D12 Dungeon Surveilance & Security

Add one of these to a dungeon to beef up the risks and inhabitant readiness.
If you use my dungeon DEFCON posts these will increase the wandering monster chances and defences faster

Also See:
Forest Spirits

https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2020/07/d100-petty-wilderness-spirits.html
Regular Fantasy Hauntings
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2017/04/petty-hauntings-and-faking-stories.html
WW1 Trench Hauntings
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2015/09/d100-petty-ghosts-and-hauntings.html
Poltergiest
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2025/01/d100-poltergiests.html
Dungeon Spirit Tricks
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2022/09/d100-dirty-tricks-of-dungeon-gods.html
Dungeon Phantasms
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2018/05/d100-dungeon-illusions-and-phantasms.html
Dungeon Spirits
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2018/09/dungeon-spirits.html
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2018/05/d100-dungeon-spirits.html
Dungeon Repairs
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2018/06/dungeon-repairs.html
Wrath of the Dungeon Animus 
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-redbrick-dungeon-is-mad-at-you-now.html
Idols
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2017/12/d100-weird-dungeon-idols.html
Drrams
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2020/01/creepy-dungeon-dreams.html
Imp Offers
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com/2020/11/d100-treats-offered-by-imps-from-hell.html

Search engines on blogger and google for my work is getting worse - i can ask for a post by name and it looks and stops and presents me with its selections. Dungeon Spirits posts were unfindable on google.

D12 Dungeon Surveillance

1 Vermin - The dungeon boss uses vermin like rats, bats, toads or flies via magic, domestication, lycanthropy or an allied dungeon spirit. Often uses vents and drains to spy and carry alerts

2 Guard Beasts - species of creature tribe kept as alarms or guards. May be subtle, like a species of bat locals know dislikes outsiders or might be obvious, like howling cave wolves or giant spiders or lizards. Locals will react to the beasts' sounds, odours and moods

3 Undead - guard skeletons or zombies are left in key positions and, without a password, will raise an alarm, then attack. May be buried or stored in coffins or crypts or urns. May call other guardians or wandering monsters. They might be ancestors or bodies of intruders

4 Gremlins or other tiny humanoids and their pets use tiny vents and cracks and will warn those who aid them

5 Dungeon Mind Parasite feeds off hate, hostility and violence in dungeon inhabitants. Inhabitants feel anger and an awareness of an enemy sent by the parasite. It will be a gelatinous, tentacled being hidden in soil, water, a secret room or on the ethereal plane. It wants its regular thralls to do ok but if intruders will it will aid them and implant urges to settle in the dungeon 

6 Mirrors or Prisms or idols can be viewed by a magical orb or throne used by a dungeon boss. In some cases, the boss can even travel through the device

7 Idols or other art can be viewed through by a leader or magician. They might use spells, a magic item, blessing or spirits in the items to operate the idols

8 Nature Spirit of earth or caves or darkness invisibly roams, and alerts kindred creatures or receives worship and sacrifice by sentient monsters

9 Undead Spirit, possibly a monster's ancestor or some awful ancient ruler, haunts the dungeon. It hates living outsiders but has accepted worship from regular human visitors and others who respect it and bring gifts. It prioritises its own people or descendants

10 Dungeon Spirit has been receiving offerings for years by inhabitants, and it will warn them of invaders and increase the frequency of encounters, set traps and lock doors. It is malicious and wants the dungeon status quo to last forever. Spme might repair dungeon items or set traps, locks and alarms behind the party

11 Petty God roams the dungeon but not really hostile but may send messages to any dungeon creature it wants to warn them if the creature has been respectful to them. Adventurers might befriend the god or fight it. The god may protect young and injured monsters to ensure the creatures will survive  

12 Dungeon Demon or Imp aids the dungeon boss and spies on intruders. If it feels safe from possible harm, it will kill adventurers personally. It will alert guards and the boss if it feels any risk 

Quick Reviews & Revisions Oct 2026

Arcana Unleashed - Gameplay Expansion
Thinner than I would like even at 17 dollars off store price. Subclasses great, spells ok, magic items ok, organisations with bastion stuff are good; the magic in the campagn a bit soso. I would rather it was bigger with more subclasses and spells. I think if you copied the subclasses you could do without the rest. The stats for wizards are handy, I guess. Good, but just appetite-wetting. I think id like a bastion book with non-bastion normal buildings and businesses. I guess we will never get an all subclass or species book even though ppl would like them. They would rather dole out scraps in a system designed to add more modular scraps vs a system like RQ. I will be using it just a bit disapointed.

