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  Imagined by Ken St. Andre 
  Illustrated by Nicole Bresner 
   
  TROLLHALLA PRESS 
  
  4 
   
   
  THE WIZARD'S TEST--Text 1st edition copyright © April 
  2011 by Ken St. Andre 
  THE WIZARD'S TEST: DEADLY COMBAT (Monsters! 
  Monsters! VERSION) copyright © September 2020 by 
  Ken St. Andre 
  Illustrations copyright © September2020 by Nicole 
  Bresner. 
  All rights reserved. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  5 
   
   
   
   
  The Alternate Combat Rules 
   
  Players: Read this twice, maybe 3 times. It's a little 
  tricky, but it's intuitive and I think you will figure it 
  out. 
  It has often been suggested that we use Saving Rolls for 
  combat instead of rolling all the dice and comparing 
  totals.  Actually, Saving Rolls have been used in combat 
  since the beginning, but only for accomplishing specific 
  feats, such as dodging an attack, or running away.  One 
  can make the story of the game considerably more 
  interesting if Saving Rolls are added into the combat 
  mix. 
  The problem of using Saving Rolls as the entire combat 
  mechanism is a bit more difficult.  What do the players 
  and GM make their Saving Rolls against?  Which 
  Attribute or Talent do they use?  When we use the 
  Monster Rating system to tell how dangerous the 
  monsters are, they don't even have attributes.   The 
  
  6 
   
  Saving Roll system doesn't work very well with Monster 
  Ratings. 
   
  But I have been thinking about it, and it involves adding 
  a new attribute called Essence (ESS).  Essence is a 
  derived attribute, and for player characters Essence is 
  defined as the current average of the character's 8 
  primary attributes.  Add Strength, Constitution, 
  Dexterity, Speed, Intelligence, Luck, Wizardry, and 
  Charisma and then divide by 8.  This number is 
  Essence and it is used exclusively for Saving Rolls in 
  combat.  For example, Fang, Daughter of Terror, has an 
  Essence rating of 11.25.  That would round down to 11. 
  Fang really isn't a very good fighter.  For things with 
  monster ratings, Essence would equal MR/2.  The same 
  would be true for npcs with Human Ratings in the 
  Monsters! Monsters! 2d edition rules.  Essence equals 
  HR/2. 
  Essence is a composite number that represents 
  everything a character could bring to a battle: 
  intelligence, training, health, skill, luck, speed.  Testing 
  them all at once for each combat round. 
  When it is time to fight, each character would simply 
  make a Saving Roll using their Essence Rating as 
  
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  determined by the number or difficulty of each 
  opponent.  See the following chart: 
   
  Number 
  of Foes 
  Essence 
  Rating 
  Saving Roll 
  Required 
  1 
  1-20 
  1 
  2 
  21-40 
  2 
  3 
  41-60 
  3 
  4 
  61-80 
  4 
  5 
  81-100 
  5 
   
  …and so forth. 
  The chart works by multiplication.  Multiply the number 
  of foes times the Saving Roll required for different 
  Essence ratings to find the level of the Saving Roll 
  needed for each round of combat.  One foe with an 
  Essence rating of 35 would require a L2SR for each 
  round of combat. (1 x 2). Remember that all Saving Rolls 
  in this new combat system are made with the new 
  computed attribute Combat Essence (ESS). 
  
