Medieval Cappadocian dungeon design!

Archaeology and real-world architecture is always super inspiring. But one of the problem is that real-world architecture, unlike fantasy dungeons, is often linear and too simple. Not enough weird interconnections to really make dungeon exploration interesting! I posted about this in the early days of this blog.

Well, this Cappadocian rock-cut monastery at Selime Kalesi is a non-linear dream!

Map:

The map is from Cave Monasteries of Byzantine Cappadocia by Lyn Rodley (p. 64).

My favorite detail is the narrow passage between areas 13 and 18. Good design, Cappadocians!

And the detailed room-by-room description is like a keyed dungeon... Albeit without monsters. Some excerpts from the book:

Room 2

At the south side of the east wall of Room 1 a small rectangular opening leads into Room 2, a narrow rectangular room with a bench along west, east and south walls. The room is roughly barrel-vaulted at its north end and has a flat ceiling at the south end, carried above a cornice. West, east and south walls at this end of the room have a decoration of arched blind niches; those on the west and east walls taper off at their north sides. The niche of the south wall contains a large rectangular window, overlooking the valley.

 

Room 8

The porch, like the church, was plastered, but most of the plaster has fallen away. Fragments remain on the east wall, around the church entrance, and on the easternmost edges of north and south walls. Just below the cornice on each side is a painted inscription of seven lines on the north side and three lines on the south. The lines of the inscription appear to be complete and since they occupy the whole width of the plastered area of the porch it is possible that the plaster did not extend right across the porch wall, but was confined to a narrow vertical band the width of the inscription. Unlikely though this may seem, the alternative is to assume that by chance the area of plaster with the inscription has been preserved while the rest is lost. The text, a dodecasyllabic poem, is as follows:

‘Let no one be misled by the desire for wealth for the love of money has destroyed many. For this flesh is earth, clay and...’

The poem appears to refer to the tomb chamber below it, but clearly does not supply any information on the inhabitants of the chamber.

 

Room 12

A secondary opening in the west wall of Room 12 leads into Room 13, described below. The only original opening is the rectangular entrance from Area 10, described above, which opens into the south wall of Room 12. In the southeast corner of the room a chimney has been cut through the ceiling, and the room is much blackened by smoke.

 

Room 18

There are two openings in the south wall of the east gallery: to the west, the entrance to another elbow-shaped passage leading to the east end of the south gallery (18c) and to the east an opening into the long tunnel (b) which links the east wall of Room 18 with Room 13.

 

Room 28

This is a small barrel-vaulted room with cornices, a transverse arch and wall arches, like so many others of the monastery. One lunette is decorated with a relief carving of a horned animal. The location of the stable suggests that the tunnel was once the only entrance to the monastery, and that horses and pack animals had to be left at the foot of the hill and the tunnel entered on foot. The room with the horned animal may conceivably have been a gatehouse of sorts.

3x10 initiation rites

Random acts and tasks a guild/clan/order/gang might require from those wanting to enter their ranks.

Sneaky

1. Spend a night in jail and carve your name on the wall.

2. Steal from somebody who trusts you.

3. Prevent a crime – then commit it yourself.

4. Frame somebody for a crime, real or imaginary.

5. Get caught cheating in a game.

6. Cry wolf!

7. Sell something of no value for a great price.

8. Find a hidden path.

9. Impersonate somebody for a day.

10. Steal something big – then lose it.

Martial

1. Fall from a high spot, then climb higher and fall again. Repeat.

2. Pick a fight – and lose.

3. Gather your gang, start a fight, direct them from the sidelines.

4. Teach somebody to fight better.

5. Fight with your hands tied behind your back.

6. Bring down a building.

7. Survive being dragged under a ship.

8. Fight an alpha to assert dominance.

9. Forge your own weapon.

10. Defeat somebody with your gaze.

Mystical

1. Witness a lightning strike.

2. Walk an untrodden path.

3. Become a wild beast for a day.

4. Get stung or bit by three different stingers and biters.

5. Create a mask and wear it as long as you can.

6. Ponder your orb.

7. Get utterly, hopelessly lost.

8. Create your own secret code writing.

9. Carve your true name on a pebble and throw it in the river.

10. Find the same place thrice in your dreams.

[Dungeon] "The Arnesonium" - a Blackmoorian exercise

The topic of the dungeon maps from First Fantasy Campaign came up on the Wandering DMs discord server. Mostly we discussed how to describe all those weirdly shaped spaces and labyrinthine corridors...

Just for fun, I decided to draw up and stock a dungeon level in this style. I did not use the "Protection Point" system (you can read about it over at The Alexandrian's blog), just filled everything up as I went randomly. 

The Arnesonium, Level 1

1) 4 Ogres, lazy, 4000 GP, Potion of Ogre Shape

2) 8 Spiders

3) 5800 GP, Wand of Bridge Building

4) Knee-deep water. 28 Talking Eels

A. Teleport to 3)

5) 6 dead adventurers, will rise as Zombies

6) Dungeon noticeboard: monsters for hire

7)

8) Switch: lowers the ambient temperature of the whole dungeon level to arctic, then breaks off.

9) 6300 GP, Dragon-Fang Spear, 2 Potions of Sadness

10) 1 Wight

Wandering Monsters by Quadrant

A) 6 Berserkers

B) Conjurer and 4 Men-at-Arms

C) 4 Zombies

D) 1 Ogre

Grab as a PDF...

Lycanthropy rules, based on the Turn Undead table

A simple system for player characters infected with lycanthropy!

 

There are two types of transformation: voluntary or forced.

Forced transformation happens under setting-specific circumstances: full moon, passing of a comet, meteor shower, drugs, anger or stress, trigger word for hypnotic suggestion, etc.

The player must roll on the following chart, 2d6 for voluntary transformation, 3d6 with “disadvantage” (roll 3 dice, keep the 2 worst).

	Lycanthrope type (HD) **
Level *	Wererat (3)	Werewolf (4)	Wereboar (4+1)	Weretiger (5)	Werebear (6)	Devil Swine (9)
1	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	11	-	-	-	-	-
3	9	11	-	-	-	-
4	7	9	11	-	-	-
5	T	7	9	11	-	-
6	T	T	7	9	11	-
7	D	T	T	7	9	11
8	D	D	T	T	7	9
9	D	D	D	T	T	7
10	D	D	D	D	T	T
11	D	D	D	D	D	T
12+	D	D	D	D	D	D

 

- = transformation and uncontrolled rage for a number of rounds equal to double the Lycanthrope HD, then transform back and crash (unconsciousness for 1 hour)

11, 9, 7 = roll equal or higher to retain control for a number of rounds equal to character level, then rage for a number of rounds equal to Lycanthrope HD, transform back and check for crashing (save vs Petrification or lose consciousness for 1 hour)

T = transform and retain control for a number of rounds equal to character level, then transform back; unable to transform again until after a night’s rest

D = transform, retain control and transform back at-will, no crashing

* Reddit user Maz437 proposed an addition to the system: 

This is based not on absolute character level, but on "levels spent with the curse".

However, that also means that mightier high-level characters (who level slowly), will spend a LOT of time trying to learn to control the disease, which is also a bit strange (logically, a high-level character would have an easier time retainig control).

** HD values based on OSE. Modify as needed...

[Secret Santicorn!!] A second, more serious oracle for character simulation: The Methodical Oracle

As promised, a more serious offering for Kirt Dankmeyr, based on his request of a "A small oracle for solo OSR play oriented toward simulating party members and not the GM. Tho bonus points for a GM replacement oracle that dovetails with the first one".

The Methodical Oracle!

The point of this small oracle is to aid the solo GM in "in-character" decision making.