Oz - Fantasy Roleplaying Setting
Following the Neverland and The Looking-Glass book, one of the rare lines I would call RPG Art (Pendragon another). Great maps, lots of illustration, dense well designed information and ideas you could steal for other urban dystopias. A bit more decopunk than I expected but a masterwork of city design. 

Campfire Tales - Scouts Against Cthulhu
A fun Call of Cthulhu adventure for scouts with a whole campagn. It looks pretty hardcore for a kids horror game. Great art, mini setting and wonderful vibes, making it one of my fave 7th ed Cthulhu books.

----------------
Review Revisions
Running stuff sometimes enhances or diminishes my impressions of a book. These Two were better for having dropped in my settings.

Dwarrowdeep Again
My sandbox players saw a Dwarf ruin on a map and decided to check it out so I pulled out this book. It easily fit in minus some of the local area and players spent 3 long sessions 6-11 hours at a time, clearing most of the first level with my EMO homebrew. It was a lot of fun and I went back to reading it in more detail. I hope and suspect my players will get bored and get on with the adventure I want. There was one random encounter with extra-tough black orcs and it looked bad for the party. I got a bit soft and used an absent character to save them. They also pulled back and released giant flies locked in a room who ate a berserker and turned the tide of the battle. One player spent 3 rounds prone trying to get their shaman desperately. i always knew this book would eventually be useful even though not as useful or interesting or original as the other earlier volumes. The setting stuff around the dungeon and NPCs I will use bits of it. I might play with encounter area generator and post here. 

Caverns of Thracia Again for 5th ed
I was intimidated by the maps in this but dropped it in my Theros game and its worked well with the themes. It took me a few goes with both old and new versions of maps to understand them. The players have really enjoyed their first mega dungeon and have seldom left since. The difficult secret doors, weird traps and sense of history all worked well. They have been friendly with the lizard folk and returned their lost relics to them so they might flip this faction with friendliness and cash. Lots of unique experiences here that are quite memorable like the living door that charms you and sucks your life on touch that nearly killed the party. They get along with several NPCs and on their way to fame and glory. Works very well in my Ethyria Setting.

Also
I have lots of half-written posts currently in the works but study, love life and running 8 games a month has me as busy as I can handle. I have been reading lots though. Prepping for next OZ Orc Con too. Im running my Octopus princess game, goatquest3 and maybe Marvel Universe vs Dinosaurs Attack. Also rule revisions are going slowly but happening. 

Simple Transit Tables & Rates

Just some tables for land and sea trips

Coach Rates
-cross a city ward 1cp 10-30 minutes
-cross a city ward in a posh carriage 1sp 10-30 minutes
-Poor Passage 4cp per day (may be large wagons with no cover or outside carriage)
-Coach Passage inside 1sp per day (6-8 persons)
-Luxury Coach 1gp per day (only from large towns and cities, 2-6 passengers)

-food and overnight stay 1sp
-luxury food and overnight stay 1gp

Coach Frequency
-isolated village once per week to larger settlement
-highway village daily to larger settlement
-market town twice a day to similar or larger settlement
-city three times a day to major market towns or other cities
-the first two are variant routes from larger centres
-routes may vary different times or days
-express routes may link larger places with no stops

Overnight Trips
Coach houses and inns on the way might provide accommodation
Poor travellers camp or sleep on an inn common room floor
Organised services own their own coach house and have packages with food and board

