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Post by Finarvyn on Mar 30, 2020 14:55:18 GMT -6
I have some friends like that. You certainly know where they stand on certain issues.
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Post by tetramorph on Apr 8, 2020 14:41:33 GMT -6
geoffrey, I'm going to run this for the Tabletop.events on-line con!
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Post by geoffrey on Apr 8, 2020 20:03:40 GMT -6
geoffrey, I'm going to run this for the Tabletop.events on-line con! I'm honored. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do.
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Post by tetramorph on May 22, 2020 12:47:58 GMT -6
There were indeed some things that I always intended to place in a particular place, such as: Each level has an influence from one of the cards of the Thoth Tarot. Please elaborate.
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Post by geoffrey on May 23, 2020 15:01:15 GMT -6
There were indeed some things that I always intended to place in a particular place, such as: Each level has an influence from one of the cards of the Thoth Tarot. Please elaborate. I'm talking about this Tarot deck: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoth_tarot_deckYou'll notice that Mike's Dungeons consist of 78 levels (with 39 more to come, hopefully in July), and that the Tarot has 78 cards. You'll further notice that 22 of the Tarot's 78 cards are the Major Arcana, and that Mike's Dungeons include the Great Temple of Evil Chaos on 22 of its levels. And 56 of the Tarot's 78 cards are the Minor Arcana, and that 56 levels of Mike's Dungeons do not include the Great Temple of Evil Chaos. So... Each of the 22 Temple levels has at least a little something inspired by one of the Major Arcana. For example, look at room K of dungeon level 34: Then look at the Tarot card called "Adjustment": Each of the 56 non-Temple levels has at least a little something from one of the 56 Minor Arcana of the Tarot. Consider room H of dungeon level 50: Then look at the 9 of Disks Tarot card: That sort of thing is present in all 78 dungeon levels.
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Post by tetramorph on May 26, 2020 10:13:56 GMT -6
Brief Review: Mike's Dungeons Geoffrey McKinney I ran this module twice for Table Top Events Convention of Champions. The players covered most of the first level and some of the second level. So please keep this limited exposure to running this module in mind as per this review. This is a perfect dungeon module in terms of format. Each map is on one page and almost all the key fits on exactly one page opposite the map so that it can lay open on the table for the referee. Perfect. The room descriptions are short, curt, concise, and to the point, empowering straightforward fast-paced play. It is important to note, however, that NPCs are referred to by level title, so, if you do not have level titles memorized, you will have to look up what level that NPC is. And no monsters have any stats or special descriptions. The module assumes grounded knowledge in the standard D&D monsters and that you have easy, ready access to monster descriptions in rule books. I did not enjoy having to look up some levels based upon titles for NPCs. It seems to me easy enough to say, "2 Warriors (FM2)," or something like that. But I had no problem with missing stats. It cleaned up the key and enabled it to all fit on one page. I have refereed for some time, I have many standard monster stats memorized, or nearly so, and I can, in general, run most encounters on-the-fly with little to no look-ups. So this absence of presentation did not slow me down, much. Others may find this annoying, so, in order to run the module smoothly, you many need to write in monster stats, say, for three levels ahead of the players, before each session, to make sure you feel like you can keep things running at a good pace. As McKinney urges, this is a module to be played, not studied, and I can confirm this from my own experience. What content there is, is rock solid. This is a "funhouse" style dungeon in the sense that there are very few rooms entirely empty of content and most of the content has no concern for so-called "ecology." This is, for me, a bonus to be commended. But if you like "ecology," be forewarned. In the main what we have is monsters, some with treasure. There is very little treasure unguarded by monsters that might otherwise be hidden or trapped. There are no descriptions of motivations, little indication of how monsters will react to the characters (but some) and no description of the relationship between monsters. This is not a problem for me. In fact, I welcome this sparseness. I enjoy making those things up for myself. But, again, if you like "factions," and those kinds of things, you are going to have to make them up for yourself. What I will say, however, is that, for me, I had to add content to make this feel right and provide a full "old school" session. There are virtually no tricks (wonderful things that require interaction and problem solving) or traps at the initial entry levels, and the treasure is very sparse. I have not studied beyond the ninth level (hey, it is for playing, not for studying, remember?), but this is the case for me through the ninth level. I added a pit or deadfall trap in a corridor per level. I added hidden and trapped treasures, especially in dead-ends. I added false doors, teleportation points, etc., also in dead-ends. I elaborated certain decoratively described rooms in order to turn them into tricks or wonders that gave players something to interact with and solve. I added clues to these traps and tricks. I added clues to the monsters and treasures that were already there. I elaborated on description. Etc. Now, I loved doing this extra work. This is exactly the kind of module I love, because it leaves much room for me to fit it into