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04 Sep 07

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03 Sep 07

Roleplaying Tips Weekly #372: 5 Room Dungeons Contest

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1. Why Do I Like 5 Room Dungeons?
============================================================
This format, or creation method, has a number of advantages:

* Any location. Though I call them 5 Room Dungeons, they
actually apply to any location with five or so areas. They
don't have to be fantasy or dungeons. They could take the
form of a small space craft, a floor in a business tower, a
wing of a mansion, a camp site, a neighbourhood.

* Short. Many players dislike long dungeon crawls, and ADD
GMs like to switch environments up often. In addition, some
players dislike dungeons all together, but will go along
with the play if they know it's just a short romp. This
helps ease conflicts between play styles and desires.

* Quick to plan. With just five rooms to configure, design
is manageable and fast. Next time you are killing time, whip
out your notepad and write down ideas for themes, locations,
and rooms. Knock off as many designs as you can and choose
the best to flesh out when you have more time and to GM next
session.

* Easier to polish. Large designs often take so long to
complete that game night arrives before you can return to
the beginning and do one or more rounds of tweaking and
polishing. The design speed of 5 Room Dungeons leaves room
most of the time to iterate.

* Easy to move. 5 Room Dungeons can squeeze into many places
larger locations and designs can't. If your dungeon goes
unused or if you want to pick it up and drop it on a new
path the PCs take, it's often easier to do than when
wielding a larger crawl.

* Flexible size. They are called 5 Room Dungeons, but this
is just a guideline. Feel free to make 3-area locations or
<script></script>10-cave complexes. The idea works for any small, self-
contained area.

* Easy to integrate. A two to four hour dungeon romp
quickens flagging campaign and session pacing, and can be
squeezed into almost any story thread. It also grants a
quick success (or failure) to keep the players engaged. The
format is also easy to drop into most settings with minimal
consistency issues.

2. Room One: Entrance And Guardian
============================================================
There needs to be a reason why your dungeon hasn't been
plundered before or why the PCs are the heroes for the job.
A guardian or challenge at the entrance is a good
justification why the location remains intact. Also, a
guardian sets up early action to capture player interest and
energize a session.

Room One challenge ideas:
* The entrance is trapped.
* The entrance is cleverly hidden.
* The entrance requires a special key, such as a ceremony,
command word, or physical object.
* The guardian was deliberately placed to keep intruders
out. Examples: a golem, robot, or electric fence.
* The guardian is not indigenous to the dungeon and is a
tough creature or force who's made its lair in room one.
* The entrance is hazardous and requires special skills and
equipment to bypass. For example: radiation leaks, security
clearance, wall of fire.

Room One is also your opportunity to establish mood and
theme to your dungeon, so dress it up with care.
5. Room Four: Climax, Big Battle or Conflict
============================================================
This room is The Big Show. It's the final combat or conflict
encounter of the dungeon. Use all the tactics you can summon
to make this encounter memorable and entertaining.
<script></script>
* As always, generate interesting terrain that will impact
the battle.

* Start or end with roleplay. Maybe the bad guy needs to
stall for time to let PC buffs wear out, to wait for help to
arrive, or to stir himself into a rage. Perhaps the combat
ends with the bad guy bleeding to death and a few short
words can be exchanged, or there are helpless minions or
prisoners to roleplay with once the threat is dealt with.

* Give the bad guy unexpected powers, abilities, or
equipment.

* Previous rooms might contain warning signals or an alarm,
so the bad guy has had time to prepare.

* The bay guys tries to settle things in an unusual way,
such as through a wager or a duel.

* The lair is trapped. The bad guy knows what or where to
avoid, or has the ability to set off the traps at opportune
moments.

* The bad guy reveals The Big Reward and threatens to break
it or put it out of the PCs' so reach so they'll never
collect it.

* The bad guy has a secret weakness that the PCs figure out
how to exploit.

* A variety of PC skills and talents are required to
successfully complete the encounter.

6. Room Five: Reward, Revelation, Plot Twist
============================================================
Here's your opportunity to change the players' bragging to
"we came, we saw, we slipped on a banana peel." Room Five
doesn't always represent a complication or point of failure
for the PCs, but it can. Room Five doesn't always need to be
a physical location either - it can be a twist revealed in
Room Four.

Room Five is where your creativity can shine and is often
what will make the dungeon different and memorable from the
other crawls in your campaigns.

