Dungeon Process: Slime Baroness and the Lady of Unterbranch Keep (Part 2 - Background and Rumours)

This is the second post in a series documenting my full dungeon process. Check out the other posts in this series here. 

The background of a dungeon is important information for the referee to have. At the same time, long pages of dry backstory can really hinder the enjoyment of reading/running a pre-made dungeon. I often find my eyes glazing over three sentences into an adventure introduction before skipping ahead to the room key to see the goodies. 

Even long-winded room keys make me bored. It always boggles my mind to read a review on Bryce Lynch's blog and read "this eight page adventure features seven rooms." Less than one room per page? Insanity. I crammed the entirety of the 98-room Cherry Crypts into only fourteen pages (and that includes TWO copies of the map, and a couple pages of tables at the start). Obviously that's a little terse for some folks, but it works for me. I don't need to strive for that much concision for Slime Baroness and the Lady of Unterbranch Keep: I want the layout to work in my favour more, and that often requires larger headings and white space. 

Some dungeons can be explained in a handful of words. Slime Baroness and the Lady of Unterbranch Keep (SBLUK) could too, but it does contain some specific things going on that deserve a bit of explanation. 

Slime Baroness and the Lady of Unterbranch Keep

High-Concept Background

"Unterbranch Keep sits atop a rocky promontory overlooking a backwater village and valley. It is common knowledge that the Keep has been abandoned and deeply haunted by slime and spirits for 33 years, ever since the Lady Unterbranch—a renowned warrior—went missing. At the last new moon, some brigands thundered into the valley, brigandized the innocent country folk, and retreated up to Unterbranch Keep; they have not been seen since."

This is the elevator pitch for the dungeon. Getting across basic information in only a few sentences. This allows the referee to picture the location in their mind, and start some wheels turning in regards to the possible creatures and contents. This isn't necessarily written to be read to the players, so it doesn't need to contain any explicit hooks (like mentioning treasure). It might be a good way to deliver the basic common knowledge regarding this locale, though. 

Dungeon Process: Slime Baroness and the Lady of Unterbranch Keep (Part 1 - Theme)

Start of a Series

This is Part One of a six-part series documenting my full dungeon-writing process. The dungeon is called Slime Baroness and the Lady of Unterbranch Keep. You can check out all six parts on this page here, and keep reading for the first post: Theme!

Introduction

Lately, I have been dungeon-obsessed. I spent a few months working on the Cherry Crypts, the largest dungeon I've made since probably high school. I ran my group through the majority of the rooms in four sessions (and had lots of fun). 

I have been reflecting on the lessons learned from designing and running that dungeon, and applying them to new projects. I made some one-pagers for my setting Penrod. I have also been very slowly outlining my eponymous megadungeon, The Lapidary City (post impending). 

Full Dungeon Process

And now I am working on a new project, which I will present in this multi-part series. Each post will deal with a step in my process. I am also using this as a way to think about the process itself: how should I make a map, what is the best way to write the key, what comes first—general or specific? Part of what I hope to accomplish is standardizing some of the things I do, making it easier for myself to write large dungeons. Goals for the finished product include:

• High-quality layout
• Original maps (of sufficient quality; I am no Dyson Logos)
• Unique and evocative writing and content
• Concision
• Build on the successes of my previous work
• Learn from the shortcomings of my previous work

This first post is about Theme. Dungeons, for me, are easier and more fun to write if I have a strong theme to work from. This theme can be complex and multi-layered, and also simple. For example, The Cherry Crypts were themed with druidic crypts, mad wizard leftovers, and the ice age. Definitely some disparate elements, but it provided me with touchstones as I wrote out the details. Not every single room and monster has to fit the theme; it just provides structure. 

Check out the other posts in this series here. 

Slime Baroness and the Lady of Unterbranch Keep

Unterbranch Keep sits atop a rocky promontory overlooking a backwater village and valley. It is common knowledge that the Keep has been abandoned and deeply haunted by slime and spirits for 33 years, ever since the Lady Unterbranch went missing. At the last new moon, some brigands thundered into the valley, brigandized the innocent country folk, and retreated up to Unterbranch Keep; they have not been seen since.

Encounter with a black pudding (Pixie Bledshaw, The Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor, Judges Guild, 1978)

Referee Reference Sheet

I made this sheet for myself. I had a hand-written version stuck on the wall above my desk for easy reference when I referee games online. But I decided to gussy it up (with some royalty free B&W art) and now I have this version printed out and stuck on the wall. 

The Monster Reaction table is taken from 1981 Moldvay Basic D&D. The Encounter Die is my version of the Overloaded Encounter Die (started by Necropraxis and riffed on by many other bloggers). 

Referee Reference Sheet