year of the

dungeon

2010 april

compilation

tony © 2010 dowler

“A few months ago, I was at my printer's when I spied a box of 4" x 3" cardstock note pads. "What are those?" "Oh just some leftovers from a print job. Want some?" I took 10 of them, 200 pages in all. Within a few days I picked on up and started sketching a dungeon map on it. Pretty soon I'd done a half dozen. I started drawing more maps and handing them out as presents or business cards. I was having a blast. Fast forward to December. I'd drawn about 60 maps and given away more than half of them. I'd been toying with the idea of starting some kind of blog again, which is when it hit me: a microdungeon blog. This is a blog of maps for dungeon-exploration games in the style of Dungeons & Dragons. I love dungeon maps. I think they're art. But mostly I think they're fun. I've got enough maps to last the next five months, and I'm not even half-way through my paper yet.”

I wrote the above at my blog on January 3rd, 2010. I’ve since had the idea to compile each month’s offerings into a handy pdf. I hope that you enjoy and gain as much inspiration from reading and looking at the dungeons within as I have in drawing them. ~ td, 17 february 2010

All contents ©2010 tony dowler

Compilation & Editing The Fantasy Cartographic

contents

Kickin It Kobold Style 2 Eric the Red’s Dungeon 3

The Vampire’s Den 4 Lair of the Salamander 5 Digging Go Play NW 6

Meteoric Shrine of Kintok-Glau 7 Dungeon Planet 8 Archaic Torso 9

Down the Drain 10 Peryton Perch 11

Chord Progression 12 Fear and Loathing 13

Place Your Own Microdungeon Here! 14

first published at year of the dungeon on 01 april 2010 2

Kickin It Kobold Style

It's April Fool's Day, so I'm going to just take it easy, and try not to take anything seriously for a while.

first published at year of the dungeon on 02 april 2010 3

Eric the Red’s Dungeon

It doesn't have to be perfect, just plenty sturdy, and with a secret room. No double doors either. They always try to sell you double, but single doors work just as well. A nice big room with a table and lots of chairs for sitting and drinking in. Good solid pillars.

first published at year of the dungeon on 05 april 2010 4

The Vampire’s Den

An urbane abomination, clinging to the civilized accoutrements from a dimly-remembered life A forgotten trinket that holds the secret to a family curse A faithful servant, assiduous in his duties, yet twisted by a gnawing madness A cozy den, a warm fire in the hearth, kept ever stocked with goods and comforts, concealing a deadly array of traps

first published at year of the dungeon on 07 april 2010

5

Lair of the Salamander

A primordial elemental of anger that once aroused will not be turned aside until it has consumed itself and all around it A brilliant maker of artifacts, dabbling in dangerous techniques in his unstinting quest for perfection A rare and valuable reagent gathered from a forbidden source A grizzled veteran of many campaigns, her courage shaken by self-doubt An enchanted arm band, containing a bound planar entity, capable of working powerful and disturbing transformations on the wearer (And yeah, adventurers, just TRY to get across those lava pits to do whatever you need to do over there!)

first published at year of the dungeon on 09 april 2010

6

Digging Go Play NW

A band of gamers assemble for an annual celebration of games and friendship... An annual ritual, held in the heart of a great city... Murderous zombies erupt from the Earth to interrupt a long-awaited feast with chaos...

first published at year of the dungeon on 12 april 2010

7

Meteoric Shrine of Kintok-Glau

An artifact descends to Earth having been touched by gods, and we know when they get involved, it's never good news A madman or prophet mumbling half remembered phrases A ravenous predator sharpening its claws in its cave lair A chamber of natural wonders, both beguiling and deadly A rumbling chant, deep within the rock, growing both stronger and more urgent

first published at year of the dungeon on 19 april 2010

8

Dungeon Planet

10,000 worlds, suspended in a whirling gyrus like glass spheres caught in a Whirlpool The exquisite observatory, counting away the obscure purpose of its construction How big does a planet need to be to be considered a world, anyway? A conscientious eye tyrant, enduring the scorn of his kind, focusing his prodigious intellect on banishing a persistent mystery

(If there's one thing I love as much as dungeons, it's planets, and this one's both!)

first published at year of the dungeon on 21 april 2010

9

Archaic Torso

What's the Archaic Torso about? How the hell should I know? But when the

Stravellings put it there, they didn't ask permission. They just plunked it down

in the middle of Saint Acelot Square. And why is there a small but growing

crowd of bedraggled worshippers hanging around it talking in strange tongues?

first published at year of the dungeon on 23 april 2010

10

Down the Drain

The princess has lost her diamond ring; a straightforward quest for a brave adventurer; except for the odd fact that the ring fled under its own power on tiny spider legs; and why does the princess always keep her face completely hidden by bandages? Captured by giants! This is a sad predicament. Fortunately, giants aren't very good jailers. They left this perfectly good drain here as an escape route. Surely the escape isn't more dangerous than the prison. Life is good in Spanterhook. The farmer's markets don't have too many grub weevils and the plumbing is good... except when it's not. Nobody really knows how those old pipes and valves work anymore, so every time the sewer backs up, somebody has to go inside and find the clog. Fortunately the pay is good and funeral costs are covered.

first published at year of the dungeon on 25 april 2010

11

Peryton Perch

Past Hunter's Hall and Sorcerer's Aerie you will find your prize A furious baron tries to protect his flocks from an implacable predator with a mans' cunning An order of rangers, jealous of their secrets, sworn to kill any that discover them Deadly shroud ninjas on flying carpets ready to fall upon the unwary with deadly death

first published at year of the dungeon on 28 april 2010

12

Chord Progression

Here's a dungeon I drew up for my wife, the performer and storyteller over lunch after one of her performances. I'm not very creatively inspired this morning, so maybe this will pick me up. It does make me think of the possibilities of dungeons as resonating chambers, sound-based magic, and climbing around inside a giant guitar. Come to think of it, I've been told that the design for Seattle's Experience Music Project was inspired by the interior construction of a guitar.

first published at year of the dungeon on 30 april 2010

13

Fear and Loathing

It's not necessarily wise to accept an invitation to a goblin night club. Then again, if you get an invitation like that, how can you not accept?

first published by you on _________________ (date) 14

Place Your Own Microdungeon Here!

year of the dungeon 2010 april

© 2010 tony dowler