  8 
   
  NPC characters/monsters that are fully statted would 
  have Essence scores just like player characters. 
  Characters that only have Monster Ratings would need 
  to calculate an Essence Rating before combat started. 
  For example, a troll with a monster rating of 100 would 
  have an ESS rating of 50. If that troll was fighting 3 
  player characters with a combined Essence of 100, it 
  would have to make a L15 Saving Roll to damage them 
  all on the same turn. (3 x 5).  The target for level 15 is 
  90.  The troll would have to roll 40 on 2 dice (DARO) to 
  hurt them all. However, that troll could just attack 1 of 
  the 3. Let's say it attacked the strongest one who had an 
  Essence rating of 40.  Then it would only need a L2SR 
  (Target 25--an automatic success for 
  something/someone with a combat Essence of 50 unless 
  it rolled a fumble).  For any of them to hit the troll with 
  its Essence Rating of 50 and damage it, would require a 
  L3 SR (1 x 3).   
  Damage would only be rolled if the attack SR was made 
  successfully.  Damage depends on weapon dice plus 
  combat adds just as it normally would, except that no 
  totals are compared and subtracted.  If you do damage, 
  you do major damage--the whole thing.  You do not need 
  to roll for spite in a case like this. 
  If combat is unopposed as in the example of 3 to 1 
  against a troll, every player character would still have to 
  
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  roll against the troll's Essence Rating of 50 in order to 
  hit it, but they would be using their own Essences in the 
  fight. So let us say the 2nd strongest character had an 
  Essence of 30, and the weakest character had an 
  Essence of 20.  Character # 2 has a target number of 30, 
  and it already has a combat Essence of 30, so it hits on 
  anything that is not a fumble, and does full damage to 
  the troll's monster rating.  Let's say he did 50 points of 
  damage. 100 minus 50 = 50 for a new monster rating on 
  combat turn 2, and that equals a new Essence rating of 
  25 for the troll.  Character # 3 also has an unopposed 
  attack, but he still needs a L3SR to hit and damage the 
  troll.  The target is 30 for level 3. His combat Essence is 
  20. He needs to roll a 10 or better on 2D6. Let's say he 
  has a typical roll of 7 (6, 1). He missed and does no 
  damage on that combat turn. 
  But what happens after the Saving Rolls have been made 
  (or missed)?  Misses are easy. That character does no 
  damage. What happens when the Saving Roll is made? 
  Weapon damage would then be calculated, and the 
  target must take damage. In a two person fight, if Fang 
  makes her combat Saving Roll and Gringrin the Goblin 
  misses his, then Fang does full damage. And vice versa. 
  But if they both make the Saving Roll, things get tricky. 
  How is damage allocated? It could be gruesome but they 
  both take the full damage that the other dishes out? 
  Wicked! Lots of casualties that way. Of course, armor 
  
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  would still take damage and help protect in such 
  situations. 
  Going back to the example of the troll fighting 3 
  characters--it chose to fight only one, the toughest one.  
  It easily made the L2SR to hit. It hit that tough guy for 
  11D6 + 50.  That would probably kill the tough guy.  
  Yikes! In normal T & T combat three fairly tough 
  characters have a good chance to beat a troll with a 
  monster rating of 100 and suffer only spite damage.  Not 
  
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  anymore.  Yikes!  Combat just got real dangerous.
   
  But how about big melee combats? Ouch! How would 
  the Saving Rolls even be calculated? Could the Game 
  Master manage 20 different SR’s for each round of 
  combat? Does he break it down to one-on-one fights? Or 
  maybe two or three-to-one. Typical situation: 8 
  bandersnatchi vs. 5 midlevel characters.  The 
  bandersnatchi have monster ratings of 60 each.  Each 
  bandersnatch would have an Essence Rating of 30, 
  
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  requiring only a L2 SR to hit. But if characters faced 2 
  bandersnatchi at once, the total would be 60 and that 
  would require a L3 SR from the pc in order to do 
  damage to both. The characters' Essence average only 
  about 30 each.  That's a piece of cake--only fumbles keep 
  them from hitting.  On the other hand, both of the 
  monsters only need L2 SR’s to hit--automatic for them 
  unless they fumble their Saving Rolls.   Ouch indeed!  
  I don't think most players would ever switch to this 
  style of combat.  It would actually be slower to execute 
  than the original style. On the other hand, for small 
  melee situations, it could be a blast.  I'm going to redo 
  some of my earlier solos using this style of combat and 
  the Monsters! Monsters! 2nd edition rules. Bwa ha ha ha 
  ha ha haaaaaaaaa! 
  End 
   
