Sulphur and Snuff, a Horror Dungeon

A wicked theatre, a blue-skinned vizier, an imprisoned demon, evil noblemen and lots of torture, mutilation and cannibalism (and more within!). Sulphur and Snuff - A Devilish Performance is a rather horrible 11-page dungeon with horror and heist elements for Old School games. It would be a good fit for Lamentations of the Flame Princess or Mörk Borg.

Find the PDF of the dungeon below by clicking on the map or the link. I'd appreciate any feedback as it will help my future dungeons to be even better. 

SULPHUR AND SNUFF

Comments and Reviews: 

"No Regerts"

Bryce Lynch, tenfootpole.org

"Damn that way of doing maps is really clever, usable and a TON of flavor"
"Yeah I really wanna run that, and a lot of that is from the map alone"

Johan Nohr, MÖRK BORG artist and graphic designer (via Discord)

"Excellent work! This is better stuff than many published dungeons. It features a compelling layout and visual design. Just looking at this pdf invites me into a horror story with teasing secrets.

The more I read this, the more I love it, as an excellent opportunity for mixed violence and social engagement. Something of a weird fever dream, the core interior concept informs suspension of disbelief and all of the characters. Bullwain Boque for example is a character without much prose dedicated to explaining his personality, but because of the context he seems full of potential. I applaud your design for canny delegation of detail.

The puzzle-like pieces of the map which are scattered throughout the .pdf create a portrait of the internal space which is both easy to refer to, because the pieces are right there next to their details text, and easy to memorize, because the pieces fit together with a clear logic which is distinct for each piece. Thus it is easy for me to follow, page-to-page"

Peter Webb, Instadeath (via Facebook)

A Peer Beyond the Alchemical Aleph Null - a Poem-Dungeon

A dungeon (or dungeons) for False Machine's poem-dungeon challenge. 

I certainly found the challenge interesting, the poetic style is reminiscent of how I make dungeons for my own use; terse, personally evocative (unusable by others). Making a dungeon this way, especially for an audience is a very different experience. I found the limited space and a keen adherence to terseness, limited the text's utility and overall, holistic descriptiveness. At the same time the 'poetic language', while fun, used up that same space I lacked. I consider my effort an interesting failure (a critique I have of most things on my blog). 

With this is mind, the dungeon had to become binitarian; two dungeons constituting one whole. A LIGHT (more utilitarian, 'clearer' and 'useful') dungeon and a DARK (evocative and murky) dungeon. They should be used at the same time in concert with one another. Work will have to be done on the part of a DM running the dungeon to flesh it out but I hope the ideas within kindle imaginations.        

The Dungeon: Alchemists push their art beyond God's limits discovering unknowable elements. Disaster ensues. I tried to include standard D&D'isms, traps, treasures, magic swords and boss battles but it's all just a little odd and creepy.  

Aleph Null or  ℵ₀  is the mathematical term for the smallest infinite number.

DUNGEON (DARK)

DUNGEON (LIGHT)

Dark/Pulp Dungeon Name Generator

By Esteban Maroto

 A run-of-the-mill table for inspiration or fun. Roll 1d20 for each column. 

D20	Word 1	Of The...	Word 2
1	Cave(s)	Spectral	Horror
2	Temple	Demon-(ic)	Lord
3	Tomb	Eternal	Eye
4	Palace	Pagan	Throne
5	Prison	Impossible	Crown
6	Sanctum	Bleeding	Cult
7	Manor	Crimson	Sign
8	Citadel	Cerulean	Curse
9	Tower	Astral	Entity
10	Fortress	Infernal	Machine
11	Lair	Cannibal	Creature
12	Keep	Creeping	Thing
13	Barrow	Alien	Frog/Snake/Ape/Insect/Spider
14	Chasm	Nameless	Army
15	Isle	Elder	Phantasm
16	Realm	Cursed	Overlord
17	Altar	Dreaming	Queen
18	Domain	Hideous	God
19	Maze	Voodoo	Pit
20	Hall	Undying	Mage

Simple Magic House Rule for Low Fantasy or Pulp Setting Flavour

Low Fantasy. Magic is rare. Those that wield magic are burnt at the stake or revered as cult-lords. How to simply represent this through your game's mechanics?

Reaction Rolls.

Immediately reroll any NPC's reaction after a character uses magic in front of them for the first time. This means a group of initially friendly peasants can start to reach for their pitchforks when they see a PC casting spells or a gang of brigands can become hospitable (from fear of being obliterated by a powerful sorcerer). It is your discretion whether to include the magic-wielder's charisma modifier in this roll.

Rerolling reactions should only be done once and rolled only for appropriate NPC's. A group of hardened adventurers or the king's finest veterans probably wouldn't reroll reactions, they are too experienced or brave or loyal to do so. Likewise, non-sentient creatures (undead, automatons) are unaffected as are NPC magic-users and many (but not all) dungeon denizens. Cultists should only reroll reactions if the PC's do magic more impressive than their cult leader is capable of. 

To simulate more intensely inquisitorial, witch-hunting societies reroll reactions with a -2 or -4. An average reaction roll indicating a certain fearfulness or anxiety in the NPC's. Positive magic could mean the reaction roll is made with a +2; despicable magic with a -2.

If your game looks like this, don't use this house rule