Greetings, and well met!
By readers’ request, Kent David Kelly and Wonderland Imprints are proud to offer this art-free, unillustrated edition of The Classic Dungeon Design Guide, Book I.
Whether you are a phone or tablet user, or if you are concerned about PDF file size, or you want to encourage content creators to not use AI-generated artwork, or simply for aesthetic reasons, you will find that this edition contains the complete original text without any illustrations. (Diagrams created by the author are still included for purposes of clarity.)
Please note that pagination is compacted and very different in this edition; a PDF-bookmarked Table of Contents has been provided for ease of reference.
Enjoy! If you would like to support 100% human-created and authored content, this is your chance. I thank you for your patronage.
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Castle Oldskull
Old School Dungeon Design Modules
For Advanced / Basic / Expert Fantasy Role-Playing Systems
Module CO1: The Classic Dungeon Design Guide
(Dungeons / Lore / Random Tables)
Deep dwarven cities of the underworld,
Infested by conquering orcs,
Enslaved by demons of skull and pyre ...
Black labyrinths of mad demigods,
Proving grounds for daring adventurers
And graveyards for greedy fools ...
Twisting passages, all alike,
Where lurking trolls and shadow beasts
Guard the deepest riddles of the nether ...
If you have ever wanted to know how to quickly and masterfully create your own mega-dungeon for your pen-and-paper Fantasy Role-Playing Game (PNP FRPG) campaigns, this is the perfect book for you. This Game Master’s guide will show you, step by step, how to take your vague-yet-promising ideas and how to sculpt them with precise and careful design decisions (enhanced, if you prefer, by random die rolls), allowing you to conceive an endless mega-dungeon in record time.
Best of all, the CASTLE OLDSKULL CLASSIC DUNGEON DESIGN GUIDE is also system-neutral. No matter which of the many FRPGs you choose to play, from basic skill level to advanced, a first edition or a fifth or anything in between, the lessons you master here will serve you in your gaming for years to come. Learn how to make the most of your ever-dwindling prep time, so that you can spend those saved hours gaming with your friends!
This old school Guide is filled to overflowing with 220 pages of design material and dungeon generation tables. Highlights include:
* Hack and slash and beyond. 39 adventure scenarios, with 20 diabolical twists, totaling 780 great ideas for your next campaign.
* A myriad of options. Over 10,000 unusual benefactors (“quest givers”), unusual wilderness encounters your players will never forget, and extensive rumor and dungeon history generation systems.
* Every endless labyrinth ever, under one cover. Extensive details on realistic underworlds, hundreds of dungeon dressing ideas, over 10,000 room types, and much more.
* The imagined made real. A complete second book is included herein as a detailed example of dungeon design, featuring many pages of specific examples. The Goblin Head campaign environment supplement reveals exactly how a 13-level mega-dungeon can be conceived in a matter of hours.
The CLASSIC DUNGEON DESIGN GUIDE is brought to you by Kent David Kelly of Wonderland Imprints, a role-player and Game Master with over 30 years of play experience. Best of all, if there are any other materials you would like to see relating to dungeon design, feel free to contact the author. Many more CASTLE OLDSKULL supplements are being prepared specifically to support the players, initiates and Game Masters of the Old School Revival (OSR). This Guide is your gateway to the realms of sword and sorcery. Join us for the adventure!
(A complete reference work designed to supplement existing pen-and-paper Fantasy Role-Playing Games. 12 chapters, over 100 section topics, 72,000 words, 188 pages; organized via a fully ordered table of contents. Just one of the proud creations available now from Wonderland Imprints — Only the Finest Works of Fantasy.)
This is Dungeon Design Module CO1. The next module in the Castle Oldskull series, CO2: The Classic Dungeon Design Guide II, is available here.
To view the entire library of available titles for Castle Oldskull, Hawk & Moor, Old School Essentials compatible supplements, and more, please visit Kent David Kelly's Wonderland Imprints publisher page.
Don't know where to begin?
Each of the Wonderland Imprints series has an acclaimed first introductory volume. You can start there, and then journey further as you choose.
Series include the Black Label Editions (unillustrated tabletop volumes), Castle Oldskull (old school RPG supplements), The Classic Dungeon Design Guides (system neutral dungeon crafting), Hawk & Moor (Dungeons & Dragons history), Old School Essentials (supplements for Gavin Norman's B/X game), Oldskull Innovations (unique experimental products), and the Oldskull Library (classic weird fiction), as well as many Free Supplement Releases.
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