   
   
   
  IMPORTANT NOTE:  The combat in these fights can be 
  fairly complicated.  Be sure to read the whole paragraph 
  without taking any action first. For example, the text 
  may tell you to do 3 combat rounds at the beginning of 
  
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  the paragraph, but it may also say if either fighter's CON 
  goes to zero or less, then go to some other paragraph.  
  Those instructions clearly take precedence over doing 3 
  combat rounds.  Be sure you understand the whole 
  situation before you start rolling dice and making Saving 
  Rolls. 
  Talent Saving Rolls.  This solo may allow you to use a 
  Talent to improve your chances of making a Saving Roll. 
  Most Talents have a value of 3, but may have any value 
  depending on how you developed your character. To 
  make a Talent Saving Roll, simply add the Talent value 
  to the attribute that you are using to get a modified 
  attribute as the base of your Saving Roll attempt. 
   
   
  
  14 
   
   
   
  Introduction: 
  The old wizard smiles at you--an eerie experience--are 
  his teeth really glowing? "You have done well so far in 
  simple tests of fight or flight, but I'd like to see what you 
  can do in more complex situations where all the choices 
  don't seem so good or clear-cut.  "Bring it on!" you 
  sneer. 
  (This is an adventure for any level 3 or lower monster.  
  You should be nonhuman, but humanoid--uruks, 
  
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  goblins, minotaurs, skeleton men, kobolds, dark elves, 
  lizard men, etc.--get the idea?  The Death Goddess wants 
  the monster kindreds in her service.  You can bring your 
  own equipment in with you, but any kind of weird 
  effects that it would take a Game Master to adjudicate 
  simply don't work.   
  Monsters!  Monsters! 2d edition rules are in effect, but 
  your adventure point total has been reset to zero to 
  start this adventure.  The main difference is that you 
  have a chaos factor.  Non-magic using monsters have a 
  chaos factor equal to their level.  This allows them to 
  change the total of any dice roll either up or down by 
  that number of points. That includes Saving Rolls on the 
  computed ESS attribute.  For this adventure, you can 
  only do this once during the adventure. Ordinarily you 
  could do it once per game turn for any dice roll, but the 
  old wizard isn't going to let you get away with that. If 
  you were carrying any adventure points over from 
  previous adventures, you will get them all back plus 
  10% interest if you survive this test.)   
  When you are ready, turn to <1> 
   
   
   
  
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  <1>  You are standing 
  in a small room with 
  two tables and two 
  doors.  The floor and 
  the walls are smeared 
  with a black greasy 
  mud and the turgid air 
  hangs heavy with the aroma of rotting fish.  Two small 
  tables stand on opposite sides of the room, one beside 
  each door.  The first door has a painting of an alligator 
  on it; the second door has the painting of a swamp troll.  
  On the table beside the alligator door is a large 
  sandwich made with heavy slices of black rye bread and 
  containing fish and some gooey sauce.   On the other 
  table is an old leather pouch apparently full of rocks.  
  You look at it carefully and find that the rocks are 
  actually low value, uncut jewels of different sorts..  The 
  light in the room comes from a high window over the 
  alligator door--too high to see through unless you can 
  fly.  What do you do? 
  A) Leave the sandwich and the jewels behind and step 
  through a door--go to <10> 
  B) Take the sandwich and step through a door--go to 
  <15>. 
  
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  C) Take the jewels and step through a door--go to <20>. 
  D) Try to take both sandwich and jewels and step 
  through a door--go to <25> 
  E) Try to eat the sandwich.  Anything this foul in 
  appearance must be magical--go to <30>. 
   
