17.0 Victory Conditions

General Rule

There are two kinds of victory: group victory and individual victory. The group, that is, the party, wins the game if it finds the Black Gate, destroys it, and at least one character makes it out of the maze alive. This may require playing more than one adventure, i.e. more than one visit to the maze.

The individual winner is whichever character survives every adventure played, earns the most experience points, and amasses the greatest wealth in gold pieces and valuables.

If the players decide to end the game before finding or destroying the Black Gate, group victory is not possible.

Procedure

The party enters the maze and searches for the Black Gate. If, at some point, the players decide there's too great a risk the party will be wiped out before finding it, they may leave the maze the same way they entered, that is, through the maze gate on the first level. Such a portion of the game (from the moment of entering the maze to the moment of leaving it without completing the main objective) is called an adventure. Once all wounds have healed, the party may enter the maze again. Segments explored during previous adventures remain known in later ones.

Detailed Rules

[17.1] Gold pieces and valuables earned by a character during one adventure are left at home before the next one begins, unless they were spent to increase stats (see 12.2).

[17.2] Monsters brought under control by the "Charm" spell are freed from its power the moment the party leaves the maze.

[17.3] After any adventure in which one (or more) party members are killed, new characters may be introduced, so the party again numbers 3 heroes and 3 apprentices. Newly introduced characters, of course, start with zero experience points and treasure.

[17.4] Before each subsequent entry into the maze, a character may choose new weapons, but may carry no more than two kinds at once.

[17.5] It's assumed that 6 months pass between leaving the maze and entering it again. During this time, characters not only heal all their wounds, but also "age", and so gain new, higher abilities more slowly. This is reflected in the rising cost of earning points that increase various stats. These costs rise by 10% after every subsequent adventure, starting from the second (i.e. from the second time the party leaves the maze).