bug: Pages numbered correctly in books/core

books/core/259.html

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-<h1>Dungeons</h1>
-<p>Page 110 provides guidelines on how to manage dungeon exploration while playing — but what about preparing those dungeons? How much information will you need? Should you have a map of the location ready?</p>
-<p>To make sure this is clear from the beginning: dungeons aren't necessarily a thing in Fabula Ultima, and you might run an entire campaign without the Player Characters ever entering one.</p>
+<h1>IS THIS DUNGEON IMPORTANT?</h1>
+<p>Some locations in your game will naturally be more important than others. The evil sorcerer's tower in which he hides the Crystal of Balance? That's certainly more important than the sewers connecting the capital to the countryside, and yet both might be turned into dungeons.</p>
 
-<h2>A dungeon generally covers one or more of the following functions:</h2>
 <ul>
-    <li>Slowly eroding the heroes' resources before an important confrontation by having them face several weaker enemies.</li>
-    <li>Telling more about a character, place or people.</li>
-    <li>Rewarding careful exploration with hidden treasures that may prove useful in the dungeon itself or a future situation.</li>
+    <li>If a location will be a key part of your session and you know about it in advance, simply decide the style of exploration (scenes, detailed, or interlude) and prepare accordingly (see next page).</li>
+    <li>If a location is important and you have to improvise it, only mention the most important details and cut to the chase. Interlude scenes are your best friend, and you should focus on the core reason the Player Characters are here: if there are obstacles in their way, ask for a Group Check and use it to determine whether the PCs reach their objective unhindered or must overcome a challenge. Keep things short and maybe end the exploration with a challenging battle against a Villain!</li>
 </ul>
-<p>If a dungeon isn't doing any of these, you probably shouldn't have it in your game: "dungeons for the sake of dungeons" is never a good idea.</p>
 
-<h2>Prepared and Improvised</h2>
-<p>The first distinction we should make is between prepared dungeons (the ones you thought about before the session started) and improvised dungeons (the ones that were introduced as part of the current session).</p>
-<p>While prepared dungeons can be more complex, the ones you have to improvise on the spot will necessarily be simpler — but simple doesn't mean boring.</p>
+<p>Still, if you feel like this location deserves more attention, you can pause or end the session and explain that you need some time to prepare.</p>
+
 <ul>
-    <li>A prepared dungeon allows for all three modes of exploration; most of the time you will rely on dungeon scenes or detailed exploration (page 110), but if the layout of the place isn't important you might even get it done with an interlude scene.</li>
-    <li>An improvised dungeon, on the other hand, will rarely allow for detailed exploration (unless you have a dungeon archive ready; see page 261) and generally fall in the middle between dungeon scenes and interludes.</li>
+    <li>If a location isn't particularly important and you have time to prepare it, carefully consider whether you should do so. You will often be fine describing how the heroes traverse the location (a) and maybe calling for one or two Checks — failure might mean getting lost (especially important if the heroes are in a hurry) or encountering some hostile creatures.</li>
+    <li>Finally, if a location isn't important and you have to improvise, you should keep things as simple as possible. Just describe the place and have the heroes confront a challenge — a mechanism, a negotiation, or a battle — in order to reach whatever is hidden here.</li>
 </ul>
-<p>Note that this distinction has nothing to do with the importance of the dungeon: a key strategic location might be unexpectedly introduced halfway through a session, and you might know about a minor ruin along the road with no plot relevance weeks before you play through its exploration. Don't worry, we'll deal with this too.</p>
+
+<p>As you might have noticed already, the core elements of a dungeon are:</p>
+<ul>
+    <li>Its style and aesthetics — what it looks and feels like.</li>
+    <li>What can be found inside — an objective or a threat.</li>
+    <li>What obstacles must be overcome in order to traverse the dungeon.</li>
+</ul>
+
+<p>This is true regardless of the chosen exploration style; the difference lies simply in the level of detail and complexity.</p>
+
 <p>Philip Forlenza (Order #)</p>