Secrets of the Dungeon Masters

vitruvian · 10-23-2007, 01:42 PM

I recently ran across some notes made a few years ago about justifying a Dungeons & Dragons-like setting with lots of subterranean catacombs and dungeons with ecologically unsound populations of monsters either trapped in rooms or wandering about, and vast quantities of treasure and magic items for the taking. Basically, it's a post-apocalyptic setting, where a highly advanced magical culture collapsed and left ruins behind. 'Adventuring' is frequently merely a polite word for 'scavenging', and a major portion of the world's economy may be based on such scavenging operations and their proceeds, especially in terms of magic items. The political and economic structure tends to be relatively feudal, since there are intermittent disruptions to the economy as more treasure troves are uncovered and massive inflation results from the influx of gold, silver, and magic goodies.

The World of the Dungeon Masters:

Once upon a time, the world was High Mana throughout, and magic was as common as dirt. In fact, raw magical energy was so freely available that even quite large enchantments were readily available (more on mechanics later).

Magic was fully industrialized; paired with actual material technology at no more than TL2 (yes, smelting iron is a post-apocalyptic invention), this resulted in a highly advanced urban civilization.

The ancients clearly made extensive use of Earth spells to build downwards, creating massive underground complexes or dungeons using Earth to Air, Shape Earth, and Earth to Stone. Essential Earth was used to make highly fertile fields for cultivation (although many of these areas are now heavily forested, trees finding the essential earth quite conducive to growth as well), as well as to make many, many artifacts of adamant and orichalchum. There seems to have been a preference in most areas to build down or into existing mountains, rather than raise edifices to the sky, although there are exceptions - many of the smaller mountains and hills in the XXXX region are now believed to actually be the remains of massive ziggurats raised as houses of worship to the sky gods.

Many of these 'dungeons' have metal torches placed at regular intervals along the smooth stone walls, enchanted with Continual Light in some instances and permanent Fire spells in others. Some merely have Glow, and there are even some examples filled with magically enchanted Sunlight. There are also many examples of 'cornucopias' or 'grails' enchanted with spells such as Purify Air, Create Air, Create Water, or even Create Food. Many of these are fully self-powered. Doors are frequently composed of dense Essential Wood banded with orichalchum; most depend on locking spells, since their physical locks of orichalchum are primitive in a mechanical sense and frequently easily picked, and some lack locks entirely. Shape Air 'fan' devices provide air circulation even dozens of levels down from the surface.

The frequent discovery of living monsters from eons past within locked rooms demonstrates that the ancients thought little of enchanting whole rooms with Suspend Time or a variation on Suspended Animation. It is speculated that many monstrous species were actually created by the ancients using the Hybridization elixir or an equivalent spell. Adventurers have also discovered hundreds if not thousands of golems of all substances and sizes, although man-sized clay golems or ushabti are the most common type. The majority of these, however, now appear to be useless since the owners capable of commanding them to act are now long dead.

Some 'dungeons' were clearly domiciles (underground castles or apartment complexes) or religious complexes; others appear to have been some kind of warehouses for the vast array of physical and magical goods possessed by the ancients. Earth magic made it quite easy for the ancients to prospect for and refine gold, silver, and jewels, and the quantities of each sometimes found are staggering. Magic items of many types are an even greater treasure - the ancient enchanters clearly were able to cast larger spells more easily than their present-day counterparts.

Secret: Many of the 'warehouse' dungeons were actually the ancient equivalent of our world's shipping warehouses, personal storage units, and animal kennels (except the ancients were able to use suspended animation in the last - many 'monsters' are actually people's abandoned pets from ancient days). Others were actually trading bazaars similar to shopping malls - again, including pet shops.

The existence of permanent Gates across vast distances and even to other planes in some instances further demonstrates the prowess of the ancients with enchantment. It is possible that the entire ancient world was connected via a gate network, making physical travel or other means of magical transportation largely unnecessary. This may explain the frequency with which smaller dungeon ruins are found in remote areas; there was no need to concentrate everybody in particular urban areas, when travel to the hinterlands could be easily accomplished and food and other goods could be gated in or magically produced on site.

Secret: The ancients did indeed have greater enchanting prowess than moderns, but not because of higher levels of Magery or skill. Rather, in addition to operating in a High Mana environment where anybody could learn standard magic, the ancients made extensive use of a variation on Meditative or Devotional Magic, expending character points from study (or from bonus points, but less frequent) to buy energy. Because the mana flowed so strongly, and even common elements such as water and clay were already infused with magic, this process worked at the more favorable rate of 1 CP (usually 200 hours of 'study') per 1000 energy, as opposed to 1 CP per 25 energy as would be the case in the era of the campaign. They eventually fed so much energy into the cheap enchanted objects on which their society depended that the mana level in most areas has now been depleted to Normal or even Low.

