[Dungeon] The Shining Hexahedron

This is a small dungeon mapped to the outer and inner surface of a cube.

I made this for the EXTREMELY BYZANTINE 5-ROOM DUNGEON jam.

Have fun!

Download the whole thing here

(Remember, you MUST perforate the paper with a pen like you are in a sci fi movie explaining wormholes to a dum-dum)

[Dungeon] Underground Station, Long Abandoned (location from The World of Tomorrow science fantasy campaign)

Sharing one of the dungeons from The World of Tomorrow campaign. 

This is an underground monorail hub. There are some arcane technological treasures and a weird fungal instruction to be found here, but the main “reward” is access to the monorail: if brought online, it can take the party to far-off places on the map.

DOWNLOAD PDF

(or download as a one-page dungeon to print right away here)

Map: North (N) is “up”. One square = 10’. Treasure values: listed in “standard coins” (c).

Vibes: mole people, Escape from New York, Terminator, Planet of the Apes, Fallout 1-2

Entrance: 500’ deep elevator shaft. Architecture: concrete walls & floors. Doors: Code-locked sliding metal doors, numerical panel by side (can be hacked, short-circuited; codes hidden in safe of #7).

Generator in #1 has three modes of operation:

Mode	Light	Elevator	Train
OFF	no	no	no
EMERGENCY	dim red	no	yes
FULL	bright white	yes	yes

Random encounters: 1-in-6 chance every other turn to run into Amyntor. Introduce wandering vermin or lesser mutants as needed.

Amyntor (Halfling 3): The main inhabitant of the station. A cyclopic person of short stature in a ragged vault-suit, exile from a secret high-class bunker (COMPLEX 4000). Has night-vision goggles (single-eyed, 60’) and a Puppet-Master 3000 device to control the Mutants in #3 (it glitches out often, so can only issue commands to 2 random mutants out of the 3 in each round). Shy and paranoid, likely to hide and sneak around (don’t forget to check for surprise and encounter distance – the result might mean he is around the corner). If in danger, flees and activates the Mutants.

AREAS:

1. ENTRANCE HALL. Elevator arrives here. Generator in SW corner, currently OFF.

2. SERVICE HALL. Train car from N tunnel (#3). Three large garage doors, each one has a Bulbous Mutant (as Troll) behind it: they are linked to the walls by feeding tubes, only come to life if controlled by Amyntor.

3. TRAIN CAR. All windows spray-painted black or covered with cardboard. Two rows of seats. Tunnel around car blocked with debris, but there is a small passage through the blockage on the top of the car.

4. TRAIN TURNTABLE. Domed hall, 70’ high. Locomotive (#5-6) in middle.

a. Towards “NUCLEAR FACILITY”       b. Full of graffiti. Secret door to #9 graffiti’d over

c. Towards “EXPERIMENTAL CITY”      d. Dead-end

e. Towards “COMPLEX 4000”           f. Balcony of control room (#7), 40’ above floor

5. LOCOMOTIVE PILOT CABIN. Trash and a bedroll. Controls functional (magnet on/off, speed, open/close doors). Constant white noise with granular speech and music fragments emanates from a small speaker.

6. LOCOMOTIVE MAGNETIC ENGINE. Hermetically sealed door. If open, all metal objects in the door’s vicinity are attracted to the giant magnetic coil in the middle.

7. CONTROL ROOM. Control panels to bring the monorail network online. Computer logs show last activity was “9999 years ago”. Large safe built into the N wall: holds blueprints, instruction manuals, 6 platinum bars (3000 c total).

8. LONG CORRIDOR. “Danger” signs at both ends. TRAP: 1-in-8 chance of collapse into tunnels underneath in the middle section (20’ fall).

9. DANK CAVE. Metal footlocker: spare vault-suit and Pupper-Master 3000 device (fully functional, but with battery drained).

10. STORAGE ROOM. Dozens of crates stacked high: some tools and parts can be salvaged (500 c total). Sensitive characters feel tentative probing: one of the crates holds a plastiglass formicarium of psionic ants. The hive mind is ready to trade services for food.

