Dungeoneer RPG layout test

I've been going over the first pass documents of the 3 books in the Dungeoneer RPG and preparing some preliminary layout designs. My goals in the layout are 1. Legibility and 2. Cool Looking. I want to avoid wall to wall block of texts with no space to breathe, but I don't want so much graphics that the book is illegible and unusable during game play. The approach I'm experimenting with here is a double-page spread that introduces a major chapter, which you can see in this example from the world guide. This spread introduces the major nation of Ilbor Paidan. The rest of the chapter will be more functional and less graphic intensive. I'll put up an example of that when I get one I kind of like. For now enjoy this sneak peek.

Dungeoneer RPG documents have been delivered

Richard Plockington, the primary author of the Dungeoneer role-playing game has delivered the next-to final documents. He recently ran a playtest at the local Gamescape in San Rafael California, which went quite well. Fun was had by all! (you can see some of Richard's design work on such excellent Dungeon Crawl Classics as The Sunken Ziggarat )

I'm in the process of doing a final review, making sure game terminology is used consistently and some minor organizational changes. The document will then go to Goodman Games for a final edit, which is due in mid-November. After that I'll take the final edited document and lay them out with art and graphics for the boxed set.

Currently the contents are looking something like this:

• 3 booklets
• 220 cards
• 100 peril/glory tokens
• dice
• character sheets

The booklets are: player's guide, dungeonlord's guide, and world guide.

Note this is not final and it is possible the exact contents may change a bit, but this is pretty close to what it will be. We are working hard to have it to you early next year!

Dungeoneer Scenarios Design Diary 2: pre-designed maps

Dungeoneer Scenarios will contain several illustrated scenarios for you to get the most out of your Dungeoneer sets. Since I want to provide a wide variety of pre-constructed Dungeon layouts it would not be an option to print out poster-sized maps for retail purchase.

An idea I have been toying with for sometime is having pre-constructed Dungeons printed on canvas. This would be a flexible, durable, and portable "game board" in addition to looking and feeling cool. The problem is printing on canvas is quite expensive! There are some POD (print on demand) options, but each Dungeon would cost $40 or so for a decent size. However, for those who are really interested some of the best scenarios will be available on my Zazzle storefront so players will have the option of purchasing printed scenarios on canvas or heavy-weight poster paper.

We are still looking for scenario submissions if you have a good idea for a pre-constructed Dungeon, or Wilderness, or both!

Dungeoneer Scenarios: Solo Play

One of the most common requests I've heard from players, online and in person, is for a good set of solo rules to play Dungeoneer by.

Dungeoneer was designed as a multiplayer game from the beginning. For a game to be successful I believe it has to have a strong social aspect, players must be able to interact frequently, a game should foster communication. One of the reasons I think so many dungeon-crawl boardgames (and card games) have failed in the past is because each player takes his or her turn independent of what the other players are doing. This creates isolation and reduces the crucial community aspect of game playing! Dungeoneer solves this by forcing player interaction each turn through the Peril/Glory mechanic and the Dungeonlord/Hero phases of each player's turn. This interaction is the heart of the game - well, almost.

Quests are the only time a player is really "playing in isolation" compared to the rest of the game. And Quests are the other piece of the heart of the game.

So how do we go about creating a compelling solo player experience out of a game intended for multiple players? The answer must lie in the Quest system. And this means the solo player's goal must be almost exclusively to complete Quests. I've seen several solo variants floating around on the Internet, and I do pay attention to how others have tried to solve the problem. It almost always boils down to automating the Dungeonlord aspect of the game, and allowing the players to focus on playing their Hero. Still, there are many cards such as those with Shift and Warp effects that only make sense in a multiplayer game. After considering all the solo rules what we've ended up doing is choosing 4 solo rules variants and polishing them. In addition we've put together a collection of modular solo rules that can be used with any of the solo variants. This is the basic description of each variant:

Variant 1, Run Forest Run:
In this variant the goal is to complete 3 Quests and return to the Entrance to win the game. All "problem cards" are removed from the deck.

Variant 2, Revise Problem Cards:
In this variant, similar to the first the goal is to complete 3 Quests and return to the Entrance to win. But it has a breakdown of all the "problem cards" and explains how to use them in a solo context. Yeah, more consulting the book, but you can use all the cards.

Variant 3, Simple:
The turn order is cut down significantly. Problem cards are removed. None of the modular variants are used, instead it describes it's own abbreviated variants.

Variant 4, Scenarios:
This isn't so much a set of solo rules, as it is various scenarios using the cards in a pre-determined manner to create interesting problems to solve with your Hero (some even as the Dungeonlord to slay all the heroes defiling your evil lair before they can kill off your Boss monster and make off with your captive Princess...).

Now, I'm sure I've disappointed many of you since I haven't put up a full solo rules set for you to try out. Sorry, but you'll have to pick up Dungeoneer Scenarios for that when it comes out. Besides, we are still testing them out.

Happy Dungeoneering!

Dungeoneer: Polish Editions

One of the greatest pleasures has been seeing Dungeoneer published in various languages. So far we have French, Italian, Spanish, German, and Polish. I recently toured Rome and was surprised to find a game store right across the street from our hotel! It was exciting to see that they stocked the Italian version of Dungeoneer - they even had the Italian Vault of the Fiends which I had not received a copy of yet from the publisher, so of course I bought one. :)

However, I must say that the Polish editions are far and away the highest production values of all editions, even beating our own American edition! The box is sturdy, full of all the components needed to play (including hero stands!) and it is a very nice size. The printing itself is very true to the actual art as I illustrated it (most non-Polish editions have come out too dark, losing much of the detail). I don't know how to get a hold of copies here in America, but they would be well worth getting just for the components to use for playing the American sets with. If anyone knows how to get copies please let me know. :)

Tomb of the Lich Lord

Vault of the Fiends

Dragons of the Forsaken Desert


Haunted Woods of Malthorin (combined with Den of the Wererats)


And Realm of the Ice Witch is currently in production.
Polish Publisher: Galakta

(Images gathered from Boardgamegeek.com posted by Łukasz Czajka (thanks Łukasz!!!)