  <2>     Up on a tree branch where the alligator can't hurt 
  you, you look down at the savage beast tearing at the 
  trunk of your refuge.  It isn't going away, and there is no 
  
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  way off this island until the beast is dead.  If you know 
  combat spells then you don't have chaos magic, you may 
  sit there and cast enough of them to eventually slay the 
  reptile--go to <28>.  If you don't know magic, you will 
  have to ready your weapon and jump down and fight it 
  sooner or later.  When you're ready for the showdown, 
  go to <21>. 
  <3>     Never share your smile with a crocodile, never 
  stop to talk or even chat a while. He will eat you up like 
  a buttercup.  Never, never, never trust a crocodile!  In 
  this case it's an alligator, but the same principle holds 
  true. Yes, you guessed it.  That was foolish.  The gator 
  attacks you--go to <21> 
  <4>     You choke to death.  That should teach you never 
  to eat anything that looks and smells bad.  Close the 
  book. 
  <5>    The horrible sandwich is clogging your throat and 
  windpipe.  You begin to cough--great racking coughs 
  that hurt all the way down to your toes, and you do 
  manage to cough it up.  Ack!  That was awful.  Now you 
  have a sandwich with a bite taken out of it.  Luckily, it 
  wasn't a big bite, or you might not have survived. Take 1 
  point of CON damage and return to <10> to make a 
  different choice. 
  
  19 
   
  <6>   The horrible 
  sandwich is choking 
  you to death.  You 
  begin to cough--great 
  racking coughs that 
  hurt all the way 
  down to your toes, 
  but it does no good.  
  You cannot breathe.  You are suffocating.  All goes black 
  and you pass out.  You are unconscious and dying, but 
  go ahead and make a L2SR on your Luck (25 - LK). If you 
  don't know spells, you may use your chaos factor if you 
  wish.  Remember, your chaos factor is your level 
  number and you can change any dice total either up or 
  down by that number or less--the trick here is to use the 
  total of just one die in the Saving Roll to turn the roll 
  into doubles, If you make the Saving Roll, go to <27>; if 
  you fail it, go to <4>. 
  <7>     You smile broadly.  "I'm here to buy," you declare.  
  "What fine weapons do you have for me?"  The swamp 
  troll says, "Let me see your money!"  If you have the 
  pouch of uncut jewels, then go to <24>.  If you don't 
  have it, go to <33>. 
  <8>     You succeed--good shot!  The alligator champs its 
  mouth shut on the tasty sandwich and swallows it, 
  
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  where it immediately has its intended effect.  Go to 
  <21>. 
  <9>     After the swamp troll is out of the combat, you 
  may take all of its weapons and keep the jewels also.  
  The fish spear is a 6D6 weapon that is enchanted versus 
  fish.  A single point of damage from it will paralyze even 
  the largest shark.  The dagger is unusually potent--it 
  gets 12D6 in combat.  The flute-like thing is just a 
  hollow reed, useful for breathing while your body is 
  under water.  It's not worth any money at all, but is a 
  good trick to know. 
  A short time after that, a magical door will open in the 
  trunk of the mangrove tree.  You may step through it 
  and return to the wizard's chamber--go to <30>. 
   
  <10>  If you go through the Gator door, go to <35>.  If 
  you go through the Troll door, go to <34>. 
  
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  <11>    The alligator is getting close.  If you wish to 
  throw the sandwich into its gaping maw, make a L1SR 
  on DEX (20 - DEX). If you don't know spells, you may 
  use your chaos factor if you wish.  Remember, your 
  chaos factor is your level number and you can change 
  any dice total either up or down by that number or less-
  -the trick here is to use the total of just one die in the 
  Saving Roll to turn the roll into doubles .If you make it, 
  go to <8>.  If you miss it, go to <13>. 
  <12>     Since you can't buy, you may as well attack.  You 
  just have time for one combat spell before combat 
  begins.  The troll has a monster rating of 60 (7D6 + 30) 
  which gives it an ESS rating of 30. It will fight with the 
  leaf-bladed dagger.  To hit it and do damage, you need 
  only make your own L2SR on your ESS rating.  For it to 
  hit you, check your ESS rating on the chart in the essay 
  on page 6 to see what level Saving Roll the troll must 
  make. 
  If you slay him, go to <9>.  Incidentally, the dagger he is 
  using is poisoned with deadly frog venom. If you take 
  damage, then you have been poisoned.   If poisoned, 
  take 1D6 of Stun Damage per combat turn.  Stun damage 
  comes off your CON normally except that it won't kill 
  you.  If you hit, you do your total damage to the troll; if it 
  hits, it does its total damage to you. When your CON 
  
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  reaches zero, you will pass out.  If that happens before 
  you slay the troll, then go to <31>.   
   
