Thursday, May 9, 2013

Expedition to the Doomed Peaks--Level One-Part 1


Fantasy Core RPG
© Jerry Harris 2013
Published here as Open Game Content.
(This link will take you to the Fantasy Core Index.)

Adventure Index

LEVEL 1: RESIDENTIAL DECK
Part One

Player Map


Ref Map



The lobby of this level is bathed in a low, blue light. This is a bad thing because the group will see that it’s swarming with zombies. This is who the group will get its guns and armor from, but sheer numbers are going to wear the characters down if they engage them every time.

1-Entry (0 XP): If this adventure is being used as the top levels of the original, then the characters have somehow gotten into the top of the elevator shaft just inside the entrance. (The other three shafts do not connect.) They’ve climbed up and found shaft doors ajar. (These are the first class accommodations, as opposed to the steerage class below, so they’re normally locked.)

Used independently of the original, the open elevator shaft is visible from the floor of a cave in the mountains. There is already a rope leading down from it. (Yes, the characters aren’t going to be the first ones in. Here’s where your potential replacement characters came from. Don’t worry, they haven’t killed and plundered everything.)

If you’re playing this as a mega-dungeon, then the characters can come and go as they please. However, the rest of this adventure assumes that as the characters exit the shaft, a sphincter hatch closes behind them. It is sealed with a force field and impenetrable. The characters are trapped. From here, comparisons with the original cease, and things only get worse for the characters.


2-Common (0 XP): On the outside of the elevator shaft is a map of the level, which may be roughly copied in 1 turn. Also on the outside is a thin, rectangular slot along with a diagram showing a person slipping a card into it to open the doors (this is important for later).

Once the characters have all entered (and are trapped), they should hear a voice in their heads (in their own language). It is a booming, taunting voice welcoming them to the ship and hoping their stay will be pleasant. Should the characters wish to come up for a visit, they merely need to locate the Yeoman Purser, and he will give the characters access to the upper levels. Enjoy your stay.

The Common area is lit by an eerie blue glow from the flickering illusionary fountains. There are the subtle sounds of birds and gushing water. The floor is a somewhat dingy ceramic mosaic over a metallic deck. There are dead potted plants all around the platform. Once the characters eyes have adjusted to light or gotten their torches or lanterns going, they suddenly notice the whole Common area is littered with dead human bodies.

Roll on the Random Zombie Respawn table (at the end of this level description) to see how many and what kind of Zombies activate in the characters’ presence. They attack mindlessly and will not pursue the characters if they enter a room. Zombies in the rooms do not respawn, only those in the Common area.

If the characters kill all of the Zombies in the Common area and loiter around, roll on the Respawn table after 1 turn. Every time the group re-enters the Common area (assuming at least 1 turn away), roll again on the Respawn table. Disregard Zombies left alive (Alive? Not dead? Whatever) from the previous Respawn and replace them with a fresh roll. Industrious characters will want to search the bodies of killed Zombies. In addition to whatever weapon they are wielding, roll on the Zombie Random Gear table to see what else they have.

During any battle with Zombies, some will probably be using some type of firearm. At least once during any firefight, one of the Zombies should stop fighting and reload. Roll 1d4, reload on a 1, but only do this for 1 Zombie combatant per rd, not all of them. Seeing these actions allows the characters a better chance of figuring out how to use guns themselves. After the characters learn how to use firearms, it should also be demonstrated that the modern armor the Zombies have provides some protection against gunfire. (They’ll have already figured out that their archaic armor isn’t.) This operation will be covered at the end of this level description.


3-Exit Elevator (3 XP): The other four spaces on the platform are support pillars. The Exit Elevator is like the entry elevator, however the rectangular card slot is glowing. Once the proper key card is inserted inside the slot, the doors open with a ding. The voice in the head returns and tells the group to await service from the doorman. In this case, the doorman is the Floater demon. The group will hear an ominous hissing sound coming from shaft. It will immediately attack the first person entering the shaft and then exit to fight everyone. This would also be a great time for the Zombies in the Common to start respawning.

The inside of the shaft has two sets of handles going up 25’ that can be used to climb up to the next level, where the elevator doors are standing open. When the ship was fully functioning, the elevator shaft was an anti-gravity area and the handles moved up and down. Grabbing a handle allowed the user to be pulled along and float to the desired level.





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