Dragon Vol. VI, No. 2

Cavern of theS U B - T R A I N

INTRODUCTIONCavern of the Sub-Train is a scenario

for an introductory or intermediate ad-venture for the GAMMA WORLD™ game.It has been designed for use by 2-8 play-ers, 4-6 being optimal.

The adventure begins in the village ofOm, where the characters have lived allof their lives. Life in the village has beenrather uneventful, other than the usualdangers of the environment. Recently,however, a most unusual discovery hasbeen made — one which will shortlysend player characters on an excitingand dangerous adventure.

This scenario has been designed withthe assumption that the Game Masterhas a thorough grasp of the GAMMAWORLD rules. Descriptions of commonartifacts, creatures, and so forth havebeen kept to a minimum.

BACKGROUNDThe tiny tribal state of Valley has exist-

ed for several generations, having beenoriginally established early in the Black

Years that followed the destructionwrought by the Apocalypse in 2322. Tri-bal history tells that the tribe’s ancestorsfled south from an area of near-total de-struction, following the river that nowflows through Valley, seeking a place ofrelative safety. Details of the history aresuspect, as the tales have been passedonly by word of mouth from father to sonover the years, but apparently these an-cestors searched and struggled for manyyears through areas of death and de-struction, until they discovered what isnow the site of Hen, the northernmostand largest village of Valley, and settledthere. North of Hen and stretching westof the river for many days’ travel were(and still are) lands that were “unclean.”To journey into them is to invite horriblediseases, danger and usually death. Tothe south, however, exist some whole-some lands, including the sites of theother two villages in the state of Valley,Parlund and Om (see map). South ofOm, however, the lands become “un-clean” once again.

It is known that all three of the tribal

villages were once the sites of settle-ments of the Ancients; there are still oldstructures and broken artifacts to befound at these spots, and the remnantsof a roadway still connects them. Thefate of the original inhabitants, though,remains unknown. About 400 humansand mutants now live at Hen, and abouthalf that number live at each of the othertwo sites.

Life in Valley is relatively safe, if some-what boring, so long as one does notjourney past the borders either to thenorth or south. The tribe has managed toestablish an agricultural community, andmuch time is spent working the fieldsand tending the livestock. The remnantsof the old structures of the Ancients havelong since been thoroughly exploredand hold no more mystery than an ordi-nary cave would. Indeed, most of the oldstructures are now used as dwelling pla-ces or storehouses for grain. Several ar-tifacts of the Ancients are in the posses-sion of various members of the tribe, butmost are mere curiosities to be poked ator worn as decoration; the tales of their“magical” functions are either false, orthe “magic” has fled or been exhausted.

In all, life has been rather idyllic inValley. There is food for the table, a roofover one’s head, and honest labor to oc-cupy a man’s hands. One day, however,while clearing a new patch of land for

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expanding one of the grain fields locatedjust north of Om, one of the tribesmenfelt his crude plow catch on somethingbeneath the earth. After a few minutes ofscraping and digging, the farmer uncov-ered a round, hard surface, about onemeter across, made of what appeared tobe the same indestructible (to the tri-besmen) material as the roadway con-necting the three villages. Digging awaymore earth around the edges revealed anedge — the surface was obviously a lid orcovering for a barrel or tube sunk intothe ground. Equipped with picks andbars, several of the tribe’s strongest menattacked the lid in an effort to find whatlay beneath. Their prying and beatinghad no visible effect on the featurelesscovering — until suddenly there was anaudible “click,” followed by an ear-piercing siren. The villagers rushed backin alarm, and well they did, for after a fewseconds the scream of the siren wasdrowned out by a sharp explosion, andthe lid was blasted several meters intothe air.

All was silent afterward, and as thebreeze carried away the dust, a dark holeinto the earth was seen where the roundcovering had been. After waiting cau-tiously for several more moments, thevillagers edged forward toward the gap-ing hole, each ready to spring back in aninstant if anything threatening shouldappear.

