Here are six, free, lair-style dungeons, inspired by the 3lbb and written for an OD&D lair design contest. They are lurid, savage and pulpy. The layout was predetermined quite stringently. Most notably, each lair must fit on a single side of A5. This proved a fun, albeit tricky, constraint. My first attempt; Caveman Lair, 15%, though terse, spilled over this single side limit, - though Diogenes of Dio's Dungeon did ascribe it "vance-quality" (while discussing its disqualification). See:
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Remember these are Lairs, different but closely related to 'true' dungeons. While largely occupied by a single 'monster' type, do not assume these are not places of tension and of simmering conflict that your players cannot explore and exploit. Some of the lairs are linked narratively but can be played in any order, making them a good fit for sandbox campaigns or linked one-shots. Each lair should be a good fit for a single session of play.
Also four of the lairs belong to cavemen 💪
Herein you shall find:
- The Lair of the Cavemen (Oopulg's Tribe), suffering in a sea-cave under the yoke of savage merman conquerors.
- The Lair of the Mermen, a hub of imperial conquest, led by an imperious queen blinded to the traitors in her midst by the loss of her daughter.
- The Lair of the Brigands who took her, and the foul fate they are suffering at the hand of their disinterested and capricious dark-lord.
- The Lair of the Cavewomen (Lankimbirizin's Tribe), hunted by chaotic humanoids and led by a dying magic-user who seeks to a new chief to lead his tribe to safety.
- The Lair of the Cavemen (Big Borguluu's Raiders), a vicious band of raiders encamped in a ruined minster that holds its own secrets.
- The Lair of the Cavemen (Bruug and Eewallaaa's Tribes), two tribes joined by the pairing of the chief and chieftainess suffer clashing cultures and the moral predations of two human missionaries.
Most art by Frank Frazetta with maps by Dyson Logos and Watabou's dungeon generator.