  <13>     You miss.  The sandwich bounces off the gator's 
  head, making it stop and snap futilely at the air for a 
  second.  This gives you just enough time to grab your 
  weapon and fight for your life.  Or you will have time to 
  cast a combat spell. Go to <21>. 
  
  23 
   
  <14>     Jumping into the swamp water is the worst 
  decision of your life.  It is infested with insects, leeches, 
  hungry fish, and huge reptiles.  You swim until you can't 
  swim any longer, then try to put your feet down, but 
  there is no bottom.  You lose a lot of blood to the leeches 
  and the little fish nibbles.  Your clothing and armor get 
  saturated and drag you down.  Eventually you drown . . . 
  horribly.  Close the book. 
  <15>   You have the disgusting sandwich in your hand.  
  Go now to <10> and choose a door to exit the room. 
  <16>     You could try 
  throwing the bag of 
  jewels into the gator's 
  mouth.  That could give 
  you a moment to draw 
  your weapon or try to 
  flee.  Make a L1SR on 
  DEX (20 - DEX). If you 
  don't know spells, you 
  may use your chaos 
  factor if you wish.  Remember, your chaos factor is your 
  level number and you can change any dice total either 
  up or down by that number or less--the trick here is to 
  use the total of just one die in the Saving Roll to turn the 
  roll into doubles. If you make it, go to <18>.  If you miss 
  
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  it, go to <23>.  Or you could just drop the bag, grab your 
  weapon or prepare a spell and fight--in that case, go to 
  <21>. 
  <17>    Your attack takes the troll by surprise!  With a 
  shriek, he turns and dives into the swamp waters and 
  swims away.  You get the three objects on the blanket.  
  The fish spear is a 6D6 weapon that is enchanted versus 
  fish.  A single point of damage from it will paralyze even 
  the largest shark.  The dagger is unusually potent--it 
  gets 12D6 in combat.  The flute-like thing is actually a 
  hollow reed--useful for breathing while under water, 
  but not worth anything.  Once you have collected your 
  treasure, a door will open in the mangrove tree, and you 
  can go through it to return to the wizard's chamber.  Go 
  to <32>. 
   
   
  <18>     The bag of jewels breaks an alligator tooth when 
  it hits.  That reduces the gator's monster rating to 58 
  (6D6 + 29). (ESS = 29)  Go to <21> and fight it out. 
  <19>    Your timidity makes the troll laugh.  "Oh ho," he 
  cries. "I am sorry that I frightened you.  Come out!  I 
  
  25 
   
  won't hurt you.  Just give me your weapons and armor, 
  and I will show you the way to go home.  If you are 
  humiliated and recover your courage, you may come out 
  fighting. In that case, go to <12>.  If you come out 
  peacefully, the troll will offer you something to drink 
  from a fish-bladder canteen.  It tastes vile, and makes 
  you drowsy.  Oh no!  You cannot stay awake.  You 
  collapse, totally at the mercy of this tricky swamp 
  dweller.  Go to <31>. 
  <20>   You have a bag of low  
  value uncut jewels in your  
  hand.  Go now to <10> and  
  choose a door to exit the room. 
   
