Code Of The Rats
"From Spuds To Studs"

4. Room of Forethought

By Dave Dollar
Art by Chris Myers

This room has no door. Instead, a simple brass plaque is mounted on the north wall of the passageway leading to the chamber.. The plaque reads, "Forethought."

The room itself is totally bereft of fixtures except for a 10 ,foot diameter metal hoop, elevated parallel to the floor, four feet up, by four metal legs. In the middle of the hoop is a round piece of leather, stretched tight by several score of small springs. The springs are spaced at equal intervals around the inside of the hoop. Here, the ceiling is noticeably higher than in the rest of the complex; perhaps 13, maybe 15 feet high.

GameMaster

The above is a layman's description of a trampoline. If you consult your map concerning this room, you will notice a dotted circle in the center of the room. This is not the trampoline, but the illusion covered hole in the ceiling above it. Using the trampoline, the characters may bounce up through the hole and grab the edge of the 5' wide ledge surrounding it. From the ledge, the characters may stroll over to the passageway in the north wall and proceed to the room of Reversal.

Pretty simple, right? Not really: Suspended from a metal bar hanging down from the ceiling is a six-foot diameter metal plate. The plate hangs down above the hole to a level about a foot above the covering illusion. This plate is a trigger which, when hit from below by even a little pressure, causes the release of a 300 lb. stone block. The block is housed in a silo not shown on the map. Tied to this block is a strong rope which enters a slot in the ledge through a small hole. The rope circumscribes the hole to the upper; level and is tied into a noose.

The effect? When a character bounces up though the hole, he hits his head on the trigger causing the rope to snap tight around his neck. The three-hundred pound block is brought to an abrupt halt as the character's neck is instantly snapped against the stone ledge. The victim then dangles limply from the hole with his head apparently stuck through the ceiling. After a short time, the trap resets itself, releasing the victim to land with a meaty thud on the stone floor below. A grim teacher for the lesson of forethought.

The GM should give the player a few subtle hints of what is to come. It will probably take a few bounces on the trampoline for intrepid adventurers to get their heads up through the illusion, so we'll start our bounce count on the first bounce on which the character can glimpse the room above. On each of these bounces, tell the character what he sees, remembering of course, that the descriptions should be skimpy and unsure, due to the short viewing time of the room above. Here's an example of how it should work:

Bounce 1: "You could only see for a second, but it looked like there's a room up there with a ledge going around it. The hole is about ten feet around and has a brown stripe running around it."

Bounce #2: "Yes, it's definitely a rope, recessed into a slit in the ledge. For some reason the ceiling seemed really low up there - maybe just an effect of the illusion..."

Bounce #3: If the character hasn't taken action by now, such as leaping for the ledge, stopping his bouncing, or feeling above for the trigger (which would close the noose painfully, but harmlessly, on his arm) then he deserves what he gets.

How does this room demand forethought? It takes forethought to think, "Hey, maybe there's a bad nasty something, or other waiting up there for my head to pop up, so it can turn my skull into a fine red paste!" as opposed to jumping up there to look around. The simple forethought of probing ahead with one's arm is sufficient to get through this room alive.

It is possible to salvage about thirty feet of rope by severing it right where it enters the room. The trampoline is securely bolted to the floor.

Score Chart

+5 For feeling above while jumping (and thus avoiding the trap).

+5 For best role player

+3 For testing the ceiling for illusions (and thus finding one).

+3 For any character thinking to salvage the rope by disabling the trap.

-4 For mutilating the trampoline.

-10 For dying in this room.

More Code of the Rats Introductory Fantasy Adventure

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