by Ian Page
The third number that you pick from the Random Number Table represents your powers of ENDURANCE. Add 20 to this number and write the total in the ENDURANCE section of your Action Chart (e.g. if your pencil fell on the number 6 on the Random Number Table you would have 26 ENDURANCE points). If you are wounded in combat, you will lose ENDURANCE points. If at any time your ENDURANCE points fall to zero or below, you are dead and the adventure is over. Lost ENDURANCE points can be regained during the course of the adventure but can never rise above the number with which you start your adventure.
[1] This section of the rules implies that you must re-pick all three scores — COMBAT SKILL, WILLPOWER, and ENDURANCE — even though you may have already completed a previous adventure. This is without precedent in other books and therefore appears to be a mistake. In order to preserve rule consistency among the books, you may choose to retain your COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE scores and only re-pick your WILLPOWER score.
[2] If you have completed Book Two but not Book One, it seems reasonable to add 25 to the number you picked.
[3] There are sections in the Grey Star books that describe how you use a Magical Power and how many WILLPOWER points you spend, without giving you a choice and without taking into account that you may not have the required number of WILLPOWER points left. You may choose to simply subtract the specified number of WILLPOWER points. This may leave you with a negative WILLPOWER score, or if it was already negative, it will make your score become even more negative.
Alternatively, you may wish to use a method given in Section 175 of War of the Wizards, which contains one such case of mandated use of magic: If you do not have enough WILLPOWER points, then you use ENDURANCE points at a rate of 2 ENDURANCE points for every 1 WILLPOWER point you lack (i.e. 2 ENDURANCE points = 1 WILLPOWER point). If your ENDURANCE score falls to zero or below, you are dead and the adventure is over.
Note that you may never choose to use a Magical Power or your Wizard's Staff if you do not have sufficient WILLPOWER points. This method also cannot be used in cases where you lose WILLPOWER points for a reason other than using magic, for instance as a result of mental or magical attacks. In these cases, you may end up with a negative WILLPOWER score.
[4] It is possible for your WILLPOWER to fall below zero. For example, if you are the victim of an attack that drains your WILLPOWER, your score may be forced below zero. If your WILLPOWER falls to zero or below, you will not be able to cast spells or use the magical properties of your Wizard's Staff until your score is again above zero. You can still use your Wizard's Staff in combat as a normal weapon, but you must deduct 6 points from your COMBAT SKILL.
Magical Powers
If this is your first Grey Star adventure, your education in the ways of wizardry is incomplete: you have mastered only five of the seven Magical Powers that the Shianti call the Lesser Magicks. The choice of which five Powers these are is up to you. If you have completed either books one or two or both of the Grey Star adventures, you may choose six of the seven Magical Powers.5 All of the Lesser Magicks may be of use to you at some point on your quest, so choose them with care. Your survival may depend on the correct use of a Magical Power at the right time.
The seven Magical Powers available to you are listed below. When you have chosen your five or six Powers, enter them in the Magical Powers section of your Action Chart.
Sorcery
This Power allows a wizard to transform his thoughts or desires into magical energy. By concentration of the will it is possible to create magical shields of force to bar doors or move objects. Sorcery drains more WILLPOWER points than any other Magical Power, and is most effective when your WILLPOWER points are high.
If you choose this Power, write ‘Sorcery’ on your Action Chart.
Enchantment
The Power of Enchantment enables a wizard to charm or beguile other creatures, and create illusions in the minds of others. He will be able to extract information from others, place thoughts and compulsions into another's mind, or cause them to believe that imaginary events are actually taking place. Some magical or highly intelligent beings may be immune to the powers of Enchantment.
If you choose this Power, write ‘Enchantment’ on your Action Chart.
Elementalism
The Power of elemental magic allows a wizard some control over the natural elements of Air, Fire, Earth, and Water. By entering a trance and chanting incantations, you may summon aid from the spirits of the Elemental Plane. Elementals have very little understanding of man, and for this reason a wizard can never be sure of the nature of the aid the Elementals may send.
If you choose this Power, write ‘Elementalism’ on your Action Chart.
Alchemy
A wizard who possesses the Power of Alchemy is able, through the mixing of various substances, to create magical potions. Given the correct ingredients, a potion may restore lost energy (i.e. ENDURANCE points, WILLPOWER), or temporarily improve various abilities (e.g. COMBAT SKILL). The use of Alchemy may also allow a wizard to alter the nature of substances (e.g. change lead into gold), but the necessary ingredients and the correct equipment (e.g. a pestle and mortar) must be at hand. The use of the Power of Alchemy drains no WILLPOWER.
If you choose this Power write ‘Alchemy’ on your Action Chart.
