MONSTER MANUAL update

A gamer once asked Bruce Heard why Green Slimes would not infest every forest. Bruce answered; Have you ever heard of the Green-Slime-Guzzler. We learned then that it can’t be used as a familiar, but what actually is a Green-Slime-Guzzler, and how does it live.

Undead are somehow linked to the realm of Limbo (also a very interesting subject of our great master Bruce Heard), but which undead, is linked how, and all those undead you once heard of but actually know nothing of.

The cave is filled with tangling sticky webs. When you touch it, your fingers seem to go numb, then a multitude of eyes seem to envision you, what foul spider does have a dietary interest in your presence?

You have battled a pair of Shadows, and even though you survived, you feel very week. What can you do to strengthen up yourselves?

You tumbled into some dug pit, crash-landing between some crude jars of sweet honey. Then you hear someone speaking; “Query; What are you doing?” “Statement of personal belief; You probably shouldn’t have done that”. Is this creature trustworthy, friend or foe, and what is it actually?

The tomb slowly opens, and a mummy steps out, yet it speaks. How can this be? What have you just unleashed upon your party?

You wander around in the Broken Lands and are out of food. Then you find some strange singing mushrooms, but are they edible, usable, poisonous or attacking, or just a nuisance?

In Alphatia a drowsy magic-user in a dark bar offers you a purple strawberry. What is it and what does it do? And what are the consequences accepting this gift?

In the ocean waves you see a blue-yellow skull-like thing floating. Should you warn your swimming friends or is it just nothing important?

You hold your holy symbol in front of you, yet the vampire ignores it, how can this be?

You sleep in an old tavern on the savage coast. You look around, and only see clods of dust. Is there any danger now to sleep here?

You’ve penetrated the Evil tower of Soth. You touch the walls, they feel strangely organic but then you feel not so friendly any more, strange thoughts invade your mind. What is going on?

These and many more Questions are now to be answered, as more of the compiled information of all D&D sources of Mystara creeps and critters is available.

Yes, the next chapters of the compilation book Monster Manual Chapter 3 Lowlife and Chapter 4 Undead are to be found as PDF with bookmarks on the Pandius site.

Here the Direct Links.

Monster Manual

Have fun.

Adventure

Revenge of the Little Ones

Created; 1994 By                                                    Robin D.

Original Proofreading by;                                        Roland N.

Mapping Cartography by;                                        Robin D.

Art by;                                                                  Alies M.

2013-2014

Recreated, readjusted, improved, and restored by       Robin D.

(some times only papershreds were remaining of the original pages)

Proofreading By;                                                     Albert B.

                                                                                   

Thanks to the full TSR-staff for creating the D&D World Mystara

Special Thanks to the writers/creators of the Gazetteers; Gaz 7 Northern Reaches, Gaz 8 The Five Shires, Gaz 10 The Orcs of Thar, The Creature Crucibles;  PC1 Tall Tales of the Weefolk, PC2 Top Ballista, The Draconic Circles from the Dragon Magazine (170??) article of Bruce Heard, the Wrath of the Immortals set, and the Thyatian/Alphatian Gazetteer.

Without these the adventure could not be made.

Also thanx to the http://pandius.com/ website, where I could retrieve lots of information sofar unknown.

Originally written for the Euro Gencon 1995 Championship of TSR/RPGA for all gamers in the world.

AGAINST ALL FORMS

OF DISCRIMINATION

ALL OVER THE WORLD

Let us all be friends (and gamers.).

Prelude

In the days before Hin recorded time, the Immortals Night and Mother Earth were friends. And while other Immortals created races single-handedly, Night and Mother Earth worked together on the creation of the Halfling race.

Originally living on the southern continent Davania, with only contacts with the elves there, they became a strong race.

After the Great Rain of Fire in 3000 BC the lands, climate and whole environment changed and became more and more inhospitable.. The Hin as the Halflings called themselves left their ancestral lands and homes and moved north by ship.

Around 1300 BC the Hin came to the area that is now the Five Shires. The cape where they landed they named Faerdinel Keep (Faer = Hope, Dinel= haven in Lalor (Hin language)) The Hin see his as the beginning of Hin history.

The Hin erected towers where they made Landfall (not only Faerdinel Keep, but nearby too).And in the upcoming centuries, the Hin slowly entered the rolling hills north, filled with riches and a race of friendly pacifistic elves (the Gentle Folk. In these years they slowly abandoned the keeps they erected earlier, as the Sea of Dread was far  from stable and save in these decades due to tectonic instability, and the Hin forgot most of them. And when the Gentle Folk disappeared under Orcish and Human attacks the Early days of Hin-kind were at an end.

Many Hin have searched for Faerdinel Keep but none have actually found it, nor others. Great earthquakes which originally created the Ierendi and Minrothad Islands were often still active, and in the centuries the Hin explored the main land, the coastline disappeared beneath the waves, altered, or became small islands.

