Miscellaneous Observations: Dungeonscape by WotC [Archive] - Wizards Community

Miscellaneous Observations: Dungeonscape by WotC [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
miscellany
03-13-07, 02:46 AM I just bought Dungeonscape this weekend and I have to say I freaking like this book.

Beautiful cover, instantly useful rules and advice, and character options that make sense and look to increase the fun factor of dungeon delving.

I would highly recommend this book to any Realms DM looking to run adventures in the Undermountain or similar. Combine Dungeonscape with City of Splendors: Waterdeep and you’ll have the perfect set of resources to run an above-ground/below-ground Forgotten Realms campaign.

Dungeonscape even includes rules for magic intelligent item traps. I could very easily see Halaster the Mad stealing the mind of an adventurer and sealing it into the trap that killed her...all the better to make that trap more effective! Haha!

The Dungeonscape authors even pay attention to FR Lore. For example, there is a section that introduces Boon Traps, where such traps have a visual component that can see an arcane mark. This allows a trap maker to create a trap that only targets creatures with that mark. In this way a trap builder can actually aid creatures with the proper mark by having his trap cast beneficial spells upon such creatures, or conversely create traps that only target creatures not bearing a particular arcane mark.

It naturally follows that in the case of beneficial boon traps, players might try to steal the trap or attempt to fake an arcane mark so as to receive virtually unlimited healings or other beneficial spell effects from that part of a dungeon.

But as careful FR readers and long-time Realms fans know, forging another mages arcane mark is grounds for the worst of curses to be sent by Azuth himself onto the head of such a forger. Dungeonscape does not forget this, as it makes the effort to illuminate this point of lore for readers in a sidebar on page 136.

For those who like psionics in their Realms games, Dungeonscape devotes a reasonable amount of space to ready-to-use instructions on how to incorporate psionic powers and effects into a dungeon and its traps. Put Dungeonscape together with Underdark and you’ll have a powerful set of tools to build encounters around Underdark fortifications, bases and cities run by the Duergar or worse: Illithids.

I’m definitely going to use these two books when I introduce Oryndoll, City of Loretakers in our Epic Forgotten Realms campaign. One decerebrate trap after another, coming right up! :eek:

Lastly I REALLY like how Dungeonscape helps DMs with higher level campaigns. I deliberately went searching through the contents page of this book for mechanics that help DMs running 10+ level games and found what I was looking for instantly. The authors (Jason Bulmahn and Rich Burlew) took the time to naturally extend forward the rules for traps from the DMG and for monsters from the various monster manuals and came up with useful material for deadlier (but also creative) traps and poisons.

When you think about it, it does make sense that the poison of an (advanced) Colossal Purple Worm would be more deadly than that of a typical Purple Worm (DC 27 vs. 25). Additionally, traps with visual components can trigger off of other traps that create motes of light, etc...so it becomes possible to create a ‘trap chain’ of sorts. Throw in Antimagic Field at the end of any such chain and Halaster wins every time! :devil:

So that’s my first impression of this book. I think Dungeonscape is worth the cover price, makes an excellent addition to any collection and is the kind of book tailor-made to be used with other products (including Realms sourcebooks) to produce fun, challenging dungeon encounters.

<I better quit now before Miss Miscellany springs the “catapult you out of your chair and into bed with me where you belong” trap!)

:)
selunatic2397
03-13-07, 11:00 AM Thanks for the advice! :)

I was debating what to spend my D&D budget on this week...:evillaugh

It won't be first edition...but what is anymore outside of my every other friday campaign ? :D

Thanks again!
miscellany
03-13-07, 09:06 PM You are very welcome Selunatic I know Mr. Miscellany will be very happy to hear this I hope you get good and nasty with your players with this book especially if you can totally whop 'em first edition style (which is itself very hardcore way to go out with that system cause BOOM! [or SPLAT! or GOUGE! or STAB! or PINPRICK+POISON] then you are dead).

I know Mr. Miscellany has already thought up a trap (possibly an intelligent one) that comes in the form of a tall mirror to be located at the long end of a hallway. The mirror reflects any spell cast on it (and can "catch and steal" then reflect any spell cast if the actual casting is is within the visual range of the mirror) back at the source, or at any valid target reflected in the mirror.

Above the mirror is a tall vertical shaft that goes 100' up into darkness. If you attack the mirror, it first teleports you up to the top of that shaft and then activates an antimagic field along the length of the shaft plus directly in front of the mirror --thus asuring a swift, deadly fall to the ground.

Just another nasty creation Halaster might have though up during his idle centuries in the Undermountain. :D

He's (that is, Mr. Miscellany and not Halaster although depending on who you ask they are really the same person especially around here but I am getting off track so....) also toying with the idea of an intelligent but also insane magical mirror that absorbs any spell cast at it and ejects the magical energy back out at the caster or any other valid target, but the energy comes in the form of any other spell (determined randomly) of the same level as the one first cast at the mirror. Once the random spell to reflect has been determined, the intelligence of the mirror gets to choose who or what to effect, but in a totally insane (i.e. up to an evil DM) kind of way.

