Tuesday 17 June 2014

Who are the Dungeon Lords?

So I will end up doing dungeon zone specific genre versions of these tables. Can be for factions or the dungeons true ruler or rolled per level. Roll a few times and use most powerful sounding as true leader, then descending in order for power and influence.
This is another approach to dungeon building. Have some forms in production too.
Have stuff to do ASAP:

Get pack out to readers for redbrick book - im having a reread and updating a bit first.
Kobold centric redbrick version of this table
Rival parties version

Review Awesome Venger Satanis The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence
Im getting some painting done, and billing clients again and working every day which is good too.

d10 Quick Version of Who Rules Dungeon

1 Anarchy, overrun by feuding factions and disorder, possibly temporary or transition
2 Human like bandits, spies, foreign power, gang, sect or cult
3 Arcane magician controls possibly with students
4 Evil High Priest controls on behalf of a cult or god
5 Humanoid leader like goblinoid or demihuman
6 Undead control such as lich, vampire or mummy
7 Monster leader type like a dragon, sphynx, were rat or other intelligent creature
8 Construct like a artifact, monster generator or weapon controls
9 Planar and alien beings direct the dungeon
10 Complex is self aware

1d12 Faction Feud
1 Traditional enemies - always been ancestral enemies
2 Turf or territory - a battle for control of area
3 Migration - a faction is moving through or into area
4 Alignment - feud over differences or definitions
5 Religion - competing cults
6 Racism - or some other prejudice
7 Resources - food, water or something else
8 Genocide - hope to supplant other group taking everything
9 Slavery - hope to enthral other race as servants
10 Food - seek to eat other group
11 Orders - instructed to and nothing personal, sorry to kill you
12 Bored - don't have a personal reason, just something to do with time

1d12 Why monster wandering?
5 out of 6 times monsters are guards but otherwise

1 Gathering food - fishers, ratters, mushroom pickers
2 Dumping waste or garbage or sewerage
3 Hunting, often with a trained beast
4 Setting traps for food and enemies
5 Doing gang graffiti, usually younger gang
6 Scrounging for scraps or loot
7 Trading with other creatures, possibly with goods
8 Scouts seeking out rival factions or adventurers
9 Drinking, high, singing, complaining, vomiting
10 Walking around bored and mischievous
11 Carrying water, food or firewood
12 Elite squad hunting adventurers

d100 Who are the Dungeon lords?
01 Area is a war zone between 1d4+1 factions over turf 
02 Area highly tense cold war between two factions over resources or tactical objectives
03 Area is in power vacuum, every holed up in rooms and defencive, factions unformed
04 Tribes actually factions of mega tribe (even different species) that unite in crisis
05 Civil war between two factions of previous single group, may unify vs external threat
06 Helter skelter dungeon rumble, 1d4+1 gang factions fight to death
07 A single faction rule 1d4+1 slave factions who might revolt or accept fate together
08 A single faction manipulate other 1d+1 factions into chaos, possibly in secret
09 All act as peasants peacefully with no unified leaders but unite under hero in crisis
10 Locals part of mostly peaceful interrelated ecosystem that might fall or unite under pressure
11 A local syndicate has assumed power in secret from local community
12 A bandit gang moved in and assumed control, using monsters as gang auxiliaries
13 A group of spies from another land use as a base and manipulate dungeon to menace locals
14 A military force private or foreign operate dungeon as base, using monsters to seed army
15 A gang of urchins from city grew up here and took over, young punks think they own place
16 A mysterious order dwell here to keep out intruders from secret rites and cult conspiracy
17 A cult of madmen seeking power and serving evil rule dungeon as epicentre of local wickedness
18 A band of degenerate inbred outlaws kidnap, eat and enslave locals who banished them long ago
19 A faction from a city or cult was driven here long ago, now they seek power again and vengeance
20 A band of merchant & mercenaries have bankrolled this operation to manipulate regional trade
21 A magician moved in and took over, has found locals to be exotic apprentices
22 A magician was driven here or abandoned and rose to the top of the dungeon, often bitter
23 A magician and apprentices set up a school with plans to manipulate local region
24 A magician and apprentices set up here to position against a rival school
25 A magician came here long ago seeking solace for his experiments, his minions protect his peace
26 An insane magician came here and tainted it with chaos to study mutations
27 A magician studying forbidden black magic seeks a place to work without judgement
28 A magician has found something which promises great power so has remained here
29 A magician with a decadent cult have taken residence to keep out unwanted guests
30 A magician uses to call and enslave other worldly beings and plans to rule over locals
31 Evil High Priest controls on behalf of a cult or god, dedicated to secret rites and plots
32 EHP come here to commune with underworld forces has released undead everywhere
33 EHP serving a elder god plots to return god to prominence and power
34 EHP has found remnants of unholy relics which they guards from enemies
35 EHP come here to hide awful rites of sacrificial murder, cannibalism and torture
36 EHP come here to hide kidnap victims and ransomed prisoners
37 EHP come here to initiate and brainwash new members safe from outside world
38 EHP uses as base for temple to destabilise local area by inciting monsters and madmen
39 EHP leads ancient hidden cult of degenerates in hiding from local knowledge
40 EHP is producing evil relics and unholy items for war against good and innocent
41 Ruler humanoid and his elite guards rules by fear and brute force
42 Ruler humanoid in ancestral royal clan, descended from gods and parent of people
43 Humanoid magician with powers beyond most of race dwells at heart of dungeon
44 Humanoid high priest spreads cult of tribe and devotes people labour to monuments and tithing
45 Humanoid revivalist wants race to return to glory days attracts new warriors daily
46 Humanoid leader serving a underland kingdom seeks a base near the surface world
47 Humanoid leaders exposes dungeon to otherworldly nature of faerie land
48 Humanoid type has had enough, leader declaring holy war and curse on humanity 
49 Humanoids unite under alignment unity of charismatic leader
50 Humanoids united by defense treaty vs humans, local despot whips up anti human hysteria
51 Undead serve necromancer or EHP seeking immortality and favour of underworld
52 Undead serve a mighty undead leader who is determined to hold onto gold and immortality
53 Undead serve agent from the underworld who has stocked dungeon with monsters
54 Undead fight each other, dungeon full of graves of war dead, ever fighting and re-spawning
55 Undead guard holy relic hidden inside, a great undead priest creates the dead and maintains
56 Undead guard ancient ruler or holy person, awaiting their return so protect leaders corpse
57 Undead not really aware they are dead, serve equally deluded leader, unaware they are killing
58 Undead running on complex routine and re spawning regime, very predictable and rigid
59 Undead all in hibernation till food detected, then hungry horde and king arise
60 Undead all asleep until defiled by intruder, then arise in force with queen
61 Creature is a divine being and creatures of dungeon it's creations and descendants or cultists
62 Creature is worshiped by dungeon cult who preen it and give it treasure
63 Monster is ancestor of other beings in dungeon who dare not challenge their elder
64 Creature intimidates and bullies lesser beings so all dungeon pays it homage
65 Shape changer uses identities to rule lesser factions living illusion of separate factions
66 Creature of great size and appetite has other beings in fear who sacrifice food to it
67 Creature is divine servitor and uses it's authority to master dungeon like a sphynx or chimera
68 Creature is living contagion which infects others to increase ranks like a were beast
69 Creature uses cash as basis for it's power and sits on a huge hoard of tax it spends on payroll
70 Creature using powers of lust and charms o dominate dungeon hierarchy like a succubi or lamia
71 Monster generator makes creatures to defend dungeon and itself
72 A golem attends to dungeon possibly with servitors like animated brooms and tools
73 A machine grows monsters from alchemical apparatus controlled by operator
74 A weapon fallen from the hand of a god rules dungeon controlling the leader in secret
75 Clockwork automatons serving a cognitive engine repairs traps, breeds monsters and other stuff
76 Dungeon is remains of an alien or god machine which has been re purposed by a villain
77 Shoggoth caretaker dwells in vault repairs dungeon and grows monsters from own flesh
78 A master mutant sits on a stash of mutagen transforming occupants into strange mutants
79 Dungeon is huge biological mimic pretending to be complex to lure creatures inside
80 Dungeon seems diverse actually all same type, all statues or plants or fungi or tumors or clones
81 Dungeon leader is agent of one of primal elements like fire, earth, air or water
82 Dungeon cult is directed by council or take turns to rule from other planar agents
83 Dungeon leader is agent of outer planes of alignment such as the hells
84 Dungeon serves obscure demi plane such as shadow or dreams or cold or lighting or darkness
85 Dungeon serves other planar elder gods and deepest levels are inside a outer gods organs
86 Dungeon ruled by other dimensional alien being unable to return from whence it came
87 Dungeon ruled by godling to test mortals for worthiness to divine gifts
88 Dungeon ruled by godling for entertainment of other divine beings
89 Dungeon ruled by being awoken from previous age attempting to bring back it's golden age
90 Dungeon controlled by weird alien wizard come to plunder world of magic sciences and relics
91 Self aware dungeon taps power of chaos to populate mad dungeon with encounters and traps
92 Dungeon guides inhabitants in dreams, many serve in dungeon cult for mercy
93 Dungeon is a sadist drawing power from the dream dimensions and the terror it causes
94 Dungeon tests mortals for amusement wasting lives of inhabitants for it's pleasure
95 Dungeon spirit has grown into monstrous being spreading haunted phantoms over dungeon
96 Dungeon servers the underworld gods and is a barrier to the underworld powers
97 Dungeon protects a evil relic which attracts creatures to dungeon
98 Dungeon has consciousness of being who died long like the builder or high priest or mad victim
99 Dungeon is a agent of otherworldly powers, it lives and extends to other plane
100 Dungeon is a collective consciousness and all creatures the internal ecology extends it's will

1 comment:

  1. A totally awesome set of charts for dungeon bosses and encounter/faction motivation.

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