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Post by geoffrey on Feb 13, 2013 20:13:27 GMT -6
What do you get when you take my Isle of the Unknown book, dungeon module B1: In Search of the Unknown, the various one-page dungeon levels, Aaron Steele's post against word walls ( apaladinincitadel.blogspot.com/2011/06/why-word-walls-wont-work.html ), and mix them together? You get my forthcoming module, Dungeon of the Unknown. The module is EASY to use. Your D&D game starts in 5 minutes? I've got you covered. Just flip through this module for 5 minutes to see how it's set-up, and you're good to go. You can use it for characters as low as level 1 and as high as level 10. Instantly. Every encounter has been given scaling information so as to be appropriate for any particular level between 1st and 10th. No calculators needed. No calculations (unless you count needing to roll the hp for the human encounters) needed. It's all there. "Gods! It must be wordy as hell." No. Quite the opposite, in fact. My inspirations here are the 1-page dungeon levels and a healthy hatred of word walls. No study of this module is required before you referee it. So what the devil is in it? 2 Dungeon Levels 75 Encounter Areas 9000 words 20 Rumors 2 Wandering Monster Tables 6 Sample Goop Monsters (plus a Random Generator to Make Countless More) 12 Treasures 12 Weird Locations 19 New Monsters 7 Human Encounters and a partridge in a pear tree (Well, not that last one. ;D ) The module is similar to the old B1 module in that the DM is encouraged to place the treasures, monsters, and weird things as he sees fit. But example placements are given in case you don't have the time for that, or in case you simply don't want to do it. In other words, you can lavish hours of creativity upon this module, or you can run it immediately as-is. You can drop these dungeon levels anywhere in your campaign. The module has no backstory, no boxed text, no wasted verbiage. A single sentence on the back cover gives a suggested location for the dungeon on the Isle of the Unknown, but that can be easily ignored. This is the sort of module I would want to buy. I wrote it to suit my own druthers. I don't know if it will be to your taste, but the above information should be enough to let you know if you might like it. Dungeon of the Unknown is part of a package deal of other items published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess. (Oh, I forgot to mention that my module is systemless. It works well with any version of D&D published by TSR, and with any of the retro-clones.) Here is the link to the Kickstarter, which finishes on Feb. 20th: (A No-Prize to the first person to recognize the inspiration for the color scheme of the cover art of Dungeon of the Unknown!) |
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Post by geoffrey on Feb 14, 2013 16:45:38 GMT -6
This is awesome. I'm looking forward to this so much.  Does the DotU clarify some of the mysteries of IotU? No, this module just adds to them. I think it's best for the DM and his players to discover answers through their own exploration.  Somebody here has to recognize the inspiration for the color scheme of the cover art! It is so old-school. Look at those glowing Platonic solids and think back to the 1970s. ;D |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2013 18:33:15 GMT -6
Geoffrey, that reminds me of your answer to the question of what the city of Carcosa was like in your supplement of the same name:
(from memory) "I don't know, my players haven't been there, yet!"
One of the all-time great responses to a question about playing/running the game.
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Post by Zenopus on Feb 14, 2013 23:02:05 GMT -6
Somebody here has to recognize the inspiration for the color scheme of the cover art! It is so old-school. Look at those glowing Platonic solids and think back to the 1970s. ;D The picture's very small but they look like the Holmes dice colors.  |
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Post by geoffrey on Feb 15, 2013 18:45:38 GMT -6
Somebody here has to recognize the inspiration for the color scheme of the cover art! It is so old-school. Look at those glowing Platonic solids and think back to the 1970s. ;D The picture's very small but they look like the Holmes dice colors. Ding-ding! We have our winner of a Stan Lee-style No-Prize! ;D |
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Post by ritt on Feb 16, 2013 18:55:56 GMT -6
This sounds awesome! Very much looking forward to it.
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Post by CivilianZero on Feb 23, 2013 0:35:17 GMT -6
Will this also be available elsewhere eventually? And if so, in what format?
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skars
Level 6 Magician
Posts: 407
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Post by skars on Feb 25, 2013 12:50:05 GMT -6
Son-of-a beholder...I missed the kickstarter gaming over the president's day holiday. Do we have to wait until freerpg day to purchase the Dungeon of the unknown module?
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Post by geoffrey on Feb 25, 2013 19:56:29 GMT -6
Son-of-a beholder...I missed the kickstarter gaming over the president's day holiday. Do we have to wait until freerpg day to purchase the Dungeon of the unknown module? Anyone who missed out and wants to get in on the fun, click here: /posts/413629 There is a short time-limit here. To quote from the above link: YOU MUST EMAIL JIM NO LATER THAN 11:59pm FINNISH TIME (EET, or GMT+2) WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 27th! YOUR PAYMENT TO MATT HAS TO BE SENT BY THE TIME HE GETS INTO WORK ON MONDAY, ABOUT 9am EASTERN US TIME. ;D |
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Post by CivilianZero on Feb 25, 2013 20:49:33 GMT -6
Thank you so much for this. That's awesome. I'm in.
