Non Gratus Rodentum

The Tunnel Rats

A solitaire dungeon crawl inspired

by the tunnel rats in Vietnam
 “Not worth a rat”

Beneath the battlefields of the Vietnam War massive tunnel networks contain
everything from living spaces and storages rooms to command headquarters.
This is where the rats come in.

Volunteers willing to go underground in search of valuable intelligence and

systematically rigging the tunnel for destruction.

But to do that they must navigate the claustrophobic tunnels, disarm booby
traps, evade dangerous wildlife, and defend themselves against live combatants.

Can you bring your squad home alive?

Features:
• A solitaire Dungeon Crawl for including mechanics for campaign play
• Build, equip and grow a squad through both combat experience and mission rewards.
• Explore tunnels big and small using abstracted mapping method that build as you play.
• Use your wits and your luck to avoid booby Traps and wild animals
• Engage hostile VC Troops in quick, dangerous shootouts
 Non Gratus Rodentum
“Not Worth a Rat”

Brought to you by:

Ian Richard (@McTeddyGames)
AND
Steven Diceman (@DicemanGames)
www.DicemanGames.com

All historical images are public domain from Wikipedia

Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 1

 A Note From Steven Diceman
I wanted to stop and thank you for purchasing this product and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. To make this easier, we want
to make sure that you can enjoy this PDF in any form that you wish.

Many RPG books are filled with legalese on which pages you are allowed to photocopy and commercial printing stores have strict
requirements on what they can print so I want to expressly say:

“You have full rights to reproduce this book for personal use.”

The same goes for sharing with friends that you believe will enjoy the experience. Feel free to share the PDF or print a copy for
them too. We’re totally okay with that. Gaming is a shared social experience and we don’t want to stand in the way of that.

Pretty much, the limit of reproduction on this book is:

“Please don’t share it on Torrent Sites”

AND

“Please don’t sell reproductions for profit without our express written permission”

If you’d received the game from another source and found that it had value, you can support us by buying a copy of your own or
using the support link at our website (www.DicemanGames.com) .

We want to continue to create games that can engage and entertain, but we can only do that with your support.

-Steven Diceman

Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 2

 Table of Contents
Introduction 5

Skill Tests 5

Nerves 6

Building A Squad 7

Recruiting and Upgrading 7

Gear 7

Experience and Exhaustion 8

Transferring Soldiers 8

Campaign Rules 9

The Three Acts 9

Preparing to Enter 9

Support Points 9

Ending a Mission 10

Exploring the Tunnels 11

Passageways 11

Rooms 11

Choosing Approaches 12

Dead Ends and Exits 12

C4 and Closing Branches 12

Cave –Ins 12

Multiple Floors 13

Aborting 13

Combat 14

Threat 14

Shooting 14

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 Table of Contents
Taking Fire 14

Wounds 14

Ending Combat / Noise 15

Example Play 16

Game Tables and Charts 19

Equipment / Support Skills 19

Campaign Tables 20

Exploration Tables 21

Combat Tables 22

Tunnel Map 23

Campaign Log 24

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 Introduction
Who are The Tunnel Rats? You will probably want to print out the tables and keep them
handy while learning the rules.
During the Vietnam War the Vietcong were known to attack
from one direction, vanish, and reappear in another. After an
encounter, no matter how sure a kill the bodies vanished. No
What you need to play:
matter how well prepared your defenses they would appear
inside. Nobody was safe against a seemingly supernatural threat. You will need the tables in this book, 4 six sided dice and some
paper for keeping track of your status and tunnel map.
But later in the war, underground tunnel networks were
discovered. Places where the Vietcong could hide and ways We’ve included an optional campaign log and a tunnel log at the
traverse the battlefield without risk of discoveries. These tunnels end of this book, though you can just track data on scrap paper.
contained everything from natural bunker firing positions to You can laminate or place the tunnel log into a sheet protector
hospitals for their wounded. They would even drag their dead and write with wet erase markers for a reusable play sheet.
into these tunnels so that the American’s wouldn’t being able to
track causalities, and in one case even buried an American tank.
Mapping a Tunnel
But those that tried to enter the tunnels came face to face with
One of the major objectives of a
threat of booby traps, wild animals, enemy combatants and the
Tunnel Rat was to map the tunnels. In 3 3 3
claustrophobia of maneuvering through such a tiny space.
this game, mapping the tunnel is an
This is where the Tunnel Rats come in. A pure volunteer set of abstracted concept that easily draw 2 2
men from Australia, New Zealand and the United States willing out.
to make their way inside the tunnels, secure any valuable intel,
The basic idea is that every tunnel has 1
eliminate any enemy forces and destroy the tunnels from within.
a “Expected Depth” rating
Faced with one of the highest mortality rates of any enlisted representing how deep the tunnel will
soldier in the war and stresses that can break a human being do go. When you enter the tunnel you 0
you have what it takes you survive? start at depth 0.

You will roll in the “passageway” tables representing bends in

The Format of this Book: the tunnels and potential traps you need to avoid.

This book divided into 4 core sections, This introduction, the Each time you encounter a “Room” or “Branch” you will roll to
rules, the example game and the Tables. reveal the room and then the depth will increase by 1.

This first section is dedicated to helping understand the theme
and base mechanics of Skill Tests and Nerves. While we’ll discuss
concepts like Tunnel Depth and formation but you don’t need to
fully understand them here.
The remaining chapters are the specific rules for different parts
of the game. Each set of pages will explain an aspect of the game
in enough detail for you to actually play.
The example game will run through an entire mission and will
offer tips on keeping gameplay moving quickly.
The final section of the book is the tables required to play the
game. The vast majority of gameplay involves rolling on these
tables and adapting to the results.
Once the depth is equal to the expected depth you have reached
the end of a branch.
Each branch can open up 1 additional path that need to be
explored to complete the mission. Just remember that unlike
the entrance with a depth 0, branches start at a lower depth.
Formation and “The Point Man”
The tunnels are not well suited for human inhabitants. You’re
usually on your hands and knees with shoulders against each
side of the wall.
Because of the tight fit, the soldiers will be travelling in a straight
line formation. Only the unit in the front will be able to perform

Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 5

skills tests or engage in combat. This unit is called “Point Man” Making a Skill Test

Additional units will take the lead if the point man falls, or when When a table tells you to make a skill test you will roll a number
you change the formation while in an empty room. of dice equal to your relevant skill level.

