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Having a detailed, believable setting laden with verisimilitude is the foundation of a successful campaign. That said, designing an entire world for your game is exhausting, impractical and unnecessary.
When you watch a film, do you prefer watching it in Standard Definition or High Definition?
I remember the Good Old Days when I had acres of free time to game. It was a carefree time. School holidays were epic—we’d game for days at a time. We had nothing else to do.
Designing a dungeon can be a daunting prospect. Fear not. If you follow these tips, you’ll be well on the way to designing a fun, engaging dungeon for your friends!
To be a successful GM, your adventures and settings must connect deeply with your players.
Raging Swan Press is a big fan of dressed dungeons. A dressed dungeon feels more real than an undressed dungeon. A dressed dungeon engages your players’ imaginations, promotes creative play and helps them immerse themselves in the adventure.
Games set in a richly detailed, immersive world are better than games that are not. It should come as no surprise that we are huge fans of dungeon dressing, but what exactly is dungeon dressing, and why do we keep going on about it?
Check out our recent posts, many of which include free downloads, or visit the Archive to browse all our blog posts.
Smugglers are naughty chaps; intent on dodging the lawful taxes of the realm they work at night to bring in valuable or illegal items destined for the black market. Thus, smugglers’ lairs are (or should be) flavoursome and different to a “normal” dungeon.
Use these lists, the add depth and flavour to the smugglers’ dens in your campaign:
Read MoreDressing, detail and flavour can elevate your game. Role-playing is a game of the imagination and anything you can do to help your players dive into your campaign world and suspend their disbelief is a good thing. Let Raging Swan Press help! In 2019, patrons supporting Raging Swan Press at the $2 and up level got a free copy of that month’s 20 Things instalment and both monthly instalments in the Monstrous Lairs line.
Read MoreThe thriving village of Edgewood stands in the very shadow of the Shadetimer Forest. For a century, it has prospered. Wars, droughts and pestilence striking other nearby settlements never seem to affect the village, and yet tragedy mars life in Edgewood. For every year, terror stalks the village and its inhabitants die seemingly random, but horrible and gruesome, deaths. Thus, despite its prosperity, Edgewood remains a small place, and few travellers remain there for long.
Read MoreDunstone’s granite walls sprawl lazily across a hilltop south of the massive Mottled Spire. In bygone times, monsters sallied from the Mottled Spire’s twisted canyons, their onslaughts only stopped by the brave Dunstonian forces. Now after generations of quiet, the town’s once formidable moat is used by grazing sheep and playing children. The insular community has become peaceful but peace has led the town to become stuck in its old ways. A new ruler seeks to slough of Dunstone’s years of quiet and idleness to usher the town into a new era. Guilds practice their crafts, preparing to send their goods throughout the Duchy of Ashlar. Yet, the Mottled Spire and the environs beyond are never quiet. A vile creature has emerged from Gloamhold’s depths to prey on the unsuspecting townsfolk.
Read MoreFound throughout the wild and abandoned places of the world, giant spiders dwell both above and below ground. They attack any creature disturbing their nests and are aggressive predators. Although essentially unintelligent, they are adept at using their webs and poison to immobilise and kill prey. Some giant spiders can grow to truly monstrous proportions and even the smallest giant spider can spell a neophyte adventurer’s doom.
Read MoreFeral cave dwellers, troglodytes are the fallen scions of a once mighty empire. Now they are little more than savage scavengers. Use these four lists, to breathe depth and flavour into the troglodyte warrens in your campaign.
Read MoreAdventures often spend days or even weeks in the wilderness. Whether they are searching for a lost burial crypt from an elder civilisation or exploring the land at the behest of their noble employer it is inevitable they'll camp out in the wilds at some point.
Read MoreZombies are classic monsters. They appear in practically every role-playing game in every genre. However, zombies often end up as nothing more than generic, bland enemies. That’s a shame as their appearance and accoutrements could provide clues as to their fate and inject more flavour and detail into an otherwise standard combat encounter.
Read MoreAre you a busy GM? Does session prep take too long? Do you never have time to work on the cool little details that can bring your session to life? Well fear not! This article presents four lists to help you add depth and verisimilitude to the goblin lairs in your campaign.