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Post by Melan on Feb 28, 2013 9:41:03 GMT -6
I am increasingly doubtful about the products of the minimalist trend that is sweeping this part of the hobby. It is frustrating because it is not economy and effective presentation anymore but creative starvation. You can make any adventure out of it? You can change and replace anything? Apparently, but why would you want to do that? If I buy a module written by Geoffrey, I want to read Geoffrey's writing and enjoy his ideas, and maybe add to them before or during play - but definitely not substitute my own design.
Here is my minimalist dungeon:
It is infinitely adaptable. It is more radical than the one page dungeons. But is it worth any money, or even time? Well how about it: I would not pay a penny for this generic, unimaginative, emaciated wreck! Give this poor thing a sandwich! It sucks!
I am not saying Dungeon of the Unknown is even in the same category. 8500 words is a fine word count (as long as 6000 words aren't dedicated to random tables and generic information). But yes, I am frustrated by this thought that is permeating discussion and design nowadays. One time, game designers made the mistake of saying "detail is good". Now, we are at the opposite extreme, where all we had to do was find a reasonable middle ground.
(Or maybe I am wrong. In which case, for my next project, I will give you, my Discerning and Creative Readers, 10 blank dungeon pages. You can write anything on them. ANYTHING! Mail checks for $5 to my usual address; US customers please add another $5 for overseas shipping.)
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Post by funkaoshi on Feb 28, 2013 10:15:50 GMT -6
I'm guessing there is a happy medium between overly verbose WotC / TSR modules and what you just posted.
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Post by cadriel on Feb 28, 2013 13:03:35 GMT -6
I wrote a bit about using a B1-type format on my blog: initiativeone.blogspot.com/2013/02/dungeon-format-b1-style.htmlI happen to think the opposite of Melan; I'm working on a dungeon for my zine that is done somewhat in the style of B1 where the encounters are plugged into existing rooms. A big part of the reason is that I want it to have a "living" feel where the denizens are moving about in the dungeon and not "static." Static dungeons are a problem that I have with a lot of modules and one I'm hoping will be circumvented in a product like Dungeon of the Unknown. |
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Post by crusssdaddy on Feb 28, 2013 15:20:02 GMT -6
I would probably pop my Kickstarter cherry to buy a D&D adventure called "Give This Poor Thing A Sandwich!"
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Post by geoffrey on Feb 28, 2013 16:51:38 GMT -6
I am not saying Dungeon of the Unknown is even in the same category. 8500 words is a fine word count (as long as 6000 words aren't dedicated to random tables and generic information). The word count has increased a bit to 9000. Here's the break-down: 20 rumors: 256 words wandering monster tables: 61 words random goop generator: 792 words 6 sample goop monsters: 247 words 12 treasures: 727 words 12 weird locations: 1,542 words 19 new monsters: 4,315 words 7 human encounters: 1,068 words In addition to those 9,000 words, the inside cover has brief appellations for the 75 encounter areas, totalling 465 words. Beside each appellation and room number are two blanks. The first blank gives the possible contents of the room, while the second blank is left empty for the DM to write-in the actual contents of the room (Think a combination of module B1 and the artifacts section of Eldritch Wizardry.) For example: 3. Shrine of the Glorious Bulls W6 ___ Thus, a DM pressed for time could assume that the 6th weird thing in the module (labelled "W6") is in room 3. Or, if the DM wants to do his own placements (as in module B1), he can ignore that possibility and write-in his own placement. Lastly, the back cover of the module has 177 words giving brief instructions on how to use the module. ;D |
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Post by geoffrey on Feb 28, 2013 16:57:24 GMT -6
I wrote a bit about using a B1-type format on my blog: initiativeone.blogspot.com/2013/02/dungeon-format-b1-style.htmlI happen to think the opposite of Melan; I'm working on a dungeon for my zine that is done somewhat in the style of B1 where the encounters are plugged into existing rooms. A big part of the reason is that I want it to have a "living" feel where the denizens are moving about in the dungeon and not "static." Static dungeons are a problem that I have with a lot of modules and one I'm hoping will be circumvented in a product like Dungeon of the Unknown. That's a good blog post, and I think I've done in Dungeon of the Unknown what you're describing here. There are not two lists of monsters in this dungeon, one listing the wandering monsters and the other listing those that stay put. Instead, ALL the monsters (both human and otherwise) in the dungeon can be either wandering monsters or encountered in their lairs. And once a given monster is slain, it can't be encountered again. Thus, if you slay the magic-user known as the Taxidermist as he was wandering through the halls, he won't be in his lair when you get there (since he will be a corpse way back over there, natch). |
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Post by deathanddrek on Feb 28, 2013 22:13:45 GMT -6
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Post by Melan on Mar 1, 2013 7:39:37 GMT -6
Geoffrey: Yeah, I think this is really, really, really not for me. And with that, I do not wish to distract from the discussion, so I'm bowing out.
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