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  Written by
  Jesse Pingenot
  Edited by
  Thorin Tabor &
  Jesse Pingenot
  Saga Machine system by
  Thorin Tabor
  Tab Creations is
  Ben Goreham, Jesse Pingenot, Matthew Pennell, Thorin Tabor
  Exceptional playtesting by
  Kat Davis, Carroll Emerson, Ben Goreham, Micah Hollis-Symynkywicz, 
  Matthew Kamm, Jesse Pingenot, Brian Richburg, Darin Strouts, Eric Wirtanen
  Art by
  Arten Stokolya, Frederic Remington, Jesse White 
  Tab Creations, Saga Machine, Against the Dark Yogi, Shadows Over Sol and Dime Adventures are trademarks owned by Thorin Tabor and 
  Tab Creations LLC. All rights reserved. All other content is ©2018 Jesse Pingenot & Tab Creations LLC. The mention of or reference to any 
  company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. This document is a work of fiction.
  Prairie Dogs 
  Ripped My Flesh!
  
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  Contained in this book is a complete 
  scenario for Dime Adventures. The material 
  presented here should be enough to cover 
  somewhere between two and four evenings of 
  play, depending on the pacing provided by the 
  GM and the actions of the players.
  Over the course of the adventure the 
  heroes will foil a bank robbery, discover a series 
  of hidden tunnels, fight lots and lots of blood-
  thirsty prairie dogs, face off against a corrupt 
  lawman and uncover a sinister town secret!
  Author's 
  Forward
  You might have seen floating around the 
  depths of the internet the cover of an old 
  magazine called Man’s Life. Setting aside 
  its rampant misogyny (“Can women justify 
  their need for extra-marital relations?”), 
  it features some absolutely glorious cover 
  art, a common theme of which seems to be 
  “[vermin or other animal] ripped my flesh!” 
  The cover then has a man fighting off a 
  swarm of said animals, sometimes defending 
  a woman from the swarm, her blouse just on 
  the verge of bursting open. For some reason, 
  her blouse is always red.
  Marvelously ridiculous artwork! Sometimes 
  I wonder if the artist had to go and have a lie 
  down while inking it all in, just to cool off.
  My favorite story title remains, “Attacked 
  by the Furred Furies of Hell!” How do you 
  top a name like that?
  Over-the-top and weird pulp adventure 
  is what Dime Adventures is all about! 
  So when I was brainstorming ideas for 
  scenarios, Man’s Life and its over-the-top, 
  absolutely bizarre stories of pulp adventure 
  quite naturally came up.
  We here at Tab Creations do not suggest 
  that men remove their shirts before fighting 
  swarms of small animals, as the men always 
  seem to have done in the Man’s Life cover 
  art. We’re all too familiar with the physiques 
  of many RPG nerds. We do recommend all 
  women dress appropriately for adventure, 
  including durable clothes and comfort-
  able shoes. If Man’s Life is to be believed, I 
  would avoid a red blouse, and would highly 
  recommend undergarments of some sort. 
  Those ladies seem to have misplaced theirs.
  All kidding aside, have fun with this 
  adventure and try to leave the misogyny at the 
  door. I’m not bringing that along. We don’t go 
  in for that much ridiculousness.
  .
  Synopsis
  For a generation the town of Murcia, 
  Illinois has harbored a terrible secret. Finding 
  themselves living in proximity to strange, 
  carnivorous prairie dogs, the townsfolk began 
  a practice of sacrificing visitors and unwanted 
  riffraff to appease these bloodthirsty rodents.
  Introduction
  
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  The most recent scheme involves placing 
  ads in newspapers across the USA, promising 
  food, board and good pay in return for “dealing 
  with some prairie dogs.” Of course, visitors 
  hired by mail to exterminate the rodents soon 
  find themselves eaten by those very beasts. And 
  so the town’s secret continues.
  The bloodthirsty prairie dogs come in two 
  varieties: giant mutant prairie dogs as big as 
  horses, and the smaller but no less bloodthirsty 
  prairie dog swarms. The town has even taken 
  to capturing and selling the giant prairie dogs 
  to a mysterious buyer going by the alias “Aaron 
  Burr.” They’re tranquilized, loaded into cargo 
  crates and shipped elsewhere by rail with the 
  mainfest listing them as  “special tractors.”
  When this scenario begins, the heroes have 
  responded to one of the town’s job ads, placed 
  by a farmer and rancher named John Mills. 
  After arriving at Murcia by train, the 
  heroes should quickly get the feeling that not 
  everything here is as it seems. The people of 
  the town are close-mouthed and standoffish. 
  Few will look the heroes in the eyes.
  Exploring the town will soon be inter-
  rupted by a bank robbery! The heroes will have 
  a chance to stop the wanted criminal Edwin 
  Abadie and his minions from making off with 
  an array of valuables from the bank’s vault. 
  Stopping the robbery may win the heroes 
  some recognition from Jack Fowler, a man 
  with a video camera, and a dire warning from 
  a woman named Maggie Bracken. Maggie is 
  deeply troubled by the town’s secret and she 
  wants to warn the heroes away. Unfortunately, 
  Maggie may soon end up dead.
  The heroes can meet John Mills, but on 
  the way to his ranch they will be attacked by 
  swarms of vicious prairie dogs. Once they’ve 
  fended off these rodents, the heroes will be 
  given some dynamite and their task: extermi-
  nate the prairie dog infestation.
  After defeating a couple prairie dog towns, 
  the heroes will uncover a secret tunnel running 
  under the Mills farm. If they hesistate, Mills 
  will prompt them to investigate further.
  Descending down into the darkness, the 
  heroes will face off against environmental 
  challenges and lots and lots of prairie dogs! 
  As they explore, they will discover evidence 
  that they’re not the first to be sent down into 
  the tunnels. In fact, it appears that the town 
  is willingly hiring outsiders and sending them 
  down here to their deaths! The town’s secret 
  has now been uncovered.
  What is a Prairie Dog?
  When we first announced this scenario 
  we had a fan from outside North America 
  ask what exactly a prairie dog is. As a 
  company comprised of people who grew 
  up on the Great Plains, it hadn’t occured 
  to us that some people might not know.
  A prairie dog is a type of burrowing 
  ground squirrel which was historically 
  found throughout the Great Plains of 
  North America. They live in underground 
  communities called “prairie dog towns” 
  which can consist of hundreds of individ-
  uals and miles of tunnels. 
  Their name comes from the fact 
  that they will take shifts watching for 
  predators, and make a sharp “barking” 
  sound when a threat is spotted, alerting 
  the others in the colony.
  
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  Returning to the surface, the heroes will 
  find the Mills house vacant. Here they may 
  discover that the people of the town are selling 
  the giant prairie dogs a buyer with the alias 
  “Aaron Burr.” But before things are over, they 
  have one more challenge to face.
  Upon attempting to leave the ranch, the 
  heroes will be accosted by Sheriff Gerand 
  Blaston and a posse of townsfolk. They’ve 
  come to make sure that the heroes don’t live to 
  spread the town’s secret.
  The posse defeated, the town’s mayor, 
  Frank Ness, will explain everything and beg the 
  heroes to keep their mouths shut. From here 
  the players may do as they wish. They might 
  report the townsfolk to the state or federal 
  authorities, having them all arrested. Or they 
  might accept payment and agree to keep the 
  town’s secret while others are lured to the town 
  to become prairie dog food.
  Other Adventures
  Prairie Dogs Ripped My Flesh! can be used alone or in conjunction with 
  other published Dime Adventures scenarios. Below are some notes on how to 
  combine this adventure with others. 
   
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  Circles in the Sky: Perhaps the heroes’ airship breaks down shortly after 
  departing Saint Louis and they find themselves stuck in Murcia. The people of 
  the town promise to fix the ship, but only if the heroes deal with the prairie dog 
  infestation in the meantime.
   
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  Skull-Spider Island: Perhaps John Mills is in possession of the Eye of Wadjet, and 
  promises it to the heroes if they rid his farm of prairie dogs. This could them lead 
  into the other adventure, cutting to the heroes crossing the ocean with the Eye.
   
