Mask, Number 28: The Dungeon Mask

This shiny black but amply scratched visor-like half-mask covers the eyes, ears and nose.

The Dungeon Mask completely overrides the wearer’s senses. The wearer feels as if they are transported into a stylized dungeon – all magenta, cyan and yellow against a black background. Numbers and icons float in the wearer’s field of view, displaying Lives (3), Ropes (2), Weapons (2), Level (1) and Score (0).

The Game starts here

Follow this algorithm:

1. Enter new Area (roll on the Areas table. If this is the first roll on the Level, roll a d4, d6 next, then a d8 afterwards)

2. Resolve the Area OR Take alternate route (roll again) for the price of Level x 50 from your Score (if this would bring

3. If the Area is Stairs, safely Exit the game OR go to the next Level

4. If Lives are at zero, reset Lives to 3 and bounce back to the previous Level

5. Go to Step 1

Safe Exit: After a game, the high score list is displayed. The delver puts their name (up to 6 characters long) and score on it. The player character (who put on the mask), gains Experience points equal to the Score!

Unsafe Exit: At any point, the player can crash out of the game to escape.

 

Areas:

1             Pit. A wide chasm. Roll d6 over the current Level or discard Rope to pass. Lose 1 Life on failure.

2             Swinging Trap. Roll d6 over the current Level or lose 1 Life.

3-4         Monster! Roll d6 over the current Level. Discarding a Weapon grants +1 (can be done after the roll). Failure: -1 Life and no reward. Success: add Level x 10 to the Score, roll d6 the Treasure table.

5             Ancient Altar. Your next d6 roll is automatically a 6.

6             Boss Monster! Roll d6 over the current Level + 2. Discarding a Weapon grants +1 (can be done after the roll). Failure: -2 Life and no reward. Success: add Level x 50 to the Score, roll d6+2 the Treasure table. The next Area is automatically Stairs.

7             Stairs. You can go to the next Level OR safely Exit the game (tally Score and go to the Hall of Fame).

8             Secret Room! Roll d6+2 on the Treasure table.

 

Treasure table:

1-3         None

4             Add Level x 10 to the Score

5             +1 Weapon

6             +1 Rope

7             Flamethrower (+6 Weapons, knowledge of the location of a magic weapon for the player character in the outside world)

8             The Holy Grail (+6 Lives, knowledge of the location of a healing spring for the player character in the outside world)

 

During the delve, the mask’s facial expression changes from calm to a tortured grin to reflect the number of Lives the delver has left.

 

Hall of Fame:

GOOBER              999999999 (who the hell is this player? Are they stuck in the Dungeon?)

OZZY                     3500

DYSON                 2220

NERD66               1500

GLAXOR              660

BOOBSZ               300

 

Post your score in the comments to be added to the Hall of Fame!!

I was tagged by Jenx; I tag ktrey!

Update: of fuckin course ktrey came through with a full d100 table of magic masks :D

Subterranean Gate: the scariest thing in Heroes III and something I'd like to see more of in hexcrawls

Heroes III is a wonderful game. I played it a LOT as a kid. One image that stuck with me is the Subterranean Gate... BEHOLD!

Passing through them takes a hero from the main surface map to an underground layer. The underground layer is the "home" to evil towns. And they have many connections to the aboveground layer, so they can provide shortcuts, alternative/surprise routes, or even the only way to reach an isolated region.

And these skull gates are so creepy! Their visual design is spot-on. I always remember feeling trepidation when directing a hero into them. You never knew what monstrosity guarded it on the other side...

I recalled them today because a user over at the OSR discord, Oaksmoker_Doomlord, posted his new hexmap, with "lots of cave paths linking secluded areas". He likened it to Zelda's Death Mountain. And of course, there is the archetypical subterranean shortcut during a wilderness adventure: Moria!

Adding a second layer to your hexmap, Heroes III style, can open up a bunch of possibilities. Of course, segments of these underground tunnels and cave systems can be played out as dungeon: like the entrance area, or a central lair. Longer stretches can be abstracted, procedural, wilderness-travel-like, with random encounters. And, like in Heroes III, they can provide alternate routes, tactical advantage, and more interconnections.

