TEXT: 1
  A One Sheet adventure for The Day After Ragnarok by Paul Stefko
  Lawrence is a town of nearly 300 in the heart of coal country. 
  (In the Poisoned Lands, Lawrence could be located anywhere 
  in Appalachia from Pennsylvania to the Grand Duchy of 
  Birmingham, as well as southern Illinois and as far west 
  as Wyoming.) Yesterday, disaster struck the nearby Darby 
  Company mine: an underground coal fire is burning, threatening 
  Lawrence and its inhabitants.
  WELCOME TO THE BARBECUE
  The characters are called upon by the local authority to evacuate 
  the town. This is not as easy as it sounds. Like many small towns 
  these days, Lawrence is insular and distrustful of all outsiders.
  The characters must mount a campaign to convince 
  the Lawrencians their lives are in immediate 
  danger, and they only have the better part 
  of a day to do it. As the fire builds, gases 
  are released and escape through the 
  ground. The heat grows so intense 
  that spot fires break out. By the next 
  morning, the town could be ash. 
  (In truth, it will burn much sooner 
  than that. See Eruption.)
  The people of Lawrence are 
  frightened but holding a united 
  front. There are 65 able-bodied 
  adults with arms and experience 
  ready to defend the town. This 
  includes a dozen women who are as 
  good with a rifle as their husbands and 
  brothers. Due to the war and the dangers 
  of the post-Serpentfall world, the men have 
  a noticeable age gap between the late teens and 
  early 30s.
  The nominal authority in Lawrence is Deputy Sheriff Jack Lloyd. 
  Lloyd is convinced that the mine fire is being played up to get 
  the people of Lawrence out of their homes and into Darby 
  Company camps, where they can be more readily exploited. He’s 
  heard rumors of whole towns disappearing into virtual slavery 
  following disasters. He’ll speak of “Bayard, after the flood” and 
  “the twister that tore through Gilmore last spring” and about 
  how no one has heard from those people since. He resists the 
  evacuation with determined rhetoric and tense armed standoffs.
  HAZARDS
  The two major dangers from the underground conflagration 
  are gas leaks and spot fires. Use these hazards with greater 
  frequency as the adventure goes on.
  • 
  Toxic Gas: The burning coal creates a lot of toxic smoke 
  and fumes. That gas has to go somewhere, and the easiest 
  way is to pass up through cracks and other natural vents. 
  These gases can overcome even the strongest heroes if they 
  get a faceful. Treat this as a Lethal poison (p. 89 of Savage 
  Worlds Deluxe). Smart heroes may bring gas masks, 
  making them immune. 
  • 
  Spot Fires: The extreme heat underground can cause 
  structures on the surface to spontaneously combust. Use 
  the normal rules for fire; the smoke causes fatigue, but a fire 
  can be accompanied by toxic gas as well. Being caught in a 
  sudden spot fire may prompt a fear check.
  DELIVERING THE BAD NEWS
  The bulk of the evacuation can be run as a dramatic 
  task (p. 84 of Savage Worlds Deluxe). This 
  requires five successful Persuasion rolls 
  at -2. Each roll takes an hour, and the 
  characters have 8 hours before the 
  Eruption. The characters can make 
  cooperative rolls as they cover the 
  town. Each successful roll convinces 
  more and more townspeople to 
  leave Lawrence. If the characters 
  succeed at five actions, they 
  convince all of the residents to 
  evacuate, with the exception of 
  Garrett McClelland.
  In place of a Persuasion roll, you 
  may run a scene where the characters 
  combat a hazard to save some residents. 
  Perhaps they save a child from a spot fire 
  and return her to her parents on the edge 
  of town. This requires different rolls, with the 
  outcome counting as a success or failure in the dramatic 
  task.
  If the Action Card is a Club, the characters encounter an angry 
  mob, and the roll for that action takes an additional -2. Failing 
  this roll means the characters take 2d4 damage and are run 
  out of town, ending the dramatic task. If they hope to save the 
  remaining townsfolk, they must forcibly remove them. When 
  the characters deal with Garrett McClelland, they have to deal 
  with an extra 1d4+3 angry townsfolk. (The players should be 
  discouraged from fighting the mob, but if they insist, run a 
  combat against 2d6+2 townsfolk. This automatically fails the 
  action and ends the dramatic task. The town is convinced the 
  characters are enforcers for Darby or the Mayoralty.)
  LAST MAN STANDING
  Forty years ago, Garrett McClelland built his house on the edge 
  of Lawrence so he didn’t have to deal with neighbors. The town 
  grew around his land, surrounding him with other homes. In the 
  Fire Down Below
  
  2
  Fire Down Below
  process, McClelland became the grumpy old man who terrifies 
  kids and worries parents. His only companions are his Irish 
  wolfhounds, Brigitte and Finn, who he has trained as reluctant 
  guard dogs.
