BIMR5

PUBLISHED RULES USED

Core Rules:
• 2nd Edition/3rd Edition Core Rules & Lists will be referenced. The Third Edition Rules dated 9/15/02 and available on www.thewinternet.com/MR/ will be the primary reference with the Second Edition Rules, if listed, marked in brackets.

Advanced Rules (2nd Edition):
• Caching
• Pack Horses
• Ambushes
• Serious Wounds

Optional Rules (2nd Edition):
• Seasons and Weather
• Optional Abilities - All character optional abilities are truly optional (i.e., you can choose whether or not to use them with your character) except those listed for the Elf and the Knight's adjustment described below, which are required

Other Rules (see below)
• Optional Abilities: Knight's Adjustment
• Enhanced Visitors


BOARD BUILDING
• Players will build the board. Each player will be dealt tiles and decide where each tile goes in order. Players will also place Visitor/Mission chits after character selection.

SELECTING CHARACTERS
• When it is a player's turn to place a tile and he has no more tiles to place, he may then select a character for his team from those characters remaining unpicked. At the same time he will announce which native group he will select the character's starting equipment from.

STARTING INFO AND SCORING
• Before the Dwellings are revealed, the players will secretly notify the gamemaster of their Victory Requirements (6 VPs needed in MIDSUMMER), their starting location (if they have a choice), recorded spells, and any Magic chits to begin the game enchanted.

UNLIMITED COMMUNICATION
• Characters may communicate privately with other characters, no matter where they are on the board. The GM appreciates being copied on these just for fun, but it is not required.

EXPANDED MEETING TABLE OPPORTUNITIES
• If, when rolling on the Meeting Table, you roll an OPPORTUNITY result, you may ignore the OPPORTUNITY and instead take the "2" result in the same column.

KNIGHT'S ADJUSTMENT
This rule is an additional optional disadvantage to the Black Knight and White Knight to prevent them from becoming too powerful early in the game by exploiting their "Fear" and "Honor" advantages:
• The Black Knight is "Friendly" not "Allied" with the Company.
• The White Knight is "Friendly" not "Allied" with the Order.

WANDERERS ( ENHANCED VISITORS)
Wanderers are really a form of enhanced visitor. The idea behind wanderers is to have at least one visitor that plays a more active role in the game and allows more of the spells and treasures to get out during the game. The wanderers also provide an opportunity to introduce new treasures not found in the game, and to allow a person running an e-mail game to participate more actively in the play (similar to the NPC concept in D&D). Each wanderer is a cross between one of the visitor chits and one of the characters. The wanderer chosen for use in a game should be one that is not similar to any character selected by the players, and the corresponding visitor chit should not be used (it always remains other side up). It is also best if the wanderer chosen uses a different type of magic than the characters in the game, to avoid competing with them for certain types of treasures.

Each wanderer has a quest of their own to fulfill in the game, which provides context to their actions. They are searching for one or more particular items or spells, and will disappear if their quest is fulfilled. The wanderers will not buy or sell items, but will only trade items or information in an attempt to fulfill their quest. They can freely access items in inaccessible places in the game for trade with characters (though this is limited so as not to noticeably reduce the items available for looting or trading). They each have certain other non-standard items that can also be traded. They move around the board, either at night or after all the players have taken their daylight turns, so that the players always know where they are. Their actions, however, are concealed from the players, as are trades that the players make with the wanderers. This makes them a bit mysterious.

Each wanderer has the starting spells or treasures of the visitor they represent, as well as any treasures that are discarded to that visitor during the game. They also have the weapons, starting spells, and combat/magic chits that the character normally has. Their starting spells should be chosen after the spells for the visitor are placed, so as not to duplicate their visitor spells. Some can be killed, others not. They are subject to normal combat rules on the rare occasions when they may be involved, EXCEPT all fatigued chits automatically are rested overnight and magic chits re-enchanted (other exceptions are noted in the wanderer descriptions below). Like visitors, Wanderers do not have carrying capacity or weight limitations, and like hired native leaders, their treasures are hidden (they cannot be obtained by killing them).

The Wanderers do not record victory points nor compete with the characters to win the game. They are only involved in their particular quest. All Wanderers start the game at a random board location, and their actions largely consist of Move or Fly phases. They try to move around the board as much as possible, to provide each character the opportunity of trading with them. They can use their magic chits to enchant tiles, but are not required to use the SPX phase (they only need a single SP phase). They will always trade items that are commensurate with the value (to them) of the information or items provided them by a character, and whether minor or substantial, the items will always be selected to be useful to the particular character trading with them. In all cases, the items, information, or spells traded will be at the sole discretion of the Wanderer (game master) and should be useful while not dramatically changing the game balance (exception: when the character finds something that fulfills the Wanderer’s quest they should receive a gift of great value).

Eduinae, Daughter of the Forest-People

Eduinae hails from a neighboring kingdom and is a frightened but determined emmissary from her people. She represents a band of forest-dwellers driven into poverty and slavery by an evil and oppressive overlord, Beren the Black. Beren and his ragged but effective army of Black Hands is close to achieving permanent subjugation of the forest people, and Eduinae is on a desperate mission to find help, magical or otherwise, before it's too late. Upon her arrival in the Realm (in DW5) she sought out the help of the Woodfolk to spread her pleas to any adventurers that might be travelling the land... even those of somewhat frightening disposition. Eduinae knows that none of the adventurers can accompany her home, but she is hoping to obtain some useful items or learn new skills she can take back with her to better help her people revolt against the Overlord. She has come prepared with some useful items and skills of her own to teach anyone who can help her.

Eduinae is represented on the board with the Revolt chit, which was originally located with the Woodfolk. She can walk the woods in any tile, regardless of the type of clearing. She is searching for the following items and will trade treasures and trinkets for them:

- Potions to heal the tired and wounded
- Information on any item, site location, or visitor where she can obtain or learn the Persuade, Illusion, and/or Lost spells to help befuddle Beren the Black's armies (cannot be learned directly from a character)
- Items that would help the forestfolk hide from the enemy
- Items that would bring the forest fighters luck or wishes (they need all the help they can get)
- Items or spells that increase the forest fighters' speed or agility
- Any light- or medium-weight bow or magical sword (Elf cannot trade his starting equipment, however)

She is also searching for the following fabled treasures that she believes would give her beleaguered people a winning edge against the Black Hands. For these she will give the greatest rewards her people have to offer. If she finds two of these three she will return home with whatever treasures and spells she has been able to find so far, as the urgency of her people's plight constantly weighs on her mind:

- Timeless Jewel (to stay one step ahead of the enemy)
- Eye of the Moon (to use the power of nature and weather against Beren's armies)
- Flowers of Rest (unlimited healing for the forest fighters and powerful elven magic)

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