Under the Pit (Adventure 2)

Setup

This is designed to immediately follow The Pit of Horgath adventure. This is designed to
take the rules of combat and show them in action both on the board and sometimes just in the
imaginations of the players. Its also meant to get the characters some experience with dungeoncrawling within the safety net of having a guide.

Combat Refresher

Combat proceeds as follows:

1. Everyone rolls for AP, including the monsters. Turns proceed in order from
whoever had the highest AP the lowest. If anyone rolls a 6, they get to roll again
and add that to their AP. If they keep rolling 6s, then they keep accumulating
AP.
2. Players and monsters spend AP to move, pick up items, attack and cast spells.
3. Players and monsters attack by adding their base attack number for the weapon
theyre using to the attack value of the weapon and a die roll. Rolling a 6 means
you get to keep rolling. For spell casting, two dice are rolled.
4. Players and monsters under attack defend by rolling and adding this number to
their Defense (DEF). Again, rolling a 6 means you get to keep rolling. When
defending against a spell, Magic Defense (MDEF) is used.
5. If the attackers total is higher than the defenders, he does 1 Health Point (HP) of
damage if his number was 1-5 greater, 2 if it was 6-10 greater, 3 if it was 11-15
greater, and 4 if it was greater by 16 or more up to the maximum damage of the
weapon. For spells, it is all or nothing. If the defender wins or ties, no damage is
done. If the attacker wins, the spell does maximum damage.
6. Players and monsters can attack multiple times as long as they have enough AP.
7. When a character drops to zero HP she is rendered unconscious. When a
monster drops to zero HP, it is killed.

IF YOU ARE A PLAYER,

READ NO FURTHER!

The Adventure
1) Escape!

Last time, you were captured and forced to fight in an arena against a whole host of nasty critters.
But, you struggled and won, and then something unusual happened, the beast below the arena burst free
and attacked. You defeated it and escaped into its hole and soon after a man wearing a Maroon robe
dropped in with you. You dont know who he is or what he wants, but for the moment he seems like hes
trying to help you. You find yourself following him into the damp darkness of the beasts cave.
If the players ask him questions, they can learn the following information. The man is a
member of a secret order. He was sent by word from his oba-kai who is a superior member of
that order. Hes just a kai. He wont say his name, but if they press him on who he is, he will
say that hes a friend. If they ask why hes helping or risking his life, he will say thats its a small
price to do this favor for them given the favor that they will do him. He will say that hes not
permitted to explain more, but that hes got to get them out and to a place of safety.
As you walk through the passage, you see that it splits. The man heads down the tunnel to the
right, but you can hear some strange squeaking and slithering echoing from the tunnel to the left.

2) Beast Babies

You walk through the tunnels and step out into a large round chamber. The only light entering
the room is coming from down the hallway. The stench is especially strong here. In the middle are a pile of
white bones. Some of the bones rattle as you approach, and when you inspect them a little closer (but not
too closely!), you see several small tentacles writhing under them. This is the beasts nest, and these are its
babies.

There is nothing to be had here. If the players want to attack the babies, then they can
easily kill them. Checking the bones reveals nothing. The mother has cleared the room of
anything that might be harmful to her babies. When this is all done, read the following:
The man in the robe comes into the room and calls out to you with his annoyance evident, Stop
fooling around, the Pit Masters and their guards will be here any second. Were not likely to escape easily
anyway. We dont need to make it any harder for ourselves.

3) At the Gate

You follow the man down the winding hallway, and it ends abruptly at a massive iron gate. On
your side of the bars the cave is smooth and round, and on the other side of the gate is a square stone
hallway. You can see some lumps in the room beyond, and as you look closer, they look like pieces of dead
animals. Probably food for the beast.
Your guide reaches into his robe and pulls out a small leather pouch. He pulls from the pouch a
couple of metal rods the size of toothpicks, and kneels down before the gate. He looks over his shoulder and
tells you, Keep an eye on the passage behind us.
There is definitely shouting and commotion up the hallway above the beasts chamber. The guards
will be coming soon.
Just as you start to worry, you hear a click and the gate swings open making a grinding screech on
its rusty hinges. You follow the man into the room, and he pushes the gate closed.