  McClelland’s house is a small bungalow, but his land is enough 
  for three homes. He long ago enclosed the plot with a seven-foot 
  wooden fence. A few trees stand far back from the fence to avoid 
  questions of maintenance with the neighbors.
  Near the end of the evacuation, the characters are approached 
  by a frantic girl named Meredith Coleman. She explains her 
  brothers, Patrick and Danny, snuck over McClelland’s fence. 
  The old man has been stockpiling ammunition for years, 
  and Meredith’s brothers wanted to help themselves in the 
  confusion. McClelland caught them, knocked them out, and 
  dragged them into the house. She saw it all through a hole 
  in the fence. (If the characters have been run out of town, 
  Meredith sneaks out to find them, claiming that Deputy Lloyd 
  has a grudge against her family.)
  When the characters near the fence, McClelland fires a warning 
  shot from his roof. He shouts for them to leave him alone. If 
  they try to talk him down, McClelland warns them off again, 
  but doesn’t fire if they keep their distance. Eventually, he climbs 
  back into the house.
  If the characters attempt to enter his property, McClelland gives 
  up the pretense and shoots to kill. Anyone coming inside the 
  fence is met by his dogs. (If the characters failed the dramatic 
  task, the dogs’ barking draws the attention of the townspeople.)
  Finally, removing McClelland is complicated even further when 
  the heat of the underground fire ignites part of the house. 
  McClelland has been stockpiling ammunition in his spare 
  bedroom. Left unchecked, the fire reaches the ammo in three 
  rounds. Anyone inside the house when the cache cooks off takes 
  3d6 damage.
  ERUPTION
  Depending on their performance, the characters may evacuate 
  the town. They may rescue Garrett McClelland or regretfully end 
  his paranoid life. However it turns out, the final moments of the 
  town of Lawrence come just before sundown.
  It begins with a rumbling, centered on the town square. Cracks 
  open in the earth, spewing toxic gas. With a deep roar, a hole 
  erupts in the very middle of the square and a serpentine 
  creature of burning coal emerges. As waves of heat roll off 
  the beast, nearby buildings catch fire. If there are remaining 
  townsfolk, they scream and run.
  At first, the coal demon seems intent on just spreading fire. It 
  attacks structures, setting them ablaze. Once the characters 
  get its attention, however, it turns its full fury to the fight.
  The demon is smart enough to use its environment to its 
  advantage. It lures characters into patches of toxic gas, to which 
  it is immune. It destroys any flammable cover the characters 
  seek. It holds its explosive attack until it gets a number of 
  characters in the area.
  This should be a very difficult fight. Hopefully, the characters 
  made a good showing evacuating the town, because this battle 
  will destroy whatever is left of Lawrence. Even after the demon 
  is destroyed, the fires still burn and gas still streams from the 
  ground. The characters should grab any townsfolk that remain 
  and beat a hasty exit.
  Angry Townsfolk
  Use Thugs, DAR p. 83. One in three is of them is armed with a 
  Winchester 1897 pump shotgun.
  [WC] Garrett McClelland
  For Garrett McClelland, use the statistics for the Loner, 
  DAR, p. 80. Add Shooting d8 to skills. Garrett is armed 
  with a Springfield M1903 rifle.
  Brigitte & Finn
  Use the Dog/Wolf statistics from the SW core book.
  [WC] Coal Demon
  The demon appears as a 10-foot-long serpentine body 
  topped by a humanoid torso with thick arms and a 
  hooded head like a cobra. The creature has a black, rocky 
  hide with cracks that reveal a hellish orange glow within. 
  Heat pours from it, and its very touch can burn. The demon’s 
  most dangerous attack, however, is its ability to violently 
  explode, burning everyone around it.
  Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d10, 
  Vigor d10
  Skills: Fighting d10, Notice d6
  Pace: 8     Parry: 7     Toughness: 11 (4)
  Special Abilities
  • 
  Armor +4: Rocky hide.
  • 
  Elemental: No additional damage from called shots; 
  Fearless; Immune to disease and poison.
  • 
  Explosive: Center a Medium Burst Template on the demon. 
  Any other creature in this area takes 3d6 damage; any 
  creature wounded is knocked back 2”. The demon is shaken.
  • 
  Fiery Touch: Str+d6; chance of catching fire.
  • 
  Quick: Discard action cards of 5 or lower.
  Credits
  Writing & Design: Paul Stefko     
   Interior Art: Mike Vilardi   
  Editing & Development : Kenneth Hite & Hal Mangold
    Graphic Design & Art Direction: Hal Mangold 
  This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available 
  from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com. Savage 
  Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of 
  Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permission. Pinnacle 
  makes no representation or warranty as to the quality, viability, or 
  suitability for purpose of this product.
  Fire Down Below is copyright © 2013 by Atomic Overmind Press. 
  All rights reserved. The Day After Ragnarok is copyright © 2008-
  2013 by Kenneth Hite. All rights reserved.  
  
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