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  World’s Fair: John Mills might travel to the World’s Fair to recruit the heroes. 
  Alternatively, the heroes might be trying to capture the prairie dogs in this 
  scenario to display at the World’s Fair.
  Ready-Made Heroes
  The player characters presented in 
  Dime Adventures: Ready-Made Heroes 
  are ideal for use with Prairie Dogs Ripped 
  My Flesh! Simply print out the character 
  sheets, let players choose which character 
  each prefers and you are good to go!
  Of particular note are Jutta the 
  Mountain Woman and Milandre Two 
  Rivers, both of whom have traveled across 
  the Great Plains. Moraika and Nofoto 
  Hangala may also be of interest, because 
  of their experience with animals. Finally, 
  Oswald Fuchs may enjoy playing with 
  dynamite in the scenario!
  
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  In this chapter the heroes will explore 
  the town of Murcia, Illinois, foil a bank 
  robbery, receive a dire warning, meet their 
  patron, fight some prairie dogs and unearth 
  a mysterious tunnel.
  Train to Murcia
  This scenario begins with the heroes on a 
  train bound for Murcia, Illinois, a town about 
  20 miles south of Moline, along the Missis-
  sippi River. They are seated together, and they 
  all know that one John Mills, a farmer on the 
  outskirts of Murcia, has hired them to extermi-
  nate a massive prairie dog infestation. 
  To advertise the job, John Mills posted 
  an ad in several newspapers, to which the 
  heroes responded and were hired via mail 
  correspondence. Their last letter included 
  their train tickets, a small amount of pocket 
  money for food and lodging along the way 
  and instructions to meet Mills at Murcia’s 
  old grist mill after they have bought any 
  supplies they need. However, he has left firm 
  instructions that the heroes are not to use 
  any poison. Mills does not want any of his 
  soil contaminated or his livestock killed.
   
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  Give the players some time to interact and 
  get to know each other.
   
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  In theory, the job should take a week or 
  so and each hero will receive a Wealth 5 
  payment for her time. 
  Arriving at the Station
  When the conversation winds down, the train 
  will pull into Murcia. It is the end of the line.
   
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  As the heroes are getting off the train, a 
  successful Per/awareness-8 flip will bring 
  their attention to some crates that are 
  being loaded into a cargo car. The crates 
  are huge—big enough for elephants! Low, 
  The Town That 
  Called for Aid!
  Murcia, Illinois
  The town of Murcia, Illinois was founded in 1843. The center of its economy 
  is farming, the grist mill and the local ferry across the Mississippi River. 
  In 1850, the Second Sauk War (also known as the Second Black Hawk War, 
  despite being led by Black Hawk’s son Nashashuk) destroyed the town of Bison, 
  which had perviously been across the river. The survivors of the Bison Massacre 
  settled in Murcia. Only the ferry landing and the foundations of the First Baptist 
  Church of Bison remain on the other side of the water. 
  Murcia is a town of about 350 buildings, including the grist mill, post office, train 
  depot, general store, some small manufacturing buildings and about 300 homes.
  
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  vicious growls emit from one of them, and 
  it shakes violently as it is loaded into the car. 
   
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  The heroes will not be allowed near 
  where this is happening, as it is obviously 
  dangerous, and the workers do not want 
  to be distracted. They will not answer any 
  questions, instead telling players to stay 
  back and let them work.
   
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  The crates each contain a giant killer prairie 
  dog. If necessary, use the Giant Killer 
  Prairie Dog stats on page 238 of the Dime 
  Adventures core rulebook.
  Exploring the Town
  The heroes may now buy any supplies 
  they wish and begin to explore the town. 
  Generally speaking, the people of Murcia are 
  uninterested in the heroes. They will answer 
  questions, but don’t otherwise engage the 
  characters. They don’t know much outside 
  their town’s history and day-to-day business.
   
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  A successful Per/socialize-10 flip will allow 
  a hero to conclude that they are actively 
  being avoided. 
   
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  With a successful Per/streetwise-12 flip, the 
  character may realize that some townsfolk 
  are casting furtive glances at the heroes, 
  some fearful and some pitying.
  Interactions in Town
  While the heroes are exploring town, 
  there are a number of characters with whom 
  they might interact.
   
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  Jack Fowler is the only other outsider in 
  town. He is also one of the most talkative 
  characters with whom the heroes might 
  interact. He is a cameraman from Phila-
  delphia who is here to shoot a (silent) film 
  about daily life on the frontier. See his 
  sidebar on page 11.
   
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  Gerald Blaston is the sheriff of Stone Island 
  County and Murcia is the county seat. If the 
  heroes cause any problems in town, he will 
  be sent to deal with them. His description 
  and stats are found on page 28.
   
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  The mayor of Murcia is Frank Ness. If 
  the characters persist with questions, they 
  will be directed to him. He will be visibly 
  uncomfortable. His description and stats 
  are found on page 30.
   
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  Finally, Maggie Bracken is an older 
  woman from the town who is having a 
  crisis of conscience. She may attempt half-
  heartedly to get the team’s attention, but 
  only if no one else in town is watching. 
  See her sidebar on page 12.
  Bank Robbery!
  When the party is almost done buying 
  supplies, shots will ring out from the direction 
  of the post office, which also functions as the 
  town bank. The bank vault is being robbed!
  Setting Up the Scene
  When the shooting begins, the heroes will 
  be in the general store, on the south side of 
  the road. The post office is across the street, to 
  the north. On either side are houses. The house 
  east of the post office shares a wall with it. 
   
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  When setting up the combat map, the 
  street is its own zone, as is each building, 
  except the post office. 
   
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  The post office has three zones: the entrance, 
  the counter (where the tellers are) and the back 
  room. The bank’s safe is in the back room. 
   
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  Behind the post office is an alleyway, which 
  is its own zone as well. In the alleyway is a 
  car (a 1904 Corbin with a cargo tonneau).
  
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  A locked and heavily-secured door connects 
  the post office entryway with the back room. 
  It is open at the beginning of the combat.
   
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  Moving from the entryway to the counter 
  zone requires a Dex/athletics-12 flip, as the 
  character must squeeze between the counter 
  itself and the grill above it. It is placed there 
  to keep people from hopping the counter 
  easily. Anyone within the counter zone has 
  a Cover (moderate) consequence against 
  people attacking from neighboring zones.
   
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  On the west end of the street is Jack 
  Fowler, who has a motion picture camera. 
  He will record the whole incident from 
  this position.
   
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  At the beginning of the combat there will 
  be two bank robbers in the street, one in 
  the post office entryway, two in the counter 
  area, three in the back room and a getaway 
  driver in the car in the back alley. That’s 
  nine bank robbers total. All bank robbers 
  will fall back toward the back room and the 
  alleyway as they fight. Use the Bank Robber 
  stats on the next page. All are minions.
   
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  Edwin Abadie, the bank robber leader, is 
  also in the back room with the safe. He 
  has his own stat block provided above.
  Edwin Abadie 
  “I will be a legend!”
  Str 6, Dex 6, Spd 8, End 7, Int 6, Per 7, Chr 7, Det 9
  Defense 10/21, Willpower 11/22, DR 1(3♠), HP 23
  Skills: Animals 1, Athletics 4, Awareness 3, Deception 2, Guns 5, Mechanics 2  , 
  Medicine 1, Melee 4, Persuade 4, Socialize 1, Streetwise 4, Tactics 4, Vehicles 3
  Shotgun: +9♥ vs. Defense (♠12/♥9/♦6/♣3). Hands 2, Range 3, Reload 2, Shots 5.
  ♥ Shredding Shot: Increase the target’s Bleeding consequence by a severity, or by 
  two severities with a critical hit.
  Sword: +7♥ vs. Defense (♠13/♥10/♦7/♣4).
  Villain: HP doubled, 5 AP per round. This is already factored into the above stats.
  Equipment: Shotgun, Sword, Leather jacket (Worn), Military Helmet (Helmet, 
  Worn), Pants (fancy).
  Edwin Abadie has told countless conflicting stories about where he came from 
  and why he does what he does. One or two of them may even be true. At his core, 
  Edwin is vain. He wears a red leather jacket, bright blue pants and bright orange 
  gloves to better flaunt his criminal capers. He is determined to make himself a 
  legendary bank robber whose story will be told for centuries. To this end, he will 
  gladly chat up his victims and loves to taunt those who oppose him with long 
  speeches. If Errol Flynn were famous yet, Abadie would be trying to emulate him 
  in every way. He views Pancho Villa as a rival for fame in banditry.
  
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  Running the Combat
  Here are a few events and other things to 
  keep in mind during the combat.
   
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  The bank robbers will close the door to the 
  bank’s back room at the end of Round 3, 
  forcing the heroes to go around, pick the 
  lock or bust their way through. 
   
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  The door requires a Dex/thievery-14 flip 
  to open without the key. It cannot be 
  forced, but it can be destroyed if it takes a 
  total of 40 damage.
   
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  When the first hero makes her way into 
  the back room, Abadie and two of his 
  henchmen will be carrying the bank safe 
  towards the door. The trio will retreat with 
  the safe to the alley with the getaway car. 
  Abadie will also command his other men 
  to cover their retreat. 
   
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  It will take the trio 2 AP to enter the 
  alleyway, 1 AP to stow the safe in the 
  tonneau, 1 AP to jump into the Corbin 
  and 1 AP drive way. They can be slowed by 
  incapacitating any of the robbers carrying 
  the safe. It will take an additional AP for 
  Bank Robber 
  “What’s yours is mine!”
  Str 6, Dex 5, Spd 7, End 6, Int 3, Per 6, Chr 2, Det 6
  Defense 9/18, Willpower 5/11, DR 0, HP 12
  Skills: Animals 1, Athletics 2, Awareness 2, Guns 2, Mechanics 1, Melee 2, Persuade 2,  
  Stealth 2, Streetwise 3, Tactics 2 Vehicles 1
  Blackjack: +5♥ vs. Defense (♠9/♥7/♦5/♣3). Stun.
  Pistol: +5♥ vs. Defense (♠10/♥7/♦5/♣2). Range 2, Reload 2, Shots 8.
  ♦♣ Fast Draw: The bank robber may opt to switch weapons as a free action.
  Equipment: Pistol (Conceal), Blackjack, Bullets, Bandana.
  Some people have valuables. Other people want to take those valuables. These 
  bank robbers are of the latter variety. They will steal through coercion if possible, 
  through violence if not.
  
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  another bank robber to grab the safe and 
  get it moving again.
   
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  Should Abadie die, he will linger long 
  enough for a dramatic final speech for all 
  to hear. His final words will be “We just 
  wanted to live free of these dogs.”
   
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  Sheriff Gerald Blaston will show up on 
  Round 10, if the combat lasts that long, 
  and will help finish off the bank robbers. 
  Use his stats on page 28.
  Aftermath
  Whether or not the bank robbery is successful, 
  the people of the town will, reluctantly, thank the 
  heroes for stepping in. If the team successfully 
  thwarted the robbery, the town’s banker—Robert 
  Barker—will even cough up a Wealth 4 payment 
  to the heroes for their valiant efforts.
  Man with a Camera
  Jack Fowler, the man with the movie 
  camera, is overcome with excitement. He 
  now has on film something The Great Train 
  Robbery doesn’t have: real action. He had been 
  recording scenes of Murcia to do a film about 
  the daily life of a town “on the very edge of 
  civilization,” but now he has an idea to make a 
  film about some brave bank robbers using the 
  footage he took of the robbery.
   
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  Jack Fowler is described in the sidebar above.
  Maggie Bracken's Warning
  Having heard about the heroes’ defense 
  of the bank, Maggie Bracken—one of the 
  townsfolk—has been moved enough to warn 
  the heroes that they are in danger. Towards 
  this end, she pays a local child a penny to 
  bring the heroes a message.
  The kid will catch up with the heroes before 
  they leave town. He tugs gently on one of the 
  characters’ pant legs and says with a childish 
  lisp, “Hey, mister [or ma’am], Maggie wants 
  to speak to you. Maggie Bracken.” He knows 
  Maggie approached him on main street, but 
  doesn’t know where she is now.
   
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  With a successful Per/socialize-8 flip, 
  the characters can track down Maggie. 
  Depending on the time of day, she might 
  be encountered in the general store, at her 
  home or on the street.
   
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  If the heroes talk to her in front of other 
  townsfolk, she will simply thank them for 
  Jack Fowler
  “The people will love to see this!”
   
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  If for some unlikely reason Jack Fowler becomes involved in combat, he uses 
  the Citizen stat block on page 223 of the Dime Adventures core rulebook.
  Jack Fowler is a man with a motion picture camera. He works for the Dublin 
  Manufacturing Company out of Philadelphia. His bosses sent him to the frontier 
  to film the daily life of its inhabitants. The goal is that this will entertain eastern 
  audiences. He will have just set up and started filming on the main street in 
  Murcia when the bank robbery begins. He is extremely excited! With real bank 
  robbery footage, he can produce an “authentic” bank robbery film about some 
  bold and daring bank robbers! He believes this will make him a fortune.
  
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  their service at the bank. However, if they 
  approach her discreetly, she will warn them 
  to leave town as soon as possible. “You’re in 
  terrible danger.” She won’t reveal the nature 
  of the threat, but she will tell them they 
  should get on the next train out of town. 
  “Don’t go out to the Mills ranch.”
   
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  If the heroes ask anyone else in the town 
  about Maggie, they will claim they have no 
  idea why Maggie might want to speak with 
  them. Maggie will also reappear later in the 
  adventure, in the prairie dog burrow—or 
  at least some of her hair and clothes will. 
  Maybe it’s a bad idea to tip off the towns-
  people that one of them may be betraying 
  the town’s secret.
   
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  Maggie Bracken is described in the 
  sidebar above.
  Heading On
  Once the heroes are done with everything 
  they wish to do in town, they are free go meet 
  John Mills at the grist mill.
  The Ranch 
  Beset by Hell!
  John Mills greets the team as they 
  approach the old mill. He introduces himself, 
  welcomes them to Murcia and bids everyone 
  follow him out to his ranch house, about a 
  twenty-minute walk out of town.
  Attack of the  
  Prairie Dog Swarm!
  As Mills and the heroes are approaching 
  the ranch house, there will be a rustling in 
  the field beside the road. Suddenly, swarms 
  of prairie dogs pour out of the field and rush 
  into combat with the heroes!
   
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  There are three zones: the road and the 
  fields on each side of the road. Each field 
  grants the Concealment (light) conse-
  quence to all characters in it, as the grain 
  stalks obscure the target.
  Maggie Bracken
  “Those poor souls. I must do something!”
   
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  If it becomes necessary, Maggie Bracken uses the Citizen stat block on 
  page 223 of the Dime Adventures core rulebook.
  An older woman whose children have moved away from Murcia, Maggie Bracken 
  is a strong and responsible figure. She believes vehemently in God, and so she 
  finds the town’s actions utterly reprehensible. In the past, she has been threat-
  ened and bullied repeatedly when she has advocated trying to solve the town’s 
  problems and for the cessation of hiring new outsiders to feed to the prairie dogs. 
  She now lives in constant fear. Yet her compassion for people—even 
  strangers—and her hatred of the town’s sins compel her to warn the heroes. 
  She is too afraid to say much, and will not give details, no matter what, as 
  her family could be harmed in retaliation.
  
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  There will be one Prairie Dog Swarm per 
  hero. Use the Prairie Dog Swarm stats 
  found on page 19. They are all minions.
   
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  Each swarm will attack until it reaches 
  half its HP, then it retreat into the field. 
  Once in the field, a prairie dog swarm may 
  take a move action to run away, retreating 
  underground into a vast network of prairie 
  dog-sized tunnels.
   
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  John Mills uses the stats in the sidebar above.
  Inside the Ranch House
  Once combat is over and the prairie dogs 
  swarms have dispersed, Mills will loudly curse 
  the prairie dogs and guide everyone into the 
  house. If he has been incapacitated, he will 
  wake up once he has been given first aid.
  Safely inside the house, everyone can treat 
  their wounds while Mills explains:
   
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  “Them Sauk have gone and brought prairie 
  dogs into my fields. They’re trying to drive us 
  off, you see. Destroy our crops and we either 
  starve or leave. I don’t know how they done 
  it, but they released a few hundred south of 
  here a few years ago, I think. They’ve had a 
  capital time, burrowing and feeding on our 
  grain. Now there’s thousands of them, and 
  they’re eating all my crops!
   
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  “I want you to go hog wild on them 
  prairie dogs. Shoot as many as you can. 
  Dig up their burrows. Blast their nests 
  with dynamite. Do what you have to to 
  kill them all. Just don’t use no poison. 
  I don’t want none of my chickens, nor 
  John Mills 
  “Murcia is depending on me for a good harvest.”
  Str 5, Dex 4, Spd 6, End 10, Int 7, Per 8, Chr 4, Det 9
  Defense 9/18, Willpower 10/20, DR 0, HP 30
  Skills: Animals 4, Athletics 2, Awareness 3, Deception 4, Guns 4, Lib-Arts 1, 
  Mechanics 2, Medicine 1, Melee 3, Naturalist 1, Persuade 3, Socialize 1, Vehicles 3
  Revolver: +7♥ vs. Defense (♠10/♥7/♦5/♣2). Range 2, Reload 2, Shots 6.
  Knife: +6♥ vs. Defense (♠10/♥7/♦5/♣2).
  Villain: As a villain, John’s HP is doubled, he gains 4 AP per round and he may take 
  up to two actions requiring a flip each round.
  Equipment: Keyring (keys to the ranch house and farm equipment), Knife (Conceal), 
  Revolver, Sturdy Boots
  John Mills was born in Murcia. His grandfather took control of the old Hurst 
  farm after the troubles, and it’s been the Mills farm ever since. He is a quiet, 
  stoic farmer, dedicated to his farm and to the welfare of Murcia. As owner of the 
  Mills farm, he feels responsible for the wellbeing of the whole town. Decades of 
  working on and managing the farm have caused him to have a stony personality: 
  cold and rough, but solid.
  
  14
  14
  sheep, nor cattle falling dead because 
  some jackwagon done used poison. I need 
  the soil to be useful again, and poisoning 
  it ain’t helpin’ that at all. You use poison 
  and you’re fired, you got that?”
   
  ■
  “Now rest up, if you’re wounded too 
  badly, but otherwise get to work!”
  Tools of the Trade
  Mills will give the heroes each a healthy 
  supply of bullets—so much so that the players 
  needn’t keep count of their ammo for the 
  rest of the scenario. He will also give them 
  five bundles of dynamite, some wire and a 
  detonator. The detonator has a T-handle that’s 
  pushed down to generate and direct electric 
  current to the wires, which then detonates the 
  dynamite. He tells the team there’s plenty more 
  if they need it, but this will get them started.
  With that, the heroes can gear up and 
  head out to the fields.
   
  ■
  Dynamite stats can be found on page 192 
  of the Dime Adventures core rulebook.
   
  ■
  He has both pistol and rifle bullets readily 
  available, as well as slugs for shotguns. If 
  needed, stats can be found on page 193 of 
  the Dime Adventures core rulebook.
  The Fields
  The fields are positively riddled with 
  prairie dog burrows. The heroes may take pot 
  shots at individual prairie dogs as they move, 
  but the rodents won’t attack until they locate 
  a prairie dog town. 
   
  ■
  Prairie dog towns can be found by 
  following the warning calls of the prairie 
  dogs or tracking the density of the 
  burrows. A successful Int/naturalist-10 
  flip is required to find each town.
   
  ■
  As the players approach a prairie dog 
  town, swarms of prairie dogs will pour 
  out, usually about half as many as there 
  are player characters. Use the Prairie Dog 
  Swarm stats on page 19. They are all 
  minions. These will fight to the death.
   
  ■
  Once the swarms are fought off, the heroes 
  can blow up the burrows. It will take one 
  well-placed bundle of dynamite to destroy 
  a single town, requiring a successful  
  Per/tactics-10 flip.
   
  ■
  The heroes may take a breather if they 
  wish to recover from any wounds suffered 
  while fighting the swarms. Resting eight 
  hours will restore a number of HP equal 
  to the character’s Endurance stat. This 
  happens even if the characters don’t sleep, 
  Managing Party Health
  It possible that several of the heroes are in pretty bad shape after their 
  confrontation with the Abadie Gang and the prairie dog attack on the way to 
  the ranch house. If this is the case, Mills will look them up and down, saying 
  something along the lines of “You ain’t good to nobody in the shape you’re in. 
  You lot are welcome to stay in the barn tonight to sleep off your wounds, but 
  don’t go gettin’ lazy on me. The work starts first thing in the morning.”
  This gives the heroes a chance to heal for the night. It also helps prevent the 
  GM from accidentally killing members of the team.
  
  15
  15
  but merely rest in the shade during the 
  heat of the day. After the second day, 
  however, Mills will insist they “stop lolly-
  gagging around” and finish the job.
  Secret Tunnel!
  After blowing up the second prairie dog 
  town, the heroes will uncover a gigantic 
  tunnel unearthed by the blasts. They might 
  choose to enter right away, or they go back to 
  the ranch house to resupply. 
  If asked about the tunnels, Mills will act 
  genuinely surprised and ask the characters to 
  investigate inside.
   
  ■
  A suspicious character may attempt a 
  Per/deception-14 flip. On a success, the 
  character notices that Mills’ surprise is 
  just an act.
   
  ■
  If the heroes confront him about lying, he 
  will tell them he’s suspected that the Sauk 
  use tunnels to restock the prairie dogs 
  without being noticed, but was afraid 
  people would think he was paranoid. 
  Another successful Per/deception-14 flip 
  will see through this lie as well.
   
  ■
  If found out again, he will merely offer 
  the players more money—a Wealth 7 
  payment—to finish the job and clear out 
  the tunnels. Under no circumstances will 
  he confess to anything.
  Heading On
  Once the team decides to explore the 
  unearthed tunnel, move on to the next chapter.
  Help! My Players Have Decided to Leave!
  So your players decided to heed Maggie’s advice and leave town, or they have 
  found out Mills knew about the tunnels and don’t trust him enough to finish the 
  job—even with the extra money. What now?
  They are certainly free to leave! It’s the smart thing to do…
  …But the next train out of town doesn’t depart until tomorrow, and the town 
  maybe thinks the heroes know too much to just let them leave. It’s a long night, 
  and all sorts of things can happen while they sleep. The townsfolk might form 
  a lynch mob. Giant killer prairie dogs might attack the town. The Abadie Gang 
  might come back for revenge. Who knows what can happen in the night?
  
  16
  16
  
  17
  17
  In this chapter the heroes will explore the 
  tunnel they discovered under the Mills farm. 
  Along the way they will face countless blood-
  thirsty rodents, collapsing tunnels and stale 
  air. In the end, they will make a terrifying 
  discovery and must escape to tell the tale!
  Exploring 
  the Tunnels
  Once the heroes are ready—ideally 
  restocked with fresh supplies of dynamite and 
  ammunition—they may descend into the large 
  tunnel to explore its vast depths.
   
  ■
  Remember that tunnels are dark! Does the 
  team have a light source? If not, they better 
  go get one before pressing onward.
   
  ■
  A Per/naturalist-10 or Per/mechanics-10 
  flip will determine that the tunnel is 
  not man-made, but rather dug out by 
  something with claws—something big!
        
  Ambush!
  Once the heroes have gone far enough into 
  the tunnel that natural light can no longer be 
  seen, they suddenly will be ambushed by more 
  prairie dog swarms! The prairie dogs burst 
  from freshly-dug burrows all around them.
   
  ■
  The rodents will attempt to surprise 
  the heroes. Have each character make a  
  Per/awareness-12 flip. Anyone who fails 
  begins the combat surprised.
   
  ■
  There will be half as many swarms as 
  there are player characters. Use the Prairie 
  Dog Swarm stats on page 19. They are all 
  minions. These will retreat once they are 
  reduced to half HP.
  The Path Forks
  As the team pushes deeper into the tunnels, 
  the way will twist and turn, threatening to loop 
  back on itself and disorienting all but the most 
  skilled subterranean navigators. Soon, however, 
  the team will come to a place where the tunnel 
  they are following forks. One path continues 
  straight ahead, while another leads to the right.
  Straight Path:  
  The Suffocation Pit
  If the heroes decide to go straight, the 
  tunnel will dip, then the bottom of it will 
  give way to a pit, with the tunnel continuing 
  on the other side. 
   