Create a Profile for each player character in the party by assigning one of the five Methods to each slot:

Profile types:

Balanced	Focused	Hyperfocused	Method slots
2-3	2	2	Rare
4-5	3-5	3-4	Secondary
6-8	6-8	5-9	Main
9-10	9-11	10-11	Secondary
11-12	12	12	Rare

The five Methods:

Violence	Direct confrontation, brute-forcing
Diplomacy	Smooth-talking, bartering, calling in other parties (e.g. NPCs)
Knowledge	Monster lore, survivalism, arts & crafts, history & politics
Trickery	Exploitation of the space, devices, creative use of objects, falsehoods
Magic	Spell-slinging, prayer to higher forces, decipherment of arcane clues, activation of weird objects

The Procedure:

At any decision point, pick or randomize a lead character. Then roll 2d6 and consult the character’s Profile to see which Method they offer.

To make things more interesting, pick or randomize a second character and cross-check their Method using the same roll result as the lead’s (so if you rolled 6 for the lead, check what’s a 6 on the second character’s Profile). Describe the conflict or the synthesis of their Methods. You can use a standard Reaction roll to see whether the other character likes or dislikes the alternative proposal.

 

Example Profiles:

Bubba the Wizard

Hyperfocused	Method
2	Violence
3-4	Knowledge
5-9	Magic
10-11	Trickery
12	Diplomacy

 

Morax the Duelist

Focused	Method
2	Knowledge
3-5	Trickery
6-8	Diplomacy
9-11	Violence
12	Magic

 

Example Decisions:

Situation 1.

The party enters a cave, the lair of a dozen goblins. The goblins are surprised. Bubba the Wizard takes the lead, and, after some deliberations (2d6: 11 = Trickery), offers to sneak by them. Morax the Duelist (11 = Violence) might offer to take advantage of the situation and charge the unaware goblins.

Situation 2.

The party is looking for their patron’s stolen ring in the big city. Morax the Duelist takes the lead and comes up with the ingenious plan (2d6: 5 = Trickery) to create a fake ring. Bubba the Wizard (5 = Magic, Reaction roll: 9 = Positive) agrees and checks his books for an illusion spell to help with the plan.

[Secret Santicorn!!] Player simulation oracle for solo games

It's Santicorn-time on the OSR discord server!

Kirt Dankmyer requested "A small oracle for solo OSR play oriented toward simulating party members and not the GM. Tho bonus points for a GM replacement oracle that dovetails with the first one."

Okay, my entry here is a bit of a stretch... But to truly replicate the OSR (and RPG...) experience, you need to account for the whims of the players themselves! So, you, as the solo DM, present the situation, then roll to see just how you, the solo player, are interested in this stuff...

THE PLAYER REACTION CHART (2D6)

		Sample quip (1d5)
2	deal with it begrudgingly	1.    “Mehh, I think riddles are stupid” 2.    “Sure, although this is not how Jeff runs it” 3.    “This fight is a slog, I stab myself” 4.    “Ugh, not *another* ‘you start in a tavern’ session” 5.    “This goes against all established lore though”
3-5	scatterbrain	1.    “Sorry, I thought this was still Elsa’s turn” 2.    “Remind me, who is this guy again” 3.    “Wait, what do I roll for that?” 4.    “Yeah, it’s on my character sheet. Or this piece of scratch paper. I just can’t read it” 5.    “Can I borrow your dice?”
6-8	acknowledge & participate	1.    “Yes, this is all part of the game” 2.    “Fair enough, I hit it with my sword” 3.    “I ask the wizard if he knows the location of Castle whatsitsname” 4.    “My thief checks the lock for traps” 5.    “We ascend the stairs”
9-11	honest interest	1.    “Oh, I have this in my notes!” 2.    “Let’s try and befriend these goblins, we need allies against the Fish Lords” 3.    “That blacksmith is quite a character, I’m sure we can ask about her battlescars AFTER we are done with what we had planned” 4.    “What a quirky trap! We reset it to lure the next monster into it” 5.    “And I have just the spell we need!”
12	HYPERFIXATE	1.    “OMG so adorable let’s adopt this random gnome fighter” 2.    “We could make so much money by bottling the healing water from this random pool! Leave dungeon crawling behind” 3.    “I check for secret doors and traps every 5’ instead of 10’. There MUST be something here” 4.    “No, these broken chairs cannot simply be dungeon dressing. The GM mentioned them for a reason” 5.    “Okay, I examine the next book. And the next. The next one too…”