Big Rubble: The Deadly City details the ruins of the original city of Pavis, now a dangerous region filled with trolls, elves, the taint of chaos and, most importantly for adventurers, long lost powerful magic artifacts waiting to be claimed by the brave or foolish.

New Pavis is the seat of civilization in Prax so it feels appropriate to the sense of philosophical symmetry present in RuneQuest that it would exist directly next to the Big Rubble, a vast and dangerous area partly contained by massive walls. Officials from the Lunar Empire tightly control access to the Rubble, issuing adventurers permits and taxing or seizing artifacts recovered from the ruins. And yet communities of humans, elves, dwarves and trolls all exist within the Rubble, if not peaceably, then at least grudgingly coexisting outside the occasional raid.

I love the idea of an area of contained wildness, as artificial as it may seem despite the game’s historical justifications for its existence. By walling off the Rubble, the designers created a region of endless danger and mystery where nearly anything can happen, all outside the jurisdiction of civilization (mostly). When PCs enter the Rubble, they willfully enter a place of danger and encourages a lack of restraint. The fact that if things get too hot, a group can theoretically run back to civilization is a curious x-factor I am keen to explore. Will it make my group overly cautious? Or will that safety net, and perhaps the fear of being labeled cowards, encourage increasingly risky behavior? With escape so present, you can push your luck a little bit more than you would in a remote location, right?