How To Host A Dungeon

Recently I stumbled upon this page on Making Dungeons. Which contains rules on How To Host A Dungeon, taking one from the Primordial soup to the Age of Villainy. Since this was such a neat premise I had to play a run through. Any confusion with the rules is probably my own fault, and I know that I made some errors that if I were to have another go at it I would be able to avoid, but it turned out pretty neat. Though one thing that bothered me was that, given how I rolled in the Primordial age, there were no pockets of gold or ore for the latter ages and that really made my dungeon rather wealth poor.

Anyways, here's my notes from the playthrough, along with pictures.

In the beginning were the Drow. The initial set-up had given the dungeon an underground river, a volcano to the left side, and a set of three monster ridden caverns in the center. The caverns contained a slime, a gelatinous cube, and a troll, eventually the troll would end up as the only one alive(the others killing each other off). The Drow expanded, but due to the lack of any real resources(no gold, gems, or mithril had been rolled) there was little actual activity. They reached the surface with little fanfare, only to be wiped out by the human kingdoms, and thus ended the age of Drow. (I wasn't sure if I needed to roll a disaster or not here)

The Age of Monsters

A castle is founded in the west and begin farming, in the east a set of human miners stumble upon the old drow shaft and begin to shore it up. In the old monster caverns an ant colony takes root and begins to breed. Finally, in a natural cavern formed by the underground river a ogre takes up residence, but soon must depart to search for food.

Year two is much the same. More farms for the castle, the miners dig deeper, the ants breed and send out a tunnel to the east. The Ogre eats whatever was left over in the Drow dungeons, and a Xorn arrives in a empty natural cave near the river.

Year three begins with Gnolls taking up residence near the old Drow Statuary hall. The castle inhabitants continue to breed and the miners continue along the old drow shaft. The ants breed, the ogre consumes its own loot, and the Xorn wanders. (It was rather far from any other caverns or rooms so I didn't know if the rules meant for it to be lost in the tunnels or establish another cavern where it ended up as it headed towards food. I assumed it just stayed in the tunnel).

Year four. Things get interesting. A group of 4 Lawful adventurers decide to brave the caverns, of course the only accessible area is the Mining camp.(The rules don't state whether the human miners are lawful or chaotic, but I assumed that they'd be lawful, also, the rules of the adventuring group don't specify how far they can move each turn. Do they go until they run out of people or finish their mission? That's what I assumed for this play. Again, no option for if the group hasn't encountered any others, they can't exactly send the adventurers off on a quest to fight nothing). The adventurers eliminate the fledgling gnoll colony, and fight the ogre to a standstill, unfortunately it seems that the xorn are too much of a challenge, their bones and treasure mark the spot(I created a cavern at the spot to mark their last hurrah, otherwise I don't really know where I would have put the treasure, my earlier decision to leave the xorn just sitting in the tunnel comes back to haunt me.) After the fall of the adventurers, the city builds some dungeons, the minders dig deeper, the ants end up at their maximum breeding capacity, the ogre finds treasure, and the xorn eats some treasure.

Year Five. Another adventure group arrives, this time 4 chaotic adventurers(my die seemed to like 6 this turn). The human miners are all eliminated with the loss of a single adventurer(again, both rolled 6's). But when the ogre is encountered, they're massacred. The castle is also able to send a group of adventurers down into the depths, hurrah! They find nothing and thus return to found a city instead. The Ant colony comes into conflict with the Xorn, since they can't bribe, instead they handily loot its treasure. The Xorn are then pushed back. The Ogre loots the last of the Drow treasures.

Year Six. Wandering monsters arrive! A Giant Spider, a Gelatinous Cube(affectionately labeled as Jelly Cube), and a Roper enter into the fray. The humans breed. The ants breed and steal the roper's loot. The Xorn then kills the Roper and takes over its lair. The ogre then eats the giant spider. Jelly survives deep in the underdark and does nothing.

Year Seven. Three lawful adventurers enter the dungeons. They kill the ogre handily and take its loot. They kill Jelly, it has no loot. They kill the Xorn, it has no loot. Amazingly successful adventuring party, they return to the surface with their loot! Two of the loot disappear into the heroes pockets, and two go to the improvement of the city and castle. The city sends a group to adventure as well....which returns empty handed after clearing the dungeons of rats. But they do found a wizard's tower(pyramid). The ants breed....everything else has been wiped out by adventurers.

Year 8. The Statuary hall and environs have a new special feature. They're now haunted by the ghost of the Ogre that was slain last year...or at least that's what I think. The Castlegoers again send down an expedition....which brings back nothing, but does found a new university, and ushers in the age of villainy.

Age of Villainy

Twisted by researches into things that MAN WAS NOT MEANT TO KNOW(pyramid power?). The occupant of the Wizard's Tower(pyramid) begins to cackle, the Dungeon Master has arrived. Expanding into the depths, he builds himself a nice hall, recruits minions and builds a barracks for them. The ants and humans breed. Adventurers arrive and due to the Dungeon Master's minions being inept and incompetent(rolling 1's does not help the cause, I can only imagine that the DM stepped into his own vat of shark filled acid), quickly dispatch the villain. And thus ends the age of villainy.

