AD&D solitaire adventure
Neck o' th' Woods - a pastorale

	Taking advantage of warm weather, you are unhurriedly wending your way crosscountry into a more forested region, when you are approached by a rambling flock of sheep overseen by a barefoot young shepherdess who wears a tattered dress and a fringed stole. She tells you she is looking to recover the herd ram, which charged off in pursuit of something it saw in the nearby woodline and likely got lost seeking shelter deeper in those trees and shrubs. She is leading the rest of the flock around the margin of this extended arm of the forest, but is afraid to enter in any farther as this place is rumored to be a fairy haunt and she might be trapped and unable to return: having herself been one of those strange babies who are often branded as changelings.
	If you would care to brave a passage into the woods, she will give you her shepherd's crook; by which the ram, should you come across it, may recognize you as friendly and follow you out to where you can meet up with her across on the other side of the woodlands. And just to make extra sure, she removes a beaded feather she wears as an ornament and ties it with a few loose strands of her hair to the crook of the staff. Whilst you examine the staff and find it a likely defender if need be, she explains that the big, gray- speckled ram's name is Cletus, and that he has a small bell on a collar around his neck.

	This 'roll playing' programmed text adventure is designed as a by- the- way quest for 1.. 4 characters of any experience level and is written in conformance (mostly) with 1st edition AD&D; but feel free to use these homely stats as a guide for conversion to other rulesets. All the characters may be managed by a single player and the module run as a solitaire if desired, or the characters and the DM'ing chores can be split up among multiple players; but in any case all the characters will compose a single party travelling in concert between map encounters.

	Rough out a map as a 6 x6 grid of woods squares. All you'll need is to be able to note the type of terrain in each square, and to checkmark a square where you've encountered something as you track the party's movements.
	You'll be tracking/ tallying game times. The time count starts at zero and normally increments upon moving into any woods square, or an outer side location, unless otherwise noted in the instructions. Should the party retreat to a square or side from which they've just come, it requires twice the time. You may assume that 1 game time= 2 standard 10 minute turns for item duration concerns.

	Encounter texts here loosely follow the sequence of a Reaction Roll "RR" (2d6: low= hostile, high= amenable), preceding the first Initiative "IT" (d6: higher has precedence). Thus oddly, Surprise is incorporated in RR and no other Surprise modifiers are considered, and Morale is incorporated in IT likewise; per the fleeing option, as follows.
	Unless otherwise stated in an encounter's instructions, the party may flee from the encounter on any round it wins IT and the sum of a separate d6 roll with the IT result is more than 7. If the party flees, the encounter ends and no opponents will pursue; while any incapacitated party members will be assumed to still accompany the party.

	Objects acquired in the woods must be appointed custodians. Party characters would gain a share of an encountered monster's rated XP only if it's defeated. Play fair & don't roll up a monster's hp until it's first damaged. All fractions are to be rounded up unless stated otherwise.
	The encounter texts give necessarily brief instructions for orchestrating play without a categorical listing of exceptions, so your PCs would always get the benefit of an applicable: "I don't have to"; but if the quibbles prove endemic, just bail out of the adventure rather than trying to forge through in that style. Remember this is an enchanted fairyland of dense woods, so travelling invisibly, ethereally, flying, etc. will produce the same results as going astrally; that is, nothing but vague background would be perceived as the times pass.

	Begin the adventure {9}.\

[1] 
	An Arbor is a dense canopied stand of close- set trees of varying types & sizes. On a d6 roll of 1.. 4 if occupying a checkmarked square, or 1.. 2 if you've had no encounter here yet, there's nothing unusual stirring here now {9}. Otherwise, to see what you've encountered, roll 2D4 & checkmark the square on any result but 8:

	2) Halfling (Tallfellow) AL LG, AC 6, HD 3d6 hp, DA d4 +d3 -1 (as F5), SZ S, XP 40.
	Arrested by the blare of a horn echoing through the overarching trees, you look to see 2 small figures calling out a challenge from the forest wardens to prove your mettle. One draws a blunt- pointed rapier to duel a member of your party, while the other, holding a curled ram's horn, recedes into the trees; and on RR 6 or less you become aware that these trees seem to have shifted in position to form a rough domed ring around you: with ranged attacks or magical effects aimed at the Halfling's vicinity 80% likely to be intecepted or absorbed into an overhanging tree.
	If you flee and the trees took part, you must go back the way you came. The Halfling's blade tends to hook & slice armor, so on its (75% temporary) damage d3 more than the d4 the opponent's worn armor AC is permanently worsened by 1. If he's overcome singly, he'll be helped away and the winner gains the honor of +1 (only) to the next hp level die rolled.

	3) d4 +2 Jackals AL N, AC 7, HD 1 /2, DA d2, SZ S, XP 8.
	You cautiously search out a sound of scuffling in the foliage close by a salt lick ahead, where you emerge to find bits of fleece, and a pack of Jackals circling a lone creature of type: 1.. 20%) wounded Wolf, 21.. 50%) Sheep, 51.. 75%) Fawn, or 76%+) Pony. There's a cumulative (roll result /10)% chance @round for the prey to bolt in terror, with +10% if hit by a party effect (50% chance on a miss) instead of the lunging Jackals, who've a 10 *(n eliminated +1)% chance to run off on any damage at round's end. If they win IT, up to d3 attack a random character & pull back.
	 If rescued, on RR 8 or more a Leprechaun offers you all a drink & proposes to trade an unlikely- looking Mace (d6 +1/ d6) +1 for the animal. If you accept, there's a 25% chance it's real: worth 3000 gp or 350 XP. Unless you decline & attack (bypass its MR 80% to disbelieve on SV Spell & hit AC 4 to gain 80 XP), there's a 75% chance it swipes a random figure's carried or worn belt or girdle.

	4) 2d3 Brownies AL LG, SV C9 AC 3, HD 1 /2, DA d2, SZ S, XP 40.
	You are drawn to the smell of a roast on a spit, around which a group of small fry in get- up as barbarian tribesmen - stripped to loincloths & with painted faces - is laughingly (& dangerously erratically to non- Brownies) trying with improvised bows & arrows to learn archery as their fairy cousins practice. There's a 50% chance they'll single out a random one among you as the butt of their antics, who every round has to SV Breath or suffer a hit, until the SV is passed (gain 30 XP) or you attack; when they'd switch to using short swords (d6/ d8).
	If you abide their revelry, on RR 5 or more they'll offer to "quickly" repair an item (or fabricate a standard type) and if you accept, you'll pass +d6 times with them, unawares. On 7 or more if you give them a Stone Arrowhead they'll return the favor by offering to make good on any one Bandit's IOU. And if you don't have Cletus, on 9 or more they provide a definitive clue to the ram {8#5}.

	5) Su- Monster (immature) AL CN, AC 7, HD 2 +2, DA d2/ "/ 2d3, SZ S, XP 90 +3 *hp.
	Clambering amount the antlers & back of an amok (Giant) Stag (or Irish Deer), this jabbering whosis tries for 2d5 rounds to "drive" its 20 hp wild ride (it must win IT & SV 12: 4 to just hold on) into the party for 2d4 -1 damage to a chosen member failing to SV Petrify. No sentient (aligned) weapons will attack it. Spell activity would trigger its unsure onetime Psionic Blast: all SV Spell +3 or forget a random language for a day. Once dismounted, after d2 rounds to regain its legs it attacks furiously, but ceases & regards you curiously upon rolling 5 or less for any hit.
	If it hasn't traded you before, on a ceased RR (+1 if you give it a Gilded Chrysalis, and +2 if you give it a Tough Egg) 11 or more you gain from its stash a Brooch of Shielding (vs Magic Missiles) with 10 *d4 hp left, worth 100 *hp gp or 10 *hp XP; having a 10% chance of a gem giving a 1 /6 chance (per missile) spell storing & mage recasting capacity: d4 -1 stored. Or, it'll try to flee.