  ■
  The GM should estimate time as the players 
  decide what to do. This part is time-sensitive. 
   
  ■
  At 30 seconds, all party members must 
  make an End/awareness-12 flip. Anyone 
  who fails increases her Fatigue conse-
  quence a severity, as some sort of invisible 
  albeit suffocating gas has filled this lower 
  part of the tunnel. Those who succeed 
  realize that something is wrong and may 
  react accordingly, such as by moving away 
  from the sufficating air.
  In the Warren of 
  the Satan's Beasts!
  
  18
  18
   
  ■
  An Int/science-12 or Int/naturalist-12 
  flip will allow a character to recognize the 
  nature of this hazard, otherwise all the 
  characters know is that they are getting 
  awfully tired awfully fast.
   
  ■
  If by some chance the characters decide to 
  linger, they must succeed on an End-12 flip 
  every 30 seconds, otherwise their Fatigue 
  consequence continues to increase.
   
  ■
  Jumping over the pit requires a successful 
  Str/athletics-12 flip. Failure results in a 
  fall, with the character taking 5 damage. 
  There is nothing on the other side to tie 
  a rope to, so at least one character must 
  cross the pit somehow.
   
  ■
  At the bottom of the pit is another tunnel 
  and more suffocating air.
   
  ■
  Climbing out of the pit requires a 
  successful Str/athletics-10 flip, and forces 
  the character to make an End-12 flip or 
  take another severity of Fatigue.
  Righthand Path:  
  Heart of the Swarm
  The righthand tunnel is a straight shot 
  that bypasses the aforementioned pit and the 
  lower section of tunnel. If the heroes take the 
  right path, they will continue forward until 
  they encounter several more forks (see the 
  map of the tunnels above).
   
  ■
  A short way down the path, any surviving 
  prairie dog swarms from the earlier attack 
  will make another attempt on the heroes. 
  Use the Prairie Dog Swarm stats on the 
  next page. This time they fight to the death.
   
  ■
  The walls of the tunnel here are peppered 
  with numerous small openings, each 
  about 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter. These 
  lead to a network of small tunnels which 
  the individuals of the prairie dog swarms 
  can use for cover or to ambush the party.
  
  19
  19
  Old Trap
  Hidden on the floor of one of the tunnels is 
  an old bear trap. The trap is concealed under-
  neath a layer of soft dirt and scattered debris. It 
  is both active and coated with a potent poison. 
  It was left behind by one of the previous groups 
  of prairie dog exterminatiors who explored 
  these tunnels before meeting an untimely end 
  in the death warren (see page 21).
   
  ■
  Have the hero in the front of the group 
  make a Per/awareness-12 flip to notice 
  the trap. On a failure, she steps on it, 
  causing it to clamp on to her leg and 
  dealing 3 damage in the process.
   
  ■
  Removing it from her leg requires  a 
  successful Str-10 flip. Failure causes her an 
  additonal point of damage.
   
  ■
  If for some reason she decides to walk 
  around with a bear trap on her leg, she takes 
  another point of damage every 15 minutes, 
  and the clanking sound as she walks causes 
  her to suffer a -4 penalty to stealth flips. 
   
  ■
  Shortly after the trap is removed (or not) 
  the character should also make an End-14 
  flip to resist the poison. Treat it as cobra 
  venom (see the Dime Adventures core 
  rulebook, page 135).
  Tunnel Narrows
  One of the tunnels gradually begins to 
  narrow until it is too small for the group to 
  easily pass through. 
   
  ■
  If a character tries to squeeze into the 
  passage, have her make a Dex-10 flip. On 
  a success, she manages to make it another 
  10 ft (3 m) or so until continuing becomes 
  impossible. She is, however, able to spot 
  something small shining in the darkness.
  Prairie Dog Swarm 
  Their many sharp teeth glitter in the available light.
  Str 2, Dex 7, Spd 5, End 4, Int 2, Per 6, Chr 4, Det 8
  Defense 9/18, Willpower 7/14, DR 0, HP 12
  Skills: Athletics 4, Awareness 4, Melee 3
  Bite: +6♥ vs. Defense (♠4/♥3/♦2/♣1).
  ♠ Artery Hit: One of the swarm’s bites hits an artery. Increase the target’s Bleeding 
  consequence a severity.
  ♣ Small Fury: The swarm attacks with special fury. Increase the target’s Dazed 
  consequence a severity.
  Swarm: A prairie dog swarm isn’t a single creature, but rather a moving mass of smaller 
  creatures. Any attack that isn’t an Area Attack only deals half the normal amount 
  of damage. Any swarm reduced to 0 HP simply dissipates into dying and scattered 
  individuals. It uses its Determination instead of Strength to calculate HP.
  Normally prairie dogs are not known for swarming. But decades of selective breeding 
  and proximity to the giant killer prairie dogs has severely altered their behavior.
  
  20
  20
   
  ■
  Reaching the shining object is difficult and 
  requires a Dex-12 flip. On a success, she 
  grasps a gold ring with a ruby embedded in 
  it. This ring belonged to a member of one 
  of the previous groups of prairie dog exter-
  minatiors. It is worth a Wealth 5 payment.
  Unstable Floor
  At one three-way intersection of tunnels 
  the ground is particularly unstable. Tromping 
  across the floor too roughly may cause the 
  tunnel to collapse. 
   
  ■
  As the player characters press onward 
  into this intersection, ask how closely the 
  group is staying together. How far apart 
  is each character? If the players answer 
  that they’re staying close together, giving 
  a distance of  6 ft (2 m) or less, the tunnel 
  will collapse as soon as the third hero 
  enters the intersection.
   
  ■
  Have the players each make a Spd/athletics 
  flip. The difficulty of this flip will vary with 
  their marching order. For the third hero this 
  flip will be TN 14. For adjacent heroes it will 
  be TN 12. For anyone else it will be TN 10.  
  On a success, the character manages to leap 
  aside, avoiding any falling debris. On a 
  failure, however, the character is caught in 
  the collapse. She takes a number of points 
  of damage equal to the magnitude of her 
  failure. She has also been buried in debris. 
  Getting out requires a Str-12 flip.
   
  ■
  If the intersection collapses, it will become 
  impassable. The heroes will need to seek a 
  different route.
  Pulled From the Jaws of Defeat!
  If at any point the entire party is rendered unconscious while in the tunnels, 
  this doesn’t necessarily mean death! Instead, the heroes will awaken later, tired 
  and battered, but very much alive. They will find themselves in the death warren, 
  the same open chamber they are about to visit. It will be filled with bones.
  Shortly after they wake up, they will begin to hear a barking sound, then see 
  many sets of eyes peering at them from the darkness. It appears that one of the 
  giant killer prairie dogs dragged them back here to feed them to its young!
  Combat Becoming Repetitive?
  By this point, the heroes have faced off against prairie dog swarms a number 
  of times, and as they explore the tunnels they are likely to encounter even more. 
  If at any point combat begins to become repetitive, the GM should instead 
  employ the Quick Combat system for these small, chance encounters (see page 
  112 of the Dime Adventures core rulebook). This is exactly the sort of situation 
  for which that the system was designed.
  
  21
  21
  The Death Warren
  The GM should improvise at this point, 
  letting the heroes wander and explore. They 
  might find other cross-tunnels, more prairie 
  dog swarms or even stretches of tunnel with a 
  dangerously unstable ceiling.
  Eventually, however, they should reach a 
  large, open chamber. The floor of this chamber 
  will be littered about two feet deep with 
  bones—many of them human. 
   
  ■
  If Maggie Bracken warned the team earlier 
  and they let it slip that she talked to them, 
  they will also find her half-consumed body 
  here, visible among the bones.
   
  ■
  A Per/investigate-10 flip will reveal a lot 
  of weapons scattered amongst the bones. 
  These include several knives, a few rifles 
  pistols, assorted ammunition, a few bundles 
  of dynamite and a couple detonators. The 
  detonators and bullets look exactly like the 
  ones John Mills provided.
   
