year of the dungeon - 2010 - 01

8/12/2019 Year of the Dungeon - 2010 - 01

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/year-of-the-dungeon-2010-01 1/18

yearof the

dungeon

2010january

compilation

tony© 2010dowler



“A few months ago, I was at my printer's when I spied a box of 4" x 3"cardstock note pads.

"What are those?"

"Oh just some leftovers from a print job. Want some?"

I took 10 of them, 200 pages in all. Within a few days I picked on up andstarted sketching a dungeon map on it. Pretty soon I'd done a half dozen.I started drawing more maps and handing them out as presents orbusiness cards. I was having a blast.

Fast forward to December. I'd drawn about 60 maps and given awaymore than half of them. I'd been toying with the idea of starting somekind of blog again, which is when it hit me: a microdungeon blog.

This is a blog of maps for dungeon-exploration games in the style ofDungeons & Dragons. I love dungeon maps. I think they're art. Butmostly I think they're fun. I've got enough maps to last the next fivemonths, and I'm not even half-way through my paper yet.”

I wrote the above at my blog on January 3rd, 2010. I’ve since had the idea to compileeach month’s offerings into a handy pdf. This is the first compilation.

I hope that you enjoy and gain as much inspiration from reading and looking at the

dungeons within as I have in drawing them.

~ td, 17 february 2010

All contents©2010 tony dowler

Compilation & Editing The Fantasy Cartographic



contents

Hall of the Water Weird 2Thelon’s Rift 3

Manse by the Sea 4The Hell of Doors 5Snake and Sword 6

The Mad Sculptor 7The Spelltower of Dremetar 8

Lair of the Possessed Otyugh 9Under Gavin’s Woods 10

Writer’s Block Dungeon 11Kobold Perfidy 12

Goblin Back Door 13Hall of the Crystal Giant 14



first published at year of the dungeon on 01 january 2010 2

Hall of the Water Weird

In the Atlases stored in the Library of Alexom, it’s called “The Valley of Wonders”, but to adventurers, it goes by the common name of “Cavewalk”. Whatever you call it, it’s a gold mine if you’re lucky and a deathtrap if you’renot. No fewer than 28 caves, lairs, and underground ruins dot the 50 league

valley system, and while some lead to nothing more than a dusty chamber or abear’s cave, others conceal considerable treasures or terrible perils fromanother age. The map you bought at the Inn leads to one such entrance–an oldpair of bronze doors noted down on the map by a travelling ranger but notexplored. What lies within?




Thelon’s Rift

"Through the cascade and across the Bridge of Death" lies Thelon's Rift,

greatest treasure of..."

That's all the old fragment reads. Nevertheless, when you throw in the map,it's more than enough to excite a dungeon delver's heart. The map shows theentrance is barely a day's march from Streiveport. As for the nature of the

Thelon's Rift and identity of the treasure holder, who knows?




Manse by the Sea

Sir Kond lies in state in the Town Hall and his house, Manse Kond, standsempty for the first time in a century. They say that alive, the Baron treated withmonsters, that he poisoned his one true love, and that his wealth is buried in ahidden mine beneath Manse Hill. Then again, perhaps he was just the lonely,bitter man he always appeared. But if so, what was the fate of Lady Kond, and

where is his fabulous treasure? The answers surely lie beneath the manse bythe sea.



first published at year of the dungeon on 08 january 2010

5

The Hell of Doors

It is said that if you kick in too many doors in the Apocalypse Megadungeon,you will find yourself trapped in the Hell of Doors.




6

Snake and Sword

What a sight was Terrance the brave, brandishing his Borealis Blade, vanquishing friend and foe alike. But all good things come to an end, and Terrance the Brave subsided into a cranky retirement and downright surly oldage. In his final days he invested his considerable stores of loot in creating anunderground vault he considered worthy of his genius. There he set thelegendary Borealis Blade, until an adventurer worthy of it should claim it fromits resting place.




