TEXT: Written by SEAN PUNCH
  Illustrated by GUY BURWELL, 
  GLENN KRISTOFFERSEN, 
  DENIS LOUBET, and  
  DAN SMITH
  Reviewers: Douglas H. Cole, Peter V. Dell’Orto, and Christopher R. Rice
  GURPS, Pyramid, Warehouse 23, the pyramid logo, Dungeon Fantasy Setting, Caverntown, and the names of all products published  
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  GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Setting: Caverntown is copyright © 2018 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved.
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  STEVE JACKSON GAMES
  Stock #37-0343 
  Version 1.0 – April 2018
  ®
  GURPS System Design z STEVE JACKSON
  GURPS Line Editor z SEAN PUNCH
  Assistant GURPS Line Editor z JASON “PK” LEVINE
  GURPS Project Manager z STEVEN MARSH
  Executive Editor z MIRANDA HORNER
  Production Artist and Indexer z NIKOLA VRTIS
  GURPS FAQ Maintainer z VICKY “MOLOKH” KOLENKO
  Chief Executive Officer z PHILIP REED
  Chief Creative Officer z SAM MITSCHKE
  Chief Operating Officer z SUSAN BUENO
  Marketing Director z RHEA FRIESEN
  Director of Sales z ROSS JEPSON
  Page Design z PHIL REED and JUSTIN DE WITT
   Art Direction and Prepress Checker z NIKKI VRTIS
  TM
  TM
  
  IntroductIon  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 3
  Recommended Books . . . . . . . . . .3
  About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
  1 . A Most unusuAl  
  cIty-stAte  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 4
  Where in the World  
  Is Caverntown? . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
  History .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 4
  Lay of tHe Land  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 5
  Fort Caverntown . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
  Where’s the Map? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
  The Great Cavern . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
  Layout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
  Other Entrances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
  Infrastructure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
  tHe supernaturaL  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 9
  Magical Energies . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
  Other Weirdness. . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
  inHabitants .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 11
  Natives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
  Visitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
  Wildlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
  2 . those Who  
  Pull strIngs  .  .  .  .  .  . 13
  autHorities .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 13
  Lord Mayor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
  It’s Good to Be in Charge!. . . . . . .13
  Mayor Petunia Widgery. . . . . . . . .14
  Royal Embassy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
  Military Might . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
  Deep Rangers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
  Grand Mistress  
  Geneviève Romée . . . . . . . . . . .16
  tempLes  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 17
  Great Druid Carbonado Vibes. . . .18
  GuiLds .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 18
  The Big Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
  Delving Companies? . . . . . . . . . . .19
  Stella Marcia Zonio-Goldhaus . . .20
  Other Guilds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
  Master Bard Sivel . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
  The Locals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
  3 . WelcoMe to  
  cAverntoWn!  .  .  .  .  .  . 24
  WHat every visitor  
  needs to KnoW  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 24
  Tolls and Fees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
  Tasks in Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
  Urban Dangers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
  Local Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
  The Civilization Problem . . . . . . .26
  Deputy Delver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
  tHe CaverntoWn CampaiGn .  .  .  . 27
  Local Talent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
  Claiming Hospitality. . . . . . . . . . .28
  Social Traits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
  Settling Down. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
  Making Outdoorsmen Useful . . .29
  Random Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
  adventures .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 31
  Finding Quests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
  To and From. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
  The Dungeons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
  The Deep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
  Wandering Monsters . . . . . . . . . . .34
  4 . tAkIng cAre  
  of BusIness  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 36
  C-Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
  Goods  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 36
  Selling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
  Buying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
  The E-Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
  Regulars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
  Shops and Shopkeepers . . . . . . . .39
  Rolling Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
  What the Cat Dragged In. . . . . . . .41
  serviCes  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 42
  Accommodations  
  and Entertainment . . . . . . . . .42
  Magical Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
  Hospitable Places . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
  Henchmen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
  Repairs and Refits . . . . . . . . . . . .46
  Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
  Index .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 47
   
  Contents 
  2
  Contents
  About GURPS
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  Dungeon Fantasy Setting: Caverntown is located at 
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  next perfect element for your game.
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  we do our best to fix our errors. Errata pages for GURPS 
  releases are available at sjgames.com/errata/gurps.
  Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the 
  GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition. Page references that 
  begin with B refer to that book, not this one.
  
  “Society” can be summed up as “town, where we buy and 
  sell stuff.”
  – GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers
  But what is “town”?
  It could be a faux-medieval settlement, conceivably walled, 
  with a market where folk from the region’s villages come to 
  sell the goods they can produce and buy the 
  ones they can’t. However, towns in hack ’n’ 
  slash fantasy often have more in common with 
  cities: wealth that isn’t linked to trade with vil-
  lages, extensive services of little use to villag-
  ers, and a robust political identity, including 
  municipal buildings and officials. This is partly 
  because the creators of fantasy RPGs live on 
  present-day Earth, where the village-town-city 
  distinction puts population ahead of function 
  . . . but it’s mostly because dungeon-fantasy 
  towns must cope with delvers.
  Delvers present a multifaceted challenge for  
  any settlement! They bring in far more wealth –  
  precious metals, gems, surplus arms and 
  armor, magic items, monster parts, life-sized 
  demon statues, etc. – than agriculture, natu-
  ral resources, or workaday crafts could. They 
  make unusual demands, seeking to exchange 
  this haphazard assortment of treasure for 
  goods and services of little use to common folk, 
  who rarely need plate armor, power-item recharges, or petri-
  fied associates restored to flesh. They hawk their expertise not 
  as farmers, fishers, craftspeople, scholars, or even rulers, but 
  as “special operators” skilled at violence and magic, thereby 
  attracting equally odd (and often unsavory) quest-givers. And 
  they’re powerful, so town had better be ready for them.
  The other side of the coin is that delvers make a living fight-
  ing monsters that outclass the guards and soldiers of most 
  quest-givers, who generally remain in town or travel with 
  adventurers as bodyguards. This implies that town is a bastion 
  strong enough to survive in a world menaced by dire animals, 
  dragons, orcish armies, and zombie hordes – and capable of 
  projecting power to protect the villages that feed it. Much of 
  the wealth that rolls in probably pays for that security, and 
  doubtless many of the quests found in town are schemes to 
  enlist heroes in the settlement’s service (and to keep them out 
  of trouble . . .).
  Thus, a hack ’n’ slash town needn’t resemble a historical 
  one – and Caverntown is a worked example. It’s underground 
  and right next door to dungeons, making it easy for delvers to 
  haul loot to market, go shopping, and head back out the same 
  day. Its services are specialized for this niche. Adventurers 
  visit in droves, hoping to make their fortune, while quest- 
  givers come to exploit the adventurers. And Caverntown’s 
  citizens? They’re relatively safe: narrow gates to the tunnels 
  limit the monsters’ access, the small army of visiting heroes 
  swells its already-impressive garrisons, and the proliferation 
  of nearby quests means delvers rarely linger for long enough 
  to become a nuisance.
  So if you’re not sure what “town” should look like, why not 
  cheat and have it look a lot like the dungeon? Link your dun-
  geons to it as you create them and you’ll be well on your way 
  to excavating a respectable mega-dungeon!
  ReCommended books
  The rules in this supplement assume you have the GURPS 
  Basic Set, GURPS Magic, and the GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy series – GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers 
  and GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons at least, with a 
  hearty recommendation for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 17: 
  Guilds. They should generally make sense to players of the 
  Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game, too, though some pro-
  fessions, abilities, races, and concepts mentioned here aren’t 
  explained there.
  The setting is adaptable to any fantasy RPG. You can link it 
  to any dungeon that’s at least partly underground.
  About the AuthoR
  Sean Punch set out to become a particle physicist in 1985 
  and ended up as GURPS Line Editor in 1995. In that capacity, 
  he has written, edited, or contributed to some 150 GURPS 
  releases, revised the game into its fourth edition (2004), and 
  been a regular contributor to Pyramid magazine. From 2008, 
  he has served as the lead creator of the GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy series, which led to his design of the Dungeon 
  Fantasy Roleplaying Game, released in 2017. Sean has been 
  a gamer since 1979, but devotes most of his spare time to 
  Argentine tango (and occasionally tending bar). He lives in 
  Montréal, Québec.
   
  IntRoduCtIon 
  3
  IntRoduCtIon
  Do all these well-armed treasure-hunters 
  moseying around town worry me? Well, 
  why ever would they? Weapons and armor 
  hint that they’re successful treasure-
  hunters. They aren’t penniless – they paid 
  tolls to get in. And when they visit, monsters 
  don’t. I believe I speak for us all when I say: 
  “Welcome to Caverntown!”
  – Mayor Petunia Widgery
  
   
  A most unusuAl CIty-stAte 
  4
  Caverntown is a walled fortress town built entirely within 
  an artificial cavern under a mountain. It’s protected from the 
  elements, difficult to attack with an (above-ground . . .) army, 
  and safe from flying dragons who burn thatched-roofed cot-
  tages. Villages around the mountain’s base supply Caverntown 
  with food, but its magical resources enable it to survive on 
  its own if necessary, and it isn’t sworn to provide regional 
  defense – it’s more self-contained city-state than traditional 
  market town. Unsurprisingly for a subterranean settlement, 
  it’s home to many dwarves and gnomes, and has an economic 
  focus on such underground activities as mining – and, more 
  interestingly, delving. All of which makes it little like anything 
  found topside . . .
  hIstoRy
  At some point in the long-forgotten past, the Forces of 
  Evil schemed to erupt into the world and plunge it into pain, 
  madness, and eternal night. The Forces of Evil try that every 
  human generation or two. Occasionally, such an offensive 
  enjoys some degree of success, with meddling heroes stem-
  ming the onslaught only after it has carved an Evil Empire. 
  More often, though, the champions of Good nip it in  
  the bud.
  What’s noteworthy about this particular attempt was that 
  the Elder Thing mastermind (Its name is unknowable, not 
  just unpronounceable), knowing that heroes could meddle 
  only in what they knew about, mustered Its forces Beyond 
  Time and Space. Its plan was to translocate Its entire legion 
  into the mortal world in a massive bubble of Gate magic, 
  so there would be no portal to seal off. It invoked Its inde-
  scribable divinatory powers to calculate the perfect time 
  (When The Stars Were Right) and place: amid the assem-
  bled armies of Good, whose soothsayers had warned when 
  and where to expect trouble, but couldn’t provide details. 
  Gibbering Things would appear among the wretched mor-
  tals, driving them mad – mad. Glorious!
  What It missed was that the meddler this time would be 
  a villain: Aloloch Thrice-Crowned, a megalomaniac wiz-
  ard-priest serving Evil of a more worldly sort – the kind 
  involving undead, demons, skull-tipped wands, and The Devil. 
  Informed by his obscene rituals, Aloloch decided to shift a 
  nearby mountain and plunk it down on the same spot It had 
  picked out. That is, on top of the Grand Army of Good. Subtle? 
  No. Effective? Yes.
  Right on schedule, Aloloch’s mountain moved and Its bub-
  ble appeared . . . inside the mountain. The ensuing mess ruined 
  everybody’s day. The bubble pushed the mountain slightly off 
  target, so while lots of warriors of Good were squished, many 
  survived. The bubble wasn’t designed to deal with a moun-
  tain and had power enough to displace only part of it, so the 
  majority of Its legions were left behind and the forces that got 
  through were caged within a perfectly dome-shaped cavern 
  within the mountain.
  ChApteR one
  A most unusuAl 
  CIty-stAte
  WheRe In the WoRld Is CAveRntoWn?
  In a campaign based here (The Caverntown  
  Campaign, pp. 27-31), Caverntown’s location is almost 
  unimportant – but the players will ask, so it’s wise to 
  have an answer. In an epic of exploration and travel, the 
  town’s precise situation is likely to matter a great deal. 
  The GM can place Caverntown anywhere convenient, 
  subject to these conditions:
  • It’s under a mountain in an entire range of moun-
  tains, not beneath a lonely inselberg or monadnock.
  • It’s closer to the foothills than to the great peaks, so 
  that farming villages are within a day’s travel.
  • Dwarves and gnomes populate the mountains; 
  gnomes and halflings, the hills; and halflings and humans, 
  the farms and villages.
  • It answers to the human King. It isn’t part of a dwar-
  ven mountain empire.
  • It’s on or near a trade route that carries people, sup-
  plies, and loot to and from – say, guarding the entrance to 
  a mountain pass, or overlooking a major river.
  
   
  A most unusuAl CIty-stAte 
  5
  At this point, the most senior cleric of the Forces of 
  Good – known as Saint Angelina today – called upon the 
  Heavens for a little help. Invaders from Outside Time and 
  Space plus an upstart mortal playing god with the landscape 
  were enough to get the attention of the Divine. Aloloch was 
  smote dead with no saving throw. Then the Earth God opened 
  a hole in the mountain, the Sun God lit the place up, and Saint 
  Angelina led the remaining army inside with holy support. It 
  was a tough battle, but the Things were annihilated.
  Realizing this place was a focal point for the supernatu-
  ral – three different divinations called out its importance, after 
  all – and suffused with uncanny forces from Beyond Time and 
  Space, magically warped by Aloloch’s efforts, and touched by 
  not one but two gods, the armies of Good deemed it necessary 
  to hold the fort. They built a literal fort atop the entrance to 
  the cavern and an outpost within the cavern.
  Naturally, the intervention of gods brought pilgrims, the 
  presence of an army brought merchants and families, and 
  soon the place was a small town. Then a large one, growing 
  larger each year. Thanks to the Sun God’s (apparently per-
  manent) blessing of light, and the abundance of supernatu-
  ral energy, Caverntown proved not merely viable but close to 
  self-sufficient.
  Like all settlements, Caverntown has had its ups and 
  downs. To start with, the reasons for the place’s supernatural 
  importance turned out to be tied to various dungeons beneath 
  the ground near where the mountain was moved, the deni-
  zens of which tunneled in to pay unfriendly visits from time to 
  time. This led to the addition of perimeter defenses. The most 
  ancient citizens in town today – elderly dwarves and gnomes, 
  immortal shadow elves, wizards who’ve cheated death, and 
  a few well-hidden undead – still remember this (and later 
  events) and grumble about the taxes that paid for it.
  Then there were the efforts of various rulers. These were ini-
  tially commanders of the standing army – but as Caverntown’s 
  defenses held and Evil found other lands to invade, most of 
  the Forces of Good were called away, leaving behind just a 
  small cadre of sworn defenders, the Order of Saint Angelina. 
  At that point, Caverntown made more sense as a town than as 
  a military outpost, and authority passed to one of the King’s 
  barons, styled “Mayor.” Early Mayors were ambitious, under-
  taking vast magically assisted engineering projects that met 
  sometimes with success (e.g., The Shaft, p. 6, the Eight Titans, 
  pp. 6-7, and almost everything in Infrastructure, pp. 8-9), occa-
  sionally with disaster (for instance, there are rumors of failed 
  steam tunnels; see Undertown, p. 35).
  Caverntown’s Mayors since those days have exhibited 
  personalities that range from “piously benevolent” through 
  “greedy” to “iron-willed tyrant barely better than Aloloch (just 
  not as Evil).” During some of the darker periods, the town was 
  a bigger danger to monsters than monsters were to it, pushing 
  its tunnels ever farther and wider, carving out dungeons of its 
  own for future generations to worry about, and stumbling into 
  a few fights it had to run away from. Word has it that a lot of 
  this actually had to do with the King ordering Mayors to deal 
  with horrible new discoveries in the depths . . .
  Caverntown has been relatively stable of late. Dwarf and 
  gnome citizens have grown more numerous due to their will-
  ingness to dwell underground, and are now about as com-
  mon as humans, which is unusual for a human settlement. 
  To keep the peace (and undermine dynasties with dreams of 
  independence), Royal decree states that humans, dwarves, 
  and gnomes shall take turns as Mayor. The current Mayor is 
  a gnome.
  And of course the dungeons remain, and every Mayor 
  of any note has made an effort to attract delvers to explore 
  them – so they’ll bring back loot to fill the town’s coffers and 
  so there will always be well-armed warriors, rogues, and cast-
  ers on hand should the monsters get cocky or a new Aloloch 
  or It emerge.
  lAy of the lAnd
  Caverntown’s extraordinary physical circumstances cer-
  tainly merit description! We’ll start at the top . . .
  foRt CAveRntoWn
  The main way into Caverntown from topside is a moun-
  taintop fort unimaginatively named “Fort Caverntown” 
  (“Angelinapost” never caught on). This structure exists not 
  to control the countryside but to protect the entrance. It’s 
  enclosed – a stone blockhouse, strong against both surface 
  and aerial attackers. Punching a hole in the weakest wall 
  (5’ thick) means dealing with DR 780, HP 160; the thinnest 
  portion of the vaulted ceiling (1’ thick), DR 156, HP 94. See 
  Walls (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, p. 17). Due 
  to magical construction, treat Earth spells intended to affect 
  the structure as Resisted by HT 16.
  Fort Caverntown contains three features of note:
  Gates: Huge ironbound gates admit travelers during the 
  day; these have DR 60, HP 62. A small inset door admits 
  night visitors; when closed, this is no more vulnerable than 
  the gates. These entrances can be barred from within, but not 
  locked. Behind the gates is a “vault” grade portcullis (DR 24, 
  HP 46 per bar; see Dungeons, p. 18 for further details).
  Troops: The number varies depending on the general dan-
  ger level in the area, but is never less than 30 defenders equiv-
  alent to Town Watch (p. 15), led by a holy warrior of the Order 
  of Saint Angelina (pp. 16-17), all with ranged weapons. These 
  soldiers have two scorpions – giant siege crossbows – that can 
  engage enemies at the gates, and two more that can shoot 
  upward (e.g., at dragons): damage 5d imp, Acc 4, Range 
  250/315, RoF 1, Shots 1(24).
  Lift: The fort’s interior is dominated by a gnomish lift to 
  transport people and cargoes to and from Caverntown. Its 
  iron cage descends under gravity using counterweights and 
  ratchets, but must be cranked back up to the surface by the 
  great golems (p. 17). Built-in scales show the weight on the 
  lift. Next to the machinery is a trapdoor with DR 15, HP 39, 
  and an average-quality lock (no Lockpicking modifier, and 
  both the holy warrior and senior guard on duty have keys); 
  this leads to an auxiliary staircase down, which is off-limits 
  to visitors.
  
   
  A most unusuAl CIty-stAte 
  6
  Tolls
  Entering or leaving Caverntown through Fort Caverntown 
  costs a toll calculated from weight, to maintain the fort and 
  lift: $0.05 per pound, rounded to the nearest $ (that’s the pre-
  cision of the scales); e.g., a 155-pound delver with 47 lbs. of 
  gear owes $10, while a cart that weighs a ton (2,000 lbs.) with 
  cargo would incur a $100 fee. Travelers normally have por-
  ters unload wagons and animals, and then take them to the 
  nearest town. Riders who refuse to pay are escorted off the 
  lift – often with the assistance of other passengers, who rarely 
  appreciate delays.
  the GReAt CAveRn
  On arriving in the cavern containing Caverntown, visitors 
  will note that the “ceiling” and “walls” comprise a smooth 
  stone dome describing the surface of a vast hemisphere – the 
  shape of a bubble of supernatural force (see History, pp. 4-5). 
  The town itself is built on the cavern floor, which is unnatu-
  rally flat and meets the dome’s descending sides at an acute 
  angle. Though there’s rocky rubble about, it’s clearly due to 
  excavation; while there are stalactites, they’re too small and 
  too recent to be linked to cave formation. The space is obvi-
  ously artificial, not created by erosion or seismic activity.
  The Great Cavern – as it’s called when distinguishing the 
  cave from the town inside it – is extremely stable. This is attrib-
  utable to a combination of factors: the basic strength of its 
  geometry, the unusual forces that shaped it, artificial pillars 
  (see The Eight Titans, below), and ongoing supernatural influ-
  ences (see Magical Energies, pp. 9-10).
  A Prospecting roll confirms most of the above. No roll is 
  needed to notice that the Great Cavern is as bright as day! See 
  Light (p. 8) to learn why.
  lAyout
  The first thing delvers care about upon arriving in any new 
  town is what’s there. Are there walls and gates to worry about, 
  or is it easy to sneak in and out? Is the place airy and welcom-
  ing, or a twisting maze of danger? Can nimble adventurers 
  hop from rooftop to rooftop? In Caverntown, the answers are 
  often surprising!
  The Shaft
  The lift from Fort Caverntown (pp. 5-6) no 
  longer swings like a pendulum, nauseating riders 
  with a pitching view of the Great Cavern (p. 6), 
  as it did in the early days. Today it follows well-
  greased grooves within an imposing stone tower 
  that stabs up from street level in the center of 
  Town Square (p. 7) all the way to the cavern ceil-
  ing. The trip takes a mere 10 minutes down but 
  25 minutes up.
  This tower – customarily referred to in writing 
  as The Shaft (to distinguish it from “the Shaft,” a 
  tavern, p. 43) – was built using Earth magic. Its 
  exterior has become progressively more ornate 
  over the years, adorned with tiles, statuary, win-
  dows (some affording a view, others resplendent 
  with translucent stained glass), and huge gnomish 
  clocks on all four sides.
  A stair winds around the exterior, with periodic 
  landings that double as observation platforms for 
  keeping an eye on the gates (p. 8). This eventu-
  ally disappears up into the cavern ceiling, exit-
  ing via the trapdoor in Fort Caverntown. Taking 
  the stairs involves a 25-minute walk or 50/Move 
  minutes at a run (Move 3+, and make a HT or 
  Running roll each minute to avoid losing 1 FP).
  At the base, the great golems (p. 17) operate a 
  pair of oversized cranks.
  The Eight Titans
  Eight cylindrical pillars of stone reach from the floor to 
  the ceiling of the Great Cavern. Standing in Town Square 
  (p. 7) and looking down the great boulevards (p. 7) running 
  north, east, south, and west from The Shaft (above) toward 
  the Barricade (pp. 7-8), these columns are roughly halfway to 
  the town’s edge, two in each cardinal direction, to the observ-
  er’s left and right.
  Where The Shaft fills most of a block, the Eight Titans 
  are only 10’ thick, landing in wider-than-usual intersections. 
  The foot of each column is surrounded by a knee-high wall 
  that forms a basin. Water spews constantly from the mouths 
  of carved animal heads (bears, goats, hawks, etc.) adorning 
  the pillars, keeping the reservoirs full yet never overflowing. 
  These fountains – a magical engineering project to celebrate 
  Caverntown’s centennial – are free for all to use by Mayoral 
  decree. People who come to draw water often spend time 
  chatting, and taverns have cropped up to serve them.
  WheRe’s the mAp?
  GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Setting: Caverntown includes no 
  map for a few reasons, none of which are “laziness”:
  • Caverntown is meant to be adaptable to any Dungeon Fantasy 
  campaign. It can be as large as needed. A nominal 25 blocks (around 
  1.25 miles) on a side is assumed here for definiteness, but anything 
  from as compact as five blocks to as much sprawl as the GM can 
  tolerate is workable! The GM may adjust the ratio of cavern diame-
  ter to height, too; the greater this is, the more oppressive the space 
  will feel.
  • Dungeon Fantasy is about dungeons. The occasional urban 
  adventure is a welcome change, but Caverntown isn’t designed to 
  be raided for treasure, which means a detailed map isn’t essential 
  for game play.
  • Dungeon Fantasy hand-waves many details of what happens 
  in town using quick dice rolls, so it’s incongruous to worry about 
  which specific shop finally had the magic sword – or on what street 
  the Town Watch arrested the thief who stole it.
  The GM may sketch a map, but think carefully before doing so. 
  You can leave questions of time and distance to the dice – and qui-
  etly add new areas – as long as the town is abstract. You lose these 
  freedoms once you start mapping. When the layout is literally set 
  in stone, details such as Town Watch patrol routes and walking 
  times between areas matter, and those just aren’t the focus of 
  Dungeon Fantasy.
  
   
  A most unusuAl CIty-stAte 
  7
  The Eight Titans aren’t needed to support the Great Cav-
  ern’s dome, but they’re capable of it. Their most significant 
  magic is not the Earth spells obviously required to erect them, 
  nor the Create Spring variant used for their fountains, but 
  an enchantment that gives the cavern +1 to HT per pillar to 
  resist attempts to collapse it. The cave has the basic HT 12 
  of most solid objects (p. B483), so it resists natural or mag-
  ical forces with HT 20. The pillars themselves are effectively 
  indestructible.
  Those keeping score might find it interesting to note that 
  the Eight Titans emanate druidic magic – odd, given how dru-
  ids customarily dislike both large settlements and monolithic 
  architecture.
  Town Square
  The Shaft (p. 6) lands in the center of a huge square. 
  Assuming Caverntown is 25 blocks a side, Town Square is 
  three blocks a side, with The Shaft dominating the central 
  block. Proceeding clockwise around the outside edges, the 
  north side features the temple of the Order of Saint Ange-
  lina (pp. 16-17), Town Hall (p. 14), and Town Watch (p. 15) 
  headquarters; the east side, the Wizards’ Guild (pp. 20-21) 
  tower, Alchemists’ Guild (p. 21) hall (which has no labs, due 
  to explosion risk), and college of the Brotherhood of Bards 
  (pp. 21-22); the south side, the Adventurers’ Guild (p. 19) 
  hall, Hospitality Guild (pp. 22-23) welcome center, and Royal 
  Embassy (p. 15); and the west side, the Chamber of Com-
  merce (pp. 19-20) palace, Artificers’ Guild (p. 19) hall, and 
  Armorers’ Guild (p. 19) hall.
  The plaza between these important buildings and The Shaft 
  is filled with arriving and departing visitors, Town Watch 
  patrols, and town and guild tax collectors. Delvers must pay 
  tolls to ride the lift (see Fort Caverntown, pp. 5-6) – and a loot 
  tax at the gates (p. 8) – but only merchants need worry about 
  paying additional taxes here. If the adventurers are carrying 
  contraband, however, this is where to make the Smuggling roll 
  mentioned on p. 4 of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons.
  Streets
  Caverntown is laid out in a perfect square grid around 
  Town Square (above), with The Shaft (p. 6) in the very center 
  and Perimeter Road (see below) around the very outside. Most 
  ordinary streets are reasonably wide (three or four yards) but 
  not remarkably so – almost all traffic is on foot, so there’s no 
  need to accommodate horses, carts, wagons, etc. The road sur-
  face is stone, not gravel or mud, and remarkably devoid of gar-
  bage and filth. If delvers get into brawls or duels here, the GM 
  can use a featureless map three or four hexes wide and as long 
  as desired (there are 80- to 90-yard stretches uninterrupted by 
  intersections, fountains, etc).
  A few streets are especially noteworthy:
  Perimeter Road: Caverntown’s streets and buildings are all 
  contained within a wide road that runs around its perimeter, 
  creatively named “Perimeter Road.” Visitors pointing out that 
  this is actually four roads that join to form a great square  
  are countered by locals calmly pointing out that’s why 
  addresses there have “North,” “East,” “South,” or “West” 
  attached. Though there are ordinary homes and businesses 
  (including a lot of inns) along the inside of Perimeter Road, 
  there are none on the outside, which is defined by the inner 
  face of the Barricade (below). Delvers hoping to exploit roof-
  tops to get over the Barricade – or buildings to conceal efforts 
  to go through it – are out of luck.
  Boulevards: To slow invaders who might breach the town’s 
  gates (in the center of each side of the Barricade), no streets 
  run directly from these to The Shaft (in the center of town). 
  Instead, impressive boulevards radiate north, south, east, and 
  west from Town Square to Perimeter Road. Two run in each 
  direction, offset to either side of The Shaft at one end, either 
  side of a gate at the other; these are West North, East North, 
  North East, South East, East South, West South, South West, 
  and North West Blvd. This naming scheme often confuses 
  travelers who just want to get somewhere. These streets are 
  home to most of the town’s temples, lesser guild halls, and 
  larger businesses (notably shops and inns), and many visitors 
  to Caverntown never stray from them.
  Buildings
  All Caverntown architecture is in stone, either raised using 
  Earth magic or built the traditional way from rock excavated 
  beyond the gates (p. 8). There’s next-to-no wood or thatch, 
  though the rich occasionally import wooden doors for show. 
  Fires are almost unheard of.
  Thanks to the level cavern floor, trivial availability of stone, 
  abundance of dwarf and gnome masons, and prevalence of 
  Earth-magic specialists, most structures rise at least two sto-
  ries above the street. Many are higher, their height reflecting 
  the owners’ wealth and status. A “basement” below street level 
  is customary – and due to the town’s unusual lighting (see 
  Light, p. 8), this is often the preferred sleeping area.
  The lack of bad (or any!) weather means there’s no need 
  for pitched roofs, overhangs, rain gutters, windbreaks, etc.; 
  most buildings have vertical walls and flat roofs. The major-
  ity of rooftops serve as extra rooms, often used for dining. 
  These have parapets tall enough to keep dishes, furniture, and 
  drunken guests from falling off – and to discourage unwel-
  come visitors. It’s possible to travel along the rooftops, but 
  these parapets mean stopping to make Climbing rolls to clam-
  ber between adjacent buildings (failure means making noise) 
  and being unable to get a running start for clearing streets 
  (reduce distance from Jumping/2 to Jumping/4 yards, so the 
  average street requires skill 12-16, and failure can hurt; see 
  Jumping, GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, p. 7).
  Exterior doors are customarily iron, and run the gamut 
  from “light” on poorer homes to “extra heavy” on places 
  with valuables inside; see Dungeons, p. 18. The prevalence 
  of sticky-fingered delvers in town spurs most citizens to lock 
  their doors – including those leading to the roof! Lockpicking 
  modifiers range from +5 in the slums to -5 for the rich; guild, 
  municipal, and temple buildings have gnomish locks that give 
  from -6 to -10; and the Wizards’ Guild (pp. 20-21) also puts 
  Magelock at skill 20+ on everything it owns.
  The Barricade
  Caverntown doesn’t extend to the Great Cavern walls – it 
  stops short. As the cavern is circular while the settlement is 
  square, the exact distance varies. The center of each of the 
  town’s four sides is about 500 yards from the cavern walls, 
  while its four corner are a mere 50 yards from it (adjust these 
  distances accordingly for a version of Caverntown that isn’t 
  around 25 blocks a side).
  