Any values of [5] or [6] are considered to be a success. Unless

otherwise specified, a single success means that you have
Nerves
passed the test.
The tunnels are filled with darkness, claustrophobia, and the
constant threat of booby traps. Exploring the tunnel is as much a
mental strain as it is physical. “Combat” Imagery:

Depending on their level of training, a soldier will have a starting The word “Combat” is used to represent encounters with the
nerve value. Vietcong soldiers, though that word tends to conjure the wrong
images from what’s actually happening.
As they explore the tunnels they will encounter situations that
will reduce their nerve rating and push them towards the The soldiers are fighting inside narrow tunnels with nowhere to
“breaking point”. dodge and very few places to take cover. Despite the word
“Combat” the fighting primarily consists of “Shoot first and hope
If a soldier’s NERVE rating ever drops to zero he will break.
they stay down”
When pushed too far, a person can do anything from running for
Its not about trading shots and maneuvering around to gain
the exit, uncontrollable screaming, or worse. Should they
advantage, it’s about dealing with the immediate situation and
survive the ordeal they will never be allowed inside another
praying to survive.
tunnel.
As such, Vietcong encounters are labeled with a threat rating of
For the purposes of this game, a broken soldier is the equivalent
1 to 5, higher being more dangerous. It’s important to realize
of death. They “go down” immediately, and they will be sent
that this doesn’t correspond to a number of troops, a level of
home after their squad finishes the mission.
training, or a strength of arms but simply a representation of the
threat they currently pose.

For example: In one situation a threat 1 situation may be getting

the drop of a trio of Vietcong who are too shocked to use their
grenades. But a Threat 5 encounter could be a single soldier who
was lying in wait with a spear.

As you fire back, you’ll reduce the threat level and again this
doesn’t necessarily mean wounded the enemy. Maybe the shot
made him hesitate, or gave you time to move into a more
advantages pose. It simply means the threat has reduced.

KEY POINTS

• The tunnel rats explore the

Vietcong’s tunnels during the
Vietnam War.

• Roll 1 six-sided die for each point of a

skill during a Skill. Each [5]+ is a
success.

• Threat and mapping is abstracted

Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 6

 Building a Squad
Soldier Experience and Skills: Recruiting and Upgrade a soldier:

Each soldier will have their own VISION, COMBAT and STEALTH
ratings as well as a starting NERVE dictated by their experience
level. The 4 experience levels are Green, Private, Veteran and
Hero.
When you recruit a new soldier you must decide on how much
experience they will have. Higher experience troops will cost
additional CP.
When you request a new soldier from headquarters they will
assign you an available solider. Roll on the RECRUIT SOLDIER
table to determine starting skills.

You may choose to spend 1 additional CP when recruiting a

soldier to manually distribute their skill points instead of rolling.

Upgrade costs may only be paid after a soldier has run at least
one mission and can raise a character’s experience. For any rank
increase except Veteran to Hero, you may add 1 point to any
skill.

Default Equipment:

Every soldier is given this standard kit for free.

• M1911 Pistol

• Handheld Flashlight
Creating a New Squad:
• Knife
When you design a new squad from scratch you are given 8
“Command Points” (CP). These may be spent to recruit new • Gas Mask
soldiers or purchase new equipment.

After completing a mission you will be able to purchase The Three Hand Rule
upgrades, but during squad creation you are limited to recruiting
and equipment. The tunnels are too narrow for digging in pockets or backpacks
to swap your gear. When in a passageway you are limited to
The only requirements for your squad: what you can easily access.
• You must have at least 3 Soldiers Many soldiers would tie on certain pieces of equipment such as
• You may never have more than 8 soldiers their gun on that they had free hands for other gear while still
having being within reach.
• A maximum of 3 soldiers may enter a tunnel at once
Each soldier may only select 3 pieces of equipment to have
• You must always leave at least 1 non-green soldier outside
“equipped”. “Hands Free” items do not count towards this limit.
the tunnel, though more soldiers can provide more support.
Soldiers may only use items that are equipped.

New Recruit Upgrade Any additional gear carried by a soldier must be equipped while
you are in an empty room.
Green 1 -
Private 2 2
Stowed Gear:
Veteran 4 3
Hero - 5 The squad can carry a number of additional items that are not
specifically equipped such as medical kits, C4 or gas masks. Any

