INNER WARD FIRST FLOOR 11 FIRST GAME ROOM.

11 FIRST GAME ROOM. Within Room 11 is the seated figure of a man. He faces west and ponders his next move over a chessboard on a small table. A goblin stands next to the man, waiting for him to make his move. The room is fairly bare, with only a lit candelabra present in each corner.

The man is Stoff Juff and the goblin is named Binklet. Stoff Juff and Angrogar (see Room 12) are engaged in a cursed never-ending game of chess. About a year ago, while exploring the castle, they found the chess sets and sat down to have a game. They have been here ever since. Binklet, also influenced by the charm effect of the chess set, acts as courier, bringing orders for the move from one room to another. While they (and anyone else) are in the room with the intact chessboard, they have no need for food, drink, or sleep. Also, as long as the cursed chessboard is functioning, the candelabras in the corners will never go out.

If any character touches the chessboard, a chess piece, or a creature affected by the charm (melee attacks count as a 'touch' for this purpose), they will fall under the effect of the curse unless they save versus spells. Affected characters will become eager spectators and wait their turn to play. The curse acts as a potent charm, equivalent to the charm ability produced by monsters such as nixies and vampires. See Dungeon Master's Guide page 65 for an explanation of the monster charm power. Those under the curse will ignore anyone else in the room unless they are being attacked, as they are infatuated with the game, seeing it as the most entertaining spectacle ever to exist. If attacked, they will fight to the best of their abilities.

Because it is a charm effect, elf and half-elf characters will have their usual resistance to it.

Breaking the curse is tricky. A wish, exorcism, or alter reality spell will do it, as will destroying both chessboards (this and the one in Room 12). On the SAVING THROW MATRIX FOR MAGICAL AND NON-MAGICAL ITEMS, Dungeon Master's Guide page 80, each chessboard saves as magical wood, thick. A remove curse spell might be effective, it has a base 30% chance of working, with an additional +10% for each level of the caster over five and an additional +1% for each point of intelligence of the caster. A dispel magic can also be used to temporarily negate the magic of the chessboard for one round, as per the description of the spell dispel magic in the Player's Handbook. This will free affected person in the room from the curse. After the dispel magic spell wears off, however, the chess sets will again charm anyone who touches them.

The chessboard is absolutely beautiful. It is made of fine lacquered wood, inlaid with gold and silver. The chess pieces are made of carved wood and decorated with semi-precious stones. Each board is worth 1000 gold crescents. Each chess piece is worth 10 gold crescents, but if one set is sold intact it is worth 2000 gold crescents. Both intact sets sold together are worth 5000 gold crescents.

Stoff Juff the Glorious, Lawful Neutral male human magic-user (AC 10; MV 12”; MU3; hp 11; #AT 1; D Quarterstaff; SA Spell use; S 7, I 12, W 12, D 7, C 16, Ch 5; XP 169)

First Level Magic user Spells:

Charm Person, Write

Second Level Magic User Spells:

Darkness, 15' Radius

Stoff Juff is an older man in his late fifties. He is dressed in a fine green robe embellished with patterns of silver comets and starbursts, with a matching hat. He is well-spoken, but with the speech pattern of a court dandy. He is a diplomatic person who tries to avoid offending others.

He has a small pouch containing pieces of coal for the darkness, 15' radius spell. He also has a larger pouch holding 45 gold crescents, 34 silver spanners, 21 copper pieces, a piece of crystal for the read magic spell, and a flask of rare ink for the write spell. The ink can be used to inscribe up to 3 spells and is worth between 200 and 500 gold crescents, if sold, depending on demand at the time.

Binklet the Goblin (AC 6; MV 6”; HD 1-1; hp 6; #AT 1; D Spear; XP 16)

Binklet carries a wallet with 3 silver spanners and 6 copper pieces. He wears a backpack holding 2 weeks iron rations, seven torches, flint and steel, and Stoff Juff's and Angrogar's travelling spell books. The spell books each hold all the spells each magic-user has memorized, along with read magic.