The Lost Continent of Malzthurdän - a Gygax '75 Challenge campaign setting, Part 3 - The Dungeon

Week 3 turned out to be quite a challenge, and frankly I still have some work to do.  When ever I thought of running a campaign before, I always planned on using published material, particularly when it comes to dungeon.  In my mind, there is so much great material that I already own I should probably just use that and adapt it to my campaign. A modified Caverns of Thracia would be perfect for this, but the challenge asked for a new dungeon.  So this ends up being the first dungeon I've created in over 30 years! Crazy stuff huh? 

This is the dungeon located at 12 on the area map. It is a tomb built into the side of a mountain at the end of the ruined city. Most everything in the ruins has been picked clean but the tomb itself is fairly intact. The entrance is an ancient stone gatehouse, now covered in vegetation, and set of double doors leading to the tomb itself.  The tomb is the resting place of a great king from a lost human empire on this continent (yes king, not emperor, I'm going with a Westeros Seven Kingdoms sort of thing here).  The first level is centered on a shrine, and is dedicated to religious worship for the deities of the Empire.  The second level is dedicated to the history of the kingdom.  The third level contains the actual resting place of the king and was dedicated to his life and the history of his family. The King's ghost still haunts the halls.  The Ophidians and Lizardfolk are aware of this and stay away from the tomb generally.  However, a tribe of kobolds have recently moved into the area, and their shaman has trapped the ghost in a binding circle.

Wandering monster table for use on all 3 levels:

Roll	Encounter
1	d6 giant rats
2	d3 ophidians
3-4	d6 kobolds
5	1 huge spider
6	1 giant snake

1. Gatehouse west - empty. debris 
2. Gatehouse east - debris.  Nest of 5 giant rats in the se corner.
3. Entrance hall - Doorway has been cleared recently and opens easily, though with noise. Floor slants down from door to first intersection.
4. Shrine - Permanent Protection from Evil in area.  Evil/Chaotic monster will not enter here. Altar along south wall. Black, red, and white wax residue on alter from west to east.  If candles found in tomb of those colors are lit and placed correctly, the door to the stairs at B will be unlocked.
5. Waiting area - broken chairs/benches.  Gecko Lizard (3hd) on ceiling
6. Empty
7. Supply room - religious items, red candles. 2 Ophidian scouts. One has a gem worth 50gp. 
8. Waiting area. - Cobwebs and debris
9. Room of Blessings - 8 fonts of water. One of them will Bless whomever drinks from it.
10. Supply room - debris, religious items. Black candles.
11. Hidden room - valuable religious items (500 gp, 50lbs), white candles.

• A - Stairs down to level 2.
• B - Stairs down to level 3.

12. Hall of the Empire - Mosaic murals on all wall depicting scenes of the empire.Soft light from continual light chandeliers

13. Waiting room - debris, broken chairs, tables and benches.strong smell of decay. 6 rot grubs in debris

14. Display room - mosaics.  broken statues.

15. Guard room - chairs, table, and bedrolls.  6 Kobolds. one will be listening at the door.

16. Display room - mosaics.  broken statues.

17. Armory - Door is locked (key is lost). Rusted and decaying weapons and armor.  1 magic shield

18. Snake lair - strong stench. much debris. many bones. Giant snake in north end of room. Kobolds feed it.

19. Royal waiting room - Door is locked (key is lost). Rotting couches, chairs, and tables. 30gp, 10pp, and a 300 gp silver ring found in the recesses of the couches.

20. Hidden ante-chamber - purpose unclear.  Secret passage leads to the unknown

• A - Stairs up to Level 1
• C - Stairs down to Level 2

Level 3

50% chance that any wandering monster encountered in the halls here will instead be a Gelatinous Cube.Other than 26 and 27, these rooms have be thoroughly converted by the kobolds, and their original purpose is unclear.

• B - Stairs up to Level 1
• C - Stairs up to Level 2

21. Guard room - 6 kobolds

22. Living quarters - 8 kobolds. 50% chance of being asleep

23. Chief's room - Kobold Chief and 5 female attendants. 50% chance Chief is asleep. Wields a magic mace.

24. Living quarters - 6 kobolds. 50% chance of being asleep

25. Shaman's room - Kobold Shaman and 2 guards. 50% chance Shaman is asleep.

26. King's tomb - Angry ghost (treat as spectre) bound in circle in middle of the room. If released will attack kobolds. (just break the circle) Nothing of value in sarcophagus, but secret trap door in bottom. Ghost will tell party of secret door and 27 if given magic shield (17) and mace (23).