  <21>     If the gator has its mouth full of gooey sandwich, 
  it will lose the use of its jaws as a weapon and have a 
  monster rating of 40 (5D6 + 20). That gives it a combat 
  Essence of 20.  If it doesn't have a sandwich in its mouth, 
  it is more formidable and has a monster rating of 60 
  (7D6 + 30). That's an ESS of 30.  Also, if the gator is 
  trying to cope with a sandwich you will have one 
  combat turn to cast any combat spell you know (Take 
  That You Fiend, Blasting Power, Freeze Please, or Vorpal 
  Blade, etc) before you have to fight it physically.  If no 
  sandwich, then no time for magic.  Fight! Remember 
  that combat is done by making Saving Rolls on ESS--
  
  26 
   
  yours vs. the alligator's and its versus yours. If the 
  Saving Roll succeeds, you do your total damage to the 
  gator. If the gator 
  succeeds, it does its total 
  damage to you.  Also, 
  remember, your chaos 
  factor is your level number 
  and you can change any 
  dice total either up or 
  down by that number or 
  less--the trick here is to 
  use the total of just one die 
  in the Saving Roll to turn 
  the roll into doubles. 
   If you win, go to <28>. If 
  you die, close the book--
  you are gator grub. 
  <22>     You turn and dash away from this frightening 
  example of swamp life at its ugliest.  This makes the troll 
  laugh.  There really isn't any place to go, however.  If you 
  decide to jump in the dark water and swim for it, go to 
  <14>.  If you hide behind the tree go to <19>. 
  <23>    With a savage roar the gator is on you.  Its tail 
  sweeps around and cuts your legs out from under you.  
  
  27 
   
  There is no time to draw a weapon--you must fight it 
  bare-handed.  If you know spells, you may use them at a 
  rate of one spell per combat turn in addition to your 
  1D6 plus your combat adds, but only the physical 
  struggle actually helps you ward off the reptilian attack.  
  Remember that combat is done by making Saving Rolls 
  on ESS--yours vs. the alligator's and its versus yours. If 
  the Saving Roll succeeds, you do your total damage to 
  the gator. If the gator succeeds, it does its total damage 
  to you.  Also, remember, your chaos factor is your level 
  number and you can change any dice total either up or 
  down by that number or less, The weapon damage is 
  only counted if the Saving Rolls are successful. Fight to 
  the death.  If you win, go to <28>.  If you lose, there's a 
  happy gator in the swamp tonight.  Close the book. 
  <24>     The troll is very 
  pleased to see the uncut 
  gems--trolls like pretty 
  rocks.  It begins to bargain 
  with you.  The troll has a 
  CHR rating of 19.  You haggle 
  because it enjoys haggling.  
  Roll 2D6 (DARO) and add it to his CHR of 9.  Then do the 
  same using your own CHR rating.  If your total is higher, 
  then he sells you all three objects for the contents of the 
  pouch.  If his total is higher, he only sells you one of 
  
  28 
   
  them--your choice.  The fish spear is a 6D6 weapon that 
  is enchanted versus fish.  A single point of damage from 
  it will paralyze even the largest shark.  The dagger is 
  unusually potent--it gets 12D6 in combat.  The flute-like 
  thing is actually a hollow reed--worth nothing, but 
  useful for breathing underwater.  Once the deal is 
  concluded, the troll wishes you a pleasant day.  lt then 
  picks up its blanket and anything else it still owns and 
  walks briskly away.  It walks behind the tree and 
  vanishes from your sight.  You are unlikely to ever see it 
  again.  But, while you are looking at the tree, you see a 
  magical door open in its trunk, and beyond it is a pure 
  clean light.  You walk over and step through to find 
  yourself in the wizard's chamber--go to <30>. 
   
   
   
  <25>  The room is too large for you to grab both items at 
  the same time.  When you touch one, the other one 
  magically vanishes with a small popping noise.  If you 
  took the sandwich, go to <15>.  If you took the coins, go 
  to <20>. 
  