	6) d3 +1 Large Spiders AL N, AC 8, HD 1 +1, DA 1 (SV Poison +2), SZ S, XP 65 +2 *hp.
	Attracted by bleating, you run across an incongruous scarecrow tripod totem with a spider effigy set atop it; a goat tethered to it as propitiatory offering or appeasement scapegoat, and spiders closing in. On RR 4 or more, the Spiders' poison affects as a Slow spell on the first bite. This goat has no inherent attack, and may be loosed by a party member on any round they win IT.
	There's a 20% chance per side that one spider and/ or the goat (when freed) is a morphed Imp, with such goat's rescuer momentarily gaining a level. An Imp's more nimble form has MR 25% SV F7 AC 2 (Ag/ +1 wpn req), HD 2 +2, XP 250, immune to cold, fire & electricity, uses Invisibility at will, Regenerates 1 hp @round, plus can make a Suggestion to one opponent (by miming an attack on the totem) that it's urgent to destroy the thing now. Passing an Imp a Sorcerer's Signet carries it off (defeated with no hit) instantly.

	7) d4 Bloodthorns AL N, AC 6, HD 3, DA grappling vs AC 6 Drain blood, SZ S, XP 110.
	You startle a decrepit woman druidic servitor herbalist smoking a long- stemmed pipe, who's using some kind of Speak with Plants capability over a network of vines as a phone relay. Roll a perceived reaction, and choose whether to obey as she tells you to: "Stop where you are!", or advance on her; then make the actual RR. On actual less than perceived (worse than you thought/ were led to believe), you are in the midst of some rare variegated Bloodthorns, otherwise she is.
	Mostly grappling tendrils, a bush can lose no more than a third of its starting hp if hit with a 17 or less, and each such loss reduces its to hit AC -3. It must hit to drain 1 /10 of the stationary subject's total hp (SV Spell halves) at round's end. Dodging the vines gains the party 10 *(actual RR) XP. Accosting the herbalist would give a 50% chance to gain some Long Leaves (worth 2 sp): used up in doubling duration for any d2 +1 cast spells having an M component.

	8) Sign of the ram, or pertinent activity {10}.

	Unless directed elsewhere, resolve the encounter then wrap up {9}.\

[2] 
	A Glade is a landscape of more spacious growth inviting an appreciation for its natural diversity. On a d6 roll of 1.. 4 if occupying a checkmarked square, or 1.. 2 if you've had no encounter here yet, there's nothing unusual stirring here now {9}. Otherwise, to see what you've encountered, roll 2D4 & checkmark the square on any result but 5:

	2) Warthog AL N, AC 7, HD 3, DA 2d4/ " (2nd 75% to trip), SZ M, XP 60 +3 *hp.
	This terrritorial boar resents your intrusion. On RR (-1 if you've visited this square before, -1 if you came from terrain of this type) 6 or more it will randomly charge one of you (surprised on 6.. 7, else gain 20 XP) then hightail it; or else it fights to drive you away. Unlike most wild boars, the Warthog's charge is provocative rather than assertive. Each round, it chooses a target at random from those available. On a round it picks a new target, if it suffers damage prior to its attack and is still active it will SV Poison to negate it, giving up its attack if saved, while its hit roll would consider just the target's AC by type, despite effective AC bonuses.
	It has a d2 round melee capacity at 0.. -5 hp. Its second attack hit is 75% likely to actually reduce its total damage by a d8 in knocking its target down (depriving one of the next striking action).

	3) Creeping Hand AL N, AC 6 (roll <9 hits sbj), HD 2 -1, DA (one sbj's lvl) /2, SZ S, XP 35.
	A mangled human body in a heap off to one side shows signs of having been pummeled & trampled by a great goat creature, as well as rent by a lion and blasted by a dragon. On each round (up to the fifth) that the party spends searching there's a 20% chance to identify the remains as: 1.. 10%) Flesh Golem, 11.. 30%) Doppleganger, 31%+) Zombie; and a cumulative 10% chance the creature's disembodied Hand will drop upon & grasp a random character. After round 1, the party may opt to pass on, unless attacked: when on RR 6 or less they cannot flee.
	If the body's id'd before first IT, there's a 40% chance to gain a Sorcerer's Signet (outlawed: valueless), which when manually affixed to a being (including the Hand) of the appropriate HD or less (9, 4 or 2) gives the one who placed it limited information at unlimited range about the subject's current activity; plus ability to restrain or encourage such activity if it fails a SV Spell. 

	4) 2d2 -1 Bugbears AL CE, AC d6 +4, HD 3 +1, DA 2d4 -2, SZ L, XP 50 +3 *hp.
	Disheviled & only partially armed & armored, these outcasts were scavenging a giant beetle they'd downed for sections of its carapace to rig up as armor. On RR (+2 if you use a Bark Buzzer) 8 or more d3 will run off at your approach, but any remaining grab up each others' makeshift weapons and if they win first IT get to throw at less armored targets who're stunned for the round if hit. Each Bugbear has lost -(2d6 -2) hp in addition to its first damage.
	Each round of melee or the first round of searching, there's a 15% chance the beetle reflexively/ spasmodically jerks & snaps its pincers (random target SV Wand or take d5 damage) or else 25% it once lets out an acidic musk spray (all SV Breath or take d3 damage with -2 to hit & SV for this encounter). The beetle's carcase might 70% yield an embedded, finely knapped Stone Arrowhead gaining the party 60 XP.

	5) Sign of the ram, or pertinent activity {10}.

	6) 2d3 +1 Pixies AL N, MR 25% AC 5 (1 invisibly), HD 1 /2, DA d4 +d6 least max, SZ S, XP 70.
	Scrutinized by an owl on a low branch, a conclave of Pixies prepares to arraign for misconduct one 1..25%) A: Brain Mole, 26.. 50%) B: Cockatrice, 51.. 75%) C: Pseudo- dragon, or 76%+) D: Will- o- wisp. If you have the Shepherd's Crook, their leader acknowledges it as a Faerie token of the Gray Elves and says your information would be helpful in settling a controversy between them. If you reliquish the Crook you gain 300 party XP, and on RR 6 or more a fragmentary (pixilated) map to the location of the Swath of the Sward sword in recompense.
	If you attack, there's a (A, B: 30% or C, D: 60%) chance the held creature joins you and accounts for d4 of them off the bat; or it joins them, jolting a Pixie- hit target failing SV (A: Spell, B: Petrify, C: Poison or D: Wand) for an extra d10 hp. Their hit does the lesser of the two dice. Area effects can target d3 at once. A (magic) weapon attack must consider (MR &) innate invisibility.

	7) Wererat AL LE, AC 6 (Ag/ +1 wpn req), HD 3 +1, DA 2d4 best max, SZ M, XP 100 +4 *hp.
	A ragged albino ratman swaggers up with a sneer to challenge you all. The Shepherd's Crook (2d6 best max/ ") would affect it, and on RR 7 or more it even extravagantly proffers a Silver Scimitar (d8/ ") for your use against it! Its claws & teeth do only the better of the two d4s rolled, attacking as berserk: against the same target as the previous round, it adds its IT to its hit roll and on a dice sum more than 19 it gets a 2nd attack with no bonus after all others. You can opt to use subdual damage (weapons' halved, no spells'), for a (100 *(lost hp) /(25= max hp))% chance at the end of a round it's hit.
	If subdued (=defeated), it reverts randomly to a man or woman, with a Scimitar noted as imposing no nonproficiency penalty for that sex; and if then given a Repo Book, it will be cured of lycanthropy so each party member will gain 700 XP.

