The Joy of Chainmail

Play-Cast Name: Chainmail Where I Listened: The Joy of Wargaming Where It's Available: YouTube System: Chainmail

Chainmail

Thoughts and Review

The Joy of Wargaming is a YouTube channel run by one Mr. Wargaming (definitely not by Jon Mollison) which specializes in showcasing different wargames, primarily in the 2mm to 15mm scales, as well as the hobby (painting, assembly, ...) surrounding them. The host is a talented miniature artisan who loves wargaming and loves the hobby around it: both acquisition and implementation of the models and rulesets which they support.

I found The Joy of Wargaming via Wargame Culture (and actually linked to The Joy of Wargaming (hence abbreviated JoW) in an aside panel of my review of Wargame Culture) and as such, while JoW has a dozen playlists that run the gamut of different games (Chainmail, Dragon Rampant, Gaslands, ...) and diverse subjects (streaming conversations, painting, reviews, ...), to cater to my core competency and primary purpose, I am going to focus exclusively on the applicability of JoW's Chainmail videos to running and playing OSR-style campaigns. As always, however - be not contained by my editorial constraints if your interests exceed them. At the end of the day - we're here to game.

What I Like Lots

First and foremost - above all else - I appreciate the focus of the playlist on learning Chainmail. The host presents the game through the lens of someone who is gaining mastery - he starts having never played, reading the rules, and trying to put them to use solo at the table. Then, over each successive video, more rules, more complexity, more elements of the game are introduced: building on the lessons he's mastered in previous episodes. It plays almost literally like an academic class would: starting with the basics and working its way into advanced features, intent to culminate in system mastery. This is extremely conducive to learning: so, someone seeking to learn Chainmail (which, although I don't agree with all of the rulings he makes, that's all good - the important part is fundamentals, and he explains what he's doing and why along the way) would be able to do so very easily through this program. Does  he make mistakes along the way? Yes - he does. But he highlights them, identifies them, and corrects them in subsequent videos: building up his own knowledge,     For Further Watching
In addition to Chainmail battles, of course, Mr. Wargaming runs a plethora of other games - some larger and some smaller in scale. Consider, if you have some time, Fighting Sail.

While not OSR - neither tonally nor mechanically nor intended to be - Fighting Sail is a naval battles wargame which I thoroughly enjoyed watching (maybe from my background in real sailing, maybe from my pent up desire from never getting to field my old Battlefleet Gothic miniatures) but which stood out to me because of its satisfying take on points of sail.

That perennial question regarding having a pirate-themed RPG?

Play Fighting Sail - then zoom in and do  your boarding actions or land-adventures with your preferred role-playing system!inspiring the viewers to verify based on their own experience or understanding in the same breath. Thus - the successes and failures, both, contribute to the educational value of this series.

Second - something that I have experienced and enjoyed in my own wargaming background - the Joy of Wargaming highlights how Chainmail can fit into an ongoing campaign: both from the perspective of a map based wargame and from the perspective of an ongoing tabletop RPG. 

To speak to the use of Chainmail in a map based campaign - the first half dozen videos in the series are learning the game. One off battles that highlight how to make the game work. However, after these have been established, the nature of the videos changes: following instead a crusade on the part of a fictional fantasy polity, the Broman Empire, to retrieve a lost artifact from the orcish wild lands to the north. Over the next handful of videos, the host then follows the campaign - alternating between planning and book-keeping and playing battles - illustrating organically an emergent narrative wherein the Broman forces seek out their long-lost prize. This reminds me of hex or map based games I'd played - Mordheim: I'm looking at you! - where warbands would maneuver around, seize and release objectives, trying to gain the advantage outside the battlefield, before the game was fought: because the worst fight to get into is one that's totally fair. 

This bleeds over into the secondary point - the use of mass combat (specifically Chainmail) in a role playing campaign. Chainmail is not uniquely suitable to one-offs: although there are suggested point values for balancing forces in the booklet, they are essentially optional: if you (the player) send a small force, the referee is under no obligation to match you with a fairly balanced force to oppose; similarly, if you (again, player) send an overwhelming force, the referee is bound to respond according to the ability of the enemy: if they are unable to match you on the field, they either march into failure or must respond with unconventional tactics or otherwise try to find their own advantage. The incorporation of Chainmail battles into an RP campaign - which Joy of Wargaming does: providing proxy resolution to some battles submitted from an AD&D campaign of a friend - promotes domain play: it justifies the 30-300 or 40-400 no. appearing results that appear in some of the monster entries as handle-able by a planning party; and lastly, it allows the characters to graduate: to become something more than themselves - being heroic in their upper levels, but also retaining an element of mortality in that even Conan can be overcome with enough bodies piled upon him.

Finally, I want to cite the host. I like the host. He has a genuine enjoyment for the hobby, he seems to have an enjoyment of involving his audience in the game and spreading the wonderful infection of miniature wargaming to people around him, and he is open and encouraging of people who want to get engaged to get engaged. Admittedly, his humor isn't for everyone - especially certain elements of the hobby who are unable to detect humor targeting talking points about which they, themselves, are passionate - but nothing I have seen as of this writing could be ascribed to malice of forethought. If anything - the host exudes a positive vibe: one which any hobby would benefit from flooding itself with.

What I Like Less

Regarding the intrinsic character of the host - and regarding the infusion of external games into the playlist - The Joy of Wargaming and Mr. Wargaming, himself, falls in with the BroSR: evidenced by his published videos on winning at RPGs. If this bothers you, cool. Simply avoid those videos and focus on the gaming content. The BroSR persona does not bother me. While I admit, I don't ascribe to all of the tenants of gaming presented, his take on "rule zero," for example, for those who follow the Clerics Wear Ringmail podcast, is actually pretty close to the Jason compromise and the actual advice he gives is either solid or at minimum aimed at improving the game you, the viewer, is playing. 

