Deadly Dungeons 5: Sepulchre of Order of The Gavel

A long forgotten order of paladins used this circular room to inter their dead. For whatever reason it has remained largely undisturbed by monsters. Perhaps it can only be accessed through a secret door, or maybe the sanctity of the site has held monsters at bay.

The walls and ceiling of the room are simple, unadorned stone. The ceiling is 7ft high at the edges of the room, and rises in a shallow cone to a height of 9ft at the room’s center. The obvious focus of the room is a large terraced pit which dominates most of the floor. The pit has four levels, including the bottom. Each level is about three and a half feet lower than the one above it, and there are no stairs, forcing anyone who wishes to descend to climb awkwardly down the steep steps. Each of the three upper levels is roughly 7ft wide, with urns evenly spaced around them. The bottom level is bare, save for a 3ft diameter circular hatch of iron, with four bold red lines painted across its surface.

The urns are simple grey ceramic, and stand two feet tall. Each one is banded by 1-3 horizontal red stripes, similar to those on the hatch at the bottom. While there is no immediate way for the players to determine the function of the stripes, the GM should be aware that urns with 3 stripes contain the ashes of a great hero of the Order of the Gavel, urns with 2 stripes contain the ashes of those who led the order, and urns with a single stripe contain the ashes of a great evil doer whom the order brought to justice. Each of the urns contains 2 copper pieces, used in the burial rituals of the order.

Behind each urn, on the wall of the steppes, is an engraving memorializing the individual whose ashes are contained within. A hasty inspection will reveal that the urns on the lowest tier are the oldest, and the urns on the upper tier are the most recent. The dates cover a range of 150 years, ending about 300 years ago. I’ve included dates on the list below, though obviously, these will need to be modified to suit your campaign setting. For players who inspect these inscriptions more carefully, they read:

[Three Bands] Senjar Okin / Fell in the year 702 / “None stood at The Citadel’s Gates more proudly than he. Fell to Orcs during the Seige of Lawund”
[Three Bands] Yendew Nidaa / Fell between the years 688 and 690 / “We know not why she chose to venture so far afield, nor what it is that she fought. But the monstrous remains found near her body say all that must be said of her boundless courage.”
[Three Bands] Custis Garret / Fell in the year 682 / “He stood before the sea and demanded it obey the laws of righteousness.”
[Two Bands] Mahraha of the Mithril Fist / Fell in the year 672 / “Taken from us even as she led us to victory over the prowlers of the southern lands. By her request, she is interred with the dagger of her assassin, that she may return it to him in the next life.” [Burried in the ashes is a +2 Keen Dagger, or other dagger appropriate to your campaign.]
[One Band] Revet Taroggaram / Slain in the year 660 / “There can be no quarter given to the unjust. No thief, no murderer, no inhuman beast can be allowed to profit from their evil.”
[Two Bands] Murraha Slevali / Fell in the year 654 / “Unjustly taken from us while held as a captive of the Okarum. Justice will be done in her name.”
[Two Bands] Torvil Brinebeard / Went to Rest in the year 653 / “The last to stand beside He Who Was First. The first to stand amongst the compassionate, the charitable, and the just.”
[Three Bands] Hukatee Bularus / Went to Rest in the year 644 / “Those who speak the words of peace must be recognized. They are heroes as much as any who wield a blade.”
[One Band] [Faint runes surround the edges of the urn’s lid] Erosm Muck / Slain in the year 643 / “Not all evil can be ended with fire and steel.” [If the runes current positioning is disturbed, Erosm Muck, a vampire, will become reconstituted.]
[One Band] [Top of this urn is sealed with flaking wax.] Donnorel Thinn, Wizard of the Black Gaze / Slain in the year 636 / “It is unjust that one who took the life from so many, only has one life to give in payment for his crimes.” [If opened, an ash monster, ghost, or other appropriate creature is released. It is hostile towards the party.]
[Two Bands] Shenwa Evacord / Went to Rest in the Year 628 / “When those who brought us peace were toppled, she steadied their triumphs. Interred with her is the Opal of Unariac, a gift from those who died in the wars she prevented.” [Burried in the ashes is a large opal mounted in a golden disk, surrounded with emeralds. Worth 3,000gp]
[Three Bands] Edinea Kodas / Fell in the year 619 / “Charge forth always, in battle, and in parley.”
[One Band] Uma Thistledown / Slain in the year 616 / “Let the east wall of the citadel remain forever cracked, as a reminder of the price required by faltering vigilance.”
[Three Bands] Vinn Drekos / Fell in the year 611 / “Even as the gnoll’s javellins pierced her body, she did not falter in her defense of those innocents she had sworn to protect. Interred with her are the ashes of, Gerek Haverock, whom she loved.”
[Three Bands] Hedsig Agham / Fell in the Year 591 / “Through the lens of Justice, truth can be found, and the good of all served.” [Urn contains a finely crafted monocle. Looking through it allows the wearer to see Good, Evil, and Untruth, as though they had cast Detect Good, Detect Evil, and Detect Lies.]
[One Band] “Let none speak the name of the one who was slain in the year 591; for it is they who to he who was first from us.”
[Two Bands] Karkis, Lady of the Hunt / Fell in the year 580 / “Justice is done by her grace alone.”
[Three Bands] Mmij Hippamus / Fell in the year 568 / “The Titan Slayer.”
[Two Bands] Amee The Bold / Fell in the year 555 / “Without her guiding wisdom and swift action, the order would never passed through those turbulent years after the fall of He Who Was First.”
[Three Bands] Horace the Watchman / Fell in the year 549 / “By the side of He who was First did he fight, and by His side did he fall. May we all know the courage of the Watchman.”

If the players inspect the hatch at the bottom, they will see an inscription in the iron which reads simply: “He who was first.” There is a heavy clamp holding the hatch closed, but it is not locked and can be removed with a bit of effort. When it is opened, the hatch reveals a mumified corpse standing upright. These are the remains of the founder of the Order of The Gavel; a human man named Hassid Gurtoch, The Clear Speaker. The body is still wrapped quite tightly, and seems well preserved. It can be fished out with minimal difficulty. Nothing else is apparent within this small tomb.

If removed from his tomb, Hassid will be temporarily reanimated by positive energy. If there are any non-good being present, Hassid will tear his wrappings off, revealing that he was burried with a sanctified longsword which glows a brilliant yellow. He attacks as though he were a mummy (though he is not of evil alignment, and lacks the Mummy Rot special attack). If only good characters are present, Hassid will question them thoroughly about why they have chosen to loot the tomb of his order. If the players cite sufficient need, Hassid will tell them of the false bottom to his tomb. If they cannot convince him that their need for treasure is mandated by a goodly quest, then he will ask them to leave. If they refuse, or if the characters are caught lying, Hassid will attack them as vigorously as he would attack non-good characters.

The bottom of Hassid’s tomb is false, and can be lifted to reveal an assortment of coins, gems, and at least 2 good-aligned magic items.

Deadly Dungeons 3: Blastdoor Room

For a long while I’ve wanted to use Papers & Pencils as a means to share dungeon stuff, but I’ve never quite been able to figure out how I wanted to do it. The first Deadly Dungeons post was my attempt to convert the World of Warcraft dungeon Scholomance into a tabletop dungeon. Aside from the fact that I never finished the project due to the overwhelming amount of work I created for myself, I now view even the results I did produce to be undesirable. My second, much more recent attempt to make the Deadly Dungeons series work was just last month, when I posted the GM notes for The Ironbone Tower. Ultimately I don’t think that was a very good post either.