	8) Unicorn AL CG, SV M11 AC 2, HD 4 +4, DA d6/ "/ d12 (horn +2: charge *2), SZ L, XP 400 +5 *hp.
	You're stunned to see a Unicorn standing a ways off facing you, but with its head down not looking at you, before it turns to stride back behind the trees. At that place, you'd- find flat bare rock with a rough trough now surfaced by the translucent, mirror- like shimmer of a dimension door, through which 2 items are seen. On RR 8 or less the Unicorn charges (1 hoof vs Good) once into any paired members who both fail SV Petrify, then unless you have the Riverwoman's Favor (loses its immunity to Charm, Hold, Death magic) it Teleports away with the trough returned to vacancy.
	A character who leaves a magic item in the extant trove will find he may make an adjustment to his alignment as desired. One who bears off either or both the Potion of Diminution (gain 300 XP, no sale XP) or the Mace (d6 +1/ d6) +1 (gain 350 XP, no sale XP) will find his alignment altered from Lawful or Neutral to Chaotic, or from any Chaotic to absolute Neutral.

	Unless directed elsewhere, resolve the encounter then wrap up {9}.\

[3] 
	A Meadow is a brighter patch of overgrown grassland offering intriguing vistas. On a d6 roll of 1.. 4 if occupying a checkmarked square, or 1.. 2 if you've had no encounter here yet, there's nothing unusual stirring here now {9}. Otherwise, to see what you've encountered, roll 2D4 & checkmark the square on any result but 4:

	2) Nomad AL N(G), AC 9, HD d6 hp, DA d3, SZ M, XP 10.
	Following some cart tracks is a gypsy, who should know sheep herding, and may give a tipoff couched as fortune telling. On RR (+2 for each Gold Shekel given for their Temple Mount tax) 7 or more, roll & record d6 for the prediction's terrain entry & 2d4 for its encounter #. You'll be allowed to dictate 1 dice result at your next visit to an encounter arising out of that #. Plus, you turn there now & just read that # for familiarization.
	Alternatively, he or she will try to plant a cursed Flux Scarab upon a random figure: SV Petrify to detect or prevent (on roll more than needed +2) the 40% Pick Pocket attempt. A Scarab's host is dematerialized on any IT roll of 3, just before its action till round end, but gets a 5% chance each time to finally nab & pull it off. Then unless you attack, you're sent off after a hinted lead {10#6}.

	3) Yellow (Gold) Mold AL N, AC 9, HD 2 (vul= fire), DA 50%) 2d8 least max, SZ S, XP 60.
	You'll apprehend the circular outline of a broad fairy ring among the wildflowers on the lee of a shaded slope: a fungal offshoot like golden- colored buttons dispersed in the grass. A random character must SV Petrify or will cross its boundary, with a 50% chance for contact damage (does the lesser of the two dice). Continue through the party members until a SV is passed or damage taken, when it's recognized. Until it's defeated, SV again upon exiting (+2 if recognized), entering voluntarily (+4) or attacking (no spores here) without special abilities.
	Watering it with a dose of Potion of Diminution reduces its damage to d2 -1. On first hit or spell use, RR (+1 if monk in party) 6 or less causes its psionic waves to stagger those within, forcing another SV; but on 9 or more produces a fruition of rods/ staffs/ wands in its confines recharging them +3d6: though if it adds more than 13, the item sprouts and is entirely drained instead.

	4) Sign of the ram, or pertinent activity {10}.

	5) d2 +1 Sprites AL N (G), AC 6 (2 if invisible at will), HD 1, DA d4 +d6 least max, SZ S, XP 70.
	You observe that small rocks set down here & there in conspicuous places seemingly vanish and reappear at other points around the grounds. All in the party SV Spell to follow (& id) the Sprites' game in play: Hounds & Jackals, Draughts, Go (-moku), etc. Then leave it be, or choose to help the stronger or weaker player by moving a rock: roll 3d6, +INT of highest SV roller, +highest/ lowest CHA if kibitzing for the stronger/ weaker. A move is graded as: (modified roll) /5 -6.
	On RR (+graded move) 8 or more they'll try to remove one cursed item of your choice with a 50% (+40% if weaker helped) chance: handing back a Flux Scarab or such if desired, & provide you a RR +2 intro to the fairies' ingathering {2#6}. On 5 or less you're attacked as obnoxious trespassers: any round you lose IT, one who takes damage (the lesser of the 2 dice) must SV Poison or fall fast asleep. Should all fall, add +d8 to time as you're moved to the nearest outer side {7}.

	6) 2 Giant Ferrets AL N, SVs +2 AC 7, HD 2 +1, DA 2d3 -1, SZ S, XP 80 +3 *hp.
	A pair of these enlarged hunters were cavorting with one another, but it looks as though they're working themselves into a frenzy as they tumble your way. There's a 30% chance that one is apparently a trained specimen, accoutered or tagged with its owner's markings. A dose of Long Leaves affects a trained one as catnip and you'd get XP for its defeat. Otherwise, on RR (+2 if only wilds left) 8 or more those remaining scurry off at your approach, or else they attack. If both speedsters remain active on a round they win unadjusted IT, they get AC 3, but the party acts first; then if both remain they get +4 to hit. There'll be a 5% (2% if Cure is used now) chance by bite that 6 turns after being bitten verminous infection will lower the subject's STR @-1 for a day.
	There's a 30% (+30% if one was trained, +30% if you defeated them) chance you'll gain a sizeable Ermine Tuft they dropped or were worrying, worth d10 gp.

	7) d3 +1 Pell Mallows AL N, AC 8, HD d4 +1 hp (hit <16: -d3 max), DA 1 50%) twice, SZ S, XP 25.
	Among a spreading, garden- like plot of various low plants, these spring into action. Each has a shortened profile like a Saguaro, though knobbier & not as rotund, but lies flat until it responds by jerking upright with spined arms that flex out & around to strike. Plus, one arm grows a trailing vine that ends in a tough gourd ball with a 50% chance to attack the same target; and if both its thorny arm & flailing ball would hit at least AC 10, the target takes 1 damage on top of any regular.
	On RR (+2 if you have a Gilded Chrysalis) 6 or less d3 -1 more are activated each round until the same die result occurs twice in a row, 4 rounds, or the party flees. If hit with die face 15 or less one takes no more than d3 damage. One can make only 1 attack when reduced to 2 or less hp.

	8) Ankheg (small) AL N, AC 2 (4 underside), HD 3, DA d3 (+d2) (spit 3d4), SZ L, XP 65 +3 *hp.
	You advance cautiously onto a tract where you see multiple traces of a burrowing behemoth: turned earth, uprooted growth and some castoff casing fragments, with the uneven terrain causing a d3 -2 adjustment to every hit roll. On RR 6 or less an Ankheg wins round 1 IT (no rolling) as it erupts from the ground, or else you get +1 to first IT. Its antennae may 30% be impaired, in which case a head hit from a Mace +1 kills it; otherwise @+10% per round it will spit once (thence losing its added +d2 damage). 
	If you defeat the Ankheg and don't already have the Swath of the Sward, there's a 20% (+50% if you have the Pixie Map) chance you unearth the sword: an AL N, orc- made, wavy- bladed broadsword (d8/ d10) +1/ +3 vs Plant life, that when drawn sheds black light warning of & damaging (2d2, 10' radius) plant- based organisms; worth 3500 gp or 700 XP.