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items not equipped is considered “Stowed”
These items may not activated until equipped in an empty room
The maximum number of stowed items will be 3 per soldier in
the squad. If a soldier is downed, this will reduce the number of
stowed items you can carry and items must be discarded.
Required Gear:
There are two types of items that you should always carry while
exploring the tunnels.
The first required item is a light source. If you ever travel
without a light source all skills are reduced by 1.
The second required item is a knife or bayonet for finding and
disarming traps. If not present, you automatically fail any trap
related skill checks.
Purchasing Equipment
While the kit contained enough equipment for a soldier in the
tunnels, many soldiers preferred their own customized
selection.
Spending Command Points on equipment represents both
official requisitions and personal gear. This additional gear may For a beginning player, it’s recommended that you take a squad
be freely purchased for any soldier and traded between missions of 3 Privates. This will leave you 2 command points which you
or when they are in an empty room.
You will find the full list of equipment later in this book.
Experience and Exhaustion:
At the end of every mission there is a chance that soldiers will
grow or be worn out by the experience.
For each soldier that entered the tunnel roll 1 six sided die. If the be trained under your command. This will allow you to precisely
mission was a failure, you subtract one from the roll.
• A Green will upgrade for free on a roll of [3]+
• A Private will upgrade for free on a roll of [5]+
• A Veteran will upgrade for free on a roll of [6]
• On a roll of [1] or lower, regardless of experience, the
character will become exhausted. They may not be used
inside the tunnel during your next mission.
Heroes cannot upgrade from experience, but they must still roll
in case of exhaustion.
Diceman Games 2018
Transferring Soldiers:
Sometimes you will find that a soldier doesn’t fit in with your
unit, that injuries have reduced their effectiveness, or just that
you can spread your expertise to other squads by sending a
soldier to train them.
Whatever the reason, you are allowed to “Sell” a unit back to
command at the New Recruit cost.
Subtract one CP for each permanent injury.
This mechanic means that you can make “a profit” by recruiting
green soldiers, training them, and shipping them back to HQ to
aid other squads.
Note: This should not be used to “reroll skills” on the new recruit
table. While there is no strict rule governing this, use common
sense. HQ understands transferring one soldier for another of
equal rank occasionally, but would question swapping out the
same rank 4 times without running a mission.
Recommended Starting Squad:
There are two primary approaches to building a new squad. You
can either create a well-balanced but not particularly powerful
team, or a single powerful soldier supported by other units.
can either spend on a forth soldier, some equipment or in
manually training your recruits.
If you’d like to run a more powerful soldier, you can recruit one
Veteran and two Privates. This will leave you zero command
points, but you will have a fairly strong starting unit.
Recruiting Green soldiers is only recommended for advanced
players. They have limited skills and are easy to break. But can
develop their skillset.
KEY POINTS
• You are limited to 8 soldiers total
and 3 exploring the tunnels at once
• Each soldier may have up to 3 pieces
of equipment equipped at once.
• Each soldier can stow 3 Items
• Recruits are randomized unless an
additional CP is spent.
• Soldiers can gain free promotions or
get exhausted after a mission.
Non Gratus Rodentum - 8
 Campaign Rules
The Three Acts Picking your Entry Squad

Your overall goal in campaign play is simply to survive the war.
This is abstracted into 3 Acts of the tunnel war.
During Act one, your forces are beginning to discover the
tunnel networks underneath the battlefields. You are likely to
enter smaller tunnels that were primary used for sleeping
quarters or as natural bunkers.
During the second act you will start to encounter much larger
networks that contain more live forces and intelligence that can
be used to aid in the war.
Once you have an idea of what you are up against, you will need
to decide which soldiers should enter the tunnels and which will
provide support from the outside.
The more soldiers you send into the tunnel, the more likely that
they will be able to survive the encounter. With more troops,
you can swap the point man position allowing people to share
the nerve loss and compensate for wounds.
Every unit left outside will generate “Support Points” that can be
spent to assist your unit.

The final act will take you into the largest tunnel networks • At least one Non-Green soldier must be on the outside
against the most dangerous threats. But, the rewards are
• Each Green soldier on the outside will generate 1 Support
greater and if you can survive here you can make it home alive.
Point
For the purposes of this game,
1st Act 4 Tunnels • Each Private will generate 2 Support Points
you will advance to the next act
when you have completed a 2nd Act 5 Tunnels • Each veteran will generate 3 support points
certain number of tunnels. 3rd Act 3 Tunnels
• Each Hero will generate 5 support points!

This means that higher ranking soldiers who are more likely to
survive in the tunnels may be even more worthwhile outside of
them.

Spending Support Points:

Support Points are a resource that may spent to aid the units
inside the tunnels.

• You may spend 1 point to ignore 1 nerve loss.

• You may spend 1 point to reroll 1 dice in a combat situation.

• You may spend 1 to reroll a skill test outside combat

• You may spend 2 to reduce any result on the Wound Table

by 1.
Preparing to the enter a tunnel • You may spend 1 to add or subtract one from a INTEL or VC
You won’t always know exactly what you will encounter inside of table roll.
a tunnel network, but you will have some intelligence that will
give you an approximate size and threat level.
This full list of support abilities can be found on the game tables
• Roll on the SIZE table for fast reference.
• Roll on the STARTING ALERT table

The results will depend on which act of the war you are in. Later
in the war will be larger and more dangerous tunnels.

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Completing or ending a mission Game Over Condition

Once you have fully explored every branch of the tunnel Because you are always required to leave at least 1 soldier
network you have completed your mission and will reward outside the tunnel you will never be entirely wiped out by a
additional command points and allows for free promotions. single mission.

Ending a mission in either success or failure will reward you with Even after a failed mission you may use unspent CP to recruit
command points that you can use to upgrade and rearm your new troops to replace any lost in combat. As long as you can
squad. maintain the minimum troops to move forward you are allowed
to do so.
A number of events will occur every time you finish a mission.
But suffering heavy losses in the later acts can put you into a
• Roll for promotions and exhaustion. Remember to subtract
very difficult position to get out of. In these cases, you may
one for a failed or aborted mission.
benefit from disbanding the squad and trying again.
• Each soldier that fired a gun must roll a single Die and on a
roll of [1], the weapon must be discarded. This is because
weapons tended to deform slightly within a couple dozen Victory Condition:
shots and the Rats specifically needed reliability so often
As mentioned in “The Three Acts” you have a limited number of
used fresh weapons.
missions to complete for each act of the war. If you are able to
• Gain Command Points based on the following: successfully survive until the end of the third ac t you have won
the campaign.
Each Intel Found +1 CP
If you’d like to aim for more than survival, you may use your
Every 7 Rooms explored (Round Up) +1 CP unspent CP as a final score.

This will reward players that fully explore even large tunnels and
For every 3 Combat (Round Up) +1 CP
are careful about how they spend their CP after each mission.

For each cleared floor +1 CP

If Expected Depth > 8 +1 CP

For each starting Alert higher than 1 +1 CP

Note: Even a single floor tunnel rewards 1 CP for the cleared

floor plus the number of rooms.

