Player Guide

Everything you need to adventure in the Western Lands

Download the PDF edition (3.5 MB, parchment, print-ready)

Welcome to CoolRPG Volume I, a classic fantasy adventure built on the free tabletop rules of the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game. You begin as a single hero in the frontier town of Morgansfort, at the edge of the Western Lands: a wild country of old dwarven mines, orc-haunted forests, island ruins and pirate-held coasts. Gather companions, take jobs from the people of Morgansfort, explore the dungeons the module made famous, and carry your name to the free cities beyond.

This guide explains how to play. For a quest-by-quest route see the Walkthrough; for the history and people of the Western Lands see Backstories.

Starting the Game

Where to play. CoolRPG Volume I runs on Android (Google Play) and in a web browser. Your progress is saved on the device you play on.

The title screen offers:

A short intro film plays the first time the game loads; press OK or tap to skip it.

Controls

Tip: Message windows wait for you. Press OK (or tap) to read on; nothing happens behind a message while it is open.

Creating Your Character

Every story starts in the Hall of Transference, on a series of illustrated cards and a parchment character sheet.

1. Ability scores. Six scores are rolled 3d6 each: Strength (melee power), Intelligence (a Magic-User's spellcasting), Wisdom (a Cleric's spellcasting), Dexterity (agility; a Thief's key score), Constitution (toughness and hit points) and Charisma (presence). The four prime requisites always roll at least 9, so no class is ever locked out. You may reroll up to three times, then Approve & Continue.

2. Sex. Male (+2 Strength) or Female (+2 Constitution, -1 Strength). Boons show in green, banes in red.

3. Race. Human, Elf, Dwarf or Halfling. Each adjusts your scores; the card shows exactly how.

4. Class.

A class whose requirement you do not meet shows a red X.

5. The character sheet. Spend your 5 bonus points, name your hero, and confirm. You may lower a score (to a minimum of -1) to gain a point elsewhere, but not below your class's prime requisite.

6. Magic-Users only: pick your first spell, such as Magic Missile, Sleep or Shield.

The Weapons Cache. Open the chest in the Hall of Transference for 500 gold and your class's starting kit, equipped automatically. The cache can be opened once. Then step out toward Morgansfort.

Morgansfort, Your Home Base

Morgansfort is the walled frontier town of the Western Lands, ruled in his father's absence by Baronet Halden Rathwynn. Everything you need is here:

Quest markers. A gold ! floats over anyone with a quest to offer; a blue ? means a quest is ready to hand in.

The Main Menu

Press Cancel (or right-click / two-finger tap) on the map.

Compass, Minimap and Labels

The compass in the upper-left corner shows your class icon and the points of interest around you: quest givers, shops, dungeon entrances and travel portals. Press Tab (or choose Map) for the large minimap on a parchment background.

Important places carry a floating label: dungeon names on the world map, Travel Portal in every city, and Exit or Stairs down on the way in and out of dungeons.

Quests and the Quest Tracker

Quests are given by the people of the Western Lands. Accepted quests appear in the Quest Log (main menu, Quests), each with its giver, its area, a description and a journal of steps. Completed steps are ticked.

The quest you are working on is pinned to the top-right of the map, showing your current objective (for example "Wolf packs driven off: 2/3"). Use Track on Map or Don't Track in the log to choose what is pinned.

There are six quests in this volume: Gold in the Hills, The Olde Island Fortress, Rescue Gwelayn, The Nameless Dungeon, Proof of Worthiness and The Pirate King. See the Walkthrough for each.

Exploring the Western Lands

Walk the world map to reach cities and dungeons. Dungeon entrances are marked on the map and the compass. Inside a dungeon:

• Rooms tell their own story. The first time you step into a keyed room its description plays, and any ambush or trap springs. A room's event happens once.
• Treasure is taken once. Chests and hoards stay empty after you loot them.
• Ways in and out are labelled. Stairs, ladders, doors, ropes and hatches carry a label such as Exit or Stairs down to Level 2; walk onto them (or press OK) to use them.
• Traps hurt. Pits, gas, darts and crushing walls deal damage but never end your game on their own.

