Caverns of Lakoma: A Dungeon Diagram...

Good Morning, All:

To conclude my series of posts on Caverns of Lakoma dungeon design, I needed to produce a map for Level One. As I may have mentioned, I suck at dungeon maps, and so I found myself in a quandary. In the end, I decided to utilize a principle described in a recent Gnome Stew article: Prep-Lite Maps. This is also similar to the diagram dungeon as presented in Sine Nomine Publishing's Red Tide. In essence, I built a flowchart of important rooms, and will simply make up any unimportant rooms as I have need. This is the result:

For those that would like to have all of the information on the Egyptian Great Plains gathered in one place, have no fear. I've created a simple PDF with the basics. Please review it and let me know if I need to add anything to it. You can find it here:
Egyptian Great Plains Minimalist Sandbox Campaign Setting

Thank you all for hanging in through this discussion, and I look forward to any additional input you might have on my quest for improving my minimalist campaign preparation process.

With Regards,
Flynn

Caverns of Lakoma: Walking Through Design Elements...

Good Morning, All:

Using my list of good dungeon design elements that I had compiled earlier, I began to analyze my initial concept for the Caverns of Lakoma. As I went through each item, it inspired more thoughts and development, until I had a nice foundation for the first level of the dungeon. The following captures the core of that initial process.

Create a short background, no more than 2-3 sentences.
The Lakoma people carved an underground city over four levels deep from a pre-existing natural cave system. When they died from a plague brought by the Bedari, the spirits of the Lakoma remained behind to wander the halls listlessly. Over a decade ago, humanoids rediscovered the caves and have begun to use it as a base of operations. In recent months, diabolists traveling in exile discovered one of the hidden entrances, and now fight both the humanoids and the undead for a place within the Caverns of Lakoma.

Use the three factions rule. PC actions will tend to have long term consequences if factions are involved.
The three factions of the Caverns of Lakoma are: Lakoma spirits and undead, a tribe of humanoid raiders and a small cult of diabolists.

Create at least three named NPCS that can server as potential allies, good villains, and provide other opportunities for negotiations and roleplaying interaction. Each NPC should have an interesting personality trait.

1. "The Chieftain": A revenant who, in his living years, was once the chieftain of the Lakoma. He will not rest so long as non-Lakoma walk the halls of his underground city.
2. Arihapelo the Dragon: The leader of the tribe of humanoid raiders. The only force stronger in Arihapelo's life than his intense greed is his fierse pride.
3. Mubarak Khalil: The leader of the exiled cultists. Mubarak prefers the company of demons to that of mortals, and treats his followers as little more than slaves and potential sacrifices.

Define relations between the NPCs in a sentence or two.

• "The Chieftain" hates both Arihapelo and Mubarak, and wants them both dead or gone.
• Arihapelo wants to see Mubarak enslaved and his demons dismissed from the city, and wants to use "The Chieftain" to locate other treasures within the city.
• Mubarak seeks to magically bind "The Chieftain," and desires the treasures and magic held by Arihapelo.

Have multiple goals, to increase the diversity of experiences that can be had in the dungeon.
On this level:

• Rescue someone who is about to be sacrificed from diabolists.
• Recover stolen goods held by Arihapelo's raiders.
• Put the spirit of "The Chieftain" to rest.

Have a secret that the players can figure out about the dungeon itself, or some similar concept.
Perhaps the Lakoma tribe bound a great evil spirit in the depths of their city, and that's part of the reason their spirits cannot rest. Hmmm. It's a classic, been done to death, really, but there's a reason it works. I'll have to keep playing with this one.

Use interesting terrain to make things more memorable and more challenging.
Between the chimneys and chutes, the columns to support larger rooms, and the murder holes, about the only thing I really need now is an underground river with a rickety old rope bridge across it.

Provide a mix of intelligent opposition, to vary the player experience. At least one encounter should provide a tactical challenge, and thus become interesting through their choice of actions.
The different factions and how they interact with one another should provide the basis for some tactical challenges. Specifics will evolve as the room layout falls into place.

If monsters are not intelligent, make them interesting. Slimes are more interesting than low-level undead because we've seen so many of those.
The warping effects of the Great Evil trapped below should give me a great excuse to introduce some interesting unintelligent monsters here.

Provide at least one setup that can be exploited in combat by tactically minded players, such as a bottleneck, a ledge, a bridge, a fortified position, etc.
See the rope bridge idea mentioned above.

Provide an opportunity to spy on enemies for the stealthily minded players, such as a murder hole, a grate, a tiny tunnel, a scrying ball, etc.
See murder holes mentioned above.