4) The Feeding Room

Youre now standing in a puddle of congealing blood among a few piles of nearly freshly
slaughtered meatbut it could be fresher. In fact, youre pretty sure it hasnt got long before it goes
rancid.
Your rescuer faces the gate, then holds his hand up to the metal bars and begins casting a spell. A
yellowish light swirls around his hand and suddenly fire erupts from it. He grits his teeth and sweat starts
to trickle down his face. The bars glow dull orange just a little and melt together. He stops and says, That
should hold them for at least a little while. He then turns and lights a torch on the wall with a blast from
his fire spell. And then removes it from the iron holder.
The room is small and theres a wooden door on the far side. If they explore, behind one
of the chunks of meat, they will find a large beetle chewing on the meat. You can lay out the
room if you want, but it works just as easily to play without the board, and is probably better to
do that.

Spitting Beetle

This beetle has an iridescent purple exoskeleton and menacing mandibles dripping with
somewhat fresh blood. But it could be fresher.
STR
SPD
END
INT

3
4
3
0

HP
DEF
MDEF
AP

5) Which Way?

3
5
7
12

Attack:
Attack Range:
Max Damage:

9 +roll (spit of burning liquid)

Same as 2 handed weapon
1

You walk down the dark stone hallway and reach a split in the path. Im not sure which way to

go, he says. You decide, right or Left? Both paths seem to move straight away and then turn sharply,
so you cant see much in either direction. The left path seems to be pitch black, but the right one has light
coming from around the corner.

6) Storage

The room seems to be full of exceptionally heavy sacks of flour and kegs of beer and not much else.
By dim flickers of torchlight you can see a door in the far corner. Its the only exit other than the way you
came in. We cant go out that way, it leads up to the inner temple. We must go back.
Nothing in the room is of much use to the players, and if they insist on looking around,
they can find a couple of 5 pieces of rope and a pair of burlap sacks. These could be useful for
carrying stuff, and can be rigged into makeshift backpacks or something if the players want.
After finding these things, their savior will insist that they go.

7) Guard Room

Light spills out of this room and you slowly peek around the corner. It looks like a guard room,
and in it are two sleeping guards sitting at a table. One guard has his head down on the table and is
holding a spear, and the other is leaning back in his chair with his feet up and snoring loudly. On the table
is a large iron key, which is probably needed to unlock the door on the other side of the room.
If the characters can sneak or anything, theres a chance that they can get the key and
maybe do something to injure the guards before the fight. If they rush in and attack, they
surprise the guards and get a free combat round before (but without the extra AP from dice
rolling, they just go in order, which will be added to my rules soon). If they try to sneak and fail
(which will almost certainly happen if theyre wearing clinky chain armor) the fight will begin
normally. The room on the map is 7x9. You can use a 7x9 grid, and put a table with guards on
either side near the middle of the room, and a few other pieces of furniture, and weapon racks.
You get to control their friend too, so you can use this as an opportunity to show them what can
really be done with spells, and have fun wasting a couple of fools. Also, it costs the guards 1 AP
to stand up from their chairs.

Guard 1
STR
3
HP
6
Attack:
6 + 3 (sword) +roll
SPD
3
DEF
15
Attack Range: one-handed
END 3
MDEF 15
Max Damage: 3
INT
3
AP
2
Wearing Metal Helm and coif, with a ringmail shirt (with long arms) and ringmail
leggings. Wielding a sword and holding a shield. No special abilities.

Guard 2
STR
3
HP
6
Attack:
6 + 3(spear) + roll
SPD
3
DEF
12
Attack Range: polearm
END 3
MDEF 11
Max Damage: 3
INT
2
AP
2
Wearing Metal Helm and coif, with a ringmail shirt (with long arms) and ringmail
leggings.