Combat

Battles are fought side-on, your party on the right and the enemy on the left. Each round, choose for every hero:

Monsters follow the Basic Fantasy rules, including their special tricks: oozes that corrode gear, jellies that split, gargoyles that shrug off ordinary weapons. Defeated enemies give experience and sometimes treasure.

Falling in battle. A hero reduced to 0 HP is knocked out. If the whole party falls, the game is over; reload your last save. Fallen companions can be resurrected at any church.

Magic, Mana and Healing

• Mana. Magic-Users draw on Intelligence, Clerics on Wisdom. Higher scores and levels mean more MP.
• Spell cost. 5 MP per spell level (a 1st-level spell costs 5, a 3rd-level spell 15).
• Learning spells. Magic-Users learn new spells from a trainer at any church or Magic Shop, for the price of that spell's Magic Tome. Each new level opens spell slots; a tome you have no slot for is not used up. Clerics learn their prayers automatically as they level.
• Natural recovery. While exploring (never in battle) everyone slowly regains HP (faster with high Constitution) and casters regain MP. Recovery pauses while menus or conversations are open.
• Potions come in Small (25%), Medium (50%) and Large (full) sizes.
• Inns restore everyone completely.

Churches, Shops and Inns

The Mystic's magic stock changes every half hour of play and only offers goods suited to your party's level.

Companions and Your Party

Your party holds four heroes: you and up to three companions. Eight adventurers can be found around Morgansfort: Darion, Morningstar, Apoqulis, Barthal, Lucas, Bork, Thorus and Aura.

• Talk to them first. A companion can only join after you have met them.
• Room in the party? They offer to join on the spot.
• Party full? They will wait for you at any inn.
• Changing the party happens only at an inn: choose Manage Party from the innkeeper. Your own hero can never be swapped out.
• Companions keep their level, experience and equipment while they wait.

Equipment

Each hero has seven slots: Weapon, Shield, Head, Body, Neck and two Rings. The Basic Fantasy class rules apply: Magic-Users wear no armour, Clerics use blunt weapons, Thieves wear only light armour. Magic items (+1 swords, rings of protection and more) are found in dungeons and sold by the Mystic and the Magic Garments vendor.

The Cities and the Travel Portals

Beyond Morgansfort lie the free cities and kingdoms of the Western Lands: Slateholm, Ravenstone, Avenrho, Novatia, Beth and Corvis. Each has an inn, a church, a market, an apothecary and a tavern full of rumours.

Every city has a Travel Portal near its centre: a column of blue light labelled Travel Portal. Talk to it to travel instantly to any city you have already visited. Avenrho, the Elvish capital, only opens its gate to those who have earned the trust of its wardens (see Proof of Worthiness).

Saving Your Game

Save from the main menu (Save) into any slot. Load with Continue on the title screen or Load in the main menu. On Android, every save is also kept in a second store on the device, so a save survives the app being closed or restarted.

Achievements

CoolRPG Volume I awards achievements in the game and, on Android, through Google Play Games:

Ads and Remove Ads (Android)

The free Android version shows a small banner at the bottom of the screen. Choose Remove Ads in the main menu to buy the ad-free version through Google Play; the banner disappears at once and stays gone on that device, for every save. If you reinstall, the purchase is restored automatically the next time the game starts.

Tips for New Adventurers

• Use your rerolls before you commit. You cannot reroll once the sheet is confirmed.
• Recruit early. A party of four survives what a lone hero cannot.
• Rest before a dungeon. Inns are cheap; resurrections are not.
• Read the rooms. Room descriptions often warn of what lies ahead.
• Carry potions. Natural recovery stops in battle.
• Talk to everyone in the taverns. Rumours point to treasure, and sometimes to trouble.
• Save often, and always before facing a dungeon's master.

Getting Help

The full guides, patch notes and the community forums are at www.coolrpg.us. Report a bug in the Bug/Issue Tracker there, or email [email protected] with your device (or browser) and what you were doing. The in-game Help on the title screen has a short version of this guide.

Guide text © 2026 Xinle, LLC. Game rules and setting adapted from the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game and BF1 Morgansfort (Chris Gonnerman and Contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0); this guide is shared under the same licence. Screenshots show art by the creators listed under Credits.