Introduce memorable magic items. A rod of thunder and lightning is better than a +1 sword.
Perhaps a Seven Spirit Bag or something similar with an appropriately Native American flavor? I'll dig around in my old Legends & Lore.

Provide stuff to interact with for players who like to experiment. Add suggestions for possible reactions.
I'm honestly at a loss for what to put here. I will have to consider this element separately. About the only thing that comes to mind at first blush would be a trapped demon who bargains with them in an attempt to game freedom.

Introduce traps that address the potential for classic PC sneakiness, such as using amulets to emulate membership in one of the factions, to encourage thought and consequences.
Aside from the use of robes and masks to infiltrate the diabolists, I can't think of much in this direction off the top of my head. This might make for another interesting blog topic in the future.

Provide an opportunity for long-term change to the player characters, such as earning a title of nobility, finding a magic throne or fountain that permanently changes someone, etc.
Aside from the demon that could grant wishes, I can easily imagine the Great Evil trapped on the bottom floor providing opportunities for long-term change, such as membership in a secret society that fights the minions of the Trapped One, mutations via warping energies, and so on.

Provide useful room descriptions (probably using the format for Lairs from our earlier discussion on Hex Content templates). Use bolded text sparingly, to help with reading the important elements of an entry.
This will be evident in the text I create to describe the rooms. This one is pretty much a technical issue, not a creative one.

Usable map, with in-map notes to make it easier to run at the table.
Easy enough to work out, as the elements come together. Again, this is a technical issue as opposed to a creative one.

Multiple entrances and exits. (Think tunnels, shafts, chimneys and crawlways.)
For starters, we have:

• A ventilation shaft leading to the top of the mesa, disguised as wells for a ruined settlement above.
• A natural cave entrance.
• Two steep sloped passages connecting to the second level.

Despite the first run through on the list, it's obvious that I have a few areas to work on:

1. Opportunities for PC experimentation
2. Opportunities for PC sneakiness
3. The Map
4. The Room Write-Ups

My next post or two on this subject should wrap up the Caverns of Lakoma first level write-up, as I go into these elements and build up the One Page Dungeon for my notes on the Egyptian Great Plains mini-setting.

With Regards,
Flynn

Caverns of Lakoma: Some Background Notes...

Good Morning, All:

While the Pueblo Indians and their cliff-side dwellings were the initial inspiration for the Caverns of Lakoma (with a nod toward the old Judges Guild module Caverns of Thracia, I was intrigued to discover that there were once actual underground cities in Turkey. I particularly enjoyed reading of Derinkuyu, Kaymakli and Ozkonak. Apparently, though, there are many more of these underground cities in that region, and so these are going to inform my creation of the Caverns of Lakoma. While many of these cities are much larger than the four levels I'm using for my caverns, there are still plenty of details that are just too awesome not to include. Below is a short synopsis of the information I think is relevant to the setting I want to create as the final piece of Adventure Material needed before the Egyptian Great Plains sandbox setting is ready to begin use.

Caverns of Lakoma
The Caverns of Lakoma were originally based on a natural cavern system, before the Lakoma tribe discovered them and moved in, excavating as they went. While the caverns could house as many as 10,000 people, the Lakoma numbered only a thousand or so at the height of their civilization.

Features
Heavy stone doors seal off sections of the underground city. These have a hole in the center to view the other side, or to allow the doors to be rolled open or closed through the use of a bar inserted within. In some cases, the passages beyond the stone doors sometimes have murder holes and narrow chambers above them used for dumping hot oil on their enemies. Discreet entrances give way to elaborate subterranean systems with air shafts, waste shafts, wells, chimneys and connecting passageways. The upper levels were used for living quarters while the lower levels were used for storage, wine making, flour grinding and worship in simple chapels. Everywhere, walls have been blackened from the use of torches.

Passages tend to be fairly narrow affairs, steeply inclined to lead from one level to the next. Only one vertical stairwell exists in the complex, connecting the third and fourth floors.

Long, narrow tubes often connected rooms to different levels, primarily for ventilation but with the added benefit of communication. Unfortunately, these small shafts also allow snakes, rodents and insect vermin to travel throughout the underground village as well.

The first floor contains stables, cellars, storage rooms, etc. Both natural caves and a ventilation shaft that appears as a well amidst ruins on the surface.

The second floor contains an amphitheater where rituals were once held, and several underground tombs which contain dessicated bodies mummified by the dry conditions. Many wall paintings depict the spirits and gods worshiped by the Lakoma.