Upon again reaching the edge of theopening, the villagers peered downward.The interior of the hole was a smooth,round tube leading straight down, fea-tureless except for ladder-like rungs pro-jecting from one side. The sun was stilllow in the morning sky, so the bottom ofthe tube, if there was a bottom, remainedin darkness; however, a very dim redglow did reflect on the sides of the shaft,a source of illumination from somewherebelow. Impulsively, one of the villagerspicked up a nearby stone and tossed itinto the hole. After a few seconds, asharp clattering sound came echoingback up the tube.

The village elders held a quick council,and a short time later a young, strongtribesman with a burning torch in hishand, a short sword at his belt, and arope tied about his waist, started to de-scend into the tube. Cautiously, the ropewas played out by several of the villa-gers, ready to draw the young man backto the surface quickly if necessary. Theflame of the torch grew smaller andsmaller as the young villager continuedhis descent, the firelight replacing thedim red glow on the polished, smooth

interior of the tube. Suddenly there wasslack on the rope and a shout came frombelow as the man reached the bottom ofthe tube. The light from the flame van-ished as he moved away from the open-ing to the surface, then the light returnedmoments later. A short time after that,

the young man was back on the surface,his face flushed with excitement and hiseyes bright with wonder. His report: Awide, smooth tunnel dimly lit with redlight stretched to the north and south, asfar as he could see! What wonder of theAncients could this be?

That night, a council meeting of all theleaders of the villages of the Valley wascalled. The younger and more adventu-rous members of the group called for animmediate investigation of this new dis-covery, but the older and more cautiousmembers of the council voiced the fearthat such tampering might unleash someunknown power of the Ancients thatcould destroy the tiny state. After alengthy debate, those calling for an in-vestigation prevailed. Plans were laid forthe selection of those who would under-take the exploration.

It is now three days since the opening

Scenario by Gary Jaquet

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Dragoninto the earth was discovered. You (theplayer characters) have been chosen toperform the exploration. You have beengiven certain equipment that may assistyou in your venture. Your instructions: toexplore the extent of this new discovery;to locate, and if possible acquire, anyitems or knowledge that may be useful tothe tribe; and above all, to return andreport your findings — or, as a conces-sion to the more cautious factions of thetribe’s leaders, the entrance will besealed and labeled “off limits” as toodangerous to the tribe.

NOTES TO THE GMPlayers of this GAMMA WORLD sce-

nario are about to enter a portion of avast subterranean transportation net-work colloquially known as the sub-train. The system once spanned theNorth American continent and was usedprimarily as a method of high-speed

transportation of freight. The sub-trainsystem is something like a 20th-centurysubway system, in that it consists of aself-propelled train moving through anunderground tunnel. Unlike the 20th-century system, however, the “trains”moved through a vacuum while beingsupported on super-conducting mag-netic rails at very high speeds. This me-thod of electromotive propulsion provedsuperior to the old method of propulsionby anti-gravity suspension and tractor/pressor beam, in that the latter methodrequired relatively large amounts ofenergy which could only be supplied bybroadcast power, and the use of broad-cast power in a subterranean environ-ment proved impractical. Thus, the trainsmoved under electromagnetic suspen-sion and propulsion, which required lessenergy, and that energy could be pro-vided by atomic power packs.

The opening on the surface which thetribesmen have discovered is an emer-gency escape shaft, one of many builtinto the main system. The hatch over theshaft was wired up to explosive boltswhich, over the years, had become un-stable. The tribesmen’s beating and pry-ing on the hatch was enough of a shockto blow the bolts and open the hatch.

The main transportation tunnel is nolonger airless, and certainly cannot beused for its intended purpose withoutmassive repairs and adequate tools tomake those repairs. Both the warfarethat occurred on the surface (whichblasted the tunnel open in many places)and the lack of supervised maintenanceover the many years since the Apoca-lypse have made the tunnel little morethan a long, straight cave. Several of thesubsystems of the network, however, arestill operative and powered; unwary ex-plorers will face many hazards. Securitysystems, maintenance units, and sub-section control systems — not to men-tion the creatures that now inhabit thetunnels — can all play a part as the play-ers explore the remnants of this once-mighty transportation network.