Unsure of how to post this kind of content in a useful way, I set the Deadly Dungeons series aside again until I could figure something better out. Then, while reviewing my archives to find things I could build upon, I stumbled upon to some unexpected inspiration while reviewing one of my least favorite posts ever. Instead of trying to post entire dungeons, like a moron, why wasn’t I simply posting modular dungeon rooms like a smart person would?

So that’s what I’m doing now. Deadly Dungeons will be joining Colorful Characters, Magical Marvels, Merciless Monsters, and Lively Locals as one of the regular Friday posts. I hope you enjoy!

The Blastdoor Room is a circular stone room, which the players enter via an archway. A multitude of doors are spaced around the rooms outside edge. Each door is of simple wooden construction, but is sturdy, mounted on excellent hinges, and banded with iron. The stone floor of the room slopes slightly towards the room’s center, where an 18″ diameter hole is placed. It is dark within, but if the players bring a light source to bear, they will discover that the interior of the hole is very smooth, and less than 2ft down it turns off to the side. They are unable to see further.

Upon closer inspection, the players may notice that between the doors, there are areas of the wall which seem much more dilapidated than the rest of the room. They are cracked and dented, with bits of gravel on the floor beneath them. These damaged areas of wall are only about 3ft square, while the walls around them appears to be in much better condition.

Behind every door in the room is a cannon, which is loaded and prepared by a sophisticated mechanism behind the walls. The doors each hold down a spring mechanism mounted on the door’s frame. A moment after a door is opened–even if it is only opened an inch–the cannon will fire. The cannonball will travel along the dotted lines indicated, and smash into the wall directly opposite the door. The walls are extremely sturdy and will not break, but observant players will notice that each of the damaged sections of wall mentioned above has a corresponding door on the opposite side of the room. After striking the wall, and perhaps bouncing on the floor a bit, the ball will gradually roll along the slope of the floor, and fall into the hole at the center of the room, where it will be returned to the loading mechanism behind the walls.

Characters standing in the path of the cannonball will take an amount of damage appropriate to the game being played. (OD&D: 2d6, Pathfinder: 6d6). If the door was not fully opened, then it may be destroyed by the cannon’s fire. If this is the case, characters within 5ft of the door are subject to damage from the wooden shrapnel. (OD&D Save V. Breath, 1d6 damage; Pathfinder Reflex save DC: 18, 2d6 damage). Note that the cannon will not fire continuously if the door is destroyed. The spring switch must be depressed between the cannon’s firings.

If the characters take the time to match sections of damaged wall to doors, then they will discover that every single area of damaged wall is directly opposite from a door. However, there is one door which is not opposite from a section of damaged wall. This section of wall is constructed of the same materials as the rest of the room, but lacks the special reinforcement that the other walls have. If the door opposite this section of wall is opened, then the cannonball will blast through the wall, revealing a secret hallway.

Depending on the dungeon, there may or may not be creatures who will replace broken doors and broken walls. Players who enter the secret hallway may return to find their way back has been bricked up!

Deadly Dungeons 2: Ironbone Tower, Sublevel 1

Below are the notes I promised in yesterday’s post. If you haven’t read that post, they will doubtless seem sketchy and incomplete. Long story short: my new method of keying dungeons is to describe them on a single line of notebook paper, with one additional line each added for Monsters, Traps, Secrets, and Loot. These notes are meant to provide a starting point for the imagination, so the GM can come up with more detailed room descriptions during play.

This is going to be quite lengthy, but a few notes first:

1) If you are playing in my D&D&LB campaign, do not read any further than this line. I don’t think any of those players actually read my website. But on the off chance you see this post, do not read it. It’ll make the game pretty damned boring for you.

2) If you’re interested in how this system works, I’ve already played two sessions using this very dungeon. And I’ve finished a play report for the first of those sessions.

3) The rule-set I’m using is a hideous bastard child of OD&D, and my own rulings. You’re better off not trying to make sense of things, because I’m making a lot of it up as I go. Though if you’re curious, monsters which show up commonly have their stats on index cards, which is why most don’t have listed stats.

4) Courtney of Hack & Slash recently pointed me to a post of his where he described a method very similar to the one I’m using here. I’m certain his ideas will work their way into how I prepare my own dungeons in the future.

5) Bear in mind these are my personal gaming notes, transcribed word-for-word from my notebook. They’re not pretty, and perhaps this will not be interesting to read. But it’s okay if I post something that isn’t interesting to read sometimes, because there’s just gonna be another post up soon anyway!

And with that out of the way:

Ironbone Tower Dungeon: Sublevel 1

Room 1: Stone room, simple wooden doors. Piles of refuse in corners. 3 skeletons worth of bones scattered around.
T: SE door is locked.

1-W1: Tables to left and right. Chairs on north and south. Dead goblin in center with arrow in head.
T: Square 10×10 pressure plate in center of room. Crossbow bolt from ceiling. THAC2: 17

1-W2: Four rough chalk circles are drawn on the stone floor. Hay and scraps of cloth are piled in the corner like a bed.
M: 3 goblins wrestle with one another in one of the circles. Weapons are nearby.
L: In one of the hay piles is a small leather purse with 40 silver coins.

1-W3: Two bookshelves. Floor covered in torn books. Large piles of charred books 2ft high. Was bonfire.
L: Under charred bonfire pile is an intact scroll of cure light wounds.

1-W4: Room is filled with counters and broken class. Two cabinets against the wall.
T: Right cabinet shoots a crossbow bolt when door is opened. THAC2: 16
L: Right cabinet. Potion of +1 attack for 1 turn. Ruby worth 20gp.

1-W5: Crates block the entrance. Goblins have made a tiny fortress of crates here.
M: 10 goblins w/ swords and bows.
T: Tripwire 5ft from the entrance causes crossbow above door to fire. THAC2: 16
L: Chest with 40 gold coins, 3 rubies worth 20gp/ea, & wood cat worth 100gp

1-W6: A well stocked alchemical lab. Extremely dusty. Single long counter with chairs around it.
L: 2 cure light wounds potion, 1 invisibility potion.

1-W7: Torture chamber. Iron maidens, thumb screws, racks, southern wall lined with cells.
L: One of the iron maidens has a body in it. Clutching jade statue worth 120gp.

1-W8: A small room with hay and a tin plate on the floor.
M: Skeleton. Only animates when secret door in 1-W9 is opened.

1-W9: Completely bare stone room.
S: Stone wall is mounted on a wooden door. Slides away if trigger in 1-W11 activates.

1-W10: Used as storage. 2 crates with rotted grain, moldy rope.

1-W11:Stone cell. Chains & manacles mounted on the wall.
S: Pulling chains on wall opens secret door in 1-W9

1-W12: Bare stone sell. Hay in the corner.

1-W13: Four suits of full plate are on display here, each holding an axe.
T: If the armor is jostled, axe will swing. THAC2: 17
L: Each of the four has an emerald worth 50gp behind visor.

1-W14: Targets set up near the entrance. Arrows all over the floor.
M: Two goblins with shortbows up on the catwalk.

1-W15: Small armory. Simple swords, boxes of arrows, some bows. Spears on a rack across from the stairs.
T: First step depresses. Rack angles down, and all 4 spears shoot at the stairs from behind. THAC2: 15

1-W16: Workshop filled with stonecutting tools. Life sized statue of a woman in the center.
L: In a box on the shelf are 2 sapphires cut to look like eyes. 60gp each.

1-W17: The outside edge of the hallway is straight. Inside edge is rounded.
S: Pressing on a stone at foot level on the door marked S opens it.

1-W18: An active smithy. Anvil in center. Forge on west wall. Racks & raw materials.
M: 3 goblin smiths. Will spill molten iron on the floor.

1-W19:Fountain against north wall. Dry, but small bit of standing water at bottom.

