Dungeonscape

by Jason Bulmahn and Rich Burlew

Overall score:

Every good connoisseur of Dungeons and Dragons knows that beginning an adventure has two steps. First, they all start in a rowdy, poorly lit tavern where ‘dwarf tossing’ is both a sport and something the poor barmaids have to clean off the floor. There, every intrepid adventurer looks for the 4 basic monster food groups: Fighters, Wizards, Clerics, and Rogues. Once properly mixed the group makes a nice monster dinner salad known as a ‘party’.

To begin the second step, this ‘party’ then leaves the tavern and heads to a rowdy, poorly lit cave, (a.k.a. a ‘dungeon’) where ‘dwarf tossing’ is both a sport and something poor monsters experience if they are unfortunate enough to eat a bad dwarf. In Dungeonscape, Jason Bulmahn and Rich Burlew explore the second part of the equation, providing a solid guide for any DM who wants to elevate his dungeons beyond the simple, rowdy, dimly lit cave.

The basic aspects of any good dungeon are covered nicely in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, including all the essentials such as walls, floors, doors, traps, etc. Dungeonscape takes those basics and adds a great deal of creativity and life to the ordinary dungeon crawl. It explores alternatives to the standard stone walls, such as walls made of fire and doors constructed from zombie parts. The book provides many innovative ideas for how to build a dungeon including basics like creating a theme to the intricate idea of dungeon ecology (What do the monsters eat? Where do they dispose of their waste? Who is winning the guardroom ‘Dwarf Tossing Championships’ pool?)

For any beginning Dungeon Master a lot of the information in this book might seem overwhelming, but some of the basic tools are invaluable. One section describes, step-by-step, how to create a challenging encounter for your party, beyond just “you enter the room and see three goblins who rush to attack you”.

The player is not forgotten in the hubbub of DM creativity and inspiration. The guide also has descriptions of what roles each class and race might play in a dungeon crawl and provides some suggestions for class ability alternatives for the dungeon-addicted.

The book introduces a new ‘jack of all trades’ class: the Factotum, who spends ‘inspiration points’ to provide whatever the party needs at the time, be it spellcasting or going toe-to-toe with that nasty ogre. There is also the pre-requisite new equipment, magic items, feats and skills all focused on surviving the new challenges that your suddenly inspired DM is pulling out of his Dungeonscape hat (DM hat sold separately).

Jason and Rich round out the book with a section on traps (a jolly, yet grisly, part of any good dungeon crawl) that explores the how and why of traps (What is the trap builder’s motivation? What role does the trap play in your dungeon theme? Does a good ejection trap really count as ‘dwarf tossing’?).

This section also has some thought-provoking pieces on how to involve the entire party in a trap. That way it's not just the rogue making some life-or-death rolls while the rest of the party just stands around, hoping they don’t have to make a trip back to the tavern to find a new rogue.

While Dungeonscape is certainly not necessary for the creation of a unique and challenging dungeon (all that takes is a good imagination and a warped dislike for adventurers). What the book does, however, is provide some very good ideas for how to take your dungeon crawl beyond the norm presented in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

If you and your fellow players love the smell of green slime in the morning, and you think that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” are the dying words of ‘Beauty’ your female bard, then Dungeonscape is a book you might want to consider.

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Written by Micah DeMoux on May 16th, 2007