7

The Mad Sculptor

In the infamous Apocalypse Megadungeon there is a door cast in bronzedepicting the fall and incarceration of the goddess Asundra, a master work sofine that more than one scholar has braved the dungeon (with proper escort)just for a look at it. Beyond lays the workshop of the mad sculptor. His geniustranscends the boundary twixt art and thaumaturgy, producing effectsindistinguishable from magic. Monsters, relics, and unfortunate adventurershave all found themselves unwilling components of his twisted works. What isthe mystery behind the mad sculptor?




8

The Spelltower of Dremetar

As you approach the City State of Dremetar, you can see the Spelltower formiles upon miles. It dominates the view, sparkles in the setting sun. As youdraw close to the walls, you may even catch a glimpse of a moving figure

behind the great arched windows at the summit. But ask any inhabitant aboutthe Spelltower, and you will rarely receive more than a grunt in reply. Point itout to them, and they will only look at quizzically before glancing away andchanging the subject. Is there some enchantment upon the city, that makes itsinhabitants ignore its most prominent landmark, or does the tower have someother secret that the people are loathe to dwell upon?




9

Lair of the Possessed Otyugh

Back at the tavern, it sounded pretty tame; even a little bit ridiculous–apossessed otyugh? But down here in the dark, with its ravenous bellowingshaking the flagstones even at this distance, with the palpable stench of deathsapping our limbs of strength, with those bleached-looking ghoul acolytesgathering themselves for another charge, you’re starting to wonder if you reallyever should have entered the Lair of the Possessed Otyugh!




10

Under Gavin’s Woods

The fishing town of Gavin’s woods has been plagued by a determined band ofGoblin highwaymen. Now, in a daring raid on the Old Trunk Road, they havecaptured the Baronesses sapphire torc. The constabulary has tracked therobbers to a hidden dungeon entrance under a boulder in the woods. Dungeondelving being no business of theirs, they’ve hired a likely bunch to recover thetorc, with a nice cash reward offered.




11

Writer’s Block Dungeon

Keep on writing!




12

Kobold Perfidy

In the south end of the Wildwoods, where the thick oak woods turn intosteamy marsh, the usual run of goblins, ogres, and bandits give way to aparticularly feral breed of kobold. It's easy to underestimate these blightersbecause of their size, but don't be tempted. They have a fierce cunning andattack without fear when they have the advantage numbers. You will find theirlairs on rocky islands in the swampiest areas. Their dwellings are surprisinglysophisticated and built to a human scale. No doubt they were once the homesof some other people, but their names are lost to history.

(This was an experimental dungeon to see if I could get the "old school blue" look using blue

pens. I kind of like the effect, but not as much as my black-and-white dungeons.)




13

The Goblin Back Door

“There’s always a back door. If there was an adventurer’s handbook, thatshould be page one.”

That’s what old one-eye taught me, and I’ve made it the foundation of mycareer. And they can call me “back-door Durnick” all they want when I cash inmy horde and retire to a sweet little stronghold on the Centaur Coast.

I just need one more haul. I’ve got the map ready and everything. Justremember the back door basics: the toughest monster’s the first, the treasurecomes before the trap, the watchers before the door.

Okay, let’s go.




14

Hall of the Crystal Giant

The Taxonomies describe the crystal giant as an edge-case hybrid stone giant with exaggerated igneous facets, but this description is inadequate. The crystalgiants are a race of ancient and distinguished pedigree. And if they are rarelyencountered by mortals of the ordinary sort, it's because they prefer to live intheir crystalline cities beyond the plane of fire.

A few, however, being of a solitary bent, may be found living in astral geodes,pocket Earth dimensions, and even large crystal deposits on the primary planes.

Their disposition is not specifically evil, however, they are surprisingly quick totake offence, measuring the behavior of all races by their own skewed set oflaws.

The home of a crystal giant is very perilous, yet even a poor outcast is likely tohave a cache of gems, often of enormous size.

year of the dungeon - 2010 - 01

Documents