Dungeons

Dungeons and adventure sites are dangerous locations with internal logic — ecology, factions, history, and treasures that make sense together. They’re not pre-built. They’re generated from rumors when players create a reason to go there.

In engine terms, a dungeon is a cluster of quest nodes and lore nodes made physical. Every dungeon is a lore archive — the historical event that created it left secrets behind, and players discover them by exploring.

This is also why abandoned settlement districts (♠ Past buildings) become instant dungeon sites. They’re the same thing: a physical location where history left something behind.

Rumors First

Before generating a dungeon, gather the rumors. These are lore nodes — things the party has heard, read, or been told. They don’t have to be accurate. They just have to be what players are working with.

The Ex Umbra campfire approach: compile what the party knows. Unreliable narrators. Contradictory accounts. Fragments. Then generate the site from that material — confirming some rumors, contradicting others, ignoring the rest.

This is what makes dungeon discovery satisfying. Players aren’t finding a random dungeon. They’re finding out which things they believed were true.

Generation Procedure

Detailed procedures pending full development. Sources: Ex Umbra (primary), Delve & Rise (solo/mapping), Perilous Wilds (monsters and dangers).

Rumors and Discovery — Compile lore nodes, identify contradictions, determine which are true.

Mapping — Collaborative mapping using Ex Umbra’s heart turn and tremor turn. Card-driven room generation. Solo mapping via Delve & Rise.

Ecology and Denizens — The dungeon as a living place. Who lives here, why, how do they interact? Faction dynamics within the site. Threats that react to party actions.

Treasures and Rewards — Meaningful loot connected to history and faction goals. Treasures that become lore nodes for future sessions — artifacts with history, documents with secrets, items that factions want.

The GUMSHOE Guarantee Applied

Every dungeon must have at least one navigable path for each relevant party capability. A social character guarantees a social lead — maybe a prisoner, a faction dissenter within the dungeon’s ecology, or a spirit that can be reasoned with. Combat-heavy parties can fight their way through but don’t have to.

See GUMSHOE Guarantee for the engine-level treatment.