A SIMPLE DUNGEON SETUP: What You Need & What To Buy

 

This one picture captures how
many of the below materials are used

Its easy to get caught up in buying an expensive terrain set to run miniatures-based games of D&D or other tabletop RPGs. But through trial, error, and a few con games, I think I have some solid suggestions that make for a good-looking, minimal setup that packs easily.

DOORS: 4 minimum, but 6-8 optimal; it sounds excessive be in dungeons I do find the PC are often able to investigate enough space in a turn to use all eight doors: The one they entered, 3-4 in a room, then opening one of those doors and being about to see 1-2 more; so often 6-8 on the table at a time

COLUMNS: 6-8 wooden thread spools; a common dungeon feature yet I am sure rarely accurately used but, again, are helpful cover

WOOD BLOCKS: 20 seems to work well in combination with dungeon tiles below; I think I picked this up from Questing Beast, but 1in x 1in wood blocks are really versatile as to what they can become in a dungeon: throne, table, collapsed wall, lever, door etc;

BOOKSHELVES: 1-2 bookshelves never hurts because these are often key searchable features; I know it seems very specific, but for some reason its the one thing I often reach for in a room.

ALTER & SUMMONING CIRCLE: One (1) each because they often are focal points for action; not super important because its easy enough to be made or represented by wood blocks, but if you find a nice looking one- its worth the purchase; can be combined with bookshelves for a wizard room or used as a table for a bar

ROCKS: 4-6 rocks you find off the ground or can steal from a planter can make good terrain or denote crumbled walls/statues in a space; good too if you have a large room and want a little more terrain inside

GLASS BEADS: 10-12 in colors blue, green, and 2-3 in red; clumped together its a pool, in a line a river, if its green they could be slimes; red could be status effects or animated blood or just "treasure thing here"

The making of a 30' x 20' cardboard tile;
start to finish shown on one tile (right to left)

CARDBOARD TILES: Like most of the US, you've undoubtedly received an Amazon packed in the last month or if you order some of the above, one or two will be on their way, but instead of throwing it away you can recycle it into dungeon tiles. Sizes I like (assuming 1in = 5ft square):

• 1-2 6in x 6in which makes a 30' x 30' room
• 2-4 6in x 4in which makes a 30' x 20' room
• 4-6 6in x 2in which makes a 30' x 10' room
• 4-6 2in x 2in which makes a 10' x 10' square
• 4-6 2in x 1in which makes a 10' x 5' rectangle
• The last two can be colored black on the back to use as room features

And there you have it! Fully functional modular dungeon terrain that packs pretty light and represents a lot of what you need. Now that you've read the list, scroll back up and see how things are used in the first picture!

NIGHTWICK ABBEY: The Purple Eater of People Session 98

 

I am going to attempt to be more brief in these play reports. I think after 98 sessions, the dungeon-crawling aspect of play has been well documented. If you are still reading (thank you!), I'm sure you're a little more interested in the highlight hijinks of the party. And speaking of long-time readers, we are close to 100 sessions! Time to do another "Nightwick at X" infographic like I did for 50 sessions.

Previously in Nightwick Abbey...

Want to learn more about the world of Nightwick from Miranda? You can follow her blog here and the ongoing development of Nightwick Abbey at her Patreon here.

19th of September, 1390

Blossom (Rogue 6)
Mayfly (Magician 5)

Liminal Space (Changeling 4)

Poppy (Fighter 4)

Thekla (Magician 4)

Krupe (Cleric 2)

Hexcrawling in the Dark Country

The party saddles up once again to head toward the metropolitan Lychgate. To what end? Ehhh... something about getting Liminal a title and Mayfly trying to get his hands on someone's wand.