Faerdinel and most other keeps collapsed and the surrounding areas covered it completely. And while every Hin searched for a cape on the Shire Shores, none came upon the idea that Faerdinel could be further East and the others could be sunk or locked on the tiny islands.

Around 650 AC something happened. From the Thanagioth Islands in the South arrived a young dragon. Gartax was its name. And it was as Evil as it was smart and cunning. In the following centuries it became more and more powerful. In 1001 AC Gartax changed into a Huge Dragon, and with it’s Omen of Coming many earthquakes raked the land. And unknown to Gartax, this led to the reopening of one of the sister keeps of Faerdinel. And while Gartax had made its lair literally on top of this keep, he never knew about it. Although he found some ruins, he never understood the importance of it to the Hin. In these ruins he kept its treasure hoard. Just during it’s last Circle of Magic he found a scroll tube speaking about some might and knowledge to be found in the very same keep. So he puzzled and searched

Unknown to him Mother Earth and Night had reunited and agreed it was time to reveal the Hin their ancient roots. Therefore they placed knowledge and visions in the heads of several individuals they cherished They also placed the scroll tube and hoped their plot would lead to what they intended; A friendship, spread over day and night of all races together.

And indeed Gartax flew away to try to locate Faerdinel keep, but even in it’s a recent Circle of Knowledge, it did not find what it longed for. And when the Circle of Feeding started, on the hunt for a large feral creature, it lost the Tube it held so dearly on the spot where both Immortals had planned it.

Now all they had to do was wait, trusting that their faint hints, and maybe a riddled hint later, were enough and see if all would come as they had plotted.

And now it is up to You... Adventurers, DM's and Gamers.

To Enjoy, Have Fun and finish this adventure.

The following Link leads to the Introduction chapter, Round one, Round two, and Round Three.

If you intend to use the characters in further adventures and need Experience  use the following in addition to treasure and combat experience.

Solving the Puzzle;   2500 XP to each Player.

Finishing Round one;  1500 XP to each Player.

Determining the shriek in the moor was the inhabitant ; 500 XP to total

Leaving the Zzonga addicts alive; 500 XP to total

Trying to find a way to cure them from their addiction; 1000 XP to total

Locating the secret room; 1500 XP to each player

Finding the Temple; 500 XP to each player

Removing the key from the cold pool; 5000 XP to total

Finishing Round two; 3000 XP to each player

Solving the teleport maze within 10 passings (going from one to another); 500 XP to that Player

Solving the teleport maze within 9 passings (going from one to another); 1500 XP to that Player

Solving the teleport maze within 8 passings (going from one to another); 2500 XP to that Player

Solving the parchment Riddle(s); 500 XP

Finishing round three with Gartax as Gold; 6000 XP to each Player

Finishing round three with Gartax as Red; 1000 XP to each surviving Player

Each treasure succesfully grabbed  will count doible for experience (as normal magic itens give no experience)

And again the  download links are available on our trusted Pandius site
http://pandius.com/rltlones.html
(or individually)
http://pandius.com/The_Revenge_of_the_Little_Ones.pdf
http://pandius.com/The_Revenge_of_the_Little_Ones_Round_1.pdf
http://pandius.com/The_Revenge_of_the_Little_Ones_Round_2.pdf
http://pandius.com/The_Revenge_of_the_Little_Ones_Round_3.pdf

The Lost Tables. 

Initiative

A small chapter this time, as my health is slowly restoring, yet still fragile.I hope to be healthy enough soon to bring more D&D compilations from obscure and forgotten sources.

This time I bring Initiative.

About Initiative not a lot is spoken in the D&D Rulebooks, sometimes here and there between some other sources, but until now nowhere all in one single location.

In the Rules Encyclopedia (page 102) the following order is given for determining the combat order:

:

Combat Sequence Checklist

A. Initiative: Each side rolls Id6 to determine initiative.The DM rolls 1d6 for the NPCs; one player rolls 1d6 for the player characters. The side that rolls the highest number acts first. In case of a tie, all action this round is simultaneous. However, even when initiative is simultaneous, the steps of the combat sequence occur in order.

B. First Side Goes: The side that won the initiative acts first.

1. Morale (Optional): Monsters and  NPCs roll Morale Checks. Also, anyone who needs to make a saving throw vs. an ongoing effect does so now.

2. Movement: Characters who choose to move do so now.

3. Missile Combat: Characters using missile and thrown weapons make their attacks.

a. They choose their targets,

b. They make their attack rolls,

c. They roll damage for any successful hits.

4. Magic: Characters using magic cast their spells.

a. They choose their targets,

b. Their targets roll saving throws if appropriate. £

c. The DM applies the results.

5. Hand-to-Hand Combat: Characters fighting hand-to-hand make their attacks.

a. They choose their targets,

b. They make their attack rolls,

c. They roll damage for any successful hits.

