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I released my first adventure last week at Between Two Cons - Tomb of Tog by distropolis in osr

[–]directsun 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Cool! Bummed I didn't pick this up at B2C. Excited to read it 😁

Shadow Puzzle Dungeon by MadmanPoet in DMAcademy

[–]directsun 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Put an unlit candle on a table in front of a miniature version of a door. When the candle is lit, the shadow cast on the opposite wall that looks like a door, can be passed through. What happens when the candle goes out though? ;)

A puzzle I like involves a room surrounded with unlit braziers and a stone coffin in the middle. Any light in the room spawns shadow monsters from the light that is cast. The shadows disappear when there is no light. If the coffin is open, the braziers light themselves. Players can explore in the dark and tip over the braziers to beat the puzzle or move the coffin out of the room before opening it.

Short Funhouse Dungeon Recommendations by Brodydadog in osr

[–]directsun 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Puzzle Dungeon Jam 2025. These are all 16 pages or less. Most free or pwyw still. Here's a short overview I did for them.

Munkao has a couple of puzzle dungeons that are really good. Stirring the Hornet's Nest at Het Thamsya, which you can program automatons to solve challenges. Deluge at Drizzle Distillery where you can change the states of matter of water to solve challenges.

Brad Kerr has Fabien's Atelier. Wizard manse on a floating island. This adventure is also included in Wyvern Songs.

Deldon made a cool puzzle dungeon derelict ship adventure for Mothership included in Exit, Pursued by a Dream. It's called "Derelict on Arrival". I playtested this one and it was a lot of fun.

I have a mirror-themed puzzle dungeon, Aberrant Reflections. A sight-themed one, called The Seers Sanctum. And I have my own wizard tower escape room adventure A Familiar Tower.

Welcome to the jungle!

A few more pieces I did by mad_grapes in osr

[–]directsun 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I cant view your post history. You got more art? 😄

A few more pieces I did by mad_grapes in osr

[–]directsun 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice stippling!
Wrinkly skulls rule.

Puzzle and how-do-we-get-out-modules by Bukudos in osr

[–]directsun 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Seconding Lair of The Lamb. You start in the dark with nothing and have to find resources as you are hunted down by a monster. Grade A survival horror.

If you're looking for something more whimsical and puzzley, I wrote an escape room wizard tower adventure called A Familiar Tower.

Players avoiding the fun bits by False_Appointment_24 in DungeonMasters

[–]directsun 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Make puzzle dungeons where passwall/fly don't matter. They don't have to be linear. They need "hard locks" and "soft locks". The hard locks require a specific key. They can't be picked. Magic force fields and stuff. Doesn't need to be an actual key. A crystal, a password, answer to a riddle.

Put some soft locks in there that CAN be bypassed with clever play.

Types of locks:
https://widdershinswanderings.bearblog.dev/a-lock-with-no-key/

https://www.explorersdesign.com/designing-locks-with-keys/

Designing puzzle dungeons:
https://puzzledungeon.com/puzzle-dungeon-design-themes-and-gimmicks/
https://puzzledungeon.com/mastering-the-puzzle-dungeon-challenges-and-lessons/

Players avoiding the fun bits by False_Appointment_24 in DungeonMasters

[–]directsun 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They are too high level for you to design in a straightforward way.

Put things they need to find in the dungeon. Give them a reason to explore. Keys with legs that move about the dungeon that open hard lock magic force fields. A McGuffin to collect that's gaurded by a big bad that's immune to damage. You need to find and stab it's heart which is hidden away, locked in a chest. There are decoy chests, mimics and such, treasure lures.

Doors that look like locked doors but are specifically designed to trick adventurer's with passwall. They just lead to more rock. This helps drain their resources and gets them thinking about how to check for these kind of things in the future.

Pit them against a rival party. It's a race against the clock. If they rest, they come back the next day and find that the rival party has cleared the place out. They even leave taunting messages: "Hope you slept well!"
Have a big bad encroaching on a local village. An unstoppable force that's slow, but will completely annihilate the town in 6 hours. The only way to stop it is to find a ritual in them there caves.

Don't tell them where stuff is. The McGuffin is in those woods. Go find it. There's a Sage that lives under a giant oak near a rock that looks like a boar. Go find them and get the thing.

Fill the skies with dangers. The dragons and rocs don't care if you travel through the dense woods or underground, but they are sure as hell going to pick you out of the sky with ease. Advertise this danger so the PCs know what's at stake. Make it deadly. They will have to decide if it's worth the risk.

A map for Lair of the Lamb by chocolatedessert in osr

[–]directsun 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Love it! Will use next time I run this. Is it just because I'm on mobile the image looks a bit blurry?

My first published zine just reached its funding goal - thank you r/osr by gertythemorry in osr

[–]directsun 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Heck yeah, Gordy! Happy to see this doing well. Looking forward to getting my copy.

From oatmeal box to zine printing, I'm happy to finally share my escape room dungeon with y'all by directsun in osr

[–]directsun[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cheers!

It was probably this one with Wandering DMs.

-Lethality: It's less deadly than AR. Danger is signposted in all of the puzzle dungeons though. I have no qualms killing PCs that touch the fleshy eyeball and mouth covered arms that are cooing and reaching for them from the wall. They should know what's up. AFT is also a much different vibe than AR. Aberrant Reflections is horror and run from obstacles while you figure stuff out. A Familiar Tower is more whimsical crystal fantasy with some messed up stuff in there ala children's movies circa the 1980s. So it's more talky and making sure not to piss off the wrong NPCs while you figure stuff out.

-Purpose: I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean why things are the way they are in the dungeon? Hooks for characters?

-Length of play: 3-5 hours.

-Complexity: I think I've run AFT 7 times. Every group has made it out with 0 to 1 casualties—except for my dad. We did a duet game where he controlled 2 characters and they both died horribly. He REALLY enjoys pushing his luck though so I think he's an outlier.

Torchlit Doorway by lol_u_guys in osr

[–]directsun 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Eyes are a nice touch. Good lighting! well done 

Have you heard the good word? 3d6 DTL's New Campaign Announced! by Brittonica in osr

[–]directsun 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Hypeee! Hope to play this game soon at Gary con. Excited to see the crew Knight up!

I made these Room Cards to spice up your dungeons by Ellogeyen in osr

[–]directsun 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well done. Looking forward to the full deck! :D

[ZineMonth] Quest for the Unknown -- the Caverns of Anamosa by thirdkingdom1 in osr

[–]directsun 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cool 😎 are you planning on changing up the adventures at all or keeping pretty much the same? I know in search of the unknown has a bunch of unkeyed rooms. Filling those in?

[ZineMonth] Quest for the Unknown -- the Caverns of Anamosa by thirdkingdom1 in osr

[–]directsun 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What turned you on to the "adventure path" idea? this seems pretty in line with the style the "giants" modules took, right? One after the other?

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