• A strange fog follows the party for a majority of the trip, first obscuring a 50-person strong caravan of the VanCrisco (Frogling Merchant family) heading toward Nightwick Village and then almost causing the party to run into a pack of dire wolves (pooping- seriously); conflict avoided twice.
• Arriving at the Village of Vollage right before the sun drops low and notices a lot has changed since the battle: the village is smaller, the forest seems to be winning in its slow overtake of the village, and the formerly ruined keep has been rebuilt and flying a panner of a black disk on a field of white
• While in staying at the Wanton Wench, the party tries to inquire as to what is going on in Vollage. Four men deep in their cups only respond that they were once part of the proud Order of the Elk, but its now nothing after a pyrrhic victor to keep Lychgate free from invading forces. In fact, several of the companies well-known to the PCs have suffered similar fates. The party invites them to join on the next delve into Nightwick Abbey as a way to regain honor and purpose
• The arrival in Lychgate involves coins and crushed skulls; the party does some banking with the VanCrisco frogling family that has displaced the VanToads; as the PCs step into the city they are forced to trample a drunk would-be-thief of their horses this happens again as they cross into the inner city after a nights sleep

The session ends right as seeks an audience with the bishop regarding installing Liminal as the new head of Nightwick Village or some title. Maybe sheriff? 

CON REPORT: ReaperCon 2024 Day 3 & 4

 

The last days of the convention were a little bit of a blur as the later nights and DMing started running me low on energy (Day 1 & Day 2)

MINIATURE PAINTING

In lieu of gaming, I did another painting class on the very basics of miniature painting: priming, base coat, wash, and dry brushing. It was a good class run by a gentleman, Vutpakdi, I took last year that covered the basic tools you need to start painting minis. He's really good at breaking down things to the basics and he hands out an information packet at the end. I love a good packet!

Miranda Elkins' NIGHTWICK ABBEY Session #3

This session was run on Saturday night during the miniature awards ceremony and was notable because the DM* who ran the classic Moathouse adventure on Day 1 was excited to join a BX game- especially for the froglings.

For this adventure, we had Percy the Cleric, Cledus the Fighter, Bruce the Fighter, Craig the Dwarf, Chris Angel the Magician, and Croaky the Frogling. I must confess writing these sessions 10+ days later makes them a little hazy:

• This time the party is quick to get the jump on the berserkers and release the "man-sheep thing", but as an argument ensued if they should kill the former victim and "Bleeder" slipped away
• The party searches the bodies of the berserker they kill to find find a clear vial with a small fish swimming in it- Croaky knows that this fish is usually a large river bass the size of a frog's chest and its bizarre to find it so small (It was a vial diminution)
• PCs discover the secret room both the "Dragon Room" and "The Book": Experimenting with the book leads to Cledus bleeding himself to feed the book in return for knowledge (I had the player write down "sin" in an equipment slot); the cleric Percy vehemently objects to feeding this blasphemous object and burns the book with a torch (I had this player draw a star on their sheet as a boon); Cledus is also able to open another secret door but in the process ends up transforming his hand into a dragon claw (Another "sin" in the equipment slot, but they player loved it).
• After a fight with the Blind Dead in which Cleric Percy performed a big turning, the PCs eventually make it to the kitchen splitting into two groups: one to save the vicar and one to fight the Butcher
• The fight was pretty brutal, but the shocking move was Croaky leaped to apply the gonne directly to the Butcher's face--- I made a save throw for the Butcher-- Nat 20! The gonne misfires and Croaky is gone the next!
• Amazingly the vicar was saved but with great cost so Total: Forces of Law 2 vs Nightwick 1

Miranda Elkins' NIGHTWICK ABBEY Session #4

The last game that I ran for ReaperCon at 10:00 AM on Saturday. I was anticipating that this would be a slog given that I was getting pretty exhausted by the end of the con. But I grabbed a tall iced coffee and headed to my table because I was determined to not let this last group down!

The final PC group was Dorf the Dwarf, Bellmullet the Fighter, Azure the Fighter, Mudd the Frogling, Teaks the Changling, Grim the Fighter. This was the first group to go a slightly different route.

• The party doesn't discover the secret doors this time and instead makes quick investigation of the cries coming from the west door-- they quietly open the door and get the drop on figures covered in bloody leather; Grim is quick to kill the poor sheep-thing just to put it out of misery
• PCs turn south into a chamber with two baptismal fonts- Grim tries the west one- only to vomit up blood which attracts a swarm of sickly crow-headed rat-things that-- the terrible things start pecking at their eyes!
• Mudd grabs one and attempts to drown it in the font only to watch in horror as it grows almost to the size of a rotwhiller! (DM NOTE: Ha! That was a fun moment)
• Eventually, the party heads south and barely prevents Dorf from being pulled into the clutches of Blind Dead.
• They find themselves in the long hallway leading to the kitchen where they organize themselves into two groups- initially, they do well, but then the fight takes a terrible turn and half the party ends up dead- but the vicar is once again freed from the Abbey! But given how many died in the process I'll give 0.5 to the Abbey:
  
  Final Score Forces of Law 3 vs Nightwick 1.5

And that was my ReaperCon 2024! Its really nice to help participate at local cons. I think one day the others will simply be too big to have fun at-- GenCon already seems this way-- and what I'd love to is continue to encourage play. And hopefully, inspire new DMs to step up.

