Stocking the Dungeon with a Newb, Part 1

Welcome, all!

Thus marks our first post on Sol Invictus Games, a space where I plan to compile and publish random thoughts, ramblings, and occasionally useable material that may or may not be of interest to D&D enthusiasts and the old-school gaming community.

Simultaneously, this post marks the first of a series that will explore dungeon stocking techniques and "best practices" through the lens of a naive, fledgling GM. Which I am.

halp...

As the name might suggest, the dungeon is a fundamental constituent of the D&D experience. It is the mythic underworld. A cursory Google search will reveal dozens of unfathomably large dungeons that have no doubt supported years of campaign play. Wiser minds than my own have written a great deal on how to fill it with things.

This series will not be an attempt to reinvent the wheel, but rather will be a vehicle to preserve the notes and remarks of a fresh-faced referee attempting to fill his first dungeon "by-the-book". The "book" in question will be the free and fabulous Swords & Wizardry SRD. To determine room type and contents, I'll be using a method detailed in this excellent blog post by Patrick Wetmore. And because I skew toward masochism, the map to be stocked will be this behemoth from Dyson Logos.¹

Without further adieu, let's begin...

...with some math.

Counting the Rooms

In total, I counted 134 individual rooms or areas which I thought should be keyed with some sort of encounter, description or feature. As per Patrick's post, this number should be split up amongst the following categories: (i) monster with treasure, (ii) monster without treasure, (iii) trap with treasure, (iv) trap without treasure, (v) special, (vi) unguarded treasure, and (vii) empty.

Following Patrick's distribution (itself derived from the B/X rules set), we get the following recommended frequencies:

• Monster with treasure: 22-23
• Monster without treasure: 22-23
• Trap with treasure: 7-8
• Trap without treasure: 14-15
• Special: 22-23
• Unguarded treasure: 14-15
• Empty: 37-38

I then went along Dyson's map room-by-room and marked preliminary labels according to what I thought they could be. In practice, since I'm not terribly experienced in creating traps and tricks, I ended up with a lot of unused "special" rooms toward the end. I guess I wasn't entirely sure what to do with these at first. These were subsequently redistributed amongst earlier rooms, replacing existing labels where seemed appropriate. 

Since this initial pass, many of these labels have changed, either because they didn't make any sense or because I thought changing the layout would improve pacing or general play experience. Depending on how drastically different the final room-type distribution looks, I may skip this step in future.

Keying on Theme

Once the rooms have been allocated in this abstract manner, it's time to start putting actual things into them.

But where do we start?

Dyson calls this map The Catacombs of the Flayed Minotaurs, and I believe this title is evocative enough to inspire some semblance of thematic or narrative thread throughout the keying process. For now, I'm working with a fast and loose history involving a god-like Sorcerer-King, his favorite 13 bulls, the creation of the first minotaurs, and their subsequent immortal bondage to the Sorcerer-King's burial halls.

In terms of concrete gameplay elements, I am aiming to prioritize the role of factions and inter-factional conflict within the dungeon. Since my players are also new to this hobby, I also want to introduce the tenets of old-school play - player skill, deadly encounters, etc. - in as organic/unobtrusive manner as is possible. For this, I'll be looking at the excellent Tomb of the Serpent Kings for pointers.

The First Six Seven Rooms

To make my life a little bit easier, I randomly chose one of the many possible entrances to the dungeon, popped the full map into gimp, cropped it to a manageable chunk and numbered each location that should have a key.

I even played around with gimp's blur filter
to avoid actual writing

1. Water tunnel. Smell of sewage and blood. The current is slow and moves from south the north. Two crocodiles lurk in the brown, opaque waters; there is a 4-in-6 chance that the crocodiles will surprise any PC that ventures through the waist-deep mire. At the bottom of the pool, at the far end, is a small rotted chest containing 189gp, 476sp, 340cp and two cloudy blue gemstones (10gp each).

Crocodile: HD 2, AC 4 [15], Atk 1 bite (1d6), Mv 9 (Swim 12), Sv 14, AL N, CL/XP 3/60

2. Entrance chamber. A cold draft from under the eastern door. A scratched and tarnished mural covers the northern wall, depicting the olive-skinned Sorcerer-King atop a golden palanquin, pulled by 13 magnificent golden bulls. A trail of day-old blood leads from the stairwell to the door opposite. A successful Listen at Doors check will reveal hushed voices speaking common on the other side.

3. Abandoned mess hall. Smell of sulfur. Rotted or splintered wooden stools and tables furnish this otherwise spartan mess hall. The remnants of a small stone hearth adorn the north wall. 5 bandits are currently resting in this room, along with the corpse of a sixth who lost his leg to the crocodiles in room 1.

Bandit: HD 1, AC 7 [12], Atk 1 weapon (1d8), Mv 12, Sv 17, AL C, CL/XP 1/15

4. Sacked servant's quarters. Open, broken down door. Cluttered with vermin-infested bedrolls and splintered furniture, along with the ancient bones of roughly 6 slaves. A stone carving of the Sorcerer-King is enshrined along the west wall. The shrine itself has been broken open, revealing an empty, hollow chamber.

5. Servant's quarters. Mirror image of room 4. The shrine in this room is still intact. Breaking into the hidden chamber will release a mild hallucinogenic toxin (save vs. poison or gain -2 penalty to hit for 1d6+6 turns). Within the chamber are the long-decayed and almost unidentifiable corpses of a small hive of moon slugs. Also within are 56sp and a carving of a sphinx in onyx (75gp).

6. Prayer room. Faint smell of incense. Two ghouls are currently gorging on the slightly dismembered body of a goblin, who is paralyzed but still alive. At the far end of the room rests a large stone altar, atop of which are 2 silver chalices (50gp each). The altar itself is draped in a translucent holy shawl of purest ivory (Cloak of Protection +1, +2 vs. Undead).

Ghoul: HD 2, AC 6 [13], Atk 2 claws (1d3) 1 bite (1d4), Mv 9, Sv 16, AL C, CL/XP 3/60, Special: Immunities, paralyzing touch

7. Hall of murals. Smell of stagnant water. Echoes of distant dripping. Both walls in this corridor are covered in ornate mural. The north wall depicts the Sorcerer-King bestowing his 13 bulls with the power to stand. The south wall depicts the 13 bulls bearing a black pyramid upon their shoulders.

Final thoughts

That's it! In the end I've got what I hope will serve as the jumping off point for an enjoyable and educational dungeon adventure (if not campaign). Stats were pulled straight from the SRD, and treasure was determined semi-randomly. It's fairly linear (unless they somehow make it past the crocs), but will begin to open up shortly, I'm sure. I'll also have to remember to work that poor goblin into one of the factions that I'll inevitably create.

A few trouble spots: I'm not terribly confident about my treasure placement. I can't tell if I've put enough or if I've put too much. I suppose that'll be something that can be adjusted as the level comes together, and the total treasure gets tallied up (because of course I'm tallying up the treasure as I go). Also, I need to figure out what moon slugs are and why they produce a hallucinogenic effect when they decay.

As a final thought, I just want to say thank you, dear reader. I hope you enjoyed this meandering beginning to what will be a long and ongoing process here. Please bear with me as I update the site's layout and aesthetic.

Keep an eye out for Part 2, and feel free to comment below with things I could have done better, and/or things I should keep in mind as I continue.

¹ The Catacombs of the Flayed Minotaurs, © 2019, Dyson Logos, is used here in good faith under the creator's non-commercial license.