  29 
   
  <26>   The mangrove tree trunk is slippery, and the first 
  branch is quite high.  It will take some skill or dexterity 
  to get up into the branches.  If you have a Talent for 
  Climbing, Agility, or Acrobatics, you can use it for this 
  L2SR on DEX (25-DEX). (Remember that the Talent 
  rating simply adds to your attribute score when you 
  make the Saving Roll.) If you make the Saving Roll, you 
  manage to get up into the tree before the alligator 
  catches you--go to <2>.  If you fail it, then the giant 
  reptile catches you, and it's not a pretty sight. You slip 
  back to the ground and have to face the reptile bare-
  handed--go to <23>. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  30 
   
  <27>    You wake up in Khara Khang's chamber.  It 
  seems that he was watching you, and decided to save 
  your life.  Finding you passed out and turning blue, the 
  old wizard dug the gooey mass out of your throat, gave 
  you artificial respiration, and resuscitated you.  When 
  you wake up, you see him glaring at you.  "Let that be a 
  lesson to you," he snarls, "don't go eating strange things 
  in hopes they are magical.  That kind of behavior will get 
  you killed.  Now get out of here!  I am very disappointed 
  in you."  He hands you your stuff, and you get your 
  suspended adventure points back with a 10% increase--
  so the adventure wasn't a total loss.  You leave and find 
  yourself once again on the streets of Khazan, ready for a 
  new adventure somewhere else.  THE END. 
  <28>    The alligator is dead.  You search, but there 
  doesn't seem to be any treasure here unless you want to 
  butcher the beast and take its teeth or claws.  The teeth 
  are nasty things--you could catch a disease by simply 
  touching them, but a good dagger is a better weapon.  
  The claws are impressive.  If you decide to cut up the 
  reptile, you will gain body parts worth about 20 gold 
  pieces in the open market.  When you are ready, a 
  magical door will open in the trunk of the mighty 
  
  31 
   
  mangrove tree, and you may step back through it to the 
  wizard's chamber at <29>. 
  <29>     Old Khara Khang chuckles with delight when 
  you suddenly materialize in his chamber.  When he sees 
  that you have some gator parts he is even happier.  (If 
  you didn't butcher the reptile, his smile is just a token 
  grin.)  "You have done very well, and I think you will be 
  an excellent agent for Her Deathliness once you have 
  completed your training."  You may sell the gator parts if 
  you wish (that gets you 1D10 + 20 gold pieces) and I 
  will give you this additional blessing."  He reaches out 
  and touches you.  You feel a magical tingle run through 
  your body.  (You may increase any one of your 
  attributes by 1 point.  By doing so, you use up all the 
  adventure points you gained in this adventure plus 
  whatever Khara Khang just gave you; however, now that 
  the adventure is over you get back all the a.p. that you 
  had previously with 10% interest.)  You thank the old 
  wizard and get back to your normal life.  You know that 
  Khara Khang may still have more tests and challenges 
  for you, but you are unafraid.  THE END. 
  <30>   Bravely you pick up 
  the sandwich and bite into it.  
  Ewww! This is foul.  As you 
  try to chew and swallow, 
  
  32 
   
  your jaws get locked up in the gooey peanut butter, and 
  the mass clogs your throat.  You find yourself choking to 
  death.  Make a L3SR on CON (30 - CON). If you don't 
  know spells, you may use your chaos factor if you wish.  
  Remember, your chaos factor is your level number and 
  you can change any dice total either up or down by that 
  number or less--the trick here is to use the total of just 
  one die in the Saving Roll to turn the roll into doubles. 
    If you make the Saving Roll, go to <5>.  If you miss the 
  Saving Roll go to <6>. 
  <31>   You wake up back 
  at the beginning of this 
  adventure in Khara 
  Khang's chamber, very 
  surprised to find that you 
  are still alive.  You don't 
  have any weapons or 
  armor--the troll took 
  those as a token of its 
  victory.  It also bit off both 
  your earlobes, and they 
  hurt like the devil, but it 
  did not kill you.  The old 
  wizard is very disappointed in you, but he returns your 
  suspended adventure points with 10% interest.  At least 
  