So - again - if it bothers you? Watch the Chainmail stuff and be happy. 

If that is curious to you? Wander out into the wider pool of videos.

Secondly - a more tangible complaint - in the building of community, in the invitation of friends to participate in the campaign, some battles are outsourced - their results reported and incorporated into the book of the campaign. This is great for the community - this is interesting, from the perspective to promote the patron-play concept that is championed by BroSR proponents: illustrating not only that it can, but how it does, work - but in the process, it does mean that not all of the Chainmail games are illustrated or demonstrated to the same extent as the in-house videos and also that some battles are run in systems other than Chainmail. In terms of following the campaign as a story - this detracts none: the host will argue, and I will agree, that it introduces an element of uncertainty, an element of change, that affects the narrative in ways that aren't something a lone referee will accomplish. However, it does mean we, as the potential learners of Chainmail, are one video shy in each case when attempting to accomplish our goal. 

That said - fortunately for us, the audience - the benefit of the other videos is sufficient to teach how to play: such that, later on in the series, when the focus is more about the campaign, managing the campaign, and the story that has emerged, we've learned the game fairly well and become engrossed in the actual happenings. Additionally, another benefit of the community aspect: Mr. Wargaming, who is a larger channel by comparison to most of the channels I've seen using Chainmail, is consistently involving other channels, other creators, and as such: we who may not have been exposed to those creators, those personalities, otherwise are exposed to them - serving to broaden our horizons, so long as our horizons are looking for expansion.

In Conclusion

To conclude, I would rate the Joy of Wargaming: Chainmail as Chainmail - because that's what he's playing in the playlist I'm talking about! Ha! That joke hasn't gotten old yet.

But in seriousness - if you want to expand your knowledge of the Chainmail game and if you want to consider introducing mass battles as an element of domain management into your home TTRPG campaign, The Joy of Wargaming channel is a great place to start. The videos are accessible, the content is entertaining and edifying, and I personally look forward to each new episode - even some of those episodes which showcase games that I don't own.

So C-Dubs: are you going to be doing any more actual role-play reviews any time soon? Yes. I'll do an OSE one next time. I promise. 

Delve on readers - and thanks for reading!

Regarding Three Hearts & Three Lions

Three Hearts and Three Lions.

The very first entry on the table of inspirational and educational reading, Appendix: N of the first edition AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide - penned by Gygax himself. Admittedly self-professed to be ordered by alpha, the significance of Poul Anderson's influence on Gygaxian Dungeons & Dragons can't be understated: perhaps in contention with Jack Vance in representing the single most influential piece of the original game. While Vance's work has persisted even through the current edition in the form of his Dying Earth's interpretation on the invocation of magic - Anderson's influence on the undertone of the system - on monsters, on alignment, on expectations of a party member as player: all things that differ between the perspectives of a modern role-player and an old-school one - can't be understated; and the role of this, only one of dozens of volumes he wrote, in providing that context - in bridging that gap - shouldn't be underestimated.

From one role-player to another, one who came to the hobby in the post-Gygaxian era and who has since come to embrace the traditions enshrined before, I present one perspective: Three Hearts and Three Lions - and why it should be the first thing that new-comers to OSR gaming should read.

The Yarn, Itself

Three Hearts and Three Lions is a quick read - 220 digest sized pages in my copy - and largely a pleasant one. The tone of the book is jocular - told as though a friend was telling it to you at a bar and as though you're not sure whether or not to believe, but it's fun enough that you wind up listening. There are moments where the diction is difficult to follow - namely, when accents are affected by spelling: or when particular references are made to material science - however at no point in the reading did I have to go over the same text more than a second time. 

Likewise - I found myself getting attached to the characters: when something went ill for one, or when something happened to threaten the direction that I had wanted the story to take, I was personally affronted: fighting through temptation to skip ahead to see the resolution - in all but one case, my admonitions of the plot being rebuffed - again, as a friend might turn the twist and slam a mug against the table: pleasing the listener at the unexpected turn of events that led to where you wanted them to lead in the first place. 

Fanciful language is somewhat lacking - though fanciful elements are not: and each chapter leads into the next as episodes of the larger tale. You need to know, for example, the characters that are met in the first few chapters - but later chapters, such as the mystery of the lycanthrope, could stand on their own as a pulp publication outside the book - their inclusion serving as a way to bemuse the reader, but also to explain certain elements of continuity in the story and in the setting which otherwise might go unexplained: an act that the author is aghast to perform! Seemingly unrelated depictions, seemingly unconnected events, can be tied and understood to contribute to an over-all atmosphere and to better convey the nature of the world to the reader in interesting ways, such that these details are absorbed by osmosis rather than through a dump of fluff or flavor.

It is not, however, a perfect book.

To speak to the pieces of the book I did not like, I'll have to spoil a bit - I will try to hide the spoiler under a detail tag - which will hide or show at your leisure, provided you have a modern browser to use - however, if the tag doesn't work, skip ahead to the next heading, The Influence on Alignment.

Were I to complain about the book,

...I would have to complain about the ending. At the end of the hero's journey, he finds out who he truly is: his identity having been hidden from him by foul magics. United with his sword and his companions, the author reveals he is truly Oiger le Danois! A folk hero of European Christendom, hints dropped throughout the text hinting at his identity (including his name, itself!) can be pieced together to support the big reveal!

The book then concludes - no more action, no more dialog, no more adventure in the fanciful alternate Earth - with the equivalent of "He rode off, everyone loved him, and he conquered his enemies!" It's as though the point of the story was to present the puzzle, daring the reader to figure out who the character was - it's presented immediately as his own problem: who am I in this world? - before the jig is up and the secret is revealed in the finale. It's as though the book was not written to tell the story, but instead to masturbate the intellect and education of the author and his readers - not to enthrall and enchant, as to that point, it truly does.