• Roll for permanent injuries for each downed soldier

1,2 Soldier has died

3,4,5 Reduce Nerve and random skill by 1 point

6 No Long Term Effect, the soldier is exhausted. KEY POINTS

• The intel you receive will give you an

• If the mission was aborted there are negative effects: idea what to expect inside the
tunnel.
 For each floor you haven’t started to explore roll • Up to 3 soldiers can enter the tunnel.
on the “Unexplored Floor” table and lose • Soldiers outside the tunnel provide
Command Points equal to the result. Support Points.
 Do the same for each “Unexplored Branch” for • After a tunnel, roll for exhaustion/
each branch you haven’t finished. promotion and weapon damage

 Any points lost in this way can accrue Negative CP

that you must pay back before spending more.

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 Exploring The Tunnels
Tunnel Statistics:
There are a couple important statistics that you need to track
once you enter the tunnels.
• DEPTH: The deeper into a tunnel you go, the more likely you
are to find command structures and other high value
targets. When this reaches the designated maximum you
know you have reached the end of a branch.
• ALERT: The higher an alert value, the more dangerous the
enemy threat inside the tunnels. This is determined by your
initial preparation rolls and the noise you make while in the
tunnels.
Rooms Vs. Passageway
The tunnels are divided into two main types of locations,
“passageways” and “Rooms”.
A passageway is the tunnel itself, the bends and curves in the
narrow hallways. These are an unknown length and you must
constantly roll to see what Is around the next corner.
A room on the other hand is a slightly larger space that the
Vietcong soldiers used for storage, rest, or other living
requirements. When you enter a room there is a chance of
combat and finding valuable intel to send to HQ.
The biggest difference between them is that straight tunnels
never increase your “Depth” and that “Rooms” and “Branches”
always do.
Traversing a Passageway:
In order to move through a passageway, you begin on line 0 of
the passageway table and roll 1D6.
Diceman Games 2018
On a roll of [6] your unit does not move and reduces it’s nerves
by 1 point. If you roll this result 3 times in a row, there is a
special effect called “Bravery” that will be explained below.
Any other roll will move you down the table the number of lines
equal to the die roll.
• If you land on a “ANIMAL” or “TRAP” you must roll on the
appropriate table and apply the results.
• If you land on a “ROOM” you must resolve the Room and
advance to the next depth.
• If you land on a “BRANCH/ROOM” and this branch has not
already added another tunnel, you will add a new branch
and advance to the next depth. If this branch has already
split off, treat this as a “ROOM” result.
All “Advance to the next depth” means is that you will begin
your next from line 0 of the passageway table.
As long as you don’t advance the depth you will continue rolling
from the same point on the passageway table.
For Example: Smith rolls on the passage table and gets a [4]. He
resolves the trap and then rolls again. This time he gets a 6.
The 6 means that he must decrease his nerve by 1 point. There is
no other effect and he remains on line 4. Then rolls a [1]
This 1 is added to the current line and he checks line 5 and
encounters a branch.
Bravery
If you roll [6] on the dice three times in a row, cross out all the
soldiers nerve and mark him as “Brave”. He is immune to nerve
loss and cannot break for the remainder of this mission!
This represents a different kind of breaking point. The kind
where a human being realizes that the only way out is forward
without hesitation or fear. History is littered with examples of
people who overcome fear to accomplish heroic deeds.
Note: If soldier had broken before the third six you may unbreak
it and mark him brave as soon as the third six is rolled.
Traversing a Room:
When you encounter a room while traveling on the passageway
table, you will roll 1 die and add the current depth. Check the
ROOMS table to determine exactly what you’ve found.
Non Gratus Rodentum - 11
Each type of room will have two potential types of content and
you will roll 1 die for each. For intel and VC roll 1 die and check
the room table to see if they are present.
• Each Intel will award 1 Command Point at the end of a
mission
This means that some tunnels will end up being far smaller than
intelligence had expected.
Exits work in a similar manner, but have an additional
advantage of allowing you to exit the tunnel if you wish.

• Enemies will engage in combat. This will be explained later.

Exiting the Tunnel:
Remember, that once your depth has reached the tunnels size
At any time you may decide to turn around and return to the
you have completed this branch. Move to the next branch if
entrance or any discovered exits. To do so, simply roll 1 die for
there is one, and complete the mission if not.
each of explored room that you must pass through.
For example:
On the standard result of 6, you will reduce your nerves by 1.
Jones enters a Bunk and rolls for intel. He get’s a [6] and therefor Otherwise, nothing will occur.
there is intel present.
When you return are outside the tunnels you may swap which
He rolls again for threats and gets a [4] which is not on the bunk soldiers are exploring the tunnel and which are standing guard.
table and therefor means there was no enemy contact.
Nerves and support points are not restored.

Empty Rooms:
C4 and “Closing Branches”
Even an empty room serves a strategic purpose for a tunnel rat.
While a team is expected to destroy the tunnel network after
Because there is slightly more room to move they are able to
they’ve fully explored it, sometimes they decide it is too
change their equipped gear, trade gear or change formation.
dangerous to continue and blow it before its been cleared.
This includes a room that contained VC troops or Intel once the
If your soldier has C4 or other explosives available you may
contents have been resolved. After combat, it’s considered
choose to “Seal” an unexplored branch. The specific roll
Empty.
required is specific to each explosive will be found on the
equipment tables.

Choosing an Approach: After a successful demolition, simply mark the branch as

completed.
Many tunnel rats have reported heightened sense when they
were travelling underground. They were said to “Smell the Note: This function can be abused but specific restrictions will do
enemy” or “Hear the fluttering of eyes around the corner” more damage than good.