CON REPORT: ReaperCon 2024 Day 2

 

ReaperCon mascot Sophie

DUNGEON DWELLERS Session #3

Back at it again with the ReaperCon homebrew system. This time I play the elf fighter and played around with the cleave and "overkill" actions where you could continue to move to attack another target provided you killed your previous target. We where back on the hunt for a cousin of our wizard who was suffering from a curse.

• We defended a bar from what turned out to be clay rats. Since the owner left out of fear, we decided that we owned this terrible bar. The NPC minutes used were also all painted in black with white highlights so our table kept joking that it was a Goth bar.
• Then we traveled to the farmstead where the cousin was located and defended it from clay spiders which let us learn about the location of a clay pit to the north
• The climatic fight at the claypit, where we observe crystals falling into the water and clay creatures arising. Looking up, there were crystals of all sizes in the ceiling. 
• In what was a nice old-school play, I asked the wizard to web the largest crystal in the ceiling to prevent it from falling in the water.

Miranda Elkins' NIGHTWICK ABBEY Session #2

A fresh band of brave (and conscripted) adventurers looking to save a poor lost vicar (and clear their own previous misdeeds) descended into the mouth of hell once again! The party composition: Kevinson the Grave Robber (a Nightwick "half-class"), Ironfist the Dwarf, Astrid the Fighter, "Stringy" Jack the Changling plus Sven & Percival.

• This time players quickly found the secret door in the West Tower because they were brave about touching things
• Once through the secret door, the player find a mysterious book that speaks to them asking for blood in return for answering a question-- that draws a very negative reaction, so they cut the book off its neck-like stand
• Heading south they find a potential secret door that just requires someone to stick their fingers into an image of bowl of communion wafers held by a devilman-- "Stringy" Jack decides to use the fried frogling fingers found earlier to punch the holes-- and opened a secret door to a room full of the dead!
• After holding off the corpse congregation, the players made it to the kitchen to find the tied up vicar; after a few rounds the battle did not go well for the PCs-- Kevinson and Percival took off after Sven was killed, a couple of more PCs dropped but landed heavy hits at the Butcher
• In the end, the PCs agreed to the Butcher's bargain to leave the vicar and keep their lives!
  
  Total: Forces of Law 1 vs Nightwick 1

Quick DM notes on running convention games:

• In addition to pre-gens, rolling 3-4 random encounters prior the to the game and giving them objectives really helps streamline and speed up the experience
• Also not the OSR way, but I might consider an alternative to the Death & Dismemberment table because again, you only have 3 hours to be 2 hours in and have a character die and have to mentally reset might not be what players want (in my home game, I am very much "If he dies, he dies)

PAINTING CLASS: Fun And Simple Weathering

Weathering is a great way to add character to scenery so I thought this would be a good class to take especially since I have a few pieces of dungeon terrain I'd like to give some weathering too. The class was really quite good and my big take away was (1) when applying rust, thing about how water pools on an object; (2) using a sponge to help streak slime; (3) how to apply small highlights for both.

This door is stuck...

PAINTING FUN: Sophie Says

Good times! Try and paint a miniature with a "cutie mark" while wearing oven mitts, using a paintbrush attached to a plastic axe, and while wearing 3D glasses. Or whatever else Sophie Says.

CON REPORT: ReaperCon 2024 Day 1

I might clean this up at a later date with more detail

 Back in action at one of the most steady con in Texas. I brought two ribbons to the con. The first was for my Nightwick Abbey game and the second is one of the nerdiest references I could think of which is the true nature of the "purple worm" in D&D.

I love this part of the con-
great tradition!

DUNGEON DWELLERS Session #1

This is a house system by Reaper Miniatures. It feels to me like an offshoot of 3.5 with some Swords & Wizardry twists thrown in. In the first session, I played a halfling thief who. with my companions, was in charge of guarding a caravan which included the very suspicious Wagon 13. 

