The D66 Table Test Dungeon: The The Bowl of Gunnfried for Shadowdark

So I have written a number of D66 tables as a creative exercise. A few were themed on dungeon contents, and the final of these included, “things to get, things stopping you, and dungeon decorations.” So, since a couple of friends had put these tables to use, I figured that I should roll the dice and put it to the test, myself. 

"Bowl, roper, incense burners/braziers."

OK then. Let's do this. 

Grab a Dyson map. This one will do...

source

Hmm. Ok, why not put a boss monster in the first room? ...

So here it is - The Bowl of Gunnfried - crafted up for Shadowdarky delvings. Estimated in the 3rd+ level of challenge, as long as there are a few magic weapons in the mix. Knowing PCs, they'll just dogpile every challenge....

This is the first time I've written specifically for the Shadowdark format - critter stats, etc. so critique is welcome.

source

The Village of Caershire

Another populating of a small Dyson settlement, with its cast of characters and local open secret as to the land's productivity and protections...

original

My words here:

It took a lot longer to craft this simple writing exercise than it should have. It's been that way for a while - distracted, not able to complete these little projects. The brain is as cluttered as my desk, I suppose. A lot going on that makes it difficult to compartmentalize and get into some sort of zone. Oh well. Several other half-finished scribblings await - sentence fragments and placeholders awaiting inspiration.

D66 False Crystal Balls

No, I couldn't leave well enough, or half-assed alone. I needed to expand yesterday's list to D66. 

Jareth, again...

So, expanded, bigger, better, and with more balls! 

D66 FALSE Crystal Balls

11: Flashes as Chromatic Orb equivalent, random level effect.
12: Viewer goes into catatonic trance.
13: Becomes permanently stuck to hand.
14: Just shows embarrassing childhood moments.
15: Projects false prophesies.
16: SPIDERS (Causes hallucinations).
21: Causes nightmares.
22: Shiny, mundane.
23: Makes a nice kaleidoscope, casts pretty patterns on walls.
24: Creates a black void to peer into.
25: Causes manic episodes.
26: Causes obsession with the ball.
31: Projects image of viewer to another, real magic ball.
32: It's a mimic, because why not?
33: Becomes very hot. Temperature rises to approx 1,400° C. Burns through anything it can melt th rough.
34: Ball begins to replicate, doubling in number every minute until room filled (or 2¹⁶ balls, whichever comes first).
35: Attracts swarms of rats.
36: Explodes, treat as fireball.
41: Big flash! Causes permanent blindness to anyone in room.
42: It's haunted.
43: Begins to emit noxious smoke, continues until the draperies and carpets are ruined.
44: Spontaneously extrudes 18-inch long spikes.
45: Becomes exceedingly dense until it weighs approximately 256 tons.
46: Expands into a Rover, user born off to an undisclosed location.
51: Loudly proclaims, “I can't believe you thought this was a crystal ball!” in a mocking voice for an hour.
52: Transforms into a Magic 8-Ball.
53: Transforms user into a crystalline statue.
54: Rickrolls.
55: Floats to ceiling, bumps around annoyingly, avoids attempts to capture.
56: Floats to ceiling, transforms into disco ball.
61: Teleports viewer to random location within 200 mile radius.
62: Teleports viewer to pocket dimension for safekeeping.
63: Transforms into a lime green D30.
64: Leaps from viewer's hand, giggling, rolls under furniture, avoids attempts to capture.
65: Becomes a luminous, yellow-green cat's eye. Viewer can't shake the feeling that it is surrounded by a near-invisible, spectral cat.
66: Transforms into small black hole. Consumes approximately one cubic mile of matter before imploding.

(May require appropriate saving throw or remove curse/similar to negate effect)

Download here, if you must.

I'm ponderin' my orbs!

D12 False Crystal Balls

So... last session the PCs were tasked with swiping a scrying device from a member of the Merchant's Guild. And of course, it didn't go well, because, duh, scrying device. But said member of the Guild was more amused by the party's incursion, plus was interested in their more global activities. And of course additional details of the goings-on and agenda of the individual who had retained them. Because the device, a crystal ball, provided glimpses, but not in-depth information.

At the end of the conversation, the party asked about how to perhaps continue the ruse against their employer. At least long enough to get out of town with their payment. But of course our target merchant had a “spare” ball. It would emit a magic aura and appear to be a normal crystal ball in other ways. Just say you found this activation word with it. Good luck.

Ya know, because a crystal ball sometimes isn't really a crystal ball.

...because of course I had to use the Goblin King

D12 False Crystal Balls

1. Chromatic Orb equivalent, treat as 4^th level caster

2. Causes catatonic trance

3. Becomes stuck to hand

4. Just shows embarrassing childhood moments

5. Projects false prophesies

6. SPIDERS (hallucinations)

7. Causes nightmares

8. Shiny, mundane

9. A pretty kaleidoscope

10. A nice black void to peer into

11. Causes manic episodes

12. Causes obsession with ball

(several of the effects will require a remove curse or equivalent to counteract)

I should get off my butt and do d66...

Update: I did.

Owen's Mine: A Wayback Revision

I recently got a request to update a broken Drive link on a post from way back when - January 2015, to be precise: Owen's Mine - Four visions.

One of my earlier efforts at coming up with multiple scenarios for a single dungeon-space.

Original here

Anyway, with the passage of time, most of the embedded links were broken due to an SRD site going dark, and the scenarios had been presented as separate documents. 

So I found most of the originals on a hard drive and combined/cleaned up the format a bit. Don't worry, the content is generally unchanged from the originals, and still my usual bog-standard, barely literate dungeon-stocking. 

Download: Owen's Mine, 4½ Variations