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Dungeon23 (Wk 15/16) Random encounters and random cards for dungeons

By Michael / Chgowiz #AD&D, #D&D, #dmtips, #dungeon23, #OD&D

Week 15 was a bit of a wash, with a family medical event and then GaryCon that weekend. Fortunately, I had mapped/keyed far enough ahead that I didn’t fall behind. 

Wandering Monsters/Random Encounters

This week, I completed keying Level 5 and mapped/keyed a sublevel. Level 5 had a definite theme, as versus more of the gonzo craziness of Levels 1-4. I like how it came together. 

With my wandering monster chart for Level 5, I focused on events/activities that the monsters might be engaged in. For example – the monsters of one room are wanting to hunt/kill the monsters in a different room across the level. So, one of the events that may be engaged by a random encounter is that they attack! It might happen when the players are nearby, or it might not, but I’ll have to resolve the situation either way! I’m curious to see how this plays out.

Sublevel design

This one was a doozy to key, it’s definitely a high-risk, high-reward type of location, with some definite TPK possibilities, but also some vast riches to be had. Do you dare tread the stairs?

I raised the bar in terms of what “level” to key the sublevel at, to increase the danger/reward.. There’s also a special trick that changes the nature of the level, depending on what the players do! Unfortunately I can’t post spoilers, but this trick required me to practically key two separate versions of the same sublevel!

A huge influence with the design of this sublevel comes from a fun area in Diablo 2. 

Dungeon Architect Cards and random dungeon generation

Up till now, I’ve been generating the dungeon’s layout using Appendix A from the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master’s Guide. For this sublevel, I wanted to try out a different approach, and thanks to a random discovery on my RPG bookcase, I had that!

The Dungeon Architect Cards are courtesy of a Kickstarter by Simian Circle Games that I participated in 2016. I received both the World Architect Cards and the Dungeon Architect Cards. 

It’s a pretty nifty little set of cards, with various rooms, their sizes and passages available. I think, though, I’m going to have to be a bit more deliberate than just picking random cards. Just like I had to do with the Appendix A, I’ll have to come up with my own approach/mini-games that help create a dungeon that works.
But for now, I’ve got a nice little sub-level that will definitely kick some serious ass if the players come thinking they’re ready for it!
On the topic of these nifty cards, I had originally thought that they were a “one and done” kind of deal, but digging around a bit on the Internet, I ran into this great announcement!

I don’t know much about Bloat Games, but they have a product line called “Dark Places & Demogorgons”, made for the popular retro-clone OSE, as well as they’ve been helping Simian Games release something called Perilous Adventures – apparently a riff on 8bit gaming. 

So if you missed these the first time around, you’ve got a second chance coming later this year!
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So how am I using the Dungeon Architect Cards?
I’ve divided them up into two piles. 40 of my cards have a room on one side and a passage on the other. 25 have just rooms on either side.
On a d12 roll of 1-8, I pick from the room/passage cards. 9-12, from the room/room cards.
I pull the Nth card – where N is the roll. I close my eyes and let it fall. Whatever is side up, that’s what I connect to the place where I’m connecting to (another room exit or passage side). I draw that on the map. If there’s a question of placement, I’ll use dice to tell me (if the passage points left or right, or 3 different ways to connect a room, 1d6 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, etc). 
With my Hobonichi notebook, each “day” has a 6×8 grid inside, so I may end up pulling two or three cards to fill that space, or the equivalent of a day’s space. Once done, I set the deck aside and do any minor corrections to make things work/fit. 
To determine if an exit or connection point between rooms and other rooms/passages is a door or open exit? Roll a d6. Most of the exits s/b doors in this level, so 1-4: door, 5-6: passage/archway.
Dungeon23 stats: as of week 16
  • Levels: 8 (+ 4 sublevels)
  • Rooms: 358 (26 added in wks 15/16)
  • Levels 1 – 5: mapped/keyed.
  • Levels 6: mapping in progress
  • Levels 9, 10 connected
  • 4 sublevels mapped/keyed
  • Town: Created, 7 locations/NPCs keyed.

By Michael / Chgowiz

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