Slow down, you're doing fine.

It's you vs. you. Ignore the hype of Dungeon23 and focus on the process.

So, #Dungeon23. The hype is real. But the hype will be gone by February.

Over the past month I’ve gotten tweets and DMs and messages about the rules of Dungeon23 and if you can do this or that or is it okay if I…

Stop.

The idea is to write. The game is simple. One room a day. One level a month. 365 rooms this year.

This is about progress, not perfection. Because while it’s exciting right now that everyone is talking about it, come August there might only be a handful of us. That means it’s you vs. you out there. You and the blank page.

When I was a teenager I received some of the best advice I ever got about the creative pursuit, which was “have something to show for your time.” I really took that to heart. Every year I focused on one project and getting that one thing shipped.

Dungeon23 is a lot like that. It’s about finishing.

So don’t listen to people saying the dungeon won’t be good or that it won’t be publishable. That’s not the point.

This is not the only way to write a dungeon, but it is what I am doing.

A lot of people will suggest, and I don’t think they’re crazy, to theme your dungeon. Come up with a backstory. A reason for its existence. A grand plan. If that’s what gets you excited and that’s what gets you to 365 rooms, that’s great. But if not, I’m going to suggest an alternative:

Discover your dungeon.

Part of what appeals to me about dungeons in particular is their mystery. Their abandonment. This is why I love empty rooms so much. They set the pace and the tone. Something was once here and now there’s nothing.

When you discover a dungeon you need to know why there’s an underground lake next to prison cells next to a fairy shrine next to a dwarven mine. You’ll find out when you play.

Here’s what I do: I read over the rooms for this week that I’ve already done. I take a deep breath and close my eyes and see what comes to mind. If it’s been maybe ten seconds and nothing is there. I write empty room and move on with my life.

If it’s just an image, a shroud. A broken statue. I write that down.

I try to only spend a few minutes a day on this project. Maybe 5. I can catch up on a missed week in half an hour. I’m giving myself permission to discover this dungeon. Not design it.

Because as much as this is an exercise in writing, it’s also a  reminder that the dungeon is not the game. The game is what happens when you play.

This is why I like short keys. The longer your key is, the more you’re trying to design the encounter. To control the experience. Nothing wrong with that. I have to do that a lot in Mothership.

But the power of dungeon games, is that they tap into this mythical magical thing. And the more you write the more you burden the imaginative world with the the reality of expectation. Keep a loose and open hand. The game will come.

You are just one of the players. Leave room for the others.

Thank you all for joining me on this delve. I can’t wait to see what you all come up with, no matter how far you get, whether you write a tome, or just scratch something on the back of an envelope. I’m here for it.

Let’s go find some treasure.

—Sean

P.S. There’s a great book about creative pursuits called “Do the Work” by Steven Pressfield. It’s cheap and I highly recommend checking it out if you like creative work.

P.P.S. Here’s my key for Nov/Dec (I started early because my planner started early) so you get an idea of how much I’m doing, if you want to set a baseline. I’ll post the maps later, but I told my family I needed to send an email like 30 minutes ago and there’s dishes that need doing.

11/28 Entrance to Dungeon. Wheel of chance (I started a big table for this in the back of my planner, I’ll add to it as I go along).

11/29 Empty room. Chains, manacles on the wall.

11/30 Pit room. x3 Magons (winged goblins), bottomless pit (leads to lower level).

12/1 Hand-carved tunnel. Hundred pound boulder. Dead dwarf (legendary mining pick: enchanted for powerful digging, key to 12/2, 500sp, 75gp gems x2)

12/2 Tiled room (lit torches). Coffin (hd3 minotaur, 1000sp, +1 axe)

12/3 Wizard’s study. Potion of giant strength. Desk (locked, poison needle trap): dagger, spellbook (“zap!”). Bedroll, painting of wizard. Secret door behind bookshelf (pull candlestick).

12/4 Stairs to Level 2.

12/5 Radiant pool (green glow). 4 ghouls. Rusted plate armor at the bottom, +1 sword.

12/6 Throne room. 4 skeleton guards. King Silmono. Wants Jewel of cursed Angel from Level 4. Will give a ring of command skeletons (1d10 charges).

12/7 Well of souls (lose 1xp per foot traveled down or up).

12/8 Silmono’s lab. Astrolab. Telescope, microscope, books on trying to learn how to regain a soul, 1200 gp worth of fragile materials. Clearly all belong to Silmono.

12/9 Empty corridor.

12/10 Boatman’s workshop. Boatman will take you through underground river in exchange for one of Silmono’s bones.

12/11 Underground river. 1d6 River ghouls attack if not crossing with Boatman.

12/12 Goblin looting a corpse of knight (key to 12/18)

12/13 Cavern entrance. Two statues of angels. Pedestal with staircase down through water.

12/14 Empty room.

12/15 Bone nest for goblin from 12/12. Medium treasure horde.

12/16 Manticore (sleeping) lair.

12/17 Large treasure horde.

12/18 Shrine of blessing.

12/19 Two statues (Devils) with flaming braziers.

12/20 Prison cells. A. Thief. B. Empty. C. Dummy, under mat secret tunnel to 12/26.

12/21 The Butcher. 8’ tall. Chain to center of floor.

12/22 Empty room.

12/23 2d6 goblins. Altar of Gob Rat.

12/24 2 level prison. Mostly empty. Fighting bit on bottom. Secret door to 12/25.

12/25 Hidden cell of the pretender king.

12/26 Empty room. Stairs to Level 3

12/27 Sacrificial altar. Chained sacrifice. 6 snake men. Gem eyes on statues.

12/28 High priest of Set, the Serpent god. Royal guards.

12/29 Slaves to the servant of Set, chained to pillars.

12/30 Pit of the Servant of Set (HD 5 Leather AC, giant snake, speaks telepathically).

12/31 Treasure Horde