   
  A most unusuAl CIty-stAte 
  8
  Surrounding the town are fortifications: the Barricade. 
  These ramparts, too, are laid out as a square. Each of the four 
  sides is a tall wall with a single gatehouse in its center; any-
  thing rushing the gates must cover 500 yards under attack 
  from the defenders’ siege engines, bows, and spells. At the four 
  corners are towers; being close to the walls, these are heavily 
  reinforced. Along each wall are four smaller towers, 1/3 and 
  2/3 of the way from gatehouse to corner in either direction.
  Immediately inside the Barricade is Perimeter Road 
  (p. 7); no buildings touch the walls. Outside, the ground is 
  kept clear of junk that could offer concealment and cover. 
  Thanks to lighting in the Great Cavern (Light, below), there 
  aren’t even shadows to hide in. The Town Watch (p. 15) 
  and Order of Saint Angelina (pp. 16-17) post sentries on the 
  walls – equipped with horns, drums, flags, torches, and spells 
  for signaling – and they’ll have no Vision penalties that aren’t 
  a result of equipment and abilities attackers bring with them.
  Siege warfare is beyond the scope of Dungeon Fantasy, 
  but if delvers decide to bash down the gates, each set of inner 
  and outer ones has DR 150, HP 84; the gap in between has 
  portcullises, traps, and murder holes. Siege engines can 
  inflict anything from 4d+1 cr or 3d imp for the dinkiest bal-
  lista or scorpion, to 16d cr or 7d+1 imp for the mightiest, 
  in addition to constant arrows and Missile spells. Subtler 
  troublemakers must use Stealth at -5 (or magic!) to get 
  close without being noticed, and then Climbing at -5 to get 
  over the wall (a basic -3 for a vertical wall, plus -2 more for 
  the qualifiers slick and spike-topped; see GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy 2: Dungeons, p. 7).
  The Gates
  When Caverntowners refer to “the gates,” they don’t mean 
  the gates in the Barricade but the ones in the Great Cavern’s 
  walls, which lead to the dungeons (pp. 33-35) and generate 
  tax revenue. There are currently four – one opposite each 
  gatehouse in the Barricade – but there are clear signs of for-
  mer gates, sealed using Earth magic. The functioning gates 
  normally stand open, but can be closed and barred to slow 
  monster invasions; each has DR 60, HP 62.
  Beyond each gate, tunnels branch off in all directions. Just 
  inside each gate are Town Watch and King’s Men, prepared 
  to assess taxes on any loot carted in. They’ll use scales, magic, 
  and complex charts to do their assessment of the treasure’s 
  cash value (accurate, but they won’t share their information) 
  and then charge (1d)% of that (complex charts). There’s also 
  a toll of $5 per person passing through in either direction, to 
  maintain the gate; this buys passage through that gate for one 
  day, but is waived on any day when tax exceeds $5/head for 
  that group.
  Delvers who decide not to pay will find their way blocked 
  by at least twice as many guards as their party size. Some will 
  be 125-point henchmen; at least one will be a 250-point hero. 
  Any outcome that doesn’t end in payment means a criminal 
  record; see Scum and Villainy (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: 
  Dungeons, p. 4). Killing these officers also means the adven-
  turers must fight their way through the town gates, up the 
  staircase around The Shaft, and out of Fort Caverntown, 
  never to be allowed back.
  InfRAstRuCtuRe
  “Wait,” the delvers ask, “how does a huge town – really a 
  city, and one with its own standing army at that – survive in a 
  cave?” Behold: the answers!
  Light
  The Great Cavern’s most notable feature (after its weird 
  geology) is that it’s bathed in permanent sunlight. This is 
  thanks to the Sun God, who illuminated the place to aid Saint 
  Angelina’s army; see History (p. 4-5). Some clerics 
  fret that one day, the blessing will end to pun-
  ish Caverntown for its greed, but the orthodox 
  belief is that the Sun God is happy to have an 
  outpost deep underground, bringing doom to 
  creatures of darkness.
  The light in the cavern is equivalent to nat-
  ural sunlight for all purposes, much like the 
  Sunlight spell. Unlike natural sunlight, how-
  ever, it stays bright 24 hours a day, which is why 
  citizens usually sleep in the basement. It doesn’t 
  have a specific origin, either – it’s diffuse, pour-
  ing down from a cavern dome that glows like 
  sunlit marble, meaning objects cast almost  
  no shadows.
  Vampires find this a mixed blessing: Nobody 
  notices the not-casting-a-shadow thing, but a 
  sartorial mishap means being fried. Tavern-
  keepers, too, find it has downsides as well as 
  upsides, as not everyone sees sunny fiestas as a 
  fair trade for the lack of genuine nightlife.
  Air
  The Great Cavern isn’t hermetically sealed; The Shaft 
  (p. 6), numerous tunnels connected to Undertown (p. 35) and 
  beyond the gates (above), and even several cracks in the cavern 
  walls all lead to the surface. Somebody with no gear more 
  complicated than a flame can use Prospecting or Survival 
  (Subterranean) (p. 29) to find and follow such routes.
  As the town has grown, though, citizens have had the 
  local druids plant a growing number of special trees and 
  shrubs, especially in parks and along the boulevards (p. 7).  
  Other Entrances
  The only routes into Caverntown other than The Shaft (p. 6) and 
  the gates (below) are secret. The Mayor has a miniature, magically 
  powered lift directly to the surface hidden in whichever of the Eight 
  Titans (pp. 6-7) the GM decides is nearest her residence; both ends 
  are hidden (-5 to detect, assuming you even know where to look), the 
  lift won’t budge without a password, and the topside exit is in view of 
  Fort Caverntown. Both the Adventurers’ Guild (p. 19) and Society of 
  Assassins (p. 23) know of routes through Undertown (p. 35) that even-
  tually lead to upward-sloping tunnels that exit out of Fort Cavern-
  town’s sight. And the Wizards’ Guild has at least one magical portal, 
  which the GM may decide goes to the monastery in GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy Encounters 1: The Pagoda of Worlds – which has other por-
  tals. Adventurers who want to use any of these exits (say, to avoid fees 
  or flee crimes) must first complete suitable quests to learn of them.
  
   
  A most unusuAl CIty-stAte 
  9
  These thrive in the light and Nature’s strength (p. 10) of the 
  Great Cavern. The druids keep the greenery watered and nour-
  ished (see Water, below, and Sewage and Garbage, below). In 
  return, the plants provide fresh air.
  There’s the occasional rumor that the druids’ special plants 
  shed mind-control pollen, walk around, eat people, or some-
  thing similar. Most Caverntowners regard this as crazy talk. 
  Still, madmen rant about the “green apocalypse.” Adventurers 
  who want to talk to these raving loons should do so upon 
  encountering them; they’re never there a few hours later.
  Water
  A lot of Caverntown’s water comes from deep wells to an 
  underground lake. As these have never run dry, the lake is 
  believed to be fed by a river. Most large households have a 
  well, as do many intersections. The usual Caverntown model 
  is narrow, with a gnomish mechanism that winches the 
  bucket and allows it to disgorge its water without expos-
  ing the shaft. This makes falling down a well a rare occur-
  rence – fatal, but rare.
  There are also the magical fountains at the feet of the Eight 
  Titans (pp. 6-7). These have never run dry, either.
  Citizens have strong opinions about which water is bet-
  ter: “You know Elder Things do goodness-knows-what in that 
  there well water?” “Pff. Better than water with magic in it. My 
  wife’s cousin in the Wizards’ Guild won’t drink fountain water. 
  Says you’ll grow horns.” “Like squiddly water won’t make you 
  grow horns?”
  The druids water plants with “gray water,” whatever that is.
  Food
  Despite its large area, Caverntown isn’t all settled. There 
  are entire blocks devoted to gardens. Some contain the dru-
  ids’ greenery, which supplies a fair amount of fresh produce 
  on a daily basis, thanks to Plant magic. Others contain the 
  cheery fungus patches found wherever there are dwarves. 
  Between the two, Caverntown could probably feed itself if 
  everyone were happy with yeast-burgers, mushy peas, and 
  mushroom ale.
  Thus, a lot of food is imported from outside – mainly grain, 
  dairy products, and meat. Certain villages topside have tax- 
  exempt status to ship comestibles down The Shaft, with the 
  Mayor’s blessing. (She likes ham-and-cheese on rye, washed 
  down with Weissbier, as much as the next gnome.)
  The temples could in theory assist with Create Food. In 
  practice, they reserve this for themselves. Being invited to a 
  cleric’s table is a Big Deal.
  Sewage and Garbage
  Wastewater and organic trash that isn’t utterly nasty is wel-
  comed by druidic and dwarven gardens alike. Youngsters – and 
  even desperate delvers – compete to schlep buckets of it 
  around for a coin ($1) from the provider and something tasty 
  from the recipient’s harvest (equivalent to one meal).
  Lazier households and anybody with truly disgusting waste 
  use the garbage chutes along Perimeter Road (p. 7), which 
  were carefully placed to avoid befouling the deep lake that 
  provides Caverntown’s water, and which were sunk deeper 
  just to be sure. In the central parts of town, sewers run from 
  basements to these chutes. Filth in the streets is not tolerated 
  (you’ll be caught on 12 or less on 3d, and then it’s a $10 fine), 
  but some is inevitable; sweepers are paid (out of fines, mainly) 
  to dispose of it.
  Effluvium coming down the garbage chutes doubtless 
  annoys many monsters, which is why there are stout ori-
  chalcum-plated meteoric grilles (DR 9, HP 18 per bar) just 
  below street level. The bars are spaced widely enough to 
  admit chunky rubbish – and, some Caverntowners worry, 
  skinny or squishy creatures.
  the supeRnAtuRAl
  Much about Caverntown is obviously magical in origin or 
  nature: the cavern dome, its sunny glow, the town’s unusual 
  greenery, and the impressive architecture raised by Earth 
  magic come readily to mind. Yet not everything special is 
  visible . . .
  mAGICAl eneRGIes
  The uncanny forces admitted from Beyond Time and 
  Space by It, the massive dose of mana deposited by Aloloch, 
  the intervention of the Earth and Sun gods, and the feng shui 
  of being a dungeon crossroads have complex interactions that 
  affect how magic works in Caverntown. Nobody fully under-
  stands this stuff! The Wizards’ Guild has many experts work-
  ing on the problem, who occasionally have quests for delvers.
  Any spellcaster whom these rules would affect may roll vs. 
  Perception + Magery or Power Investiture to notice this. 
  The roll is at -3 if not actively searching (that is, if the player 
  doesn’t ask so the GM checks unbidden). Further modifiers 
  may apply; see below. Roll separately to sense each effect.
  Earth Magic
  Regardless of the type of casting – clerical, druidic, or 
  wizardly – spells of the Earth college are “stabilized” by the 
  same combination of forces that keep the Great Cavern sta-
  ble. Count all critical failures as regular failures. Treat spells 
  that attack the cavern itself as if they were Resisted by its HT 
  20. Thus, neither accidents nor willful attempts to damage the 
  cave are likely to accomplish much.
  Mana Level
  Mana in Caverntown is normal; if there are areas of higher 
  or lower mana, they’re on private property and not a matter 
  of public record. However, spells that generate light or that 
  aid vision (such as Bright Vision, Continual Light, Flash, 
  Glow, Hawk Vision, Keen Vision, Night Vision, Sunlight, and 
  Wall of Light) are cast at +5 in the underground sun, while 
  ones that generate darkness or that obscure vision (e.g., 
  Blackout, Blur, Darkness, Dull Vision, Gloom, Hide, Invisi-
  bility, Strike Blind, and unfortunately Shade) are cast at -5.  
  
   
  A most unusuAl CIty-stAte 
  10
  These modifiers adjust base skill in a way similar to mana 
  level; thus, they can affect casting time and cost. For detection 
  purposes, this is a single, double-edged effect.
  That’s hard to hide, but two further effects aren’t as widely 
  known. One is that the factors that make raising the dead 
  more straightforward (see Sanctity Level, below) also make 
  animating the undead slightly easier: Any spell that directly 
  creates undead (like Lich or Zombie) is at +1. This, too, adjusts 
  base skill. It also means necromancers and even liches lurk in 
  this bright, sunny town! Detecting this effect is at an extra -4: 
  Perception + Magery at -4 if searching, -7 if not.
  The other is that Gate magic is dangerous. All failures are 
  critical failures – and the GM may opt to roll on the Psionic 
  Encounters Table on pp. 37-41 of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  14: Psi instead of the Critical Spell Failure Table (p. B236). 
  Rolls to sense this effect have an extra -5: Perception + 
  Magery at -5 if searching, -8 otherwise.
  Sanctity Level
  Thanks to the touch of the divine, Caverntown’s sanctity 
  is high for Good and low for Evil. This apparently has ramifi-
  cations for resurrection: Local temples can do that for those 
  who die in the dungeons (ostensibly because such “heroes” 
  perished “doing good,” regardless of whether they were), and 
  even post a standard price; see Healing (pp. 44-45).
  Nature’s Strength
  Despite Caverntown being underground and unquestion-
  ably urban, there’s no penalty to druidic spells or abilities 
  here. Druids can detect this on a flat Perception + Power 
  Investiture (Druidic) roll whether actively searching or not. 
  Most thinkers attribute this to overlap between the Earth and 
  Sun Gods and Nature, some going so far as to point to this as 
  proof that druids worship the same being(s) in a different way.
  otheR WeIRdness
  Things aren’t all sunlight and 
  joy, of course – not in a place with 
  Caverntown’s history!
  The Restless Dead
  Caverntown was born in a massive battle and repelled 
  several invasions after that. Many people died violently here. 
  Thus, there are occasional ghosts (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  9: Summoners, pp. 22-23) in broad daylight. These spectral 
  natives are rarely hostile, but that isn’t unheard of – and what-
  ever their disposition, they can pass through the Barricade 
  (pp. 7-8), are undeterred by the sanctity level (above), and 
  can’t be banished or turned within town limits. Exorcism 
  does work, as do weapons that affect spirits.
  There are also sporadic plagues of undead caused by bod-
  ies disposed of improperly in Undertown (p. 35). The major-
  ity involve horde zombies (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: 
  Dungeons, pp. 24-25). Most erupt noisily from somebody’s 
  basement, giving plenty of warning; this makes them scary 
  but easily contained.
  And there are almost certainly liches lurking in town. Vam-
  pires avoid the unsetting sun – but in Undertown, who knows? 
  Either might know valuable details about historical events; 
  they may try to kill interfering goodie-goodies or offer quests 
  to less-scrupulous delvers.
  The Order of Saint Angelina (pp. 16-17) and the temples 
  (p. 17) move quickly to deal with all types of undead.
  Psionic Echoes
  The link between Things Beyond Time and Space and 
  psionics means mentalists find Caverntown . . . interesting. 
  They’ll have scary dreams about the Deep (p. 33); treat all 
  mentalists as if they had the Weird Dreams perk (GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy 14: Psi, p. 14) with a self-control roll of 15 
  or less. Those who actually have the perk roll at -3. All “clues” 
  concern the Deep, and the negative effects of Nightmares 
  (p. B144) apply normally. On the upside, psionic power items 
  regain an extra 1 FP every full seven days.
  Caverntown is not considered an “elevated threat” area for 
  routine psi use – the roll for bad things to happen is the usual 
  6 or less.
  Other Bad Stuff
  Like any settlement, Caverntown has creepy folklore and 
  rumors in addition to ghost stories. Here are some widely 
  whispered worries. The GM decides which ones are true.
  • Aloloch wasn’t destroyed by the gods – that’s just a rumor 
  he spread. He resides in Caverntown as a powerful lich (or 
  worse), pulling the strings of power and manipulating hapless 
  agents to send delvers after lore and artifacts he needs for his 
  next move.
  • Druids are the secret power behind the throne, for rea-
  sons tied to Nature’s strength – its high level either attracted 
  or was raised by them. They can collapse the Eight Titans 
  (pp. 6-7), water from the public fountains (Water, p. 9) has 
  weird effects on people, and their plants (Air, pp. 8-9) are sin-
  ister instruments of death or mind control.
  • Sanctity (above) is also high for the Squid 
  cults.
  • Some of the sealed gates (see p. 8) aren’t gates. 
  They’re prisons for Things that could be confined 
  but not destroyed. Any records are hidden in Town 
  Hall (p. 14) or the Royal Embassy (p. 15).
  • The garbage chutes (Sewage and Garbage, p. 9) 
  invade lairs of monsters – maybe Elder Things, maybe 
  other things – that ooze up and cause havoc. Some citizens 
  believe these include doppelgangers (GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy Monsters 3: Born of Myth & Magic, pp. 7-8), who 
  squeeze past the grilles and replace people.
  • The great golems (p. 17) are animated by evil spir-
  its – maybe even Aloloch and It themselves, placed in bondage 
  by the gods.
  • The portal from Beyond Time and Space that It created 
  never fully closed. It’s down some well or garbage chute – or in 
  a hidden temple of Squid cultists, the Wizards’ Guild hall (see 
  Other Entrances, p. 8), or even a forgotten closet.
  • The Sun God’s blessing (Light, p. 8) is going to expire, 
  turning Caverntown into a ghost town.
  • The town’s wells (Water, p. 9) tap an underground lake 
  teeming with Elder Things, who are tainting the water to 
  transform Caverntown’s citizens into hideous fish-things. It 
  might take millennia . . . but the Things live outside linear 
  time and don’t care.
  
   
  A most unusuAl CIty-stAte 
  11
  InhAbItAnts
  The population of Caverntown is left to the GM, for two rea-
  sons: First, the town’s area is also up to the GM, whose mental 
  picture of “town” might not be as elaborate as a 25-square-
  block city (see Where’s the Map?, p. 6) . . . or who may want 
  something even bigger, to showcase the place’s impressive 
  magical “life support.” Second, it gets a lot of visitors.
  It isn’t a stretch to say that if around 80,000 people could 
  fit into medieval London’s “Square Mile,” Caverntown’s 
  1.25 miles on a side could justify 125,000 souls. Except that 
  Caverntown is a fantasy idyll with airy boulevards, gardens, 
  and parks, and lots of retired delvers with one house apiece. In 
  addition, immigration won’t be comparable to historical rates 
  of urbanization because most people won’t climb a mountain 
  trail, pay a toll on the weight of their worldly possessions, and 
  live in a cave next door to monsters. The 45,000-60,000 range 
  is closer to the mark, making Caverntown comparable to the 
  largest towns or good-sized cities of Earth’s Middle Ages, but 
  hardly a medieval Beijing, Cairo, or Paris.
  For a bigger or smaller Caverntown, scale the estimate to 
  the area. If there are rumors of a new dungeon or rich trea-
  sure, push the headcount up a percent or two – there won’t be 
  a thousand delvers in town, but there will be traveling mer-
  chants hoping to trade with fortune-seekers, tourists coming 
  to gawk, and King’s Men making sure that dangerous artifacts 
  end up in friendly hands.
  nAtIves
  Caverntowners are on the whole more capable than the 
  citizens of topside agricultural and trade settlements. It takes 
  grit to dwell in an outpost that stands between civilization and 
  monsterkind, even if you sweep streets or serve ale. The town’s 
  many dwarves and gnomes are innately more robust than 
  humans. Then there are all the settled and retired delvers, 
  the hirelings who serve them, and the people who train them. 
  Organizations for the adventuring professions are remarkably 
  well-represented – particularly the Wizards’ Guild (pp. 20-21), 
  filled with mages doing research into monsters and artifacts, 
  and the Order of Saint Angelina (pp. 16-17), a small army of 
  holy warriors. Finally, there’s the need for lawmen strong 
  enough to keep the peace among these folk.
  An ordinary Caverntowner is worth on average about 25 
  points more than whatever the typical person is built on in 
  the campaign. Reasons for this include tough humans with 
  5 or 10 extra points; a population of nonhumans who mostly 
  have 20-point racial templates; and a disproportionate num-
  ber of hirelings at 62 to 187 points (see GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy 15: Henchmen), and delvers who boast 250+ points. 
  Additional details appear below, but when quickly creating a 
  random NPC, simply add 25 points to the bottom few power 
  levels on p. B487: a beggar or urchin might have up to 50 
  points; a serving wench, clerk, or paper-pushing functionary, 
  75; and a competent merchant, watchman, or official, 100.
  Races
  Humans, dwarves, and gnomes have roughly equal num-
  bers in Caverntown; each make up about 1/4 of the population. 
  The remaining quarter consists of “everybody else” – most 
  notably halflings, no shortage of half-monsters (half-ogres 
  and half-orcs), enough members of deep-dwelling races (cole-
  opterans, earth-infused, gargoyles, minotaurs, and shadow 
  elves) that they’re not always gawked at, and a growing num-
  ber of dark ones and elder-spawn who are always gawked at. 
  There are ones and twos of other things – including genuine 
  monsters such as liches and doppelgangers, who stay out of 
  sight or pose as “ordinary folks.” Air-infused, faerie folk, wild-
  men, and elves other than shadow elves sometimes visit but 
  almost never settle.
  Professions
  Caverntown is home to a high number of retired adven-
  turers and settled-but-powerful professionals: NPCs worth 
  at least 250 points. Particularly well represented are artifi-
  cers (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 4: Sages, pp. 4-7), thieves 
  (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers, pp. 12-13), 
  and wizards (Adventurers, p. 13), all of whom enjoy strong 
  guilds – and holy warriors (Adventurers, pp. 7-8), owing to 
  the Order of Saint Angelina. The underground setting also 
  means there are many workers of Earth magic: clerics of the 
  Earth God (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 7: Clerics, pp. 14-15), 
  druids (Adventurers, p. 7), and earth-attuned elementalists 
  (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, pp. 9-12).
  Less common but still numerous are assassins (GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy 12: Ninja, p. 9) and bards (Adventurers, 
  pp. 5-6), due to their organizations’ presence. Innkeepers 
  (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 10: Taverns, p. 8) hard enough 
  to stand up to rowdy delvers are likewise easy to find – more 
  because business is good than because of the Hospitality 
  Guild. And the Town Watch numbers quite a few knights 
  (Adventurers, pp. 8-9) among its sergeants and captains.
  Individuals less capable than these but more competent 
  than most topside townies make up much of the common 
  people. Create such NPCs on between 62 and 125 points. 
  See Henchmen (p. 45) if the PCs are interested in hir-
  ing these, and GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15: Henchmen  
  for templates.
  If using the lenses on pp. 33-41 of Henchmen to build 
  187- or 250-point NPCs, the most fitting are those associated 
  with greater guilds (wizardly adepts, burglars, and gadge-
  teers, respectively, belong to the Wizards’, Adventurers’, and 
  Artificers’ Guilds), the Order of Saint Angelina (champions 
  of the holy persuasion), the temples (priests), and the Town 
  Watch (veterans) – plus an inordinate number of generic 
  treasure-hunters.
  On the other hand, outdoorsmen (including barbarians, 
  scouts, and related henchmen) are underrepresented in 
  Caverntown. Martial artists, incanters, and ninja – includ-
  ing monks, adepts at incantation magic, and genin – are even 
  rarer, as they lack communities here. And anyone whose 
  profession is regarded as creepy is hard to find: demonolo-
  gists and necromancers (and adepts at demonology or necro-
  mancy), and evil clerics and unholy warriors (and champions 
  and priests of Evil). Mentalists are victims of rumors about 
  the Deep (p. 33), and likewise keep a low profile.
  
   
  A most unusuAl CIty-stAte 
  12
  vIsItoRs
  Relative to other settlements of its size, Caverntown has 
  a lot of visitors at any given time. Here are some of the more 
  important types, and the quests they might offer delvers.
  Adventurers
  Here to visit the dungeons (pp. 33-35) or buy hard-to-find 
  equipment (see Buying, pp. 37-42). Caverntowners – espe-
  cially the Hospitality Guild (pp. 22-23) – do their best to 
  encourage such visitors to stay in town, patronize inns, and 
  spend money between quests. Frugal heroes often crash with 
  friends, though. 
  Quests: Parties of NPC delvers might be  
  shorthanded after a bad quest of their own, and 
  take on the PCs for additional firepower.
  Merchants
  Particularly importers, who smell the profit in 
  delvers who show up in a slightly isolated town, 
  looking to buy specialized gear. Most such traders 
  belong to the merchant houses that comprise the 
  Chamber of Commerce (pp. 19-20), and stay with 
  local associates. 
  Quests: Merchants buy information – including 
  maps – and may provide the location of a new dun-
  geon in return for dibs on something found there.
  Guild Members
  The Adventurers’ Guild (p. 19) – associated with Thieves’ 
  Guilds – and the Brotherhood of Bards (pp. 21-22) are loose 
  international organizations. The Wizards’ Guild (pp. 20-21) is 
  both more structured and more far-reaching. All draw a steady 
  stream of emissaries, often as guests of individual members. 
  Quests: Visiting bigwigs could be seeking an artifact of 
  value to the guild, or an important member who vanished on 
  such a quest; the local masters might subcontract anything 
  that looks like a fool’s errand (but they’ll say they’re too busy).
  Researchers
  Especially ones researching magic, which Caverntown has 
  in abundance – though experts in lost cultures find the dun-
  geons themselves interesting. Many are guest lecturers at the 
  colleges of the Brotherhood of Bards or Wizards’ Guild. 
  Quests: A visiting academic is liable to want a specific 
  ancient writing or obscure artifact. This may be of no value 
  to delvers, which minimizes conflicts of interest, but it’s prob-
  ably lost for a good, dangerous reason.
  Tourists
  Full-time sunlight and quaint rooftop terraces attract con-
  ventional tourists, often wealthy ones – but lots of people visit 
  Caverntown just for the novelty! Any rumor of new monsters 
  or spectacular artifacts brings gawkers, too. The town encour-
  ages bards and criers to spread the word. 
  Quests: Rich tourists see delvers as trained animals (albeit 
  dangerous ones), and offer money for insane dares. Others 
  want to be escorted through a dungeon, which is madness of 
  another kind.
  Villagers
  Mostly from around the base of the mountain – and mainly 
  those with tax-exempt status to bring food down The Shaft 
  (see Food, p. 9). These seldom stay longer than is necessary to 
  finish their business. 
  Quests: Villagers rarely have enough money or excitement 
  in their lives to tempt delvers – but when Little Timmy falls 
  down a well (see Water, p. 9), or a youth catches the adventur-
  ing bug and runs away to Caverntown, that’s a quest.
  Spies
  Caverntown is the capital of subterranean subterfuge. It has 
  a Royal Embassy (p. 15), and then there are all 
  these other visitors. Thus, spies abound – some 
  for the King, some foreign. Most pose as one of 
  the other kinds of travelers. 
  Quests: The King’s spies may have danger-
  ous secret missions for the kingdom’s secu-
  rity – little jobs like “stop the mindwarper 
  invasion.” Foreign ones propose risky urban 
  quests, such as “break into the Embassy and 
  steal the scroll with the squid seal.”
  WIldlIfe
  Caverntown is serious about not tolerating 
  monsters within the Great Cavern, though some 
  doubtless hide by exploiting shapeshifting or 
  magic, and certain borderline races (coleopter-
  ans, gargoyles, minotaurs, half-ogres, half-orcs, and even 
  the rare full-blood ogre or orc) are more-or-less accepted. A 
  savage beast or raging thing running around town is a crisis, 
  however, and averting it could be worth a reward – or a pun-
  ishment, if the delvers unleashed it!
  On the other hand, Caverntown is home to ordinary bugs, 
  mice, rats, stray cats and dogs, and a few other (relatively) 
  harmless creatures:
  Sideways: Otherworldly “insects” dating to Its inva-
  sion – so named because they’re invisible except when 
  viewed at a specific angle, at which point they look like real, 
  3D bugs with too many legs and wings. Dangerous only in 
  swarms: Treat as bees (p. B461), except they seem to appear 
  out of nowhere and garments don’t protect because the bites 
  originate in another dimension.
  Sunbats: Cave bats adapted to the Great Cavern, with 
  respectable vision but atrophied echolocation. They flock 
  much as birds do topside. They’re not dangerous, and are 
  easily squished by any serious attack, but snatch and fly off 
  with shiny things (Filch-12 and air Move 12/24). Raiding a col-
  ony to recover stolen property or grab a few coins could be a 
  minor urban quest, dangerous only because of the climb (-3 
  for a vertical wall, plus -1 or -2 for flocking bats and/or slimy 
  bat droppings).
  Tripvines: One of the druids’ special plants (Air, pp. 8-9) is 
  a pretty vine that grows all over Caverntown, eating annoying 
  insects. When running around town – say, to chase someone 
  or flee a crime – there’s a 9 or less chance on 3d of stumbling 
  across a tripvine. Then its tendency to grasp at fast-moving 
  objects becomes a hindrance: make a DX-2 roll or fall down.
  
   
  those Who pull stRInGs 
  13
  Caverntown’s most important actors are the government 
  (and its representatives), the temples, and the guilds. Almost 
  everything of significance in town implicates at least one of 
  the organizations discussed here . . . so sooner or later, delvers 
  will end up dealing with them.
  AuthoRItIes
  Caverntown is effectively part of a mega-dungeon, and 
  monsters are never far away – but unlike its subterranean 
  neighbors, it’s civilized. Infrastructure (pp. 8-9) is maintained. 
  Laws are enforced. Civil defense is mounted in times of strife. 
  And to pay for all this, taxes are collected.
  loRd mAyoR
  The Mayor is the highest power in Caverntown. This indi-
  vidual is appointed by the Mayor’s Council (p. 14) of the previ-
  ous Mayor – not elected, by anyone – and assumes office only 
  after the King ratifies the choice and bestows a nonhereditary 
  lordship. Thus, the title is associated with a post, not a blood-
  line; by Royal decree, the position rotates among humans, 
  gnomes, and dwarves expressly to thwart plots to keep it in 
  the family. Though treated as a baron at polite social events, 
  the Mayor formally outranks everyone but the King within 
  town limits.
  Unless the King takes an interest, the Mayor rules 
  Caverntown absolutely. And for good reason: There’s no way 
  of knowing what might burst into the Great Cavern from any 
  side or below, so the person in charge needs the authority to 
  mobilize everything and everyone without debate. A failed 
  defense could see Elder Things invading the topside world!
  ChApteR tWo
  those Who  
  pull stRInGs
  It’s Good to be In ChARGe!
  This chapter’s organizations enjoy superior material 
  resources and staffing; experience with the local social 
  and physical environments; and, sometimes, the sup-
  port of the populace. When one of them acts as a group 
  and within the Great Cavern, but no specific rules are 
  provided – in this or another Dungeon Fantasy supple-
  ment – assume they can handle noncombat tasks at an 
  effective skill of 12 in general, 15 within their area of 
  expertise, or 18 within their specialty if fully mobilized 
  against a threat to Caverntown.
  Example: Delvers who cross the Town Watch must 
  deal with an effective 12 in criminal skills such as 
  Pickpocket if watchmen decide to cheat them – Watch 
  members cooperate and know where to strike. Criminals 
  face an effective 15 in Observation, Search, Shadowing, 
  etc., because that’s what cops do. This rises to 18 if the 
  crime was trying to tamper with the town’s defenses or 
  assassinate the Mayor, as the entire Watch and many 
  citizens get involved.
  Individuals can have whatever skill levels the GM likes. 
  Most have the level on the template for the closest char-
  acter type. If this is better than the effective skill level of 
  the organization, use the higher level when the group’s 
  more-capable members cooperate.
  Example: The Adventurers’ Guild enjoys at least a 15 
  in almost any criminal endeavor – it’s really the Thieves’ 
  Guild. Its masters, built with the thief template (GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers, pp. 12-13), have 
  Stealth at 18 on average. Thus, the Guild uses Stealth-18 
  when it organizes an ambush in town!
  In conflicts in which only the delvers’ skills matter – not 
  the rival group’s – the GM can invoke “. . . With Spikes” 
  (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, p. 7) to assess 
  -1 for each of “material resources,” “staffing,” “experience 
  with the environment,” and “popular support” that seems 
  applicable. These penalties never apply in Quick Con-
  tests against organizations, whose advantages show up in 
  effective skill levels instead.
  
   
  those Who pull stRInGs 
  14
  The current mayor is a gnome: Petunia Widgery (below), 
  of the moneyed Widgery clan rooted in the nearby town of 
  Noddington. She’s an accomplished artificer and member of 
  the Artificers’ Guild.
  Mayor’s Council
  The Mayor’s Council is an assembly of 14: the command-
  ers of the Town Watch and Order of Saint Angelina; the high 
  priests of the Earth and Sun Gods; the town’s 
  highest-ranking druid; the masters of the 
  most powerful guilds (the Adventurers’, 
  Alchemists’, Armorers’, Artificers’, Hos-
  pitality, and Wizards’ Guilds, the Cham-
  ber of Commerce, and the Brotherhood 
  of Bards); and a tribune (at the moment, 
  a dwarven fellow named Mig Stakkels) 
  elected by the citizens, who brings the peo-
  ple’s grievances to Town Hall. The tribune 
  is the sole whiff of democracy here.
  The Council serves to advise the Mayor, 
  because though the Mayor rules absolutely, 
  nobody is an expert in all things; e.g., 
  Mayor Widgery can “fake it” in business 
  matters, but she knows nothing of warfare, 
  and isn’t a priest or a wizard. To keep the 
  peace, the Mayor often puts matters to the 
  vote, voting only to break ties. Still, the 
  operative word is advise – the Mayor never 
  has to listen.
  The one situation where the Council 
  has real power is when it’s time to appoint 
  a new Mayor. They get to decide, how-
  ever they see fit, who that will be. The 
  trick is to choose a person who’s open to 
  Council votes and whom the King will 
  approve – and everybody wants someone 
  from their organization. The squabbling 
  takes weeks, during which time nothing 
  gets done unless there’s an invasion, in 
  which case the commander of the Order of 
  Saint Angelina is in charge.
  Town Hall
  The Mayor and Council meet at Town 
  Hall, which is impressive but not interest-
  ing – everyone on the Council has some-
  where they’d rather be. Besides the Council 
  chamber (a gloomy meeting room with 
  a monolithic table), features of note are a 
  library of town records (musty), a ballroom 
  for hosting formal functions (glamorous), 
  a money-changing wicket facing the street 
  (busy), and a balcony overlooking Town 
  Square (p. 7) that’s used for speeches.
  Most adventurers interact only with the 
  money-changers; see C-Notes (p. 36) for 
  why. Would-be bank robbers beware: The 
  teller’s cage bars are meteoric iron with DR 
  12, HP 23, and too closely placed to reach 
  through; the ground in front of the wicket 
  houses an obvious trap of some sort (Mayor 
  “I Know Traps at Skill 20” Widgery tinkers 
  with this for amusement, keeping the crimi-
  nal element off-guard); and Town Square is 
  crawling with Town Watch.
  mAyoR petunIA WIdGeRy  
  (350 poInts)
  Petunia Widgery is a graying, bespectacled gnome who owes her social 
  success to the Artificers’ Guild (she holds multiple patents), family money, 
  and straight-up luck. She developed her political skills on the job – older 
  citizens remember her as undiplomatic. Truly devoted to Caverntown, her 
  focus is “improving the defenses,” issuing ever-better crossbows and scor-
  pions (which the troops love), and installing elaborate traps in strange 
  places (which they don’t).
  To understand what her Rank and Status do in Dungeon Fantasy, see 
  GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 17: Guilds, pp. 5-6.
  ST 10 [0]; DX 13 [60]; IQ 15 [100]; HT 11 [10].
  Damage 1d-2/1d; BL 20 lbs.; HP 10 [0]; Will 15 [0]; Per 15 [0]; FP 14* [0].
  Basic Speed 6.00 [0]; Basic Move 5* [0]; Dodge 9; Parry 10 (Smallsword).
  3’8”, 132 lbs. (SM -1*).
  Advantages
  Artificers’ Guild Rank 3 [15]; Dungeon Artificer 4 [20]; Gizmos 3 [15]; 
  Gnome [20]; Luck [15]; Night Vision 5* [0]; Quick Gadgeteer [50]; Resis-
  tant to Poison (+3)* [0]; Status 3 [15]; Wealth (Very Wealthy) [30]; Wid-
  get-Worker 2* [0].
  Perks: Equipment Bond (Scribe’s Kit) [1]; Equipment Bond (Universal 
  Tool Kit) [1]; Honest Face* [0].
  Disadvantages
  Bad Sight (Mitigator, Corrective Spectacles, -60%) [-10]; Compulsive 
  Inventing (12) [-5]; Curious (12)* [0]; Greed (15) [-7]; Sense of Duty (Cav-
  erntown) [-10]; Stubbornness [-5].
  Quirks: Diplomatic to dignitaries but shares her true feelings with 
  everybody else [-1]; Gives Noddington townsfolk special deals (and earns 
  a back end) [-1]; Happy to discuss gadgetry, even at official functions [-1]; 
  Leaves fighting to the troops but loves to issue them gear [-1]; Responds to 
  “No” with “Well, why not?” [-1].
  Skills
  Architecture (A) IQ [2]-15; Area Knowledge (Caverntown) (E) IQ [1]-15; 
  Armoury (Body Armor) (A) IQ+3 [1]-18†; Armoury (Melee Weapons) (A) 
  IQ+3 [1]-18†; Armoury (Missile Weapons) (A) IQ+5 [1]-20†‡; Cartography 
  (A) IQ-1 [1]-14; Crossbow (E) DX+1 [2]-14; Current Affairs (Caverntown) 
  (E) IQ [1]-15; Detect Lies (H) Per [4]-15; Diplomacy (A) IQ [4]-15; Engi-
  neer (Gadgets) (H) IQ+3 [2]-18†; Fast-Draw (Gadget) (E) DX+4 [1]-17†; 
  Forced Entry (E) DX+2 [1]-15‡; Intimidation (A) Will [2]-15; Lockpick-
  ing (A) IQ+1 [1]-16‡; Merchant (A) IQ [2]-15; Propaganda (A) IQ [2]-15; 
  Public Speaking (A) IQ [2]-15; Savoir-Faire (High Society) (E) IQ [1]-15; 
  Scrounging (E) Per+6 [1]-21†‡; Smallsword (A) DX+1 [4]-14; Traps (A) 
  IQ+5 [1]-20†‡; Writing (A) IQ [2]-15.
  * Accounts for racial abilities.
  † Includes +4 for Dungeon Artificer.
  ‡ Includes +2 for Widget-Worker.
  
