Underdeep Factions and Rules

[Steerpike]

[spoiler=Cleversmart Kobolds (created by Light Dragon)]

Cleversmart Kobolds

Blackness is all she sees. Then she opens her eyes and turns her head; allowing her ears to slowly unclog. Waxlike liquid spills out of them and she flails, caught in a typical Kobold honeytrap. Then she hears and feels the pokes; ten foot poles pricking from aloft, down into the hole. She thinks she can understand their wielders. She speaks their language.

"Eik! Eeek! Eikitikkk! Prisonerpoke we will! Swee-smell Prisonercook we will! And prisonertale we will spin; traditional tale we spin- of vim vigor vin!"

Other spear toting koboldkind heft their spears to the air. "Vin! Vin! Vin!"

"You in land of CLEVERSMART Kobolds, yes you are, DUMBHAUGHTY Elf!"

The crowd went wild. "Dumb Haughty! Dwelf! Elf! Fail! Failelf!"

"EPIC! Tale we spin!" Another kobold corrected the first speaker.

The crowd repeated. "Epic Failelf! Epic! Pick! Puck! Poke!"

The first speaker, voice higher pitched and peeved, continued. "Epic tale go like this. Cleversmart Kobolds find this land and big bad good kobold serve stupid fat old dwarf as slave."

"Noooooooo!!!" The crowd screamed in anguish.

The first speaker waved them down. "Not for long! Not for long!"

"Cook it now!" One in the crowd suggested.

"Then he trickses the dwarvesesis. Dwarvesesis not know what to do and he eatses the dwarveseis. At least partseses of the dwarveseis not consumdesis by lavaseis. Then rebellion!"

"Hellion!" The crowd cheers.

"And now his great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great"

"Great! Great!" The cheering crowd continues.

"Grandniece's tribe is gonna eatses you!"

Spears descend.

Starting Dungeon: Kobolds can be found virtually anywhere.  They may claim their first Warren anywhere but the Surface.  This Warren begins with a Mystery Chamber, a Burrow, 1 Mushroom Patch, and a Kobold Mine.  Additional rooms, traps, and defences can be purchased before play commences, with two week's construction already completed.

Starting Resources: Kobolds are not the wealthiest race, being often scattered or enslaved. Kobold players begin the game with 750 Gold, 150 Metal, and 100 Food.

Cramped and Confusing: Kobold Warrens are extremely cramped and labyrinthine, making them difficult to navigate for attacking troops.  Dungeons constructed by Kobolds – as opposed to those seized by Kobolds in conquest – are thus harder to assail: all enemy troops attacking such a Warren suffer -2 to Attack and Morale.  Large monsters suffer a -4 penalty and Huge monsters suffer a -6 penalty.  The only exception is other Kobolds, who suffer no penalty when attacking a rival tribe's Warren.

Carrion Eaters: Kobolds are avid scavengers and will eat just about anything.  They can convert 1 Body into 1 Food, including partially rotten Bodies taken from battlefields.  They have no compunctions against cannibalism, and indeed Kobold funerals are usually cannibal feasts.

Agoraphobia: Kobolds are most comfortable in small, confined spaces, and hate large open ones (nowhere to hide!).  They suffer -1 to Attack and Morale rolls in caverns that are larger than 1 region in size, or on the Surface.  The only exception is if they're attacking or defending a Kobold Warren in such a cavern.

Units

[ic=Shee-Ra Cleversmart the Sixteenth]

Shee-Ra Cleversmart the Sixteenth, Queen of all That is Under the Ground ("Shee-Ra"), was the twelfth of her litter. After eleven mildly suspicious deaths involving stabbings, drownings, hangings, chokings, food poisoning, and one mysterious case of fungoid addeling, Shee-Ra became next in line to the throne of Hye-Mun Cleversmart the Fifth, Master of the Universe That Is Under the Ground, who promptly died the day after Shee-Ra became his next legitimate successor.  Shee-Ra rules the Cleversmart Kobolds with a mailed fist and an iron-ruby-encrusted tail, sweeping aside all challengers and punishing dissent by the bite of her Myrmidions' diamond-studded 'grilled' teeth, or in special cases, by the bite of her own interchangeable Wyvrenstone incisors.

Shee-Ra is known for her ambition and planning. She makes use of the oft-forgotten Mystery Chamber, created by Skyl-Dor Cleversmart the First, Advisor to King Ryen-Dor the First, Master of the Universe That Is Under the Ground, and briefly his successor during the reign that is known as the reign of Skyl-Dor, the Evil One Who Is Not Related to the Masters of the Universe by Close Blood Lineage But Who Seized the Power By Killing Someone Who Was Not a Second Cousin Or Closer and by Ignoring Intermediate Relatives Thereby Snubbing the Proper System of Succession. The Mystery Chamber includes such interesting creations as a "strategic planning table", an "obfuscatory truthtechtable", which contains all known kobold knowledge of traps and dungeon rooms, and an "occluded saviorsystem," which calculates probabilities. All this technology was lost when Skyl-Dor Cleversmart the First was overthrown in the great upheaval by an alliance of kobolds, forty seven ronin goblins from the court of Kira Kozuke-no-Suke Yoshinaka, and one lost minotaur- The Great Old One Who May Not Have Intended to Help, But Who Aided Our New Ruler By Mauling the Evil One Who Trafficked with Ceremorphs and May Have Actually Been A Lich and likely did Fungal Drugs, and Certainly Had Intercourse With Orcs, and Who Trafficked With Dwarves, and Who Had A Dumbelf Concubine! Eww. (All Good Cleversmart Kobolds Must Hiss At Mention of This Name).

Ranged Attack: +10
Ranged Damage: 8
Melee Attack: +8
Melee Damage: 6
Defence: 22
Health: 15
Speed: 4
Morale: +6
Special Abilities: Infiltrator, Leadership

Shee-Ra increases the Ranged Attack and Morale of any army she is leading by +1.  If garrisoned in a Dungeon she increases the Ranged Attack and Morale of garrisoned troops by +1.  Her Infiltrator ability is imparted to any regiment she leads.

If a Midden has been constructed, Shee-Ra can be mounted on a dire rat.  She gains the Cavalry, Climb and Disease 3 abilities and can only join a regiment of Kobold Dire Rat Cavalry.  She also gains +2 Defence, +2 Speed and +6 Health.  Mounting Shee-Ra on a dire rat costs 17 Gold and 1 Metal (no Upkeep costs, however). [/ic]

[ic=Kobold Slinger (Requires: Burrow)]These Kobold troops form the core of any Kobold army – a legion of slingers, hurling rocks and other hard objects at enemies.

Cost: 5 Gold
Upkeep: 1 Gold, 1 Food
Ranged Attack: +2
Ranged Damage: 2
Melee Attack: +1
Melee Damage: 1
Defence: 16
Health: 4
Speed: 4
Morale: +1[/ic]

[ic=Kobold Skulker (Requires: Burrow)]Kobolds are a naturally stealthy race, adept in the creation of ambushes and sneak-attacks.  Their skulking infantry are generally armed with bone spears and javelins as well as bone knives, though some also manage to get their hands on scavenged metal weapons.

Cost: 7 Gold, 1 Metal
Upkeep: 2 Gold, 1 Food
Melee Attack: +2
Melee Damage: 3
Defence: 17
Health: 4
Speed: 4
Morale: +1
Special Abilities: Infiltrator, Scout[/ic]

[ic=Kobold Blunderdig (Requires: Burrow)]Kobolds are amazing tunnel-makers, and their burrowing troops specialize in boring into enemy Dungeons.  They're armed with picks and shovels, which make decent weapons, in a pinch.

Cost: 10 Gold, 2 Metal
Upkeep: 3 Gold, 1 Food
Melee Attack: +2
Melee Damage: 3
Defence: 16
Health: 4
Speed: 4
Morale: +1
Special Abilities: Tunnelling[/ic]

[ic=Kobold Bottlethrower (Requires: Workshop)]Though not nearly sophisticated as the Dwarves, Kobolds are quite inventive, and they're learned enough alchemy to create very crude explosives which can be used to blow up bridges and fortifications, or simply lobbed as grenades at enemy forces.

Cost: 13 Gold, 5 Metal
Upkeep: 4 Gold, 2 Metal, 1 Food
Ranged Attack: +4
Ranged Damage: 8 (Fire)
Melee Attack: +1
Melee Damage: 1
Defence: 17
Health: 6
Speed: 4
Morale: +2
Special Abilities: Demolitions, Obfuscating Shroud[/ic]

[ic=Kobold Trapspringer (Requires: Workshop)]The cunning Kobold trapspringers have a knack for constructing murderous clockwork and artfully concealed pits and snares.  Being trapmakers, they're also adept at spotting and disabling enemy traps.

Cost: 13 Gold, 8 Metal
Upkeep: 6 Gold, 4 Metal, 1 Food
Ranged Attack: +3
Ranged Damage: 4
Melee Attack: +2
Melee Damage: 2
Defence: 17
Health: 6
Speed: 4
Morale: +2
Special Abilities: Disarm Traps +5, Repair, Trapmaking [/ic]

[ic=Kobold Kontraption (Requires: Kontraption Factory)]The cacophonous, chaotic constructs known as Kontraptions are the speciality of Cleversmart inventors, bizarre and (usually) deadly machines that sometimes look like rickety tanks and sometimes like malformed Iron Golems and sometimes like gigantic mechanical insects.  Each one is a unique work, and indeed the things sometimes seem to change from day to day, esoteric clockwork shifting, new blades or catapults or rockets or poisonous darts or acid-blasters or enormous hammers unfolding from its bulk.  On some days it works perfectly, but on others it malfunctions horribly and breaks down in the middle of a cavern.  Some of them fly, others possess enormous drill-bits.

Cost: 60 Gold, 20 Metal
Upkeep:  10 Gold, 10 Metal
Ranged Attack: +5
Ranged Damage: 3+1d12 (roll each battle)
Melee Attack: +6
Melee Damage: 5+1d20 (roll each battle)
Defence: 15+1d10 (roll upon creation)
Health: 20+1d100 (roll upon creation)
Speed: 2+1d6 (roll each week)
Morale: N/A
Special Abilities: Construct, Huge, and roll 1d4 upon creation (1: Flying, 2: Poison 4, 3: Climbing, 4: Tunneling)[/ic]

[ic=Kobold Dire Rat Cavalry (Requires: Midden)]Kobolds feed certain rats special fungal drugs in order to encourage their growth.  The resulting mutant beasts are employed as mounts for their elite spear-wielders.  Such creatures are not only ferocious, they can spread disease through enemy ranks.

Cost: 17 Gold, 1 Metal
Upkeep: 3 Gold, 3 Food
Melee Attack: +5
Melee Damage: 6
Defence: 18
Health: 10
Speed: 6
Morale: +3
Special Abilities: Cavalry, Climb, Disease (3)[/ic]

[ic=Black Dragon (Requires: Dragon's Pool)]The terrifying Black Dragons are claimed by some Kobolds to be the forefathers of the Kobold race, though most other denizens of the Underdeep consider such stories foolish tales told by the Kobolds only to aggrandize themselves.  Whether or not the rumours are true, Kobolds know special tricks to lure Black Dragons to prepared pools, where they pamper the enormous wyrms with meat and treasure in tribute.  Of course, the wyrms are extremely territorial, so Kobolds take care to ensure that two Black Dragons never meet one another in the field.  Gloomdrakes are not only exceptional combatants, they can also eat through stone, and if promised gold and food, they will accompany Kobolds into the field.

Cost: 185 Gold
Upkeep: 20 Gold, 15 Food
Ranged Attack: +10
Ranged Damage: 15 (Acid)
Melee Attack:  +15
Melee Damage: 30
Defence: 20
Health: 180
Speed: 8
Morale: +10
Special Abilities: Fear (DC 20), Flying, Huge, Immune (Acid), Tunneling

A single army (i.e. forces encamped in one region) can only ever contain one Black Dragon.  If multiple Black Dragons meet, they immediately fight to the death.[/ic]

[ic=Kobold Shinycaster (Requires: Shinycaster's Cave)]Clavermsart Kobold Shinycasters are crafty, manipulative creatures who wear ornate headdresses made from the skulls of juvenile drakes.  They can bolster the speed of allies, use pools of stagnant water to scry with, or summon unpleasant Mudspriggans.

Cost: 50 Gold
Upkeep: 7 Gold, 1 Food
Ranged Attack: +6
Ranged Damage: 4
Melee Attack: +4
Melee Damage: 3
Defence: 18
Health: 10
Speed: 4
Morale: +5
Special Abilities: Detector, Hex, Bless, Summon (Mudspriggan)[/ic]

[ic=Mudspriggan (Summoned Unit)]The ugly little sprites called Mudspriggans are the mewling, quasi-elemental familiars favoured by Kobold Shinycasters.  They have no attacks, but they are useful scouts and can distract enemy units.  A Shinycaster can summon one Mudspriggan per week, and it remains alive for 4 weeks until dissipating into mud.

Ranged Attack: +8
Ranged Damage: 0
Defence: 22
Health: 8
Speed: 8
Morale: +6
Special Abilities: Distraction, Flying, Scout[/ic]

Rooms

[ic=Mystery Chamber]Shee-Ra's personal den is the strange Mystery Chamber, which contains a variety of bizarre devices of Skyl-Dor Ckeversmart the First, including the obfuscatory truthtechtable, the occluded saviorsystem, and the strategic planning table.  Here, Shee-Ra obsessively calculates probabilities

Benefit:While Shee-Ra is garrisoned in the Warren with the Mystery Chamber she gains the Scry ability, which can be cast once per week.[/ic]

[ic=Fishing Pool (Limit 5)]This large, cold, subterranean pool is stocked with blind, albino fish which the Kobolds catch by hand and use to supplement their meagre diet.

Cost: 10 Gold
Construction Time: 1 week
Benefit: A fishing pool produces 5 Food per week.[/ic]

[ic=Mushroom Patch (Unlimited)]The rambling mushroom farms of the Kobolds are winding, maze-like warrens festooned with fungi which the Kobolds eat whole or stew.

Cost: 25 Gold
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Benefit: A mushroom patch produces 20 Food per week.[/ic]

[ic=Mushroom Grove (Unlimited)]Once several mushroom patches have been established they can be linked together to form a gigantic mushroom grove.

Cost: 40 Gold
Construction Time: 1 week
Prerequisites: 4 Mushroom Patches (replaces)
Benefit: A mushroom grove produces 140 Food every week.[/ic]

[ic=Kobold Mine]Kobold mines are winding labyrinths, often with little distinction from the rest of the Kobold Warren.

Cost: 150 Gold, 15 Metal
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Benefit: You mine up to 150 Gold and up to 15 Metal per week, provided your Dungeon is built over a suitable deposit.  You can only have a single mine per deposit.[/ic]

[ic=Improved Kobold Mine]Some stolen mining tools and a handful of rather ingenious contraptions developed at the workshop makes this improved mine far, far more efficient.

Cost: 225 Gold, 20 Metal
Prerequisites: Kobold Mine (replaces), Workshop
Construction Time: 4 weeks
Benefit: Your mine now produces up to 300 Gold and 25 Metal per week provided it is built over a suitable deposit.[/ic]

[ic=Kobold Mine Complex]Complex mechanical lifts and a variety of fairly sophisticated custom-built mining tools, not to mention a large number of stolen or traded picks, lanterns, carts, and the like, combine to make this mine extremely productive.

Cost: 300 Gold, 25 Metal
Prerequisites: Improved Kobold Mine (replaces)
Construction Time: 5 weeks
Benefit: Your mine now produces up to 400 Gold and 50 Metal per week provided it is built over a suitable deposit.[/ic]

[ic=Bat Roost]This cavern is filled with messenger bats, allowing for relatively rapid communication.

Cost: 50 Gold, 20 Food
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Benefit: If Shee-Ra is garrisoned at a Dungeon with a Bat Roost she can send an additional message per week per player.[/ic]

[ic=Slave Pit]Here, slaves taken on Surface raids and prisoners from enemy Dungeons are kept, auctioned off for food or as labourers.  Kobold Chieftains take a cut from every transaction.

Cost: 50 Gold
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Benefit: Slaves and prisoners can be sold at the Slave Pit for 2 Gold each, or converted into 2 Food each instead.   You can also buy slaves for 2 Gold each, if you wish.  Such slaves are fed on scraps and gruel and do not have an Upkeep cost.[/ic]

[ic=Dragon Shrine]This elaborate shrine is dedicated to Black Dragons.  Here fossils and other relics of such creatures – scales, teeth, coins from Dragon hoards, and the like – are kept as sacred relics.

Cost: 75 Gold
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Benefit: Troops who pray at a Dragon Shrine gain +1 to Morale and Defence and are immune to disease (if they are suffering from a disease, it is cured, and they return to full health).  These benefits remain for 2 weeks.[/ic]

[ic=Burrow]This confused maze of tunnels serves as a communal living space, barracks, guard-room, and training ground for Kobolds, littered with their weapons and other possessions.

Cost: 35 Gold
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Benefit: You can recruit Kobold Slingers, Kobold Skulkers, and Kobold Blunderdigs.[/ic]

[ic=Workshop]This clattering, messy cavern is used by Kobold Trapspringers to design new (and horrible) traps and inventions, including the crude fire-bombs used by Bottlethrowers.

Cost: 65 Gold, 25 Metal
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Benefit: You can recruit Kobold Bottlethrowers and Kobold Trapspringers.[/ic]

[ic=Poison Kitchen]This slovenly laboratory is used by Kobolds to concoct a variety of poisons.  It's mostly stocked with stolen alchemical equipment.

Cost: 75 Gold, 15 Metal
Prerequisites: Workshop
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Benefit: Kobold Skulkers, Commandoes, and Dire Rat Cavalry recruited at a Warren with a Poison Kitchen all gain Poison 1, and garrisoned units of those types permanently gain Poison 1.  Kobold Bottlethrowers recruited or garrisoned at a Warren with a Poison Kitchen can choose to lose their Fire damage to acquire Poison 1 instead.[/ic]

[ic=Kontraption Factory]This rambling, dangerous room is full of half-completed projects, menacing metal automata that belch sulphurous fumes.  The air is full of the sound of ticking gears and boiling liquids.

Cost: 125 Gold, 40 Metal
Prerequisites: Burrow, Workshop
Construction Time: 4 weeks
Benefit: You can construct Kobold Kontraptions.[/ic]

[ic=Midden (Limit 1)]The midden is a revolting, pestilential den of filth where rats are bred in great numbers.  The fattest, largest, meanest rats are given strange fungal drugs that greatly increase their size, making them suitable for mounts.  The other rats make good eating, or can always be placed in pits or dropping down murder holes.

Cost: 125 Gold
Prerequisites: Burrow
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Benefit: You can recruit Kobold Dire Rat Cavalry.  The midden also produces 35 Food per week.[/ic]

[ic=Dragon's Pool]This specially prepared chamber is adorned with all manner of bone fetishes, scrawled markings, and other holy signs, for Black Dragons are sacred creatures to Kobolds, worshipped as their supposed forebears.  The pool always has a special, enlarged tunnel that the Dragon can use to enter and exit the Warren through.

Cost: 300 Gold
Prerequisites: Burrow, Dragon Shrine
Construction Time: 6 weeks
Benefit: You can recruit a single Black Dragon.  Additional Dragons require their own pool, which must be placed in a different Dungeon, unless the Black Dragon dies.[/ic]

[ic=Shinycaster's Cave]This shadowy cavern is the personal domain of a Kobold Shinycaster, glimmers with hundreds of trinkets.  Sorcerous gewgaws litter the cave, and a stolen cauldron simmers over a fire.

Cost: 125 Gold
Prerequisites: Burrow
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Benefit: You can recruit Kobold Shinycasters.[/ic]

Traps and Defences

[ic=Palisade (Limit 1)]This crude palisade of sharpened stakes protects Kobold Warrens from attackers, with a single gate allowing entrance and exit.

Cost: 20 Gold
Construction Time: 1 week
Defence: 20
Health: 30[/ic]

[ic=Kobold Trebuchet (Limit 3)]This ramshackle trebuchet is lashed together out of whatever is at hand.  It sometimes misfires, with destructive (and hilarious!) results, but when the stones it slings connect with enemy forces it can devastating indeed.

Cost: 35 Gold
Prerequisites: Palisade
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Attack: +8
Damage: 25
Special Abilities: Kobold Trebuchets must be manned by 2 garrisoned units to be effective.  If a Kobold Trebuchet rolls a 1 it misfires and deals 25 damage to whatever unit was manning it.[/ic]

[ic=Escape Tunnel (Limit 1)]This crudely dug tunnel allows Kobolds to escape their Warren if things go ill.

