Random Encounters: Beneath Naples

Naples is an ancient city built atop layers of volcanic tufa. The stone is easy to dig through and carve, and over the past four thousand years people have dug a lot of tunnels under Naples. There are natural caves, Roman cisterns and sewers, the early Christian catacombs of San Gennaro and San Gaudioso, a system of World War II bomb shelters, wine cellars, the modern water and subway systems — and countless vaults and tunnels kept secret or long forgotten. And beneath it all, a vast pool of magma churns.

RANDOM ENCOUNTERS BENEATH NAPLES

(Roll 1d10 if you're in an underground space; 1d20 if you're exploring the vast network of passages.)

1. Roll twice and combine
2. Plot advancing encounter: Someone or something related to why the heroes are crawling around under Naples in the first place.
3. Crooks: 1d8 Neapolitan gangsters who use the tunnels to stash loot and move around secretly. They're armed and don't want anybody snooping around, but they also don't want to attract attention if they can avoid it.
4. Eurynomos: Corpse-eating demon with purple-gray skin the color of rotted flesh. It is accompanied by 1d4 Ghouls (see below) and seeks dead humans. It's perfectly capable of making dead humans if it meets live ones.
5. Ghouls: Are they living dead or strange tunnel-dwelling humans? They eat carrion and know all the secrets of the underground. 1d6 Ghouls armed with their own teeth and claws.
6. Giant Snake: There aren't any snakes this big in Italy . . . but here it is, a python at least thirty feet long capable of crushing a full-grown steer in its coils.
7. Rats! A vast swarm of rats, driven up from deeper levels by something. They're maddened by fear and hunger and attack anything in their path.
8. Secret Passage: A hidden door leading into another part of the underground. Figuring out how to open it may take some doing.
9. Servizio Infrastrutture: 1d4 city workers who know this part of the underground pretty well. They know what to avoid, how to get out — and things it's best not to talk about.
10. Tremor: The ground shakes for 1d10 seconds. Use an "exploding die" — if the result is 10, roll again, and the additional seconds of shaking are stronger.
11. Collapsed Section: The tunnel has partly collapsed. You may be able to squeeze through the rubble, but there's a 1 in 4 chance that will cause more stones to fall.
12. Gas! This section is filled with poisonous hydrogen sulfide bubbling up from the volcanic areas below. Anyone who breathes here may pass out, which would be fatal.
13. Lair: A chamber used as a hideout. The occupants will not be happy to see you. Roll 1d6 to see whose lair it is and how many there are. 1: Crooks (1d4); 2: Ghouls (2d4); 3: Homeless Kids (1d4); 4: Lava-Men (1d4); 5: Living Skeletons (1d6); 6: Rats (1d4 swarms).
14. New Diggings: A recent tunnel, only a meter tall, looks like a shortcut to where you're going.
15. Octopus! It's been lurking down here for decades, hiding in a dark half-flooded chamber. On a diet of rats, cats, and unwary explorers it has grown to immense size, with arms three meters long and a beak like a vulture.
16. Pursuers: Someone's after you, either trying to drive you out or catch you for no good purpose. Roll 1d6 to see who's chasing you. 1-2: 1d4 Crooks armed with knives and pistols; 3-4: 2d4 Ghouls; 5-6: 1d4 Vampires.
17. Spatial Anomaly: The tunnel network is so complex that parts of it actually defy normal topology. This section connects to a place 1d10 times 100 meters away.
18. Trap: Someone wants to discourage visitors to this section. Roll 1d6 to see what kind of trap it is. 1-2: Concealed crossbows launch 1d4 bolts down the passage; 3-4: Hidden pit drops you into a flooded section below; 5-6: Spring-loaded scythe slashes across the passage
19. Underground Church: One of many dug by the early Christians to avoid persecution. It's dry, safe, and supernatural monsters avoid it. There is a 10 percent chance this church has been desecrated by infernal powers and actually attracts and strengthens unnatural horrors.
20. Tracks: Roll again to see what you find traces of.

SITUATIONS BENEATH NAPLES

(Roll 1d6, then consult the table above to determine who A and B are.)

1. A desires B
2. A wants to capture B
3. A wants B dead
4. A wants to go somewhere
5. A wants to solve a mystery
6. A wants X

REACTION TABLE

2-3: Immediate attack!

4-5: Unfriendly

6-8: Neutral

9-10: Friendly

11-12: Very Friendly