Dungeonpalooza:Main Page
Dungeonpalooza is a collectively-created world for any version of Dungeons and Dragons, Castles and Crusades, or just about any fantasy system where the GM wants to add a bit of levity -- and dungeons. LOTS AND LOTS OF DUNGEONS.
Dunegeonpalooza is designed to be a "living system" -- constantly in flux, with enough freedom for GMs to throw in just about any creature, location and dungeon their minds can create. The tone is generally humorous, although there are opportunities for drama and even terror. It is safe to say that if you aren't playing the setting at least some for laughs, though, that you are missing the point.
The primary adventure setting of Dungeonpalooza is the dungeon, and there are dozens upon dozens of such locations in any given section of the soon-to-be-created map.
The idea is this: Dungeons, old-school ones, were fun. Yes, they were somewhat silly. No, sometimes they didn't make much sense. But it was this wondrous anarchy that made them memorable and at times wonderful.
All of the background material of Dungeonpalooza is designed to give the Game Master ample reasons to send players packing off to forbidden caves, underground temple complexes and vast citadels of night deep within the earth.
It is largely assumed that bad guys lair in dungeons in Dungeonpalooza. In fact, they all do. Depending on the GM, this may even be considered a point of curious honor for the evil ones:
Ortak the Unclean: "Didja hear about Xyanthra?"
Blazzzor the Lich-Lord: "Yeah. Something about a floating citadel?"
Ortak: "I know, I know. It's horrible. I mean, lairs are hidden underground. That's ... that's just the way it's done."
Blazzzor: "Indeed. Evil exposed to the sun and air? It's just ... just ... unnatural!"
The Dungeonpalooza Theorum is this: The wackier the dungeon, the more fun for the players. The entire setting is designed to promote this sort of play. There is a sort of world background, but its primary function is to provide a backdrop to all the dungeoneering.
Magic mouths spouting riddles, living cystal statues, rotating rooms, checkerboard floors, fountains that change your sex if you drink from them, girdles that change your stature if you wear them ... it's all here and should be. While every dungeon should have some sort of internal consistency in terms of difficulty and theme, weirdness and humor are the watchwords for a Dungeonpalooza quest.
Enjoy what we've created so far, and add your own ideas -- either to the offical thread in the forums, or here.
A List of the Dungeonpalooza Continents Thus Far Created
Pagurus
"Crab Island"
Long ago, this island was the domain of a race of giant hermit crabs. The crabs used the island's savage humanoids (savage versions of the player races) as slave labor. When the world began to heat up, the crabs could no longer survive on land and retreated to cool underwater caves, leaving the savage humanoids to fend for themselves. The crabs left their shells behind, punctuating the skyline with giant, abandoned shells.
The island is now covered with sweltering, deadly jungle spotted by these towering shells, long since converted to treacherous, trapped lairs by the savages. The jungles grow countless fruits, and many of them have bizarre effects; some of the savages' most insidious traps are based on exotic fruits such as the Incindeberry (whose juice, when dried, bursts into flames upon contact with living flesh) and the Bane Melon (which explodes in poisonous spores when it detects rapid motion within 20'). Worst of all is the dreaded Crimson Squash, a giant, spiked, heavy root system that grows ever upward from the point where it was planted, leaving behind only a single red squash; if the squash is in any way disturbed, the magic of the plant is broken and the unnaturally huge root system falls down with the force of a collapsing castle. Sadly, the roots of the Crimson Squash prefer darkness and tend to naturally "hide" indoors, leading to dozens of Squash-related deaths every year.
Civilizing forces have begun to move into Pagurus, and so adventurers are never more than a week from a town. The towns, while civilized, are slightly tribal in feel due to cultural exchange. Trade is conducted with a special kind of leaf native to the island; any attempt to trade with precious metals is considered a deadly insult. Trade is worthwhile, because the savages retain great secrets of craftsmanship. In fact, it is said that they were taught by the superintelligent crabs, and that their greatest works are hidden or even forgotten in the most remote, well-guarded shells.
Paragus is full of adventure hooks, but admittedly sort of a niche location.