Cost: 20 Gold
Construction Time: 1 week
Special Abilities: Defenders who fail their morale checks within a Dungeon can withdraw or flee to the nearest neighbouring territory instead of surrendering.[/ic]

[ic=Maze (Limit 1)]Kobolds often dig mazes into the outer defences of their Warrens, confusing invading troops even further.  This defence can only be built in Warrens founded by Kobolds.

Cost: 100 Gold
Construction Time: 4 weeks
Special Abilities: The Cramped and Confusing Penalties increase by 1 for all troops – so regular units suffer -3 to Attack and Morale, Large units suffer -5, and Huge units suffer -7.  Other Kobolds are still completely immune.[/ic]

[ic=Labyrinth (Limit 1, counts as Maze)]This expanded maze is so bewildering it would drive even a Dwarven engineer totally mad.

Cost: 200 Gold
Prerequisites: Maze (replaces)
Construction Time: 4 weeks
Special Abilities: The Cramped and Confusing Penalties increase by 2 for all troops – so regular units suffer -4 to Attack and Morale, Large units suffer -6, and Huge units suffer -8.  Other Kobolds are still completely immune.[/ic]

[ic=Spiked Moat (Limit 1)]This simple trench is filled with spikes, deterring invaders.  Ranged units can assail enemies from behind the moat.

Cost: 25 Gold
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Attack: -2
Damage: 12
Special Abilities: Ranged units can get off an extra volley of attacks if protected by a Spiked Moat, exactly as if they were being shielded by melee units.  It takes attackers 1 round to circumvent the moat.  The moat still functions as a trap – units can fall in accidentally.  They must still breach any other Defences, such as a Palisade.[/ic]

[ic=Poisonous Spiked Moat (Limit 1, counts as Spiked Moat)]Debilitating venom has been smeared on the spikes in this moat.

Cost: 10 Gold
Prerequisites: Spiked Moat (replaces), Poison Kitchen
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: -2
Damage: 12
Special Abilities: Poison 4.[/ic]

[ic=Reinforced Gate (Limit 1)]This reinforced gate is strengthened with scrap metal.

Cost: 15 Gold, 5 Metal
Prerequisites: Palisade
Construction Time: 1 week
Defense: +5 to Palisade Defense.[/ic]

[ic=Disguised Entrance (Limit 1)]Carefully positioned rocks and fungi make the Warren entrance difficult to locate.

Cost: 50 Gold
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Special Abilities: Units attacking the Warren must spend 1 Speed simply to locate the Warren, unless they possess Detection or are accompanied by those who do.  Such entrances can only be built in Warrens, not outposts.[/ic]

[ic=Improved Disguised Entrance (Limit 1, counts as Disguised Entrance)]Additional camouflage makes the Warren's entrance even harder to find.

Cost: 25 Gold
Prerequisite: Disguised Entrance (replaces)
Construction Time: 1 week
Special Abilities: Units attacking the Warren must spend 2 Speed simply to locate the Warren, unless they possess Detection or are accompanied by those who do.  Such entrances can only be built in Warrens, not outposts.[/ic]

[ic=Invisible Entrance (Limit 1, counts as Disguised Entrance)]The Warren entrance is so well disguised as to be virtually invisible.

Cost: 25 Gold
Prerequisite: Improved Disguised Entrance (replaces)
Construction Time: 1 week
Special Abilities: The Warren entrance cannot be found except by units with Detection or those accompanied by those who possess Detection.  Such entrances can only be built in Warrens, not outposts.[/ic]

[ic=Snare (Limit 3)]This clever snare will trap an enemy unit without killing it.

Cost: 10 Gold
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +6
Special Abilities: If the snare hits, it traps 1d2 units, though Large units are unaffected.  These units are unharmed, but they become Kobold prisoners if Kobolds successfully repel their attackers.  If a snare is placed by a Trapmaker in a region uninhabited by Kobolds, it is only effective if all of the units in the army are snared – otherwise the remaining troops simply free their comrades.  Like other traps, snares can be tripped by wandering monsters.[/ic]

[ic=Cage Trap (Limit 1)]This cleverly concealed cage trap can hold quite sizeable monsters!  Some fresh meet or similar bait makes it especially effective.

Cost: 50 Gold, 15 Metal
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Attack: +8
Special Abilities: If the cage trap hits, it traps 1d4 units or 1 Large unit.  These units are unharmed, but they become Kobold prisoners if Kobolds successfully repel their attackers and/or travel to the region the trap is in to collect the prisoners.  If a cage trap is placed by a Trapmaker in a region uninhabited by Kobolds, it is only effective if all of the units in the army are caged – otherwise the remaining troops simply free their comrades.  Like other traps, snares can be tripped by wandering monsters.  Truly Huge monsters cannot be caged in this way.[/ic]

[ic=Caltrops (Limit 2)]A small explosive spreads painful caltrops everywhere.

Cost: 10 Gold, 10 Metal
Prerequisites: Workshop
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +4
Damage: 5[/ic]

[ic=Metal Jaws (Limit 2)]These nasty little traps clamp around the ankles of enemies.

Cost: 20 Gold, 20 Metal
Prerequisites: Workshop
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +5
Damage: 10[/ic]

[ic=Pit Trap (Limit 5, counts as Pit Trap)]These pit traps are slightly better-designed than most, and are relatively well-hidden.

Cost: 25 Gold
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +6
Damage: 8[/ic]

[ic=Spiked Pit Trap (Limit 5, counts as Pit Trap)]A more vicious version of the pit trap, the spiked pit trap has long wooden stakes at the bottom to skewer those who fall in.

Cost: 10 Gold
Prerequisites: Pit Trap (replaces)
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +6
Damage: 12[/ic]

[ic=Poisonous Spiked Pit Trap (Limit 5, counts as Pit Trap)]The spikes on this pit trap are smeared with poison.

Cost: 10 Gold
Prerequisites: Spiked Pit Trap (replaces), Poison Kitchen
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +6
Damage: 12
Special Abilities: Poison 4.[/ic]

[ic=Pit of Rats (Limit 5, counts as Pit Trap)]This pit is filled with starving, diseased rats.

Cost: 12 Gold
Prerequisites: Pit Trap (replaces), Midden
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +6
Damage: 10
Speical Abilities: Disease 3[/ic]

[ic=Acid Pit (Limit 5, counts as Pit Trap)]This pit is filled with powerful acid.

Cost: 15 Gold
Prerequisites: Pit Trap (replaces), Poison Kitchen
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +6
Damage: 15 (Acid)[/ic]

[ic=Monster Pit (Limit 5, counts as Pit Trap)]This pit has been stocked with a monster from the Underdeep, snared in a Kobold trap and deposited here.

Cost: None
Prerequisites: Pit Trap (replaces)
Construction Time: None
Attack: +6
Special Abilities: This trap must be stocked with a wandering monster caught in a Kobold snare or cage trap and taken prisoner.[/ic]

[ic=Murder Holes (Limit 5)]These holes are bored in the roof of a cavern or passageway, allowing defenders to drop poisonous insects, starving rats, boiling water, pitch, or other unpleasant substances on attackers.

Cost: 20 Gold
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +5
Damage: 10
Special Abilities: Murder Holes must be manned by 1 garrisoned unit to be effective. [/ic]

[ic=Rat Cages (Limit 5, counts as Murder Holes)]These bone cages of diseased rats can be emptied down murder holes.

Cost: 15 Gold
Prerequisites: Murder Holes (replaces), Midden
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +6
Damage: 10
Special Abilities: Disease 3.  Murder Holes must be manned by 1 garrisoned unit to be effective.[/ic]

[ic=Buckets of Acid (Limit 5, counts as Murder Holes)]These caustic fluids can be emptied down murder holes.

Cost: 15 Gold
Prerequisites: Murder Holes (replaces), Poison Kitchen
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +6
Damage: 10 (Acid)
Special Abilities: Poison 4.  Murder Holes must be manned by 1 garrisoned unit to be effective.[/ic]

[ic=Grenades (Limit 5, counts as Murder Holes)]These crude bombs can be lobbed down murder holes.

Cost: 15 Gold, 10 Metal
Prerequisites: Murder Holes (replaces), Workshop
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +6
Damage: 15 (Fire)[/ic]

[ic=Rockfall Trap (Limit 1)]A simple tripwire activates this crude trap, which dumps boulders on attackers.

Cost: 35 Gold
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Attack: +6
Damage: 20[/ic]
[ic=Collapsing Tunnel (Limit 1)]This tunnel is rigged to collapse on top of foes.

Cost: 45 Gold
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Attack: +10
Damage: 30[/ic]

[ic=Poison Gas Trap (Limit 1)]This poisonous gas is carefully harvested from certain fissures and secluded chambers, placed in bladders, and then rigged to be released if trespassers blunder in.

Cost: 50 Gold
Prerequisites: Poison Kitchen
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Attack: +8
Damage: A regiment hit by this trap has its Health of all its units lowered by 2 for the duration of the battle.[/ic]

[ic=Flooding Room (Limit 1)]This chamber can be sealed, and then flooded full of water.  The trap has no effect on units that don't need to breathe, such as Undead or plant-creatures such as Fungoids.  This trap can only be built in Dungeons and Outposts.

Cost: 75 Gold, 10 Metal
Prerequisites: Workshop
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Attack: +6
Damage: 60[/ic]

[ic=Acidic Flooding Room (Limit 1)]What's better than a room that floods with water?  A room that floods with acid, of course!  This trap can only be built in Dungeons and Outposts.

Cost: 30 Gold, 10 Metal
Prerequisites: Flooding Room (replaces)
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Attack: +6
Damage: 80 (Acid)[/ic]

[ic=Mimic (Limit 2)]Kobolds have tamed the bizarre, wild creatures known as mimics, strange shapeshifters said to originally be the creature of some demented wizard.  Mimics disguise themselves as treasures – often chests of gold – only to attack enemies attempting to plunder them with clawed arms and teeth.  Kobolds keep such creatures starved in isolated caverns for maximum deadliness.

Cost: 25 Food
Prerequisites: Workshop, Shinycaster's Cave
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +12
Damage: 15

Mimics can travel with a Shinycaster, but cannot move on their own.  They can also be abandoned in a region by a Shinycaster.[/ic][/spoiler][spoiler=Succubi (created by sparkletwist)]

Succubi

Beyond even the nightmares of Elves and Men, there is another world of fire and strife, the Abyss. Horrific aberrations run amok, ruled over by ghastly personifications of all of the woes of this dark place; yet, here, even the loftiest rulers are still prisoners of the Abyss itself. They are confined to this place by lakes of fire and by the barriers between planes, but, most of all, they are kept confined to the Abyss by their own endless anguish and rage. They destroy each other, they destroy themselves, and they destroy the Abyss itself, endlessly.

Of course, not every Abyssal creature is exactly the same. They all carry its taint, but some also carry with them the touch of something more lofty that once dared to reach into this foul, foresaken place.

Such is the nature of the Succubi.

Aeons ago, a god of light (whose name has long since been forgotten) tried to redeem the Abyss. He ventured deep within, until he was face-to-face with the dread Queen of the Abyss-- or at least some immensely powerful being of darkness that called itself such. He soothed her pain and rage and spoke to her kindly, and, for the briefest time, she felt love. Eventually, though, as the scorpion stings the turtle, she devoured him and destroyed them both. There is no redemption in the Abyss.

Yet, from that union, the daughters (and granddaughters, and so on down their lineage) live on, each one containing a spark of light from their forefather that tempers the Abyssal horror that also lurks within them, making their forms beautiful and their desires pleasurable.

With that spark of light within her, a Succubus can more easily escape the prison of the Abyss, and most do, at some time or other. They venture out into other planes; however, while they can be taken out of the Abyss, it is not so easy to take the Abyss out of a Succubus. Most Succubi live simple lives of decadent debauchery, thinking only of themselves, seducing and discarding mortals with little care for anything but indulging their own base impulses.

For the first millennium of their lives, the Seven Sisters were those kind of Succubi. A misspent youth, as it were. Reality intervened, in the form of haughty heroes who banished them back to their accursed home. Sent screaming back into the Abyss, they swore an oath to any god, goddess, or other eldritch thing that would listen that, should they be able to escape once again, they would no longer be mere hollow hedonists, but, rather, they would do something with their talents. They would grow. They would achieve.

It is a promise they are honor-bound to keep, in some way or other...

Unholy: Succubi cannot abide the touch of holy objects and are uncomfortable on hallowed ground.  If assaulting a Dungeon with a shrine, temple, or other religious building, they suffer -2 to Attack and Morale checks - unless the building is a Dark Shrine or Profane Temple.  In addition, a spellcaster proficient with the Bless spell can use it to attack the Seven Sisters, rolling a ranged or melee attack to use the spell against one of the Sisters (or more than one if they are in a regiment together), opposed by a morale check by the Sister(s).  If the spellcaster's attack exceeds the Sister's Morale check, the Sister flees from combat at the end of the round.

Spy Network: The Seven Sisters have a network of charmed spies and other skilled espionage agents.  This network allows them to read the weekly Briefings delivered to other players to glean valuable information.  They still cannot read messages, the orders of other players, scry requests, or private parleys.  The Seven have been known to sell the information they acquire, but such knowledge always comes at a high price.

Souls: The Seven do not require a Gold Upkeep or Food, but they do have a Soul Upkeep.  If not paid this Upkeep they begin to starve, just like a unit with a Food Upkeep that has not been paid.  Souls are also used to fuel certain powers which the Sisters possess.  If garrisoned in a Dungeon, Sisters can use the Debauchery action to essentially "forage" for Souls mush as other creatures forage for Food.  Using 1 Speed generates 1 Soul for the Succubus player, but the action can only be used in Dungeons, where there are sufficient populations to support such activities.

Starting Location: The Sucucbus player begins wherever the Seven Sisters are summoned.

Starting Resources: The Succubus player begins play with 100 Souls.

Units

[ic=Succubus]These seductive fiends prefer subterfuge and deceit to combat.  They resemble comely maidens with bat-like wings and other traits that betray their demonic nature, but they are adept shape-changers and can disguise themselves with glamers to pass as mortals.  They are most at home in large cities where they can feed on the souls of other creatures, which they require to survive.

Upkeep: 1 Soul
Ranged Attack: +10
Ranged Damage: 8 (Fire)
Melee Attack: +6
Melee Damage: 5
Defence: 20
Health: 15
Speed: 8
Morale: +6
Special Abilities: Detector, Disguise, Distraction Aura (DC 10), Dominate, Flyer, Follower, Immunity (Fire), Invisibility (Self Only), Mindlink, Regeneration 5, Vanish

Any unit engaging the Succubus in melee combat must make a Morale check of DC 10 or suffer from her Distraction Aura (as per the Distraction spell).

When a Succubus kills an enemy unit, she harvests its Soul (+1 Soul to the player controlling the Succubus).  Undead units and Constructs do not have harvestable souls.[/ic]

[ic=Demonic Guardian (Summoned Unit)]These hideous Demons are summoned by Sucucbi as protectors and bodyguards.  Such creatures vary in appearance, but often take the form of towering horned brutes with eyes of flame and gleaming black armour.

Cost: See Ritual (below)
Upkeep: 5 Souls
Melee Attack: +10
Melee Damage: 15
Defence: 18
Health: 50
Speed: 4
Morale: N/A
Special Abilities: Immunity (Fire), Large, Regeneration 20[/ic]

Rituals

Instead or building rooms, traps, or defences in Dungeons, Succubi can cast Rituals, complex spells that require Souls to power.  Each Ritual has a Soul Cost and a series of Effects.  Rituals can never be cast in combat.  Succubi who are somehow taken prisoner cannot cast Rituals.

Casting a Ritual uses up 2 Speed.  Forced March cannot be used to cast additional Rituals.

[ic=Back For More]The Seven Sisters have been given another chance at escape from the Abyss, and they are determined to make the most of it. They have bound their souls tightly together, allowing any of them to recall the soul of a Sister who should happen to fall back into the Abyss.

Soul Cost: 50 Souls
Effect: One Succubus that has been banished (mechanically speaking, killed) is returned to the mortal plane.  The Succubus reappears wherever the Ritual takes place. Any items she had remain where she fell, however. If multiple Succubi have been banished, the one that returns is randomly determined.[/ic]

[ic=I Like To Watch]Although Succubi typically excel at obtaining information, sometimes there's no substitute for seeing it with their own eyes. It's unclear if they originally created this Ritual for spying or voyeurism. It works equally well either way, of course.

Soul Cost: 20 Souls
Effect: The Succubus gains the Scry spell for 1 week.[/ic]

[ic=Come Hither]The Seven Sisters often operate independently, communing with each other in shared dreams and otherwise psychically communicating with each other over great distances. However, sometimes a real physical presence is necessary. For that reason, they have developed this Ritual. It is typically prepared in advance, so that the actual teleportation can be triggered at any point that week with but a snap of the fingers.

Soul Cost: 25 Souls
Effect: Another Succubus is instantly teleported to the location of the Ritual's caster, with all of her remaining Speed still intact.[/ic]

[ic=Lickety Split]Sometimes being fashionably late just won't do. When a Succubus is under the effect of this Ritual, all of her movements are quick and precise. A few seconds are shaved off nearly every motion, and the net result is a great increase in her potential for action, even after considering the time taken to perform the Ritual.

Soul Cost: 15 Souls
Effect: One Succubus gains +6 Speed for this week. (i.e., +4 after the Ritual).[/ic]

[ic=I Like It Rough]Succubi are known to be quite... enthusiastic. They frequently need to grant their mortal playmates a bit of their own magical vitality to be able to survive their depredations. Through diligent research a lot of crazy experimentation, the Seven Sisters have expanded and strengthened that aura of vitality into a potent Ritual suitable for the rigors of combat.

Soul Cost: 10 Souls +1 Soul per unit
Effect: Units augmented with this Ritual gain +10 Regeneration for 1 week. If they normally have no Regeneration, they now have Regeneration 10 (units must initially be present in the same region as the Ritual's casters when the Ritual is cast).[/ic]

[ic=Ready For Action]A Succubus can motivate the libido of the most listless lover, causing a fiery passion to surge from deep within. Further refinement of the ability by the Seven Sisters has yielded a Ritual that prompts a strong lust for blood, instead.

Soul Cost: 10 Souls +1 Soul per unit
Effect: Units strengthened with this Ritual gain a +2 bonus to Melee Attack rolls and Melee Damage for 1 week (units must initially be present in the same region as the Ritual's casters when the Ritual is cast).[/ic]

[ic=Pret-a-Porter]Succubi are adept at the art of weaving magic into alluring attire, both for themselves and their retinues. As with the previous two Rituals, the Seven Sisters have expanded upon this power and created a Ritual suitable for combat purposes, allowing them to fashion armor and other protective gear out of their soul energy.

Soul Cost: 10 Souls +1 Soul per unit
Effect: Units toughened with this Ritual gain +2 Defence and +2 Health for 1 week(units must initially be present in the same region as the Ritual's casters when the Ritual is cast).[/ic]

[ic=Good Boy]Succubi are not insignificant in combat, particularly with the development of their potent combat Rituals, but it is still not their forte. Numerous perils of the Abyss could tear a Succubus apart without a second thought. Many Succubi protect themselves by taking what they affectionately term a "pet," a large and inhuman demonic entity of lesser intelligence that has thoroughly fallen for the Succubus's charms. Using this Ritual, the Succubus can bring forth her "pet" to the mortal plane.

Soul Cost: 25 Souls
Effect: The Succubus summons a Demonic Guardian to her location.[/ic]

[ic=Kneel Before Me]Powerful creatures that have been thoroughly dominated by the Seven Sisters are brought before their mistresses in a special "ceremony" that is a profane, salacious parody of a noble investiture. There, their will is forever bound to the Succubus that dominated them.

Soul Cost: 50 Souls
Effect: A creature that has been semi-permanently Dominated by a Succubus now passes fully under her control and can never be freed unless the Succubus is banished or she voluntarily releases her control.[/ic]

[ic=Dirty Sexy Money]Succubi that have not become wealthy in their own right are often kept women; either way, material want is not something known by many Succubi. After performing this Ritual, riches seem to come to the Succubus in any number of ways, be it the sudden appearance of a wealthy benefactor, a lucrative command performance, or simply a chance to excel at the world's oldest profession.

Soul Cost: 50 Souls
Effect: The Succubus player's income increases by 100 Gold for the next week.[/ic]

[ic=Home Sweet Home]While Succubi can make themselves at home nearly anywhere, for her to be truly comfortable, she needs a boudoir with all of the finer things in life at her disposal, and, of course, sanctified with the proper Abyssal incantations.

Soul Cost: 25 Souls
Effect: The location (which must have an established Dungeon) gains a "Succubus Boudoir" room. For each Succubus that begins her turn at the Succubus Boudoir that week, the Succubi get 1 Soul. In addition, as long as there is at least one Succubus present there, the location has the same effect as a "harem" building for the host faction's leader. (Typically granting a +1 bonus to Melee and Morale)[/ic]
[/spoiler]

[Steerpike]

[spoiler=Derro]

Derro

Soundtrack
Alternate

The strange, sinister creatures known as Derro were once Deep Gnomes, nomadic traders and merchants who roamed the Underdeep looking for opportunities for commerce.  One such group of Gnomes, stumbling through forgotten tunnels in the Lowerdeep, wandered accidentally into caverns conjoined with a plane of chaos and lunacy known as the Madrealm, thought by some to be the original home of the Ceremorphs.  Trapped within the twisted, alien vistas of the Madrealm, the Derro became hopelessly deranged; some claim they were altered by certain horrific, cacodaemoniacal powers of eldritch perversity.  Whatever the case, when they emerged from the amorphous, sanity-shattering regions of the Madrealm they were altered, transformed from curious Gnomes into demented, illimitably cruel beings who delight in violence and suffering.  The Deep Gnome penchant for pranks has been retained in the Derro, but now their tricks have taken on a decidedly more murderous character.  The race mostly consists of brigands and raiders, though they lurk in the nethermost depths of the Underdeep for sunlight now burns their skin.  Skilled in Chaos-Wizardry and warped alchemy, the Derro are perhaps the least predictable creatures in the Underdeep.

Starting Dungeon: Derro players must always claim their first Oubliette in the Lowerdeep.  The Oubliette contains an Overlord's Bastion, a Derro Hideout, 1 Mushroom Patch, and a Derro Mine.  Additional rooms, traps, and defences can be purchased before play commences, with two week's construction already completed.

Starting Resources: Derro aren't careful with their wealth, but they have no compunctions and stealing from the dead or the living.  Derro players begin the game with 850 Gold, 100 Metal, and 150 Food.

Madness: Derro are thoroughly, and their deranged minds are strangely impervious to sorcerous tampering.  All Derro have a +4 bonus to Defence and Morale checks to mind-influencing spells or effects, as well as Psychic attacks.  They are immune to Confusion spells and effects.

Sadism: Derro take delight in acts of senseless brutality, especially against helpless victims, and they often engage in such acts before battle to "get their blood up."  Derro can torture and kill any prisoners or slaves they possess to gain Attack and Morale bonuses.  For every 5 units they torment and kill before a battle, they gain +1 to Attack and Morale during the battle, to a maximum of +4 Attack and Morale.

Sunlight Vulnerability: Derro have been tainted by dark magic and cannot stand the touch of sunlight.   For each full week that a Derro unit spends on the Surface it loses 1 Health.  It immediately recovers this lost health if it returns underground.  Units that reach 0 Health due to this deterioration are destroyed completely.  Regeneration and healing spells have no effect on sunlight-damage.  Like Dark Elves and Duergar, they suffer double the normal Morale penalties from sunlight.

Units

[ic=Derro Overlord]Derro Overlords usually suffer from extreme delusions of grandeur and similar derangements.  As a rule they are boundlessly cruel but also enormously charismatic, engendering absurd degrees of loyalty from their minions.  In battle they frequently wield punching daggers, serrated knives, short blades, and similar weapons.  While fighting they shriek commands at their troops, emboldening them to acts of horrific violence, or project agonizing screams at enemy forces.

Ranged Attack: +6
Ranged Damage: 4
Melee Attack: +8
Melee Damage: 12
Defence: 17
Health: 20
Speed: 4
Morale: +7
Special Abilities: Agony, Detector, Frenzy, Leadership

The Derro Overlord increases the Melee Damage and Morale of any army he is leading by +1.  If garrisoned in a Dungeon he increases the Melee Attack and Morale of garrisoned troops by +1. [/ic]

[ic=Derro Brigand (Requires: Derro Hideout)] Derro brigands are a bloodthirsty bunch, shifty, stealthy warriors skilled with the knife and garrotte, as well as with clubs and small hatchets.  They are best used as ambushers and skirmish troops, being only lightly armoured.

Cost: 8 Gold, 1 Metal
Upkeep: 2 Gold, 1 Food
Melee Attack: +3
Melee Damage: 3
Defence: 15
Health: 5
Speed: 4
Morale: +2
Special Abilities: Infiltrator[/ic]

[ic=Derro Aklys-Hurler (Requires: Derro Hideout)] These cunning warriors throw the whistling, hooked clubs known as aklys in battle.  Though not as stealthy as brigands they can be incredibly vicious in battle, hurling their cruel weapons with manic abandon.

Cost: 6 Gold, 2 Metal
Upkeep: 2 Gold, 1 Food
Ranged Attack: +4
Ranged Damage: 3
Melee Attack: +2
Melee Damage: 1
Defence: 15
Health: 5
Speed: 4
Morale: +2[/ic]

[ic=Derro Filcher (Requires: Derro Hideout)]Derro are accomplished thieves, and their quick-fingered filchers can strip a dungeon bare in minutes.  Though they make poor combat troops they can be extremely useful to Derro Overlords nonetheless, disarming traps and infiltrating enemy territory.

Cost: 10 Gold, 1 Metal
Upkeep: 2 Gold, 1 Food
Melee Attack: +5
Melee Damage: 2
Defence: 15
Health: 5
Speed: 4
Morale: +2
Special Abilities: Disarm Traps +3, Infiltrator, Thieving[/ic]

[ic=Derro Mutant (Requires: Cave of Chaos)]These malformed Derro have been exposed to the mutagenic energies of Chaos itself.  Some have two-heads, membranous wings, poisonous stingers, or other twisted deformities.  They make superb shock troops, flailing with multitudinous limbs at enemy warriors.

Cost: 12 Gold
Upkeep: 2 Gold, 2 Food
Melee Attack: +2
Melee Damage: 3
Defence: 16
Health: 10
Speed: 4
Morale: +2
Special Abilities: Multiattack 3, Mutation (Choose 1: Double-Headed, Flyer, Immunity [any], Poison 3, Regeneration 10)[/ic]

[ic=Gibbering Mouther (Requires: Cave of Chaos)]These revolting, slithering, quasi-liquescent creatures of viscous, jabbering flesh are said to be native to the Madrealm, the plane of chaos and lunacy.  Their horrific babbling has been known to temporarily confuse enemies, though Derro are immune to its effects.

Cost: 50 Gold
Upkeep: 10 Bodies
Melee Attack: +8
Melee Damage: 12 (Acid)
Defence: 16
Health: 40
Speed: 3
Morale: N/A
Special Abilities: Confusion Aura (DC 10), Regeneration 20

The Gibbering Mouther's Confusion Aura affects anyone who directly engages it (Morale save or suffer from Confusion).

Gibbering Mouthers cannot stand sunlight and are immediately destroyed if they spend more than 1 week on the Surface.[/ic]

[ic=Jabberling (Requires: Jabberling Pit)]Thought to be indigenous to the Madrealm, Jabberlings are revolting, black-furred creatures that breed in lightless pits and abysses.  The Derro use them as fodder, sending tides of these vicious, writhing beasts at their enemies.  Jabberlings are cowardly creatures and always travel in massive herds, refusing to enter a battle without a large number of their fellows present.

Cost: 2 Gold
Upkeep: 1 Food or 1 Body
Melee Attack: +1
Melee Damage: 2
Defence: 14
Health: 2
Speed: 4
Morale: +1
Special Abilities: Climbing, Confusion Aura (DC 10)

A regiment of fewer than 10 Jabberlings refuses to fight and automatically withdraws from any combat.[/ic]

[ic=Derro Screecher (Requires: Cavern of Cacophony)]Some Derro develop the ability utter a piercing lunatic scream able to deafen and bewilder their foes.  Fortunately other Derro are resistant to this effect.  Derro Screechers are often employed by Overlords as defensive troops, literally shrieking enemies away.

Cost: 10 Gold
Upkeep: 3 Gold, 1 Food
Ranged Attack: +4
Ranged Damage: 5 (Sonic)
Melee Attack: +2
Melee Damage: 1
Defence: 14
Health: 5
Speed: 4
Morale: +2
Special Abilities: Deafening[/ic]

[ic=Derro Alienist (Requires: Alienist's Dementarium)]These obscene, twittering alienists are well-versed in Chaos-Wizardry and other abhorrent arts, summoning tenebrous, misshapen horrors from the Madrealm.  They can also shift through dimensions, or induce confusion in enemy troops.

Cost: 50 Gold
Upkeep: 7 Gold, 1 Food
Ranged Attack: +6
Ranged Damage: 4
Melee Attack: +4
Melee Damage: 3
Defence: 14
Health: 12
Speed: 4
Morale: +5
Special Abilities: Confusion, Detector, Phase-Shift, Summon (Random Madspawn)

A Derro Alienist can use the Summon (Random Madspawn) spell once per week, requiring 5 sacrifices (usually slaves or prisoners, though he can also sacrifice Derro units).  The spell summons a random Madspawn, determined by the DM.[/ic]

[ic=Gibbering Orb (Requires: Atrium of Abhorrence)]These horrific creatures are said by some to be Eye Tyrants twisted by the forces of Chaos, by others to be some evolved form of Gibbering Mouthers.  They resemble amorphous blobs of levitating flesh covered in constantly shifting mouths and eyes.  Their endless babbling unhinges those around them, though fortunately Derro are immune to its effects.

Cost: 150 Gold
Upkeep: 25 Bodies
Ranged Attack: +8
Ranged Damage: 12 (Psychic)
Melee Attack: +10
Melee Damage: 30 (Acid)
Defence: 16
Health: 150
Speed: 2
Morale: N/A
Special Abilities: Confusion Aura (DC 15), Detector, Huge, Flyer, Regeneration 50

The Gibbering Orb's Confusion Aura affects anyone who directly engages it (Morale save or suffer from Confusion).

Gibbering Orbs cannot stand sunlight and are immediately destroyed if they spend more than 1 week on the Surface.[/ic]

Rooms

[ic=Overlord's Bastion]From within their often excessively fortified bastions, Derro Overlords concoct their lunatic plans and outrageous, frequently obscene schemes.  Many Derro Overlords, wretchedly paranoid, refuse to leave their bastions for weeks at a time, until eventually emerging having decided to embark on some absurd, nonsensical quest, swearing not to rest till bathing in Dragon's blood, acquiring a vast collection of ears, devouring the heart of an Orc warlord, or painting a mural with Elf-blood.  This room has no cost and is located in the Derro capitol.

Benefit: While garrisoned in the Bastion a Derro Overlord can declare a new obsession.  Only one obsession can be declared at a given time, and a new obsession cannot be declared until the terms of an existing obsession are fulfilled.  Like a Dwarven boast, Derro obsessions can take any form, but commonly they are extremely bizarre and often violent.  While actively pursuing an obsession, a Derro Overlord and all under his direct command gain +2 to Attack and Morale; however, if the Derro Overlord neglects his obsession he begins to become depressed, suffering a -1 penalty to Morale for each week he ignores it.  If the terms of the obsession are fulfilled, the Derro Overlord's Leadership bonuses increase by +2 for 2 weeks.[/ic]

[ic=Overlord's Study]This confused, utterly disorganized collection of weird texts, glyph-stones, whispergems, scrolls, grimoires, magically preserved brains, and other objects constitutes the Derro equivalent to an arcane study.

Cost: 125 Gold, 10 Metal
Prerequisites: Overlord's Bastion
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Benefit: The Overlord an use the study to research new spells.  Each spell takes 3 weeks to research; at the end of the week, he acquires the new spell permanently (only one spell can be researched at once).  However, which spell is acquired is unknown and until it is fully researched.  An Overlord must be garrisoned in the Oubliette with the Overlord's study to perform research.[/ic]

[ic=Overlord's Library]Additional stone tablets, stolen spellbooks, knowledge-prisms, memory crystals, and similar supplements expand the Overlord's study into a proper library, albeit one without any cohesive form of categorization.

Cost: 100 Gold
Prerequisites: Overlord's Study, Alienist's Dementarium
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Benefit: The Overlord's  Library reduces research times to 1 week per spell, though the spell learned is still totally random.[/ic]

[ic=Mushroom Patch (Unlimited)]The chaotic mushroom-farms of the Derro are filled with colourful and often hallucinogenic fungi.

Cost: 25 Gold
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Benefit: A mushroom patch produces 20 Food per week.[/ic]

[ic=Centipede Farm (Unlimited)]Derro often eat insects, arachnids, and other creeping, crawling, ad slithering things.  In particular they are skilled in the farming of centipedes which they prefer to devour raw.

Cost: 50 Gold
Construction Time: 5 weeks
Benefit: A centipede farm produces 50 Food per week.[/ic]

[ic=Derro Mine]Derro mines are extremely haphazard, unsafe affairs, with little rhyme or reason to the layout of tunnels or shafts.  Passages meander seemingly at random, as crews of Derro and their slaves labour chaotically.

Cost: 150 Gold, 15 Metal
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Benefit: You mine up to 150 Gold and up to 15 Metal per week, provided your Dungeon is built over a suitable deposit.  You can only have a single mine per deposit.[/ic]

[ic=Improved Derro Mine]Zanily criss-crossing and dangerously ill-maintained mining equipment make this Derro mine somewhat more effective, in a dubious sort of way.

Cost: 225 Gold, 20 Metal
Prerequisites: Derro Mine (replaces)
Construction Time: 4 weeks
Benefit: Your mine now produces up to 250 Gold and 25 Metal per week provided it is built over a suitable deposit.[/ic]

[ic=Derro Mine Complex]Strange Chaos-Magic enhances the efficacy of this Derro mine in strange ways, revealing a kind of twisted method to the madness of the complex.

Cost: 300 Gold, 25 Metal
Prerequisites: Improved Derro Mine (replaces), Cave of Chaos
Construction Time: 5 weeks
Benefit: Your mine now produces up to 400 Gold and 50 Metal per week provided it is built over a suitable deposit.[/ic]

[ic=Derro Hideout]This slovenly hideout is usually littered with rusted weapons, random body-parts, and strange oddments.  Here unscrupulous Derro rogues gamble, sleep, fight impromptu duels, tell lurid jokes, and plot their next insane prank.

Cost: 30 Gold, 10 Metal
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Benefit: You can recruit Derro Brigands, Aklys-Hurlers, and Filchers.  Unlike other Rooms, Derro Hideouts can be constructed in Outposts.[/ic]

[ic=Cave of Chaos]These amorphous caverns drip with mutagenic slime, and pools of viscous effulgent ooze simmer and boil.  Here Derro Mutants can be created, and Gibbering Mouthers spawned.  The caves constantly echo with a variety of mewls, whines, and burbles, and the air is unimaginably foul.

Cost: 125 Gold
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Benefit: You can recruit Derro Mutants and Gibber Mouthers[/ic]

[ic=Mutagenic Laboratory]This alchemical laboratory is used by Derro Alienists to experiment on other Derro, or on captured prisoners, warping them with chaotic magic and potent eldritch substances into nightmarish horrors.

Cost: 40 Gold
Prerequisites: Alienist's Dementarium, Cave of Chaos
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Benefit: Derro Brigands, Aklys-Hurlers, and Filchers exposed to the mutagenic pool permanently become Derro Mutants.  Other units can also be immersed in the pool, with unpredictable results.[/ic]

[ic=Jabberling Pit]These noisome abysses are actually Jabberling breeding-pits, used by the Derro to produce massive numbers of the disgusting, whining beasts.

Cost: 40 Gold
Prerequisites: Cave of Chaos
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Benefit: You can recruit Jabberlings.[/ic]

[ic=Cavern of Cacophony]These twisted caves are designed specifically as training grounds for Derro Screechers, containing certain echoing passages and chambers that help such Derro hone their abilities.  Lingering residues of their psychic screams are always audible here.

Cost: 50 Gold
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Benefit: You can recruit Derro Screechers.[/ic]

[ic=Alienist's Dementarium]This bizarre laboratory is filled with the warped apparatus of Chaos-Wizardry – strange reagents, esoteric alchemical devices, uncanny machines.  Cages of frogs, severed Dwarf-feet, vats of tumorous flesh, unidentifiable balls of hair, small centipedes iwth the faces of humanoid infants... all these things and hundreds more can be found gracing the noxious Dementariae of Derro Alienists.

Cost: 150 Gold
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Benefit: You can recruit Derro Alienists[/ic]

[ic=Atrium of Abhorrence]This twisted chamber contains a semi-stable portal to the Madrealm itself from which the hideous monstrosities known as Gibbering Orbs can be called.  The sticky, fleshy walls of this room are covered in eyes and mouths.

Cost: 200 Gold, 20 Bodies
Prerequisites: Cave of Chaos, Cavern of Cacaphony
Construction Time: 5 weeks
Benefit: You can recruit Gibbering Orbs, although only one can be summoned per week from the Atrium.[/ic]

[ic=Chaos Portal]This vortex of entropic puissance leads to parts unknown – a shimmering, iridescent orifice that whisks those who enter it off to seemingly random locations.  Derro use these concentrations of chaotic energy for raids, reconnaissance, and exploration.

Cost: 60 Gold
Prerequisites: Alienist's Dementarium
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Benefit: A Chaos Portal leads to totally randomized (and initially unknown) region of the Underdeep or Surface, opening a rift in that region.  Though the portal is two-way, its destination changes every month.  Once per week, up to 50 units can be transferred through the portal to the random destination, and up to 50 can be transported back.[/ic]

[ic=Madgods' Shrine]This bizarre temple is sanctified to whatever bizarre entities from the Madrealm a particular tribe of Derro have chosen to revere.  Frequently such shrines are filled with the unusual sacrifices of the Derro.

Cost: 75 Gold
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Benefit: Troops who pray at the Madgods' Shrine gain +2 to a randomized statistic – either Attack, Damage, Defence, Health, Speed, or Morale (the DM will roll 1d6 to determine, and 1d2 to determine Ranged or Melee if the unit is capable of Ranged Attacks) – and are immune to disease (if they are suffering from a disease, it is cured, and they return to full health).  These benefits remain for 2 weeks.[/ic]

Traps and Defences

[ic=Palisade (Limit 1)]This crude palisade of sharpened stakes protects Derro settlements from attackers, with a single gate allowing entrance and exit.

Cost: 20 Gold
Construction Time: 1 week
Defence: 20
Health: 30[/ic]

[ic=Gibbering Wall (Limit 1)]This horrific mass of semi-liquescent flesh is covered in hundreds of gibbering mouths whose constant babbling and gnashing teeth deter invaders.  If you build a Gibbering Wall and you already have a Palisade, the Palisade is replaced.

Cost: 60 Gold, 20 Bodies
Prerequisites: Cave of Chaos
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Attack:+8
Damage: 12 (Acid)
Defence: 16
Health: 100
Special Abilities: Confusion Aura (DC 10), Regeneration 20[/ic]

[ic=Escape Tunnel (Limit 1)]This crudely dug tunnel allow Derro to escape their Dungeon if things go ill.

Cost: 20 Gold
Construction Time: 1 week
Special Abilities: Defenders who fail their morale checks within a Dungeon can withdraw or flee to the nearest neighboring territory instead of surrendering.[/ic]

[ic=Spiked Moat (Limit 1)]This simple trench is filled with spikes, deterring invaders.  Ranged units can assail enemies from behind the moat.

Cost: 25 Gold
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Attack: -2
Damage: 12
Special Abilities: Ranged units can get off an extra volley of attacks if protected by a Spiked Moat, exactly as if they were being shielded by melee units.  It takes attackers 1 round to circumvent the moat.  The moat still functions as a trap – units can fall in accidentally.  They must still breach any other Defences, such as a Palisade.[/ic]

[ic=Mutagenic Moat (Limit 1)]This bubbling moat is filled with a chaotic stew of mutagenic liquids.  If you build a Mutagenic Moat and you already have a Spiked Moat, the Spiked Moat is replaced.

Cost: 25 Gold
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Attack: -2
Damage: 12 (Acid)
Special Abilities: In addition to taking damage, a unit that survives the moat's attack has all of its statistics lowered by 1d4 for the remainder of the combat.  This effect can be Dispelled.

Ranged units can get off an extra volley of attacks if protected by a Mutagenic Moat, exactly as if they were being shielded by melee units.  It takes attackers 1 round to circumvent the moat.  The moat still functions as a trap – units can fall in accidentally.  They must still breach any other Defences, such as a Palisade.[/ic]

[ic=Reinforced Gate (Limit 1)]This reinforced gate is strengthened with scrap metal.

