October 23, 2024 @ 21:33
2024 One Page Dungeon Contest entry - The Worms Must Die
This year, I had a go at designing a one page dungeon for the 2024 competition.
Here is a creepy thing from the dungeon:
My entry is called The Worms Must Die, and I wrote it for an OSR style game. It's in the compendium but you can also find it on my Itch.io account. You can download that for free on Itch.io.
I didn't win a place or get a mention, but I'm really happy with it still.
These are some things I would change if I could:
- More white space. A tip from another entrant is that if blocks of text are in overlapping circles then this creates the illusion of there being more white space than there really is.
- No bestiary. Pictures of the enemies and NPCs would be much more effective, and DMs already have a system in mind.
- The alchemist's journal should look like a page. It should also be over near where the alchemist's room, and someone who read my entry thought the journal was part of the introductory text.
- The important parts of each room should be bold font. This would help the DM to run the dungeon.
- The wall near the start should have a brick falling out of it, to make it really obvious that it's a flimsy barrier.
- The NPCs could generally be more interesting. They could have more goals, could have names, etc.
I think some things work well, based on feedback:
- Text with arrows pointing to relevant rooms works well.
- The isometric map and art style is good and sets the mood well.
- Interesting branching paths.
- The challenges are interesting enough.
- The alchemist's journal helps the story progress, in the form of something that players can find and interact with.
- There is a clear goal and problem to solve, making it easy for a DM to use this in a campaign.
I would also like to incorporate these elements into my next adventure:
- A time limit, with something bad happening at the end.
- A hex crawl, with time taken to move to an adjacent hex.
The One Page Dungeon Contest was a very fun experience and I'll be sure to have a go again in 2025.