Bull Temple

    Update: 7/20/2020
For a PDF version of this adventure in a classic TSR-blue, click here!

The plan for this week was to put together a review of another actual play live cast I've been screening; but we're into week two of sick child: this time, the other one. So - between blowing noses and re-dosing on cold medicine - you get a graph paper adventure instead.

When mapping a dungeon, I usually start with a theme in mind when working through the floor plan. That said, themes and procedural generation of dungeon contents often don't go hand in hand - but, stocking this one using the second-level lists from Moldvay Basic, it dawned on me that it works perfectly for an abandoned, derelict, or otherwise under siege environment. For the below, why are the elves there? Where did the neanderthals come from - or the lizard men? Are they working together, or against each other? In my mind, I know exactly how I'd run it - motives, reactions to one another, and explanations internal to the universe as to why the dungeon is and works as it is - but really, I don't want to share it for fear of clouding how you would run it. Half the fun is in figuring those details out - in advance or on the fly!

There's almost a blog post in it to talk to emergent theme derived from randomization of encounters and treasure...

Maybe next time. As always, feel free to use it if you like it.