Anarea   The Proving Grounds of Hell

The adventurer training of the Men of Hell is probably the toughest in Anarea.  It certainly has the highest casualty rate.  Now is your opportunity to find out for yourself, as we enter the Proving Grounds of Hell.

Rules (Second Edition)          significant changes from First Edition italicised

1    Character Design

1.1    Each player designs his own team of characters as follows:

1.1.1    Character specs. are produced using the Excel 5 workbook CHARSPEC.XLS, with DDE links to CHMOD.XLS.  This is recommended, because the current version of the spreadsheet automatically works out Ft, Th and El probs, including Species and Experience Modifiers.

1.1.2    Roll 3d6 characteristics (except Hd, Sz, and At) on 4d6, with 3d6 in common for DxPh / DxM and 2d6 for St / Sz.

1.1.3    Race must be either "Human, Westerner" for Men of Hell or "Orc" for all members of the team.  Half orc / human crossbreeds are permitted in any team, but their Species Modifiers will have to be averaged out manually.  Orcs get the following pluses / minuses to, or other dice for,  Chs (for males / females).  Orc Ft and Th SMs are in the spreadsheet.

Notes:

1. Orcs get Infravision as an innate ability.
2. Orc members of your team may roll 4d4 for In.

1.1.4    Females may be specified, but are unusual amongst trainees.  They can expect special attention from instructors and other trainees, not to mention the opposition.  Human females get St -3, Sz -1 and Bt +3.  Orc females get pluses / minuses as above.

1.1.5    Levels of the team must not exceed 8 in total for the whole team (unless the DM permits otherwise), but can be defined freely amongst the team provided that:

1.1.5.1    Characters who have St ³ 12, and all orcs, must be Fts

1.1.5.2    Ths must have DxPh ³ 12

1.1.5.3    Cls must have Ft ³ 14

1.1.5.4    El’ists must have both In & DxM ³ 12

1.1.5.5    No other character classes are permitted

1.1.5.6    No character may have total levels > 4 (unless the DM permits otherwise)

1.1.5.7    No character may have any single character class of level > 2 (unless the DM permits otherwise)

1.1.6    Personality and past history need not be specified.  This is not an exercise in character-play.  Assume a default history of "raised from birth to fight the battles of Hell" and a default personality of "a mean muthaf**ka out to kick some orc ass"!

1.1.7    The whole team must be of the same Alignment and must worship the same God, Who must be a God of Heaven and Hell.  There are no atheists in Hell.  KOROS human (not orc) teams are permitted, but the instructors in Hell give them an even harder time than usual (You have been warned!).

1.1.8    Th LM is d4 weeks training per level.  Th experience pluses can be worked out from the experience system, assuming maximum normal danger mod and level divisor of 1 for all pluses towards level 2, and must be distributed realistically between all activities.  Pluses can be freely converted into mastery.

1.1.9    Cl credit can be rolled on d100 per level, pro rata'd for fractions of levels.  It may not be traded for items, except during play.

1.1.10    El experience pluses can be worked out from the experience system, assuming maximum normal danger mod and level divisor of 1 for all pluses towards level 2, and must be distributed realistically between all Spells.

1.1.11    Possessions may be freely specified from the usual list of adventurer items for the Overworld or Underworld (no specials from Hell or the House of Karma), up to each character’s encumbrance limit.  Lanterns or writing materials are prohibited from training in character, but may be specified at your risk.  Magical or alchemical items may not be specified, nor may cash or other valuables, though any of these may be picked up during play.  Sometimes the team may be prohibited from taking some or all of their possessions.  Creatures, slaves, familiars, homunculi, undead, etc. may not be specified as possessions.

1.1.12    Pacts or Powers may not be specified.  Cult memberships may be specified (being virtually compulsory in Hell), but are unlikely to have much effect in play.

1.1.13    Languages are Orcish (Hell dialect) and Alignment.  Old Speech may not be specified.

1.2    The team may be designed with regard to other members of the team, and negotiation with other players is allowed in relation to one other team being designed by each other player that will run with the team currently being designed by you.  This is because it is assumed compatible teams will be selected for training together.  However, once you have started rolling characteristics, you must include the character rolled in your team.

1.3    Once you have finished designing your team, you may design another.  Given the high casualty rate, it is advisable to design at least one back up team.

1.4    The DM will not check teams, so the opposition can be played more objectively.  However:

1.4.1    Non-standard Spells must be approved by the DM before casting; and

1.4.2    The DM may inspect character specs during play to verify any query, or as a random spot check.

2    Systems

2.1    Normal Anarea systems as currently played in mainstream Anarea will be played, save as follows.  These system changes are being playtested, and may therefore be changed between sessions.

2.2    Handedness

2.2.1    The extra amr for multi-handed attackers will not apply, but an extra initiative die may be rolled, and at least one initiative die must then be lost (player's choice if not already lost).