27. King's true resting place - Actual remains an Crown worth 10k GP. Returning it to rightful heirs will put king to rest.

Orcs, Drow, and Diversity

This recent blog post from WotC has rankled some nerves apparently, which I guess is predictable considering where we are at this moment in history, and particularly in the USA. I find this to be an important issue, so I had a couple of thoughts I would share.

• It's still your game at your table. For anyone that is upset by Orcs and Drow being "just as morally and culturally complex as other peoples" I would just remind you that what you do at your table is your business.  If you want them to be purely evil monsters, so be it. Just because of this decision by WotC doesn't mean you are obligated to change how things work in your campaign.  That's one of the joys of the OSR; we make the game our own and continue to play it differently than modern interpretations.
• Diversity and Inclusion are a good thing. When I was a kid, D&D was a nerdy thing to do. We were the outcasts.  The LEAST we can do is to remember that and allow people to feel comfortable and included.  Your own table may not be diverse and inclusive, but at least recognize that the official game should be.  
• Monsters still exist. D&D is a game of fantasy, imagination, and escapism. Part of that is being able to have clearly defined "good guys" and "bad guys".  Not every campaign needs to use that concept, but many of us enjoy that.  I'm sure that WotC will continue to support that, just not with Orcs and Drow. There's 45 years worth of monsters out there that are clearly EVIL that we can continue to use as clear, "kill on site" sort of bad guys.

The Lost Continent of Malzthurdän - a Gygax '75 Challenge campaign setting, Part 2

Week 2 of the Gygax '75 Challenge presents us with the following tasks: Make a map of the local area, populate it with important locations including a "base" starting town and a entrance to a dungeon that will be the focus of most of the adventures, and create a random encounter table.  Easier said than done.  I thought that this would be one of the quicker tasks, but I soon realized that it could become quite cumbersome.  I'm not an artist, so I didn't feel making a hand drawn map.  After a few days I came to grips with Hexographer, and was able to create a reasonable map of coastline, jungle region, and main river for the adventurers to explore.While it should have been fairly straight forward to create one random encounter table, I figures that there should be different tables for some of the different areas on my map, such as the swamp, the river, and the mountains.  It was tempting to default to the tables from B/X or the AD&D monster books, but I wanted something custom, so I settled on 4 separate tables. I'll probably update these as I find more/better monsters to populate them.  (I'm realizing that I have a very limited familiarity with the broad spectrum of monsters that have been created for D&D).  Part of wanting custom tables was wanting very specific monsters in this area. I wanted at least two intelligent "monster" factions in the area, and ones that would fit the theme.  Since this is "starting" area I setting on Lizardfolk and Ophidians, and one hidden group that could prove a strong ally to adventurers.

1. Base camp/town - More on this in week 4, but unlike most starting towns, this is a very small outpost, more of a fortified camp.  Provisions are limited, but it is relatively safe.
2. Lost colony? -  The remains of a village that could have been a previous human/demi-human colony?
3. Remains of a ruin - First signs of an ancient demi-human civilization
4. Lizardfolk Totem - A marker of the Lizardfolk.  Tributes can be found at the base.  Recent activity
5. Forgotten monument - Another sign of ancient civilization. Some words, possible direction
6. Trampled clearing - Do the gods walk here?
7. Overgrown statue - You wouldn't know because of the vegetation growing on it, but this is a bronze statue of a long forgotten Elven hero.
8. Lizardfolk village - Territorial, but willing to listen to reason
9. Ophidian village 1 - Aggressive, superstitious, hungry
10. Ophidian village 2 - Aggressive, VERY superstitious, knowledgeable
11. Minor ruined buildings -Not much to see.  Possible clues to 12
12. Ruined city - Dungeon Entrance - Broken buildings, overgrown streets. Doors lead to riches and bitter ends.

I've kept the descriptions of the numbered locations very brief at this point.  I will continue to develop these in greater detail in the future, but going by the example that Ray Otus gave in the challenge the level of detail I have currently is more than enough.

