Beneath the light of a blood-red star, a loping horde of savage hominids cross a primeval plain - a scantily-clad maiden slung across the sinewy shoulders of their brutish chief...
Captured princesses! Rampaging ape-men! Jewels for the plunder! Here’s a 3LBB-style caveman lair for an OD&D lair design contest. Inspired by the lurid, two-fisted illustrations of Frank Frazetta. I leaned into pulp, into cavesploitation - and shan't apologize for it!
As an OD&D neophyte, I’ve done my best to ape (pun intended) the '70s style, tone, and idiosyncrasies, though some modern sensibilities may have crept in. Hopefully, it still feels right and carries some of those early-days fantasy weirdness. Writing this was enjoyable. The formatting was decided by the contest, the expectation that the entries should be easily inserted into a campaign and the fact this is a lair, rather than a true dungeon really contributed to that. I planned to publish more dungeons this year, this wasn't one of them, so stay tuned!
All art by Frank Frazetta, map by Dyson Logos