#dungeon23 - January - Area 4

 

4. PLUNDERED CHAMBER

• It’s unclear what this room was once used for – but it is littered with bits of mouldy wood and other detritus.

• On the far wall is an old wooden door resting crookedly on rusty hinges.

ENCOUNTER: The door on the far wall appears to be stuck and will require a suitable roll to open (inwards). However, the passage beyond has collapsed, and opening the door will cause rubble to fall into the room – dealing minor damage to anyone standing in the doorway (unless they make a suitable saving throw).

REVELATION: There is clearly something strange about the southern wall – as a perfectly straight crack is visible (from floor to ceiling) where a secret door has been left ajar (i.e. no roll is required to find it).

#dungeon23 - January - Area 3

3. OLD TRAPPED PASSAGE

• Relief work in the form of leering faces decorates the walls of this passage (most of them at chest height).

• Upon the floor lie the desiccated corpses of two former explorers – complete with rusted and tattered gear.

• The passage itself seems to lead into another large chamber.

ENCOUNTER: This passage used to be trapped. Several pressure plates can be discovered in the indicated area – though the (poison dart) trap itself is spent (there is just a clicking sound from behind the mouth of each 'face decoration' when triggered).

REVELATIONS: A multitude of old rusted darts can be found scattered about the floor and lodged in both of the corpses. 3D6gp worth of assorted coins can be recovered from the bodies.

Dungeon Build Along - SEASON 2

So, as well as starting the year off with the #dungeon23 challenge, I'm also revisiting the Dungeon Build Along project from last January - and I'll be crafting level 2 of that dungeon throughout this month as well.

However, if you're not familiar with the previous 'build along' - it was basically a series of short videos that folks could follow - one that would get them started with the print & paste terrain AND provide them with a basic adventure to run alongside it (basically, if you've been thinking of giving the print & paste stuff a try - but didn't know where to get started - then this would be a good place to begin).

And if you're interested, here's a picture of how SEASON 1 ended up looking (and HERE is a very basic adventure write-up):

Anyway, as I say, this year I'm going to be doing something similar again - and (since 'level 1' ended with the stereotypical set of stairs leading down to the next level) I'm going to have a go at making level 2 of the same dungeon... possibly making this a yearly project each January from now on :)

So, if you're interested in crafting along with me, you can find the (pay-what-you-want) pdf file over on DriveThruRPG, and I've posted the first video down below:

Note that the plan is to release a new video every Monday - and by the end of the month we should have level two fully built... and a simple to run adventure to go along with it.

I hope that sounds like fun :)

#dungeon23 - January - Area 2

 

2. ENTRANCE HALL

• The passage opens into a crudely carved chamber (roughly circular in shape) - with three rusty iron gates set into the walls.

• An exsanguinated goblin corpse lies in one corner – its body covered in small wounds.

• Beyond each gate lies a dusty passage – the walls of which are lined with worked stone.

• The air here is cold and damp.

ENCOUNTER: There is a 50% chance that a mundane creature might be found here – munching on what’s left of the goblin.

REVELATIONS: The north gate is still functional but creaks loudly when opened. The west gate is rusted closed and will need to be forced open. The east gate also appears to be stuck, but any attempt to force it will cause the hinges to come free, and the whole thing to fall to the floor with a clatter.

 

Notes to self: Stirges to the east and/or west? Goblins to the north?

#dungeon23 - January - Area 1

 

1. ENTRANCE PASSAGE

• A natural looking cave opening leads to a 10ft wide rough hewn passage.

• Carved into the walls are several small shelves or niches – each less than 1ft. in size.

REVELATION: Fragments of old pottery (possibly from something that was roughly tear-shaped) can be found in a couple of the niches (these are fragments of ancient oil lamps/burners).

Getting Ready for #Dungeon23

As some of you might already know - there is a bit of a craze over on social media/blogs/etc. at the moment... and a lot of folks are talking about this #dungeon23 thing.

If you're not familiar, then it's a concept proposed by Sean McCoy (of Mothership fame) where you try to write a dungeon room every day throughout 2023.

Then, if all goes to plan, every month can be representative of a single level of a mega-dungeon - each containing around 30 rooms (though that idea is not set in stone - it could be a city, with each entry being a building or NPC, or anything you want really).

Furthermore, each entry doesn't have to be anything special (if you're busy/struggling on a particular day - that entry might simply be 'empty room') - the main aim (as far as I can tell), is to just try and do 'something' each day if you can (and don't worry if you can't... just pick it back up when you feel like it).

Anyway, as you can probably tell, I'm going to give it a go... at least in some fashion - but to begin with I'm just going to commit to doing a single dungeon level throughout January (after which, I might change things up a little, and try something else).

And in preparation for that, I've been doing a little warm-up dungeon these past couple of days - just to iron out any creases before I start the real thing (you can find this test dungeon HERE if you want to check it out - as I think this is the kind of layout that I've settled on).

- the basic 'old-school' style of map that I'll be using (drawn in Inkscape) -

Now, the current plan is to post my 'room' descriptions here on the blog (one each day throughout January) - and see how I get on (I'll also compile all of the entries in THIS google doc).

However, I don't want to make something that's too gonzo - so I have drawn up a (very) basic plan of this first level (see below) - but it will likely change as the month progresses.

So yeah, tomorrow will be the first day of this challenge, and while I don't expect my results to be anything special (in truth I don't expect the resulting dungeon to be all that usable) - I think it'll be a fun exercise nonetheless.

Anyway, feel free to follow along if it sounds vaguely interesting... and if you're also taking part in #dungeon23 (and sharing your own progress), then let me know where to find you down in the comments!

Effigy Tombs (print & paste terrain)

I’ve had this idea for a while now – and although the original plan was to make a tips & tricks video to cover it (just using the ‘pillars’ and the ‘statues’ pdfs), I’ve instead opted for a full episode (with all new textures) in order to make things a little easier.

As usual, things started with a basic idea…

 ...which eventually turned into something a bit more presentable: 

 Anyway, here’s the video tutorial:

 

...and HERE is the pdf file (note that if you are a supporting me over on Patreon or as a YouTube Member, then please just put a zero in the little box and download the file for free).

Hope you like ‘em!