	Unless directed elsewhere, resolve the encounter then wrap up {9}.\

[4] 
	A Sump is a low- lying but fertile area where sunken basins may conceal bygone foundations. On a d6 roll of 1.. 4 if occupying a checkmarked square, or 1.. 2 if you've had no encounter here yet, there's nothing unusual stirring here now {9}. Otherwise, to see what you've encountered, roll 2D4 & checkmark the square on any result but 3:

	2) Slithering Tracker AL N, AC 5 (1 vs msls), HD 3, DA nil (SV Paralysis), SZ S, XP 180 +3 *hp.
	You meet a fugitive with half- orc features, who wears the brand of an inductee into an evilly disposed 1.. 25%) thieves' cabal, 26.. 50%) mages' coven, 51.. 75%) clerics' cult or 76%+) fighters' cartel. His frenzied actions are as one intoxicated, feverish or halfwitted, though he claims to have been Hag- rid and says he's seeking the protection of the neighboring sage who keeps a giant ram. On RR (+4 if you have a Focus Crystal) 10 or more, you detect and surprise the 'Tracker in his wake and can try to eradicate it before it gets away (it's worn out & tries to flee like the party can). When hit in melee, its attacker must SV +2 on contact, or be out of the action.
	If you defeat it, there's a 50% chance he'll give you a Repo Book stolen from the noted group, that affects a character of such a generic class who's not qualified for an experience bonus, by retroactively adding a 10% bonus to its total experience points (1 use): worth 2000 gp (no XP).

	3) Sign of the ram, or pertinent activity {10}.

	4) 2 Ankisaurs AL N, AC 7, HD 2, DA d4, SZ M, XP 20 +2 *hp.
	Negotiating a moorland path across a marshy expanse, you're checked in wonder as two saurian relics protecting a nest launch themselves sloshing towards you from opposite sides. On RR (+1 if you swerve toward them, or +3 if you retreat) 6 or less, both (or 9 or less, one) of them will attack; or else they just warn you off with hissing (party gains 50 XP). If retreating, back up if you escape them or flee, but not if you defeat one or both. If swerving, d3 -1 of you at random must SV Petrify or take a false step into the mire and be Slowed for d6 +1 rounds (-d12 hp for quicksand on a 7).
	If you kept on ahead without swerving, both will swipe their tails to splash mud & water (all SV Breath or be drenched: no missile use, +2 to be hit as Faerie Fire & an immediate hit roll) before any attack; but then you can possibly gain from locating the nest containing: 50% an Ermine Tuft worth d10 gp, 40% a Stone Arrowhead, and/ or 30% a Tough Egg worth 10 *d6 gp.

	5) Giant Frog (Toad) AL N, AC 7 (6), HD 3 (2 +4), DA 2d4 least max, SZ M, XP 45 +3 *hp.
	After you pass by a trace of some outsize predatory creature, like a newly shed giant snakeskin or moulted feathers of a great hawk, a passel of panic- stricken amphibians rushes down on you, and a massy 1.. 40%) Frog, 41.. 80%) Toad or 81%+) both, soars into the midst of the party, flailing (does the lesser of the two d4s rolled) & bowling figures over. On RR (+2 if you have a Horsehair Bullwhip) 7 or more d2 random (or 1.. 2 chosen if you win first IT) characters can try to hit one to keep it from overbearing them (as it will if it hits AC 5, with its d3 round fallen target(s) having to SV Wand without bonus or lose first- held weapons & shields for 2d3 rounds).
	If two 4s are rolled in damage, one tried to swallow, and pinions the target who can only hit back on 18 or better with an instant kill. If two 1s are rolled before any two 4s, round 9, or its defeat, instead of damage it coughs up a full borttle of Potion of Diminution worth 500 gp or 300 XP.

	6) 2d6 Stirges AL N, AC 10 (8 flying), HD 1 +1, DA d3 (as HD 4) Drain blood, SZ S, XP 36 +2 *hp.
	You come into view of a massive, rune- carved standing stone, pitted with small crevices sheltering bat- winged, beady- eyed, 4- legged feathered uglies with needle- like beaks. But, they're kept in uneasy check by a pair of equally grotesque vultures perched atop the rock: their sickeningly manlike visages lowering upon your intrusion. You'll be impulsively attacked by d4 of the Stirges' number, but if you defeat those without touching the stone (on a round you lose IT a random party member must SV Poison to avoid it), on RR 7 or more you could leave the rest, else they'd attack. Striking at a Stirge on another character damages the host d2 -1 on a miss.
	If you defeat their full number, you've a 50% chance to gain a 300 gp bauble off some mutilated carrion; also if you have a Veined Whetstone, it's 50% likely to rejoin to the monolith, releasing energy that quickens all characters' currently held weapons' Speed Factors of more than 2 @-1.

	7) Pseudo- Wight AL N, AC 5, HD 4 +3 (no SPC DEF), DA d4 (no SPC ATK), SZ M, XP 90 +5 *hp.
	In your wading around a submerged reed bed, where disturbing images of dead bodies & grimacing faces appear below the frond- studded surface, some ripples lead to a dripping figure with one of the slashed & mouldered banners draped around it rising from the murk holding a broken weapon. If you boldly tender it a Silver Scimitar (d8/ ") you receive a Bless +1 to all rolls for this, or your next, encounter, and there's a 70% chance it and all it holds will crumble into dust (party gains 100 + its XP). On RR (@+1 worn metal armor) 9 or more it recedes into its watery grave unless you attack. Until a 20 is rolled to loose its banner shroud, hits on it gain no bonuses of any kind to a weapon's rated damage, but any damage die maximum result always adds +d4.
	After combat or flight, every character who attacked it has a (n attacks made)% chance that a random worn ring will have been thrown free & lost among the reeds.

	8) Mimic AL N, AC 7, HD 7, DA 3d4 (2 double dice zeroed), SZ L, XP 450.
	Working your way around the sunless archway of a ruined stone portico or trestle under a pervasive miasmal gloom, you are clambering over a pile of crumbled stones before you notice that the wall they must have fallen from looks to be still intact. One character at random must SV Petrify to keep from leaning for support on the Mimic substituting as the missing stonework, and if passed will gain 70 XP and make for RR +2. Note if its damage roll includes a double, those 2 are nullified.
	On RR 6 or more roll IT as usual, otherwise it first hits out at a random character, getting -4 against those unglued. It's somewhat out of its element, so all damage upon it is treated as subdual type giving a (100 *(lost hp) /(starting hp))% chance it will give up after any round it takes damage. If subdued (=defeated), there's a 40% chance you'll pluck a (sticky) Veined Whetstone worth 1d8 SP from it, and then a 20% chance it gives out with a local clue {10}.