1-W20: Small altar on south wall. Broken pews fill the rest. Torn drapes cover stone walls.
T: 5x5ft pressure plate north of the altar. Flame from above. Save V. Breath, 1d6+1
L: Behind torn drape is small alcove. Gold holy symbol of bloody jaw. 30gp standard/100gp collector.

1-W21: Small table and chairs on right side of the room.
M: Two goblins play cards at the table.

1-W22: South door is iron. Faded mosaic of bloody jaw above door. Circular carpet.
T: Poison needle trap on door handle. Save V. Poison. Fail: 1d2 con per turn, 5 turns.
S: Under rug is a pressure plate. It is very small, and must be pressed intentionally. Opens 1’x1′ in east wall.
L: Secret alcove in east wall contains chest. 60gp in there.

1-W23: Four statues, one in each corner, all depict a woman. Each is a different age. All are defaced.
T: Each statue’s pedestal can be opened. If opened, the statue comes alive.
M: Four faceless statues. HP 7, AC5, DR: 3, THAC2: 16
L: Statue 1,2,3,4: 200gp, +1 short sword, Diamond worth 100gp, Scroll of Fireball

1-W24: A library apparently filled with ancient text, in an old dialect. (Tongue Before The Fall)
S: Texts are religious worship of Neve Canri, though never mentioned by name. One contains a “Hymn of Release”

1-W25: A formerly elegant bed chamber. Torn apart by goblins. Defaced paintings, rotted mattress, etc.
M: Two giant snakes under the bed. AC: 6, THAC2: 15
L: In the snake’s nest is an exquisitely carved silver crown worth 300gp.

1-W26:A faded mural covers the walls of this room. With an empty pedestal in each alcove.
S: The part of the mural over the S door shows a woman in profile. Her eye strangely looks directly out into the room. Press eye, open door.

1-W27: A sword in the center of this small room.
S: Sword can only be removed with the hymn from 1-W24
L: Longsword. Deals +1d6 damage v. undead.

1-W28: Vestebule. Racks for clothing, but empty. Double doors to the south.

1-W29: I apparently forgot to add 1-W29 to the map. Whups.

1-W30: Statue of a kobold with a scythe. Head is smashed off, on the ground. Door is barred on this side.

1-W31: Stone stairs down into darkness.

1-W32: Cathedral. High ceiling. 3 altars. Statue of a woman, lich, and demon. Dry fountain in center w/ dark stains on it.
M: 10 goblins. 3 goblins +1.
T: Statue pedestals open, have poison gas inside of them. Save v. Poison 1d6 Wis damage/3 rounds.
L: Under demon: Ruby worth 200gp, Under Lich: dagger +1, Under woman: spellbook with 4 random level 2 spells.

1-W33: Side chapel. Large frame on west wall with tatters of canvas on edges.
T: When leaving the room, door has needle trap. 1d6 str dmg for 2 turns.
L: Strapped to the bottom of a pew is a silver dagger.

1-W34: Opulent, trashed, bedchamber. Bookshelf north, bed south, fireplace east, dresser west.
M: Ash monster in fireplace. Activates if ash disturbed. Killed w/water. THAC2: 16
L: In fireplace, obsidian orb worth 60GB. Bookcase: Scroll with Wizard Lock

1-W35: Dormitory. 3 Bunkbeds. Fireplace on east wall.
L: Bag of gold under top mattress on 1 bed. 40gp.

1-X1: Large fountain in center. Mirrors on angled walls. Fountain has stagnant water.
L: Press on the SW mirror. Clicks & swings open on hinges. Box w/20gp behind.

1-X2: Kitchen. Tables, knives, rotting food. Large counter down center.
M: 2 Zombies

1-X3: Storage room. Boxes filled with rotted grain. Barrels of old wine.

1-X4:Weapons storage. Rock of swords, spears, bows, shields.
L: One longsword is silvered.

1-X5: Guard room. Table & chairs, piles of bones.
M: Bones form into 2 skeletons when people leave the room.

1-X6: Painting of a noble warrior hangs on wast wall. Broken bed.

1-X7: Slabes which are meant for dead bodies. 3ft wide walkspace between each.
M: 6 zombies. Have difficulty moving between slabs.

1-X8: Alchemy lab. Shelves & broken glass. Rug on the floor in the center.
T: Rug covers a pit 10ft deep w/ spikes at the bottom.
L: Bookshelf has wand of magic missile on it. 3 charges.

1-X9: Bodies hang from hooks on the ceiling. Magic circle in center.
L: Bodies each have some gold. 10 bodies, 40gp total.

1-X10: Dirt floor, dead plants. Room is lit very dimly from above magic spell. Dry fountain to the north.

1-X11: Mirrors on every wall, except walls w/doors. Pillows & couches.
M: 1 Skeleton
S: Press on mirror on S wall. It swings open to reveal a door.
T: Press on any mirror aside from S mirror. Spear launches from behind mirror. THAC2: 15

1-X12: Parlor, couch, chair, fireplace on east wall. Sword hangs above fireplace.
T: If sword is removed from hooks, flame shoots from fireplace. Save v. Breath, 2d6
L: Sword is +1 v. goblinoids. Says “Goblinbane” on blade.

1-X13: Dusty wineracks with only 4 bottles remaining.
L: Wine is old & very fine. 50gp for each bottle.
T: Snake living behind winerack. Poison bite deals 1d2 con damage for 6 turns.

1-X14: Toilet area. Very dirty.
T: Crossbow bolt activated by sitting on toilet. No save.

1-X15: A small, hidden armory.
L: 1 set of silvered full plate armor, 3 vials of poison (1d6 str for 3 turns), Crossbow w/ Bayonet & 30 silver bolts.

1-X16: A small library with a few shelves of books written in old common.
L: One of the books is a spellbook with 3 first level spells, and 4 second level spells.

1-X17: A large dining hall with 3 long tables. Tapestries cover the walls.
M: 3 Skeletons
L: Tapestries are worth 100gp each. 4 of them total.

1-X18: Room is filled with tables stained darkly. Large cleavers present.
M: 2 zombies.
T: East door has needle trap. 1d2 Con for 6 turns.

1-X19: Chains on wall & floor restrain long-dead bodies. East has shrine to demon.
L: Demon’s eyes are obsidion gems worth 50gp each.
T: If eyes are removed, all 15 bodies animate. Still chained, though. Zombie stats.

1-X20: Statue of woman w/ wings dominates center. She points with spear at entrance of room.
S: Statue can be turned. Point at S door, and it opens.
M: 2 Zombies behind S door.

1-X21: A clerical workspace. Symbol of bloody jaw all over. Books, and kneeling bench.
S: If you kneel on the bench, a small door opens in the wall, revealing box.
L: Box contains +1 dagger w/ ruby in hilt.
T: If box is removed, trap door opens beneath. 10ft down, rusty spikes.

1-X22:Large, pool-sized bathhouse. East door is locked.
M: 3 Zombies are wandering around under the water.
L: A locked safe fell into the water. Contains amazing silver cup worth 170gp.

1-X23: Music hall. Couches face a large organ. Broken instruments scattered about.
M: A wight sits at the organ, slamming hands on keyboard.
S: Playing song from 1-X24 on organ opens trapdoor in floor.
L: Trapdoor contains 100gp, Scroll of Lightning Bolt, 2 potions of Cure Light Wounds, Key to 1-X26

1-X24: Room is filled with papers & scattered music notes.
L: One piece of paper has a complete score on it, signed by Vastug Stutt, famous composer. Worth 300gp.

1-X25: Storage. Cleaning tools for the organ, other rusted and broken instruments.

1-X26: Stairs lead up to an empty throne. Statue of woman on one side, lich on other.
T: Sitting on throne causes spikes to come out of it. Drain life. Turn player into zombie. No save.