The default approach is “Balanced” and has no special effects. This ability should be reserved for situations where either your
But, if you have a strong idea on what’s coming next you may health or nerves are in a dangerous position.
choose a specific approach: “TRAP”, “ANIMAL” or “COMBAT”
Use common sense with this. No one will ask questions if you’ve
By picking “Trap” or “Animal” you will ignore any results from already explored several branches in a high depth tunnel. But if
the associated table. But if the opposite table is rolled you you walk into every tunnel and bomb the first branch they will
MUST suffer the negative consequences with no chance to avoid catch on quickly and won’t be happy.
them. You also are unable to attack during the first round of
If you aren’t comfortable moderating this yourself then just treat
combat if it occurs during this roll.
this as an “Unexplored Branch” . You still gain all the benefits of
The “Combat” stance means that you cannot avoid trap or a completed mission but roll potential VP loss for each sealed
animal events. In exchange you may roll 2 additional dice if branch.
combat occurs.

Cave-Ins:
Dead Ends and Exits:
There are a few situations and traps and can cause a cave in that
Dead ends mark the end of a branch, regardless of the depth. is potentially deadly to all your exploring soldiers. The most

Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 12

likely is using weapons that create too much shock such as a
shotgun or grenades.

When the cave in is revealed you may choose to drop any

stowed gear because it will slow your escape.

Next, for each room that you must pass through to the nearest
exit you must roll once the CAVE-IN wound table and subtract 1
per stowed item your team is carrying representing the
additional load.

After a cave in, treat this mission as an abort. The tunnels have
collapsed and whatever is still inside has been lost. KEY POINTS

• Continue rolling on the passage table

until you hit a room or branch.
Multiple Floors:
• Rolls of [6] don’t move and reduce
During late war situations you will start encountering longer nerve.
tunnel networks that may consist of multiple floors. • Each room or branch increases your
This is run just like separate tunnels without gaining or spending depth by 1.
CP in between. After each floor you will clear the map, fill your • Each branch may only add 1
Nerve and Support Points and begin the new floor. additional branch.
• Combat, Animals and Traps are
When all of the floors have been mapped out you will calculate
resolved immediately.
your rewards counting all the rooms you’ve encountered across
• You may leave the tunnel if needed
all floors.
but nothing is restored.

Completing a Mission

Once all the floors have been fully mapped you have completed
your mission. The full rules on rewards are in the Campaign
Rules.

Aborting a Mission

The tunnels rats were brave and even foolhardy to do what they
do every single day. But they also knew that they were human
beings with limits to their abilities.

If they felt they’d reached their limits they could simply report
“It’s a dead End, the tunnel is clear”. They’d destroy the
explored part of the tunnels and get out alive.

For the purposes of this game, you may elect to abort a mission
whenever you are at the entrance to the tunnel. The penalties
associated with it are found in the campaign section.

Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 13

 Combat
Determining The Threat Enemy Attack Phase:

When you first roll contact on a room table you will need to When the enemy fires back you will roll 1 die on the Wound
determine exactly the level of danger. This is accomplished using table based on the Vietcong’s current threat level.
the “Encounter” table.
This will give you a result ranging from:
Roll 1D6 and cross reference it with the current Alert Level to
• “-” No Effect
find the starting “Threat Rating” of the encounter.
• “N” Reduce nerve by 1

• “W” Point man is wounded

Shooting First
• “D” Point man is Down
Unless otherwise specified by an event such as surprise attack or
specific weapons, you will always be the first to act in combat. • “Dx2” Point man and any another soldier are downed

The point man must make a “Combat” test while trying to roll • “Cave-In” A cave in has occurred, see the rules in the tunnel
the weapon’s HIT#. rules.

There are often requirements or special effects that change

based on your equipment so these rules will focus on the
standard M1911 Pistol and any unique rules to the weapon will
be called out.
• Each success that you roll will reduce the enemy threat by
one
• The M1911 has hit rating of [4] or higher will count as a
success.
Nerve Loss
Each nerve loss simply reduces your nerve by 1 point. This may
be prevented by using support points.
Remember, that a 0 nerve means your soldier will immediately
break which has the same mechanical effect as being downed
with no chance to recover from injuries after the combat.

• The M1911 tends to create a lot of noise and has a large

muzzle flash that can disorient a shooter in the tunnel. Wounded:
Therefor, it’s special effect is that all natural [1]’s rolled will A wounded soldier is injured but can still act. All of the wounded
cancel one other success. soldiers skill are reduced by 1 to a minimum of 1 each. This
If you have reduced the threat to 0 you have defeated the means that you will roll 1 fewer dice in any skill test.
encounter and can continue exploring. Any soldier may use a medical kit to treat the wounds and this
will remove the penalty to your skills, but the wound is still
present until after the mission.
“Emptying The Clip”
If you suffer a wound result while you are already wounded, it
Basic training for people entering tunnels was to count each counts as a DOWN instead.
shot, reload irregularly and fire in random bursts. This is because
in the tunnels if an enemy soldier could predict a reload, they
could move in quickly and take advantage. Downed Soldier:
But, there are times you may need to put more lead into the A downed soldier is unable to fight or defend himself. If your
tunnel. entire exploring party is downed, the mission has failed and you
After firing a gun you may choose to empty the clip to must abort.
immediately fire again. But Tunnel Rats never leave men behind.
If still able to fire back, the enemy they will receive a +3 to their As such, in the case of an entire squad being wiped out, you may
dice roll. still roll on the injury table, but suffer a –2 to the roll.

Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 14

As long as you have one soldier standing inside the tunnel it is
assumed that he is protecting the injured and you may proceed
as usual.

At the end of a mission you must roll on the injury table to see
whether soldiers survive, are injured or will recover.

Ending Combat and Noise:

When the enemy threat is reduced to 0 you have survived

combat. But you still need to determine whether the noise from
the encounter warned others inside the tunnel.

Simply Roll 1D6 and if the value is [3] or lower you must increase
the Alert Level by 1. This will make future encounters more
dangerous. This noise roll is often modified by the weapon you
use.