Prophecy
The Power of Prophecy allows a wizard to foretell the future through meditation. A meditative state will allow a wizard to make the correct decision when facing conflicting choices or difficult actions; to discover the whereabouts of a person he has once met, or an object he has once seen. It may also allow him to determine the true nature of a stranger or a strange object. Magical beings or objects are sometimes hidden from the Power of Prophecy.
If you choose this Power, write ‘Prophecy’ on your Action Chart.
Psychomancy
This Power bestows upon a wizard the ability to deduce facts about events by touching objects connected to them. Through deep concentration, a wizard may lay his hands upon any inanimate object and visualize scenes that have affected it. Visions brought about through the use of Psychomancy are often cryptic, taking the form of a riddle or puzzle. Some magic items are resistant to the use of Psychomancy and may, sometimes, impart misleading information.
If you choose this Power, write ‘Psychomancy’ on your Action Chart.
Evocation
Mastery of this Power permits contact with the spirit realm. A wizard wishing to speak with the dead, or to call up a form from the spirit world, must draw a magic pentacle and enter a trance, when the use of the correct spell-chant will reach out to the Spiritual Plane. Standing within the protection of a magic pentacle, a wizard may consider himself to be relatively safe from harm. If he wishes to speak with a corpse, especially one whose former life was good and righteous, then a wizard can expect help and advice. However, contact with those whose former lives were evil or selfish can be a perilous, and often fatal, experience. Evil spirits are reluctant to return to the realm of the dead and may try to trick a wizard into freeing them into the world of the living. All spirits, good and evil, will require some service of the wizard in return for their aid. Any failure to perform this task, however difficult may result in the wizard losing his life.
If you choose this Power, write ‘Evocation’ on your Action Chart.
Wizard's Staff
Your Staff is your most valuable possession. It looks and feels like an ordinary quarterstaff, yet it is stronger than any known metal. This is your main combat weapon, for you are untrained in the use of any other form of armed combat. It contains a potent force that is unleashed at will by the power of your mind, and causes a beam of destructive power to hurtle from its tip. Every time you unleash this power you must deduct 1 WILLPOWER point.6
In the event that your enemy survives such an attack or should you fall victim to a surprise attack, you will be forced to engage in close combat and must attempt to strike your enemy with the Staff. If your attack is successful, a bolt o
f energy will be released from the Staff that is capable of inflicting great physical harm. If you wish to increase the amount of damage that you inflict in this way, you must use more WILLPOWER points and multiply the number of ENDURANCE points lost by the enemy, accordingly. For example, if you chose to expend 3 WILLPOWER points on your attack, all enemy ENDURANCE point losses would be multiplied by three.
If you enter combat without your Staff, deduct 6 points from your COMBAT SKILL. If you have no weapon at all, you must deduct 8 points from your COMBAT SKILL.
[5] The wording of this section of the rules seems to indicate — if read literally — that you may choose your set of Powers again if you have completed a previous adventure. This is without precedent in other books. In order to preserve consistency with other books, you should not choose your Powers again. If you have completed at least one previous adventure, you may choose one additional Power from the list. If you choose Alchemy as your new Magical Power, you also receive a Herb Pouch with contents, as detailed in the Equipment section.
[6] If your WILLPOWER falls to zero or below, you will not be able to use the magical properties of your Wizard's Staff until your score is again above zero. You can still use your Wizard's Staff in combat as a normal weapon, but you must deduct 6 points from your COMBAT SKILL.
Equipment
You wear the grey robe and hooded cloak of a Shianti Wizard. Your only weapon is your Wizard's Staff (note this on your Action Chart under Weapons). You wear a Backpack containing 4 Meals (note under Meals on your Action Chart), and you have been given a map of the Shadakine Empire (note under Special Items on your Action Chart), which you place inside your robe.7
If you have chosen Alchemy as one of your Magical Powers, then you will have a leather pouch for herbs and potions hanging from your belt. The Herb Pouch contains the following:
2 empty Vials for carrying potions
1 Vial containing Saltpetre
1 Vial containing Sulphur
Mark these 4 items in your Action Chart.
Your Herb Pouch will carry a maximum of eight items.
How to Carry Equipment
Now that you have your equipment, the following list shows you how it is carried. You do not need to make notes, but you should refer back to this list in the course of your adventure.
Wizard's Staff — carried in the hand.
Backpack — slung over the shoulder.
Meals — carried in the Backpack.
How Much Can You Carry?
Weapons
The maximum number of weapons that you may carry is two. Your Wizard's Staff counts as one weapon.
Backpack Items
These must be stored in your Backpack. Because space is limited, you may only keep a maximum of eight articles, including Meals, in your Backpack at any one time.
Special Items
Special Items are not carried in the Backpack. When you discover a Special Item, you will be told how to carry it.
Nobles (Shadakine currency)
These are carried in the pocket of your robe.