Similarly, an afterword is provided wherein - not only did the story end unceremoniously, but the character is transported back to modern times through no effort of his own! In a very John Carter of Mars moment, he is transported back into the modern world while in the midst of battle - when the iron rails of plot necessitates it happen. John Carter transitions to Barsoom on death - and Holger Dankse (presumably named after the resistance group he serves to join) is transported to the alternative timeline when shot in the head by the Nazis. Following this, he is said to be seeking grimoires to restore him to the alternate Earth, to reunite with those whom he loves: and the author says, "I never heard from him again - people do go disappearing once in a while, you know" - as though to dare the reader to draw their own conclusion that Holger does indeed make it home.

Perhaps, it serves as a way to lend credence to the premise - that the story is told to the author by a friend who experienced it: so a return to our timeline is necessary to fulfill it.

And perhaps, I choose to believe he did make it back: as I would assume the author desires me to believe - thinking of the fondness I've developed, having experienced the adventure with its characters.

But in any case - I was disappointed by the ending - twofold: first, in the sudden "Everything seems black and impossible... but everything is suddenly fine now!" and second, in the intentional ambiguity of the post-script.

This point of contention may bother you too - or it may not. I should think anyone a fan of adventure and of fantasy would enjoy the story, regardless: and may simply do as I have done and chosen to believe.

The Influence on Alignment

Foremost among the lessons of Three Hearts and Three Lions might be the origins of Law and Chaos in the D&D alignment system. 

But CWR - I thought Michael Moorcock was the source of the Law and Chaos alignment spectrum in D&D? Many people do - and he did have an influence. His Hawkmoon and Stormbringer titles are listed in the same inspirational reading block as are Anderson's. However, Moorcock himself cites Anderson as an influence and inspiration for his interpretation of cosmic order: and though I swear I have read at some point that Gygax, himself, preferred Andersonian alignment over Moorcockian, I cannot find a source to cite for it and will have to be satisfied pointing out that Anderson was active earlier - 1961 (Three Hearts and Three Lions), 1954 (The Broken Sword), 1960 (The High Crusade) - than was Moorcock - 1965 (Stormbringer), 1963 (Stealer of Souls), 1967 (The Jewel in the Skull - the first title in the Hawkmoon series).

But I digress.

I won't quote Anderson on it - there are a thousand blog results who do when you google it - but where both authors will speak to alignment in cosmic terms: Anderson in particular does a good job of divorcing alignment from personality. A good person can be Chaotic - although their actions and their activities will undermine civilization; simultaneously, a bad person can be Lawful - they may murder, pillage, or make war on things that are holy, but those self-serving motives, those secular actions: they aren't indicators of their position in the greater scene. Anderson clearly and blatantly separates alignment from the personalities and goals of the people who serve it: which Moorcock does somewhat, although Moorcock tends to infuse his writing with his own nihilism, which dilutes the literary concept with intended metaphor. For that reason, Anderson is better in this regard - and I will speak no more to condemn one author in preference for another.

Another interesting component of Anderson's alignment: for humans, alignment is a choice - though naturally, humans tend towards Law. For other races - Elves, Trolls, etc - there isn't a choice. Their very natures are infused with Chaos: again, regardless of their goals or motives. Trolls in Three Hearts and Three Lions - or, True Trolls from Chainmail - and though they may be fickle, they may wage war on the forces of Law, they are equally facile in waging diplomacy: something that has more presence in The Broken Sword where the Elves do business with the Dwarves, a race which can touch iron and which are not born with an innate Chaos nor Law to them.

This bioessentialism - as it may be - is contrasted to the races of men: Elves are by their nature Chaotic - but no men are. We see two Lawful men, men who were once enemies on the battlefield as a result of ethnic and religious differences - but who became brothers with time. This fellowship, this kindred spirit of humanity, is a stark answer to the criticism that "orcs can't be evil" - absolutely: yes, they can - because like Three Hearts and Three Lions, humanity is one race, one people, with different creeds and different appearances - each, however, connected together by a permeating connection to Law, but given liberty to choose our own paths.

Once this concept - and that of alignment being something bigger, a dichotomy and narrative mechanic to facilitate non-combat interactions between opposing factions - than the personality litmus test it has become: once this concept has been grasped, other concepts similarly fall into place.

The Influence on Encounters

But what then - tangibly - can be ascribed to Three Hearts and Three Lions that made it into the print of the books? Most obviously - monsters.

As one familiar with the LBBs (reprints, of course - gamer on a budget), when reading through Three Hearts and Three Lions, my Book II: Monsters and Treasure alarm went off several times during the read - it was exciting for me, seeing things in the source material that, in the original edition, so obviously paralleled in the game world! Dragons and barbarians notwithstanding - as surely, these creatures exist in a multitude of sources - other creatures seem to be uniquely inspired by Anderson's work. In illustrating as such, I submit two examples - which, in so doing, may entail spoilers to the plot: so I will, again, attempt to hide the core contents: 

The Troll

The Troll! The most iconic D&D monster outside the product identifying Beholder! Reviewing my copy of Book II: Monsters & Treasure, lavishly printed from PDF sparing no expense on my 5 year old HP 4000 series:

Juxtapose this to the penultimate encounter of Holger, et al, in Three Hearts and Three Lions:

The creatures described are the same - and the creature illustrated for D&D has been of this likeness ever since. The band goes on to strike it, again and again, only to find it regenerates after each assault:

From there, it's only by accident when the Swan May strikes out with the torch do they discover the creature's weakness to flame - rapidly (through player character ingenuity) turning the tide of the encounter. 

In either case - if you have not read Three Hearts and Three Lions, the troll scene is truly evocative: it's one to take inspiration from, in terms of how to play trolls when encountered in the D&D wild, and one that - for players who have not experienced trolls before (or even some who have) would provide a terrifying and memorable experience.

The Nixie

While less dramatic than the troll - the Nixie: an underwater fey who captures Holger with intent to hold him captive and prevent his destiny - is an interesting addition to this list as it translates directly into the rulebook at the table. Consider Book II: Monsters & Treasure:

Each of these elements, we see referenced in Three Hearts and Three Lions as our protagonist wrestles with the lake spirit. Firstly, regarding the mechanism of imprisonment of a targeted character...

...and secondly, regarding the guardians of the Nixie - down to the named species! 

When Holger escapes from the predicament (more to come on that escapade later in the article) he does so using the mechanism described - namely, employing a flaming weapon to fend the pike off while swimming away from the Nixie's grotto: 

Here found, admittedly, is a point of diversion between the book and the game. In Three Hearts and Three Lions, the fey cannot abide iron and cannot abide ultra-violet radiation (or, daylight - hence, you see the fey at night in their mythological tales of origin) - as such, the Nixie is held at bay by the burning dagger: in D&D, presumably, the flaming aspect must have been too accessible to make gamist sense. That said - the other parallels are too close to be coincidental: and the reader - again - is presented with a situation where wits are required to escape: something to challenge a party with and an example of how, using an effect like Charm Person - which, in early editions, was extremely hard to deter once it's set in - what appears to the modern gamer to be certain doom can be turned into a memorable event and escape worthy of retelling.

If monsters made it in with such alacrity, did also any of the magic? How many spells - or items, perhaps - were inspired by (or lifted from!) Anderson? Protection from Evil, in reference to the holy circles drawn to protect the party while it sleeps?

I'm not sure.

I am less versed in the spell lists than I am in the monsters: but an avid reader might be able to find them where I did not - and maybe even tell me about it!

The Expectation of a Player

Lastly - to speak to our protagonist: Holger.

Holger is a Danish-American engineer who returns to Denmark to subvert and fight Nazi occupiers during the World War II period. During that time - attempting to smuggle a person of interest out of the Reich's clutches, Holger is wounded on the beach: at which point he falls out of time and into an alternative Earth: wherein he goes on to meet fae and mythic creatures while questing about, seeking a way home. This sort of Isekai experience may sound familiar, reflected in the Dungeons & Dragons animated series as well as in the abandoned live action movie script Gygax had been working to produce while in Hollywood in the early 80s: but that's another topic for another time. To instead continue on the subject of the player, and what the original authors' expectations were of the player, one may consider three distinct moments in Three Hearts and Three Lions - note, spoilers to follow, but I will try to hide them in a details panel: if the panel fails, skip ahead to the paragraph beginning in bold with "as such."

The Thermodynamics of Dragons

Freshly betrayed by the Elf Lord, Alfric, Holger and his companions - the dwarf and the swan maiden - are accosted by a dragon: a servant of Chaos sent at the behest of Alfric or his ally, Morgan la Fey, to do away with them before Holger can fulfill his purpose: known to Morgan, but unknown to him or his allies. Hope is dim, the party convinced their adventure is at an end... but then this happens:

In this moment of hazard, Holger thinks quickly and acts unconventionally, saving the day with an out of the box approach. Holger knows about boiler explosions because - based on his background as an engineer and the timeframe in which this was said to take place, boiler explosions would have been something he - as a person - understood. His colleagues have no way of understanding what's going on - as boilers and the steam engines they power have not been invented in their timeline.

In the context of the narrative - this makes sense for Holger to know.

But would, in the context of the game, a player character?

Cursed Gold

Further along their way, the party rests - out of the Fey lands - but the Elf Lord Alfric has not yet given up - sending a Hill Giant to stalk them: waiting for a moment of "sinful thought" to annul the protection of holy symbols that they create or bear. When that moment comes - the Giant attacks: however, the party - recalling the bane that fey-folk have to the light - seek to entertain it with riddles, keeping it occupied until the dawn turns it to stone.

In a series of silly half-riddles that result in the Giant furiously attacking Holger, the plan succeeds and the Giant, faced with the piercing rays of the sun, is turned to stone: leaving a treasure pile behind in his sack. Though wary of words of a curse on Giant's gold won in such a manner, the party begins to loot the target... until this happens: 

Holger, as such, rescues the party from certain death - radiation poisoning! Though something that was new at the time of Holger's adventure in the 1940s, a pre-atomic era (and a phenomenon barely understood even when the book was originally released in 1961), again - Holger uses his out-of-world (out-of-character?) knowledge to protect his companions: allowing their journey to continue.

Magnesium Will Burn in Water

Later - nearing the end of their quest - the band crosses by a loch at the base of a cave through which they must travel to reach the resting place of the legendary sword, Cortana. Cross, Holger separates himself from the party and - making himself unsavory with some equally cross thoughts - opens himself to attack, where he is kidnapped by a Nixie. How will he escape? Wits - and recalling a piece of equipment stolen from the Elf Lord, Alfric:

The dagger - stolen earlier in the adventure and labeled "The Dagger of Burning" - Holger speculates to be made of magnesium based on its appearance and alleged inflammability. With it - and under the assumption that the ultraviolet radiation is what offends the creatures of Chaos, he puts it to use accordingly:

Escaping certain peril - again, by his wits: wits tempered by the perspective of a modern man, a 20th century engineer, rather than a fantasy paladin. Arguably - in this case - it's the act of figuring out the operation of a limited use magic item: but still - figuring out the use of the dagger entailed knowledge of chemistry which Holger would have, but his allies - native to the setting - would not.

As such, we find ourselves in a conundrum. In the context of the story, it makes sense that Holger will be able to use his life experience - his engineering background - to evade these hazards or to come up with creative solutions. However, in the context of the game - this brings to light an interesting concept: what Holger did, in each of these three cases, a modern Dungeon Master would cry foul as "Metagaming!" 