	Unless directed elsewhere, resolve the encounter then wrap up {9}.\

[5] 
	A Rill is a marginal stretch of watered traces or canyon which may open out, or narrow in. On a d6 roll of 1.. 4 if occupying a checkmarked square, or 1.. 2 if you've had no encounter here yet, there's nothing unusual stirring here now {9}. Otherwise, to see what you've encountered, roll 2D4 & checkmark the square on any result but 6:

	2) 1.. 2 Dwarves AL CN, AC 5 (evens halved), HD 1 +2, DA d6 +d2 -1, SZ S, XP 40.
	A vagabond in a fleecy vest that shows a sheen in the slanting light seeks a seasonal 'jungle' refuge supposedly hereabouts, and asks to trade what it calls a Focus Crystal for a handout. Unless you attack it, on RR (+2 if you've visited here before) 6 or less a random character must SV Wand to detect a Dwarf who tries to backstab out of a rock's shadow at +4 to hit & double damage; or else the party gains a Crystal. The Dwarves reduce by half any even damage die roll or bonus number, halve an even totalled dice or bonuses, and then halve an even total taken.
	When held in one hand before its user's eyes, a Crystal gives a Magic Resistance of 10 *(d12 -3)% (determined the first time it's employed: when the user will gain 100 XP) against any gaze effects of a viewed creature - even effects not requiring subject eye contact (like a Beholder's). Anyway, there's a source of fresh water available now at an outcropping.

	3) Water Weird AL CE, AC 4, HD 3 +3 (edged do 1 hp), DA d4 -d2 (as HD 6), SZ L, XP 240 +4 *hp.
	You're paralleling a gully of runoff water contaminated with alluvium, when a glint of gold flakes shows in a swirled basin at a crossing site. If you avoid the watercourse, there's a 30% chance of some fairies' Hallucinatory Forest terrain causing a penalty of +d4 to your time count including backing up the way you came, replacing the regular process {9}. As you cut across & track along the way, on RR 6 or less the Weird forms & attacks random characters unitl you can flee (though you won't leave here), doing automatic damage every round to one hit who fails SV Poison, and who'd drown upon losing -10. You can defeat it at once by snapping a Fishbone Wishbone.
	When you get to the end you find 1.. 40%) old washed- out diggings: with a 50% chance of trespassers {5#2}, 41.. 80%) a cache of 1000 gp in fairy gold of which (10 *d10)% is illusory (gain the balance), 81%+) a Gilded Chrysalis (seemingly covered in gold leaf) worth 1 gp.

	4) Centaur AL N, AC 5, HD 3 +4, DA d4 =4:+d3 -1/ " (whip as HD 3), SZ L, XP 85 +4 *hp.
	A Centaur who abhors shields (such as his leaders bear) opposes your group. On RR (@-1 readied bows & shields) 7 or more it gives you a chance to turn back the way you came (and if you refuse, the party gains 50 XP), otherwise it attacks, with fleeing options as usual. If it wins unadjusted IT, its iron- shod hooves rear up as giant- height attacks that cause a raised shield defense & item SV Crushing Blow for resistance, plus user SV Poison for retention of either the shield or else a helm (helm SVs +3 if lately furbished). Each hoof's damage is a d4, with an additional d3 -1 when a 4 is rolled.
	It wields a Horsehair Bullwhip (which you'd gain upon its defeat) in both hands, and at the start of a round if it hits AC 8, one character in melee (your choice) other than the target of its ramping hooves must SV Petrify -(whip hit roll -required score) or be backed off & held at bay that round.

	5) Giant Crayfish AL N, AC 4, HD 4 +1, DA 2d3/ 2d4, SZ L, XP 45 +4 *hp.
	Near what looks to be a suitable brookside fishing spot, you are repulsed at the sight of an 8- foot long Crayfish climbing up the bank. It's being driven or urged on by a lurking lizardman; so make 2 RRs (one for each of them) and on any 5 or less the Crayfish is prompted to whale on you, otherwise it veers and leaves. The Crayfish's inflexibility only lets it attack twice if the hit roll for the first is 14 or more. On a round the Crayfish loses IT and is attacked by all the party members, the lizardman uses a sling hurling sand- weighted seashells which hit automatically on a roll of 17+ (or else miss) doing d3 -1 and forcing SV Wand or take -2 to hit for 2 rounds due to sand in the eyes, but which first have a (80 /n in party)% chance of hitting the Crayfish (auto SV).
	If it lams out or you defeat it, you can get fresh water at this juncture, plus in searching the lizardman's haunts you might 45% gain a plaited Fishbone Wishbone.

	6) Sign of the ram, or pertinent activity {10}.

	7) Giant Water Spider AL N, AC 5, HD 3 +3, DA d4 (SV Poison), SZ M, XP 100 +3 *hp.
	You are pointing out several coins lying by a grassy puddle, when a huge, long- legged spider with a glistening shell trundles up to attack. Its awkwardness here on land gives it a -1 to IT rolls, but its fending legs & high- set compound eyes allow it to attack a random character each round. Its nerve poison effect causes only an extra d6 -2 damage, with numbing of an as yet unaffected arm or leg at random (@-2 to hit, lasts 6 turns). In addition, you see it has an iridescent bubble filled with some gaseous ether tucked 1..50%) over its neck (AC 3, giving ESP: all SVs +4) or 51%+) under it (AC 1, giving Strength: +2 to hit); whichever being tapped by its proboscis. A character who chooses to strike at the bubble rather than the spider would pop it on a hit and become subject instead of the Spider to 4 rounds of the noted effect (& gain 30 XP).
	If it's defeated the party gains d6 sp, plus a 45% chance for a Gold Shekel worth 1 gp.

	8) Kech AL NE, AC 4, HD 5 -4, DA d3 +1/ "/ d5, SZ M, XP 150 + 5*hp.
	A swing mace trap sited by an upwelling fresh water hole is loosed at your group unless someone detects it. If 1.. 35%) its pendulum vines slip as planned and a spiked log is released to tumble at knee height, d3 chosen party members must SV Petrify or take 2d6 damage; or 36.. 60%) its upswing may strike one character who must SV Wand or take 3d6 damage; or 61.. 80%) it may be restrained on its backswing by the watching arboreal for a retry (reroll d% once with SVs +3). Then on RR (-2 if any took damage) 5 or less the flora- fauna Kech is lured down to attack you.
	If it's defeated, a Nymph calls out to you with thanks. If you give her an Ermine Tuft, she may 50% but once summon a maverick & ailing Unicorn (3d8 hp, horn does half damage) for your disposal if you so wish, also giving you the Riverwoman's Favor (acquire escort & safe passage from any elves if handed in), so that you'd win first IT with a RR of 2 at {2#8}.

	Unless directed elsewhere, resolve the encounter then wrap up {9}.\

[6] 
	A Knoll is a sloping upland of rockier wilds, made for the rough and ready. On a d6 roll of 1.. 4 if occupying a checkmarked square, or 1.. 2 if you've had no encounter here yet, there's nothing unusual stirring here now {9}. Otherwise, to see what you've encountered, roll 2D4 & checkmark the square on any result but 7:

	2) Ogre AL CE, AC 5, HD 4 +1, DA 3d4 -2, SZ L, XP 130 +5 *hp.
	In passing some dusty ruins decorated with broken columns & statuary, you glimpse an Ogre before a pigment- covered back wall, who was using a large stone club as a pestle to grind up some grease, plaster, dyestuff, or the sparkly powder in evidence here & there. On RR 7 or more it sidesteps to flank you & can SV Poison to dodge ranged attacks on round 1, or else it moves directly in. Each 4 it rolls in damage spatters gooey paste penalizing the target's encounter hit score by a cumulative @-1, up to -4.
	At the start of any round it wins IT, there's a 15% chance a random party member will fall foul of a Glyph of Warding (1 @encounter) causing Paralysis for (20 -WIS) /2 turns if a SV Spell fails (pass to gain 40 XP). When you win IT, there's a 20% chance it will have to call out the Glyph's password to protect itself.