  ■
  An examination of any of the bones reveals 
  that they have been gnawed on repeatedly 
  by something with gigantic teeth. Hidden 
  underneath one of these bones is the 
  remains of a tattered letter from John Mills, 
  confirming that someone has been hired to 
  deal with his prairie dog infestation.
   
  ■
  Just in case the players don’t put it all 
  together, an Int-10 flip will confirm that it 
  looks like the heroes aren’t the first team 
  that John Mills has sent down here. There 
  are the remains of at least fifty people in 
  this chamber, scattered among the bones of 
  hundreds of other animals.
  Time to Leave...
  Once the heroes come to this realiza-
  tion, or once they try to leave the chamber—
  whichever comes first—they are in for another 
  nasty surprise. A giant killer prairie dog bursts 
  forth from another tunnel leading into the 
  chamber. It growls at the heroes, barring its 
  terrible teeth, then moves to attack!
   
  ■
  Use the Giant Killer Prairie Dog stats on page 
  238 of the Dime Adventures core rulebook.
   
  ■
  At the end of the first round, have the hero 
  furthest to the back make a Per/awareness-10 
  flip. On a success, she notices a second 
  giant killer prairie dog approaching from 
  behind. Otherwise, it will surprise the 
  heroes, seizing the initiative and acting 
  first in the second round, regardless of who 
  acted last in the first round.
   
  ■
  Once the two killer rodents are defeated, the 
  team will have a moment to apply first aid 
  and head out. If they linger longer than that, 
  however, they will begin to hear other giant 
  prairie dogs moving through the tunnels 
  towards them. It should become obvious 
  they need to perform a fighting retreat.
  
  22
  22
  The Perilous 
  Journey Back!
  At this point the heroes will be deep under-
  ground and must make it back to the surface. 
  The GM should make a point to keep the 
  pressure high and the action intense. Describe 
  how the heroes hear the footfalls of many giant 
  prairie dogs in the tunnels somewhere behind 
  them, their steps shaking the ground slightly. 
   
  ■
  Anytime the heroes slow down, have them 
  face another prairie dog swarm. Use the 
  Prairie Dog Swarm stats on page 19. These 
  will be minions.
   
  ■
  Make it a fighting retreat! Standing and 
  facing the creatures will only bring more 
  bloodthirsty rodents down upon them! If 
  the players aren’t catching on to this, the 
  GM should feel free to point it out directly.
   
  ■
  Make sure to reward clever tactics! The heroes 
  might dynamite the tunnel. They might 
  leave traps behind them. They might fool 
  the prairie dogs with gizmos or paranormal 
  tricks. Make this fun! If one of the players 
  comes up with a clever idea, reward her a 
  Moxie whether the idea works out or not.
   
  ■
  The heroes cannot simply blast their way 
  out with dynamite. There are several 
  tons of rock and dirt about their heads. 
  Attempting to blast upward simply causes 
  the ceiling to fall down, collapsing the 
  tunnel and creating another obstacle.
   
  ■
  Digging out is a slow process that will be 
  hampered by prairie dog attacks.
   
  Sinkhole!
  On the way out, a section of the tunnel 
  floor will begin to collapse—whether destabi-
  lized by dynamite being set off or the footfalls 
  of so many giant rodents. A sink hole will open 
  up in front of the team, forcing the heroes to 
  leap over it or turn around.
   
  ■
  To jump the sinkhole, have each player 
  make a Spd/athletics-12 flip. Failure 
  by Mag 1 or 2 results in the hero barely 
  catching the other side with her fingertips 
  and needing help getting pulled up. Failure 
  by more than that sends the hero careening 
  downward into the darkness, resulting in 5 
  damage from the fall.
   
  ■
  The bottom of the sinkhole is filled with 
  suffocating gasses. Anyone heading down 
  into the hole must make an End-12 flip or 
  increase her Fatigue consequence a severity. 
  Anytime a character attempts to get out 
  of the hole and fails, this flip must be 
  repeated. Similarly, spending 30 seconds in 
  the hole will require a repeated flip.
   
  ■
  Climbing out of the hole necessitates a 
  Str/athletics-12 flip. Critical failure results 
  in the character taking another 5 damage 
  from a repeated fall.
  
  23
  23
  Dynamite!
  One possible retreat tactic might involve 
  using dynamite, a grenade or some other 
  explosive device to collapse the tunnel behind 
  the heroes. While temporarily effective, this will 
  only delay the prairie dogs, as they are burrowing 
  animals. Setting off explosives underground can 
  also be very dangerous, with the general lack of 
  support in the tunnels, as well as the improvised 
  and hasty nature of the action.
   
  ■
  Successfully collapsing a tunnel requires a 
  Per/tactics-10 flip. Failure by Mag 4 or less 
  simply means the tunnel did not collapse. 
  On the other hand, failure by Mag 5+ 
  means the tunnel collapsed on top of one 
  or more heroes at the rear of the group 
  (the number is up to GM’s discretion). A 
  critical failure means the dynamite went 
  off in the character’s hands. Flip a card to 
  determine damage to the character and 
  everyone around her.
   
  ■
  Exploding or digging their way to the 
  surface is not an option. The team is too 
  deep, nor do they have the time to figure 
  out how to excavate correctly. Any attempt 
  to blast a new tunnel upward will only 
  collapse the tunnel the characters are 
  already in, and give the ravenous horde 
  pursuing them a chance to attack.
   
  ■
  Rules for cave-ins are found on page 138 of 
  the Dime Adventures core rulebook.
  How About a 
  Little Fire!
  If one of the characters has a flamethrower, 
  it will prove very effective against the prairie 
  dogs. Unfortunately, it will also consume the 
  oxygen in the tunnel. 
   
  ■
  Should this happen, have each member 
  of the team make an End-12 flip. Failure 
  results in increasing the character’s Fatigue 
  consequence a severity. This flip will be 
  repeated unless the character immediately 
  moves away to a different section of tunnel 
  that still has oxygen.
   
  ■
  Repeated uses of a flamethrower will slowly 
  deplete the oxygen in the entire tunnel 
  system. After three uses, the characters will 
  need to make End-12 flips like this every 10 
  minutes. Cut this interval in half for every 
  three additional uses of the flamethrower.
  My Players Took a Different Route Back!
  If the team split up and the characters did not take the same route back to 
  the surface, worry not! The characters can wander around the tunnels, avoiding 
  danger and exploring individually for a time, before chancing upon their fellows 
  at the next junction. Maybe they’ll even find themselves on opposite sides of the 
  sinkhole, cornered with prairie dogs on both sides or in some other fix!
   
  ■
  Wandering the tunnels alone in the dark, however, makes it easy to get turned 
  around and lost. Have any character doing this make a Per/science-12 or 
  Per/naturalist-12 flip. Failure results in a complication of some kind.
  
  24
  24
  Light at the End 
  of the Tunnel
  Eventually, the team will see the exit up 
  ahead. Just when they think they’ve made it 
  out, however, a giant killer prairie dog will 
  move to block the path.
   
  ■
  At this point, the GM should bust out the 
  combat system. The tunnel the heroes are 
  in is a zone. The tunnel up ahead with the 
  prairie dog is another zone. The tunnels 
  behind them is a third zone. And finally, 
  beyond the prairie dog ahead of them, is a 
  fourth zone representing the outdoors.
   
  ■
  At the beginning of Round 2, a second 
  giant killer prairie dog will appear in the 
  tunnels behind the heroes.
   
  ■
  At the beginning of Round 3, a third 
  prairie dog will dig its way up into the zone 
  the characters started in.
   
  ■
  If the heroes are having a difficult time 
  with this encounter, have the remaining 
  prairie dogs get distracted when the first 
  one drops. Instead of attacking the heroes 
  that turn, they stop to eat the fallen.
   
  ■
  Use the Giant Killer Prairie Dog stats on 
  page 238 of the Dime Adventures core 
  rulebook.
  Thinking Things Over
  The prairie dog behavior the characters 
  have witnessed so far isn’t normal.
   
  ■
  If at any point one of the characters stops to 
  consider it for a moment, an Int/animals-8, 
  Int/naturalist-10 or Int/science-12 flip will 
  back up this conclusion. Something very 
  strange must be happening for the prairie 
  dogs to act this way.
   