Game Masters may want to incorpo-rate the sub-train into their campaigns.For those who wish to do so, the follow-ing guidelines apply:

1. With rare exceptions, the sub-trainroute generally follows beneath the pathof a duralloy highway.

2. Subsection control stations (de-scribed below) are located about every50 kilometers along the route:

3. Escape shafts (described below)may be found about every 2 kilometersalong the route.

4. Although the walls, ceiling, andfloor of the sub-train tunnel are con-structed of duralloy, it has been severelydamaged in many locations. Wherevermassive destruction may have occurred(population centers, military bases, etc.)

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the tunnel is most likely broached, per-haps blocked.

5. In planning an expanded version ofthis scenario, the Game Master shouldtake into account all natural factors thatmight affect the sub-train system on alarger scale than the area of the networkpresented herein: flooding, foul air, manytypes of blockages and obstructions,and the lairs of many different creaturesmay be found at other points along thecomplicated network. There will also beother types of control stations, outlinesof which are given in the following text.

Escape shaftsEmergency escape shafts are found

every two kilometers along the sub-traintunnels. Each is identified from insidethe tunnel by a bright blue panel glowingover the entryway and by a number onthe tunnel wall. Escape shafts are num-bered consecutively; the higher the num-ber, the farther a hatch is from the near-est main control station. These shaftsare 130 cm diameter duralloy tubes withbuilt-in ladder rungs that lead from theside of the sub-train tunnel to the sealedhatchways on the surface.

From the tunnel the shaft entrance ap-pears as a small, rectangular opening inthe side of the tunnel wall, forming asmall alcove. In the alcove is a simplecontrol panel set into one wall, contain-ing a communication unit (connected tothe nearest subsection control station)and a large red “T” handle beneath aplastic protective shield.

Operating instructions for an escapehatch are written below the “T” handle inAncient language (which the explorerswill not necessarily understand): 1) Liftcover. 2) Pull handle straight out. 3) Turnhandle clockwise one-half turn. This pro-cedure activates a blast door that sealsoff the alcove from the tunnel, sounds awarning siren, then blows the hatch atthe top of the escape shaft.

The blast door separating the escape

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alcove from the tunnel slides out fromone side of the opening to the tunnel andwhen not in use is recessed into the wall.Only a careful examination will revealthe seam, and even then it is doubtful theexplorers will guess it is a door.

The TunnelSub-train tunnels are all similar in na-

ture, although some may be larger (wid-er) than others to allow for more trainmovements, just as any single part of therailway system of the 20th century mighthave anywhere from a single pair of railsto dozens of tracks side by side. Thestandard tunnel, which this scenariouses, is 30 meters wide, with the ceilingseven meters above the floor. The basicconstruction is almost entirely made ofduralloy.

Running down the floor of the tunnelare the superconducting monorails ofthe sub-train system. Each T-shaped railrises about 35 centimeters above thefloor. Four main rails are spaced fairlyevenly across the floor, one for eachsub-train this tunnel can accomodate. Inaddition, there is a smaller fifth rail run-ning close to one wall of the tunnel. Thisrail is used for a unit which transportsmaintenance personnel and equipment.

Also found on the tunnel floor are var-ious hatchways and access panels formaintenance of wiring, equipment, andother vital subsystems.

Sub-train tunnels are dimly lit by red-dish glow-panels set in the ceiling. Aboveeach escape shaft entryway is a brightly

glowing blue panel. Tunnel areas nearsubsection control stations are brightlylit with white light. The existence of light-ing in any area of the tunnel system iscontingent upon the operational statusof power units and associated equip-ment. (The overhead lighting is still func-tional in the area where the explorersfirst descend, but that doesn’t mean thatlights will operate everywhere else in-side the tunnel.)

Subsection control stationsSubsection control stations are locat-

ed every 25 kilometers along the route ofthe sub-train tunnels. These stations arefor monitoring the operation of the sub-train system and also function as repairdepots for the section of the tunnel theycontrol.

