Either you're our guide,
Or my next leather armor;
The choice is all yours.— Grükuk Kzaach to a captured minotaur
(This issue is free to everyone who pledged $50 or more to the Dungeon Fantasy RPG Kickstarter! For Pyramid subscribers, that means this doesn't count toward the duration of your subscription. For the rest of you, enjoy the complimentary issue; if you enjoyed it, consider subscribing for more.)
There's an undeniable appeal to the simple dungeon crawl. Whether it's the sole focus of your campaign, or just a way to blow off steam between more complex plots, it's just
fun to delve into ancient crypts and tunnels and overcome the evil monsters, traps, and schemes therein. And that's why we've
explored this topic several times already.
But what makes this issue different is its focus on
getting started. What would a group new to
Dungeon Fantasy find useful? The answer we came up with was, "Adventures, monsters, and good advice." Of course, it's no accident that those things are useful for
every group of delvers, so that's what we packed into
Pyramid #3/98: Welcome to Dungeon Fantasy!
- Many a campaign has started with the words You All Meet at an Inn, but what if that was more than just how you started your first quest? In this adventure from Matt Riggsby, an outside horde has the heroes trapped and under constant attack until they can figure out what's happening and put a stop to it. This is a great way to kick off a new campaign (by explaining how the group first met), or use it to surprise the party the next time they stop to rest for the night. (Includes three detailed maps.)
- There's an art to crafting opposition. The GM needs to mix classic fantasy foes with new, unexpected monsters to keep the delvers on their toes. And Christopher R. Rice offers plenty of both in The Monstrous Monstorum. Enjoy iconic beasts such as the grü, mimic, and mummy; surprises like the excremental, hellwasp, and stone shark; three new diseases (tied to specific monsters, but also usable standalone); and rules for allowing bouda (hyena-folk with a powerful bite) as PCs.
- The promise of action and treasure lures the adventurers into the Grave of the Pirate Queen, but can they overcome the aquatic monsters, save the innocent captive, and face the true threat deep within? In this month's Eidetic Memory, David Pulver has crafted a dangerous coastal dungeon inhabited by fishy humanoids, undead horrors, and something even darker -- all aggressively fighting to keep their territory free of those pesky delvers. (Includes a map, both detailed and as a sketched handout.)
- Some Dungeon Fantasy campaigns start off as simple hack-and-slash but then gradually grow more complex, adding societal detail and cerebral plots, until one day you realize you're playing a completely different genre. If that's your end goal, then great! But Building a Long-Term Dungeon Fantasy Game is possible, as Peter V. Dell'Orto shows. His detailed advice for everything from character building to world creation proves that you can keep things light, action-packed, and fun even after years of play.
- And I'd like to welcome you newcomers to our regular Random Thought Table; this month, it explores ways to keep players from getting overwhelmed by everything their characters can do.
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