A Sword-and-Sorcery Game Master Campaign Book

Written by: Mike Hill

Printed by: Outlaw Press Inc.
Published by: James L. Shipman II
Edited by: Andy R. Holmes and Jason C. Mills
Art by: M. E. Volmar

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Millet’s Crossing…………………………………………………… Page 3

Dungeon of the Rat………………………………………………… Page 9
The Skolari Vaults: Level 1………………………………………… Page 25
The Skolari Vaults: Level 2………………………………………… Page 43

LEGAL NOTE: Tunnels and Trolls™ is trademarked by Flying Buffalo Inc. and was originally written by Ken St. Andre.
This publication is a tribute to Tunnels and Trolls™ and is not intended as an infringement on their respective copyrights.
This Campaign Book is officially approved by Ken St. Andre.

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 The First Tunnels & Trolls™ Campaign Book
Designed for the Game Master

General Instructions
Game Mastering: This GM Campaign Book was designed to be used with Tunnels & Trolls™ rules.
Characters used within (Millet’s Crossing, Dungeon of the Rat, and The Skolari Vaults) may be chosen from the
ten major humanoid kindred’s: human, orc, ogre, troll, dwarf, gnome, fairy, hobbit, elf, or leprechaun.

Abbreviations and Explanations: 1D6: one six-sided die, L1-SR: Level One Saving Roll, gp: Gold
Pieces, sp: Silver Pieces, cp: Copper Pieces, WT: Weight, MR: Monster Rating, A.P.: Adventure Points, STR:
Strength, CON: Constitution, DEX: Dexterity, SPD: Speed, INT: Intelligence, CHR: Charisma, WIZ: Wizardry, LK:
Luck.

Adventure Points: The code, (AP) appears at the end of some areas; this represents the special
Adventure Points award that is earned by the delver (or delvers) that survives the encounter. This is a bonus for
daring or undergoing something that is instructive or experience-worthy. The bonus is in addition to Adventure
Points earned for Saving Rolls, combat, or expending STR or WIZ in magic in the same paragraph. The GM
should give the characters a number of A.P. equal to the full MR value of any monster defeated.

Saving Rolls: When asked to make a Saving Roll, you are also given a Level and an Attribute: For
instance, a "Level One Saving Roll versus Luck" (shortened to "L1-SR vs. LK" or "L1-SR on LK"). To actually
attempt a Saving Roll, simply roll 2D6 and add the relevant Attribute.
Level Formula Compare that total to the target number, as shown below; if your
total is equal to or higher than the target number, you succeed. Note that
1 20 minus Luck
you must always roll at least 4 or more; no matter how lucky you are
2 25 minus Luck accidents can always happen.
3 30 minus Luck In short, if your Saving Roll dice come up with a one on the first die
4 35 minus Luck and a 2 on the second, you’ve failed automatically.
5 40 minus Luck
Magic: The following spells can be cast before the first combat turn
(you can cast them, and still participate in melee in combat turn 1): Take That, You Fiend, Blasting Power;
Freeze Pleeze, Vorpal Blade, Glue You, Little Feets, Whammy.
Poor Baby may be used during Rest Periods, and Yassa Massa can act upon enemy characters whose
MR or CON is reduced to at least 5.

Thrown Weapons: Like magic, the PC can throw a weapon at a foe before the first combat turn, and it
won’t affect their ability to participate in melee combat for that first turn. All targets are large and at near range,
L4-SR on DEX (35-DEX). If the PC misses with a thrown weapon, roll 1D6. If the result is 1-3, they won’t be able
to find their weapon before they have to make there next decision. Thus, they’d lose it.

Spite Damage: The default form of "Special Damage" is Spite Damage, dealing one point of damage for
every 6 rolled during combat. However, alternate forms of special damage can be used, and will be clearly
identified in the text of the paragraph, where appropriate. Each form of Special Damage comes with a trigger that
must be activated during the combat roll. The triggers are based on the number of 6s rolled in combat. Special
Damage could take effect as a specific spell or cause a unique situation to occur. All spells are assumed cast at
the lowest level, and cost the creature no WIZ to invoke. As with Spite Damage, all Special Damage is dealt
directly to the target's CON (or MR) despite armor protection.

Equipment: As the GM, you should allow the players buy extra weapons and supplies before the start of
this adventure, but it is assumed they already have those goods. PC’s can wield two weapons for melee combat
(but the dice cannot exceed ten), as long as the off-hand weapon is a dagger.

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 The Woodland Village of
“Millet’s Crossing”
Millet’s Crossing is a tiny logging village nestled in
the Olme River Valley, snug against the Olme which feeds the
Grey lake a few leagues to the north.

Location 1: The Troll’s Trove

The most imposing building in the village is the inn. The
ground floor is of ancient stone blocks, the main door is of solid,
heavily tarnished bronze. The first and second floors are wood
and clearly built some time after the ground floor although their
considerable age is evident. The roof is of moss-covered gray
slate capped with lead.
The ground floor walls are dotted with narrow leaded
windows whilst heavy wooden shutters provide privacy above.
Many believe that the inn was constructed on the site of an earlier
and much older fortification – they are quite right (see The Skolari
Vaults for details).
The owner and proprietor of the Trove is Melmutt
Dunderholme, a stout man in his fifties with receding gray hair and
a well maintained goatee. He wears a patch over his left eye and
claims to be both the illegitimate son of Duke Elbow and one-
quarter troll on his mother’s side. However, he doesn’t appear to be of either trollish or noble origin (in fact he’s
referred to as Mel Dunderhead by the locals).

Melmutt Dunderholme
STR: 16 CON: 24 DEX: 11 SPD: 10 INT: 13 WIZ: 18 LK: 19 CHR: 15 Combat Adds: +6
Level: 2 Citizen (Total attack: 4+6, or 2+13 with the magic dirk)
Talents: Stewardry (23), Alchemy (19)
Weapons: Footman’s Lance (behind the bar; “It was a parting gift from the Duke.”) 4+0
Dirk 2+1 (magical, doubles the users personal adds when used in combat)
Armor: Heavy leather apron (takes 1 hit)
Spells: Poor Baby (2 WIZ per 1 CON), Unlucky Bees (8 WIZ), Omnipotent Eye (5 WIZ)
Special: Melmutt has 6 Poor Baby potions hidden in the cellar, each restores 8 CON.
Mel is an important character for starting characters to befriend, he can providing healing, identify items
and has a very good magical dirk that would suit a rogue or wizard nicely. If his rat problem is solved he will offer
the knife as a reward (see Dungeon of the Rat adventure).

1. The Common Room

Twenty-or- so tables are scattered around a huge 4-faced fireplace built of heavy granite. A brass and
oak serving bar runs around the east corner wall with several kegs and bottles on display. During the day there
will be no more than half-a-dozen travelers enjoying a rest or arranging a room for the evening.
After the sun goes down, the tap room will slowly fill up with woodsmen, hunters, traders, farmers and
anyone else drawn to the noise and light.
A mug of ale costs 2 cp, wine 2sp and spirits 2 gp.
A narrow stair leads up to the second floor above.

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2. The Kitchen
Memutt’s daughter Drucilla works long hours in the kitchen to avoid the patrons. She’s a nice enough girl
in her late teens but she must have inherited the bulk of Melmutt’s troll blood, she has a face like a bloodhound
chewing a nettle. Anyone brave enough to draw near will notice that she has a unique and near-fatal level of
body odor and a persistent and poisonous degree of halitosis. If Memutt could marry her off, his life would be
complete. Unfortunately he hasn’t yet found an orc willing to take her.
She wears an iron key on a heavy chain around her neck (it’s hidden in her deep cleavage and mostly off
limits). Mel charges 2 sp for bread and goat’s milk in the morning and 6 sp for a full cooked meal after 7:00 PM.

3. Melmutt’s Quarters
A small sitting room, 2 narrow beds, a dresser and wardrobes almost obscure an expensive looking
burgundy rug with gold trim (“Another gift from Duke Elbow of course”).
There is a small chest under the larger of the two beds (Mel’s), it’s locked by a key worn around
Drucilla’s neck (no one would dare try and take it). In the chest can be found 250 x d6 gold coins from various
realms (included some minted by Duke Elbow).
On the south wall is a stunning portrait of an equally stunning blonde-haired maiden holding a delicately
crafted gold harp with silver strings. This is Orlanda, Mel’s departed wife (“she’s not dead, she just left” he
explains with only a hint of melancholy).

4. Stables
A covered stable and corral.

5. The Cellar
A ladder leads down to the keg-cellar and the Dungeon of the Rat (for the complete adventure).

6. The Landing
Six green-velvet topped card or gaming tables are set up here. Mel makes the area available to any
interested parties and doesn’t take a cut of any gaming ‘action’ that might result.

7. and 8. The Box Rooms

A small room, with one bed and one window. Mel makes these rooms available to traveling road-
wardens (peace keepers) and local officials such as the unpopular tax assayers etc.

9. and 10. Traveler’s Rooms

Each room contains 3 beds, footlockers and nightstands (luxurious for these parts) and are let for 9 gp
per night (naturally none of the locals can afford these prices but they have their own homes). Mel doesn’t sell
individual beds, the rooms are 9 gp per night and the occupants must sort out who pays what.

11. The Upper Landing

A narrow carpeted hall. As a rule, no one comes up here unless they have a room on this level or plan to
steal something from here!

12. The Good Room

A private room with large 4-poster bed, lockable chest, wardrobe, nightstand wash bowl etc. Drucilla
brings fresh water every night (unless you pay her 1 gp to stay away)! The Good Room may be rented for 12 gp
per night. All food is included.

13. The Lord’s Room

Similar to room 12 but larger and more opulent. There is also a table, chairs brass ornaments etc. One
night here will set the traveler back 15 gp. All food and drink is included in the price.

14. The Duke’s Room

By far the best room; like room 13 but richly carpeted and appointed with Mel’s finest fittings. 20 gp per
night with everything thrown in (including Drucilla if you really want!)
Hanging on the wall by the door is a very realistic painting of a muscular troll standing in woodlands
brandishing a fallen branch.
The Troll in the painting is ‘Helmet’ the guardian spirit of anyone who rents the room. Once the rightful
occupant is inside with the door shut, Helmet will introduce himself, becoming animated in the picture frame. If
forced to leap from the painting and fight for his master, Helmet reveals himself to be about 3 feet tall and nearly
that wide!
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Helmet, the Guardian Troll
MR: 22
Combat: 3+11
Special Damage: None
Notes: Helmet’s stony hide absorbs 5 hits

“Oil be yar guard this night and any other ye stay yer.”
“Don’t moind me non-at-all, I won’t watch yuh undress or
nuttin’.”

Of course, Helmet is the Troll that gives the inn its name and
Helmet’s trove is anything and anyone that stays in this room.

Location 2: Widderwent’s Storehouse

The second most impressive building in the village is the
Storehouse. Besides storing grain this long wooden warehouse also
houses Widderwent’s General Store.
The General Store is open for business most of the time and
Widderwent’s prices are reasonable but his stock is low. Any specific
items from the T&T rulebook (not from the magic supplement) may
be obtained here however, for an item to be ‘in stock’ the buyer must
make a L1SR-LK. If the item in question is a weapon or suit of armor add the dice (but not adds) or protection
value to the number required.

For example: Spurlock the Hobb is keen to purchase a new suit of cuirboilli (7 hits of protection) after a
successful delve in the Skolari Vaults. Widderwent will have a suit fit for a Hobb providing Spurlock’s Saving Roll
is 27 or more (20 for a level one Saving Roll plus 7 for the protection provided by the armor).

Widderwent himself is an old (and retired) delver from the capital. He knows a little about the Vaults but
won’t discuss its location because he doesn’t want to feel responsible for the death of any young adventurers. He
has traveled far and wide and has fond memories of Gull for this reason, if offered a blue scarab amulet taken
from the Vaults he would give the character a 10% discount on any items purchased.
Widderwent maintains his lodgings at the Storehouse and keeps his strongbox in a secret compartment
under his bed (the money is used for purchasing new inventory and buying fine items from lucky delvers). The
strongbox currently contains 5,257 gp which acts as Widderwent’s limit on purchases (if the PCs find themselves
a 10,000 gp gem, the very best Widderwent could offer would be 5,257 gp).
Remember to add to Widderwent’s strongbox when the PCs buy gear from him.

Aulderbach Widderwent III

STR: 31 CON: 19 DEX: 14 SPD: 11 INT: 16 WIZ: 11 LK: 17 CHR: 22 Combat Adds: +27
Level: 3 Warrior (Total attack: 3+30, Total hits stopped: 12)
Talents: Trading (25), Assayer (19), Combat Tactics (22)
Weapons: Enchanted broadsword 3+4
Armor: Leather vest (1 x 2), aura of protection (5 x 2)
Special: Widderwent has named his fine broadsword ‘Battlemaster’. The blade grants the user 2 benefits; firstly,
it projects an invisible aura around the user’s body like a second skin which provides an extra 5 hits worth of
protection; and secondly, in any combat turn in which the user successfully makes a Combat Tactics (or similar)
Saving Roll, all spite damage generated by the user’s ‘side’ is doubled! The level of the Saving Roll equals the
total MR of the opposition divided by 100 with a minimum of 2.

Widderwent himself is tall and good-looking in a Sean Connery kind-of-a-way, if you can do the accent
that’s even better!

Location 3: The Battle Pit

New arrivals in the village will notice an odd depression in the village green, it’s roughly circular, lined
with limestone and about 5-feet deep. The pit itself is only 20 feet in diameter and has two flat stones in its center
approximately 10-feet apart.
Disputes in the village are settled in the Battle Pit, however, no blood is ever spilled. Instead the two
aggrieved parties climb into the pit, sit on a stone stool and hurl insults at their opponent! The crowd which
gathers at the pit’s edge judge the level of vitriol and determine a winner!

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Rules of the Battle Pit
1. The aggressor always begins the bout by shouting the first insult. In doing so, he or she makes a L1-SR-
INT, adds any applicable modifiers (see below) and records the total (dice roll + INT), even if the Saving
Roll fails.

2. The defender then makes a L1-SR-INT adding any modifiers that seem appropriate and compares his or
her total to the aggressor’s roll. The highest roll wins the round.

3. The low-roller may now bow out and accept defeat gracefully, in which case the winner is deemed true
and correct with the dispute being resolved in the winner’s favor. However, the ‘loser’ may continue the
bout into a second round, the Saving Roll target number is now the previous rounds winning total.

4. If successful the previous winner must attempt a second insult and so on until a Battler loses 2 rounds in
a row in which case the bout is over and the loser has twice the penalty levied against him or her.

Modifiers
Kindred Type General
+0 Human (or other ‘good’ kindred) +1 Warrior -2 Nobel upbringing
-2 Elf +4 Rogue -1 Good education
+2 Dwarf +0 Wizard +1 Local of the Village
+1 Hobb +0 Specialist +Level of combatant
+4 Orc or similar +2 Citizen +1 to +3 GM bonus*
-2 Paragon

* The GM bonus is awarded to the player who actually comes up with a really good and funny and
appropriate insult! (“Big Nose” probably won’t warrant a bonus but “I fart in your general direction, you son of a
second-hand electric donkey bottom biter” could be worth a point or two).

Location 4: Millet’s Statue

Just a few paces off the dirt road leading into the village is the rather unimposing statue of the village’s
founder ‘Nobdale Millet’. Nobdale (Nobbie, or Nobb the Hobb to his friends) appears as a stout Hobb carrying a
backpack piled so high with possessions as to double the statues height (all the way up to 6-feet).

The statue is extremely well crafted, indeed there are dwarf runes at its base which read:
“Nobb the Hobb was a very fine Hobb, a very fine Hobb was Nobb.”
“Nobb the Hobb was a very rare Hobb, a very rare Hobb was Nobb.”

There is a bronze plaque with the following inscription in common tongue:

“The bones of the brave Nobdale Millet rest beneath this monument to his strength, ingenuity, cunning
and guile. Without Nobdale, the deeds to the land on which the village is situated may never have gone missing
from Lord Sydebottom’s registry.”
Nobb actually passed away more than 300 years ago at the ripe old age of 113 but the townsfolk still talk
about him as if he’s still around. In fact, when things go missing, a common saying among the locals is: “Old
Nobb will have had that.”
Nobb’s bones are buried under the statue and they should stay there, delvers who think they might steal
them should immediately halve their CHR scores whilst in the region and probably suffer the loss of 100 APs!
Legend has it that if Nobb’s bones ever go missing, a terrible calamity will befall the settlement.

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Location 5: The Orchard
Absolutely no one steals apples from the orchard on pain of immediate expulsion from the village! If
anyone steals the apples how will Mel make his very, very fine cider!

Location 6: The Militia Hall

This large log building and grounds house the militia’s equipment (bows, leather jerkins, spears and axes
etc.), serve as their rally and training area and also has one cell for locking up miscreants. It is almost never in
use (in fact it can be rented for 1 gp per night if the inn is full).
The Hobb in charge of the militia (he refers to himself as Captain of the Guard) is a rather grumpy fellow
who owns a small plot of land on the outskirts of the village where he raises goats and a few sheep.

Gimlet Oddfowl “Captain of the Guard”

STR: 10 CON: 31 DEX: 28 SPD: 16 INT: 13 WIZ: 13 LK: 34 CHR: 9 Combat Adds: +42
Level: 3 Warrior (Total attack: 3+30, Total hits stopped: 12)
Talents: Farming (16), Squad Tactics (19), Linguistics (20)
Weapons: Hand crossbow 3-1 (Range 40, 6 bolts), Short sabre 3+1
Armor: Mail (12 x 2)
Special: Gimlet is a master of languages and if he doesn’t speak it he can figure it out in very short order. If the
characters find some text that they need decoding, Gimlet is their Hob! Of course he’s a cantankerous old Hobb
and will insist on militia service from all the PCs!

At a push, the village could muster 5 assorted militia ‘men’, each worth at least MR: 22 if appropriately
armed and equipped.

Location 7: The Temple of All Gods

More of a plain stone shrine under four posts with a thatch roof. There is no priest in attendance in
Millet’s Crossing but followers of most deities may come and worship or make an offering here.

Location 8: The Ferry

The miller (a Hobb by the name of Crumbler Cobbmeister) maintains his water wheel here and operates
the ferry. He charges 1 gp per traveler to cross the Olme River unless the weather is bad in which case the price
is at least double that! Locals only pay 5 copper pieces and usually end up owing Crumbler the fee).

The rest of the Village

The remainder of Millet’s Crossing is padded out with small cottages used by the loggers (most of whom
are men or dwarfs), fruit farmers (mostly Hobbs) and vegetable farmers (mostly human).

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8
 The Dungeon of the Rat
A T&T Adventure set in the village of Millet’s Crossing

Soon after arriving in Millet’s Crossing, a small logging village in the Olme River Valley, the characters
are approached by Melmutt Dunderholme. The encounter will likely take place at Mel’s inn – the Troll’s Trove.
Mel will first offer them a mug of ale ‘on the house’ (fully expecting them to purchase more or even take
lodgings at the Trove) after making a little small talk he will make them a proposition – it’s clear to him and others
in town that the armed and armored characters are a cut above the usual transients that visit the Crossing.
Mel will take the characters aside so as not to alert his locals and explain the following:

“Friends, of late, the Trove has suffered from some minor but nevertheless, annoying thefts. I
know for a fact that none of the locals are involved. I recently visited Ellegar; she’s an old woman that
lives all alone deep in the woods. She read my tea leaves and told me that the Trove’s problems lie
beneath my very feet.”
“As soon as she told me I knew what she meant. It’s my understanding that the site on which the
village now stands was once something else entirely. I don’t know even the half of it but I think there’s
something in my cellar. Yesterday morning I went down to fetch a new keg and there was only 8 where
the day before there’d been 9 kegs. In its stead was a withered looking rat man, no taller than my belt.”
“I have a little magic about me so I cast a spell on it; I call it ‘My Unlucky Bees’ since they sting
something rotten. In any event, when the magic faded, the rat-thing was gone.”
“Explore my cellars, put an end to this rat problem of mine and I’ll give you my Snake Bite, a
special knife given to me by Duke Elbow himself. Furthermore, if you get hurt down there, I can fix you
good as new.”

As the characters talk with Mel, they notice (no Saving Roll required) a rather ugly jade statuette of a rat
on the shelf behind the bar. The rat is rearing up on its hind legs. If asked about the rat Mel will confess that he
has no idea where it came from but that he has 2 others just like it that he found in his guest rooms.

The Reward: Snake Bite is a normal looking dirk with a keen blade inscribed with a delicate snake
design and leather-bound wooden handle. The dagger’s crossbar is of sturdy steel fashioned to look like a
curving snake; a single silver coin is set into the lead pommel. Anyone wielding the dagger doubles their personal
adds (so fighters with ‘minus’ adds actually get worse); with one exception, Wizards with ‘negative’ adds (negs?)
have their ‘adds’ boosted to zero when attacking with Snake Bite. If the user attempts to wield a second weapon
(even a shield with attack dice), Snake Bite’s magic will not function (it’s a jealous blade)!
Mel also knows the Poor Baby spell and has access to 6 healing potions each capable of restoring 8 lost
CON points. Mel won’t hand them out (in case someone in the village needs one) but will administer aid if
wounded adventurers make it back to the surface.

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 [Game Master’s Note: this adventure is designed for novice characters and novice players. However,
experienced players may enjoy this small ‘dungeon quest’ and will surely acquire treasure and Adventure Points
for their characters.]

Assuming the delvers take Mel up on his proposition (and they’re hardly dungeon delvers if they don’t),
he will show them to the door to room 5 of the Trolls Trove. Within is a small ledge then a stout ladder leading
some 25-feet below. Mel will give the characters a lantern and flask of oil (good for 2 hours each) whether they
have such equipment or not. If they ask about more freebies he will refer them to Widderwent’s Storehouse to
purchase supplies.
If the characters do visit Widderwent’s they will find 6 other jade rat statuettes on sale for a very
reasonable 2 gp each. Widderwent can’t remember where he got them from but isn’t happy that they’re not
selling! Widderwent will happily sell the characters any equipment he has at half price for normal gear and full
price for weapons. However, delvers must make L1-SRs on LK to see if Widderwent has the item they require in
stock. Metal armor requires a second level LK Saving Roll.

Game Master’s Background

Many years ago, Ortugu the rat god arrived with his followers in this area. They set up shop below
ground and recruited many humanoids to their cause. They were ultimately flushed out by the heroic (or hapless)
hobb, Nobdale Millet.
But gods don’t die, they just fade away. Ortugu didn’t wither away entirely and now seeks to re-assert his
presence on the material plane. If Ortugu can get enough people to worship him (or even just believe in him), his
power will return.
The first stage in his ‘master plan’ is to distribute his own idols to as many people as he can. He does
this through a network of loyal ratlings operating out of the semi-abandoned rat temple below the Trove. The
idols aren’t particularly attractive but anyone who keeps one causes Ortugu’s Monster Rating to increase by one
point. If his MR reaches 1000 points, he will recover his ‘god status’ and once again become a power in the
world, albeit a minor one.
By exploring the tunnels below the Trove, the characters may uncover Ortugu’s plan and put a stop to it,
for now, at least.

Exploring Below
The cellar (room 1) is lined with damp limestone flags; the ceiling is about 8 feet high. The areas beyond
the secret door are generally dimly lit by candles resting in shallow alcoves at approximately shoulder height
along most walls. The ceilings are most often vaulted and 12-feet high with heavy beams supporting the same
grey slate tiles that line the walls and floors. Doors are of sturdy oak 8 by 5 feet.
Certain rooms and corridors indicate the possible presence of treasure or creatures. For example, an
entry may read: “Roll 1 die, on a roll of 1 or 2 a random treasure will be found by those searching who succeed in
making a L1-SR on LK.” The text indicates that there is something to be found only if the GM rolls 1 or 2 on a six-
sided die. Tables at the end of the adventure list possible found items and encountered creatures.
A locked door can be battered down by those using a mace or axe (swords and daggers are of little
value against wood). Wooden doors generally have an effective CON of 70 + 3D6, breaking one down will almost
certainly make a great deal of noise and is likely to attract interested parties. Iron and stone doors will not yield to
normal weapons.
The use of Saving Rolls is suggested throughout the text; the GM may of course alter the levels of such
rolls if he or she feels they make the mission too easy for veteran players. Always use appropriate character
talents in place of the mentioned attribute Saving Rolls.

Room 1: The Trove’s Cellar

At the bottom of the ladder, at waist height is a small ledge on which rests a brass candle holder and a
small box of dwarf matches. The main cellar area contains wine and spirit racks stacked against the north wall
and seven large kegs against the east wall. To the south stands a woodworking bench where Mel can fix his old
barrels.
The centerpiece of the room is a broad and long oak table, which seems far too large to have been
lowered down from the room above. Six high-backed chairs are gathered around the table, which is littered with
wine bottles, and tasting glasses.
After the characters have been in the room just long enough to survey its contents, a narrow door,
between two barrels in the east wall swings halfway open. A rat-like head on a small humanoid body is briefly
seen before the critter mutters “Oh bugger!” and slams the door shut!

10
 Now that the door is closed again, it is almost impossible to pick out from the stones in the wall but
having seen it open once, the delvers can pry it open with any sharp object.

[Game Master’s Note: As strange as it may seem to experience players, gamers on their first dungeon
expedition might never think to look for secret things and hidden doors. Hopefully now they will! Alternatively, the
GM may insist on a more worldly group discovering the door themselves, if so this will take a L1-SR on INT or LK
and take at least 10 minutes.]

Exits
The door is only 5-feet high and 3-feet wide so it will be difficult for larger characters to move quickly through.
Characters 20% larger (or more) than the human norm must fail a STR SR (level 1) to not get stuck in
the doorway! Characters that become stuck in the doorway can easily free themselves after one combat
turn of struggling. However, if the first character through the door gets stuck he will be at the mercy of
Snivler (see room 2) for one turn!
The characters may also return to the Trove, above.

Room 2: The Ratling Den

Assuming the delvers quickly follow the rat man through the secret door they will find him here,
desperately wondering what to do about being spotted. If they wait even one turn, he will have gone for help.
This large room is the equal of Mel’s cellar in size but much more impressive, the floor is tiled with black
marble, the walls and ceiling with gray slate. A large burgundy rug takes pride of place in the center of the room
and a low table sits on the rug.
It smells particularly bad in this room; a mixture of damp fur, alcohol, acrid urine and feces sum the odor
up nicely. Snivler and his ratling kin frequent this room to enjoy the things they steal from the tavern. Their master
doesn’t know of their illicit activity and would not approve (since it doesn’t want to be discovered).

Snivler, a not so cunning ratling

STR: 7 CON: 11 DEX: 16 SPD: 15 INT: 7
WIZ: 14 LK: 9 CHR: 5 Combat Adds: +4
AP Award: 25
Level: 1 Rogue (Total attack: 3+5, Total
protection: 2 hits)
Talents: Roguery (19)
Weapons: Short sabre 3+1
Armour: Leather bracers on the arms (2 hits total)
Spells: None – Snivler lacks the necessary INT
to cast spells
Treasure: None

Snivler is almost 3-feet tall, covered with patchy gray fur. Like most ratlings he looks much like a giant rat
standing on its hind legs. He wears scraps of human-style clothing and carries a sword at his side.
Snivler is between a rock and a hard place, his rat god master doesn’t want ratlings being seen by
humans but he must go for help and warn his pack!
If the characters are quick through the secret door they will find Snivler dithering about what to do, if they
take longer, he will ‘bite the arrow’ and go tell his kin that the rat temple has been breached!
If attacked outright, he will surely be defeated and his passing will net the characters a nice sword and 25
Adventure Points. If they attempt to interrogate him, they won’t get too far. He is so frightened that he can barely
think straight; he will lie outrageously as follows:

“Me, a rat? I’m no such thing!”

“I’m here on my own, no other rats down here, not that I’m a rat.”
“Never stole a thing from the tavern. Never even knew there was a tavern there.”
“What secret door?”
And so on…
Even when threatened with death Snivler will not offer any assistance – after all, he risks compromising
his god!

11
 If the characters didn’t attack the ratling, Snivler is now a prisoner, what the characters do with him may
well set the tone for the rest of the adventure. How cold-blooded will the delvers be?
Do they kill him? Tie him up? Let him go free? Take him to Mel? If Snivler is tied up he will attempt to use
his Roguery Talent to escape. Allow him 3 Saving Roll attempts, one each time the party enters a new room for
the first time (not a passageway). Snivler must attempt the roll at the level of the character that tied him up.

Exits
1. A wide archway leads to a passageway to the east.
2. An alcove in the north wall houses a stout black door bound with iron. The door is locked but can be
‘picked’ by any character with a sharp knife (L3-SR on DEX) or proper lock picks (L2-SR).

Room 3: The Trapped Tunnel

Several of the candles have burned down in this passage, and Ombur the rat-ogre has yet to replenish
them.
At the points indicated on the map by the number ‘3’ are two pit traps. The pit covers themselves look no
different from the rest of the black marble floor. However, either side of the 10-foot square traps are 3 small
depressions in the floor, each large enough to insert the tip of a staff or the butt of a spear.
If the traps are set (usually they are not but Ombur is testing them from room 5 so as the characters
enter the dungeon, the traps are primed), any weight placed on the traps of 50 pounds or more will activate a
swinging door in the floor dropping one or more characters (depending on how they’re traveling down the
passage) into the pit below.
Snivler doesn’t know about the traps as he’s not heavy enough to set them off (also, this area of the
dungeon was largely for the use of human worshipers, ratlings rarely came here).
A character triggering the trap may make a L2-SR on LK to avoid plunging into the darkness below, if
one or more delvers are following closely behind, they might fall too! However, those following are allowed a L1-
SR on LK to avoid the drop.
A second way to avoid the trap is to fit a staff or spear into the center depression either before or after
the pit trap. As long as the middle depression is blocked, the trap is safe. To block both traps, two staves or poles
are required.
Characters falling into either of the pits won’t suffer any damage as they land in waist-deep brackish
water (yes, it too stinks of urine). A trough of water runs the length of this passage but has no other useful exists
and is therefore not marked on the map. A single bloated water-rat lives in the water passage – it is roughly the
size of a Rottweiler and easily as vicious!

The Water-Rat
MR: 24
AP Award: 24
Combat: 3+12

Due to the confined space and lack of light, only the delver(s) in the
water pit can fight and defend against the water-rat.
If a trap has been triggered, the delvers now have a 10-foot obstacle
in their way (and Ombur will surely come to investigate). A L2-SR on STR will
allow a delver to leap across the pit but failing the roll (without suitable
precautions – like roping yourself to a fellow delver) will land the hapless
adventurer in the drink!
Getting out of the pit might pose problems too. The pit is only 12 feet
deep however, so even if the characters haven’t thought to bring rope, two delvers can work together to rescue a
third.

Exits
1. The tunnel extends to the south, branches to the east and west and of course, returns north to room 2.

Room 4: Ombur’s Den

The passage opens into a large store area. There are racks of candles on the north wall, pots of tallow,
coils of thread for wicks and lots of matches. On a low table against the west wall can be found 2 pots of oil and a
lantern (the pots of oil are each good for 2 hours of light). On a hook on the south wall is a 30-foot coil of hemp
rope, leaning next to it are 4 sturdy 10-foot long poles.

12
 On the floor before the table is a pile of blankets and old pillows. The area smells quite badly but no
worse than room 2. Ombur is usually found in this room getting ready to replace old candles or just resting. He
can also be encountered tidying up around the tunnels and doing minor bits of maintenance. As the characters
enter the dungeon however, he is in room 5. Testing…

Exits
1. None, bar the passage through which the adventurers entered.

Room 5: Temple of the Rat God

This huge chamber with a 18-foot high vaulted ceiling differs considerably from the rest of the dungeon.
The walls are covered with reeds and dried grasses, as is the ceiling. The decor gives the temple a ‘nest-like’
atmosphere.

[Game Master’s Note: There is a fair amount of combustible material in this room. If a battle breaks out
here, it might be a nice dramatic touch for a stray spell or fallen candle to start a blaze! If the characters are able
to use a blaze to their advantage, award an additional 50 AP bonus.]

The floor is covered with dozens of reed prayer mats but the dominant feature is a great marble dais on
which rests a huge bronze statue of a rat (12-foot high), rearing on its hind legs, the rat has 2 coin –sized rubies
for eyes (worth 200 gp each). At the base of the statue are dozens (over 100) of jade replicas of the bronze
statue. Each jade statuette weighs about 5lbs. The jade might be worth 1 gp per pound but few would be
interested in owning their very own rat god.

Investigating the statue reveals three pieces of useful information:

1. The right arm can be moved up or down by roughly 45 degrees. Raising the arm sets the traps in room 3,
lowering the arm deactivates the traps.

2. At the base of the statue a single word is engraved in the marble dais: ORTUGU.

3. The stomach of the rat statue opens like the door to a giant bronze oven. Inside the characters will find a
single jade idol, identical to those at the statue’s feet. If the idol is removed and the door closed, beams
of light shoot out from the statue’s eyes (the light will be red if the rubies are still in place). When the door
is opened, a fresh new jade idol will be sitting there, if it is removed and the door closed again, a new
one will be created. There is no limit to the number of idols that can be generated in this fashion.

[Game Master’s Note: Inventive players may at some stage decide that the bronze statue of Ortugu
needs to be destroyed. Working this out is worth 100 APs – without the statue, Ortugu can’t create his magic
idols! Destroying the statue may be much more difficult; it’s huge and made of bronze. However, if the PCs
present a compelling explanation of how they could destroy it – let it happen and award them each a further 100
APs.]

Ombur the rat-ogre is charged with maintaining the temple area for that time when human followers can
be swayed to the will of the rat god once more. He is currently counting the idols (again) and realigning the
prayer mats. If delvers avoid triggering the traps in room 3, they will be able to sneak up on Ombur with ease. If
they choose to attack him, allow them one free round of attacks before Ombur can retaliate.

If, however, the delvers do set off one or both traps, Ombur will snatch up 5 idols and run to the entrance
of this chamber. Once there, he will quickly assess the situation then begin lobbing the idols down the corridor.
To avoid the airborne religious iconry each character must pass a L2-SR on DEX. Characters failing their Saving
Roll must take the difference in hits.

13
 Ombur the Rat-Ogre
Something of a punk-ratter, Ombur has numerous steel piercing in
his lips, nose and ears including two large gold loop earrings (worth
25 gp for the pair). He is a huge beast, just over 6-feet high but
broad and muscular. He has a short snout with tusk like teeth rather
than the prominent front teeth of rats and ratlings. He is however,
covered in short grey hair but chooses to conceal his modesty with a
studded leather codpiece (takes 2 hits).
MR: 40+12 for each PC or allied NPC present
AP Award: Equal to MR + 20 points
Combat: Based on MR
Armour: 2 hits
Special: Ombur has been blessed by his god and while in the
service of his ratty deity, Ombur’s effective WIZ score equals his
MR, so in all probability, the delver’s spells won’t immediately work
on him. If Ombur ever leaves the dungeon his WIZ score reverts to
normal (10% of his MR). Furthermore, if Ombur should die in battle,
he will slowly regenerate, at the rate of 5 MR per full turn (10
minutes) until he is 10 points more powerful than before he was
defeated. He will then awaken and continue about his business as if
nothing had happened. If he encounters the PCs again, he will attack without a second thought! Note that
Ombur’s regeneration will not become apparent until 10 minutes after is ‘demise’.
Treasure: Gold earrings worth 25 gp. Ombur also carries a large iron key to the door of room 8 on a thick chain
around his neck.

If Ombur does speak common tongue, we will never know since he does not talk with delvers; he kills
them and feeds them to the water-rat or delivers them to the rat god.

[Game Master’s Note: Ombur is a ‘flexible’ GM character – he’s designed to be as tough as need be to
give the delvers a challenge. To achieve this, Ombur’s Monster Rating is based on the number of characters in
the party. If there are 4 heroes Ombur’s MR will be 88, if there are 10 he’ll have a rating of 160.]

Room 6: The Stair to Nowhere

To the south a stone stair case rises to the ceiling but this entrance must’ve been bricked up many years
ago. Roll 1D6 on a roll of 1 or 2, there will be 3 ratlings cowering here. They are huddled together at the base of
the stair waiting to see what happens. If approached they fight like, er, cornered rats!

Ratlings
MR: 10 each
AP Award: 30
Combat: 4+15 as a group
Armor: 6 hits (2 points of protection each – from their leather bracers)
Treasure: The little ratmen carry 3d6 sp between them.
Exits
1. A passage to the east leading to room 3
2. A stone door leading to room 7, it is slightly ajar.
3. An iron door leading to room 8, it is locked (make a L2-SR on DEX to open or L1 if you have appropriate
tools).
4. A wooden door leading to room 9, it is unlocked.

Room 7: The Stone Room

Beyond the stone door is a bare limestone room with just a row of plain wooden benches against the
south wall. In years gone by, the human devotees of the rat god would use this area to don their ceremonial
robes in private prior to a ritual gathering.
If Snivler was able to flee the characters, the secret door lies open.

Exits
1. An open stone door to the west.
2. A secret door in the east wall. Make a L4-SR on INT to located the opening mechanism (a lose stone on
the floor).

14
Room 8: The Story Room

The room is shrouded in thick webs mostly obscuring the plain gray walls which are engraved with many
detailed images including those of humanoids bowing before giant rats, the images seem to tell a story. Small
ratling skeletons can also be seen hanging among the webs.
A giant spider has made its home in this room (once Ombur realized the beastie had arrived, he locked
the door) it will pounce as soon as the door is opened.

Giant Spider
MR: 60
AP Award: 100
Combat: 7+30
Special: Any delver taking hits from the spider must make a L1-SR on CON to avoid becoming poisoned. If
poisoned, the character takes one hit automatically each turn he or she engages in combat or other strenuous
activity (such as a Saving Roll based on a physical attribute). A further L1-SR on CON can be made after 5
combat turns (or 10 minutes of rest, a full turn) to shake off the poison.
Treasure: One of the dead ratlings has a purse containing 10 gp; while another has a small stoneware bottle
containing a Poor Baby potion that will heal 10 hits.

If the wall engravings are examined further the delvers will be able to make out the history of the
dungeon in a series pictures…

The first shows a ruined fort (the base of which looks very similar to the Troll’s Trove).
A number of giant rats with ratlings in attendance feasting on humanoids.
An image of stern faced humans carrying torches. In the ground beneath the men, the giant rats huddle in
the darkness.
A rat-ogre working tirelessly to build the complex.
The temple chamber full of worshiping humans.
What looks like a small child but on closer inspection appears to be a Hobb leading the humans to the
surface (he’s carrying a big bag of swag).

If the delvers stay to examine the engravings and learn of the dungeon’s past award each of them 75
Adventure Points.

Exits
1. The door to the east.
2. If the delvers spend a full hour clearing the webs they will find a wooden trapdoor in the northwest corner
of the room. The hatch is not locked, within is a deep dark pit which leads to a water filled cavern. Ombur
used to dispose of the temples detritus through the hatch until the arrival of the spider.

[Game Master’s Note: The trap door is a dead end, a long drop with nothing at the bottom. But it needn’t
be, GMs can add their own rooms and adventures in the areas below the Dungeon of the Rat if they wish but will
need to make the hatch easier to find!]

Room 9: Hobnail the Hobgoblin

The room contains a number of overturned tables and chairs, a few animal skins are scattered across
the floor and a large fat hobgoblin, squatting in the northeast corner next to one of Mel’s stolen cider kegs.
Hobnail is a member of Skillet’s gang (see the Skolari Vaults, level 1) who was sent out on a foraging
expedition some days ago. He chanced upon the ratlings ‘emergency exit’ (see room 18) in the woods and
followed the smell of cider (and less savory ratty smells) to this room. He has so far gone undetected by the
ratlings and intends to drink his fill before leaving. He does like his cider.

15
 Hobnail the Hobgoblin
STR: 31 CON: 16 DEX: 13 SPD: 10 INT: 9 WIZ: 13 LK: 9 CHR:11
Combat Adds: +23
AP Award: 84
Level: 3 Warrior (Total attack: 5+20, Total protection: 16 hits)
Talents: Wilderness Survival
(14), Games of Chance (11),
Defensive Tactics (19)
Weapons: Hand-and-a-half sword 5+0, cutlass 3+3 (back up
weapon)
Armor: Scale mail (8 x 2)
Treasure: The Amulet of the Mighty Arm (a bronze disc on a leather
cord, the disc carries an image of a short-haired impossibly muscular
man – it is Arnhold, God of Mightily Muscled Warriors). The amulet
adds 2 points of STR to any Warrior that wears it around his or her
neck. Rogues receive no benefit but all other character types suffer
a reduction in STR of 2 points whilst wearing the amulet.
Hobnail also has a backpack containing a 20-foot length of
rope, 4 iron pitons, a tin water flask, 6 wax candles and a box of 4
dwarf matches. At the bottom of his pack is a small wooden box
containing 20 gp and a collection of 30 teeth from various donors.

As you can see, Hobnail would be a considerable challenge for a lone low-level delver but a group of
three or more would make mincemeat out of him. The GM has (at least) three options with this encounter:
1. Let the delvers make mincemeat out of him – they might need an easy win to boost their confidence.
2. Hobnail is a ‘hook’ that will lead the PCs to the Skolari Vaults – in exchange for his life he may tell them
about Skillet’s band, the main entrance and the semi-secret entrance guarded by the ogre.
3. Make Hobnail a canny fighter. He kicks over a table, which now acts as a shield – if more than 2
characters wish to join the attack against him, someone will have to make a L1SR on STR to move the
table – if they fail, they take the difference in hits. Either way only 2 characters can generate a combat
total against Hobnail whilst the table is in place!

Exits
1. An unlocked door in the west wall.

Room 10: The Spent Spear Trap

Roll 1 die, on a roll of 1, 2 or 3 a random monster lurks in this passage (see the appropriate table at the
end of this adventure to learn what creature challenges the delvers).
A 40-foot long unlit passageway ending in an unlocked wooden door. At the point marked ‘10’, five iron
spears extend across the corridor from small holes in the wall. The spears pin an ancient skeleton to the wall.
The spears are ‘spring loaded’ so a L1SR on STR is required to hold them back far enough to allow others to
pass. Of course the character holding the spears will need someone to do the same favor for him.
The presence of this trap might give the characters cause for concern. Are there other similar traps in
this or other corridors? How will they be detected? Who’s got the 10-foot pole? However, there are no other
similar traps but anticipation is 90% of the event, or so they say…

Exits
1. A door in the far south wall, it is unlocked.
2. An unlocked door in the east wall.

Room 11: The Bath Frog

A vile stench rolls out of this unlit room as soon as the door is opened. In the darkness beyond a wet
slapping sound can be heard. When that quickly subsides, a croaky voice utters the following warning:
“Sod off! Find your own slop hole to wallow in.”
Then there’s a shallow ‘splash.’
As the characters examine the room with their own light source they notice grimy blue tiles on the wall
and ceiling. Strings of green mucus stretch across the floor and the smell gets worse.
Against the east wall is an ornamental bath or trough. It’s quite large and would accommodate several
bathers. As the delvers approach two huge frog-like eyes surface in the sickly black water, quickly followed by a
huge frog-head the size of a large shield.

16
 It opens its mouth as if to speak again but instead a thick, pink tongue darts out!
Randomly pick a character and have that character’s player make a L2-SR on SPD if the roll is failed a
drawn weapon, shield or piece of armor (or other exposed item of equipment) is snatched away by the tongue.
The character may make a L3-SR on STR to hold on to the item but will be dragged across the room right in front
of the trough if he succeeds. That character must then take any and all spite damage delivered by the frog in the
first combat round.
Any items swiped are quickly dissolved in the frogs stomach juices. Even if the characters quickly hack
the dead Monster Frog to bits they will only find unidentifiable chunks of fused metal (or whatever bits the frog
‘tongued’).
If the players start talking about what to do or try to talk to the beast, the tongue lashes out again –
randomly select another character. However, as soon as they attack the frog, he retaliates!

Giant Bath Frog (even worse than Soap On A Rope)

MR: 68
AP Award: 100
Combat Dice: 7+34
Special: Each combat round the frog makes another ‘tongue
attack’ in addition to its normal combat dice roll (follow the
procedure outlined above for each special tongue attack).
If any of the delvers have the stomach to search in
the trough they’ll need to wade in up to the waist. Make a
CON roll or lose 1 hit due to violent vomiting. Whether there’s
vomiting or not, the character in the bath will find a length of
chain on the bottom. Pulling the chain, will release a ‘plug’
about 6-inches in diameter, causing the water to drain out
and reveal a hidden doorway – roughly 4-feet high. The door
leads to room 12.

Exits
1. A hidden door leading to room 12.
2. An unlocked door leading west.

Room 12: The Patrolled Passage

This tunnel is well lit with candles and torches placed throughout its length. Roll 1 die, on a roll of 1 to 5,
roll once for a random monster. On a roll of 6, roll twice. After the battle, roll 1 die to see if there is any treasure
nearby; on a roll of 6 there will be. Roll on the Found Item table.

Exits
1. A hidden door in the north west passage leading to room 11.
2. An arched alcove in the north east passage leading to room 13.
3. An unlocked but closed door leading to room 14 in the south west passage.
4. A heavy stone door with a bass-relief of a giant rat in the south wall of the south east passage, it leads to
room 15. There appears to be no way of opening the door…

Room 13: The Ratling Nest

A huge stone-domed room, it is unlit, very quiet and smells very badly of rats.
The outskirts of the room are choked with debris of all sorts; bits of wood, clumps of damp earth, broken
chairs and tables, old bones, rotten bookshelves, old blankets and cushions etcetera; and the rubbish is piled
several feet high.
This is the ratling’s lair and they are lurking in the garbage piles, watching the PCs; waiting.
The centerpiece of the room is a huge stone slab cut with deep blood-gutters. It is heavily stained by
recent sacrifices for the rat god. If the delvers were beginning to think that the ratlings were cute or at least
mostly harmless, this should be the evidence that convicts them! Something can be seen resting on the slab; it
might be a weapon or tool of some sort.
There are vast numbers of ratlings lurking in this room, if they all attacked at once, they would surely
overwhelm the PCs. Although a mass attack would be realistic (and instinctively correct for rats), the game would
end here.
So instead, the cowardly ratlings will initially attack in a group of six. As the first squad attacks the PCs,
the other ratlings will rise up from their nest, chanting and cheering!

17
 If the first group of six ratlings is quickly defeated the second wave will include 7 troops, then 8 and so
on. If the battle is relatively even, the rat-attack numbers do not increase.
If the delvers successfully fend off 4 waves of attacks, the ratling hordes retreat to the safety of their
nests, effectively calling off the attack. They will still chitter, screech and generally hurl abuse at the interlopers
though!

Taking the High Ground

If at any time during the battle, one or more delvers leap atop the sacrificial ‘slab’ – which they can do
with a successful L1SR on DEX, they will enjoy a substantial height advantage allowing them to increase their
personal adds in combat by 50%.

[Game Master’s Note: Combat in T&T shouldn’t be an exercise in rolling buckets of dice; although it can
turn out that way, if you let it. Spice the battle up! Have two ratlings hurl a third at one of the characters, if the
delver fails his SPD Saving Roll he’s hit by the flying ratling and takes the difference in damage! If the ratlings
can do it, so can the PCs, let them pick up a ratling and hurl it back into the crowd with a STR Saving Roll.
Characters may also be able to use Talents such as Leadership or Intimidation to brow-beat the ratlings into
submission. Let your imagination run wild!]

Ratlings
MR: 10 each
AP Award: Based on MR but grant AP bonuses for inventive combat play
Combat: Based on MR, initially 7+30
Armour: 0
Special: These ratlings fight with tooth and claw

There is one item of obvious value in the room (although the ratlings think all their junk is precious); the
Rat Paw Relic. It rest atop the altar stone and is used for slitting the throats of sacrifices and opening the
Guardian Rat Door. The relic is a length of bone ending in a little rat paw clutching a pitted gray river stone. The
paw’s index-finger is extended and a razor-sharp knife blade has been attached with twine.
Using the Rat Paw Relic to ‘knock’ on the Guardian’s door will allow the characters to meet the rat god
himself!
If the ratlings can somehow be controlled or subdued, a brief search of this room will allow one roll on the
Found Item table.

Exits
1. An archway to the west leads to room 12.
2. At the Game Masters option there may be numerous tiny rat holes leading out of this room – obscured by
the vast quantities of junk.

Room 14: The Abandoned Room

This dank smelly room is accessed by an unlocked wooden door. It was originally used as a store room
but now contains nothing but a few empty crates and a pair of work benches.
If Snivler fled from his first encounter with the PCs or later, managed to escape, he will have headed
straight for room 13, collected a paw-full of his trusted pack-rats and be waiting here to see if the delvers will
come this way or be building up the courage to go looking for them.
If Snivler did not escape for any reason (such as being dead), roll one random monster to encounter the
PCs here. After the battle, roll on the Found Item table to see if there is any loot to be had.

Exits
1. A secret door in the west wall leading to room 7.
2. A wooden door in the east wall which leads to room 12.

Room 15: The Rat God’s Antechamber

15.1 Getting in
A heavy stone door bars the way to this room. The door has a detailed bass-relief image of a giant rat,
rampant. There is only one way through the door (or 2 if you want to spend 2 to 3 hours smashing it down with
pick and hammer). The Rat Paw Relic from room 13 must be used to tap once upon the door.

18
 A tap from the relic will summon the Guardian Rat Spirit. The relief image upon the door, slowly twists
and turns until it is fully animated, it then leaps into the passageway, as substantial as any delver. More so in
fact!
The rat spirit is of a similar size to Ombur but rather than the half-rat half-ogre that is Ombur, the
Guardian is a magnificent example of rodent-kind. Its snout is long and heavily whiskered, its ears broad and its
body rippling with muscle. The fur and tail is snow white and its eyes ruby red. With a voice like a sly whisper it
asks:
“Are thee worshipers of the one great rat god, good and true?”
If the answer is no, the Guardian will leap back to the door where he returns to his inanimate state. He
can be summoned again at any time.
If the answer is yes, he continues.
“By what name is the one great rat god known to his followers? Answer me this and I shall know you
speak the truth.”
The answer of course is ‘ORTUGU’ and should be pronounced OR-Too-Goo. Hopefully the players
would have noted this from the statue of the rat god in room 5.

[Game Master’s Note: If you think it’s time for another fight, let the Guardian be unimpressed with the
delver’s pronunciation of the rat god’s name. If they need a break and did make a note of the name, let them
through however they say it.]

If the delvers name the god correctly, the Guardian merges with the door once more and it swings open.
If they get the name wrong or try to bluff their way through, the Guardian attacks, with lightning speed! If
he is subsequently defeated, his body crumbles to dust at the delver’s feet. A moment later a ghostly breeze
gathers the dust and reassembles the relief design on the door, which then swings open.

The Guardian (guardian rat spirit)

MR: 78
AP Award: 100
Combat Dice: 8+39
Special: The Guardian is so incredibly fast that characters engaged in combat with him must make a L1-SR on
SPD or suffer one additional point of spite damage each per combat turn.

15.2 Inside the Room

The room is decorated with wheat colored tiles and well lit by oil lanterns. The floor is a detailed mosaic
showing the rat god’s many forms; a field mouse chewing an ear of corn, a black and oily sewer rat floating in a
dark stream, an armored rat man with a bloody sword and a bloated, disease plague rat.

[Game Master’s Note: Make a mental note of how the players respond to your descriptions of the rat
god’s forms. If any of the players react particularly to one image or another that is how the rat god will appear to
them in room 16.]

Exits
1. A stone door in the north wall leading back to room 12.
2. A rough cut tunnel in the east wall (room 18).
3. Two identical bronze doors in the south wall leading to rooms 16 and 17. The doors are heavy and can
only be opened by a combined STR of 30. No more than 3 delvers may work to open the door at once.

Room 16: The Chamber of the Rat God

This is a well-lit opulently appointed room. The wheat-tile and mosaic theme from room 15 continues
here and is complemented by well stuffed
sofas, low tables bearing fruits, grain and
raw meat. At the rear of the room, the rat god
reclines on a long leather chez-lounge next
to a large oak chest bound in iron. He is not
entirely surprised that he has been
discovered and not too happy about it either.
His form is determined by the
players and how they reacted to his various
images depicted in the mosaic. If there was
no definitive reaction, the rat god assumes his favorite guise – the bloated plague rat; over six-foot long and
something of a Jabba the Rat!

19
 Ortugu currently has a Monster Rating of 469 (+1 for each idol the characters may have taken).
Fortunately for the PCs he does not actually ‘exist’ on the mortal plane… Yet. If Ortugu can get enough people to
believe in, or worship him (initially by taking possession of one of his jade idols) he will be
able to manifest in the ‘real world’. He needs at least 1000 points to manifest and each
idol adopted adds one point to his Rating.
If the PCs attack the rat god, their weapons and spells have completely no effect
(he’s not really there, although it appears to the characters that they are attacking
something real and solid ) and he waves their blows away like annoying flies. However, if
they talk to him he will reveal something of his plan while he takes the time to summon his
rat champion.
“So, you have found me. Have you so little in your world that you must seek out
the god of rats and defile his sacred places?”
“My power has waned since the coming of the short one but it will rise again.”
“You will see the face of Ortugu in many places now, smiling back at you with
jade fangs. As my image multiplies, my power grows. Soon my might will return to its
peak and my rodent army shall be legion!”
He will enter into a brief discourse with the characters but as soon as he tires of
them he will summon his Champion. He claps his paws and a mighty rat-warrior appears
in the room.
“Kill the foul spawn of the over-worlders!” Shouts Ortugu and stabs a claw in the
direction of the adventurers.
The champion is a huge rat monster towering 8-feet high and covered in great slabs of muscle. He wears
gladiator-style armor and carries a gladius in each paw. He attacks immediately.

Bloodsplat the Gladiator Rat

MR: 88
AP Award: 150
Combat Dice: 9+44
Armor: 4 hits of protection from leather strapping and bronze plates
Special: Each point of spite damage counts as double – Bloodsplat is
particularly ferocious.
During the battle, Ortugu will shout encouragement to his
champion, throw insults at the delvers and clap his paws like a true
sports fan! “Kill them Bloodsplat, kill them all!”
After the battle (assuming the delvers win), Ortugu’s look of
dismay will turn to horror as he starts to fade away. Summoning
Bloodsplat reduced his MR by 88 points, dropping it below 400. He no
longer has sufficient energy to remain on the mortal plane and
vanishes with a cry of anguish!
With Ortugu gone, the ratlings will slowly return to their
woodland homes or head for large cities where they can lurk quietly in
nice smelly sewers. Ombur will remain however and await his gods
return – which is inevitable unless the delvers ensure all of the jade
idols are destroyed which is neigh-on impossible.
But for now, the rat god is defeated and their first mission is
over. Mel is true to his word and will hand over Snake Bite to the party
and offer them free board in the Duke’s Room (where they may meet Helmet the Guardian troll) before setting off
to plunder the depths of the Skolari Vaults.
Give each surviving character an extra 100 Adventure Points for completing the adventure.

The Treasure Chest!

Ortugu’s mighty chest is of course locked and trapped! A L1-SR on INT reveals that there is some kind of
trap on the lock; a Detect Magic spell will reveal that the trap is magical in nature. To safely defeat the trap a
delver must make a L4SR on LK or DEX (level 3 if lock pick tools are used).
If the roll fails a purple light shoots out from the chest and engulfs the thief. There is no apparent effect
but within 6 to 12 hours the character will start to grow a hairless rat tail! The tail can be disguised but if revealed
will subtract 2 points from CHR when dealing with non-ratlings but add 4 points if ratlings are present.
Once the trap is out of the way, a L2-SR on DEX or L3-SR on LK will see the chest opened. Inside are
many goodies that have been offered to the rat god over the years!

20
 1. An ornamental black wooden box (worth 20 gp) containing 4 gauze-wrapped rubies of a similar size to
those in the bronze statue and worth 100 gp each.
2. A hand crossbow and a leather case containing 12 bolts. The crossbow does double damage against
cats and other feline critters.
3. A black draw-string bag. It’s a fabled Bag of Holding. Any item may be placed in the bag provided it
weighs less than 200 weight units. There is no limit to what the bag can hold other than that one
restriction. The bag and everything in it weighs only 5 units.
4. A leather satchel containing 3D6 x 100 gp.
5. A plain ivory Ring of Health which adds one point to the wearer’s CON.
6. Assorted gold and silver jewellery amounting to 250 gp.
7. A magic rapier that scores +2 combat adds when wielded by a Rogue (it’s called the Rogue Spike).
8. A potion of Wizardry. This clear glass bottle contains a fiery red liquid. If consumed, the imbiber’s WIZ
score permanently increases by 4 points.
9. A scroll case containing 3 Learning Scrolls. These valuable texts impart the knowledge of 3 second level
spells to a Wizard or Paragon with the appropriate attributes to cast second level magic. One of the
spells is Poor Baby – choose the other two randomly. Rogues may use the Learning Scrolls to cast the
listed spell once – after which the scroll is destroyed. Other character types can’t read or use the scrolls
at all. Each scroll is worth 2000 gp – even the Wizard’s Guild will buy them if only to take them out of
circulation!

Exits
1. The bronze door to the north leading to room 15.

Room 17: The Chamber of the False God

Beyond the plain heavy bronze door lies a dank unlit dungeon cell. The odd shape of the room results in
the formation of deep shadows as the delvers light the way. Rivulets of water run down the walls and moss
patches can be seen here and there. From the far south-east corner can be heard a faint cry of: “Help me…” the
voice sounds like a young, somewhat ‘squeaky’ human female.
As the characters approach they will see a tiny rat huddled in the corner. It raises a paw, it looks
wounded. “Help me.”
If the PCs attack the tiny rat (shame on them), it vanishes and iron bars drop from the ceiling, near the
door, blocking the exit. Characters near the door must make a L1-SR on SPD to avoid being hit by the bars and
taking 2 dice worth of damage. The Game Master must decide whether the character is inside or outside of the
room…
If the PCs get close enough to touch or speak to the rat it looks up with big baleful eyes then grins evilly:
“Welcome to your doom, foolish mortals!”
Then the bars descend as described above and the rat vanishes!
At least some and possibly all of the delvers are now trapped in this room. It would take a combined STR
of 200 or more to raise the bars now blocking the exit and it is impossible to tunnel out of the room or knock down
a wall without construction (or destruction) equipment.
A search of the area will reveal a series of loose cube shaped stones in the south wall. The stones can
not be removed but can be rearranged by sliding them up and down or left and right. The face of several of the
stones are marked with a letter of the common tongue alphabet as follows:

MELT UTEO
Of course, the stone cubes can be rearranged to read ‘let me out’. A blank stone must be placed
between each word and at the beginning and end of the phrase. Once this is done, the bars rise into the ceiling
and the characters are free to leave. The rat god isn’t that smart so his cunning puzzles are somewhat limited!
However, anyone who participated in solving the puzzle should be rewarded with 50 Adventure Points.

[Game Master’s Note: This easy puzzle isn’t intended to baffle the characters or the players, it’s simply
here as an example of the kind of things that new delvers may encounter in their adventuring careers. The puzzle
can be presented to the players easily by preparing squares of paper with the appropriate letters printed on them
before the game begins.]

Exits
1. The bronze door to the north leading to room 15.

21
Room 18: The Long Passage
Roll one die, on a roll of 1 or 2 randomly select a critter to be wandering down the tunnel as the
characters are about to explore. On a roll of 3, there a piece of loot may be found with a successful L2-SR on LK
(allow each member of the party to attempt the Saving Roll). Use the Found Item table to determine what the
delvers have located.
A rough hewn passage extends into the darkness. It runs for more than two miles before emerging in a
damp hollow in the woods. This is how the ratlings move to and from their lair, delivering the idols to
unsuspecting recipients.

Exits
1. The tunnel to the east leads to the woodlands beyond the village.
2. The west-end of the tunnel terminates at room 15.

Found Items
Roll 2 dice and consult the following table. Each item is unique and can only be found once. If a roll
indicates the same item a second time (with the exception of number 7), then no item is located.

2 A discarded empty coin purse.

*A single, green leather boot of elf origin (it’s the left boot), very nice but not
3
much good on its own.
4 A broad-brimmed black hat with a peacock feather stuck in the hat-band.
5 A battered target shield (takes 4 hits) bearing the image of a ram’s head.
A heavy iron key. At the GM’s discretion it may open a door in this dungeon
6
or another location of his or her choosing.
7 A hand full of grimy gold coins (roll 2 dice to determine the number of coins).
A well crafted broadsword (+1 hit due to the skill with which it was made rather
8
than any enchantment) with snake skin scabbard (worth 200 gp as a set).
A thick leather belt set with bronze studs and a very impressive lion’s head motif on
the buckle. This is the Belt of Courage. During any battle situation, the wearer
9 must make a L1-SR on LK to take actions that don’t immediately relate to attacking
the enemy. On the positive side, the magic belt grants a +1 bonus on any Saving
Roll to avoid fear.
A dented iron ring set with a small emerald. It is one of the 8 ‘Mind Rings’ and the
10
wearer may add one point to INT while the ring is worn.
A yellowed skeleton lies in a far corner with a javelin sticking out of its rib cage.
11 The javelin is the much feared and greatly cursed ‘Fool-maker’. When thrown it
turns about in mid flight striking the thrower for normal damage. Ouch.
*A single, green leather boot of elf origin (it’s the right boot), very nice but not much
12
good on its own.

*If both boots can be located, the wearer will enjoy a +2 Saving Roll bonus on any stealth related activities.

22
 Encountered Monsters & Critters

Roll 2 dice and consult the following table. Each monster may only be encountered once. If a roll
indicates the same entry a second time (with the exception of number 7), treat the result as ‘no encounter.’

A fat centipede slithers out of the wall; it’s as large as a human forearm.
Anyone taking spite damage must make a L1-SR on CON or lose a further
2
3 hits due to poison.
MR: 22 | Combat Dice: 3+11 | AP Award: 35
Pack rats. A swarm of rats pour out of holes in the walls and floors. They
3 attack as a group.
MR: 30 | Combat Dice: 4+15 | AP Award: 30
An animated skeleton. This mindless thing creaks out of the shadows to
attack. It was once sacrificed to the rat god and the rising power of
4
Ortugu has brought it back from the earth.
MR: 42 | Combat Dice: 5+21 | AP Award: 42
Ratchet the goblin (he’s been sent to look for Hobnail)
5
MR: 40 | Combat Dice: 5+20 | AP Award: 40
The delvers notice a near mummified ratling in the corridor. It’s tightly
6
wrapped in spider webbing. The body is desiccated and has no possession.
3 feisty ratlings attack from the shadows.
7
MR: 30 | Combat Dice: 4+15 | AP Award: 30
A flea infested ratling corpse. With the exception of an old leather purse
containing 3 cp, all possessions have been picked from the body. Anyone
8*
searching the corpse must make a L1-SR on CON to avoid contracting
Corpse Itch (see below).
A loose block of stone falls from the ceiling. Randomly choose half of the
delvers present and request a L1-SR on SPD to avoid the falling debris.
9
Failure results in 2 dice of damage. It’s not possible to tell whether
someone set off a trap or a natural event.
Baby Bath Frog! A fat dog-sized frog hops around the corner. Each round
of combat it will use its tongue to steal one item from a random delver for
10 each point of spite damage it generates. The targeted delver may make a
L2-SR on LK to avoid the loss.
MR: 52 | Combat Dice: 6+26 | AP Award: 80
Rat Pig. It’s the size of a wild boar – as giant rats go, this one’s a biggie.
11
MR: 60 | Combat Dice: 7+30 | AP Award: 60
A huge black bear has wandered into the dungeon from the woods above.
12
MR: 82 | Combat Dice: 9+41 | AP Award: 82

*Corpse Itch is a nasty rash that develops in the armpits and crotch. It causes extreme discomfort resulting in a
penalty of –1 to any and all Saving Rolls for the duration of the disease. The standard duration is 20 days minus
the infected persons normal CON score. The minimum possible duration is 1-day.

23
24
 The Skolari Vaults
The first of a multi-level dungeon expedition

Introduction
The following brief adventure is intended to take place after the delvers have successfully completed a
long adventure, but GMs can easily transplant the scenario into their own campaign with little effort.

1. The characters have emerged victorious from the Dungeon of the Rat and are lauded as heroes of the
small town of Millet’s Crossing. After the celebrations have died down, Mel tells the characters that a
band of adventurers ‘Moritan’s Marauders’ passed through the town recently. They asked about the
region and an old hill near the Grey Lake. One of their number let slip an old tale of an ancient castle of
wizards that was buried beneath the earth by a vengeful guild. Mel suggests that the characters follow
the lead of Moritan and seek fortune and glory! The hill is only 3-4 leagues from the village. If the
characters are brave enough, they will find remnants of the Marauders on levels 2 and 3 of the Skolari
Vaults.
2. The adventurers are approached by a merchant (Onslow Grubbhand III) who begs them to find his errant
daughter – Kaylene. He offers a reward of 100 gp for any news of her whereabouts. All he can tell them
is that she was last seen walking by the shores of the Grey Lake. Find her they will, her dead body is in
room 1 of the dungeon.

Background
In ages long past, the mages of the Skolari order left the staid conservative confines of the Wizard’s
Guild and sought to further their ambitions beyond the
watchful eye of the Guild Servitors.
Over time their power grew and they established
a mighty fortress on the shores of the Grey Lake, the
Skolari Vaults.
The Guild, fearing for their own dominion and
claiming that the Skolari had become corrupt and
dangerous, mounted a rare overt offensive against the
Vaults. A terrible battle raged, which boiled the lake dry
and withered the forests for leagues around.
At the battle’s climax, the Guild mages combined
their energies to uproot the mighty castle. They bore it
aloft and cast it back to earth, head first!
Rather than being shattered to a ruinous pile of
rubble, the Vaults were completely buried upside down;
the earth clogged foundations jutting into the sky where
once the castle’s tallest tower could be seen.
Surprised but not deterred, the Guild mages
summoned tons of earth to entomb any survivors.
The Skolari, it seemed, were beaten.
Years past and the site of the original castle
became a grass-covered knoll spotted with heather and
willows.
The magic that preserved the Vaults ensured that
some of the inhabitants survived. Others came too,
drawn to the power of the fallen wizards.
Now little of the past is remembered but those
that call the region home, considered the odd-shaped hill
on the shore of the Grey Lake a cursed place of great peril to be avoided at all costs. Of course that means it’s a
magnet for delvers!

25
Approaching the Vaults

Following the battle, the forests eventually returned to their

former glory and the lake regained much of its water – although it is still
known as the Shallow Lake or the Barren Lake since the fish seem hard
to catch hereabouts.
Not two leagues from the lake sits the small settlement of Millet’s
Crossing. The village has grown around the long-abandoned ruins of a
makeshift military outpost that was a rallying point for the Guild mages,
many years ago.
There are few in the village aware of the origin of their settlement
or of the war between the Guild and the Skolari.

Entering the Vaults

Atop the bleak hill at the lip of the Grey Lake is a dusty sink hole. It’s about 2 yards wide at the top but
narrows to one yard as it approaches room 1 of the dungeon. The hole descends for 20 feet before the climber
notices that the walls have become worked stone instead of raw earth. Another 20 feet drops them into the
torture chamber.
Making the descent without rope is very difficult (L3-SR-DEX or L3-SR-LK if you miss, take the difference
in hits), using proper rope and pitons allows a character to make the journey without fear of falling.

General Notes on the Vaults

• Level one of the dungeon is designed for 4 beginning characters with between 20 and 40 personal adds
in total. GMs wishing to present the adventure to larger or more powerful groups must amend the
strength of the various encounters accordingly.

• Since the location of the dungeon is an inverted castle, the delvers will actually be walking around on the
dungeon’s ‘ceiling’. They may encounter odd things such as torch sconces facing ‘down’ and doors that
they must step or climb through. Stairs will also be odd to navigate, growing, as they do from the ‘ceiling’.

• This Escher-like environment can be a strain on the weak-minded delver. If called upon to flee from a
powerful enemy and run through bizarre corridors, characters may be overwhelmed by the seemingly
alien surroundings. To avoid a potentially fatal stumble, a character must attempt an INT or DEX L1-SR
(whichever is lower).

• Causality in action: The entire complex has had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that it is now
upside down. As a result, gravity and physics occasionally step out for a long lunch. Small items such as
coins, knives, discarded boots, bandages, rings, spilled water (and blood) etc. will actually fall ‘up’ and
land on the ‘ceiling’ if dropped. For example an orc fleeing with a hand-full of gold coins is quite rightly
shot dead by a keen-eyed delver. The orc’s body hits the floor as you’d expect but the coins fall ‘up’ and
come to rest rather noisily on the ‘ceiling’…

• Monsters with Attribute scores rather than a Monster Rating also carry a listing for Combat Adds based
on those Attributes. Additional Adds from Warrior level bonus are included in the entry entitled ‘Total
attack’.

• If a monster’s description does not indicate that it carries treasure, there is none to be had.

General play notes

Saving rolls are identified in the text as follows: L2-SR-DEX (indicating a level 2 saving roll based on
Dexterity)
Whenever a saving roll is called for, always use an appropriate Talent instead if one is available.
Saving Rolls assume that suitable equipment is available such as lock picks for opening doors or axes
for chopping them down. In the absence of such tools, increase the Saving Roll level by one.

26
 The Skolari Vaults:
Level 1 (The Dungeon)
Room Key: Level 1
Characters that successfully explore at least half of level 1 and
make it to the surface again should be awarded 100 adventure points for
‘daring’.
Unless otherwise mentioned, the walls, floors and ceilings are of
pressed earth set with flagstones and rock several inches thick.

Cast of Level 1 Characters

• The Spawn of Grillich, in numbers large enough to cause a problem
or two
• Skillet’s mob of uncouth goblins
• Quig, King of the Spiders (or so he claims)
• Kurg Mandlebrand, doorman, chess fan and ogre
• Naybol the orc guard who can’t get no (job) satisfaction
• Serverus Kane, a fully paid up member of the unquiet dead
• The Janitor
• Grimbelly, the Disposer
• Eidolon the Blind, part time oracle, full time demon

Room 1: The Torture Chamber & Sacrifice room

The ‘chimney’ (B) deposits the characters in the castle’s deepest
dungeon. Of course, this is now the uppermost level of the complex! The
chimney is actually an oubliette (normally a deep pit for dropping prisoners
into), which was cracked open during the events that saw the Vaults
inverted.
The room is long and uninviting. A thin beam of moon or daylight might filter in from above but the
reaches of the room are lost to shadow unless the characters have torches, lanterns or spells. The ceiling has 2
other oubliettes besides the one through which the characters entered and all three have iron grills hanging open
from rusted hinges.
Floor and ceiling are only 8 feet apart on this level so a tall character could reach up and climb into the
oubliette, if they had noting else to do…
The walls are hung with chains and manacles, all bolted firmly in place. In the northeast corner (marked
A) a pale young woman lies in chains. She is dead and has circular bruises on her thighs and arms; her skin is
unnaturally pale – the blood has been drained from her. The Spawn of Grillich lurking in the oubliettes have
sucked the life out of this poor soul and her body will later be animated to assist in darker matters below.
If the characters choose to rescue her body (perhaps to bury her or return her to her kin) it will take a L3-
SR-DEX or L4-SR-LK to pick the locks or L5-SR-STR to bend or break the chains. If they successfully return the
body to the surface, award them each 50 APs.
The Spawn lurking in the oubliettes won’t emerge during the PC’s first visit (unless someone goes poking
around in their homes). They are satiated from the young girl but should the characters return after an hour or
more, they will be peckish again!
There will be 4 Spawn or one for each PC (and each allied NPC), whichever is greater.

Spawn of Grillich
MR: 24
Combat: 3+12
AP Award: 30 each
Special Damage: 1/ Kremm loss
Special Abilities: When activated, any characters attacking the Spawn lose 2 points of Kremm as if they had
cast a spell (it recovers normally). Characters reduced to zero (0) Kremm by the Spawn fall unconscious and will
likely be devoured if the Spawn have their way!

Delvers subdued by the Spawn will awaken naturally after 1D6 hours. Every 10 minutes a hungry Spawn will
leech 1D3 points of CON from an unconscious character.

27
[Background: Legend has it that The Grillich was a mountain-sized kraken, once known to lair in the Grey Lake.
The fiend met its fate at the hand of Oberon Mandible, gentleman thief of Tarvé. The Grillich committed the
ultimate faux par when it inadvertently devoured the ship carrying Oberon away from a clutch of angry husband’s
intent on exacting terminally painful revenge on the rogue for his countless transgressions. Oberon did what any
hero would and hacked his way to the creature’s brain, crushing it to a pulp with his left hand (The Grillich was
truly massive but sadly, no Einstein). Alas, the beast’s many tentacles didn’t have the good grace to die quietly;
instead they slithered off in search of easier prey.]

Exits
1 Both ‘normal’ doors out of this room are heavy rusted iron gates. The east door is locked but
due to its age and state of decay can be easily picked (L1-SR-DEX) or forced (L2-SR-STR). The west door
stands slightly open.

1 The secret door here is extremely well hidden. To locate the opening mechanism, a searcher
needs to be standing at the right map location square and make a L3-SR-LK or L4-SR-INT.

Room 2: Corridor
This short passageway is unlit and ends in an arched wooden door. The door is locked and barred from
the other side. It will require a L2-SR-DEX to pick the lock and a L4-SR-STR to lever the door open. Alternatively,
delvers may smash through the door with weapons. Note that a failed STR Saving Roll results in damage (strains
and pulled muscles) equal to half the amount by which the roll was missed.
Attacking the door is easy but only combat adds derived from STR can be used and weapons do half
(rolled total) their normal damage. The door has an effective CON of 50+3D6 and only 2 characters can attack at
once.
Each round the PCs spend getting through the door is another round the goblin guards on the other side
have to get ready!
At the first sign of activity from the corridor, the goblins in room 3 will start shouting in their own tongue. If
that gets no response, their leader will switch to pigin common.
“Hey! You be wise-in-the-head and run plenty far away. For we are many and also fierce-strong in the
arms and head!”
Canny players might be able to talk the goblins into opening the door or revealing what they know about
the Vaults and perhaps the dead girl in room one.

Exits
1 An open wooden door in the east wall.
1 A locked wooden door set in an archway at the west end of the passage.

28
Room 3: Guards and goblins

The goblin’s quarters are cold dank and dimly lit by several oily candles – just how they like it. There are
pelts on the floor for beds and a few low tables and chopped tree-stumps for stools. There’s a keg of ale below
the secret door on the north wall (the goblins have to stand on the keg to open the door) and two goose
carcasses in various states of destruction (they’re only just cooked too).
Depending on how long the PCs take to get through the door, the goblin guards within will take certain
actions to defend themselves. Check the following schedule to see what they’re up to!

Turns Action
0 4 goblins are playing cards, the rest are sleeping
1 The goblins overturn a table and start readying their bows.
2 Skillet opens the door and calls 2 of his guards to follow him through to the other door and into the
sacrifice room (room 1).
3 Skillet and his goblins emerge into room 1
4 Skillet is now in room 2 (the corridor) and right behind the PCs with bows at the ready!

If it takes the PCs 4 or more turns to open the door, they will be in trouble but Skillet won’t give the order
to open fire immediately, he’ll be very impressed with his own cunning and want to gloat a while. It’s during this
“I’m going to kill you Mr. Bond” stage that the PCs have a chance to trick or attack Skillet.
It’s more likely however, that the PC will enter whilst some of the goblins are moving through the secret
passage and will have an easier time of the battle.

Beneath the keg is a loose stone where Skillet keeps his ‘hoard’ (he thinks the other goblins don’t know
about it). Anyone climbing on to the keg can make a L1-SR-LK to spot the wobbly stone. Under the stone is a
hollow in which a small ivory box sits. The box (which is 2 inches deep and 10 long and wide) is more valuable
than its contents (it’s worth 1D6 x 10 gold) to someone with the money. Inside is a collection of coins (3 gold, 6
silver and 4 copper), they are ancient and heavily dented and corroded; a peacock-feather quill, a large diamond-
shaped scale from some sort of reptilian creature about 4 inches on each side and a handkerchief embroidered
with the letter ‘K’ (Skillet took it from the latest victim, and this is the evidence the players need to identify her as
Kaylene). Note that he won’t say where he found the ‘large scale’.

29
The goblins
Skillet Thighbyter (“That’s Commander Thighbyter to you!”) the paranoid and cowardly ‘leader’ of the goblin
guards.
STR: 12 CON: 9 DEX: 16 SPD: 14 INT: 11 WIZ: 12 LK: 15 CHR: 8 Combat Adds: +9 AP: 32
Level: 1 Warrior (Total attack: 3+12, Total defense: 10)
Talents: Command goblins (13)
Weapons: Gladius 3+2, Light Self Bow 3+0 (range: 70 yards, 12 arrows)
Armor: Tarnished cuirass (5 x 2)
Treasure: Purse of 4 sp

Quirme Thighbyter, the muscle of the group and Skillet’s brother. Quirme stores most of his many muscles
between his ears, for safekeeping.
STR: 21 CON: 11 DEX: 13 SPD: 7 INT: 6 WIZ: 14 LK: 9 CHR: 5 Combat Adds: +8 AP: 38
Level: 2 Warrior (Total attack: 4+10, Total defense: 2)
Talents: Intimidate goblins (24), Games of chance (14)
Weapons: Scimitar 4+0, Crossbow 4+0 (range: 100 yards, 3 bolts)
Armor: Worn leather vest (1 x 2)
Treasure: leather-thong necklace with carved ivory skull (worth 15+2D6 gp), 6 gp hidden in his left boot.

Gnurle of Mudcorner is by far the ugliest, fattest, gruffest and rudest of the guards with the deepest growl. Of
course she is considered a prize beauty in goblin society.
STR: 14 CON: 6 DEX: 9 SPD: 10 INT: 11 WIZ: 10 LK: 13 CHR: 2 Combat Adds: +3 AP: 31
Level: 1 Warrior (Total attack: 3+5, Total defense: 0)
Talents: Seduce goblins (16 – based on STR)
Weapons: Short sabre 3+1
Armor: None (she’s too good looking to cover up)!
Treasure: A leather sack on a chain around her neck (clutched between deep cleavage) containing 10 gp and a
small ruby worth 90 + 2D6 gp.

Matthew Smith. This unusual goblin took a human name and affects a civilized accent. He is despised by his kin
and if in a tight spot with the PCs will claim he is actually a human under a terrible curse that transformed him
into a goblin.
STR: 8 CON: 9 DEX: 16 SPD: 10 INT: 11 WIZ: 10 LK: 13 CHR: 10 Combat Adds: +2 AP: 28
Level: 1 Citizen (Total attack: 3+3, Total defense: 0)
Talents: Human Lore (15)
Weapons: 2 x Common spears 3+1 (range: 15)
Armor: None
Spells: Vorpal Blade (WIZ: 5 Range: 10 feet) – none of Matthew’s goblin kin know that he has learned magic…
yet. He will cast the spell on Quirme’s scimitar if possible.
Treasure: A hidden note reading: “Plees don’t kil me, coz I reelly a you-man in dizgize.”

Skullslapper, Krufts and Vyst Twistblade: a trio of psychotic murdering gobos recruited by Skillet to boost the
numbers. All have identical statistics, equipment and questionable morality.
STR: 12 CON: 7 DEX: 17 SPD: 12 INT: 9 WIZ: 11 LK: 11 CHR: 5 Combat Adds: +5 AP: 28 each
Level: 1 Warrior (Total attack: 3+7 each, Total defence: 6 each, 18 total)
Talents: Climbing (21)
Weapons: Common spears 3+1 (range: 15), Light Self Bow 3+0 (range: 70 yards, 9 arrows)
Armor: Buckler (3 x 2)
Treasure: This week’s pay (4 gp wrapped in a leather cloth)

If all of the goblins are able to fight at once their total dice and adds amount to 22D6 + 52 (and 30 armor
points) making them one of the toughest encounters in the entire dungeon and certainly the toughest on level
one! For this reason, the GM should be weary of a toe-to-toe battle. Split Skillet’s mob up or pair them against
suitable characters; allow the characters to use Talents and Saving Rolls to take advantage of the confined
spaces – leap atop tables, throw chairs – the usual stuff!
This could even be an opportunity for parley or subterfuge or a mixture of both. If the players are
victorious this is a great chance for them to get some decent gear!

30
[Game Master’s Note: To even the odds a little, the GM may wish to assume that Skullslapper, Krufts and Vyst
are away from the dungeon scouting for food and or even doing a spot of fishing at the lakeside. If so, the group’s
dice and adds total will drop to a much more reasonable 13+31 (with 12 armor points).]

If the combat becomes a something of a logistics nightmare, use the following Cheat Sheet to keep track
of goblin dice and wounds.

Goblin Battle Score Sheet

Name Dice + Adds Arrows Armor WIZ CON Points
Skillet 3 + 12 12 5 x 2 (10) 12 9
Quirme 4 + 11 3 1 x 2 (2) 14 11
Gnurle 3+5 None None 10 6
Matthew 3+3 None None 10 9
Skullslapper 3+7 9 3 x 2 (6) 11 7
Krufts 3+7 9 3 x 2 (6) 11 7
Vyst 3+7 9 3 x 2 (6) 11 7

What the Goblins Know

1. “We gets people-kin from outside and chain ‘em up in the sucking room. Then the slugs come down and
sucks ‘em dry. Then the bodies get taken down below where they come back to life and go to work.”
2. “Don’t know what work they do. Not goblin work though.”
3. “Down below is the Skull Men (this is what the goblins call the Skolari). They used to live here when it all
faced the right way up.”
4. “Yes, the Skull Men upset other magic men ages past. The magic men came and turned this castle
upside down. Me thinks it looks better this way.”
5. “We get to keeps what we find. Very good finds too. You should join us! Although there is a small entry
fee and you must call me boss.”
6. “If you wants to go further down you’ve gots to go through the iron door. I knows the code for a fee.”
7. “I wouldn’t go through the south door unless… Unless you wants lots of treasure, it’s just lying around for
anyone to pick up, yerse, go south!” If pressed for the truth: “Down bellow is dead things, they’ve come
up though, come up through the south door.”

Note for the curious: the deck of cards, which the goblins were playing with, is quite serviceable and the delvers
might like to take them to while away the quiet times during WIZ recovery!

If necessary this room could be used as a suitable ‘base camp’ for the delvers.

Exits
1 The door in the west wall is arched, made of stout oak and unlocked.
1 The wooden door in the east archway is initially locked.

Room 4: Secret Passage

Both entrances to this tunnel are only 4 feet high which puts both 4 feet off the ground. The entrance in
room 3 is almost always open and therefore not really ‘secret’. The door in room one is much more difficult to
spot (see room 1) and requires a L3-SR-LK or L4-SR-INT to locate. The passage itself is 6 feet high and 10 feet
wide. Inside can be found a number of ancient spear and arrowheads; the shafts have long since rotted away.
Providing suitable lighting is available, a L1-SR-LK will locate the key to the manacles in room 1 (it’s actually lying
on the ‘ceiling’ but characters may not yet be used to looking ‘up’ to find dropped items).

Exits
1 Both doors in the south wall are ‘secret’ from the other side.

31
Room 5: Corridor

Empty but the lack of dust indicates that the passage is well traveled.

Exits
1 The cell doors to the west are sturdy oblong slabs of wood each with a small metal grill near the floor
(originally they would have been at ‘head’ height, allowing gaolers to keep an eye on their prisoners).
1 The door to the north almost fills the wall; it is of ancient heavy oak bound with iron and brass, in the
center is a large skull-head knocker. The door is locked (L2-SR-DEX to pick). The goblins aren’t allowed
further into the complex without supervision. There is a guard on the other side (room 13) but he won’t
make a move (or a sound) unless he hears an elaborate series of knocks and taps that only Skillet
knows.
1 The door to the south is heavy and warped but not locked; instead it has bits of wood and metal wedged
around its frame to keep it closed (L2-SR-STR to open from this side, L5 from the other side). The
goblins don’t much like what’s through the door.

Room 6: Storage Cell

The door is unlocked. Within, the characters will find a dingy cell similar to the others except the goblins keep
their supplies here.
· A wheel of cheese wrapped in wax (stolen of course)
· A tall wicker basket containing a dozen (almost fresh) loaves
· 2 large earthware jugs of spring water
· A small wicker box containing 6 spare bow strings
· A quiver stuffed with 3D6+6 arrows (for light or medium self bows only)
· 12 thick candles wrapped in an oilskin, each will provide light for one hour
· 2 boxes of flint and tinder
· A small telescopic spyglass (worth over 100 gp) allowing x 4 magnification
· A clay pot containing 60 gp (pay for the goblins)

Exits
1 A single unlocked wooden door is in the east wall.

Room 7: Cell
The door is unlocked. A bare and dusty cell used for holding prisoners whilst the main torturer chamber
was ‘busy’. Again this could be a safe resting place for harried delvers.

Exits
1 A single unlocked wooden door is in the east wall.

Room 8: Cell

The door is unlocked but jammed shut (L1-SR-STR to open). Inside lies a skeleton wrapped in rags and
chained to a loop in the cell wall. At his feet is a plain tin goblet. This poor fellow was a prisoner during the Guild
attack and was subsequently forgotten – later dying of thirst. Some magical residue of his fate lingered in the
room (often referred to in magical circles as the ‘Irony Effect’). If held in both hands (the holder must not be
wearing gloves or any other kind of skin covering), the goblet will slowly fill to the brim with fresh spring water.
The water is non-magical but the supply is endless.

Exits
1 A single unlocked wooden door is in the east wall.

Room 9: The Back Door

The upheaval of the final conflict with the Guild mages caused many breaches in the castle walls, this
one leads to the outside world and is used by Skillet and his lackeys to move to and from the Vaults capturing
fresh sacrifices and collecting food and other supplies.
Exits
1 A single unlocked wooden door is in the east wall.
1 A 6-foor tall and 4-foot wide breach in the west wall leading to room 10.

32
Room 10: The Cave

The floor here is uneven and strewn with small rocks and medium sized boulders. Any combat here would
require a L2-SR-DEX to avoid stumbling. If the Saving Roll is failed, reduce the character’s combat total by the
amount the roll was failed by for the first turn of fighting.

Exits
1 An opening in the east wall leading to room 9.
1 A narrow passage to the north leading to room 11.
1 A passage to the west leading to the hillside and the open air (and location 12).

Room 11: Spider Den (Quig, King of the Spiders)

As the PCs approach the cavern, the thick webs on the wall become obvious. In the main cavern beyond
sits Quig, King of the Spiders!
Quig is about the size of a large dog with a fat hairy black legs and a faintly luminous abdomen. His head
is almost human-like having 2 large eyes and a broad
toothy maw.
Quig recently learned from a traveling mage that it
is common practice for female spiders to eat the male after
mating. As a result Quig is hiding here and when he first
hears the PC approach he will assume his queen has
tracked him down!
“No, no, I’m too young and handsome to die!
Leave me be. Anyway, I’m celibate.”
As soon as he realizes that the new arrivals are
not his deadly betrothed, he will start to salivate strands of
black poisonous slime. He will be keen to play up his role
of ‘King of the Spiders’, a self-appointed title, and even
keener to nibble on one or two of the juicer delvers.

Quig, King of the Spiders

MR: 94
Combat: 10+47
AP Award: 110
Special Damage: 1/1 poison damage
Notes: Any spite damage inflicted by Quig (and only spite damage) may cause poisoning as follows:
· Bitten characters must make a L1-SR-CON or become ‘poisoned’.
· Poisoned characters lose 1 CON and 1 DEX per turn until they collapse (zero DEX) or pass out (zero
CON). Characters with normal CON scores of 8 or less will quickly die if reduced to zero CON, others will
tend to drift in and out of consciousness until healed.
· Poisoned characters may make a L2-SR-CON to shake off the poison each turn after the first, before
losing attribute points.

Quig moves on the floor, ceiling and walls with equal ease.

[Combat Note: If Quig is reduced to MR: 30 or less, he will attempt to flee. If the characters wish to stop him, at
least one of them must make a L2-SR-SPD. Quig is fast! If he successfully makes his escape, Quig scuttles
along the cavern ceiling and out into the open through location 12. Delvers may be able to get off a parting shot
with missile weapons but due to his speed and the poor lighting, a L5-SR-DEX is required to score a hit). Once
outside, Quig will rest up recovering 5 MR per full turn (10 minutes). He will return when fully healed but won’t
pursue the characters, instead he’ll lurk in his cave – his ‘comfort zone’.]

If Quig is defeated, a suitably talented character (Apothecary or Alchemist, for example) could extract 10
doses of ‘Quig Poison’ for later use if required. If anyone thinks to do this, award their character with 40
Adventure Points.
Once Quig is gone, the PCs can search his lair. Several bodies in various states of decay are littered
around the chamber; most are wrapped in brittle webbing.
Three of the skeletal remains have items of interest to the curious delver.
33
1. The oldest and shortest of the bodies, all that remains is a withered husk. Around its neck is a thick gold chain
and a double-headed pick axe pendant (one of the marks of Gristlegrim, god of dwarfs). For its gold content, it
would be worth 2D6+6 gp; to any dwarf this would be worth at least 5 times that sum.

2. A more recent kill with some flesh still clinging to the bones and a full head of gray hair. The body is clad in a
chain mail hauberk (4 hits, requires 4 STR and weighs 240), which would be suitable for a human sized
character.

3. A tall skeleton hanging from the wall. At its feet is a small leather case containing 2 ceramic jars. These are
healing potions (tasteless chalky-white liquids) which heal 10 points of lost CON if fully consumed or 4 points
each if spread over 2 doses.

Exits
1 A single passageway winding to the south and room 10.

Location 12: The Hillside

The tunnel leads to the broad hillside facing the Grey Lake. Kurg Mandlebrand, a huge ogre, is stationed
here for two reasons. Firstly he ensures the safe passage of Skillet and his kin and secondly he decides who
enters and exits other than Skillet’s mob. The PCs should quickly realize
that they should not take on Kurg at the stage but if they are that foolish,
here he is!

Kurg Mandlebrand is well over 8 feet of rippling muscle. His massive jaw
and beetling brow may fool some into thinking that he’s not too bright but he
is a cunning warrior and keen chess player.
STR: 66 CON: 44 DEX: 13 SPD: 16 INT: 13 WIZ: 15 LK: 22 CHR: 29
Combat Adds: +69 AP: 123
Level: 6 Warrior (Total attack: 6+79, Total defense: 24)
Talents: Intimidation (69), Strategy Games (19), Climbing (68), Armor repair
(17), Wrestling (70)
Weapons: Double-bladed broad axe 6+4, Crossbow 5+0 (range: 100 yards,
16 bolts)
Armor: Mail (12 x 2)
Treasure: Purse of 60 gp, chess set with ivory pieces (worth 12 gp for the
entire set), Kurg’s massive axe has a large emerald set into the pommel
worth 2D6 x 100 gp. Even without the gem, the axe is of such fine
craftsmanship that it does one extra add in combat and is worth 3 times the
normal cost of such an axe.

Kurg is quite uncompromising when it comes to fulfilling his duties.

He rarely enters into any lengthy conversations; he knows who should be
going in and who should be coming out. Anyone not fitting the bill is axe
fodder.

Exits
1 This is the outside world! The characters can return to level 1 of the Skolari Vaults by slipping back into
the cave which leads to room 10.

Room 13: The Stair

A single bored orc sits at a carved stone table in the center of the room. He’s been on duty for 14 hours
and keeps nodding off. To compound his dereliction of duty he’s tapped one of three kegs of ale resting against
the southeast wall and has almost drained it.
He knows the ‘code knock’ and won’t respond to anything else. Except that repeated knocking will cause
him to yell: “Shurrup, oive got un ‘ead ache!”

34
Naybol the Orc
MR: 45 (when sober, Naybol’s MR is 55)
Combat: 5+23
AP Award: 45 (55 when sober)
Special Damage: None
Notes: Naybol wears remnants of mail and leather armor, which absorb 4 hits per
round. For ‘effect’ only, Naybol fights with 2 rusted short swords. His iron helmet has a
crude orcish face painted on the back – Naybol believes this will confuse his enemies.
Who knows?

Exits
1 The door to the east is closed but not locked.
1 The door to the south almost fills the wall it is of ancient heavy oak bound with iron and brass, in the
center is a large skull-head knocker.
1 The only other feature in the room is a stone spiral stair growing from the ceiling and leading to level 2
(which can be found in the next issue of The Hobbit Hole). Characters should really explore level one
fully to get as many APs as possible before venturing below to the Mausoleum.

Room 14: Empty?

Well, not entirely. A quick glance reveals a dusty but otherwise empty chamber but a few slabs have
been displaced in the floor and there are some smaller pieces that have fallen ‘up’ to the ceiling. Moving the
stones (not too difficult for anyone with STR 9+) reveals a small stone capsule large enough to hold a human-
sized object...
The level below was the castle’s mausoleum, the ‘capsule’ is a stone sarcophagus; the inherent magic of
the Vaults has animated some of those laid to rest and one of them has crawled up through the breach to level 1.
The undead wanderer is Serverus Kane, a warrior honored by the Skolari for his service to the Order.
Only a fragment of his former self remains in the husk that now shambles around these tunnels and years of
unquiet death have left him with a terrible hunger.
Serverus can be encountered in any of the rooms numbered 15 to 18 as
dictated by the GM.

Detecting Serverus: When Serverus is in an adjacent room, the characters will be able
to hear a faint moaning sound, as they get closer to the door or wall they hear a distant
battle - sword on shield, muffled explosions, the ‘whoosh’ of arrow fire and so on.

Serverus Kane
MR: 90
Combat: 10+0
AP Award: 250
Special Damage: Serverus only causes Spite damage so his personal adds are not
relevant.

Serverus fades in and out of the realm of the living; he flickers between a ghostly image with unfelt winds
pulling at his death shroud and a skeletal figure clad in tarnished plate armor.
Serverus can only be harmed whilst in his corporeal state so delvers will need to make L2-SR-SPD to hit
him (which makes Serverus very dangerous indeed – this is why Skillet’s mob didn’t like him much)!
His own attack takes the form of tendrils of cold mist which spread from his body, reaching in all
directions for 30 feet. Anyone and everyone in range will suffer the total amount of Spite damage generated by
his combat roll. If for example, Serverus rolls 3 sixes on his 10 dice, every character within 30 feet (3 squares on
the map) will take 3 points of Spite damage. Ouch.
However, Serverus will vanish after 3 combat turns only to appear in a different room (again it will be
rooms 15 to 18 and almost certainly be in the direction the delvers want to head in). He regains his full MR at
midnight even if completely destroyed.

[Game Master’s Note: When re-locating Serverus, try to select the room two places away from the delver’s
current location – if the characters are moving away from his new location, have him advance as they move on
but he can never leave the area covered by rooms 15 to 18. To randomly determine his location or destination,
use the following chart.]

35
Roll 1D6 Room Number
1-2 15
3 16
4-5 17
6 18

Exits
1 A warped wooden door is in the north wall. If the delvers did not come through this door from room 5, a
L5-SR-STR will be required to push the door open.
1 An unlocked black oak door in the east wall.

Room 15: The Checkered Corridor

This is a long dusty passageway distinguished by the use of black and white tiles on the floor and ceiling.
The tiles are roughly 12 inches square and seasoned adventurers might assume they need to step on only the
white or only the black tiles. If walking normally, each human-sized character would need to step on at least 100
tiles to traverse the passageway.
This is in fact the ‘Passage of the Mighty’. Characters must be careful to step on the colored tiles to
which they are aligned, if they do not, they will take damage.
Characters with a CHR score of 15+ must only step on white tiles; those with CHR scores of 14 or less
must only tread on the black tiles. If a character should step on the ‘wrong’ tile, they suffer 1D6 of electrical
damage, which arcs from floor and ceiling. Armor will not offer protection to the character, however, should the
target be wearing a full suit of any metal armor, the damage is increased to 2D6.
If the character pays no heed to which tile he or she first steps on, roll 1 die; 1 to 3 indicates a white tile,
4 to 6 and the tile is black. If he or she were to fall over for any reason, 2D6 tiles will be touch (half white, half
black).

[Game Master’s Note: Make sure you don’t give the players any clue as to what might be triggering the bolts of
electricity. Don’t, for example ask the player what his character’s CHR score is – if you don’t know just take the
character sheet from the player, look at it sagely and return it with a sly nod. Also, the GM might like to select a
different key attribute, particularly if all of the delvers have similar CHR scores…]

A character with a CHR of 30+ will attract bolts of energy from either white or black tiles but rather than
causing damage, each step heals one point of lost CON. If the character is fully healed, WIZ is replaced at the
same rate. A character with CHR 30+ may return to this passage as many times as he likes but keep an eye out
for Serverus!

Exits
1 A plain black wooden door in the west wall.
1 A locked wooden door in the north wall.
1 An unlocked wooden door in the east wall.

Room 16: The Head Gaoler’s Chamber

The wooden door to this room is locked (that doesn’t keep Serverus out of course) requiring a L1-SR-
DEX to open.
Against the north wall stands an overturned long trestle table. Scattered about and beneath is a chaotic
collection of tin plates, cups, a ring of keys (for the manacles in room 1), quills and a few sheaves’ of blank
parchment. There are also several candles on the floor, which fell from their sconces during the upheaval. And 3
large, leather backed chairs, also overturned.
Amidst the flotsam a delver may locate a number of useful items depending on the number of successful
L1-SR-LK made as follows:

36
 1. A small doe skin purse containing 30 ancient silver coins (a collector might pay that much in gold, they
are several hundred-years old).
2. A pot of ink, which surprisingly is still usable (the pot is magic and will never run out of ink provided it is
only used to wet a nib, upending the pot will empty it for good).
3. A torn piece of parchment with a hastily written word (in what appears to be common tongue):
“MULDERCUTCH”.
4. A fine looking broadsword in a red velvet-covered sheath (3+4, requires STR: 15+ and DEX 10+) it is
well-crafted but otherwise normal.
5. A small stoneware corked bottle containing a thick syrupy liquid that restores lost Kremm (the drinker is
immediately returned to full WIZ points).
6. A black leather hood, which completely covers the face (except for eyeholes of course).

Exits
1 An unlocked wooden door in the south wall.
1 An unlocked wooden door in the west wall.

Room 17: The Head Gaoler’s Boudoir

With Serverus out of the way (until midnight, that is), this is another fine ‘sanctuary’ room for the delvers
to rest and recover spent WIZ. The chamber is dominated by
a heavy four-poster bed - its lying on the floor, upside down of
course, and there are small tables, a few chairs and a fine rug
scattered here and there (not to mention broken crockery and
a few pieces of silver cutlery worth perhaps 6 gp for the lot).
The main item of interest here is a leather box-case,
which holds 3 intact black vials. This was the gaoler’s stash of
poison for bringing peace to a torture subject (it seems the
gaoler had a heart). There is enough poison here for six
applications to blade-weapons.
The poison is an herbal extract that causes damage
(loss of CON) but not pain. Enemies struck with a tainted
blade will take triple the normal Spite damage generated (this does not apply to undead such as Serverus) but
will feel no additional pain; perhaps a slight numbness. The poison will wear off tainted blades after three combat
turns.

Exits
1 An unlocked wooden door in the east wall.

Room 18: The Trapped Storeroom

This was once a provisions room containing barrels, kegs, crates and boxes of supplies. They were all
smashed to pieces in the upheaval but a few items may be salvaged from the debris (see below). Of particular
interest is a pit trap, in the ‘ceiling’. The pit is 10 feet deep and has 4 5-inch spikes waiting at the bottom (or top if
you want to look at it like that). The trap was sprung centuries ago and now lies open.
The PCs might think they have nothing to fear from this already activated trap, after all, it’s on the ceiling,
not the floor; they’re hardly likely to step in it!
However, the magic of the Vaults works in mysterious ways. Anyone entering the room must make a L2-
SR-LK. If the roll is failed, the character has inadvertently walked under the trap and will fall ‘up’ landing rather
forcefully on the spikes (and take 2D6+1 hits which ignore armor). A L2-SR-LK or DEX will allow the victim to
catch the lip of the pit and edge himself away from the danger zone.
Getting a ‘spiked’ character out of the pit might represent a challenge for the characters (assuming the
unfortunate victim of the pit trap still lives). Climbing ‘out’ requires a L3-SR-STR but other delvers might be able
to throw him a line.

37
Found Items: As with Room 16, each successful L1-SR-LK reveals one of the following items in the order
presented.

1. An unbroken stoneware bottle containing a handy healing potion! It restores all lost
CON.
2. A functioning set of lock picks.
3. A steel helm (takes 1 hit)
4. A scroll case. The scroll within is an inventory list of the storeroom (mostly
mundane food, water, arrows etc. but it does mention a padlocked strong box
containing 6-months wages in gold, sadly the strongbox won’t be found here).
5. A blue scarab pendant on a silver chain (it has little value here but would get you into the Temple of the
Blue Beetle in Gull with no questions asked)!

Exits
1 An unlocked wooden door in the east wall.
1 An unlocked wooden door in the west wall.

Room 19: The Collapsed Passage

This is a bare dusty passage with numerous deep cracks running across the walls and chunks of
masonry lying on the floor and smaller pieces lying on the ceiling. It should be clear to a dwarf or character with
mining Talents that the northern most section of the passageway continued on but has collapsed. No amount of
excavation will clear the rubble (unless the GM wants to continue this level), as there is no void beyond.
The GM may wish to instill some fear in the delvers and remind them of the odd physics of the place by
announcing some distant rumbling, the passageway shaking and fragments of stone and streams of dust falling
upwards.

Exits
1 A heavy and rusted iron gate leading to room 1 is locked but due to its age and state of decay can be
easily picked (L1-SR-DEX) or forced (L2-SR-STR).
1 An unlocked wooden door in the west wall.

Room 20: The Other Collapsed Passage

Similar to room 19 the passageway is riddled with deep scars, additionally the north wall is damp and
there are a few trickles of water running up the wall and pooling on the ceiling. The eastern end of the corridor is
filled with rubble; it clearly continued on eastward but is now impassable. Again, GMs may wish to add their own
sections by removing the rubble or allowing the delvers to do so.

Exits
1 The wooden door to the west (room 13) is usually closed but not locked.
1 The wooden door to room 21 is securely locked (L3-SR-DEX to open).
1 The door to room 22 is rather odd, it is made of stone and skillfully carved with the relief of a wide-open
eye at knee height (if the building was oriented correctly, the ‘eye’ would be at chest height). The door
has no lock but has become jammed in its frame (L3-SR-STR to force open).
1 A tarnished bronze door in the north wall leads to room 23. The door is locked (L2-SR-DEX to jimmy the
locking mechanism).

Room 21: Body Storage

This cold dank room contains 3 near-naked dead bodies. 2 are young male humans; the third is a
beautiful female elf that seems to be of a similar age to the girl in room 1 but could have been much older of
course. The bodies are all covered in the same circular bruise marks, which were evident on the girl in the torture
chamber, they have been drained of blood.
The room is otherwise bare. These bodies are waiting to be taken to the Laboratory on level 3, the girl
from room 1 will soon be moved to this room and all four will be taken below by the Skolari’s undead servants.
Naybol (room 13) does not like this type of duty and hates undead critters he would much prefer a stand
up fight with a bunch of greedy delvers, which is why he’s been hitting the keg so heavily!
The PCs may wish to return the bodies to the surface, if so award each of them 50APs for each body
recovered.

Exits
1 A single wooden door in the north wall.

38
Room 22: The Blind Oracle, Eidolon
This is clearly a room of great magic. A beautiful stone fountain dominates the ceiling, sending a jet of
sparkling water towards the floor, which slowly falls back to the ceiling. A pale
light emanates from the water, enough to fully illuminate the room. The ceiling is
decorated with glistening enameled blue tiles and a mosaic of a lightly clouded
sky covers the floor.
If the fountain is approached, the water jet forms into the shape of a
translucent eye and a soft male voice fills the room.
“Ah, still upside down I see. I thought you would have fixed that by
now.”
This is Eidolon the Skolari oracle. The Skolari are not at all pleased with
Eidolon since he failed to foresee the Guild attack or that such powerful magic would be employed to invert the
castle.
For his part Eidolon is a demon and not fond of being bound into a water feature.
When he realizes that the PCs are not Skolari mages he will become quite friendly if not entirely helpful.
“I can tell you everything you might want to know about this place and a few things you don’t want to
know. But knowledge is power as they say so I might as well tell it all. Of course I can’t reveal a single skerrick of
information until you say my true name aloud. I can say that on this plane I am known as Eidolon but that is not
my true name.”
The demon’s true name is “Muldercutch Neidersnatcher”. The delvers can learn his first name from the
note in room 16 providing they were able to find it but they will need to go deeper into the complex to learn his
last name.
If they do mention his first name (and it’s by no means necessary to do so) award each of them 50 APs
and allow Eidolon to answer one question about the complex or its inhabitants. Remember he’s a demon so his
answer should be truthful but as unhelpful as possible.
If the PCs say his last name aloud, bad things will happen. The fountain will crumble to pieces and
spread across the ceiling. The room will begin to fill with water – from the ceiling down and the demonic form of
Eidolon will appear. He is a demon cast from an old fashioned mould with huge bat wings, horns, fangs, cloven
hooves; the works. He has an impressive MR but will only stay on this plane for one combat turn before
teleporting himself home with a maniacal laugh!

Eidolon (aka: Muldercutch Neidersnatcher)

MR: 150
Combat: 16+75
AP Award: 150
Special Damage: None

Exits
1 A single stone door in the north wall.

Room 23: The Janitor’s Quarters

A long dusty corridor leads to two bronze doors in the east wall. The ceiling is scored with a pair of deep
grooves that run the length of the corridor – they run into both rooms 24 and 25. If any of the delvers are curious
they appear to be made by design rather than ruts worn by the ages. The grooves are and inch wide and about 2
inches deep.
Exits
1 A bronze door in the south wall.
1 Two identical bronze doors in the east wall. One leads to room 24, the other to 25. Both are locked,
requiring a L2-SR-DEX to open.

Room 24: The Janitor

The grooves in the ceiling run to the center of the room where a dusty bronze statue of a man hangs
from its feet. The statue is intricately worked and looks very realistic. It is of ‘classical’ design – the man is clad in
a toga and sandals.
The room is lined with shelves and the floor is littered with what must have been the contents of those
shelves: pots, tins, broken lanterns, old candles and jars of tallow, coils of wick, nails, hooks, woodworking tools,
a masonry set and various other items to assist in repairs and maintenance of the dungeon. With the possible
exception of the nails, the equipment and supplies are too damaged and too old to be of use.
Behind the statue, set in a stone block and firmly affixed to the ceiling sit two brass levers. The levers
can be moved in an east – to – west direction with little effort. The levers are currently both in the ‘east’ position.

39
 The statue is a magical servant of the Skolari that initially runs on ‘train tracks’ in the ceiling, once it has
built up enough magical energy it can leave the tracks (which will cause it to drop to the floor) and walk normally.
To activate the Janitor, both levers must be set to the ‘west’ position then one must be returned to the ‘east’
position, if both are subsequently returned to the ‘east’ position, the Janitor is deactivated and will attempt to
return to its initial post (in room 24).
Once activated, the statue shudders to life and slowly trundles along its tracks, turning its head this way
and that, making tutting sounds and pointing to the many cracks, piles of dust, pools of blood etc. After one
combat turn it will stretch, yawn and step off the rails – immediately falling to the floor.
The Janitor soon realizes that the castle has been turned upside down and will politely ask the PCs how
he can rectify the situation.
“Excuse me masters, I note with some alarm and no small degree of consternation that we have
somehow been turned upside down. Can I be of assistance in returning the castle to its optimum orientation? Is
there an enormous lever I need to pull?”
If questioned, the automaton introduces itself as ‘The Janitor’.

About the Janitor

1. He can converse in any language in which he is addressed and always responds in that language but
cannot select a language himself.
2. He cannot initiate any conversation that doesn’t relate to the maintenance of the Skolari Vaults.
3. If instructed to do so, he can lift and carry any item or object with an effective STR of 200.
4. He will not use his STR to destroy any permanent fixtures of the Vaults, such as doors, locks or walls.
5. He will fight in the defense of the delvers, who he assumes to be Skolari and his ‘masters’ but he’s a
cleaner not a warrior so his combat Monster Rating is only 22 (3 dice plus 11 adds).
6. Although magical and made of bronze he is hollow and relatively light-weight (150lbs), once his MR is
reduced to zero he will be effectively destroyed.
7. He knows the layout of this level intimately but has no concept of use or function of any of the rooms. He
describes the rooms in terms of their size with larger rooms and passages requiring more of his attention.
8. The Janitor has no concept of time but can understand instructions such as ‘wait here’ or ‘come when I
call for you’. An instruction such as ‘wait here for 10 minutes then tug on the rope’ will result in the Janitor
standing still for a moment then tugging on the rope repeatedly. The ’10 minutes’ part of the instruction is
ignored completely.
9. The Janitor has a pleasant demeanor at all times – he has no concept of pain, damage or his own
destruction.
10. The Janitor cannot leave the original castle – so he will be unable to enter any of the areas of level 2 and
below that have been constructed sine the castle’s inversion. If the characters return to the surface, the
Janitor returns to his post in room 24.

If the PCs rightly identify the Janitor as a useful addition to the party award them each 20 APs.

Exits
1 A single bronze door in the west wall.

Room 25: The Waste Disposal Room

Although locked (requiring a L2-SR-DEX to open), the door to
this room will automatically open if approached by the Janitor (see room
24, above).
The thin grooves in the ceiling continue from the passage outside
and run into the center of the room. The room itself is completely empty
with the exception of an ornate bronze ‘gargoyle’ sitting on the ceiling
where the grooves terminate. The bronze statue has an enormous open
mouth and stands about 6-feet high and 4-feet wide. It looks quite scary,
even for a gargoyle.
As soon as the characters (or even just the Janitor), enters the
room, the gargoyle creaks to life and effortlessly drops to the floor,
landing gently on its feet. It points to it’s open maw and shouts:
“I’m starving, chuck something in here before I do it myself!”
This is Grimbelly the Disposer, a bound demon charged with
gobbling up all the waste matter of the castle. Of course, no one has
entered Grimbelly’s room for many, many years. He is hungry and not
particularly happy.

40
 Before attacking the characters he will give them the opportunity to off-load some rubbish into his mouth.
“Give me your rubbish, don’t care what it is but I need lots. I’ve not been fed for years!”
The characters have 5 combat turns to feed him with 700 weight units of anything at all! So if the
characters have a spare suit of plate armor lying around – problem solved! Each character can place one item
into the maw per combat turn (Grimbelly is pretty snappy).
Grimbelly will give the delvers clues as to how full he is. If the first character tosses a pike (100 weight
units) into the mouth, he’ll say “Keep it up, another 6 like that and I’ll be right.” When he’s consumed 350 units of
trash: “Excellent, half-way there, keep it coming!”
If the demon eats his fill within the 5 combat turns, he returns to his original position and sits motionless
until he’s hungry again (he’ll be peckish in another 2D6 hours). If not he attacks!
Grimbelly is something of a unique demon as his Monster Rating is based on his enemies. Total the STR
and CON of all members of the delver’s party (exclude the Janitor’s MR if he is present) – this number equals
Grimbelly’s MR. In addition, he has armor points equal to 20% (one fifth) of the party’s total non-magical
protection rating (including the armor bonus of any Warriors in the party).

Grimbelly the Disposer – Demon Gargoyle

MR: Equal to the total of the party’s STR + CON
Combat: Based on MR
AP Award: Based on MR + 100 points
Armor: 20% of the party’s total armor protection (not including magic items and spells)
Special: Grimbelly’s claws and fangs have a corrosive quality. Each point of Spite damage delivered by
Grimbelly also reduces the party’s armor and/or weapon adds by one point.

An Example of Grimbelly’s Corrosive Power

As the result of the first combat round, the delvers are forced to suffer 4 points of Spite damage. The
armored dwarf agrees to take all 4 points. He not only loses 4 points of CON he must also reduce his armor or
weapons by 4 points too. Since the dwarf has leather armor and a broadsword he chooses to reduce his sword
from 3 + 4 to 3 + 0 since he prefers to keep all the armor protection he can.
Note that when taking corrosive damage to armor, you should use the armor’s base level not the
‘doubled’ value enjoyed by Warriors.
If the characters flee before Grimbelly attacks they will get a head start on him since he will not pursue
them until the initial 5 combat turns have elapsed. Thereafter, he will doggedly follow the characters, generally
attacking at the most inopportune time – such as when they’re engaged in combat with other foes!
The only time Grimbelly is able to feed himself is when he’s in combat – this is a situation he’d rather
avoid and would be much happier to see the Janitor dropping trash in his mouth on a regular basis. He
recognizes and will not attack the Janitor (unless the Janitor is ordered to fight with the delvers).

Exits
1 A single unlocked bronze door in the west wall.

Continuing the Adventure

To progress to the deeper levels, the delvers must investigate the spiral stair in room 13 (level 2).
Alternatively, the characters may return to the surface to rest and recuperate before journeying on.
If they were seeking the whereabouts of Kaylene, they can deliver the sad news of her demise to her
grieving father (and collect the reward).
The PCs may also wish to return to Millet’s Crossing to replenish their supplies and enjoy a soft, warm
and safe bed in the Trolls’ Trove.

41
42
 The Skolari Vaults: Level 2 (The Mausoleum)
The continuing T&T dungeon GM adventure

Introduction
The characters descend the spiral stair in room 13 of level one above, and find themselves facing the
unquiet dead of the Skolari Mausoleum.
The single goal of this level is to find the
entrance to level 3 and continue
exploring the inverted castle.
A band of orcs, in the employ of
the Skolari, patrol certain areas of the
dungeon; their mission is to ensure that
no one disturbs their masters’
necromantic work on the level below.
The areas avoided by the orcs are the
domain of the undead who were rudely
awakened from their slumber, centuries
ago when the Wizard’s Guild unleashed
a great magical attack upon the castle to
upend it and sink it beneath the earth.
Level 2 is slightly different from
the dank dungeon above. The ceiling
(once the floor), is tiled in gray and black
marble. Thick black velvet drapes lie in
piles at the base of most walls (they were
once somber wall hangings) and the
walls of the perimeter corridor and crypts
are decorated with a row of inlaid human
skulls, at about waist height.

[Game Master’s Note: from the PC’s perspective, the inlaid skulls are all upside down.]

If anyone cares to examine the drapes, some still have remnants of silver thread woven to depict grim
images of cloaked undead standing vigil at a bleak tomb.
Unless noted otherwise, the floor and ceilings are 12 feet apart – the doors are thick black-stained oak,
bound with bronze strips and are 7 feet, 6 inches tall and arched. In most cases the door ‘handle’ is a sturdy
bronze ring roughly in the middle of the door. Turning the handle lifts a long iron latch inside the body of the door.
This means that the door handle is almost 8 feet off the ground (from the delver’s point of view). This could be
tricky for those hobb Rogues!

[Game Master’s Note: The players may assume that the empty sockets of the skulls might shoot out
poison darts or that the design of the velvet drapes bares some significance, but for the most part this is not the
case. The Skolari interred their dead here and they were traditionalists when it came to mortuary decor.]

Ever since the battle with the Guild mages, the dead here have been restless but of late, since the
Skolari set to work creating bloodless zombies, they have become more aggressive. The Skolari are well aware
of the increased undead activity and their original intention was to press some of their fallen kin into service.
However the undead on level 2 are difficult to control and rapidly lose their potency when removed from this level
– they tend to drift from ghostly to corporeal form at irregular intervals (see the description of Serverus from level
one for an example).
Characters that successfully explore 50% or more of level 2 and return to the surface or find sanctuary
below, should receive 200 ‘daring’ Adventure Points.

43
Cast of Characters
• Smudgebrow the Orc: The only thing he likes less than the undead is living delvers!
• Gorovan san Guldûr, undead ‘collector’: “It’s not easy being dead, that’s why I need your legs.”
• Omrond san Vormand, undead and loving it!
• Loritana the elf maid and member of Moritan’s Marauders: “Open the chest and give me all the treasure,
you know it makes sense. Don’t’ worry about the traps; you’ll be fine.”
• Halfgone the Troll: “Now you see me, now I punch you upside of the head.”
• Vulkar Hookclaw, half orc, half ogre, all nasty.
• Spittooth the Shaman: “Pull out his claws, peel off the skin, open his scalp, oh where to begin, so much
time and so little blood.”
• The Bone Horror: Takes six decaying corpses, pull them apart then stick them back together in the
shape of a six-headed skeletal scorpion. Lovely.
• The Tunnel Jelly. It creeps, it crawls, etc. etc.
• The Black-Ghost Knight: “None shall pass!”
• Lucas, yet another undead critter: “Oh, what a feeling, dancing on the ceiling!”
• Magratatta – Queen of the Spiders.

Room 1: The Stair Well

The spiral stair from room 13 above terminates here
at the ceiling (remember, the whole place is upside down).
The characters will need to drop 12 feet to the floor. Allow
each a L1-SR on DEX, STR or SPD (whichever is higher) to
make the jump successfully. If the roll is failed the character
takes the difference in hits or 1D6 hits if they rolled 3 and that
was the only number they could fail on. Either way, armor
does not absorb the damage.
The room is in darkness - all is quiet. If the PCs bring
light to the room they will see a grisly sight; the crumpled
body of a stout orc lies in a heap near the east door. His skull
is smashed in and his left arm has been torn off at the
shoulder.
This is why Naybol’s shift at his guard post was
running so far into over-time (see room 13, Level one for
details of Naybol).
The wounds are fresh and blood has pooled on the
ceiling; it continues to drip, upwards.
There are other signs of battle too, a broken
broadsword and dented helm. The dead orc has nothing of value except for a sturdy trident lying just a few feet
from the east door.

[Game Master’s Note: The orc didn’t use the trident to fight with (he was more of a sharp-blade type of
orc); instead he used it for reaching the door handles!]

Exits
1 An unlocked wooden door in the south wall.
1 The wooden door to south is locked and the orc and his kin liked it that way.

Room 2: East to West Corridor

This is a 130-foot long passageway dimly lit by 20-or-so tallow candles running the length of the north
wall. The candles are placed so that there is a pool of deep shadow between the light radii of each one.
Additionally, they are just sitting on the floor so don’t provide the best illumination. The candles are replaced
sporadically so are all at different stages of burning out and each candle is secured with a dab of wax to ensure
they don’t fall ‘up’. These orcs are no dummies!
An orc guard stands at point ‘A’, just before the archway to room 10, but the lighting is such that he
cannot see the party and they cannot see him - yet. The orc (Smudgebrow) looks like he’s just seen a ghost –
and he has; a semi-corporeal floater came drifting from room 1 and disappeared into room 8. Worse still, it was
carrying an orcish arm that looked mightily familiar to young Smudgebrow.

44
Smudgebrow the Orc
Like most of his kin, Smudgebrow is pale-skinned and broad-shouldered without a hair on his head. He
does however have a dark birthmark on his forehead, hence the name. Smudgie
is a bit of an old-school dungeon guard; he only knows a few words of the
common tongue and doesn’t like the way they fit in his mouth (“no speak you-
man”). Conversely, he really enjoys the way people that speak it do fit in his mouth
(after they’ve been properly diced).

STR: 36, CON: 24, DEX: 13, SPD: 16, INT: 8, WIZ: 17, LK: 15, CHR: 9, Combat
Adds: +32, AP: 68
Level: 3 Warrior (Total attack: 4+38, Total hits stopped: 22)
Talents: Drinking (28), Spotting Sneaky Delvers (12), Unarmed Combat (42)
Weapons: Trident 4+3, Dirk (2+1)
Armor: Worn cuirboilli armor (6* x 2), heater shield (5 x 2) daubed with a crude
ram’s head design
Treasure: Purse of 30 sp and an ivory ram’s head pendant on a chain around his neck. A large iron key which
opens the door to room 11 also hangs from the chain.

*A well-maintained suite of curiboille would have a rating of 7 but 2 orcs died in this armor before Smudgebrow
inherited it!

Unless given a compelling reason not to, Smudgebrow will make a run for the bridge to the east as soon
as he spots more than a single delver. This will be bad news for the delvers, as his orc kin will have plenty of time
to get ready for a ‘rumble in the dungeon’. Smudgie is also keen to let his clan know that the undead have
escaped from their confines and that it might be time to ask the Skolari for a pay raise!

Exits
1 At the eastern end of the corridor is an archway, which the PCs can step over without incident.
1 An unlocked wooden door in the west wall.
1 An unlocked wooden door in the south wall leading to room 3.
1 A locked wooden door in the south wall leading to room 5 (L2-SR-DEX to open).
1 An unlocked wooden door in the south wall leads to room 6 but does carry a trap – see the room description.
1 A locked solid iron door (L4-SR-DEX to open) in the south wall with a small grill at knee level that leads to
room 7.
1 A locked wooden door (L1-SR-DEX to open) in the south wall which opens on to room 9.

Room 3: The Curator’s Chamber

The door to this unlit room is similar to others on this level; it is not locked although few have cause to
enter.
In ages past, the Master of the Mausoleum took his rest here. To give the room some grandeur befitting
a Curator, the chamber was given a vaulted ceiling so the ‘floor’ actually slopes down into the ceiling that was, at
a 45-degree angle. From the characters viewpoint, the room is similar to the inside of a large boat.
The apex of the ceiling – now the floor of the room is 12-feet from the base of the door and filled with
cobwebbed debris; such as broken desks, upholstered chairs, a fine looking bed – now split in two, shelves, a
bookcase, a cluster of old tomes and various bits of stationery all in varying states of decay.
To anyone giving the room more than a cursory glance, the secret door on the north wall will be obvious.
During the Guild war, the marble tiles concealing the wooden door fell off. The door itself is 6-foot by 4 and will
represent a problem for most delvers to get to.

The secret door: The players need to work together to solve this Tomb Raider style movement puzzle.
• They will need to get down into the room (easy enough with rope), move across the debris (L1-SR-DEX
not to stumble – take the difference in hits on a failed roll – armor protects at half its normal value).
• Scale 14-feet of slippery marble. Climbing unaided is a L6-SR-DEX (these are heroes not Spidermen)
but incurs no penalty for failing. Every good idea they come up with should reduce the Saving Roll level
by 1 or they could come up with something completely ‘left field’ that is worth a totally different Saving
Roll. Maybe a leprechaun teleports in front of the door or a fairy flies up with a thread attached to a
length of rope?
• If the door can be reached, the opening mechanism must be found (L2-SR-INT or L3-SR-LK) or the door
smashed (it can take 30 hits before breaking and a delver will need to have sure footing to even attempt
this).
45
 • If the saving roll is failed or the door attacked in any way the trap will be triggered. A trap door opens in
the ceiling (previously the floor) and anyone directly below it will be sucked up into it as gravity does a
back flip. The pit is 10-feet deep but a L3-SR-DEX is allowed to avoid falling up into it, if the roll is failed,
take the difference in hits and possibly more when the victim climbs out and then falls again to the floor
below!
• Award 50 Adventure Points for getting through the secret door.

There are two potential treasure spots in the room – beyond the secret door of course but there are goodies
to be found in the debris too. If the characters intend to search through the rubble ask them how many turns they
will devote to this activity, each turn that passes, roll on the ‘wandering monster’ table.

Items in the rubble: Each turn allow all searchers one L1-SR-LK to find one of the following items.
1. A printed book in an odd language (The book is a series of once popular poetry translated
into the Skolari’s own obtuse language). The delvers may never have seen a typeset book
before…
2. A shiny blue-steel snuff box. The snuff has dried to a single, small lump but the box is made
of mythril and would fetch up to 200 gp (of course the delvers may not know what they’ve found).
3. A leather folder containing a dozen gold-nibbed pens (essentially a length of black wood with a nib on the
end for dipping in your ink pot). A scholar might pay 20 gp for the set.
4. A small clay pot with a cork lid containing a thick white cream-paste. There are 2 applications left in the
pot. The curator would use the cream to improve the appearance of a dead colleague before sealing the
body away. The magic that lingers in the vaults has worked a minor miracle on the cream, if applied to a
living face it will add 2 points of CHR permanently!
5. A slender dirk in a felt scabbard. The blade emits a dim blue glow, suitable to read by but no substitute
for a lantern.
6. The key to the strongbox in the secret room.

Exits
1 A once secret door, in the north wall.
1 A single unlocked wooden door, also in the north wall.

Room 4: A Secret Chamber

Once the characters have managed to get through the secret door in room 3 they find a reasonably large
chamber of bare but finished stone (almost 10-feet square). A number of items will, no doubt, peak the delver’s
interest.
• A locked iron strongbox (takes a combined STR of 55+ to remove from the secret room) which requires
the key (from the debris below) or a L5-SR-DEX to open. If anyone has a mind to break it open, it has a
CON of 350. The strongbox contains:
o 2 doses of healing potions in clear vials (each restores 10 CON points)
o A heavy purse of 150 gp
o A steel-headed mace with an ivory haft wrapped in black velvet. The mace-head is in the shape
of a skull (STR 17+, DEX 3+) its combat dice of 5+1 are doubled against undead enemies
(double the number rolled not the dice rolled). It looks as though the sockets of the skull once
held gems but they have been removed. This unique weapon is Zurrahban dûr Zurrahban which,
roughly translated from the dwarfen means: Death of Death.
o A tightly rolled snakeskin belt with a large silver snakehead buckle. Some players might think this
is some kind of cursed item but in fact, it’s just a cool belt (unless the GM wants to make it
something else)!
• A tailor’s dummy on which rests a full suit of soft black leather armor. Its seams are worked with the
same silver thread that appears on the velvet drapes and is a masterpiece of beauty and functionality. It
still only takes 5 hits but does have a unique quality useful in the Vaults. The armor has become imbued
with some of the castle’s magic – the wearer will not be affected by any trap doors in the complex, gravity
will behave itself!
• A rolled-up canvas resting against the east wall. Unfurled, the canvas is 6-feet wide and – 3 high. It
depicts a forbidding fortress dominating a dark lake, cast against an ominous cloud-filled sky. The
original Skolari Vaults! The painting is signed by the original artist, Leonard Da Vancy – popular some
500 years ago.

Exits
1 Only the secret door in the south through which the characters entered.

46
Room 5: Storage
The door is locked (L2-SR-DEX to open). The room beyond is lined with sturdy shelves and the floor is
littered with broken ceramic jars, jugs and other assorted containers. If the GM is feeling generous he can hide a
healing potion amidst the debris (if so it restores 10 CON points). This room might also serve as a secure hiding
spot for harried delvers.

Exits
1 The single wooden door in the north wall.

Room 6: The Trapped Storeroom

From the outside the door and room seem identical to room 5 (except the door is not locked) however, if
a non-Skolari should enter this chamber the door will quickly swing shut (L2-SR-SPD to leap out). There will be a
bright flash of light, a great ringing of distant bells (which will alert the orcs from room 14) and anyone left in this
chamber will be teleported to room 7. Any possessions (and clothing) will be left behind in this room.
At least 4 orcs should come to investigate.
Equipment can be recovered with a staff or trident without setting the trap off again.

Exits
1 The single wooden door in the north wall.

Room 7: The Security Cell

The door to this room is solid iron with a small grill (no more than 6 inches large). A metal bed is secured
to the ceiling but the room is otherwise bare. The door will require a L4-SR-DEX to open with lock picks or 3
consecutive L3-SR-STR to dislodge from its stone frame. If any of the STR saving rolls are failed, the
character(s) must start again from scratch and take the difference in hits – armor will not protect the wearer from
this damage.

Exits
1 The single iron door in the north wall.

Room 8: The Mason’s Chamber

The many sarcophagi arranged throughout this level were put together and decorated here. This
spacious room is littered with collapsed shelving, cracked and broken slabs of gray stone, marble tiles, and row
upon row of stone working tools (some of which could be used as weapons and would have most dwarves
salivating; anyone who ends up in room 33 might wish they had some of these).

[Background Note: The master craftsman charged with personalizing the Skolari’s sarcophagi didn’t
fancy having his extremely heavy works of art carried through
winding tunnels so he constructed a secret door leading directly
into one of the tombs. Not even his Skolari masters knew of this
door and the undead have only recently discovered it
themselves! The door is currently open.]

Gorovan san Guldûr, the first of the undead to ‘awake’ is

also the most adventurous of his kind. He found the secret door
and killed the orc guarding room 1. He stands proud in this room
admiring his ‘new’ limb. Gorovan has removed his withered old
arm and attached the orc’s severed limb. Magically (of course), it
works perfectly!
Gorovan is a skeletal figure, seemingly held together by
paper-thin sheets of skin stretched tightly over ancient bones. All
that remains of his clothing is a ragged gray robe and a wide,
black leather belt. He has long wisps of white hair that dance in
an unfelt breeze. His sockets hold only glowing points of red light
and he speaks in a hissing voice that would put Darth Vader to
shame.
“Look at my new arm. Does it suit me?”
“Oh, I do like the color of your eyes. Do you think they
would suit me?”

47
Gorovan san Guldûr (adventuring undead thingie)
MR: 104
Combat: 11+52
AP Award: 150
Special Damage: 1/armour damage
Special Abilities: Each point of spite damage not only deals ‘spite’ it also destroys one point of armor or shield
protection. The delvers can allocate armor to be damaged with the same freedom in which they allocate normal
hits. Gorovan’s remaining skeletal arm has monstrous
talons – it’s with these that he literally flays the armor from
his foes.
Gorovan is now a fully corporeal undead being, he can
open doors and hit people! He cannot pass through walls
or teleport or any other ghost-type activities. Having seen
orcs fully clothed in flesh, he is keen to change his look.
As he was once human he would prefer human male body
parts but will settle for anything fleshy. If at any time
Gorovan should roll 6 sixes, he rips off a limb from a
random delver and quickly swaps it with one of his own. If
he rolls 8 sixes, one of the characters literally loses their
head!
Even if Gorovan is defeated, a lost limb cannot be re-attached without powerful magical aid. Delvers who
lose a limb reduce their STR and DEX by 25% (round down). Ouch!
Roll one die to determine which limb has been appropriated by the thieving ghost!

1. Right arm
2. Left arm
3. Left arm
4. Right leg
5. Left leg
6. Left leg

A decapitated character is obviously dead and a brief ceremony should be held to mark the passing followed
by a frantic division of that character’s share of the treasure.

Treasure: Gorovan wears a broad black leather belt, attached to the rear of the belt are 3 brass capped
cylinders. Each contains a magic spell scroll (in life Gorvan was a Wizard, but death has robbed him of his spell-
casting abilities). The 3 spells are:
• A 2nd level Take That You Fiend (reader’s INT x 2 in hits)
• Upsidaisy (duration 20 minutes)
• Hidey Hole (duration 5 combat turns)

The user need only be able to read common tongue to activate the spell on the scroll. No WIZ is lost in the
activation but the scroll is destroyed after use and it is not possible for a Wizard or Rogue to learn the spells
simply by reading the scrolls.
Once defeated, Gorovan’s body collapses in a heap but his skull, complete with glowing sockets, remains
hovering at head height. For the rest of the time the delvers remain on level 2 the floating skull will follow them
around, sometimes at a distance and out of sight, sometimes right in the thick of things.
He’ll throw in comments such as “That looks like a jolly fine torso, if no one else is going to have it…” Or “I’ve
got dibs on the scalp, look at those golden locks!” And so on.
Any attempt to hit the floating skull automatically fail (he’s quick) but magic (such as a TTYF) will damage
him. His skull will be destroyed after it takes 100 hits. After that the glowing eyes will follow the PCs around and
they’ll still hear him carrying on about body parts!
A truly evil GM can have Gorovan appear in later adventures too. He’ll be happy to see his old ‘friends’ since
he knows dead bodies are their stock in trade! If encountered at a later date beyond the confines of the Vaults,
he may have acquired new bits and pieces…

Exits
1 An unlocked wooden door in the north wall.
1 An open ‘secret’ door in the south wall.

48
Room 9: The Preparation Chamber
The door to this room is locked (L1-SR-DEX to open). This room has seen some recent use by the
Skolari, they set up a small lab here to experiment with the risen dead but abandoned the plan when the undead
proved too ‘headstrong’.
In the south east corner of the room stands an 8-foot tall iron sarcophagus – It has the rough shape of a
human (a little like an Iron Maiden torture device) and is engraved with an image of a noble male in repose.
Three huge marble tables are laid out end to end and piled high with glass jars, phials, pestle & mortar
(large and small), tin dishes full of odd colored powders, dozens of corked stoneware bottles and numerous
measuring implements. Characters with any sort of alchemy or medical talents will recognize some but not all of
the ingredients.

The Work Benches: A suitably Talented character could make 6 healing potions with the equipment and
ingredients here (restores CON equal to the maker’s INT) but the work would take one hour per potion and
require a L2-SR on the appropriate Talent. A failed roll indicates that the ingredients were spoiled.
Characters lacking the appropriate skills will not be able to do anything with the equipment or ingredients
here.

The ‘Mummy’ Case: The sarcophagus is not locked but is heavy (STR 6+ to open), inside lies a tall
skeletal figure wrapped in a black shroud. As soon as the lid is opened he will step out and declare:
“How many times must I tell you, your pills and potions will not work? Oh! You’re not my kin are you? In
that case, I feel an urge to rend your flesh from your very bones. Does that work for you?”
“I’m sure it would be a pleasure for you to be shredded to discrete pieces by one so beautiful as I?”

Omrond san Vormand

MR: 160
Combat: 17+80
AP Award: 160
Special Damage: None
Special Abilities: None

He is an undead critter with an MR of 160 (17 dice + 80

adds) but no other special powers. Omrond was never happy in
life but is having a blast as a member of the walking dead. No
morals, ethics or soul; just fun, fun, fun. He recently attacked and
decimated a group of delvers (Moritan’s Mauraders, see below)
and was just taking a contemplative ‘power’ nap to build up his
unholy energy. He is definitely a monster from the “this glass is
half full” school of terror; he relishes the increased strength and
total lack of pain afforded by his new existence.
As you can see, Omrond is pretty tough for neophyte
heroes to take on but he does have an Achilles Heel. Omrond
believes himself to be an extremely handsome individual so
there are 2 ways to play to his ego. Firstly, show him his
reflection after first engaging in a little banter about his total
LACK of conventional beauty. Secondly pander to his inflated ego and maneuver him into a position where he
can be ambushed. Omrond will be hard pressed to kill anyone who is showering him with flattery!

Exits
1 A single wooden door in the north wall.

Room 10: Rubble

A broad archway leads in from the west and out to the south passageway. 2 piles of debris (large pieces
on the floor, small bits on the ceiling) are the only feature of this area. Initially the rubble appears to be random
bits of stone flotsam and chunks of plaster. Closer inspection reveals that this was once a large statue.
The head is the only distinguishable piece and depicts a stern faced male with a long goatee and a large
turban; sitting atop the turban is a jawless humanoid skull. This is a representation of a Skolari.

Exits
1 An archway in the west wall leads to a long east-west passage.
1 An archway in the south wall leads to a shorter north-south passage.

49
Room 11: Orcish Holding Pen
The door to this room is locked (L2-SR-DEX to pick the lock from the outside, L5 from within) –
Smudgebrow holds the key.
The orcs from room 14 recently had a run-in with a small but vicious group of delvers (Moritan’s
Marauders). The Marauders entered through the Secret Path (room 16) and tried to sneak through the orc camp;
they almost succeeded but a scuffle broke out that led to the capture of one of their number - Loritana.
The room is bare except for a tin plate holding a single candle (which burned down to a puddle of tallow
several hours ago) and Loritana of Gull, a badly beaten elven maid. She’s huddled opposite the door, her hands
and feet in shackles. The orcs are so excited at capturing an elf they
have to have a long hard think about all the terrible plans they have
for her!

Loritana of Gull, female elf

STR: 13, CON: 2/11*, DEX: 12, SPD: 14, INT: 28, WIZ: 32, LK: 19,
CHR: 30, Combat Adds: +10, AP: 52
Level: 3 Wizard (Total attack: 1+10)
Talents: Alchemy (34), Woods Lore (32), Ancient Legends (35)
Spells: Level 1 – all
Level 2 – Cateyes (6), Dura-Spell Battery (var.), Glue You (8)
Level 3 – Dis-Spell (11)
Weapons: None
Armor: None, Loritana is clad only in a flowing silk gown, which is rather revealing
Treasure: None (Loritana’s equipment is stored in room 14)
Notes: Loritana’s current CON is only 2 (thanks to a severe beating at orcish hands)

Obviously Loritana would be a valuable ally to any band of adventurers but like the rest of Moritan’s
Marauders, she takes a rather dim view of ethics, morals and team spirit. She will be very glad to be rescued,
insist on being fully healed then reunited with her equipment (and only then worry about the fate of the
Marauders).
She will gladly put others in ‘harm’s way’ to save herself, take advantage of her stunning good looks and
always be ready to take a full share of any treasure.
If questioned about Eidolon (from level 1), a successful L5-SR on her Ancient Legends talent will reveal
his last name (Neidersnatcher), she will also know of his true form and what happens if anyone says his name.
Of course she won’t reveal this information but will want payment for supplying the missing name! Spurlock also
knows Muldercutch’s last name but doesn’t yet realize it (Spurlock, the hobb thief is currently wandering about on
level 3).

What Loritana Knows

“We learned of this place through my studies at the Imperial Library.”

“We fought our way in through the orc encampment but they were ready for
us. I allowed myself to be captured so that the others could escape deeper into the
complex.” (A complete lie of course)!
“The Marauders? Well, I am the true leader although I allow that hideous
dwarf Moritan to act as figurehead. She has little insight but she is an adequate
workhorse. The others? They are Spulock, a hobb thief. I tolerate his pathetic humor
only because his fingers are nimble. Varrick, a human from the southern plains.
Vorduk, a rogue with designs on my magic and Azel Stoneclaw – he’s a gargoyle but
we don’t ask too much of him.”
“Why did we come here? Treasure of course, not to mention the magical
knowledge.”
“This is the home of the Skolari, an ancient order of mages so powerful that the Wizard’s Guild had to
shut them down. The sum of their wealth and knowledge is held in these vaults!”
“You must understand that the Marauders have first claim to any magic or gold recovered. We were here
first and we are the more powerful group.”
“Yes, you can come with me. First we must reclaim my belongings!”

Exits
1 Just the door by which the characters entered – in the east wall.

50
Room 12: The Short Passage
A series of thick candles on the floor supply the kind of dim and eerie light favored by the orcs. A breach
in the wall leads to room 13 although there is no evidence of excavation – it must have been created a long time
ago. The corridor comes to an abrupt end to the south and it is clear that the wall is a recent addition. It is made
of heavy stones (some covered with moss) and thick mortar.

Exits
1 An archway to the north.
1 A locked door in the west wall (L2-SR-DEX to open) leading to room 11.
1 A recently cut opening in the east wall (room 13).

Room 13: The Orc Road

The Skolari have recently hired a band of orc outlaws to do their dirty work. The main orc camp is in
room 14 but they use this passageway to move to and from the dungeon. They are not comfortable with undead
critters but the pay is good so they always retreat to this area, which is beyond the walls of the original castle.
Delvers will not notice it but the magical gravity of the Vaults holds no sway here and beyond. Anyone
falling off the bridge will fall down!

Exits
1 The passage runs east to west terminating in the west-end bridge.

Room 14: The Orc Outlaw Band

Beyond the bridge, the passage opens out into a vast chamber carved by the Skolari to supplement their
floor space. The room is divided into several pools of light provided by large glass and bronze oil lamps. Various
groups of orcs are gathered near the light, relaxing, talking, sleeping, eating etc. Each of the groups uses animal
hides for beds and cut logs for stools.
This is the home of a band of orcs calling themselves the Blood Rams. Their shields all bear the image of
a severed ram’s head.
Originally the band numbered 30 able bodied warriors but has lost troops to occasional encounters with
the undead and most recently a pitched battle with Moritan’s Marauders. There are now only 14 Blood Rams to
do the Skolari’s bidding.
The leader of the orcs is Vulkar Hookclaw, a massive half-ogre, his right hand orc is Smudgebrow (who
the PCs may have already met and killed or he could have returned to the camp to warn of the delver’s
approach). Spittooth is the clan shaman and there are 11 other orcs of varying ability.

Vulkar Hookclaw, half orc, half ogre, all nasty

Vulkar is the undisputed leader of the Blood Rams. He is a brutal but
cunning leader – charged with the protection of the Vaults. He is keenly
interested in elves and will hope to capture any in the character’s party.
STR: 51, CON: 30, DEX: 10, SPD: 13, INT: 12, WIZ: 16, LK: 14, CHR: 15,
Combat Adds: +42, AP: 93
Level: 5 Warrior (Total attack: 4+51, Total hits stopped: 30)
Talents: Leadership (21), Intimidation (52), Ivory carving (12), Wrestling (54) &
Hunting (15)
Weapons: Orcish scimitar 4+4, Boar spear 4+2, Crossbow 5+0 (Range: 100,
12 bolts)
Armor: Chain mail (12 x 2), buckler (3 x 2)
Treasure: Ram’s head pendant, Buckskin Boots (these magical boots were
made from the hide of an enchanted buck, add 2 to the wearer’s SPD when
worn), assorted gold and silver jewellery amounting to 120 gp.

Smudgebrow
(See room description 2 for further details)
STR: 36, CON: 24, DEX: 13, SPD: 16, INT: 8, WIZ: 17, LK: 15, CHR: 9, Combat Adds: +32, AP: 68
Level: 3 Warrior (Total attack: 4+38, Total hits stopped: 22)
Talents: Drinking (28), Spotting Sneaky Delvers (12), Unarmed Combat (42)
Weapons: Trident 4+3, Dirk (2+1)
Armor: Worn cuirboilli armor (6* x 2), heater shield (5 x 2) daubed with a crude ram’s head design
Treasure: Purse of 30 sp and an ivory ram’s head pendant on a chain around his neck. A large iron key, which
opens the door to room 11, also hangs from the chain.

51
Spittooth the Shaman
A tall and thin white-haired orc covered from head to toe in gory and arcane tattoos. He talks in a high-
pitched rasping voice and mumbles continually about the ways prisoners can be tortured and killed (“Pull out his
claws, peel off the skin, open his scalp, oh where to begin, so much time and so little blood”). He’s quite mad of
course!
STR: 13, CON: 17, DEX: 22, SPD: 13, INT: 14, WIZ: 18, LK: 10, CHR: 13, Combat Adds: +12, AP: 44
Level: 2 Rogue/Shaman (Total attack: 3+17, Total hits stopped: 7)
Talents: Roguery (26), Spirit Lore (20)
Spells: Call Flame (7), Detect Magic (1), Sparkle (1), Hidey Hole (10), Spirit Mastery (8)
Weapons: Terbutje 3+5, Misericorde 2+1 (Range: 10) 13 WIZ stored
Armor: Cuirboilli armor (7)
Treasure: Spittooth’s misericorde was lifted from the body of a mage he killed early in his murderous career. It
acts as a Kremm battery, which can store up to the owner’s CHR in points. Once the stored points have been
used, the knife begins to replenish its stores by leaching points from the owner at the rate of 1 WIZ per 20
minutes, until the limit is reached.

The Blood Rams

Of the 11 remaining Warriors, 4 are elite ‘Blood Fists’ whilst 7 are ‘normal’ orcs (if there is such a thing).

(4) Blood Fists

MR: 45
Combat: 5+23
Special: Scraps of armor provide 4 hits worth of protection each turn.

(7) Orc Warriors

MR: 30
Combat: 4+15
Special: None

Orcish Tactics: Assuming the delvers rather foolishly mount a frontal attack (rather than drawing out the
orcs a few at a time or trying some other cunning scheme), Spittooth will take 4 warrior orcs into the shadows
and prepare his Hidey Hole spell. If the fight goes badly for the
orcs he will cast the spell and move in for the kill.
If things go really badly, Vulkar and Spittooth will
cross the bridge into the Vaults and set fire to it (using Call
Flame). They will then exit via the ‘Back Door’ on level one
and return via the Secret Path. The round trip will take about 5
hours so they are unlikely to catch the PCs in an ambush but
once returned, they will be keen to track down and kill the
characters.
If the alarm is sounds (thanks to a delver setting off
the trap in room 6) Vulkar will send one Blood Fist and 3 orc
warriors to investigate (the PCs could acquire ram’s head
pendants this way).

Treasure
The orcs pile all their loot against the east wall next to the
Secret Path. Here can be found Loritana’s equipment:
• A wizards staff
• A delicate chain jerkin (7 hits)
• A Spell Fire ring (a gold ring set with a ruby which reduces
the cost of casting the Take That You Fiend spell by one
point)
• A backpack (containing, a lantern, oil flask, 2 days rations,
a coil of rope – 20 feet, 3 iron pitons, a few sheafs of blank
paper and some charcoal sticks)
• A doeskin purse holding 50 gold coins
• A pair of green leather boots

52
 The orcs’ own hoard is more basic:
• A few lengths of painted and badly carved wooden totems (Spittooth’s pride and joy)
• A large sack of coins (3d6 x 20 gold, 2d6 x 50 silver and 2d6 x 20 copper)
• Several tridents, spears and orcish scimitars
• A full suit of chain mail armor
• 4 stoneware bottles contain 4 healing potions (restore 12 CON points)
• 3 spare lanterns
• 12 pots of oil
• Half a pig carcass (they do their cooking in the forest)
• A keg of reasonable ale
• Assorted knives and wooden plates

Exits
1 An opening in the west wall leads to a rope bridge (15).
1 A rough tunnel in the north-east wall leads to the outside world.

Room 15: Trollbridge

A sturdy rope bridge stretches across a deep, dark chasm. A warm breeze rises from below causing the
bridge to sway slightly. Anyone falling or jumping from the bridge will be splattered to a paste at the bottom of this
very long fall.
As soon as anyone or any thing steps on the bridge, which does not possess one of the orc’s amulets
(an ivory ram’s head piece – see the description of Smudgebrow in room 2) will cause Halfgone the Troll to
appear at point ‘A’.
Halfgone is about 9 feet tall and 5 feet wide.
He is a traditionalist and looks like he was carved out
of a chunk of granite by a drunken artisan. He has a
huge beak-like nose, deep set black eyes and moss
for hair. His compromise with the civilized world is a
badly cured sheepskin loincloth.
Halfgone made a pact with the orc shaman
many years ago and is now magically linked to their
tribal symbol. He can detect the presence or absence
of such an icon on anyone approaching the bridge.
Whilst keeping completely still (something that
Halfgone is really good at), he becomes invisible.
Halfgone is not sure why he has the ability or how he
came by it but it did at least, provide him with a name!

Halfgone The Troll

MR: 110
Combat: 12+55
Special Damage: None
Special Abilities: Halfgone’s thick hide absorbs the
first 6 hits per combat turn. When not in combat, he
recovers 5 MR points per 10 minutes rest.

Halfgone is very, very slow so delvers (with

smart players) can use DEX and SPD saving rolls to
good effect when coming up with combat tactics. It
won’t be possible to knock Halfgone off the bridge but
if someone were to set the rope bridge swinging…
The troll moves slow and thinks slow but he won’t take orders from anyone but Spittooth the orc shaman.
Nor will he reveal any information about the orcs or the Vaults.

Exits
1 The delvers may head back across the bridge to the west (room 13).
1 Or enter the orc’s camp to the east (room 14).

53
Room 16: The Secret Path
The orcs refer to this unlit passage as the Secret Path; a long roughly hewn tunnel that comes up under
an old lightning split tree in the forest several hundred yards away.

Exits
1 If the delvers follow the tunnel to the east the will eventually emerge in the burned out trunk of a large oak
tree.

Room 17: The Gray Crypt

The room is unlit and completely tiled in a deep gray slate, the skull motif from the perimeter corridor
continues but the skulls have been painted with black enamel. The door in the south wall is oak, bound with black
iron.
On the ‘ceiling’ are six stone sarcophagi. Three of them abut the east wall and three against the west.
One of the lids is lying on the floor, broken in two and the slate lined coffin is empty (this was the home of
Gorovan until he got itchy feet or at least itchy for a new pair of feet).
Once one or more delvers enter this room, an incessant tapping begins from the sarcophagi closest the
north wall. As a character draws near he can hear a muffled voice.
“Hello, anyone there? I know you’re there. Let me out. I’ve been laying here for simply an age; I need to
stretch my old bones.”
The voice belongs to Crotchet san Firdan, a dithering old spirit clinging to its skeletal frame. Crotchet will
try everything to get the PCs to let him out; chances are they won’t trust him (yet) and they’ll leave him be.
If they do release him (which requires a L2-SR-STR to break the mortar seal on the stone lid) they will
find him quite harmless and pliant. He’s glad to be out of his box and will be keen to find out what he’s missed in
the last few centuries. Crotchet is harmless and cannot fight for or against the PCs so no MR is required. He will
wander around for a while and perhaps follow the delvers if they’re doing ‘interesting’ things. When the delvers
enter room 27 they might find a use for ol’ Crotchet.

Exits
1 The door in the south wall is unlocked it is made of black-stained oak, bound with iron straps.
1 The secret door in the north wall is currently open, if closed it would require a L2-SR-LK or INT to locate by
anyone who didn’t know of its existence.

Room 18: The Red Crypt

The room to this door is not locked. An imposing room similar to 17, with 6 sarcophagi sitting on the
ceiling. The marble tiling throughout this room have a deep blood red color; the skulls set into the wall have been
painted red. The sarcophagi are of a dark rose colored stone and one of them (near the north wall) is engraved
with the image of an armor-clad warrior replete with huge sword.
All of the sarcophagi contain the moldering remains of long past Skolari but the ‘warrior sarcophagus’
also contains a fine magic sword! Opening the lid requires a L3-SR-STR or L2-SR-STR if more than 3 characters
assist. Once open, the body and sword drop to the floor.

Treasure: The Ruby Blade

A great sword (six feet long) requiring STR: 21+ and DEX: 18+ to wield (reduce combat total by the
difference if the user is lacking in the appropriate attribute levels). This 6-die weapon has a dark red wooden
handle wrapped with red silk, a thumb-sized ruby is set between the crossbars of the hilt and the blade has a
strange red tinge to it.
The magic of the sword is two-fold; firstly, if the user has the necessary attribute to use the weapon, the
personal adds derived from STR are doubled; secondly the Ruby Blade is one of two conditions required to open
the door that leads to level 3 (see rooms 22 and 27).
Note that if the person using the sword does not already have the required attributes, no special benefits
are conferred.

Exits
1 The only exit is an unlocked wooden door in the south wall.

54
Room 19: The White Crypt of the Bone Horror!
The door to this room is unlocked and similar to rooms 17 and 18 but decorated in bright, sterile white
marble. All 6 of the white marble crypts have been opened – their lids lie shattered across the floor. The musty
skeletons, which were once secured in this crypt, are now piled in a single heap against the north wall.
It’s a huge pile of bones and rags that seems somehow more than 6 ancient corpses. As the characters
approach the heap of bones begins to twist and writhe, and slowly a distinct unearthly shape forms. It rises to a
broad 8-foot tall creature comprised of six skeletal bodies. Ribcages form the central column of the body, which
terminates in a clutch of arms and hands – a little like a giant undead scorpion. It has six legs and six snapping
skull-heads quivering on the end of long and yellowed spines.

The Bone Horror

MR: 144
Combat: 15+72
AP Award: 250
STR: 51
WIZ: 16
Special Damage: 1/2 (two points of spite damage per ‘6’ rolled)
Special Abilities: Tracking talent (15)

Notes: As the creature is wounded, parts of its body will be shorn

away or knocked off; in effect, the creature gets ‘smaller’. When (or if) it is
reduced to an MR of 72, the bits and pieces that have been ‘knocked off’
will begin to reform (out of sight) and 2 turns later it will return – a second
creature with an MR of 72, effectively restoring its Monster Rating to its
original level!
Once awakened the Bone Horror will track the delvers until either it, or they are dismembered! It will use
its phenomenal Strength to smash through doors and sometimes walls to get to its quarry. Despite its many legs,
the beast only moves at half the speed of the delvers.

[Designer’s Notes: In the original play test, the cunning delvers lured the hideous Bone Horror to the
bridge (room 15) and engineered its collapse before the beast could ‘split’ into two.]

Exits
1 A single unlocked wooden door in the south wall.

Room 20: Store Room

The door is slightly ajar and there are a few splashes of fresh blood on the tiles approaching the room.
Within, the PCs will find a dusty cobwebbed storeroom filled with useless debris from centuries past.
The blood belonged to Mollie Moritan a grim faced and full-bearded female dwarf. She was, of course,
the true leader of Moritan’s Marauders. After a deadly encounter with one of the undead Skolari, Mollie managed
to crawl to relative safety here. Alas she died from her wounds. If the PCs seek to give Mollie a hero’s burial (she
is a fellow delver after all) give each of the 150 APs. If (more likely) they loot the corpse, give them no award)!

Mollie Moritan’s Possessions

• A full suit of mail armor (dwarf size of course), it is enchanted to weigh half (180) as much as a normal
suit
• Mollie’s helm is a thing of beauty, fashioned of steel and worked with gold filigree and tiny emeralds. The
face plate is crafted in the image of a beautiful human maiden and is hinged to form a moveable ‘visor’
the maidens ‘eyes’ are thin slivers of amber that allow the wearer to see foes under the effect of a Hidey
Hole spell.
• A heavy satchel holding 130 gp
• A steel bottle containing a Booster potion that doubles the drinker’s STR for 25 turns and then halves the
STR score for a further 25 rounds (it’s worth over 7,000 gp)
• 2 doses of Trust Your Feelings Tea (see page 19 of the Tunnels & Trolls Monsters & Magic Book), the
bottle is labeled as such. The tea is best enjoyed in hot water.
• Fool’s Gloves: A pair of fine leather gloves which shrink or expand to fit any wearer. The wearer’s DEX
increases by 2 points when but INT drops by 2 points!