Your Friend
STR

HP

11

Magic Attack:

12+ 2xroll

SPD
4
DEF
9
Attack Range: determined by spell
END 6
MDEF 20
Max Damage: determined by spell
INT
6
AP
16
Special Abilities: Lock Picking, For magic enhancement: Range, Intensity, Blast Radius,
Targetless Blast, Pain, Cold, Awaken, Heal, Lightning, Force.
Once the guards are killed, players can search their bodies, but their friend will be
insistent that they have to keep moving to the point that hell get the key and begin to unlock the
door and leave the room. They can quickly find that one of the guards had a pouch with 12 Cu in
it. They also have really good boots, and one has a decent sword (same stats as in the book) as
well as decent Heater shield, although with a picture of the beast of Horgath on it, so they may
not want to take it on that account. In the weapon racks are several spears, and a quiver with 12
arrows.

8) Another Fork in the Path

You come to another choice in the hallway. Now I remember, its just south of here. Come on.
Your friend heads down the hallway to the right. Suddenly you hear shouts from behind you. It sounds
like the guys who are after you just found their dead buddies. You better get moving!

9) They should not have Gone This Way

They shouldnt go this way, but if they do, heres your opportunity to reenact that scene
from A New Hope where Han turns the corner and runs into a bunch of guards. You can not-sogently persuade them to turn around and follow their friend now. You might be able to have
them pull a door closed and push something against it before running, that way they dont have
to fight the whole army in the next (10) encounter.

10) 3 Guards and a Dead End

You walk into a room with no exits and your heart sinks. The shouts behind you are getting
louder. Hold on, theres a secret exit here somewhere, your friend says. He then puts the torch on the
ground and begins tapping around on the wall and digging into the cracks between the stones with his
fingertips. Damned thing is here somewhere
Just then four guards burst into the room. One turns to the last one to enter and says Go get the
squad in the barracks, well hold em here. The guard nods and leaves. You have three left, and youve got
to deal with them FAST.
Hold them off of me and Ill keep looking.
Based on how badly this fight starts going, you can have the friend stop looking and
help, but its good to let them panic a little first. If need be, he can also give them each a potion
before or after the fight to restore them to however much health you think they need. It should
be only enough to keep them feeling vulnerable and desperate, but not dead.

Guard Captain
STR
5
HP
8
Attack:
8 + 3 (sword) +roll
SPD
3
DEF
16
Attack Range: unarmed range
END 3
MDEF 15
Max Damage: 3
INT
3
AP
1
Wearing Metal Helm and coif, with all chain armor, but no shield.
Special Attack: Trip. Can trip instead of attacking, to knock a player down. It causes no

damage, but if any guards get a turn first, the players DEF is equal to their Armor (with
no SPD bonus). 2 AP to get up.

Guard 1
STR
3
HP
6
Attack:
6 + 3 (sword) +roll
SPD
3
DEF
15
Attack Range: one-handed
END 3
MDEF 15
Max Damage: 3
INT
3
AP
2
Wearing Metal Helm and coif, with a ringmail shirt (with long arms) and ringmail
leggings. Wielding a sword and holding a shield. No special abilities.

Guard 2
STR
3
HP
6
Attack:
6 + 3(spear) + roll
SPD
3
DEF
12
Attack Range: polearm
END 3
MDEF 11
Max Damage: 3
INT
2
AP
2
Wearing Metal Helm and coif, with a ringmail shirt (with long arms) and ringmail
leggings.
When the guards are all dead, they carry similar weaponry to their friends, and the
captain has 9 Cu in a leather pouch on his nice leather belt. While they search the bodies (their
clothing is torn and bloody, but they can steal pieces of armor if they like. If they took sacks they
can also carry some extra stuff to sell later.
You hear a click, and your friend says Ah ha! This is followed by the sound of stone sliding
over stone for a few seconds before a puff of stale air and dust hit you in the face. A chunk of the wall slides
aside and reveals a narrow, jagged hallway that disappears into the dark. Go in. Who is brave enough to
go first?

