Haiku 8: Flumph

tentacled floaty--
jellyfish surfs gusty breeze;
death to evil foes

Monday Moodsetter 16

The Desperate Lamentations by Noah Bradley

RPG Rorschach: What is the first gaming thought that pops into your head?

Musings on Playing in the Dungeon

Like a lot of gamers, I am intrigued by a dungeon-centered campaign. And like a lot of gamers, I get stuck on things like realism (as in simulation, not the philosophical school), logic, etc. But my main stumbling block is simply keeping it fun and interesting. For me, this means finding ways to infuse dungeon-based gaming with some other concepts that add to or expand on the fundamentals of good dungeon play (exploration, encounters, and extractions). For example, what do you think of these ideas as a way to play out a dungeon-based campaign. I am just throwing these out there...I haven't worked through any of these ideas myself in any detail:

• The Lewis & Clark Expedition: This expands upon the exploration theme. The idea is to equip a party for a long long unsupported adventure for the purpose of exploration. Of course, there would be encounters and extraction along the way. I like this in the abstract, but how would it work in actual game play.
• Mt. Everest: Similar to the Lewis & Clark idea, but instead of a well-equipped party moving along as a unit, the party establishes a long-term base camp within the dungeon to use as a jump off point to explore and adventure.
• Silk Road: The dungeon adventurers somehow get involved in economic trade that involves moving valuable goods from Point A to Point B through dangerous territory. 
• British Colonization of India: The dungeon adventurers set themselves up as rulers, creating a mini-realm within the dungeon.
• British Settlement of North America: The dungeon adventurers (and maybe their families, friends, and underlings) all move into the dungeon.

I am not sure if any of these ideas have merit or if they even make sense. I am curious to hear what you have to say about it.

Word Verification Random Name Generator #2

Here is another Random Name Generator, using the pseudo-words used by spam and security systems (like CAPTCHA). If nothing else, you get to use your d30. And, yes, these are actual pseudo-words, collected by me (Sheldon Cooper comes mind). My previous Random Name Generator post is the most viewed post on my blog--Maybe spammers? Maybe hackers? Maybe parents-to-be in search of that unique and special baby name?

1. Afticia
2. Aggess
3. Ander
4. Aramparg
5. Arding
6. Aughtedu
7. Awarcuse
8. Bardsm
9. Blypol
10. Boxim
11. Cackeles
12. Calki
13. Cheal
14. Chroush
15. Chsin
16. Ciedl
17. Cless
18. Cloyess
19. Conci
20. Dearop
21. Diredun
22. Disgyngs
23. Dists
24. Doxbes
25. Ectionde
26. Eledail
27. Equil
28. Fansilte
29. Flamel
30. Fooduchb

Five for Friday 18: Dungeoneer's Library

I don't have a huge amount of gaming books. I have even less after selling a big pile of D&D 3.x e on eBay a few years ago, although my new-found love of GURPS is filling up the shelves again. Anyway, I tend to only buy stuff that I am going to play. One exception is dungeon-related books. Here are some of my favorite dungeon reference books (excluding actually published dungeons). These are in alphabetical order:

• Central Casting: Dungeons--Robert Sassone's masterpiece--if we can use that word here--presents 180 pages of dungeon-creating tables. There are lots of dungeon room ideas, as well as a lot of detain, even if you don't use the random-generation approach. This is the one dungeon book I would take with me on a spaceflight, lifeboat, or desert isle.Engineering Dungeons is similar and more recent, but also drier and lighter on content.
• Dungeon Builder's Guidebook--This little volume--from the AD&D 2e era--is a nice companion to Central Casting: Dungeons. It is not as comprehensive or detailed, but it includes some weirder dungeon variations (e.g. underwater, aerial, and interdimensional).
• Dungeoncraft-- A D&D 3.x e product from Fantasy Flight Games (part of their Legends & Lairs series). I nice collection of dungeon ideas, mixed in with the obligatory prestige classes.
• Dungeonscape--This Wizards of the Coast publication was intended for D&D 3.5e. The content is uneven and a bit thin but it does have some groovy ideas and interesting magic items. If you combine this with the Dungeoneer's Survival Guide, you end up with something kind of decent.
• Tome of Adventure Design--This Frog God Games product is still in print and is a go-to book for me. Lots and lots of excellent tables. They are not all dungeon-related but there is enough dungeon goodies to put this on the list (I use this book a lot...more often than any other book on the list). Kellri's Encounter Reference, available for free as a PDF and is excellent. Michael Curtis' The Dungeon Alphabet is a fun book with some great off-the-wall creative and useful ideas, but is lighter on content. If you are looking for dungeon tables, check out The Dungeon Dozen (blog) and also my own blog page, Megadungeon Links II: Maps, Tables, Generators.

I should also mention GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, as I have been working my way through the various PDFs.

What books or blogs have been helpful for you in designing dungeons and in creating adventures?

Good Stuff at My Door

The last few weeks of work have been hellish. I even had to miss our Monday Night Gaming Night and Bard's first GURPS session. However, getting good stuff left at my door makes up for some of it. Here is what came my way:

The Mini Manor: Faces Without Screams. Great stuff from Tim (Gothridge Manor). BTW, you can now get your GM Games five ways.

This cover is awesome! Nice job, Jason.

And my booty from the Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day Sale at Frog God Games: Rappan Athuk

And, if that were not enough, I decided to empty out my piggy bank (my money from my music gigs) and get Swords & Wizardry Monstrosities, also from Frog God Games, on sale for Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day:

Montporte Dungeon Exploration: Player Options

The map below displays the progress of the player characters after five sessions of play in the Montporte Dungeon. Here is the key to the map:

• A=The current location of the player characters
• B=A large kobold clan is known to live north of here and have archer guards posted at B
• C=Unexplored corridors and rooms
• D=Unopened doors
• E=Entrance/exit to the dungeon

A couple of observations, based on the map:

• The players have a lot of options. There are 12 unexplored corridors/rooms and 7 unopened doors for a total of 19 options for exploration. 
• The players have done a good job of discovery in the center of the map, a result of sessions 1-4 focus on rescuing human hostages from a band of orcs. There appear to be nothing unexplored in the middle of the map.
• The players have not found any additional levels.
• The players have not discovered any additional entrances to the dungeon, although they have been told of a sinkhole that allows the kobold contingent (north of B on the map) access to the dungeon.

If you were the player characters, what would be your next move?