d20 12 to Midnight Fire in the Hole.pdf

Fire in the Hole

By Jerry Blakemore

Editors: Trey Gorden & Ed Wetterman

Mechanics Editor: Mark Gedak

Cover & Layout: Preston P. DuBose

Maps: Craig Largent

Artwork: Jeﬀ Varnes

Playtesters: Brandon Blakemore, Justine Blakemore, Preston DuBose,

Craig Largent, Russell Mirabelli, David Padget, Charles Pyle, Ed Wetterman

his is the printer-friendly edition. Please refer to the full version for art and maps.

I dedicate this module to the veterans who have graduated from Texas A&M

and have served the United States in conﬂicts around the world— giving me the

freedom to game at the price of their blood.

‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and are used according to the terms of the d20 System License version 6.0. A

copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com/d20.

d20 Modern(tm), and Dungeons & Dragons are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and is used with permission. Wizards of the

Coast(R) is a registered trademark of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and is used with permission.

For information on the designation of Open Game Content and Product Identity in this publication, refer to the last page.

tected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without

the express written permission of 12 to Midnight.

his product is a work of ﬁction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is purely coincidental. Made in Texas, USA.

v05 printer-friendly; modiﬁed 11/15/2006

12 to Midnight

Page 1

Fire in the Hole

Table of Contents

Author’s Introduction ..................................3

Section 0: GM Preparation ..........................4

0.1: Introduction..........................................................4

0.2: Levels ...................................................................4

0.3: Play Notes .............................................................4

0.4: GM Background ...................................................5

0.5: Plot Synopsis.........................................................5

0.6: Setting the Mood ..................................................6

Section 1: Camp Trepidation .......................7

1.1: he Smell of Napalm in the Morning....................7

1.2: he Camp .............................................................8

1.3: Camp Encounter Generator ..................................8

Zombies ........................................................................................ 8

Dragon Parts ................................................................................. 8

Roll Twice...................................................................................... 8

Section 2: Gateway to Hell ...........................9

2.1: he Laboratory......................................................9

2.1a: Parasites ................................................................................ 9

2.1b: he Descent.......................................................................... 9

2.2: he Basement........................................................9

2.2a: Regrouping ......................................................................... 10

2.3: he Subbasement ................................................11

2.3a: Recon Option ..................................................................... 12

2.3b: Combat Option.................................................................. 12

2.4: Retreat ................................................................13

2.5: Conclusion..........................................................13

Section 3: Adventure Generator .................14

3.1: Mission Generator ..............................................14

Recon Missions ........................................................................... 14

Search and Destroy Missions ....................................................... 14

Target Missions............................................................................ 14

Point Defense Missions................................................................ 14

3.2: Cavern Tables......................................................14

Passages ....................................................................................... 15

End of Passage ............................................................................. 16

Room Type .................................................................................. 18

3.3: Patrols .................................................................21

3.4: Mission Statements .............................................21

Save Johnny................................................................................. 21

Observation of Recycler Troop Movements.................................. 21

Assassination Squad ..................................................................... 21

A Pack of Voars............................................................................ 21

Ambush Point.............................................................................. 21

Mercy Mission............................................................................. 21

he Twins .................................................................................... 21

Take Holding Area B2 ................................................................. 22

Escort Duty ................................................................................. 22

Knock Out Alien Disruption Equipment .................................... 22

Cavalry ........................................................................................ 22

A Line in the Sand....................................................................... 22

Beam me up Scotty...................................................................... 22

Wyrms......................................................................................... 22

Tet Lives ...................................................................................... 22

Radioactive .................................................................................. 22

Discovery..................................................................................... 22

Winning the War......................................................................... 23

Discovery II ................................................................................. 23

Alamo.......................................................................................... 23

Appendix 1: Cast of Creatures ....................24

Cyborganic Destroyer.................................................24

Cyborganic Ravager ...................................................24

Dimensional Creeper .................................................25

Enforcer .....................................................................26

Hunter .......................................................................27

Parasite.......................................................................27

Reanimator ................................................................28

Trepidation Dragon ...................................................28

Trepidation Dragon Wyrmling Spawn........................29

Voar ...........................................................................30

XR3-Marauder ...........................................................30

XR6-Mauler...............................................................31

Zombie ......................................................................31

Appendix 2: Recycler Weaponry ................32

Recycler Assault Riﬂe .................................................32

Recycler Cannon: ......................................................32

Recycler Minigun.......................................................32

Plasma Welder............................................................32

Shredder Claw............................................................32

Appendix 3: New Cybernetic Enhancements ....33

Cyborganic Body Armor (PL 7) .................................33

Cyborganic Tentacles (PL 8).......................................33

Impulse Coordinator (PL 7) .......................................33

OGL ..........................................................34

Page 2

12 to Midnight

Fire in the Hole

Author’s Introduction

I wanted to go back to Camp Trepidation.

