CHAINMAIL: 03.31.2023

Dungeon Mapping - Darkshire

Ok, if you clicked on that link and were immediately terrified by the outdated website and complex-looking diagrams, hear me out. This is a bit of a more advanced analysis technique for DMs but I think it is highly valuable. In Chainmail: 03.24.2023 I included a video that talks about Janelle Jacquay and her dungeon design style (and why it is the best). This is a bit of a companion to that video. If you are truly interested in creating engaging dungeon layouts, give the technique mentioned in the article a try. It boils down your dungeon into a simple navigational flowchart that will help you better understand it's pacing and flow.

Environmental storytelling. Be prepared for a much longer blog post or maybe even a youtube video about this coming out at some point. I am obsessed with it and how it can be utilized in our TTRPG games. Let this video be a primer to get your foot in the door on what environmental storytelling is and some great examples of how it has been used to propel stories forward.

Tricks, Empty Rooms, and Basic Trap Design

This is a bit of a different suggestion than usual. You see above the table of contents of one of the most used resources I've ever purchased. This pdf costs $3.59 over on DriveThruRPG and I can't recommend it enough. Packed in these 30 pages are tables for practically everything you'd need to stock a dungeon. The PDF starts by breaking down Gygax's original philosophy on dungeon design then Courtney Campbell, the author, expands from there building upon the framework of so many before them. It's worth the money and has proven invaluable to me.

I hope these resources inspire you! See you next week.