Stations are normally “manned” byrobots, but are also set up for use byhuman operators. Each station consistsof the following parts:

1. Elevator — The elevator in the con-trol station leads to the surface (the sur-face entrance to subsection control sta-tions is detailed later). The elevator isoperated by a simple up/down pushbut-ton control panel, located within thecontrol room.

2. Control room — This main room ofthe control station contains a long, L-shaped control console beneath the win-dows facing the sub-train tunnel, withseats for three operators. This console isnormally used only for monitoring theoperation of the sub-train system, but

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can, if necessary, override any systemfunction or operation within the sectionit monitors. The console is very complexas a whole, but individual banks of con-trols are fairly simple — one bank ofswitches may operate the lighting sys-tem in the tunnel near the station, forexample. Another may operate the doorsto the maintenance equipment storagearea, and so forth.

On the other side of the room from thecontrol console is a large table-like ob-ject, the system status display. This de-vice illustrates, by means of colored andflashing lights, the positions of all trainsin the system, their rate and direction oftravel, destination, etc. Beneath the lightrepresenting each train is a symbol codefor that train that could be used to call upfurther information from the main con-trol console.

Attached to the wall near the elevatordoor is a small blue case with a largewhite cross on the cover: a first-aid kit.The cover is hinged and is held closedwith a simple latch. Inside are 10 painreducers, 10 stim doses, 3 cur-in doses, 5accelera doses, 1 dose of anti-radiationserum, and 1 can of dressing spray (anantiseptic spray-on “skin” that stops mi-nor bleeding, promotes healing, and pro-tects the wound).

Attached to the wall below the first-aidkit is a fire extinguisher. It sprays a drychemical powder and is good for 15 se-conds continuous operation.

3. Maintenance area locker room —Ifnecessary for a human operator to go

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into the sub-train tunnel itself, he wouldof course have to prepare for vacuumconditions. In this area are three lockers,each containing a special vacuum suit.These suits are made of a semi-rigidplastic (armor class 3) and contain lifesupport for 72 hours, 2-way radios forcommunication with other operators insuits and with the control station, amedi-kit, ultraviolet and infrared sensors,and a powerful tight-beam light mount-ed on the helmet. The suits are poweredfor up to 72 hours of operation by a hy-drogen energy cell. When replaced inthe lockers after use, the suits were au-tomatically recharged (both power andlife support).

Also in this area is a robot-rechargingstation, a rather complex control panelat which a robotic unit can plug itself into recharge.

4. Airlock — For entrance to the main-tenance area, which is kept in vacuum.Simple elevator-type, push-button con-trols are located on each side of eachdoor.

5. Maintenance area — A garage-likearea for storage of a personnel carrierand two maintenance-equipment carri-ers. The track for these vehicles leadsfrom the tunnel across a platform andinto the maintenance area through twoheavy doors. These doors may be openedby controls in the maintenance area it-self or from the control room.

6. Personnel carrier — A small vehicle

resembling an enclosed 20th-centurygolf cart. The personnel carrier will holdthree persons dressed in vacuum suits. Itoperates on the same principle as thesub-trains (superconducting electromag-netic propulsion). Controls are simple:forward and reverse, speed, directionchange (for “Y’s” in the rail system),lights and life support (the carrier maybe pressurized). Mounted on the dash ofthe vehicle is a removable portable con-trol unit used to command the engineer-ing robots.

7. Maintenance carriers— These smalltrain-like vehicles consist of three sec-tions. The forward section resembles anopen personnel carrier with an engineer-ing robot at the controls. Behind thissection is an enclosed cart for carryingmaterials and equipment, and behindthat is a similar cart which is not en-closed. The enclosed cart contains smalltools and parts; the open cart can holdlarge structural repair materials and asmall boom and winch.

