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

Five Visits to the Temperance Stone

Another "four scenario" project that became five scenarios... Dyson threw out this five-room dungeon some time ago, and it lived in my map repository until I needed a fun project. 

Source

Again, it was meant to be a "four scenario" exercise, but I had a few spare area descriptions that made it an even five (not the first time this has happened). The rooms are described in a brief, tabular format without much elaboration. This is meant to be a location to be stumbled upon, or as a couple of the scenarios imply, perhaps a location where the party can visit to be granted healing or other gifts. And, of course, a couple are just nasty. Enjoy:) 

Download Me Here

A note on the art. The standing stone drawings in the document are by Scottish archeologist and naturalist Frederick Coles. As part of his position at the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, Coles received support to survey and measure standing stone locations throughout Scotland. Through his career in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, he created one of the first catalogues of standing stone circles in the country. 

The bio notes that Coles would take his children along on these trips after his wife's death and would utilize them as field assistants. I'd just like to highlight this photograph of Coles and four of his children on one of his survey trips:

Based on the posture and expression of the young lady in the forefront, it's comforting to know that teen boredom and disdain has endured throughout the ages. "Daaaaddd! We go measure your stupid rocks every summer! Can't we go somewhere fun for a change?"

Anyway, have an enjoyable Easter weekend, for those celebrating the holiday. Looks to be a pleasant weekend here - hope to move around outside in one manner or another.

Also will be running a Deathbringer one-shot through Meetup this week, so printing out copies of the rules and figuring out which hole to send the erstwhile adventurers down. The usual campaign game will fire up again after the holiday. I'm sure that it will be a peaceful, uneventful session... ;)

Five Visits to Goldrun's Grotto

Howdy, neighbors!

A quick post to finally post up some original content that's not a play report.... 

I'm sadly negligent on creating. Again, the brain just ain't as obsessed at creativity as it used to be. Even looking at my production throughout the life of the blog shows a lessening of creativity and (perhaps) interesting stuff.

Enough woolgathering for the moment.

Jackson threw this map up at the beginning of the year:

source

...it looked like a good space, with an open-air grotto, a couple of entrances, and a loop. Off I went.

And in the theme of attempting a bit of creativity, I wrote up multiple scenarios, in the mode of my "4 scenarios" adventure writeups. This time, I ended up with five. So you get a bonus. We got various flavors of undead, hermit beekeepers, a suspiscious naiad, blind cave fish, BATS!, and a couple of Permian amphibians. 

Have fun with them, as a scenario may fit as a one-shot, side adventure, or locale for some item or knowledge within your own game. 

PWYW here 

Four Visits to a Tim Shorts Map

Tim Shorts posted up this map on the Reddits a while back, and I duly forgot about it with my other projects and distractions. Here we have a 5-6 room space, with pools and a few other features. A place ripe for description...

Original Post

I scribbled up one scenario over a lunch hour, but decided to fill out three more, as I haven't done a "4 Scenarios" writing project for a bit. So without further ado, we have four brief encounters, with four different denizens: humanoid, undead, monstrous, and dragon. 

Four Visits to Six Rooms

And we had a fairly entertaining session at the brewery last night, so putting together my notes for a writeup in the next couple of days. An ode to the OP charm spell of the good old days...

OPD 2022, Just a little randomness...

The 2022 One Page Dungeon Contest closes today, with almost 70 entries at the time of this writing. I've thrown in an entry every year since 2013, so didn't want to break my streak.

Creatively, I still feel I'm in a lull, with little to stand out in the last year(s). The Muse, she does not speak so clearly these days.

The contest always gets a wide swath of content, although I do feel that it leans more towards a competition of design, rather than content. Probably me just bein' grumpy since my design skills are 'gorilla with a crayon' level. 