  ■
  Scientifically-inclined characters might 
  want to capture one of the prairie dogs to 
  study. After several days of observation and 
  a successful Int/science-10 flip, the scientist 
  may conclude that these prairie dogs have 
  numerous small phenological differnces 
  that distinguish them from common 
  prairie dogs, including sharper teeth, claws 
  and digestive differences that cause them to 
  crave raw meat.
  
  25
  25
  Return to the 
  Ranch House
  If the team returns to the Mills ranch 
  house, they will not find their patron there. 
  However, they may freely search the premises. 
  Even just entering and making themselves at 
  home might be enough to allow the heroes to 
  stumble across a good deal of evidence.
   
  ■
  A Per/investigate-10 flip in the living 
  room will uncover a copy of a bill from 
  the Mills Farm to one Aaron Burr, billing 
  Mr. Burr a Wealth 10 payment for the 
  delivery of five “special tractors.” 
   
  ■
  If the players cannot figure it out themselves 
  from the information available, a further  
  Int/deception-10 flip will reveal that 
  “tractors” is likely a code word for “giant 
  killer prairie dog,” providing a good cover 
  for shipping an anaesthetized animal the 
  size of an elephant.
   
  ■
  A Per/investigate-10 flip in the office will 
  find charred fragments of many job appli-
  cation letters in Mills’ fireplace. It appears 
  that he burned a large stack of applications 
  from all over the country just last night. 
  The heroes may recognize some of the 
  fragments as being from their own corre-
  spondence with Mills, but there are many 
  others in there as well.
   
  ■
  A Per/investigate-10 flip in Mills’ bedroom 
  will uncover his savings under his mattress. 
  It amounts to a single Wealth 7 payment 
  (Wealth 6 if split two ways, or Wealth 5 if 
  split four ways, etc.)
   
  ■
  An Int/deception-10 flip will allow a character 
  to conclude that the town must know about 
  what is going on out here. There is far too 
  much going on at the ranch to be covered up 
  by a single rancher acting alone.
   
  ■
  With an Int/empathy-10 flip, a character 
  may realize that this deception might 
  explain the strange reactions of many of 
  the townsfolk earlier. They’re trying to 
  deal with the guilt over feeding the heroes 
  to the prairie dogs!
   
  ■
  The ammunition and dynamite are still 
  there, allowing the team to restock.
  What Now?
  At this point, allow the players to decide 
  what to do. It’s possible that they’re badly injured 
  after their time in the tunnel. If so, it won’t be 
  difficult to find a safe spot to rest for the night, 
  allowing them to heal some of their injures.
  On the other hand, the heroes might 
  decide to head back to town. They likewise 
  can find a safe spot there for the night. 
  Checking into a motel is covered for anyone 
  with Lifestyle 2 or higher. Otherwise, it will 
  require a Wealth 2 payment. 
  Finally, the players might opt to immedi-
  ately go and confront the townsfolk. If this is 
  the case, skip immediately to the next chapter. 
  It won’t be long before Sheriff Blaston comes to 
  deal with the heroes.
  Regardless of what the team decides to do, 
  trouble will soon find them in the morning.
  
  26
  26
  
  27
  27
  In this chapter the heroes must face the wrath 
  of a town looking to cover up its misdeeds. They 
  will also receive a questionable offer.
  When Trouble 
  Comes Calling
  Regardless of what the heroes decided to 
  do at the end of the last chapter, it won’t be 
  long before trouble comes looking for them. 
  Worried that the team may know too much, the 
  townsfolk have gathered a posse to hunt down 
  and silence the characters once and for all.
   
  ■
  If the team heads into town, people will 
  begin locking themselves in their houses 
  the moment the characters are spotted. The 
  heroes will soon find the street vacant and 
  the posse will show up soon after.
   
  ■
  If the characters decide to leave without 
  first heading into town, the posse will track 
  them down. Mills will discover the team’s 
  tracks—whether in his house or when he 
  goes out to check on them—and will go 
  get the sheriff’s help bringing them in.
   
  ■
  On the other hand, if the characters are 
  holed up in the Mills farm, the posse will 
  come up to the house. Mills noticed that 
  his house was occupied on the way home, 
  guessed who it was, and went back to get 
  help. The team may attempt to hide in the 
  house, but it will only be a matter of time 
  until they are discovered.
  The Posse
  The posse consists of John Mills, Sheriff 
  Gerald Blaston and number of dogboys. 
  The latter group are like cowboys, only 
  instead of riding horses, each rides a giant 
  killer prairie dog as a mount. Mills and 
  Blaston are both on horseback.
  The group will ride up with the dogboys 
  hooting and hollering. Sheriff Blaston will then 
  loudly call for the heroes’ surrender. Unless 
  the team immediately and unconditionally 
  complies, he will then order the group to attack.
   
  ■
  John Mill’s stats are on page 13.
   
  ■
  Gerand Blaston’s stats are on page 28. 
   
  ■
  The Dogboys’ stats are on page 29. There 
  are half as many of them as there are player 
  characters. The Dogboys are all minions.
  Reap the 
  Whirlwind!
  
  28
  28
  Gerald Blaston 
  “I am the law on this frontier.”
  Str 6, Dex 7, Spd 7, End 6, Int 5, Per 7, Chr 5, Det 6
  Defense 10/21, Willpower 8/16, DR 1, HP 24
  Skills: Animals 3, Athletics 4, Awareness 4, Deception 2, Empathy 2, Guns 3,  . 
  Lib-Arts 1, Melee 3, Naturalist 2, Persuade 3, Socialize 5, Streetwise 3, Tactics 4
  Rifle: +6♥ vs. Defense (♠14/♥10/♦7/♣3). Hands 2, Range 3, Reload 2, Shots 5.
  ♥ Disabling Shot: Increase the target’s Disabled consequence a severity, or by 
  two severities on a critical hit.
  Staff: +6♥ vs. Defense (♠11/♥8/♦6/♣3). Defense 1
  Villain: As a villain, Gerald’s HP is doubled.
  Equipment: Rifle, Staff, Leather Jacket (Worn), Book of Laws.
  Gerald Blaston is the sheriff of Stone Island County. Born and raised in Murcia, he 
  witnessed the town’s coverup of the death of a previous sheriff, who found out the town’s 
  dark secret. Determined that the town would not have to do this again, he aggressively 
  trained himself to become a lawman, winning election to county sheriff at the turn of 
  the century. He is a man of singular determination. He is willing to negotiate with most 
  criminals to secure their safe capture, but he has had to put down his fair share of those 
  who saw that as a weakness. He is the law in Stone Island County, and he will protect 
  the county—and especially his home town—from any who threaten it.
  Posses in the Period
  Posses are a staple of Wild West fiction: the sheriff (or sometimes town 
  marshal) gathers up a group of volunteer townsfolk, who then ride out to 
  confront the accused. Ideally, the posse makes an arrest and brings the accused 
  back to see a judge. It is an unfortunate fact of history, however, that in practice 
  many posses were used for summary execution or to intimidate striking laborers.
  Dime Adventures is set in an alternate 1904, at the tail end of what we 
  think of as the Wild West, and posses are very much still in use. 
  For instance, in the real world, this is only seven years after a posse killed 
  19 striking immigrant miners near Hazleton, Pennsylvania. It is four years since 
  a posse in Saint Louis, Missouri fatally shot three striking railcar workers and 
  wounded 14 others. And it is one year since a posse in Stanaford, West Virginia 
  killed three black coal miners who were likewise on strike. 
  Posses continued to be used sporadically to put down strikes and other labor 
  uprising until at least 1921. So while we tend to think of posses as a Wild West 
  thing, they continued to see use well into the twentieth century.
  
  29
  29
  That Explains 
  Everything!
  Once the posse is defeated, the heroes 
  are bandaging their wounds and the dust is 
  settling, they will see a lone figure approach 
  with his hands in the air. This will be Frank 
  Ness, the mayor of Murcia. Seeing that all 
  other attempts to silence the characters have 
  failed, he is here to make them an offer. He 
  explains the following:
   
  ■
  “It all began when the Sauk killed the 
  folk of Bison, the town across the river. A 
  few years after that, people started disap-
  pearing. They’d go out to work in a field, or 
  out for a walk or swimming, and they’d just 
  never come back. I was four years old at 
  the time. We thought we had a killer in our 
  midst. The refugees from Bison blamed the 
  Murcians, the Murcians blamed the Bisons. 
  Things got ugly. A few people got beaten 
  up pretty bad. Fortunately, we didn’t get so 
  far as any lynchings. But it wasn’t far off.”
   