Food
Food is carried in your Backpack. Each Meal counts as one item.
Any item that may be of use and can be picked up on your adventure and entered on your Action Chart is given capital letters in the text. Unless you are told it is a Special Item, carry it in your Backpack.8
How to Use Your Equipment
Weapons
Your COMBAT SKILL depends on your Wizard's Staff. If you do not possess your Staff when you enter combat you must deduct 6 points from your COMBAT SKILL. If you enter a combat without a weapon, deduct 8 points from your COMBAT SKILL and fight with your bare hands. If you find a weapon during the adventure, you may pick it up and use it. (Remember that you can only carry two Weapons at once.)9
Backpack Items
During your travels you will discover various useful items which you may wish to keep. (Remember that you can only carry a maximum of eight items in your Backpack at any one time.) You may exchange or discard them at any point when you are not involved in combat.
Special Items
Each Special Item has a particular purpose or effect. You may be told this when the item is discovered, or it may be revealed to you as the adventure progresses.
Currency
The currency of the Shadakine Empire is the Noble, which is a small jade stone. The system of money is alien to the Shianti, and for this reason you begin your adventure with no money. Whenever you kill an enemy, you may take any Nobles belonging to him and keep them in the pocket of your robe.
Food
You will need to eat regularly during your adventure. If you do not have any food when you are instructed to eat a Meal, you will lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
[7] If you have completed a previous adventure, you keep all equipment you had at the end of that adventure. You do not receive any new equipment, unless you have just selected Alchemy as your sixth Magical Power, in which case you receive a Herb Pouch with contents as indicated in this section.
[8] If you have mastered the Lesser Magick of Alchemy and therefore have a Herb Pouch, you may choose to keep potions, vials, or ingredients in either the Herb Pouch or your Backpack. All other Backpack Items must be kept in your Backpack.
[9] The new Mongoose Publishing editions of the gamebooks clarify that ‘You may only use one Weapon at a time in combat.’
Rules for Combat
There will be occasions during your adventure when you have to fight an enemy. The enemy's COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE points are given in the text. Grey Star's aim during the combat is to kill the enemy by reducing his ENDURANCE points to zero while at the same time losing as few ENDURANCE points as possible himself.
At the start of a combat, enter Grey Star's ENDURANCE and WILLPOWER points and the enemy's ENDURANCE points in the appropriate boxes on the Combat Record section of your Action Chart.
The sequence for combat is as follows:
Calculate your current COMBAT SKILL total, based on the weapon you are using. (Remember, if you enter combat without your Staff, you must deduct 6 points from your COMBAT SKILL. If you have no weapon at all, you must deduct 8 points.)
Subtract the COMBAT SKILL of your enemy from this total. The result is your Combat Ratio. Enter it on the Action Chart.
If you are using your Wizard's Staff, decide how many WILLPOWER points you wish to use. (Remember, you must expend at least 1 point.) Enter this number on your Combat Record in the box marked WILLPOWER.
Example
Grey Star (COMBAT SKILL 15, WILLPOWER 23) is ambushed by a Deathgaunt (COMBAT SKILL 20). He is not given the opportunity to evade combat, but he can use his Wizard's Staff against the creature as it swoops down on him. He subtracts the Deathgaunt's COMBAT SKILL from his own, giving a Combat Ratio of −5. (15 − 20 = −5). −5 is noted on the Action Chart as the Combat Ratio. Grey Star decides to use 2 WILLPOWER points, which is noted on the WILLPOWER box of the Combat Record.
When you have decided upon the number of WILLPOWER points you wish to use and have determined your Combat Ratio, pick a number from the Random Number Table.
Turn to the Combat Results Table. Along the top of the chart are shown the Combat Ratio numbers. Find the number that is the same as your Combat Ratio and cross-reference it with the random number that you have picked. (The random numbers appear on the side of the chart.) You now have the number of ENDURANCE points lost by Grey Star. To calculate the number lost by the enemy, multiply the number listed for the enemy by the number of WILLPOWER points that Grey Star elected to use. Now you have the final number of ENDURANCE points lost by both Grey Star and his enemy in this round of combat. (E represents points lost by the enemy; GS represents points lost by Grey Star.)
Example
The Combat Ratio between Grey Star and the Deathgaunt has been established as −5, and Grey Star's WILLPOWER points used as 2. If the number taken from the Random Number Table is a 6, then the result of the first round of combat is:
Deathgaunt loses 5 ENDURANCE points, multiplied by 2 WILLPOWER points, giving a total of 10 ENDURANCE points lost in all.
On the Action Chart, mark the changes in ENDURANCE points to the participants in the combat, and Grey Star's amended WILLPOWER points total.
Unless otherwise instructed, or unless you have an option to evade, the next round of combat now starts.
Repeat the sequence from Stage 3.