantasy role-playing. Without him, we would not have a fine system of detailed combat rules. A special salute goes to the co-authors of some of Legendary Quest's other books: The Manual of Mythology™ and The Lexicon of Lore™. Denys "Crafty" Carrico-Bockmon, Mark "you should have killed me when you had the chance" Chester, Mike "Clavdivs" Patrick, and Leroy "the Eccentric" Hills. We credit the talented Matthias Baurle for his renditions of the Orc, Halph- Nymph, Elf, Goblin, and Dwarf appearing in this book. We also credit Dover Publishing, from whose compilations we decorate this text. For all her considerable efforts in pointing out my many flaws without inflicting permanent damage on my sensitive ego, I must thank Genevieve "Word Warrior" Burt, my overworked desktop publisher and editor. Her husband, Marlin “Sheep Wielder” Burt, also expended much effort in preparing the illustrations found in this book, and to him I am indebted. To all the others who have played and enjoyed Legendary Quest™ for only a short time, thank you for all the much needed support and enthusiasm. For those neglected in these acknowledgments, please forgive our forgetfulness. Be assured the oversight was not intentional. In the rush to complete this work, much could have easily eluded us in the last moments before the final printing. John Kirk Leroy Hills Mark Chester Denys Carrico-Bockmon Mike Patrick ii The Manual of Mythology Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 The Sumerian Pantheon 47 The Babylonian Pantheon 49 Religion 3 A Note on the Gods 3 Priest Spell Tables 52 Religious Magic 4 Universal 52 Battle 52 The Celtic Mythos 5 Curse 53 The Early Nature Worshippers 5 Divination 55 The Transition 6 Healing 56 The Island (British) Celts 6 Miracle 57 The Battle of Moytura 6 Nature 59 The Tuatha Pantheon 7 Ritual 60 The Pantheon of the Tuatha De Danann 8 Symbol 61 The Pantheon of Llyr and His Sons 11 Wrath 62 The Pantheon of the Fomorians 12 The Pantheon of the Continental Celts 13 Priest Spells 64 Universal Religious Spells 64 The Egyptian Mythos 16 Battle Spells 69 Curse Spells 78 The Greek (Roman) Mythos 22 Divination Spells 89 The Olympian Pantheon 22 Healing Spells 97 The Pantheon of the Nymphs and Fey 27 Miracle Spells 104 The Norse Mythos 32 Nature Spells 120 The Aesir Pantheon 32 Ritual Spells 130 The Vanir Pantheon 39 Symbol Spells 142 The Pantheon of the Nordic Dwarves 40 Wrath Spells 151 The Slavonic Mythos 43 Magic Items 161 The Pantheon of the Slavonic Nobility 43 Enchanted Items 161 The Pantheon of the Slavonic Peasantry 44 Relics 183 The Sumerian/Babylonian Mythos 47 The Manual of Mythology 1 2 Introduction Introduction Question: What is the difference between death and In devising LQ’s magic system, we wanted to make the taxes? Answer: You can cheat on your taxes. It is the priests as distinctive from mages as possible. Toward inescapable and absolute finality of death that terrifies this end, priestly magic places a great deal of emphasis mankind above all other concerns. Man’s overriding on the fact that a priest is the follower of some deity who instinct for self-preservation drives him to endlessly is, in turn, a member of a particular pantheon in a specific search for a means to dodge the grim reaper’s scythe. mythology. Consequently, a wide variety of deities Needless to say, no verifiable way has yet been coming from a diverse spectrum of mythologies are discovered to guarantee eternal life. So, almost any idea described herein. Since Legendary Quest focuses on the short of blowing oneself up with a bomb will do. No, European and Mediterranean theatre, only those scratch that. Any idea will do. mythologies found in that area are detailed. Since mere mortals are painfully aware that they If you want to play a priest, you will first need to select a personally have no clue about how to go about attaining deity, such as Athena. You should speak to your game everlasting life for themselves, men delegate the task of referee (Overlord) as to which mythologies are available bestowing this gift onto some higher power, even if that in his campaign. It will do no good to pick Athena if divine power must first be summoned from the steaming ancient Greece does not fit into the world concept, so try mists of divine bovine excrement. The more popular not to whine if your mean, nasty Overlord won’t allow you deities are those that demand little in the way of blood- to follow your favorite God. Once you both have agreed splattering self-destruction from their devotees. Of on a deity, be sure to carefully read through the god’s course, a well-articulated request for the gory butchering description and have at least a passing familiarity with the of others is quite another story. other deities in his or her pantheon. This volume contains the religious aspects of Legendary Please keep in mind that Legendary Quest is a game, not Quest’s magic system. It is the book you’ll need when a religious text trying to preach the dictates of some playing priests, those characters who provide the mortal particular religion. If you insist on holding nightly rituals realm with the well-articulated requests of the gods.