From Jonathan's Reference Pages
Ragadorn Ale-House Brawl is a board game featured in The Magnamund Companion, a setting guide for the world of the Lone Wolf gamebooks. It's quite fun, but it's from an era of ambiguous or badly-written rules, where players were assumed to be familiar with miniatures games or were expected to work rules on their own.
Here are some of the rules clarifications and variants I've used in play. The original rules can be found on pages 46-51 and 97 of The Magnamund Companion, available for download in PDF at Project Aon.
I use ten sided dice rather than the random number chart. A roll of 10 counts as zero.
You should create tokens for each character's mundane weapon. These come in handy when someone throws a weapon, as happens when they have a magic weapon or have looted a spare weapon for throwing.
Clarification: Each player moves all of his characters before the next player moves all of his. Play goes clockwise for the first round, then anticlockwise for the second round, and so on.
What happens if you must place your character at a door, but all five door squares are taken?
Strictly speaking, if you roll a 7, 8 or 9 when placing your character at the beginning, they must be placed on a door square. If they can't, it seems your character is outside of the tavern and must wait until round 2 to enter. You might relax this and allow the character to be placed adjacent to a door square.
How does the "Talk" option work?
The "Talk" option isn't elaborated on. I decided that a player who elects to talk may trade gold and items. They may trade secret messages, although I've yet to play a game where anyone wished to do this. The Knight may use Talk to tell the Adventuress she is under arrest, and may attack her if she moves away, throws at the Knight, or starts combat with the Knight. Trading occurs immediately, since there's no reason not to.
Where can you pick up items from?
The rules are unclear. The Missile Phase only allows you to throw adjacent items, not items you're standing on. However, I've house ruled that on the movement phase you can pick up items from any adjacent square or your own square. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to loot a body you're standing on.
The rule is that looting a body in the movement phase takes one point of movement per item. I've decided that any amount of gold counts as a single item. You can't loot diagonally, since that's two squares away.
Can you pick up bar items like chairs?
I've house ruled this to say no. There's no sensible way to carry multiple chairs, even if the rules allow it. The early rounds of the game would see players hoard all the throwable items for later.
What happens if a missile misses, but there's no room for it to land?
If a missile misses its target and the roll is odd, it lands behind its target. The rules don't specify what happens if the opponent has his back to the wall. You might place it beside the character, or on the character, or have the item break.
What happens to missiles that hit?
The rules don't specify what happens to missiles after they hit their target. I've ruled that weapons land on the square of the character they hit, but bar items such as chairs are destroyed. The axe counts as a weapon.
Do magic weapons still have to roll on the missile chart?
Yes. As per the rules, thrown magical weapons deal extra damage only if a successful hit is scored. Magical weapons are Lone Wolf's Magic Spear, the Magic Sword (Special Item) and Magic Mace (Special Item), as listed in rules on what magical weapons can harm the Helghast.
Can multiple attackers fight the same target?
The rules don't say you can't, so it seems logical that you can. It's not an unreasonable house rule to allow only one character to fight at a time.
There's a confusing rule that characters can only co-operate with other player's characters once they have talked to each other. Does this mean multi-way combat is possible, but only between your own characters? Was this rule written assuming one player per character as in 7-10 player mode, suggesting that your own characters can't team up without talking first?
The only side-effect of multiple-attacker combat is that it's possible to flee from one opponent even though combat continues with the other.
Who is the "loser" of the combat?
The rules specify that the loser chooses whether to continue the combat or flee, but doesn't specify who the loser is. We decided it to mean the character who loses the most hit points. If both characters lose the same amount, neither is the loser, and combat automatically continues.
In what order is fleeing resolved?
By the rules, a fleeing character must move before the character who he is fleeing from. We ruled that fleeing characters move before any other characters in the movement round.
Does looting a body take any movement points?
If you kill an opponent, you can loot any or all of his equipment immediately at no cost. Since it's not the movement round, there can't be any movement cost.
Do multiple magic weapons stack?
I still haven't decided this. The rules don't specify that you can't gain both bonuses. On the other hand, it's illogical for a character to wield both the Magic Sword and the Magic Mace in order to gain a total of +6 to Combat Skill. Nothing in the Lone Wolf setting suggests that merely carrying a second magic weapon imparts any combat benefit.
Can you gamble while fleeing?
You can gamble when not involved in combat, so the question is whether or not a character who has opted to flee is still in combat. I would suggest that a fleeing character is too busy running to gamble.
If I bet on 9 and the table rolls a 0, do I receive twice my stake?
Yes, or there would be no reason to bet on 0 or 9.
Can the table run out of money?
There are no rules which say so. The Gaming Table can be considered a limitless supply of money. However, the Landlord's goal is to make a profit of 40 Gold Crowns at the end of the night.