Cost: 15 Gold, 5 Metal
Prerequisites: Palisade
Construction Time: 1 week
Defense: +5 to Palisade Defense.[/ic]

[ic=Pit Trap (Limit 3)]These poorly disguised pit traps rarely fool enemies, but every now and then a reckless Dwarf or blundering Orc falls foul of one.

Cost: 15 Gold
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +3
Damage: 8[/ic]

[ic=Spiked Pit Trap (Limit 3, counts as Pit Trap)]A more vicious version of the pit trap, the spiked pit trap has long wooden stakes at the bottom to skewer those who fall in.

Cost: 5 Gold
Prerequisites: Pit Trap (replaces)
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +4
Damage: 12[/ic]

[ic=Murder Holes (Limit 3)]These holes are bored in the roof of a cavern or passageway, allowing defenders to drop poisonous insects, starving rats, boiling water, pitch, or other unpleasant substances on attackers.

Cost: 20 Gold
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +5
Damage: 10
Special Abilities: Murder Holes must be manned by 1 garrisoned unit to be effective.[/ic]

[ic=Derro Harpoon Gun (Limit 4)]These huge harpoons are typically mounted atop Derro walls and used to brutally impale invaders as they approach.

Cost: 40 Gold, 10 Metal
Prerequisites: Palisade or Gibbering Wall
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Attack: +8
Damage: 25
Special Abilities: Derro Harpoon Guns must be manned by 2 garrisoned units to be effective.[/ic]

[ic=Scarecrows (Limit 1)]Nothing quite demoralizes enemy attackers like the sight of mutilated corpses suspended from chains, dangling from the cavern ceiling.

Cost: 5 Gold, 5 Bodies
Construction Time: 1 week
Special Abilities: Fear (DC 15).  Each attacking regiment must pass the morale check or suffer -2 to hit in the coming battle.[/ic]

[ic=Echoing Passages (Limit 1)]These snarled, carefully excavated corridors are designed to unnerve attackers with unearthly echoes.

Cost: 10 Gold
Prerequisites: Cavern of Cacophony
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Special Abilities: Fear (DC 20).  Each attacking regiment must pass the morale check or suffer -2 to hit in the coming battle.  If Scarecrows are also constructed, attackers must make two checks.[/ic]

[ic=Deafening Passage (Limit 3)]These intricate tunnels are filled with shrieking winds that can deafen intruders.

Cost: 20 Gold
Prerequisites: Echoing Passages
Construction Time: 2 weeks
Attack: +8
Special Abilities: Any regiment hit by a Deafening Passage becomes Deafened, taking -2 to Attack and Defence for 1 combat round.[/ic]

[ic=Unstable Architecture (Limit 1)]This twisted, nonsensical architecture shifts and changes, constantly flickering between states, walls suddenly sprouting horrible faces that shriek obscenities or grasping limbs, passages twisting in maddening ways.

Cost: 50 Gold, 10 Metal
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Benefit: After breaching any outer defences, those attacking an Oubliette with Unstable Architecture suffer -2 to Morale checks to resist Confusion effects.[/ic]

[ic=Amorphous Architecture (Limit 1)]The architecture of the Derro Oubliette becomes even more malleable and frustrating, suddenly shifting those within through space and time in unlikely and bewildering ways, growing hungry maws disguised as doors or trapping intruders in sealed chambers.

Cost: 80 Gold
Prerequisites: Unstable Architecture (replaces)
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Attack: +6
Damage: 20
Special Abilities: After breaching any outer defences, those attacking an Oubliette with Amorphous Architecture suffer -4 to Morale checks to resist Confusion effects.[/ic]

[ic=Chaotic Architecture (Limit 1)]The Derro Oubliette becomes truly nightmarish, a pocket of the Madrealm itself made manifest in this world.  Those non-Derro who venture within rarely return with their sanity intact.

Cost: 100 Gold
Prerequisites: Amorphous Architecture (replaces)
Construction Time: 3 weeks
Attack: +8
Damage: 25
Special Abilities: After breaching any outer defences, an Oubliette with Chaotic Architecture suffer -6 to Morale checks to resist Confusion effects.[/ic]

[ic=Jabberling Pit Chute (Limit 1)]This pit trap simply dumps enemies into a Jabberling pit, where a ravenous horde of the creatures awaits

Cost: 15 Gold
Prerequisites: Jabberling Pit
Construction Time: 1 week
Attack: +4
Damage: None
Special Abilities: Instead of damage, a Jabberling Pit chute deposits 1d20 enemy units in a Jabberling Pit.  If Jabberlings are currently garrisoned in the Dungeon, they get a surprise round against the enemies, and then fight them apart from the main army.  The Jabberlings can still participate in the rest of the battle to defend the Dungeon later on, provided they are still alive.[/ic][/spoiler]

[Steerpike]

[spoiler=Communication]

Communication

Communication is key to Underdeep, as (unless you're an Orc player) you probably don't want to be at war with everyone.  However, the tunnels are vast, and sending messages takes time.  The most common method of communicating in the caverns of Underdeep is through messenger bat – specially bred bats trained to hone in on a particular frequency unique to certain caverns of the Underdeep.  Other methods include couriers, messenger spores (in the case of Fungoids), telepathy (Ceremorphs*), and trained rats (Kobolds).  Of course, meeting face-to-face is also always an option.

*Ceremorphs are an exception to the regular communication rules.  As natural telepaths, they can project messages throughout the Underdeep psychically, and thus can send double the number of messages as other species, and Overbrains can communicate with one another instantly, sending as many messages as they wish.

[ic=Messages]

Each player can send two message to each player each week.  These messages can be sent to any layer of the Underdeep, or to the Surface.

Example:

Wysratha Shadesong wants to send messages to Warlord Brogg and Snikkit the Crafty.  She can send one message to each player.  Brogg and Snikkit then receive those messages.  Each crafts a reply to Wysratha, who then receives the replies.  She also gets one more message for each, and so she can reply in kind to both Brogg and Snikkit.  This, however, would exhaust her messages for Brogg and Snikkit for the week.  If she decided she also wanted to send a message to Throm Steelbeard, as well, she would be free to, since she hasn't used up any of her messages/replies for Throm.[/ic]

[ic=Parleys]If two Characters (leaders, Commanders, or Captains) meet face-to-face, they can communicate as much as they please. They must physically meet on the map by moving to adjacent regions or (if they're currently neutral, friendly, or engaged in a siege) to the same region, at which point they can communicate with one another directly.  I think the best way to resolve such communications while avoiding a very large number of posts is in fact to meet on IRC at a time agreed on in the discussion thread or by private message.  The players in question then roleplay their characters accordingly, I save and edit the logs (or have them sent to me if I couldn't be present for some reason – though I should always be informed of parleys) and post them (in spoiler tags, of course) in the game thread.  Common reasons to parley would include negotiating sieges, alliances, trade agreements, and similar complex matters not easily resolved in a small number of messages.[/ic][/spoiler][spoiler=Trade]

Trade

Trade in Underdeep is relatively simple.  Trade agreements are conducted by exchanging messages with other players (see the Communication rules above).  To actually exchange resources, however, players must have Dungeons or Outposts with sixteen regions or fewer between them.  Regions need not be on the same level, but goods cannot be conveyed via Chasms (as with movement, regions on different levels linked by cave entrances are considered adjacent).  Units in proximity are insufficient for trade purposes.  If two Dungeons or Outposts belonging to the trade partners are within sixteen regions of one another, trades are conducted in the following manner:

1)   During week 1, the trade partners make their agreement of exchange.
2)   At the beginning of week 2, the week after the trade has been agreed on, the partners receive each others' goods.
3)   If enemy units blocked off or besieged one of the Dungeons or Outposts receiving resources for trade during week 1, the trade is aborted.  The resources return to their original players (see Blocking Trade, below).

If you and an ally have units in adjacent regions or in the same region, you can exchange resources instantly.

Be sure to note all trades in the Trade tab of your Orders.  Remember that this should be a record of impending trades, not completed trades.  The DM should note whether a trade was completed in the weekly briefing.

[ic=Blocking Trade]Besieged Dungeons or Outposts cannot be used for trade purposes.  Enemy troops can also block off trade routes to a Dungeon or Outpost to prevent it from being used for trade.  If no route of sixteen regions or less can be traced between two Dungeons or Outposts without being blocked by an enemy army of at least twenty-five normal-sized units, twelve Large units, or a single Huge unit, then those two Dungeons/Outposts are not considered close enough to trade.  Enemy Outposts similarly block trade in this way, though enemy Dungeons do not.

Infiltrated units cannot be used to limit trade in this way, unless they choose to show themselves and forgo their Infiltration.

The Surface cannot be used to create trade routes, and any captured Surface settlements do not count as Outposts or Dungeons for trade purposes.

Example 1: Let's say that a Goblin player and an Undead player have Dungeons in Upperdeep 4 and Upperdeep 48.  There are only 11 regions between them, so they can trade.  But now let's say an Orc player moves troops to Upperdeep 45.  Now, no route can be traced of sixteen regions or less between the two Dungeons.  Unless the Goblin player and the Undead player have another pair of Dungeons or Outposts with 16 or fewer regions between them, they cannot trade while the Orc blockade persists.

Example 2: Let's say a Dark Elf player has a Dungeon in Middledeep 96 and wishes to trade with a Ceremorph player who has an Outpost in Lowerdeep 63.  The two Dungeons/Outposts are close enough to trade – Middledeep 90 and Lowerdeep 67 are considered adjacent for trade purposes.  A Duergar player attempts to disrupt this trade by stationing units in Lowerdeep 66.  However, since an alternate route of sixteen regions or fewer can be used (using Lowerdeep 65), the Dark Elf and Ceremorph player can still trade.

The Duergar player now moves his units to Lowerdeep 67 instead to try and block trade.  But this also will not work, as the Dark Elf Dungeon and the Ceremorph Dungeon can trade using the cave entrance linking Middledeep 80 and Lowerdeep 69 and still have fewer than 16 regions between them.

Frustrated, the Duergar player now moves sufficient troops to block trade to Lowerdeep 64 and 68.  The Outpost is now blocked off, and though alternate routes could still be drawn, they are all more than 16 regions in length.  Unless the Dark Elf player and the Ceremorph trader have another pair of Dungeons and/or Outposts within 16 regions of one another, they cannot trade while the Duergar blockade persists.[/ic][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Battle]

Battle

Battle is central to the game of Underdeep, and the battle rules are probably the most complex.  The good news is that you don't really need to understand how they work to play the game.  As a player, you won't be making a single roll – the DM runs all battles for you, and you just give your troops orders.  However, an understanding of the battle rules may be helpful in making strategic decisions, so I present them here in any event.

[ic=When Combat Occurs]Combat can occur in several situations:

1)   When two hostile armies accidentally meet one another while travelling through the same region.  In this case, there is no official attacker or defender, and so units like Orcs who benefit from being the attacker do not gain bonuses.

2)   When an army deliberately moves into a region occupied by an enemy force.  In this case, the enemy who moved into the occupied region is the attacker, and the forces in the occupied region are defenders.

3)   When an army assaults an Outpost or Dungeon, in which case they are the attackers and the garrisoned troops are defenders.

4)   When infiltrated units ambush enemy regiments moving through the region they set up an ambush in.  In this case the infiltrated units are the attackers and the ambushed units are the defenders.

5)   When wandering monsters or other creatures attack a player's creatures.

6)   When units are investigating a ruin or other feature and trigger an attack by creatures living there.[/ic]

[ic=The Combat Mechanic]During combat, two statistics come into play unique to regiments rather than individual units: Combined Health, and a Combined Damage Score.  The former is simply all of the health of the units in the regiment added up; the latter, the total damage of the unit added up and divided by 10.  During combat, both sides make an attack roll (1d20 + Attack) and compare their result to their opponent's Defence score.  The amount of damage they deal is equal to their Combined Damage Score multiplied by 10, -1 for every point they missed by.  This damage is then dealt to the Combined Health of the enemy regiment.  Finally, casualties are calculated.  The remaining Combined Health of each regiment is divided by the individual Health of its constituent units to calculate casualties.

Regiments attack as one.  You cannot, for example, sending half of your regiment to attack one enemy regiment and the other half to attack a different regiment.  However, sometimes multiple regiments can target a single regiment, in which case the regiment does end up fighting multiple regiments (see Complex Combats, below).

Example:

20 Goblin Grunts vs. 15 Dwarf Axemen

The Goblin Grunts have a Combined Health of 100 and a Combined Damage Score of 6 (3x20, divided by 10).  The Dwarf Axemen have a Combined Health of 120 and a Combined Damage Score of 7.5 (5x15, divided by 10).

In combat, both sides roll 1d20 + their Attack rating against one another's Defence.  Let's say the Goblins roll 14, adding 2 for their Attack rating (total: 16).  The Dwarves roll a 14, adding 3 for their attack rating (total: 17).

The Goblins are 1 under the Defence of the Dwarves. 10-1 = 9, so they multiply their Combined Damage Score of 6 by 9 for a total of 54 damage.  The Dwarves, however, are 2 over the Defence of the Goblins; however, they don't get to multiply their Combined Damage Score by 12, but only 10, for a total of 75 damage.

Calculating casualties is simple.  Take the damage dealt and subtract it from the Combined Health of both regiments.  The Goblins' new Combined Health is thus 25 and the Dwarves' new combined health is 66.  Now divide the new Combined Health scores by the Health scores of the individual units to calculate how many troops remain.  Goblins have 5 Health each, 25/5 = 5, so 5 Goblins remain.  Dwarves have 8 health and 66/8 = 8.25.  We round up: 9 Dwarves remain, although one is at only 2/8 Health.[/ic]

[ic=Morale]Many combats will end not with the total slaughter of one force by another but with an army retreating.  During combat, whichever army (or armies) received more than the average amount of damage dealt (in a two-army battle, this will mean whoever received more damage) must make morale checks (1d20 + Morale bonus) for all of their regiments.  If a regiment gets 10 or above, it continues to fight.  If more than half of their entire army has been killed, they must score a 15 or higher to continue fighting.

If it fails the check, it immediately withdraws from combat, suffering no additional damage and retreating to the nearest unoccupied region before using any of its remaining Speed to the nearest friendly Dungeon, Outpost, or army.  If it fails the check by 10 or more, it flees outright.  All units currently targeting it get bonus attacks against it immediately.  It still attempts to flee to the nearest friendly Dungeon, Outpost, or army.

Fleeing units cannot use the Forced March action to flee further than their Speed.

Many factors, such as fatigue, lack of pay, starvation, grudges, sunlight, etc can affect a regiment's Morale bonus.

If a regiment is, for some reason, unable to flee to a nearby territory (perhaps it is surrounded on all sides by multiple enemy armies) but fails it morale check, it surrenders instead.  The units become prisoners.[/ic]

[ic=Voluntary Withdrawal]Sometimes, a regiment may have standing orders to withdraw in certain situations, such as if they're heavily outnumbered, or if they're attempting a hit-and-run attack.  If a regiment chooses to voluntarily withdraw, it forgoes all of its attacks for the round and immediately withdraws.  Melee regiments engaged with it do not get any attacks in the round the regiment withdraws.  Ranged regiments targeting a regiment that is voluntarily withdrawing do get an attack against the withdrawing regiment.[/ic]

[ic=Ranged Combat]Some units possess ranged weapons which they can use to attack enemies from a distance.  So long as a regiment with ranged attacks remains outside of melee, it can use its ranged attack and damage in place of its melee attack and damage.  In the first round of combat, ranged attackers always get to attack with ranged weapons.  In the first round a ranged attacker fires, ranged attacks, damage and casualties are calculated before melee attacks, damage, and casualties; in subsequent rounds, they are calculated simultaneously.  Shooting into a melee carries a -2 penalty.

If a regiment of ranged attackers is engaged in melee, then in all subsequent rounds it remains in melee it switches to its melee attack.  It does not get to make two attacks per round, however: if it made a ranged attack in a round, and then gets engaged in melee, it doesn't get to immediately respond with a melee attack.

To keep ranged regiments shielded, melee regiments must engage all other enemy melee regiments targeting the ranged regiments.[/ic]

[ic=Sneak Attacks]During ambushes, infiltrators get to make special sneak attacks against enemy forces.  This takes the form of a bonus attack resolved exactly as a regular attack, but in which the enemy units do not get to fight back.  They also do not check morale.  After the sneak attack is resolved and any casualties are deducted, combat formally begins.[/ic]

[ic=Psychic Attacks]Attacks with the type (Psychic) require a regiment to make a Morale check in lieu of its Defence score.  Damage is otherwise calculated as normal, exactly as if the Morale result was the Defence of the targeted unit.  Units without a Morale score are immune to Psychic attacks.[/ic]

[ic=Suicidal Attacks]Attacks with the type (Suicide) destroy the unit who made them, unless they missed by 10 or more, in which case their attack completely failed and they did not manage to hit their opponents at all.  The only exception to this rule is with Defences like walls.  If suicidal units attack a wall but miss by more than 10, the wall simply absorbed their attack, and they are still destroyed.[/ic]

[ic=Flanking]If two armies of attack a third army from different directions (separate regions), they may receive a flanking bonus.  One flanking army must be at least 50% as numerous as the other flanking army for flanking to occur.  Flanking units receive +2 on all of their attack rolls during the battle.  Whether a particular angle of attack will confer a Flanking bonus or not is up to the DM to decide.[/ic]

[ic=Bridges]In certain cases, units may be defending a bridge.  Units entrenched in a region with a Bridge can use it to their advantage if they wish.  They can station a regiment on the bridge which all attacking enemy regiments must fight in order to proceed to the rest of the defender's army.  However, the attacker can only send one regiment at a time over the bridge to attack the defending regiment holding the bridge.  Ranged regiments and spellcasters on both sides attack as normal.

If the regiment defending the bridge is destroyed or withdraws but another regiment is available to take its place, it can.[/ic]

[ic=Spells]Spells can be cast in combat by certain units.  Casting a spell uses up a combat round, unless otherwise noted.  The details of each spell can be found in the spell list – some require attack rolls, others do not.  If a spell requires a ranged attack roll, it can only be cast by a unit that could normally make a ranged attack (i.e. if the spellcaster is engaged in melee, it cannot cast a spell requiring a ranged attack).

Sometimes, spellcasters of the same type may form a regiment.  In this case, the individual spellcasters can still choose which spells they wish to cast and which regiments they wish to target – they do not all need to target the same regiment.  Some of the spellcasters can choose to cast spells while others use ranged attacks, as well: in this case, recalculate the Combined Damage Score of the spellcaster regiment accordingly.

Spells are resolved before other attacks are calculated.  In the event that knowing the order of spells being cast becomes necessary, spell-order is determined randomly.[/ic]

[ic=Complex Combats]In many situations, there will be more regiments on one side than on another.  In this case, regiments are "split" into blocks for the purposing of attacking and damage dealing while still treating them as a single regiment for morale purposes and casualties.

Example:

If the 20 Goblin Grunts were attacked by 10 Dwarf Axemen and 5 Dwarf Hammerers, two thirds of the Goblins (about 13) will fight the Axemen and on third (about 7) will fight the Hammerers, though if the Axemen dealt enough damage to kill more than 13 Goblins, they would do so.

Large units count as 4 units for the purposes of regiment-splitting, and Huge units count as 8.

Leaders attached to a regiment also use these rules to calculate their attacks and damage.  See the Leadership ability for further details.[/ic]

[ic=Dungeon Assaults]Often, you may wish to assail an enemy Dungeon or Outpost directly.  In this case, move your army into the region with the Outpost or Dungeon in question and declare an assault on that Dungeon (not a siege).

Dungeon assaults are similar to regular combats, but the defenders have certain defences which they can employ to keep attackers out of their Dungeon.  Any defending units garrisoned in the Dungeon or Outpost under assault are found within the Dungeon, and cannot be attacked by any melee units until Defences have been breached and traps braved.

Any defenders in the region containing the Dungeon or Outpost but not actually garrisoned in that Dungeon or Outpost engage the attackers outside of the Dungeon or Outpost, just like a regular battle.

To breach defences, attackers must destroy any walls or gates leading into the Dungeon.  Gates and walls have Defence and Health scores, and sustain damage exactly as if they were regiments.  They must be reduced to 0 before attacking units can proceed inside an enemy Dungeon.

Meanwhile, any ranged attackers, spellcasters, or units manning defences  garrisoned in the Dungeon being assaulted can make ranged attacks and cast spells at enemies outside.  Defending units can also man other defences, such as murder holes (which can attack units in melee combat with a wall) or ballistae (which are treated as ranged combatants).  These defending units can be targeted by attacking ranged units but at a -4 penalty.

Manned defences such as murder holes or catapults, as well as flailing walls, zombie walls, and similar defences, do not count as traps but attack like defending units.