All in all, a really interesting and fun little tool. Obviously I made it in a paint program since I don't have any sketching paper, but I think it came out pretty well. It would probably be a lot easier if I did just sketch it out, since the I had to mentally grid it off to imagine where the die 'fell' by rolling to find the grid point. Also, there were some things that I felt were really neat, yet didn't get much of a chance to shine, I almost went through the whole game without a special feature showing up. Another thing was that only certain groups tunneled, others might get stuck in separate areas without access to their prey or loot source, related to this was a comment in the rules to build new rooms as necessary for the colonies, but I couldn't exactly find where it told us when it was necessary. The adventurers from the city had troubles as well since their basement never connected up to any of the main cave complexes, and conversely none of the monster groups were within their range. But as I said, it was quite interesting, just watching the evolution of my dungeon ecology was really neat, and it's definitely giving me ideas for the next cavern complex any stalwart(or stupid) band of adventurers might run through.

Anyways, head over there and check it out, for a fun little solo game or a useful DM's tool, whichever your pick.

Of Mice and Men...or Rats and Players

Mal: Well, look at this! Appears we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us?
Zoe: Big damn heroes, sir!
Mal: Ain't we just?
-from Firefly

One of the main pitfalls of having a GM and players is all too often the GM gets caught up in creating a challenge for the players that they see themselves as their opponent. But in my opinion, one must realize that they're actually working together. The players create the world as much as the GM, by rough magic and flashing swords they shape it, and in the end it is an effort in cooperative storytelling. And in most cases, that means that the GM must have a hand in offering the players opportunities to be, simply put, BIG DAMN HEROES.

The players should never feel like they're rats in a maze, or pawns in someone else's game...they may well be, but they should never have to feel that way. Agent of one's own destiny, if such a thing is possible, or else at least given the opportunity to laugh in the face of death and face it head on. They may not win all the time, but they should never feel inconsequential. Never should they feel that they have no choice, there should always be choice, and an opportunity to be heroes, not just people being tossed around, their victories have to mean something. Players come with characters that are most often diamonds in the rough, they'll be shaped and sharpened by the challenges they have to overcome,and hopefully polished to a heroic luster.

Anyways, remember, while a GM should challenge the players, they shouldn't put them in untenable situations with little recourse but to follow along. Not to mention of course, the need to let your heroes shine.

Mighty Mooks!

Kobold, Gremlin, Orc, Cultist, whatever their label we all know these people, just enough threat to hold the countryside down, yet sword fodder to the first real adventurers that swing through.

Now I went through quite a few cheesy titles for this posts including, Making Mooks More Meaty, Mooks Mess up Mercurial Marauding Characters, The Little People, Goons, Goblins, and You, and similarly themed options certain to elicit groans. Because lets face it, after the first few levels most game systems give you characters that can plow through them without breathing heavy. But that doesn't mean that you have to leave these fellows behind, there's a certain charm to seeing a party brought low by a bunch of kobolds.

Now the obvious option is to simply level them up, they have adventures too, right? The problem with that is twofold, first and foremost it makes more work for you, secondly, the players might feel cheated by it. "What do you mean that gnome is an epic level barbarian!" This is one of the places where I'll say that detail is unneeded, faceless minion #165 might be facing a troubled marriage and is a concert violinist, but be honest with yourself, why waste time coming up with a background when he'll be dead before dawn.

What I think is an acceptable solution is to spend a little bit thinking about the tactical situation. Often heroes will be venturing into the mook's home ground, aka, the first line of defense. Traps are always a favorite, although can be unbalancing if the PC that can actually find them is absent, or even if nobody thought to create one to begin with. But what I think that you need to remember is that there are other ways of fighting besides standing face to face battering swords, the holy trinity in most RPG games is Grapple, Trip, and Disarm. Swarm tactics, helping each other out for bonuses, and then getting the PC's to where they can ram their dirty little feet u...errr, lets just say in a vulnerable position. Other tactics include nasty little things to slow the heroes down, nets work well, and in certain situations weapons with reach allow some survivability to your mooks(not that you should expect them to survive, but you should at least hope to wear the Heroes down). Remember, weak does not mean dumb.

The other situation that you have mooks in is where you're likely just teaching the PCs the rules of the game. Here is where I think you're validated in making your tactics for the mooks less than optimal, use them to illustrate maneuvers that the PCs have as options. Again, grappling, tripping, disarming, all valid, and there are some settings that allow other options, being intimidated by a little lizard man will at least wring out a few laughs. And don't be afraid to include a little camp or humor in their portrayal, or what the heroes do to them.

The only other thing to mention is that if you're going to be rolling up treasure, take a moment to do it beforehand...and let them use it if they can. A magic wand or weapon or something of that nature can give ample opportunities for adding some depth to the encounter.

Anyways, hopefully this little primer has given you some ideas, although it is by no means exhaustive. If you'd like to share some of your tactics for the making and breaking of mooks, feel free to comment.