	3) Mountain Sheep (Goat) AL N, AC 6 (7), HD 2 (1 +3), DA d2 (d3) (ea charge +d2), SZ M, XP 35.
	On a winding trail cresting a hill, you come upon a rough wayside shrine surrounded by a thicket of bushes, wth a headboard carved to depict a mingling of sheep and goats. A headstrong 1.. 60%) Ram, or 61%+) Billy would dispute your passage of the slope, and on RR 5 or less charges the leading figure, but on 9 or more its horns are caught in the thicket giving you a round of surprise. There's a 30% chance it's of the Bighorn species with frontal AC 5, HD +1, & DA +1.
	A character on the hillside rolling a 3 or less to hit loses all bonuses to AC by type until the party wins IT, and if hit by it must SV Wand (-4 on a charge) to avoid falling: disengaging & losing one attack. If it's defeated, there's a 25% chance you'll find some sign nearby {10}.

	4) Hobgoblin AL LE, AC 5, HD 1 +1, DA d8 +d10 least max, SZ M, XP 30 +2 *hp.
	A Hobgoblin runner cutting through the woods bears down on you mounted upon a large Flightless Bird. Initally, the fowl & rider are angled forward taking lengthy, springing strides, though on RR 8 or more they revert to upright, choppy steps changing a +1/ -2 aiming modifier for it/ you, to -2/ +1. The rider plies a long, asymetric compound bow using a thumb draw (unusable dismounted); firing abnormally large- headed arrows 1 per round. Any of its attacks do just the lesser of the two damage dice rolled.
	Any hit on it has a 60% chance of striking the bird instead, which gives a HD 2 +1 buffer (gain hp XP too) before it would be stopped. Or, the courier has a 50% chance of falling off when a hit reduces its hp to 1 or less. Unless it makes its way by (in d3 +1 rounds), you gain an Archer's Thumbring worth d4 sp.

	5) 4d6 Giant Centipedes AL N, SVs -1 AC 9, HD 1 /4, DA d3 -d2 (SV Poison +4), SZ S, XP 5.
	Erupting from cracks in the dry rocky ground about you, these sinuous foot- long vermin close in with waving antennae. On RR 8 or more, no party member can be attacked by more than 3 in a round, otherwise assign available targets randomly. On a -1 roll for damage, the attacker takes the point, and any positive damage roll (the only poisoning effect) is negated on passing the SV (though a 4 or less fails for anyone); but such corrosive damage is incurable magically without passing a System Shock check with a -10% penalty post- trial at hour or more intervals.
	Attacks on multiples of them in a round can only be done with one's weapons of proficiency. Due to their closeness to earth, there's a 3 *(excess damage points over a target's hp)% chance for an attacker to take d2 -1 damage and break any weapon used.

	6) 4d3 Gnomes AL N, SV F5 AC 5, HD 1, DA 2d6 least max, SZ S, XP 15.
	A Gnome crew enlarging a rock face crevice has been set upon by a rival Gnome gang on patrol, with the melee surging to involve you. If you try to pacify them, on RR (+1 speaking Gnome, -1 Common) 8 or more the party gains 100 XP as they reconcile; or else 1 /3 their total number hurl hammers at random members. Upon joining in, characters must SV Spell to pick a new target of a chosen side (initially halves), else its side is unknown until first attack. They fight till one Gnome side's left standing (30% chance individuals attack party), doing only the lesser of 2 damage dice.
	To begin a battle round, there's a 15% chance that a Disruptor Beam will shoot from the crevice, occurring but once. Half the Gnomes (sides at random) and half the party (your choice) must SV Wand or make a System Shock check (Gnome 70%) as one's CON & DEX scores are swapped for 4 rounds, then again in reversal (Gnome 45%). Failing a check stuns a figure for d4 rounds.

	7) Sign of the ram, or pertinent activity {10}.

	8) Cyclopskin AL CN, AC 3, HD 5, DA d6 +d4, SZ L, XP 90 +5 *hp.
	A cyclopean outpost crouched in a rock- sheltered dugout eyes you with disdain. On RR (+2 if you have the Argonauts Glyph) 9 or more it allows the party to go by unless you start toward it or take action. Its cover gives it +4 bonuses to AC & SVs, with no damage if it passes (else double hp XP).
	For round 1, it rises & throws one (on 7 or more) or both of 2 battered small round shields that it hurls as it would a discus; but with -2 to hit due to its visual attenuation. Hit or miss, should it score at least an AC 8, there's a 30% chance it can roll to hit a different random party member with a ricochet on the same throw. Then it ducks out a connecting trench to engage your group with an outsized 2- handed spear (35% chance to gain a 20 *2d10 gp gem from the spearhead's socket).

	Unless directed elsewhere, resolve the encounter then wrap up {9}.\

[7] 
	A Scrub land is a drier expanse of broadleaf and wiry heath surrounding intermittent stunted trees. Breaking out of the forbidding forest feels like passing through a dimension door. Any party characters with remaining hp of 3 or fewer (even those at hp 0 who pass a SV Poison with a +3 mod, or else lose a point of CON) may recover 2d3 lost hp. On a d6 roll of 1.. 4 there's nothing unusual stirring out here now {11}. To see what you've encountered, roll 2D4:

	2) Bronze Dragon AL LG, AC 0, HD 8, DA d6/ "/ 4d6 or 32 hp (breath), SZ L, XP 2000 +12 *hp.
	You are unexpectedly overshadowed by a Dragon in flight, and at its discordant bellow even toughened characters are prone to take pause. On RR (-1 each Fighter class, +1 each other) 8 or more after it disappears over the forest, a disturbed owl winging out through the trees draws your attention to a dryad spying on you, who abashedly tosses out a 50 *d8 gp gem as reparation (party gains XP); or on 7 or less it turns back toward you, and all must SV Breath or its Repulsion effect causes the party to enter a random woods square adjacent to this side {9}.
	If all pass the SV and you choose to stand your ground or pursue it, there's a 60% chance you'll drive it from the woods for a while: party gains 200 XP, and further visits to this # gain 100 party XP & deduct -2 from your time count with no encounter. But, on a roll of 90%+ a random character must SV Breath for its spent (3d8 or no damage) 2nd effect (Lightning) as it ascends out of range.

	3) Harpy AL CE, AC 7 (5 flying), HD 3, DA d3/ "/ d6 (1st hit in rd ends seq), SZ M, XP 150.
	Your ears are assailed by the vitriolic accents of a Harpy that flaps down, screeching out an abracadabra- like maledictory chant in place of its more accustomed come- hither spell. If you throw it the Argonauts Glyph, or on RR (+1 if the party has any female characters) of 9 or more, it will muff its lines and fly away in consternation back into the trees as the party divides 60 XP.
	If it wins unadjusted IT on round 1, before it attacks Pollute Water is cast over the whole party, unless some characters move up to engage it that round: when they alone are affected. This Pollute effect causes a character who would regain hp by any means to subtract a roll of (d6 -1) from each increment of 5 hp or any remainder, and lasts for 10 moves if the whole party is targeted, just 5 moves for specified characters, or until a creation/ purification is used or a source of good water is described in a later encounter entry.

	4) d3 +2 Orcs AL LE, AC 6, HD 1, DA 2d3 -d2 +1, SZ M, XP 20.
	You observe some scattered Orcs moving through the woodline, each carrying a large wicker basket on one shoulder. On RR (+2 if half- orc in party) 7 or less, after they pass by, some reform into a small 'turtle' with weapons protruding from overlapping & covering shields augmented by reed mats, and they strike out from the forest edge to attack you.
	You may choose which party members oppose the turtle each round. It has AC 6, but unless one is using a Mace +1, which enforces target selection, a typical melee or missile hit is only 55% likely to hit a random Orc. They have no sunlight hit penalty until the turtle is broken up by losing half its number. All Orcs' attacks are allotted against random melee opponents: with +2 on any target attacked more than once in a round they win unadjusted IT.