Surface entrances tosubsection control stations

Ground-level entrances to control sta-tions along the sub-train route will befound directly above the station, gener-ally near a duralloy roadway (as menti-oned earlier, the sub-train system usual-ly follows beneath the highway). Theseentryways were not used on a daily basis— the robots that operated the stations

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usually stayed around the clock, andwhen it was necessary to leave the sta-tion (for maintenance or other purposes)they used the personnel carrier in thetunnel itself. However, when a humanoperator was required in the station (forperiodic check-outs, maintenance of ro-bots, etc.) the surface entrance was gen-erally used.

The surface entrance is a simple struc-ture with an adjacent vehicle parkingarea surrounded by a chain-link fence.The gate in the fence would open byradio signal from an authorized vehicleand close automatically after the vehiclewas admitted. The entrance structure it-self is a small, square building made oflight metal alloy. The doorway to the en-trance structure would open with use ofa stage 2 maintenance ID. Inside thestructure is a small room (3 meters by 4meters). In the room is a desk and filingcabinet. On the desk is a communicationconsole that connects with the mainsub-train centers and the sub-sectioncontrol station below. In one wall isanother doorway, the elevator to the sta-tion. The elevator requires a special sub-train systems worker ID or a Stage 4 lawenforcement ID to operate, or may beoperated from the station below (afterclearance through the communicationsconsole). Control of the elevator is by asimple up/down pushbutton panel asdescribed earlier for the subsection sta-tion control room.

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Main section control stationsMain section control stations (not used

in this adventure) are merely larger sub-section control stations. They would befound in the sub-train system wherevertunnels intersect or branch, to monitorand control switching procedures andfurther monitor all subsection controlstation operation within their section.

Entry/exit control stationsEntry/exit control stations (not used in

this adventure) are similar to main sec-tion control stations, but they control theentry and exit of sub-trains into or out ofthe system for loading and unloading.Such stations would generally only befound near population centers.

Sub-train control centersSub-train control centers (not used in

this adventure) are the overall controland monitoring centers of the entire sys-tem. There are three control centers inNorth America, each supervising rough-ly an equal share of the overall system.

STARTING NOTES TO PLAYERSIn preparation for your exploration of

this new discovery, the villages of Valleyhave provided several pieces of equip-ment that may be of use. Each explorer isoutfitted with the following items:

knifebow and 12 arrowsshort swordhide shield20 meters light line (made by the

tribe from natural fibers; break-ing strength 300 kilos)

2 candles, each able to burn for 6hours

flint and steel6 torches, each able to burn for 2

hoursbackpack with food and water for 3

daysEach explorer wears leather and/or fur

clothing (armor class 7, including shield).In addition, certain artifacts of the An-

cients are entrusted to the group, forpossible use in exploration. These arti-facts include:

Two 6 cm x 9 cm metallic cards, oneedged in green, one edged in red. Bothhave symbols inscribed upon them, butthe symbols are meaningless to the vil-lagers or to the explorers. What is knownabout the objects is that they are re-quired to open the few still-functioningdoors of some of the structures of theAncients in the village. This is accom-plished by sliding one end into a slotbeside the door.

Two sets of “see-in-the-dark” goggles.These devices fit over the eyes and allowthe wearer to see objects in total dar-kness that could not normally be seen. Itis also known that only objects that arewarmer than their surroundings (warm-

blooded animals, rocks recently takenfrom a fire, etc.) may be seen.

“The Staff.” This device has only beenused twice in the memory of the tribe. Onboth occasions, a machine of the An-cients was moving down the remnant ofthe roadway connecting the villages ofValley. Before the first time it was used— many, many years in the past — allthat was known was that the legendssaid it could stop the machines of theAncients. Since it has only one movingpart, a button on one end, the operationof the item was rather obvious — andwhen the button was pushed, the ma-chine stopped. It remains on the road-way to this day. Just a few years ago, TheStaff was used a second time. This time amachine came down the roadway fromthe north. When the button was pressed,the machine stopped as before — butthis time it started moving again a fewseconds later. The button was pressedagain and the machine stopped again,but only for another few seconds. Theprocess was repeated many times, untilit finally became apparent to the tribes-men that the machine was going to con-tinue on its course. Under close supervi-sion, the machine continued to movesouth until it passed Om and into the“unclean” lands.