Jungle (and Hills)

2D4	Encounter	Hook
2	Stirges
3	Lizardfolk	Scouting/Raiding party in Bullywug territory
4	Giant Snake
5	Ophidians	Guards/hunters from 9 or 10
6	Jaguar
7	Baboon
8	Treant	If encountered within 1 hex of 6, party encounters a Moot

Jungle Mountains

2D4	Encounter	Hook
2	Roc
3	Giant Snake
4	Gorillas
5	Kobolds	Guards/Hunters coming from 12, or 2 in 6 chance party has found a Lair
6	Giant Bats
7	Su-monster
8	Tiger

River

2D4	Encounter	Hook
2	Giant Anaconda
3	Giant Insect, Flying
4	Piranha
5	Bullywugs
6	Giant Turtle
7	Crocodiles
8	Hippos

Swamp

2D4	Encounter	Hook
2	Giant Leech
3	Ophidians	Scouting/Raiding party in Lizardfolk territory
4	Giant Frog
5	Lizardfolk	Guards/hunters
6	Giant Snake
7	Giant Insect, Flying
8	Will-O-Wisp	Only at night, otherwise, no encounter

I have not included hooks for every entry as so many of these are animals.  Number appearing etc is also undefined, as it makes sense to scale that to the party to some degree.

Next week is the biggie: Three levels of a dungeon. I'm going to go ahead and do this as part of the challenge and as an exercise, but I'm a big believer in using published adventures, adapting them, and plugging them into your own campaign. If I were to plug in a pre-made dungeon at this point (such as the classic Caverns of Thracia) I would spend the extra time on the map locations and wandering monster tables.

The Lost Continent of Malzthurdän - a Gygax '75 Challenge campaign setting, Part 1

This is the first post on a new campaign setting I am designing based The Gygax '75 Challenge by Ray Otus. The core of the idea, as originally outlined by E. Gary Gygax in the April 1975 wargaming newsletter Europa, was to develop a campaign setting quickly in a five-step process. Ray has further structured this process into five weeks of work, with clear goals and examples for each step. I'll be documenting the creation of this setting in three ways: The physical journal where I am writing down the information needed to run the campaign at the table, this blog where I am recording most of the information in the journal with additional explanation and notes, and finally my first attempt at some Vlog posts on Youtube where I will provide even further explanation and context. 

Step 1 and the focus for this week's post are the core concepts. This step involves creating a core concept, writing down 3-7 "pitch points" used to describe the campaign and "sell" it to potential players, and documenting several sources of inspiration. Along with these is an optional "mood board" I'll be using Pinterest as a way of documenting images that help evoke the setting.  Without further ado, here's week 1 of The Lost Continent of Malzthurdän.

The Lost Continent of Malzthurdän - A rules agnostic OSR campaign of exploration and conquest in a land long forgotten by man, filled with dangers and riches from age lost to time.

Pitch Points

• The campaign takes place on a 'lost' continent. Malzthurdän has existed as nothing more than a myth, even among the elves and dwarves. Recent mysterious events have led to its rediscovery, and rumor has it there are fortunes to be made in the new world for the bold and adventurous.
• Spellcasters and Magic are rare.  The small number of wizards that exist are reclusive academics.  Those that can wield divine magic, such as Clerics, are seen as prophets, saints, and the chosen representatives of the gods.  High level magic is almost always based on rituals.  Most all known magical items are of ancient origin.
• Technology is equivalent to late 15th/early 16th century Europe. While gunpowder and guns do not exist, the rest of the campaign's technology is based on the Age of Exploration. This indicates the "peak" tech available, and it will often be hard to come by. The inhabitants encountered will be using stone age tech, though this can vary in particular instances.
• Rumors and cryptic evidence of lost cities persist.  Demi-human powers believe that their ancestors may have originally come from this continent. Cryptic writing and artefacts push this belief, and rumors among the humanoid tribes that inhabit the land seem to support it, as there are tales of powerful guardian, forbidden ruins, and vast treasures to be found.

