The Endless Stair And Player Choice

Keep On The Borderlands is one of the better TSR modules. Not because it has well-developed NPCs (it doesn't). Nor because of its' exceptional artwork (serviceable, but not mind-blowing). Not even because of it has a sophisticated plot (at best, the DM may tease something out about the Temple of Chaos organizing the scattered humanoids into a raiding force).

What is great about Keep On The Borderlands is that it allows players to select the level of challenge they are willing to face.

Among the rumors provided in Keep On The Borderlands is that the deeper you go within the Caves of Chaos box canyon, the more dangerous the denizens. A cave mouth closer to the canyon entrance is less dangerous, while those at the end of the box canyon are likely filled with fearsome opponents, and fabulous treasures. The players can play-it-safe, and explore the nearer cave-mouths, or take a chance at the deeper ones. The DM can adjudicate the results of that player choice, free of any hint of bias, since it is the players themselves that pick the easier or harder road.

It is well-understood by all experienced D&D players, that the deeper within a dungeon you delve, the more dangerous the traps and monsters. Yet one of the design principles, regularly applied to dungeon creation, is that the stairs to the next-deeper level are difficult to discover. Call that what you like: I call it railroading.

Rather than hiding stairs to the deeper levels, i'm of a mind to have one staircase -- The Endless Stair -- that traverses the entire depth of the dungeon. Not a staircase that goes directly down mind you, but one that meanders, splits, crosses chasms, follows underground rivers, backtracks on itself, and reveals varying architectural styles at different points in its' descent.

As the stairs decend, there are dungeon levels hiving off in different directions, sometimes blocked by hastily-completed walls, or locked and barred doors, offering danger, mystery and treasure. There may be collapsed stair sections along the way, requiring magical or mechanic means of bypass, and portcullises on the staircase preventing immediate entry to lower levels for those lacking creativity, but there will be no question where those stairs are.

The only question ... for the players ... is whether they are feeling lucky today, and want to take a chance exploring lower dungeon levels in exchange for potentially higher rewards.

Where To Begin A Dungeons And Dragons Game?

Beginnings are always difficult. This is no less true for a Dungeons and Dragons game we've planned for this weekend, to celebrate American Thanksgiving with some friends.

I've two places from which to begin the adventure: one, a decadent, crumbling city in the throws of an economic slump; two, a small town on the borderland, surrounded, on several sides, by ancient ruined cities and temples. Depending on which place the game starts will affect the tone of the game. If it begins in the city, we start with a bustling, urban feel to the game. If in a town, the tone is bleak, windswept, insular and isolated.

The city gives us more opportunities for rumours and varied character backgrounds. But the town provides more focus, as is easier for me, the DM, to manage and circumscribe the adventure options.

The outdoor map, above, is a small slice of the 1981 Dwarfstar Games Barbarian Prince game map. Barbarian Prince is one of the microgames that I always wanted to own, but found far too expensive in the resale market to justify purchasing. Fortunately, you can download a free digital copy from the above link, courtesy of the games licenseholder, Reaper Miniatures. Over at Sigils & Sinews, the author is running a solo Barbarian Prince game which I am following with interest.

The Barbarian Prince digital map is one that I can appreciate and would prefer to employ in my games, since it uses the sort of mapping style that I prefer, and the digital map can be printed at a resolution that makes it easy to add notes and icons to the map for quick reference. The Barbarian Prince map also uses a hex id system (similar to the SPI or traveller subsector maps) that allows one to keep separate notes on the contents of each hex.

Megadungeons In Four Dimensions

"Dwarves may opt only for the fighting class, and they may never progress beyond 6th level (Myrmidon). Their advantages are: 1) they have a high level of magic resistance, and they thus add four levels when rolling saving throws (a 6th level dwarf equals a 10th level human); 2) they are the only characters able to fully employ the +3 Magic War Hammer (explained in Volume II); 3) they note slanting passages, traps, shifting walls AND NEW CONSTRUCTION (emphasis mine) in underground settings ..."

- 1974 Dungeons & Dragons, Volume I, Men & Magic, page 7

I've been giving a great deal of thought, lately, to the design of a megadungeon. One of the purported features of a megadungeon is that it is a "living" dungeon: it is constantly changing, both in its inhabitants and construction. Adventurers come and go, and as they do, killed monsters are replaced by new ones, and conflict between the denizens continues. In addition, new areas are opened up, either through new construction, magic, or perhaps primal forces at work, warping the environment.

In OD&D, Dwarves have a unique and powerful ability: to detect new construction in underground settings. How far -- through time; the fourth dimension -- does that ability extend? Can dwarves estimate the relative age of the dungeon construction, and techniques employed? One of the beauties of unanswered questions like this, is that most of us felt free to come up with our own answers (god forbid we send that question to Sage Advice).