C. Second Side Goes: The side that lost the initiative acts now, performing the same five steps.

D. Special Results: The DM announces any special results.

The group that wins the initiative gets to act first. Note that the group that wins the initiative does not have to attack. The players and the DM should decide based on the circumstances whether the characters wish to talk, move around, run away, or attack. Likewise, the monsters will decide, based on the situation they see—and their ability to interpret it, and their customary behavior—what they will do when they win initiative. Some will have no interest in fighting. Some, territorial, will warn the PC's away from their lairs but not attack unless they are intruded upon. Some will trade or exchange information; some will merely attack. 

Initiative and Multiple Attacks

If a monster that wins initiative has more than one attack, it will get all of its attacks before the player characters can act. If a high level character with multiple attacks wins the initiative, he gets to make all his attacks before the other side gets to move. 

Ties

If each side rolls the same number for initiative, then all the action happens at once; the actions are "simultaneous," and neither side wins the initiative. In a round where things are happening simultaneously, every character and monster who chose to attack gets to roll all his attacks. Even if one character's attacks killed an opponents, the opponent gets to roll his attacks because they're taking place simultaneously. Characters who chose to run will do so. If another character chose to attack the runner, he gets to make his attack. If the attack misses or fails to kill the runner, the runner gets his full

movement.

Characters who chose to talk get a few words into what they meant to say before violence erupts (assuming that violence does erupt; perhaps everyone wanted to talk!). All the characters who decided to attack or run do so, and then the character who chose to talk can attack or run as he chose . . . after everyone else has gone.

Dexterity Adjustments (Optional)

At the DM's option, a character's Dexterity can modify his individual initiative roll, according to the Bonuses and Penalties for Ability Scores. A character's bonus to individual initiative does not affect the party's roll in group initiative.

Yet most Players use the simpler method from older D&D sources as given here.

Most DM's or Plsyers seem to prefer to use "individual initiative." With this sort of initiative, every player rolls 1d6 for his own character, and the DM rolls 1d6 for every monster or NPC involved in the encounter. It otherwise operates the same way as normal initiative. Even when a DM prefers group initiative, he may prefer to use individual initiative in combat rounds where the two sides tied their group initiative roll.

Individual Combat Sequence Checklist

A. Individual Initiative: .Every player rolls 1d6 for his character; the DM rolls a separate ld6 for each monster or NPC. High rolls go first in the round. In case of a tie,the DM decides (in general) to apply both effects simultaneously, or the tied parties roll again, high roll going first, until all ties are resolved. The DM sometimes may decide in cases of large amounts of Monsters or NPC's to use Group Initiative on groups within the Force. (Rolling individual initiative for 20 or more foes is nasty to keep order in without making mistakes).

B. First Character (Monster, PC or NPC) Goes: The  Character(s) that won the initiative act first.

1. Morale (Optional): Monsters and PCs roll Morale Checks. Also, anyone who needs to make a saving throw vs. an ongoing effect does so now.

2. Movement: Characters who choose to move do so now.

3. Action: Characters using missile and thrown weapons make their attacks. Characters using magic begin casting their spells.

a. They choose their targets,

b. They make their needed dice rolls for attack, ,

c. They roll damage for any successful hits.Their targets roll saving throws if appropriate.

4. The DM applies the results.

C. Next character(s) Go: The next lower in the initiative acts now, performing the same steps.

D. Special Results: The DM announces any special results.

Initiative adjustments

I am going to speak primarily about the individual Initiative here.

For game simplicity multiple attacks always take effect in the same initiative segment.Some DM's may impose a penalty of 1 initistive segment on each following mutiple weapon attack, but this is NOT advised. As a character under the influence of Haste  magic doubles his or her speed and actionsm,, making this a terrible feat to keep tracvk of. So please keep multiple attacks on the same moment.

.

There are many ways individual intitiative is to be adjusted. For instance the use of magic has great affects on it. To activate a spell from memory, scroll or item always takes an amount of time. 

When the character is hit (does not need to have taken damage, or his senses are disturbed, the desired magical effect will be disturbed, and will NOT take place. 

Spells memorized or cast from scrolls may even become lost and not to be used again. Magic from Items however, may be used the next option again so long as it has not been tampered with (damaged, lost, dropped, Taken away, etc).

The casting of magic from mind, scroll, or other source takes time. Where not given, simply use the level as the spell as the initiative modifier, where known (in AD&D, and other sources spells are mostly listed with a casting time, either from mind or from scroll. The Clerical spells can be found in my compilation book Pages of Virtue).

To know if a spell cast (from scroll or from mind is lost in such a case the caster rolls an intelligence (or wisdom in the case of clerical magic) check penalized by the level of the spell. if the roll failed the magic is released in some way and is gone as if it were cast (the spell is lost from memory or gone from the scroll). This can be without effects, with minor effects, or great effects. (the DM may use the next optional table.to determine this, or simply decide that nothing further happens..

Initiative is also influenced by the size of a creature, its experience with using an ability (high Hit Dics are more apt in using an ability.), and speed of the affected character(monster, PC, or NPC alike).