   
  those Who pull stRInGs 
  15
  RoyAl embAssy
  The King posts an ambassador in Caverntown who’s of 
  equal or greater social rank to the Mayor – that is, at least a 
  baron – but by blood. Whatever this official’s rank, they’re 
  mostly an observer within town limits. Who this annoys 
  more – the ambassador (who must defer to a bourgeois 
  appointee) or the Mayor (who has to tolerate an aristo-
  cratic babysitter) – is hot gossip.
  The ambassador’s official job is to deliver Royal decrees 
  and ensure that the King gets regular reports. A complex 
  tax-splitting arrangement ensures the King also receives 
  taxes, but those are collected and transported by the King’s 
  Men (p. 16). Still, the Royal ambassador is nominally in 
  charge of King’s Men in town and Deep Rangers (below) 
  in nearby tunnels.
  Unofficially, the Royal ambassador deals with secret 
  agents: keeping tabs on foreign spies, using the King’s Men 
  and Deep Rangers as secret police, and granting clandes-
  tine (and dangerous) quests to delvers. The serving ambas-
  sador – Bela Schreck, Count Deathmoor, a human – is a 
  pale paper-pusher who lives in his office and wouldn’t last 
  two seconds in a scrap. Still, those who cross him “disap-
  pear.” His base of operations is on the south side of Town 
  Square (p. 7).
  mIlItARy mIGht
  Ultimately, Fort Caverntown (pp. 5-6) 
  and the Barricade (pp. 7-8) work because 
  stalwart troops occupy the fortifications, 
  watching for trouble and treating attack-
  ers to arrows, bolts, huge javelins, even 
  bigger rocks, boiling oil, flaming oil, and 
  anything else the Mayor provides.
  Town Watch
  Most of Caverntown’s forces are 
  full-time watchmen. The greenest are 
  62-point guards (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15: Henchmen, 
  pp. 21-22) – but as Natives (p. 11) suggests, 100-point fighters 
  are common. These veteran guards have another 30 points of 
  attributes and advantages (often including Combat Reflexes) 
  and 8 points of skills (add Crossbow and Gunner, if miss-
  ing); an example appears below. Junior officers are mostly 
  125-point brutes (Henchmen, pp. 9-10), plus a few archers 
  (Henchmen, pp. 8-9), skirmishers (Henchmen, pp. 16-17), 
  and squires (Henchmen, pp. 17-18). Senior officers are usually 
  250-point knights (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers, 
  pp. 8-9). Code of Honor (Soldier’s) [-10] and Sense of Duty 
  (Caverntown) [-10] are common across the board, though not 
  mandatory.
  In classic fantasy fashion, the army doubles as the police, 
  patrolling the streets. This may be a bad idea, but every Mayor 
  to date has disagreed. If “detectives” are needed, the job is 
  farmed out to the Adventurers’ Guild (p. 19) or Wizards’ Guild 
  (pp. 20-21), depending on the crime.
  There are also atypical watchmen, recruited from among 
  visiting delvers; see Deputy Delver (p. 27). These can be of any 
  profession and power level, and give the Watch a bit of exper-
  tise at non-fighting arts, particularly magic.
  The odds of officers or contractors accompanying a given 
  Town Watch patrol are up to the GM. If the delvers are being 
  annoying, the watchmen will be prepared with 
  a few tough guys and a spellcaster or two.
  The leader of the Town Watch, Commander 
  Arthur Harris, is seasoned human knight 
  (IQ 12, Born War Leader 4, Leadership-15, 
  Strategy-15, and Tactics-15). He cares more 
  about defense than law enforcement, and 
  loathes politics – where some would love to 
  sit on the Mayor’s Council (p. 14), he finds 
  it tiresome. He recognizes practical compe-
  tence, and has been known to give delvers 
  who commit severe crimes the option of 
  unpaid and unpleasant quests in Undertown 
  (p. 35) in lieu of traditional punishment. His 
  headquarters is on Town Square (p. 7).
  Competent Watchman
  The minimum quality of watchman to be sent after trou-
  blemaking delvers. Fit gives effective HT 13 to resist spells; 
  Combat Reflexes, effective Will 13 for Fright Checks. Ordinary 
  watchmen on day-to-day patrol have leather armor (DR 2) and 
  a spear (1d+3 imp); metal armor, shields, and crossbows are 
  issued as needed. Individual NPCs who get pulled into urban 
  escapades might have quirks and use the points to raise skills.
  ST 13; DX 11; IQ 10; HT 12.
  Damage 1d/2d-1; BL 34 lbs.; HP 13; Will 11; Per 11; FP 12.
  Basic Speed 6.00; Basic Move 6; Dodge 10; Parry 10 (Spear); 
  Block 10 (Shield).
  SM 0; 5’11” to 6’2”; 155 to 185 lbs.
  Advantages/Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Soldier’s); Com-
  bat Reflexes; Fit; Honesty (12); Sense of Duty (Caverntown).
  Skills: Area Knowledge (Caverntown)-10; Armoury (Missile 
  Weapons)-9; Brawling-11; Crossbow-13; Gunner (Cata-
  pult)-12; Observation-11; Shield-12; Spear-13; Streetwise-9; 
  Tactics-9; Wrestling-10.
  Deep Rangers
  In most areas, the Rangers – noted on p. 52 of GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy 16: Wilderness Adventures and 
  described on pp. 24-25 of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 17: 
  Guilds – are essentially Town Watch who patrol outside 
  town walls or King’s Men who police border regions. 
  They don’t operate in settled areas, not even in Cavern-
  town. However, some tunnels beyond the gates (p. 8) and 
  in the Deep (p. 33) lead to subterranean empires and are 
  patrolled by “Deep Rangers” who report to the King via the 
  Royal ambassador (and avoid town, and thus the Mayor’s 
  authority). Deep Ranger patrols are like delving parties 
  whose goal isn’t to get rich but to warn of invasion from 
  below and keep adventurers from starting wars by “invad-
  ing” the Hive (p. 35), the Shadow Enclave (p. 35), etc. 
  Treat them as wandering monsters on such quests, except 
  that fighting with them amounts to treason if word ever 
  gets out: a criminal record (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: 
  Dungeons, p. 4) plus occasional assassination attempts.
  Delvers? 
  Wonderful! I have 
  filthy jobs that need 
  doing.
  – Commander 
  Harris
  
   
  those Who pull stRInGs 
  16
  King’s Men
  The King’s Men don’t make up much of Caverntown’s 
  might. Still, the King collects taxes here, so there are liv-
  eried goon squads who “support” the Town Watch at the 
  gates (p. 8) and in Town Square (p. 7), enforcing Royal law.  
  An even larger number are in plain clothes, serving the Royal 
  ambassador as spies. The nominal headquarters of both is the 
  Royal Embassy (p. 15).
  The baseline King’s Man is a 125-point henchman-qual-
  ity NPC – broadly equivalent to a brute (GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy 15: Henchmen, pp. 9-10) or squire (Henchmen, 
  pp. 17-18) if liveried, or an agent (Henchmen, pp. 4-6), cut-
  purse (Henchmen, pp. 10-12), or killer (Henchmen, pp. 14-15) 
  if undercover. An officer is equal to a 250-point delver, and 
  may pursue any profession, even one that’s otherwise rare 
  in Caverntown, like incanter (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 19: 
  Incantation Magic), mentalist (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  14: Psi), or ninja (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 12: Ninja). 
  There’s no “standard” King’s Man; the GM should create such 
  characters as needed, replacing some of their template’s stan-
  dard disadvantages with mandatory Sense of Duty (Nation) 
  [-10] and optional Fanaticism [-15] in the form of loyalty to 
  the King.
  Order of Saint Angelina
  This all-female order of holy warriors has its origins in 
  the legendary battle that led to Caverntown’s founding; see 
  History (pp. 4-5). It enjoys a credible claim on “town’s most 
  powerful faction” – though that would be contested! – for sev-
  eral reasons.
  First, its members are individually capable. They’re at a 
  minimum 125-point squires (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15: 
  Henchmen, pp. 17-18); many have 187 points, being guards 
  (Henchmen, pp. 21-22) with the champion lens (Henchmen, 
  pp. 35-36); and most officers boast 250+ points, as either 
  squires with the champion lens or full-fledged holy war-
  riors (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers, pp. 7-8). 
  The urban holy warrior lens (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 7: 
  Clerics, p. 12) is common; Sense of Duty (Caverntown) [-10] 
  is required, as is some level of Area Knowledge (Caverntown); 
  and “Slay Elder Things” is an option for Higher Purpose.
  GRAnd mIstRess GenevIève Romée (350 poInts)
  The Grand Mistress is a human urban holy warrior-city 
  priest, presented here because PCs who turn to Evil may 
  find themselves looking down her blade. This very fine 
  thrusting broadsword – Mstitel – was Saint Angelina’s, 
  and is a symbol of office. Within the Great Cavern, this 
  artifact gives +1 to skill and damage (+3 damage with very 
  fine!), doubled to +2 vs. Elder Things; grants a bonus level 
  of Born War Leader when wielded in defense of Cavern-
  town; returns to the current Grand Mistress as a Loyal 
  Weapon; counts as a high holy symbol; and holds 30 FP 
  as a power item. Geneviève also has whatever armor and 
  shield might suit the situation.
  For more on Rank and Status in Dungeon Fantasy, 
  see GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 17: Guilds, pp. 5-6.
  ST 13 [30]; DX 13 [60]; IQ 13 [60]; HT 13 [30].
  Damage 1d+1/2d+1; BL 34 lbs.; HP 13 [0]; Will 16 [15]; Per 
  12 [-5]; FP 13 [0].
  Basic Speed 6.00 [-10]; Basic Move 6 [0]; Dodge 9; Parry 
  11 (Sword); Block 11 (Shield).
  5’11”, 155 lbs. (SM 0).
  Advantages
  Born War Leader 3 [15]; Clerical Investment [5]; Power 
  Investiture 5 (Highly Localized, -10%) [45]; Religious 
  Rank 5 [25]; Status 2 [10]; Striking ST 2 [10]; True Faith 
  (Holy, -20%; Turning, +65%) [22].
  Perks: Shtick (Foes slain personally can’t rise as 
  undead) [1]; Weapon Bond (Mstitel) [1].
  Disadvantages
  Code of Honor (Soldier’s) [-10]; Honesty (9) [-15]; 
  Sense of Duty (Caverntown) [-10]; Vow (Chastity) [-5].
  Quirks: Believes Caverntown has grown too large to 
  effectively defend [-1]; Difficult-to-place, impossible-to- 
  miss accent [-1]; Has a sense of humor, but only barely 
  [-1]; Personal “disciplines of faith” are sword drills [-1]; 
  Takes “lead from the front” seriously [-1].
  Skills
  Area Knowledge (Caverntown) (E) IQ+1 [2]-14; Brawl-
  ing (E) DX+1 [2]-14; Broadsword (A) DX+3 [12]-16; 
  Crossbow (E) DX+2 [4]-15; Current Affairs (Caverntown) 
  (E) IQ+1 [2]-14; Diplomacy (H) IQ [4]-13; Esoteric Med-
  icine (Holy) (H) Per-2 [1]-10; Exorcism (H) Will-1 [2]-15; 
  Fast-Draw (Sword) (E) DX [1]-13; Interrogation (A) IQ-1 
  [1]-12; Intimidation (A) Will [2]-16; Leadership (A) IQ+4 
  [4]-17*; Meditation (H) Will-2 [1]-14; Public Speaking (A) 
  IQ [2]-13; Religious Ritual (H) IQ-1 [2]-12; Savoir-Faire 
  (High Society) (E) IQ [1]-13; Shield (E) DX+3 [8]-16; 
  Strategy (H) IQ+2 [2]-15*; Tactics (H) IQ+2 [2]-15*; The-
  ology (H) IQ-1 [2]-12; Wrestling (A) DX+1 [4]-14.
  Spells†
  Affect Spirits (H) IQ+3 [1]-16; Armor (H) IQ+3 [1]-16; 
  Banish (H) IQ+3 [1]-16; Bravery (H) IQ+3 [1]-16; Dispel 
  Magic (H) IQ+3 [1]-16; Great Healing (VH) IQ+2 [1]-15; 
  Great Voice (H) IQ+3 [1]-16; Magelock (H) IQ+3 [1]-16; 
  Major Healing (VH) IQ+2 [1]-15; Might (H) IQ+3 [1]-16; 
  Oath (H) IQ+3 [1]-16; Recover Energy (H) IQ+3 [1]-16; 
  Sanctuary (VH) IQ+2 [1]-15; Sense Danger (H) IQ+3 
  [1]-16; Shield (H) IQ+3 [1]-16; Silver Tongue (H) IQ+3 
  [1]-16; Strengthen Will (H) IQ+3 [1]-16; Truthsayer (H) 
  IQ+3 [1]-16; Vigil (VH) IQ+2 [1]-15; Vigor (H) IQ+3 [1]-16.
  * Includes +3 for Born War Leader.
  † Includes +5 for Power Investiture.
  
   
  those Who pull stRInGs 
  17
  Next, the Order has far-reaching powers. They defend the 
  Barricade (pp. 7-8) and are usually in command there, by vir-
  tue of competence. A rotating roster of its holy warriors take 
  turns commanding Fort Caverntown (pp. 5-6). And while the 
  Order doesn’t police the streets, it has sweeping authority to 
  intervene in any disturbance or crime involving Evil: demons, 
  restless dead (p. 10), Elder Things, and felonious evil clerics, 
  demonologists, necromancers, and unholy warriors.
  Lastly, the Order’s commander – currently Grand Mistress 
  Geneviève Romée (p. 16) – sits on the Mayor’s Council (p. 14) 
  and is nominally in charge of Caverntown during brief gaps 
  between Mayors.
  The Order is headquartered in a temple on Town Square 
  (p. 7). This is formally the Temple of Saint Angelina – the 
  Order’s legendary founder is venerated as the City God 
  (Clerics, pp. 11-12) – maintained by non-adventuring clerics 
  whose magical powers hint that they enjoy the blessing of the 
  more senior gods. In an inversion of the arrangement found in 
  most faiths, the priests answer to and serve the holy warriors. 
  This makes the Grand Mistress the leader of a major temple 
  and a military force, explaining her primus inter pares status 
  on the Council.
  The Great Golems
  Two gigantic (20’) stone golems at 
  the base of The Shaft (p. 6) raise the 
  lift to Fort Caverntown. They aren’t 
  just 
  glorified 
  lift 
  attendants – the 
  town’s rightful Mayor (only) can mobi-
  lize them in Caverntown’s defense! 
  Delvers who make themselves a threat 
  and try to flee up The Shaft may learn 
  this the hard way.
  Should something happen to the great golems, it would 
  take a total Basic Lift of 500 lbs. (e.g., 25 people with ST 10) 
  to replace each one. These laborers would each burn 1 FP/min-
  ute, so they’d need to lock the cranks periodically to rest or 
  change shifts, turning the 25-minute ride into something con-
  siderably slower. Take the stairs.
  ST: 50 
  HP: 75 
  Speed: 6.25
  DX: 11 
  Will: 8 
  Move: 8
  IQ: 8 
  Per: 8
  HT: 14 
  FP: N/A 
  SM: +3
  Dodge: 9 
  Parry: 10 
  DR: 10
  Big Stomping Foot (12): 5d+8 crushing. Treat as weapon, 
  not as body part. Reach C-3.
  Stone Fist (14): 5d+7 crushing. Treat as weapon, not as body 
  part. Reach C-2.
  Traits: Automaton; Cannot Learn; Doesn’t Breathe; Doesn’t 
  Eat or Drink; Doesn’t Sleep; Fragile (Unnatural); High Pain 
  Threshold; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards; Indomitable; 
  Injury Tolerance (Homogenous, No Blood); Pressure Sup-
  port 3; Reprogrammable; Unfazeable; 
  Unhealing (Total); Vacuum Support.
  Skills: Brawling-14; Wrestling-13.
  Class: Construct.
  Notes: Powerless outside the Great Cav-
  ern. Effective ST 52 when grappling, 
  thanks to Wrestling; apply SM differ-
  ence to attack rolls when grappling 
  (+3 vs. SM 0 humans). Not free-willed, 
  and cannot be mind-controlled. Not 
  living. No golem will negotiate or 
  reveal useful information.
  Hold, 
  abomination!  
  This town shall not 
  suffer thee to exist!
  – Grand Mistress 
  Romée
  temples
  For historical reasons, Caverntown’s most influential reli-
  gious sects are the cults of the Earth God (GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy 7: Clerics, pp. 14-15), the Sun God (Clerics, pp. 28- 
  29), and Saint Angelina (the de facto City God; Clerics, 
  pp. 11-12), and the College of Druids. The high priest of the 
  Earth temple (a dwarf, Fúllyndur Vis), high priestess of  
  the Sun temple (a human, Jua Nuru), Grand Mistress 
  Geneviève Romée of the Order of Saint Angelina (pp. 16-17), 
  and the Great Druid (an earth-infused, Carbonado Vibes, 
  p. 18) each hold a seat on the Mayor’s Council (p. 14).
  The most powerful cults that lack Council seats are 
  that of the Artificer God (Clerics, pp. 9-10), favored by the 
  town’s gnomes, and that of the God of Healing (Clerics, 
  pp. 20-21), which generates impressive revenue off delvers 
  wounded on quests. The priesthood of the Fire God (Clerics, 
  pp. 16-17) – being scarily obsessed with volcanoes and 
  lava – is respected but not liked. There are many sects of even 
  lesser importance, though almost nobody in a permanently 
  sunlit cavern cares much about the God of the Hunt, God of 
  Night, Sea God, or Storm God.
  All the temples are located along the boulevards  
  (p. 7) close to Town Square (p. 7), with two exceptions. The  
  headquarters of the Order of Saint Angelina is on the 
  Square – though Caverntowners see it more as a military 
  armory than as a place of worship. And the druids don’t have 
  a single high holy place; their rites rotate among the town’s 
  many gardens (see Food, p. 9).
  If the GM shrinks Caverntown to more modest propor-
  tions, all but the druids share a single temple of Good, which 
  contains shrines to the entire pantheon. Individual gods still 
  have high priests, the druids still have at least one garden, and 
  there are still four religious leaders on the Council.
  Details of individual temples are left to the GM. The infor-
  mation delvers tend to care about is in Healing (pp. 44-45) and 
  Recharges (p. 45).
  Evil Temples?
  Although there are surely Evil sects in Caverntown, these 
  stay out of sight – the town doesn’t tolerate human sacrifice, 
  worshipping The Devil, and so on. There are doubtless Squid 
  cultists who skulk in basements and worship the Elder Things 
  in the Deep (p. 33), too, but the town especially doesn’t tolerate 
  that madness.
  
   
  those Who pull stRInGs 
  18
  GuIlds
  In Caverntown – as in most settlements bigger than a vil-
  lage – money rarely changes hands legally (or even illegally) 
  without a trade guild being involved, if only behind the scenes. 
  Each guild is a cabal of providers of particular goods and ser-
  vices, its members claiming the exclusive right to sell those 
  things locally, its masters controlling access to imports, set-
  ting policy on apprenticeship and trade secrets, and settling 
  internal disputes.
  Guilds are so important to Caverntown’s economy, and 
  so influential at Town Hall, that the Town Watch enforces 
  their privilege. Most guilds (including all those discussed 
  here) are rich enough to hire private security personnel who 
  individually rival the Watch. Some guilds – particularly the 
  Adventurers’ Guild (p. 19), Wizards’ Guild (pp. 20-21), and 
  Society of Assassins (p. 23) – consist largely of capable peo-
  ple, the match of any delver.
  For adventurers, this can be summed up simply: A guild 
  sets (fixes) “fair” prices for anything that falls within its 
  ambit – and gods help the delver who decides to bypass the 
  guild and offer goods or services directly to the public!
  The odds of being caught going behind a guild’s back are 12 
  or less on 3d. The price? Confiscation of any goods offered for 
  sale or any tools used to perform a service, plus a fine equal to 
  twice the price asked for those goods or services (so charitable 
  services are relatively safe). Fleeing this fate might be possible 
  if the GM wants to play out a run-in with the Watch or guild 
  enforcers, but success leads to a criminal record; see Scum 
  and Villainy (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, p. 4).
  GReAt dRuId CARbonAdo vIbes (425 poInts)
  While Caverntown has many senior priests, Carbonado 
  Vibes stands out. For one thing, he’s an earth-infused 
  who’s more elemental than flesh, and resembles an obsid-
  ian statue. He leads an influential sect that’s the subject of 
  rumor (Other Bad Stuff, p. 10). And some find it disturbing 
  that his sickle (a power item holding 30 FP) is a crescent 
  of starry void that passes through stone walls with him. If 
  he is a conspirator, though, he’s a remarkably outgoing, 
  open-minded one.
  To understand what Carbonado’s Rank does in 
  Dungeon Fantasy, see GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 17: 
  Guilds, p. 5.
  ST 12 [20]; DX 11 [20]; IQ 15 [100]; HT 13 [30].
  Damage 1d-1/1d+2; BL 29 lbs.; HP 14* [2]; Will 15 [0]; Per 
  15 [0]; FP 13 [0].
  Basic Speed 6.00 [0]; Basic Move 5 [-5]; Dodge 9; Parry 
  10 (Sickle).
  6’1”, 330 lbs. (SM 0).
  Advantages
  DR 4 (Druidic, -10%; Limited, Elemental, -20%) [14]; 
  DR 4 (Mana Sensitive, -10%) [18]; DR 6 (Limited, Earth 
  and Stone, -40%; Mana Sensitive, -10%)* [2]; Earth- 
  Infused [75]; Green Thumb 1 [5]; Permeation (Earth; 
  Extended, Stone, +20%; Mana Sensitive, -10%)* [0]; Power 
  Investiture 6 (Druidic) [60]; Religious Rank 6 [30]; Repu-
  tation +4 (Earth Elementals)* [1]; Resistant to Metabolic 
  Hazards (+8)* [5].
  Perks: Stone Fist* [0]; Stony [1].
  Disadvantages
  Disciplines of Faith (Ritualism) [-5]; Sense of Duty 
  (Caverntown, natural deep places, and earth elementals) 
  [-15]; Unnatural Features 2 [-2]; Vow (Never dwell or sleep 
  in a building) [-5].
  Quirks: Broad-minded, except toward Elder Things 
  [-1]; Congenial [-1]; “Elder Things are the negation and 
  foe of Nature” [-1]; Isn’t particularly fond of animals, 
  unlike most druids [-1]; Won’t discuss his disturbingly 
  weird sickle [-1].
  Skills
  Area Knowledge (Caverntown) (E) IQ [1]-15; Axe/Mace  
  DX+3 [12]-14; Camouflage (E) IQ [1]-15/17†; Climbing 
  (A) DX+1 [4]-12; Current Affairs (Caverntown) (E) IQ 
  [1]-15; Diplomacy (H) IQ-1 [2]-14; Esoteric Medicine 
  (Druidic) (H) Per-1 [2]-14; Herb Lore (VH) IQ-1 [2]-14‡; 
  Hidden Lore (Caverntown) (A) IQ [2]-15; Hidden Lore 
  (Elder Things) (A) IQ [2]-15; Hidden Lore (Elementals) 
  (A) IQ [2]-15; Hiking (A) HT-1 [1]-12; Naturalist (H) IQ 
  [2]-15‡; Pharmacy (Herbal) (H) IQ-2 [1]-13; Poisons (H) 
  IQ-2 [1]-13; Prospecting (A) IQ [2]-15; Public Speaking 
  (A) IQ [2]-15; Religious Ritual (Druidic) (H) IQ [4]-15; 
  Stealth (A) DX+1 [4]-12/14†; Survival (Subterranean) (A) 
  Per [2]-15; Teaching (A) IQ-1 [1]-14; Theology (Druidic) 
  (H) IQ [4]-15; Writing (A) IQ-1 [1]-14.
  Spells§
  Alter Terrain (VH) IQ+3 [1]-18; Control Earth Ele-
  mental (H) IQ+4 [1]-19; Create Earth Elemental (H) IQ+4 
  [1]-19; Create Plant (H) IQ+4 [1]-19; Create Spring (H) 
  IQ+4 [1]-19; Detect Magic (H) IQ+4 [1]-19; Dispel Magic 
  (H) IQ+4 [1]-19; Earthquake (H) IQ+4 [1]-19; Entomb-
  ment (H) IQ+5 [2]-20; Geyser (VH) IQ+3 [1]-18; Instant 
  Neutralize Poison (H) IQ+4 [1]-19; Move Terrain (VH) 
  IQ+3 [1]-18; Plant Control (H) IQ+4 [1]-19; Predict Earth 
  Movement (H) IQ+4 [1]-19; Purify Earth (H) IQ+4 [1]-19; 
  Recover Energy (H) IQ+5 [2]-20; Seek Earth (H) IQ+4 
  [1]-19; Shape Earth (H) IQ+4 [1]-19; Summon Earth Ele-
  mental (H) IQ+5 [2]-20; Volcano (H) IQ+4 [1]-19.
  * Accounts for racial abilities.
  † Stony: +2 when standing naked against stone.
  ‡ Includes +1 for Green Thumb.
  § Includes +6 for Power Investiture.
  
   
  those Who pull stRInGs 
  19
  Gamers who really want to explore guilds and similar 
  organizations will find GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 17: Guilds 
  valuable!
  the bIG fIve
  Five powerful guilds control essentially all commerce up 
  and down The Shaft (p. 6), and fix prices for things dragged 
  in and out of the gates (p. 8). All have representation on the 
  Mayor’s Council (p. 14).
  Adventurers’ Guild
  Officially, this organization matches professional adven-
  turers to potential employers. It boasts a hall on Town 
  Square (p. 7), with a tavern on a terrace out front 
  (“the Shaft”), and serves an essential economic func-
  tion in Caverntown. Anybody can retain the Guild 
  to help find a quest or find delvers to undertake a 
  quest, and it receives a kickback from Town Hall on 
  tax collected on treasure found on those quests; see 
  The Gates (p. 8).
  For a fee, the Guild rolls once a week against its 
  effective Current Affairs skill to find a quest; if suc-
  cessful, it tries Research to ferret out details; and 
  finally, it uses the hirers’ choice of Savoir-Faire, 
  Streetwise, or Writing to appeal to a sponsor. For 
  details on these rolls, see GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  2: Dungeons, pp. 4-5. This package costs a modest 
  $50/week for effective skill 12, with each doubling 
  giving +1: 13 for $100/week, 14 for $200/week, and so 
  on. Results aren’t guaranteed – no refunds – but the 
  search is totally anonymous and leaves the heroes free 
  to do other things, even accept other quests.
  However, only thieves can be Adventurers’ Guild members 
  (and hold Rank or attempt assistance rolls, if using GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy 17: Guilds). That is, this is actually the 
  Thieves’ Guild (Guilds, p. 17), with ties to comparable groups 
  worldwide. The Guild ensures the availability of thieving 
  gear (see Local Specialties, pp. 40-41) and makes money off 
  its sale. More important, it does a booming business in “hot” 
  merchandise; all Quick Contests involving the black market 
  (Dungeons, pp. 4, 15) in Caverntown are ultimately against 
  the Guild, whose tentacles give it skill 16 instead of the cus-
  tomary 15. The Guild doesn’t seek to cheat future business 
  partners . . . but when critical failures lead to fines or confis-
  cation, it benefits!
  The current guildmaster is Scrump Badapple, a halfling 
  thief. To do his dirty work, Scrump can call upon 125-point 
  apprentice-to-journeyman thieves (treat as agents and cut-
  purses; see GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15: Henchmen) and 
  250-point thieves.
  Armorers’ Guild
  Caverntown’s many dwarves, proximity to ore, and parade 
  of well-armed visitors have given rise to an exceptionally 
  robust arms-and-armor industry. For effects, see Weapons 
  (pp. 38-39) and Armor (pp. 39-40).
  The Guild has the character of an ethnic mafia – right 
  down to using the Dwarvish language exclusively at all meet-
  ings and in all records. There’s considerable political tension 
  between it and the Chamber of Commerce (pp. 19-20), too. 
  The latter organization asserts that buying, selling, import-
  ing, and exporting weapons and armor is its prerogative, and 
  claims the Armorers’ Guild charter grants a monopoly only 
  on manufacturing. The Guild rides roughshod over this but is 
  happy to let general stores sell its goods: gold is gold.
  The Guild’s prevailing master is Wålli Stonesen, a dwarf. 
  In unpleasantness involving Guild business, Stonesen has 
  no difficulty bribing warriors of almost any level of abil-
  ity – including 250-point and better heroes – to act as muscle 
  in exchange for gear. Locally, cheating the Guild is seen as 
  being as ill-advised as trifling with the Society of Assassins 
  (p. 23); everybody knows it ends in a visit by a squad of surly 
  dwarven knights in plate armor.
  Artificers’ Guild
  Thanks primarily to its large gnome population – who 
  call this group the Gadgeteers’ Guild – Caverntown is home 
  to many artificers. With all the delvers passing through, tools 
  and gadgets are in constant demand, and the topside world 
  is happy to purchase the surplus. For adventurers, Local 
  Specialties (pp. 40-41) sums up the net effect.
  The Guild’s size and wealth make it more influential than 
  similar guilds elsewhere. In fact, Caverntown is one of those 
  rare places where technology rivals magic in economic impor-
  tance! Although it helps that the Mayor is a Guild member, 
  this situation predates her by generations. (Rumor has it that 
  the whole town was planned as a techno-magical one; see 
  Undertown, p. 35.)
  The present Artificers’ Guild master is Cleome Widgery, 
  gnome artificer and sister of Mayor Petunia Widgery. The 
  Noddington Widgery clan boasts 17 other Guild members, 
  mostly young apprentices. Speaking the name “Widgery” in 
  Caverntown is more likely to turn the conversation to gadgets 
  than to politics.
  Chamber of Commerce
  Caverntown hosts a bewildering number of merchant 
  houses in the sense of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 17: Guilds, 
  pp. 18-19. Most are organized along family lines. These have 
  formed a Chamber of Commerce that effectively fixes prices 
  in town . . . although individual interests sometimes backstab 
  each other.
  Delving Companies?
  The dungeons surrounding Caverntown attract many delv-
  ers, some of whom decide to stay – possibly including the PCs 
  (see Settling Down, p. 28). Several local adventuring parties are 
  well-organized, managed like companies, and hire help when 
  they’re shorthanded, but these aren’t big enough to provide ser-
  vices such as those proposed on pp. 13-14 of GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy 17: Guilds. The Mayor certainly doesn’t think highly 
  enough of these groups to grant them guild charters! There is an 
  Adventurers’ Guild that aims to match quests to heroes, though 
  it has some important differences from the one described on 
  p. 13 of Guilds.
  
