Dungeon! More Variants

In addition to the various new character types introduced previously, Jon Pickens added two more, in "The Monk and Bard in Dungeon!" from The Dragon #17 (August, 1978):

The Monk: can move up to 6 spaces/turn, fights as an Elf, although gets 2 attacks/turn (only 1 if using a magic sword), if the first attack succeeds, can move an additional space (but no second attack), cannot be wounded or lose a turn unless "seriously wounded" (retreat one space, drop one prize, lose one turn - the same as a "light wound" in the 1980 version) although loses prizes/can be killed, ignores traps (except slides), cannot ambush other pieces/pick up magic armor or prizes more than 3,000 gp, needs 10,000 gp to win

The Bard: fights as a hero, is unaffected by clerical hold monster/only affected by fireball/lightning bolt on a roll of 8 or better, gets up to 4 "song" cards (entrancement song prevents attack, but cannot pick up treasure; combat song allows the Bard to fight as a Superhero), can be lost with anti-magic trap, although can replace 1 song/turn if no other action taken, needs 20,000 gp to win

I haven't played the game using either of these lesser-known variants, but might give them a try, the next time the kids and I play.

David Megarry leading multiple games of Dungeon! at Gary Con X (March, 2018), from the Wikipedia entry for Dungeon!  (I'm in the foreground, upper right.  Also, pretty sure that's Dan Collins, on Megarry's right).  Source: Wikimedia Commons

Rounding out our Dungeon! variants overview, we have George Laking's article "Dungeon! More Variations on the Theme" published in The Dragon #24 (April, 1979):

Transference: relaxing the limits of the "transference" (or, teleport) spell, while also increasing movement rates for the other character types.  Also, rules permitting the use of transference/teleport as an offensive spell.

Magical Monsters: rules for a version of "spell turning" for witches, evil wizards, vampires, etc.

Beast Masters: rules for subduing monsters, for both non-wizard and wizard character types.  Possibly inspired by Andre Norton's novel "The Beast Master" (the movie wasn't released until 1982).

Natural Occurrences: chance of bats, floods, poison gas, explosive gas, or cave-ins (11 on 2d6) or wandering monsters (12 on 2d6), whenever a turn ends in a corridor.

Dungeon Parties: rules for collaborative play.  The total gp needed to win is the total amount for each character, divided by two.

Laking concludes with the statement that with Dungeon! the possibilities are endless.  It's interesting to note the proliferation of variant rules.  It would be nice to collect them all together, along with "expansion packs" for the monster and treasure cards.