Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Sample Dungeon Using Proposed Generic One-Page Format

Time to put my money where my mouth is.

Here's a sample dungeon using the one-page format I proposed in my earlier post:


Again, the idea here is to present a "keyless" OSR dungeon that is usable, generic/system-neutral, content-rich, and requires the DM to refer to no other scenario materials.  It also assumes the existence of DM Text backround that the DM read and customized pre-adventure; the map above is for in-game usage.

Thoughts, criticisms, and comments welcome as always.

(Really irritated here at my inking, by the way, the smudges and other marring is really annoying.  Need to find a way to cover up those errors.  Used my usual H pencil overwritten with 1 mm, .5 mm, and .1 mm sepia pens.  Also, I need a shading technique to better offset the rooms and halls from the white background.)

9 comments:

  1. Nice experimenting! I like the systemless - keyless approach, and the random elements worked in. Keep on going :-)

    BTW a bit of GIMP (free)/ PhotoShop (expensive)/ Pixelmator (cheap but excellent for Mac) can do wonders to less succesful inking, I've noticed :-)

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  2. This is awesome.

    My only worry is that the format might discourage some types of puzzles of interactive elements that are hard to do with little text (for example, a rack of 20 potions, all with different effects, like one can find in Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom).

    Perhaps good for 80-90% of content, with supplementary pages being used for the occasional "special" feature.

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  3. Thanks, guys. I am trying to find something that is functional and adaptable.

    I'll check out the GIMP package, Jaap ... I am a freehand guy and very unfamiliar with image manipulation.

    I agree Brendan that more complicated elements require a key; something as simple as an asterisk or "see page X" would be sufficient to direct the DM to a supplemental page.

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  4. Have you tried putting a scrap of tracing paper under your inking hand? That way you can see around your hand. Just be careful not to drag it and you shouldn't smear the pencil.

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  5. Looking forward to more of this. I like both style and content. :)

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  6. Yeah, James, the smudging happened when my 1 mm sepia pen left ink on my straightedge ... when I drug it off, smudge city ... ack!

    Tsoj and Will, thanks both for dropping by and for your comments.

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  7. Very cool, I like the keyless method, how it makes it all an all encompassing single document. Great job.

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