Heed the Call to Adventure - Five Room DougCon

DougCon 2022 is fast approaching, Oct. 21-23, and while it is primarily focused on board games, this year there may be a couple three table top roleplaying games in the mix. Well, I know there will be at least one… assuming I get my shit together in time. I’ve offered to run a game of Dungeons & Dragons for anyone that might be interested. Nothing fancy, just a little five room dungeon (5RD). My plan is to run something in 3-4 hours for 4-5 players. A thing I have not done since 2004-2005 in a game system I haven’t run before. Should be a cakewalk.

The basic structure of a 5RD varies a bit, depending on the particulars of the dungeon and who is telling you about it. I’m using the following guidelines which might make up the ‘traditional structure’ for this type of adventure.

• Room 1: Entrance And Guardian
• Room 2: Puzzle Or Roleplaying Challenge
• Room 3: Red Herring
• Room 4: Climax, Big Battle Or Conflict
• Room 5: Plot Twist

The term “Room” could be read as an area, challenge, encounter, chamber, or test, it does not necessarily need to be a room. In my case, they’re rooms. I’m basic like that. And between the various rooms we have connectors – halls, passages, doorways, etc. Typically, you would go through the rooms in sequence, from 1 to 2 to 3, etc., but there are variations on the theme. See, for example, “The Nine Forms of the Five Room Dungeon” over at Gnome Stew for a good breakdown on the form.

I haven’t really done this before. My usual starting point is a campaign and this is a much more tightly focused one shot adventure. The size of the 5RD seems like it should work well for this kind of single episode play. A nice small encounter area that should work great for a few hours of play. I’m basing the adventure on this map found on Dyson’s Dodecahedron blog.

The Wretched Reliquary by Dyson Logos

Last weekend I built and painted the terrain model I’m going to use for the game. Based, of course, on the map above.

5RD Crafted

5RD Stacked

Tonight, I built the adventurers for the players to use. I based the party make-up on the class/race combinations in the Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set and Essentials Kit, but I rebuilt them because I didn’t much care for the particulars of those characters, also, because these five characters will become the rival party of the players in my Adventure campaign whenever I get that up and running. Here’s what I came up with, hopefully the names are asexual enough that they’ll work for whoever comes to the table. I had intended these to be 1st level characters, but after reviewing my adventure ideas and the limitations that put on my choices, I decided to make them 2nd level.

Tymek Brangohr, Dwarf Cleric “I always try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost.”
Miralar Vilalath, Elf Wizard “There is nothing I like more than a good mystery.”
Ankas Whispercloak, Halfling Rogue “I always have a plan for what to do when things go wrong.”
Nyah Jahril, Human Fighter “I can stare down a hell hound without flinching.”
Firam Hinosor, Human Fighter “I. Will. Finish. The. Job.”

I have 7 people interested in playing. I might need to split them into two groups and run this thing twice. We’ll see what happens, I’ve got nearly two weeks until go time. Things are coming together nicely. I need a quick running, fast paced adventure to go with what I already have and I’d like to put a Halloween spin on the scenario, given it’ll be the weekend before the tricks n’ treats. Not sure what I’m doing there. I have a map and characters, the adventure should come together any day now.