What does this imply of the behaviors and expectations of players over player characters?

What does this mean for the application of player skill and the understanding of what constitutes cheating - doing something your character would not: a problem which is identified in the 1e Dungeon Master's Guide - compared to what would be instead lauded a creative solution or application of talented imagination? 

A lesson - to be sure - for a new OSR player or aspiring OSR referee: in that it indicates the solution may not be direct confrontation, that the solution may lie in a creative alternative which nullifies the problem to begin with - but also a point of pondering for the experienced ref: at what point does player skill end and metagaming or cheating begin?

In 1974, perhaps, a lot farther along the scale, if Appendix N is to be believed.

And Them's My Two Coppers

Thank you for reading! I hope, between the ten minutes prior to this line coming to your feed and now, I've provided some context and impressed upon you, dear reader, the significance of Three Hearts and Three Lions to the development and implementation of the original D&D game and the OSR experience - and provided a spur to the uninitiated to consume it, have you not already.

Stay blessed, all - and delve on!

Open license and public domain artwork retrieved from Pixabay and OldBookIllustrations.com and adapted for thematic use. Attribution in alt text.

Three Hearts and Three Lions, written by and copyright to Poul Anderson, 1961. Images used herein taken from the Open Road Integrated Media edition, 2018 - with cover art by Jason Gabbert - all rights reserved by the publisher.

Image of Poul Anderson taken from Trader to the Stars, 1964, property of Knopf-Doubleday.

Dungeons & Dragons: Book II - Monsters & Treasure, written by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, as well as all content therein is copyright and trademark of Wizards of the Coast LLC, 2013.

Clerics Wear Ringmail claims no ownership of and defers all rights to the respective authors and owners of the properties referenced above. Any content or imagery used herein is used under US Code Title 17 Section 107: illustrative to and in service of criticism and commentary.

Beyond the Cellar Doors

Scale: 10 ft.
Click HERE for a PDF version of this adventure!

Suitable for 1st or 2nd level.

•		A little keyhole icon means the door is locked.
•		A little "S" through the door means the door is secret.
•		The other icon - which is supposed to look like a muscly arm - indicates the door is stuck and must be forced open.

E - East Wing

E1 - Cellar

Stairs to the south terminate in a storage room; with pickled meats that might be pork, but might be human, against the east wall. Against the west wall is a lone barrel of salt.

E2 - Abandoned!

A goblin - hungry and bruised - is locked in this room. He was the guide for the Orcs in E3 to find the complex, but when his usefulness was exhausted, they stripped him of his provisions and threw him into the locked space. He knows their particulars - but not where they are.

E3 - Orc Lounge

Five Orcs (B40) are resting here, having stolen 7,000 silver pieces from room E6. They were unable to force the door in the south-west and are deliberating where to go next. Of the room, there is a blue mosaic on the floor - but it has been defaced with red paint.

E4 - Candlelight

In the center of the space is a raised platform which conforms to the shape of the room. A brass fixture is attached which would hold a single candle and surround it with a wide bowl, catching any wax drippings.

If a candle is placed in the bowl and lit, it will cast shadows around it - but the shadows will break suspiciously on the secret door to the north. The secret door is a simple faux wall which will slide upwards, if lifted. Typically, a combined Strength (that is, the sum of the scores) of 16 between the lifters is sufficient.

E5 - Connecting Chamber

Empty torch holders line the west and south walls. There is a grubby rug - but it has been lifted and thrown into one corner.

E6 - Homage Chamber

In the south-west corner, disturbed space where an altar might have been. There had been treasure in the form of silver, but it has been removed by Orcs in E3. In the north-west corner, a raised wooden platform on which a throne with a skeleton, clad in soft brown robes, is set. Beneath and behind the platform - which can be accessed via a hatch in the side of the throne, is concealed the pocket door leading to W6. 

E7 - Mess

Two long, heavy wooden tables run north-south, parallel to one another, and the walls to the south-east and south-west have a long concavity forming a shelf. The shelf is barren - but four Draco (B38) have made their home on and about the tables.

E8 - Hint Pyramid

Along the north and south walls are step-style shelves, rising from 1' at the south and east extremes to 4' in the center. Lining these are urns - 13 in total - six to each wall and one in the corner. In the corner urn can be found 200 gold pieces; in each of the twelve others, 100 silver. A square depression facing the cardinal directions - a foot to each side and two inches deep - is in the center of the room.

W - West Wing

W1 - Larder

Some broken crates adorn the floor as six Lizard Men (B38) chew on salted fish. Between them, they have 1,000 gp; and their leader bears a red pendant worth a further 1,000 gp.  

W2 - Storm Lord's Foyer

A large statue to the god of storms sits on a rotating base made of a wrought-iron cage. The statue bears the iconography of lighting and will turn to face the character closest to it.

Determine its facing randomly when the party enters the space. If the statue is facing one of the doors exiting the room, the handle on the door becomes electrified - any character attempting to open the door by normal means must Save vs Paralysis or take 3d6 damage: a successful save negates the damage, but also precludes opening the door.

W3 - Modest Vault

In the center of the room, a locked chest with 500 silver pieces sits. Above the chest - a loose stone in the ceiling can be pushed aside to reveal a sack with a further 100 gold pieces and a lodestone worth 500.

W4 - Twilight Room

The floor is tiled with jade - an ovaloid pattern adorns the floor, its coloration lightening as it goes from a darker west to a brighter east. Statues to the gods of dawn and dusk stand on the east and west sides of the room, respectively: the mouth of the dusk statue, to the west, is closed; but the mouth of the dawn statue, to the east, is slightly open. If a coin or like object is slipped into the mouth, it will jingle down to the belly and unlock the secret door to W5.

W5 - Hidden Vault

A large work desk is positioned against the east wall. Beside it, a basket filled with scrolls. Among them are the following spells:

• Infravision
  
• Magic Missile
  
• Levitate
  
• Detect Invisible
  
• Hold Portal
  

In addition, on the north side of the room, a pedestal with living green ferns about the base houses a magical Sword (+1), and to the south, a series of clay pots contain specie - 7,000 silver and 2,000 gold in total.

Of the three treasure items, one - determined randomly - will be encircled by four Spitting Cobra (B42).

W6 - Hidden Corridor

An oversized skull is carved into the north wall of this corridor. It appears to be stylized to be attempting to wink. At the waist level, the room is ringed with skull carvings - normal size and expression.

Secret doors exiting from this space are obvious to the eye and easily opened from this perspective.

Public domain artwork retrieved from OldBookIllustrations.com and from the National Gallery of Art and adapted for thematic use. Attribution in alt text.

"Special" Rooms on 3d6 (Or Maybe 4)

TL;DR

Tables provided - in the interest of usability - for reference here at the top. To use, roll 3d6 to determine whether the Special room is good, bad, or indifferent to the party; who or what it affects; and how it affects the target. Optionally, roll a fourth d6 at the same time to determine the temporal applicability of the special effect.

1d6 The special feature is... 1 Very bad for the party 2 Bad for the party 3-4 Indifferent 5 Good for the party 6 Very good for the party	1d6 The special feature affects... 1-2 The character or characters 3-4 The player or players 5-6 The environment
1d6 For the Character: For the Player: For the Dungeon: 1 Affects a power Hints to the map Changes the layout 2 Affects the abilities Hints to monsters Changes the monsters 3 Affects an intangible Hints to treasure Changes the doors 4 Affects consumables Hints to hazards Provides translocation 5 ...Or nonconsumables Provides an NPC Changes hazards 6 Affects the meta-sheet Serves to immerse Changes secrets
And optionally...	1d6 The effect persists for... 1-2 the immediate. 3-5 the short term. 6 the long term.

For an explanation of what they represent and the reasoning behind the numbers, read on!

"Special" Rooms on 3d6 (Or Maybe 4)

The big number 4.

The only result on the stocking table wherein no further tables exist to guide its creation. 

The "Special" room.

While a list is given of several special rooms as suggestions, as inspiration - they are wide in their scope and incongruous in their impact to the game. They are presented as anomalies - features of the dungeon that are neither combative as might a monster be nor immediately hazardous as a trap. They might be hazardous, but aren't by necessity. They might be of value - but are not necessarily treasure. And on top of it - they are the largest cognitive strain on the dungeon architect (or, on this dungeon architect) when writing out a key. 

How do you keep them interesting? How do you keep them relevant?

Here provided is a quick system I've been toying with - trying to ensure that Special rooms stay Special - rather than, based on the mood of the hour, becoming simply another trap or treasure result: Special Results on 3d6 (optionally 4).

How does the room affect an expedition?

The first die tests for ambivalence. Does this special room benefit the party? Does it confuse or tax them? Or is it simply a set piece - to bode good, ill, or neither depending on how the party interacts? Consider on the first d6:

1d6	The special feature is...
1	Very bad for the party
2	Bad for the party
3-4	Indifferent
5	Good for the party
6	Very good for the party

A special feature being "good" or "bad" - of course - is subjective: and likewise, consider - based on the effect of the feature - how a character would need to interact with it in order to be exposed to its effect. That is to say - a very good feature, perhaps one that grants an XP bonus or Infravision for a short period of time - might require more interaction than would an indifferent feature: similarly, a bad feature, perhaps one that taxes the character's resources, should require some degree of interaction as well - otherwise, it might more accurately be categorized as a trap.

Why spread the nature of the effect by chance? The importance of balancing positive and negative features is to promote player interactivity and reward player skill. If all of the special features are negative - if the dungeon is full of many gotchas and traps - it punishes the players for interacting. It rewards a style of play which is averse to adventure and experimentation. If you give the party nothing but cursed treasure, they will stop seeking it. Similarly, if all of the special features are positive, it has the reverse effect: rewarding the party for spending too much time interacting with them and throwing caution to the wind: something that will serve them poorly when exposed to a trap or hazard in a future room. Special room results give the referee an opportunity to promote ambiance, to reward good interaction, or to foreshadow other elements of the dungeon - as such, by randomizing their nature, we ensure a balance of effect: keeping us on point for their intended purpose. 

What does the special room affect?

Next test for target. Does the nature of the special effect influence a the player characters - perhaps granting them some ability or taxing them some resource? Or does it have an influence on the map - rotating some far off section, opening new doors or shutting existing ones? Consider on the second d6:

1d6	The special feature affects...
1-2	The character or characters
3-4	The player or players
5-6	The environment

The last of these is the most obvious - the target of the special effect is environmental. Rotating bridges, locking and unlocking doors, elevating or lowering lifts, opening or closing secrets - all of these things would be considered environmental effects.

The first of these is likewise common - the first destination that most will go with when designing a point of interactivity in the dungeon. Hexes, enchantments, benefits, or even equipment effects might be categorized as affecting the character or characters directly.

The center idea - that of affecting the player - is something that is more rare. 

What does it mean to affect the player rather than the player character? Simply put - something that affects the character should be recordable on the character record sheet or other notes: something that affects the player should instead be imprinted on their cognition - should affect their mood or perception of the adventure, the event, or the tone - which might result in note-taking (or might not, depending on the player!) but most certainly should result in a raised brow and - potentially - a change in the approach that the player is taking when controlling their character to interact with the dungeon. 

Revealing the presence of secret corridors underneath the floors, or revealing that an ancient wizard hid a powerful orb deeper into the dungeon than the current objective would delve - or even to hint that there may be oozes hidden in the side catacombs: these target the player; these inform decisions regarding the expedition and may change the course it has charted.

What effect should the special room have?

Ultimately (or, optionally penultimately - see below), the meat of the discussion: what does the room actually do? The specific effect in question will depend on what the target of the effect is - and is, thus, dependent on the second die rolled. Consider accordingly on the third d6:

1d6	For the Character:		1d6	For the Player:		1d6	For the Dungeon:
1	Affects a power		1	Hints to the map		1	Changes the layout
2	Affects the abilities		2	Hints to monsters		2	Changes the monsters
3	Affects an intangible		3	Hints to treasure		3	Changes the doors
4	Affects consumables		4	Hints to hazards		4	Provides translocation
5	...Or nonconsumables		5	Provides an NPC		5	Changes hazards
6	Affects the meta-sheet		6	Serves to immerse		6	Changes secrets

But what do these entries mean? Well, to answer, you have to break it down by feature. To start, consider characters:

1. Powers refers to features of monsters or races that affect dungeoneering: infravision, sensing sloped passages, tremor-sense, rusting ferrous equipment on touch, breathing under water, slipping through tight spaces as though boneless - all of these are "powers" that might be impactful to the target character.
2. Abilities refers to bonuses, penalties, or modifications to character Abilities. Strength, Intelligence, etc.
3. Intangibles are references to elements like time, advancing (or maybe reversing!) the turn tracker; or un-tracked biological functions (maybe the character is made hungry, or sated) - and kind. These may have impact to the current delve - or perhaps to the navigation back to town.
4. Consumables include torches, rations, ammunition, hit points, or other tracked and managed resources on the character sheet.
5. Non-consumables include items not normally tracked: armor, rope, or similar could be considered non-consumable for the purposes of a Special room's odd effect.
6. Meta-sheet elements include saving throw values, the character's XP (total or bonus or penalty to rate of gain), or other things tracked on the sheet as part of the "under the covers" of a player character operation.
   

For players:

1. Map hints reveal to the players elements of the map without having to physically go there. A "good" result will be accurate, a "bad" result will not - or an "indifferent" one may reveal information they already know.
2. Monster hints reveal information about wandering monsters, about factions in the dungeon, or other ecology. Again, "good" or "bad" will have varying accuracy.
3. Treasure hints, same as above.
4. Hazard hints reference traps, tricks, pitfalls, or other dangers implicit to the layout itself.
5. Talking statues, ghostly inhabitants, prisoners, other adventuring parties in proximity - all of these would fall into the "NPC" category. This represents as much a role play opportunity as it does a mechanical one.
   
6. Immersion - speak to the player's senses. Put them in the dungeon and help them get into character: or use it to inform (positively or negatively) their understanding of the natural order within the adventure site.
   

For the dungeon, itself:

1. Layout changes represent the closing off of corridors, the opening of new ones, the shifting of rooms or the rotating of bridges. These can be obvious or close or these can be distant or subtle.
2. Monster changes alter the odds of random encounters (pheromone trap, anyone?) or perhaps change their nature. A "bad" result might be an alarm set by a faction of nearby.
3. A door change may lock a previously open door - or unlock a barred one. Perhaps this is a puzzle room where - solving the puzzle - a steel portcullis may lift. Alternatively, a secret door might be revealed: or previously obvious doors become hidden.
4. Translocation can be as intricate as mono-directional teleportation circles or as mundane as stairs. Good results may offer movement more rapidly - several levels up or down - where bad results may offer that same mobility to deadly dungeon denizens.
5. Hazards to the dungeon include traps, tricks, false leads, one-way doors, and the like. Changes to these may indicate the one-way changes, the false leads become true, or the tricks and traps relocate or reverse - depending on the nature of the room's ambivalence.
6. Secrets include chambers, passages, treasures, imprisoned monsters, and other hidden things: this room may be a trigger to reveal them, or a manner to open them (or close them off for good).
   

(Optionally) How long should the special feature affect the adventure?

Finally - if you're the type to prefer 4d6 over 3 - consider the duration of the effect: how long will the significance of what the Special result contains continue to be of relevance to the adventure? To the adventuring party? Consider on a fourth d6:

1d6	The effect persists for...
1-2	the immediate.
3-5	the short term.
6	the long term.

Immediate effects include the ephemeral disembodied voice in the hall or the sudden extinguishing of torches. Longer effects include the sudden magnetization of everyone's armor or the brightening of the eyes such that a character sees in the heat spectrum: for how long? Who knows - for a few rounds, perhaps, or maybe for the remainder of their days.

The duration of the effect should - in part - be determined by the theme of the adventure: you're more likely to have bigger effects when visiting the palace of the storm king than when you're robbing a lesser merchant's family mausoleum. However also - recall that these kind of things occur once in six rooms - so, on a given dungeon level with, say, two dozen keyed locations: you're going to have four chances to hit a long term effect. As such, the majority of special features should have applicability to their own context - to the scope of a delve or to the dungeon in which they belong only. In wider campaigns, where consistent scope may influence several such adventure locations across the map, keeping a consistent theme - and a consistent effect - between them may be fun: however, in a general sense - by keeping the effect of special rooms contained, it helps to promote a sense of uniqueness without producing either a conga line of recipients for positive effects or - as touched on regarding the differentiation of negative Special rooms and Trap results - overwhelming the party with crippling after crippling as they weave their way through the negative ones. 

Let's Compare Notes

But how does this measure up to the examples of Special rooms given in B/X? Let's pick a couple at random to see if they line up to the provided prompts.

"Moaning room or corridor" A moaning corridor (or room) serves little purpose other than to spook the players or to set the mood. No mention is made of a fear effect or of mechanical impact: so this seems a shot at ambiance. Result: 3-4-6: indifferent, player-affecting immersion element. "Alarm that summons special monster" This was accidentally literally one of the suggestions I had to elucidate what a bad environmental Special room could be. Result: 2-5-2: mildly negative (a reaction roll might save them), dungeon-affecting monster element. "Talking Statue" A talking statue is an interesting one - an opportunity for wide interpretation. The statue talks - but is it intelligent? Is it a prerecorded message that plays whenever someone is nearby to hear it? Does it lie or does it speak truly? Do the party members even speak the language that the statue is speaking? Without further clarification - it could be anything. If I were to think of this, myself, I would do so with indifference in mind: it's only as helpful as the party makes it. Result: 4-4-5: an indifferent, player-focused (RP) element which introduces a new NPC - the statue.

"Illusionary stairs or corridor" Stairs that aren't there (or a Wile E. Coyote corridor) is mildly malicious. It's possible, first, for the party to attempt to follow it - being surprised immediately that it's not there - or, more hazardously - if they think they transition to a new area - but in truth do not. This results in miscalculation of risk - spending more resources than need be on adversaries or challenges that - based on assumed level - are less dangerous than they appear. Worse - however: missing the illusion and attempting to later use it as a retreat avenue! Finding a dead end where an exit was believed to be? Therein is the potential for TPK. Result: 2-5-5: mildly negative, environment-affecting hazard element. "Magic pool whose waters have a strange effect" This one could be fun. The magic pool seems like it should be an environment issue - but what is the strange effect? Does it make the character larger or smaller - a character 3 result? Does it restore health (result 4) or does it weaken them, halving their Constitution (result 2)?  Or - in another vein - it could flush like a toilet and deposit them in a sewer sub-level: a mildly bad environment result of 4. Result? Not enough information - roll 3d6 to find out!

Let's Try it Out

To demonstrate - we'll brainstorm: rolling up a few Special rooms. 

First try - having not specified which direction I was rolling, we'll read it top to bottom: 6-1-2 - which is very good for the character, affecting their abilities. We could roll randomly to determine which (or multiple: it's very good after all) abilities to affect - or we can wing it. 

A fountain which sprays a perfume type liquid: portable, staying fresh for up to 1d4 days. When applied as a perfume, target treats their Charisma as 4 points higher for the next 1d4 hours. A low-gravity zone - all characters from outside this part of the dungeon treat their Strength score as 2 points higher for the duration that they remain on the level. A chair with cranial vice, complete with wires and levers. If a character hooks into the device - they will be electrocuted - 1d6 damage - and then must Save vs Spells. On a failure either the Wisdom or Intelligence is increased by 2; on a Success, both are increased by 1d6 - permanently.

Three options from three dice so far!

Let's roll again:

Keeping with the color pattern - purple first, then black, then green - we see 4-1-6: the room is indifferent, also affects the character, but affects the meta-sheet. Something about the character sheet that isn't normally tracked or targeted. Giving it a try:

• A strange radiation permeates the room, befuddling the character's speech. All reaction rolls should be rolled on 1d4+1d8 rather than 2d6 (to the effect of flattening the curve!). Every hour spent outside the special area allows a Save vs Death to end the effect.
  
• A stiffening agent spritzes out of a ceiling spigot. Any character exposed to it suffers a -2 penalty on all Saves vs Dragon's Breath, but gets a corresponding +4 save against Paralysis. Effect lasts until the character has a good bath.
  
• Microphones hang from the ceiling in the room - rebroadcasting anything spoken into another language. This enables the party to communicate with the denizens... but also may rebroadcast noises or quips not intended for rebroadcast.
  

Little more challenging - but still interesting. 

One more time - this time, using the "how long" optional die:

6-3-5-5: the effect is very good for the player, provides or elucidates an NPC, but the effect is only for the short term.

• A warrior who has been turned to stone lingers in this space, flexing his joints. If oiled (any oil will do) the warrior will follow the party to avenge his state against the petrifying agent (maybe an aged Medusa; maybe an experimenting wizard), and has limited knowledge of the dungeon. However, if he enters direct sunlight - as would be inevitable leaving the dungeon - the petrification finishes: turning him into a pillar of soapstone. 
• A security orb: if pondered, views of NPC adventurers in the dungeon can be found, some of which may be live! A party cannot communicate with these NPCs - but if they see one in peril, they would have a great advantage, recruiting said imperiled, leveled NPCs to their service - at least until said NPCs could return home from the dungeon exit.
  
• A wizard's homunculus flops out of a hide in the ceiling - speaking a Chaotic dialect. If taken under the wing of the party, it will ask for guidance - promising riches - if returned to its master. It knows its way around the dungeon very well - but will want to be returned, at which point the master will be grateful - but the homunculus will depart the party's company.
  

Good specials, or bad? 

You decide - it's your table!

Inspiration over Instruction

This post is turning out to be far longer than I'd originally intended it to be - as such, here seems like a good place to wrap it up. In conclusion - I would like to state (or restate, if it was implied earlier) that - hopefully - these entries and this process can help to produce more varied, more interesting, and more thematic and memory-inducing interactive Special rooms. Ranging from the mundane - another party trying to pick a lock or a stairwell leading down - to the mystic - a cloud filled chamber that will eat away leather or cloth, but will grant any who breath in it the ability to turn gaseous, themselves, until the next new moon: Special rooms can be the most intriguing and least intriguing rooms in the dungeon adventure. 

And that's what this article is for - to serve to inspire rather than instruct: to prompt your creativity as the referee and budding dungeon architect to produce those awesome, interesting, and simultaneously evocative and effective designs to maximize their appeal to the table and to cement their place in stories told: be they memories recanted by old veterans to new blood or be they posts under "that guy" threads bashing DMs more clever than their players.

But regardless of which rooms they delve - ever on, players: delve ever on.

Thank you for reading!

 

 

Public domain artwork retrieved from OldBookIllustrations.com and the National Gallery of Art and adapted for thematic use. Attribution in alt text.