This can be seen in the table.All statistics are from D&D Rulebooks compiled togeter (Rules Encyclopedia, BECMI Books, and Drahon Magazine articles. Others are drawn from AD&D sources (as no one was found in D&D, yet still mentioned somewhere to be needed)

Important note;

A round is 10 seconds, but initiative is rolled on a 1d6, each initiative segment is a 1/6th of these 10 seconds.Each penalty or bonus is in effect an initiative segment lost or gained.

Thus a character that rolls a 6 on initiative acts first, if he or she uses a wand he or she finishes on initiative  3 (6-3) but starts on initiative 6!

In some cases initiative bonusses are gained, The affected character acts then from that moment. A Tiny sized character (like a pixy) rolls a 5 on initiative, meaning that it can move or physically attack on initiative 7(5+2). thisis so fast that it supercedes all initiatives below this number.

In case of that a character is under the influence of a Haste spell oor Speed effect (from potion), he gains another moment of action. one placed as a bonus on his initiative, another as a penalty. This means a character which drunk a haste potion and rolled an initiative of 3, can act on initiative  4 and 2. this means he can make two attacks or a move and an attack or two moves.

In the case of drinking a Speed potion AND a Haste spell influence, the character can make 4 actions.

Source; Facebook.com

One important note to magic use under the effect of haste or slow magic is that magic is intensily fragile, and needs to be cast in the normal timeframe. this means a caster must adjust his casting speed from his current speed back to normal, a Slowed caster must act faster to cast a spell, a hasted character must act slower. This means that the vocal components always are as normal. when not (slowed caster lower bass vocals, hasted caster rapid high vocals), the spell fails.To adjust this the caster must make an intelligence or wisdom check (depending on the type of magic; Magic-user or clerical) of -2 for each haste/slow effect affecting the caster. Of course a Slow and Haste effect together dispell eachother.

Enjoy and have lots of fun!!

The Lost Tables

Jumping and Falling

This compilation is created with the use of the Boxed set of Alphatia/Thyats, The Rules Cyclopedia, The AD&D Wilderness survival guide, and some other more obscure sources (Dragon Magazines).

Source; AD&D Wilderness Survival guide

Lucius wanders through the forest. As a strong man  he is not afraid of  the dangers lurking in the Radlebb Woods. Instead, he is proud, wearing a leather Armor and a woodman’s axe, ready to become an adult. Yes, Lucius is in his Shearing period. With torn pants and coat he accepted this almost ritualistic tradition of the Traldar, even while he himself is of Thyatian heritage. It were his friends, he followed, Bartholomew, a Traladaran/Darokin merchant son, and Oswald, a pure blood Traladaran, proud of his deep routed heritage.

After a few hours walking he encounters his friends in an open place several miles North East of Luln. At first he notices Oswald who successfully releases his first magic missile, then learning that the spell once cast is lost. Lucius steps forward. “Hi Bartholomew, that was a magnificent example of magic you did there. Does it do something else than blasting  branches?” “You, dim-witted buffoon, that was my first and only  spell for today. I’m just an Apprentice. Now I have nothing except my Pole.” Lucius spied around and saw indeed a pole, longer than expected, a full 20’ tall. “That…. Thing?. That would only be a hindrance. You can’t slam an Orc with it, for it is way too long, … and you’re way too weak.” A voice behind Lucius responds. With a quick turn Lucius notices it is Oswald, sitting high up in a tree. “It is not all  Strength you need, maybe in battle, but the subtle twist of a dexterous feet can easily tip the balance, my friend.” With a side swing he leapt from the tree, landing on the ground safely. “We know, that as a woodsman, you learn to trust upon your muscles, but we prefer to trust our knowledge and skills a bit different”

“I bet, you can’t make the same simple leap I just made.” Oswald taunts.

“Maybe our nimble friend is right Lucius, maybe we should explain you something about… jumping.” Bartholomew speaks. “ And about Falling”  Oswald fills is, with a wide sneer about his face.

“Yes, these two are connected to eachother like the kernel within the apple.”

“Ehh… wha..do… ya… mean? Lucius  responds, his simple mind clearly confused by this sudden burst of  input of knowledge.

“Did you ever jump? Did you ever jump over a ditch? As far as you could?”

Ehh… Yeah, but why…Ehh of course I can jump….Farther than any of  you guys.” Julius regrasps his reality.” I’m way stronger than you so I can jump father, higher, en ehh. Faster.”

“Sure?, Then lest try, Lets do some training. Do you  see that gulley there? It’s only about 9’ wide and 10’ deep. Would you be able to cross that?” Taunts Oswald again. “Of course”, the young proud fighter bolsters. “Be careful” Bartholomew responds softly, not wanting to intimidate the strong friend.

“Ok, we jump together.” Lucius speaks proudly, and walks to the rim of the Gulley.

Then he bends his knees and pulls all his strength in it, and with a burts of the fellow’s muscles he leaves the ground forward.

At the same time both Bartholomew and Oswald run past Lucius. Bartholomew with the absurdly long pole and Oswald as he is. They too make  the jump.

