Dungeon23 Begins

-

 2023 is here and with it comes the start of #dungoen23. I plan to update my progress here every Sunday with regular posts over on my Instagram following the development of my megadungeon on a more micro level. My first keyed room is for an entrance into the dungeon:





A Bit of My Process for Those That are Interested

For the start of this endeavor, I am pulling from a few of my favorite previous designs. When my regular Monday night crew (known around these parts at the adventurers based out of the Drinking Crow) first started, we were playing Dungeon Crawl Classics. After running several published 0-Level funnels, the first dungeon I designed were known as The Goblin Caves and featured a notoriously deadly entrance through a cave opening with a carved entry inspired by this:

Orcus in the Gardens of Bomarzo

This started a long-running interest in dungeon entrances themed around sculpted faces and heads that even pops up in my comics. I decided to play off this entrance with that of the entry tunnel into my tent-pole dungeon from the campaign that proceeded the Twilight Age, an OD&D game inspired by these Cuccagna-posts over at In Places Deep known as What Fools These Adventurers Be that I ran from 2016 to 2019. In capturing the spirit of these deadly and notable dungeon entrances, I ended up writing something a but longer than my usual room keys. With how tone-setting an entrance is, I kind of think the long-windedness of the entry is worth it.

I don't expect that every entry is going to be as long nor that they will be derived from previous ideas I have played with before. There is no shame in repurposing an old idea for inspiration, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if it comes up again after I use another idea or two to build my initial spine for this dungeon. D&D is a game built off of pilfering concepts you love from the culture around you (including yourself). I feel like it is part of the essential folk appeal of the game. Sam over at Better Legends wrote a little bit about this element of the game and dungeon design in this blog post.

This anti-commercial spirit seems an important part of Sean McCoy's initial pitch. Zedeck Siew's write's to this idea more effectively than I could in this Prison of the Moon Maiden #dungeon23 entry. Like Zedeck, I am aiming to approach this whole thing with little to no plan. My only goal is to challenge myself as I keep on making entries and have a good time while I do.

See you all next week with an update including the first seven rooms of Level 1 of this megadungeon. Until then, hope you all have a happy New Year. Those that can't wait until then, you can follow my regular progress over on Instagram:


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adventuring in the Twilight Age

-
Image
Welcome to the Twilight Age Ever since the Empire-That-Was receded, no human endeavor under the fading red sun has reached its heights. Some say humankind no longer possesses the know-how to reach such grandeur. Others claim that confronting daily a sun that could fail them at any moment has filled folks with a spirit of defeat. Regardless of the reasons, it is in the face of such apocalyptic ennui that we find the peoples of Ur-Dun. Just south of the fallen Imperial capital city, this series of towns have become petty city-states just as embroiled in squabbles as they are in desperate dependencies fundamental to their survival. These human-led settlements are not the only civilized peoples in Ur-Dun. The mortal regents possess delicate treaties with distant Elfin Courts. The Gloaming Hills below the Slumbering Mountains are populate with small pastoral settlements of the hill dwarf (re: gnome) descendants of the folk that built the Imperial-era structures that litter the r
Read more

Downtime Activity- Find the Right Buyer

-
Image
  Dungeons are packed with treasure. After all, isn't that why adventurers decide to plumb their depths? While treasure finds of items that spend easily like coins of precious metals, gems, and jewelry often make up the winnings of successful adventuring expeditions; they are not the only items of value a party will haul back to the surface world.  Eager to make the most out of a group's expeditions, they often grab anything that looks like one could turn over for a quick coin or two. To turn such items into gold, though, adventurers have to locate an interested party to sell these art objects, non-magical tomes, trade goods, and other valuable dungeon oddities. Below is a new downtime system for locating buyers for dungeon treasures not inherently valuable like coins or gems or easily pawned off due to being made of inherently high-value items (like jewelry, items made of precious metals, etc.). The activity is based on some of the other downtime systems designed by Ben L. we
Read more

Downtime in the Twilight Age

-
Image
Outside of sessions at the table, time in the Twilight Age moves at a pace that matches our own. So one week passed in our world = one week passed in the Twilight age. This, combined with the proscription of ending each play session outside of danger, will mean players will find their characters with time to kill back in Orm between adventures at the table. What Is There Even To Do In Orm? Below is a list of downtime activities players can pursue between sessions. Most take one week to perform and those that don't will say in their rules (like magical research). Details for each activity are linked into the action title below. They are: Building an Institution - Form a gang! Build a theater troupe! Invest in a bar! To develop these and other similar enterprises, describe how you are going to develop the institution (often involving the spending of gp) and roll 2d6 for your level of success. Carousing -  See below for rules for partying it up between adventures. Carou
Read more