my campaign setting and add my own creativity. It gives me boundaries within which to work, and empowers my own imagination. This extra work, however, may not be everyone's cup of tea, so just be aware that, for many, this module will need some work in order for it to play like the kind of old school dungeons we usually enjoy. The next thing I say, I say somewhat tongue-in-cheek: there is some false advertisement. The write up on DriveThruRPG says that this is the dungeon you would have made when you were a kid but were too lazy. I do not believe this to be true. Few young children would theme their 78 level dungeon using Alister Crowley's Thoth Tarot Deck. And if they did, then the Satanic Panic might have perhaps been confirmed, or, at least, lasted longer. I had fun running this and, for those not too worried about the Alister Crowley connection, I recommend it. Fight on! Edit, Fri Jun 12, 2020: Edited version added to web log as post: campaigns-playable.blogspot.com/2020/06/mikes-dungeons-brief-review.html
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Post by geoffrey on May 26, 2020 11:31:46 GMT -6
Hey, thanks for the review! I had a great time reading that. A fun little thing about Aleister Crowley and about me using his Thoth Tarot deck as dungeon material: The clerics of Evil Chaos (both in Gary's B2 and in Mike's Dungeons) seem pretty much like devil-worshipers to me. What better than to use a devil-worshiper's Tarot deck as thematic material for their dungeon? Unfortunately ("unfortunate" in this context, anyway), Crowley was never a devil-worshiper. He was rather a self-styled prophet and founder of the spiritual philosophy that he termed "Thelema". When I discovered this, I was crestfallen. But the deck was too cool not to use, and (this being D&D) why not plunder it for ideas? I wasn't going to let some inconvenient historical facts get in the way of the clerics of Evil Chaos!
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skars
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 407
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Post by skars on Mar 28, 2022 15:36:32 GMT -6
Quick question, has an errata been published? I'm looking at dungeon level31A as I believe there might be a typo and should read ascend to level 30.
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Post by geoffrey on Mar 28, 2022 16:12:11 GMT -6
Quick question, has an errata been published? I'm looking at dungeon level31A as I believe there might be a typo and should read ascend to level 30. Yes, you are indeed correct. The last sentence of room A of dungeon level 31 should read, "The stairs ascend to dungeon level 30."
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skars
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 407
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Post by skars on Mar 28, 2022 16:22:39 GMT -6
Quick question, has an errata been published? I'm looking at dungeon level31A as I believe there might be a typo and should read ascend to level 30. Yes, you are indeed correct. The last sentence of room A of dungeon level 31 should read, "The stairs ascend to dungeon level 30." Thanks! Although I am now kinda thinking I like the idea of a magical loop on that level preventing one from simply ascending up the stairs to 30
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Post by Finarvyn on Mar 28, 2022 16:35:10 GMT -6
Saw some copies of this for sale at GaryCon. The Black Blade booth, I think?
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Post by geoffrey on Mar 28, 2022 17:01:54 GMT -6
Saw some copies of this for sale at GaryCon. The Black Blade booth, I think? Might it have been James Mishler?
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skars
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 407
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Post by skars on Mar 28, 2022 17:19:53 GMT -6
Saw some copies of this for sale at GaryCon. The Black Blade booth, I think? I bought a physical copy at GaryCon I had seen the post here and didn't know there were physical copies available. Then I saw all three on drive thru today and got the other two now coming.
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skars
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 407
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Post by skars on Apr 4, 2022 13:07:27 GMT -6
I'm talking about this Tarot deck: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoth_tarot_deckYou'll notice that Mike's Dungeons consist of 78 levels (with 39 more to come, hopefully in July), and that the Tarot has 78 cards. You'll further notice that 22 of the Tarot's 78 cards are the Major Arcana, and that Mike's Dungeons include the Great Temple of Evil Chaos on 22 of its levels. And 56 of the Tarot's 78 cards are the Minor Arcana, and that 56 levels of Mike's Dungeons do not include the Great Temple of Evil Chaos. That sort of thing is present in all 78 dungeon levels. I had no difficulty mapping the cards to their levels all the way up until the court cards. Was there a particular pattern to the court card levels (58-78, not counting temple levels)?
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Post by geoffrey on Apr 4, 2022 13:53:26 GMT -6
No, I do not remember there being a pattern for the court cards. Instead, I used intuition / gut instinct as to which card went with which level.
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skars
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 407
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Post by skars on Apr 4, 2022 14:31:42 GMT -6
No, I do not remember there being a pattern for the court cards. Instead, I used intuition / gut instinct as to which card went with which level. Thank you, I certainly had a few court cards out of place according to the previous pattern so this makes total sense.
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