This is your equipment. Any players’suggestions for other items they wouldlike to have (flasks of oil, mirrors, etc.)should be communicated to the GM,who will determine if such items wouldbe available to the party.

FURTHER NOTES TO THE GMThe artifacts of the Ancients listed

above are, in reality, two ID cards (thegreen-edged one a second-stage civilservice maintenance worker’s ID, the redone a fourth-stage law enforcement ID),two pairs of infra-red goggles, and a typeof control baton. The button on the con-trol baton causes any robotic unit belowfourth-stage ID control to cease all pre-viously given instructions and await neworders (given vocally). Any higher-graderobotic unit will pause to await new in-structions, but if none are forthcoming itwill resume functioning and continue tofollow its original instructions. The firstmachine mentioned in the player notesabove was a second-stage light cargolifter; it is still sitting on the roadwayawaiting new instructions. The secondmachine was a fourth-stage security ro-bot which paused for new instructions,and when none were forthcoming, con-tinued on. In either case, the machineswould not have been able to respond tothe tribe’s language, had they been givencommands.

STARTThe explorers first will (or should) de-

termine their order of descent into the

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Dragonescape shaft. Explorers may light torch-es, candles or lanterns on the surfaceand descend with them; drop a lightedtorch down the shaft first (50% chance ofits remaining lit); or light their light sour-ces after descending in the dark. Illumi-nation will be an important factor in thisadventure, so the GM should keep acareful record of the passage of time andthe status of the light sources of theparty.

The rungs attached to the side of thisescape shaft are in perfect condition, sothere is no chance of one breaking.However, depending on how the partydescends (encumbered with equipment,using one hand to hold a lit torch, etc.)the GM may want to allow a small chancefor a character to slip or lose his grip. Asmart party, for example, might drop in atorch, have one character descend un-encumbered, lower all the gear to him byrope, and have the remaining charactersfollow.

Upon reaching the alcove at the bot-tom of the shaft, the party will find theshaft control panel.

IMPORTANT: The control panel is stillactive! If a character operates the “T”handle in the proper manner the doorwill close (of course, the explosive boltshave already blown, so nothing elsewould happen). The door takes three se-conds to close, so anyone in the door-way should be able to move out of theway. However, if for any reason a charac-ter is caught as the door closes he willtake 1-10 points of damage (mashed fing-ers to broken limb).

Normally, once the blast door wasshut it would not be able to be reopened:Atmospheric pressure from the escapeshaft once the hatch was blown againstthe vacuum of the tunnel would hold itshut until the escape hatch was replacedand the shaft re-evacuated. Now, though,with the pressure being the same onboth sides of the door, the blast doormay be slid open by characters with acombined strength of 40. The door willslide shut again once the characters re-lease their hold. Voices will not carrythrough the door, although the sound ofsomething solid (metal or stone) tappingagainst it will. Should the party becomeseparated by the door, the GM must de-termine if the characters can communi-cate in their efforts to reopen it.

EXPLORATION OF THE TUNNELOnce the characters emerge from the

escape shaft, they will find this section ofthe sub-train tunnel to be relatively un-disturbed since the time of the Apoca-lypse in 2322. A slight current of airblows from the north (known only to theplayers if they have asked the GM if thetorch flames flicker or if smoke trails in aparticular direction), indicating an open-ing to the surface exists at some point

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farther along in that direction. Playersexamining the floor of the tunnel will finda very fine layer of dust, and upon evencloser examination, the tracks of smallcreatures like mice. As the charactersexplore immediately around the area ofthe opening to the escape shaft, they willnotice light from glowing red panelsoverhead (the same light which could beseen from the surface). Painted on thewall beside the opening they have justleft is a stylized symbol “31” — althoughthe characters will only perceive it as amysterious symbol of the Ancients.

At this point the players will have onlytwo real choices of action: proceed alongthe tunnel to the north, or to the south. Ifthe choice is north, the first item of inter-est encountered will be another escapeshaft (#32) two kilometers to the north oftheir present position (see map). Thisshaft is active; if a player enters the al-cove and pulls and turns the “T” handle,the blast door will close, the siren willsound, and a few seconds later the hatchon the surface covering the shaft willblow clear. This shaft opens in a field justto the north of Parlund, near the rem-nants of the duralloy roadway. Shouldthe players exit at this point and return to

Parlund, the GM should play the part ofthe village leader and have the explorersdescend again to continue their investi-gation.

As the explorers continue north fromescape shaft #32, they will notice an in-creasing amount of debris on the floor ofthe tunnel — more dust than before, afew leaves, spider webs on girders, andso forth. About a kilometer north of es-cape shaft #32, the characters will beginto see actual rubble on the floor — dirtclods, rocks, etc. — and a few hundredmeters beyond that, the tunnel is col-lapsed. This is the location on the map ofthe gap in the duralloy roadway, the re-sult of an errant surface missile strike. Atthe time of the missile strike, the crateractually opened into the sub-train tun-nel, but in the many years since, the pithas completely filled in. This effectivelyeliminates the possibility of exploringthe tunnel further to the north, althoughdiligent work could open a passage tothe surface from here.

This area has become the burrow for alair of three parn (chance of encounter75%).

If the party explores south of escapeshaft #31, the first item of interest will be

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escape shaft #30, two kilometers southof #31. This shaft is completely inactive,save for the glowing blue panel over theentry alcove.

The party will find shaft #29 two ki-lometers south of #30. This shaft is active(the blast door will close and the sirensound), but the explosive bolts have alldecomposed and will not blow the hatchcover.

Another two kilometers south of shaft#29 is shaft #28. At some time in the past,the hatch cover blew (either through in-stability of the explosive bolts, or per-haps when a worker tried to escape in2322). The blast door is closed. If theexplorers open it, they will find the entryalcove and shaft filled with earth, and inaddition they will find it to be the lair of aherp that will attack with the advantageof surprise. If the explorers fail to kill theherp, they may outrun it in an attempt toescape, but the herp will track and pursuethe party as long as they remain in thetunnel.

Two kilometers to the south of escapeshaft #28 is a subsection control station.A few of the bright lights near the stationare still burning (although somewhatdimmer than at full power), and the partywill notice the glow from 500 metersaway. This station will be the main en-counter area for the group in thisscenario.

Unknown to the party, the surface en-trance to this station (which is severalkilometers south of Om, in the region of“unclean” lands) has been discoveredand opened by a group of badders thathad a burrow near the structure. Thebadders quickly transferred their burrowto the control station and the tunnel areato the immediate south. This lair consistsof six males (hp 33, 31, 24, 23, 21, 18), sixfemales (hp 30, 27, 23, 21, 17, 16) andthree young (hp 18, 15, 12).

The badders have forced open thedoors to the surface entrance structureand the elevator doors inside, built arough ladder to descend the elevatorshaft to the top of the elevator car (whichnow rests at the control room level), andbuilt another ladder from the trap door inthe top of the elevator car to the floor ofthe car. The elevators to the controlroom itself have also been forced open.

When the badders discovered the con-trol room, all was dark and inactive. (Themain power line of the system had beensevered and the back-up nuclear powersystem had not engaged.) One of thebadders accidentally moved a controlthat activated the back-up power sys-tem, causing some lights to go on, andsince that time, through trial and error,the badders have learned to control thelights and doors of the station.

The badders also discovered the re-mains of a human who died in the stationin 2322, and among the remains were a

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fourth-stage law enforcement ID, a fullycharged laser pistol, and two extra hy-drogen energy cells.

The remains are those of a law en-forcement official assigned to the con-trol room in 2322 to prevent sabotage.The badders do not know what the ID orthe energy cells are. However, they doknow what the laser pistol is and how itoperates. The leader of the badders pos-sessed such a weapon previously, butthe energy cell was exhausted in learn-ing its operation; now that the badderleader knows of the limited life of theweapon, he operates it only in emergen-cies. The pistol has five shots left on itspresent energy cell.

The badders also possess one otherweapon of the Ancients: a vibro blade(15 minutes of charge left), which is car-ried by the 31-hit-point badder. All theother male badders carry regular swordsand shields; the female badders havedaggers. The young are weaponless.Badders will pick up and use weaponsdropped by other fighters in melee.

As the characters approach the sta-tion, there is a 50% chance they will bespotted by a patrolling badder; other-wise, the characters will have surprise.As the characters approach the station,they will notice that one of the doorsleading to the maintenance area is open.In the maintenance area are a personnelcarrier, two maintenance carriers, andtwo engineering robots, all inactive atthis time. Once they are discovered, thebadders will fight to the death to defendtheir burrow. (The GM should rememberto keep track of time if the herp fromescape shaft #28 is pursuing the ex-plorers.)

If the party defeats all the badders, theGM may then determine the results ofany exploration and/or the condition ofany artifacts in the station. The GM maywish to have the control station be totallyravaged by the badders, with nothing ofvalue left, or may have the station in rela-tively undamaged condition.

If the party fights and then bypassesthe badders and heads south, about akilometer south of the control stationthey will find the tunnel collapsed. (TheGM should give the same clues of in-creasing debris, as if the party had ven-tured north).

At the collapse, the party will find thewreckage of a sub-train that ran into theruined tunnel. The wreckage of the sub-train consists of the main propulsion unitand three transport units. All units havebeen wrenched from the rail and lie atvarious angles to each other and thetunnel floor. The nose of the propulsionunit is completely smashed, and the sideis split open to reveal several featureless,drum-like objects (large atomic energycells) 90 cm in diameter and 2 meters tall.Also visible through the split are wires of

Dragon

many colors, tubes, small mechanicallinkages, etc.

The three transport units, althoughbent and dented, are relatively intact.The hatches to the transport units arelocked and may only be opened by phy-sically ripping off the hatch (unlikely tobe accomplished by sheer muscle pow-er, without at least prybars, block andtackles, and hammers and chisels), or bycutting them open with some energyweapon (blasting off the latch mecha-nism with a few shots from a laser pistol,cutting with a vibro blade, etc.) Two ofthe transport units contain only duralloybuilding components — beams, sheets,pipes, etc. — but the third contains apiece of special military equipment: a de-fense platform.

This device started as a light cargolifter but has had the manipulative devi-ces removed. On the platform is mount-ed a force-field generator. This devicegenerates a hemispherical polarizedforce field 5 meters in diameter. Duringoperation, the field extends 2 meters infront and behind the platform, 3½ meterspast each side edge and 5 meters over-head. Also mounted on the platform is astun-ray projector (functions as a stunrifle with 100 shots). Since the force fieldis polarized, the stun ray projector maybe fired through the force field and yetthe field still protects anyone or anythingwithin it. The platform, force-field gen-erator, and stun-ray projector are po-wered by a special atomic energy cellgood for 50 hours of continuous opera-tion of all powered devices.

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When found, the defense platform is inperfect condition. However, the GMshould use his judgement as to whetheror not any damage to the platform oc-curs as the transport unit is forced open.Also, the platform is much too large toremove from the tunnel through any ex-its the characters have found, so it will beleft to the GM to determine if the playersmanage to tunnel, blast, or otherwisemake an opening to the surface to re-move the device.

FINAL NOTES TO THE GMThis scenario has been left open-

ended; the GM may alter or augment it inany way he sees fit. With escape shaftsoccurring every two kilometers, there isample opportunity for entrance into thetunnel; thus, the GM may include moreencounters. For a more advanced adven-ture, the subsection control stations maybe deemed operational, thus makingpossible such things as encounters withrobot units upon entry into the tunnel(the opening of an emergency escapeshaft could summon engineering or se-curity robots), active resistance by ’botunits at control stations, even the actualoperation of sub-trains and/or subsidiaryequipment. For very advanced scenar-ios, include main section control sta-tions and make them operational, includ-ing a great number of robotic units. Needmore action? Include wreckages of sub-trains with fantastic cargos. Anything ispossible — just remember that the key toa successful adventure is play balance.