Escape from the Horde

You Awaken in Darkness

 ... hands bound behind your back and foggy memories of the bailey burning.  A timid voice comes out of the darkness. 'They are doing to eat us'.

Escape from the Horde is a short, lethal oneshot module, with rules included.

The characters begin in the deepest room of a gnomish warren, stripped of their weapons, and about to be eaten by the goblins who have overrun the area. They must figure out the layout, work the gnomish contraptions and traps to move upwards, and see which allies they can make along the way.

The dungeon includes a dragon (who is too large to fit through the door to the treasure room), several unpredictable magic scrolls (each activated by answering a riddle), and various cells with other prisoners (where the group can find new characters to replace any who died already).

Split Hallway

You see two doors ahead.  The first is labelled 'oneshot', and promises a short session, and introduces rules throughout the module, as they become relevant.  The other door contains a larger warren, with more challenges, but less help learning the rules.

Items

The handouts contain

- a brief summary of the rules for reference,

- farmer statblocks to cut out and give to players so they can start a prisoner's revolt,

- and lots of pre-generated characters.

The game is lethal, so players will need to use the spare characters before long.

Rulebook Optional

The module explains the rules as it goes, but also contains page-number references to the Core Rules, so you can reference the complete rulebook if you want a more visceral system.