  ■
  “One day, Jenny Fowler came screaming 
  into the mayor’s office. Her sister’s family 
  had been murdered. Eaten, she said. She 
  and her husband went over to her sister’s 
  Dogboy
  “Murcia must be protected!”
  Str 4, Dex 6, Spd 7, End 7, Int 4, Per 5, Chr 3, Det 6
  Defense 9/18, Willpower 6/13, DR 1, HP 11
  Skills: Animals 3, Athletics 3, Awareness 2, Deception 1, Guns 3, Melee 3, . 
  Naturalist 3, Persuade 1, Socialize 3, Streetwise 3, Tactics 2
  Rifle: +6♥ vs. Defense (♠14/♥10/♦7/♣3). Hands 2, Range 3, Reload 2, Shots 5.
  Lasso: +6♥ vs. Defense (♠5/♥3/♦2/♣1). Hands 2, Thrown. Automatically grapples.
  Knife: +6♥ vs. Defense (♠9/♥6/♦4/♣1).
  ♠ Trample: Increase the target’s Prone consequence a severity, or two with a 
  critical hit.
  ♣ Bite: The dogboy lets his mount take a bite out of the target, resulting in an 
  additional hit which deals 5 damage.
  Vicious Mount: If a dogboy is knocked out of combat, his giant killer prairie dog 
  mount is no longer under control. Draw a card. If it’s a spade, it will rush to 
  attack a player character. If it’s a heart, it will attack a hostile NPC. Otherwise, it 
  will simply run away. Use the Giant Killer Prairie Dog stats on page 238 of the 
  Dime Adventures core rulebook.
  Equipment: Rifle, Knife (Conceal), Leather Jacket (Worn), Cowboy Hat.
  Cowboys herd cattle and are famed for their tough nature. Dogboys, on the other hand, 
  herd giant killer prairie dogs, making them as hard as iron. They also get to ride these 
  great rodents into battle!
  
  30
  30
  for Sunday dinner like normal. When they 
  got there, they found blood everywhere. 
  Found her sister’s hand in a corner, bitten 
  off. The children… well, they found bits of 
  them. And they found a giant hole in the 
  house. The whole side of the house was torn 
  in, just about. Nobody knew what to make 
  of it at first. But it was clear this wasn’t a 
  murderer. This was something else.”
   
  ■
  “For a few more days, people kept disap-
  pearing. The whole town was terrified. 
  Then old Bobby Townshend saw it—a 
  prairie dog the size of a barn, he said. 
  Covered in blood and chewing on 
  somebody. He recognized the clothing: 
  it was Ted Hurst. Used to own the Mills 
  farm, back when it was the Hurst farm. 
  We rounded up a posse and went out… 
  and found the beasts. Lost Wes Jenkins 
  on the way back. But we discovered worse 
  news: prairie dog pups the size of mastiffs. 
  We had a mating pair out there.”
   
  ■
  “That night we had a town council. After 
  all the hardships we’d been through, what 
  with the Black Hawk War and all, we 
  weren’t going to give up our land. But what 
  could we do? Ned Wilkins figured it out. 
  The prairie dogs need meat. If we don’t 
  feed them, they’ll eat us. Feeding them 
  cattle would bankrupt the town. But if we 
  brought in strangers and feed them to the 
  rodents, then we can survive.”
   
  ■
  “So a plan came together. We hire 
  strangers from all over. It’s cheap enough 
  for them to travel here. And by promising 
  to pay at the end of their week, we never 
  need to pay them.” 
  Frank Ness 
  “I will do whatever it takes to make sure Murcia survives.”
  Str 5, Dex 6, Spd 7, End 8, Int 8, Per 6, Chr 8, Det 8
  Defense 9/19, Willpower 12/24, DR 1, HP 13
  Skills: Animals 1, Athletics 2, Awareness 4, Deception 4, Empathy 4, Guns 2, 
  Lib-Arts 3, Melee 1, Persuade 4, Socialize 3, Streetwise 3
  Pistol: +5♥ vs. Defense (♠10/♥7/♦5/♣2). Range 2, Reload 2, Shots 8.
  Unarmed: +4♥ vs. Defense (♠6/♥4/♦3/♣1).
  Equipment: Pistol (Conceal), Porkpie Hat, Clothes.
  Frank Ness is the mayor of Murcia. Like most other Murcians, he was born there 
  and never left. He completed high school in Murcia’s one-room schoolhouse and 
  continued his education by ordering books in the mail. He is a natural leader, and 
  well-loved by the people of Murcia. He is utterly devoted to the survival of the town, 
  willing to do absolutely whatever it takes to preserve it. He abhors the town’s dark 
  secret, but he believes the town was given a hard burden to bear, and he must honor 
  the lives of those who died to protect Murcia—in the Sauk Wars, and even the town’s 
  victims. He genuinely grieves the town’s misdeeds but sees no way out of the situation.
  
  31
  31
   
  ■
  “You have to understand. We are just trying 
  to survive! We’ve all lost family, friends and 
  loved ones. We already lost many to the 
  Sauk in the wars, and in the raids there-
  after. If we left, if we gave up our land, they 
  died for nothing. So we had to stay. But if 
  we stayed, we’d get eaten. We had to find 
  some way to survive! We tried cattle—we 
  really did! But before long, we couldn’t buy 
  them anymore. So, we gave in. Better some 
  drifter than the neighbors.”
   
  ■
  “Please, forgive us! Don’t let anybody know!”
  The Mayor's Offer
  If the heroes appear disinclined to agree, 
  Mayor Ness will up the ante, offering them 
  money in exchange for their silence.
   
  ■
  He will go as high as a single Wealth 8 
  payment or a promise of Wealth 5 payments 
  monthly for as long as the heroes keep quiet.
   
  ■
  If asked about the payment from Aaron 
  Burr or the prairie dogs being shipped on 
  the train, he will answer that a man came 
  through town about thirty years ago and 
  discovered everything. But rather than 
  being horrified, he offered to pay if the 
  people could capture any of the prairie 
  dogs and send them to him. They agreed 
  and began shipping off the extra adults 
  to the address he gave. Said his name was 
  Aaron Burr. They don’t believe it’s that 
  Aaron Burr: he died in the 1830s, after all. 
  Just a funny coincidence… right?
   
  ■
  If the heroes decide to fight or capture 
  Mayor Ness, he will surrender without 
  a fight, but will attempt to escape at the 
  earliest possible opportunity.
  What to Do about 
  the Arch Fiend?
  The heroes must now decide what to do 
  with this information. Are they going to 
  leave peaceably? Are they going to punish 
  the town in some way? Are they going to 
  report what’s going on here to the governor? 
  Perhaps they will publish the story in a 
  newspaper or in a pulp magazine? If they 
  know about of the transactions with Burr, 
  maybe they will try to track him down.
  How these resolve is largely up to the GM, 
  but here are a few considerations:
   
  ■
  If the characters go public with the town’s 
  secrets, make sure to reference this in future 
  sessions. If they went to the governor, they 
  might hear about how the Illinois National 
  Guard had to go defend a small town 
  against a Sauk invasion but arrived too late 
  and the town had been leveled (an obvious 
  cover story). If they published the story as 
  fact, people will talk about it as a rumor and 
  snidely remark on yellow journalism. If they 
  published it as entertainment, they might 
  spin its commercial success into a Wealth 6 
  payment. Be creative with how the news is 
  received and spread or covered up.
   
  ■
  If they tell no one, the heroes will continue 
  to see the same ad they answered in the paper 
  whenever they’re in Illinois, reminding them 
  of the terrible secret they carry.
   
  ■
  Finally, do they want to track down this 
  mysterious Aaron Burr? Did they expose 
  the town and Aaron wants revenge? Then 
  be sure to buy the next exciting issue: The 
  Mummy Monarch of Monterrey!
  
  2
  2
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dime Adventures/Prairie Dogs Ripped My Flesh.pdf