Official Game Adventure Rage of the Rakasta By William W. Connors Ct-edits Designer ........ WUUam W. Connors Editor . ............ John D. Ratellff Product Manager ........ Bruce Hear d Cover Artist . .... Roger Loveless Poster Map Artist . Robtn Raab Stand -up Character Artl.st .. Robin Raab lnterlor Artist ........ Valarie Valusek Cartographer .. ....... Steve Beck Typographer . ......... Gaye O' Keefe Graphk Des igner ...... Paul Hanchette <>1993TSR,, Inc. All ~ts Resetved. Pttnted In the U.S.A. This book Is ded!Clltedto me. I'm the one who had to write It and 1 don't see why anyone else should set the credit. Thanks, BOI,I rouldn't have done It wltho•tt me. ADVANCEDDUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, and DUNGEONS Sample &file DRAGONSare registered trademarl<s owned by tSl\. Inc. DRAGONQUESt DUNGEON MASTER. OM. and the TSR logo are trademarl<s owned by TSR. Inc. All TSR characten and the distinctive liken-. theror are Table of Contents trademarl<s owned by TSR,, Inc. Random HouM end Ila afflllai. companies have woridwld• cllstrlbutlon r1ghls tn the book trade for £ngl!sh language products orTSR. Inc. Dtslrlbuted to the book and hobby trade tn the United Klnsd<>mby TSR Ud. Dlsb1buted to the toy and lntrocludton . 2 hobby trade tn the United Slates by regional cllstrlbuton. This pn:,duct Is protected Wldtt the copyr1ghtlaws or the The Eve of War . • . 3 United Slates of Amet1ca. Arry reprodudlon or unauthorlud use or the matttlal or art wort< contained herein Is prohibited The Dafmyo 's Palace ........... 4 without the express written pennlsslon otTSR. Inc. Return to Torlynn . 10 lS8N 1·56076-614-X 9435 Adventures with the Rakasta . 11 New Magic Items • . • . • . 12 TSR,Inc. TSRUd. The Rakasta . • . • • . 13 POB 756 i 120Church End, Artarasbat • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 14 Lake Geneva Cheny Hinton New Monsters . • • . • . 16 Wl 53147 Cambridge CBl 31.B USA UnitedKingdom lntRoOuct1on Rage of the Rakasta is one of a series of 16-page adven­ the text by grey-shaded boxes and are meant to be read to tures for the new DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game. the players at various points during the game. DMs who Unlike most of the other modules in this series, it is de­ wish to use the text will find that it provides atmosphere signed to function best with a single player and a single and promotes role-playing by helping players picture DM. However, the module can easily be used for a party their characters' surroundings. of adventurers and, if no DM is available, it can even be Not every Dungeon Master is comfortable simply played without a Dungeon Master. reading boxed text out loud from the book. Those who do In this adventure, the character is called upon to try to not wish to use the descriptions as they are presented are prevent a war between the feline rakasta and the people of encouraged to reword or expand upon these passages as Torlynn, a small town in Thunder Rift. Success will make they desire. the character a hero to both sides. Failure will cause a tragic conflict to erupt, threatening to plunge all of Thun­ Monster Statistics der Rift into chaos. This adventure is designed for a single character of 2nd Throughout this adventure, the player will be called to 4th level. If more adventurers are playing or if the upon to have his or her character battle various enemies. character is of higher level, the DM may want to make Whenever such encounters occur, information about the some of the encounters tougher by increasing the number enemy will be presented in the following format: of monsters involved. If a lower level character is used, the DM should reduce the monsters' Armor Class, hit Monster Name (number encountered): AC (Armor points, or damage to make the encounters less deadly. In Class); HD (Hit Dice); hp (hit points); MV (Movement any event, the important thing is to see to it that everyone Rate); #AT (Number of Attacks); THACO (see below); has a good time. Dmg (Damage inflicted per attack); Save as (type of char­ acter that the monster's saving throws are made as); ML What's Needed to Play? (Morale); AL (Alignment); XP (Experience Points earned for defeating the monster); Treasure (Any valu­ The only things needed to enjoy this adventure are the ables carried by the monster). DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game rule book, paper and pencil, and some dice. One of these notations, THACO, may be unfamiliar to Rage of the Rakasta is intended for use Samplewith the new file players and DMs. THACO is simply an acronym for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® boxed game. However, "To Hit Armor Class O." To determine the roll that a DM with only a little effort on the part of the DM, it can also must make on ld20 for a monster to hit an enemy in com­ be used with the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® Rules bat, simply subtract the target's Armor Class from this Cyclopedia, the DRAGON QUESTTII game, or the number. Thus, if a monster with a THACO of 15 is at­ ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® 2nd Edi­ tacking a character who has an AC of 7, the monster will tion game. It can be played either as part of a series of hit on a roll of 8 or better. adventure modules or as a self-contained, stand-alone story. Playing Without a DM 111 This adventure is set in the valley of Thunder Rift. Full information about this wondrous place can be found in In order to play this adventure without a Dungeon the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game supplement of Master, the player should read the boxed text on the in­ the same name. It is not necessary to own that product to side cover describing each room as his or her character play this adventure, however; this module can be used in enters it. As soon as this is done, the player should decid­ any campaign setting with ease. ed on the basis of that description what the character is going to do in the room. Once that decision is made, the Boxed Descriptions player should look up the full information on that room in the book to find out the results of the character's action. If In order to make the Dungeon Master's task easier, the room is inhabited, the book will describe the inhabit­ many sections of this adventure include brief descriptions ant's reaction to the character's entrance. Otherwise, of places and events. These are set apart from the rest of nothing will happen in that room. 2 the Eve of WaQ This adventure begins when the character is summon­ reveal his face. Much to the character's surprise, he is not ed before Burgomaster Gustovan of Torlynn. Whether or human but some kind of cat-man. The firelight glints off not the player has already completed the Questfor the Silver his green eyes as he looks over the adventurer. After a si­ Sword, his or her character is assumed to already know lent moment during which the only sound is the pound­ Gustovan; the two may even be good friends. If the game ing of the rain on the window and the crackling of the fire, is not being played as part of a campaign based in Thun­ Kaminari speaks. der Rift, the DM should feel free to change the names of people and places given here to match those in his or her own game world. "As you can see, honorable warrior, I am not a human. My When the player character is ready to begin play, the people are called rakasta, and we are new to these lands. T# Dungeon Master should start the game by reading aloud came in peace, having been driving out of our ancestral homes by the following text. If no DM is present, the player should a great dragon. After many years of wandering, we have settled read the boxed text below and think of it as an introduc­ on a plateau many miles north and east of your village. tion to the events that will follow. "Recently, our leader, the mighty Daimyo Kamaggi, has be­ gun to speak of making war against your race. She talks of a time when all of Thunder Rift is controlled by claw and fang. It is a stormy evening out. What began as a mild summer She has stirred my people into a battlefrenzy, and even now they rain has turned into a battering tempest. Certainly, this is a are making ready to strike. night for danger and intrigue. Thus, it hardly comes as a sur­ "This is not like our daimyo. I am old, and have known prise when a messenger arrives at your door with a summons Kamaggi for many years. While she is a great warrior, she is from Burgomaster Gustovan. Something wicked is afoot, and he not a tyrant. Something is amiss and I am unable to determine needsyour help again. what it is. In order to discover what has happened and make it right, I have beenforced to look beyond our village." If more than one person is playing, the players may wish to talk among themselves for a few moments to make When Kaminari is done speaking, he sinks back into a preliminary plan or discuss past encounters with the the chair, coughing feebly a few times. He shivers, obvi­ burgomaster. When they are done, the DM can continue ously uncomfortable with the cold and damp. on with the scene at Gustovan's home. Sample Atfile the same time, the burgomaster picks up the conver­ sation. He asks the character to help.