Scavenge, Inc.

GM: Create A Dungeon Adventure

Roll or choose on the tables below.

A THREAT... SCAVENGE, INC. is by Chris

1. Tentacle-faced brain eaters
2. Mycelial fungus farmers
Bissette.
4. Zagor the Unbreakable
chris@loottheroom.uk
5. A rival group of treasure loottheroom.uk
seekers (give them a name)
loottheroom.itch.io

A one-page dungeon-delving Lasers & Feelings hack 3. An ancient undead spell-

whisperer
6. Enormous subterranean
worms with too many teeth
twitter.com/pangalactic

You are members of the subterranean excavation and retrieval company Scavenge, Inc. Your mission is to explore This game is a hack of LASERS &
WANTS TO...
uncharted cave systems and cavern complexes deep beneath the surface of the earth, seeking out ancient tombs and FEELINGS: TTHE DOUBLECLICKS
1. Enslave / Conquer 4. Kill / Eat TRIBUTE RPG by John Harper.
buried treasure chambers, stripping them bare, and returning your finds to the Corporation. Your leader Coinmaster
2. Destroy / Corrupt 5. Syphon power from
Bingley has been rendered useless after an encounter with the strange entities that dwell in the shadows that you 3. Steal / Capture 6. Build / Occupy This game is licensed under a
know only as The Shapeless, leaving you to fend for yourselves while she recovers. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license. http://
THE... creativecommons.org/licences/by-
Players: Create Characters Rolling The Dice nc-sa/3.0/us.
When you do something risky, roll 1d6 to find out how it goes. Roll +1d 1. Forgotten hoard of dragon 4. Ancient ziggurat
1 Choose a style for your character: Apathetic, Cautious, Cavalier, gold
Distant, Flamboyant, Meticulous, Noble, Rash, Selfless. if you’re prepared and +1d if you’re an expert (The GM tells you how
many dice to roll based on your character and the situation). Roll Art and fonts by ADOBE STOCK.
2. Glimmer Mines 5. Shrine to the deeper gods
2 Choose a role for your character: Beast Walker, Brute, Gods- your dice and compare each die result to your number.
Whisperer, Healer, Mycologist, Slinker, Spell Singer, Tinkerer. 3. Colony of ore moles 6. Spider cult
If you’re using BLADES (force, physicality) you want to roll under
your number.
3 Choose your number, from 2 to 5. A high number means you’re Which Will…
better at BLADES (brute force; acts of dexterity; feats of fortitude; If you’re using SHADOWS (personality, intellect) you want to roll over
sharp, violent action). A low number means you’re better at your number. 1. Unleash a terror from the 4. Plunge the surface world
SHADOWS (reasoning; charming speech; eldritch forces; calm, depths of the earth into eternal night
measured action).
0 - If none of your dice succeed, it goes wrong. The GM says how 2. Create ripples in time 5. Release a terrible plague
things get worse somehow.
4 Give your character a dangerous dungeon crawling name like 3. Open something that 6. Probably have very little
Caskbreaker or Hammerhands or something. 1 - If one die succeeds, you barely manage it. The GM inflicts a should have remained sealed effect on anyone not directly
complication, harm, or cost. involved
You have: some kind of armour (gleaming plate mail; padded leather
and chains; your natural ability to shake off pain; or whatever you 2 - If two dice succeed, you do it well. Say how you do what you GM: Running The Game
like), some kind of weapon (a vicious axe; daggers strapped to every
wanted to do. Play to find out how they defeat the threat. Reveal the threat by showing evidence of its recent badness
limb; eldritch energy crackling in your fingertips; etc), and a sack to
and/or by just telling them they know about it. Before a threat does something to the characters, show
haul away all the treasure you hope to find. 3 - If three dice succeed, you get a critical success! The GM tells you signs that it’s about the happen, then ask them what they do next. “The fungus farmers aren’t happy
Player goal: Get your character involved in dangerous subterranean some extra effect you get. you’ve come into their grove and start readying their tridents to attack you, what do you do?” “The face
adventures and try to make the most of them. in the rock grins and whispers that you should come closer. What do you do?”
! - If you roll your number exactly, you use BLADES IN THE SHADOWS.
Character goal: Choose one or create your own: Become Call for a roll when the situation is uncertain. Don’t pre-plan outcomes - let the dice decide what happens.
You get a special insight into what’s going on. Ask the GM a question
Coinmaster, Break New Ground, Discover New Species, Kill Use failures to push the action forward. The situation always changes after a roll, for good or for ill. Don’t
and they’ll answer you honestly. Some good questions:
Monsters, Unearth Ancient Tombs, Collect The Most Treasure, or kill characters - that’s not fun or interesting. Put them on the edge of death instead, and make players
Prove Yourself. What’s their real goal here? What aren’t we seeing? How could
find a way out of the situation.
I get them to ____? What’s the best way to ____? Who sent them
Players: Band Together here? What did we miss? Ask questions and build on the answers, and let your players shoulder some of the load of building the
fiction. “Have any of you seen the marking on the Ziggurat before? What do they mean?”
As a group, pick two strengths that come from working together: (A roll of BLADES IN THE SHADOWS counts as a success).
Stealthy, Indefatigable, Expert Tactician, Passively Perceptive, HELPING: If you want to help someone else who’s rolling, say how Distribute Treasure
Trapbreaker, Ambusher, Brute Force. you try to help and make Once the adventure is done, roll or choose from the table below to determine a reward.
Also, pick one problem: Argumentative (difficult to reach group a roll. If you succeed, give
decisions), Avarice (the group falls apart when gold is at hand), them +1d. 1. This heavy sinuous drinking horn is pleasingly stained. It whispers terrible secrets only you can hear.
Splash Damage (you’re indiscriminate in battle and tend to hurt
2. This heavy white statuette is horrifyingly warped. It was taken from the lair of an eldritch abomination.
one another), Grim Reputation (you are not nice people).
3. This shrivelled glass kalimba is pleasingly fragile. It speaks to ghosts.
Players: Name Your Company
4. This tattered coin purse is creepily twisted. It is covered in crawling runes.
Each band of treasure seekers working for Scavenge, Inc. has a
name. Give yourselves a cool one, like The Shadow Stalkers, Dig 5. A shadowy silver necklace that smells like the ocean.
Team 6, or something better than either of them. 6. This finely crafted glass horn is worryingly cold to the touch. It will never let you put it down.