David Cook wrote Slave Pits of the Undercity (A1) as the first in a series of four modules presented at Gencon XIII at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in August of 1980. The series of four modules, later released as Scourge of the Slave Lords, played sequentially at the event as a tournament. The module’s difficulty level is set for a group of six to eight characters of fourth to seventh level in experience. It is 24 pages long not including the front and back cover.

The other modules in the series include Secret of the Slavers Stockade, Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords, and In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords all by different authors.

Slave Pits of the Undercity

Introduction

It is time to put a stop to the marauders! For years the coastal towns have been burned and looted by the forces of evil. You and your fellow adventurers have been recruited to root out and destroy the source of these raids. But beware, hundreds of good men and women have been taken by the slavers and have never been seen or heard from again!

Thus begins the description of the module.

Pre-generated Characters

Because the module ran as a tournament event it comes with nine characters ready to use by players immediately. The characters come in a broad range of classes in experience, from Freda, a fourth level ranger, to the dual-classed fourth level fighter/fourth level magic user Kayen Telva.

Each of the characters has a standard list of equipment and prepared spells so that tournament players can begin the game with very little preparation.

Scoring

As a tournament module Slave Pits of the Undercity includes a scoring scheme. It essentially takes the number of surviving characters and gives them points for visiting the largest number of rooms. Each room contains additional points available for gain or loss based on specific actions of the players. The highest score comes from visiting the most rooms and having the largest number of survivors.

Plot

Slavers ravage the population on the coastline along the Sea of Gearnat from Onnwal to the Wild Coast. Local lords, finally tired of the situation, hire a band of adventurers to attack the slavers in their home. The adventure begins at a ruined temple in the Pomarj city of Highport that serves as headquarters to the ruthless slavers. The module takes the group through the temple and into the sewers below where terrible insect creatures make their lair along with the slave lords.

Eventually the group reaches the prisoners and their captors and finds a map showing the route of the caravans. Following this map leads the group to the second module, Secret of the Slavers Stockade.

Enemies

The adventurers will encounter a fairly large number of foes as they make their way through the ruined temple and the sewers below. Prominent among these are:

• Aspis (larvae, drone, and cow)
• Basilisk
• Doppleganger
• Ghoul
• Giant Ants (worker and soldier)
• Giant Sundew
• Gray Ooze
• Harpy
• Ogre
• Orcs
• Stirge
• Troll
• Wight

Conclusion

This small tournament module is fairly action-packed and quite suitable for a heavy combat game. A Gamemaster can easily insert the scenario into any current campaign simply by changing the names of locations to match those of their own creation. Thanks to scanning it is possible to purchase most of these older modules for a small fee as an electronic document.

See also

• Slave Lords
• Slavers

References

• Cook, David. Slave Pits of the Undercity (TSR, 1980).

• Cook, David, Allen Hammack, Harold Johnson, Tom Moldvay, Lawrence Schick, and Edward Carmien. Scourge of the Slave Lords (TSR, 1986).

External links

• The Acaeum entry
• Pen & Paper
• NeverWinter Nights Conversion Module