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.

Gen Con XI: Dungeon! Tournament

Gen Con XI featured a Dungeon! championship on Friday, August 18, 1978.  Judges were Timothy Jones, Tom Christensen, Andy Holshan, and Bryan McVeigh.

A game of Dungeon! played at Gen Con XI (1978).  UW-Parkside Library archival photograph.

A recap was published in "That 'Other' Dungeon!" by Timothy Jones in The Dragon #21 (December, 1978), including the rules variants used (those published in The Strategic Review #6 (February, 1976) and The Dragon #1 (June, 1976).

Character pieces were restricted to the four "new" types (Halfling, Dwarf, Cleric, Thief).*  New magic items were introduced in the second round (including cursed items), and new monsters in the third and final round (with new abilities).

*Halflings could regain missiles as per spells, one per turn at "Start", and remove curse was added as a new Cleric spell

The player-to-player attack (or "ambush") rules appear to have been used.  Clerics could not ambush others, but could attack as a Superhero if ambushed.

Magic items from The Strategic Review #6 were added in the second round, as well as the following new ones:

New magic items: magic warhammer (2nd level, only usable by Dwarf), anti-ESP medallion (3rd level, cursed item), sacred mace (3rd level, only usable by Cleric), armor of vulnerability (4th level, cursed item), holy sword (5th level, only usable by Paladin), scroll of spells (6th level, usable by Thief and Wizard, includes sleep), wizards staff (6th level, only usable by Wizard).

Monsters from The Strategic Review #6 were used in the third round, with the following new abilities:

Dragon Breath: red dragons (as per fireball spell), blue or white dragons (as per lightning bolt spell).

Evil Characters: witches (lightning bolt spell), evil wizard (fireball spell), evil priest (curse spell; character is transported to the nearest chamber on the same level, without prizes).

Illustration by Harry Quinn, from the Dungeon! (1981) rules

The article by Jones also describes rules that weren't used in the tournament, but playtested during several rounds of open gaming, sponsored by the tournament judges:

The Elf: gets 3 arrows (missile/weapons as the Halfling).

The Wizard: cannot use magic armor (may carry at 4 spaces/turn) or magic weapons (may carry at no penalty).

The Halfling: when attacked by another character or breath weapon/spell, the Halfling defends as the better of the Hero or the Elf.  When attacked by giants, trolls, or ogres, the Halfling defends as though wearing magic armor.

The Dwarf: defends against giants, trolls, and ogres as does the Halfling.

The Cleric: of all the magic weaponry, the cleric may only use the sacred mace.

The Thief: may be affected by breath weapons/spells normally (defensive bonuses do not apply).  Cannot use magic armor (may carry at 5 spaces/turn).

Finally, a new character type was playtested:

The Paladin: fights as a Superhero, except against undead (see Cleric) whom he fights as a Superhero +1 (add +1 to the attack die roll).  Treats a "Serious Wounds" result on the Player Losing Table as retreat 1 space, drop 1 prize, lose 1 turn.  May not initiate ambush, but if ambushed, fights as a Superhero +1.  Only the Paladin may use the holy sword.  Needs 30,000 gp to win.

The Strategic Review #6

"The Strategic Review" served as "the newsletter of Tactical Studies Rules" and covered topics in military miniatures, games, and swords & sorcery.  Vol 2, No 1 (February, 1976) was released in January, 1976 (16 pages).

The editor is listed as Timothy J. Kask, the AFV editor as Mike Reese, the contributing EPT editor as M.A.R. Barker, and the contributing S&S editor as Steve Marsh.


In The Cauldron:

Three announcements in Tim Kask's column caught my interest, starting with "Classic Warfare" (my son was signed up to play a game, "Fury of the Celts", run by Kevin Maurice, at Gary Con this year, before it got canceled):

CLASSIC WARFARE is now a reality. It has been a project of Gary’s for over seven years, and the finished product shows it.  It is by far the most playable set of rules covering the period available.  It should hold a great deal of interest to those who are not into ancient miniatures, but do have an interest in ancient military history.  The second half of the book “Historical Characteristics” is chock-full of fascinating data and minutiae that is in itself enough to get you bitten by the ancients bug...

