As a little exercise, I drew a dungeon and stocked it according to the guidelines in the 3 original Dungeons & Dragons booklets. Behold, the Temple of the Berserkers!
(for a one-page adventure, print "2 pages on 1 sheet")
* 2020.08.11 - updated the file with a new map and a couple of minor edits.
Big thanks to John Bragg for spotting the error in the elevation levels!
* 2020.08.24 - now with a players' map, with traps, secret doors and labels hidden!
Workflow:
I started with the map (because I love drawing maps). 40-ish rooms, interconnections, etc., and I added some features like statues and secret doors right away. Then I reserved the bigger or more peculiar rooms as "specials", but didn't put anything in them yet.
Instead, I went through the rest of the areas, stocking them randomly, as a level 1 dungeon. The OD&D procedure is clunky (and can be substituted with a single-roll stocking method), but I used it more or less as written. Next, I rolled up random monsters for each populated room.
At this point, due to a freak coincidence, I rolled Berserkers three times. And so, a theme emerged. A temple/dungeon mostly overtaken by Berserkers, and a couple of other creatures and NPCs, who are either their leaders, allies, or, in some cases, enemies they can't get rid of.
With this theme set and most rooms stocked, I returned to the specials and adjusted them to fit the theme (or not fit the theme, as OD&D dungeons are not supposed to be all logical...).
I like how it all came out and it was fun to make. Enjoy!
Sounds interesting and flexible! I'm going to use it for sure. Thanks!!~
ReplyDeleteThanks! Let me know your opinion if you end up using it, as is or part of it!
DeleteI will have to fuss with it some as we are playing AD&D 1e, but likely not too much. I’ll definitely let you know!
DeleteYeah, all the monsters are present in the MM. Maybe the treasure amount has to be adjusted.
DeleteExcellent! Thanks again.
DeleteI like this little dungeon a lot! When I make a dungeon I design very intentionally but I'm not sure the results are necessarily better than by-the-book randomness with some post-hoc adjustment.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, I've been thinking about Berserkers a lot myself and fitting them into the ecology of my own campaign has been fun.
How do you populate the Special rooms? Do you have a table of unique features or do you just make them up as needed?
Random stocking definitely lets me accomplish *more*. It's much easier to make a bigger, more extensive dungeon if you are helped out by random tables. It's even better psychologically: I'm an anxious person, and NOT being the sole "author" of the dungeon, sort of being able to delegate part of the job to a randomizer is actually a big relief... :)
DeleteI don't think I've ever even thought about Berserkers before yesterday when they came up 3 times out of 5 on random rolls :D :D
For Special rooms - it's a mix.
- In this dungeon, part of it came from the map, especially the phase when I added markings for secret doors, statues, altars. I didn't know at that point what are they exactly going to be, but at least they gave me a starting point: "okay, there are these Berserker guys, what would be their statue?"
- Some things are just off the top of my head, and I see if I can fit them in.
- And I have a bunch of supplements, PDFs, printouts, blogposts that help a lot. I haven't consulted them for this dungeon, though I did make great use of OD&D Supplement IV, Greyhawk, which has a nice collection of ideas for traps, specials, tricks.
When I work on dungeons, I get a lot of mileage out of Michael Raston's tables: https://lizardmandiaries.blogspot.com/2017/09/random-dungeon-creation-kit.html
DeleteAnd occasionally the Hack & Slash compendium of Empty Rooms: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/269764/Tricks-Empty-Rooms-and-Basic-Trap-Design
And the Tome of Adventure Design is *sometimes* helpful... Although I'm not as enthusiastic about it as I used to be. Some tables are great, some are just filler.
I enjoy ruminating on what belongs next to what, otherwise I probably would use more randomized dungeons. That said, I should use some random/procedural generation just for a change of pace. Michael Raston's stuff is so excellent (I recently bought his Blasphemous Roster book).
DeleteI made "berserker salts" a treasure/drug/poison rendered from dead monsters and a gang to exploit the effects. Hopefully, it'll be fun when my players find some.
My favorite of your Specials was the evil magic sword and the inscription that is basically a dare. I already have an idea on where to place a similar statue in my dungeon... Thanks!
"Berserker salts", lovely :D
DeleteI entertained the idea of warriors huffing fumes from a crack in the ground, to achieve the berserker trance state... I didn't put it into this dungeon, but definitely storing it for a later Special :) On the hindsight, it would be a great fit for this temple: the Berserkers take over the former temple of Thasaidon, because it has this source of berserking gas (maybe put it in area #21, instead of the fountain of variant size).
Yeah, I'm quite happy about the evil sword trick :D Glad you liked it too.
I used the sword statue in my latest dungeon. Just wanted to tell you: https://deadtreenoshelter.blogspot.com/2020/08/thurstle-island-barrow-of-twisted-wyrm.html
DeleteCool, I'm glad to become a part of the Thurstle Island stuff :D
DeleteBeserker salts are definitely going to start appearing on "minor treasures" tables along with healing potions, alchemists' fire, oil, thieves tools, fire breath, anti-burn oil.
ReplyDelete.
Quibble with the map: At #6, there's a down staircase, with no counterpart on the left half of the map. Maybe the long hallway in #24 slopes down gradually, and a down staircase by 18?
It always bugs me when dungeon maps do that without an explanation.
Thanks for pointing out the level discrepancy! Do you happen to be a Dwarf? ;)
DeleteI like the idea of a long sloping hallway (a 10' change in level over ~150'). In such a version, a staircase should be added near #28, too.
OR a staircase *UP* by #18, that brings back the left side of the complex on the same level as the big octagonal hall (#3).
Anyways, I'll think about this and eventually update the map!
Not a dwarf, I've just messed with a lot of free-and-cheap PDF dungeons. Always take a couple of crayons and determine where the creator missed a change in elevation.
DeleteThe secret door between the two hallways in #24 is a fixed point. Either the entire left half of the dungeon slopes downward (10' over 150'), or the narrow hallway slopes downward after the secret door (10' over 70').
Or a staircase at #28, so that #22-32 are all on the lower level. Then no need for a sloping hallway.
I took the path of least resistance and added a stair to #28. Updated the file and map in the post.
DeleteThank you!