11. COLLAPSED AREA. Fungal smell from N.

12. SHRINE OF SHROOM CONSCIOUSNESS. Save vs. Poison; on failure, commune with the the world-encompassing mycorrhizal network) – treat as a Contact Higher Plains spell, followed by 1d6 days of unconsciousness.

[Dungeon] Hole of the Goblin King

Buckle up and put on some Grieg, we are going on a trip to the Hall of the Mountain King! ...what? The DM blew all our money on novelty dice and now we can only afford infiltrating the Hole of the Goblin King? Uhhh I guess that's our life now.

Hole of the Goblin King is a dungeon I drew and wrote by hand. 18 keyed areas of an underground lair. I guess it's what you *might* call "vanilla fantasy", because it's about goblins in a hole, with by-the-book stuff. It has kind of a whimsical/tongue-in-cheek tone. Leveld 2-3? 

Anyway, this was FUN. You should have more FUN.

Full res scan here

[Dungeon] Temple of the Forgotten God

This is a 16-room dungeon I wrote in about an hour for the OSR discord's community hexcrawl. I thought I would share it here too. Meat & potatoes OD&D-style experience. Minimal keying. Have fun!

Download as PDF here!

(now with enhanced map)

Update: enhanced map!

All rooms are hewn from the black basalt of the mountain. Ceilings are 8’ high unless otherwise noted. Doors are stone slabs that slide into the wall. One square = 10’.

Wandering monsters (2d4):

2 2 Robots in love

3 Black Pudding

4 1-10 Pixies

5 2-8 Reptiloids

6 2-12 Koblins

7 1-4 Vampire Bats

8 Time-travelling Thaumaturgist

Areas:

0. Entrance Chamber

The double doors are voice operated (react to OPEN and CLOSE commands uttered in the language of the Ancients). Labored breathing of a large creature can be heard beyond the second set of doors.

1. Trapped Dragon

20’ high ceiling held up by red pillars. Emaciated Adult Red Dragon (half HD), trapped here a decade ago by a cunning adventurer who knew the command words. The monster cannot fit through the doors towards #2 or #5. Small hoard of 1200 gp in the corner.

2. Trophy Room

Rusty weapons and shields (2 swords and 3 shields salvageable) on the walls. Thick layer of dust everywhere: trace of an approx. 3’ object dragged towards #4.

3. Locked Storage

Secret door: ventilation duct 6’ above the floor leads to a 4’ wide passage.

4. Drippy Area

Weird lemony green ooze drips from the walls. The object dragged over from #2 is a 3’ square extremely durable, yet light metal plate with handles.

5. Transitory Room

Doors to rooms #6-8 painted Orange, Yellow, Black.

6. Orange Door Room

Empty.

7. Yellow Door Room

6 Ghouls, transfixed, staring at a grainy TV screen. 

8. Black Door Room

Dark & squalid, walls painted black. Secret door: outline barely traceable below thick black varnish.

9. Healing Pool

Eerie blue glowing water. Murals on the walls depict nymphs bathing – sometimes laughter can be heard! A creature fully submerged in the water for 1 hour regains d4 hit points and, if poisoned, can repeat the save (this healing procedure is only effective 1/week). Partial submersion can lead to weird mutations.

10. Rug Maze

Garishly patterned rugs and curtains hang everywhere. Total value: 500 gp.

11. Crate Maze

Crates stacked high, easy to topple. 9 Dervishes lurk here, their leader holds the Pipes of Slumber (Sleep spell 1/day, but the wielder doesn’t heal from resting). 

12. Generator

Entrance partially obscured by crates. 10 Large Centipedes warming around an energy generator.

13. The Bone Gang

Entrance partially obscured by crates. 8 Skeletons, clearly a former group of adventurers (2 “fighters” with swords and shields, 1 “cleric” with mace and “unholy symbol”, 1 “magic-user” with a staff and a Scroll of Magic Missile, 4 “henchmen” with burnt-out torches and empty sacks). They guard a chest containing 4 rubies (500 gp ea.) and a gilded silver goblet (200 gp).

14. Ape Nest

Pool of dried blood before entrance. 2 White Apes lounging on dirty hay.