Once defences are breached, all defending units – including any ranged units or other units manning defences – withdraw into the Dungeon proper.  At this point, traps are activated.  When enemy units storm a Dungeon, make an Attack roll for each trap the Dungeon contains.  If the Attack hits or exceeds one enemy regiment's Defence, deal the listed damage to the regiment.  If the attack fails, the trap has been evaded by that regiment, but gets an attack roll against the next regiment, and the next, until it either hits or all regiments have evaded it.  Note that if a regiment hit by a trap is immune to the trap's damage type (such as a fire-immune unit hit by an Incinerator trap, for example), the trap is still activated and does not continue attacking other regiments.

Traps that have been activated need to be reset by defenders after the battle.  Some traps are one-use only.

Defenders who fail morale checks during a Dungeon assault and who do not possess an escape tunnel surrender.  They are taken prisoner by enemy forces and could be killed or sold into slavery, ransomed back to the player they were taken from, kept as hostages for negotiations, etc.[/ic]

[ic=Sieges]Sometimes, you may wish to besiege a Dungeon or Outpost instead of directly assaulting it.  To do this, move your army into the region containing the Dungeon or Outpost and entrench it to declare a siege.  A siege does not result in an immediate battle, as enemy forces remain just out of range of ranged attackers.

A besieged Dungeon or Outpost can only utilize resources that it itself generates – it cannot use resources gathered elsewhere.  Upkeep on units at the Dungeon or Outpost, and any new rooms or defences you wish to build at the besieged Dungeon or Outpost, must be funded by the resources gathered at the besieged Dungeon or Outpost only.  Similarly, resources gathered at a besieged Dungeon or Outpost can only be spent at the besieged Dungeon or Outpost!  Effectively, the resource-output of a besieged Dungeon or Outpost becomes segregated from the rest of that player's production.  This should be noted in the Production tab of a player's Orders.

Example:

An army of Goblins besieges a Dark Elf city, one of two the Dark Elf player controls.  One city has an Improved Dark Elf Mine and six Lichen Gardens, and the other only has a Dark Elf Mine and no Food-producing structures at all.  The second city has been besieged.  This means that while the Dark Elf player receives a total of 475 Gold, 40 Metal, and 120 Food per week, only 175 Gold and 15 Metal can be used by the besieged city, and these resources cannot be used by the other city.  Without food-producing structures, units garrisoned in the besieged city will begin to starve (it would thus make a great deal of sense to use some of that 175 Gold to start building Food-producing structures immediately!).

Besieged Dungeons and Outposts in regions with mushroom forests and crystals lose their ability to generate extra production until the siege is lifted.  Crystals still affect magic as normal.

A siege is only broken when all enemy units are cleared from the region with the Dungeon ore Outpost.  Of course, garrisoned defenders can be given orders to emerge from a Dungeon and attack their besiegers directly.

If a friendly army arrives to break the siege, the resulting battle is fought outside of the Dungeon and does not include the garrisoned defenders, although the garrisoned defenders could be ordered to charge forth from the Dungeon or Outpost and attack.  If this is the case, Flanking bonuses apply.

A besieging army can decide to assault the Dungeon it besieges at any point.  This does not use any additional Speed.[/ic]

[ic=Tunnels]If a Dungeon or Outpost has been successfully tunneled into and a Dungeon assault declared, the Defenders immediately breach all outer outer defences.  They are still subject to traps, but they enter the Dungeon without having to breach walls or gates, and they cannot be attacked by outer defences that need to be manned, like Murder Holes or Catapults.

If a tunnel has been completed but an attack not yet declared, it is assumed the tunnelers have not quite tunneled into the dungeon quite yet and are waiting for the order to dig through the last few inches of rock.

Any garrisoned units with Detection are aware of tunnels being dug but not their precise location; there's nothing defenders can do to stop the tunnels being dug, short of immediately attacking the besieging foes.

Once a siege ends (one way or another), tunnels are collapsed unless, for some reason, the Dungeon's owner wants it to remain.  A tunnel dug in this way cannot be used as an Escape Tunnel.[/ic]

[ic=Sacking Enemy Dungeons]If you attack an enemy Dungeon and are victorious, you can choose to sack it, looting it of supplies but leaving it essentially intact (though you can always raze it later if you have Demolitions).  In this case, you can choose to steal 2d100 Gold, 1d20 Metal, 1d100 Food, and 2d20 Bodies, all taken directly from the enemy's Wealth.  Orcs steal up to double this amount. If the enemy possesses insufficient Wealth, you steal whatever they have.

The only exception to these rules is you sack an enemy faction's last remaining Dungeon (i.e. they have no other Dungeons anywhere on the map).  In this case you take control of all resources that player controls.  If the player manages to get garrisoned defenders out of the Dungeon in time (through an escape tunnel or Teleportation Circle, for example), they also manage to salvage 10% of their remaining resources (even Orcs don't get to steal these back).

In addition to the Bodies of any defenders you slew and any stockpiled Bodies you gained from the sack, you gain 1d3x1d100 prisoners – enemy non-combatants – from a sacked Dungeon.  These prisoners can be executed if you wish.  If the Dungeon possessed an Escape Tunnel, this amount is reduced by 150 prisoners.  If this drops the amount below 0, then you gain no prisoners from the attack.

Outposts cannot be sacked.[/ic]

[ic=Razing Enemy Dungeons and Outposts]Units with the Demolitions ability can use their Speed to plant charges under the rooms (see the Demolitions ability for details) of conquered Dungeons.  If every single room, defence, and trap in a Dungeon or Outpost is destroyed in this way, the Dungeon is totally wiped off the map.

If you do not have Demolitions-capable troops, you can still destroy and abandon the Dungeon, but you leave it a ruin which can be re-inhabited later, with all of its rooms essentially intact (see Re-inhabiting Ruins).[/ic]

[ic=Capturing Enemy Dungeons and Outposts]In many cases, you will wish to seize control of an enemy Dungeon.  For details on this, see the Dungeons and Outposts rules, under "Capturing Enemy Dungeons and Outposts."[/ic]

[ic=Raiding Settlements]Raiding settlements on the Surface works much the same as sacking enemy Dungeons.  First, you must move an army into the same region as a settlement and declare an assault (or siege, although Surface sieges are risky as your troops' Morale will deteriorate swiftly in the sunlight).  You can use any of the normal resources and abilities available to you to do so, such as Infiltrators, Climbing, etc.  The assault or siege is conducted normally, with the defenders of the settlement fighting back against their assailants.  Typically these defenders take the form of local militia.  Fortunately for the denizens of the Underdeep, such militias tend to be few in number and poorly trained (a major exception can be found in the Giant settlements of the northeastern plateau).  Repeated attacks against a settlement, however, will provoke them to improve their defences.

If you win the assault, you must choose whether to simply sack the settlement, to seize control of it, or to raze it.  Whatever your choice, you gain resources from the raid.

Most settlements, when raided, yield 1d6x1d100 Gold, 1d2x1d100 Metal, and 1d4x1d100 Food.  If you wish, you also gain 1d3x1d100 prisoners, which can be sold as slaves if you possess the correct structures (or a good trading partner) or converted into Bodies (this is in addition to the Bodies of any defenders you slew).  This total doesn't represent the entire population of the town – many members of the settlement will have fled in the aftermath of a raid.  Orcs double the number of resources stolen during a raid.

Some settlements may use a different multiplier for their various resources gained.  For example, most Halfling settlements have much less Gold and Metal (1d3x1d100 Gold, 1d100 Metal) but vast stores of Food (1d8x1d100 Food).  High Elf cities will yield fewer Bodies but more Gold, Gnome cities will yield additional Metal, etc.

If you depart the settlement after simply sacking it, the settlement will begin rebuilding.  It takes a settlement four weeks (starting the rebuilding process at the beginning of the week after being sacked) to rebuild to a point where raiding it again becomes worthwhile – a settlement raided while rebuilding yields no resources, and it must begin the rebuilding process again.  Expect settlements that have been raided to strengthen their defences.  Many will also hire adventurers or other mercenaries to help them deal with raiders.  They may also call on allies and other towns to help them defend themselves against further attack.

If you raze the settlement, it is permanently destroyed.  Its inhabitants will disperse to other settlements, and the settlement can no longer be raided.  There may be tactical reasons to raze a settlement – like denying another player a source of resources.

If you conquer the settlement, your troops assume control of it and become garrisoned within it.  They incur the usual morale penalties for spending multiple turns on the Surface.  The settlement may generate a few resources from farms or other structures, though not nearly as much as a Dungeon would, as most of the townsfolk will be dead or fled.  Conquering a Surface settlement may again serve tactical purposes – such as serving as a base for future raids – but it is sure to attract the attention of other Surface races.  Long-term occupation of Surface settlements is thus very risky (one tactic to reduce morale penalties might be to swap out troops from the Underdeep for a turn garrisoning a captured Surface settlement).  A captured settlement does not gain a Commander, and you cannot build any Rooms in one.  You can build Traps and Defences if you wish, such as a Palisade or Pit Traps.  Normal limits and prerequisites apply.

The moment your troops withdraw from a captured settlement, it ceases to be under your control and immediately begins rebuilding as if it had simply been sacked.[/ic]

[ic=Bodysnatching]Some Factions may be less interested in a settlement's Gold and more interested in its Bodies.  Local graveyards around settlements can provide such resources.  Troops who simply want to go bodysnatching may enter a region with a settlement without initiating a siege or assault.  They can instead use the Scavenge action (1 Speed) to gather 1 Body apiece from local graveyards around the settlement.  So long as they depart the settlement in the same week with their remaining Speed, and provided 50 or fewer troops (i.e. one full regiment) were involved in the bodysnatching, they do not provoke any attacks from defenders.  Graveyards can be repeatedly raided in this way, but do have a finite supply of bodies (the exact number known only to the GM) that is renewed periodically.

Vampires (or Synaptophages) and Liches (or Cereliches) can also use graveyards as a place to rest, interring themselves in mausoleums and so protecting themselves from the sun.  This is accomplished using the entrench action (see Movement rules).  Only these particular units can use graveyards this way.[/ic][/spoiler]

[Steerpike]

[spoiler=Orders]

Orders

As the ruler of a faction of the Underdeep, your job consists chiefly of giving orders.  To make sure that everything is clear and that I am given all the important information for a turn, your orders should follow a very specific format.  If executed properly, a single post should suffice for any given week, in the absence of special circumstances where units need to be given additional orders after parts of their orders are carried out.

Note that you will have 6 days each week to finalize your orders, which aren't considered "official" until the 7th day.  You may wish to change orders as you send and receive messages.

It goes without saying that you should not read the Orders or open the spoiler tags of any other player - even an ally.  The only exception is a message intended for you, which you can (and should!) open.

This all may look complicated and time-consuming, but about 75%+ of it is going to be copy/paste, so don't be discouraged.  There'll be a wee bit of math as you calculate income, upkeep, and construction/recruitment costs, but that's about the worst of it.  Being fastidious and thorough about record-keeping will save WAY more time in the long run than if we were laxer with things, I'm certain.

Here is the format I would like everyone to use for their orders.  If you don't use this format, I can't guarantee that I won't miss something, so try to stick to the format as closely as possible.  If I've missed something in the orders format that you think should be included, PM me or post in the discussion thread.

Note: the example character here will not appear in the game.

[ic=Flavour Text (Title this something good)]This area should be devoted to flavour text describing your character's actions for the week.  It can be as long or as short as you like, but it should never be omitted.  It might take the form of a diary entry, a chronicle written in the past tense, a third person description, a stream of consciousness or other first person narrative, or some other form.  The minimum length for this area is a single sentence.

Example:

Ragnar Thundershield traced the markings graven on the newly constructed Hall of Runes and smiled grimly.  With the power of these glyphs his Runeseers would make his troops all but invulnerable in battle.  Then the Orcs of Ghol-Borab would answer for the burning of Kharthagrond!

Note: Placing spoiler tags around your Flavour Text - which might potentially reveal some aspect of strategy - is optional, but discouraged, since other players will enjoy reading your text.  Consequently, metagaming on the basis of an enemy's flavour text is also highly discouraged.  You may wish to err on the side of vagueness in your flavour text if you're worried about metagaming.[/ic]

[spoiler=Messages]Include here a message you wish to send.  Put additional messages in spoiler tags, and remember to include the names of characters meant to receive those messages in the spoiler tag title so players know when a message is intended for them.  Remember that you can send one message and one reply to each other character every week.

Example:

Warlord Brogg,

Withdraw from the ruins of Kharthagrond immediately or face the wrath of the Thundershield Clan.  You have been warned.

Thane Ragnar Thundershield[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Production]Here, include all production for the turn generated by your dungeons, including the sources of that production.  Much of this can be copy/pasted from previous posts, so tedious bookkeeping should at a minimum – but be sure to include production from any rooms that were completed this week!

Example:

Thundershield Clanhold

Improved Dwarf Mine: +350 Gold, +50 Metal
1 Tuber Garden: +25 Food
2 Apiaries: +30 Food
4 Mushroom Patches: +20 Food[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Upkeep]Here, calculate all Upkeep costs for your troops, noting troop numbers and types.

Example:

20 Dwarf Ironbound: -60 Gold, -40 Food
15 Dwarf Riflemen: -60 Gold, -15 Metal, -30 Food[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Construction]Here, note any rooms, traps, or defences under construction (deducting 1 week from their construction time as weeks pass) and any new rooms, traps, or defences you wish to construct.  Make sure to note where the rooms, traps, and defences are being constructed as well, and the cost of any new rooms you wish to create.

Example:

Thundershield Clanhold (Upperdeep 28)

Under Construction:

Brewery: 1 week remaining
Artificer's Hall: 2 weeks remaining

Beginning Construction:

Reinforced Walls: -100 Gold, 3 weeks remaining
Runegate: -75 Gold, 2 weeks remaining[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Recruitment]Here, note any units you wish to recruit this turn.  Fungoid players should also note maturation times for units still developing.  Be sure to include locations and costs for all your troops.

Example:

Thundershield Clanhold (Upperdeep 28)

Recruit 2 Dwarf Cannoneers: -50 Gold, -40 Metal[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Wealth]Here, add up your current resource amounts, adding in any resources produced and subtracting any Upkeep incurred, the cost of any new rooms, traps, or defences constructed, abnd the cost of any new units recruited.  The example below assumes that the Dwarf player being used for the example was broke at the beginning of the turn, before production kicked in.

Do not deduct expenditures for Dungeons or Outposts yet to be founded.

Example:

Gold: 5
Metal: 10
Food: 5 Food
Bodies: 0[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Dungeons and Outposts]Here, include a list of all Dungeons and Outposts and associated rooms and defences.  Include only completed rooms, traps, and defences on this list - do NOT include any rooms under construction here.  Again, this can be copy/pasted from turn to turn, just make sure to add in any additional rooms.

Example:

Thundershield Clanhold (Upperdeep 28)

Thane's Hall
Forge Hall
Shield Hall
Gunsmithy
Hall of Gears
Hall of the Ancestors
Hall of Runes
Improved Dwarf Mine
1 Tuber Garden
2 Apiaries
4 Mushroom Patches

Outer Wall
Iron Gate
Escape Tunnel

Outpost at Khul-Dothar (Upperdeep 31)

Outer Wall
2 Murder Holes[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Armies]Here, place a record of all your units and their current location (at the BEGINNING of the week - not their destination for that week!), including Infiltrated units not marked on the map.  Remember to include any new units you recruited this turn, as well.  Leave a space between armies in different locations.  Fungoid players may wish to note Lifespans here for reference.

It is very important to note starting unit locations here, not just unit numbers, and not the destinations of your units.

Example:

Thane Ragnar Thundershield – Garrisoned at Thundershield Clanhold (Upperdeep 28)
2 Dwarf Cannoneers – Garrisoned at Thundershield Clanhold (Upperdeep 28)
10 Dwarf Ironbound – Garrisoned at Thundershield Clanhold (Upperdeep 28)

Thori Thundershield, Captain of Khul-Dothar (Dwarf Ironbound) – Garrisoned at the Outpost at Khul-Dothar (Upperdeep 31)
9 Dwarf Ironbound – Garrisoned at the Outpost at Khul-Dothar (Upperdeep 31)
15 Dwarf Riflemen – Garrisoned at the Outpost at Khul-Dothar (Upperdeep 31)[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Characters]Here, record the current statistics of your leader and any Captains and Commanders, along with any magical items he or she might possess.

Example:

[ic=Ragnar Thundershield]Melee Attack: +8
Melee Damage: 8
Defence: 23
Health: 25
Speed: 3
Morale: +8
Special Abilities: Leadership, Grudge (choose one: Orc, Goblin, Troll, Ogre, Dark Elf, Kobold, Duergar, Fungoid)
Inventory: Ring of Protection (+1 Defence)

Ragnar increases the Defence and Morale of any army he is leading by +1. If garrisoned in a Dungeon he increases the Defence and Morale of garrisoned troops by +1. His Grudge ability applies to all units in the specific regiment he leads.[/ic]

[ic=Thori Thundershield]Melee Attack: +4
Melee Damage: 6
Defence: 21
Health: 15
Speed: 2
Morale: +4
Special Abilities: Leadership
Inventory: -[/ic][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Trade]Note any and all impending trades with other players in this tab.[/spoiler][spoiler=Orders]Here, list any orders you wish to give your units.  This includes movement, attacking, and any other orders you can conceive of.  Remember to always include unit numbers, locations, and Speed spent in your orders.  Any spells you wish to cast, abilities you wish to use, or other "things units can do" should go here.  When in doubt, post it to orders.

Do NOT include recruitment or construction in Orders.  That's what the other tabs are for!

Example:

Spend 1 Speed to move 2 Dwarf Cannoneers from Upperdeep 28 to Upperdeep 31 and spend 1 Speed to garrison at the Outpost at Khul-Dothar.

Spend 2 Speed to move 10 Dwarf Ironbound led by Ragnar Thundershield from Upperdeep 28 to Upperdeep 26 with orders to hold the bridge against the Orcs at all costs, withdrawing immediately to the Thundershield Clanhold only if outnumbered 2:1 or more.[/spoiler][/spoiler]
[spoiler=The First Turn]

The First Turn

A few details of the first turn of the game need to be clarified to prevent confusion.

1)   You don't have to pay Upkeep for any units on the first turn.

2)   The production structures included in your "Starting Dungeon" package do not produce resources in the first turn (these are assumed to be part of your "Starting Resources" package).

3)   Any other production structures you built (to completion, of course) with your "Starting Resources" package do produce resources.

4)   Any bonus resources you would get from local Mushroom Forests (+25 Food), Crystals (+20 Gold), or Pools (+10 Food) are added to your resources on the first turn.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Abilities]

Abilities

[ic=Animosity]Units with the Animosity ability must quench their bloodlust one way or another.  For each week that they don't participate in a battle, they gain a temporary +1 bonus to their attack and damage statistics the following week.  However, they must also make a Morale check (DC 10+1/week they've spent without a battle) at the start of the week.  If they fail, they make an attack against themselves: roll a single attack against their own Defence and then calculate damage and casualties.  Single units who fail such a check attack other friendly regiments.  If a single unit is the only unit in a given territory it deserts, becoming a wandering monster.[/ic]

[ic=Assassinate]Units with this ability can target specific enemy units (not just regiments) if infiltrated, and can even infiltrate enemy Dungeons and Outposts.  To circumvent defences they must make an attack roll that exceeds the walls'/doors' Defence scores, though they must still face any traps; they could also be let in by a tunneling unit.  If they fail to bypass enemy defences, their assassination for that week fails.  If they fail by 10 or more, they are seen by enemy units, and any ranged defenders garrisoned can make an attack against the assassin.

Once they've infiltrated an enemy camp, Outpost, or Dungeon, the assassin selects his or her target and makes a single surprise attack against them.  If the initial surprise attack succeeds and the target is killed, the assassin can elect to immediately disengage to the nearest territory.  If it fails, the assassin is revealed and must fight.  In the first round after being revealed the assassin only fights their target; in subsequent rounds, they must fight the entire army stationed with the leader.

In regular battles in which assassins are part of a larger army, assassins can target specific units within enemy regiments.[/ic]

[ic=Cavalry]Cavalry units get +2 to their first melee attack in a battle, even if they'd previously made ranged attacks or cast spells.[/ic]

[ic=Climbing]Climbing units ignore walls just as Flying units do.  They can crawl up or down Chasms to different layers of the Underdeep if the Chasms are continuous.  They ignore magma pools and water as well (at least while underground – crossing river on the Surface is another matter).  They are still impeded by mushroom forests, and cannot cross over bridgeless Chasms without descending to the bottom of them and then crawling up the other side.[/ic]

[ic=Construct]These units are mechanical or otherwise artificial.  They ignore psychic attacks, poison, disease, mind-influencing effects and spells such as Agony, Confusion, Dominate, Frenzy, or Distraction, and never make Morale checks, always fighting till destroyed (they lack the judgment necessary to withdraw).  They can still be fooled by illusions.  Constructs can be healed by expending 1 Metal per point of Health, or 1 Body per point of Health in the case of Brain Golems, Flesh Golems, and other organic Golems.  Units with the Repair ability make this twice as effective.