My objective is to create something hopefully fun and playable as an entry, so I scrolled through my map files and found a five-room cavern that have been languishing, tucked into my notebook pages. The 5-room dungeon is an easy trope, with many variations of the entrance/guardian/trap/fight/reward model available. So I tabled out four tersely-described scenarios, using more of the classic "dungeon stocking" approach - empty, trap, special, monster, big-bad/reward model. The first four components were mixed about, with the final fight and reward in "Room 5." And since random tables are always good, why not offer the option of selecting a room from any of the four in that particular table row? Makes for 20 little adventures, or more, if other elements are considered. And while the "straight down the column" scenes might have some internal consistency, throwing dice at each room definitely lends itself to a certain level of chaos...

and you get to use this deceitful little caltrop

Welcome to a little cavern down on the coast, with its host of potential challenges and foes. 

Download me here

Anyway, I have a full table for the brewery game tonight, so I need to read up a bit and get my psyche on. At least one new-to-RPGs in the group, so hope to make it a fun intro.

Five Variations to Yet Another Ruined Tower (#3 in an ongoing(?) series)

Like many of us, I can't resist the mystery of an abandoned tower out in the hinterlands. The “deed to a ruined tower” inspiration came from an occasional result in the Donjon RPG tools “Random Pickpocket Loot” generator. I've used the concept of the “deed” as a potential seed or impetus a couple of times before: here, and here. 

And really, any “free” thing should be a bit of a white elephant, especially when we are talking about a piece of real estate.

I've written multiple adventures from a single map as a creative exercise before. In previous cases, it was four scenarios. In this case, y'all get an bonus scenario. No extra charge. So enjoy, and I hope one of these little adventures finds its way to your table.

Download your Real Estate Here

Checking in at the Ruins of Castle Kazza

Sneaking in one more before the end of the month.

Not much going on here, or is it? The locals report that a band of orcs are squatting in the vacation home of a beloved past king. Might as well go see what sort of mischief they are getting themselves into. 

Or not? 

We visit another one of Daniel Walthall's creations, a small castle in disrepair.

I waffled about how to present this space. It seemed to have a few stories or possibilities to it, similar to my "4 Scenarios" exercises. In the end, instead of changing the occupants and scenario, I kept our somewhat anachronistic band of orcs, and, instead, took inspiration from Daniel's signature random table on each map. So, we have several potential objectives for our orcs, a batch of other NPCs to influence the action, and some random pocket change, as it were....

Download the Ruins of Castle Kazza

 

I hope this inspires some play or threads of other ideas. Enjoy, and stay healthy and safe out there. 

A Few Kid-friendly Adventures

Martin Thomas of Daddy Rolled a 1 recently put out a few threads regarding inspiration and playable content that may be kid-friendly for adolescents. I've talked with other friends with young-uns about gaming, before, as well, and gotten the "kid-friendly" question, as well. I discovered that I have (inadvertently, perhaps) written a few adventures that might be suitable for the kidlets.

And, since people may be stuck at home and getting some "quality family time" in over the next while, having a few play options may not be the worst thing.

So here's my list of six+ adventures.  Feel free to download, tweak, play, and let me know how it goes!

OPD 2016 – “Bowls of Stars” - Save the dragon! Solve the mystery of the alien 'grubs' and illnesses and role-play with some kobolds and others to get the halves of a sphere. The somewhat body-horror 'grubs' may be deleted/tweaked. I did receive a message that this scenario was run by a father for his kids with some tweaks to the role-playing aspects.

OPD 2017 - “You have acquired the deed to a ruined tower...” A mostly open hexcrawl involving uprooting a bunch of drunk halflings from a tower that you "own," as well as bunch of oddball local factions, including a leaderless cult, vegetarian orcs, and goblins with a hot-air balloon....

OPD 2018 – “The Dragon's Lantern” 0-level funnel – Hapless PCs are sent on mission by dragon to retrieve an artifact among a ratling warren.

Drokki's Tomb –  Reverses trope by 'returning' something to a tomb. Low combat, mostly negotiating a few puzzles and traps. Beware the Hammer Calliope...

Malleth's Cave – A small complex with multiple locations: There are possibilities to role-play/negotiate truce between two groups of quarreling goblins. Two side-areas include interesting 'toy soldiers' and a mean badger. Players attempting to retreat/rest at the abandoned farmhouse will find it haunted by a harmless but insistent ghost.

Nemar's Truancy – Convince a wayward prince to return home (or not) and come up with non-lethal ways to deal with his pet bear. One of four adventures built around Dyson's "Grizzly Eye Cavern"(some may also find "Trakhor's Bath" amusing - involves fighting a naked ogre armed with a wet towel)

Be safe and healthy out there, folks.

Updated adventures for Sword & Wizardry

With the Swords & Wizardry Kickstarter out in full force, I went back into my catalog of mini-adventures and scenarios with the objective of revising them into that system. A couple were already written up for S&W, and the remainder took some light work to fit them into the system.

So here are six adventures, uploaded to DriveThru for purchase (PWYW) and sharing.

All are crafted around a number of Dyson's maps, with my interpretations, of course.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/303542/Old-Cruik-Hollow

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/303541/Four-Visits-to-Wyvernseeker-Rock

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/303538/The-Savage-Caves

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/303536/Guimonds-Tower-and-the-Lair-of-the-DruidLich

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/303540/Four-Views-of-Grizzly-Eye-Cave

Feel free to take a look, and feedback is appreciated.

Four Trips into Malkara Caverns

It's been a while since I took one map and wrote multiple settings/adventures off of the single space - my '4 Scenarios' exercise. So, I grabbed one of Daniel's maps, this time the Malkara Caverns:

I borked it up with four one-page scenarios, each suitable for a session's play as a side-trip or destination. The cavern has some good geometry, with a scary bridge across a cavern, some side caverns, a subterranean pool, and a secret stash... The little quests are stuffed into a single document for ease, and use the Swords & Wizardry rule-set (but use whatever you like to run). Enjoy, and feel free to hack and comment.

Ella helped.

Download it here

Trespassing in Dyson's World - Wyvernseeker Rock

Hi all, another writing exercise of multiple interpretations of a single map.  I scribbled together two scenarios back to back a few weeks ago, and figured I'd better push out two more to make an even four, and keep with my occasional creative theme. 

Here's the original map in all its glory:

And four attempts at making it a somewhat interesting place to visit:

Yup, another root out the goblins and their ilk scenario.

Brain-melting alien.  Always welcome at the table.

What's poisoned the river this time?

Just another happy hermit shrine....

Statted generically for your generic elf-gaming needs.  Share and enjoy!

Four in one island?

I previously offered up four variants of a small island map crafted by +Dyson Logos

+Brett Slocum commented: "It's a big enough island, have all four things here."

Ok Brett, here ya go.  There goes the neighborhood.

Welcome to Happy Fun Island. 

Do not taunt Happy Fun Island.

Four Views of Zorus Island!

So yeah, as soon as +Dyson Logos posted up a work-in-progress pic of an unnamed island on G+, I started making a few notes.  A bit of island real estate with 3-4 encounter areas - what's not to love?

Welcome to lovely Zorus Island, home to four different haunts...

Fungal Zombieland: Dyson's original post suggested an undead-overrun island.  Yeah, we got a bad case of zombies here, folks.

Mutineers and Smugglers:  Something is afoot with the island guards.  Best to clandestinely investigate.

Sheeping:  All the Doulough family wanted to do was raise sheep in peace.  And now something is mucking that up....

Caretakers and Were-takers: Where'd that damned goat come from, and why won't it go away?!?

Headed Upriver. Messing Up Matt's Map

While I typically use a +Dyson Logos map for my 4-scenario dungeon stocking exercises, I decided to give +matt jackson some love, and mod up his "If you were to follow that river" map accordingly.

The map depicts a portion of a subterranean river, crossed by a bridge (natural or otherwise), with two networks of caverns, plus an island with a small structure.  In all cases, I'm assuming downriver is toward the top (north) of the map, and that the cavern surfaces soon past the map.  The bridge entry to the west/northwest is close off-map.

So here goes:

Pirate Redoubt: A good ol' root-out-the-pirates scene.

Heretics on Parade: A good ol' root-out-the-heretics scene.

Wyvern Kin: A good ol' root-out-the-wyvern scene.

Secret Seer: A good ol' figure-out-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-seer scene.

Everything is built out using Swords & Wizardry, but I'm not picky, play however you want :)

Free RPG Day Fun: One Map, Four Adventures...

Good Morning!

Realized that it has been a while since I've done the exercise of creating multiple scenarios for a single map, so I gave myself the deadline of Free RPG Day to write up a few scenes.  Dyson's Grizzly Eye Cave made for a very evocative space, appropriate for a number of small encounters and challenges...

The adventures were all written up with Swords & Wizardry Light in mind, although they are neutral enough to other systems...

1. Nemar's Truancy:  A prince has retreated to the cave, shirking his official duties - set up as a non-lethal roleplaying opportunity (and bear-wrestling).

2. Ale's Well That Ends Well:  A tavern's stores have been looted and the miscreants appear to be holed up in the cave.

3. Trakohr's Bath:  An ogre must be eliminated, just don't disturb his bathtime...

4. Sand Trap:  A mysterious creature prevents would-be rescuers from entering the cavern to release a pair of hostages.  Using a modded critter from one of my favorite modules.

Owen's Mine - Four visions.

So I proselytized some time back on the geology of mines and how their geometry might influence the creation of an underground environment or lair. I used Dyson Logos' Owen's Mine as what I considered a good example of a small mine environment. Since I'd suggested the influence and environment, I figured that I should come up with a few examples. This has been a slow-burn project behind work and life and such.

And I've already bollixed up one of Dyson's maps before, have four interpretations of Owen's Mine...

Owen's Mine

Download

General notes: Tunnels are between 5 and 8 feet high, occasionally requiring stooping and affecting the mobility of taller characters. Measured from the crane elevator, vertical distances are: 30 feet to the first tunnel, 60 feet to the secret door, 100 feet to the right-hand lower tunnel, and 110 feet to the left-hand lower tunnel. The four scenes are statted using Swords & Wizardry, but are generic enough for any system.

Variation 1 - A small abandoned dwarven mine has been re-colonized by new tenants.

Variation 2 - The 'Temple of the Well' was a pilgrim site, with adherents coming from throughout the kingdom to be lowered to the sacred pool at the base of the well, with the hope of receiving a boon.  However, the area was overrun by barbarians, who pillaged, desecrated, and moved on. The well is still occupied, and worshiped in its own right by its new occupants.

Variation 3 - An alleged 'holy man' has been preaching along the roadside. However, goods and money have been disappearing, as well. He is suspected to be hiding in the abandoned mine. Another party of adventurers tried to root him out, but has not been seen since.

Variation 4 - Deep within an abandoned mine beneath an old temple is a unique bridge, possibly composed of powerful relics. Beware its guardian, though...

Have fun and comments welcome.  Thanks again to Dyson for his ongoing creativity and content.

Update: Thanks, Dyson, for the shout-out!  I really appreciate it!
And, I realized that I uploaded a draft of Variation 4, not my final version - So here's Variation 4a, with a different, more sinister, guardian,....

Update #2: A combined and reformatted version of the scenarios is available here, with broken links removed and stats made generic.

One Dungeon, Four (mini) Adventures (Happy Free RPG Day, 2014)

Wherein I select one of Dyson's maps and come up with several scenarios for it...

I had these hiding in a notebook as a small writing/scenario-creation exercise for different interpretations of a single map, as well as practice working within the one-page format.

Here, we have the quiet village of Brenton's Bend, built up near an abandoned keep.  A recent collapse of a tower has exposed a hidden access to a small dungeon and its associated threats and/or mysteries...

Having a village and associated environment allows for a bit of local politics on top of the mystery - I populated a few semi-random locals with minor back-stories or interactions, as well as the dungeon.  Also added is the requisite rumor mill.  The dungeon was a bit of a challenge to populate, as it is essentially a small loop - which makes it difficult to place the traditional big-bad or endgame deeper in the complex, so I took a couple of different approaches: