D&D Project: The Dungeonomicon

[Pip Boy]

Originally Posted by A real legend I didn't make up

"Many thousands of years ago, a great and powerful Dungeon Master summarized all of his teachings into one single work. He crafted the Dungeonomicon. Written in pencil and bound in spiral, this book wrought the death of thousands of innocent player characters. It contained the knowledge and wisdom of generations of great dungeon masters as they passed it down, teacher to student, then student became teacher and the cycle repeated. Years ago I was given this great and mighty instrument of the Gods. Then I misplaced it somewhere."

SUCH IS THE TALE OF THE GREAT AND POWERFUL DUNGEONOMICON.

The Dungeonomicon itself was a quick reference a DM passed to me a long time ago. It was a hand-written universal tool for DMs to have that was slowly made over months of DMing games and taking notes, making sure the same mistake was never made twice. It contained things such as quick names for NPCs of various different races and backgrounds, tables for random events that can take place in various scenarios, such as a table for inside a tavern, on the road, in a city, or inside a shop. It had quick-references for a wizard or cleric's spells prepared for the day based on their alignment, level, and role so that a DM would not be caught with their pants down if a random NPC with wizard levels was forced into combat. It had tailor made sidequests that were each a story that would play out on their own even without the intervention of PCs, with multiple stages along the way that the players can discover the events and have an affect on them. It had information that would allow a dungeon master to make an entire city in the middle of the game as the players wander off the expected path, seamlessly integrating it as if it was meant to be there all along. It had instructions that would allow a new DM to give personality to each of his NPC's and roll-play them so that they feel like people in a living world and not simply guards who announce "Welcome to Corneria." There was also a "punishment table" that would be rolled on to determine some kind of random bad thing that could happen in game when players broke character too much or were acting stupid. These punishments would be completely possible and reasonable things to happen in the world, such as a random magic item in their possession which they haven't tested yet turns out to be a cursed item, or a former owner of a piece of treasure they got from a monster's hoard tracks the item to them and wants it back.

Unfortunately, I lost it.

Lately, though, I've had some rough shit going on and have decided that I need a hobby or project to focus all my mojo on.

I've taken upon myself THE QUEST TO REBUILD THE DUNGEONOMICON. If any of you DMs out there have any good advice thats not in the normal books, I want to hear it. I'm not talking about homebrew rules and things, I mean the tips and tricks that keep a game running smoothly and make the players feel like they're in a realistic, dynamic world and not a bad video game. I need those personal touches you've learned over the years that make the game great.

And yes, I know, fuck me for having lost such a treasure to the world.