Stage 5 - Skid Row

You now stand in a narrow alley between tall, dingy brick walls that could be part of a factory or warehouse district. Far overhead, boarded up windows adorn the upper stories. The sky above is gray with smoke and heavy clouds. Along the alley, heaps of rubbish overflow the cans and dumpsters. The smell is only slightly better than that of the hallway that you have just left. It is twilight here, either close to sunrise or sunset. At your feet, the remains of a disemboweled cat are starting to attract flies.

This alley turns back and forth, left and right as it winds its indecipherable way through a maze of buildings. Each stretch is 50 to 120 feet (roll 1d8x10+40) in length before it makes another turn. Every 100 feet, roll for random discoveries.

Table 3

In the Alley (Roll 1d10)

1: A bum, 50% chance that he is alive but too intoxicated or strung out to notice the characters. 50% chance that his throat has been ripped out recently.

2: A large graffito of smeared blood and feces. The words read (roll 1d6):

1) Jesus loves me.
2) The gods of madness want you.
3) Beelzebub loves hairy women.
4) Human flesh tastes best.
5) The wolven were here.
6) Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani! (My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!)

3: A large dumpster stands here that seems to be full of paper and wood. However, blood leaks from the bottom. If emptied, a human corpse with its ribs torn open and all of the flesh and organs removed will be found.

4: The corpse of a large dog lies in the middle of the alley. Its body has been torn open and most of it devoured.

5: A broken pipe far overhead dumps a stream of raw sewage into the alley. It drains through a narrow grate a few feet farther down.

6: A pile of rubbish blocks the alley. The characters must climb over. 20% chance to cause a scratch due to broken glass, jagged metal, etc.

7: Remains of a car that has been completely destroyed. The tires have been shredded and the metal is deeply gouged with claw marks.

8: A wooden crate of rusted gears, levers, and wheels.

9: A perfectly normal birthday cake with 12 candles (truly meaningless but by now the players should be so paranoid that this will put them right over the edge).

10: A dead crow plummets to the ground and lands in front of the group.

After 500 feet, the party will start to hear the howling of dogs or wolves somewhere in the distance. This will continue, with the sound slowly drawing closer as time passes. After the guards have travelled 1000 feet, the sky will grow suddenly dark, the humidity will rise substantially,, and the temperature will drop rapidly. In another 200 feet, the sky will open and a torrential rain will come down in sheets. Visibility will drop to 30 feet. In another 100 feet, the party will see a human shadow and several large canine shadows stalking them. If the party fires, the shadows will vanish. Otherwise, the shadows continue to pace the party at an even distance.

After another 500 feet, the alley will open into a courtyard and the shadows will surge out of the rain and reveal themselves as Joseph McBane, the escaped killer, and seven wolvens. McBane has used an Alter Own Body spell to double his size (which also doubles his ability scores and affects his secondary abilities). He and the wolvens attack with the following statistics:

McBane:

Movement: 14m/combat round
Actions: 5
Initiative bonus: +14
Damage bonus: +7
Damage capacity:
6 scratches = 1 light wound
5 light wounds = 1 serious wound
3 serious wounds = 1 fatal wound
Endurance: 150
Natural armor: 0
Attack modes: Fire ax 26 (scr 1-8, lw 9-14, sw 15-18, fw 19+); Unarmed combat 30 (scr 1-10, lw 11-20, sw 21-24, fw 25+)

Wolvens:

Terror throw modification: -5
Movement: 10m/combat round
Actions: 4
Initiative bonus: +9
Damage bonus: +3
Damage capacity:
4 scratches = 1 light wound
3 light wounds = 1 serious wound
2 serious wounds = 1 fatal wound
Endurance: 80
Natural armor: 1
Attack modes: Bite 15 (scr 1-4, lw 5-9, sw 10-15, fw 16+), Tongue 15 (1 m long) (scr 1-5, lw 6-11, sw 12-17, fw 18+)

After the battle has begun, one of the guards may notice (roll PER) a steel door at the back of the courtyard. The group can attempt to make a fighting retreat to this door. Behind it, they will find utter darkness. It is impossible to see any features or details of the room they are heading into and will be forced to either fight it out with McBane and the wolvens, or take their chances on the darkness.

McBane will follow in order to finish the kill but is 90% likely to lose the party in the dark. The wolvens will stay behind to eat the fallen but will not follow even if there are none_they know too well what lies beyond. If the party kills McBane, his body will rapidly disintegrate into smoking bloody slime amid his dying screams and the wolvens will flee.

Prison Break

Introduction
Stage 1: Steel Corridor
Stage 2: Abattoir
Stage 3: Above the City
Stage 4: The Slum
Stage 5: Skid Row
Stage 6: Darkness to Light
Ready Made Characters

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