A General Word about Skills.

Any 1^st level character begins with at least 4 skills, these are reflections what the character has learned in his If the character has a higher Intelligence than he gains another skill for each Intelligence bonus the character has from his Intelligence score. This means that if he has Intelligence of 13-15, he has one extra skill, 16-17, he has two extra skills, and 18, he even has three extra skills. Some nationalities or races have another way of raising their youngsters, by schooling them as an example and enable the character some extra skills. But this is rare and the amount of skills attained this way is never more than 2 in total. All these skills are determined by several factors. The character could have chosen them himself; some can be chosen for him; some are based upon the character’s race, culture, religion, nationality, social class, profession of parents, the character’s origin and who knows what more.

Each general skill is based on one of the character’s abilities (Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma). To know the score of a single skill a character begins with roll 8+1d10, that was the score equal to that from the last teacher, if this is higher than the ability the character has, the score is derived from the used ability instead. For example a character has Intelligence 14, and has a knowledge skill learned from a teacher who had a score of 12 for that skill, then the character will also have only a 12 on that skill. But if the teacher had a 15, his skill score would be 14 basically, his own limit.

Whenever a character’s skill is appropriate to the current situation, the player rolls a 1d20 against his current score with the ability. If the roll on the 1d20 is equal or less than the ability score, the skill use succeeds. A roll of 20 always fails, no matter how high the chance for success. For example, if the character is riding a horse and the horse is suddenly spooked and begins rearing. The character’s player than rolls 1d20 against his Ridiing skill score. If the character’s skill ability is a 15, the player has only to roll a 15 or less to successfully use the skill. This roll is called a “skill roll” or “skill check”. A successful check means the character succeeds in the task he was attempting. If a character is trying to track an animal through the forest, and he successfully makes his tracking skill check, then he is able to follow the tracks of his prey. Of course, to use the skill, the character must have all the tools and materials to do the job. A carpenter can do very little without his tools, and a smith is virtually helpless without a good forge. The character must also have enough time to do the job. Certainly, carpentry Skill enables your character to build a house, but not in a single day. Some Skill descriptions state how much time is required for certain jobs. Most, however, are left to the DM's judgment.

DM

Every character can jump, except when it’s corporeal state prevents this (broken leg, spine, KO, etc.).

The distance of a Jump is dictated by the character’s current strength, and partially by its size. Smaller creatures of half human size or less suffer a penalty of 1 on each jumping roll, but if they have a jumping skill, their distances increase by +2 per succesul roll. Giant creatures of sizes larger than humans add one quarter of their length to the jump, and suffer a penalty on any dexterity check of -5!!. If they land on a creature it suffers 2d6 x2 impact damage. If they fall, they are prone for 2 rounds instead of 1. This reflects the difficulty of their size and weight to jump). 
But the jump can be increased by use of the Jumping skill.  Dexterity dictates how the character lands, in all cases.

There are three main sorts of jumping.

A Standing Broad Jump, starting the jump from the character’s current position.

A Running Broad Jump; Running at least 20’ and then starting the jump from the character’s current position.

A High Jump; where the character jumps upwards from it’s current position, this can be done in movement, but this does not alter the distances.

The table gives the maximum distance that a character of a given strength can traverse.

When The character lands, The DM  may decide that the character also needs to make a Dexterity check to make a perfect landing, any failure could result in the character falling backwards, or forwards, or be unable to grip something at the destination spot. In either case falling rules will apply then. This Dexterity check is NOT needed in the case of using a Jumping Skill as it is imbedded within this skill. Of course the may imply penalties to the Dexterity check due unforeseen circumstances, like slippery surfaces, loose soil, cloth or similar.

Jumping Skill

Source; Gutenberg.org

This dexterity skill enables the character to jump at much greater or higher ranges than his strength normally would make possible.

On a successful Jumping skill check a running broad jump (if the character has at least a 20’ running start) would be improved by 3’,

a standing broad jump by 2’

and a high jump by 1’.

When this skill is improved above the normal limits of the character’s dexterity, it gives an extra foot of distance per skill bonus to the already enhanced distance by use of this skill. See the Jumping table.

This skill takes one round of preparation, except when doing it while running toward the distance to be jumped (this could be penalized up to -6 due unseen circumstances, like slippery surfaces, loose sand, and so on).

The character can also attempt vaults using a pole. A vault requires at least a 30’ running start. If a pole is used, it must be between 2 and 10 times longer than the character's height. The character must be able to rapidly climb the pole to use it this way. (this is included in the jumping skill). A low ceiling could prevent the usage of a pole.

The character can clear a distance equal to 1½ times the length of the pole, in addition to his jumping height as dictated by it’s strength..  (Of coarse, if the Pole is place IN the depth to be crossed, this is subtracted from the legth ogf the pole; Thus if the jumper crosses a moat of 15’ deep while using a 20’ pole he can cross only an additional 5’)/

The character can clear heights equal to the height of the pole in addition to his jumping height as dictated by it’s strength..

He can also choose to land on his feet if the jump carries him over an obstacle no higher than ½ the height of his pole.

Thus, using a 12’ pole, the character could either vault through a window of at least 12’ off the ground (tumbling into the room beyond).

Or land on his feet on a surface 6’ off the ground,

Or vault across a moat of at least 18’ wide. In all cases, the pole is dropped at the end of the vault.

The use of training halters—jumping weights (known in the Hollow World Millenia only) increases the distance a further 1d4 feet. These are used only during training, to improve the muscles purely for jumping. If used during a jump, they give normal values to any jump, but if not used they may increase the distance. The character’s leg look thick, muscular, and bulgy and this may decrease it’s Charisma in some circumstances.

Jumping takes one single round.

 The Example

In the Example above Julius, Oswald  and Bartholomew try to cross the 9’ wide, 10’ deep gulley.

The abilities of the characters are as followed;

Julius; Fighter 1, ST 17, IN 9, WI 9, DX 9, CO 18, CH 12

Bartholomew; Mage 1, ST 11, IN 15, WI 15, DX 12, CO 8, CH 7 Jumping  Skill 

Oswald; Rake 2, ST 12, IN 12, WI 9, DX 17, CO 14, CH 17

Julius makes a standing broad jump,(apparently he doesn’t know he can cross greater distances by running) and thus uses the Far ranges in the Table. With his 17 Strength he can cross 1d6+4 feet.

Oswald, a bit cleverer than Julius, makes a Running Broad ump and thus  uses the Run 20’+ column of the table. He is weaker than Julius and thus he can jump only1d6+5 feet.

Bartholomew, has learned the Jumping Skill somewhere in his Youth and makes use of a 20’ Pole. He has only a strength of 11, thus he can only reach 1d6+5’ according the run 20’+ column adding the  jumping Skill bonus to the roll, for a total of 1d6+5+3’.  Since he uses a 20’ pole, he can easily cross the gulley as the 20’ pole adds another 30’ to the jump.(The DM may imply a penalty to the Jumping skill depending on the placement of the pole (Loose soil, weak ground, etc))

Julius rolls a 4 on his 1d6 for a total of 4+, thus he does NOT succeed in his jump. He falls a foot short from the ledge he intended to land upon and falls down 10’  (following falling rules).

Bartholomew must make a jumping skill check, which he succeeds by 3 points, he rolls a 2 on his 1d6+5 for a total of 7, adds the Jumping skill bonus of 3, and the length of the pole bonus of 30’-10’ for the depth of the gulley (Bartholomew chose to use the pole in the Gulley—if he had  decided to place the pole on the edge of the gulley he would increase his distance a further 10’ as the penalty of the depth is not used then), coming to an incredible distance of 30’

Oswald had used all  his strength in the running jump and rolled a 5 on his 1d6+5 for a total of 10’. He succeeds in crossing the giulley.

The DM decides that the ground was solid on the location of both Julius and Bartholomew, so no extra penalties are applied to the Dexterity checks or Jumping Skill. Yet Oswalds lands on a spot of Gravel, and must make a Dexterity check penalized by 4.

Since Julius failed his jumping skill, the DM decides to give him a chance from preventing the fall, by letting Julius roll a dexterity check to grab the approaching edge. Of course this distance can never be greater than the length of the character’s arm (perhaps including the length of a pickaxe or similar tool). If he fails this he will fall, (and the pick axe upon him.)

Yet Julius is clumsy and fails even his dexterity check. Ouch!!

Oswald, did succeed the jump initially, but slips on the other side. He must make a Dexterity check, and rolls a 14 on 1d20. Since his Dexterity is 17 and the soil is so loose for a penalty of 4, he actually rolls a 14+4 is 18, thus a failure. To keep things simple; an even difference dictates that the character falls forwatd, an uneven difference dictates he falls backwards.

Thus Oswalds lands, slips, and topples backwards into the pit.

Other humanoid creatures able to jump

Lycanthropes (These jump as the corresponding animal with the Strength adjustment in feet as bonus. Thus a  6’ High (animal height) 18St werewolf can  jump 9’ far or 6’ high.)

Frogman, From the Northern Wildlands Gazetteer F3 (Found here Northern Wildlands.)

Leaping: Frogmen are capable of leaping considerable distances and heights relative to their size.  This ability improves over time, but leaping is always physically taxing.  A frogman may leap a number of times equal to their Constitution score during a given day, after which they must rest for at least one hour.  Further, he must be lightly encumbered. 

Source; dotd.wikia.com

Mountain  Rakasta

(From The Rakasta article Of Bruce Heard  in Dragon Magazine 247)

All Rakastas can jump as all other humanoids, but the following two are a bit different.

Mountain Rakasta (Felis Concolor Rakastus)

Greater Rakasta;

Source; Unknown

The Mountain Rakasta have claimed the entire continent of Brun as their native land. They favor above all unpopulated areas where they can freely hunt. If unchecked, these adaptable athletes claim any vacant land, including forests, swamps, grasslands, and semi-desert regions such as Terra Vermelha and Grande Carrascal in the Savage Coast. Humanoids usually get in their way, both as prey and hunter. As a result, the widely scattered tribes of mountain Rakasta have adopted mountain ranges such as the Endworld Line, the Kurish Massif, and even the Wyrmsteeth Range as their true natural habitat. The mountain Rakasta’s pelage varies from plain grey-brown, being the most common in the northern climes, to sometimes reddish or almost black. Accustomed to broken terrain, these adroit stalkers developed acrobatic skills unparalleled among Rakasta. Many Humanoids, both with awe and fear, have reported the ability of the Yutin people, as they call them, to perform stunning leaps. The mountain Rakasta use this skill to leap over Humanoid camp walls and moats, up into trees, or down from a rocky ledges, to stalk a prey or evade a sudden threat. When using their energy burst, mountain Rakasta choose to boost either their Strength or their Dexterity. They also have a free jumping skill with the some differences in jumping ranges—see table

Cloud Pardasta (Felis nebulosa Rakastus)

Wild Rakasta;

Contrary to what their name seems to Imply, these are not a greater Rakasta. This wild felid type remains one of the best examples of arboreal Rakasta and somewhat of a legend as well. Cloud Pardasta live in the forests of Bellisaria and Skothar, along the Minaean Coast, Tangor Bay, and the Tangor Peninsula. 

Source; Unknown

On Skothar, they call Themselves Rimau-Dahan—literally, fork-of-branch tigers.

Cloud Pardasta gained their name from the large spots on their backs, which look like cloudy blotches. Their base coats varies from brown to pale or rich yellow, with white or light tawny on the inner limbs, throat, and chest. The odd name also comes from their unusual ability. The Cloud Pardasta can harness natural magical Forces pervading the forest and blend away into its mist, fog, or clouds. In effect, the Cloud Pardasta can cast dimension door to a distance of 10’ per experience level, at which point the energy burst ends. The cloud Pardasta may invoke this power only once a month as it is linked to the full moon. The Cloud Pardasta must be in contact with forest mist when they perform the dimension door.

Cloud Pardasta Clans are tucked away in small villages built on the branches of very tall trees, virtually invisible from the ground. Cloud Pardasta suffer no movement penalty when inside a tree. They have been observed by some hunters to sneak or run down tree trunks head first, without any difficulty whatsoever. They can hang from branches using only their legs, or run underneath one with ease. Jumping from one branch to another is a native game, which they do without requiring Dexterity checks or the use of a jumping skill, unless the distance exceeds 15’ (horizontally or downward). Cloud Pardasta have free acrobatics skill, as can be expected of arboreal creatures. To accomplish these feats, the Cloud Pardasta’s long tail must be free to help balance movements. On the other hand, they lose 2 Dex when caught on the ground.

Jumping and other creatures than Demi-Human-Oids

Horses and Chevall Jumping

Source; AD&D MC Mystara Appendix 

Every Chevall is capable of a maximum height and length when it comes to jumping. Some are particularly adept at this, while some refuse to jump at all. Whatever their capabilities, they should be kept on record, and use it against the immediate needs of any particular situation. Keep in mind that they are certainly not given to high performance jumping. A running distance must be preceded by at least 30’ of open ground and full speed. Every encumbrance step more decreases the jumping distances by one step. A standing high jump is a jump as high as possible to reach something higher, Chevalls prefer to rear to reach higher objects as their rearing height is twice their normal height.

Artist; Maddie 1101 Deviant Art

Every single horse is capable of a maximum height and length (in feet) when it comes to jumping. Some are particularly adept at this, while some refuse to jump at all. Whatever an animal’s capabilities, they should be kept on record, and use it against the immediate needs of any particular situation. Thus roll 1d100 to find how far your horse can jump. Keep in mind that draft horse, mules, ponies, and the like are certainly not given to high performance jumping, so give them a penalty of 50% on the distances covered. This penalty also applies if the creature is loaded (including any riders) over  its encumbrance limits. Thus a loaded pony with a roll of 4 can jump only 1’ high and 3’ far, due doubling of the penalties

Other Jumping Creatures

Cats; see Monster Manual (found here; http://breathofmystara.blogspot.nl/2013_06_01_archive.html )

Agile creatures like deer, gazelle, rodents can also make great jumps they can cross distance up to 50% of their normal speed (example; Movement; 210’/70’ = a max jump of 35’ ). Smaller creatures can jump as far as their size in feet or twice if they are agile jumpers.(high jump ½ this value).

Most other animals (like Dogs, wolves) and carnivorous dinosaurs can jump only as far as their size, or half this as high. Use this rule if it is NOT given in the description of the creature.

When not given is the creatures description (see monster manual 1-2 use link given above) use this standard method instead. Flying creatures don’t jump. Swimming creatures rarely do, as this requires breaking the surface of rthe water. They would do so to escape predators, or attack prey. Only rapid swimmers can do this (above 120’-40’ swim movement) They can reach only a distance of 5+1d6+St adjustment in feet above the water, after which they fall back.

