From the inside front cover- To the curious: Welcome to the Land of Mystery - Melanda. What you have before you is the next step in the progression of fantasy games. We've all seen the industry go from simple and light to the extensive and complex. A combination of simplicity and realism is the challenge we saw and accepted. We aimed our game at emphasis on the 'role playing' aspect of the genre. Believing this 'in character' play to be easiest when the adventurer is designed to player desires, we established a fresh approach to character generation - no dice rolling! We've tried to capture the realism of characteristics being in total accord with character background. Melanda offers the subjectivity, in both play and game mastering, which will provide maximum opportunity for role playing to happen freely. With minimum concentration on numbers, which distract players from 100% character identification, we feel that GM's can expect players to ask only what their hero would ask, decide only what their hero would decide, and take action only as their hero would act. The Land of Mystery comes to you as a complete package in a single booklet. Everything you need to design a campaign, create characters, and manage play is included between these covers. In separate packages, gaming aids such as character cards, pre-designed scenarios, and additional non-player entities will be released as produced. As you will soon discover, magic is everywhere in Melanda in a myriad of forms. Within these pages you will be exposed to approximately a half dozen different magic systems for players and non-players to learn and utilize (as well as some means for tapping into the Black Arts and dabble in Elemental Control for the power hidden within)! The magic is basic but complete enough so that the only limit to what is possible in your campaign is imagination. If we had to use one word to sum up our hopes for the game and its affect in your life, it would be subjectivity. All systems and charts are designed as guidelines only -- we hope you will alter them to fit your personal likes and dislikes! In this and all Melandan concepts we welcome your input, not only to your players but to us and all of Melanda; so, please feel free to write and tell us of the cleverness of Melandians at your end. We may share your suggestions with others. Alas, Melanda awaits..mystery laden. So, to you, the bold, we offer gratitude, greetings, and good luck as you embark on a future of surprise and wonder.