[Introduction] Rappan Athuk: Welcome to the Meat Grinder

[Quarterpound]

Rappan Athuk
The Dungeon of Graves

Many hundreds of years ago, the forces of good allied to destroy the main Temple of Orcus in the ancient city of Tsar. With their temple in ruins, the surviving high priests of this accursed demon-god fled the city with an army of enemies on their trail—an army of heroic fighters, clerics and paladins—led by Zelkor, a powerful wizard. The exact fate of these evil priests was then unknown, for not only did the remnants of the followers of Orcus disappear from all human reckoning, but so did the army of light that followed after them disappear as well. Some said that in the eternal scales the loss of so many good men was a fair price to pay to rid the world of so much evil. The evil cult, however, had not been destroyed. The surviving priests and their followers instead settled on a hill near the Forest of Hope, a sylvan woodland near the Coast Road. There they found a vast underground complex of caverns and mazes, carving out a volcanic intrusion beneath the hill. There, the priests of Orcus found the perfect lair to continue their vile rituals. For many years, they carried on in secret, hidden from the light and from the knowledge of men. Many years later, their underground delving completed, the evil priests erected a hideous mausoleum and a sunken graveyard atop the hill. It is believed that these graves are in fact the final resting place of the pursuing army of heroes that had been destroyed to a man. Soon after the mausoleum was erected the peaceful creatures of the wood began to disappear. Though many rangers and druids investigated these happenings, the cause of the creatures’ disappearance was not immediately determined. Some years later a powerful group of adventurers, led by Bofred, a high priest of Thyr, investigated the evil happenings and found the sunken graveyard leading to a labyrinthine complex. Bofred and his companions found great hordes of evil creatures in the complex. Though some of his companions returned from their expedition, telling tales of fantastic treasure and ferocious monsters, Bofred was never seen again—lost in the catacombs beneath the cursed mausoleum. For the last one hundred years, ranks of adventurers have ventured to the newfound dungeon. Many fell prey to bandits and monsters in the surrounding wilderness. Rumors suggest that of those who survived to reach the mausoleum and sunken graveyard, most were slain by guardians of green stone or perished on the very first level. Those rare few who return from deeper treks speak of horrible undead and creatures that cannot be slain. All who have explored Rappan Athuk offer this one universal piece of advice: “Don’t go down the Well."

Game Name Rappan Athuk - The Dungeon of Graves

Game System Pathfinder

Theme This is a completely, unabashedly, unapologetically pure dungeon crawl in the spirit of First Edition. This dungeon means to kill you; prepare yourselves!

A letter from your GM Tasty morsels Players, With all the heavy-duty application processes going on, the swell of adventure paths, and the general emphasis on roleplaying and character development we've all been a part of (in one way or another) over the last few weeks, I've decided to run something completely different: a mega-dungeon. This is the ultimate mega-dungeons, written in 2000 with a "first edition" feel. This will be the ultimate dungeon crawl with the barest of story to keep it together. Your first character will almost assuredly die. Your second will probably too. That's part of the fun! Add your characters' headstones to the graveyard above this vast, labyrinthian complex of unspeakable evil and player-killing horror. The goal is to have a party of 6 characters doing an epic dungeon delve, for no other reason than to kill evil monsters. The plan is to start at level 1 and go all the way to 20. There will be an obituary section, as I will be hoping/planning/expecting to kill some of your characters. If you're interested in a completely mindless, gory, dangerous dungeon crawl a la 70's 1E, then let me know and I'll see what I can come up with. Welcome to the meat grinder!

Character Creation Races: Human, Elf, Dwarf, or Halfling Class: All Paizo base and core Level: 1, gestalt Stats: "6x4d6kh3rl1" Starting Gold: 300 gp (no more than 150 gp on a single item) Your party will need trap finding, divine casting, and arcane casting. Typical party makeup is encouraged.