If the mirror ends up with a spell it can't viably cast, a magic mouth appears over the mirror, growls in audible frustration then appears to vomit uncontrollably until the absorbed magic is spent (contents of conjured up vomit = up to DM).

See this book is really totally useful for getting the imagination going!!!!

Miss Miscellany
Ashathar
03-14-07, 12:29 AM I too, appreciate the advice regarding this book. Admittedly, I saw it (as well as the other similar books, like Stormwrack and the like) as extraneous and useless, but your post has given me cause to take another look at it, as well as the other books related to it.

Thanks.
Stigger
03-14-07, 12:39 AM I really like the environments series personally. A whole lot of really good ideas and concepts in Dungeonscape though, compared to the others, which weren't all that bad to begin with.
miscellany
03-17-07, 09:47 PM Mr. Miscellany is cooking up something with Dungeonscape and Tome of Magic right now that look's absolutely diabolical.

Looks like something to do with modifying the twisted-tower-in-a-sea-of-acid-filled-with-dead-body-parts encounter (SWEET!) that will use spells from ToM and the trap mechanics from Dungeonscape.

His goal is to make at least one of his players cry before the night is over. ;)

Anyone else pick the book up yet or have ideas to share?

:D
Dargoth
03-18-07, 09:10 PM I wonder if Expedition to Undermountain will list Dungeonscapoe as one of the books you need to run the module....
miscellany
03-18-07, 09:52 PM It may not be a necesarry item like the Big 3 (PHB, MM, DMG) but it certainly wouldn't hurt!

:)
Craig C.
03-18-07, 10:35 PM Mr. Miscellany is cooking up something with Dungeonscape and Tome of Magic right now that look's absolutely diabolical.

Looks like something to do with modifying the twisted-tower-in-a-sea-of-acid-filled-with-dead-body-parts encounter (SWEET!) that will use spells from ToM and the trap mechanics from Dungeonscape.

His goal is to make at least one of his players cry before the night is over. ;)

Anyone else pick the book up yet or have ideas to share?

:DThe Alternative Class Features are fantastic. Especially the Fighter Bullrushing option. Which from an optimization perspective, really compels one to actually take more than 2 levels of Fighter - in light of the huge damage bonuses you can get at Level 6.
miscellany
03-18-07, 11:54 PM Give that feature to a Dwarven Battlerager and make it his thing in-game to be known throughout Silverymoon and the north as the hero who doesn't hack his foes to death so much as he smashes them to bloody bits.

Good stuff in this book.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
miscellany 03-13-07, 02:46 AM	I just bought Dungeonscape this weekend and I have to say I freaking like this book. Beautiful cover, instantly useful rules and advice, and character options that make sense and look to increase the fun factor of dungeon delving. I would highly recommend this book to any Realms DM looking to run adventures in the Undermountain or similar. Combine Dungeonscape with City of Splendors: Waterdeep and you’ll have the perfect set of resources to run an above-ground/below-ground Forgotten Realms campaign. Dungeonscape even includes rules for magic intelligent item traps. I could very easily see Halaster the Mad stealing the mind of an adventurer and sealing it into the trap that killed her...all the better to make that trap more effective! Haha! The Dungeonscape authors even pay attention to FR Lore. For example, there is a section that introduces Boon Traps, where such traps have a visual component that can see an arcane mark. This allows a trap maker to create a trap that only targets creatures with that mark. In this way a trap builder can actually aid creatures with the proper mark by having his trap cast beneficial spells upon such creatures, or conversely create traps that only target creatures not bearing a particular arcane mark. It naturally follows that in the case of beneficial boon traps, players might try to steal the trap or attempt to fake an arcane mark so as to receive virtually unlimited healings or other beneficial spell effects from that part of a dungeon. But as careful FR readers and long-time Realms fans know, forging another mages arcane mark is grounds for the worst of curses to be sent by Azuth himself onto the head of such a forger. Dungeonscape does not forget this, as it makes the effort to illuminate this point of lore for readers in a sidebar on page 136. For those who like psionics in their Realms games, Dungeonscape devotes a reasonable amount of space to ready-to-use instructions on how to incorporate psionic powers and effects into a dungeon and its traps. Put Dungeonscape together with Underdark and you’ll have a powerful set of tools to build encounters around Underdark fortifications, bases and cities run by the Duergar or worse: Illithids. I’m definitely going to use these two books when I introduce Oryndoll, City of Loretakers in our Epic Forgotten Realms campaign. One decerebrate trap after another, coming right up! :eek: Lastly I REALLY like how Dungeonscape helps DMs with higher level campaigns. I deliberately went searching through the contents page of this book for mechanics that help DMs running 10+ level games and found what I was looking for instantly. The authors (Jason Bulmahn and Rich Burlew) took the time to naturally extend forward the rules for traps from the DMG and for monsters from the various monster manuals and came up with useful material for deadlier (but also creative) traps and poisons. When you think about it, it does make sense that the poison of an (advanced) Colossal Purple Worm would be more deadly than that of a typical Purple Worm (DC 27 vs. 25). Additionally, traps with visual components can trigger off of other traps that create motes of light, etc...so it becomes possible to create a ‘trap chain’ of sorts. Throw in Antimagic Field at the end of any such chain and Halaster wins every time! :devil: So that’s my first impression of this book. I think Dungeonscape is worth the cover price, makes an excellent addition to any collection and is the kind of book tailor-made to be used with other products (including Realms sourcebooks) to produce fun, challenging dungeon encounters. <I better quit now before Miss Miscellany springs the “catapult you out of your chair and into bed with me where you belong” trap!) :)
selunatic2397 03-13-07, 11:00 AM	Thanks for the advice! :) I was debating what to spend my D&D budget on this week...:evillaugh It won't be first edition...but what is anymore outside of my every other friday campaign ? :D Thanks again!
miscellany 03-13-07, 09:06 PM	You are very welcome Selunatic I know Mr. Miscellany will be very happy to hear this I hope you get good and nasty with your players with this book especially if you can totally whop 'em first edition style (which is itself very hardcore way to go out with that system cause BOOM! [or SPLAT! or GOUGE! or STAB! or PINPRICK+POISON] then you are dead). I know Mr. Miscellany has already thought up a trap (possibly an intelligent one) that comes in the form of a tall mirror to be located at the long end of a hallway. The mirror reflects any spell cast on it (and can "catch and steal" then reflect any spell cast if the actual casting is is within the visual range of the mirror) back at the source, or at any valid target reflected in the mirror. Above the mirror is a tall vertical shaft that goes 100' up into darkness. If you attack the mirror, it first teleports you up to the top of that shaft and then activates an antimagic field along the length of the shaft plus directly in front of the mirror --thus asuring a swift, deadly fall to the ground. Just another nasty creation Halaster might have though up during his idle centuries in the Undermountain. :D He's (that is, Mr. Miscellany and not Halaster although depending on who you ask they are really the same person especially around here but I am getting off track so....) also toying with the idea of an intelligent but also insane magical mirror that absorbs any spell cast at it and ejects the magical energy back out at the caster or any other valid target, but the energy comes in the form of any other spell (determined randomly) of the same level as the one first cast at the mirror. Once the random spell to reflect has been determined, the intelligence of the mirror gets to choose who or what to effect, but in a totally insane (i.e. up to an evil DM) kind of way. If the mirror ends up with a spell it can't viably cast, a magic mouth appears over the mirror, growls in audible frustration then appears to vomit uncontrollably until the absorbed magic is spent (contents of conjured up vomit = up to DM). See this book is really totally useful for getting the imagination going!!!! Miss Miscellany
Ashathar 03-14-07, 12:29 AM	I too, appreciate the advice regarding this book. Admittedly, I saw it (as well as the other similar books, like Stormwrack and the like) as extraneous and useless, but your post has given me cause to take another look at it, as well as the other books related to it. Thanks.
Stigger 03-14-07, 12:39 AM	I really like the environments series personally. A whole lot of really good ideas and concepts in Dungeonscape though, compared to the others, which weren't all that bad to begin with.
miscellany 03-17-07, 09:47 PM	Mr. Miscellany is cooking up something with Dungeonscape and Tome of Magic right now that look's absolutely diabolical. Looks like something to do with modifying the twisted-tower-in-a-sea-of-acid-filled-with-dead-body-parts encounter (SWEET!) that will use spells from ToM and the trap mechanics from Dungeonscape. His goal is to make at least one of his players cry before the night is over. ;) Anyone else pick the book up yet or have ideas to share? :D
Dargoth 03-18-07, 09:10 PM	I wonder if Expedition to Undermountain will list Dungeonscapoe as one of the books you need to run the module....
miscellany 03-18-07, 09:52 PM	It may not be a necesarry item like the Big 3 (PHB, MM, DMG) but it certainly wouldn't hurt! :)
Craig C. 03-18-07, 10:35 PM	Mr. Miscellany is cooking up something with Dungeonscape and Tome of Magic right now that look's absolutely diabolical. Looks like something to do with modifying the twisted-tower-in-a-sea-of-acid-filled-with-dead-body-parts encounter (SWEET!) that will use spells from ToM and the trap mechanics from Dungeonscape. His goal is to make at least one of his players cry before the night is over. ;) Anyone else pick the book up yet or have ideas to share? :DThe Alternative Class Features are fantastic. Especially the Fighter Bullrushing option. Which from an optimization perspective, really compels one to actually take more than 2 levels of Fighter - in light of the huge damage bonuses you can get at Level 6.
miscellany 03-18-07, 11:54 PM	Give that feature to a Dwarven Battlerager and make it his thing in-game to be known throughout Silverymoon and the north as the hero who doesn't hack his foes to death so much as he smashes them to bloody bits. Good stuff in this book.