Read MoreLast known hold of the dwarves in Ashlar, shadow-cloaked Don Galir lies hard against Lake Thraren dark, cold waters in a massive cavern buried directly beneath the human village of Wellswood. Dozens of wells, illuminating the lake’s dark, unknowable deep waters with faint shafts of light and link the lake below with the village above. Strange fungi and mushrooms grow around the lake’s shore and stranger fish dwell in its lightless watery depths. Humans and dwarves fish the lake and harvest these unique plants in an increasingly uneasy peace. Now the jealous attentions of the greedy lord of the village above fall on Don Galir and taxes slowly increase. The reclusive, secretive dwarves of the Erdikr clan work hard to fortify their hold and to attract more of their brethren to Don Galir while some secretly plot to regain their fallen dragon-infested holds lying far to the south.
Read MoreHidden deep in the forest stands the Crumbled Tower. Pressed close by hoary, gnarled trees and wreathed in moss and lichens the tower is a forlorn remnant of an earlier time. Once a wizard lived here, but now the tower is nothing more than a brooding ruin standing amid the forest’s gloom. Sometimes bandits lair within or adventurers wandering the surrounds use the ruin as a base. However, unknown to all, a hidden crypt yet lurks under the tower undisturbed these long ages past.
Read MoreMuch feared for their ability to drain a foe’s vital life force, wights are dangerous opponents. However, wights rarely received much design space in an adventure’s text. They are just wights. Use these tables , to add some depth, flavour and—dare I say—life to the wights encountered by the characters.
Read MoreFamed for his unswerving devotion to his celestial lord and his magical sword, Demon Bane, Kal Voren was a paladin-hero of old. For five decades he stood between Ashlar’s commonfolk and the darkness ever-pressing in on the small, isolated domain. Death is an implacable foe, however, and eventually old age caught up with the redoubtable paladin. Laid to rest not in the scared sepulchre below Tor Abbey but among the hills of his youth Kal Voren’s legend—and stories of his legendary blade—live on long after his hidden crypt was lost to time.
Read MoreBrutish, savage and feral cave dwellers, troglodytes are the degenerate ancestors of a once proud and powerful race. Living amongst the mouldering remains of their once powerful subterranean empire, they have regressed to a more primal, simple state. Use these tables, to add depth and flavour to the troglodytes encountered by the PCs.
Read MoreA keening gale tears across the Bitter Sea, parting the clouds above to unveil a turgid crimson moon. Ominous rumbling resounds from the churning waters below. The surface of the sea boils and bubbles like a witch’s cauldron—its waves foaming and swelling like a suppurating sore until a mass of jagged black rock erupts from the lightless depths. The Forlorn Isle has risen. Legend claims the small island holds the tomb of an ancient king whose crimes were so heinous his name was stricken from history. After his death, the weight of his evil deeds caused the isle to sink into the Bitter Sea.
Read MoreMagic items should be wondrous objects, but these days they often seem to be relegated to nothing more than a commodity to be bought and sold like any other (expensive) item. That’s not right, and an evocative, flavoursome description of an item can help to reestablish the the sense of mystique and excitement that should surround such items.
Read MoreHidden deep in the hills, Deszraul’s Hold has a sinister reputation. The medusa Dezraul claims the caves and evidence of her fell powers—a bewildering array of uncannily lifelike stone statues—stand about her gloomy domain. All that remains of adventurers daring to face the cave’s snake-headed mistress, the statues are a salutary warning on the dangers of facing a medusa in her lair. But does Deszraul still lair within? Has a band of savage, merciless bandits fallen under her sway?
Read MoreThe aboleth…impossibly ancient and impossibly evil. These masters of the deep are the implacable foe of many adventurers. One of their most dangerous and insidious powers is the ability to dominate almost anyone unfortunate enough to encounter them. Using such powers, they set friend against friend, unleashing betrayal from among their enemies’ midst. Thus has been spelt the doom of many adventuring parties.
Read MoreSadly for adventurers (violent, painful) death is a part of life. Of course, death isn’t the end of the adventure! A powerful—or rich—character probably has the wealth or the friends to return them to life. In game, this is often handled quickly and easily. At worst, the character might lose some experience points or perhaps a level. Sometimes, there is literally no penalty for dying (except embarrassment or the loss of thousands of gold pieces).
Read MoreOften overlooked as a stupid brute the cunning otyugh is nevertheless a peerless hunter in its noisome lair. Use these tables, to add depth and favour to an otyugh’s lair.
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