Constructs cannot use the Forced March movement action.[/ic]

[ic=Create Spawn]Those killed by a unit that can create spawn rise from the dead as units of the indicated type after the battle resolves (not during).  If the army whose units created the spawn was destroyed or fled, the victorious army can elect to burn, decapitate, or otherwise disable the spawn before they rise (they will do this unless specifically ordered not to).  In this case, the spawn are not created, but any Bodies the victorious army might have harvested from the spawn are not gained.  If specifically ordered not to dispose of friendly corpses in this manner, the spawn still rise, but the victorious army get one free attack against them before fighting them normally.[/ic]

[ic=Death Throes]A unit with the Death Throes ability that is killed in melee combat but that missed its own attack completely (dealing 0 damage) deals half of its melee damage to the regiment that destroyed it.[/ic]

[ic=Demolitions]Units with the Demolitions ability can plant explosives.  Explosives can be used to blow bridges (4 charges), or destroy rooms and defences in Dungeons or Outposts that have been tunneled under (such structures gain the "Broken" condition - see more under Traps and Defences in the Dungeons & Outposts rules).  Each unit with demolitions can place one charge for every 2 Speed, destroying exactly 1 room or trap or dealing 40 damage to a fortification.  A tunnel needs to be completed for charges to be laid.[/ic]

[ic=Detector]Units with the Detector ability can automatically Detect infiltrated units.  Detectors garrisoned in a Dungeon can also tell when tunnelers are digging underneath it (this does not directly stop the tunnelers, however).[/ic]

[ic=Disarm Traps]Units with the Disarm Traps ability can attempt to disable traps in enemy Dungeons, Outposts, and other situations.  They make a Disarm Traps roll (1d20+ their listed Disarm bonus).  The Trap then makes an attack roll.  If the disarmer's roll beats the trap, the trap is disarmed.  If the trap is not disarmed and hits the disarmer's Defence, they have sprung the trap and suffer damage.  If the trap misses but the disarmer's roll is still less than its attack, the disarmer has failed to notice the trap and it is treated as normal, gaining attack rolls against attacking regiments until it goes off or until all enemy regiments have passed through unscathed.[/ic]

[ic=Discipline]Units with the Discipline ability never flee from combat.  if they fail a morale check made to determine if they flee or withdraw from battle, they always withdraw.[/ic]

[ic=Disease]Diseased units spread terrible infections amongst enemy units.  When a regiment is injured in melee by a unit with disease, that regiment becomes infected.  The next week, if the infected regiment survived the battle, the Health of every unit in that regiment is lowered by 1.  It is lowered by another point each additional week for a number of weeks equal to the Diseased creature's Disease score.  If the regiment survives the disease, they return to full Health after it has run its course.

For example, say a regiment of Duergar Halberdiers (Health 8) fight a regiment of Zombies (Disease 2) and survive, either destroying the Zombies or withdrawing from combat.  The week after their battle, their Health will be decreased by 1 to 7.  The week after that, it will be reduced to 6.  The week after that they will have suffered through the illness and return to 8 Health.

Certain spells, such as Bless, remove diseases, as does praying at shrines and temples of the appropriate deities.[/ic]

[ic=Double-Headed]Two-headed units are rare, but their multiple brains give them certain advantages.  Double-headed units always roll twice to attack and take the higher result.[/ic]

[ic=Fear]When a regiment fights units that cause Fear, it must make a Morale check of the indicated DC or suffer -2 to hit.  If multiple units have a different Fear DC, use the highest.  This roll is made at the beginning of the battle by all regiments opposed to the Fearful army.[/ic]

[ic=Flyer]Flying units ignore terrain of all kinds and also ignore outer walls, palisades, and certain ground-based traps such as minefields or pits.  Once inside a Dungeon they are still affected by other traps like Rockfall Traps, Poison Gas, Glyph Traps, etc.  Ground-based units can make attacks against Flyers with a -4 penalty if the Flying unit is making ranged attacks, but the Flying ranged attacker is not considered "engaged" in the melee in the normal sense and can continue to make ranged attacks (only another Flying unit's melee attack can engage a Flying ranged attacker in this way).  If the Flying unit is making melee attacks, this penalty is decreased to -2.  Ranged attackers can fire on Flyers without penalty.  Huge units and units with reach also attack Flyers without a penalty.[/ic]

[ic=Follower]Followers can be attached to regiments (including regiments with Leaders) but do not impart any special bonuses to them.[/ic]

[ic=Grudge]Some units bear grudges against units of particular races or types.  Those who possess such hatreds get +2 to Attack and Damage against enemies of that type and +4 to Morale when enemies of that type are present on the battlefield.[/ic]

[ic=Huge]Huge units count as 8 units for the purposes of regiment-splitting in combats with more than two regiments in a single engagement.  Huge creatures also often ignore certain types of terrain (see Movement and Terrain, below).

Huge units cannot be harmed by Pit Traps of any kind.  They also never take a penalty against Flying units.[/ic]

[ic=Immunity]Units with Immunity from a certain damage type take no damage from attacks that deal that damage type.[/ic]

[ic=Infiltrator]Infiltrating units move about the map unseen, their position known only to the Game Master and their own owner.   They can move directly through regions occupied by enemy troops (including caverns with Dungeons).  If a unit ends its movement in a region where the infiltrating unit is located, and that unit has not set an ambush, the infiltrating unit is discovered.  Units with Detection also automatically discover infiltrating units they come into contact with, and Detectors who are Scouting a region also reveal any infiltrated units there.  If a Faction has units entrenched in a region with a bridge, they are able to block non-flying infiltrating units from passing through that region.

Infiltrating units can attempt to move past Outposts and into Dungeons, but such attempts are risky.  They must make an Attack roll and beat the Defence of any walls or doors present in the Dungeon or Outpost.  If they exceed the Defence of the walls/doors, they move past the Outpost undetected or into the enemy Dungeon undetected (they are still attacked by any traps present).  They can choose to then attack the defenders without first breaching their walls/door, or (in the case of an Outpost) they can choose to continue moving if they have Speed remaining.

Infiltrating units can also set up ambushes.  Setting up an ambush takes 2 Speed.  Enemy units who pass through a region or end their movement in a region containing infiltrated units who have set up an ambush are attacked by the infiltrated ambushers, who get a free attack against them before combat formally begins.  In the next round, the ambushers and enemy forces fight normally, though the ambushers may have been given orders to withdraw after this round concludes (the enemy still get at least one attack against ambushers, if they survived the initial sneak-attack).

Scry also reveals infiltrated units.

Note: Infiltrated units can pass through regions where other infiltrated units have set up an ambush without setting it off.  Of course, if they end their movement in a a region containing enemy units - whether those units are infiltrated or not - they will be attacked, as per normal, and if an ambush has been prepared in that region, they will be ambushed.  In the somewhat uncommon but amusing event that two separate regiments of infiltrators, hostile to one another, both attempt to enter a region and set up an ambush, they discover one another and engage in battle![/ic]

[ic=Large]Large units count as 4 units for the purposes of regiment-splitting in combats with more than two regiments in a single engagement.[/ic]

[ic=Leadership]Certain units – Captains, Commanders, and Generals – have the Leadership ability.  This allows them to join a regiment and lead that regiment into battle.  They can join any regiment they choose, but to join a Flying regiment they must have the Flying ability and to join a Cavalry regiment they must have the Cavalry ability.  They can join an Infiltrating regiment, but if they do not have Infiltration the regiment temporarily loses Infiltration as well.

While attached to a regiment, a Leader generally imparts bonuses and abilities, listed in their description.  For the purposes of combat, they are treated as part of the regiment, but calculate their attack and damage separately from the regiment.  Enemy attackers who target the regiment treat the leader as a separate target that they also must engage, using the rules for regiment-splitting and multiple combatants.

For example, say that a Goblin King is leading a regiment of 10 Hobgoblin Warriors and is fighting a regiment of 20 Dark Elf Swordsmen.  If the Dark Elf Swordsmen engage the Hobgoblins, they must also engage the Goblin King.  Now, the Goblin King counts as a regiment of 1 for the purposes of regiment-splitting, so 2 Dark Elf Swordsmen (round up from 1.82) will engage the King and the remaining 18 will engage the rest of the Hobgoblin Warriors.  As per the rules of multiple combatants, if the Dark Elves attacking the King were able to deal damage in excess of the King's Health, they would kill the King and deal additional damage against his regiment.  The opposite also applies, so if the Goblin King could deal more than enough damage to kill both Dark Elves, the excess damage would affect additional Dark Elf Swordsmen.

If a regiment led by a Leader has to make a Morale check, it uses its Leader's Morale instead of its own.

Note that a Leader does not increase his or her own stats![/ic]

[ic=Poison]When a regiment with the Poison ability exceeds an enemy's Defence when rolling to attack, all units in the attacking regiment immediately deal bonus Poison damage equal to the amount indicated.

So, for example, if a regiment of 10 Dark Elf Spider Cavalry (Poison 2) are fighting a regiment of Orc Raiders (Defence 14) and they get a 15 or higher on their attack, they deal an additional 20 (10 Riders x 2 Poison) damage to the Orcs.  If they had scored a 14 or lower, they would not deal Poison damage.[/ic]

[ic=Reach]Units with Reach can attack Flying units and units on walls without penalty.[/ic]

[ic=Regeneration]Regenerating units heal a certain number of hit points per round of combat and return to full health immediately after combat ends (regular units return to full Health at the beginning of the week after the battle, but if subsequent battles took place, they are still injured).  Regeneration has no effect on attacks that lower a unit's Health score (rather than dealing damage), such as Disease, or Sunlight damage in the case of Undead.[/ic]

[ic=Repair]Units with the Repair ability allow friendly Constructs in the same region to heal at double the normal rate (1 Metal for 2 Health or 1 Body for 2 Health for organic Constructs).[/ic]
[ic=Scout]Units with the Scout ability automatically Scout all regions adjacent to the one they end their move on without using any additional Speed.[/ic]

[ic=Teleporter]Teleporting units can move their Speed without traversing the intervening regions, allowing them to bypass enemy armies, defences, terrain, etc.  They cannot teleport through walls.  For example, a regiment of Hounds of Yuddarath (Speed 6) could teleport from Upperdeep 49 to Upperdeep 61, teleporting over the chasm and any enemy armies or Outposts in the way.[/ic]

[ic=Thieving]Thieving creatures know how to filch items and gold from enemies without their knowledge.  Infiltrated thieving creatures that set an ambush can choose not to launch a sneak attack but to "pick the pockets" of enemy units.  The Thieving regiment makes a single attack role against an enemy regiment.  If they meet or exceed the defence of the enemy regiment, they gain Gold equal to the Gold Upkeep cost of the units in that regiment.  Each Thieving unit can steal from only one enemy unit.  Any items carried by members of the regiment are also stolen.  Stolen Gold is not deducted from the Wealth of enemy factions (it represents the Gold spent on unit Upkeep during that week, and so has already been deducted), but the units stolen from suffer Morale penalties as if they had been unpaid.

A regiment of Thieving creatures can also target enemy Dungeons while infiltrated.  They must make an attack roll to exceed the Defence of any Defences to gain entry into the Dungeon or Outpost they are targeting.  If they succeed, they loot the Dungeon or Outpost for 1d10 Gold for each Thieving unit.  Note that any traps present still target Thieving units as normal, but defenders do not.

If a Thieving regiment fails their "pickpocket check" by more than 10, they are instantly exposed and attacked by any enemy units present.[/ic]

[ic=Transport]Some units can transport large numbers of other units.  Units can enter a transport freely, and if they do so, they gain the transport's Speed while they remain with it, though this Speed can only be used to move.  Battles involving troops in transports assume that the transported troops disembark.  The only exception is in ambushes.  If the ambushing units can destroy the transport with their initial sneak attack, all units aboard the transport suffer the same amount of damage the transport did.  If the initial sneak attack does not destroy the transport, troops disembark unharmed from the transport and attack as normal.

In the rare case of aerial battles in Chasm areas when enemy flyers attack a transport moving between levels of the Underdeep, ranged units can fire from a transport and spellcasters can cast spells, but melee units cannot attack while inside the transport.  In this unusual situation, if a transport is destroyed, all units within it are lost as well.

Large units count as 4 for Transportation purposes.  Huge units cannot be transported.

If units leave a transport before it completes its full move, they can still perform actions or move on their own provided they do not exceed their own Speed or the total speed of the Transport.  So, for example, if a Ceremorph Severed carrying 10 Ceremorph Psions and 1 Ceremorph Sentinel moved a total of 6 Speed and then unloaded its troops, the Psions would have 2 Speed remaining (their Speed is 4, but they can only use 2 of it, since the Severed's Speed is 8), while the Sentinel could only move 1 Speed.[/ic]

[ic=Trapmaking]Trapmakers can set up traps in any territory, even without a Dungeon or Outpost.  Each trapmaker can work on up to one trap per week, but must be present for it to continue building.   Traps with specific room prerequisites (such as a Dwarven Incinerator) cannot be built in the field.

Traps in Dungeons and traps in the region are considered distinct; you can build traps to their limit in both a Dungeon and the cavern outside.  The same is not true of Outposts, however - traps in Outposts count to the total number of traps in a region.[/ic]

[ic=Tunneling]Tunneling units that have besieged an enemy Dungeon or Outpost (see Sieges in the section on Dungeons) can spend 3 Speed to dig a tunnel under enemy fortifications.  In this case, all Defences and Traps are effectively bypassed during a subsequent attack on the Dungeon.  Some special Dungeon walls take twice as long – 6 Speed – to dig through.  If a unit doesn't have enough Speed to dig a tunnel but still has remaining Speed, they can begin the tunnel in one week and finish it in the next.  If a Dungeon is impervious to tunneling, it can still be tunneled under, at which point explosives can be set by those with the Demolitions ability.[/ic]

[ic=Undead]Undead units never have to make Morale checks, fighting till destroyed or until they are victorious (unlike Constructs, they can be ordered to deliberately withdraw).  They are unaffected by disease, poison, cold damage, psychic damage, or mind-affecting spells.  Hexes, Curses, Detection, Shield, and other magical effects affect them normally.  They can still be fooled by illusions.  Non-regenerating Undead do not heal injuries.

Most Undead have no Upkeep.  Those with Upkeep, however, do starve if not paid their Body Upkeep, having their Health lowered by 1 per week their Upkeep isn't paid until destroyed or until their Upkeep is paid in full, at which point they regain the Health they lost immediately.  Regeneration and healing spells cannot reverse this effect.

Undead creatures cannot stand the touch of sunlight.  While other troops suffer Morale penalties if exposed to the sun, Undead begin to deteriorate.  For each full week that an Undead unit spends on the Surface it loses 1 Health.  It immediately recovers this lost health if it returns underground.  Units that reach 0 Health due to this deterioration are destroyed completely.  Regeneration and healing spells have no effect on sunlight-damage.  Liches killed by sunlight still revivify with their Phylacteries.

Undead cannot use the Forced March movement action.[/ic]

[ic=Vanish]Creatures that can Vanish can only be hit while fleeing if their attackers have Detection.[/ic]

[ic=Vermin]Vermin have no Morale score and are unaffected by mind-influencing spells or psychic attacks.  They are too stupid to withdraw in combat and fight to the death.[/ic]

[ic=Vulnerability]Units vulnerable to a certain form of damage take double damage from attacks of that type.  Regenerating units with vulnerabilities cannot regenerate damage of the type they are vulnerable to, though they heal such damage eventually as regular units would.[/ic][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Spells]

Spells

Unless otherwise noted, Spells do not stack.  For more on casting spells in combat, see the Battle rules, below.

[ic=Agony (Combat, Mind-Influencing)]This spell wracks enemy units with pain.  The caster targets an enemy regiment with a Ranged Attack roll, opposed by a Morale check.  If the caster's roll exceeds the defender's Morale check, all members of the target regiment are wracked with pain for that round, suffering -2 to all Attack and Damage rolls.[/ic]

[ic=Bless (Utility)]This spell beseeches a deity or other power to bless a friendly target.  This spell can be cast once per week.  A single regiment becomes immune to disease and gains +2 to Morale for the week's duration.[/ic]

[ic=Blight (Combat, Utility)]This vile spell destroys vegetation, rapidly putrefying plant or fungal creatures.  To use the spell in combat, the caster must hit a target regiment with a Ranged Attack roll.  If they hit, they deal 4 damage to all Plant or Fungoid creatures in the regiment.  The spell can also be cast once per week out of combat on Food-producing structures that generate mushrooms, lichens, and the like in an occupied dungeon, permanently destroying one such structure.  Alternatively, in lieu of casting Blight on a structure, the spell can be cast on a patch of mushroom forest to remove all mushrooms from the region (they may, eventually, grow back).  Using Blight in this way does not prevent it from being used in combat.[/ic]

[ic=Blinding Light]This spell creates a flash of bright light that dazzles and sometimes injures those who dwell Below.  The caster must hit a target regiment's Defence with a Ranged Attack roll.  If they hit, the regiment suffers -2 to Attack and Morale scores for one round.  If they possess the Dazzled racial drawback then these penalties are doubled. If they possess Sunlight Vulnerability, all units in the regiment sustain 3 damage.[/ic]

[ic=Blood Boil (Combat)]This horrific spell causes the blood of enemies to boil in their veins.  To use the spell, the caster must hit a targeted regiment's Defence with a Ranged attack.  If they succeed, every unit in the regiment immediately sustains 2 Fire damage.  Creatures without blood (Constructs, Skeletal Warriors, Fungoids, etc – DM's judgement) are unaffected.[/ic]

[ic=Chain Lightning (Combat)]This spell shocks enemies with eldritch lightning.  To use the spell, the caster must hit a targeted regiment's Defence with a Ranged attack.  If they succeed, they deal 1 Shock damage to every unit in that regiment and make another Ranged attack roll against another enemy regiment.  If they hit the enemy's Defence the units in that regiment all 1 take 1 Shock damage as well, and the caster makes yet another Ranged attack against yet another enemy regiment.  This continues until the caster misses; regiments can be hit more than once, but there must be at least two regiments present for the lightning to continue chaining.[/ic]

[ic=Confusion (Combat, Mind-Influencing)]This spell bewilders foes.  The caster targets an enemy regiment with a Ranged Attack roll, opposed by a Morale check.  If the caster's roll exceeds the defender's Morale check, the enemy unit must immediately roll 1d6; on a 1-2 they do nothing for a round but suffer -2 to Defence, on a 3-4 they attack a random unit (friendly or enemy), on a 5 they attack themselves, and on a 6 they flee.  This condition persists for one combat round.[/ic]

[ic=Contagion (Combat)]This spell afflicts enemies with a rotting illness.  The caster targets the enemy regiment with a Ranged attack roll.  If they hit the enemy's Defence, the target regiment has contracted a disease of strength 6.[/ic]

[ic=Curse (Combat)]This spell curses enemy creatures with bad luck.  The caster targets an enemy regiment with a Ranged Attack roll.  If they hit the enemy's Defence, the target regiment has been cursed.  They must reroll all Attack rolls and take the lower result in the round they were cursed.[/ic]

[ic=Disguise (Utility)]This spell allows a unit to change their physical appearance, potentially deceiving other creatures as to the being's identity.  A Disguised unit can choose to appear on the map using a different Sigil if they wish (note this in Orders to the unit).  Units with Detection can see through a Disguise.[/ic]

[ic=Dispel (Combat, Utility)]This spell negates other magical effects.  Dispel can be cast during a combat round to remove any magical effects from a regiment or to counter any spells being cast on a regiment by enemies.  It has others uses as well, such as the deactivation of certain traps or defences.  Dispelled glyphs, runes, or other markings are permanently erased.[/ic]

[ic=Distraction (Combat, Mind-Influencing)]This annoying spell creates some sort of distraction – buzzing insects, hallucinations, or something similar – to distract enemies.  To use it, the spellcaster makes a Ranged Attack roll which is opposed by the Morale check of a targeted regiment.  If the attack roll exceeds the enemy's Morale check, the spell causes one enemy regiment to suffer -4 to all Attack rolls for that round.[/ic]

[ic=Dominate (Combat, Mind-Influencing)]This rare and powerful spell allows a caster to assume complete control over a single enemy unit.  The caster makes a Ranged Attack roll, opposed to a single unit's Morale check.  If the caster's roll exceeds the enemy's check, the caster gains control over the enemy creature immediately – including during the round it was Dominated.  This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the amount the creature failed by.  If the caster's attack doubled the unit's Morale check or more, the unit is Dominated on a more permanent basis.  It gets a Morale check once per week to break the spell, opposed to another Ranged Attack roll by the Caster, but it must beat the caster's check completely to break free.

