Nephil«s Gambit A Machiavellian intrigue set in a remote Exile province Tormod Stangeland, Etterstadsletta 49, 0660 Oslo, Norway. E-mail: tstangel@student.sv.uio.no The lands of Chimney know well the advantages of being remote: The great events that stagger the rest of the world, -Wars, discoveries and diplomatic intrigue- pass Chimney gently by. Deep down in the lower caves, on the very rim of the slithzerikai realms, far away from the Empire and even from the central Exile government, Chimney is largely unknown to the world. And of those who do know, most people do not care. *** "Nephil«s Gambit" is carefully balanced for a beginner party of first level characters. It should not be played by a stronger party, as being far too strong for the scenario could ruin the plot. -The party isn«t meant to win every encounter. In some situations, escape is meant to be the only solution. Don«t worry about becoming too strong, the scenario can handle that. But make sure you start with a beginner party with no equipment. Also, the game is meant to be played by a full six person party. Players using smaller parties will encounter a problem at one point in the plot. It is still possible to play using fewer characters, but you need to be careful at this point. For those concerned, the situation in question is explained at the bottom of this document. Unlike many scenarios, merely reaching the end is not enough to win. You should look carefully for hints and clues to the dark secrets of Chimney and its rulers, or else the plotters might use you for their own devices. Playing through the scenario twice might be useful. If you do not feel like repeating the game, make sure to save different versions of the game at several stages, so you can go back later and try again. Every scenario designer loves feedback, so feel free to e-mail me if you need a hint or get bored or excited about something. Towards the end of the game you will see that this scenario is also a philosophical discourse. I won«t spoil it for you at this time, but I am very interested in your reactions to the plot. So write! Version 1.1 Comments. After the initial version of the scenario I received advice and comments from many veteran players and scenario designers. I particularly profited from discussions with Ivan Godard, Peter Hawkinson and Andrew Barton. Thank you very much for your efforts in "gamma-testing"! As a result, several vague hints have been made more explicit. A few minor errors hve been corrected, and the entire system of timers triggering critical events for players who had missed important clues was removed. The way it worked out, many players missed two major quests without even knowing it. I also included a simple walkthrough. Being Norwegian, some odd expressions were bound to show up. Thanks to these english speaking friends, the worst cases should now be plucked out. Version 1.2 Comments. A tiny, but devastating error snuck into the revised version, and I had to replace version 1.1 after only a week. The scenario asked for the wrong special item in Below Whitstone, and in effect made the scenario unwinnable. Thanks to Jason Downie and to Jennifer for letting me know. Spoiler: The small party-problem: In the dream sequence in Flickering Keep, do not try to fight. You must back down. Don«t worry. You may feel bad about it, but it doesn«t really affect the game.