1-Y1: Small anteroom of simple stone.

1-Y2:Mural covers wall. Faded. Figures staring angrily into the room are clear.
T: 10×10 center of the room is a plate. Drops boulders from ceiling. No save.

1-Y3: Junk covers the floor in big piles, most is soft.
M: 3 dire rats are nested in this room, protecting broods.
T: SW Door is locked.

1-Y4: Toilet is here. Very dirty.

1-Y5:Torture chamber. Racks, iron maidens. In the stocks is half eaten body.
M: 2 dire rats are under the racks.
S: Opening one of the iron maidens reveals a lever among the spikes.
L: Pulling the lever opens small alcove with 15gp stashed there.

1-Y6: Tapestry on the wall. Rug on the floor.
S: Behind tapestry is small circular button. Opens S door.

1-Y7: Tapestry on the wall. Rug on the floor.
T: Rug covers 10ft pit filled with spikes

1-Y8: Shelves have glass bottles on them. Jeweler’s work bench in center.
M: Large snake hides in this room. AC: 6 THAC2: 15
L: Shelves have 3 cure light wounds potions. Bench has necklace worth 100gp.

1-Y9:Bed chamber. Statue of halfling on west corner. Fireplace in east corner.
M: Dire bat lives in chimney. Doesn’t like to be disturbed.

1-Y10: The room’s purpose is difficult to determine. Wall has collapsed, opens into cavern.

1-Y11: Large cavern. Extends high. Some openings back into manmade areas.
M: Ever 10 minutes, 50% chance of being attacked by 1d4 dire bats.

1-Y12: Foyer. Couches and a painting of a wealthy family on E wall.
M: A dire spider hides behind the stairs.
L: A diamond is under the stairs, worth 200gp.

1-Y13: Hallway with nice carpet on the floor. 3 Paintings hang on the wall.
L:Each painting is worth 50gp.
T: center painting holds down a pressure plate. THAC2: 14

1-Y14: Bedchamber. Still in decent shape. Armoire, safe.
T: Save has needle trap. Poison is dry, but deals 1 damage.
L: Armoire contains 2 fine gowns worth 100gp/ea. Safe contains land deed to “North Tower.”

1-Y15: Parlor. Fireplace on the west wall. Bookshelf of rotted books on south wall.

1-Y16: Miniature bath house. Shelf filled with scented oils and bath salts.
M: Large water snake in the fetid water. AC: 6 THAC2: 15

1-Y17: Bedchamber, well furnished. 2 dead dire rats. Stripped.
L: Under bed is a case. Contains 100gp and a glass orb.
T: Needle trap on case’s latch. Save v. Poison. 1d2 con for 3 turns.
Glass orb: If you stare into it you see blackness. It is linked to an orb on sublevel 2.

1-Y18: 3 cages hang from the ceiling. 2 have skeletons in them. 1 is open & empty.
T: If there is weight in the cage, it will close and lock.
L: One of the skeletons is hiding a gold pendant worth 80gp.

1-Y19: Stinks. Bed, table, rat carcases on hooks. Several crates.
T: Door locked.
NPC: Prisoner escaped from 1-Y18. Put here for food for orcs below. Been here 6 months.

1-Y20: Narrow stairway leads down side of cliff into large dark cavern below.
T: First stair flips up when weight is put on it, flinging w/e is on it off the cliff.

1-Y21: Parlor. Empty pedestals in corners. Statue in the center with arms out, palms up. Floor covered w/ rug.
T: Right hand has dagger pointing towards fingers carved on it. If pushed down, fire from statue eyes, Save v. Breath 1d6
S: Left hand has dagger pointing towards wrist carved in it. If pushed down, S door opens.

1-Y22: Stone hands are mounted on the wall. They hold a warhammer.
T: If the hammer is taken, statue in previous room comes to life. HP6 DR2 THAC2:16 AC:8
L: +1 warhammer. For a cleric it is +2 v. evil. Hammer is engraved and bejeweled.
M: 1 dire bat flies out of the room when it is disturbed.

1-Y23: A dining room. Large table, chairs, fireplace on south wall.
M: Four dire rats have a nest under the table, and will scurry out if the room is disturbed.
L: Silver plates and goblets worth 300gp (total) adorn the table (6 plates, 6 goblets)

1-Y24: A kitchen. Counters, icebox, racks, knives, cupboards.
L: In icebox, jar containing red spheres. Rare spell component worth 500gp. Only lasts 4 hours out of ice.

1-Y25: A very simple bedchamber. Corner of the room collapsed.
L: Off ledge, a bag of 25gp fell. Rests 8ft below, on lower ledge.

1-Y26 Sitting room. Rotted couches, fireplace on North wall.
M: Giant centipede lives in couch. AC: 7, THAC2: 15, Poison: 1d6 con/ 4 turns

1-Y27: Study. Shelves w/books (ancient common. Law books) Large oaken desk.
S: Locked drawer on desk. Drawer has button to open S door.
L: Drawer contains bag of 40gp, small hand held crossbow, vial of poison (1d6 con/4 turns)
M: 1 dire rat is under the desk.

1-Y28: A storage space. Very dusty. Cleaning tools, old clothing, all moth eaten.

1-Y29: A small shrine with a pedestal. Atop it is an ancient bust of Neve Canari
T: Lifting the bust from the pedestal Freezerburns exposed flesh. Will drop. 60% chance to break.
L: Bust is worth 1000gp.

1-Y30: A sculptor’s workshop. Chisels of different sizes, half-formed humanoid shape.
L: On a shelf is a small box of assorted gems worth 200gp.

1-Y31: A large room with a dirt floor, and a pentagram made of salt.

1-Z1: A large open Plaza area. Troughs of sitting water & dry fountains w/ benches.
M: 6 beetle people are on patrol here. They all hold spears and crossbows.

1-Z2: Nesting chamber for guards. Cloth & pillows. 3 chests with personal items.
L: One chest has a false bottom, hiding 40gp.

1-Z3: Armory. Swords, spears, shields, 2 chests on west wall.
T: Chests have needle traps. 1d2 con over 6 turns.
L: Chests contain mundane leather & chain armor.

1-Z4: Secondary armory. Anvil and forge here, but not in use. 2 Chests.
T: Chests have needle traps. 1d2 con over 6 turns.
L: Chest 1: Silver shield 2/ Spike. Chest 2: 4 silver ingots worth 100gp/ea.

1-Z5: This room is filled with dirt, and stones, and water. An artificial environment for growing moss & algae for food.

1-Z6: Guard post. Barricade in center.
M: 4 Beetle People guard here. All have crossbows.
T: Space in front of barricade (center 10×10) activates flame. Save v. Breath, 2d6.

The ‘Z’ wing of the dungeon isn’t yet finished. If this post proves to be of interest, I may post the rest of the Beetle-People’s caverns when they are finished. Otherwise I think the four completed wings of the dungeon above get the point across sufficiently!

Changing my Dungeon Notation

I’m a long-winded kind of guy. When you get me talking, I tend to go on for a little bit longer than anybody wants to listen. It’s a failing which has often crept into my game mastering. When it’s time for me to make a dungeon, I’m inclined towards writing detailed descriptions for each room. Sometimes these descriptions can be a paragraph long or longer, noting what’s in the room, where that stuff is, what the room smells like, what it’s used for, and so on. It takes forever for me to finish a dungeon. And because of the time it takes, I’ve often had difficulty keeping to a gaming schedule. If I’m being honest, the paragraphs I write about rooms aren’t even that useful to me at the table. Every time the players enter a new room I need to flip through a large stack of papers, and once I find the description I need, reading it takes even more time. All the while my players wait, twiddling their thumbs and making dice towers.