   
  those Who pull stRInGs 
  20
  From a delver’s perspective, this is the Merchants’ 
  Guild spoken of throughout GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: 
  Dungeons – complete with an effective Merchant skill of 15 in 
  Quick Contests to score bargains and haggle prices. This skill 
  level is no higher than usual (some competition is good), but 
  the consequences of losing such a Contest are more severe in 
  the highly confined quarters of Caverntown: losing while bar-
  gain hunting boosts price by 20% instead of 10%, while losing 
  while haggling means effective Wealth is cut by two levels.
  On a larger, political level, the Chamber serves as a trade 
  commission, presenting a unified front to the topside world. 
  Delvers are unlikely to interact with the organization in this 
  capacity within Caverntown. Those leaving town may pick up 
  quests as envoys, couriers, or spies.
  The dominant merchant house in the Chamber is the 
  Goldhaus Group, led by Stella Marcia Zonio-Goldhaus 
  (below), a human. (Stella’s husband, Falvio Zonio, is half 
  her age and known for looks, not brains.) While most mer-
  chants aren’t menacing in their own right, they’re rich, and 
  can afford mercenaries and assassins of all stripes. This can 
  work for or against delvers, depending on whether they’re 
  hirelings or targets.
  Wizards’ Guild
  As in any settlement of note, the 
  Wizards’ Guild operates a chapter in 
  Caverntown – and as elsewhere, the 
  Guild 
  is 
  powerful. 
  Beyond 
  selling 
  Magical Services (pp. 43-46) and enjoy-
  ing its traditional monopoly on the 
  magic-items trade, it’s nominally in 
  charge of ensuring that the magic which 
  sustains Caverntown (especially Earth 
  magic) functions properly. “Nominally,” 
  because the Earth and Sun temples, and 
  the College of Druids, share the task, and 
  relations aren’t always cordial.
  The Guild’s focus here is less on 
  enchanting items and more on research. 
  The sheer volume of strange artifacts 
  and monster parts hauled in from the 
  dungeons means there’s almost always 
  something new to study. In slow periods, 
  there’s the Great Cavern itself. Local 
  wizards have purportedly developed 
  numerous variant spells and enchant-
  ments – but if so, they aren’t sharing.
  The Guild does share access to 
  its library, which has its own street 
  entrance. 
  Anybody 
  without 
  Social 
  Stigma (Criminal Record) and who 
  has never wronged the Guild can pay 
  $1,000/year for research privileges; 
  there’s no cheaper, shorter-term option. 
  The library’s quality is legendary: When 
  identifying artifacts, researching the 
  supernatural, translating scrolls, etc., 
  it gives +3 to Alchemy, Hidden Lore, 
  Occultism, Research, Thaumatology, 
  and anything else the GM feels like 
  (though not spells, which are available 
  only to Guild students). Those who know 
  Research but lack a specialized skill 
  may still roll vs. IQ-1 if the missing skill 
  is Easy, IQ-2 if Average, IQ-3 if Hard, or 
  IQ-4 if Very Hard. Scholars can tempo-
  rarily acquire up to 4 points in any such 
  topic via Book-Learned Wisdom; see 
  Manuals (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 4: 
  Sages, p. 13).
  stellA mARCIA  
  ZonIo-GoldhAus (275 poInts)
  Stella directs the Goldhaus Group and chairs the Chamber of Commerce. 
  Her motivations are power and profit. Many view her younger and very 
  handsome husband as a sign of other vices, but no – Stella simply sees stra-
  tegic value in marriage and “arm candy.” How much older she is does betray 
  another fixation, though: The best magic money can buy has held her appar-
  ent age at 65 for at least 75 years.
  Stella appears here as an example of the caliber of power-players that 
  delvers meddling in Caverntown’s internal affairs will encounter: People 
  whose gifts and resources are impressive despite being unsuited to adventur-
  ing. Her Wealth exceeds the Dungeon Fantasy limit for PCs – she’s good for 
  at least $1 million at any given time, which sets the stakes for those hoping to 
  exploit her Greed. She has even more assets tied up in her merchant house, 
  represented by Rank. To understand that and Status, see GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy 17: Guilds, pp. 5-6.
  ST 8 [-20]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 17 [140]; HT 10 [0].
  Damage 1d-3/1d-2; BL 13 lbs.; HP 8 [0]; Will 17 [0]; Per 17 [0]; FP 10 [0].
  Basic Speed 5.00 [0]; Basic Move 5 [0]; Dodge 8.
  5’4”, 126 lbs. (SM 0).
  Advantages
  Hard to Kill 4 [8]; Language (Dwarvish; Native) [6]; Language (Gnomish; 
  Native) [6]; Luck [15]; Merchant Rank 5 [25]; Multimillionaire 1 [75]; Photo-
  graphic Memory [10]; Rapier Wit [5]; Status 2 [10].
  Perks: Penetrating Voice [1].
  Disadvantages
  Greed (9) [-22]; Selfish (12) [-5]; Sense of Duty (Goldhaus Group) [-5]; 
  Stubbornness [-5].
  Quirks: Always interested in anti-aging magic [-1]; Angling to become the 
  next Mayor [-1]; Everything – but everything – is a calculation [-1]; Never 
  overlooks or forgets a social slight [-1]; Sees money, not adventuring abili-
  ties, as true power, and adventurers as tools to be hired and fired [-1].
  Skills
  Area Knowledge (Caverntown) (E) IQ [1]-17; Connoisseur (Luxuries) (A) 
  IQ-1 [1]-16; Current Affairs (Caverntown) (E) IQ [1]-17; Detect Lies (H) Per-1 
  [2]-16; Diplomacy (H) IQ-1 [2]-16; Fast-Talk (A) IQ-1 [1]-16; Gambling (A) 
  IQ-1 [1]-16; Intimidation (A) Will+1 [4]-18; Merchant (A) IQ [12]-20; Propa-
  ganda (A) IQ+1 [4]-18; Public Speaking (A) IQ-1 [1]-16; Research (A) IQ-1 
  [1]-16; Savoir-Faire (High Society) (E) IQ+1 [2]-18; Smuggling (A) IQ-1 
  [1]-16; Speed-Reading (A) IQ-1 [1]-16; Writing (A) IQ-1 [1]-16.
  
   
  those Who pull stRInGs 
  21
  Other features of the Wizards’ 
  Guild tower – Caverntown’s tall-
  est structure after The Shaft (p. 6) 
  and the Eight Titans (pp. 6-7) – are 
  the stuff of hearsay. Contents are 
  widely assumed to include class-
  rooms, spell libraries, magic labs, 
  and 
  enchantment 
  workshops. 
  There are rumors of a monster 
  zoo, portals to distant lands and 
  alien dimensions, and a basement 
  that passes through Undertown 
  (p. 35) to the Deep (p. 33). The 
  truth is behind Magelock and 
  Scrywall spells, and even no-mana 
  zones. Effective skill level of magi-
  cal defenses starts at 20 and can be 
  as impressive as the GM likes.
  For as long as anyone can 
  remember, the Wizards’ Guild has 
  been headed by Grand Magister 
  Certus Immortuos, a “human” 
  wizard, though most locals suspect 
  nonhuman ancestry: dark one, 
  shadow elf, even corpse-eater. His 
  strangeness is shrugged off with 
  “wizards will be wizards.” Even 
  the weakest Guild members are 125-
  point apprentices (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15: Henchmen, 
  pp. 6-8), and there are plenty of 250-point wizards in the 
  ranks, not to mention elementalists and scholars. The masters 
  are more powerful, and likely include some beings most peo-
  ple would deem monsters.
  otheR GuIlds
  Not all guilds enjoy the wealth or reach of the Big Five, 
  but a few command a certain respect because they hold a 
  seat on the Mayor’s Council or scare the wits out of people. 
  The absence of a warriors’ or mercenaries’ guild might seem 
  strange to visitors, but the Town Watch effectively takes up 
  the slack; see Deputy Delver (p. 27).
  Alchemists’ Guild
  In some settlements, either there’s no Alchemists’ Guild or 
  it’s merely a subsidiary of the Artificers’ Guild (most artificers 
  practice alchemy) or the Wizards’ Guild (alchemy is magic). 
  In Caverntown, artificers and wizards are so evenly matched 
  that after a century of often-destructive squabbling – you 
  don’t want people who love explosions fighting a war in the 
  streets! – Town Hall granted alchemists an independent char-
  ter, complete with a seat on the Mayor’s Council. Today, this 
  arrangement serves mostly as a spoiler against power bids by 
  the Artificers’ and Wizards’ Guilds.
  There’s nothing special about alchemy or its products in 
  Caverntown – delvers won’t be affected by the guild situation. 
  Unless the Alchemists’, Artificers’, or Wizards’ Guild hires 
  them in a plot against one of the other two. But that would 
  never happen.
  Guildmaster Zuulia Mufajir – a human artificer but not an 
  Artificers’ Guild member – runs the Guild, primarily with an 
  eye to business (although “Selling shooters to looters!” wasn’t 
  a successful campaign). Few Guild members are adventurers; 
  ordinary alchemists rely on the Town Watch to get them out 
  of trouble.
  Brotherhood of Bards
  While bards aren’t customarily organized into guilds, 
  the Brotherhood is chartered as such in Caverntown – with 
  a presence on the Mayor’s Council – because every Mayor in 
  recent history has understood that bards singing the town’s 
  praises in the world attracts tourists and fortune-seekers 
  . . . and with visitors comes money (see The E-Word, p. 37).  
  A small cadre of bards who rarely leave town serve the 
  Mayor as unofficial spies rather than as official shills,  
  often matching wits with the King’s Men who spy for the 
  Royal ambassador.
  The Brotherhood’s college, on Town Square (p. 7), is 
  a great place to learn not only the performing arts but also 
  almost any language. It boasts a large auditorium that has 
  hosted many famous acts. Anyone plotting to murder digni-
  taries in the audience should know that the theatre is seen as 
  “off limits” by agreement with the Society of Assassins (p. 23), 
  who provide security for shows; make a Streetwise roll to be 
  aware of this.
  The Master Bard (p. 22) – a good-looking, androgynous 
  celestial who goes by the mononym Sivel – is known better 
  as a singer than as an administrator, and often performs at 
  taverns around town. Dismissing Sivel as a frivolous trou-
  badour would be a grave error. Sivel is fantastically old, 
  skilled at magic, on speaking terms with the god that sired 
  them (local clerics are unsure which god), and leads an alli-
  ance of seasoned 250-point adventuring bards who have the  
  Mayor’s blessing.
  
   
  those Who pull stRInGs 
  22
  Hospitality Guild
  The Hospitality Guild consists of keepers of inns and 
  taverns – and of brothels and gambling houses, which are 
  officially “inns” and “taverns.” It’s also the only source of 
  accredited tour guides ($4/hour for Area Knowledge-12; $8/
  hour for Area Knowledge-14 and Current Affairs-14) and town 
  maps (sketchy ones permit a Navigation-2 roll to find things 
  and cost $25, average ones allow unpenalized Navigation 
  and are $50, and annotated ones enable the higher of IQ-4 or 
  Navigation+1 and are $100; all weigh 0.1 lb.). It enjoys a 
  seat on the Mayor’s Council due to the importance of tourist 
  money (see The E-Word, p. 37).
  Like the Alchemists’ Guild (p. 21), this group has a split 
  personality: It overlaps both the Adventurers’ Guild (who 
  prefer not to dabble in vice too overtly) and the Chamber of 
  Commerce (who admit only merchants in the import/export 
  business). The Mayor values it as a way to foil these groups 
  when they get cocky.
  mAsteR bARd sIvel (500 poInts)
  Sivel is an enigma in a town of enigmas. To begin with, 
  Sivel is androgynous. Equally apparent is their extraor-
  dinary parentage: Mixed divine and mortal – but which 
  parent was which, the deity’s identity, and the mortal’s 
  race are mysteries. And Sivel is purportedly old enough to 
  settle many of Caverntown’s rumors. Sivel won’t discuss 
  these subjects. Indeed, Sivel often seems indifferent to 
  anything but singing on the local tavern circuit, yet some-
  how holds the Brotherhood of Bards together.
  Sivel’s Bard-Song abilities and wizardly spells are 
  unusual: They’re sensitive to sanctity, not mana! They 
  work normally otherwise.
  Sivel is a lover, not a fighter. That doesn’t prevent them 
  from carrying a very fine edged rapier with a divine Flam-
  ing Weapon enchantment. Their power item is a chunky 
  gold-and-diamond ring holding 40 FP.
  To understand what Sivel’s Rank and Status do in 
  Dungeon Fantasy, see GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 17: 
  Guilds, pp. 5-6.
  ST 12* [10]; DX 13* [40]; IQ 15* [80]; HT 12* [10].
  Damage 1d-1/1d+2; BL 29 lbs.; HP 12 [0]; Will 16* [0]; Per 
  15 [0]; FP 13* [0].
  Basic Speed 7.00* [5]; Basic Move 7 [0]; Dodge 10; Parry 
  11 (Rapier).
  6’, 170 lbs. (SM 0).
  Advantages
  Appearance (Very Handsome; Universal, +25%)* [15]; 
  Bardic Rank 5 [25]; Bardic Talent 3 [24]; Celestial [75]; 
  Charisma 2 [10]; Cultural Adaptability [10]; Doesn’t Sleep 
  [20]; Fit* [0]; Language (Angelic; Native) [6]; Language 
  (Dwarvish; Native) [6]; Language (Gnomish; Native) [6]; 
  Musical Ability 3 [15]; Patron (God of Music; 6 or less; 
  Bard-Song, -30%; Highly Accessible, +50%; Special Abili-
  ties, +100%) [33]; Rapier Wit (Bard-Song, -30%) [4]; Spirit 
  Empathy* [0]; Status 2 [10]; Terror (Bard-Song, -30%) 
  [21]; Voice [10]; Wealth (Wealthy) [20].
  Perks: Celestial Nimbus* [0]; Divine Gifts* [0]; Pene-
  trating Voice [1].
  Disadvantages
  Chummy [-5]; Compulsive Performing (12) [-5]; Divine 
  Curse* [0]; Sense of Duty (Caverntown) [-10]; Weakness 
  (Cursed Areas; Occasional; 1d/minute)* [0]; Xenophilia 
  (15) [-5].
  Quirks: Considers song sacred, however profane the 
  performance venue [-1]; Knows they’d be a great Mayor, 
  but not interested [-1]; Loves glittery outfits [-1]; Secretly 
  owns the C-Note tavern (p. 43) [-1]; Won’t discuss their 
  age, sex, or parentage [-1].
  Skills
  Acting (A) IQ-1 [1]-14; Area Knowledge (Caverntown) 
  (E) IQ [1]-15; Carousing (E) HT+1 [2]-13; Current Affairs 
  (Caverntown) (E) IQ [1]-15; Dancing (A) DX-1 [1]-12; 
  Detect Lies (H) Per-2 [1]-13; Diplomacy (H) IQ+1 [2]-16†; 
  Disguise (A) IQ-1 [1]-14; Fast-Draw (Sword) (E) DX [1]-13; 
  Fast-Talk (A) IQ+1 [1]-16†; Heraldry (A) IQ-1 [1]-14; Hid-
  den Lore (Caverntown) (A) IQ [2]-15; Interrogation (A) 
  IQ-1 [1]-14; Intimidation (A) Will-1 [1]-15; Merchant 
  (A) IQ-1 [1]-14; Musical Composition (H) IQ+1 [1]-16‡; 
  Musical Influence (VH) IQ+1 [2]-16‡; Musical Instrument 
  (Lyre) (H) IQ+1 [1]-16‡; Observation (A) Per-1 [1]-14; Per-
  formance (A) IQ+2 [2]-17†; Poetry (A) IQ-1 [1]-14; Propa-
  ganda (A) IQ+1 [4]-16; Public Speaking (A) IQ+3 [1]-18†§; 
  Rapier (A) DX+3 [12]-16; Savoir-Faire (High Society) 
  (E) IQ [1]-15; Sex Appeal (A) HT+5 [1]-17†¶; Singing (E) 
  HT+6 [2]-18†‡; Stealth (A) DX-1 [1]-12; Streetwise (A) 
  IQ-1 [1]-14.
  Spells#
  Borrow Language (H) IQ+1 [1]-16; Bravery (H) IQ+1 
  [1]-16; Charm (H) IQ+1 [1]-16; Command (H) IQ+1 
  [1]-16; Control Person (H) IQ+1 [1]-16; Daze (H) IQ+1 
  [1]-16; Enslave (VH) IQ [1]-15; Fascinate (H) IQ+1 [1]-16; 
  Fear (H) IQ+1 [1]-16; Foolishness (H) IQ+1 [1]-16; Forget-
  fulness (H) IQ+1 [1]-16; Gift of Letters (VH) IQ [1]-15; Gift 
  of Tongues (VH) IQ [1]-15; Hide Emotion (H) IQ+1 [1]-16; 
  Hide Thoughts (H) IQ+1 [1]-16; Lend Language (H) IQ+1 
  [1]-16; Loyalty (H) IQ+1 [1]-16; Mind-Reading (H) IQ+1 
  [1]-16; Mind-Sending (H) IQ+1 [1]-16; Persuasion (H) 
  IQ+1 [1]-16; Possession (VH) IQ [1]-15; Sense Emotion 
  (H) IQ+1 [1]-16; Sense Foes (H) IQ+1 [1]-16; Telepathy 
  (VH) IQ [1]-15; Weaken Will (H) IQ+1 [1]-16.
  * Accounts for racial abilities.
  † Includes +2 for Voice.
  ‡ Includes +3 for Musical Ability.
  § Includes +2 for Charisma.
  ¶ Includes +4 for Very Handsome (Universal).
  # Includes +3 for Bardic Talent.
  
   
  those Who pull stRInGs 
  23
  The Hospitality Guild is headed by a halfling innkeeper, 
  Cheery “Cheerio” O’Malley. Most of its members aren’t adven-
  turing innkeepers in the sense of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  10: Taverns, p. 8; they’re ordinary folks. Trouble at individual 
  establishments is what bouncers are for; these are often 125- 
  to 250-point warriors, due to Caverntown’s tough clientele. 
  Threats to the Guild are met with appeals to Town Hall – or by 
  hiring the Society of Assassins (p. 23), when those who mind 
  their Ps and Qs want to keep things on the QT.
  Society of Assassins
  There is no Society of Assassins. No civilized settlement 
  would abide murder for hire, much less have a Grandmaster 
  Assassin on the Mayor’s Council. Caverntown doubtless has 
  specialists in preventing assassination (as in the theatre of the 
  Brotherhood of Bards, pp. 21-22) and dealing with threats (as 
  for the Hospitality Guild, pp. 22-23). If these people know of 
  routes through Undertown (p. 35) – and thus into many of the 
  town’s buildings – that’s fine if they aren’t burgling, right?
  Yet like any city or large town, Caverntown is home to per-
  sistent rumors concerning an “Assassins’ Guild” that brokers 
  contract killings and vends poison. Total poppycock, as such a 
  cartel could survive only with Town Hall’s sufferance, imply-
  ing that the Mayor knows who its masters are and deflects 
  Town Watch investigation. Conspiracy theorists might go so 
  far as to posit the Mayor’s approval, in return for assassina-
  tions not unduly disturbing the peace and, since we’re spec-
  ulating wildly, occasionally being perpetrated as political 
  “favors.” The Mayor is a nice old lady, though (but the previ-
  ous Mayor . . . well, maybe).
  Minor Guilds
  Almost all professions the organizations described so far 
  don’t control have their own guilds. There are endless craft 
  guilds (Jewelers’ Guild, Sculptors’ Guild, Tailors’ Guild, and 
  so on, which in Caverntown are oftentimes dominated by dark 
  ones due to their High Manual Dexterity) and an exceptional 
  number of service guilds (Messengers’ Guild, Scribes’ Guild, 
  Hairdressers’ Guild . . .) vying for visitors’ silver. These lack 
  voices on the Mayor’s Council.
  Given the low-fidelity economics of a dungeon-fantasy 
  game, the details don’t matter to delvers. Assume that if heroes 
  need work done, there’s somebody eager to do it. The typi-
  cal rate for custom crafting – e.g., adding value to a power 
  item (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 18: Power Items, p. 6) – is a 
  10% commission over and above materials cost, unless Buying 
  (pp. 37-42) notes otherwise. To add variability, the GM might 
  treat this as 5-15% (roll 2d+3). Also, minor guilds with their 
  eyes on the Mayor’s Council may offer quests, often with pay-
  ment in high-quality (and untraceable!) goods and services.
  the loCAls
  Like many things in Dungeon Fantasy supplements, 
  Caverntown is treated somewhat abstractly. That doesn’t 
  mean its inhabitants should be anonymous. When the 
  heroes first meet a local – especially a functionary or busi-
  ness owner – the GM should write down the NPC’s name, 
  a few quirks, and perhaps a key trait or two. Professional 
  skills are at 12 on average, but the GM may prefer to roll 
  1d+9 (for 10-15) or (1d/2)+10 (for 11-13). Add notes as 
  needed during future encounters. While a full character 
  sheet is rarely necessary, you might eventually end up 
  with one!
  Authorities (pp. 13-17), Temples (pp. 17-18), and Guilds 
  (pp. 18-23) name important locals; these are listed below 
  for quick reference. For lower-profile NPCs, see Shops and 
  Shopkeepers (pp. 39-40) and Hospitable Places (p. 43).
   Name 
  Sex 
  Race 
  Profession 
  Position
   Badapple, Scrump 
  Male 
  Halfling 
  Thief 
  Guildmaster, Adventurers’ Guild (p. 19)
   Harris, Arthur 
  Male 
  Human 
  Knight 
  Commander, Town Watch (p. 15)
   Immortuos, Certus 
  Male 
  “Human” 
  Wizard 
  Grand Magister, Wizards’ Guild (pp. 20-21)
   Mufajir, Zuulia 
  Female 
  Human 
  Artificer 
  Guildmaster, Alchemists’ Guild (p. 21)
   Nuru, Jua 
  Female 
  Human 
  Cleric 
  High Priestess, Sun Temple (p. 17)
   O’Malley, Cheery 
  Female 
  Halfling 
  Innkeeper 
  Guildmaster, Hospitality Guild (pp. 22-23)
   Romée, Geneviève 
  Female 
  Human 
  Holy Warrior-Cleric 
  Grand Mistress, Order of Saint Angelina 
    
   
   
   
   (pp. 15-17)
   Schreck, Bela 
  Male 
  Human 
  * 
  Royal Ambassador (p. 15)
   Sivel 
  Unknown 
  Celestial 
  Bard 
  Master Bard (pp. 21-22)
   Stakkels, Mig 
  Male 
  Dwarf 
  * 
  Tribune (p. 14)
   Stonesen, Wålli 
  Male 
  Dwarf 
  * 
  Guildmaster, Armorers’ Guild (p. 19)
   Vibes, Carbonado 
  Male 
  Earth-Infused 
  Druid 
  Great Druid (pp. 17, 18)
   Vis, Fúllyndur 
  Male 
  Dwarf 
  Cleric 
  High Priest, Earth Temple (p. 17)
   Widgery, Cleome 
  Female 
  Gnome 
  Artificer 
  Guildmaster, Artificers’ Guild (p. 21)
   Widgery, Petunia 
  Female 
  Gnome 
  Artificer 
  Mayor (pp. 13-14)
   Zonio-Goldhaus,  
  Female 
  Human 
  * 
  Chairperson, Chamber of Commerce
    Stella Marcia 
   
   
   
   (pp. 19-20)
  * The NPC isn’t incompetent, just not built on a standard delver template. Stella appears on p. 20. The GM can make 
  Bela, Mig, and Wålli as capable as desired!
  
   
  WelCome to CAveRntoWn! 
  24
  Now that you know what Caverntown looks like and who 
  runs it, it’s time discuss how adventurers interact with the 
  place – and why they would visit at all!
  Business interactions are a big enough deal to rate their 
  own chapter (pp. 36-46).
  WhAt eveRy vIsItoR  
  needs to knoW
  Being a tourist in Caverntown is safe and straightforward: 
  The streets are never dark (Light, p. 8) and follow a predict-
  able grid (Streets, p. 7). Official guides and maps are available 
  from the Hospitality Guild (pp. 22-23). Competent forces 
  keep the peace (Military Might, pp. 15-17). Even the thieves 
  (Adventurers’ Guild, p. 19) and, if they exist, assassins (Society 
  of Assassins, p. 23) follow rules. Some taverns are rough, but 
  that’s as bad as it gets – the dangers of Caverntown lurk out-
  side and below, not within.
  That doesn’t mean life is free 
  and easy . . .
  tolls And fees
  There are only two places 
  where Caverntown charges ordi-
  nary delvers money:
  • When taking The Shaft up or 
  down, there’s a $0.05/pound toll. 
  See Tolls (p. 6).
  • When passing between the Great Cavern and the tunnels 
  to the dungeons, there’s a flat $5/day passage fee and a (1d)% 
  tax on treasure brought in. See The Gates (p. 8).
  However, there are several voluntary fees delvers without 
  suitable skills may opt to pay to make life easier. In partic-
  ular, the Adventurers’ Guild (p. 19) charges for quest-find-
  ing, the Wizards’ Guild charges for library access (p. 20), 
  and the Hospitality Guild (pp. 22-23) charges for tour  
  guides and maps.
  Yet many things are free! Without charge, anybody may 
  draw water from the public fountains (The Eight Titans, 
  pp. 6-7) or wells (Water, p. 9), dispose of waste via garbage 
  chutes (Sewage and Garbage, p. 9), or change money at Town 
  Hall (C-Notes, p. 36). Abuse of these privileges is a criminal act, 
  and that can lead to fines or worse; see Local Laws (pp. 25-27).
  tAsks In toWn
  Except as noted elsewhere, most tasks delvers might 
  want to carry out in town work exactly as described in other 
  Dungeon Fantasy supplements (particularly Dungeons, 
  Taverns, Henchmen, and Guilds). But there 
  are some minor wrinkles:
  Scrounging (Dungeons, p. 3) and Dredging 
  and Mud-Larking (Dungeons, p. 4): These 
  tasks are harder, as Caverntown is kept clean 
  and trash is disposed of down chutes, not in 
  gutters: -2 to skill. However, critical failure at 
  rooting around never results in sewer rot.
  Bargain Hunting (Dungeons, p. 4): Losing 
  the Quick Contest boosts price by 20%, not 
  10%; see Chamber of Commerce (pp. 19-20).
  Black Market (Dungeons, pp. 4, 15): As Adventurers’ Guild 
  (p. 19) notes, the Quick Contests are against 16, not 15.
  Finding a Quest (Dungeons, p. 4) and Finding a Sponsor 
  (Dungeons, pp. 4-5): These rolls might be at a bonus or 
  farmed out to the Adventurers’ Guild. See Finding Quests 
  (pp. 31-32).
  Starving (Dungeons, p. 4): Cost of living is $150/week here, 
  as in any town. Delvers who fall afoul of Local Laws (pp. 25-27) 
  and are hit with community service must still pay – getting 
  arrested isn’t a sneaky way to get a free lunch!
  Disposing of the Spoils (Dungeons, pp. 14-15): Many spe-
  cial conditions apply in Caverntown; see Selling (pp. 36-37).
  Fixer-Uppers (Dungeons, p. 14): If the delvers can’t adjust 
  armor themselves, they can pay 10% of its value to have the 
  Armorers’ Guild (p. 19) do it. See Repairs and Refits (p. 46).
  ChApteR thRee
  WelCome to 
  CAveRntoWn!
  “Free as air,” humph! 
  As Mayor, I would  
  impose a breathing tax  
  on visitors.
  – Stella Marcia  
  Zonio-Goldhaus
  
   
  WelCome to CAveRntoWn! 
  25
  Haggling (Dungeons, p. 15): Losing the Quick Contest 
  means Wealth is treated as two levels lower; see Chamber of 
  Commerce (pp. 19-20).
  Social Stigmas (The Next Level, p. 11): As it’s no fun to 
  leave party members topside while everyone else has adven-
  tures, no delver – however monstrous – is denied entrance. 
  Treat the 6 or less or 9 or less chance as the daily roll for has-
  sles: false arrests, screaming children, challenges to duels by 
  NPC delvers, etc. No roll is needed during days spent at the 
  inn doing nothing.
  Bar Fights (Taverns, pp. 11-13): These aren’t crimes in 
  Caverntown unless someone is permanently injured. That’s 
  a crime against a person; see Local Laws (below). Brawlers 
  who fail to pay $5-10 (roll 1d+4) to compensate the establish-
  ment will have the Town Watch confiscate gear sufficient to 
  pay that amount.
  uRbAn dAnGeRs
  Because Caverntown is so orderly, the GM should avoid the 
  temptation to have the heroes come to grief when going about 
  daily business, but:
  Getting Lost: If the adventurers get embroiled in a chase or 
  running battle, they won’t be paying as much attention to their 
  surroundings. Parties that include somebody with Absolute 
  Direction won’t have a problem. Those without must make 
  an Area Knowledge (Caverntown) or Navigation roll, or 
  cast a Know Location or Pathfinder spell. Failure means 
  getting lost. Getting found again requires success at one of 
  those rolls, an IQ roll for Eidetic Memory (Photographic 
  Memory succeeds automatically but still takes time), or a 
  Remember Path spell. Each attempt wastes an hour, should 
  that matter.
  Getting Into Trouble: While “wandering monsters” in the 
  form of criminals aren’t usually a problem, they might show 
  up if an adventure requires the heroes to visit a “bad part 
  of town” – or if the adventurers get lost. Then roll vs. the 
  party’s best Streetwise skill or default (IQ-5) hourly. Failure 
  indicates an unpleasant encounter of the GM’s choosing: 
  false arrest, gang attack, mugging, pickpocket attempt, etc. 
  Critical failure can, if the GM likes, mean rolling for Random 
  Events (p. 30).
  Still, delvers are the town’s bread and butter; Caverntowners 
  might not like them but won’t seek to cause them grief. The 
  old-school “roll dice to cross the street” ploy is too adversarial 
  for Caverntown. Skip the rolls above unless the adventurers 
  are on a risky urban quest, break the law, or wrong someone 
  (which might all be one and the same!).
  loCAl lAWs
  When it comes to dos and don’ts, Caverntown is like any 
  town: Critical failure when trading on the black market leads 
  to confiscation of cash and/or equipment, any failure at shop-
  lifting or smuggling stolen goods out of town means being 
  pilloried by the Town Watch acting on behalf of the Chamber 
  of Commerce, any failure when picking pockets or cheat-
  ing at gambling triggers corporal punishment as the Town 
  Watch looks on with amusement (or pitches in!), and critical 
  failure at debasing coin means the King’s Men take a hand 
  in the matter . . . all exactly as GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  2: Dungeons, p. 4 describes. And as explained there, these 
  crimes – or cheating at gambling, or betraying a sponsor – can 
  saddle the offender with Social Stigma (Criminal Record).
  There are endless other crimes. As Caverntown is a law-
  and-order town – despite or perhaps because of the many 
  scummy delvers – these draw punishment, too. Use the closest 
  “standard” crime defined in Dungeons to assess the penalty. 
  For the most part:
  • Property crimes such as failure to pay for a service or dis-
  charge a debt, or breaking and entering, mean being pilloried 
  and losing all cash and gear.
  • Crimes against persons are punished by “an eye for an 
  eye”: Break a leg and have your leg broken, kill someone and 
  you swing at dawn.
  • Treason or espionage invites execution.
  • If the sentence isn’t death, add Social Stigma (Criminal 
  Record) afterward.
  In most cases, enforcement is by the Town Watch and 
  justice is summary, though for high-profile offenses, the 
  Mayor is judge and jury (but not executioner – that’s left to 
  the Watch). The exceptions are crimes against the Crown 
  (e.g., debasing coin, murdering King’s Men or Rangers, or 
  high treason), where the Royal ambassador presides and 
  the King’s Men do the punishing. The Mayor and Royal 
  ambassador can technically grant reprieves from the other’s 
  sentences, but this is exceedingly rare (requires a modified 
  reaction roll of 22+). There are no lawyers and no pleas: If 
  you did it, magic will divine the truth and you will pay; if you 
  didn’t, you’ll be okay. While errors happen, dungeon fantasy 
  is about battling monsters, not fighting charges; deliver jus-
  tice and get on with the game.
  Still, certain crimes merit special mention.
  Economic Crimes
  Caverntown worships the almighty $ like a god. Attempts to 
  cheat the town or its guilds of money result in stiff penalties:
  Bad Paper: Attempts to pass false C-notes (p. 36) are pun-
  ished like debasing coin: Lose a hand. Except in this case, 
  the Town Watch simply chops it off. Oh, and any legitimate 
  C-notes in the offender’s possession are forfeit.
  Not Guildy: Violating guild privilege results in confiscation 
  of goods and a heavy fine; see Guilds (pp. 18-23). Enforcement 
  is by the Town Watch or guild muscle, whoever gets there 
  first – the GM can roll 1d even/odd, or flip a coin. If it’s the 
  guild, beware: Town Hall tolerates “alternative punishment,” 
  making arrest by the Watch preferable. Unlike Wizards’ Guild 
  enforcers, for instance, the Watch won’t “vanish” the offender 
  using an Entombment spell, transformation into a toad, or 
  teleportation to Hell.
  “You shall not pass!” At either end of The Shaft, refusing 
  to pay a toll is punishable by bodily removal from the lift; 
  see Tolls (p. 6). At the gates, it means having the way blocked; 
  see The Gates (p. 8). In either case, this won’t result in bodily 
  harm unless the offenders decide to fight. Then Social 
  Stigma (Criminal Record) is certain, the enforcers fight to 
  kill (but will accept unconditional surrender), and killing any 
  of them means battling the whole town to get away and, if 
  that works, never being allowed back – ever, no matter what.
  
   
  WelCome to CAveRntoWn! 
  26
  Damaging Town Property
  Caverntown is serious about keeping its physical premises 
  in good shape. It can’t just wait for the next rainfall to wash 
  away garbage, it relies on supernatural life support for its sur-
  vival, and its defenses hold entire dungeons full of monsters 
  at bay!
  Making a Mess: Simple littering brings a $10 fine; see 
  Sewage and Garbage (p. 9). Graffiti, pulling up paving stones, 
  and similar lasting defacement is punishable by a $100 fine 
  and enforced time making repairs (at least a day, but up to a 
  week for widespread vandalism). None of this leads to a last-
  ing criminal record.
  Tampering with Infrastructure: Harming the air-produc-
  ing trees (Air, pp. 8-9) or food-providing gardens (Food, p. 9), 
  damaging the public wells or fountains (Water, p. 9), delib-
  erately blocking the garbage chutes or removing the grilles 
  (Sewage and Garbage, p. 9), etc. are crimes. Anything that’s 
  clearly both mere defacement and easily reversed is pun-
  ishable by the same $100 fine – and forced labor – as other 
  vandalism. But any act that’s either deliberate sabotage or 
  difficult to undo leads to Social Stigma (Criminal Record) 
  and the loss of all material goods at a minimum. If the deed 
  could actually kill citizens (e.g., poisoning a garden or well), 
  it’s punishable by death.
  Breaching 
  the 
  Defenses: 
  Attempting to sabotage Fort 
  Caverntown 
  (pp. 5-6), 
  The 
  Shaft (p. 6), the Barricade 
  (pp. 7-8), or the gates (p. 8) – or 
  being spotted trying to sneak 
  past – is treated as military 
  aggression. The forces sta-
  tioned there will attack; in the 
  case of Fort Caverntown or 
  the Barricade, they’ll use siege 
  weapons! They’ll fight until 
  the offenders are dead, sur-
  render, or flee beyond realistic 
  hope of being brought to jus-
  tice. Wrongdoers who survive 
  by fleeing earn Social Stigma 
  (Criminal Record) and per-
  manent banishment from Cav-
  erntown; if they’re captured, 
  the punishment is once again 
  loss of everything if nobody 
  died, death if even one soldier 
  was killed.
  Magical Crimes
  If you use spells – or super-
  natural 
  powers – to 
  cheat, 
  forge, steal, vandalize, sabo-
  tage, injure, kill, etc., you’ll 
  face the standard punishment 
  for the crime. In addition, if 
  you used clerical, druidic, or 
  wizardly magic, then after you 
  face Caverntown’s or the King’s 
  justice, you’ll be turned over to 
  a suitable temple, the College of 
  Druids, or the Wizards’ Guild 
  for “remedial penance.” This 
  amounts to an unpaid quest 
  commensurate with the crime: 
  If you used magic to deface pub-
  lic property, you might have to 
  spend a week using magic for 
  “community service”; if the GM 
  commutes a death sentence 
  (see Do You Really Want To Kill 
  Me?, above), you may be abused 
  as a magical test subject.
  the CIvIlIZAtIon pRoblem
  Caverntown is civilized. Delvers, not so much. They’re “heroes” but not always 
  heroes. They’re accustomed to killing opponents and grabbing valuables. When all 
  you have is a hammer, the world looks like a nail – which can make life tough in town.
  Gaming Arrest and Punishment
  Punishments in Dungeon Fantasy are described as fait accompli: If delvers com-
  mit a crime, the Town Watch, King’s Men, a guild, or angry citizens take their pound 
  of flesh. This might seem implausible when the adventurers can defeat liches and 
  dragons.
  In practice, there’s always the option of literally fighting the sentence, battling 
  those who would impose it. If the players choose this, so be it. The Gates (p. 8) posits 
  a typical scenario: The delvers must battle at least twice as many guards as their num-
  ber, including some 125- and 250-point worthies.
  Unless the adventurers win without killing anyone and without witnesses, they 
  acquire Social Stigma (Criminal Record). They also raise the stakes to a blood 
  crime, so “an eye for an eye” applies; e.g., kill a guard and face execution. If they 
  escape that fate – doubtless with further violence – they’ll be attacked on sight if they 
  ever return to Caverntown. If they slew King’s Men or Rangers, they’ll face reprisals 
  everywhere, as these groups include the Crown’s secret police.
  It’s less bloody to accept punishment with dignity.
  Do You Really Want To Kill Me?
  As suits a low-tech autocracy, many serious offenses carry the death penalty. Los-
  ing a PC this way doesn’t make for fun gaming, so to prevent grief, the GM may want 
  to consider alternatives. Still, punishments (from small fines, through large fines and 
  maiming, to execution) mirror the severity of the crimes, so just downgrading the 
  sentence means there’s less of a deterrent to future villainy.
  The brute-force option is “Catch me if you can!” See Gaming Arrest and 
  Punishment (above).
  Less chaotic is to note that once someone has been executed and everything they 
  own forfeited to wronged parties and/or Town Hall, the offender’s cronies could pay 
  $15,000 for resurrection (p. 15). To save time – and funnel money into temporal cof-
  fers rather than spiritual ones – the town might accept “everything you own plus 
  $15,000 from elsewhere” as equivalent to execution. “Elsewhere” (usually other PCs) 
  is essential; if the $15,000 is traced to the criminal, the authorities confiscate it and 
  proceed with execution.
  Most fun is for someone powerful to offer a perilous quest; Commander Harris of 
  the Town Watch (p. 15) is known for this. The mission should be near-suicidal and 
  tantamount to a death sentence. For instance, long-term incarceration isn’t usual for 
  low-tech societies, but this is fantasy, so criminals might be transported to Hell’s 
  Oubliette (p. 34) without gear and pardoned if they escape to civilization. Yes, that 
  counts as a “quest.”
  
   
  WelCome to CAveRntoWn! 
  27
  There’s one unusual special case:
  The Rock: Altering public edifices (The Shaft, the Eight 
  Titans, the Barricade, Town Hall, etc.) or the Great Cavern 
  without permission using Earth magic – like Earth to Air, 
  Shape Earth, or Stone to Earth, or especially Alter Terrain, 
  Earthquake, Move Terrain, or Volcano – is a serious offense. 
  After the penalties in Damaging Town Property (p. 24) are 
  carried out, the offender is imprisoned for a year with the 
  Entombment spell, recast until it works (the College of Dru-
  ids and Wizards’ Guild consider this good practice for junior 
  casters). Anyone freeing the criminal sooner faces the same 
  fate. Treat this as de facto execution when considering com-
  muting a delver’s sentence.
  Warrior Codes
  Caverntown is strict about many things yet permissive of 
  people being equipped for violence. First, monsters are close 
  by and the town not-so-secretly counts on armed-and-
  armored delvers as deterrent, if not a defense. 
  Second, adventurers bring in money, and town 
  officials are aware that such folk detest being 
  parted from their possessions. Finally, the citizens, 
  being tougher than average (see Natives, p. 11), 
  believe an armed society is a polite society. This 
  has several ramifications:
  Ready for Anything: Anyone can wear armor 
  and carry weapons; that’s never grounds for pros-
  ecution. Committing a violent crime or resisting 
  arrest while so equipped means having all such 
  gear confiscated as part of the punishment. If no 
  one suffered permanent injury, this is temporary; 
  when the offenders leave Caverntown, the Town 
  Watch follows them to the edge of town, tosses 
  their equipment on the ground, and retreats to 
  a discreet distance. If anyone was permanently 
  harmed, such possessions are forfeit, the proceeds 
  split between the victim (or family) and town cof-
  fers. This is on top of “eye for an eye” penalties! 
  Thus, many a berserker is convinced by friends to 
  leave weapons at the inn.
  Self-Defense: Responding to violent crime with 
  violence isn’t a crime, even if it ends in death. 
  This can theoretically lead to sticky situations 
  like claiming self-defense after provoking a fight 
  or killing someone without witnesses. If there’s 
  any doubt, the authorities bring spells into play 
  (starting with Compel Truth and Truthsayer) to get to the bot-
  tom of matters. Refusal to submit – and nobody cares why – is 
  taken as admitting guilt.
  I Choose You! Dueling – using bare hands, weapons, magic, 
  whatever – is seen as a way to replace destructive private wars 
  with battles of champions, and so is legal if both parties con-
  sent before two neutral witnesses. The Town Watch, King’s 
  Men, and Order of Saint Angelina are deemed neutral by con-
  vention, even if they aren’t; so are the Mayor, members of the 
  Mayor’s Council, and the Royal ambassador, if for some rea-
  son such a dignitary is present. Terms, honor codes, etc. are 
  irrelevant in the eyes of the law. What is relevant is that if one 
  party gives no consent and is attacked, the attacker is guilty of 
  a crime and the defender’s response is self-defense (above). In 
  addition, if the duel harms bystanders or property, both duel-
  ists face punishment for the crime. Consequently, most duels 
  take place outside the Barricade, or in cleared streets using 
  weapons incapable of “collateral damage” (e.g., swords rather 
  than crossbows, much less Explosive Fireballs).
  the CAveRntoWn CAmpAIGn
  The assumption so far has been that the 
  heroes visit Caverntown for a while – buy-
  ing some gear, raiding a few dungeons, 
  selling the loot – and move on. What if the 
  campaign is based here? The delvers won’t 
  be taking The Shaft as often. They can start 
  with Area Knowledge (Caverntown) and 
  Current Affairs (Caverntown), and enjoy a 
  default of IQ-4 with either; they’re unlikely 
  to require tour guides. The GM needs to be prepared for 
  the players’ questions, however.
  loCAl tAlent
  As Professions (p. 11) suggests, the archetypal home-
  town heroes are artificers, holy warriors, thieves, wizards, 
  and casters associated with the earth (druids, earth- 
  attuned elementalists, and clerics of the Earth God). 
  deputy delveR
  The nearby dungeons are sufficiently threatening that Cav-
  erntown welcomes competent adventurers to serve on the Town 
  Watch. This cadre of experienced monster-slayers is its not-so-se-
  cret weapon against fiends. Unethical treasure-seekers are a larger 
  day-to-day concern, however. At the GM’s option, if the PCs fight 
  the law, the Town Watch squad that responds may be an NPC 
  adventuring party of comparable ability!
  Any delver who is demonstrably capable (worth at least 125 
  points, regardless of profession) and lacks Social Stigma (Criminal 
  Record) can sign up for one full week at a time. There’s no pay, 
  but benefits include bed and board while serving (ignore the  
  $150/week cost of living); exemption from tolls, although not taxes, 
  at the gates (p. 8) for one week after the stint per week served; and 
  one free ride up or down The Shaft (p. 6) per week served. The 
  hero isn’t available for other tasks in town while on the Watch, 
  though, and things can happen; see Random Events (p. 30).
  Delvers who’ve served 52 weeks in total – not necessarily con-
  secutive – earn the title “Deputy.” Deputies belong to a de facto 
  mercenaries’ guild. The GM with GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  17: Guilds might flesh this out as a military company (Guilds, 
  pp. 19-20), but the main benefit is being awarded the occasional 
  quest with Town Hall as a guaranteed sponsor.
  
   
  WelCome to CAveRntoWn! 
  28
  Assassins, bards, innkeepers, and knights are unusually prev-
  alent, too. Scholars, swashbucklers, and other elementalists 
  and (non-evil) clerics are no rarer than usual . . . although 
  explaining why a buccaneer (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  Denizens: Swashbucklers, pp. 8-9), cleric of the Sea God, 
  or water-attuned elementalist would live nowhere near open 
  water could inspire interesting quirks and disadvantages!
  However, PCs may pursue any profession. For fairness’ 
  sake, the GM should assume that resident demonologists, 
  evil clerics, mentalists, necromancers, and unholy warriors 
  have solved the problem of how to find training (see Training, 
  p. 46). It’s also fairest if native barbarians, incanters, martial 
  artists, ninja, scouts, and shamans have found ways around 
  difficulties with not just training but also making use of 
  Claim to Hospitality (see Claiming Hospitality, below). It’s 
  simplest to say that the very presence of these adventurers 
  as citizens proves things are a bit different in the campaign’s 
  version of Caverntown.
  Likewise, though humans, dwarves, and gnomes are dom-
  inant, followed by halflings, and finally half-ogres and half-
  orcs from the dungeons, PCs can be of any race. As Races 
  (p. 11) implies, some rarer beings – coleopterans, dark ones, 
  earth-infused, elder-spawn, gargoyles, minotaurs, and shadow 
  elves – aren’t as rare here. Conversely, other kinds of elves are 
  uncommon despite their importance topside. And air-infused, 
  faerie folk, and wildmen, though never common, are almost 
  unknown in Caverntown, which can justify giving such heroes 
  big egos (“Eyy . . . we’re The Fauns!”) or secretive personalities 
  (the town’s gardens might be Where the Wildmen Are, hiding 
  from everyone but the druids).
  Local PCs can enter play with any equipment they can 
  afford – even articles that are otherwise impossible to find 
  in Caverntown. Once the campaign begins, though, Buying 
  (pp. 37-42) governs specialized gear. If that makes something 
  associated with a profession or race tricky to obtain, too bad; 
  GMs should be fair, but guilds have no such obligation.
  soCIAl tRAIts
  A campaign based in a single town is more interesting 
  if Claim to Hospitality, Rank, Reputation, Status, and 
  Tenure matter. Such things are discussed in detail on pp. 4-7 
  of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 17: Guilds, which is highly rec-
  ommended for a Caverntown campaign. If using that supple-
  ment, those traits are available to starting delvers – though 
  limiting budding heroes to Status 2 and (maximum guild 
  Rank)/2, rounded down (e.g., Rank 2 in a craft guild or the 
  Town Watch) is advised to give them something to aspire to.
  Some specific notes:
  Claim to Hospitality: Costs 5 points when it applies in 
  every town in one kingdom . . . but in a Caverntown cam-
  paign, the “kingdom” is for all practical purposes “the city-
  state of Caverntown,” with just the one town. Thus, Claim 
  to Hospitality costs 5 points, because it always matters 
  between adventures. It isn’t 10 points, as there are places 
  in the tunnels – including cities (see Vythispolis, p. 35) and 
  small kingdoms (like The Hive, p. 35) – where it doesn’t 
  extend. Ignore the modifiers in Claiming Hospitality 
  (above); those are for visitors, not natives.
  Reputation: Not standard on templates for delvers, 
  and rarely shows up except as the Hero power-up (GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy 11: Power-Ups, p. 16). Guilds proposes 
  the option of lesser scope for “in one town” (1/3 cost) and 
  “in an entire kingdom” (1/2 cost). If the campaign merely 
  visits Caverntown, price Reputation there at 1/3 cost; that 
  is, 1, 3, 5, or 6 points, respectively, for +1, +2, +3, or +4. 
  If the campaign is set in Caverntown, however, “in one 
  town” is the same as “everyone you meet,” and the 5 points 
  per +1 for Hero is fairest. This isn’t at half cost, because 
  Hero assumes you’re famous everywhere in this dimen-
  sion – even out in the tunnels!
  Status: Mostly concerns arms and armor at lower lev-
  els, but doesn’t become cheaper just because Caverntown 
  is permissive (see Warrior Codes, p. 27). To compensate, 
  treat Status as a reaction bonus for all purposes in town. 
  Other effects remain as on pp. 5-6 of Guilds.
  settlInG doWn
  A delver who has Comfortable or better Wealth and lacks 
  Social Stigma (Criminal Record) can spend $10,000+ in 
  town to buy a permanent abode. Several adventurers can 
  pool their resources behind a well-off friend to purchase 
  a group residence. The initial investment covers both the 
  premises – including whatever basic facilities each owner’s 
  profession calls for – and abstract “business interests” that 
  pay the upkeep.
  ClAImInG hospItAlIty
  Claim to Hospitality (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 11: 
  Power-Ups, p. 16 and GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 17: 
  Guilds, pp. 4-5) is one way to avoid paying the $150/week 
  cost of living. It sometimes makes Recharges (p. 45) and 
  Training (p. 46) easier to find, too.
  If the campaign merely visits Caverntown, members 
  of any profession – even one rarely seen locally – may buy 
  the 1-point version specifically for Caverntown, and have 
  it work normally. For the 5- and 10-point kingdom- and 
  world-wide versions, the GM may optionally adjust the 14 
  or less roll to find group members, to reflect local pecu-
  liarities: +1 for artificers, druids, holy warriors, innkeep-
  ers, thieves, and wizards, who have space and resources to 
  spare; -1 for barbarians, incanters, martial artists, ninja, 
  scouts, and shamans, who drop in rarely or hail from for-
  eign cultures. There’s no modifier in other cases, whether 
  because such people are no bigger or smaller a deal than 
  in any other settlement (the case for clerics, elementalists, 
  knights, scholars, and swashbucklers) or because various 
  social considerations cancel out (assassins are influential 
  but invisible; bards are organized but itinerant; demonol-
  ogists, evil clerics, mentalists, necromancers, and unholy 
  warriors have secret connections everywhere but hide 
  because they have enemies everywhere, too). If applying 
  modifiers, it’s only fair to have things be just the opposite 
  someplace else in the game world!
  If the campaign is set in Caverntown, only the 5-point 
  version of Claim to Hospitality exists. Ignore modifiers – the 
  roll to locate associates is always 14 or less for everybody.
  
   
  WelCome to CAveRntoWn! 
  29
  Each $10,000 lets one delver or Ally stay there 
  without paying the $150/week cost of living. It also 
  retains a 62-point guard (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  15: Henchmen, pp. 21-22) – or other 62-point NPC, 
  if preferred – to protect possessions left there. If the 
  adventurers want, they can exchange two 62-point 
  staff members for a 125-point one, three for a 187-
  point one, or even four for a 250-point one. However 
  powerful these live-in NPCs are, they won’t go on 
  adventures. Although they’re hirelings, not Allies, 
  they needn’t be paid separately; the investments that 
  cover upkeep pay them. They start at a flat Loyalty 12.
  Example: A party of six – a Very Wealthy artificer, a cleric, a 
  knight, a swashbuckler, a thief, and a wizard – invests $60,000. 
  The artificer uses this to get a villa big enough for everyone, 
  with a workshop for herself, a modest shrine for the cleric, an 
  interior court for the thief and warriors to practice in, and a 
  library for the wizard. The group decides on a 62-point servant 
  to keep the premises clean, three 62-point guards for security, 
  and a 125-point agent as majordomo. The NPCs are quartered 
  in the residence but don’t aid the heroes in the field.
  Even if the campaign isn’t set in Caverntown, PCs can buy 
  property there. If so, they won’t be treated as sketchy itiner-
  ants; they’ll suffer no penalties, including reaction penalties, 
  the GM would impose on rolls made for visitors but not for 
  natives. If the campaign is set in town, waive these penalties 
  for all resident delvers, whether they own or rent.
  That isn’t the same as getting a bonus. Someone who’s 
  a well-liked homeowner rather than a spooky wizard in a 
  haunted tower should consider Reputation and/or Status; 
  see Social Traits (p. 28). Becoming landed is an excellent 
  excuse to buy these advantages. As owning a home renders 
  Claim to Hospitality in town largely redundant, the GM may 
  let players move points spent on it to those other two traits 
  upon purchasing a residence.
  Dirty Deeds: Caverntown is bureaucratic enough to have 
  the principle of legal title. Thus, the signed, sealed deed to 
  a home large enough for one or more people could turn up 
  as treasure! The delvers can dwell there or sell it for $5,000 ¥ 
  (number of people who could live there). Without servants or 
  a maintenance fund, cost of living is $50/week per person, but 
  not zero until they’ve invested $5,000 per person.
  mAkInG  
  outdooRsmen useful
  Looking in the less-urban direction, players of barbarians, 
  scouts, druids who don’t specialize in Earth magic, and other 
  delvers with significant investments in outdoor abilities may 
  feel cheated in a Caverntown-based campaign. Underground 
  offers few natural plants and animals to interact with, and no 
  weather to predict or control, no stars to steer by, no ocean to 
  sail, no snow to ski on, no trails suitable for horses or wagons. 
  And although the Great Cavern and some dungeons are spa-
  cious, tunnels tend to be close quarters, reducing the utility of 
  such things as archery, flight, and keen eyesight.
  Deeming wilderness-oriented characters off-limits, or 
  allowing them with the warning that they’ll be nearly use-
  less, are options, but ham-fisted ones. As an alternative, 
  think creatively about what such heroes can do, starting with 
  their skills:
  Boating and Swimming: There are underground rivers 
  and lakes around and under Caverntown – deep, cold ones, 
  full of monsters. When adventurers encounter these, not hav-
  ing suitable skills can prove fatal. A party member or two 
  needs to be able to do this stuff.
  Camouflage: Delvers can smudge themselves with dirt and 
  wear drab colors to use this skill underground.
  Herb Lore and Pharmacy (Herbal): Non-monstrous vari-
  eties of fungus, mold, and slime found underground permit 
  these skills to work there. Finding specific ingredients in a 
  random tunnel (rather than in Caverntown) is at -2 to skill, 
  however.
  Hiking: More useful underground, as it’s one of the few 
  ways to reduce travel time; see Getting There Quickly (p. 32).
  Naturalist: Not useful for foraging, but remains handy for 
  identifying regular, giant, and dire underground-dwelling ani-
  mals (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, p. 9); know-
  ing what parts of defeated creatures are valuable (Dungeons, 
  p. 13); and identifying which tunnels are actually monster 
  warrens (Dungeons, p. 17).
  Navigation: The Land specialty includes steering by under-
  ground landmarks. Roll to avoid getting lost in Caverntown or 
  to follow a map of tunnels. For examples of when to roll, see 
  Hospitality Guild (pp. 22-23) and Getting Lost (p. 25).
  Packing, Riding, and Teamster: Horses, camels, ele-
  phants, etc. won’t behave or be able to forage underground, 
  and neither they nor carts nor wagons can negotiate tunnels 
  other than mines designed for them. However, the GM might 
  make substitutes available – slorn (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  Monsters 1, p. 26) offer an excellent example – and let delvers 
  enter play with Packing or unusual Riding and Teamster spe-
  cialties in lieu of Riding (Horse).
  Prospecting: Exceptionally valuable underground! Allows 
  delvers to find gems and ore (Dungeons, p. 14 and GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy 16: Wilderness Adventures, p. 44) and 
  identify mines (Dungeons, p. 17). Also the go-to skill when 
  dealing with geological threats like falling rocks, lava flows, 
  sinkholes, and volcanoes (Wilderness Adventures, pp. 32-33).
  Survival: Anyone with Survival on their template may 
  specialize in a new terrain type: Subterranean. Survival (Sub-
  terranean) lets the user find safe food, shelter, and water in 
  underground settings, regardless of above-ground terrain. 
  Roll against it to know which pale, sightless fish are edible, 
  to turn glowing fungus into a makeshift light source, to avoid 
  making camp under loose stalactites, etc. Works for natural 
  caverns, subterranean rivers, cave fungus, and so on. In arti-
  ficial dungeons, it’s at -5 or worse, and the GM may rule that 
  no roll is permitted. There are no defaults between this and 
  other specialties.
  Tired of losing your roof in every 
  storm? Settle in Caverntown, where 
  there’s a roof over your roof and 
  sunshine every day!
  
   
  WelCome to CAveRntoWn! 
  30
  Tracking: Works when following a trail through caves and 
  tunnels, but such terrain counts as “wastes (ice, rock, etc.)”: -2 
  to skill. See Tracking (Dungeons, p. 5).
  Outdoor skills not listed here rarely matter underground. 
  These include most Animal Handling specialties (unless the 
  GM makes slorn common), Disguise (Animals), Fishing, 
  Mimicry (Animal Sounds and Bird Calls), Seamanship, Ski-
  ing, Veterinary, and Weather Sense. Delvers with such skills 
  on their templates may opt to shift the points to the ones 
  listed above; Prospecting and Survival (Subterranean) are 
  especially important, and all barbarian cavemen, deep druids, 
  and subterranean scouts should know both.
  Fine-tuning other abilities to be useful underground is a 
  matter of choosing wisely; e.g., take Absolute Direction and 
  Night Vision to negotiate dark, twisting tunnels, select Acute 
  Hearing rather than Acute Vision because lines of sight are 
  short, and don’t bother with Animal Empathy or Animal 
  Friend. In ranged combat, Thrown Weapon is as effective as 
  Bow or Crossbow given the short distances of most encoun-
  ters – but scouts should stick to the bow, as Heroic Archer 
  negates Bulk in close encounters.
  RAndom events
  While Caverntown is safe-ish, bad things can happen 
  in any large settlement. That goes double when there 
  are dungeons next door – and as Other Weirdness (p. 10) 
  hints, there might be zombies, ghosts, druidic conspir-
  acies, doppelganger or greater undead citizens, Things 
  imprisoned behind seals in the Great Cavern, and por-
  tals leading Beyond Time and Space. Once per week 
  during which PCs serve on the Town Watch (Deputy 
  Delver, p. 27) – or whenever the GM wants to spur daw-
  dling players to action – roll 3d on the table below or 
  choose something inspiring.
  Heroes working for the Watch must attempt to solve 
  problems that arise on their, err, watch. They won’t be 
  judged if they fail, but refusing to try is dereliction of 
  duty, the penalties for which are Social Stigma (Crimi-
  nal Record) and being held responsible for any resulting 
  destruction or death.
  3 – Onslaught! If the PCs are stationed at a gate with the 
  Watch, an organized force of fodder monsters led by a 
  boss (and possibly a few worthy lieutenants) storms the 
  gate; NPCs manage to slam it shut, leaving the heroes 
  to fight the ones that got through. For the definition of 
  fodder, worthies, and bosses, see Balancing Encounters 
  (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, pp. 27-28). 
  If the PCs are in town, the force attacks there and the 
  delvers are the only capable defenders nearby.*
  4-5 – Major monster attack. A group of worthy monsters 
  or a boss monster causes havoc in town.*
  6-7 – Monster attack. As 4-5, but with a swarm of fodder 
  monsters or a single worthy monster.*
  8-9 – Minor monster attack. As 4-5, but involving just one 
  or a handful of fodder monsters.*
  10-11 – Petty crime. Burglary, mugging, shoplifting, or 
  similar. The perpetrators are unimpressive, though the 
  ringleader might be competent (125+ points). Watch-
  men have a mystery to solve or criminals to beat up 
  and arrest. Delvers minding their own business are tar-
  gets of the crime.
  12-13 – Noteworthy crime. As 10-11, but the criminals 
  are either high-powered (at least 125 points, if not 250 
  points; e.g., a barbarian gone berserk or a party of NPC 
  delvers committing a heist) or high-profile† (e.g., an 
  important guild member).
  14-15 – Extraordinary crime. As 10-11, but the perpetra-
  tors are high-powered and high-profile† (e.g., under-
  cover King’s Men caught getting up to no good).
  16 – Supernatural event. Something weird, danger-
  ous, but not obviously criminal occurs: The PCs are 
  cursed (Curses 101, Dungeons, p. 9), trapped inside 
  a haunted building, attacked by a possession victim, 
  etc. Heroes on the Watch can’t claim self-defense 
  (p. 27) – they must respect even possessed people and 
  haunted property.
  17 – Supernatural crime. Demonologists, Squid cultists, or 
  similar troublemakers conjure a demon, Elder Thing, 
  or other powerful monster – or the dark deeds of a boss 
  monster (e.g., a lich) posing as a citizen manifest. If the 
  PCs aren’t on the Watch, they make the discovery and 
  face the danger. If they are on the Watch, they must 
  also protect citizens and bring criminals to justice. 
  Either way, the guilty parties may well be high-profile† 
  (e.g., an important druid, or a guildmaster who’s also a 
  necromancer or vampire).
  18 – Crime of the century! Something extraordinary, like 
  an attempt to break into Caverntown’s precious-metal 
  reserves (see C-Notes, p. 36), assassinate the Mayor, 
  or collapse The Shaft. Whether the PCs act as pri-
  vate citizens or the Watch, they find themselves at the 
  right/wrong place at the right/wrong time. This can 
  be an opportunity for great heroism and rewards . . . 
  or infamy, if the PCs mishandle the situation or agree 
  to collude!
  * If monsters show up in town, the GM decides how 
  they got there in the first place. They might slither up 
  a garbage chute or well, infiltrate through Undertown 
  (p. 35), stow away in the baggage of NPC delvers return-
  ing from the dungeons, shapeshift and pose as such 
  NPCs, exploit invisibility or insubstantiality, teleport, or 
  step through a portal (probably one the Wizards’ Guild 
  claims doesn’t exist). They could even be animated plants 
  in a druidic garden, ghosts or zombies from Caverntown’s 
  past, or escapees from a private zoo (those darn wizards).
  † If the PCs are on the Watch, treating high-profile 
  wrongdoers roughly (or not acting swiftly enough to aid 
  high-profile victims) can mean the watchmen end up 
  on trial. If the PCs are victims of high-profile criminals, 
  aggressive self-defense can have the same outcome.
  
   
  WelCome to CAveRntoWn! 
  31
  Most important, nobody should take Vow (Never sleep 
  indoors) – not if the campaign is always indoors. Being Intol-
  erant of cityfolk or having a Phobia of crowds is fine, though; 
  that just means staying at the inn with a good book or sit-
  ting in a garden instead of doing other things in Caverntown 
  between adventures.
  Barbarians
  Because outdoor skills won’t be as valuable in a campaign 
  set underground, the GM with GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  Denizens: Barbarians might make the rage barbarian 
  (Barbarians, p. 6) or savage warrior (Barbarians, pp. 7-8) 
  the “standard” barbarian in Caverntown. One possible expla-
  nation is that these folk hail from tribes of cavemen!
  Druids
  Druids get especially complicated for three reasons:
  1. Advantages. Druids begin with a mandatory level of 
  Green Thumb. If the GM plans to feature lots of fungi in 
  the caverns, that’s fine – the advantage applies to those as 
  well as plants, and remains useful. Otherwise, replace this 
  requirement with Absolute Direction, one level of Close to 
  the Earth (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 11: Power-Ups, p. 25), 
  or a choice between the three, adjusting skill levels to match.
  2. Druidic Abilities. These are particularly sensitive to 
  the “choose wisely” directive. The most useful options are 
  summonable Allies and elemental Damage Resistance. 
  Channeling or Medium are valuable if planning to talk 
  with earth spirits, and Terrain Adaptation (Sand) has its 
  place. Animal- and plant-related abilities aren’t as useful, 
  so the GM may opt to expand the starting list to include 
  Alternate Form, higher levels of DR, and Reincarnation 
  (all from Power-Ups, pp. 24-25), or custom-built abilities 
  with the Druidic power modifier.
  3. Spells. The Earth college, spells that facilitate travel, 
  and general-purpose magic like Detect Magic and Recover 
  Energy remain valuable. Animal and Plant spells aren’t 
  as useful, but aren’t worthless if the GM works monstrous 
  fungi and burrowing beasts into the game. A few spells won’t 
  matter; e.g., Hawk Vision in tunnels that twist every few 
  yards, Seek Coastline or Waves without an ocean, or Weather 
  spells (other than Lightning) without weather. To com-
  pensate, the GM may permit druids to learn Fungus spells 
  (GURPS Magic: Plant Spells, p. 17). A starting druid might 
  choose a lineup like: Cure Disease, Detect Magic, Detect 
  Poison, Instant Neutralize Poison, Know Location, Mystic 
  Mist, No-Smell, Pathfinder, Predict Earth Movement, Purify 
  Air, Quick March, Recover Energy, Remember Path, Resist 
  Cold, Resist Lightning, Seek Earth, Sense Life, Shape Earth, 
  Summon Earth Elemental, and Windstorm. An extra level of 
  Power Investiture is worthwhile just to get Control Earth 
  Elemental, Create Animal, Dispel Magic, Frostbite, Light-
  ning, Shapeshifting, and “Body of” spells.
  Adventure Design
  A hero’s usefulness depends on adventure design as much 
  as character design. If the players create traditional wilder-
  ness heroes but adapt their abilities as noted above, the GM 
  ought to meet them halfway by making sure adventures fea-
  ture suitable “spotlight moments”: burrowing animals, edible 
  fungus, monstrous fungus, ore deposits, seismic scares, sub-
  terranean lakes and rivers, and so on. Not everything natural 
  is under the sun!
  Also consider extending Nature’s Strength (p. 10) to dun-
  geons around Caverntown so that druids aren’t at an even 
  greater disadvantage. Areas with penalties should be no more 
  common than areas of low mana or sanctity.
  AdventuRes
  Adventurers want to have adventures. In Caverntown, this 
  usually means visiting the dungeons – although the GM might 
  toss in the occasional urban or topside escapade for variety.
  fIndInG Quests
  Quests are just waiting to be found in Caverntown! As 
  always, the GM decides who’s offering what. When inspiration 
  runs dry, read on . . .
  Caverntown’s leading quest-givers aren’t actually from 
  Caverntown. Travelers might offer delvers almost any kind of 
  work. For numerous examples, see Visitors (p. 12).
  That said, many local groups certainly do tender quests. 
  Guilds (pp. 18-23) are the best bet. In particular, the Wizards’ 
  Guild (pp. 20-21) offers missions connected to research 
  into Magical Energies (pp. 9-10) and other abstruse topics 
  (sometimes involving capturing live monsters!). They and the 
  Alchemists’ Guild (p. 21) are always seeking obscure ingre-
  dients. Minor guilds (p. 23) are also worth approaching – a 
  coup in their name could earn them a seat on the Mayor’s 
  Council (p. 14) and score adventurers generous rewards.
  Caverntown’s authorities (pp. 13-17) are prolific quest-giv-
  ers, too. Town Hall saves the sweetest plums – and its most 
  liberal sponsorship – for Deputies (Deputy Delver, p. 27). 
  Equally profitable, but inevitably riskier, are secret assign-
  ments from Royal ambassador Bela Schreck (p. 15). Least 
  pleasant are punishments commuted to suicidal quests (see 
  Do You Really Want To Kill Me?, p. 26), and their close relative, 
  “remedial penance” (see Magical Crimes, pp. 26-27); adven-
  turers who’ve committed no crime can request such missions 
  if they’re desperate or foolish enough, or end up with them on 
  critically failed searches.
  Don’t let all the buildings 
  fool you: We’re in Mother 
  Earth’s very bosom.
  – Great Druid  
  Carbonado Vibes
  
   
  WelCome to CAveRntoWn! 
  32
  Temples (p. 17) sometimes offer work. Their objectives 
  tend to be stamping out Evil and recovering lost holy rel-
  ics – though some high priests do magical research simi-
  lar to that of the Wizards’ Guild, and the College of Druids 
  periodically sends survey parties to collect sam-
  ples of water, rocks, fungi, etc. The Order of Saint 
  Angelina (pp. 16-17) is more martial than religious, 
  and assigns defense-related missions that feel a lot 
  like working for Town Hall.
  Not all local quest-givers are entirely respect-
  able! Liches (The Restless Dead, p. 32), necroman-
  cers, Squid cultists, and similar factions – doubtless 
  including the Society of Assassins (p. 23), if you 
  believe in that kind of thing – can’t operate openly, 
  and so act through agents who can. Getting caught in their 
  employ almost guarantees a punitive “counter-quest” from the 
  authorities . . . but everybody loves a twofer, right?
  While most quests involve dungeons, other options exist. 
  There are urban activities such as finding secret ways out of 
  Caverntown (Other Entrances, p. 8), raiding sunbat nests (see 
  Wildlife, p. 12), and working for spies – the latter including 
  visiting spies (p. 12), the King’s Men (p. 16), and the Brother-
  hood of Bards (pp. 21-22). Private citizens might need people 
  or things found. And there are missions topside; the Cham-
  ber of Commerce (pp. 19-20) is fond of offering such jobs to 
  adventurers leaving town.
  All this work leads to a few special considerations:
  Job Boom: The rolls in Finding a Quest (GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy 2: Dungeons, p. 4) and Finding a Sponsor (Dungeons, 
  pp. 4-5) work normally in Caverntown if the adventurers 
  approach one specific person or group. However, there are 
  so many quest-givers in town that if the heroes are willing to 
  accept whatever quest comes along, the Carousing, Current 
  Affairs, and Propaganda rolls to find a quest and – if the GM 
  feels kind – Savoir-Faire, Streetwise, and Writing rolls to 
  solicit a sponsor, are at +1 to +3. Roll 1d/2 and round up for 
  the size of the bonus to each roll.
  Talk to My Agent: Alternatively, the heroes can hire the 
  Adventurers’ Guild (p. 19) to find a quest and a sponsor, and to 
  research rumors about the job. The Guild’s rolls don’t receive 
  the automatic bonuses above, but paying extra can buy a 
  bonus of any size. The real benefit is that this frees the delvers 
  to do other things – train, serve with the Watch, even have fur-
  ther adventures – while the Guild works.
  Word Around Town: The rules in Tavern Tales and Moldy 
  Books (Dungeons, p. 17) are unchanged in Caverntown. 
  There are no modifiers to Research rolls; however, on a 
  success, the GM might reveal some information from The 
  Dungeons (pp. 33-35) or The Deep (p. 33) when the delvers are 
  headed to such places, and consult History (p. 4-5) and Other 
  Weirdness (p. 10) for legends and gossip to tie into relevant 
  quests. On a critical failure, mix and match at random (“Ah, 
  Dante’s Paradise! A huge cavern full of rough gems at the foot 
  of garbage chute #23.”).
  to And fRom
  Exploring the tunnels around Caverntown is standard 
  dungeoneering, as described in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  2: Dungeons. The more detailed travel and survival rules in 
  GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 16: Wilderness Adventures are 
  aimed at the great outdoors, and rarely matter underground. 
  Still, because even the route between town and dungeon 
  is – in a sense – more dungeon, there are differences from 
  standard adventures.
  Travel
  Several aspects of Travel (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: 
  Dungeons, p. 5) work differently in the tunnels:
  Getting There Quickly: Success at Navigation never 
  reduces travel time, as tunnels go where they go and there 
  are no celestial bodies to steer by; failure when following a 
  map still increases travel time, however! Weather Sense is 
  simply irrelevant, but a roll against Prospecting or Survival  
  (Subterranean) – to circumvent underground pitfalls – works 
  identically. Hiking affects travel on foot; other movement 
  skills (Boating, Riding, Seamanship, Skating, Skiing, Team-
  ster, etc.) matter only on adventures that specifically involve 
  something like mine carts or underground rivers.
  Foraging: This isn’t possible in all tunnels, but the GM 
  should permit it in passages that harbor edible fungus, 
  crunchy beetles, tasty bats or rats, or underground bodies of 
  water full of pallid fish. Such places tend to house dangerous 
  versions of the same flora and fauna – which are likely wander-
  ing monsters in the area – and are usually traversed en route 
  to dungeons that are also home to such threats. If foraging is 
  possible, the only skill that works is Survival (Subterranean). 
  On quests where foraging isn’t part of the plot, the GM may 
  allow heroes who know this skill (no defaults!) to try at -1 to 
  -6; roll 1d each morning. In artificial dungeons, treat penalties 
  less severe than -5 as -5.
  Camping and Posting Watches: Treat camps in tight tun-
  nels as dungeon camps. In a huge cave – anything roomy 
  enough that the delvers can’t see the far side or the ceiling 
  due to darkness and distance penalties – use the rules for 
  wilderness camps.
  Tracking: Should it arise underground, this is at a flat -2.
  Exploring the Dungeon
  Two other matters, not exclusive to travel, can affect under-
  ground journeys:
  Tunnels Are Dark: On most expeditions, Light Sources 
  (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, p. 6) are essen-
  tial! If the heroes lack suitable magic, they’ll need to carry 
  enough glow vials, lantern oil, torches, etc. for the trip. This 
  gets heavy and expensive, so spells (especially Continual 
  Light) are preferable. Races that can genuinely see in the 
  dark needn’t worry; however, Night Vision merely mitigates 
  partial darkness penalties, while most caverns are cloaked in 
  total darkness unless the kindly GM bedecks them with lumi-
  nescent fungus or slime (-8) or glowing crystals (-5 to -7).  
  Want work? Hire the Adventurers’ 
  Guild! Our rates are a steal. Heh.
  – Guildmaster Scrump Badapple
  
   
  WelCome to CAveRntoWn! 
  33
  A party without any means to see is guaranteed to get lost 
  and be unable to avoid dangers: Skip all rolls for Getting There 
  Quickly (Dungeons, p. 5) and spotting hazards, add 60% to 
  travel time, and have all monsters achieve surprise and all 
  hazards claim victims.
  Tunnels Are Narrow: Except on adventures that for 
  some reason offer a remarkably wide, clear path, Marching 
  Order (Dungeons, p. 6) is one abreast at least some of the 
  time – that’s why beasts of burden and vehicles are useless 
  on Caverntown adventures. Combat in such environments is 
  often restricted; as a quick-and-dirty rule, if a weapon’s max-
  imum reach exceeds tunnel width in yards, it gives -4 to skill 
  (and thus -2 to parry) per excess yard; e.g., a halberd (longest 
  reach 3) is at -4 in a tunnel wide enough to walk two by two, 
  and -8 in one that demands single file. Mounted and aerial 
  combat simply aren’t possible if the passage doesn’t open out 
  into a substantial cave.
  Hazards
  The most common hazards of tunnel travel are 
  Obstacles (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, 
  pp. 18-19 and GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 16: Wilderness 
  Adventures, pp. 31-32), notably pits to fall into and vari-
  ous Climbing challenges. There may also be geologically 
  themed Disasters (Wilderness Adventures, pp. 32-35): 
  falling rocks (1d dice of crushing damage, or impaling for 
  cinematically pointy stalactites), sinkholes (yet another 
  way to suffer falling damage), and – if deep enough – lava 
  flows (1d dice of burning damage). The GM can add fur-
  ther threats tailored to specific adventures, like explosive 
  or toxic dust or gas in mines.
  On the other hand, the GM should avoid the temptation 
  to inflict the harsh effects of the elements – cold, heat, bad 
  weather, etc. – described in Wilderness Adventures. These 
  things rarely arise except as part of a specific scenario, as 
  Caverntown is in a temperate region and all that rock is hard 
  to heat up or cool down. For instance, it’s hot only if the quest 
  involves going deep near lava pits, and cold only if there’s an 
  icy curse.
  Something similar goes for harsh terrain. The usual ter-
  rain type is “subterranean,” which has no diseased swamps, 
  ice, snow, stinging plants, etc. There might be a swift under-
  ground river or a slime-filled cavern as part of an adventure, 
  but not at random.
  An exception is when traveling through absolutely immense 
  caverns where – thanks to the supernatural – Outdoors, 
  Indoors (Wilderness Adventures, p. 57) applies. There, the 
  usual rules for outdoor adventures kick in.
  the dunGeons
  The depths around Caverntown seem to be afflicted with 
  warped feng shui – a form of geographical Weirdness Magnet 
  that draws tunneling terrors, megalomaniac miners, and 
  extradimensional empire-builders. So says the Wizards’ 
  Guild, although their evidence is difficult to understand. 
  Whatever the truth might be, tunnels snake off in all four 
  cardinal directions, bifurcating horizontally and vertically 
  en route to at least 60 major dungeons, with innumerable 
  minor ones along the way. Delvers have raided many of these, 
  but they never stay clear for long – someone or something 
  soon takes up residence, and a few regenerate all on their 
  own. Below are some examples of destinations often gossiped 
  about in town.
  Dante’s Paradise
  The eponymous cleric – a crazy, evil one – spent a mountain 
  of silver and the lives of countless slaves trying to create Hell 
  on Earth to honor The Devil. His obsession was the death of 
  him, yet he succeeded after a fashion. The partially complete 
  temple complex is unholy (low sanctity for ordinary good cler-
  ics) and brimming with evil altars, curses, and demons, not to 
  mention haunted by the souls of those who perished building 
  it. Nobody is sure whether Dante remains as a foul undead 
  thing or passed on to actual Hell. But “a mountain of silver” 
  tempts many an adventurer . . .
  Deep Lakes
  A maze of downward-sloping tunnels lead ultimately to 
  a vast subterranean lake. This is full of ravenous aquatic 
  monsters (like electric jellies; see GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  Monsters 1, p. 13), but there’s purportedly a magical air 
  bubble at the bottom that holds an entire city. Nobody is 
  sure who or what lives there – or what treasures or secrets 
  they guard – because no one who has gone looking has ever 
  returned. Optimists believe it’s an orichalcum paradise, and 
  the risk is in the journey, not the destination; pessimists talk  
  of the blood-soaked fortress of an indescribably alien race.
  The Forgotten Mines
  Caverntown’s dwarves do a lot of mining, but these mines 
  are abandoned, their exact location purposely erased from 
  all records. Rumors speak of golem “mining machinery” 
  gone horribly awry, undead miners, and What The Dwarves 
  Awakened (Which Is Why They Eventually Left). Storytellers 
  disagree on the details: “After the Evil awakened, it possessed 
  the golems and corpses of the dead.” “No, no – the golems 
  went haywire and unearthed the Evil, and the dwarves who 
  stayed behind to seal it in took a vow of eternal vigilance.” 
  Unstable galleries, suffocating gas, and similar hazards are 
  a given.
  The Deep
  Straight down – far beneath the basements and sew-
  ers of Undertown (p. 35), beyond the deepest wells and 
  garbage chutes – are truly scary places, starting with the 
  strongholds of the dark ones and elder-spawn, and escalat-
  ing (or more accurately, descending) to the lairs of Elder 
  Things, reputedly including a whole mindwarper colony. 
  Some claim this is the legendary Eldritch Underworld, 
  where powers of the mind supplant magic. Any mentalist 
  sleeping in Caverntown eventually has nightmares about 
  this; see Psionic Echoes (p. 10). You’ll know you’re close 
  when you start running into – well, falling into – living 
  pits (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 3, p. 13).
  
   
  WelCome to CAveRntoWn! 
  34
  The Glimmering Caves
  Somewhere out there is a huge, crystal-lit cave complex 
  where rough gems are easy to come by. Somebody’s grandfa-
  ther always seems to have made the journey and brought back 
  that honking huge rock Aunt Effie wears to the opera, yet no 
  one in recent memory has seen the place firsthand. Countless 
  caverns have “surely been the one” – but to date, these have 
  yielded many hostile wild earth elementals and rock-chewing 
  monsters, and precious few gems.
  The Goblin Pits
  On the far side of the mountains, goblin-kin (GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy 3: The Next Level, pp. 10-11) are extract-
  ing low-grade ore for low-quality weapons. Their inefficient 
  mining and smelting techniques – and vast horde of sol-
  diers – mean they need miles of mines to get the job done. 
  These impinge on dozens of caves connected to tunnels that 
  lead eventually to Caverntown. The route is common knowl-
  edge. It requires considerable travel, but goblin-kin are rela-
  tively easy prey, making this a “low-level” dungeon suited to 
  delvers willing to settle for a few silver pieces and the chance 
  to hone fighting skills.
  Hell’s Oubliette
  During one of Caverntown’s darker periods, criminals were 
  sent to a hellish prison in the tunnels – a bit like Caverntown, 
  but less bright and airy. In the turmoil of political change, 
  the prisoners rioted and took over. Any records of this are 
  well-hidden at Town Hall (p. 14) or the Royal Embassy (p. 15). 
  Yet a colony still survives out there, and the megalomaniac in 
  charge – the Dungeon Master – stocks it with traps and mon-
  sters, and makes sure “treasure maps” pointing the way reach 
  town. Fortune-seekers who follow these become unwilling 
  participants in circuses and gladiatorial games that entertain 
  the DM’s degenerates.
  WAndeRInG monsteRs
  Underground-dwellers 
  of 
  all kinds roam the tunnels 
  between Caverntown and the 
  dungeons, appearing about as 
  often as Wandering Monsters 
  (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  2: Dungeons, p. 20) suggests. 
  The GM can roll on or choose 
  from the following table. To 
  avoid wasting time – or anni-
  hilating the PCs before they 
  reach the dungeon – adjust the 
  monsters’ numbers and capabilities to the party’s size 
  and power. Doppelgangers and absorptive jellies can 
  have almost any ability, while earth elementals, fungi, 
  giant ants, manticores, molds, puddings, slimes, slorn, 
  and spore clouds come in many varieties.
  Near a dungeon, replace some results with creatures 
  found in that dungeon: goblin-kin at the edge of the Gob-
  lin Pits (above), minotaurs around the Lost Labyrinth 
  (p. 35), coleopterans on approaches to the Hive (p. 35), 
  undead close to tombs (p. 35), demons in passages to 
  Dante’s Paradise (p. 33), Elder Things on paths to the 
  Deep (p. 33), etc.
   Roll (1d, 1d) Monster 
  Page Reference*
  Creatures of Stone
   
  1, 1-3 
  Earth Elemental Summoners, pp. 27-28
   
  1, 4 
  Rock Mite 
  Monsters 1, p. 25
   
  1, 5 
  Rock Troll 
  Monsters 3, p. 19
   
  1, 6 
  Talus† 
  Allies, pp. 28-29
  Creepy-Crawlers
   
  2, 1 
  Acid Spider 
  Dungeons, p. 21
   
  2, 2-3 
  Giant Ant 
  Monsters 3, p. 10
   
  2, 4-5 
  Giant Spider† 
  Allies, p. 25
   
  2, 6 
  Slugbeast 
  Monsters 1, p. 27
   Roll (1d, 1d) Monster 
  Page Reference*
  Furry Fiends
   
  3, 1-2 
  Bat Swarm 
  p. B461
   
  3, 3 
  Foul Bat 
  Dungeons, p. 23
   
  3, 4 
  Giant Maned Rat Taverns, p. 31
   
  3, 5-6 
  Giant Rat 
  Dungeons, p. 24
   
  4, 1-2 
  Rat Swarm 
  p. B461
  Goo
   
  4, 3 
  Erupting Slime 
  Dungeons, p. 23
   
  4, 4-5 
  Fungus‡ 
  Monsters 2, pp. 5-6
   
  4, 6 
  Jelly 
  Monsters 2, pp. 7-8
   
  5, 1-2 
  Mold‡ 
  Monsters 2, pp. 9-10
   
  5, 3 
  Ooze 
  Monsters 2, pp. 11-12
   
  5, 4 
  Pudding 
  Monsters 2, pp. 13-14
   
  5, 5-6 
  Slime‡ 
  Monsters 2, pp. 15-16
   
  6, 1 
  Spore Cloud 
  Monsters 2, pp. 17-18
  Humanoids
   
  6, 2 
  Bugbear 
  Monsters 1, p. 6
   
  6, 3 
  Doppelganger 
  Monsters 3, pp. 7-8
   
  6, 4 
  Troll 
  Monsters 1, p. 31
  Jaws & Claws
   
  6, 5 
  Manticore 
  Monsters 3, p. 14
   
  6, 6 
  Slorn 
  Monsters 1, p. 26
  * The GURPS Dungeon Fantasy supplement describ-
  ing the monster. If you lack this, reroll or pick something 
  else in the same category.
  † Without familiar abilities. Spiders are IQ 2-4.
  ‡ Doesn’t wander, but 
  blocks the heroes’ way. 
  If wailer fungus (or any-
  thing else!) calls wander-
  ing monsters, reroll such 
  static menaces.
  
   
  WelCome to CAveRntoWn! 
  35
  The Hive
  Far off in the tunnels is a massive nest of coleopterans 
  (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 3: The Next Level, p. 5). This is 
  technically not a dungeon but a small kingdom – or to be pre-
  cise, a queendom. That doesn’t stop delvers from raiding it 
  for whatever they can sell, most gruesomely insect excretions 
  and exoskeletons valued by alchemists and armorers. Less 
  bloodthirsty, more diplomatic adventurers might strike deals 
  with the coleopterans, most of which have to do with clear-
  ing territory that strong, four-armed warriors 
  with armored carapaces deem unsafe because 
  bigger, nonsapient bugs have claimed them.
  The Lost Labyrinth
  In Caverntown’s distant past, somebody 
  built a training facility along a side-tunnel. 
  The Order of Saint Angelina is sure it was 
  the Town Watch, the Watch claims it was 
  the Adventurers’ Guild, the thieves blame the 
  Society of Assassins, the assassins killed the 
  last person who knew, and no records sur-
  vive. The group responsible filled the complex 
  with traps and obstacles to train its members. 
  It remains dangerous – more than ever, now 
  that monsters have moved in (notably mino-
  taurs; see GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 3: The 
  Next Level, p. 14). The belongings of many an 
  adventurer await those who think they’re more 
  cunning than the last guy.
  The Ruth Institute
  Another “technically not a dungeon but a training facil-
  ity” – this one for mentalists – built deep to contain The 
  Horrible Truth (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 14: Psi, p. 38) and 
  shield the world from its own existence. Elder Things drove the 
  erstwhile Director mad, leaving behind a madhouse overrun 
  by no-brainers (ex-pupils); haunted by astral hounds, Astral 
  Things, neuroids, and sweeping voids (GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy Encounters 1: The Pagoda of Worlds, p. 16); and 
  home to the Director’s pet, a flying squid monster. It’s very 
  dangerous, but a good place to find psi-related gear and for 
  Going Mental (Psi, p. 19).
  The Shadow Enclave
  The domain of the shadow elves (GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy 3: The Next Level, p. 7) sits perilously close to the 
  Deep (p. 33), but most shadow elves encountered elsewhere 
  originate from “upward bases.” One such place – hidden by 
  illusions and secret doors – is near Caverntown. It’s dominated 
  by the sinister spider-goddess cult, whose practice of abduct-
  ing sacrifice victims may get heroes dispatched on rescue mis-
  sions. As shadow-elf outposts are embassies (to coleopterans, 
  dark ones, and other subterranean terrors) and thus sovereign 
  territory, uninvited delvers are considered invaders and met 
  by military patrols heavy on clerics, wizards, and spiders.
  Tombs
  Generations of citizens have been laid to rest in ever-
  more-distant catacombs, while far-flung passages cut close to 
  surface burial grounds; scores of tunnels could claim the title 
  “city of the dead.” Numerous necromancers have been exiled 
  beyond Caverntown’s gates – often voluntarily – so “city of the 
  undead” might be closer to the mark. Fevered whispers tell 
  of particularly restive crypts called the Dark Necropolis, vam-
  pires fleeing Caverntown’s burning light to establish a gather-
  ing, and liches conducting blasphemous occult research in the 
  discomfort of their personal dungeons. Many fear that these 
  things are all facets of a larger, scarier truth.
  Undertown
  Most of Caverntown’s buildings have stories below street 
  level, many of which link up with one another – and with sew-
  ers, rotten with leaping leeches (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  Monsters 1, p. 22) and slimes (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  Monsters 2, pp. 15-16), leading to garbage chutes. This maze 
  sprawls beyond the Barricade (pp. 7-8) and is suspected of 
  having dangerous, undefended spurs that circumvent the 
  gates (p. 8). Any rumor of fugitives, Squid cultists, or mon-
  sters skulking here generates a quest.
  Ancient-looking gnomes spread other rumors: Caverntown 
  was originally planned to run on a half-technological, half- 
  magical blend of steam and clockwork that would drive The 
  Shaft (p. 6), pump water, pull “streetcars” around, wind 
  clocks, and countless other things. The works went wonky or 
  were overrun with bronze spiders (Monsters 1, p. 5), so the 
  associated “steam tunnels” were quietly sealed off and then 
  concealed for good measure.
  Vythispolis
  Over the centuries, several topside settlements have been 
  founded within a day’s ride of Fort Caverntown. Most failed, 
  sometimes in Bad Ways. One particularly grimy – and suc-
  cessful – mining town was swallowed up by the Earth, the vic-
  tim of a druidic curse. It supposedly remains intact (with all 
  its valuables . . .) in a giant spherical chamber similar to that 
  created by the Entombment spell, lit ghastly green by spectral 
  energies, dripping with goo (everything in GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy Monsters 2: Icky Goo), overrun by plant and fungus 
  monsters, and haunted by the spirits of its former citizens.
  Well, since my party left town
  Well, signed on to go down a well
  Well, we got to what folks call 
  Dante’s place
  But we called it Hell
  – “Heartbreak in Hell,”  
  by Master Bard Sivel
  
   
  tAkInG CARe of busIness 
  36
  Most delvers visit Caverntown – and some settle here – to 
  raid the nearby dungeons. That means buying adventur-
  ing gear and selling loot. And that means dealing with 
  Caverntown’s merchants and economic realities.
  C-Notes
  Everybody knows that Caverntown receives 
  boundless treasure from the dungeons. As it’s 
  underground and boasts a large dwarf popu-
  lation, people further assume that gold or sil-
  ver is mined nearby. Thus, it’s widely accepted 
  that the town has serious metal reserves.
  And it does! The hoard is in a meteoric iron 
  vault with DR 200, HP 92 walls, below street 
  level, devoid of mana, sanctity, and other 
  magical energy. Its location is a secret to be 
  decided by the GM, to protect it from larce-
  nous delvers whose players are reading these 
  words. It probably isn’t somewhere obvious 
  like under Town Hall (p. 14), the Chamber of 
  Commerce palace, or the Mayor’s house.
  This situation lets Caverntown issue notes 
  of credit – in town slang, “C-notes.” These 
  can be exchanged for coin at Town Hall with 
  (almost . . .) no questions asked, bolstering 
  their strength. Local law gives the receiver of a payment the 
  right to insist on metal in lieu of paper, but most citizens actu-
  ally prefer paper because it’s light and easy to track if stolen: 
  Knowing the string of magic numbers on an individual bill 
  grants +5 to Seeker spells to find it. It’s also nearly impossi-
  ble to forge these shimmering, embossed banknotes, because 
  the physical certificates are a trade secret of 
  the Artificers’ Guild, the code algorithm is 
  guarded by the Chamber of Commerce, 
  and the enchantment involved is known 
  only to the Wizards’ Guild.
  Adventurers who like to carry around 
  large sums of money can do so as $100, 
  $200, $500, $1,000, or $2,000 bills. These 
  have some value even outside Caverntown: 
  1/2 of face value in the rest of the King’s 
  territory, 1/5 of face value in more distant 
  realms that trade with Caverntown (GM’s 
  decision). As 500 notes of any denomina-
  tion weigh just a pound, it’s possible to 
  carry millions in a purse. Be aware that 
  their magic doesn’t offer any protection 
  against water, dragon’s breath, being torn 
  to shreds by cackling monsters, etc. – town 
  officials regard such destruction as a good 
  way to build up cash reserves.
  Goods
  Almost everything a person could wear, carry, or otherwise 
  lug around is traded in Caverntown. Sometimes it’s tricky to 
  buy what you want in a hurry, though, and selling works a little 
  differently than in other towns.
  sellInG
  Disposing of treasure in Caverntown mostly works as 
  described in Getting a Good Price (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  2: Dungeons, pp. 14-15), with two twists for those who try to 
  bend the rules:
  • When haggling with merchants, losing the Quick Contest 
  against a generic Merchant skill of 15 means Wealth is treated 
  as two levels lower (Chamber of Commerce, pp. 19-20).
  • When selling on the black market, the Quick Contest is 
  against a generic Streetwise skill of 16, not 15 (Adventurers’ 
  Guild, p. 19).
  A seller who gets a good reaction roll, or a cleric trading at 
  the temple, enjoys the usual benefits.
  A few things merit further discussion:
  Scrap (Dungeons, p. 15): Caverntown has limited room 
  for growth, is obsessed with keeping the space it has pre-
  sentable (junkyards are banned by order of Town Hall), and 
  prefers magic for remodeling. This drives down the demand 
  for salvaged doors, bricks, gratings, sheeting, tiles, and so 
  on. Scrounging rolls to collect such stuff are unaffected, but  
  Current Affairs and Propaganda rolls to find buyers are at -3.
  ChApteR fouR
  tAkInG CARe  
  of busIness
  
   
  tAkInG CARe of busIness 
  37
  Selling the Tale (Dungeons, p. 15): On the other hand, 
  Caverntown is full of greedy delvers seeking maps and clues 
  pointing to treasure! Though rolls to create maps using  
  Cartography and treatises using Writing are unaffected, 
  the resulting works sell for $100 even on an ordinary failure, 
  $200 on a regular success, and $1,000 on a critical success.  
  The artistic output of Musical Composition or Poetry sells 
  for its usual price – there are more interested tourists, but also 
  more storytellers vying for their coin.
  Monster Parts: Dungeons are close enough to Caverntown 
  that the Alchemists’ and Wizards’ Guilds are accustomed to 
  acquiring fresh monster parts. Bits mentioned as valuable in 
  monster descriptions always have buyers in town. 
  Even things that aren’t normally worth money 
  might be in demand by a guild, the College 
  of Druids, or another group; make a Current 
  Affairs roll to know about this. What’s being 
  bought, and the going price, aren’t random; 
  this is a bonus quest reward set by the GM 
  (customarily, the more dangerous the mon-
  ster, the higher the payoff). All skill rolls to 
  learn of or locate a buyer for monster parts, 
  or to haggle for a good price, are at +1 to +3 in 
  Caverntown; roll 1d/2 and round up for bonus 
  size. Rolls to collect specimens are unaffected.
  buyInG
  Buying goods in Caverntown is uncom-
  plicated unless somebody tries Getting Stuff  
  Cheap (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, 
  pp. 3-4). Here, too, there are some twists:
  • When bargain hunting among merchants, 
  losing the Quick Contest against a generic 
  Merchant skill of 15 inflates price by 20%, not 
  10% (Chamber of Commerce, pp. 19-20).
  • When buying on the black market, the 
  Quick Contest is against a generic Streetwise 
  skill of 16, not 15 (Adventurers’ Guild, p. 19).
  As always, it’s permissible to try the black 
  market before the merchants. On the other 
  hand, the guilds (pp. 18-23) fix prices – includ-
  ing black-market prices! – so the above Quick 
  Contests abstract shopping around all of Cav-
  erntown to “game the market.” Roll once per 
  item, as usual, and not once per seller.
  Availability is often a bigger concern than 
  price. The next several sections discuss that. 
  Special dice rolls mentioned there are for the 
  entire town, not individual shops – just like 
  rolls to score good deals. The GM is invited to 
  adjust the odds upward for relatively innocu-
  ous requests or downward for truly ludicrous 
  ones. But if there’s any chance at all, Luck (any 
  level) can affect the roll, and the GM should 
  permit delvers with Serendipity to expend one 
  of their uses for the game session to “luck into” 
  what they seek.
  The time that must pass between repeated 
  attempts to find a given item or get a good deal 
  is 1d+1 weeks if the PCs simply sit around town (the heroes 
  can use Luck on this, too, if they want!). The delvers can 
  always retry after returning from an adventure with loot, as 
  that gets the merchants’ attention. See Regulars (p. 38) for an 
  optional rule that allows an extra roll immediately.
  Lookin’ Good!
  Clothing – complete outfits or individual fashion coor-
  dinates from the Garments Table (GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy 8: Treasure Tables, p. 17), sewn from anything 
  but the most otherworldly fabrics on pp. 12-13 of Treasure 
  Tables – is available in all the world’s styles at all times.  
  the e-WoRd
  Economics, huh, yeah. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!
  In dungeon fantasy, feudalism – complete with serfdom, manori-
  alism, and other medieval hallmarks – coexists with a middle class, 
  a market economy, and metropolises. Technology dips into the Iron 
  or Bronze Age whenever being too advanced would spoil the vision, 
  yet embraces rapiers, plate armor, telescopes, clockwork, and even 
  steam power when those would make the story cooler. The customary 
  justifications are nonhumans, magic, and the money mines known 
  as dungeons . . . which just underlines why sensible economics is a 
  terrible fit to the genre and a source of headaches for diehard realists.
  Caverntown offers a shining example. By rights, a huge settlement 
  in a cave should be unsupportable by a preindustrial society. Even 
  today, it would work only as an experiment with a bottomless budget! 
  Yet Caverntown generates the wealth to import whatever it needs, keep 
  prices reasonable, maintain a civic bureaucracy, and provide plumb-
  ing, wide streets, law enforcement, parks, and other amenities.
  If the players ask how, the “official” answer is that Caverntown has 
  a four-cornered economy:
  • Loot recovered from an indefinite number of dungeons supplies 
  tax money and valuable resources. The Adventurers’ Guild (p. 19) 
  ensures supply by keeping professional looters busy at all times (and 
  charges them for the privilege).
  • Magic items from the Wizards’ Guild (pp. 20-21) and Alche-
  mists’ Guild (p. 21) – who have gleaned trade secrets from dungeon 
  finds – provide a luxury export.
  • Technology – gadgets produced by an Artificers’ Guild (p. 19) 
  dominated by born craftspeople (gnomes), and arms and armor manu-
  factured by an Armorers’ Guild (p. 19) run by natural miners (dwarves) 
  living under a mountain full of ore – provides a more workaday export.
  • Tourism is a huge industry! The rotherhood of Bards (pp. 21-22) 
  advertises “the land of the underground sun” globally, while the Hos-
  pitality Guild (pp. 22-23) caters to visitors’ every need. Travelers pay 
  tolls, fill inns, hire guides, and buy souvenirs.
  This is pure fantasy. It relies on the nonhumans, magic, and dun-
  geons noted earlier, and adds the conceit that preindustrial people take 
  expensive vacations.
  And what protects Caverntown from external profiteers? Yet more 
  magic! This sustains everything in Infrastructure (pp. 8-9), rendering 
  Caverntown virtually self-sufficient. Topsiders – even ordinary farm-
  ers – who want to trade with it can’t risk getting greedy. The Cham-
  ber of Commerce (pp. 19-20) has the clout to replace them overnight.
  