If you are usually especially loud weapons they will reduce your
dice roll and can even cause the tunnel to collapse. If your total
value is less than 0 you must immediately trigger a cave in as
described in “Exploring the Tunnels”

Certain quieter weapons have special rules that add a bonus to

this roll. But melee weapons often have the “Silent” trait. These
have no chance of creating noise from combat and don’t even
require a roll.

Once everything is resolved you are in an empty room. This

means that you can reorganize your squad as usual and continue
exploring.

KEY POINTS

• Roll 1 die per Combat Skill, Hit number

depend on the weapon.
• Roll on the wound table
• Check for noise at the end of combat. Less
than 3 will raise the alert and less than 0 will
cause a cave in.

Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 15

 Full Example of Play
The Squad:

Note: This squad has survived one mission giving it slightly higher stats than the starting 8 CP. They still use the default kit.

Veteran Allen (2 Vision, 3 Combat, Stealth 1)

Private Bobby (2 Vision, 2 Combat, Stealth 1)

Private Charlie (2 Vision, 2 Combat, Stealth 1)

Private Drake (2 Vision, 2 Combat, Stealth 1)

Preparing for the Mission

Because this is the squads second mission, they are still rolling on the ACT 1 Tables.

• For the size roll a [4] is rolled. This gives a depth of 3 for this tunnel

• For the Alert level a [2] is rolled. This gives a starting alert of –2 making it a relatively safe search.

The characters are written onto the “Tunnel Map” play sheet and Nerve and Support circles are filled in to ensure each character
has the appropriate amount of empty circles remaining.

Playing Tip: This can be placed inside a sheet protector and data tracked with washable markers so that it can be reused multiple
times.

Allen and Bobby will enter the tunnel and the other 2 will provide support. Allen will lead.

The map is started by drawing a box in the bottom left labeled “Entry”.

Playing tip: It can be helpful to mark the current depth next to the rooms so that you can easily see when a tunnel ends. In this case,
the entry will be labeled 0 because it’s the opening.

Playing:

Looking at the tunnel sheet, it can be seen that only traps are possible for the first roll. As such, a “TRAP” approach is taken for this
action and 1D6 is rolled. With a result of [4] the soldiers land on a trap, but due to their stance they may ignore the result.

Playing Tip: It can be helpful to place your unused on top of the PASSAGEWAY table to track your current position. By sliding it down
as you move it’ll show your exact location in the passageways. You can still pull it off to the side when you need to read the table.

From here, either a TRAP or ANIMAL is possible, so a “BALANCED” approach is taken. A [6] is rolled and Allen must mark off one of
this open “Nerve” circles and then roll to move again. This time, he gets a [2] result and must face an Animal Challenge.

He rolls on the animal table and gets a [2], A snake. He has a strong combat skill of 3 dice but still fails the roll. But, rather than
raise the Alert Level he decides to spend one of Charlie’s support points to reroll the skill test. This time he is successful and there is
no effect.

He continues moving on the passageway chart until he finally receives a result of “Branch/Room”. Branches are considered an
empty room, but don’t contain VC or Intel. He marks the tunnel map with another box above the entry and then draws one path
Upwards and one to the right to mark two directions to go.

Because a branch is considered an empty room he has the option to swap the formation leader or trade equipment, but it’s not
necessary as his soldiers are in good shape and the veteran has higher combat skills despite the minor nerve loss. As such, he
Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 16
decides to leave everything as is and continue exploring.

Because there are two directions to move, he chooses to continue the first branch. But, he’ll need to finish exploring the second
branch before the entire tunnel is considered complete.

Since a Depth+ line has been accomplished he starts at the top of the passageway table again and proceeds as normal. He rolls a
[5] which is a “ROOM” result.

He rolls on the room table and adds the current depth of 1 and ends with a total of 4. This is a storage room. He adds the storage
room to the map and rolls for Intel and VC presence.

On the first roll, he gets a [5] which allows him to collect 1 intel.

The second roll is a [1] which means he does encounter VC in this room. He swaps to the combat tables now.

He rolls on the Encounter Threat table. The current Alert us still –2 (So he uses the top line 1 or less) but rolls a [6]. This means that
he has encountered a Threat 2 situation.

Playing Tip: Combat can easily be tracked by writing a couple circles in the combat section. As threat is reduced simply cross out a
circle.

He takes the first attack and rolls the 3 combat dice and gets [1], [4] and [6]. The standard M1911 has a [4]+ hit rating which equals
2 hits to the VC, but has an effect that [1]’s cancel out one hit. This means the VC Threat has been reduced to 1 before it attacks.

The VC has a threat of 1 and so it rolls on the “Vietcong 1” wound table and gets a [4], A wound! But, Allen decides to spend two
support points (1 from Charlie and 1 from Drake) to reduce the wound die to a [3], nerve loss.

In the next round of combat he rolls a [3], [4] and [5] which reduces the enemy threat to zero and ends the fight. The final thing to
do in combat is check for noise, so he rolls 1 die and gets a [2]. This does raise the alert level by 1.

Due to his lowered nerves and them now being in an empty room, Bobby decides to take the lead for while.

Because we’ve just finished the depth 2 room and the expected depth is 3, we know that there is only 1 room left on this branch
and then the soldiers must finish exploring the other branch. Play will continue until the entire tunnel is complete or the soldiers
decide to give up.

Let’s fast forward to the conclusion.

Ending the Tunnel:

The final room count was 5 rooms with 3 intel found.

CP Gains:

Room Count (5): +1

1 Floor Clear: +1

3 Intel: +3

2 Combat +1

Total: +6 CP

No one is down, so we skip injury rolls and move straight to the Experience/Exhaustion roll. Allen gets a [2], which is no effect.
Bobby gets a [5] which allows him to immediately become a veteran and place 1 skill point into any skill. He picks COMBAT.

For the weapon breaking roll, they skip rolling because the M1911 can be replaced for free anyways.

