I wrote my last #dungeon23 room today! I have no idea what I’ll do with the Black Furnace next, if anything, but I’m proud to have finished it. This is only my second or third dungeon ever, and by far the largest I’ve ever created. It’s a rough draft, but everything starts out as a […]
My Black Furnace #dungeon23 project is done! Read More »
Driving home from running a DCC RPG session, I was noodling about why I love dungeon crawls so much. My usual line of thinking is that I love dungeons because they’re basically sandboxes, and I love sandboxes. With a dungeon, we agree on the boundaries of the sandbox, we discover toys therein, and we play
A dungeon is like a pinball machine Read More »
Hark! A wild round-up appears. I usually find writing housekeeping posts super boring, but things have been quiet here and I wanted to post a little update on the irons I have in the fire. (This post wasn’t boring to write.) Godsbarrow and the Gilded Lands book I haven’t posted any new Godsbarrow material here
Housekeeping updates Read More »
I’m quite enjoying #dungeon23 so far. Having 1/3 empty rooms is a fantastic safety valve, allowing me to bank the fire of inspiration for days when I’m feeling it. Although it’s now day 40, level 1 of the Black Furnace is “only” 35 rooms — because this dungeon has five entrances, and I wrote those
First level of the Black Furnace complete Read More »
Today I finished the draft of the first area in my #dungeon23 project, the Black Furnace. Level 1-A is the servants’ quarters, home to the cult of Hürak Mol. It’s accessible from one of the Black Furnace’s five entrances, and connects to level 2 and level 1-B. I can’t remember the last time I drew
The Black Furnace level 1-A Read More »
I’m not sure all my notes (many rolled in Tome of Adventure Design [affiliate link]) will survive the next steps, but I’m off to the races with #dungeon23. Weep at my terrible handwriting! I like megadungeons with multiple entrances and verticality, so the Black Furnace has a main entrance, two chimneys (which can be used
#dungeon23: off to the races! Read More »
I’ve juggled things around a bit since my initial #dungeon23 post. With less than 24 hours to go until my first room, it’s time to lay the last bits of ground work for the Black Furnace. The thing I’ve changed up is mapping: I bought a graph paper notebook (4 squares/inch) and a Jujutsu Kaisen
#dungeon23: ground work Read More »
Sean McCoy‘s #dungeon23 challenge has been making the rounds on Mastodon: Every day in 2023, write one room of an old-school fantasy megadungeon (or whatever similar project tickles your fancy). I’ve been intrigued, but felt like I didn’t really need another project next year — until this morning, when the puzzle pieces fell into place.
#dungeon23: The Black Furnace Read More »
Lesserton and Mor (paid link), written by Joel and Jeff Sparks of Faster Monkey Games, is a product that I don’t think has received its due. It’s a fantastic, unique, flavorful, and versatile sourcebook for a premade city and its neighboring open-air megadungeon, and it’s incredibly cool. (Update: And it’s now free in PDF!) For starters,
An overlooked OSR gem: Lesserton and Mor Read More »
Doodle Temple and Gormand’s Larder, both illustrated by Cédric Plante, are two of the coolest gaming books I’ve bought in recent memory. They’re both dungeon generators, but instead of random tables, they consist entirely of Cédric’s beautiful illustrations. And they’re weird. I love weird! Mundane dungeons are boring, and neither of these books will turn
Doodle Temple and Gormand’s Larder: illustrated DIY dungeon generators Read More »
