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Dungeon Scrawl: Old school maps in minutes

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Re: Dungeon Scrawl: Old school maps in minutes

#51

Post by BorisTheBrave »

richard_mcp wrote: post #9
e12e wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this somehow distinctive from Dragon Magazine / Dungeon Magazine from the late 80s in a way I'm not seeing? Or eg. the various TSR boxed settings with dungeons?

I never read those magazines and I can't say I'm an expert on dungeon map styles, but it's the hatching done in the dungeon walls that Dyson is known for (e.g., https://dysonlogos.blog/2011/09/03/dungeon-doodles-a-crossha... ). It looks like the person that made this program started playing around with the idea May 9 ( https://twitter.com/probabletrain/status/1259172635776294912 ) a day after Dyson started tweeting a…

Here's someone playing with the concept even earlier though. It did the rounds on reddit at the time, so I'd assumed it was the inspiration.

https://twitter.com/watawatabou/status/1197194111171940352

(in aother tweet, @watawatabou attributes the style to Dyson, though the idea of doing it programatically).

Re: Dungeon Scrawl: Old school maps in minutes

#52

Post by BorisTheBrave »

gentleman11 wrote: post #30

I can’t really tell what this is. Is it just a drawing tool that applies styles, or does it procedurally generate dungeons for you? If it doesn’t procedurally generate, it would probably still be more fun to just use graph paper and some coloured pens

It just draws things.

This one generates dungeons:

https://watabou.itch.io/one-page-dungeon

Re: Dungeon Scrawl: Old school maps in minutes

#53

Post by probabletrain »

johnzim wrote: post #49
xwdv wrote: post #48

I would like to see a randomize button that creates something random and then lets me edit it to my tastes. It's just so exhausting to plan an entire dungeon from scratch.

One thing I found fun was to start by blocking out one room, then another and another and basically switching between tools - the geometric shape too for a tower or two, and then start linking them up. After a little bit of noodling you start to feel the outline of a building and then you can be a little more deliberative. In my experience, the hard part about planning out a dungeon is filling it with encounters. The…

You can actually import generated Donjon dungeons into Dungeon Scrawl using the TSV file

Re: Dungeon Scrawl: Old school maps in minutes

#55

Post by prawn »

Hopefully this catches the eye of someone in the thread who'd know: I have a 5yo and 7yo who have loved playing some version of ad-hoc D&D I invent on the fly but it inevitably breaks down at some point because I haven't accounted for something along the way.

What's the most basic setup I could use in terms of character attributes, dice, calculations, etc. They love even the most basic imaginative adventure so I'd rather something be easier to play quickly than take a lot of time learning. 20+ years ago I played some basic D&D and then some other rip-off (Rolemaster?! Swear it started with J though.)

I have an old Heroquest set somewhere but haven't been able to find it in my parents' attic.

Re: Dungeon Scrawl: Old school maps in minutes

#56

Post by sronors »

prawn wrote: post #55

Hopefully this catches the eye of someone in the thread who'd know: I have a 5yo and 7yo who have loved playing some version of ad-hoc D&D I invent on the fly but it inevitably breaks down at some point because I haven't accounted for something along the way. What's the most basic setup I could use in terms of character attributes, dice, calculations, etc. They love even the most basic imaginative adventure so I'd ra…

Not sure if it fits your requirements but there are games like No Thank You, Evil from Monte Cook Games. It is geared specifically toward kids.

Re: Dungeon Scrawl: Old school maps in minutes

#57

Post by whisps »

prawn wrote: post #55

Hopefully this catches the eye of someone in the thread who'd know: I have a 5yo and 7yo who have loved playing some version of ad-hoc D&D I invent on the fly but it inevitably breaks down at some point because I haven't accounted for something along the way. What's the most basic setup I could use in terms of character attributes, dice, calculations, etc. They love even the most basic imaginative adventure so I'd ra…

I haven't played it yet, but Quest is designed to be simple for all ages https://www.adventure.game/

Re: Dungeon Scrawl: Old school maps in minutes

#58

Post by kleiba »

prawn wrote: post #55

Hopefully this catches the eye of someone in the thread who'd know: I have a 5yo and 7yo who have loved playing some version of ad-hoc D&D I invent on the fly but it inevitably breaks down at some point because I haven't accounted for something along the way. What's the most basic setup I could use in terms of character attributes, dice, calculations, etc. They love even the most basic imaginative adventure so I'd ra…

but it inevitably breaks down at some point because I haven't accounted for something along the way

Could you give more details? That might be helpful in providing some ideas.

Re: Dungeon Scrawl: Old school maps in minutes

#59

Post by prawn »

kleiba wrote: post #58
prawn wrote: post #55

Hopefully this catches the eye of someone in the thread who'd know: I have a 5yo and 7yo who have loved playing some version of ad-hoc D&D I invent on the fly but it inevitably breaks down at some point because I haven't accounted for something along the way. What's the most basic setup I could use in terms of character attributes, dice, calculations, etc. They love even the most basic imaginative adventure so I'd ra…

but it inevitably breaks down at some point because I haven't accounted for something along the way Could you give more details? That might be helpful in providing some ideas.

For example, I might have instructed them to roll for three character attributes. And then they encounter an enemy which has hit points of some sort and maybe attack and defend numbers. And then I realise that something about their character attributes doesn't really gel with how I'm trying to get them to roll dice against that enemy. Or, wait, they need to jump across a pit but did one of their attributes apply (strength, dexterity) and how would it modify their rolling target.

My memory of childhood D&D stuff is very foggy which probably hinders more than it helps.

I think I need to know what the simplest set of character attributes and enemy values might be that can withstand some basic sketch-map-as-you-go exploration and fighting. Is it strength, dexterity and wisdom, out of 20? Or two or five attributes?

Re: Dungeon Scrawl: Old school maps in minutes

#60

Post by prawn »

sronors wrote: post #56
prawn wrote: post #55

Hopefully this catches the eye of someone in the thread who'd know: I have a 5yo and 7yo who have loved playing some version of ad-hoc D&D I invent on the fly but it inevitably breaks down at some point because I haven't accounted for something along the way. What's the most basic setup I could use in terms of character attributes, dice, calculations, etc. They love even the most basic imaginative adventure so I'd ra…

Not sure if it fits your requirements but there are games like No Thank You, Evil from Monte Cook Games. It is geared specifically toward kids.

That looks vaguely like it could work, if there was a system to borrow from it. My kids responded really well to a very literal "exploring a cave" scenario so don't necessarily need the less-D&D style of those stories.

We also have a house full of toys so I'm trying to avoid buying more gear. We already have paper, pencils and dice.

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