#Dungeon23 - Procedures

It’s time to get our procedures wired for #dungeon23. Below is a potential structure for a one-dungeon-every-two-weeks(ish) system. Which is not at all #dungeon23, but it is what I want to do. The intent is to keep commitment light so that ideas can marinate between days and I can keep up with all the responsibilities of adulthood. For me, it's important to have my procedures and resources set to keep focus, otherwise, I spend too much time reinventing the wheel. He said, reinventing the wheel.

I made a worksheet to help me focus. Feel free to copy it for your own use, I’ll update it as I work through the process.

Day 1: Planning - Set and setting, themes, narrative structure, chamber contents

Set and Setting Resources: 

• Freebooters on the Frontier 2nd ed. Playtest

• D&D 5e DMG

• Ruin Tags from “Worlds without Number”

Dungeon Structure

• Narrative

• Sersa Victory’s Cyclic Dungeon Generator - https://sersavictory.itch.io/cyclic-dungeon-generation

• 5-Room Dungeon

• Bite-size dungeons: https://traversefantasy.blogspot.com/2022/11/bite-sized-dungeons.html  

• Random (have to determine the size first)

• 5e DMG

• AD&D

• AxBeak’s Deck of Many Dungeons

• Donjon

Stocking/Chamber Contents - What room has what.?

• D&D5e

• B/X

• AD&D 1e

At the end of Day 1, have a sketch of the dungeon (Narrative/Random), know the number of rooms, and their disposition

Day 2: Monsters, Traps, Hazards, and Cash

• Monsters, based on the vibe of the dungeon

• AD&D Monster lists

• 2nd Edition Monster Lists

• B/X lists (Basic Fantasy or OSE)

• Traps

• Oh no. I don’t use traps, so I don’t have any good lists.

• Hazards

• 5e DMG

• Treasure generation (number of gold pieces, magic items, etc)

Day 3: Generate the room types, proper stocking, and dressing of the rooms.

• Room types/sizes/Dressing

• D&D 5e DMG - Probably the best 

• Freebooters 2nd Ed.

• OSRIC

• AD&D 1e

• Assign dressings/sizes to each room

• Sketch of the dungeon - Something more formal to work off of for tomorrow.

Day 4-6: Formal Drawing of the Dungeon, or keying a previously found map

We know our room sizes and types, and have a vague understanding of the dungeon, time to actually draw the damn thing.

• Google drawings (for that flowchart dungeon)

• https://www.dungeonscrawl.com/

• Scan it in from above (ew?)

Day 7-10: Keying//Mashing it all together

The structure is here, we know the size, scope, and themes: it’s time to key the dungeon

• Write fast. Evocative and concise writing, if it's over two sentences…

• Use the resources above

• Write in order

• Dangers

• Obvious aspects

• “lighting conditions, temperature, sounds, and odors are powerful descriptions, and useful easily understood clues”

• Keying Advice (at the end): https://alldeadgenerations.blogspot.com/2021/03/so-you-want-to-build-dungeon.html

• Start thinking about: Dungeon secrets

• Hooks for an extended campaign

Day: 11-12 Layout, rough-hewn product

We have our map, keyed and with text. Time to put it all together.

• Layout

• Google docs?

• MS Office

• Something else?

Day 13-14: Day off/Backup day/Posting/Refining the Process

Sit back and enjoy the fruit of my labor. Brag about it online and watch people who know what they are doing tear it to shreds.

Hopefully, this schedule is easy enough to keep and will allow a large variety of dungeons that can be contrasted and compared. How does “cyclic dungeon generation” feel when compared to the 5-room dungeon? Time to find out.