13) A Cramped Passage (yeah, its out of Numerical Order)

You bumble into the dark and squeeze into a pitch black and jagged passage. Its only wide
enough for one person at a time to move through sideways. Your friend stays behind to seal the passage as
you squint and slide forward into the dark.
You can torment whoever goes first in this one. They should be bumbling ahead in the
dark catching corners of jutting stones in the ribs, and old spider webs in the face. Just remember
what its like when the guy with the flashlight is two people behind you in a narrow hall. In the
end the person in front has to fight the rat alone. With a spear pointed forward (though it make
take some considerable AP and yelling at people to back up) or a sword or dagger, theres not a
lot of Attack penalty, but if they try to use a two-handed weapon, the max damage should be
reduced and a massive attack penalty assigned. If its going too badly, they can get healed with a
warming touch from the guy in the robe (the guy should make a bid deal to get over the top of
whoever is in 2nd place, which can also be fun to use to torment them).
In the dark you see something sparkle in the torchlight. You stop, and it is gone. Someone bumps
into you from behind pushing you one large step forward. You bang your shoulder on a rock, which causes
you let out an annoyed growl. Then from the black ahead you hear an annoyed hiss. You look down to see
a pair or sparkling orange eyes, and a set of large white incisors.

Horgath Rat
STR

HP

Attack:

11 + roll (teeth)

SPD
1
DEF
6
END 5
MDEF 7
INT
0
AP
6
No special ability.

Attack Range: unarmed range

Max Damage: 1

11) Its A Trap!

The passage turns ninety degrees and suddenly becomes wide enough for the three of you to walk
side by side. Its still dark, but this passage feels like it was built on purpose and not carved out as an
afterthought. You can see by the flickering light that the ground is sandy and covered in large, presumably
rat footprints.
When the characters move down the hall, they will notice that the footprints go into a
large hole in the wall, and there are none at one part of the hallway. Aeleri should be able to see
that there is a trap there thanks to her trapping ability. She doesnt have the ability to disarm the
trap, but if they carefully clear the sand, they will notice that theres a wooden section that drops
into a black pit. Their friend will let them try to decide what to do and you may have to give him
a job (like to run back and see how closely theyre being followed) to let the players decide what
to do. He will, however, stop them from doing anything too dumb. They can easily just set off
the trap by stepping on it cautiously, or tapping it with a butt of a spear firmly. They will then
need to jump over the pit. As long as they can jump from their side to where there are footprints
on the other side, they should be okay. As soon as the last of them is across, guards holding a
torch round the corner.

12) Escape!

You run down the hallway, and at the end you think you can see just a crack of evening light
shining in. You get to the end of the passage, and it ends in a large stone. You friend casts an impressively
powerful spell on the stone, as evidenced by his grimace and the sweat on his brow. The stone slides out
like a massive door, and he shoves you out. You are standing at the base of a small cliff with trees all
around you. Looking back, you see that the hallway is filling with guards who are sprinting toward you
and leaping easily over the pit.
Find my cabin and find Ultrek. Hell help you. And, stay away from people until you get out of
these woods. They will be looking for you. Ill slow these guards down so you can escape, but it wont be
long before they send patrols into the woods. Here take this and go! You are handed a rolled-up map, and
given a rough shove. Theres a deep rumbling in the cliff and the stone slides closed. The last you see of
your friend is a flourish of maroon cloth as he spins to face his enemies. The rumbling continues and it
sounds like the passage is caving in on the other side of the stone. A puff of dirt comes from the cracks
around the edge.
You look around and see no other people, so you set off into the woods. Night will fall soon, and
youll need to rest, but not until you can get away from this place. As you set off into the woods, you
unroll the map
Oh and they get 1 SP for this escape. They cant spend them yet, but when they get to a
village they can probably find someone to train them. Its good anyway, because they dont want
to spend them until I get them a whole bunch of new skills to pick from.