In addition, if you haven't supplied the reward yet for
conquering the dungeon, here is a good place to put the
<script></script>object of the quest, chests of loot, or the valuable
information the PCs need to save the kingdom.

As accounting tasks take over from recent, thrilling, combat
tasks, this would also be a good time to make a campaign or
world revelation, or a plot twist. Perhaps the location of
the next 5 Room Dungeon is uncovered, along with sufficient
motivation to accept the quest. Maybe the true identity of
the bad guy is revealed. New clues and information
pertaining to a major plot arc might be embedded in the
treasure, perhaps sewn into a valuable carpet, drawn in
painting, or written on a slip of paper stuffed into a
scroll tube or encoded on a data chip.

Room Five ideas:
* Another guardian awaits in the treasure container.
* A trap that resurrects or renews the challenge from
Room Four.
* Bonus treasure is discovered that leads to another
adventure, such as a piece of a magic item or a map
fragment.
* A rival enters and tries to steal the reward while the PCs
are weakened after the big challenge of Room Four.
* The object of the quest/final reward isn't what it seems
or has a complication. i.e. The kidnapped king doesn't want
to return.
* The quest was a trick. By killing the dungeon's bad guy
the PCs have actually helped the campaign villain or a
rival. Perhaps the bad guy was actually a good guy under a
curse, transformed, or placed into difficult circumstances.
* The bad guy turns out to be a PC's father.
* The true, gruesome meaning behind a national holiday is
discovered.
* The source of an alien race's hostility towards others is
uncovered, transforming them from villains to sympathetic
characters in the story.
* The true meaning of the prophecy or poem that lead the PCs
to the dungeon is finally understood, and it's not what the
PCs thought.
2 more annotations...
- 3. Room Two: Puzzle Or Roleplaying Challenge
  ============================================================
  The PCs are victorious over the challenge of the first room
  and are now presented with a trial that cannot be solved
  with steel. This keeps problem solvers in your group happy
  and breaks the action up for good pacing.
  
  Make Room Two a puzzle, skill-based, or roleplaying
  <script></script>encounter, if possible. Room Two should shine the limelight
  on different PCs than Room One, change gameplay up, and
  offer variety between the challenge at the entrance and the
  challenge at the end.
  
  Note, if Room One was this type of encounter, then feel free
  to make Room Two combat-oriented.
  
  Room Two should allow for multiple solutions to prevent the
  game from stalling.
  
  Room Two ideas:
  * Magic puzzle, such as a chessboard tile floor with special
  squares.
  * An AI blocks access to the rest of the complex and must be
  befriended, not fought.
  * A buzzer panel for all the apartments, but the person the
  PCs are looking for has listed themselves under a different
  name, which can be figured out through previous clues you've
  dropped.
  * A concierge at the front desk must be bluffed or coerced
  without him raising the alarm.
  * A dirt floor crawls with poisonous snakes that will
  slither out of the way to avoid open flame. (A few might
  follow at a distance and strike later on.)
  * The PCs must convince a bouncer to let them in without
  confiscating their weapons.
  
  Once you've figured out what Room Two is, try to plant one
  or more clues in Room One about potential solutions. This
  ties the adventure together a little tighter, will delight
  the problem solvers, and can be a back-up for you if the
  players get stuck.
  
  4. Room Three: Trick or Setback
  ============================================================
  The purpose of this room is to build tension. Do this using
  a trick, trap, or setback. For example, after defeating a
  tough monster, and players think they've finally found the
  treasure and achieved their goal, they learn they've been
  tricked and the room is a false crypt.
  
  Depending on your game system, use this room to cater to any
  player or character types not yet served by the first two
  areas. Alternatively, give your group a double-dose of
  <script></script>gameplay that they enjoy the most, such as more combat or
  roleplaying.
  
  Room Three ideas:
  * The PCs rescue a number of prisoners or hostages. However,
  the victims might be enemies in disguise, are booby-trapped,
  or create a dilemma as they plead to be escorted back to
  safety immediately.
  * A collapsed structure blocks part of the area. The debris
  is dangerous and blocks nothing of importance, another trap,
  or a new threat.
  * Contains a one-way exit (the PCs must return and deal with
  Rooms One and Two again). i.e. Teleport trap, one-way door,
  2000 foot water slide trap.
  * The PCs finally find the artifact required to defeat the
  villain, but the artifact is broken, cursed, or has parts
  missing, and clues reveal a solution lies ahead.
  * Believing the object of the quest now lays within easy
  reach, an NPC companion turns traitor and betrays the PCs.
  
  Another potential payoff for Room Three is to weaken the PCs
  as build-up to a dramatic struggle in Room Four. It might
  contain a tough combat encounter, take down a key defense,
  exhaust an important resource, or make the party susceptible
  to a certain type of attack.
  
  For example, if Room Four contains a mummy whose secret
  weakness is fire, then make Room Three a troll lair (or
  another creature susceptible to fire) so the PCs might be
  tempted to burn off a lot of their fire magic, oil, and
  other flammable resources. This would turn a plain old troll
  battle into a gotcha once the PCs hit Room Four and realize
  the are out of fire resources.
  
  Don't forget to dress Room Three up with your theme
  elements.
- Room One: Entrance And Guardian
  Room Two: Puzzle Or Roleplaying Challenge
  Room Three: Trick or Setback
  Room Four: Climax, Big Battle Or Conflict
  Room Five: Reward, Revelation, Plot Twist

22 Aug 07

NPC Generator 2

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dnd

18 Jun 07

History of Urban Form: Before the Industrial Revolution: Books: A.E.J. Morris,A.E. Morris

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books dnd history library-book research unread

29 Jan 07

CRN Games: The Fantasy Oracle

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dnd

16 Jan 07

J-Walk Enhanced Data Form v2: Usage

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dnd excel programming

01 Jan 07

New Found Lands: Books: Peter Whitfield

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books dnd map

23 Nov 06

ou will need some green stuff, a jewelers saw, a pin vise that can drill holes for small gauge wire ( IMHO the GW vise doesn't hold a small enough drill bit) some sculpting tools. Some people use chapstick on their fingers to keep the greenstuff from sticking to their fingers and vinegar to soften the greenstuff and smooth it out (just dip your finger/tool in the vinegar and shake it off and sculpt/smooth out)
Keep a "bits box" that is any time you cut something up or buy and assessory pack keep all the pieces after awhile you will have a good collection of body parts and stuff to make more conversions.
4 more annotations...
- Green stuff is an epoxy putty that you can find in a ribbon of yellow and blue colors. You mix the two parts together, and then you sculpt it onto that armature -- you can usually find wire at your hardware store or craft store. I recommend getting some corks from a craft store that you can stick the armature wire into to use as a handle.
  
  As greenstuff hardens, it goes through a range of hardnesses -- some things are easier when it's pliable, other things are easier (sharp edges) after it's hardened for a bit. The best tool that I've found is a metal ice pick-like object. If you have a glass of water nearby, you can stick your tools in it to stop them from sticking to the greenstuff -- very important.
- If the mini you sculpt is going to see alot of play I'd advise using milliput rather than greenstuff. It's alot tougher once it's hardened...
  
  I'd get the wire from a hardware store. Also some thin copper fuse wire can come in useful.
  
  Another couple of tips is get a tin and a desk lamp to make a little "oven" to harden the minis quicker. Just angle the bulb close to the tin and it'll get pretty hot in there. Also work on more than 1 mini at a time. 3 is a good number. When you scupt a mini you only work on small areas at a time. When one area is finished pop the mini in to the tin and work a bit on the second one. When you've finished working on the third the first one will have hardened and you can work on that while the others harden.
  
  Some articles will tell you to buy lots of different sculpting tools...
  
  they may be useful but I sculpt all my minis using only a 3 inch sewing needle. You probably find one of these is all you need to sculpt a decent mini.
- I found a good assortment of sculpting tools at my local Harbor Freight (also a dot com) for cheap, so don't rule out such things immediately.
- A note about Milliput and Greenstuff, if you are planning on making a mold of the creature you made, you will want to use Greenstuff, as it withstands the heat produced while the mold rubber is curing without breaking. Though if this is going to be a one off mini, then Milliput is better.

21 Nov 06

02_MarMAW2006_72_ppi_vn290.jpg (JPEG Image, 480x641 pixels)

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dnd maps

forest lair

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dnd maps

13 Nov 06

Welcome to 0one Games Website

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dnd maps to_buy

03 Nov 06

Adventure Builder: Setting the Hook

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Adventure Builder: Writing Your First Adventure

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part 1 of a series of articles about how to design adventures - jkling on 2006-10-19

A common rule of thumb among the Wizards of the Coast design staff is that a typical group of adventurers will level up after about 13 successful encounters of the party's encounter level (EL)

27 Oct 06