• We were awoken in the night by the screams of guards due to orc's breaking through the treeline. As we mounted a defense, my halfling, Gulivan,  got off the first bow shot and an instant kill (I rolled a 22 to-hit and 8 dmg).
• Our wizard managed to "upcast" grease and start laying huge swaths of it in front of the circled wagons while our elf and fighter used cleave to carve up the orcs at a distance
• Worg riders posed our biggest trouble as they learned from the previous line of orcs to leap up on the wagons and avoid the oil. A good fight was had in which we were victorious.
• Orcs made off with the contents of Wagon 13-- total time for this one combat was ~2 hours

Miranda Elkins' NIGHTWICK ABBEY Session #1

After a short break, its on to Nightwick! Alright for this con game the players are tasked with finding the vicar. Down in the Abbey the PCs go. Pre-gen PCs: 4,5,10,13,17, grog,

• In interrogating the surviving alter boy, the players get a map of the first room and once in, they discover a secret door leading to a room awash in dried blood. They decide not to go any further-- because of copious amounts of dried blood
• A little while later they rescue a mixture of man and animal from a group of profane humans wearing the flesh of other men and experimenting on the poor creature: "I'm Bleeder. Because I bleed."
• A little while later after that, the "poor creature" attempts to lead the party into an ambush. Killing Bleeder quickly, they cower the remaining creatures--- who then direct them into another trap...
• After avoiding patrols of the dead, the PCs make it to the kitchen, where they find the vicar tied up like a roasted pig. They successfully turn the ravenous dead about to eat the poor foolish man and square off against the Butcher. In a hail of frogling gonne fire (roll max damage!) and a volly of arrows the PC fight off the Butchera and run out of the Abbey with the rancid butter-covered vicar and make it back!

DUNGEON DWELLERS Session #2

In a surprise, the Ruined Moathouse exterior is drawn on a vynal map to scale! So new "old-school system" and a classic adventure which was new to several members of the group.

• We faced off against 6 giant frogs
• Lassoed some of the rubble and claimed up into the lower right tower, webbed a giant adder, and dipped our weapons in its blood--- after almost poisoning ourselves in the process
• We F.A.R.T'ed on the doors (Find And Remove Traps; new to me), filled the upper right bandit hold with fog, and set the bandit therein on fire! Back to the hell pits of Orcus with you.
• Rounded things off by facing down more giant animals like we were in an early Ray Harryhausen file then called it a night-- all 250gp richer and at least my halfing having split a cache of magic arrows +1

The upper Moathouse to me is one of the best RPG adventuring sites made, especially for cons. The reason is because it first requires the PCs to break into the structure which is great for creating discussion and interplay between, broadly, fighters, magic-users, and thieves. The giant frogs outside are fun creatures to fight. And the bandits inside are generic enough to be anything or have any story attached to them. Even the giant lizard and spider have trust up people which could be conventions goals.

In all a good Day One!

ASIMOVIC ANDROIDS: A Tweak For Mothership Androids

 

Here is a small tweak, untested, for Mothership androids that might help provide a mechanic that makes them feel more unhuman.

ASIMOVIC ANDROIDS

You are governed by the Three Laws of Robotics:

• The First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm
• The Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law
• The Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law

WOUNDS & VIOLATIONS: During character creation tie your highest-ranked skill to the THIRD LAW, your second to the SECOND LAW, and your third to the FIRST LAW.

When you are WOUNDED, remove the lowest law not already marked off. When a paradox occurs between two laws, also remove the lowest law in the paradox.

If a law is removed, the associated skill is removed due to the not-quite-understood connections of the positronic brain.

STRESS & PANIC: When your actions or verbal suggestions violate or hit at violating a law, everyone else gains 1 stress.

Maybe if the First Law is removed everyone else make a panic check.

NOTES

• Hopefully, by tying a skill to the laws, you have a reason to get repairs done which increase utility but at the expense of freedom
• I also hope that by reducing skills with the removal of laws you have a non-human with "no skills" but the ability to kill. Its the nightmare inverse of what human build robots/androids for (mostly- attack AI are different)
• Nope, I've not playtested this at all nor looked at the Mothership RPG when I was writing it out-- total hip fire-- but I think feels good

WHERE HELL COMES TO PREY: Running Nightwick Abbey 05

 

TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELL!