The current society is a patchwork of feudal and oligarchic states spread across the continent, ca 1000 years after the fall of the ancients. Different peoples have different legends about what actually caused this fall, ranging from wars against dragons or giants, to a necromantic plague, to an epidemic of spell backlashes involving the summoning of demons or worse, to a simple waning of magic. Most major cities or towns have at least one large 'dungeon' in the vicinity, scavenging which formed part of the reason for the resettlement. Although many of these are mostly 'mined out', there are frequently more hidden levels to be explored even after all these centuries. In very few cases have the peoples of the modern day actually settled in the dwelling places of the ancients, owing in part to superstitious dread of their powers (this partly explains why only a few partake in 'adventuring'), but also to a pragmatic assessment of the dangers of magical boobytraps, the periodic release of monsters to wander the corridors, and the occasional infestation of undead. Not to mention that the lower levels of dungeons not infrequently end up connecting with the even *more* extensive cavern complexes of the underground races such as dwarves, gnomes, kobolds, and troglodytes, who invariably take exception to humans settling in what they consider to be their realms. More ruins are frequently discovered in the hinterlands as those areas get resettled, as well.

Secret: The underground peoples were actually 'genetically engineered' from human stock long ago to be servants in the underground complexes. After the downfall of human civilization, the slaves became the masters of their own domain, much like the Morlocks in H.G. Wells' Time Machine (well, except without the cannibalism part, except maybe for the troglodytes and some dark elves). They found that the mana level continued to be high if you dug sufficiently deep, and used Earth magic to eventually create an entire underworld in the roots of the world.

Basically, this gives the background for an archetypal D&D setting with subterranean dungeons, both in proximity to settlements and out in the hinterlands, where vast quantities of magic and treasure are 'guarded' by a variety of monsters (competitive scavenging bands from enemy races such as orcs can fill in the monster roles not satisfied by feral Suspended pets and the undead). Of course, a logical consequence of this setup would be that many communities will require 'adventurers' to purchase a license or even work for the local government directly in order to be allowed into the 'dungeon' in the first place, and will equally plan to soak the adventurers for most of their gains when (if) they re-emerge, but I don't really see that as a major problem - have fun gaming the PCs gaining admittance to the Adventurers or Treasure Hunters Guild, or negotiating with the local lord directly for a dungeon delving license, or dealing with excise and tax collector. You can also vary the extent to which magic is commonly used in everyday life on the surface, depending on just how many folks are born with Magery, whether training is widely available, and just how many non-mage magic items you actually decide to salt your dungeons with. Also note that a sort of archaeologist/scholar becomes a very viable character type - every band could use somebody to translate the writing on the wall, look out for traps, identify magic items. Mages will frequently double in this sort of role, given the utility of looking to the ancients for hints of how to advance the study of magic, but you could also have more physical Indiana Jones types.

