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bug: Pages numbered correctly in books/core

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Drew Malzahn
2026-06-06 22:44:37 +00:00
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<link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/book-page.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/book-page.css">
<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>
<h1>Preparing a Dungeon</h1>
<ul>
<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 you have time to prepare a dungeon and know that the Player Characters will explore it, the following process generally works well:</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>
<ol>
<li><strong>Think about the general look and mood of the dungeon:</strong> Is it a spooky ruin, a lavish castle, or perhaps a network of ancient tunnels?</li>
<li><strong>Sketch a rough map of the dungeon:</strong> This doesn't need to be pretty, but does need to be functional. You're the only person that will use it, so make sure your notes are clear (especially if you plan on using the dungeon weeks or even months from now). If you're short on ideas, the internet is filled with awesome dungeon designs — there's nothing wrong with drawing inspiration from them.</li>
<li><strong>Place rewards</strong> (see page 264) in your dungeon: These may be magic items, currency, or even Inventory Points. Try to avoid placing most of the rewards in the same room (you should encourage exploration).</li>
<li><strong>Place obstacles and threats</strong> (traps, puzzles, hostile creatures) in your dungeon, preferably so that they guard or prevent access to rewards.
<ul>
<li>When you prepare an obstacle or threat, do not determine in advance how the Player Characters might approach it. That's for them to decide.</li>
<li>Avoid swarming the heroes with a large number of weak enemies; instead, focus on two or three challenging encounters (see page 292 for more).</li>
<li>If the reward is an item, the creature guarding it might use it in battle.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Think about one or two Danger Clocks</strong> appropriate for your dungeon, their size and what will happen if they are filled — will the heroes be ambushed? Is there a magical surveillance system? Will the tunnels be flooded by lava?</li>
<li><strong>Determine the focal point of your dungeon</strong> (an antagonist, a precious artifact, a vital piece of information) and choose its location. Most of the time you will want to place this element far away from the entrance, but you might also make it relatively easy to reach (in this case, the rest of the dungeon will feature "optional content").</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<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>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>
<p><small>Philip Forlenza (Order #)</small></p>