Can gambling occur when there are bodies or objects on the Gaming Table?
Gambling cannot occur if player's character is standing on the Gaming Table. The rules say nothing about bodies or objects, so you can.
When can the Elixir of Life and Laumspur be used?
There are no particular rules, but I play assuming you can use the healing potions at any time, except when you are reduced to 0 Endurance.
When can Alether be used?
I usually decide that it can be used just before combat. The attacker should always ask the defender his Combat Skill, in case it has changed. At this point, if either player wishes to use his Alether, he may.
When can the Magic Wand be used, and what is its effect?
The rules only say that it stops any character from moving for two turns. I interpret this that it causes the player to have no movement points on his next two Movement Quarters. The wand can be used at any time, as the rules don't say it must be used in any particular quarter. It has no range limit.
When can the Spell Book be used, and what is its effect?
The rules only say that it puts a character to sleep for two turns. I interpret this as causing him to miss his entire next two turns. The book can be used at any time and has no range limit.
As a sleeping character should be extremely vulnerable to attack and shouldn't be able to use his Combat Skill, I added a house rule that sleeping characters cannot be fought in combat. This prevents the Spell Book from being used for an easy kill on a defenceless target. They can be looted as a body, however.
Can dead characters achieve objectives?
This is a tricky point, and can be argued either way. I suggest that a dead character can't earn points for achieving his objective.
In tactical terms, you can kill a character who has already achieved his objective, in order to stop a player who has taken the lead. This gives players an interesting choice between defending the characters who have achieved their objective already, and helping the characters who haven't.
It doesn't make sense for most of the characters to consider themselves victorious if they are killed after achieving their objective. Some explicitly need to attain their objective in order to escape unharmed. The only characters selfless enough to sacrifice themself in their objective are Lone Wolf and the Helghast, and they have higher aims than to get killed in a bar fight.
Can characters achieve each other's objectives?
If someone kills your target for you, I generally rule that this is equivalent to you having killed them, assuming you're still alive to witness it. The alternative would be that you can deny an objective by killing someone else's target mid-combat with a thrown bottle.
Can dead characters get points for holding Special Items?
Although the rules aren't specific on this point, I rule that they don't. A player gives his character card away when killed, so even if the items aren't taken, the player doesn't have the card at the end of the round to add up the points. Only characters can own magic items, not bodies.
Do expended items count toward score?
The Alether and Laumspur are specifically removed from play when used. Technically, the rules don't say the Elixir of Life, Spell Book or Magic Wand are discarded when used up, but it's reasonable to play as such. The Spell Book or Magic Wand still count toward score as long as they have one use left.
Do the Alether and Laumspur count as Special Items for the purpose of score?
The rules refer to Alether and Laumspur as Special Items, although they're picked up as loot tokens rather than given out at the start, and the Lone Wolf book series doesn't refer to them as Special Items. Rules-as-written, however, they are Special Items, and count toward score.
What happens if my target is revealed to be the Helghast?
The most sensible approach is that your character must kill the Helghast or at least see it dead. This way, the character still has a chance of achieving his objective, rather than automatically succeding or failing.
If the Magician or Ranger is the Helghast, the Mercenary must still kill him, as the Helghast could have been the traitor. If the Herbwarden is the Helghast, the Druid must still kill him, as he is a spy for the Darklords. If the Adventuress is the Helghast, then the Helghast killed the Knight's brother, and he must kill it. If the Merchant is the Helghast, the Ranger is stubborn enough that he must still get his 15 Gold Crowns.
How does the Knight arrest the Adventuress?
The Knight my only attack the Adventuress "if she offers resistance". In play we decided that the Knight may not attack or throw objects at the Adventuress without first talking. If she moves away from the Knight, attacks him or throws an object at him, the Knight may thereafter attack and kill her normally to acheive his objective. The Adventuress may give herself up, although she will fail in her objective.
If the Adventuress is the Helghast, the Knight does not have to attempt to arrest it.
How can the Adventuress acquire the large diamond if someone spends it at the Gaming Table?
The diamond can't be spent at the table. It's worth 30 Gold Crowns, and the maximum stake is 10.
How can the Ranger achieve his objective without killing the Merchant?
He can trade with the Merchant by talking, or loot it from the Merchant's body if nobody else has taken it. The Ranger must take the Merchant's gold from him, as a matter of principle. He can't take it from someone else who took it from the Merchant, or win it from the Merchant when gambling.
How much gold must the Merchant and Landlord have to win?
The Merchant must acquire 50 gold on top of the 20 he already owns, so 70.
The Landlord must end the night with an overall profit of at least 40 gold at the gaming table.
Page created: 1st October 2010
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