D&D General Dungeon23 Companion thread - Discussion

[Reynard]

I thought it might be worthwhile to have a separate thread for discussion about the process, philosophy, intent, and trials and tribulations of #dungeon23 so as to keep this thread easy to navigate to follow fellow posters' work.

I have noticed a couple different styles at play. For example, I am writing a first draft of a full product, while others are sketching (often literally). I am staying away from concrete mechanics, as well.

 

[Reynard]

Here's a good post from Sean McCoy about not letting the hype overwhelm you.

I think he is very likely right about the hype going quiet by February and the field being very thin by August. I hope to see it through -- one of the reasons I decided to do it is that I usually get a wild idea and go hard at it for a couple weeks. if I am lucky I have enough to use. Usually, though, it goes in the graveyard of half baked ideas. I want to learn sustained enthusiasm when possible, and shutting up and doing the work anyway when not.

 

[overgeeked]

Here's a good post from Sean McCoy about not letting the hype overwhelm you.

I think he is very likely right about the hype going quiet by February and the field being very thin by August. I hope to see it through -- one of the reasons I decided to do it is that I usually get a wild idea and go hard at it for a couple weeks. if I am lucky I have enough to use. Usually, though, it goes in the graveyard of half baked ideas. I want to learn sustained enthusiasm when possible, and shutting up and doing the work anyway when not.

Setting low but regular goals is a must for endurance. If one room a day is too much, do one room every other day. Consistency is the important part.

 

[Reynard]

Setting low but regular goals is a must for endurance. If one room a day is too much, do one room every other day. Consistency is the important part.

I think"30% of rooms are empty" is going to be a life saver at times.

 

[overgeeked]

I think"30% of rooms are empty" is going to be a life saver at times.

And random generation. People can have sparks of inspiration…but 365, in a row…get some dice and charts handy.

 

[Reynard]

And random generation. People can have sparks of inspiration…but 365, in a row…get some dice and charts handy.

I am going to aim for all brain sauce, but we'll see what happens.

 

[Reynard]

When in doubt, put something weird in.

 

[overgeeked]

When in doubt, put something weird in.

Works for the OSR. The weirder the better.

 

[hedgeknight]

I can't remember where I found this, but I'm going to use this alternative schedule for #Dungeon23:

• Monday - Room description.
• Tuesday - Item description. Magic item, alien tech, something players will interact with.
• Wednesday - Room description.
• Thursday - Inhabitant description. Flesh out an NPC from a previous room.
• Friday - Room description.
• Saturday - Faction detail. Create a new one or write a brief element for an existing one. Create connections between factions.
• Sunday - Rumor about something you've written in the past week.

This schedule will result in 150 rooms, 50 items, 50 NPCs, and 50 rumors.
I may tweak it a bit for my dungeon and do 25 NPC's and 25 Monsters, and only a few rumors, using the other Sundays to flesh out rooms and inhabitants, write up some more detailed room descriptions, create some traps, etc.

 

[Charlaquin]

Here's a good post from Sean McCoy about not letting the hype overwhelm you.

I think he is very likely right about the hype going quiet by February and the field being very thin by August. I hope to see it through -- one of the reasons I decided to do it is that I usually get a wild idea and go hard at it for a couple weeks. if I am lucky I have enough to use. Usually, though, it goes in the graveyard of half baked ideas. I want to learn sustained enthusiasm when possible, and shutting up and doing the work anyway when not.

Same here. That’s why I’m taking the advice to not overplan and let the thing emerge organically.

 

[Quickleaf]

Here's a good post from Sean McCoy about not letting the hype overwhelm you.

I think he is very likely right about the hype going quiet by February and the field being very thin by August. I hope to see it through -- one of the reasons I decided to do it is that I usually get a wild idea and go hard at it for a couple weeks. if I am lucky I have enough to use. Usually, though, it goes in the graveyard of half baked ideas. I want to learn sustained enthusiasm when possible, and shutting up and doing the work anyway when not.

Nicely said. I think that's a really grounded way to approach this. Find joy in the creative process, push through the hard days, don't get swept up in hype.

I put together my personal master list of resources for this crazy endeavor, and thought I'd share. The attached PDF is hyperlinked, but the image is merely illustrative.

 

[Reynard]

Nicely said. I think that's a really grounded way to approach this. Find joy in the creative process, push through the hard days, don't get swept up in hype.

I put together my personal master list of resources for this crazy endeavor, and thought I'd share. The attached PDF is hyperlinked, but the image is merely illustrative.

View attachment 271093

There is a bunch of great stuff on that list, but by far my favorite must be The Dungeon Alphabet.

 

[Quickleaf]

There is a bunch of great stuff on that list, but by far my favorite must be The Dungeon Alphabet.

Dungeon Alphabet is great, I love Michael Curtis' work and illustrations! One of my favorite RPG art pieces of all time is that 2-page black and white spread of the adventurers in the dungeon.

I have everything on my list – a lot of pdfs and a few books – except for Jade Colossus. If I pass my upcoming license exam I'm rewarding myself by picking it up at my FLGS. A friend recommended it and I was surprised to see Bruce Cordell show up – I haven't followed his recent works, but loved his stuff for AD&D.

 

[bedir than]

I love seeing the varied approaches to this. One tweet has turned into thousands of different concepts.

 

[Quickleaf]

I love seeing the varied approaches to this. One tweet has turned into thousands of different concepts.

Cool! Besides the other thread here on ENWorld, are you seeing most people sharing their dungeons on Twitter, or Mastodon, or elsewhere?

 

[bedir than]

Cool! Besides the other thread here on ENWorld, are you seeing most people sharing their dungeons on Twitter, or Mastodon, or elsewhere?

yes, yes, and on WordPress as I updated my Reader rss when Twitter started to fail.
I expect to see stuff on Insta if I search the tags, as the visual medium is great for it.

edited to add: your question reminded me to follow the tag on WordPress. I already found new D&D blogs posting regularly.

 

[overgeeked]

Cool! Besides the other thread here on ENWorld, are you seeing most people sharing their dungeons on Twitter, or Mastodon, or elsewhere?

There's also a reddit.

Building adventure, one day at a time. • r/Dungeon23

This is a place for people to show off their progress in the Dungeon 23 challenge and to share relevant articles, information, and blog posts. For...

old.reddit.com

 

[Reynard]

It's so weird. I see a bunch of people on reddit getting frustrated already, and I just want to respond to them all with "It's YOUR challenge. Do it however you want, and don't worry about anyone else."

It's a marathon. Find your pace early.

 

[M_Natas]

My tip: after finishing your room today, plan what you are going to to the next day.
First you are already in a creative flow after creating your room for today and secondly you can directly start creating the next day because you already know what you are creating.
So in the morning (or whenever your write/draw) you are not sitting in front of an empty page and don't know what to create.
So after finishing of my room, I write down the datenof tomorrow and the room number and name.

 

[hedgeknight]

It's so weird. I see a bunch of people on reddit getting frustrated already, and I just want to respond to them all with "It's YOUR challenge. Do it however you want, and don't worry about anyone else."

It's a marathon. Find your pace early.

If you're already frustrated...it's only freaking day three. Do yourself (and your friends, colleagues, fellow forum posters) a favor and just stop now. No need to be whining about it going forward. Just...stop.
Edit: My apologies for being negative. We all love this game and should support one another.