From the very beginning of Weekend Warriors ,

I thought there was a good story there. Along

with good gaming, I knew Weekend Warriors

had the potential for hours of roleplaying as

the creatures called recyclers tried to stake a

claim on the Earth.

My goal for this module was the creation

of an exciting convention adventure that

would provide GMs with suﬃcient structure

to carry the game forward, if they chose to

do so. Whether the GM intends to play four

hours or four hundred, I think I met both of

my goals.

Around the time I started writing Fire in

the Hole , I met Jeﬀ Varnes, of Dirty Unicorn

Games, who had these cool tiles and creature

tokens. I thought that using his creatures in

the module would be a great way to promote

his product. Developing creatures for the re-

cyclers to use proved to be a lot of fun, and

Jeﬀ enjoyed reading the early drafts.

he guys at 12 to Midnight wanted to

publish Fire in the Hole at the end of 2005,

but the fact that I was also writing Skinwalker

caused conﬂicts in our production schedule.

One project had to have priority, and, since

we had slated Skinwalker for release in the

summer of 2005, it got the nod.

Playtesting Fire in the Hole proved to be

fun. We had two sessions: one in August of

2005 and another at AggieCon in March of

2006. For AggieCon, I had a cool dragon

counter to show the players. Jeﬀ had spent

many man-hours perfecting this baby, and I

could not wait to show it oﬀ. Boy was I sur-

prised when the players wanted to engage the

creature! Fortunately for them, the creature

was beyond the eﬀective range of most of the

weapons they were carrying.

I am glad this project is done. Honestly, at

the end of most module developments, the

writer often hates the project—not so for me

with Fire in the Hole . I kind of wonder where

it could go next.

Jery Blakemore

Strategy and Tactics magazine back introduced Jerry to gaming back in

1972. While stationed with the Army in Germany, he heard about these

Lieutenants playing some game with elves, dwarves, and black pud-

dings. Soon he was invited to join them and gaming has never been the

same since. D&D 3.0 inspired Jerry to write modules for others, but Ed

Wetterman and Mark Ramsey talked him into writing modern horror

for 12 to Midnight. Today Jerry lives in Sugar Land, Texas with his wife,

Branda and two children, Justine and Brandon.

12 to Midnight

Page 3

Section 0: GM Preparation

Fire in the Hole

0.1: Introduction

What happened to the National Guardsmen sent to

Camp Trepidation? he Pentagon wants to know,

not to mention the man in the Oval Oﬃce. A ma-

rine reconnaissance team answered the call, and now

they are missing too. he Pentagon does not like this

at all. heir answer is to send in a US Army infan-

try battalion, locked and loaded, ready for bear. he

problem is, they are not hunting bear.

0.3: Play Notes

he following adventure can be as long or short as

the GM desires. Use it as the stepping-stone for a

campaign or play it as a one-night stand. he GM

should read the entire module multiple times and, if

using the optional starting encounters, a familiarity

with the Camp Trepidation maps is essential. hese

maps are available in Weekend Warriors and as a free

download from 12tomidnight.com (though we urge

you to play Weekend Warriors ).

he GM should allow the squad a lot of leeway

before they go to the laboratory. Adjust encounters

accordingly. It does not hurt to pregenerate the en-

counters before the players arrive for the evening’s

fun. he presentation of the module focuses on the

area around and underneath the research facility, but

the GM should adjust the adventure to the squad’s

actions. Use the ﬁre left by the napalm to control

the pace and direction. he ﬁre cuts the characters

oﬀ from searching areas you do not wish them to

explore. hese are crack soldiers, but none of them

can walk through the ﬂames. Keep them moving and

nervous—this is horror after all.

Because of Camp Trepidation’s unique research and

the strange rumors brought back by the few survivors

Sgt. Baker

All right girls, listen up! I am Sergeant Major Charles Baker,

and I’ll be oﬀering you aid as you work your way through

this adventure. I’ll be helping you cupcakes understand

military terminology and game rules. I use various SitReps

(Situational Reports—Sidebars) throughout this game.

I’m the daddy, and you will listen to what I have to say! Is

that understood soldier? Good!

0.2: Levels

his is a combat-oriented adventure for four ﬁfth-

level characters, but game masters should ﬁnd it easy

to scale the adventure for any party. Simply adjust

the DCs up or down based on the party level. Re-

move the number of creatures in each encounter to

lower the play level, or add more to each encounter

to raise it.

he soldiers have access to great modern military

weapons. hese weapons give a ﬁrepower edge to the

heroes, and, as such, allow them to ﬁght higher CR

creatures than normal.

For even more character options, we highly rec-

ommend Blood & Guts 2: Military Training Manual

by RPG Objects. his book includes new advanced

classes that allow a wide variety of military characters

to be built using a new system of advanced training

talents and bonus feats. It also includes rules for as-

signing military ranks and earning medals.

Check our website, 12tomidnight.com , for free

downloads of pregenerated soldier characters to aid

in quick play, as well as loads of other goodies.