My saving grace has always been improvisation. I’m good at figuring out what comes next while my players are describing what they’re doing right now. In fact my verbose note taking has given me many opportunities to practice my improvisation. I’ve sunk so much time into my notes in the past, that I often don’t have time to finish everything which need to be finished by game day. When the players arrive, I’ve often needed to come up with more content on the fly just to keep the game rolling. It doesn’t help that I have a penchant for games which last until everyone is exhausted of playing. One of my fondest memories is a ~14 hour overnight game session. I think I ran out of prepared material for that session within ~2 hours.

A couple months back whilst I was improvising a dungeon, it occurred to me that I’ve been a fucking moron. As much as I may personally enjoy writing comprehensive notes for my dungeons, this strategy has obviously not served me well, while improvisation always has. Why in the world have I wasted all of this time trying to write notes so detailed that I would never need to improvise? What I should have been doing instead is writing brief notes which give me structure, but still allow me to do most of my elaboration at the table.

Thus was born my new rule: Dungeon room descriptions must fit on a single line of handwritten notebook paper. One additional line each can be added for traps (T), secrets (S), monsters (M), and loot (L) if any (or all) of those are present. The descriptions need not be complete, because anything missing can easily be filled in during play.

If the descriptions says “Bedroom in bad shape. Rotted. Bed, Armoire Fireplace, Painting of a woman.” then when the players enter the room I might say “It looks as though this bedroom was once very fine. The bed appears to be made of oak, but the mattress sags to the floor and emits a stench of mold. From the bed’s canopy you can hear the skittering of vermin. An ornately carved Armorie rests against the north wall, while on the east wall is a fireplace filled with ash. Above it is a painting of a woman.” And if, for some reason, my players decide they want to smash the bed and ask if there are any blunt object nearby, I may say “There’s an iron firepoker laying next to the fireplace.”

Additional lines are just as easy, and might add bits of detail to the room which were omitted in the original description. For example, in one octagonal room I have mirrors on every wall which doesn’t have a door on it. The S line says only “If the mirror on the wall marked with an S is pressed, it swings open revealing a locked safe.” The T line reads “Safe has needle trap [relevant numbers]. If any mirror other than that one is pressed, a spear is launched from behind the mirror. [relevant numbers].” Finally, the L line reads “Safe contains bag of 200gp, and a small bronze statue of a cat. Non-magical. Worth 50gp.”

I’ve already run 3 sessions using this notation system, and I’ve found it to be remarkably effective. I’ve never found dungeons more fun to run, or more fun to create, in all my years of GMing. I expect that the system will continue to evolve the more I use it. Tomorrow I’ll post the first sublevel of The Ironbone Tower dungeon, to serve as a full example of how I’m currently using this method.

8 Rules for Dungeon Improvisation

During my most recent pathfinder game, a number of my players were absent. Among them was the group’s sorceress, Phoenix Darkmatter. Her absence was particularly relevant because the primary quest of the party currently revolves around her. Without her there to participate, I assumed that the party would want to pursue some other goal, so prior to the game I prepared a number of quest threads in the town they had ended their last adventure in. True to form, however, they completely bypassed everything I had prepared. As I had predicted, they didn’t want to continue the arachnohomnid quest line without Phoenix, but they weren’t even slightly interested in protecting dwarven caravans either. No, this party of low level adventurers recalled hearing about a lich which lived in the southern lands, and determined that killing it would be an appropriate use of their time.

The rogue participated only under strong (and well justified) protest.

Fortunately, a random roll of the dice brought the party to their senses. After nearly being killed by a pack of wolves they randomly encountered while crossing the planes, they settled on a more reasonable goal: find out why the nearby forest was filled with half-ogre monstrosities. It’s a quest thread I had introduced in one of our first sessions. They had never seemed particularly interested in it before. I had to leave the room for a moment to find some of my older notes related to that quest–and what I had was not much. A mad wizard with ogre minions had taken up residence in the ancient elven ruins of Gorak Torar, where he was experimenting on transforming the local Gnoll population into Ogre-kin servants for himself. That’s all I had.

Oh, and the ruins were made of blue-white stone. Because this place was not at all a ripoff of Dire Maul.

The players asked intelligent questions and quickly found a trail of clues leading them to the ruins themselves. They’re starting to get too good at this game, I can’t rely on them fumbling about for too long while I find my bearings. It didn’t take them long after finding the ruins to gravitate towards the large building at the center, and make their way into the dungeon beneath it. A dungeon which I had absolutely no plans whatsoever for. So I improvised.

I’ve always prided myself on my improvisational skill, and everyone enjoyed themselves. It was easily the most fun I’ve had recently, and my players were still talking about the adventure a couple days later. Once the game was over, and I had a moment to review my performance, I went over my methodology for creating the dungeon, and retroactively codified 8 rules I had used to help me go about the task.

Steal. Do it rampantly, and do it shamelessly. Even if you were to completely rip off the layout of an environment your players were intimately familiar with, it’s not likely that they would notice. And if you change a room shape here, and add a few more doors there, a dungeon layout lifted from another game becomes completely unrecognizable.
Don’t make the dungeon fancy, just make it. Don’t waste a bunch of your time thinking about how to make things interesting, or how to create a theme, or complicated multi-room puzzles. You don’t have time. Draw corridors, draw doors, draw rooms, and figure out what’s in them. That’s all you have time for. If you want to add depth, do something simple like a locked door, or a key hanging on the wall. Then you can easily insert the matching element later.
Read -C’s PDF guide On Tricks, Empty Rooms, and Basic Trap Design. The Empty Rooms part is particularly important. Commit as much of this PDF to memory as you can, and use it.
While your players are discussing amongst themselves what they want to do in a given room, that’s your opportunity to figure out what’s behind all of the room’s doors. You don’t need to pay attention to everything they say, but you should already know what’s behind every door of the room they’re in.
You don’t need to worry about anything beyond the rooms which are adjacent to the one your players are in. There’s no need to waste time detailing a room which they might never even get near to. If you have spare time, focus your attention on adding details to the rooms you’ve already got. Something like a trap, a secret door, or some unusual monster or treasure adds depth to your dungeon.
Restroom breaks are a perfect opportunity to expand your map.
Select a small number of enemy types, maybe 2-3, and have those creatures constitute most of the dungeon’s population. Some rooms might have a special monster of some kind, but a small number monster types repeated gives the dungeon a sense of consistency. Don’t be afraid to put those monsters in a variety of situations, though.
If your players are looking for something in particular, it will not necessarily be along the path they take through the dungeon. They will likely pass a number of doors on their way through the dungeon, and it could easily be beyond one of those. If you’d like to handle this with as much agency as possible, roll a D6 each time the players descend to a new level. On a roll of 5-6 (or 4-6 for smaller dungeons) what the players are looking for is on that level of the dungeon. And each time the players enter a new room on that level, roll a D20. On a roll of 19-20, what the players are looking for is in that particular room.

These are just the rules I came up with off the top of my head during the game. I’d be curious to know if anyone else has similar methods, or tips on how I could improve my own!

Product Review: Using Banners on the Cheap for Maps

The first dungeon I ever made. There’s a good 30 or 40 pages of this from when I was roughly in second grade. It’s…actually really sexual.

Full Disclosure: I received this product for free, in exchange for the review. I have done my best to honestly represent its quality here.

Like all good game masters, fantasy cartography is dear to my heart. I’ve been making maps of worlds and dungeons since I was a small child. Not good maps, mind you. I lack any semblance of artistic ability, but I always enjoy seeing an environment grow and come to life. Role playing games have given that little hobby of mine new dimension, as I actually get to see others explore my worlds, interact with them, and provide them with a depth and context that I could never create on my own. Often, as my worlds take on more epic proportions, I wish I had some way to immortalize them. I once spent a month re-drawing an entire world by hand, then laminating it, just for that purpose.

