Mike's Dungeons! The first (two) delves...
Jan 4, 2020 21:39:33 GMT -6
Melan, geoffrey, and 5 more like this
Post by kesher on Jan 4, 2020 21:39:33 GMT -6
Okay, so, we played today, using the B/X rules since one of the players had a B/X character he'd used in the past, and wanted to use that character ( I was originally going to use AD&D).
There will be some spoilers, if that matters. However, let's remember: it's an old school dungeon--you can and should change whatever you want.
Three players:
The short version: It was a blast!
We played for about 3.5 hours. Their first foray was the longest. Good dungeoneering skills were in evidence, and the strangest encounter they had was with a giant yellow scorpion perched on a pile of coins. They realized it seemed unable to leave the pile of coins (though it REALLY wanted to), and they ended up shooting it to death with a crossbow. It took awhile.
The second foray was shorter, but involved (through excellent mapping) figuring out there were two entrances to a room they hadn't yet entered, which they discovered was housing some porcine orcs, a door on the east wall and an open doorway on the south. The dwarves kicked in the door, surprising three orcs. The thief, who had snuck around to the southern entryway, took one out from behind with a single crossbow shot, while the dwarves made short work of the other two, thanks to merciful dice. However, when they decided to pass through the room where the scorpion had been, they now found it had a new occupant. There were shrouds of webbing hanging from the walls and ceiling, and giant black widow spider squatted on an even larger pile of coins. Realizing that it, too, couldn't leave the coins, the thief decided, as merry adventurers will do, to mock their foe by "shining the moon on it", so to speak. It was at that moment that they discovered the spider could spray its webbing, and it of course fired it at the exposed area, and began reeling him in. Hijinks ensued. No one (somehow) died. It was not easy to remove the (fundamental) webbing...
I REALLY like Mike's Dungeons. It's exactly as bare-bones and ready to go as Geoffrey has said (and just as boring to read!) Though now available as a straight PDF or a perfect-bound volume, I have the original 3-ring binder version and will never, ever part with it. I pulled out the map, clipped it to my DM's screen, and then only had to flip between two pages for the entire level. Also, I just started writing on the pages themselves, as none are double-sided, so the dungeon is also serving as my notebook. I'm a big fan of "living" dungeons, changing and growing in-between each visit, and that's already begun to happen.
I'm running it again tomorrow for a much larger group. Should be about nine players, including two of the three who played today. Awesome.
geoffrey , I've always viewed Carcosa as perhaps the best outcome of whatever the OSR was/is. I now count Mike's Dungeons as equal in stature, for whatever that's worth. Thanks for taking the time to make it widely available!
There will be some spoilers, if that matters. However, let's remember: it's an old school dungeon--you can and should change whatever you want.
Three players:
- Ikea the Dwarf of Sweden: 1st level
- Fernando: Dwarf, 3rd level
- Eigeil: Thief, 4th level
The short version: It was a blast!
We played for about 3.5 hours. Their first foray was the longest. Good dungeoneering skills were in evidence, and the strangest encounter they had was with a giant yellow scorpion perched on a pile of coins. They realized it seemed unable to leave the pile of coins (though it REALLY wanted to), and they ended up shooting it to death with a crossbow. It took awhile.
The second foray was shorter, but involved (through excellent mapping) figuring out there were two entrances to a room they hadn't yet entered, which they discovered was housing some porcine orcs, a door on the east wall and an open doorway on the south. The dwarves kicked in the door, surprising three orcs. The thief, who had snuck around to the southern entryway, took one out from behind with a single crossbow shot, while the dwarves made short work of the other two, thanks to merciful dice. However, when they decided to pass through the room where the scorpion had been, they now found it had a new occupant. There were shrouds of webbing hanging from the walls and ceiling, and giant black widow spider squatted on an even larger pile of coins. Realizing that it, too, couldn't leave the coins, the thief decided, as merry adventurers will do, to mock their foe by "shining the moon on it", so to speak. It was at that moment that they discovered the spider could spray its webbing, and it of course fired it at the exposed area, and began reeling him in. Hijinks ensued. No one (somehow) died. It was not easy to remove the (fundamental) webbing...
I REALLY like Mike's Dungeons. It's exactly as bare-bones and ready to go as Geoffrey has said (and just as boring to read!) Though now available as a straight PDF or a perfect-bound volume, I have the original 3-ring binder version and will never, ever part with it. I pulled out the map, clipped it to my DM's screen, and then only had to flip between two pages for the entire level. Also, I just started writing on the pages themselves, as none are double-sided, so the dungeon is also serving as my notebook. I'm a big fan of "living" dungeons, changing and growing in-between each visit, and that's already begun to happen.
I'm running it again tomorrow for a much larger group. Should be about nine players, including two of the three who played today. Awesome.
geoffrey , I've always viewed Carcosa as perhaps the best outcome of whatever the OSR was/is. I now count Mike's Dungeons as equal in stature, for whatever that's worth. Thanks for taking the time to make it widely available!