2.2.2    Each hand in which a weapon is being used must take at least one amr, and the dice being rolled for each hand must be specified before rolling.  If insufficient amr are available, the required attack must be taken in the next mr.  A L1 Ft with 2 weapons would therefore have to attack with each in alternate mr.  If so obliged by this rule, the favoured hand may not be switched between mr until an attack has been taken with both weapons.

2.2.3    Monsters with multiple attack types will be subject to the above rules: eg claw and bite count as two weapons, but claw with two possible paws counts as one weapon.

2.3    Sz & Co

2.3.1    St and Sz are rolled with 2d6 in common.  Bd is abolished.

2.3.2    HP @ FtL 0 = Co (in full) ± ChMod/2 Sz

HP / FtL = 2d4 ± ChMod/2 Sz, but not so as to fall outside the range 0 -10

2.3.3    HitLoc profiles are reduced to the following:

Individual HitLoc areas are as per the existing Ft system for the same HitLoc ranges.

2.3.4    Monsters have base HP of 10 + (ML * (5 ± mod), where mod is 1/10 of the difference between the largest HitLoc Range of the monster and 100.  All HitLoc Ranges are divisible by 10.

2.3.5    ChMods for Thievish HS are Dx (Ph) - Sz/2; i.e. same as before, with no averaging, but using ChMod/2 Sz (exceptionally for the Th system).

2.4    Shields

Successful shielding does not result in the excess damage hitting the shield arm, unless the shield is totally destroyed by the blow.

2.5    Armour

"Patches" may not be used to cover part only of a body area so that hits can effectively be modified into them.  The minimum armour that can effectively be used on the chest, for example, is a breastplate on the front only.

2.5.2    Reinforced plate is only permitted as full suits.

2.6    Clerical Spells

2.6.1    The attached specifications will apply for certain Clerical Spells.  Note that the usual Spell Levels for Evil Gods are:

1.         Cause Light Wounds                Darkness (Note 3)                 Nightsight

Prot vs Good (and Law or Chaos for E/C or E/L Gods)

2.         Increase Bleeding                     Wall of Darkness         Infravision

Prot vs Neutral (not of same Alignment axis)

3.         Cause Serious Wounds Continual Darkness    Drain Life

Prot vs Evil

6.         Cause Multiple Wounds

Note:

    3.    Revised spec. on Radiation Spells as produced by JK / AJM will be used.

2.6.2    Cause Wounds Spells may be cast at SL + 1 to give an empathic self-heal effect on the caster of 50% of the damage inflicted (FRD).  This will be in the same area as the damge inflicted, with any excess being distributed pro rata to damage previously taken, as per Healing Potions.  They may also be cast at SL + 3 to gain 100% of the damage inflicted.

2.7    Light and Darkness

2.7.1    Each race has a defined normal visual range ("NVR").  For humans this is LI +3 to +4, for orcs it is LI -2 to +2.  Th'ish NS allows sight up to NVR ±3 where there is any light (i.e down to LI 0).  Th'ish Inf allows sight up to 3 LIs below what could otherwise be achieved with NVR or NS.  Note that orcs now have to use Th'ish NS to see in LI +3 to +5, and humans may use it to see in LI +5 to +7.  This is the same Th'ish Activity, whether used in brightness or gloom.  Above the range of possible NS blindness effects start.  Below the range of possible Inf madness effects start.

2.7.2    Flash Pellets give a 1 sec burst of LI +4.  This does not cause blindness, but removes all NVR for a no. of secs equal to the amount by which the LI exceeded NVR.  NS / Inf will now be required to see at all.

3    Play

3.1    A series of arena and / or dungeon and / or other combats will be run, at the DM's discretion.  Experience may be recalculated between playing sessions, though if play stops during a training session experience may only be taken with the DM's permission.  Th and El pluses are always immediately effective.

3.2    The instructors' instructions must be followed at all times.  They have the power to enforce their instructions, and to punish offenders.  The penalty is usually death, but can be worse in the case of more serious offences, or if the instructor is one of the stricter disciplinarians.

3.3    Cheating (in character, not metaly) is expected, if not covertly encouraged.  Being caught is a bad mistake.

3.4    Bribes to the instructors are permitted out of valuables acquired during play.  They will not necessarily be honoured, and may well be punished instead.

3.5    There is a Teleport block on Hell, but probably not on the training area.  However, Teleporting out is prohibited.  Word of Recalling is allowed at the discretion of the God, but the instructors may disapprove.

3.6    The training sessions are not intended to be fair.  They are intended to produce an elite of experienced adventurers, at the cost of weeding out the weak, the stupid, the unfaithful and the unlucky.  Instructors tend to assume all trainees fall into one or more of the latter categories, unless they can prove otherwise.  Remember, there are plenty more trainees ready to step into your team's shoes.

3.7    Players may design up and DM their own Proving Grounds sessions, in which other players' teams may participate.  However players may not claim experience / pluses / items for their PC teams run as NPC teams when they are DMing., and if they are killed (or worse) as NPCs they suffer the effect.

version 2.1

P.R. Wild, 6 March 1995

HTML conversion 10 March 2003

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