Exits
1 Only the door in the west wall by which the characters entered.

55
Room 21: Another Short Passage
The north wall of this short passage has recently been bricked up by unskilled orcish hands (see the
description of room 12 for further details).
This passageway is inhabited by an odd entity from the dawn of dungeon adventures: the Tunnel Jelly
(also know to more enlightened scholars as the Gelatinous Cube). This specimen is a near-transparent blob of
ectoplasm formed by the concentrated ghostly activity. It is easily identified by its shimmering blob-like surface
and various bits of debris floating in its jelly interior.
Each turn it advances towards the party and
shoots out a single ectoplasmic tentacle at one random
delver. The targeted character must make a L2-SR-SPD
to avoid being hit. If hit, the character is immediately
sucked inside the jelly and begins to suffocate, taking
one hit per combat turn until dead (-10 CON).
If the characters are unable to destroy the jelly
they will be forced to retreat to the direction from which
they entered the corridor.

Tunnel Jelly
MR: 200
Combat: 0+0
AP Award: 200
Special Damage: None

Notes: This creature is effectively a form of

undead entity – it cannot be harmed by edged weapons
(including arrows and spears) although bludgeoning
weapons (and sling stones) inflict half damage (halve
the number rolled on the dice before adding personal
and weapon adds). Magical attacks score full damage
against the jelly.

[Game Master’s Note: the Jelly rolls no dice in combat but don’t let the characters know that! Roll 10-12
dice each turn, suck air in over clenched teeth, shake your head and grimace… You know the deal! After the first
turn, let the players know that their edged attacks had no effect but blunt weapons caused the thing to shrink
away. The jelly does not leave this corridor but if the characters exit before the thing is ‘dead’ it regenerates at 5
MR points per 10 minutes.]

Exits
1 The door to the south is of heavy steel but unlocked. It is perfectly balanced via a single central column so
pushing on the left hand side of the door causes it to slowly swing in that direction allowing a person to pass
through.
1 Both doors to the east are common for this level. The door to room 28 is unlocked whilst the door to room
number 31 is locked.

Room 22: The Corner Room

The door in the west wall is identical to the one leading to room 21 and opens easily. There are two other
doors in this room (they bar the way to the stairs to level 3), which seem similar to the ‘swivel’ doors leading from
the room. However they hold fast and will not budge no matter what the PCs do. These doors may only be
opened by the mechanism in room 27. They are completely impervious to all harm in a fashion not dissimilar to a
Wizard’s Deluxe Staff.
However, once opened, they reveal a spiral stone staircase leading down to level 3.

Exits
All of the doors in this area are rather unusual by normal ‘dungeon’ standards. They are sold metal and hung
on a central shaft that allows the doors to ‘flip’ or swivel left or right.
1 The doors concealing the spiral staircase leading downwards are held tight and will not open without
certain conditions being met (see room 27).
1 The iron doors in the north and west walls open easily.

56
Room 23: A Long Dark Passage
A chill wind seems to blow from this passage towards room 22 and room 23. The corridor is unlit and any
naked flames will be extinguished (lanterns will survive however) as soon as the delvers have moved 20-feet
from rooms 23 or 24 toward point ‘A’. When the characters are 10-feet away from point ‘A’, a terrible spectre
materializes.
The ghost is 10 feet tall and his mist-like garments billow in the chill wind to fill the width of the corridor.
Beneath his translucent shroud can be seen a tracery of ancient armor.
“None shall pass.” He announces in a voice sounding a little less pleasant that a six-inch nail on a
blackboard.

The Ghost Knight

MR: 300
Combat: 31+150
AP Award: 300

The Ghost Knight will not move or engage the delvers (yet). Despite appearing
insubstantial he is solid enough to stop the delvers continuing down the passage. Only
magic weapons and spells can harm the ghost. If he suffers 50 points of magical
damage, he will return the complement and attack but will not move from point ‘A’. Other
phrases he might utter during the encounter include:

“It’s only a flesh wound.”

“I’ve had worse.”
“Do your worst!”
“In life I was more of a ‘Black’ Knight.”
“Come on, I’ll have your knee caps.” And so on.

At this point the players might find themselves engaged in extended monologues from their favorite
Monty Python movie. If so award their delvers with 50 APs! A little bit of ‘Monty’ never hurt anyone!

Note that since the ghost does not move, delvers will half a brain will stand back and lob spells until it is
banished (or go the long way around)!

Exits
1 The passage terminates in an iron ‘swivel’ door to the east…
1 … and an archway to the west.

Room 24: The South West Corner

The entrances to this room are tall arches so the characters are able to pass through easily. A few spots
of fresh (still sticky but not ‘wet’) blood can be seen in the north archway. Closer examination reveals a small
bloody hand print at waist height on the arches cornice stones.
Just beyond the north archway, almost in room 25, lies a sheaf of 24 arrows suitable for a heavy
longbow.

Exits
1 An archway leads to the north.
1 An archway leads to the east.

Room 25: Lucas’ Way

A trail of sticky blood spots runs the length of this dark corridor (it leads to room 20). Characters entering
the corridor from either the north or south are allowed a L3-SR-INT to spot Lucas, one of the Skolari’s retainers
who was buried with his masters many years ago. He is entirely in the grip of the castle’s weird magic and is
standing on the ceiling (what used to pass for the floor before the ‘inversion’). In all ways Lucas acts as if the
Vaults had never been inverted.
If he goes undetected, he will attack the characters as they pass beneath him. Single out one character
to suffer a barrage of 3 dice of hits (armor protects normally but Warriors do not get their ‘doubling’ effect as the
attack is by surprise).

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Lucas
MR: 60
Combat: 7+30
AP Award: 85
Special: At the beginning of each combat
turn, all characters (excluding Lucas) must
attempt a L1-SR-DEX, anyone failing the roll
may not apply their combat total for that
particular round (Lucas is out of reach).

Lucas is a skeleton held together by

sinewy strands of his old livery and pure
hate. He loathed his Skolari masters and
was buried alive with them. He is quite mad
and unable to communicate in any
meaningful way. Although venting his anger
in combat gives him a nice warm glow.

Exits
1 An archway leads to room 24 at the south end of the passageway.
1 The door in the east wall leading to room 29 is locked.
1 The door in the east wall leading to room 26 is unlocked.
1 The door in the east wall leading to room 25 is slightly ajar.
1 The door in the north wall is initially locked and leads to room 1.

Room 26: The Crypt of Ice

The doors to this room are unlocked and as soon as either of them are opened a wall of frigid air sweeps
out into the corridor.
One terrible winter, long years before even the Guild War, a party of four mages died from exposure in
the woods near the castle. The bodies were interred here and forever carry some of that deadly winter with them.
A drift of snow covers the ceiling (it’s too light to fall to the floor) and thick icicles reach up from the floor
like stalagmites. The sarcophagi, of which there are six, planted firmly on the ceiling, are wreathed in thick veils
of ice.
The ice can be melted with application of heat but will return within the space of a few hours. If the pale
gray stone sarcophagi are then opened (requiring a L3-SR-STR), six well-preserved bodies will be uncovered,
and fall to the ground. Four are middle aged men, a fifth is a matronly woman and finally a young and beautiful
elven female (Loritana will think that she’s quite ugly) all are dressed in expensive funereal gowns.
The youngest woman clutches a delicate white staff in her cold dead hands. It is only a Staff Ordinaire but
looks cool (pun intended). The older, matronly woman was laid to rest with an ancient leather book. Much of the
hand-scrawled text is of a dead and indecipherable language but enough has been translated into common and
these pages represent 3 spell scrolls that could be removed and used.

1. Call Water (page 90)

2. Freeze Please (page 102)
3. Protective Pentagram (page 105)

A Wizard may learn the spell by expending the scroll whilst Rogues may only cast the spell which in turn,
destroys the scroll.
Of the men, only one has an item of interest. It is a bronze bracer that fits snugly on a lower arm. There is a
delicate engraving of a man’s face hidden in a storm cloud, the man’s cheeks are puffed out and his lips are
pursed as if blowing. The wearer doubles his or her combat adds when fighting unarmed and reduces the Saving
Roll level of any feat of Strength by one. This is the Bracer of the Pugilist!

Exits
1 An unlocked wooden door in the north wall.
1 An unlocked wooden door in the east wall.
1 An unlocked wooden door in the west wall.

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Room 27: The Key Chamber
The doors to the east and west are locked (L2-SR-DEX to open). If the attempt to pick the lock fails, a
trap is triggered firing a dart from a small gap between the floor tiles (originally the dart would have come from
above of course). The dart is coated with magical sleeping venom. The door in the north wall is not locked.
A delver may make a L3-SR-LK to avoid the dart and if struck must then make a L4-SR-CON to avoid
becoming poisoned (the delver may add points of armor protection but not shields and not doubled for being a
Warrior to CON before making the roll). If the roll is failed, the delver takes the difference in hits and falls into a
magical slumber for 2 minutes. The delver will appear dead and no amount of mundane assistance will revive
him. After 2 minutes the afflicted character will awake feeling groggy with a bad headache (halve combat adds for
5 turns)! If the roll is successful the character takes one point of damage but suffers no other effects.
From the corner of each room runs a 12-inch high stone beam forming a cross on the floor and ceiling
which the delvers must step over to progress within.
In the center of the room and at the center of the crosses is a slate gray pillar, 12-inches in diameter. At
the midpoint of the pillar is a narrow slot wide enough to insert a sword blade. Above and below the slot can be
seen faint engravings. It will take a L1-SR-INT to make out the letters of the inscription (they’re upside down after
all) which are as follows:

“The unblooded red blade and untainted Skolari hand may both pass beyond.”

At the very top and bottom of the pillar can be seen the glint of steel cogs and gears however, they are
not sufficiently exposed to be manipulated by the delvers in any way.
Experimenting with the pillar reveals that it turns easily and that a sword may be inserted into the slot and
used as a lever to turn the pillar even more easily!
The pillar is the key to the doors in room 22 that lead to the spiral stair. If a Skolari (living or dead, such
as Crotchet) turns the pillar, the doors will swing open instantly (the characters will hear a grating noise from the
direction of room 22). Alternatively the Ruby Blade may be inserted by anyone and the pillar turned. Again, this
will open the doors. But after using the blade it may not be removed, it becomes magically fused with the pillar.
So it’s much more effective to make friends with Crotchet!

Exits
1 A door in the east wall (initially locked).
1 A door in the west wall (initially locked).
1 An unlocked wooden door in the north wall.

Room 28: The Lair of Magratatta

The doors to the north and east are unlocked and the layout of the room is almost identical to the other
crypts on this level, except here the sarcophagi are all opened and filled with fresh webbing. Lurking on the
ceiling is a gigantic spider-thing, similar to Quig (see the description of room 11, level 1 for details of Quig) but at
least twice the size.
Like Quig, she has thick hairy legs and a huge bulbous abdomen that glows slightly. Her broad fat head
is human-like indeed it looks almost feminine.
Magratatta is starving; the only living thing she’s
encountered to eat (aside from the odd adventurous rat) was
an entire tribe of orcs – which she duly avoided. When the
delvers enter she will be keen to drop from the ceiling and
start feasting. However, she is also keen to locate her errant
husband so before she begins her vicious attack she will ask
(in a high-pitched chittering screech):

“Before I kill you all, quite horribly, I have one

question for you… Have you seen my husband?”

If the characters have met Quig they may choose

whether or not to reveal that information. If they say Quig is
dead, Maggie will be moved to tears and lose her appetite,
she’ll want to sit down and talk about all the good times they
would have shared. If the PCs say they killed Quig, her
Monster Rating increases to 200 and she attacks like the
fighting machine she is!

59
Magratatta, Queen of the Spider
MR: 180
Combat: 19+90
AP Award: 200
Special Damage: 1/1 poison damage
Notes: Any spite damage inflicted by Magratatta (and only spite damage) may cause poisoning as follows:
• Bitten characters must make a L2-SR-CON or become ‘poisoned’.
• Poisoned characters lose 1 CON and 1 DEX per turn until they collapse (zero DEX) or pass out (zero
CON). Characters with normal CON scores of 8 or less will quickly die if reduced to zero CON, others will
tend to drift in and out of consciousness until healed.
• Poisoned characters may make a L2-SR-CON to shake off the poison each turn, after the initial
poisoning, before losing attribute points.

Like Quig, Magratatta moves on the floor, ceiling and walls with equal ease.
If Magratatta is reduced to MR: 90 or less, she will attempt to flee. If the characters wish to stop her, at least
one of them must make a L1-SR-SPD. She’s not as nimble as Quig but she’s still pretty fast!
If Magratatta is defeated, a suitably talented character (Apothecary or Alchemist) could extract 12 does of
spider poison for later use if required.

Exits
1 An unlocked wooden door to the north.
1 An unlocked wooden door to the east.
1 A locked wooden door to the west.

Room 29: The Void

Both doors to this room are locked (L3-SR-DEX to open). At first glance this room appears similar to
some of the other crypts on this level. As usual, there are 6
sarcophagi on the ceiling, however one of the lids is missing
(the others are intact and in place) and there is no sign of
dust in the room. Looking up into the open sarcophagus all
that can be seen is darkness. After standing under the coffin
for a few moments a delver will notice his hair standing on
end and his dandruff slowly drifting up into the darkness.
The ‘pull’ of the void is not sufficient to suck
characters into the darkness (although a Leprechaun or Fairy
might need to make a L1-SR-SPD to scoot out of the way)
but small things like loose threads, hair, and scrolls etc. will
vanish into the black.
During the Guild War a stray spell accidentally
opened a rift in the fabric of reality. No one knows what lies
beyond but chances are its bad. Any delver who ventures
into the black is lost forever; they have ceased to exist on
this plane of existence and may even have been crushed to
nothing in the deeps of space.
This room may serve as nothing more than a
curiosity or, the delvers may find an artifact on level 3 so terrible, that it must be cast into the void to ensure its
destruction.

[Game Master’s Note: At your discretion, allow a character lost to the void to rejoin the party at some
later stage in the adventure. The other delvers might find the character in a cupboard or treasure chest. For ease
– I suggest that the character has no memory of his or her experiences in the void. This leads the door open to
the return of repressed memories of alien landscapes, horrible demons and undreamt of treasures!]

Exits
1 A wooden door in the west wall – initially locked.
1 A wooden door in the east wall – initially locked.

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Room 30: Hall of the Mad Duke
Both doors leading to this room are locked (L2-SR-DEX or L3-SR-LK to open). If the PCs get chance to
look around they would see the room is designed along similar
lines to the other crypts here. However, standing in the middle of
the room is a turban-wearing Skolari undead warrior. His eye
sockets are ablaze with a magical red glow that speaks of evil. In
each hand he carries a wickedly curved scimitar.

The Mad Duke

MR: 90
Combat: 10+45
Notes: The Duke is clad in polished black cuirboilli which stops 14
hits (because he was a Warrior).

There is no dealing with the Mad Duke, he’s dead and

bonkers, not generally a combination conducive to contemplative
discourse. He will attack and fight to the undeath in this room but explore no further (because he’s a nutter).

Exits
1 A wooden door in the west wall – initially locked.
1 A wooden door in the east wall – initially locked.

Room 31: The Chamber of the Ages

Both doors leading to this room are locked (L2-SR-DEX or L3-SR-LK to open). Every single tile in the
room is cracked and worn almost to the bare stone beneath, the ceiling is thick with fine a gray sand – the
stonework of the sarcophagi has crumble away to dust.
Like some of the other chambers in the Vaults, this room has absorbed some of the magic of the terrible
Guild War. Time now advances at an accelerated rate here. Within seconds, the characters will notice their hair
and fingernails growing ever-so slightly longer. Each turn they remain in the room they will grow visibly older.
After a full 5 turns (10 minutes) in the room they will have aged a year.
This is not likely to be a problem as the delvers can move around the dungeon freely and have no need
to stay here but they may maneuver nasty monsters to this room, lock them in and wait an hour or two for them
to crumble to dust. If the delvers do prove to be this cunning, award them double the normal Adventure Points for
defeating the foe.

Exits
1 A wooden door in the west wall – initially locked.
1 A wooden door in the east wall – initially locked.
1 A secret door is hidden in the lower west wall. Make a L2-SR-LK or L3-SR-INT to locate the opening
mechanism. Each Saving Roll attempted in this room takes one turn or 2 minutes.

Room 32: The Secret Chamber

This narrow room is spared the ravages of time that afflict the Chamber of the Ages. Time passes
normally within the confines of this area.
At the far west end of the room, there sits a pair of brushed silver plates, approximately 24-inches in
diameter, mounted on a low marble dais – one on the floor and one on the ceiling. Anything placed upon either
plate immediately vanishes.
The delvers will most likely attempt to interact with the plate on the floor since it is closest to them but
both work in an identical fashion. Items placed on the plate(s) or characters that step on one are immediately
teleport to room 33. The experience is not unpleasant but leaves the character disoriented and giddy upon arrival
(call for a L1-SR-SPD to avoid falling over).
Sadly this is a teleport trap which may spell the end of one or more characters, unless they’re fond of
stone masonry?

Exits
1 A once secret stone door in the east wall.
1 Stepping on the silver plate will transport the character to room 33.

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Room 33: The Terminus Trap
The Skolari built this chamber as a trap for anyone who might be foolish enough to try and loot the tombs
of their fallen comrades. The only way to enter this room is via the magical teleport plate in room 32.
The room is in total darkness, anyone who stepped on the teleporter
without a light source is in a spot of bother!

[Game Master’s Note: Don’t immediately draw the location of the room
onto the player’s map and don’t allow characters in this room to communicate
with any of their colleagues elsewhere in the dungeon.]

If the character(s) do have a light source, they see a drab stone room
littered with the remains of 5 unlucky ‘tomb raiders’. The bodies are in varying
states of decay but the freshest must surely be a year or more old. The walls
have been attacked at various points with blunt and sharp instruments over the
years but no real damage has been done – just a few loose stones here and
there.

Getting Out
The Skolari didn’t plan on anyone getting out of this room and so far no
one has done so.

1. Teleporting is dangerous since the captive in this room has no real

idea where they are. The original description of the Wink Wing spell (from 5th
Edition T&T) states that the caster (or Leprechaun) could teleport themselves
and their belongings up to 50-feet in any direction. A character standing anywhere in room 33 that chose to
teleport 20-feet to the south would end up embedded in solid rock and completely dead! A Wizard or Leprechaun
could also find themselves materializing in a chair or stone table with equally disastrous results…

2. Excavation is the obvious plan and the one chosen by the five other characters who ended their lives
here. With appropriate tools it would take a character with a STR of 10, 36 man-hours to knock a 3-foot hole
through to room 9, 17 or 18. Without the correct tools (and it’s only likely that the characters will have the right
tools if they chose to acquire them from room 8) such as picks, chisels and hammers, the time required is 180
hours.

Assuming a suitably motivated character can work to full efficiency for 12 hours per day, it would take him 15
days to tunnel through providing his axe didn’t break! Of course a character with a STR of 20 would take half the
time, as would two STR 10 delvers. Digging in complete darkness is twice as difficult and takes twice as long.

1 The character must make a L2-SR-LK once each 1d6 hours of digging. If the roll is failed, the current
makeshift tool breaks and is useless for further work. If the character is using the right tools, the SR is
only level one and only needs to be made once per 2D6 hours of work.
1 Each 2d6 hours of work, the digger’s STR drops by 1D3 points due to fatigue.
1 The character must have water every six hours or STR drops by a further 1D3 points. A character that
goes without water for 12 hours also loses 1D3 points of CON. Most humanoids will not survive 36 hours
without water.
1 The digger must also have food every 10 hours or STR drops by an additional point. Most humanoids
can survive without food for several days but their strength will soon fail them.
1 After two-thirds of the required time has elapsed, the digger will have knocked a small hole through to the
next room (unless he’s tunneling south of course) and may be able to get assistance from his fellow
delvers.

3. Other: The character may be able to come up with some fantastic idea for escaping – if so, great, award
100 Adventure Points! He may be in telepathic contact with his fellow delvers who send him digging tools via the
teleporter or he may be able to employ some fantastic magical item that the GM will have to adjudicate.

[Game Master’s Note: If the Skolari wanted to punish thieves, why not teleported them straight into the solid
rock? Quite simply, such a death would be instantaneous and the victim would have no idea of his fate. This way,
the thief dies of thirst over several long hours, fully aware that he is paying the ultimate price for his nefarious
activities! This is exactly why the room is always magically full of nice, fresh, breathable air!]

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Treasure
The five luckless delvers that died here before the PC or PCs arrived brought with them a few valuables and
various bits of equipment as follows:

1. 12 burned out and useless torches, 6 empty clay pots (they once held lamp oil) and 3 empty oil lanterns.
2. 2 complete suits of chain mail and 2 complete suits of soft leather armor.
3. A shield in good condition.
4. 2 broken maces, 2 broken broadswords, a broken dirk and 2 broken broad axes.
5. A backpack containing a 20-foot length of silk rope and a few yards of bandages.
6. A silver ring of Night Vision which allows the wearer to see perfectly in total darkness. The ring draws
one point of WIZ from the wearer per combat turn (2 minutes), to power the ability.
7. 3 money purses holding a total of 167 gp.
8. Archer’s Bracers. A pair of magical leather bracers which add +5 to any archery Saving Rolls attempted.
Additionally they add +4 to the wearers DEX.
9. A jeweled bracelet worth 2D6 x 100 gp.
10. A set of quality lock picks that add +1 to the user’s Saving Rolls to open locked doors.

Exits
1 None. And that’s the idea!

Continuing the adventure of the Skolari Vaults

On the level below, the adventurers will come face-to-face with the ancient and powerful Skolari mages.
Their only weakness is the bitter factional in-fighting which, for the present, restrains them from unleashing an
army of bloodless zombies to exact a bitter revenge on the Wizard’s Guild.
This adventure continues with level 3 (not yet added to this book), but it will be eventually.

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64