15. Wolf Lair

3 Giant Wolves, their hides colored blue (same hue as the pool in #9).

16. Garage

Functioning anti-grav skiff, with enough fuel for 2 days of operation. Seats 2 people.

Nest of the Circuit Roaches - a small sci-fi horror adventure!

I wrote (by hand!!) a small sci-fi horror adventure, Nest of the Circuit Roaches. It takes place on a space station or planetary outpost, and the party is tasked with cleaning out the titular Circuit Roach infestation before the swarm drains all the data & electricity.

It's system-agnostic, OSR in soul, and a good fit for Mothership, Traveller, Stars Without Number.

It's free/PWYW at itch.io!

There are a couple of versions. The main version is the hand-written "pocketmod" booklet. But I also included a typed-up one-page dungeon and some other files and maps for ease of use.

The title came from the wonderful "Generic Room Stocker" by Michael Raston. Great inspirational resource, highly recommended.

[Dungeon] Maze of Amazement ( & Death ), one-page adventure for OD&D/Delving Deeper

So, if keying the entirety of The Maddening Corridors of Nuclear Chaos is not really a viable option, what can we do with it?

Well, we can cut it up and use a part of it as a complete dungeon!

I divided up The Maddening Corridors map into 36 quadrants, took a random one (by rolling two six-siders), cut it into half, edited out some errant corridors and superfluous exits; and ended up with a 60-ish room dungeon.

The next step of the exercise was to key it. I followed the basic procedure of my two previous OD&D efforts (Temple of the Berserkers and Outpost of Stone & Silver): stocked it quickly using Delving Deeper (made even quicker through Inspiration Pad Pro automation), then edited as needed...

You can fit 61 rooms on a single page... Of course, the key becomes very minimal, but still, I think this is playable. See for yourselves:

Download PDF with map & key!

Enjoy!

UPDATE 2025: A Level 3 Dork turned this into The Lair of the Serpent Men! Compare & contrast to see how far a little re-skinning can take you in making a dungeon your own.

[Dungeon] Outpost of Stone & Silver, science fantasy adventure for OD&D/Delving Deeper

Temple of the Berserkers received a very warm welcome, so here's a follow-up! Outpost of Stone & Silver is in the same format: dungeon map + keys that fit on one page (or two pages, if you want larger font). It's a science fantasy adventure, in the spirit of Gamma World or Carcosa. A mysterious science outpost/laboratory, built into a mountain - who knows what lies in its depths?

This time, instead of the OD&D booklets, I used the guidelines of Delving Deeper, a great iteration of the 0e rules.

To achieve the science fantasy feel, I re-skinned all fantasy regulars. Goblins became bug-eyed monsters, skeletons became flayed androids, giant snakes and spiders turned into robot arms and patrol drones*. I must admit that I'm kinda proud of turning the "Red Dragon, Hatchling" entry into a flamethrower turret... And if the dragon is asleep, then the turret is just "on hold"...

So yeah, I had a lot of fun. Aaaand I added a reference of something that'd made a big impression on me in my childhood. That's always nice.

Download PDF with map & key!*

* 2020.08.24 - now with a player map, with secret doors and labels hidden!

* Technically, Delving Deeper has stats and even descriptions for robots, cyborgs, etc. (unlike OD&D, where the "Robots, Golems, Androids" are "self-explanatory monsters which are totally subjective as far as characteristics are concerned"...). But those monsters are too strong, I wanted something weaker. + Re-skinning is more fun.

Have fun, and, as always, let me know what you think!

[Dungeon] Temple of the Berserkers, one-page OD&D adventure

 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!

Download PDF with map & key!*

(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!

[Dungeon] 30-minute dungeon: The Golem Master's Workshop

The Golem Master, creator of pricey artificial servants, hasn’t been seen around for some time. His house stands dark and silent. Dare you enter?

The 30-minute dungeon is a great exercise. The format was created by Trystin, and she has recently posted an update, so now the format includes randomized prompts as guidelines. UPD Febr. 2026:  the post can be found here (archival link).