The 2 nd of the

63 rd Infantry

hese soldiers are assigned to the Second Battalion, Sixty-

third Infantry. You can call it the 2 nd of the 63 rd if you want

to sound like you know what you’re talking about. I know

better, but I promise not to tell.

What’s a battalion? What the frick did they teach you

in Basic anyway? All right, listen up. I’m only going to

explain this once. A battalion is a unit composed of a head-

quarters and two or more companies, batteries, or troops.

he Second is an organic unit, meaning it is part of a larger

regiment (the Sixty-third) and is used for tactical situa-

tions. he Second Battalion is further divided into three

companies of roughly 400 soldiers each. Each company

is subdivided into four platoons, which vary in size and

may be divided into recon teams. An organizational chart

would look something like this:

63rd Infantry

-> Second Battalion (approx. 1,200 soldiers)

-> Company (avg. 400 soldiers ×3)

-> Platoon (size varies ×4)

-> Little ole’ you

Page 4

12 to Midnight

Fire in the Hole

of the original incident, the Pentagon is impatient for

reliable information. Every soldier in the recon team

has been equipped with helmet-mounted video and

audio pickups. his signal is broadcast back to the

temporary battalion headquarters and bounced via

encrypted satellite signal straight to the Pentagon.

he nature of this adventure requires that one

character be designated as the team leader. Unless

you decide otherwise, his rank is Sergeant—not

much higher than the men he leads. he Sergeant

can communicate to his Lieutenant at HQ using the

helmet’s communication system.

With battalion HQ monitoring the characters’ ev-

ery step, the GM has the opportunity to “pass along”

orders at any step of the adventure. While you should

avoid railroading your players, it does allow you to

keep the pace rapid or send in reinforcements.

You have a whole battalion at your disposal. If the

ﬁrst recon squad gets wiped out, let the players use

the same characters, or create new soldiers, and try

again. Let the next squad go search for the lost squad.

here is no need to pull punches or hold back. his is

a new war against beings from the recyclers’ dimen-

sion who are attempting to set up a base they can use

to invade Earth.

Who are the Recyclers?

Recyclers are outsiders from a parallel dimension. hey

believe their way of life is the best and seek to convert any

new worlds they access. hey are called recyclers because

of their ability to take any substance or organism and ﬁnd

a use for it. In our world, for example, they are converting

humans to hunters or undead minions. hey also convert-

ed all of the vehicles they found in Camp Trepidation for

use in their production facility and weapon systems.

hey would like nothing better than to see every hu-

man dead or enslaved. hen they would harvest plasma

from nearby planets and the sun. his would feed their

culture for millennia. And what do we have to ﬁght back

with? You! Hope there is more to you than I see now.

marine reconnaissance team are lost. he Second

Battalion, Sixty-third Infantry, will conduct a search-

and-destroy mission. It is hoped that this assignment

turns into a rescue mission as well.

he recyclers have been busy. hey have disas-

sembled much of the equipment left in Camp Trepi-

dation to produce alien war machines and to modify

the zombies into dangerous, nightmarish creatures.

So far, the gate to the recyclers’ dimension is not large.

hey require more power to open the gate fully, and

there is currently no power source in Camp Trepi-

dation. Ironically, the recyclers destroyed the camp’s

power generator when they opened the gate.

he recyclers are looking for two things: One is a

power generator to help them broaden the gate. he

other is humanity. he human emotion of fear can

also widen the gate, but the fear needed to generate

suﬃcient power kills most humans. he recyclers are

researching ways to keep men alive longer during this

process. In the meantime, their corpses provide the

recyclers with more soldiers.

0.4: GM Background

In Weekend Warriors , the recyclers opened a gate

from their homeworld to our own planet. hey won

the ﬁrst skirmish, and now they prepare to escalate

the war.

he US government is not sure what happened

in New Mexico. he Pentagon has deployed all of

America’s best technology and talent to determine

what happened at Camp Trepidation. All that the

US military and intelligence services have discov-

ered is that unidentiﬁed “things” are moving about

the camp, but they do not know what, exactly, those

“things” are. Unlike a normal body, they emit no heat

traces. Interestingly, the temperature in and around

the base has grown cooler by an average of 10 degrees

Fahrenheit.

A marine reconnaissance team entered the base

two weeks ago. here has been no contact with them

since they initiated their search of the laboratory

area. he Pentagon assumes that all personnel from

the National Guard (see Weekend Warriors ) and the

0.5: Plot Synopsis

he adventure begins along the fence line of Camp

Trepidation. A battalion of ground pounders (In-

fantry for you non-military types) watches as the

air force napalms the camp. To everyone’s shock, a

dragon ﬂies out of the carnage. It destroys an F-16

before air missiles shoot it down.

Now that the air force has done their job, the in-

fantry can carry out their mission. he heroes are the

point squad, and they get to go see what survived the

napalm strike. How this happens, and how quickly,

12 to Midnight

Page 5

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