Kas-Turaaal - One of the largest continents
Consisting of:
The Free Kingdoms of Calishar (Smack in the Middle)
Home of noble knighthood (and delicious pound cake), the Free Kingdoms of Calishar shine forth as the greatest citadel of freedom in the heavy-forested continent of Kas-Turaaal.(1)
The magical wood that surrounds the southern part of the city is home to friendly colonies of elves(2), small bastions of other fae folk and vistas of strange wonder. But true evil also lurks within. The wood is dotted with caves -- dozens upon dozens of them, and there are ancient elvish ruins now long-abandoned where neither man or demihuman will willingly tread.
To the north of the city lies vast expanses of fertile farmland, fed by the Mighty Zorenplatz River which runs through the fertile valleys and snakes through Calishar itself before pooling into mighty Lake Woebetide about 20 miles southeast of the city. But there is neither peace nor succor even in this idyllic spot, for the Blackthew orcs hav been driven south by expansion of gnomish barbarian raiders, themselves driven out of their northern climes by bitter cold and hunger. Crazed and bloodthirsty, both the Blackthew Orcs, led by their fearsome leader Bonecrack the Incredulous, and the gnomish barbarian horde, led by Gwinglezort the Massive, will eventually push south into the northernmost reaches of the Calisharian kingdoms, bringing death, destruction and Adventure Hooks (tm) to all.
But for now, the human city of Calishar stands proudly between these vistas of light and shade, its gray stone towers and brilliant pennants seeming to scrape the skies. Home to the Knights of Calishar, preservers of freedom and possessors of really nifty uniforms, the kingdom is choc-a-bloc full of adventure. Legend says the city was built upon the ruins of a previous kingdom, blasted to bits by some unknown god.
Legend further says that hidden perils, untold riches and (most probably) a few cubic tons of liches, demons and other Vile Things (Vile Thing Union No. 558, to be exact) may still be found there.
Legend, a 10th level halfling thief, will be happy to sell you a map to the entrance of said supposed underground for a small consideration of only 100 gold pieces. He also likes licorice. It's the only way you'll ever get him to shut up.
The kingdom itself is peaceful, ruled with wisdom and a steady hand by the Archmagus Zorinthrax and a High Council made up of twelve representatives of the surrounding community. Xuanthril, a representative of the largest elvish colony to the south of the city, has recently joined as a 13th, non-voting observer. A forgotten prophecy, long ago written by the trembling hand of the famous sage Irankor of Arath'kar (in the Great Desert, a separate entry to be detailed later), states that when Calishar's council of 12 officially becomes a council of 13, strange and wondrous things will befall the city. This is true, but whether it will be a good or a bad thing is unknown. Most people except a select few have forgotten about the prophecy.
The Knights of Calishar are the city's elite fighting force, although not only armor-plated mercenaries make up its ranks. The permanent members of the KoC are mostly warriors, but the group freely hires on magicians, thieves, assassins, tradespeople and other folks. Regularly, hazardous work is contracted out to adventuring parties who agree to pay the 5 gold piece per member, per month free to be part of the Calisharian Special Forces, for which they get a magically-laminated membership card and regularly sent to certain death.
(1) Because fantasy names of all stripes must in include apostrophes, an inordinate number of vowels, etc. (2) Well okay, they're actually pretty much jerks, but then again, aren't all elves?
To the North:
The Plains of Interminable Gloom
Northern Kas-Turaaal is dominated by the gray, icy Plains of Interminable Gloom. While the Plains themselves are flat, featureless and stupidly cold, those who venture within will find either legendary treasure or horrid, freezing death. Probably horrid freezing death.
Until relatively recently, the Plains were ruled by Gwinglezort the Massive's gnomish barbarian nation. Not long ago, a band of adventurers travelling through the Plains introduced the barbarians to the mysteries of magic. In the process of practicing teleportation, the barbarians discovered such alien concepts as "summer", "comfort", and "not being eaten by mammoths". Since then, they have pressed southward in search of more temperate climes, and are now too embroiled with orcish and human conflict to return to their homeland even if they wanted to. Some few isolated pockets of gnomish barbarians still remain, but travelers are now more likely to meet Saber-toothed Mammoths, Yeti and Wood Monsters (who eat only wood, and are thus starving slowly since there are few trees near the Plains). The most exotic threats of the Plains are the Kremesicles, cousins of the puddings who live in milder climates. Kremesicles may be found in black, yellow, red and rainbow varieties.