Giant Frog and toads can jump maximum distances far or up. Do not confuse this with their Hop movement, as these are multiple small hops in order. Thus a Giant Frog has a movement of 90’/30. Hop 90’/round and maximum jump of 20’

Falling

Source; candb.com

The standard rule of thumb is that one takes 1d6 points of damage for each 10' fallen. that seems to be all right for shorter distances, but it is better to use the following table. This chhart shows the damage from an all-out, unchecked plummet--or a Crash-Dive into the ground. It is easy enough to use. if you fall from an altitude of 80', it takes you less than 2 seconds to hit the ground, and when you do you suffer 6d6 points of damage--easily enough to killl low-level characters and hurt mid-level heroes.

Above 680' , falling characters and other reach what is called Terminal Velocity--meaning the air pressure has stopped their groundward acceleration, they can't fall any faster. therefor it is impossible to take more than 20d6 from falling damage, regardless of how high you are. (Atmospheric re-entry is anorher matter, after breaching the Skyshield, it is best to have some scientific texts on hand to help you explain what's about to happen).

The second chart is also straightforward. if you want to know, for instance,  how far you fall on Mystara in 9  seconds, you discover that it's 1248' total. You  have reached Mystara's Terminal Velocity of 192'/second by that time.

Flying vessels and cross country aerial travellers tend  to fly at an altitude of 15.000' or higher. for every 1440' of altitude you have, you have a  full round of preparing time in case something goes wrong.

For those devious DM's that like reality the table is expanded with the broken bones the character sustains on hitting the ground. Keep in mind that this is NEVER more than the total amount of damage sustained. (Thus if only 5 damage is rolled by a fall of 60' and the break roll gives 9 breaks, then the fallen character will have only 5 breaks!!). 

To see if a character survives a fall, a special constitution check may be applied to reflect internal damage. This check is adjusted as per table per height.

A Character failing this check, is just dead, instantly. He can be raised as normally, after the body is cured.

The broken bone is checked with the broken bones table found  here 

http://breathofmystara.blogspot.nl/2013/09/wounds-and-injuries-this-document-is.html

Example

Lucius fell 10' thus fell less than 1 second, sustained 3 on 1d6 points of damage, rolled a 2 on his 1d2-1 and thus suffered a break, but his constitution check at a bonus of +8 gave him no problems. 

Oswald fel also, Rolled a 1 on damage, but rooled a 1 on breaks, resulting in no broken bones. His constitution check succeeded also. 

Important note

0-20.000 feet

The Atmosphere of Mystara is similar from the Outer World to the Hollow World. It remains breathable up to about 20.000 feet. 

The highest Mountains break this barrier (ex. The Black Peak Mountains between Hule and the Great Sind Desert are approximately 24.000 feet high). The higher a person goes the colder it becomes, however.

20.000-80.000 feet

Above 20.000' or just shy of 14' rounds falling time, it becomes very difficult to breathe. Above that most living creatures need special breathing gear or Magic. However, above 20.000 feet the atmosphere still provides pressure. A Character above 20.000 feet cannot breathe normally, but will not die by lack of pressure.

80.000 feet or higher The Skyshield

At an altitude of about 80.000’ (about 15 miles), the atmosphere is held in by an envelop of energy. Characters not protected by special devices or magical spells will die—they take 1d6 cold and de-pressure damage per round without a save, until they die or reenter the denser atmosphere. This barrier is called the Sky Shield. Beyond this skyshield a character's body will also not fall but float, until it finally re-enters the Skyshield.

Spells or Objects to prevent Falling

3rd level spell Fly, provided ability to move 360' /round in  any direction.

2nd level spell Levitate, provided ability to move up or down 20'/ round.

1st level spell Feather Fall, provides ability to slowly descend at 20'/ round.

Or a Bumberchute (500gp) Gnomish invention; Theis looks like a large parasol and is worn on the back, like a back-slung sword. Whenever falling applies, the character only needs to pull the Bumber-chute forth and press the button on its handle. The umbrella portion will open and magically lower its wielder to the ground. The character need only hold onto the handle for dear life.

When nearing the ground, the character rolls 1d20 on a 1, he takes 2d6 damage from a bad landing, but otherwise lands just fine.The bumber-chute actually lowers   those using it at a falling rate of 1000 feet/minute or 166'/ round, with a final bit of extra decelleration at the end, when the 1 is rolled this failed to take effect. Bumberchutes are not customary sold to people outside The Flying city of Serraine, The Knight of the Air and Retebius Air Fleet, both in Thyatis. Some Gnomes however, aware of the secret might copy it.

 There is notice by Alphatians who got lost in the western part of Norwold that they encountered Yeti of some sentience, using magically enchanted hang-gliders. (more about this in an upcoming Blog Article.)

 Have fun. Don't break your neck.;)