So a little over a month ago, when I was approached by a company called Banners on the Cheap to evaluate their products for mapmaking purposes, I jumped at the chance. There’s a lot to like about the idea. Not only do you get to see your world laid out on a huge surface, but vinyl has a nice weightiness to it as a material. It’s certainly not as cool as having your map painted on leather or something more reminiscent of a fantasy setting, but being more durable than paper is a huge plus in my eyes.

Based on my conversations with BotC prior to agreeing to the deal, we did hit upon one snag. There was some concern that the printing process they use might not be rated for cartography. Maps have details which are much finer than those found on a typical banner image. Truth be told, one I learned that, I didn’t expect to be happy with the product. I even spent a few idle moments drafting a disappointed review in my head. None the less I spent some time in Hexographer expanding my current game world. I then uploaded the map to their website and waited for it to arrive. A couple days ago, this is what I received:

Wow. Just…wow. I’m still feeling a little bit of shock over how cool this looks. That’s my game world, and it’s huge! 3’x3′ didn’t sound quite so large in my head. I could hang it on a wall if I wanted, or lay it out on a table for my players to move around on during gameplay.

Here’s another photograph, with the Pathfinder Core Rulebook used as a reference, just to give you an idea of how massive this thing is:

I chose to use a map made with Hexographer for a few reasons. Firstly, it would be the most personally useful to me–so I had some selfish motivation there. As I mentioned above, this is my current game world. Having a nice big version of the map will be an interesting tool to use as I plan adventures. Rather than examining landscapes on a computer monitor, I can do it on a table. Which is how I like to plan my games anyway.

My biggest reason for choosing a Hexographer map, however, is that it was easy to scale. I could have uploaded my Negune world map (which is far more sentimental than the map I ended up using) but I doubt it would have printed well. My pencil scratches look alright on an 8.5″x11″ sheet of paper, but I doubt they’d look quite so good when blown up to this size. On top of that, Hexographer takes my (lack of) artistic talents out of the equation. Many GMs are familiar with Hexographer, and what maps produced with it look like. My hope is that having a ‘baseline’ for the art, which everyone is familiar with, will help my clumsy photographs convey the quality of the printing.

Regarding that quality, there is some fuzziness which may not be apparent in the larger shots above. Personally it doesn’t bother me. The lines are crisp, the icons and text are easily legible, and unless I look closely I don’t really even notice it. However, the more artistically inclined might find the grainy texture disappointing. I’ve done my best to capture it in these two pictures. Please forgive my amateurish lighting in the second photo:

Now, for myself, I tend to stick to large scale maps like this one. Maps which cover miles upon miles of terrain. However, I know that others like mats which represent a single battlefield. So in their interest, I tested the mat with wet-erase markers. It worked just as well as my blank battle mats do, so that’s a huge bonus:

Drawing a cute lil’ ship in the water. Sail, little ship! Sail!

This ship is immune to even the most diligent of finger rubbing!

Oh no! Water! The ship’s one weakness! Which, in retrospect, is a terrible weakness for a ship to have!

For those same people, I also placed a mini on the map to give them an idea of what the scale is like. For the record, this map’s hexagons are set to 200px by 200px in Hexographer.

“By Vecna’s Balls! With the ship gone, I will surely drown in all of this armor!”

Regarding the service itself, I really only have nice things to say. Uploading my map was extremely simple. I just selected the size of the banner I wanted, and uploaded an image. I was then shown how the image would be positioned on the banner, and fiddled with my image until it looked the way I wanted on the preview. I received the product over a week earlier than they estimated. And the price is easily affordable. With the mounting grommets (which are an extra I tacked on) the map above cost less than $25. More than you’d probably want to spend on every gaming session, but not so much as to be unreasonable if you were planning something special, or hoping to immortalize your game world. And there are smaller sizes than 3′ by 3′ too. A 2′ by 2′ banner is priced at about $10!

Normally, when I review something, I tend to be pretty harsh. I’ve sometimes even worried that I’m too harsh, since I doubt Robin D. Laws would like me very much if he and I ever met. But I don’t see much to dislike here. This is a cool service which fills a niche within the role playing community. The company itself is actively reaching out to us as potential clients by asking tabletop bloggers to review their products. And it’s pretty damned cheap. I do most of my printing at Office Depot, and I’ve occasionally had simple paper printings which cost more than $10 just because the paper was larger than 8.5″ x 11″.

So, yeah, in conclusion, I hereby give my recommendation to Banners on the Cheap as a resource for printing maps. And if anyone ends up using it for a more artistic map, let me know! I could add the picture to this post to give people a better idea of what to expect.

Negune: The Nation of Stekett

This is the third in a series of posts about the continent of Negune. Negune is the setting for my Ascendant Crusade campaign, as well as The Girl and the Granite Throne series of short stories. Previous posts in this series have provided an overview of the continent as a whole, and a detailed account of the nation of Regalia.

Stekett traces its roots back to a paladin named Grephar Siveren. More than eight hundred years ago, during Grephar’s adventures with his six legendary companions, the group pursued a clan of violent stone giants into the mountains of present-day Stekett. There, the giants regrouped, and called upon other clans to help them in their fight. The adventurers nearly met their end in that battle, but they managed to scatter; Horatiana’s limp form slung over Grephar’s shoulder. What had been an attempt to stop a single giant raid turned into a two year guerrilla war against all the stone giants of that region. During that time, Grephar frequently remarked to his companions that if the giants were clever enough to utilize their natural surroundings properly, the adventuring party wouldn’t stand a chance.

Years later, when the party went their separate ways, Grephar decided to return to Stekett. At heart, he was a solider and a tactician. If he was to found a kingdom, he decided, it would be one that could defend itself from any attack. Even long after he was dead and gone.

Stekett is the second largest autonomous nation on the continent, after Regalia. It is also the most geographically separated from the other nations. Anyone who wishes to travel to or from Stekett must choose either a long and dangerous journey through the wildlands, a long and dangerous journey through the unpredictable island of Argania, or a voyage by sea. Most opt for the latter, and Stekett maintains a thriving trade relationship with the two Regalian provinces of Shield Haven and Centralia by utilizing the small sea that connects the three.

Military life is a major part of Steketian culture. While the law does not require enlistment, nearly every citizen spends at least a few years in military service, and it is regarded as a high honor to defend one’s homeland. Only about 5% of Steketians never serve in the nation’s armed forces, and many of those are simply unable to do so based on physical frailty, or chronic illness. Those who do not spend time in military service are not actively discriminated against, but find themselves cut off from Steketian culture, since they lack an experience which is considered to be fundamental. This causes them to miss out on opportunities available to the majority of their countryfolk.

Due to the relative peace on the continent, the Steketian military focuses its attention on preventing the monstrous races from organizing. There is usually at least one flotilla of ships active on the sea, and two legions of ground soldiers active in the wildlands–though they obey the ancient dictate to never establish permanent bases in that area. Stekett is also the only nation which sends regular expeditions into Argania. These missions are dangerous, and consist entirely of volunteers. It is hoped that in time, a safe method of passing through Argania can be devised.

Given the importance of the military in Stekett, it is perhaps not surprising that military leaders are powerful figures in politics as well. Since the death of Grephar, the nation has been ruled by a triad, the members of which share power equally: the Commander General, the High Admiral, and the Prime Minister. The three represent the Steketian army, navy, and civilian government, respectively. Most decisions require only a majority vote between the three. However, any decision to go to war with another nation requires a unanimous vote, and any single member of the triad may choose to call an end to war.