There is also an oblique reference to the development of the "Swords & Spells" supplement:

We are pleased to announce that we have reached agreement with MINI-FIGS, LTD., on a brand new line of D&D figures.  The line is being designed by both MINI-FIG and TSR, so finally you will have access to castings that look like the monsters we describe.  In conjunction with that, we are also working on a set of D&D tabletop rules for figures.  They will enable you to do on table top outdoor adventures, as well as army battles, and plan campaigns accordingly.

Finally, there are announcements regarding Dave Arneson and Mike Carr:

TSR continues to expand. Dave Arneson has joined us in Lake Geneva, full time, and has assumed the mantle of Research Director.  Mike Carr, of FIGHT IN THE SKIES fame, will be joining us not long from now.  He will become our controller, and hopefully help us get our act together better.  We are looking forward to the addition of both these talented people to our "family", and it augurs very well, for you, our supporters... 

The Meaning of Law and Chaos in Dungeons and Dragons and Their Relationships to Good and Evil:

A seminal article by Gary Gygax, splintering the three-alignment system of original D&D into five alignments, while simultaneously establishing the framework for the nine-alignment system of AD&D, still a couple years away.

Alignment chart from The Strategic Review #6.

Gygax states "had I the opportunity to do D&D over I would have made the whole business very much clearer by differentiating the four categories, and many chaotic creatures would be good, while many lawful creatures would be evil."

In fact, the AD&D Monster Manual (1977) enabled him to do this.  Creatures were assigned one of the five different alignments from this article, in keeping with the rules presented in the Holmes Basic Rulebook (1977) published earlier that year.

The Lawful/Chaotic axis was originally modeled after Poul Anderson's "Three Hearts and Three Lions" (1961) in which Neutrals were "unaligned" (the model used in Chainmail).  Michael Moorcock's idea of Neutrality as seeking balance represents a slight but important nuance.

The Good/Evil axis was apparently suggested to Gygax by Steve Marsh,* according to this article.  This better captured the spirit of heroic fantasy, as represented by J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", and is fittingly perpendicular to Moorcock's cosmology.

*update (May 17, 2020): an excerpt from Marsh's correspondence with Gygax:

Having finished the Hawkmoon/Corum/Erikose/Elric cycle in the old editions, I'm considering reading the new ones (especially the new Elric stories).  A quote from the last of the last books:

... It has sometimes worked for good."

"Chaos is not wholly evil, surely?" said the child. "And neither is Law wholly good. They are primitive divisions, at best - they represent only temperamental differences in individual men and women. There are other elements..."

... "All are primitive," said the child.

And thus we have the last, definitive word on alignments from Michael Moorcock who is responsible for the original set up (tho' not what TSR did with it).  I thought you might like the quote.

Steve Marsh, 1975/76

I find it interesting that "The player-character who continually follows any alignment (save neutrality) to the absolute letter of its definition must eventually move off the chart (Illustration I) and into another plane of existence as indicated."  A paladin could ascend to heaven, in this manner!


The Quest for the Vermillion Volume:

Short fiction in a humorous vein, by Rob Kuntz.  Significant in that it makes references to D&D game mechanics.  I suspect, as with other pieces of short fiction, that its characters and events may have been based on an actual game session.

I found this cartoon interesting, for possibly representing the earliest known depiction of a DM's screen.  A similar cartoon appears in The Strategic Review #7.

War of Wizards:

An update by John W. Berry, with refinements to M.A.R. Barker's "War of Wizards" game, "an extract from...a much longer and more complete compilation of play aids, interpretations, changes and additions to War of Wizards, produced as a result of lengthy conference with Prof. Barker".

There is another article, "War of Wizards Solitaire" by Richard L. Mataka, which provides a system for playing solo games.


Bards:

The original bard class, by Doug Schwegman, was a combination of the Norse "skald", the Celtic "bard", and the Southern European "minstrel".  A fighter with thief skills (level/2), the ability to cast magic-user spells (level/2), and hit dice, attacks, and saving throws as per clerics.

Special abilities include charm with a chance of mesmerizing any creature that can hear his song (including undead, at a penalty of 10% per hit dice!), and lore (reflecting knowledge of legends, magic, etc.) useful for identifying the properties of magic items and intelligent swords.

Interestingly, Schwegman states "Bards and Druids are closely connected and since they both belong to the same sect each must aid the other if they are in need."