Session 17 of Where Hell Comes To Prey is my weekly (roughly) experience DMing Miranda Elkins' Nightwick Abbey. The last time I blogged about the campaign was here. 

Session 17 Congregants: Grog (F1), Froggi (Fr1), Shiva (R2), Kyte (F1), Maylay (Ch1)

Quiet in Nightwick Village as the party rests, but Grog attempts to get some holy water from Brother Rodrick who expresses dismay that Grog can delve deep in the Abbey but not so deep in his pockets to pay for holy water. Then off to the Abbey they go! (DM NOTE: I am a little ill as I write this so apologies if its scattered)

• PCs decide on hitting up the East Tower and encountering nothing decides to head SW through the door and stumble upon a bizarre choreographed battle between eye-less dead dressed in the Sword Bothers and Realmish Livery. One on each side wears a crown, but the PCs withdraw hitting up instead another room off to the side filled with rusty discarded swords- they collect a lot of silver but potentially at a price as two PC noticed knicks and cuts on their hands.

• 

  The Silent Dance

  The PCs turn northward and get the drop on an ash and fire mockery of a child playing quietly until Shiva backstabs the child and the rest pile in for a beat-down!
• Turning north, the PCs are surprised to find the Abbey has shifted! Just in time for a group of cultists swinging incense to come down the hall. Maylee calls out that they mean no harm and one cultist pushes forward and pulls their hood back– Gertrude! (DM NOTE: The PCs saved her from execution in Nightwick village in Session 16).
• The cultists invite them to dinner prepared by Nightwick’s most famous chef!
• Grog, Froggi, and Kyte choose neither to eat the meat or drink the milky wine of the Abbey and instead endure the cajoling of the cultists who snap at them like hungry dogs
• Eventually, the Chef brings out the meal which consists of a disturbing number of unidentified meats
• Shiva and Maylee agree to dine with Gertrude which nets them +1 HP however it contributes to both of their POSSESSION status effects
• The whole exchange was one of the more RPG-focused sessions and I was pretty pleased with it overall as I kept trying to up the tension by seeing if the PCs who participate in bad things in the Abbey. 
• Eventually, dinner is completed with Shiva and Maylee looking at their blood-soaked hands wondering what they have done. PCs explore a little more but ultimately leave the Abbey much richer!

TENDING TO THE FLOCK

Alright, so 17 sessions into the campaign which is a solid run. I always feel anything over 10 sessions means your campaign is reaching a stable point and your PCs are invested

100 Minutes Of Megadungeon Madness: Two-hour sessions are still a great length. This is still really working for the group. It seems to fit with everyone's schedules and we seem to have a very consistent group being able to join. Sometimes we go a little extra if we get started late but roughly 120 minutes works! 

Time For Exploration Still Short: However, the 120-minute sessions come at a price that is shorter overall exploration and opportunity for XP. In my other Nightwick game, by session 17 we had 2-3 PCs who were level 2 (thieves and 1 wizard) so I might need to change some things:

• Use OD&Ds 100xp/HD of monster defeated: Currently its about 50xp/HD defeated. Now given that combat in Nightwick tends to be both deadly and take up time (by nature of the ruleset) it is a good payoff. Unlike 5e, the players are not going to pick fights in the Abbey because they still are deadly.
  
  
• Passout Completed Geomorphs: When the PCs have fully explored a geomorph, I might need to just give them that geomorph. Nightwick can shift, so they still won't have 100% complete information. And it will cut down on frustration once they have mapped. The ur-goal here is playing the game (by which I mean making impactful choices), so given the compressed time-- let's lean into that.

Expanding Cast Of Characters: By 17 sessions, we've built up quite a large number of NPCs and it was suggested that I provide the players with a list of them and what they want/need-- I'll add that to the player doc.

What's A Good Frogling To Do!?: With two characters involved in cults or the Abbey's nefarious powers it clear what can happen if you do evil acts, but where is the "good"? I think I'll work on highlighting options for the "righteous".... hmm maybe even whip up a sorta half-class.

Downtime in Zyan: Finally, in an effort not to remake tools, I'll try to make a one-sheet that outlines the downtime activities Ben L. laid out in this good pamphlet. That way players have a rough feel of the rules for downtime and what is possible.