  33 
   
  the adventure wasn't a complete loss.  Then it's back to 
  the streets of Khazan with you in hopes of finding 
  another adventure soon.  THE END. 
  <32>    Old Khara Khang chuckles with delight when you 
  suddenly materialize in his chamber.  When he sees that 
  you have the troll's weapons he is even happier.  "You 
  have done very well, and I think you will be an excellent 
  agent for Her Deathliness once you have completed your 
  training."  You may keep the troll's weapons if you wish 
  and I will give you this additional blessing."   
  He reaches out and 
  touches you.  You feel a 
  magical tingle run 
  through your body.  
  (You may increase any 
  one of your attributes 
  by 1 point.  By doing so, 
  you use up all the 
  adventure points you 
  gained in this 
  adventure plus 
  whatever Khara Khang just gave you; however, now that 
  the adventure is over you get back all the a.p. that you 
  had previously with 10% interest.)  You thank the old 
  wizard and get back to your normal life.  You know that 
  
  34 
   
  Khara Khang may still have more tests and challenges 
  for you, but you are unafraid.  THE END.  
  <33>     The troll looks at you expectantly, but when you 
  don't produce the uncut jewels, its joy turns to 
  disappointment and then to anger.  "Liar!" it cries.  
  Snatching up the bronze dagger, it attacks you savagely.  
  If you pull your own weapons and fight it, go to <12>.  If 
  you turn and run away, then go to <22>. 
   
   
   
   
  <34>   The door vanishes behind you as you step 
  through it, and you find yourself on an island of black 
  mud.  Above you the sky is dark and gloomy with heavy 
  low-lying clouds. A drizzling rain quickly soaks you to 
  the skin.  All around the island are dark waters in which 
  many reeds grow, and there are quite a few sunken 
  trees.  Behind you is a mighty, mossy mangrove tree.  
  Ahead of you is a very large troll.  It has muddy brown 
  skin, large flapping ears, bulging eyeballs in a grotesque 
  
  35 
   
  face. The troll squats on a mat made of reeds. Arranged 
  in front of it are a few primitive weapons including a 
  fish-spear, a leaf-bladed dagger, and something that 
  looks like a flute.  He smiles and speaks to you in a 
  mangled version of the Common Speech.  "Welcome to 
  my swamp, stranger.  Did you come to buy?  Or to die?"  
  If you answer "buy" go to <7>.  If you answer "die" go to 
  <12>.  If you just attack him, go to <17>.  If you try to 
  run away, go to <22>.  
  <35>  The door 
  vanishes behind you as 
  you step through it, and  
  you find yourself on an 
  island of black mud.  
  Above you the sky is 
  dark and gloomy with 
  heavy low-lying clouds. 
  A drizzling rain quickly 
  soaks you to the skin.  
  All around the island 
  are dark waters in 
  which many reeds 
  grow, and there are 
  quite a few sunken 
  trees.  Behind you is a 
  mighty, mossy mangrove tree.  In front of you is a large 
  
  36 
   
  alligator on the water's edge.  When it sees you, it emits 
  a hissing burble of a roar and rushes toward you with 
  jaws wide-extended.  If you have the sandwich in your 
  hand, go to <11>.  If you have the rocks in your hand, go 
  to <16>.  If you just decide to fight it with your weapons 
  or if you want to cast a spell at it, go to <21>.  If you turn 
  around and try to quickly climb the mangrove tree, go to 
  <26>.  If you just stand there or try to talk to it, go to 
  <3>. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  37 
   
   
  Two Sample Characters for 
  Monsters! Monsters! Adventures 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
   
  
  38 
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   +
  
  
    
   
  NOTE: Goblins in Trollworld are neither cute nor 
  friendly.  They start their lives as eggs spawned on 
  marsh weeds and go through three metamorphoses 
  before achieving their final humanoid form.  When 
  goblins and uruks live together, the goblins are always 
  slaves.  
  
  39 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
  40 
   
   
  
  41 
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Tunnels & Trolls/Tunnels & Trolls Adventures & Settings/Monsters! Monsters! (T&T)/The Wizard's Test Deadly Combat Monsters! Monsters!.pdf