My interest in the Dwarvish ability to detect new construction is related to my megadungeon musing, since my dungeon design assumes a multi-staired and passaged nexus point, from which the dungeon flows in many different directions. One of the possible clues to the connections between areas is similarities in construction, which should help the players guess who the original designers were, and for what were those areas used. The related difficulty of using this feature, in my megadungeon, is in making it meaningful, recording it in some way on my own map, and providing related visual or descriptive clues to the players.


I have not yet arrived at a satisfactory solution to my mapping problem. Perhaps different wall colors on my map, or modifying the fill behind the walls to signify different construction? However, I am leaning towards using different Hirst Arts floor and wall tiles to signify different construction areas to the players.

Strange Symbol Found In The Dungeon

The adventure party comes across this symbol as they are exploring the dungeon.

It has been applied to the walls of the dungeon, in what appears to be some sort of phosphorescent white paint.

The Black Hand

The Black Hand is a notorious guild of extortionists, thieves, con-artists, pick-pockets and ne'er-do-wells. While their membership ebbs and flows, the organization continues to exist from year to year, decade to decade, based on the reputation that name has developed. Even when the entire organization has been captured, and its members executed, there are always unsavory characters that will resurrect and re-use that feared moniker.

In the past, members of The Black Hand tatooed a black hand onto their bodies, as a guild mark. This was greatly appreciated by the authorities, as it made detection and conviction much easier. The Black Hand has since changed its identification system, instead using words and gestures to identify other members of the guild.

Because of The Black Hand's past ruthlessness, a black handmark on someone's door is often encouragement enough to ensure protection money is paid promptly. And some of the more audacious pickpockets will slip a scrap of paper, with a black hand imprint on it, into the pocket of a victim.

Player Characters may begin as a first-level thief, and be a member of The Black Hand.

Those characters begin with leather armor, shortsword, dagger and club, and thieves tools, and start with 1d6 x10 gold.

Priestesses of Celicia

The Order of Our Holy Lady Astra Celicia was established in 559 CY.

Although little is known of her early years, the first mention of Saint Celicia is her appearance, in the Westeven, in 548 CY. Now considered the first Priestess of Solaris (the priesthood had theretofore been restricted to men), she prophesized of the return of Set, and exhorted the patricians and citizenry to repentance and preparation.

The Imperial apostateship from the Solarian Church was reversed due largely to her efforts.

In 556 CY, Saint Celicia disappeared, only to reappear three years later, in 559 CY, with what is now known as the Celician Codex, a scripture some 500 pages long, bound in leather and printed on tablets of wafer-thin metal, readable only with special glasses, and intricately and beautifully illuminated. Along with that Codex, she brought chests overflowing with ancient coins, and a train of foreign craftsmen and laborers, who built her first Solarian Abbess, devoted to helping children and the poor. She also appointed several of her female followers as Knight-protectors and Prioresses, to assist in her efforts.

Shortly after Celicia disappeared again, in 563 CY, rumors of miracles, performed by her Knight-protectors and Prioresses, began to circulate, resulting in a flood of donations, and a declaration of Sainthood for Celicia, by Emperor Perfero Agmentum Aurum.

Saint Celicia is the saint of orphans and the poor. Her Abbesses are ubiquitous, found in nearly any town that also boasts a Church of Solaris.

Any female Characters may begin as a first-level cleric or paladin, and be a Priestess of Celicia.

Those characters begin with a helmet and breastplate, a mace, and a round shield emblazoned with a stylized sun (Paladin) or sunflower (Cleric). They also start with 1d6 x10 gold.

Knights Imperious

Founded in 793 CY, and endorsed by Emperor Anguis Perditus Vispera in 796 CY, the Order Of The Poor Supplicants Of Solaris And The Dispensers Of Imperial Justice, more commonly known as the Knights Imperious, is a military order attached to the Church of Solaris, but only answerable to the Emperor. First established as a fighting order, during the Sepelioserpentis Wars, the Knights Imperious was subsequently transformed into an administrative order by the Emperor.

Barracks for the Knights Imperious can be found wherever a Church of Solaris exists. The responsibilities of the Knights Imperious include protecting travellers, maintaining the peace on trails, highways, and areas outside the confines of free-towns, providing protection to Imperial tax collectors, acting as the personal guards to the Emperor, and rooting out and dealing summary justice to worshippers of Set. In practice, most of these activities are undertaken by local constables, militia, and so on, since the Knights Imperious numbers less than 250 soldiers. However, Knights Imperious always have jurisdiction in those matters, and are empowered to mete out swift justice to those who resist them.

The seal of the Knights Imperious shows the Emperor battling two serpents, one in each hand. That seal is displayed prominently on the shields borne by the Knights Imperious, which are symbols of their authority.

Player Characters may begin as a first-level fighter, cleric or paladin, and be a soldier of the Order of the Knights Imperious.

Those characters begin with a helmet and breastplate, a mace and longsword, and a round shield with the seal of the Knights Imperious. They also start with 1d6 x10 gold.