Bits of Darkness: Dungeons

[Messageboard Golem]

Buy it Today, Play it Tonight!
100+ descriptions to liven up any dark place.

"Bits of Darkness: Dungeons" is provided to bring new life to your dungeons by adding short "bits" of description to energize your adventures. It is written to be of use to both experienced and inexperienced Game Masters, particularly those who (for whatever reason) find themselves short on time or creativity.

This is created to be an "on the go" product, which means you don't need to read the entire work before you can use it. The descriptions are designed so that they can be randomly generated as you play or placed carefully ahead of time. For example, instead of saying "The room is empty," a GM can whip out Bit #47 and read, "You come across a backpack that appears to have been ripped open by a clawed hand and teeth. Its worthless contents have been scattered around, torn, and trampled..." and so on, painting a picture to add spice and interest to your dungeon, crypt, or other dark place. Essentially, nothing in your dungeon has changed. There is still effectively nothing there, but is no longer "just another empty room!"

This book includes 100 Bits of description, and 6 Shards. The Bits are small pieces that can be stuck in, anywhere a little description is needed, and are numbered so they can be used randomly. Shards are slightly larger, and may depict a particular place or event, or set a feel for an area. The material is also indexed a number of ways to allow a GM to easily find a description to fit a particular circumstance. Each Bit is also provided in index card format for ease of use by Game Masters.

As a special bonus, we have included 8 descriptions that could be used in a catacomb area, and some "Bits of Trouble," a few tricks or traps to keep players on their toes. In addition, some descriptions are graphically depicted in the excellent interior art by the Carmona Brothers.

"Bits of Darkness: Dungeons" uses material from the SRD, but could be used in any fantasy setting with very minor modifications.

This is part of the "Harried Game Master" line of products, providing the materials we've always wished to have.

22 pages plus index cards; 40 pages total.

 

[Crothian]

Bits of Darkness Dungeons

It is rare these days that a book surprises me. I have read a lot and seen even more. It just seems that while there are authors and publishes doing some great things, most seem to have been done or at least attempted. So when I opened up Bits of Darkness Dungeons by Tabletop Adventures I was expecting an adventure. Boy was I wrong. What I got were details. I have never seen a product like this and even as I write this I’m still not sure what I think of it. It is a creative idea and I for one like creativity.

Bits of Darkness Dungeons is a forty page PDF though it is sort of two version of the same book. I’ll explain that a bit more about that down the page. It comes in a zip file a little more then three megs in size and the PDF is not much bigger. The art is very little and I feel the weakest piece is the cover of the book. There is another full art piece on page six that I really like and think it would have served as a better cover. The layout is okay, but there are a few sections of large white spaces that really needed to be filled with more art or something. There are no book marks in the books but there is a nice index that would be great if it was used as the book marks. This is their first release and layout and book marks are common mistakes I see in early material by new companies.

So, what is Bits of Darkness Dungeons? It is not a module or campaign setting. It is not a player resource; it has no feats, spells, items, or classes inside it. It is a book on details. Not how to create ones own details but over a hundred specific details that can easily be added to any dungeon. These details are just descriptions but a lot of time descriptions can be a hard thing for DMs to create especially when one does not have adequate time to prepare them. Now, there are some interest ideas in the descriptions. They won’t change an adventure but can add an air of mystery and suspense when used right. There are descriptions of sights, smells, and sounds. They have some for rooms, hallways, and stairs. There are descriptions to enhance moods, inspire dread, and show signs of abandonment or previous explorations, or even the possibility of intelligence inhabitants.

As I was reading through it I came across a lot of good descriptions, but wasn’t sure how easy it would be to use them. Then I came to the second half of the book. It has all the descriptions reprinted and reformatted so when one prints them out they can be cut into index card size sheets. That is a great idea. There is plenty of room for DMs to note where they used the descriptions and to flip through looking for the right one. That is a great way to use these.

Bits of Darkness Dungeons is the rare product that is there to make the DMs job a little easier. It is also one of the rare products that can be used in any game system. There is nothing here the limits it to d20. The descriptions are aimed more at a fantasy game, but there are some that can easily be used in other genres. I like the usefulness and creativity of this product. I think it can really enhance games in a nice, easy way.

 

[DMH]

I have it and Caverns and have to say that both are quite useful. A several of the bits and shards gave me whole hooks. I hope they come out with many more for fantasy, modern and future.

 

[Crothian]

The website says they have a City one coming next year

 

[Messageboard Golem]

[No message]

 

[Messageboard Golem]

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[Messageboard Golem]

We do indeed. In fact, our ideas keep growing to the point where we're now looking at two, slightly different, books. We're also working on one called "Shards of the Heart," which will have NPCs and encounter information for possible romantic encounters, and will be out before Valentine's Day.

 

[Crothian]

so far they are all good, hopefully we will see more by you all