Dungeon! Variants #3

Continuing on from my previous articles here and here, part three adds the Monk and the Bard to the fray!

The Monk and Bard in Dungeon! by Jon Pickens.

Here are two new pieces for that great game, Dungeon!

The Monk competes will with the Hero, Elf, Dwarf, and, Hobbit. Whilst the Bard takes on the Wizard, Superhero, Cleric, and Thief.

These new pieces will allow players to experiment with a grand total of ten different strategies.

THE MONK. Representing the far Eastern martial arts expert, the Monk moves six spaces per turn.

He fights as an Elf, getting two strikes in combat (only one if using a Magic Sword). If his first blow kills (or has any effect on an ambusher), the Monk gets a bonus move of one square, which may not be used to initiate another attack.

A Monk treats Serious Wounds as "drop one prize, retreat one square, lose one turn". He cannot otherwise be wounded or lose turns, but he does lose prizes and can be killed.

The Monk ignores all traps except those that transport him to a chamber one level lower. The Monk may not ambush other players.

He may not pick up Magic Armor or any prize worth more than 3000GP. The Monk needs 10,000 GP to win.

THE BARD. The Bard moves five spaces per turn.

He attacks and defends as a Hero. The Bard is unaffected by "Hold" and can only affected by Fireballs and Lightning Bolts on a roll of 8 or better. In addition, he gets any combination of the following cards up to a total of four:

• Entrancement Song: Played instead of attacking. The opponent's return is automatically "No Effect", but the Bard can not pick up the treasure.
• Combat Song: Allows the Bard to fight as a Superhero when played.

Unlike other pieces using cards, the Bard need not return to the Main Staircase to replenish his stock. He may restore them at the rate of one per turn that he that he takes no other action.

 

The Bard's songs are considered magical for all in game purposes. He needs 20,000 GP to win.

Dungeon! Variants #2

Continuing on from my previous article here, why not Hobbits and Thieves to your Dungeon! experience?

Hobbits and Thieves in Dungeon! by Gary Gygax.  

We have found the game, Dungeon!, to be most enjoyable when each participant plays a different piece.

With the standard game, four makes the best match, and then with the Dwarf and Cleric are added six persons are able to play different pieces. With the desirability of adding still more diversity to the game, as well as the desirability of allowing up to eight different strategies to be played, the following new types incorporated.

Subsequent games have shown both the Hobbit and the Thief are viable competitors against the standard types, as well as against the two optional pieces.

THE HOBBIT: The Hobbit pieces moves only four spaces per turn. The Hobbit fights as either a Hero or an Elf, whichever has the higher score to beat the particular monster and, when rolling on the PLT a score of 11 is treated as a 6 or 8 score.

However, the Hobbit is able to arm themselves with up to seven missles. Hobbit missiles are treated as spells with regard to combat. There is no PLT roll if the Hobbit fails to kill the monster. The missle adds +2 to the Hobbit's dice score. As with a spell, he must indicate he is using a missle (any unused spell card will suffice), and the missles may be replenished in the same manner as spells (one per turn at the "Start" space).

Hobbits are able to open Secret Doors on a die roll of 1-3. They ignore Traps just as a Dwarf does. The Hobbit needs 10,000 Gold Pieces to win.

THE THIEF: The Thief piece is able to move six spaces per turn. It fights as a Hero, but on all attacks which are non-sequential upon the same monster the Thief adds +1 to his dice roll score (due to stealth and surprise), and if he fails to kill the monster the Thief ignores all PLT dice scores except 2 (he hides in the shadows to escape the monster or climbs out of it reach).

If he ever attacks the same monster in two consecutive turns, he loses all of the above benefits and fights exactly as if he were a Hero. On any attack score of 12, it is assumed the Thief has stolen the prize without combatting the monster, and he may then take a bonus move of up to 3 space, but he may not engage in another combat.

The Thief opens Secret Doors on a die roll of 1 or 2. All Traps, except those which transport him to a Chamber one level lower, are ignored by the Thief. In order to win, the Thief must accumulate Prizes at least equaling 30,000 Gold Pieces value.

EDITORS NOTE: Although not specifically mentioned in the original article above, I believe that the Thief fights as a Hero.

Dungeon! Variants #1

Not long now before I can lay my hands on the re-release of Dungeon! Which has got me working away, digging up all the old material I had lying around for my original copy.

Material that thankfully I wont need to re-type thanks to this gentleman here. That said though, I have had to edit parts of the document (mostly to make better sense of it myself), which you can read below.