Legend says that deep beneath the Plains sits the Diamond Fortress, and underground keep of shining, faceted ice. The Diamond Fortress is supposedly a deadly and terrifying dungeon built by the dragon wizard Urbozniak to hold his treasure. In fact, some claim that the Plains and the Diamond Fortress were both created by Urbozniak in an elaborate scheme to hide 10,000 lbs. of diamonds, which now sit in plain view somewhere in the Plains, indistinguishable from the surrounding ice.
Whether the Diamond Fortress exists or not, what is sure is that hundreds of expeditions have dug for it over the centuries, creating massive caverns beneath the ice. This means two things for the ambitious adventurer: 1) ancient treasure buried in forgotten tunnels and 2) frequent fatal cave-ins as miles of thoroughly-undermined ice suddenly collapse.
Trade through the Plains of Interminable Gloom is rare, but there is one avenue. At the northern tip of the plains is the port city of Akam-Ha. Here, rugged dwarven workers from the far-off land of Schlackengravva (to be detailed later, hopefully by someone else) unload and store shipments from around the world to be resold by the sled caravan that makes one trip over the Plains each year. In the past, the caravan has maintained high profits despite the rough terrain it covers by selling to both the gnomish barbarians and the human villages north of Calishar, carrying goods that would be too tempting to bandits if transported through civilization, and by maintaining very loose shipping laws in Akam-Ha. Since the gnomish barbarian exodus, the caravan has done poorly, and word is that the dwarves of Akam-Ha are questing for magic sleds to make the caravan faster.
NOTE: While yeti are extremely vicious and deadly, adventurers are not encouraged to slay them on sight. Some of them are actually half-yeti, a separate breed of highly intelligent and sensitive individuals of mixed yeti and human blood. Half-yeti (or "demi-yeti") are available as a player race.
And to the South:
Arath'kar, City of Wonders (to be written)
S'yar Wan
The rainy, overcrowded continent of S'yar Wan is the ancestral home of humanity, but it has become the most cosmopolitan of the continents.
In its coastal regions, S'yar Wan is a mix of rural expanses and clusters of squalid villages. The villages and farms of coastal S'yar Wan are slow to advance partly because of the tenacious vermin population that breeds in the woods. Life on the coast is a constant struggle to fend off rats, spiders, dire rats, bats, wererats, cannibal locusts, and two-headed rats. It isn't unusual for travellers to return to a recently-visited town only to find that the entire population has moved out following a truly epic mouse infestation. Local mayors and town guards often hire beginning adventurers to take the fight to vermin in their foul nests. An embarassing number of these adventurers don't return.
Northern S'yar Wan is cut off from the rest of the continent by the Saishona Mountains, which make travel extremely difficult. As a result, the mountains are home to various secluded and independent communities, including a nunnery populated by beautiful female monks, a prudently-sequestered school for novice summoners, and a penal colony for orcs taken prisoner by Paladins sworn not to slay helpless prisoners. Every five years, one representative from each community in the mountains goes to the peak of the highest mountain (Mt. Ungar) to settle any disputes. This is about as productive as one would expect.
The warm southern region of S'yar Wan is mostly humid swampland, home to humans and lizardmen. As populations grow, the lizardmen have begun building expansive bridge systems over otherwise uninhabitable swampland. Mass combat is impossible on these bridge networks, and so small, opportunistic groups of warriors can loot and pillage the communities there without fear of facing mass resistance. Almost the entire current generation of lizardman children have been shipped to fighter colleges in Schlackengravva to combat this danger. So hurry up.
The heart of S'yar Wan is a sprawling redwood forest. The forest is best known for the handful of great cities at its center, including the great market city of Kain Lim, the magic-oozing city-state of Libram, and the thriving kelptocracy of Coldcock (where the local Rogue's Guild has wisely turned its skill at skullduggery to election fraud and managed to become the ruling party). These cities would be impossible without the valiant efforts of the Red Woodsmen, a band of rangers who defend the outer rim of the redwood forest with a solid perimeter of fortified tree forts punctuated by larger stone fortresses. The Red Woodsmen mainly fight back the vermin infestation so common on the coast, but they also do their best to hold back other threats. The Red Woodsmen, for all their courage, are not especially potent, and don't fare as well against competent warriors as they do against wandering rodents. As a result, their fortresses change hands often, perpetually being taken over by enemies and then reclaimed by the Woodsmen (sometimes with the help of hired adventurers).
S'yar Wan is criss-crossed with trade routes and its merchants love to engage in intercontinental trade. However, after accidentally exporting pestilent devil rats to several continents, the traders of S'yar Wan now take care of their shipping from floating offshore docking stations and transport goods to and from the mainland with swimming couriers or rafts. The floating station system breeds corruption, and so many of them are little more than creaky, sea-sickness inducing vice dens or well-guarded repositories for ill-gotten treasure.
Within S'yar Wan's borders lie two great cities:
Kain Lim
The Marketplace
Once a small city-state, Kain Lim gradually fell to its own capitalist doctrines. The whole of the country is now a vast marketplace, where anything and everything can be bought or sold.
The whole of the marketplace is ruled by a noble house. Their shop is the largest, and sits squarely in the center of the marketplace.
Justice is swift and brutal in Kain Lim, as the inhabitants do not want outsiders to fear soming into the Marketplace. There are constant armed patrols who will not hesitate to use deadly force when someone breaks the laws of the land.
At its outskirts, Kain Lim is ringed with hundreds of temples and shrines.
Within the boundries of Kain Lim, one is never more than a few stalls away from a place to eat, drink or rest.
The City-State of Libram
The art of magic requires vast amounts of study and practice to become even remotley skilled with. In order to help with this process, long ago a cabal of wizards and sages founded a magical college, named Libram. At first, the school was fairly small, and students were allowed in by invite only. But as time went on, more and more students were accepted into the school, and the campus grew. After a while, small towns began to appear around Libram, offering the nessessary support to the school.
As time went on, the campus grew, absorbing the surrounding towns into itself. As space started to become an issue, the university began to build up, and then out, towering over the surrounging area like an enourmous oak tree. Now, Libram is a sprawling city-state, teeming with magic; it's said that even the lowliest beggar knows a spell or two, and it's common knowledge that anything magical, be it enchanted weapon, magical item, or unique spell, can be obatined here. For a price.
As wizards graduated, they found that they still had use of the many services Libram could provide. Most wizards chose to remain living in Libram, while other constructed towers and keeps outside the city limits. Now, the continent surrounding Libram is dotted with these towers, and wars between wizards are not uncommon.
'Gods and the Afterworld (thus far)'
The Shining One
The Shining One is the sun-god of the setting, a tireless crusader against evil. He is, as gods go, fairly meddlesome in the world of mortals, reaching down to smite darkness when it rises on the land. His priests are often trained to be expert dungeoneers and spelunkers, being the Shining One's agents where the sun itself does not reach.
(Domains include Good, Sun, Fire, and maybe Glory from complete Divine. I see him as rather focused at what he does, but if others wanted to include War or Wrath or the like, that wouldn't be entirely inappropriate.)
Granted Power: Clerics of the Shining One who are underground can glow with light equivalent to the brightness of a single torch at will. This way, parties can delve into the deepest dungeons while still forgetting to bring that torch they bought during character creation.
Sometimes, the Shining One gets a bit too zealous and mistakes simple selfishness for world-spanning evil. Not often -- just often enough so that the PCs might accidentally become a focus for him for a time.
The Lurker Beneath
The Lurker Beneath is not a nice god. Its domains include Chaos, Evil, Death, and Earth, and those with access to the book of vile darkness can add Corruption, Darkness, and Pain to the list, and the Complete Divine suggests Madness and Pestilence. In Mythic Times, the Lurker Beneath was known as the Darkness Manifest, but it was struck down by the other gods, the high church splintering into thousands of warring cults, and it was entombed deep, deep, deep within the earth. The Lurker Beneath's cults, who all worship it under different names and aspects, seek to unearth their dark god, the labyrinth designs of their tunnels a foul geomantic ritual to summon aberrations and others of that ilk to defend them against those heros who would try to stop them.
The Lurker Beneath does have a name, one known only to his cultists. It is so horrible and alien that devastating acidic balefire consumes all who hear it. The cultists of the Lurker are known to sow discord by scrawling the name in restrooms, passing notes containing the name to adventurers and then running away, and by training parrots to say it before releasing them into heavily populated areas.
But it is said that there is a greater name -- a truer name. Finding the Lost Name is the obsession of all of the cultists, for it is said that those who know and comprehend the lurker's True Name will usher in his final return, a holocaust of death, freedom and ecstasy (but mostly, truth be told, death) that will consume Dungeonworld/verse/whatever as a purifying flame.
Tickets available now. Book early, 'cause it's gonna be one hell of a show.