Refusal of the Call

"Often in actual life, and not infrequently in the myths and popular tales, we encounter the dull case of the call unanswered; for it is always possible to turn the ear to other interests. Refusal of the summons converts the adventure into its negative."
-The Hero With A Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell

So you've plotted out the adventure, statted out the dungeon, and dropped the hook right in front of the PC's...and then they don't take it. In fact, they decide to go the opposite way entirely. Is it time to toss your campaign notes, throw a fit, or try to railroad them back onto track via kidnapping/impending doom/geas? No, of course not, but it doesn't mean that nothing happens either.

This time we'll look at three strategies to use when this happens, in the interest in not only making an enjoyable adventure now that you have to think from scratch, but also in helping with the worldbuilding, a dynamic world is something that is vastly more rewarding in my opinion than one that remains static aside from the PC's actions.
1. The world of adventure
2. You are not alone
3. Things happen without the PC's, or NPC's have lives too!

The World Of Adventure
One thing that I like to do is to map out the area. No need to be drawing whole continents and landscapes just yet, though I know the temptation is there. Look for geological features, they* say that geography is destiny, and they aren't far wrong. Because let's face it, fantasy worlds are more often than not just a bunch of stereotypes bunched together in a formulaic manner. Mountain? Dwarves. Forest? Elves. Hills? Giants. etc. etc.

What I personally like to do is, if they've abandoned the big huge evil rising in the east, then offer options. Just sketch out enough of a scenario in each direction that they can be heroic, even if it is for lesser stakes. Having a few premade scenarios lifted from the net can be a lifesaver in these times, it doesn't take much to have people start complaining about monsters, villains, and the like. Drop those scenarios into locations and have the rumors start flying. No need to fully flesh out any one scenario unless they take the bait, and then a random encounter on the way often will give you enough breathing room to start building.

And just because you planned out that dungeon for one area doesn't mean that it won't serve perfectly well now. Change out a few of the non generic monsters and tweak the treasure and boss battle a bit, and if they want a dungeon crawl(despite crawling away from the one with the plot macguffin in it), there you have it.

You Are Not Alone
All those stores stocking adventuring gear aren't there just for the PC's. Well, they are, but they don't have to be. Unless they're specifically the chosen ones, it's not too far fetched to have other adventuring groups step up to the plate. One example that I would like to give is an aborted adventure turned ghastly. The PC's had recently decided about halfway through a mission to destroy some ghouls that it was time to move on(a theme you'll hear often), headed off to the large city to find, well booze, women and something to spend their ill gotten gains on. When they return a few weeks later, the town is a very different place, their favorite pub is now a ghoul holding area, and the town itself is under new management. One NPC that had been an aid to the players earlier, a sorcerer, and the half orc bartender with a heart of gold had teamed up to keep the town from being overrun by ghouls, unfortunately the sorcerer's solution was one that ended with him as the new mayor, and dissenters thrown to the ghouls.

This is something that I might touch upon later, amicable evil, moralities become quite interesting when it turns out that the PC's are the ones that caused the chain of events that have blackened the countryside. By their inaction, not to mention earlier saving the sorcerer and rekindling the orc's joy in battle, the town has now transformed from Basic Adventurer Podunk, into Ghoul Infested Wasteland. Another technique to spice up an otherwise routine mission that you had to create on the fly is to throw in the doppelganger adventure group, perhaps they came earlier than the PC's and all that are left are dead monsters and heroes basking in the glow of the treasure room. Or they come later than the PC's and demand the macguffin for their own quest.

Things Happen Without the PC's or NPC's have lives too!
As illustrated above, things happen without the players characters. The war that the players decided not to stop suddenly starts drying up the goods to the city. And then you have a whole new adventure of riots in the streets and a scramble to buy goods, churches are mobbed as those that can create food suddenly become in demand, and booze, the bread and butter of adventurer life becomes worth its weight in gold. Or else they might wake up to find their favorite watering hole under new management.

The other side to the coin is that NPC's can be a wonderful way to pump life into an otherwise boring section of play. In another post I'll do a more detailed look at the lives of NPC's, although for right now I'll keep it short. Even if the players don't really want to leave the tavern there are plenty to keep them occupied, or at least to enjoy. Because let's not kid ourselves, a massive and epic plot with cinematic scenes may be what you had in mind, but really, as long as the players are enjoying the game, that's what matters. Here are a few ideas for the tavern; late night fight club, the champion being a werebear. Is that the missing noble woman up there doing the dance of nine veils? If so, then why, if not, then who is it? Excuse me waiter, there's a kobold in my beer! And the ever popular "unnamed gate guard who pesters us for papers when we come into town" on his off day.

There you have it, three quick ways to make sure that your Players enjoy, despite having to go off the planned route. Really, that's the main thing about playing, people should enjoy it, and they should have actual choice in what their characters do. As a GM or DM or Storyteller, you shouldn't be afraid to improvise a little bit, even if it means putting that villain on the backburner for a few weeks(though just because they're on the backburner doesn't mean that they aren't keeping busy as well)

*They being the international Conspiracy of Cartographers in league with the Bavarian Illuminati to create a mass illusion known as England