Finally, the CP can be used to upgrade or rearm the squad. In this case, 5 points are spend to upgrade Allen from a Veteran to a
Hero. Then final unspent CP is saved for the next mission.

Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 17

 Designer Notes
About a year ago, I’d been playing a Vita game called “Operation Abyss” that involved the classic dungeon crawl mechanic of
walking through first person mazes. Somewhere along the way, I’d come to the realization that the specific map wasn’t important.
Left or Right and the sizes of a room didn’t actually matter. All that matters is that hallways lead to rooms where things happen.

This lead to a concept of “Abstracting the Labyrinth”. It relied on a single “Tracking roll” that connected one room to the next. Your
party can get lost in the labyrinth, but the important it was all abstracted to focus on the discovery of rooms. This was the basis for
“Depth” and “Branches” were introduced to contain the dungeons into a space you could realistically explore.

But, role playing games are a complicated beast. I knew I’d be overwhelmed trying to build a battle system, character classes, party
balancing, magic powers and so on. As such, this project went on the back burner.

But Steve’s experimental approach to design tends to overlap with my own. If I could shrink the RPG to its smallest possible scale
I’d be able to test the labyrinth exploration in a controlled setting.

But, where would a micro-dungeon crawl make sense? Where could a relatively small number of people explore narrow maze-like
halls while risking their lives against hostiles and booby traps.

As for the theme, I never thought I’d say these words, but thank you Uwe Boll.

Years ago, I’d seen his “1968 Tunnel Rats” movie and it inspired me to spend months reading about the real exploits of these
soldiers. These weren’t the overly heroic stories that we get from World War 2, but horrifying experiences that pushed people to
their limit. Yet, these men still volunteered to go in alone, lightly armed and crawled into the jaws of death day after day.

Even now I’m in awe that human beings would ever do such a thing. Few made it out alive, fewer made it out without emotional
scars that would last a lifetime. Heroics? Insanity? I don’t know, but I know that they deserve to be remembered.

This was an odd design for me because my grandfather was Anti-Wargame. He believed that a game makes light of the horrors of
war and is disrespectful to those who served. But, for me, wargames have been my way of exploring, remembering and being
drawn into history.

I did my best to appreciate reality and the people that served while still allowing players to enjoy the experience. I am proud of my
work here and I hope a few of you feel this project was a worthwhile experience.

If any of you are interested in learning more about the Tunnel Rats:

• The Tunnels of Cu Chi: A Harrowing Account of America's Tunnel Rats in the Underground Battlefields of Vietnam By
Tom Mangold’
• Tunnel Rat in Vietnam (Warrior) by Gordon L. Rottman
• Simply History Youbtube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jNx4Gcm54c

Thank you for being a part of this,

Ian Richard

Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 18

 Equipment
CP COST NAME EFFECT CP COST NAME HIT # EFFECT
2 Trauma Kit If spent after a combat, a 0 M1911 4+ Each natural 1’s cancel 1 hit.
downed soldier will gain +2
1 Luger Pistol 5+
on the injury table.
3 Hush Puppy 5+ Roll an additional combat die
2 Medical Kit Ignore the skill penalty on when shooting
one wounded soldier. 2 Walter P38 4+
3 Body Armor* Reduce VC attack roll by 1 2 .38 Special 3+ Rolls 1 Fewer Combat Dice
0 Gas Mask* Ignore Poison Gas but 2 QSP Revolver 5+ Noise rolls + 2
reduce VISION by 1
1 Ruger .22 5+ Noise Rolls +1
0 Flashlight Light Source
2 Sawn Off 3+ Noise Rolls –2
1 Head Lamp* Light Source, increase VC
0 Knife 4+ Attacks Last, Silent
wounds by +1
2 Bayonet* 4+ Silent
2 Barrel Mounted Light source
Light* 2 Grenade** See Roll 1D6 and read the value as
your successes. But noise rolls at
1 Canteen Spend to ignore lost Nerve Text
-3 at the end of combat.
when rolling a 6

1 Special Intel Spent to reroll the results on * Hand’s Free Equipment

the passageway table
** Grenades can be used either as a weapon or tool.
2 Grenade ** Roll 1D6. 5+ Close branch
Required Gear:
3 C4 Roll 1D6. 4+ Close branch
Light Source: If you ever travel without a light source all
skills are reduced by 1.

Knife or Bayonet: If not present, you automatically fail any

Support Skills trap related skill checks.

Support Cost Effect

1 Reroll any Skill Test outside of combat
1 Reroll any single dice in a combat situation
2 Reduce any result on the Wound Table by 1.
1 Add or subtract one from a INTEL or VC table roll.
1 Ignore 1 Nerve Loss

Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 19

 Expected Depth Ratings
1 2 3 4 5 6
Act 1 Depth 2 Depth 3 Depth 3 Depth 3 Depth 4 Depth 4
Act 2 Depth 3 Depth 4 Depth 4 Depth 5 Depth 5 Depth 4 (2F)
Act 3 Depth 5 Depth 5 Depth 6 Depth 3 (2F) Depth 4 (2F) Depth 5 (3F)

Starting Alert Level Command Point Rewards

1 2 3 4 5 6 Each Intel Found +1 CP
Act 1 -2 -2 -1 -1 0 0 Every 7 Rooms explored (Round Up) +1 CP
Act 2 -1 0 0 1 1 2 For every 3 Combat (Round Up) +1 CP
Act 3 1 1 2 2 3 3 For each cleared floor +1 CP
If Expected Depth > 8 +1 CP
For each starting Alert higher than 1 +1 CP

Abort Mission Penalties Next Act Costs

1 2 3 4 5 6 1st Act 4 Tunnels
Unexplored Floor 0 - 2 CP - 2 CP -4 CP -4 CP -6 CP 2nd Act 5 Tunnels
Unexplored Branch 0 0 -1 CP -1 CP -2 CP -3 CP
3rd Act 3 Tunnels

Campaign Tables
Recruit/Upgrade Costs Downed Soldier Injuries
1,2 Soldier has died
New Recruit CP Upgrade CP Nerves/Skill/ Experience
Cost Cost Support Roll 3,4,5 Reduce Nerve and random skill by 1
point
Green 1 - 2/4/1 3+ 6 No long term effect, the soldier is
Private 2 2 3/5/2 5+ exhausted for one mission.
Veteran 4 3 4/6 /3 6+
Hero * 5 5/6/5 -

*Heroes cannot be recruited, but can sell for 7 CP

(Post Mission) Weapon Breakage rolls:

Roll 1D6 per fired weapon. On a 1, the weapon is discarded.

