One Page Dungeon 2013: The Blackacre Heist

This year, I originally started with something different, a modular starport sheet with associated Visio file, so you can make starports in minutes. In my sci-fi home game, this is something I need that I've always intended to make; I thought the One Page Dungeon Contest would spur me to finish the idea.

Unfortunately, I didn't really have an adventure in there - it's basically more of a GM tool. And the contest is for a "Dungeon," so...

At the beginning of April, I cast about for another idea, and hit on a simple heist scenario with variation. I've always been a big fan of the old Traveller supplement 76 Patrons, which has 76 patron encounters, each with 6 variations afterward so that the GM can mix it up depending on his needs.

So, I present my submission, The Blackacre Heist. For my own amusement, most of the names are placeholder names from various countries. Blackacre itself is a placeholder name used in legal texts.

D&D Next Character Pre-Gens

I like to have a lot of pre-gens for the D&D Next (040213 Playtest Packet) tables I run at the local hobby shop, because sometimes everybody at the table wants to play a martial character (and that should be allowed so that we can see whether or not it works in playtest) but there's only a couple in the packet. So, I went through and made as many unique pre-gens as I could earlier in the week. Sorry if they look rushed.

Pre-Gen Checklist

Dwarf Barbarian 3
Dwarf Cleric 3
Dwarf Fighter 3
Dwarf Monk 3
Dwarf Paladin 3
Dwarf Ranger 3
Dwarf Rogue 3

Elf Cleric 3
Elf Fighter 3
Elf Monk 3
Elf Ranger 3
Elf Rogue 3

Halfling Cleric 3
Halfling Druid 3
Halfling Fighter 3
Halfling Monk 3
Halfling Paladin 3
Halfling Rogue 3
Halfling Wizard 3

Human Cleric 3
Human Druid 3
Human Fighter 3
Human Monk 3
Human Ranger 3
Human Rogue 3
Human Wizard 3


A word as to symbology. I wanted to de-clutter the statblock, so I used a shield symbol to indicate the Armor Class to the left reflects the character using a shield. I used a starburst to indicate the Armor Class to the left reflects mage armor. And one character has a dual sword symbol to indicate the Armor Class to the left shows the defense bonus granted by the Two-Weapon Defense feat.

Hey, I've Been Published!

Apparently, they published all of the 2012 One Page Dungeon entries in one handsome volume! I'm thrilled! There's some great stuff in there!

D&D Next: Cleric Expansion Options

So, I've been doing a bit of work with D&D Next lately, since I run D&D Encounters at the FLGS and the new module can be converted to work in either D&D 4e or the new D&D Next playtest. Every single player at my store opted for D&D Next, so I need to get up to speed on my familiarity and comfort with the system.

With that in mind, I present a few options for cleric PCs. I'd love to get them playtested.

The Lanisha Crisis Supplementary Materials 1

Much like last year, I ended up with some additional materials after I was through with my submission. In this case, I made up a business card and the label to a Rescue Ball* package. I figured I'd post both the .docx files and the images so that GMs can use them with the adventure, or edit them with details specific to their campaigns.

I plan to also make a more "traditionally Classic Traveller" deckplan for the Lanisha, but that will have to come later.

One Page Dungeon 2012 - The Lanisha Crisis

So, this year I've decided to go sci-fi. It's not just that my home campaign is sci-fi and several others I'm involved in are sci-fi; it's that I think there's a distinct fantasy bias to the entries that limits the usefulness of the one page dungeons. Since the easiest way to diversify is to start with my own entry, that's what I'm going to do.

Here's the link to this year's submission, the Lanisha Crisis, which was something of a formatting experiment for me. It turned out to be easier than I had feared -- I thought I was biting off way more than I could chew, but it turned out quite nicely. I just have to proofread it and do a reality check and I'll send it away. EDIT: I've tried to improve the submission based on feedback from some friends of mine. Namely, I tried to give more info regarding the disposition of bad guys. New version uploaded 04/30 at 1:39 PM EDT.

Here's a link to the deckplans of the Lanisha, for GMs who want to have more detail at their fingertips. I built them in Microsoft Visio 2007, using stencils that are probably almost ten years old; I got them on the Citizens of the Imperium forum many years ago. EDIT: I found the webpage with the stencils; the date on it is 2001, so I was spot on!

I think next year I'll continue in the Wilderlands of Dire Omen. It was too much fun devising exotic-sounding locations, and I have all these maps and notes toward a series of one-page dungeons that make use of the setting. It would be a shame to waste that effort.

Related Posts:
One Page Dungeon 2012 The Lanisha Crisis Supplementary Material 1

One Page Dungeon 2012

Well, this year's One Page Dungeon Contest snuck up on me again. I'd checked back in March, but I guess I was too early. Now I have only six days to get mine done. I had a number of ideas last year that I put down some preliminary notes for, but of course my current submission follows none of those ideas. I've decided to do a sci-fi themed encounter, mostly because none of the ones I've looked at in the current year's crop are sci-fi and I think that will make it stand out more.

Of course, the whole point of last year's Wilderlands of Dire Omen submission was to have a framework in which to put other one page dungeons. I've not abandoned that concept, but I will push my current fantasy-themed effort to the back burner and try to finish it up for next year.