Mighty Magic Miscellany:

A description of barding harps, by Doug Schwegman.  These are named after the various bardic colleges, and include the Fochlucan Harp, Mac-Fuirmidh Harp, Doss Lyre, Canaith Lyre, and Cli Mandolin.


New Game, New Strategy:

Ancient Conquest, Excalibre Games, 1975

A description of the "Ancient Conquest" board game, set from 1500 B.C. to the fall of Assyrian power in 612 B.C., involving the Hittites, Assyrians, Egyptians, and Babylonians, among others.  An in-depth review is posted, here.


Sage Advice:

Theronius (Terry Kuntz) provides corrections for the Greyhawk Supplement, with entries for the Homunculus, Golems (Flesh Golem), Rod of Resurrection, Gem of Seeing, and Gauntlets of Dexterity.

The Strategic Review #5

"The Strategic Review" served as "the newsletter of Tactical Studies Rules" and covered topics in military miniatures, games, and swords & sorcery.  Vol. 1, No. 5 (December, 1975) was released in November, 1975 (16 pages).

The editor is listed as Timothy J. Kask, the AFV editor as Mike Reese, and the contributing S&S editor as Steve Marsh.

The Strategic Review #5 (December, 1975).  Cover illustration by Greg Bell.

In The Cauldron:

A column by Tim Kask, formerly "TSR News".  Among the various updates:

Also a little in the future is an EPT-based game on the order of DUNGEON!.  However, the similarity is merely superficial.  It is a really promising game in its own right, played on a beautiful board.

This board game, named "Quest!", was developed, but never published.  I got a chance to play it at Gary Con XI in 2019.  The session was hosted by the game's designer, Bill Hoyt.

Quest!  The Underworld of Tekumel, at Gary Con XI in Lake Geneva, March 2019.  Photograph from the Legends of Wargaming Facebook page. 

I found the game really enjoyable, in the spirit of David Megarry's "Dungeon!", but with creatures from the underworld of Tekumel.

Cover art for the Quest board game, courtesy of Paul Stormberg, with thanks to Bill Hoyt.

Also included in this issue were short biographies of E. Gary Gygax, Brian J. Blume, Robert J. Kuntz, Theron O. Kuntz, and Timothy J. Kask.


Sturmgeshutz and Sorcery:

The orders of battle, situation analysis, and objectives for a confrontation between a German SS Patrol and The Servants of The Gatherer, along with a detailed summary and game analysis, from a mixed Tractics/D&D session, originally mentioned in The Strategic Review #3.

Sturmgeshutz and Sorcery, from The Strategic Review #5.  Illustration by Greg Bell.

The Gatherer, an Evil High Priest (12th level, with +2 armor & shield, snake staff), could easily be repurposed to serve as an OD&D castle wilderness encounter.  His lieutenants are Grustiven the Warlock (8th level magic-user) and the Lama Goocz (7th level cleric).

The Servants of The Gatherer include:

1 Hero (4th level, with +1 armor & shield, +3 sword)
1 Hero (4th level, with +1 armor & shield, +1 spear)
1 Magician (6th level magic-user)
2 mummies
3 ogres
3 ghouls
4 trolls
19 orcs:

4 with axes
6 with swords
6 with spears
3 with bows (51 normal arrows & 9 magic arrows)

1 insectoid pet (equal to Giant Scorpion)

The EHP also commands a force of 200 orcs, led by his "strongest fighters", who are elsewhere at the time of this encounter, warring against a Neutral Lord who insulted him.


Mapping the Dungeons:

More information about a proposed fan-based supplement, originally mentioned in The Strategic Review #4:

We have been kicking around the idea of a readers/players supplement, composed of material submitted to us.  We get stacks of stuff every week from players, and a good deal of it is quite good.  Well, it is impossible to print every bit of it in SR.  We just don't have the space.  And we certainly don't want to discourage future submissions.  So we thought we would select the best material received and print it along with the items printed in SR in a supplement.  Everyone that has a piece printed will have it credited to them, and receive two copies of the supplement as payment.  (The reason for including stuff from SR is that it wouldn't be fair to the already printed authors, because their stuff is definitely good material, and no one gets paid anything more than an extra copy for items used in SR, excepting the pride of seeing their name in print.)  How about a supplement of nothing but magic?  (Spells-only, or items only, or somewhere between?)  Or how about a book of Artifacts and Relics?

Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry, included a new character class (the druid) contributed by Dennis Sustare, but no material previously appearing in The Strategic Review.  There was, however, a section on Artifacts and Relics.

Another idea in the pot is geomorphic dungeon maps.  Let us know what you think of these, and feel free to make additional suggestions.  We want to publish what you want most.

Dungeon Geomorphs Set One: Basic Dungeons, designed by Gary Gygax, was released the following year.  It was followed by Set Two: Caves & Caverns, and Set Three: Lower Dungeons, both published in 1977.  All were in the style of his maps for Greyhawk Castle.


Mighty Magic Miscellany:

Robe of Scintillating Color:

I looked then and saw that his robes, which had seemed white, were not so, but were woven of all colours, and if he moved they shimmered and changed hue so that the eye was bewildered.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

This magic item, with its ability to bedazzle and hypnotize, was presumably inspired by the robes of Saruman of Many Colours.

Prayer Beads:

Several types are described, including Beads of Atonement, Beads of Response, Beads of Damnation, Beads of Karma, Beads of Succor, and Beads of Hindrance.


Wargaming World:

We've heard about a D&D Con on the West coast, but we're a little upset at the advertising he sponsors used.  They claimed that Fritz Leiber was going to be there with "his" dungeon, but when we asked him, he said it was untrue.  Hope none of our loyal D&D fans are duped, so verify before you go, and spare yourself some disappointment.

A brief history of DunDraCon* by Steven Perrin, sets the story straight, here.

*DunDraCon I (Mar, 1976) is where the Bay Area "Perrin Conventions" were introduced.

Creature Features:

Rakshasa:

Based on the rakshasa of Hindu mythology.  Gygax was inspired to create statistics for this creature after watching Horror in the Heights, an episode of "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" (1974-75), according to this En World Thread in July, 2005.

The Slithering Tracker:

Slithering tracker.  Illustration by Bill Willingham.

A nasty creature, able to kill adventurers in their sleep, unless a save vs. paralysis is made.  With only a 5% chance of spotting its transparent body, this can even happen with somebody on watch.  The illustration above was originally posted on Zenopus Archives in March, 2012

The Trapper:

Gygax confirmed that both the Trapper and the Lurker Above were inspired by the Ngóro (“the Whelk”) and the Biridlú (“the Mantle”) respectively, creatures from M.A.R. Barker's "Empire of the Petal Throne", in this En World Thread in October, 2007.

Dungeon! Rules Variants

Following the re-release of "Dungeon!" back in 2012, James Maliszewski interviewed David Megarry about the game's early development:

Gary made some changes to the board, insisting that there was an imbalance in the movement on the fourth level, but by and large the game has remained essentially as I designed it.  Gary did request player-to-player attack rules which I supplied but I insisted they be optional rules.  He added a few more optional rules like wandering monsters, but I viewed these as complications to the basic play

I've never played with either of these rules, but can see how they would make the game more interesting for experienced players.

Gygax went on to write two "Dungeon!" rules variant articles:

"Dwarves and Clerics in Dungeon!" in The Strategic Review #6 (vol. II, no. 1) February 1976

The Dwarf:  fights as an Elf, ignores traps, needs 10,000 gp to win

The Cleric:  fights as a Hero (or as a Superhero against undead monsters and evil characters), can use up to four hold monster or transference (teleport) spells, 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 can still be killed, needs 20,000 gp to win

New Magic Items:  boots of speed (3rd level, can move up to 6 spaces/turn), magic armor (5th level, +1,500 gp, opponents "add +1 on rolls of 2-6, -1 on rolls 8-10 and 12, rolls of 7 or 11 not affected").

The convoluted rules for magic armor reflect the earlier version of the monster attack table (adding +1 on all monster attack rolls works as a suitable alternative, using the 1980 rules):

Combat Losing Table, from Dungeon! (1975)

The Strategic Review article also includes several new monsters and two new traps:

New Monsters:  basilisk, demon, dragon (white), elemental (earth, fire), evil priest, gnolls, harpy, manticore, orc, owl bear, spectre, wight, wraith, wyvern, zombie

New Traps:  anti-magic trap (lose all spells and magic items), fireball trap

"Hobbits and Thieves in Dungeon!" in The Dragon #1 (vol. 1, no. 1) June 1976

The Hobbit:  moves only 4 spaces/turn, fights as an Elf or a Hero (whichever needs the higher score to defeat a particular monster), more easily stunned (a score of 11 is treated as a 6 or 8 when rolling on the Player Losing Table), can use up to seven missiles (+2 on attack roll, may use from corridor, like spells), finds secret doors 1-3/d6, ignores traps, needs 10,000 gp to win

The Thief:  can move up to 6 spaces/turn, fights as a Hero (+1 on first attack, due to stealth and surprise), cannot be wounded in first round of combat (hides in shadows or climbs up out of reach), although can still be killed, steals prize on roll of 12 (avoiding combat, plus can move an additional 3 spaces), finds secret doors 1-2/d6, ignores traps (except slides), needs 30,000 gp to win

Expanding the types of characters possible to choose from invites the use of miniature figures to represent player pieces, as opposed to the colored pawns included with the game.  It would be fun to mock up monster and treasure cards to use with these variant rules, someday.

A few summers ago, my son and I experimented with these other character classes, also using the new magic items, monsters, and traps.  We found that the Hobbit enjoys clear advantages using its missile attacks, while still only requiring 10,000 gp to win.

Dungeon!

Back in the 1980s, my brother and I enjoyed playing "Dungeon!" when it wasn't possible to play D&D.  We had no idea that the game's origins actually predate D&D, or that it contributed to the latter's inception, not the other way around.

Cover to the Dungeon! fantasy boardgame (1980).  Illustration by Jim Roslof.  The warrior in the bottom left corner seems a homage to the Greg Bell swipe from the cover of the Greyhawk supplement (1975).

David Megarry was inspired by Dave Arneson's "Blackmoor" game to create a board game simulating a dungeon crawl.  He reflects on the history of "Dungeon!" in 40 Years of Dungeon! A conversation with David R. Megarry (2015), by The Fellowship of the Thing.

Megarry was introduced to Gary Gygax by Arneson at Gen Con III in 1970.  He and Arneson would famously drive to Lake Geneva in late 1972 to showcase "Blackmoor" and "Dungeon!" to Gygax.  Soon afterwards, Arneson and Gygax began collaborating on D&D.

Megarry started working on a second version of his game, naming it "The Dungeons of Pasha Cada" (1973), a copy of which came to light in 2011. The first edition of "Dungeon!" was published in 1975.  A revised edition followed in 1980 (the version we used to play).

Daniel Boggs has written about probable sources of inspiration for "Dungeon!" in Dungeon in the Womb of Strategos as well as the game's likely impact on the development of D&D in The Dungeon! Board Game as a Foundation of D&D.

I was fortunate enough to meet David Megarry in 2018.  For the past several years, Megarry has been running sessions of "Dungeon!" at Gary Con for multiple players, on the actual table that Arneson used to run his Blackmoor games.

David Megarry explains the development of his board game "Dungeon!" at Gary Con X (March, 2018).

David was a great host, and happy to chat about old times.  At the session's conclusion, each participant was given handmade monster and prize cards in a little slipcase as keepsakes (mine were for the 6th level - a red dragon and a ruby ring worth 4,000 gp).

Incidentally, when I asked him about the long corridor running along one side of the board, he told me that it was originally intended to line up with another game called "Castle", and that a third game "Kingdom" was also planned, presumably to simulate wilderness adventures.

The following year, my son signed up to play in one of Megarry's sessions.  My kids and I have enjoyed playing "Dungeon!" for years, and my son was looking forward to the experience.  Afterwards, he received a very special memento:

A copy of Megarry's First Dungeon (1972), reproduced with kind permission by David Megarry.

The map is a fascinating piece of the game's history.  It evokes a sense of mystery and adventure, although we were too awestruck to ask about any of its features.  Perhaps David can be enticed to share a few contextual details, at next year's Gary Con.

I recently stayed up late with one of my daughters, long after her sister went to bed, in her quest for the fabled 10,000 gp diamond she had previously glimpsed among the treasure cards for the 6th level.  Her wizard finally left the dungeon with 87,000 gp worth of treasure, including the diamond!