New Recruit Skill Table
NERVES 1 2 3 4 5 6
GREEN 3 2/1/1 2/1/1 1/2/1 1/2/1 1/1/2 1/1/2
PRIVATE 4 2/2/1 2/2/1 2/2/1 2/1/2 1/2/2 1/2/2
VETERAN 5 2/2/2 3/2/1 3/2/1 2/3/1 1/2/3 3/1/2
*All skills are listed in the order of VISON / COMBAT / STEALTH

Soldier Tables
Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 20
 PASSAGEWAY (1D6 / 6=Nerve Loss) TRAPS (1D6)
# EVENT? DEPTH+ 1 Punji Stick Make a Vision Test. Fail and roll on the wound table

1 TRAP 2 Explosive Make a Combat Test. Fail and roll on the wound table

2 3 Corpse Reduce your Nerve by 1

4 Grenade Hole Make a stealth Test. Fail and roll on the wound table
3
5 Human Face an encounter where enemy shoots first.
4 TRAP
6 Poison Gas If you are not wearing a gas mask, roll on the wounds
5 ROOM YES
table.
6 ANIMAL
ANIMALS (1D6)
7
1 Scorpion Make a Vision Test. Fail and roll on the wound table
8 TRAP
2 Rats Make a Combat Test. Fail and raise alert by 1
9
3 Snake Make a Stealth Test. Fail and roll on the wound table
10 ROOM YES
4 Bat Swarm Increase Alert level by 1
11
5 Spiders Reduce nerve by 1
12 TRAP
6 Fire Ants Roll on the Wound Table
13 ROOM/BRANCH* YES
ROOMS (1D6 + Current Depth*) *Depth increments AFTER this room
14
15 ANIMAL # Room Intel VC Effect

16 ROOM/BRANCH* YES 1 Firing Bunker - 1,2,3

++ ROOM YES 2 Bunks 6 1, 2,

3 Kitchen - 1
* If this branch has already added 4 Storage 5,6 1
another branch, treat this as a room.
5 Dead End - - Mark this branch complete

Exploration Process: 6 Exit - - See Exits

1. Decide on an approach if you wish 7 Command 4,5,6 1,2,3

8+ Workshop 5,6 1,2
2. Roll on the Passageway table

3. If there is an event, roll on the

appropriate table and resolve it.
SKILL TEST
4. If you have not reached a room or
When told to make a skill test, simply roll 1 die per level of
branch, return to the passageway
the skill. Each 5 or 6 is a success.
table and continue from the same
line.
BALANCED TRAP ANIMAL COMBAT
5. If you’ve reached a branch or room
add it you your map, increment TRAPS - Ignore Auto-Fail Attack Last
your depth and return to the top
of the passageway table to begin ANIMAL - Auto-Fail Ignore Attack Last
again.
COMBAT - Auto-Fail Auto-Fail +2 Dice
Continue until the tunnel is complete.

Exploration Tables
Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 21
 WOUNDS (1D6)
1 2 3 4 5 6
Cave In - - - N N D
Explosive W W W D D Dx2
Fire Ants - - N N N W
Gas - N W W D D
Grenade N W W D Dx2 CAVE IN
Punji Stick - - N W D D
Scorpion - N W W D D
Snake - N W W D D
Vietcong 1 - - N W D D
Vietcong 2 - N W D D Dx2
Vietcong 3+ W D D D Dx2 CAVE IN

Wounds Legend
Combat Process:
• “-” No Effect
1. Roll on the Encounter Table to determine the
• “N” Reduce nerve by 1 Threat level.

• “W” Point man is wounded 2. If using a firearm, roll your combat and each
success deals 1 damage
• “D” Point man is Down
3. The enemy rolls on the Wound Table.
• “Dx2” Point man and any
another soldier are downed 4. If using melee, roll combat and each success deals
one damage.
• “Cave-In” A cave in has oc-
curred, see the rules in the Continue 2 to 4 until the enemy threat is reduced to 0 .
tunnel rules on page 12

(Post-Combat) Check For Noise:

Roll 1 Die and raise alert on 3 or lower unless weapon

ENCOUNTER THREAT LEVEL (1D6)
was “Silent”.

Alert 1 2 3 4 5 6 Less than 0 total and a CAVE IN is caused (Page 12).

1- 1 1 1 1 1 2
2 1 1 1 2 2 2
3 1 1 2 2 3 3
4 2 2 3 3 4 4
5 2 3 4 4 5 5 Wounded Soldiers:

7 3 4 4 5 5 6 Wounded Soldiers get –1 to all stats.

8+ 4 4 5 5 6 6 Medical treatment can remove the penalty but

not the wound.

Combat Tables
Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 22
 Tunnel Map
MAP Max Depth Alert

Combats

Intel Tally

Name Vision Combat Stealth Nerves Support Other Info

OOOOOO OOOOO
OOOOOO OOOOO
OOOOOO OOOOO
OOOOOO OOOOO
OOOOOO OOOOO
OOOOOO OOOOO
OOOOOO OOOOO
OOOOOO OOOOO

Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 23

 Campaign Log

NAME RANK NERVE VISION COMBAT STEALTH

UNSPENT CP TOTAL CP Squad Equipment

CALENDER

ACT 1 ACT 2 ACT 3

Diceman Games 2018 Non Gratus Rodentum - 24