Friday 24 February 2012

Table - Failed dungeons




It seems strange the word 'dungeon' is used as often as it is for a roleplaying adventure site, given it's rarely actually a dungeon at all. But that's beyond the scope of this post.

This is a D36 list of reasons for a site not working out or even existing. I'm hoping jasons at the enjoyable The Dungeon Dozen hasn't already written a table on the same theme.

  1. Unbuilt: 1) conceptually unobtainable; 2) just a dream, hallucination or fantasy; 3) successfully foreseen and terminated at source; 4) all supplications rejected; 5) creator suffering self-doubt; 6) sketched on back of envelope, but then sent
  2. Unvisited: 1) wording of rumour alienates most or all adventurers; 2) local NPCs not consulted by creator and withholding recognition; 3) disguised too cunningly; 4) ahead of its time; 5) buried in sandbox; 6) DM has that strange glint in eye...
  3. Inaccessible: 1) non-existent pocket universe; 2) built out from within, entrance never added; 3) arcane means of entry lost or forgotten early on in development; 4) not at scale of landscape; 5) too few dimensions; 6) statted for wrong system
  4. Unbalanced: 1) unexpected evolution of one or more occupants; 2) emptied by surprisingly effective trap; 3) entirely filled by fast-spreading mould; 4) grew to encompass all of reality; 5) trapped in temporal loop; 6) cleared by playtesters
  5. Repurposed: 1) creator rethought alignment; 2) creation not having any of that; 3) revolution launched by occupants; 4) repossessed by backers and put to more profitable use; 5) domineering collaborator, aggressive editor and/or proofreader with ulterior motives; 6) exploited by malwayre infection from external netwyrk
  6. Destroyed: 1) mortar or equivalent lost in unanticipated interaction; 2) collapsed under weight of treasure; 3) consumed by magical chain reaction; 4) demolished by higher authority for breach of terms; 5) killed creator's grandfather; 6) victim of generational change, hoping for old school renaissance with little fresh thinking
_

6 comments:

Gothridge Manor said...

Porky love this table. I do this sometimes to mine.

Porky said...

Thanks - I've got a soft spot for one or two of these. A lot of it overlaps with ideas in Abandoned Space, most obviously in the essence table. It could have gone bigger even and might yet - as usual, the ideas don't stop coming when the thing seems ready, or even when it's already out there.

SinSynn said...

'exploited by malwayre infection from external netwyrk'

LMAO!

The whole thing was friggin' hysterical, but a properly placed Y can just slay me sometimes.
Cuz, y'know...sometimes it's a vowel...but only sometimes.
:D

Porky said...

There's a lot to be said for Y, not least thys.

SinSynn said...

How fulla awesome is Sesame Street?

Oh, sure...he acts all sweet and innocent, but Y is a heartbreaker, Norah.
What she needs is a trustworthy Xeno.
:)

And no, I totally did not watch like a dozen of those things.
-_-

Porky said...

It's an interesting show, and funnily enough I have more time for it now than I did years back.

I can't possibly have watched a whole run either...