Dwarves and Clerics in Dungeon! And a Pair of New Treasures and Some New Monsters to Make the Pot Sweeter by Gary Gygax.  

In order to add a new dimension to the character types in Dungeon! we have added the Dwarf and the Cleric.

The former is in the strength category of the Elf and Hero; the latter is designed to compete with the Superhero and Wizard. In playing we have found that both new types are viable and have about the same chance as the others to win if they are played properly.

For the six-player game of Dungeon! it is highly recommended that each player operate as one of the six types, allowing no two of the same type on the board.

THE DWARF: The Dwarf fights as an Elf, so simply use that score on each monster card which applies to the Elf when combatting monsters. Likewise, the Dwarf needs 10,000 gold pieces to win.

Although the Dwarf does not open secret door any better than a Hero (1 or 2 on 1D6), he does detect and remove Traps easily. Therefore, whever a Dwarf enters a space containing a trap, he simply puts it in the discard pile, ignoring the results of the trap, and freely picking up any treasure thereunder.

THE CLERIC: It will be necessary to add two types of spells for Clerical use:

• Hold: This spell causes the monster it is thrown upon to defend at -2 (ad +2 to the dice roll of the Cleric), and in addition, the monster does not get a dice roll in the event that the Cleric fails to kill the monster when he combats it.
• Transference: Simply use the Wizard's Teleport spell. If there are several Wizard's playing in the game, additional cards may have to be made up.

The Cleric fights as a Hero against all monsters except Undead (Skeletons, Wights, Wraiths, Mummies, Spectres and, Vampires) and, Evil Heroes, Evil Superheroes, Witches and Evil Wizards. In these cases, he fights as a Superhero.

Also, although the Cleric cannot ambush others, he may be ambushed, but if he is ambushed he fights as a Superhero.

The Cleric may take a maximum of four spells at any time (Hold and/or Transference in any combination). He may replenish spells just as a Wizard does.

When rolling on the PLT, the Cleric treats "Seriously Wounded" as a "Retreat 1 space, lose 1 prize, lose 1 turn". In all other cases, he cannot be wounded or lose a turn, but he can be killed or lose prizes. The Cleric needs 20,000 gold pieces to win.

New Prize Cards: With the new characters, it is suggested that the following new prizes be added:

• Boots of Speed: Amend the lowest value Third Level Prize Card to read: "Boots of Speed: Increase movement by 1 space per turn"
• Magic Armor: Amend the lowest value Fifth Level Prize Card to read: "Magic Armor: When rolling on the PLT, add +1 on rolls of 2-6, -1 on rolls of 8-10 and 12. Rolls of 7 or 11 are not affected. Additional value: 1,500 Gold Pieces."

New Monsters: Simply amend existing monsters as indicated below in order to make the game more interesting. The numbers following the name of the new monster correspond to the numbers shown on the card for Lightning, Fire Ball, Wizard, Superhero, Hero and Elf.

• First Level --
  • On Skeleton card: Zombie 3,3,7,4,5,6
  • On Hobgoblin card: Orcs 5,2,6,4,6,4
  • On Giant Lizard card: Anti-Magic Trap! "All magic and spells. Gone!"
• Second Level --
  • On Hobgoblin card: Gnolls 4,4,7,5,8,6
  • On Hobgoblin card: Harpy 3,3,5,6,7,7
  • On Giant Spider card: Owl Bear 4,4,9,4,6,7
• Third Level --
  • On Ogre card: Fireball Trap! "Roll on PLT,7=8, 11=10. Prizes lost are destroyed!"
  • On Werewolf card: Evil Priest 7,7,8,6,7,8
  • On Mummy card: Wight 10,5,7,6,8,9
• Fourth Level --
  • On Evil Superhero card: Manticore 6,6,11,9,10,11
  • On Troll card: Wyvern 8,8,9,8,10,10
  • On Mummy card: Wraith 6,6,8,8,9,10
• Fifth Level --
  • On Green Slime card: Fire Elemental 5,--,12,9,10,12
  • On Troll card: White Dragon 10,5,12,9,11,12
  • On Giant card: Spectre 8,8,9,7,9,11
• Sixth Level --
  • On Vampire card: Demon 9,--,11,10,12,--
  • On Purple Worm card: Basilisk 10,8,12,10,12,12
  • On Blue Dragon card: Earth Elemental --,6,--,9,11,--

If you do not wish to actually mark up the monster cards, simply put an "X" on a corner of the face and the a code number to indicate which new monster it is. Have fun!