The third floor consists of mostly living quarters, kitchens and grain storage.

The fourth floor is primarily storage, particularly through the use of earthenware jars.

More inspirational material, particularly pictures of the interior of Derinkuyu, can be found here, here and here.

History
The Lakoma had not yet reached their prime when they were struck down by disease, a ravaging illness brought to their lands by travelers from a distant shore. Many tribes were hit hard by the disease, but the close quarters of the underground city proved devastating to the Lakoma. For over a century, the Caverns of Lakoma lay abandoned, save for a number of plague-ridden undead driven to haunt the halls of the city. Humanoid raiders moved into the caverns a few decades back, waging a battle with the undead as they expanded into the abandoned city. Two years ago, a cabal of diabolists seeking a location to perform their profane rites discovered an entrance into the caverns, and have claimed a portion of the ruins for themselves.

This simple history provides me with three factions to develop: plague-ridden undead and spirits doomed to haunt the city until the end of days, the humanoid raiders that have forged a home for themselves here, and the diabolists and their demon servants/masters. This should give me plenty of fodder for adventure opportunities and site design.

Next post, I will start working through the various elements of dungeon design, putting it all together to create the first level of a colorful site for exploration.

With Regards,
Flynn

Caverns of Lakoma: Let's Explore Dungeon Design...

Good Morning, All:

One of the last elements that needs to be done for prepping Adventure Material for the Egyptian Great Plains mini-setting would be the creation of the first level of the dungeon location I called the Caverns of Lakoma. As the Caverns may set the tone for the rest of the campaign, I want to make sure that I make it as well-rounded as possible. I have a fairly rudimentary list of suggestions for dungeon design in the MyD20 Lite Referee's Guide draft. There is also a great list of suggestions for One Page Dungeons to be found in this post on Quality Dungeons, which gives me pause for thought. I think I'll talk my way through this particular dungeon design here on In Like Flynn, and discuss each element in turn, to see how it would impact the design of the Caverns of Lakoma.

First, I want to compile a list of elements that make up a quality dungeon experience. There should be a number of similarities, simply because the list from MyD20 Lite was inspired by discussions of the first One Page Dungeon contest. Here's the new list, which will likely make it into the Referee's Guide in some form or fashion:

• Create a short background, no more than 2-3 sentences.
• Use the three factions rule. PC actions will tend to have long term consequences if factions are involved.
• Create at least three named NPCS that can server as potential allies, good villains, and provide other opportunities for negotiations and roleplaying interaction. Each NPC should have an interesting personality trait.
• Define relations between the NPCs in a sentence or two.
• Have multiple goals, to increase the diversity of experiences that can be had in the dungeon.
• Have a secret that the players can figure out about the dungeon itself, or some similar concept.
• Use interesting terrain to make things more memorable and more challenging.
• Provide a mix of intelligent opposition, to vary the player experience. At least one encounter should provide a tactical challenge, and thus become interesting through their choice of actions.
• If monsters are not intelligent, make them interesting. Slimes are more interesting than low-level undead because we’ve seen so many of those.
• Provide at least one setup that can be exploited in combat by tactically minded players, such as a bottleneck, a ledge, a bridge, a fortified position, etc.
• Provide an opportunity to spy on enemies for the stealthily minded players, such as a murder hole, a grate, a tiny tunnel, a scrying ball, etc.
• Introduce memorable magic items. A rod of thunder and lightning is better than a +1 sword.
• Provide stuff to interact with for players who like to experiment. Add suggestions for possible reactions.
• Introduce traps that address the potential for classic PC sneakiness, such as using amulets to emulate membership in one of the factions, to encourage thought and consequences.
• Provide an opportunity for long-term change to the player characters, such as earning a title of nobility, finding a magic throne or fountain that permanently changes someone, etc.
• Provide useful room descriptions (probably using the format for Lairs from our earlier discussion on Hex Content templates. Use bolded text sparingly, to help with reading the important elements of an entry.
• Usable map, with in-map notes to make it easier to run at the table.
• Multiple entrances and exits. (Think tunnels, shafts, chimneys and crawlways.)/li>
  

And as a reminder, here's the description for the Caverns of Lakoma:

0406 Caverns of Lakoma: A system of caverns four levels deep, these had been expanded into an underground village by the Lakoma tribe until they fell to a great magical curse and the caverns were abandoned. For more information, see the Caverns of Lakoma notes.

With my next post, I'll start working on the background of the cavern system, and identify the three core factions that will be present, at least on this first level of caves and such.

Enjoy,
Flynn