As Grephar noted, the geography of Stekett is uniquely defensible. Treacherous mountain ranges limit any invading army to a very few avenues of attack. Aside from attempting to cross the dangerous Arganian island, invaders must choose between two paths into Stekett. First, they can travel across the wildlands and attempt to breech the northern boarder, but to do so they must cross the Iron Lake which is defended by numerous barriers, traps, land based weaponry, and an elite flotilla of freshwater ships. The only other option would be attempting to land on the southern Steketian coastline. However, most of the southern coast is formed by high cliffs and rocky waters. There are only four safe places to land ships, and each one is home to either a port city, or a shipyard. Each is defended by the peerless Steketian navy.

Furthermore, nearly a third of Stekett’s total landmass is within a natural encirclement of mountain ranges. The only passage through the ring of mountains is a gorge, roughly 300 feet wide, called Stone Giant Pass. One of Grophar’s first edicts upon founding Stekett was that a great barrier should be built to seal that opening: The Obsidian Gate. It took three generations of Stekett’s most gifted stonemasons, wizards, and iron smiths to fully construct and reinforce the gate. The outward swinging double doors are 20ft thick, and their movement is supported by massive railings built into the ground along their swinging arc. With a full compliment of men and beasts operating them, the doors can be opened or closed in 20 minutes time. While not being used to defend against an oncoming enemy, however, the gates are left open.

Economically, Stekett produces the finest meats, fruits, and armaments anywhere on Negune. A military force in the Wildlands will commonly return bearing its weight in meats from the beasts there, and Steketian methods for preserving and preparing that meat are as advanced as their military forces. Most of the land within Stekett’s boarders is used to cultivate various types of fruit. A few farms even use minor magics to cultivate fruits which would not normally grow in the area–though these farms are generally quite small, and the fruits they produce are considered delicacies.

In the West most region of Stekett, nestled against the mountains, is the city of Anvilholm, known across the continent as the “City of Swords.” This multi-tiered metropolis was built by humans, but incorporates many designs most commonly found in dwarven citadels. The entire township is designed to function as a colossal smithy for masters of arms crafting. The ring of hammers is constant within the city walls, lasting all day and through the night. So single minded is the populace that even food and other basic items must be brought several times a day from nearby settlements, which are sustained entirely by providing support to Anvilholm. The settlement first began as a mining colony, but when a vein of Mithril was discovered, craftspeople flocked to the town in droves. Over the centuries the mine has continued to be a source of materials for Anvilholm. Not only of Mithril, but many other metals as well. It has been speculated that the Anvilholm mine is the richest on the entire continent. A claim which makes the dwarves of Shornholm none too happy.

Stekett’s legal system sometimes appears draconian to outsiders–or at least overly security conscious. The most noted example of this is Stekett’s treatment of arcane spellcasters. While the casting of arcane magics is not prohibited, it is strictly regulated. All such spellcasters are required to register with the ministry of artillery, and are subject to four random inspections each year. These inspections are generally conducted in a friendly and respectful manner, but some wizards understandably object to having their entire spell repertoire, as well as all of their research, tracked by the government. Some spells–including most of the enchantment and divination schools–are strictly regulated, and require a dictate from a military officer of general’s rank or higher. Additionally, while Stekett has never instituted a draft among its general population and allows members of the military to retire at their leisure, arcane spellcasters are always considered to be in reserve. Spellcasters visiting Stekett will need to submit their spellbooks for inspection, and based on their contents, may be required to leave their spellbook in a government office during their stay within the nation’s boarders.

Page by Page: Gary Gygax's DMG Part 4

This is the fourth installment of my continuing series on the 1979 Dungeon Master’s Guide, written by Gary Gygax. This post begins with the section “The Adventure” on page 47, and continues through Underwater Spell Use on page 57.

Adventures in the Outdoors Gygax recommends designing your game world around a 20-40 mile hexagon, and breakin30g it down into smaller hexagons for travel. As I’ve discussed at some significant length in the past, I prefer to design my game world around the 6 mile hexagon which seems to have become standard in the OSR. And having done so, I’m at a loss for how a 20-40 mile hexagon would even work. A hexagon six miles across can contain an immense amount of variety, which becomes especially obvious when you apply a scaled hexagon to a real world map. On my own maps, I’ve often found that a single hexagon has so much stuff in it, that it’s impossible to fit all of the necessary icons into each hex on the page. So I honestly have no idea how you would do it if the hexes were five times larger, or more.

I suppose it might be useful to create a very general map of an entire continent, but then the continent map would need to be broken down into the a smaller map for the areas the players were actually adventuring in.

Chance of Encounter Here charts are given to help the GM determine the chance of an encounter based on population density, and to know when an an encounter should be checked for. These are two factors I did not consider when working out my system for running encounters on a hex crawl. I like the idea that more densely populated areas have much lower odds of an encounter. I’ve always left the probability of an encounter up to GM discretion, but this is better. It’s good for a system to be consistent, because then players can learn the system, and make intelligent choices about how and where they will travel. When players notice that they encounter fewer monsters in areas subject to regular patrols, they may be more likely to stick to the roads.

There’s also a chart here which lists six times of the day: morning, noon, evening, night, midnight, and pre-dawn. Those times are cross-referenced with various terrain types (plains, forests, deserts, etc) and there is either an X, noting that an encounter should be checked for at that time while in that type of terrain, or a -, noting that an encounter should only be checked for if the party “numbers over 100 creatures.”

I would really like to know whose party numbered over 100 creatures.

In my games, I just roll for encounters once per hex, and once in the evening, assuming the party is traveling consistently. I do like the idea of encounter rates being affected by terrain type, however. It provides some additional depth to what each terrain type functionally means for the characters. Instead of a marsh just being a muddy and smelly place, it’s also a place where encounters can happen at any time of the day.

I would like to point out that I’m pretty sure Gygax is only writing about monster encounters, though. When I make an encounter table, I allow players to find any number of things, ranging from monsters, to buildings, to NPCs, to treasure, and even adventure hooks. So were I to use this system, I would want to modify it so that the reduced encounter chance only affected monsters.

Encounter Distance I’ve long known about this and thought it was a good idea, but I’ve never implemented it in any of the games I’ve run. Essentially, when a random encounter is rolled, if one group or the other is surprised, then AD&D GMs were supposed to roll a random distance between the party and their foes. I’ve always found it easier to arrange surprise battlefields myself, based off the party’s marching order. But I do like randomly generating stuff, since it helps me to avoid any biases.

Becoming Lost Getting lost in the wilderness is something I covered briefly in my aforelinked post on hex crawling. Gygax and I seem to have essentially the same idea, though I disagree that it should be impossible to accidentally move in the right direction. I don’t see why not.

I also like the idea of the players hiring a guide to avoid getting lost. I hadn’t thought of that.

Flying Mounts I don’t really have much to say about this. Gygax’s rules for flying mounts are solid. I like the point that flying creatures large enough to support a rider will require a large amount of gold every month in order to keep them fed (300-600gp). It’s a good method of preventing players from gaining access to this kind of boon too early in the game.

What really strikes me as I read this, though, is that I don’t recall ever reading about flying mounts in 3rd edition or Pathfinder. The fact that the players will eventually gain access to flying mounts is assumed, and covered in depth. I wonder when that changed? Flying is still a large part of the game, but it is mostly assumed to come from the Fly spell, it seems.

I also like the detailed discussion of aerial combat. Gary’s solutions are simple, but they look like they would work well.

Waterborne Adventures Like the section on flying, the rules seem to be solid, but they’re not exactly a revelation. Boats of X type move at Y speed, and have Z hit points. Brendan recently pointed me towards a post on Delta’s blog which has some strong criticisms for these rules which I would have missed.

