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
My Savage World Personality Generator may pair well with the dungeon. Find it here.
Good job! You definitely captured that pulp vibe! Which contest was this for?
ReplyDelete"cavemen under his direct command never check morale" -- ouch, this makes them SUPER strong!
Hah, yes. It's up to you what 'direct' means but I didn't want BERSERKERS and DERVISHES to have all the fun. What can I say? I like cavemen and think they deserve a hero of their own.
Delete(just dropping my take on the caveman dungeon here... https://eldritchfields.blogspot.com/2021/11/dungeon-cave-of-trials-prehistoric.html )
ReplyDeleteI like it, especially as a campaign starter. Ties in with my above point a actually - imagine a party of all caveman player characters ranging through wilderness and civilisation to save and to conquer and rule. That's cool!
DeleteI like this a lot! Well done. The Faction is well-developed and just needs a little nudge to become something really exciting in a campaign.
ReplyDeleteThanks! This is by design, it's in your hands now.
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