So, traipse the land, sail the seas, float down the rivers, fly above, or crawl beneath!

Clive Barker's Undying

Recently, inspired by Noah Gervais' excellent analysis of Clive Barker's games, I've started playing Undying.

There are so many things I love about this game! The atmosphere, the story, the environment design, the journal entries... But at the same time, unfortunately, I'm not really into, uh, actually playing it. It's a very hard game, and I have to reload and retry a LOT. It's survival horror, so resources (like ammo or health kits) are scarce. And I grow tired of it quickly. I usually play at most 20-30 minutes in one go, then take a day-long break..

Also, so far it feels very linear in a way. Of course, the maps are complex, there are many doors and corridors... but ever so often when you want to go through a door where you are not supposed to go at the given moment of the game, it is jammed ("it won't budge," the protagonist announces). And there is lot of backtracking. E.g. early on in the game you have to go out to the garden through a door in the west wing of the building. When you get there, you learn that the key is in the east wing, so you have to backtrack, then explore the east wing. Ugh. Am I spoiled by tabletop RPGs? :)

Betrayer

There is this tendency, that I tend to play video games mostly during times when I'm SWAMPED with tons of IRL stuff and work... They are a great way to relax and to procrastinate. To write tabletop RPG-related stuff or to play, you need to be able to concentrate more; while computer games can be played for full effect even when tired.

Lately, I've been playing a game called Betrayer.

It's a first-person action/RPG hybrid, set in 17th century Colonial Virginia...

The whole game is presented in grayscale, with red accents. It seems kinda gimmicky, but it really adds to the whole atmosphere. There is an option to colorize the graphics, but I prefer the original b&w world (you can tune the dark & light balance, contrast, so it's not as heavy on the eyes as you would expect).

You fight using period weapons: bows, crossbows, pistols and muskets - these last two deal high damage, but reload times are very long, a nice realistic touch. Usually you only get to fire each gun once per combat...

You slowly work your way through the game world, fighting possessed Spaniards and flaming Savage Braves (this game is 'colonial' in many ways...), investigate clues scattered around the map, try to learn what kind of evil possesses the land. Sometimes you have to enter into the shadow worlds, a dark parallel dimension, which allows you to interact with the flipside of this horrorshow. In this mode, you can cleanse objects and chat with the spirits of the deceased.

Quite an engaging game, overall, so I really recommend it.

Infra Arcana

I was sick this whole week, couldn't concentrate to post anything worthwhile... Hopefully, more Swamp '70 ideas will come soon. I'm also working on an adventure framework for Apes Victorious.

"Cultist with artifact", by JMD3

In the meantime, I'm playing Infra Arcana, a roguelike dungeon crawl with occult / Lovecraftian themes. Despite the ASCII-style graphics (although not true-ASCII, but still minimalistic) it is a very immersive and atmospheric game. The music and sound effects help with this a great amount.

You can play as four different classes. The Rogue is good at sneaking around, and you can pick the "Treasure Hunter" trait as starters, which gives you a greater amount of loot. Playing as the War Veteran is probably the easiest, but they go insane much quicker than the rest... The Occultist is a tough choice: they can study spells from scrolls, but have a lower HP and combat ratings. And, finally, the fourth playable class is the Ghoul: a rather interesting addition, it can heal by chewing on fallen enemies, has some unique traits (e.g. "Foul" - there is a chance that maggots spring out of monsters killed and attack other enemies).

As for enemies, you get standard beasts / animals (wolves, various spiders), the undead, cultists, ghastly abominations. There are "mini bosses" appearing from time to time: powerful named characters with special abilities, like Keziah Mason...

You are low on health and encounter a huge group of zombies. You flee back to the closest junction, jam the door shut and try to heal up -- while the zombies are trying to break through the door. You shuffle for ammunition, but only find a scroll of teleportation: will the eldritch incantation take you to a safer segment of the dungeon or throw you straight into the mouth of an unknown abomination?!

As most roguelikes, it's punishing and hard, but not unfair, I highly recommend it.