8.0 Monsters, Negotiation and Bribery

General Rule: The Citadel is peopled by a horde of gruesome monsters and the one super-villain, X the Unknown. During play, the party will come upon monsters which they may either negotiate with, bribe, or fight. A successful negotiation will allow the party to resume play without having to fight. Should negotiation fail, the party may attempt to bribe the monster. Should both negotiation and bribery fail, or not be attempted, then the party must fight. As a result of combat, the monsters will either kill the party or be killed. If the monsters are killed, the party may take any treasure the monsters were carrying and may investigate any feature in the room.

Procedure: When the party enters a segment, a check must be made for the presence of monsters. If the segment entered is a room which has never been entered before, one member of the party rolls 1D6, and if the result is 1, 2, or 3, the room contains a room monster. Consult the Room Monster Table (8.3). If the party is entering a room it has entered in a previous Game-Turn, or if the party is entering any corridor, the segment is occupied by a wandering monster on a roll 1. Consult the Wandering Monster Table (8.3).

Cases:

8.1 Should a die roll result call for an encounter with a monster, the Room Monster Table or the Wandering Monster Table is referred to, as appropriate.

One party member rolls 1D6 twice and cross-indexes the two die rolls to find the type and number of monsters in that segment (see Level Chart, 6.7, for modifications).

8.2 Monster Characteristics Chart

(see charts and tables)

8.3 Monster Tables

(see charts and tables)

Room Monster Table

Wandering Monster Table

8.4 The Players may decide to negotiate with any monster except a demon or X the Unknown.

The Negotiation Value of the monster is located on the Monster Characteristics Chart and is used regardless of the number of monsters being negotiated with. A member of the party rolls 2D6 and subtracts the monster's Negotiation Value from the roll. The die roll may also be modified by the character's negotiation skill which is added to the die roll ("Negotiation +2" would add 2, for example). Negotiation spells may also affect the roll (see 10.7). The final die total is then located on the Negotiation Table to determine the result.

8.5 Negotiation Table

(see charts and tables)

8.6 Negotiation Table Results

There are three possible results on the Negotiation Table:

Failure. The attempt has failed, and the party may either attempt to bribe the monster or the party and monster must fight.

Agreement. The monster will leave the party alone, unless the party attacks the monster. The party is free to investigate any room features and exit the segment by any corridor or doorway. The monster counters remain in play to mark the location of the monster.

Intimidate. Monsters are intimidated and will leave the party alone, and those with treasure will give one-quarter of their gold marks to the party to avoid being killed. The party may still attack the monster even if an intimidate result occurs (they may want all of the monster's treasure).

8.7 Bribery is a type of negotiation which may be attempted should negotiation fail (demons and X the Unknown may not be bribed).

To use the Bribery Table (8.9), cross-index the sum of the Wound Points plus Negotiation Value of the strongest (in Wound Points) monster in the group, with the amount in Gold Marks (and/or equivalent in jewels) offered by the party. The indicated number is the number the party must roll equal to or less than using 1D6 to successfully bribe the monsters. Success is the equivalent to an "agreement" (see 8.6) on the Negotiation Table. Should the attempt fail, the monsters attack the party first in the Combat Sequence (the party forfeits its first Party Combat Phase). After combat, the party may reclaim their lost money as well as the monster's treasure.

8.8 Only one bribery attempt may be made per encounter regardless of the number of monsters encountered or the number of characters in the party.

8.9 Bribery Table

(see charts and tables)