User Guide

the new characters here to be trained and returned to the Castle
Quite a Castle isn't it? You should have seen it in its heyday before Trebor went mad.
Be careful with what you say, Trebor suspects everyone! Here it is, the best place in
the Castle to find men for a dangerous foray, Gilgamesh's Tavern.
Surveying the smoky room, we see mostly green novices, fresh from their instructions
in the Training Grounds but without armor or weapons yet... The talk in the room
goes silent as we walk into the Tavern. I announce that I'm forming a team to foray
into the Maze, and ask that any who want to be added to team step forward to be
considered. Everyone who is in the Castle will respond to that call, even the dead and
disabled. I'll pick out our new team of trained novices. Now on to Boltac's Trading
Post to buy them armor and weapons.
Being a Smart Consumer
Watch me very carefully here. I am going to deliberately make a mistake in judgment.
This is one that every greenie makes, but not us old pros. See if you can spot the
problem.
I'll first send in Derf, the dwarf fighter. Let see now, he only had 105 gold pieces. He
can buy a long sword (25 gp), a small shield (20 gp) and only leather armor (50 gp)
with 10 gp left. That pretty set of chain mail over on the wall will have to wait.
Next is Thomas the Fair, the other fighter. He has 115 gp, so he has just enough to
buy a long sword (25), leather armor (50), and a large shield (40). That large shield will
give Thomas the Fair an extra AC point of protection. That may save his life on this
foray.
Third is Snatch, the hobbit thief. His 100 gp buys him a short sword for 15 (thieves
can't use long swords or maces), a small shield for 20 (neither can they use large
shields), and leather armor (50) with a nest egg of 15 gp remaining.
Prior Sebastion, the gnome priest finds that his 125 gp will buy him an anointed mace
(priests can't use edged weapons) for 30 gp, large shield (40), and leather armor (50),
and that he has 5 gp left over.
It is really easy to outfit the two mages, Alfredo and Gabriella. All they can use are
robes (15) and either a dagger (5) or staff (10). Their protection is in their magic and
being in the back of the party. They rely on the fighting types to protect them. Both
get staffs, so they each only spend 25 gp. Alfredo had started with 90 gp, so he has 65
gp left over, but Gabriella had started with a whopping 155 gp, so she has 130 gp left.
That's 195 gp combined!
Aha, the light dawns I see. Yes, a suit of chain mail cost only 90. If I pool the team's
gold together, I can buy 2 suits of chain mail for my fighters. Let's go back into
Boltac's and do that.
Why Boltac always makes a Profit
Well, first Derf needs to sell back to Boltac the leather armor he just bought. What
language, my dear friend! Yes, Boltac will only pay you half the value of the leather
armor when he buys it back. He only gave you 25 gp for it. See what you have to
learn? Now I'll Pool the gold to Derf. Neat, he has a total of 250 gp. (225 total
leftover team gp + 25 gp from the sale of leather armor to Boltac). The chain mail
costs 90 gp, so there is 160 left over. Let's see, if Derf sells back his small shield for 10,
he will have enough to also buy a large shield for 40 and still have enough gold (130) to
pass on to Thomas the Fair for his suit of chain mail. I'll do it. Now to bring Thomas
the Fair back into Boltac's. He, likewise, sells his own leather armor for 25 gp, and has
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Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord