Do you remember the one-roll generators I posted a while back (I’m going to list some links in the first comment down below)?
After watching the Oath of the Frozen King video that Matt Click posted yesterday I applied the method he used but instead of just noting the die type I recorded the result as well and used my own Dungeon Generator to tell me about the dungeon.
d4 = 4: Entrance is hidden, guarded and magically locked
d6 = 2: Its purpose is a tomb or crypt
d8 = 6: It was built by a religious order or cult
d10= 3: What’s worth finding here is evidence about what’s really going on
d12 = 7: Movement is treacherous or difficult because of webs, ice, etc. (I’m going to go with ice as homage to Oath of the Frozen King)
d20 = 13: There is evidence of battle everywhere.
Now, from a purely world building POV (because that’s my bag) I appplied to same results to my other 3 one-roll tables:
Unique Monster in the Dungeon: The unique monster is a huge, tough, leathery twisted experiment adept at defending itself whose instinct is to take or steal (something to free it perhaps???)
An NPC you might encounter here will support you and is lawful. He/she is a ranger from the same town that you are from and found this place while out tracking and hunting something to hone his/her skills. This person also knows where it (whatever it is) is hidden.
Region = The tomb is in Perilous Mountains full of undead where a plague originated. There’s a unique, magical fruit and an unblemished well somewhere in the region at the center of a ruined town.
Applying your who’s, what’s and why’s can create something really unique and give you a dungeon ready to run.
EDIT: Should I include stuff like this in my Session Zero zine?
one-roll generators: docs.google.com – One-roll Generators
Oath of the Frozen King Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lv4TpTBGbc
Session Zero zine:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/11364/Brian-Holland?affiliate_id=330920
Short answer: yes, include it in the Zine.
What I’m thinking Yochai Gal is having similar one-roll tables comprised of bits and pieces from that particular issue. The zine will still be about “here some pieces for world building, now use them”, but this content will replace the “Ask questions and use the answers” and “Rumors” sections.
Page count will increase, but that only really matters if you REALLY want to print it out in booklet format.
Well, in THAT case…. maybe a Patreon post is good enough.
Or do you think I use the existing tables to generate a “sample” for the issue, and apply issue-setting-specific questions to the sample? (which would also be pretty cool)
OK, that works too! Though I don’t see how that’d solve your space issue.
I wouldn’t have to print the tables in each issue. I could provide a link to the exiting tables, and/or just make them free on DTRPG
It would be a single two-page spread rather than spreading it over 6 pages
I like these one roll generators!
Thanks Aaron! I still tweak them a bit here and there. It never occurred to me to roll the dice on a sheet of paper and use their layout as the actual design of the dungeon until I watched that video. Even after posting that picture this morning I had ideas like “Ok, these corridors go up, and these go down, so now this can blah blah blah” and I now I have a dungeon ready to go and it only took about 10 minutes.
Yochai Gal, I did some pre-layout last night to see how much room I’d have and I’ll be able to do a custom one-roll generator with examples in a two-page spread. So that’s happening!