On my list of things to work on and write about is “Making Sea Travel More Engaging.” I may return to the rules Gary presented here when I do that, but I think that more is needed if traveling on a ship is going to be engaging for the players.

Underwater Adventures How to handle underwater adventures is a topic I often see discussed on /tg/. The idea is intriguing, but it obviously requires some different mechanics than a standard game. How do the characters breathe? How does water affect their movement? How are three dimensions handled? The rules presented in this section of the DMG are functional and cover all the questions I can think of related to underwater adventuring.

On a lark, I pulled out my 3.5 DMG, and I found this comparison interesting:

“As all readers of fantasy know, the ocean floor is home to numerous ancient submarine civilizations and dark, green realms of creatures half-man and half-fish. Your players may have heard tales of the mountains of unken loot that have been collected there over the centuries, of such things as pearls the size of a man’s head, of beautiful mermaids with green eyes and blue skin…If they should find some way to investigate these stories, how will you handle it? This section deals with methods for conducting underwater scenarios.” -Gygax, DMG, Page 55
“Aquatic terrain doesn’t offer the variety that land terrain does. The ocean floor holds many marvels, including undersea analogues of any of the terrain elements described earlier in this section. But if your characters find themselves in the water because they were bull rushed off the deck of a pirate ship, the tall kelp beds hundreds of feet below them don’t matter.
Accordingly, these rules simply divide aquatic terrain into two categories: flowing water (such as streams and rivers) and non-flowing water (such as lakes and oceans).” -Monte Cook / Jonathan Tweet / Skip Williams, 3.5 DMG, Page 92.

Favorite Quotes from this Section

“If this [designing a continent] is not possible, obtain one of the commercially available milieux, and place the starting point of your campaign world somewhere within this already created world. At the risk of being accused of being self-serving; I will mention parenthetically that my own WORLD OF GREYHAWK, (published by TSR), was specifically designed to allow for the insertion of such beginning milieux, variety being great and history and organization left purposely sketchy to make interfacing a simple matter.” – Gygax, DMG, Page 47

The Most Visually Impressive Appendix Ever

Today (as of this writing), I received my Random Dungeon Generator and Wandering Monster posters from the Blog of Holding Kickstarter campaign. Paul started the project to fund production of the former, and generously required only a $22 donation to have the latter thrown in as well! I got them laminated, and they’re now hanging in a place of honor above my workspace.

If you are unfamiliar, the random dungeon generator (pictured right) was originally created by Gary Gygax, and included in the Dungeon Master’s Guide as appendix A. The generator takes up about 4 pages of the book, and is intended to help GMs create dungeons both in preparation for, and even during, a session of game play. The variety included in the tables is impressive. Numerous types of corridors, room sizes, trap types, treasure and even whether or not a monster is present can be generated with the tables. They can be somewhat difficult to follow, and require a lot of page flipping, but the creation of it is a feat of Gygaxian proportions.

As Paul tells the story, it first occurred to him that the tables could be re-drawn as a flow chart. It then struck him that a dungeon is basically a flow chart with monsters in it. So he set out to represent the random dungeon generator as a dungeon, and it turned out beautifully. It’s extremely simple to follow. I’ve already created a few dungeon levels using it, and aside from having a difficult time finding a table large enough for it, it has been a pleasure to use. The art is top-notch as well. I know many of my readers have a soft-spot for detailed black-and-white art, and I don’t think they’d be disappointed by what Paul has done here. There are little visual treats everywhere, with tiny characters making their way through the many dungeon obstacles present.

The Illustrated Wandering Monster Tables are of somewhat less use to me, since I have so much fun creating those tables myself. But the art is, once again, very nice. Plus I think it will be fun to use in conjunction with the random dungeon generator. If I can somehow fit them both behind my GM screen, I won’t even need to bother making any game preparations any more!

So far, the poster has only been made available to those who participated in the Kickstarter campaign, but Paul has said they will be made available somewhere online soon. When it does become available, you have my recommendation to purchase it.

Reality is my Sourcebook: Outside

The sun and I are not on good terms.

We’ve got an uneasy sort of détente. It stays out of my realm, and I stay out of it’s. For the most part this works for the both of us. I only need to go outside when travel to work or the game store. But then, all I need do is scurry through the sun’s realm from my front door, to the car door. And since I live in the pacific northwest (the Seattle area) the sun often doesn’t even show up to harass me during that jaunt. Clouds and rain do, but I get along with them just fine.

Then I let a woman with plans to become an ecological scientist move in with me. This was a bad idea. Every so often she drags me, clawing at the carpet, into the natural world. I try to explain to her that the Sun will view this as a breach of our unofficial treaty, but she seems to think that I’m just being melodramatic. Somehow she doesn’t view the sun bombarding me with potentially lethal radiation as proof enough of its malice.

One minor benefit of these harrowing excursions is the inspiration I’m able to draw from them for my games. As I’ve mentioned many times before, reality is filled with amazing facts, many of which can be used as inspiration for gaming. Today I encountered a number of different natural environments at the two nature reserves we visited. And there, I discovered three things which I thought might be fascinating to use in a game.

At the first location we visited, we saw this large space filled with nothing but mud and death. Apparently this area is, naturally, an estuary. Simply speaking, an estuary is a meeting of fresh water and salt water, where rivers reach the sea. When early settlers moved into the pacific northwest, they blocked off the salt water, and used the land around the estuary to create an orchard. The land has since become a nature reserve, though, and the dike blocking the salt water was recently removed. As it flowed back into the landscape, it killed off all of the fresh water plantlife, resulting in this deathlike landscape. In a few years, salt-tolerant plant life will reassert itself. Until then, however, tell me this doesn’t look like a perfect environment for undead to live in? There’s nothing visibly alive out there. Just dead plants, murky water…and mud-caked undead ready to attack foolish adventurers?

As a game master, you really don’t need an excuse to create an environment, since most of your players probably won’t be too picky about how a given environment came about. But if you strive for accuracy, just put an abandoned settlement and a dike that crumbled from age.

It was as we were looking at this creepy landscape that my ladyfriend also took the opportunity to tell me about Bog Bodies, which you should totally check out if you’re a fan of undead stuff like I am.

The second location we visited is apparently somewhat unique to our area, and somewhat mysterious as well! Scientists are not entirely sure what causes the formation of Mima Mounds, which are sort of like tiny hillocks. The tallest are a little taller than an average person (about 7 feet), and they apparently occur primarily in areas of plains/prairie. What I found most fascinating about them, from a tactical perspective, is that they are almost invisible. Since the entire area is a field of grass and small plants, it can be extremely difficult to identify the mounds. In the picture above, they are only clearly apparent because that photograph includes the treeline for them to intersect. Check out this photo where the mounds don’t block your view of the trees. I promise, there are a bunch of mounds in this shot:

This would be an absolutely perfect place for an ambush. Particularly for small creatures like halflings, gnomes, kobolds, or goblins. Four or five of them could hide behind each mound. The small field I visited today could cloak several hundred warriors, all able to appear instantly to charge across the flat ground between the mounds.

Wikipedia has a panoramic image of the field I visited today. It’s almost 12mb so it takes a moment to download, but it’s a pretty impressive view.

Finally, there was this crazy moss. Neither of us was even able to identify it, so I can’t share any solid information on it. It was growing absolutely everywhere on the Mima Mounds, in huge patches as large as 7-8 feet across. It was so prolific we assumed it probably was not actually dead, yet it sure as hell didn’t seem alive. It was completely dry and brittle, crunching under our feet as easily as snow would. And a lot louder than snow would as well. It would be impossible to sneak up on anyone through moss like this.

On a final note, as we were leaving to head home, we met Spiderbro. He was a bro.