Blog (A5E) Dungeon Delver’s Guide: The NODES System

You’ve baited your story hooks. You’ve got your dungeon map. Now what do you put in all those rooms?

Creating an adventure’s worth of interesting features at once can be challenging. You may encounter writer’s block, or find yourself filling each area with repetitive challenges. (A dungeon where every room contains hostile monsters is one of the most common ruts to get stuck in!) In these cases, it can be helpful to have a checklist to make sure you have varied adventure elements: something for the puzzle solver, something for the story lover, something for the combat fan, and so on.

In Dungeon Delver’s Guide, we introduce a new tool for adventure design: the NODES system. Although we apply it to dungeons in this book, it’s applicable for any type of adventure design. Your scenario comes alive when it’s filled with Novelties, Obstacles, Discoveries, Escalations, and Set-pieces.

Dungeon Delver’s Guide: The NODES System — Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E)

You’ve baited your story hooks. You’ve got your dungeon map. Now what do you put in all those rooms?

www.levelup5e.com

 

[delericho]

Very nice. I hadn't been planning to get this book, but am now reconsidering.

 

[Reynard]

Very cool. I am excited for this book -- not least because I want to use it in some design!

 

[ART!]

Hopefully my groups schedule will work out such that I don't run my mostly-dungeon-crawl adventure until the DDG is out!

 

[This Effin’ GM]

Is this based on Justin Alexander’s Node Based Design?

 

[Waller]

Is this based on Justin Alexander’s Node Based Design?

Tell me you didn't click on the link without telling me you didn't click on the link.

 

[This Effin’ GM]

Tell me you didn't click on the link without telling me you didn't click on the link.

I’ll just tell you straight up, I didn’t click on the link. But I just did and saw it’s an acronym. Cool!

Anyway same question, but thanks for the snark. I just wanted to understand if the name was purely coincidence or if we are drawing off of same sources for adventure design

 

[M.T. Black]

This book looks terrific! I am so looking forward to getting it.

 

[Morrus]

I’ll just tell you straight up, I didn’t click on the link. But I just did and saw it’s an acronym. Cool!

Anyway same question, but thanks for the snark. I just wanted to understand if the name was purely coincidence or if we are drawing off of same sources for adventure design

They are not related in any way.

 

[This Effin’ GM]

They are not related in any way.

Thanks!