   
  tAkInG CARe of busIness 
  38
  The darkness/night and underground/urban 
  patterns of dungeon camouflage (GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy 13: Loadouts, p. 25) are 
  in vogue here and always for sale, too. Attire 
  with the ornate modifier (GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy 1: Adventurers, p. 27), Decorative 
  Embellishments (Treasure Tables, pp. 53-55), 
  or fancy options from GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy Denizens: Swashbucklers, pp. 30-32 
  might require a wait. Roll 3d. On 9 or less,  
  “We can have that ready today!”; otherwise, 
  “We’ll have it for you next week, no extra charge.” The Tailors’ 
  Guild slogan is “Dress in excess to flaunt your success!” . . . 
  they prey on drunk delvers.
  Jewelry abounds by the ton, but there’s a mere 6 or less 
  chance of finding something specific; e.g., “A platinum dragon 
  with seven small sapphires.” Any kind of gewgaw can be made 
  to order thanks to all the metals and gems the dungeons pro-
  vide. This takes 2d days and costs material value plus 10%.
  Tattoos are far too easy to get – the Tattooists’ Guild is even 
  more predatory than the Tailors’. They charge $200 for the 
  entire back or chest; $100 for a full face, leg, sleeve, or scalp; 
  or $50 for a complete hand or foot. Halve this for a partial.  
  A small symbol anywhere on the body is a flat $10.
  For enchanted clothing or jewelry, see Magic Items (pp. 41- 
  42) instead. For magical tattoos, see Tattooed Scrolls (p. 46).
  Basics
  Ordinary stuff from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: 
  Adventurers, pp. 23-24 is always available unless it’s really 
  only useful outdoors; e.g., a miniature sundial. The same goes 
  for “basic” equipment described in other Dungeon Fantasy 
  supplements. For instance, Adventurers considers musi-
  cal instruments and the scribe’s kit “basics,” so the dwarven 
  bagpipes and mapping kit from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  16: Wilderness Adventures, pp. 17-18 should be, too – but 
  numerous items in Wilderness Adventures, though hardly 
  special, serve no purpose on subterranean expeditions. Any 
  “basics” the GM decrees are of no use underground become 
  Special Orders (p. 41).
  Two further notes:
  • Anything that implies meat, dairy, or grain is shipped in 
  from the surface. Food has its normal price if you accept the 
  innkeeper’s stew or the grocer’s special of the day, no ques-
  tions asked – but adventurers purchasing standard rations 
  pay 10% extra.
  • Basic, non-special-order Tools (Adventurers, p. 24, and 
  any tools from the rest of Dungeon Fantasy the GM agrees 
  are “basics”) are 10% cheaper in this underground paradise 
  full of gnomes.
  These adjustments affect base price; e.g., rations cost 
  $2.20/meal before haggling.
  Weapons
  Weapons and shields that have neither positive mod-
  ifiers – that is, features with cost factors (CF) greater 
  than 0 – nor enchantments can always be found in 
  shops. This includes so-called martial-arts weap-
  ons (kusaris, nunchaku, shuriken, etc.), Weapons for 
  Giants (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers, 
  p. 27), tiny weapons (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 3: 
  The Next Level, p. 8), and weapons that have the 
  crude and/or cheap modifier (GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy Denizens: Barbarians, p. 28). There may 
  not be many martial artists, ninja, barbarians, ogres, 
  leprechauns, pixies, etc. in Caverntown, but the sur-
  rounding tunnels and dungeons are full of surplus 
  looted from dead monsters and fallen delvers.
  Weapons 
  with 
  just 
  the 
  dwarven 
  modifier 
  (Adventurers, p. 26) are sold off the rack by the 
  town’s dwarven armorers.
  But roll 3d for any of the following:
  • Weapons with other positive modifiers (bal-
  anced, elven, fine, meteoric, orichalcum, ornate, sil-
  ver, etc.) defined anywhere in Dungeon Fantasy.
  • Nonmagical weapons from the Bizarre Weapon Table 
  (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 8: Treasure Tables, pp. 32-33) or 
  Unusual Items Table (Treasure Tables, pp. 38-42).
  • Nonmagical weapons that use unusual skills; e.g., low-
  tech flamethrowers (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 7: Clerics, 
  p. 34) require Liquid Projector, which isn’t found on any stan-
  dard template.
  • Weapons the GM deems rare for other reasons.
  The weapon is for sale in Caverntown on a roll of 6 or 
  less. If modifiers are involved, the odds have a penalty equal 
  to (total CF)/10, dropping fractions; e.g., a fine sword (+3 CF 
  gives -0.3, so no modifier) turns up on 6 or less, while a tem-
  pered glass one (+29 CF gives -2.9, so -2) calls for 4 or less. 
  Regulars
  Depending on how large the GM makes Caverntown (see 
  Where’s the Map?, p. 6), there could be from one to dozens of 
  businesses offering particular goods and services. If the GM role-
  plays the staff as individuals, the players are likely to take to 
  some more than others. Such NPCs might develop strong feel-
  ings about the adventurers, too – not necessarily good ones, if 
  the “heroes” tried to cheat or rob them! When the PCs do busi-
  ness with a merchant, keep track of names and traits as recom-
  mended in The Locals (p. 23); to prime the pump, see Shops and 
  Shopkeepers (pp. 39-40) and Hospitable Places (p. 43). Optionally, 
  if the delvers become good repeat customers – even friends – of 
  a specific trader, then when rolls for Buying (pp. 37-42) don’t pan 
  out, the GM may permit one extra attempt to find or get a better 
  price on goods of a type that person’s shop carries. Such a rela-
  tionship is a nice reward for a quest completed for that NPC.
  The Stakkels family has served yours 
  for twelve generations. Times change, 
  but you can count on Stakkels Supplies 
  for low prices, high quality, and one-stop 
  convenience!
  
   
  tAkInG CARe of busIness 
  39
  However weird the weapon, a natural 3 finds it – the tunnels 
  are full of surplus.
  A failed roll to find a weapon indicates it must be ordered, 
  meaning a wait time of 1d+1 weeks. There’s no additional 
  charge for this (because somebody will buy it), but also no 
  discount (the Armorers’ Guild doesn’t much care about  
  your convenience).
  For magical weapons, see Magic Items (pp. 41-42) .
  Armor
  In Caverntown, as in most places, armor must be made 
  to order. For any nonmagical armor, roll 3d to learn whether 
  there happens to be something sitting around that’s easily 
  adjusted to fit. Roll once per person seeking armor per suit of 
  uniform basic construction (cloth, leather, scale, mail, plate, 
  etc.), or per piece if searching only for that. Base odds are 9 or 
  less, but there are always penalties:
  • A penalty equal to the armor’s DR; e.g., -1 for DR 1 cloth 
  or -6 for DR 6 plate. For split DR, use the average, dropping 
  fractions; for instance, DR 4/2 mail gives -3. Light, flexible 
  armor is easier to fit, and the materials are often produced 
  in bulk.
  • A penalty equal to (total CF)/10, dropping fractions; e.g., 
  orichalcum has +29 CF, which gives -2.9, so -2. Special orders 
  are, well, special.
  For most modifiers affecting DR, both effects apply; e.g., 
  elven mail has -4 for DR 4 and adds +3 to total CF for a poten-
  tial further penalty. For the dwarven modifier, though, only 
  DR matters – thus, dwarven plate with +2 DR has an extra -2 
  but doesn’t add its +2 CF to total CF to make things worse.
  shops And shopkeepeRs
  The GM decides how many establishments of a given 
  type Caverntown has. As the hard part is dreaming up 
  interesting businesses, here are a few ideas to start with. 
  Whether these particular shops exist in a given campaign 
  is up to the GM.
  Everything here and on p. 40 might be nothing but 
  color. However, the GM can use these sketches as inspira-
  tion for merchants’ traits (see The Locals, p. 23), or apply 
  +1 or -1 to adventurers’ dice rolls to seek or bargain for 
  suitable merchandise, if the description makes it sounds 
  like that should be easier or harder.
  Alchemists
  See Magic Items (pp. 41-42) for potions, Special Orders 
  (p. 41) for magical ingredients, and Local Specialties 
  (pp. 40-41) for other alchemic paraphernalia.
  Bazaar Mufajir: Owned by Zuulia Mufajir, Alchemists’ 
  Guild master. Run by a half-deaf, twitchy human fellow, 
  Gozeeri as-Sharid.
  Madam Mojo’s: Owned and operated by a human, 
  Mama Marie, who has a number of interesting mystical 
  beliefs – most involving monster parts.
  Armorers
  Weapons (pp. 38-39) and/or Armor (pp. 39-40) apply. 
  Shops dealing in armor are also where to seek the pro-
  tective gear in Local Specialties (pp. 40-41). Armorers sell 
  a lot of “previously owned” enchanted goods; see Magic 
  Items (pp. 41-42) .
  Baron’s Blades: General seller of new and used weap-
  ons. Owner-operator Nadar T’Woomi claims to be shad-
  ow-elf nobility. He’s certainly snooty enough.
  Caverntown Forges: Vertical ore-to-arms-and-armor 
  operation, run by Willi Stonesen, twin brother of Wålli, 
  Armorers’ Guild master. The brothers don’t get along; 
  Willi feels Wålli has abandoned the family craft to pur-
  sue politics.
  The Hastiludes: Seller of upscale gear, especially swords 
  and plate armor. Thieves beware! The shop’s human pro-
  prietor, Artemis Grace, is a masterful swordswoman.
  Skydd & Brynja: Dwarven couple Mr. Skydd & Mrs. 
  Brynja Järn specialize in armor and shields. Don’t mistake 
  the bearded, brawny Brynja for Skydd!
  Clothiers
  For rules for clothing, see Lookin’ Good! (pp. 37-38).
  Kingly Klothes: Proprietor Faye Eve, a gnome woman, 
  specializes in proper attire. Shoppers most often deal with 
  her harried halfling fitter, Jonnie Mates.
  Sizzling Subject: Dark-one seamstress Alanda Bale 
  will make you look good in black (or other colors if you 
  insist, sigh).
  General Stores
  Anything in Basics (p. 38) or Local Specialties (pp. 40- 
  41) that isn’t the specialty of another kind of business is 
  sold here.
  The Deep: Undertown (p. 35) business is the primary 
  reseller of Adventurers’ Guild thieves’ tools. Customers are 
  met by Obed Marsh, overtly a “human” man but known to 
  be elder-spawn.
  Goldhaus’s: Chain owned by the Goldhaus Group that 
  controls the Chamber of Commerce. Famous for staff 
  turnover and not having anybody you recognize from 
  your last visit – good news for thieves!
  Noddington General: Huge shop owned and run by Vio-
  let Widgery, sister of Cleome (master artificer) and Petu-
  nia (Mayor). “ONE shop for all your needs” is a dig at 
  Goldhaus’s.
  Stakkels Supplies: Small but truly general store com-
  petes with the ubiquitous Goldhaus’s and sprawling Nod-
  dington General. Various dwarves of the Stakkels family 
  (including town tribune Mig) work here – notably family 
  matron Mor.
  Continued on next page . . .
  
   
  tAkInG CARe of busIness 
  40
  Minimum odds are 3 on 3d, no matter how odd the request.
  If the armor isn’t available, the armorer must make it to 
  order. This requires money up front and a wait while the work 
  is done.
  Wait time in weeks equals the total penalty above. For 
  example, just a week for cloth (DR 1, for -1 that translates 
  into one week) but 11 weeks for giant-spider silk (reflects DR 
  2, for -2, and +99 CF, for -9). This assume a complete suit. For 
  partial suits, or pieces, use 10% of time in weeks for the head 
  (any combo of skull, face, and neck), 35% for the body (any 
  combination involving the torso), 15% for the arms, 5% for 
  the hands, 25% for the legs (including pants and skirts that 
  protect the groin), or 10% for the feet. Halve time for a breast-
  plate or one limb or extremity. Round up; e.g., 11 weeks for 
  giant-spider silk armor, at ¥0.35 for the torso, is four weeks). 
  Minimum wait time for anything – even a crummy glove – is 
  one week.
  Treat shields as Weapons (pp. 38-39). For enchanted armor, 
  see Magic Items (pp. 41-42) .
  Local Specialties
  Many articles of nonmagical adventuring gear consid-
  ered “special orders” elsewhere (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  1: Adventurers, pp. 25-26) – including certain concoctions 
  (Adventurers, pp. 28-29) – are available in Caverntown at list 
  cost, without a wait. This is partly due to strong local guilds 
  but mostly just because the preponderance of delvers creates 
  a profitable market for equipment for dungeon exploration. 
  Such items include:
  • Alchemically themed gear sold by the Alchemists’ Guild 
  (p. 21): acid, alchemist’s fire, alchemist’s garb*, alchemist’s 
  matches, backpack alchemy lab, glow vial (brewed from local 
  fungus!), nageteppo, portable scribe*, potion belt, timed can-
  dle, and tinted goggles.
  • Clerical supplies distributed by the many temples (p. 17): 
  healer’s kit, holy symbols, holy water, sacred scalpel†, and sex-
  ton’s special shovel†.
  • Natural preparations (Adventurers, p. 28), which the 
  local druidic gardens provide in abundance.
  • Protective gear marketed by the Armorers’ Guild (p. 19): 
  anti-garrote collar, hooded robe of protection (GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy 6: 40 Artifacts, p. 7), and wet cloak‡.
  • Specialized adventure-wear, combat accessories, light 
  sources, optics, and tools produced by the Artificers’ Guild 
  (p. 19): adamant drill‡, bandoleer, bit and brace, block and 
  tackle‡, bull’s-eye lantern, collapsible pole‡, corrective spec-
  tacles, crossbow rest, crossbow sight, crossbow sling, delv-
  er’s periscope‡, delver’s webbing, endless chain‡, gnomish 
  army knife§, helmet lamp, hobnails§, mirrors, padlocks, pio-
  let§, portable ram, quick-release backpack, reflector*, scroll 
  belt*, scroll case*, self-righting hourglass*, shackles, shield 
  lamp*, shield lectern*, spring-loaded pole‡, tool vest (GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy 13: Loadouts, p. 7), wax tablet*, and uni-
  versal tool kit*,
  • Thieves’ tools proffered by the Adventurers’ Guild (p. 19): 
  burglar bar‡, caltrops, climbing spikes (regular or improved‡), 
  crossbow grapnel‡, felonious extensors‡, giant-spider silk 
  cord, grapnel, lockpicks (any), orichalcum climbing chain‡, 
  portable ladder, spy’s horn, trap-finder’s kit*, and traps,
  • Anything prefixed with “dwarven”: accurizer*, lockpicks‡, 
  rations, theodolite‡, and whetstone. Also, doom cleats§.
  * See GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 4: Sages.
  † See GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 7: Clerics.
  ‡ See GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 8: Treasure Tables.
  § See GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 16: Wilderness Adventures.
  The lists above aren’t exhaustive. The GM is welcome 
  to add anything that seems to fit into one of these cate-
  gories – or to remove anything that looks like a problem.  
  shops And shopkeepeRs (ContInued)
  Jewelers
  Lookin’ Good! (pp. 37-38) discusses jewelry. For the 
  magical baubles some jewelers sell secondhand, see Magic 
  Items (pp. 41-42) .
  Glimmering Caves: Named after the famous cav-
  erns (p. 34) and run by a dark-one man, Arnoldus Voor,  
  who doesn’t deny rumors he’s been there. Often has 
  magical jewelry.
  Trinkett’s: Storekeeper Goldi Trinkett is an eternally 
  cheerful gnome who claims that’s her real name.
  Magic Shops
  Most magic shops sell all varieties of magical gear; see 
  Magic Items (pp. 41-42) . The Wizards’ Guild (pp. 20-21) 
  permits other shops to sell enchanted versions of their 
  usual wares if they’re secondhand.
  The Abyss: The infernal known as Asmo assures cus-
  tomers that despite his origins, his secondhand items are 
  curse-free and the shop’s name is a reference to its loca-
  tion, Undertown (p. 35).
  Emporium Magicis: Human wizard Persia Peitsche 
  runs Caverntown’s largest magic-items market, which has 
  been in her family since the town’s founding.
  Power of the Pen: Pearl West, a bespectacled half-spirit 
  (half-what, nobody’s sure) runs Caverntown’s biggest 
  bookstore and scroll library. Known to use the clerical 
  Gift of Letters to review writings, and Silence to quiet 
  noisy clientele.
  WGS: The Wizards’ Guild’s unfairly privileged brand 
  (called “weegees” by the locals) has several shops around 
  town. A shadow-elf wizard, Mr. Skyn, operates the flagship.
  Tattooists
  For prices, see Lookin’ Good! (pp. 37-38).
  Tattoos, Ink: Only one tattoo parlor matters among real 
  adventurers. That belongs to half-orc delver Jezza Slaash, 
  whose revolving cast of boyfriends do the work.
  
   
  tAkInG CARe of busIness 
  41
  A fun twist is to have something be temporarily out of stock 
  and to have those who usually sell it offer a quest to delvers 
  who come looking for it; if the heroes succeed, the equipment 
  becomes available again, perhaps given to them as a reward.
  “Outdoorsy” gear that would otherwise fit into these cat-
  egories definitely isn’t on the list, though; e.g., burning glass, 
  cobweb kite, compass, float coat, or telescope. Specific man-
  uals, maps, and tomes aren’t any easier to find, except as part 
  of a quest. Though the Society of Assassins (p. 23) operates 
  here, poisons aren’t sold to just anybody. And ninja equipment 
  and anything connected with psi are conspicuously absent 
  in Caverntown. All that stuff uses Special Orders (p. 41). For 
  potions, see Magic Items (pp. 41-42) .
  Special Orders
  Most other nonmagical items listed in 
  Special Orders (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  1: Adventurers, pp. 25-26) or Concoctions 
  (Adventurers, pp. 28-29), or in other Dungeon 
  Fantasy supplements (particularly Treasure 
  Tables, Ninja, Psi, Wilderness Adventures, 
  and Incantation Magic), are special orders in 
  Caverntown unless Lookin’ Good! (pp. 37-38), 
  Basics (p. 38), Weapons (pp. 38-39), Armor 
  (pp. 39-40), or Local Specialties (pp. 40-41) 
  state they’re available or the GM decides they’re 
  “standard” in the campaign. For each special 
  order, roll 3d. The article is available right now 
  on 6 or less, with two broad exceptions:
  1. The roll is 9 or less for monster parts, 
  magical components for incantation magic 
  (but not other ritual paraphernalia!), and 
  similar “ingredients,” should the delvers need 
  them. That stuff gets dragged back from the 
  dungeons daily!
  2. The roll fails automatically for:
  • Anything prefixed with “elven” or “faerie” 
  (including “faun,” “leprechaun,” “pixie,” and 
  “nymph”). Those races completely lack a local 
  trade presence.
  • Equipment for operating in outdoor ter-
  rain types: camouflage clothing in wilderness 
  patterns, skates, skis, snowshoes, etc. This 
  includes gadgets for aquatic adventures, such 
  as the float coat and snorkel.
  • Articles that are useless underground 
  owing to the absence of the sun or stars (e.g., 
  astrolabe, burning glass, miniature sundial, 
  and parasol) or the presence of megatons of 
  iron-heavy mountain on every side (mainly 
  affects compasses).
  • Beasts of burden, vehicles (boats, carts, 
  sleds, and so on), and associated hardware 
  (like barding, lances, and saddles), as the tun-
  nels aren’t consistently wide or tall enough  
  for these to get more than a couple of minutes 
  past the gates.
  Failure for whatever reason means there’s 
  a wait time of 1d+1 weeks while someone 
  places an order and brings the item in. In such cases, mer-
  chants demand money up front and add 10% to price, cumu-
  lative with any other price increase (e.g., from failed bargain 
  hunting).
  Magic Items
  Certain magic items are frequently available in Caverntown, 
  whether from a magic shop or a temple:
  Potions (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers, p. 29): 
  Balm of regeneration, great healing potion, major healing 
  potion, minor healing potion, paut, and universal antidote.
  Other Items (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers, 
  p. 30): Gem of healing, siege stone, wizard’s staff, and wiz-
  ard’s wand.
  RollInG youR oWn
  Crafting and Brewing (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, p. 3) 
  work normally in Caverntown; materials needed for such tasks are sold 
  at standard prices, leading to the usual savings. Those rules are meant 
  for starting delvers who’ve had all their lives to make things, though. If 
  the GM allows them in play between adventures:
  • Time required is up to the GM – but for the sake of game balance, 
  times equivalent to the waiting periods for buying are recommended, 
  where the section on that kind of gear (pp. 37-42) specifies such, or a 
  week otherwise. Times are per large article or group of small ones, as 
  defined on p. 3 of Dungeons.
  • Goods for personal use or given to “known associates” (fellow 
  PCs) present no legal problems. Selling such stuff without appropriate 
  guild Rank (see Social Traits, p. 28) violates guild privilege, and risks a 
  12 or less chance on 3d of being caught and punished as described in 
  Guilds (pp. 18-23).
  WhAt the CAt dRAGGed In
  The goodies that NPC delvers sold in town since the PCs last went 
  shopping are best left abstract, subsumed into the dice rolls for special 
  requests in Buying (pp. 37-42). But two optional rules can make things 
  more fun:
  On the Table: Each time the heroes visit Caverntown between adven-
  tures, the GM who has GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 8: Treasure Tables 
  can roll on the complete tables (as explained on pp. 6-10 of that sup-
  plement) a number of times equal to the party’s headcount – or two or 
  three times that, if feeling ambitious or kind, or the adventurers were 
  away for a long time. The results are extraordinary treasures brought 
  in from the dungeons by NPCs. This can put a powerful magic item or 
  even a unique artifact on the market!
  Meta-Marketing: If the players do an exemplary job on a quest – role-
  playing well, solving puzzles that don’t amount to “roll against skill,” 
  and so on – consider rewarding them by fudging/skipping rolls for gear 
  availability and stocking shops with the exact gear they covet. This lets 
  them exchange the treasure they found for the treasure they want with-
  out increasing the adventure’s payoff and making the heroes too rich 
  when they inevitably sell this stuff later on.
  Either way, the special goods won’t be there on the PCs’ next shop-
  ping trip. Get it or regret it – the guilds don’t offer layaway!
  
   
  tAkInG CARe of busIness 
  42
  Scrolls (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 4: Sages, pp. 14-16): 
  Awaken, Cure Disease, Dispel Magic, Great Healing, Instant 
  Neutralize Poison, Major Healing, Minor Healing, Neutralize 
  Poison, Remove Curse, and Stone to Flesh – and any spell that 
  generates light or aids vision (see Mana Level, pp. 9-10), or 
  from the Earth college, the GM doesn’t deem “overpowered” 
  or otherwise troublesome.
  For these, roll 3d. The item is available on 12 or less.
  For everything else on pp. 29-30 of Adventurers – includ-
  ing the remaining potions and all the weapon and armor 
  enchantments there – the roll is 9 or less. The same odds apply 
  to scrolls other than those above; Caverntown has several 
  scroll shops, but there are hundreds of spells!
  For all other enchanted items the GM allows for purchase 
  (Chapter 5 of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 8: Treasure Tables 
  offers lengthy lists), the roll is 6 or less.
  In all cases, two further conditions apply:
  • If an enchantment is desired on a specific piece of 
  gear – e.g., boots of balance that are also high-DR plate armor, 
  or a fine wizard’s staff – first check if suitable equipment is 
  available in town, as explained in the appropriate section on 
  pp. 37-42. If it is, roll to see if that item can be found with the 
  desired magic.
  • If an item with several enchantments is desired, check 
  separately for each spell.
  It’s highly unlikely, for instance, that you’ll find some piece 
  of armor that is the right kind, fits, and has several enchant-
  ments you desire!
  If an item isn’t available, wait, check again after the next 
  adventure, or try Bespoke Enchantment (pp. 43-44).
  All this assumes standard clerical, druidic, or wizardly 
  magic, or alchemy. Specific items created with the rules 
  in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 19: Incantation Magic are 
  only ever found on 6 or less, and if they aren’t available,  
  too bad – nobody in Caverntown is doing such work or tak-
  ing orders.
  Rare artifacts aren’t available in shops, on order, or for cus-
  tom production unless the GM decides otherwise; see What 
  the Cat Dragged In (p. 41) for thoughts. This applies to most 
  items in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 6: 40 Artifacts, GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy Treasures 2: Epic Treasures, and Chapter 
  4 of Treasure Tables, unless noted earlier. The traditional way 
  to obtain such gear is via a quest!
  The Wizards’ Guild certifies magic shops for your protection. When facing 
  Evil, you do not want to learn that the “demon-slaying sword” you bought from 
  some skeevy drifter is a glorified lantern. Or worse, cursed – we confiscate several 
  demonic weapons every month.
  – Grand Magister Certus Immortuos
  seRvICes
  Not everything visitors can spend money on is stuff. 
  Caverntown’s many citizens are willing to put their skills to 
  profitable use.
  Unlike the prices of goods, the costs given below aren’t 
  usually negotiable. The costs and availability of services not 
  discussed here use the standard rules in the rest of Dungeon 
  Fantasy.
  ACCommodAtIons  
  And enteRtAInment
  The most striking thing about Caverntown’s inns and 
  taverns is how numerous they are. Enterprising locals are 
  happy to rise to the (lucrative!) challenge of accommodating 
  a steady stream of travelers who need to sleep, eat, and drink. 
  For a whole supplement on such establishments, see GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy 10: Taverns.
  Many homeowners are willing to let a room or sell a meal, 
  too. The Hospitality Guild overlooks this – but only because 
  the Town Watch doesn’t take kindly to them hassling people in 
  their own homes. If a delver is trying to hide out, make a reac-
  tion roll: “Good” or better (13 or higher) means the adventurer 
  finds a friendly local; “Bad” or worse (6 or less) means being 
  ratted out.
  For visitors whose idea of entertainment is seeing the 
  sights, see Hospitality Guild (pp. 22-23) for notes on tour 
  guides.
  Inns
  Travelers who live at inns (or in the homes of friendly cit-
  izens) pay the standard $150 per week for food and lodging; 
  see GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, p. 4 and GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy 10: Taverns, p. 4. By rights, the cost should 
  be higher – a lot of resources pick up taxes on their trip down 
  The Shaft (p. 6), and innkeepers exploit a captive market. 
  Delvers are numerous and dangerous enough to keep prices 
  moderate, however.
  Adventurers with Phobias, Vows, etc. should note that 
  it’s very common for rooms to be in basements in order to 
  avoid the constant sunlight of the Great Cavern (Light, p. 8). 
  This is great for those who fear open spaces! For those with 
  Claustrophobia or Vows about sleeping under the open sky, 
  it triggers the usual problems. To find an inn or home that 
  lets visitors sleep on the roof, roll 3d. On 9 or less, there’s a 
  suitable vacancy.
  
   
  tAkInG CARe of busIness 
  43
  Other housing options are serving on 
  the Town Watch (see Deputy Delver, p. 27), 
  mooching off professional colleagues 
  (see Claiming Hospitality, p. 28), and even 
  purchasing a home (see Settling Down, 
  pp. 28-29). Camping outside town – in the 
  tunnels – means paying the toll at the gates 
  (p. 8) to leave, facing daily wandering mon-
  ster rolls, and making weekly Survival 
  (Subterranean) rolls with the conse-
  quences noted in Starving (Dungeons, 
  p. 4). Living on the streets with Urban 
  Survival works normally.
  Taverns
  GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 10: Taverns 
  is especially valuable for gaming groups 
  that enjoy alehouse antics. Among the bev-
  erages on pp. 30-31 of that supplement, 
  crushroom ale and spider-eye spirits are 
  generally available in Caverntown; hallu-
  cinations from the ale are, like mentalists’ 
  nightmares, tainted with visions of the 
  Deep (see Psionic Echoes, p. 10). Delvers 
  seeking demon rum or orcish bloodwine 
  can find it on any given night on a roll of 9 
  or less on 3d.
  Two tipples are unique to Caverntown:
  Red-Eye: Failed low-light vision aid for 
  the tunnels, repositioned as “whiskey” by 
  the Alchemists’ Guild to save face – and 
  make money. Shifts all modifiers for 
  light level (after Night Vision, if any) one 
  step toward -3 for an hour: -9 through -4 
  become -8 to -3, -3 stays -3, and -2 through 
  0 become -3 to -1. Ounce: $6, 0.25 lb.
  Shaft Draught: Murky beer named after 
  The Shaft (p. 6), which brings down all 
  of Caverntown’s grain. Famous for being 
  made with a haphazard mash: “Nothing 
  goes to waste!” The gruit used to hide this 
  crime is a druidic secret that grants +1 to 
  all attempts to cast druidic spells – helpful 
  or harmful – on the subject, for one hour. 
  Pint: $6, 1 lb.
  mAGICAl seRvICes
  Caverntown’s magic-using professionals, especially its 
  temples (p. 17) and Wizards’ Guild (pp. 20-21), offer a wide 
  variety of services of value to delvers. The GM is welcome to 
  export the next few sections to other settlements – if not as 
  rules, then as guidelines.
  Hey, I Could Do That! Many of these services involve abil-
  ities unavailable to PCs in a standard Dungeon Fantasy 
  campaign. Not all, though. Delvers who decide to offer such 
  services are violating guild privilege – or temple privilege, 
  which amounts to the same thing. See Guilds (pp. 18-23) for 
  the chances and consequences of getting caught, and Magical 
  Crimes (pp. 26-27) for the “remedial penance” that inevitably 
  follows mundane punishment.
  Bespoke Enchantment
  If the town’s magic shops don’t have what you want, you 
  can have it created. This almost always involves a work-
  group – choir of clerics, circle of wizards, company of alche-
  mists, coven of druids – and not a lone individual. The process:
  • Odds of somebody knowing how to work the magic 
  are 100% for anything on p. 30 of Adventurers, or 15 or less 
  on 3d for other non-secret spells (including higher levels of 
  Accuracy, Deflect, Fortify, Puissance, etc.). A secret spell or 
  Great Wish is only ever an option as a specific quest reward. 
  hospItAble plACes
  Customarily, adventurers sleep – and even stash their gear – at inns 
  (pp. 42-43), and frequent taverns (above) to hear rumors, gamble, and 
  brawl. Most delvers spend more time at these places than at shops, so it 
  can be fun to flesh them out. Here are several possibilities. As Shops and 
  Shopkeepers (pp. 39-40) notes, not every establishment exists in every 
  campaign, and these descriptions may be color or affect game play – all 
  as the GM desires.
  Where to Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
  Aloloch’s Landing: The name refers jokingly to Caverntown’s history 
  (pp. 4-5). Barman Al (“You can call me Al!”) couldn’t possibly be a nec-
  romancer. Urchins claim he’s a corpse-eater disguised as a human. Defi-
  nitely on the rough side.
  The C-Note: Named after the town’s paper currency (p. 36). Run by a 
  human dude, Frankie Bix. Famous for late-night jams, and where Sivel 
  (p. 22) is often found.
  The Cave: Tavern from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 10: Taverns – run 
  by dwarf couple Thorin and Ythelin – could be resituated in Undertown 
  (p. 35), its “back door” connected to any dungeon the GM likes.
  The Shaft: Street-level terrace in front of the Adventurers’ Guild 
  hall – the best place to hear rumors. Overseen by Mala Badapple, sister of 
  the Guild’s master, Scrump.
  The Sunbat’s Roost: Rooftop terrace near Town Square affords a fine 
  view of the town. Snobby human owner Isabell Robert serves anything 
  (legal) her clients can afford, including elven delicacies.
  Where to Stay
  Cheery Lodgings: Owned by Cheery O’Malley, master of the Hospitality 
  Guild, who’s generally present (she conducts most Guild business here).
  King’s Chalet: Inn nearest Town Square, and consequently always full. 
  Run by a human woman, svelte socialite Sequana Conrad.
  North West Inn: Often confused with the West North Inn (below). 
  Owned by Wallace Wilson, too, but run by an amazingly articulate gar-
  goyle called “G.G.,” who’s clean and handsome enough to be mistaken 
  for ornamental statuary.
  The Sunset: Basement (not technically Undertown) inn offers respite 
  from the eternal sun, if not from rats. Gnome hotelier Cesar Hilltown dis-
  misses rumors of a long-term vampire lodger. Still, he never lets Room 33.
  West North Inn: Largest inn on its namesake boulevard – and in Cav-
  erntown. Owner Wallace Wilson, an affable human man the staff just call 
  “W.W.,” greets visitors personally.
  