10-23-2007, 01:42 PM	#1
vitruvian Join Date: Aug 2004	Secrets of the Dungeon Masters I recently ran across some notes made a few years ago about justifying a Dungeons & Dragons-like setting with lots of subterranean catacombs and dungeons with ecologically unsound populations of monsters either trapped in rooms or wandering about, and vast quantities of treasure and magic items for the taking. Basically, it's a post-apocalyptic setting, where a highly advanced magical culture collapsed and left ruins behind. 'Adventuring' is frequently merely a polite word for 'scavenging', and a major portion of the world's economy may be based on such scavenging operations and their proceeds, especially in terms of magic items. The political and economic structure tends to be relatively feudal, since there are intermittent disruptions to the economy as more treasure troves are uncovered and massive inflation results from the influx of gold, silver, and magic goodies. The World of the Dungeon Masters: Once upon a time, the world was High Mana throughout, and magic was as common as dirt. In fact, raw magical energy was so freely available that even quite large enchantments were readily available (more on mechanics later). Magic was fully industrialized; paired with actual material technology at no more than TL2 (yes, smelting iron is a post-apocalyptic invention), this resulted in a highly advanced urban civilization. The ancients clearly made extensive use of Earth spells to build downwards, creating massive underground complexes or dungeons using Earth to Air, Shape Earth, and Earth to Stone. Essential Earth was used to make highly fertile fields for cultivation (although many of these areas are now heavily forested, trees finding the essential earth quite conducive to growth as well), as well as to make many, many artifacts of adamant and orichalchum. There seems to have been a preference in most areas to build down or into existing mountains, rather than raise edifices to the sky, although there are exceptions - many of the smaller mountains and hills in the XXXX region are now believed to actually be the remains of massive ziggurats raised as houses of worship to the sky gods. Many of these 'dungeons' have metal torches placed at regular intervals along the smooth stone walls, enchanted with Continual Light in some instances and permanent Fire spells in others. Some merely have Glow, and there are even some examples filled with magically enchanted Sunlight. There are also many examples of 'cornucopias' or 'grails' enchanted with spells such as Purify Air, Create Air, Create Water, or even Create Food. Many of these are fully self-powered. Doors are frequently composed of dense Essential Wood banded with orichalchum; most depend on locking spells, since their physical locks of orichalchum are primitive in a mechanical sense and frequently easily picked, and some lack locks entirely. Shape Air 'fan' devices provide air circulation even dozens of levels down from the surface. The frequent discovery of living monsters from eons past within locked rooms demonstrates that the ancients thought little of enchanting whole rooms with Suspend Time or a variation on Suspended Animation. It is speculated that many monstrous species were actually created by the ancients using the Hybridization elixir or an equivalent spell. Adventurers have also discovered hundreds if not thousands of golems of all substances and sizes, although man-sized clay golems or ushabti are the most common type. The majority of these, however, now appear to be useless since the owners capable of commanding them to act are now long dead. Some 'dungeons' were clearly domiciles (underground castles or apartment complexes) or religious complexes; others appear to have been some kind of warehouses for the vast array of physical and magical goods possessed by the ancients. Earth magic made it quite easy for the ancients to prospect for and refine gold, silver, and jewels, and the quantities of each sometimes found are staggering. Magic items of many types are an even greater treasure - the ancient enchanters clearly were able to cast larger spells more easily than their present-day counterparts. Secret: Many of the 'warehouse' dungeons were actually the ancient equivalent of our world's shipping warehouses, personal storage units, and animal kennels (except the ancients were able to use suspended animation in the last - many 'monsters' are actually people's abandoned pets from ancient days). Others were actually trading bazaars similar to shopping malls - again, including pet shops. The existence of permanent Gates across vast distances and even to other planes in some instances further demonstrates the prowess of the ancients with enchantment. It is possible that the entire ancient world was connected via a gate network, making physical travel or other means of magical transportation largely unnecessary. This may explain the frequency with which smaller dungeon ruins are found in remote areas; there was no need to concentrate everybody in particular urban areas, when travel to the hinterlands could be easily accomplished and food and other goods could be gated in or magically produced on site. Secret: The ancients did indeed have greater enchanting prowess than moderns, but not because of higher levels of Magery or skill. Rather, in addition to operating in a High Mana environment where anybody could learn standard magic, the ancients made extensive use of a variation on Meditative or Devotional Magic, expending character points from study (or from bonus points, but less frequent) to buy energy. Because the mana flowed so strongly, and even common elements such as water and clay were already infused with magic, this process worked at the more favorable rate of 1 CP (usually 200 hours of 'study') per 1000 energy, as opposed to 1 CP per 25 energy as would be the case in the era of the campaign. They eventually fed so much energy into the cheap enchanted objects on which their society depended that the mana level in most areas has now been depleted to Normal or even Low. The current society is a patchwork of feudal and oligarchic states spread across the continent, ca 1000 years after the fall of the ancients. Different peoples have different legends about what actually caused this fall, ranging from wars against dragons or giants, to a necromantic plague, to an epidemic of spell backlashes involving the summoning of demons or worse, to a simple waning of magic. Most major cities or towns have at least one large 'dungeon' in the vicinity, scavenging which formed part of the reason for the resettlement. Although many of these are mostly 'mined out', there are frequently more hidden levels to be explored even after all these centuries. In very few cases have the peoples of the modern day actually settled in the dwelling places of the ancients, owing in part to superstitious dread of their powers (this partly explains why only a few partake in 'adventuring'), but also to a pragmatic assessment of the dangers of magical boobytraps, the periodic release of monsters to wander the corridors, and the occasional infestation of undead. Not to mention that the lower levels of dungeons not infrequently end up connecting with the even more extensive cavern complexes of the underground races such as dwarves, gnomes, kobolds, and troglodytes, who invariably take exception to humans settling in what they consider to be their realms. More ruins are frequently discovered in the hinterlands as those areas get resettled, as well. Secret: The underground peoples were actually 'genetically engineered' from human stock long ago to be servants in the underground complexes. After the downfall of human civilization, the slaves became the masters of their own domain, much like the Morlocks in H.G. Wells' Time Machine (well, except without the cannibalism part, except maybe for the troglodytes and some dark elves). They found that the mana level continued to be high if you dug sufficiently deep, and used Earth magic to eventually create an entire underworld in the roots of the world. Basically, this gives the background for an archetypal D&D setting with subterranean dungeons, both in proximity to settlements and out in the hinterlands, where vast quantities of magic and treasure are 'guarded' by a variety of monsters (competitive scavenging bands from enemy races such as orcs can fill in the monster roles not satisfied by feral Suspended pets and the undead). Of course, a logical consequence of this setup would be that many communities will require 'adventurers' to purchase a license or even work for the local government directly in order to be allowed into the 'dungeon' in the first place, and will equally plan to soak the adventurers for most of their gains when (if) they re-emerge, but I don't really see that as a major problem - have fun gaming the PCs gaining admittance to the Adventurers or Treasure Hunters Guild, or negotiating with the local lord directly for a dungeon delving license, or dealing with excise and tax collector. You can also vary the extent to which magic is commonly used in everyday life on the surface, depending on just how many folks are born with Magery, whether training is widely available, and just how many non-mage magic items you actually decide to salt your dungeons with. Also note that a sort of archaeologist/scholar becomes a very viable character type - every band could use somebody to translate the writing on the wall, look out for traps, identify magic items. Mages will frequently double in this sort of role, given the utility of looking to the ancients for hints of how to advance the study of magic, but you could also have more physical Indiana Jones types.