Sources of Inspiration

• Conquistadors, by Michel Wood.  The exploits of Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizzaro are the primary inspiration for overland adventures and challenges to be represented in this campaign. Wood spins a wonderful tale using multiple sources to present a reasonably balanced view of the conquistadors. One must marvel at the hardships they overcame and what they were able to accomplish, and yet be horrified by the destruction they left in their path. Available in print, ebook, and audio book through your library or Amazon. There is also a 4 part TV series which I have not seen yet.
• Aguirre, Wrath of God.   The first feature film from acclaimed director Werner Herzog (aka the "Client" in the Mandalorian) is a story of historical fiction based loosely on the accounts of Gaspar deCarvajal which detail an exploration of the western rain forests of the Amazon basin, and the eventual first navigation of the Amazon river by westerners.  This film goes a long way in setting the mood and giving a good visual representation of the type of equipment and environment the party will be working with. Currently streaming free on Tubi
• Lost City Z. - While this story takes place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it describes in great detail he difficulty in following clues left by others, retracing your steps in a harsh environment, and the struggles to stay healthy when even the environment is trying to kill you. It’s another tales that takes place in the western amazon basin.  Available in all book formats through your library or Amazon.  The movie is available to rent on various stream services and is currently included in Amazon Prime Video.
• The Lewis & Clark expedition While this occurred several centuries later, it provides background on adventures in a different climate with different geography.  It also is a clear example of how befriending and negotiating with encountered peoples can be vital to the survival of the party.  The number of books and videos on the topic are too numerous to mention, but it is notable that their journals are freely available. There are also day by day breakdowns of the events of their trek which would be a valuable resource for any hexcrawl campaign.
• The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan & The Tomb of Horrors These modules exemplify the type of adventures and challenges that the party should expect to face in the dungeons of the campaign. The party must be prepared and quick witted. Fighting the humanoid inhabitants of Malthurzdän will yield limited plunder, but the vast treasures await in the lost tombs, shrines, temples, and cities of the continent. If you don't have these, you know where to get them.
• Indiana Jones These movies typify the whole genre of swashbuckling adventure archaeology which probably started with H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines and continues to this day in video games such as Tomb Raider and Uncharted.  While these stories are filled with the sorts of trips and traps that you would expect, they also carry another theme that will carry into the campaign: Indy was always in a race, always competing for his prize.  So will the PCs be competing with others for the treasures that they seek.

Mood Board - Malzthurdän on Pinterest

Next week, a map of the surrounding area for the start of the campaign.

Notes

If I have done my job correctly, you should already have a pretty clear about of what the campaign is about. As I mentioned in describing the book Conquistadors, when I heard the stories of Cortes and Pizzaro as told by Wood, I was truly inspired.  These were tales of men in desperate, deadly situations that somehow overcame the longest of odds to carve out personal empires in a hostile new world. While what actions that they took, particularly Pizzaro were often downright evil, their adventures are simply amazing. What really struck me though was the small size of the groups that they led.  At many points they had but a small, core company of men, and they supplemented that at various points with hired men-at-arms and allies. The similarities to a D&D party and their hireling was immediately apparent to me. It almost directly followed the sort of campaign outlined by Gygax in OD&D. My only challenge in trying to turn this into a playable setting was to try to invest some sort framework where I wasn't putting the PCs into the same morale situations that the Conquistadors face.  I was not going to allow my campaign to turn into a genocide.

So I decided that "my" new world would be a lost continent, overrun by evil forces, with no humans or demi-humans having stepped foot in these lands for millennia. I'm still not completely happy with that change.  Simply replacing Native American with Orcs could be viewed as equating the two, and that is not my intention.  There's more to the story that I am not revealing at this time but suffice it to say that the humanoids of Malthurzdän are not the original inhabitants of that continent and are not innocents in this story.  Not that one of the potential inspirations for this setting is Maztica campaign developed for 2E AD&D.  While there were some ideas there, I quickly dismissed it as I wanted to make sure that I was merely inspired by the events of the exploration of the western hemisphere, not mimicking them.

The one concession that I am going to make in designing this campaign is that I will be creating a minimum of new dungeon levels.  Most of what I will use is published adventures that I modify to fit this setting.  There is such a wealth of great material that is available to me I figure that this is the best time to use it.  The strategy also allows me to populate my world with ready dungeons very quickly, so that no matter where the PCs go I can be prepared for them and avoid Quantum Ogre situations.

One last important note about this setting.  It is currently system agnostic, but that could change.  I don't like to choose a game system until I know the players that will be in the campaign.  I could run this as 1e with some groups, B/X with others, or some OD&D variant with others.  It really depends on what the players are familiar with.  While I've made many friends online playing B/X and 1e games, more recently I've been wanting to play games with my pre-existing friends that may not be that familiar with D&D rules, in which case something more simplistic like Delving Deeper or S&W may be more appropriate. Separate from the base rules, I'm making a study of all the hexcrawling procedures outlined in early rules and modules, and well as the multitudes of blog posts on the subject. As this campaign is focused on exploration, the details of the procedure used to track and resolve travel are a key part of the game.  Another hidden inspiration to this campaign is the board game Lost Expedition, which uses simple, categorized resources and skills to track how your group is able to overcome challenges along a journey. Such a structure may be a great way to quickly resolve wilderness encounters, and I'll be writing more about that in the future.