   
  tAkInG CARe of busIness 
  44
  Workers are usually alchemists for amulets, clerics for clerical 
  spells, druids for druidic enchantments, or wizards for wiz-
  ardly magic, but NPCs can bend the rules (e.g., for a wizardly 
  Major Healing staff or druidic serpent’s amulet); this makes 
  the odds 12 or less for common items, 9 or less for others. 
  If a roll is required, the GM may assess bonuses or penalties 
  for trivial or earth-shattering magic. Treat any roll required 
  exactly like a search for goods (see Buying, pp. 37-42).
  • The customer provides the object to be enchanted. (That 
  said, letting delvers find magic-working craftspeople and buy 
  goods as well as magic from them, using the usual rules for 
  availability and price, won’t break anything.)
  • Basic price for the enchanting process is as listed in the 
  relevant Dungeon Fantasy supplement. For an upgrade to 
  a higher level of an existing enchantment, use the price dif-
  ference. If the price of a finished item obviously includes the 
  value of goods, subtract this to find the enchantment price 
  (e.g., boots of balance include an $80 pair of boots, which the 
  customer must provide, and the magic costs $15,000).
  • Work takes one day per $20 calculated in the previous 
  step, rounded up. Enchanters can work n times faster if you 
  pay n times as much (that’s one part magical laws, nine parts 
  greed): double cost to halve time, triple it to divide time by 3, 
  and so on. For instance, improving a sword with Penetrating 
  Weapon (2) costs $5,000 and means a wait of 250 days; to get 
  it in two weeks (14 days) is 250/14 times as costly: $89,286!
  • The enchanters demand half of the price of the work up 
  front.
  • While work is being done, the item is unavailable. It’s 
  possible to get it back before the enchantment is added, but 
  that means losing the full down-payment – enchanters hate 
  having their time wasted – and the aborted effort saves no 
  money or time if the work is contracted again later.
  • The work is guaranteed – don’t roll dice for it or worry 
  about magical quirks. This is Town Hall policy: Those who 
  manufacture magic items must do it right or they owe their 
  customer an identical replacement.
  • The enchanters demand the other half of the price on 
  completion of the work. They won’t return the item until 
  they get paid. They’ll hold it, but roll 3d weekly: On 9 or less, 
  somebody bought it – it’s gone! The enchanters will return the 
  down-payment, but that’s it.
  Nothing above is subject to negotiation. It’s hidebound town 
  and guild/temple policy, and works the same for super-char-
  ismatic people with high Merchant skill as it does for Ugli the 
  Idiot Ogre. Those who dislike it don’t have to have work done.
  Castings
  To get someone to cast spells that count as “on,” hire a 
  magic-using henchman (p. 45) to follow you around, main-
  taining spells and living with the penalties.
  Having someone cast a non-Enchantment spell that 
  doesn’t count as “on” – in a way that doesn’t break the law – is 
  a standard one-time service. Somebody in town will know 
  the spell. The going rate for anything but Healing (below), 
  which is subject to temple law, is $5 per energy point. Import-
  ant castings include:
  Detect Magic or Identify Spell: $10
  Continual Light or Continual Mage Light (lasts 2d days): $10, 
  $20, or $30
  Dispel Magic (one subject): $15
  Seeker: $15
  Repair: $10 per 5 lbs. of item weight, minimum $30
  Analyze Magic: $40/spell (some wizards identify everything for 
  just $120, but require the item for a day)
  Divination: $50
  Black Magic: Anything illegal – like raising zombies or curs-
  ing enemies – requires a Streetwise roll. Any success finds 
  somebody (most often a demonologist, evil cleric, or necro-
  mancer) willing to work for $50 per energy point; e.g., $400 
  for the Zombie spell. Failure finds nothing (treat repeated 
  attempts as for Buying, pp. 37-42). Critical failure finds a sting 
  operation; the person searching is treated as having commit-
  ted the crime they had in mind (see Magical Crimes, pp. 26-27).
  Get Merlin on the Line: Prices assume an effective skill level 
  of 15, possibly implying assistants, specialized workspaces, 
  and paraphernalia. Each +1 to skill adds 40% to cost; e.g., skill 
  16 costs 1.4¥, 18 costs 2.2¥, and 20 costs 3¥ as much.
  Healing
  Caverntown’s temples use a mix of mundane skills, cura-
  tives found in the dungeons, spells, and (in grave cases) 
  pleas for divine intervention to treat the injured, ailing, and 
  cursed. The process takes two hours, most of it in a waiting 
  area with patients who cough consumptively and ooze pus. 
  The literate are offered comforting religious pamphlets to 
  help pass the time.
  The temples’ rates are calculated to undercut sellers of 
  healing potions and scrolls, and not closely related to the 
  prices for other castings, in part because results are guar-
  anteed: Your curse will be lifted or your consumptive cough 
  will be cured, even if it’s stubborn. Thus, skill level isn’t a 
  factor here. Neither is negotiation – the fee schedule is “take 
  it or leave it” (and “leave it” could still cost an arm and a leg 
  if you’re rotting).
  Basic healing: $2 per HP, to a maximum of $100 for all HP
  Awaken subject from suspended animation that doesn’t abso-
  lutely require Remove Curse: $5
  Cure physical affliction (remove any one disease, poison, or 
  infestation, or stabilize a mortal wound) or put an incurable 
  subject into suspended animation: $50*
  Cure supernatural affliction (each case of possession, petri-
  faction, shapeshifting, madness, or anything that requires 
  Remove Curse): $100*
  Welcome to the Sun’s Temple! 
  Seekest thou healing or a curse 
  lifted after thy previous venture? 
  Divination or a blessing before 
  the next? We ask only a modest 
  offering. Gold is most sacred to  
  The Radiant One.
  – High Priestess Jua Nuru
  
   
  tAkInG CARe of busIness 
  45
  Repair lasting/permanent crippling: $750 per body part†
  Repair dismemberment: $1,600 per body part†
  Resurrection: $15,000‡
  * If the condition is progressive – like a mortal 
  wound or being turned to melting ice – paying double 
  lets you jump the queue and save two hours.
  † An arm and its hand or a leg and its foot counts 
  as one body part. Each eye or ear requires its own fee. 
  These prices buy instant healing – anyone willing to 
  wait a month for the cure to work pays only the $50 to 
  cure a physical affliction.
  ‡ A donation to convince the gods to send someone 
  back. Every $500 (or fraction) the subject’s friends can’t 
  pay means the patient returns missing one character 
  point in core professional template abilities; e.g., being 
  $5,000 short might cost a wizard one level of Magery, or 
  a knight a level of ST. The GM’s word is final! Minimum 
  donation is $2,500 (that’s a 25-point sacrifice).
  A Blessing on You: The GM might not want tem-
  ples to sell the Bless spell – the universal bonus that 
  provides can get out of hand. As a compromise, con-
  sider having this whitest of white magic cost the same 
  as black magic (p. 44): $500 for +1, $2,500 for +2. It 
  might instead be sold on (transferable) items: $3,300 
  for +1, $16,500 for +2. Nobody sells the +3 level, which 
  is reserved as a reward for major quests.
  Recharges
  Adventurers can recharge all sorts of power items in 
  Caverntown:
  • Bards, elementalists, and wizards deal with the 
  Wizards’ Guild. The Guild does a lot of research on arti-
  facts found in the dungeons; if the GM allows super-
  charging (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 18: Power Items, 
  p. 10), it would be reasonable for this to be possible for 
  magical power items in Caverntown.
  • Clerics pay at the closest temple; druids, at the 
  nearest garden. For shamans, druidic rites suffice, as 
  they call many of the same spirits.
  • Demonologists, evil clerics, and necromancers 
  must be more circumspect. Finding suitable connec-
  tions in town involves a Streetwise roll (defaults to 
  IQ-5) or, if the seeker has a Claim to Hospitality, a roll 
  for that (see Claiming Hospitality, p. 28).
  • Heroic and scholarly power items (Power Items, 
  p. 8) – if the GM permits them – recharge on their own 
  as usual in Caverntown.
  • Psionic power items recharge on their own, too, 
  and mentalists find they regain one extra FP after each 
  full week – a clue as to the Deep (p. 33).
  For power items that don’t recharge over time, 
  recharging costs the standard $5 per FP, paid at the rele-
  vant facility. If using special options from Power Items, 
  the costs given there are unchanged in Caverntown.
  Endurance items (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 8: 
  Treasure Tables, p. 38) aren’t one of the secrets to 
  which Caverntown’s magic-workers are privy. Nobody 
  here knows how to recharge them.
  henChmen
  Delvers seeking to pay money for hirelings or points 
  for Allies as described in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15: 
  Henchmen should note that some lines of work are more or 
  less common than Caverntown’s size (somewhere between 
  “most towns” and “cities”) would suggest. When making the IQ 
  and skill rolls in Where Did You Find This Guy? (Henchmen, 
  p. 29), the modifiers below replace those for community size 
  and special availability. Those for criers, bribes, superior 
  pay, Propaganda skill, and specific requirements apply nor-
  mally. Lousy employers – e.g., ones who renege on promised 
  pay – will learn that gossip travels quickly in Caverntown, 
  and definitely earn a permanent penalty there!
  Agent* (any): +1
  Apprentice: +1 for wizard or earth-attuned elementalist*; -1 
  for other elementalist; -2 for incanter (GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy 19: Incantation Magic, p. 9); -3 for demonologist 
  or necromancer
  Archer: +1 for veteran*; 0 for levy; -1 for scout; -2 for huntsman
  Brute: +2 for soldier*; +1 for street thug*; -1 for bandit; -2 for 
  barbarian
  Cultist: +1 for druid, good cleric, or wizard*; -1 for elemen-
  talist; -2 for shaman; -3 for demonologist, evil cleric, or 
  necromancer
  Cutpurse* (any): +1
  Guard: +2 for city guard, shield-bearer, or spear-carrier*; 0 for 
  missileer; -2 for savage warrior
  Initiate: +1 for druid or good cleric*; -2 for shaman; -3 for evil 
  cleric
  Killer: +1 for assassin or street thug*; -2 for ninja
  Laborer: +2 for professional porter*; -2 for savage pack-bearer; 
  -4 for dockworker
  Native Guide (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 16: Wilderness 
  Adventures, pp. 11-12): -2
  Sage: +1 for engineer*; 0 for interpreter, mapmaker, or occult-
  ist; -1 for naturalist; -2 for elder
  Servant: +1 for potion-taster or weapon caddy*; 0 for cook, 
  jester, or manservant
  Skirmisher: +2 for sword-and-buckler man*; 0 for runner; -2 
  for monk
  Squire: +2 for holy squire or sergeant*; 0 for secular squire
  Swashbuckler (as henchman; see GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 
  Denizens: Swashbucklers, pp. 6, 7, 9, 11, 13): +2 for 
  generic swashbuckler*; +1 for rogue*; 0 for aristocrat or 
  duelist; -4 for buccaneer
  Torch-bearer*: +2
  * A +1 indicates a group that makes up a significant por-
  tion of Caverntown’s standing population; a +2 means they 
  aren’t merely numerous but also actively seeking work in the 
  dungeons.
  Pay: Rates are standard (Henchmen, p. 32) in Cavern-
  town. There’s plenty of loot to tempt greedy hirelings, danger 
  to justify better pay, and competition. The overambitious get 
  undercut. Hourly rates are accepted only in town; expeditions 
  beyond the gates (p. 8), however brief, always cost daily rates 
  or better.
  
   
  tAkInG CARe of busIness 
  46
  Tattooed Scrolls
  On the other hand, the secret of tattooed scrolls (GURPS 
  Dungeon Fantasy 4: Sages, p. 16) is known to a circle of dwar-
  ven Wizards’ Guild members. They’ll do the work for $100 (see 
  Tattoos, p. 38, for what this buys) plus the scroll’s standard 
  price. Time is one day per energy point. Treat such a tattoo 
  as any other scroll when rolling to learn whether the available 
  tattooists know the spell; see Magic Items (pp. 41-42) .
  RepAIRs And RefIts
  Caverntown boasts sizable guilds of artificers (mostly 
  gnomes) and armorers (mostly dwarves), not to mention 
  experts at Making and Breaking spells. If delvers need existing 
  gear worked on – doubtless because they looted it! – there’s 
  always someone available to do the work.
  Trivial Repairs: Repairs that even sedentary non-adventur-
  ers might seek – anything involving diminished functional-
  ity but not DR or HP loss – cost $5-10. This is the price to 
  straighten a bent tool, put new laces on an old boot, or what-
  ever. Roll 1d+4 for the $ cost. If this would exceed item cost, 
  reduce it to that. Such work rarely takes more than one hour 
  (1d¥10 minutes, if time really matters).
  Serious Repairs: Wizards with the Repair spell generally 
  handle bigger jobs, such as restoring DR lost to corrosion, 
  or reforging the shards of a shattered sword. As Castings 
  (p. 44) notes, this costs at least $30 – more, for heavy items. 
  This is so quick, cheap, and available that it replaces Repairs 
  (pp. B484-485) . . . but for meteoric artifacts (or people with 
  Manaphobia!), it isn’t an option! Cost is then (1d+1)¥10% of 
  the object’s value as a mundane item: 1d¥10% for spare parts, 
  plus a 10% commission. The work takes a week. If the item 
  actually broke, any magical properties are lost and repairs 
  won’t restore them.
  Fixer-Uppers (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, 
  p. 14): Craftspeople can also refit armor (or anything else 
  wearable), restring a bow to a new ST, or make any similar 
  adjustment of existing gear to a new user permitted by the 
  GM. The only stipulations are that the item is designed for 
  someone of the end user’s SM and that – for armor – the race 
  of the intended wearer and new owner are compatible (not 
  prohibited by an “armor isn’t interchangeable” racial feature). 
  Cost is 10% of mundane artifact value; time is a week.
  Upgrades: Most armor, shield, and weapon modifiers are 
  unavailable after the fact – gear must be created as dragon-
  hide, dwarven, fine, etc. Something can be gussied up to be 
  mirrored, ornate, silver-coated, or bejeweled (to add pow-
  er-item value), though, and a spike can be added to a shield. 
  The work takes a week and costs the difference in value, plus 
  10% of that as a commission; e.g., a silver coating has +2 CF, 
  so silvering a $600 sword raises value by $1,200 and the work 
  costs $1,320.
  tRAInInG
  If the GM uses Training Expenses (GURPS Dungeon 
  Fantasy 3: The Next Level, p. 43) – or restricts access to 
  the abilities in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 11: Power-
  Ups – Caverntown boasts capable instructors for 
  artificers, assassins (at least if the Society of 
  Assassins, p. 23, exists!), bards, clerics, druids, ele-
  mentalists (included in the Wizards’ Guild), holy 
  warriors, innkeepers, knights, scholars (employed 
  by the Brotherhood of Bards, temples, Town Hall, 
  and Wizards’ Guild), swashbucklers, thieves, and 
  wizards. There are also teachers for any general 
  power-up and for any skill that isn’t limited to a 
  particular profession, unless it’s an outdoor skill 
  like Riding (Horse), Survival (Jungle), or Weather 
  Sense. Tutors charge the usual prices.
  Members of other professions – or anybody 
  seeking a skill of little use underground – must 
  roll against Current Affairs (Caverntown) if the 
  desired knowledge is legitimate but scarce (abili-
  ties for barbarians, incanters, martial artists, ninja, 
  scouts, and shamans, plus uncommon skills), or 
  Streetwise for training in something skeevy (always 
  applies to demonologists, evil clerics, mentalists, 
  necromancers, and unholy warriors). Anybody can 
  instead try Carousing to locate a teacher in a tav-
  ern, or roll for a Claim to Hospitality relevant to 
  the profession (see Claiming Hospitality, p. 28). On 
  a failure, waiting a week allows repeated attempt. 
  Success finds a visitor or skulking private citizen 
  who’s willing to share. If the training normally 
  costs money, add 100% to cost and subtract 10% 
  times margin of success, to a minimum of nor-
  mal cost for success by 10+ or a critical success.  
  Point cost is unaffected.
  
  Accommodations, 42-43; Claim to Hospitality, 
  28; examples, 43; owning, 28-29; with 
  homeowners, 42.
  Advantages, social, 28.
  Adventurers, visiting, 12.
  Adventurers’ Guild, 19, 37; alternate entrance, 
  8; black market, 19, 36, 37; example shop, 
  39; finding quests, 19, 24, 32; Mayor’s 
  Council, 14; special gear sold by, 40; tavern, 
  43; Town Watch and, 15; see also Guilds.
  Adventures, 31-34; exploring the dungeon, 32-
  33; outdoorsmen and, 31; random urban 
  events, 30; urban dangers, 25; wandering 
  monsters, 34; see also Quests.
  Air, 8-9.
  Alchemists’ Guild, 21, 37; example shops, 39; 
  Mayor’s Council, 14; quests, 31; special gear 
  sold by, 40; see also Guilds.
  Armor, buying, 39-40; cost of adjusting, 
  24; wearing in town, 27; see also 
  Enchantments, Equipment, Magic Items, 
  Weapons.
  Armorers’ Guild, 19, 37; adjustments by, 24; 
  example shops, 39; Mayor’s Council, 14; 
  special gear sold by, 40; see also Armor, 
  Guilds, Weapons.
  Artificers’ Guild, 19, 37; current mayor, 14; 
  Mayor’s Council, 14; special gear sold by, 
  40; see also Guilds.
  Assassins, Society of, 23; other entrance, 8; see 
  also Guilds.
  Authorities, 13-17; effective skill, 13; quests, 
  31.
  Badapple, Guildmaster Scrump, 19, 23.
  Barbarians, characters, 11, 28, 31; henchmen, 
  45; outdoorsmen traits, 29-31; training, 
  28, 46.
  Bards, Brotherhood of, 21-22, 37; Mayor’s 
  Council, 14; recharging power items, 45; 
  training, 46; visiting, 12; see also Guilds.
  Barricade, 7-8; damaging, 26, 27; gates, 
  8; ghosts, 10; Perimeter Road, 7, 8; 
  Undertown, 35; see also Military.
  Basic equipment, buying, 38.
  Black market, 19, 24, 36, 37; punishment, 25.
  Bless spell, buying, 45.
  Boulevards, 7.
  Buildings, 7; see also Barricade, Gates, Inns, 
  Shaft, Taverns.
  C-notes, 36; crime, 25; metal reserves, 36; 
  money-changers, 14, 24; tavern, 43; Town 
  Hall, 14.
  Campaigns, location in world, 4; map of city, 6; 
  based in city, 27-30; random urban events, 
  30; see also Adventures, Character Creation.
  Castings, see Spells.
  Chamber of Commerce, 19-20, 37; buying 
  goods, 24, 37; crimes against, 25; example 
  shops, 39-40; Mayor’s Council, 14; 
  merchant visitors, 12; quests, 32; selling 
  goods, 25, 36.
  Character creation, outdoorsmen traits,  
  29-31; professions, 11, 27-28; races, 11; 
  social traits, 28.
  City overview, 3.
  Civilization, problems of, 26.
  Claim to Hospitality advantage, 28, 45, 46.
  Clerics, characters, 11, 28; henchmen, 45; 
  important, 17; recharging power items, 45; 
  sanctity level, 10; supplies, 40; training, 46; 
  see also Holy Warriors, Temples.
  Clothing, 37-38; example shops, 39.
  Coleopteran queendom, 35.
  Crimes, 25-27; bypassing guilds, 18, 25, 41, 43; 
  damaging town property, 26; death-penalty 
  equivalents, 26; economic, 25; general, 
  25; gaming arrest and punishment, 26; 
  littering, 9, 26; magical, 26.
  Currency, see C-Notes.
  Dante’s Paradise, 33.
  Dark Necropolis, 35.
  Darkness-related magic, 9-10.
  Deep, The, 33.
  Deep Lakes, 33.
  Deep Rangers, 15.
  Delving companies, 19.
  Deputy delvers, 27; quests, 31; random 
  encounters, 30.
  Doors, 7.
  Druids, character creation, 31; College of, 17, 
  20, 27; crimes against, 26; Great Druid, 18; 
  Mayor’s Council, 14; Nature’s strength, 10; 
  recharging power items, 45; rumors, 10; 
  training, 46; see also Temples.
  Dueling, 27.
  Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game, 3; see 
  also GURPS.
  Dungeons, see Tunnels.
  Earth magic, 9.
  Economics, 37.
  Eight Titans, 6-7, 24; fountains, 6, 9, 10; 
  hidden lift, 8.
  Enchantments, bespoke, 43-44; buying, 43-44; 
  magic items, 41-42; special-order, 43-44; see 
  also Magic Items, Scrolls, Spells.
  Entrances, from tunnels, 7-8; main, 5, 6; other, 
  8; The Shaft, 6; tolls, 6, 24, 25.
  Equipment, availability, 37; brewing own, 
  41; buying basic, 38; buying, 24, 25, 37-
  42; crafting own, 41; custom-crafted, 23; 
  dwarven, 40; enchanting, 43-44; finding 
  rare, 41; local specialties, 40-41; money, 
  36; outdoorsy, 41; recharging power items, 
  45; refits, 46; repairs, 46; scrap, 36; selling, 
  24, 36-37; special enchantments, 43-44; 
  special non-magical, 40-41; special orders, 
  41; starting for locals, 28; see also Black 
  Market, Magic Items, Shops, Treasure, 
  Weapons.
  Food, 9, 38; crimes, 26; foraging, 29, 32; inns, 
  42-43; taverns, 43; see also Water.
  Forgotten Mines, 33.
  Fort Caverntown, 5; breaching, 26; great 
  golems, 17; The Shaft, 5, 6; troops, 5, 15-17.
  Gadgeteers’ Guild, see Artificers’ Guild.
  Garbage, 9, 24; crimes, 26; rumors, 10; 
  scrounging, 24; Undertown, 35.
  Gate magic, 10.
  Gates, Caverntown, 8; Fort Caverntown, 5.
  Gear, see Armor, Equipment, Magic Items, 
  Treasure, Weapons.
  General stores, example, 39.
  Glimmering Caves, 34.
  Goblin pits, 34.
  Goldhaus Group, 20, 39.
  Great Cavern, city layout, 6-8; infrastructure, 
  8-9; overview, 6.
  Great golems, 5, 6, 17; damaging, 17, 26; 
  rumor, 10.
  Guides, tour, 22.
  Guilds, Big Five, 19-21; bypassing, 18, 25, 41, 
  43; descriptions, 19-23; effective skill, 13; 
  fees, 24; Mayor’s Council, 14; minor, 23; 
  other significant, 21-23; overview, 18-19; 
  quests, 31; table of people, 23; visiting 
  members, 12; see also Military, Temples, 
  specific guilds.
  GURPS Basic Set, 3; Dungeon Fantasy, 3, 
  6, 8, 13, 23, 24, 26, 38, 41-44; Dungeon 
  Fantasy 1: Adventurers, 3, 11, 13, 15, 38, 
  40, 41; Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons, 
  3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 13, 15, 18-20, 24, 25, 29, 
  30, 32-34, 36, 37, 41-43, 46; Dungeon 
  Fantasy 3: The Next Level, 25, 34, 35, 38, 
  46; Dungeon Fantasy 4: Sages, 11, 20, 
  40, 42, 46; Dungeon Fantasy 5: Allies, 
  34; Dungeon Fantasy 6: 40 Artifacts, 
  40, 42; Dungeon Fantasy 7: Clerics, 
  11, 16, 17, 38, 40; Dungeon Fantasy 
  8: Treasure Tables, 37, 38, 40-42, 45; 
  Dungeon Fantasy 9: Summoners, 10, 
  11, 34; Dungeon Fantasy 10: Taverns, 
  11, 23-25, 34, 42, 43; Dungeon Fantasy 
  11: Power-Ups, 28, 31, 46; Dungeon 
  Fantasy 12: Ninja, 11, 16, 41; Dungeon 
  Fantasy 13: Loadouts, 38, 40; Dungeon 
  Fantasy 14: Psi, 10, 16, 35, 41; Dungeon 
  Fantasy 15: Henchmen, 11, 15, 16, 19, 
  21, 24, 29, 45; Dungeon Fantasy 16: 
  Wilderness Adventures, 15, 29, 32, 33, 
  38, 40, 41, 45; Dungeon Fantasy 17: 
  Guilds, 3, 14-16, 18-20, 22, 24, 27, 28; 
  Dungeon Fantasy 18: Power Items, 23, 
  45; Dungeon Fantasy 19: Incantation 
  Magic, 16, 41, 42, 45; Dungeon Fantasy 
  Denizens: Barbarians, 31, 38; Dungeon 
  Fantasy Denizens: Swashbucklers, 28, 
  38, 45; Dungeon Fantasy Encounters 1: 
  The Pagoda of Worlds, 8, 35; Dungeon 
  Fantasy Monsters 1, 29, 33-35;  
  Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 2: Icky Goo, 
  34, 35; Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 3: 
  Born of Myth & Magic, 10, 33, 34;  
   
  Index 
  47
  Index
  
   
  Index 
  48
  Dungeon Fantasy Treasures 2: Epic 
  Treasures, 42; Magic, 3; Magic: Plant 
  Spells, 31.
  Harris, Commander Arthur, 15, 23, 26.
  Hazards, random urban events, 30; tunnel, 33; 
  urban, 25.
  Healing, 44-45.
  Hell’s Oubliette, 34.
  Henchmen, 45; rumors, 10.
  Hive, The, 35.
  Holy warriors, characters, 11, 27, 28; training, 
  46; see also Clerics, Order of Saint Angelina, 
  Temples.
  Hospitality Guild, 22-23, 37; guides, 22, 24; 
  inns, 42-43; maps, 22, 24; Mayor’s Council, 
  14; taverns, 43; welcome center, 7; see also 
  Guilds.
  Immortuos, Grand Magister Certus, 21, 23.
  Infrastructure, 8-9; tampering with, 26; see 
  also Garbage, Light, Water.
  Inhabitants, 11-12; protagonists as, 27-28; 
  table of key, 23.
  Inns, 42-43; example, 43; see also Hospitality 
  Guild.
  Jewelry, 38; example shops, 40.
  King’s Men, 16.
  Laws, tribune, 14; see also Crimes.
  Layout of city, 6-8.
  Lift, 5; see also Shaft.
  Light, in town, 8; in tunnels, 32-33; magic, 
  9-10; rumor, 10.
  Location in world, 4.
  Locks, 7.
  Loot, see Armor, Equipment, Magic Items, 
  Treasure, Weapons.
  Lord Mayor, see Mayor.
  Lost Labyrinth, 35.
  Magic items, buying, 41-42; example shops, 
  40; special-order casting, 44; special-
  order enchantment, 43-44; see also 
  Enchantments, Scrolls.
  Magic, black, 44; energies, 9-10; mana level, 
  9-10; spell bonuses, 9-10; see also Spells.
  Magical services, 43-46.
  Mana level, 9-10.
  Maps, accessories, 38; creating, 37; from 
  guild, 22; Navigation skill, 29; of campaign 
  setting, 6; of streets, 7; travel, 29, 32.
  Mayor, 13-14; history, 5; other entrance, 8.
  Mayor’s Council, 14.
  Mentalists, 10, 11; King’s Men, 16; nightmares, 
  10, 33; recharging power items, 45; 
  training, 28, 46; training facility, 35.
  Merchants, dealing with, 36, 37; example 
  shops, 39-40; regular dealings with, 
  38; visiting, 12; see also Chamber of 
  Commerce, Equipment.
  Military, 15-17.
  Mines, goblin, 34; forgotten, 33.
  Money, see C-Notes.
  Money-changers, 14, 24.
  Monsters, buying parts, 41; city wildlife, 12; in 
  tunnels, 33-35; intelligent, 11, 12; random 
  urban events, 30; rumors, 10; selling parts, 
  37; undead, 10; wandering, 34.
  Mufajir, Guildmaster Zuulia, 21, 23, 39.
  Natives, 11.
  Nature’s strength, 10.
  Necromantic magic, 10.
  O’Malley, Guildmaster Cheery “Cheerio,” 23, 
  43.
  Order of Saint Angelina, 10, 14, 16; duels, 27; 
  history, 5; Mayor’s Council, 14; quests, 32; 
  temple, 7, 17; troops, 5, 8l undead and, 10.
  Organizations, effective skill, 13; see also 
  Authorities, Guilds, Temples, specific 
  organizations.
  Outdoorsmen, making useful, 11, 29-31; 
  see also Barbarians, Character Creation, 
  Druids.
  Perimeter Road, 7-9.
  Population density, 11.
  Power items, recharging, 45.
  Professions, 11.
  Psionic echoes, 10, 33; see also Mentalists.
  Quests, Adventurers’ Guild, 19, 32; 
   as punishment, 15, 26; finding, 19, 24, 
  31-32; ideas, 12.
  Races, 11.
  Red-Eye beverage, 43.
  Religious sects, influential, 17; see also Druids, 
  Order of Saint Angelina, Temples.
  Reputation trait, 28, 29.
  Researchers, 12.
  Resurrection, 10, 45.
  Restless dead, see Undead.
  Romée, Grand Mistress 
  Geneviève, 16, 17, 23.
  Rooftops, 7.
  Royal Embassy, 15; quests, 
  31; visiting spies, 12.
  Rumors, 10.
  Ruth Institute, 35.
  Sanctity level, 10; rumor, 10.
  Schreck, Ambassador Bela, 15, 23, 31.
  Scrap, selling, 36.
  Scrolls, accessories for, 40; buying, 42; example 
  shop, 40; tattooed, 46.
  Self-defense, 27.
  Services, 42.
  Sewage, see Garbage.
  Shadow Enclave, 35.
  Shaft Draught beverage, 43.
  Shaft, The, 5, 6; Adventurers’ Guild, 19, 43; 
  beer, 43; crimes, 26, 27; tolls, 6, 24, 25; 
  Town Square, 7; see also Great Golems.
  Shields, see Weapons.
  Shops, 39-40; regulars, 38.
  Sideways (native “insect”), 12.
  Sivel, Master Bard, 21-23, 43.
  Skills, new specialty, 29; outdoorsmen, 29-30.
  Social Stigma disadvantage, 25; gaining, 25, 
  26, 30.
  Spells, buying Bless, 45; buying castings, 44; 
  special-order, 44; bonuses to, 9-10; see 
  also Enchantments, Magic, Magic Items, 
  Scrolls.
  Spies, 12.
  Status trait, 28, 29.
  Stonesen, Guildmaster Wålli, 19, 23.
  Stories, selling, 38.
  Streets, 7; crimes, 26.
  Sunbats, 12.
  Survival (Subterranean) skill, 29, 30, 32, 43.
  Table, random tunnel encounters, 34; random 
  urban events, 30.
  Tasks in town, 24.
  Tattoos, 38; example shop, 40; scrolls, 46.
  Taverns, 43; bar fights, 25; see also Hospitality 
  Guild.
  Temples, 17-18; crimes against, 26; effective 
  skill, 13; evil, 17; food, 9; healing, 44-45; 
  Mayor’s Council, 14; quests, 32; recharges, 
  45; special gear sold by, 40; undead and, 
  10; see also Druids, Clerics, Order of Saint 
  Angelina.
  Thieves’ Guild, see Adventurers’ Guild.
  Thieves’ tools, 40.
  Tolls, 6, 24, 25; not paying, 6, 25.
  Tombs, in tunnels, 35; see also Undead.
  Tourists, 12.
  Town Hall, 14; money, 14; quests, 31;  
  see also Town Watch.
  Town Square, 7; Adventurer’s Guild, 19; 
  Brotherhood of Bards, 21; hospitable 
  places, 43; King’s Men, 16; Order of Saint 
  Angelina, 17; Royal Embassy, 15; Town 
  Hall, 14; Town Watch, 15; see also Eight 
  Titans, Shaft.
  Town Watch, 15; Deputy delvers, 27; Mayor’s 
  Council, 14; random encounters, 30; 
  quests, 31.
  Training, 46.
  Travel in tunnels, 32.
  Treasure, deed to home, 29; scrap, 36; selling, 
  36-37; see also Armor, Equipment, Magic 
  Items, Scrolls, Weapons.
  Tribune, 14.
  Tripvines, 12.
  Tunnels, destinations, 33-35; , exploring,  
  32-33; hazards, 33; travel in, 32.
  Undead, 10, 35; history, 4; random urban 
  events, 30; random tunnel encounters, 34; 
  spells related to, 10, 44.
  Undertown, 35; alternate entrances in, 8; 
  example shops, 39, 40; example tavern, 45; 
  quests in, 15; undead and, 10.
  Urban, dangers, 25; random events, 30.
  Vampires, 8, 10, 35, 43.
  Vibes, Great Druid Carbonado, 17, 18, 23.
  Villagers, 12.
  Vision-related magic, 9-10.
  Visitors, 12.
  Vythispolis, 35.
  Warrior codes, 27.
  Watchmen, example, 15.
  Water, 6, 9, 24; crimes, 26; foraging, 29, 32; 
  rumors, 10; see also Food.
  Weapons, 38-39; carrying in town, 27;  
  see also Armor, Enchantments,  
  Equipment, Magic Items.
  Widgery, Guildmaster Cleome, 19, 23, 39.
  Widgery, Mayor Petunia, 14.
  Wildlife, 12; see also Monsters.
  Wizards, characters, 11, 27, 28; henchmen, 45; 
  mana level, 9-10; recharging power items, 
  45; training, 46.
  Wizards’ Guild, 20-21; crimes against, 26; 
  library, 20; Mayor’s Council, 14; other 
  entrance, 8; Town Watch and, 15; visitors, 
  12; see also Guilds.
  Zonio-Goldhaus, Chairperson Stella Marcia, 
  20; Goldhaus Group, 20, 39.
  
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/GURPS Classic/SETTING/Dungeon Fantasy (GURPS)/Dungeon Fantasy Setting Caverntown.pdf