Europa zine, issue #12-13 (Feb/Mar 1976)

FIRST ADVENTURES IN DUNGEONEERING (by Gary Gygax, USA)

You have been thoroughly hooked on Dungeons & Dragon (D&D), and
during the last few days every spare moment has been spent happily
preparing several dungeon levels. Great care and thought have been
employed to do things just so - and of course you have spent a bit
of time laughing fiendishly at the thought of what the hapless
dungeoneers will encounter in choice areas! Actually, you certainly
don't want your players to get killed, for then they'd miss seeing
just how cleverly you've set them up! They don't want to buy the
farm either (unless the dice were unkind indeed). Think about that.

A good referee does not wish to deliberately set his players up for
certain death in the game - although there are sometimes one or two
players who... Anyway, by the same token you should not set out to
aid them either. The whole purpose of the game is for the players
THEMSELVES to face the challenge presented by the dungeonmaster's
maze, to defeat it, or be defeated by it without help or hindrance.
If they are clever they should survive and gain great rewards, and
if they are stupid they should finish themselves off rapidly. This
implies that you have located and numbered monsters carefully, so
that the players can usually fight them on even terms, outwit them,
or run like hell, i.e., one doesn't put invisible stalkers on the
first level. If there are errors they will quickly be spotted on the
first adventure, and they should be corrected before the next! In
fact that is why I urge that a separate key listing monsters and
treasure be kept for each level, rather than writing the information
right on the map. With all this in mind, let's move on to the actual
game.

Several players are gathered in some secluded place, and you have a
good spot set up where they cannot see your dice rolls or map. It is
a good plan to give them at least a half an hour to get everything
together. Magic-Users will have to decide what spell they are going
to take. Everyone will be selecting basic equipment, figuring costs
and encumbrance. Although spell selection always takes a bit of
time, we have pretty much settled upon the following as 'standard
equipment':

dagger, 50' rope, 10' pole, 12 iron spike, small sack, leather back
pack, water/win skin, lantern, 3 flasks oil, holy water/vial, quart
wine, iron rations.

Your players can simply compute the price of what they set out as
standard and save much time and effort. Additional items and
encumbrances can then be noted aside as additions to the standard.

Your players will also have to appoint their leader and mapper. At
this point everything is all ready for the first descent into the
deepest dungeon! So let us move on to a typical account of a first
trip, assuming that the players have moved outdoors to a ruined city
which is reputed to have dungeons beneath it. The 'dungeonmaster'
will be indicated as 'D', the party of the players as 'P'.

D: "You have found the ruins of the deserted city of Detresed. You
can see that there are streets going northeast, northwest, and
north. Most of the ruins are nondescripts, but due north you note
that there are several larger structures, one or two of which are in
less disrepair than the others."

After going northwards a few hundred feet, and getting complete
descriptions of the ruined edifices visible to them, the party
selects a ruined structure which appears to have been a temple, and
they enter cautiously. After thorough exploration they decide to
ignore a set of steps they have located, for a vast stone idol hid a
narrow shaft penetrating very deep beneath the temple. The latter
would not normally have been located, but careful checking and
perseverance found a secret door in the idol's back. The party
descends some 40' into a large, circular arched chamber. It is 30'
in diameter and has eight doors.

P: "There is no sense debating, let's take the door to the west, for
it seemed that there were more ruins above in that direction than in
any other direction. One member of the party will carefully try the
door to see if it will open normally. All others will have their
weapons drawn and ready in case there is someone or something behind
it!"

D: "Door opens normally (without ANY sound, in fact), and beyond you
see a 10' wide corridor going north."

P: "The door didn't make ANY noise when we opened it?! Hmmmm.
Examine the hinges."

D: "They were oiled – greased lock."

P: "Oh, oh! Watch out! These doors are USED. Helmets off, everyone.
Listen at all of the other doors."

After some time spent so listening, noise is detected behind the
door to the east and that to the southeast. And meanwhile the
dungeonmaster has checked, but the party is lucky and no wandering
monster has happened along during the interim. The brave adventurers
ready themselves, creep close to the eastern door, and ready an
attack. Two of the six will watch the southeast, one will open the
east door, and the three with bows will have their weapons ready as
the door is flung wide.

P: "We are set. Open the door!"

D: "You see, ahh ((die roll)) 4 hobgoblins attending some sort of
cleric. They are dressed in black and blood red garments. Now, did
you surprise them? ((die roll of 3)) NO! Initiative check – you are
at plus 1 because you prepared. ((The check shows that the party is
able to attack before the cleric and his servitors will be able to
react at all.)) The enemy is approximately 15' away, by the by."

P: "Loose arrows, drop bows, draw swords, and charge. If I can
manage to cast a Sleep Spell during all this I'll do so, but I will
be careful not to cast it so as to include our men in its effect.
The two watching the other door will maintain position."

The dungeonmaster now checks to see which arrows score hits, whom
the hits are scored upon, and how much damage is done.
Simultaneously, he determines if the magic-user who opened the door
will be able to get a spell prepared and cast – about equal odd for
and against due to preparation and positioning. It is successful,
and 4 of the hobgoblins fall to the floor snoring. The cleric was
not named as a specific target, and as he is a 4th level (Evil
Priest) the general area spell doesn't affect him. He shouts loudly,
points, and an attacker is struck by a Light Wound Spell. Undaunted
they press on, eager to close with the cleric and slay him. The next
melee turn is spent by the party closing, with the cleric backing
and raising his finger to deliver another Light Wound. Just as the
party is about to hack and slew this evil opponent they hear shouts
from the chamber without: "Beware!  HOBGOBLINS! There are more who
serve this priest..."

P: "Two of the fighters will finish the cleric off as quickly as
possible. I will go to the door we just entered, with the other
fighter, to help the rest of the party, but while he goes directly
to aid them, I'll stop and kill the sleeping hobgoblins here."

A general melee now ensues in the chamber and in the room where the
cleric fights on. Seeing that the party's two fighters and cleric
are seemingly holding their own against 6 hobgoblins, the magic-user
creeps up behind the badly wounded Evil Priest and delivers the
'Coup de grâce'. This frees them all for immediate attack upon the
remaining hobgoblins. Good thing, too! One fighter and the cleric
are down, and there are three hobgoblins attacking the remaining
man. After a long round of attacks and counters the party finally
wins, although only three remain alive – the magic-user leading it,
an elven fighter, and a fighting man.

P: "Well, let's quickly check the bodies and the rooms for any
treasure. The priest's quarters will be searched especially well by
the elf."

D: "You find some silver pieces in the pockets of the hobgoblins ((a
dice roll determines how many for each)), and in the robes of the
cleric you find a pouch with 100 gold pieces. Nothing else is
found."

P: "Let's all go check out that room some more... I am not satisfied
that we've located everything. But to be on the safe side, let's
spike the door shut good and tight, and the fighter will keep an eye
on it also just in case."

Several turns are spent in this manner, and finally a small trap
door in the floor is discovered. It is lifted to reveal a hidden
trove – an alabaster idol worth not less than 500 gold pieces. As
the party is in bad shape, they elect to return immediately to the
surface. Their comrades are buried, their own wound treated, and
before passing on the idol to some merchant, they minutely examine
it. It too reveals a small magical compartment, and after several
days the magic-user manages to open it. Therein lies a map to a
temple on the 4th level – a place veritably stuffed with treasure,
but strongly guarded by many hobgoblins and powerful men and
monsters. Better still, there are some very valuable gems hidden in
the compartment too! When the survivors share the wealth and
experience, they are all well-pleased and rewarded, all going up a
level. Time now for them to seek some powerful allies and many
met-at-arms for a special expedition to that temple...

The above may not be exactly typical, for many first adventures are
spent trying to figure out where the party is, for mapping CAN be a
difficult task until you get the hang of it. Also, many first-timers
take on monsters too powerful for them, or don't use 'hit-and-run'
tactics as they should. Again, I have had first time parties who had
adventures just about like the one above.

This should enable you to ready your dungeons. How about a questions
and comments section from all of you next time? And I'll try to
answer in the next...
.