Posted May 01, 2024 by cog5games
Added the eighth area on my mega-dungeon, the Monastery, in The Electric Triptych of the Tetric Necromancer. I found I spent less time editing this area compared to other areas so far. Not sure if that’s any indication of good writing, but I think it’s an indication of writing that I’m happy with.
Players are likely to encounter a religious cult here, formed to strengthen the Tetric Necromancer’s influence. These Electric Priests are largely a warm-up obstacle before some of the prime objectives in the mega-dungeon are revealed. Namely, one of the Electric Triptych panels, as well as the Undead Queen. If you’ve been following along, these are two key adventure hooks, making the Monastery an area meant for both climax and reward.
Working in a faction of “Old Gods” was fun as well. A giant, stone sphere made of distorted faces that communicates through telepathic whispers. I went with a sort of ambivalent trickster theme with them, gods that know they are all powerful, but are also powerless, since they are no longer in fashion. They also touch on the themes of magic versus technology that I’ve been exploring with this adventure. Where technology is sort of becoming the new magic that everyone is used to in this world.
The Monastery also expands on some of the world outside of the mega-dungeon, giving more background on Shorevale, a fishing village, and Archedahn, a town of aristocrats. Both locations suffered a grave decline after a visit from the Undead Queen. Adding a fishing village is largely an excuse to create a future adventure that includes a lighthouse, because lighthouses are cool. Both locations are south of the Citadel, where the main adventure takes place.
Oh yeah, and I changed the name of the main structure in the adventure from “Spire” to “Citadel”. So if you have a previous copy, the Spire is no more. It’s all Citadel all the time, now. After giving it some thought, the mega-dungeon wasn’t much of a tower, so “spire” didn’t really fit. While there are technically five vertical levels, only three of them are above ground. It’s kind of diamond shaped, overall? Maybe I’ll change it again, I don’t know. You’re seeing this come together right around the same time I am. The reality is, even after it’s “done”, I’ll still be thinking about what to call it. Forever.
Come August, when I intend to have all of the main areas added to the book, I’ll spend some time on “Phase 2” items. A simple mini-map, with all the dungeon areas combined, just to show the general structure and flow of everything. A simple overworld map might be good too, showing a few key locations surrounding the mega-dungeon, to allow for some lead-up to the primary adventure. I’ll want to spend some time writing a basic intro and some adventure hooks as well.
Other Things
Speaking of hooks, I picked up Dragonbane a little while back. They have a random quest generator in the back of the core book, not sure I’d use it as is, but I was a bit inspired by it. It’s like a phrase builder, along the lines of: One day in the [market], the party happens upon a [rumor] from [John Stinktooth, a thief] who wants to [destroy] a [magical artifact] called [Butcher’s Bone]. The brackets can be filled in by a variety of words generated with dice rolls. Not mind blowing, it’s a bit of a jumble, but got me thinking.
I’d probably approach it less like a phrase and more like a list of keywords, or maybe the answers to a set of questions that generate a hook? Tables of objectives, NPCs, items, locations, etc. Things relevant to the adventure itself. Leave some room for the GM to fill in the gaps. Yeah, I think I might want to try and build something like that.
A Shout Out to Mini GM Screens
Also, just received the new Mothership box set today (the small one) and wanted to mention the mini Warden screen that was included. Three panels, roughly 5.5” tall and 25.5” wide, end to end. I generally don’t use GM screens, and if I do, it’s not for the purpose of hiding anything, I’m more interested in the reference materials they display. I find reference booklets more my jam. But the form factor of the tiny Warden screen from Mothership might win me over. It’s something I’d probably just lay flat on the table for reference. Reference material with a small footprint and the ability to fold up even smaller – more of that please.