More Dungeon Delves

After my recent attempt at a solo dungeon crawl (literally solo, as I ran one character), I decided to experiment with different rules.

I haven't made cards yet; I want to settle on the rules first. Instead, I created the game on an Excel spreadsheet.

To the left is the character sheet. Then I created some virtual dice; hit Recalc to roll them. On the top right is a chronicle of the dungeon; it starts blank then gets filled in as the hero progresses through it. The bottom right displays the next challenge / encounter. I took an idea from One Deck Dungeon. In that game you lay out 4 encounter cards face down, then pick a card. Essentially, that's the room you chose to enter. I used 3 choices instead of 4. Pick one, then Recalc to determine the encounter.

How about the rules? I keep trying different things.

D6 with Upgrades
I used the same D6 system as before, which was based the Age of Heroes skirmish rules I've been blabbing about for the past 2 months. This time, I gave my hero some upgrades I created.

• Berserk - bonus to attack
• Barbaric Yawp - a ferocious battle cry that terrorizes the enemy
• Iron Will - shake off (i.e. heal) wounds

Each of the upgrades was usable once, which gave an element of resource management.

This time, the hero survived and beat the dungeon, although it was a near run thing against the Goblin King.

Four Against Darkness

I already have a D6 dungeon crawler, Four Against Darkness, so why was I trying to re-invent the wheel? I decided to give it a go.

I needed to make some changes. My goal is a game that allows a lone hero take on a dungeon, while 4AD has a party of 4. To even things up a bit, I gave the hero 2 attacks plus gave him a couple of extra abilities (Barbaric Yawp and Iron Will).

Again, the hero was bloodied but victorious.

The battles weren't as exciting as the AoH-based system, primarily because battles were over too quickly. 4AD is geared toward super-quick resolution, which allows you to explore a sprawling dungeon with a score of encounters in a reasonable time frame. When you cut the dungeon down to 7 encounters without any mapping, it is just too abrupt. In essence, I need a little more crunch.

2D6
For years I have experimented with a homegrown 2D6 system, but could never get it right. Still, I keep coming back to it. I decided to give my latest version a go as a solo dungeon crawler.

This time I created a lone paladin. I didn't quite finish (I still need to fight the boss), but I have some definite impressions. To reduce dice rolling, the hero only made one defense roll per turn, modified based on the number of attackers. However, I allowed the hero 2 attacks per turn, which probably made things a bit too easy.

Overall, the system seemed to work. The paladin did breeze through most of the dungeon. However, he struggled with a party of goblins. At one point, they got a critical hit on him, and he lost 3 out of 4 health points. Fortunately, he had a Heal.

Although I think I need to work on the stats a bit, I think this system has promise. If it fizzles, I can always go back to Four Against Darkness.