The adventurer’s handbook
Armored defender and master of weapons
The Fighter is the person standing between a hungry monster and everyone who brought a book. Armed, armored, and professionally difficult to remove, this adventurer makes a narrow passage feel narrower. The work calls for sound judgment, a dependable weapon, and the willingness to be the most objectionable person in the room. Fortunately, monsters seldom ask for references.
Take the front and keep a dangerous enemy within reach. Challenge it while attacking, then save your Effort for a hit that matters. A shield protects nearby companions; a long weapon is useful only where its reach allows you to fight.
Keep the abilities of earlier levels as you gain new ones. XP is experience; the figures below are cumulative thresholds from the beginning of an adventurer’s career.
0 XP
Challenge one enemy with a melee attack.
2,000 XP
Shield Guard. Gain 2 Effort per encounter for maneuvers.
4,000 XP
Driving Blow.
8,000 XP
Weapon Specialization: choose one weapon family for +1 to attacks.
16,000 XP
Sweeping Attack.
32,000 XP
Hold the Line. Effort rises to 3 per encounter.
A normal melee attack challenges its target, whether it hits or misses, until your next turn. While the enemy remains within your melee reach, its attacks that exclude you suffer −2 to hit. You can challenge one enemy at a time. You must be conscious and able to threaten it; a challenge does not compel obedience.
Your maneuvers share 2 Effort per encounter, increasing to 3 at level 6. A genuinely new encounter restores the pool. Shield Guard and Hold the Line share your limit of one defensive reaction per round. Reactions cannot set off chains of further reactions.
With a shield, spend 1 Effort and your reaction to reduce one weapon hit against yourself or an ally in your area by 1d6 damage, to a minimum of zero.
Spend 1 Effort on a melee attack. If it hits, an eligible small or medium mobile enemy makes a nonmagical paralysis save or is pushed one legal area toward its rear. Oversized, rooted, amorphous and insubstantial creatures cannot be pushed; the destination must have room.
Choose a weapon family. Attacks with that family receive +1 to hit. Retrain freely in town without healing or resting. The selected family is fixed for an expedition.
Spend your action and 1 Effort to attack two different enemies within melee reach, once each. You cannot direct both attacks at one creature.
When your challenged enemy within reach attacks another ally or attempts to move past you, you may use your reaction for one melee attack. If movement triggered the reaction, a hit stops that movement. This reaction costs no Effort. Choose Shield Guard first, Hold the Line first, or Off in your orders.
An action is your main choice on a turn. A reaction answers a particular event. An encounter is one battle; a crawl includes all its rooms. Encounter resources return for a new battle, not by reloading a page or returning to the same fight.
AC measures armor defense; lower is better. THAC0 is the attack score needed to hit AC 0 before modifiers; lower is better. Saving throws resist hazards. The table shows the required unmodified saving-throw scores; lower is better. Class abilities and equipment can improve them.
| Level | THAC0 | Death / poison | Wands | Paralysis / stone | Breath | Spells |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 2 | 19 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 3 | 19 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 4 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 5 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 6 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |