After far too long navel-gazing about starting a campaign based on the original Dungeons & Dragons rules, it's time to properly get down to it and start designing the dungeons, wilderness, and city. The dungeon is the centrepiece of any original D&D campaign, so that's where I need to begin.
Since my goal is to design a campaign that sticks as close to the original D&D rules as possible, I need to take another hard look at the wandering monster tables. With wandering monsters being encountered every 6th exploration turn (on average), those tables are going to drive a lot of the action, so I'd like to take a look at them and see what I need to take into account for them to make sense.
Before that, I'll outline what I have so far in terms of overall dungeon concept. I'm planning on designing 13 central levels, with an unknown number of side- or sub-levels. There's a sleeping god (or some other kind of unknown entity) buried under the 13th level, whose dreams affect the dungeon and the lands around it to a lesser degree. The dungeon itself is the work of an ancient, decadent civilisation, who were digging downwards to get closer to those dreams. I have a bunch of ideas for what might be in those levels, but I'll keep some of that to myself for now. I want to get to the wandering monster tables.
Monster Level 1: Kobolds, Goblins, Skeletons, Orcs, Giant Rats, Centipedes, Bandits, Giant Spiders.
These monsters will be encountered on dungeon levels 1-2.
None of these require much explanation. The various vermin (rats, spiders, and centipedes) will have wandered in from the surrounding wilderness, either to hunt or make their lairs. The bandits I think will similarly be from the surface, some searching for treasure or perhaps ensnared by the dreaming entity. It does mean I should place a bandit lair or two not too far from the dungeon.
Skeletons are never too difficult to explain in a dungeon. I might say that those who die in the dungeon still walk in dreams, or perhaps that they've wandered up from the tombs below (many of the dungeon's builders having wanted their bodies buried as close to their sleeping god as possible). Or maybe the ancients used skeletons and zombies as servitors and guards. All ideas I'm toying with.
Likewise, the evil humanoids (kobolds, goblins, and orcs) never require much explanation, but I do want to have lairs for all the various types in the dungeon somewhere. I'd probably put those lairs on dungeon levels 1 for goblins and kobolds, and on level 2 for orcs. Now that I think of it, I might create two or three orc lairs, so that I can take advantage of the tribal hostility that's kind of their whole deal in this edition. Maybe level 2 of the dungeon will be the site of constant warfare between these orc tribes.
Monster Level 2: Hobgoblins, Zombies, Lizards, Warriors, Conjurers, Gnolls, Ghouls, Toads, Berserkers, Theurgists.
These monsters will be encountered on dungeon levels ranging from 1st to 3rd.
The various NPC types (warriors, conjurers, and theurgists) I've covered in an earlier post: they will be people drawn in by the dreams from the lands around, and perhaps those of the ancient civilisation who still live on (I'm toying with the idea that some of them are still alive, sustained by the dreams, mostly sleeping and living in a haze).
It's tempting to say that the lizards and toads have wandered in from the surface, much as I did with the animals of level 1. But the lizards feel a little more authentically subterranean, so I'm thinking of having some natural caves connected to level 3. As for the toads... you know how you can get high from licking certain types? I have this idea that the builders of the dungeon were doing that in various ways to enhance their experience of the dreams. So perhaps theses damp caverns were used to breed psychedelic toads that have grown in size and gotten out of control since the dungeon fell to ruin.
The ghouls... it's a shame they're only found on levels 1-3, because I was thinking that maybe they could have been those that remain of the old civilisation. Instead, I think I'll make it so that those from the surface who die in the dungeon - without having succumbed to the dreams - wake again as ghouls. So yeah, the skeletons and zombies will mostly be ancient guards and servitors, and the ghouls are undead raised and driven mad by the dreams after death.
Hobgoblins and gnolls will work much like goblins and kobolds, with lairs on level 2 or 3 (probably 3 if I'm having multiple orc tribes on level 2). The zombies have the same explanation as skeletons. And the berserkers are from the surface just like the bandits, although being braver they are willing to delve into deeper dungeon levels. I'll need a berserker lair nearby on the surface as well, I guess.
Monster Level 3: Wights, Heroes, Giant Hogs, Giant Ants, Ochre Jelly/Gray Ooze, Thaumaturgists, Swashbucklers, Magicians, Giant Snakes, Giant Weasels.
These monsters are encountered on dungeon levels ranging from 1st to 5th.
As above, the heroes, thaumaturgists, swashbucklers and magicians are NPC humans who've succumbed to the dreams.
It's easy enough to say that the ochre jelly (and the gray ooze, which I've added to the level 3 chart myself) can originate from the damp caverns where the frogs and lizards breed. Let's say the snakes are coming from those caves as well.
The wights I would say are those lesser ancients who wanted to be buried close to the dreaming god. The greater your status and power, of course, the closer and lower down you'll be buried.
As for the giant ants, I'll probably have to have an ant nest connecting the surface to one of the dungeon levels.
I must admit, I have trouble explaining the giant weasels and especially the giant hogs. Perhaps the weasels are just from the surface, preying on the giant snakes. But what would giant hogs be doing here? I don't think they'd have much of a reason to be found underground, so someone must be bringing them here for a reason. Food for the humanoid tribes is one possibility. I also keep thinking that I want to include a gladiatorial arena somewhere in this dungeon... Another entertainment built by the ancients, bloodsports to amuse them in their dream-haze. Maybe the gnolls or hobgoblins like betting on hog and weasel battles? And throwing captive PCs in to fight as well, of course.
Monster Level 4: Wraiths, Ogres, Evil Priests, Myrmidons, Giant Beetles, Giant Scorpions, Lycanthropes, Gargoyles, White Apes, Enchanters.
These monsters can be encountered on dungeon levels ranging from 1st through 7th.
The evil priests, myrmidons, and enchanters are as the other NPC types above. The ogres might have their own lairs, or perhaps be servitors of the giants who live on lower levels, sent up to explore the dungeon levels where they can't fit. The wraiths are similar to the wights, only of higher status.
Gargoyles are living creatures in D&D, not animated statues, but I'm tempted to have them as decorations of the ancients, now inhabited by malevolent dream-spirits.
The White Apes are an odd one, being from the Barsoom novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. They might be the earliest sign that the walls of reality become thinner the further into the dungeon you go, and things from other worlds can step through into ours. I might even put some means of travelling to and from Barsoom on a lower level. I'll need one somewhere in the game if I'm going to use all of the rules.
The giant beetles and scorpions can come from the caves. The more I think about the caves, I think I'm going to have them as a system surrounding the whole dungeon and entering on multiple levels.
The lycanthropes are tricky, because they encompass four types: wereboars, werewolves, werebears, and weretigers. It feels difficult to incorporate all four... Maybe they began as animals taken into the lower dungeon levels, pets of the ancients who were awakened by the dreams and gradually became able to take human form, and infect those around them with the curse of lycanthropy. Most of those roaming the dungeons now will be infected humans rather than awakened animals. It feels like a stretch, but it just about works.
Monster Level 5: Trolls, Superheroes, Wyverns, Spectres, Mummies, Minotaurs, Manticores, Cockatrices, Sorcerers, Hydras, Medusae.
These monsters are encountered on levels ranging from 2nd to 12th.
Superheroes and sorcerers are men ensnared by the dreams. Spectres and mummies are the ancient dead entombed.
As for the rest, it's starting to get a bit like a menagerie that's too hard to rationally explain. So the answer is to abandon rationality, and just say that they are nightmares brought to life and given physical form. Maybe the dreaming god brought them into existence to protect itself from the ancients seeking its place of slumber. Maybe it's just a natural result of the walls of reality breaking down the deeper you go. But it's not a sane place down there.
Monster Level 6: Giants, Hydras, Dragons, Basilisks, Gorgons, Chimeras, Vampires, Lords, Balrogs, Wizards, Evil High Priests, Purple Worms
These monsters are encountered on dungeon levels ranging from 3rd to 13th (and lower if those levels end up existing).
This is an even crazier mix than the level 5 monsters, but the same explanation applies: living nightmares and holes in the fabric of reality. The main consideration I have to make is for the very large monsters such as giants, dragons, and purple worms, as they can be encountered from dungeon level 3 onwards. Leaving aside that extreme level of deadliness... it means that the dungeon corridors from level 3 on have to be big. Giants range from 12 to 20 ft. tall, so it looks like the ancients built their complex large. Maybe they were giants themselves? That clashes with the undead in the tombs, if those are to represent the ancients... but it's something to think on. Those passages will have to be at least 10 ft. wide and 20 ft. high, and the doorways similarly large.
So, some food for thought. I'm sure more will come to me as I come up with the rough theme of each level, and start randomly stocking things. It feels like a good start though, with everything tied together reasonably well.
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