A unit that has passed its save vs. Dominate cannot be Dominated by the same caster for 1 week.[/ic]

[ic=Frenzy (Combat, Mind-Influencing)]Frenzied creatures attack with incredible ferocity.  Frenzy can be cast during a combat round to give a single regiment +2 to Damage but -2 to Defence for that round.  Frenzied units automatically pass all Morale checks made to flee or withdraw during the round they are Frenzied.  They do not gain any Morale bonus to spells or psychic attacks.[/ic]

[ic=Haste (Utility)]Haste quickens friendly units.  This spell can be cast once per week.  A single regiment adds +4 to its Speed for one week.[/ic]

[ic=Hex (Combat)]Similar to a Curse, a Hex makes the target vulnerable.  The caster targets an enemy regiment with a Ranged Attack roll.  If they hit the enemy's Defence, the target regiment has been hexed.  All units that attack the target this round roll their Attacks twice and take the higher result.  Double-headed units roll three times.[/ic]

[ic=Illusory Duplicate (Utility)]This spell creates an illusory double of the target.  Illusory Duplicate can be cast once per week on a single regiment.  An illusory double of that regiment comes into being.  This illusory regiment appears on the map (unless it is an Infiltrator) and seems, for all intents and purposes, to be real.  If it is engaged in battle, it will be treated as a legitimate target, but if it sustains any damage it vanishes.  Detection and Scrying reveal illusory units as illusions.

Only one illusory double of a unit can exist at a single time.[/ic]

[ic=Invisibility (Utility)]This spell cloaks an enemy unit from sight.  Invisibility can be cast once per week on a single friendly regiment.  That regiment gains the Infiltrator ability for one week.  Detection and Scrying function normally, and the units are revealed if they attack as with normal Infiltrated units.  This spell has no effect on units that already possess the Infiltrator ability.  Detection and Scrying reveal Invisible units.[/ic]

[ic=Mindlink (Utility)]Once per week, you can link minds with one other being, temporarily sharing thoughts.  A mindlink allows you to send and receive unlimited messages with a single player of your choice.  You can only have a single mindlink active at one time.[/ic]

[ic=Necromantic Healing (Combat, Utility)]A surge of dark energy restores vitality to the Undead.  This spell allows the caster to return any injured members of an Undead regiment to full Health. It can also be cast out of combat to heal any injured Undead units.[/ic]

[ic=Obfuscating Shroud (Combat)]This spell creates a haze or fog that makes ranged combat difficult and covers retreating units.  When cast the spell imposes a -4 penalty on all ranged attacks made by either side for one round.  During the round when an Obfuscating Shroud is cast, any fleeing units on either side cannot be hit.[/ic]

[ic=Petrify (Combat)]This spell transmutes flesh to stone.  You must hit a single unit with a ranged attack.  If your attack beats their Defence, the unit is turned to stone.  This effect is permanent, but can be Dispelled.  Large creatures have a +2 bonus to Defence against Petrify, while Huge units have a +4 bonus to Defence against it.[/ic]

[ic=Phase-Shift (Utility)]This spell allows the targeted regiment to phase in and out of reality.  Phase-Shift can be cast once per week.  The regiment targeted by Phase-Shift gains the Teleporter ability for one week.[/ic]

[ic=Poisonous Cloud (Combat)]This spell creates a toxic cloud over enemies.  The spellcaster must make a Ranged Attack roll and hit or exceed a target regiment's Defence.  If it hits, the spell creates a poisonous cloud over enemy units, temporarily reducing the Health of all units in an enemy regiment by 2 for one round.  Multiple poisonous clouds do not stack.[/ic]

[ic=Rune Trap (Utility)]A Rune Trap can be graven once per week in any region and functions as a one-time use trap with +10 to hit, dealing 50 damage (fire, acid, or cold) to enemies if it hits.  Units with Detection or accompanied by a unit with Detection bypass the trap without activating it.  The Rune Trap can be Dispelled.[/ic]

[ic=Scry (Utility)]Scrying allows a spellcaster to spy on his enemies over a great distance.  Scry can be cast once per week, though certain rooms or items may increase this number.  The caster selects one region on any level of all four maps.  All units – enemies, allies, infiltrated units, maturing units, wandering monsters, neutral units, and other creatures – are immediately revealed to the caster, along with any traps, defences, and other features present in the region.  Scrying does not reveal resource amounts, but reveals everything else of note in the region.

Scry reveals the conditions of the region at the start of the week.  It does not include units recruited in the region during the week, or who move into the region over the course of the week.[/ic]

[ic=Shield (Combat)]Shield protects a friendly regiment from damage.  The caster selects a single friendly regiment as the target of the spell.  A shielded regiment gains +3 to Defence for one round.[/ic]

[ic=Summon (Utility)]This spell, which can usually be cast once per week, allows a spellcaster to summon a single unit.  The player must pay any appropriate costs.  The type of unit summoned is indicated in parentheses in the spellcaster's entry.[/ic]

[ic=Ward (Utility)]Warded units are cloaked from Scrying and Detection and gain a +2 bonus to Defence and Morale against any magical attacks or mind-influencing effects, including ranged attacks that deal psychic damage.  This spell can be cast once per week on a single friendly regiment.  For one week, the regiment is immune to Detection and Scrying from all sources.  This spell does not grant the Infiltration ability to units that don't already possess it.[/ic][/spoiler]

[Steerpike]

[spoiler=Dungeons and Outposts]

Dungeons and Outposts

Dungeons are central to the game of Underdeep, providing troops, producing resources, defending your forces from enemies, and standing as symbols of your subterranean empire.  Also important are Outposts – smaller, defensive bastions designed to protect choke-holds and guard your territory.  Dungeons are built in the Underdeep regions known as caverns: the larger, open spaces on the map, often filled with mushrooms, crystals, magma pools, lakes, ruinous cities, and similar features.  Outposts are built in the regions known as corridors: the narrower, winding tunnels that connect caverns together.  A few regions might seem ambiguous – in this case, check with the DM as to whether they're a cavern or corridor.  Dungeons can contain Rooms, Traps, and Defences; Outposts can only contain Traps and Defences.

All players in Underdeep begin the game with a single Dungeon, called their capitol.  This will be their center of operations, containing their headquarters, a unique structure that cannot be built in any other Dungeon.  As the game progresses, players can capture enemy Dungeons and Outposts or found new Dungeons and Outposts of their own.   They can also attempt to re-inhabit old ruins, if they wish.  The rules in this section will provide players with everything they need to know to build rooms, traps, and defences in their Dungeon, found new Dungeons, and colonize the Dungeons of others.  Rules for sieges and Dungeon assaults are covered in the Battle rules, below.

[ic=Building Rooms]Dungeon features, as a whole, are called structures.  The most important structures in a Dungeon are called Rooms, which include everything from production structures like mines and mushroom patches to recruitment structures to shrines to marketplaces.  Much of your time in Underdeep will be spent deciding which Rooms to build, and where.

No Dungeon can ever contain more than 50 Rooms.  HQ structures and add-ons (anything with an HQ structure as its prerequisite) do not count to this total.  Traps and defences do not count either.

Every Race has their Rooms list, located under their list of Units.  You can build any of the Rooms on this list in a Dungeon (not an Outpost) that you control, even a captured enemy Dungeon – so, for example, if your Kobolds capture a Goblin Dungeon, you could build Kobold Rooms there, not Goblin ones.  Room-building follows only a  few simple rules; most of these rules are, to my mind, fairly intuitive and common-sense, but in case of any confusion, here they are:

1)   You can build any number of Rooms at a time.  There is no "building queue" for Rooms.

2)   You can build one Room of each type in each Dungeon you control, unless otherwise noted in the Rooms description – so, for example, most Food-production Rooms are "Unlimited," meaning you can build as many of them as you like.

3)   You must have all the necessary resources to construct a Room in order to begin construction: you can't spread out payments over the Room's construction time.

4)   You must have all prerequisite Rooms already complete before beginning construction on a Room with prerequisites.  However, note that if you complete a prerequisite Room, you can immediately begin construction on the Room for which it was a prerequisite.  So, for example, if you want to build an Artificer's Hall, which has a Hall of Gears as its prerequisite, you can begin construction immediately as the Hall of Gears finishes, provided you have the funds for the Artificer's Hall.

5)   Prerequisite Rooms must be located in the same Dungeon as the Room they are a prerequisite for.  So, in the above example, if the Dwarf player had a Hall of Gears in one Clanhold but not another, he could build his Artificer's Hall in the Clanhold with the Hall of Gears, but not in the Clanhold without the Hall of Gears.

6)   Once you begin construction on a Room, make a note of it, along with its costs and construction time remaining, in your "Construction" tab of your Orders post.  So, for example, if you are beginning construction on a Duergar Armoury (Construction time of 2 weeks), you would put "Duergar Armoury: -35 Gold, -20 Metal, 2 weeks remaining" under your "Beginning Construction" heading under your Construction tab (see Orders, above, for more on these tabs and how to organize your Rooms and Dungeons).

7)   Once you've paid for a Room – again, such payments   must be "up front" and cannot be spread out – the Room simply continues construction until complete.  After the first week of construction passes, move the Room from the "Beginning Construction" heading to your "Under Construction" heading in your Construction tab.  Remember to deduct one week from the construction time for each week that has passed.  So, for example, the Duergar player from the example above would write "Duergar Armoury: 1 week remaining" on the week after he or she began construction.

8)   As soon as a building's construction time is complete, it can be used immediately.  If it produces resources, it immediately begins doing so, if it can recruit units, it can be used to do so immediately, etc.[/ic]

[ic=Building Traps and Defences]Traps and Defences are built exactly as rooms are, but make sure to note the limit on the number of a particular Trap or Defence you are allowed per Dungeon or Outpost (or, for those with Trapmakers, in a particular region).  These limits are there to ensure that players don't build hundreds of outer walls or dozens of pits, making their Dungeons ludicrously impregnable.

Also, make sure to note if a Trap or Defence replaces a similar Trap of Defence: many Traps and Defences are actually upgrades to pre-existing structures.  This is always noted in the Trap or Defence's description.

Traps and Defences become operational as soon as their construction time is complete.

Most Traps are reset after every battle automatically (certain traps are one-use only; this is always noted in the Trap's description).  Defences that are reduced to 0 Health during a Dungeon assault gain the "Broken" condition, which should be noted in your "Dungeons and Outposts" tab under your Orders.  Broken Defences can be repaired for 50% of their original cost.  Repairs take 1 week to complete, no matter their original construction time.

Demolitions can also give the Broken condition to Rooms and Traps.  The same rules for repairs apply.  Broken structures with no cost (like headquarters structures found in capitols) are simply repaired for free after 1 week.[/ic]

[ic=Canceling Structures]A structure can be canceled at any time while it's still being constructed.  All funds spent on the structure are refunded.  Once completed, structures cannot be dismantled to gain resources back.

Note that if an enemy faction takes control of a Dungeon with incomplete structures, they gain control of those structures.  They can choose to let those structures complete construction, or they can cancel them and gain the refund.  For this reason, it may be wise in some instances to include orders to cancel the construction of certain structures in the event of any attack.[/ic]

[ic=Production Structures]Production structures generally come in three broad varieties: mines, which generate Gold and Metal, farms and similar Rooms that produce Food or Bodies, and trade structures which produce additional Gold or act as marketplaces for the conversion of certain goods (such as slaves) into Gold.

Mines (and Undead Bonegardens) are always linked to finite deposits of resources (usually Gold and Metal, though especially lucky miners may occasionally uncover other strange resources).  Dwarves and Duergar, who possess the "Miners of Great Skill" ability, always know the size of any deposits in regions they have a Dungeon in.  All other races do not know the size of their deposits, and will eventually be informed that their mine (or Bonegarden) has run dry.  Upgraded mines – Improved Mines and Complexes – mine greater amounts of Gold and Metal, which means that they exhaust deposits faster than smaller mines.  The fact that deposits are finite means that every player will eventually need to expand if they wish to perpetuate their empire.  Some Deposits will be very rich in Gold, others in Metal, others still in both.

A depleted deposit can still produce a small trickle of resources.  Such deposits, if mined, produce a meager 20 Gold and 2 Metal every week, no matter the size or complexity of the mine attached to them, or any other factors (like the presence of Dwarf Engineers).

Very, very rarely, miners in a Dungeon may discover a fresh vein of Gold or Metal unexpectedly in a deposit they thought had been mined dry.  Even Dwarves and Duergar cannot predict such windfall.

Other production structures are more "renewable" than mines, and generate resources every week that never become depleted.

Production structures begin producing immediately upon being constructed.  All production is carried out before Upkeep costs and any Construction or Recruitment costs are incurred.  Production should be noted under the "Production" tab of your Orders.[/ic]

[ic=Recruitment Structures]Some structures are used for the recruitment of units.  Once a recruitment Room is completed it can immediately be used to begin recruiting units.  It only allows the recruitment of units in the Dungeon in which it is located.  Units recruited at a Dungeon can be given orders immediately.  They are considered garrisoned in the Dungeon in which they were produced.  Newly recruited units do not incur Upkeep costs immediately: the first Upkeep payment is incurred in the week after they were initially recruited.

So, for example, if a Dark Elf player builds Web Caverns (construction time of 3 weeks) – beginning construction in week 1 and thus completing construction at the beginning of week 4 – he or she could immediately recruit a War Spider (in week 4) provided he or she has the funds (35 Gold).  He or she could give orders to the War Spider during week 4, but the War Spider would not incur its 7 Food Upkeep cost until week 5.[/ic]

[ic=Founding New Dungeons and Outposts]Eventually, you will want to build new Dungeons and Outposts to expand your territory and protect it from invaders.  To found a new Dungeon or Outpost, you must have troops stationed in the region you wish to found it in.  Founding a new Dungeon costs 100 Gold (or 60 Bodies for a Fungoid player); founding an Outpost costs 50 Gold (or 30 Bodies for a Fungoid player).  In either case, laying the foundations for a new Dungeon or Outpost takes 1 week.  After this week has elapsed, your forces can depart from the region if they wish: the Dungeon or Outpost has now been officially founded.  Once a Dungeon or Outpost has been founded you can immediately begin construction on Rooms (if it's a Dungeon) and/or on Traps and Defences (either in a Dungeon or an Outpost).

Dungeons and Outposts that come under attack during their construction are aborted if the player doing the founding is defeated in battle.

There can only be one Dungeon or Outpost per region.  The only exception is with ruins (see Re-inhabiting Ruins, below), and if two Dungeons or Outposts are established on either side of a region containing a chasm but lacking a bridge, which is permissible.

When you found a new Dungeon or Outpost, you must appoint a Commander (for a Dungeon) or a Captain (for an Outpost) – see below.

Note: you cannot found a Dungeon or Outpost on the Surface.[/ic]

[ic=Capturing Enemy Dungeons and Outposts]Players can also capture the Dungeons and Outposts of their enemies.  If they successfully capture a Dungeon or Outpost (see Dungeon Defence in the Battle rules below), they gain control of all of its structures.

When you capture an enemy Dungeon you can use:

- Its production structures, including its mines and all other production Rooms.
- Any Traps and Defences without prerequisites (for example, Murder Holes or Pits).
- Teleportation Circles.
- Arcane Libraries/Memory Wombs/Studies – if your leader is a Spellcaster (Liches, Matriarchs, etc).

You cannot use:

- Its recruitment buildings – unless you're of the same race as the previous owners.
- It's HQ structure i.e. Thane's Hall, Hall of the Goblin King, etc (except for spell rooms like the Lich's study) in a capitol, even if you're of the same race.
- Its Trade structures like Hall of Trade or Slave Market - unless your rooms list also includes these structures (so Duergar could use a Dwarf Hall of Trade, for example).
- Its Armouries - again unless you're a member of the same race.
- Its Shrines - unless you're the same religion as the previous owners (i.e. Kirr Dark Elves couldn't use a regular Dark Elf Shrine).
- Traps and Defences with specific Prerequisites (for example, Dwarf Cannon Batteries).

You also cannot build any new Rooms, Traps, or Defences from the original owner's list - any additional structures you build have to be from your own list.  This means that if you capture a Dwarf Mine as Goblins, for example, you can't build an Improved Dwarf Mine (though if you wanted to I'd let you build an Improved Goblin Mine to replace it).

When you capture a new Dungeon or Outpost, you must appoint a Commander (for a Dungeon) or a Captain (for an Outpost) – see below.[/ic]

[ic=Re-inhabiting Ruins]Ruins can be re-inhabited by your forces and renovated into functioning Dungeons once again.  Re-inhabiting an old Dungeon is exactly the same as founding a new Dungeon except that the initial cost of 100 Gold and the week's wait are waived.  There may even be pre-existing Rooms or Defences in the ruin that you can assume control of.  However, ruins are frequently the lairs of monsters and may contain traps; your troops must first clear the ruins of any squatters before re-inhabiting the ruin.

If a ruin is in the same space as a player's Dungeon, they can exceed the normal 1 Dungeon per cavern limit.  They can even build an additional mine in the Dungeon, breaking the normal "one mine per deposit" rule.  Of course, having multiple mines on the same deposit will only deplete it faster.

When you re-inhabit a ruin, you must appoint a Commander (for a Dungeon) or a Captain (for an Outpost) – see below.[/ic]

[ic=Commanders and Captains]When you found a new Dungeon or Outpost, capture an enemy's, or re-inhabit a ruin, the new Dungeon or Outpost must be given into the care of a Commander (for a Dungeon) or a Captain (for an Outpost).  This happens after the 1 week construction time in the case of new Dungeons.  This is accomplished by promoting one of the units in the region containing the Dungeon or Outpost.  The unit in question must be given a name and a brief back-story; perhaps they are kindred to the Faction's leader, or they are a trusted officer being rewarded for their service.  Commanders and Captains immediately gain the Leadership ability.  Fungoid Commanders and Captains lose their Lifespan, surviving indefinitely (if later demoted, their Lifespan resumes).  Commanders and Captains have no Upkeep cost, and are assumed to be paid and fed out of the same special reserves as your leader.  You don't have to pay the Upkeep costs of a Commander or Captain in the turn they're promoted.

Commanders also gain +10 Health and +2 to all Attack, Damage, Defence, and Morale characteristics (Melee or Ranged, if they possess a Ranged attack).  Troops garrisoned in a Dungeon with a Commander gain +1 Morale.  Undead Commanders impart +1 Health to other Undead units instead.

Captains gain +5 Health and +1 to all Attack, Damage, Defence, and Morale characteristics.  Troops garrisoned in an Outpost with a Captain gain +1 Morale.  Undead Captains impart +1 Health to other Undead units instead.

Commanders and Captains should be garrisoned in their Dungeon or Outpost.  They should not leave this garrison unless the Dungeon or Outpost is conquered and they escape, or in times of extreme crisis.  Ultimately no concrete rule binds a Commander or Captain to their Dungeon or Outpost, but they should only leave their post under unusual circumstances.

If you feel that no unit in the region containing the new Dungeon qualifies to be made Commander or Captain – perhaps your current army consists entirely of Tunnel Hulks or Iron Golems – you can appoint another unit elsewhere as Commander or Captain.  In this case, the new Commander or Captain should travel immediately to their new Dungeon or Outpost.  If no appropriate units can be found in your entire army anywhere on the map, the Dungeon or Outpost must do without a Commander or Captain until a suitable individual can be assigned to the post.

If a Commander or Captain is killed but their Dungeon or Outpost remains in your possession, a replacement must be appointed, preferably from the ranks of those units garrisoned at the Dungeon or Outpost.  if you are dissatisfied with a Commander or Captain you can choose to demote them and replace them with a different unit.  They lose all of their bonuses and Leadership abilities if you do so.[/ic]

[ic=Building Bridges]Bridges are constructed similarly to Dungeons or Outposts, taking 1 week and costing 75 Gold and 50 Metal.  If enemy units hold one side of the bridge, it cannot be constructed.[/ic][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Units]

Units

Units are used to carry out almost any order you give in Underdeep.  They vary wildly in power, quantity, type, and ability, and so a thorough understanding of how your various creatures act and interact is vital.  A full compendium of both unit Abilities and Spells can be found above.  These rules explain how to recruit, maintain, and give orders to units.

It is important to realize that while you give orders to units, you do not directly control them.  You play as a leader or general, a Dwarven Thane, Goblin King, Ceremorph Overbrain, etc.  Your units are usually loyal to you and will do their best to carry out your orders, but sometimes they do unexpected things.  They are characters in and of themselves and may have opinions, fears, and desires of their own.  Bear this in mind as you play, and while you should generally expect your units to do as they're told, don't be too surprised if occasionally they don't follow out your orders to the letter.

[ic=Recruiting Units]Recruiting units is very simple.  You recruit units at Dungeons, and in order to recruit a unit, you must possess its prerequisite structures in the specific Dungeon they were recruited at.  To recruit a unit, you must immediately pay its costs, in full.  You do not have to pay its Upkeep during the first week it is recruited: Upkeep only comes into play after one week following a unit's recruitment.  Units are recruited instantly, with one major exception – Fungoids, which have a maturation time (explained in the Fungoid rules).

Newly recruited units should be noted, with their costs, in the Recruitment tab of your Orders.  They should be recorded a second time along with other units in the Armies tab.  Their numbers, type, location, and current state (garrisoned, entrenched, diseased, etc) should be noted here as well.

Newly recruited units can act immediately.  They are automatically garrisoned in the Dungeon in which they were recruited.[/ic]

[ic=Grouping Units]Units are organized into two types of group: armies and regiments.  Armies consist of all regiments garrisoned in a given Dungeon or Outpost, or located in a region together.  Armies can be split and divided as you wish – they are not bound together but can be ordered as you please into different regions, at which point they become distinct armies. 

Example:

20 Orc Raiders and 10 Orc Axe-Throwers are stationed in Upperdeep 10.  Because they share a region, these units are considered a single army.  The Orc Warlord orders the Axe-Throwers to remain in Upperdeep 10 but sends the Raiders to Upperdeep 15.  At this point the two regiments become two armies, one in Upperdeep 10 and the other moving to Upperdeep 15.

Regiments consist of groups of units of the same type (and sometimes an attached Leader – see the Leadership ability, above).  Regiments consist of up to 50 individual units.  At 50 or 51 units (your choice), the regiment is split into two regiments of 25 each or 25 and 26.

Example 1:

53 Dark Elf Swordsmen are garrisoned in a Dungeon.  Instead of forming one regiment of 50 Swordsmen  and one of 3 Swordsmen, the Dark Elves form two regiments, one of 26 Swordsmen and one of 27 Swordsmen.

Example 2:

75 Goblin Grunts are stationed in a region.  Instead of forming one regiment of 50 Grunts and one of 25 Grunts, they would be split into two regiments, one of 37 Grunts and one of 38 Grunts.

Example 3:

103 Dwarven Axemen are garrisoned at an Outpost.  Instead of forming two regiments of 50 each and one of 3, the Axemen are split into regiments of 25, 26, 26, and 26 Axemen.

Being absolutely exact about splitting regiments isn't vitally important, but consider the above rules definite guidelines – you can't decide to have 10 regiments of 5 units each, for example!

Large and Huge units of the same type form regiments exactly as normal-sized units do.  Spellcasters likewise form regiments if they're of the same type.

You can still split up regiments if you need to send some units to different regions.  So, in the Orc example above, if the Warlord wanted to leave 5 of the Raiders with his Axe-Throwers (or whatever), that would be quite possible.  Like armies, regiments are not "bound" together or stuck in one formation; regimentation is simply a way of organizing troops to facilitate combat.[/ic]

[ic=Upkeep]With some exceptions – notably many Undead units – units incur Upkeep costs.  These costs are incurred every turn, and vary from unit to unit.  Upkeep must be paid if you are able to pay it: you cannot withhold Upkeep to pay for additional defences or units, for example.  Upkeep costs are deducted from your total Wealth after your production structures generate resources, hopefully ameliorating any cash-flow issues.

There may be circumstances in which you cannot pay a unit's Upkeep – perhaps your mine was captured or your mushroom farms were blown up (or maybe you just planned your army poorly).  Several things can happen at this point.

1)   If the unpaid Upkeep was Gold, your units suffer a cumulative -1 to Morale for each week they go unpaid.  So, for example, if a Dark Elf Crossbowman (2 Gold Upkeep, +2 Morale under normal conditions) isn't paid her Gold Upkeep, her Morale bonus will drop to +1 the first week she goes unpaid, +0 the second week, -1 the third week, etc.

If a unit's Morale bonus ever drops a number of points below zero equal to their normal Morale bonus, they must immediately make a DC 10 Morale check or desert, becoming wandering monsters and fleeing to the nearest unoccupied region.  So, in the above example, if the Corssbowman's Morale dropped to -2, she would have to pass a DC 10 Morale check (with a -2 modifier, of course!) or immediately desert.  Desertion checks continue for each week the Unit remains unpaid.

To restore a unit's Morale, it must be paid all Gold Upkeep owing it in full.  Its Morale continues to drop until all owing Gold Upkeep is repaid; paying part of this Gold Upkeep does not improve its Morale correspondingly.

2)   If the unpaid Upkeep is Metal, the unit's weapons begin to deteriorate.  For each week of unpaid Metal Upkeep the unit suffers a cumulative -1 penalty to all Attacks.  So, for example, if a Dwarf Rifleman (1 Metal Upkeep, +4 Ranged Attack, +2 Melee Attack) isn't paid his Metal Upkeep, his Attacks drop to +3 and +1 the first week, +2 and +0 the second week, etc.  This continues until the Metal Upkeep owing is paid in full.  Again, partially paying Upkeep owed does not restore part of the penalty.  Metal Upkeep can represent ammunition, spare parts, replacement weapons, and similar gear.

3)   If the unpaid Upkeep is in Food or Bodies, the unit begins to starve.  They not only suffer a Morale penalty exactly as if their Gold Upkeep were paid, they have their Health lowered by 1 for each full week they go without being fed.  Healing and Regeneration have no effect on this.  As with all other forms of Upkeep, Food and Bodies owing must be repaid in full to remove penalties and restore a unit to full Health.  Units whose Morale is lowered due to starvation must also make desertion checks as with unpaid Gold Upkeep.

4)   Constructs whose Upkeep isn't paid – whatever form it takes – immediately come to a full halt and cannot move, attack, or otherwise function until its Upkeep is paid in full.  Having no Morale scores, they never desert.

Note: Units make Morale checks for desertion and suffer Upkeep penalties individually, not as a regiment.  This is because it's quite possible that some members of a regiment may be paid/fed/maintained and others not.  In this case, they will be treated distinctly in battle for Morale checks etc but will still be considered part of the same regiment for targeting purposes and the like.[/ic]

[ic=Ordering Units]Units can be given orders of any complexity you like.  They can be told to move, attack, entrench themselves, scout, forage, cast spells – any number of actions, many of which are described below in Movement or Battle rules.  Do not feel limited by these actions, however, and feel free to give your units unusual orders.  The DM will figure out any relevant Speed requirements for unorthodox or creative actions.  Some units, of course, may not be capable of certain actions: only units with the Tunneling ability can dig tunnels, only Infiltrators can set up ambushes, etc.[/ic]

[ic=Dissmissing Units]Very occasionally, you may wish to dismiss units from your service.  You can do so at any time.  Dismissed units are removed from your Army list and no longer incur Upkeep.  However, beware dismissing units with unpaid Gold Upkeep.  Such units have a nasty tendency to turn to banditry or even to join the enemies of their former masters.  Dismissed units may also show up later as mercenaries, hiring themselves out to other armies; a dismissed Dark Elf Assassin, for example, might decide to offer its services to an Orc Warlord or Duergar Despot.  Once you've dismissed a unit, of course, you lose control of that unit permanently.  You can sometimes hire back specific units you've dismissed, but they may be wary of joining your forces given their dismissal.[/ic]

[ic=Hiring Mercenaries]Mercenaries of a variety of races roam the Underdeep selling their services to the highest bidder.  Such mercenaries often have much in common with Adventurers, but are willing to enter the service of the less savoury races (some may still have particular prejudices – Duergar mercenaries would never let themselves be hired by Ceremorphs, for example).

Mercenaries companies may approach you, or you may be informed of their presence in or near your territory and may approach them yourself.  They tend to be expensive and charge especially high amounts of Upkeep, and generally expect to be fed as well as paid.  However, mercenary units often have abilities that your own units may lack, including unique abilities not available to the units of other races.  For this reason they can be an excellent investment.  Hired mercenaries instantly come under your control just as if they were recruited.

If mercenaries aren't paid their Upkeep in full every week, they immediately desert without any Morale check.

Mercenaries are often attracted to wealthy empires.  Those with stockpiled Gold (who choose not to spend all of their income every turn) are often approached by mercenaries seeking to hire themselves out.

Mercenaries can also be paid upfront for a certain contracted period, at an amount negotiated by you and the mercenary leader, in which case you don't need to pay their weekly Upkeep while the contract remains.  They may charge a premium for such contracts.  When such contracts expire the mercenaries may decide to leave your service or may offer to remain in it provided you pay their Upkeep every week.[/ic][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Movement and Terrain]

Movement and Terrain

Movement

During a unit's turn it can move a number of regions equal to its Speed.  There are a number of actions, however, that use up Speed.

If a unit simply lacks sufficient Speed to move through terrain, it needs to find a way to get its Speed increased (like a Haste spell or Forced March) or it just can't traverse the terrain - it'd get swept away in a river, too clumsy for mountains, etc.

Outposts block the movement of enemies and wandering monsters - corridors are too narrow to traverse if an outpost blocks the path.  Caverns, however, are vast and spacious, and so Dungeons do not impede enemy movement, unless you have units entrenched in your Dungeon's cavern.

Moving between levels (except if using chasms - see terrain below) uses no additional Speed - regions connected by a cave entrance are considered adjacent.

[ic=Setting Up an Ambush]Only Infiltrator units can use this action, which takes 2 Speed unless otherwise noted.  See the Infiltrator ability for details.[/ic]

[ic=Scouting]An entire regiment can use 1 of its collective Speed (i.e. the entire regiment uses 1 Speed/unit) to scout a neighbouring region.  Scouting reveals the numbers and types of any enemy troops, the quality of any defences, and any other significant features of the region.  Infiltrated troops are not revealed (unless you possess a Detector), nor are traps or other hidden features.

Note: Scouting a region is not considered moving into it.  Thus, sneak-attacks and traps are not activated, battle is not joined with enemy troops encamped in the region, wandering monsters in the scouted region are not encountered, and features like magma and other hazards do not affect the scouts.  You might think of Scouting as similar to a short-range Scry (see Spells, above) that doesn't reveal hidden features like infiltrated units or traps.[/ic]

[ic=Fishing]Use 2 Speed to fish for 1 Food per unit, provided you're in a region with water.  You can spend more Speed to fish for additional Food.  Remember to calculate amounts per unit – 10 Goblin Grunts who spend all 4 of their Speed fishing would thus come away with 20 Food total.  Garrisoned or entrenched units cannot fish.[/ic]

[ic=Foraging]Use 1 Speed to gather 1 Food, provided you're in a region with a mushroom forest.  You can spend more Speed to forage more Food.  Remember to calculate amounts per unit – 20 Dwarven Axemen who spend 2 Speed each Foraging come away with a glorious 40 Food total.  Garrisoned or entrenched units cannot forage.[/ic]

[ic=Entrenching]An entire regiment can use 1 of its collective Speed (i.e. the entire regiment uses 1 Speed/unit) to take up a defensive position, perhaps digging trenches or setting up other fortifications.  Entrenched troops gain +1 Defence.  You can entrench troops outside of a Dungeon or Outpost if you wish – in this case, they are encamped outside the Dungeon walls instead of being positioned within it.

Once entrenched, units remain entrenched until given additional orders.  If told to do something that breaks entrenchment - foraging, fishing, investigating a ruin, moving, scouting, etc - you must use 1 Speed to re-entrench a regiment.

Units entrenched in a territory with an enemy Dungeon or Outpost have besieged it.  You can choose to assault a Dungeon or Outpost instead of besieging it (see the Battle rules, below).  Non-garrisoned defenders in the region attack you as normal, and garrisoned defenders can later choose to charge forth and attempt to break the siege on subsequent turns, if they wish.[/ic]

[ic=Garrisoning]Use 1 Speed to garrison a friendly Dungeon or Outpost.  Garrisoned troops gain +1 Defence and can't be attacked until all Defences are breached, though ranged troops and spellcasters can still attack enemy units with impunity.  Note that leaving a Dungeon doesn't use extra Speed.[/ic]

[ic=Tunneling]See the Tunneling ability for details.[/ic]

[ic=Setting Demolition Charges]See the Demolitions ability for details.[/ic]

[ic=Investigating]A unit can use 1 Speed investigating a ruin or other Underdeep feature.  If there are hostile creatures in the ruin, they will automatically engage them in battle unless given explicit orders to withdraw.[/ic]

[ic=Fording a River]Use 2 Speed to ford a river or traverse a lake (your units build boats if necessary).  The Darksea takes 4 Speed to traverse, and can take multiple turns to navigate, except for Amphibious units like Watchers, who treat it as a single region.  Bridges, of course, can be navigated without using additional Speed.

Rivers and lakes cannot be scouted across if they form part of a region's border.[/ic]

[ic=Avoiding Magma]Use 1 Speed to reduce the Attack roll of magma by 1.  You can reduce this below 0, but the magma still gets an attack against you, just at a penalty.[/ic]

[ic=Forced March]In extreme circumstances, troops can be pushed to travel very quickly with minimal rest.  Units can be made to move additional spaces, up to double their Speed.  For each space they move in excess of their Speed, however, they suffer a -1 penalty to Attack and Morale scores.  Thus, for example, a regiment of Goblin Grunts could be made to move up to 8 regions, but they would suffer a -4 to penalty to Attack rolls (meaning their Attack score would be at -2) and Morale rolls (their Morale would be at -3).  These penalties remain until the regiment spends at least 1 turn moving normally; if they continue on a Forced March the penalties are cumulative.  Thus, using the example above, if the Goblins were made to move 8 regions for 2 weeks in a row, they would suffer -8 penalties to Attack and Morale, for a dismal total of -6 to Attack and -7 to Morale.  Woe be to the fatigued army that stumbles into an ambush or happens upon a wandering monster!

While you can nominally use Speed to perform actions other than moving and then use Forced March to move additional regions, you must use Forced March to move.  Thus, for example, a Goblin Grunt could not use the "Forced March" action to forage in a mushroom forest using 8 Speed and so gather 8 Food.  He could use his normal 4 Speed to forage for 4 Food and then use Forced March to move up to 4 regions.

Note: Constructs, Vermin, Undead, and any other creatures without a Morale score cannot use the Forced March action.[/ic]

[ic=Scavenge]Bodies can be scavenged from battlefields and used for a variety of unsavoury purposes.  A unit can use 1 Speed to scavenge 1 Body if a Body is present in the region being scavenged.   Graveyards can also be scavenged in this way (for further details, see the Raiding rules).

Note that immediately after a battle, the victor automatically claims control of any Bodies if he wishes, and need not spend additional Speed scavenging for the dead.[/ic]

[ic=Other Actions]Check with the DM to see how much Speed other actions take.[/ic]

Terrain

[ic=Mushrooms]Mushrooms grow wild in the Underdeep, and can be a valuable source of Food.  A Dungeon or Outpost built in a region with mushrooms produces an additional +25 Food per week.  Large swathes of mushrooms can be moved through, using 2 Speed.  Huge creatures ignore this penalties, since they simply rush through the mushrooms.  Flying units likewise move unimpeded through thickly forested regions.  Monsters and Fungoids often lurk in mushroom forests, so beware!

Note: Caverns and corridors that simply possess mushrooms do count for bonus Food and can be foraged, but do not impede units.  The only time units are impeded is when they must cross through thickly forested areas (for example, moving from Middledeep 37 to Middledeep 39).[/ic]

[ic=Crystals]Certain regions of the Underdeep are rich in valuable crystals.  A Dungeon built in a region including a crystal field produces +20 Gold per week.  Crystals are also useful in magic.  Spells cast during battle in a region with crystals last twice as long as normal.  Utility spells can be cast twice as many times (so if a spell can be cast 1/week it can now be cast 2/week).  If a room adds to the number of times a spell can be cast per week – such as a Hall of Runes for Dwarf Runeseers – these additional uses are added after the crystals double the normal number of times the spell can be cast (so a Runeseer in a Dungeon with a Hall of Runes and crystals could cast Scry three times per week, for example).

Crystal-rich regions can sometimes attract unusual monsters and produce unexpected magical effects.  If a spell calls for an attack roll, a natural 1 or 20 will produce some unusual effect when the spell is cast.  For example it might enlarge every unit in a targeted regiment (+2 Attack, +2 Damage, +5 Health, -2 Defence, Large size) for a combat round; or it might make them temporarily Vulnerable to Acid damage; or it might transform them all into Cave Beetles for a combat round.  There is no way to predict such chaotic effects.[/ic]

[ic=Water]Underground streams, lakes, and even seas are common in the Underdeep and on the Surface.  Regions containing water can be fished; a Dungeon or Outpost built in a region with a lake, pool, or stream produces an additional 10 Food per week.  Water can be crossed through – rivers forded, for example – at a cost of 2 Speed.  Aquatic monsters are common, as are creatures dwelling along the shores of subterranean lakes.

Bridges negate the fording penalty.  Units with insufficient Speed to cross a river simply cannot cross.[/ic]

[ic=Magma]Magma is treacherous.  Any regiment entering, passing through, or encamped (or entrenched) in a region with magma gets "attacked" by the magma up to once per week, just as if they'd set off a trap; the magma has +6 to hit and deals 30 Fire damage if it hits.  This hazard is negated only if the troops in question have a Dungeon or Outpost in the region.  Battles fought in regions with magma are also perilous: magma affects both sides, unless one side owns a Dungeon or Outpost in the region, in which case the magma only affects the attacker(s).

Flying and Climbing units ignore magma, as do those with Immunity to Fire.  Duergar, with their Magmacraft ability, also ignore magma.

Note: Dungeons and Outposts that have not yet been formally founded do not count for magma-negation purposes.[/ic]

[ic=Chasms]Chasms are impassable save for Flying units, unless they are spanned by a bridge.  Flying units can not only pass over chasms, they can use them to travel between layers of the Underdeep if the chasm is continuous, using 1 Speed per level traversed.  In some cases they can also travel along chasms (as opposed to across them) to other regions, which also uses 1 Speed.

Climbing units can also pass down chasm walls, but they cannot pass over shasms unless sthey first descend to the bottom of the chasm and then climb up the other side.  This means that if a Climbing unit begins in the Upperdeep and wants to get to the other side of a shasm that extends all the way down to the Lowerdeep, it must use a total of 6 Speed to do so (1 to climb down to the Middledeep, 1 to climb down to the Lowerdeep, 1 to climb down to the bottom of the shasm, 1 to ascend again to the Lowerdeep, 1 to ascend to the Middledeep, and 1 more to ascend to the Upperdeep again).[/ic]

[ic=Mountains]Mountains on the Surface require 3 Speed to traverse and are perilous, attacking like a trap (+3 Attack, 10 Damage, affects every regiment impeded by mountains; unlike magma, this cannot be mitigated).  Climbing and Flying units can pass over or through mountains unimpeded.  If a unit lacks sufficient Speed to traverse mountains in a single turn, it is too clumsy to navigate the mountains, though the Forced March action can be used to boost a unit's speed to pass through mountains, since traversing them is considered movement.[/ic]

[ic=Woodlands]The strange woods of the Surface impede troops in the Underdeep.  Traversing a wooded region uses 2 Speed, though Huge and Flying units move through woodlands unimpeded.  Woodlands can also be foraged like mushroom forests, but require 2 Speed to generate 1 Food, since the woods are unfamiliar.  Wood Elves, Treants, and other unpleasant Toplanders often lurk in woodlands, along with wolves and other creatures.[/ic]

[ic=Swamps]These murky marshlands are difficult to move through and contain dangerous sinkholes.  Moving through a swampy region uses 2 Speed, except for Flying and Huge creatures, which pass through unimpeded.  Those impeded by swamps are also "attacked" by the sinkholes (+4 Attack, 10 Damage, affects every regiment impeded by swamps; unlike magma, this cannot be mitigated).[/ic]

[ic=Oceans]Oceans are impassable, though Watchers and other aquatic or amphibious units may be entrenched in the brackish shallows if they wish.  Units can also fish in coastal regions.[/ic]

[ic=Sunlight]Units who spend more than 1 week on the Surface begin to take Morale penalties from sunlight.  They take a -1 penalty every week they spend on the Surface past the first (they can even desert if their Morale gets too low - see under Upkeep in the Unit rules).  Some creatures, like Undead, are also damaged by sunlight (see the Undead rules).[/ic][/spoiler]