My first attempt went overtime, but in the end turned into a pretty neat ancient Mesopotamia-themed dungeon. This new dungeon I wrote in around 35 minutes, then spent some more time re-drawing the map and formatting the content into a one-page dungeon pdf. Enjoy!

Download as one-page dungeon!

Background: The Golem Master, creator of pricey artificial servants, hasn’t been seen around for some time. His house stands dark and silent. Dare you enter?

1 – Foyer
A ledger with records of the Golem Master’s dealings. The balance is positive. The last transactions are from about 2 weeks ago: “Medium all-around servant, sold to Herr Güntz, for 3000 silver”, “Shipment of raw clay, for new personal project, 500 silver”.

2 – Corridor with mud streaks
Dry mud streaks leading to Area 4, as if something big and dirty was dragged there.
The windows towards the street are boarded up.

3 – Office, overtaken by animated body parts
3d8 animated clay hands (HD 0, AC as unarmored, Move as unencumbered, 1 attack: 1 damage) jump off the shelves, climb forth from under furniture, attack any intruder.
Treasure: 450 silver in the locked desk drawer.

4 – Storage room with injured golem
The mound of clay in the corner is actually a golem – a tall, muscular man, with his legs torn off. His name is Jakov. He tells the story of the Golem Master experimenting with the creation of two “golem brothers”, and how his brother Boax went mad, killed the Master and mutilated him. Boax either left or is hiding somewhere in the house.

5 – Golem showcase and hiding place of Boax
Statues set up on a small podium – the Golem Master’s showcase. Three full-sized clay statues depicting one man and two women. If the players have visited Area 4, they recognize the male statue as being from the same mold as Jakov. Four clay statues of 3’ tall wingless gargoyles.
The statue of the man is Boax, the murderous golem. He will wait until the players go down the spiral stairs and then shut the trapdoor and move the heavy podium over it.
If found, confronted or attacked, Boax defends himself, and also commands the four gargoyles.
Boax, the murderous golem: HD 4, AC as chain, Move as unencumbered, Morale unbreakable, 2 attacks: terracotta punch (1d8 damage)
4 clay gargoyles: HD 2, AC as leather, Move as unencumbered, Morale average, 1 attack: claw (1d4 damage)

6 – Bedroom & Kitchenette
Under the bed, there is a scroll of hold monster.

7 – Dark cellar room with clay pits
Strong smell of wet clay and mud. Creaky floorboards. Trap: When crossing the room, each character has a 1-in-6 chance to fall through the old floorboards and into the deep clay pits. If much noise is made, 1d4 clay abominations from Area 8 rush in to investigate.

8 – Workshop, the hiding place of the Golem Master
The Golem Master wasn’t killed, but hid here, half-mad from his injuries. As his final defense, he created 4 small abominations from whatever lumps of clay he had around.
The door to Area 9 has a “Do not touch my things!” sign.
Golem Master: Magic-User 3, AC as unarmored, unable to move, 1 attack: desperate biting (1d2-1 damage)
4 clay abominations: HD 1, AC as leather, Move as unencumbered, Morale average

9 – Vault with trapped entrance
Trap: poison needle (Save or Die) in the doorknob.
Treasure: 1500 silver in clay jars, masterfully executed figurine molds worth 1000 silver.

10 – Ritual area
A complete golem body lays on a marble slab. A codex and ritual implements are laying nearby – everything is ready to bring this golem to life. The golem is massive. If brought to life, there is a 50-50 chance of it being either an obedient servant or going on a murderous rampage through town.
Quantum Golem: HD 8, AC as chain, Move as unencumbered, Morale unbreakable, 2 attacks: terracotta punch (1d8 damage)

Working notes:

30-minute dungeon, includes:

3 Empty Rooms
3 Combat Encounters
2 Traps
1 NPC
1 Special/Weird Thing

3 Empty rooms:

Something that tells the characters about the dungeon’s history

Something useful to the characters

Something that points the characters to an NPC

Special Room:

Something that can result in great reward or terrible disaster

NPC:

A victim

3 Combat encounters:

Horde of weak opponents

A weak opponent and their guards

A tough opponent and his underlings

Trap:

Something that will kill the characters

Something that will trap the characters