	5) 2d4 Bandits AL N, AC 8, HD d6 hp, DA d4, SZ M, XP 7.
	You are approached by a shifty pack of reivers offering to sell used equipment items at doubled prices. On RR (+1 if bard in party) 6 or more you're asked to join in a hootenanny, then apprised that these smugglers indulge in gambling. Though presently embarrassed for funds, anything they owe will be covered by a promisory note that has a 40% chance to be made good (party XP inclusive) when you meet them (this encounter #) again at this same (N, S, W) outer side.
	They bet on propositions (contests, games, etc) each lasting 1 turn (half a game time). Roll up odds of 10 *2d4%, then you choose to bet up to 100 gp on the low or high end & roll d% to decide the winning end. Payoff to a short odds winner is: bet *(long end) /(short end). If you win on a roll of 1.. 2% or 99..100%, they accuse you of rigging the game and attack out of hand.

	6) Wild Ox AL N, AC 7, HD 4 -2, DA d4/ " (charge as HD 4: 3d4 & d4 trample), SZ L, XP 85 +4 *hp.
	A so- called "sacred cow" bedecked in colorful cloths and brass horn caps has been browsing uncertainly near a sun- seared, snake- ridden, lousy patch of loco weed. On RR 9 or more it wobbles & sinks to its knees, or on 5 or less it shies, then lowers its head and first charges a random d2 of you, aiming to plow through, pivot and charge back at another one of you; or else it just goes to rampaging dazedly among you for 3d3 rounds. If you have a Horsehair Bullwhip you can prod it (hit AC 10) to cause it to lose its next 1 attack.
	After a round you damage it there's a 10% chance an Earthquake (once) rends the area sending up geysers of hot gas & rock: all but the ox SV Breath twice @(target's level +d3) hp. If you aid its illness using an ability with animals, healing, or clean water, there's a 10% chance that wings will be revealed under its cloths and it will circle once in the air, deducting -4d4 from your time count.

	7) 2 Merchants AL LN, AC 8, HD d6 hp, DA d4, SZ M, XP 10.
	A commercial traveller and apprentice pass warily. On RR (+1 each CHA of 12 or more) 6 or more, one tentatively offers to appraise an item for you: without triggering, will 60% recognize but not remove any mechanical or magical traps or restrictions & assess material value, but can't Identify. Plus, on 9 or more you make out the elder as a 1.. 40%) A: member, 41.. 80%) B: minister or 81%+) C: master of a 1.. 30%) D: workers', 31.. 50%) E: artists', 51.. 70%) F: traders' or 71%+) G: adventurers' guild, travelling incognito; who will A) 40%, B) 60% or C) 90% - D) repair an item restoring +1 lost, E) furbish a helm adjusting CHA +1, F) raise the value of 1 gem +25%, or G) improve all Breath SVs +1 for the adventure with the latest salve.
	If you give them a Guild Scroll, there's a 30 +(A) 20, B) 40, C) 50)% chance the party gains 300 XP, plus on G) any qualified nonpsionic characters reroll for psionic ability at +5% potential.

	8) Djinni AL CG, AC 4, HD 7 +3, DA 2d8, SZ L, XP 500 +5 *hp.
	A mirage- like, tented pavilion beckons you with flaunting banners. If entered, within is darkness lit by a dome of animated constellations: each of you being descended upon by one of a threateningly 1.. 33%) A: combative, 34.. 67%) B: seductive or 68%+) C: confusive aspect. Each must SV Spell to pick out the Djinni in the background, and upon the first passed SV the party decides whether to attack it (all those then passing attacking in concert), or try to impress it in your testing by each rolling d% <= (A: STR +DEX, B: CON +CHA or C: INT +WIS). Any who pass both SV & test gain 70 XP, plus on RR (@+1 passed characters) 9 or more the party gains the ability (unless you have it now) to call one 7 round HD 7 Interposing Hand with a local RR reroll +2.
	Djinni ITs get +1; the party's no bonus. It rolls to hit all opponents (no DEX to AC) & divides its damage. Area effects include the party. It would Wind Walk away at 15 hp or less.

	After resolving an encounter, scan the vicinity {11}.\

[8] 
	Trail follow- up occurences. To see what you've encountered, roll 2D4:

	2) Satyr AL C, MR 50% AC 5, HD 5, DA 2d4 -1, SZ M, XP 200 +5 *hp.
	A capering Satyr offers to lead a Ghost Dance honoring the ancestors. He's holding a 1.. 35%) A: ankh of bent twigs, 36.. 65%) B: syrinx of reed whistles, 66%+) C: monkey skull stick wand; but if you have the Shepherd's Crook he asks to use it instead. On RR (-2 if you refuse) 3 or less he'll attack, with a 30% chance he'll amazingly regenerate 2 hp every round. If you gave up the Crook, there's a 40% chance he'll break or steal it, otherwise a 21% chance it will be enchanted as an unrechargeable Staff of Striking for any character of A: Good, B: Neutral or C: Evil alignment.
	The enchanted Shepherd's Crook, worth 3000 gp or 400 XP, marked "UNFAIR" in runes, has hit bonus +3 or the highest weapon bonus vs the target's Armor type if better, but no damage bonus unless the user expends 1.. 3 charges at +3 more, no charges being useable again for d6 turns. It has 21 charges.

	3) Bard AL LN, AC 9, HD 4, DA d6 Prot Fire & Fire Trap, SZ M, XP 200.
	Just outside an isolated grove, you encounter an elderly, toga- clad member of a college whose characteristic bardish disfigurement is burn scarring; with a 50% chance you're entering the grove as he's exiting, or vice versa. If you're exiting, on RR 7 or less he'll demand you give up whatever he thinks you've stolen, and you'd have to hand over one object gained in the woods to placate him. Or, if you're entering, on 5 or less he sets to pile through your group like a linebacker, which would make each character 30% likely to have to pass a random carried item SV Normal Blow.
	If you thwart him either way, he'll try once to use a combination of Vulnerability to Fire (hit AC 10 to cast) with a Fire Trap, causing (target's level)d3 to one chosen character (SV Spell -4 to halve, & spare items - especially maps), then lay on with his short sword. In any case, there's a 35% chance you'll gain a clay tablet Argonauts Glyph here.

	4) Criosphinx AL N, AC 0, HD 10, DA 2d4/ "/ 3d6, SZ L, XP 1350 +14 *hp.
	A monstrous, ram- headed Sphinx rises smoothly from a recumbent posture to confront one of you at random, seeming to show off its large, silver- hued, open nose ring: from one curled prong of which dangles a man- size, jeweled finger ring. It expects to trade rings with the subject; otherwise on RR 9 or more, its is offered if the party'd not received one before and the subject wears no conspicuous ring, but on 6 or less it would attack. There's a 60% chance it's wearing a ring of your choice that you'd swapped with one of them before, and its recovery gains the owner 150 XP. Any rings it provides are magically discharged, or of negligible effect, but of 400 gp value.
	Its nose ring grants it a capacity similar to a Periapt of Wound Closure: its lowest 2 HD are changed to the results of its highest 2 HD, and it takes no continuing or automatic damage.

	5) Ram "Cletus" AL N, AC 6, HD 2, DA d2 (charge *2), SZ M, XP 28 +2 *hp.
	If you already have the ram with you, roll d6 and use that one, in order excluding this one, of these encounters. Otherwise, you have found Cletus! On RR (+3 if you have the Shepherd's Crook, +2 if any of the 4 central woods squares are checkmarked, @+1 for each prior visit here) 4 or less it will attack you for 2 rounds, and then on 6 or less it will run off in misapprehension unless you can forestall it; but on 7 or more it will accompany your party as long as you assign a character to lead it: when there's a 50% chance that it will make an attack when you want it to, and a 40% chance that an effect directed at its leading character during an encounter will affect Cletus instead/ too. Should it take more than half its hp in damage, it will run off again: in which case, or if it fails to cotton to you now, you can retry for it on your next visit here.

	6) 2 Elves AL N (Drow LE), AC 6, HD 2 +2, DA d8 (reduce -d4 on hit <17), SZ M, XP 50.
	You gradually distinguish 2 Elves: a Black (sheep) Elf holding a dowsing stick, who'd been confronted by a Wood Elf wearing one of the tiny bells of the watch. Each has a 30% chance of being a lady, else is a gent; and if of opposite sexes then modify RR -2. If you give them the Riverwoman's Favor, or on RR 9 or more, you can opt to pass them by; otherwise on 4 or less they ally & attack the party, or else you can choose to side with one against the other.
	A lady of either race can cast the Friends spell once (60% chance @round). If you lose or flee, you'll be chased from the woods to the nearest outer side, with the party intact & at least alive {7}. If you win and the drow is left alive, he or she will reward you with a hidden Bark Buzzer worth 1d3 CP extracted from the other's person, before melting into the brush.

	7) Dire Wolf AL N, AC 4, HD 3 +3, DA 2d4, SZ M, XP 60 +4 *hp.
	You are approached by a greater Wolf which is strangely draped with a ram's fleece secured by a makeshift collar; perhaps to afford its giant owner somewhat the prestige of a pet winter wolf. It crouches to eye you with interest, and there's a 20% chance the Wolf is returning with a tube of bone, ivory or wood in its mouth as it's been trained. If it has such, or on RR 6 or more, it will lope off unless you win IT and close with it to attack. If it makes off, there's a 45% chance it will come back for an attack with another d2 Dire Wolves of AC 6: and if the roll was 1.. 15%, on round 1 a SV Poison prevents an instance of damage to a Wolf.
	If you wangle a tube, it's 30% likely you'll gain 100 party XP and a Guild Scroll incorporating the 1st level Mage spell Burning Hands (front arc 3d3, no SV) intended for its self- destruction.

	8) 2d4 Static Skeletons AL N, AC 7 MR 40% HD 1, DA d6, SZ M, XP 40 +1 *hp.
	You find the recognizable figure of Lythargyrhum the mage retreating slowly before the tottering onset of a group of Skeletons whose bones sizzle with blue sparks. He's studying them, but also wants help as they advance on you. If either turned or dispelled, there's a 50% chance those n affected will contact each other and either implode or explode (characters failing SV Spell either drop a weapon, or take nd3 -n damage). For a magic weapon either dropped in an implosion, or hitting as MR operates, a SV of 1 disenchants it. An AC 10 hit with Polluted Water destroys one.
	Lythargyrhum hits on 11 or more for d6 damage. If you defeat them, on RR 7 or more for your aid in his experiment one of you gains a vial of Powdered Brass (d10 uses) that enables a Push spell affecting both a designated item & its holder, despite MR, with the target's choice for SV, and d8 damage to the holder if an item is pushed.

	Unless directed elsewhere, resolve any encounter then wrap up {9}.\

[9] 
	The party first performs any desired administrative functions before preparing to move on. If you opt to stay in place for several turns, recall that 1 game time passes for each 2 turns. On a time count of 50 or more the adventure is ended {11}.
	The party begins the adventure located on the South outer side by the woods. The shepherdess will be travelling westward around the outside from South to North. There is no East outer side - just more tangled and inhospitable forest. The party must enter into a woods square when moving from any outer side (N, S, or W of the grid) rather than to an adjoining outer side, but may choose to enter into any square bordering that side.

	The terrain in all outer sides is Scrub. Whenever the party enters a woods square that has no assigned terrain, roll d6 & note its terrain as 1) Arbor, 2) Glade, 3) Meadow, 4) Sump, 5) Rill, 6) Knoll. When the party occupies a woods square, prior to your move any unassigned adjacent squares in the 4 cardinal directions have a 50% chance each of being assigned likewise. Each terrain type entry will contain several possible encounter texts, and an encounter may be visited any number of times; whatever the dice indicate. When redirected to a particular encounter text within a terrain entry (eg {4#2} is the (terrain type 4) Sump entry's (dice result 2) first encounter text), the encounter situation is intended to be taken out of context: no transition away from your current terrain is implied.

	As the party enters its selected square or side, add to the time count then check for an encounter at the appropriate terrain entry: Arbor {1}, Glade {2}, Meadow {3}, Sump {4}, Rill {5}, Knoll {6}, or Scrub {7}.\

[10] 
	On a trail. There's a sign of something likely passing through here (even if perchance you have the ram with you already). To note what you've perceived, roll 2D4 then decide whether or not to take the risk and go after it:

	2) sight - chasing down 1.. 25%) {5#4}, 26.. 50%) {8}, 51%+) {8#5}.

	3) sound - random character SV Spell to approximate direction {8}, or else {5#(d3 +1)}.

	4) track - d% <=70 -10 *(party size exc Rangers & Druids) {8}, or else {7#(2d2 +4)}.

	5) trace - chosen character SV Wand to project pathways {8}, or else 1.. 50%) {3#(d2 +1)}, 51%+) {4#(2d3 +2)}.

	6) prompt - checkout a tip 1.. 30%) {1#3}, 31.. 50%) {4#2}, 51.. 80%) {6#3}, 81%+) {8}.

	7) prowl - probe typical hangouts 1.. 40%) {3#(d3 +4)}, 41.. 70%) {5#8}, 71%+) {8}.

	8) hunch - 1.. 50%) {2#(2d2)}, 51.. 85%) {8}, 86%+) {8#5}.

	Unless pursuing a clue, wrap up {9}.\

[11] 
	You can opt to quit the adventure here; or, it's automatically terminated if the time count is 50 or more (day is done and strangers unwisely remaining in the woods get deported).

	If you're on the South outer side and the time count is more than 20 but less than 36, or on the West and the time is more than 35 but less than 46, you are approached by a mysteriously- garbed figure whom you've glimpsed occasionally from afar. This personage only advances near enough to get a good look at you, and then withdraws unless you have the ram Cletus or the Shepherd's Crook with you. The figure's intentions may be fathomed as 1.. 30%) malevolent, or 31%+) benevolent the first time it departs with such as you might give it; though there's a onetime 60% chance if you have the ram of that being communicated to the party upon its approach. If you give up the Crook at its request, the party gains 600 XP if it turns out to be benevolent or else 200 XP. If you give up the ram, the party gains 4000 XP if benevolent or else 1000 XP.

	If you're on the South outer side and the time count is 15 or less, or on the West and the time is more than 15 but less than 36, or on the North and the time is more than 35, you meet up with the flock; and if you have the ram with you, the shepherdess will be overjoyed at its return, and after expressing concern for everyones' well- being, then begs you to travel along with her for a ways and tell her what took place in the woods: the party thereby gaining an additional 3000 XP, the adventure concluded. Should you also have the Pixie Map however, there's a 40% chance she'll recognize its provenance and turn aside to where you'll find a hidden cache of electrum pieces: each character gaining 50 (worth 25 gp/ XP not subject to level- up pinning restrictions at this point).

	Unless finished, wrap up {9}.\