Once, a long time ago, the Dungeon was filled with monsters and treasure. At least that is what the bards claim. Then adventurers came and killed all the monsters. With the dangers and treasures stripped away the Dungeon was nothing but a dangerous maze of darkened corridors.

However Nature, and Politics, hate a vacuum.

Nearly fifty years ago King Alfred Eldarwise determined to put the abandoned structure to use. He decreed that all those guilty of high crimes would be banished into The Dungeon. If they managed to escape then the Gods and Goddesses must have blessed them and their crimes would be forgiven. Nearly a hundred men and women from across the nation were cast into The Dungeon.

None escaped.

King Alfred II decreed that all those guilty of murder, theft, or poaching were also to be send into The Dungeon. Then the list was widened to include political dissidents, prisoners of war, and heretics. By the time King Alfred III took the throne nearly every crime in the land was punishable by throwing the offender into The Dungeon.

And now its your turn...

-_-_-_-_

So, that is the basic concept. I'm fascinated by Dungeon Crawls. So I thought it would be fun to run a game where the Dungeon is the be-all and end-all of the game.

Humans Only.
No Starting Equipment.
Death at 0 hp.
We will track light, food, and water.
XP would be earned by overcoming obstacles, gathering or making equipment, and generally being clever.
The goal at first is to survive. Then to find a way to escape.
The obstacles would be the natural and magical environment, creatures who've fond their way into the dungeon from elsewhere, and your fellow prisoners whom are also desperate for food, supplies, and power.

The ruleset would be a modified version of the Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox rules.

First, all d20 rolls are replaced by 3d6 rolls. Bell-curves for the win.

Second, when a character gains a +1 to their BHB they also will do an additional d6 of damage with weapon attacks. All damage modifiers apply to the additional dice. So a 3rd Level Fighting Man with a Greatsword and a +1 Str Mod would deal 3d6+6 damage.

Third, Armor will consist of Light (+1), Medium (+2) and Heavy (+3) types. It is also broken up between Helms, Cuirasses, and Shields. So, a character dressed all in Heavy armor would have an AC of 19. Meaning that you'd have to be very good and very lucky to get through their defenses. Better try a different method of defeating them.

In reply to Wiglaf (msg # 1):

That sounds amazing! I imagine there would be a ton of interest for a good ol' dungeon crawl!

Rules such as:
-dead at 0 hp
-no starting equipment
-humans only

warm my heart and get me all fuzzy feeling. :)

I've never played the Swords & Wizardry Whitebox ruleset but I'd be eager to give it a go!

In reply to Wiglaf (msg # 1):

DL'd and read the Whitebox rules pdf. Love the ruleset!

Several questions:

Are you planning on using the ascending or descending AC?

For initiative, will you use Intent and/or the Alternate Combat System?

When you say "no starting equipment" does that include weapons and armor as well?

How about food/light/water?

Mages would start with a magic tome, correct?

Would the other races such as Elf, Dwarf, etc. still appear as NPCs or do they not exist in this setting at all?

Is this intended as a gauntlet for solo players, or do you envision group play?

Thank you for the interest. I'll do my best to answer your questions.

1, I'd be using the Ascending Armor Class rules.

2, Imitative will be simplified to reflect the nature of RPoL style games. When combat begins I'll roll a d6 for the monsters as a group, and a d6 for the players as a group. Highest roll goes first. In the case of a tie I'll decide who goes first based upon the scene.

3, When I say no starting equipment I mean they will be wearing a tunic and pants with a rope belt. They'll be unable to carry anything with them at all. This includes weapons, armor, and spellbooks. I might allow a canny character to have hidden a small object, like a ring or a lockpick, upon their person. Nothing larger than that. (The guards are paid very well and so are very good at their jobs.)

4, There will be opportunities to find or create tools such as torches. Left over equipment caches from the days when adventurers would roam the halls could be found. Food will have to be scavenged from the environment. Mushrooms, subterranean fish, lizards, spiders, rats, any number of things could be turned into food. Rumors say that some of the prisoners might have taken to eating each other.

5, My thought is that Magic users could have their starting spells tattooed upon their body. So, even though they are without a spellbook they will still have their two starting spells. Gaining more spells will be a challenge.

I'll post more about the setting itself later today. I'm still looking over some potential houserules.

In reply to Wiglaf (msg # 4):

Thanks for the answers!

I'd definitely be eager to any such game based off of just what you've said so far. :)

Here is a little more about the inspiration for this style of game.

I am inspired by a series of games I used to play when I was in middle and high school. Exile: Escape from the Pit is the name of the game I spent way too many hours on. The key difference is that the caves in that game were expansive and contained whole cities and nations. Thus far, this setting is a bit more contained.

Dark Sun is a setting with a flavor that I enjoy a great deal. I like the aesthetic of lots of weapons and tools made from bone and stone. I also like making magic dangerous. It should be mysterious, unstable, and have the potential to harm the caster, or the area around them.

Professor Dungeon Master, of Dungeon Craft, is a significant inspiration to me. I'm thinking of adopting his system for magic spells. No need to track spell slots. The Magic User or Cleric can cast the spells they know as many times a day as they want, but they must roll for each casting of the spell. Just like a fighter or other class rolls to attack with a weapon or use a special ability. A natural 1 on that roll, however, could result in a catastrophic failure and death of the caster.

Keeping this information in mind. I'm thinking that the setting will be human centered. Other races might have once been present, but as far as the characters are concerned such stories are probably just tall tales and legends meant to frighten children into obeying their parents.

I do picture this as a game for a small to medium group of players. That would give them the best chance of surviving. I'd like the group to go from humble beginnings to mighty heroes capable of not only escaping The Dungeon but also exacting their revenge upon the current king.

In reply to Wiglaf (msg # 6):

Sounds a lot like the style of games we played during the same time frame. Always had interest in trying out Dark Sun or Al Qadim back in the day but never got a chance to play it.

Love the idea of magic being wild and unstable!

Keen on the idea of fashioning equipment from found materials and foraging for food/water.
This message was last edited by the user at 00:36, Tue 02 Mar 2021.

Awesome. If we can get at least one other player expressing interest I'll start setting the game up.

Thank you very much for your thoughtful questions and interest in the game. :)

In reply to Wiglaf (msg # 8):

You could always post it up in the Players Wanted section: it seems as GMs are at a premium, and you'll most likely generate some greater interest there. Just a thought.

I'd be up for soloing or group play, if you're keen to run such a dungeon regardless of any other interest.

I'm curious what you use to generate your dungeon? Online tools, paper/pen, etc.

I don't know why, but I think that would be awesome for a magic user to have their one spell memorized, no spell book. Tough choice when to expend that one spell, before having to locate new spells....and food/water...AND light. :)

One final question: what is your preferred/ideal posting frequency?
This message had punctuation tweaked by the user at 22:39, Tue 02 Mar 2021.

Normally I generate them in a hardbound sketchbook that I record all of the different DM notes in. I have a book called Tome of Adventure Design that I'll probably use to help me. Along with the book The Mother of All Treasure Tables to make sure that treasures are interesting, varied, and useful.

There probably won't be a map. I mean, I'll have one, but I won't share it until the characters get a way to start making their own.

Posting rate would probably be 1 post every 1-2 days. No posting required on the weekend. If you end up doing a solo then I'd likely post more often.

Having a Magic user needing to relish that one spell would be interesting. I think that if a player wanted to embrace that level of challenge I'd give them an extra bonus of some sort. Like one free re-roll. I'll think about it.

I'll start putting the game together. With some luck, I should have something useable by Friday.

link to another game

Here is a link to the game. Feel free to check it out and send an RTJ.