The door to this room stands partially open. A brass plaque affixed to the door reads, "ABSTINENCE: to my dear friend, Carnalla, whose lust for wealth destroyed her at the hands of the orcs of Willowgrove. May your soul rest forever in peace, my friend." The door opens into a ten foot wide hallway running perhaps forty feet. It ends in a thirty foot by thirty-foot room. The floor of this room is glassy smooth and slopes steeply down to the wall at your right. A forest of yard-long metal spikes jut from this wall in a malevolent mass of certain death to anyone falling into them. They drip with a caustic- looking green ichor. Directly in front of you, a five-foot wide, railed catwalk of wrought iron runs above the sloping floor to a small landing on the far side of the room. On this landing is a pedestal, and on the pedestal is a huge bar of gold bullion. The gold shines even in the dim light of the ceiling's glow. GameMaster Any character proceeding more than ten feet onto the catwalk will trigger the trap. The catwalk will collapse, folding suddenly down to touch the sloping floor on the right- hand side. Now, normally this would not be a problem: a dirt-diving adventurer would easily catch himself on the seemingly solid rail of the catwalk. Therein lies the catch! The rail is an illusion -- characters fall right through it and slide directly into the spikes. ("Oops! Holy aerated adventurers, Batman!" The character 'dies' on the spikes and reappears,, gasping and trembling (perhaps even vomiting) behind the last member of the party. The gold bullion is actually just a painted brick and is bolted to the pedestal. Since the catwalk is floored with a fine metal grating (just a bit too fine to get one's fingers through), it might be possible for a quick thinking adventurer, rolling really well on his initiative, to drive the point of his knife through the grating and arrest his fall. Knives used in this unorthodox manner tend to snap off unless they make a saving throw of 13 or better on a twenty-sided die. The catwalk slowly rights itself after each dumping. Score Chart +5 For any player safely testing the catwalk for traps / illusions. +5 For first player to show that he has grasped the room's meaning. "Hey guys, the plaque says 'Abstinence,' maybe we'd better just leave it be." +5 For best role player. +3 For any player moving to skip the room entirely. +2 For any player suggesting a safety rope (possibly made from cannibalized robes or belts). -10 For dying in this area (in the Gauntlet, negative scores are quite acceptable). More Code of the Rats Introductory Fantasy Adventure Introduction Adventure Set Up 1. Entry Room 2. Room of Abstinence 3. Room of Peace 4. Room of Forethought 5. Pit Trap 6. Wolves and Sheep 7. Dank and Dark 8. Room of Humor and Wisdom 9. Room of Caution 10. The Lone Plaque 11. Hall of Consistency 12. Mud-Filled Room 13. Room of Questioning 14. The Portcullis 15. Room of Reversal 16. Room of Trust 17. Room of Power 18. Room of Disunity 19. The Darkened Hallway 20. Room of Mindlessness 21. Room of Acceptance 22. The Rotating Tunnel 23. The Refreshments 24. Lemmings Leap 25. If Left is not Right 26. Room of Day 27. Room of Cogitation 28. A Locked Door 29. Room of Illogic 30. Room of Dishonesty Epilogue Map of the Dungeon Back to Shadis #21 Table of Contents Back to Shadis List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines © Copyright 1995 by Alderac Entertainment Group This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com