d12 Road Coach Travel Delays
1 Horse flu or plague outbreak 

2 Highwayman or gang in area

3 Famine

4 Bridge or road out

5 Area overrun with lawless bands

6 Terrible weather

7 Law roadblocked on manhunt 

8 Inquisitor inspections

9 Surprise Tax inspections

10 Battlefield in path

11 Humanoid raiders from the Underland

12 Haunting or supernatural manifestations

d12 City Coach Travel Delays
1 Mud or sewerage roadblock

2 Traffic blocked by drama
3 Beggars block traffic

4 Robber gangs
5 Violent gang fight

6 Angry mob

7 Guild protest

8 Brawl fills streets

9 Surprise Tax inspections

10 Cult panic

11 Secret police searches

12 Haunting or supernatural manifestations 

d12 Haunting or supernatural manifestations
1 Skeletons from crypt attack

2 Zombies from exposed old graveyard

3 Phantom manifestation blocks road

4 Spectral horseman disturbing traffic

5 Ghostly monk menacing area

6 Wailing woman spirit empties streets

7 Saint spirit draws huge mob of worshippers

8 Shadowy hounds howling in area

9 Undead knight seen slaughtering travellers

10 Rampant witch cults in area

11 Imps seen doing mischief

12 Outbreak of chaos demons and mutants

d12 Poor Travellers
1 Farmers
2 Beggar or drunk

3 Off-duty veterans
4 Actor or dancer or cook
5 Templar or Ranger

6 Friars, hermits or poor priest

7 Orphan sent as freight

8 Criminal or Prostitute

9 Pilgrims

10 Cultist or witch
11 Tinkerer or Trader

12 Apprentice

d12 Common Travellers

1 Clerk or scribe

2 Monk or priest

3 Bard

4 Merchant

5 Tax collector

6 Servant

7 Journeyman or artisan

8 Woman or maiden with escort

9 Officer, possibly retired

10 Highwayman or criminal in disguise

11 Elderly retirees 

12 Students (possibly drunk)

d12 Rich Travellers for Luxury Trips

1 Knight

2 Ranking clergy

3 Scholar or artist or poet

4 Guildmaster

5 Spoiled child, often with nanny

6 Rich snob

7 Rich lady

8 Rich eccentric libertine

9 Famous artist, writer or performer

10 Secret police or assassin

11 Rich merchant or banker

12 Nobility

Ship Passage Rates
-low passage used by poor settlers 1sp a day with poor rations in hold
-medium passage in shared bunk room 10sp a day with adequate rations

-luxury passage with private room 5gp a day with quality food 
-a horse costs the same as medium passage 

-medium and luxury may not be available in smaller locations

Passage Frequency
-isolated colony per d6 months
-small coastal or river village d4 days
-coastal or river town d4 per day
-coastal or river city 3d4 per day
-half will be low passage at least
-rest will have mixed passage types
-luxury only is rare but possible

d12 Water Travel Delays
1 Port locked down with plague

2 Pirates!

3 Mysterious Fog
4 Sinister passenger 

5 Enemy naval raids

6 Terrible weather

10 Monster
11 Aquatic humanoids or merfolk raid

12 Haunting or supernatural manifestations 

d12 Haunting or supernatural manifestations
1 Spirit haunting below decks with mischief

2 Zombies climb onto the deck to attack

3 Ghostly ship seen ahead with undead crew

4 Spectral being rises from the sea to menace ship

5 Passenger dies and rises as an undead

6 Wailing or sobbing from a ghost on board

7 Strange lights seen ahead or around the mast or prow

8 Moaning phantoms circle the ship

9 Sea witch summons monsters and cackles

10 Cultists on board try to hijack or wreck ship

11 Sobbing spirit offers omens of danger

12 Outbreak of chaos demons and mutants

d12 Poor Travellers
1 Settlers
2 Pilgrims
3 Sailors
4 Journeyman or apprentice crafters
5 Humanoids

6 Monks

7 Mercenaries

8 Convicts

9 Fisherfolk 

10 Orphans

11 Casket maidens

12 Cultists

d12 Common Travellers

1 Clerks or scribes

2 Priests

3 Bards

4 Merchants

5 Demihumans

6 Servants

7 Journeymen or artisans

8 Women or maidens with escort

9 Officer, possibly retired

10 Missionaries

11 Exile or criminal 

12 Students (possibly drunk)

d12 Rich Travellers

1 Tourists

2 Ranking clergy

3 Scholar or artist or poet

4 Guildmaster

5 Spoiled child, often with nanny

6 Rich snob

7 Rich lady

8 Rich eccentric libertine

9 Famous artist or performer

10 Famous traveller or explorer

11 Rich merchant or banker

12 Nobility

Pendragon Review

Besides playing 6 games a month, studying, in a relationship one reason ive not been writing much is I have been collecting the current edition of Pendragon RPG and reading it, as well as all my older editions.

Why play Pendragon?

Im not really into the idea that games are art because the art world is full of rarefied bullshit and faux intellectualism and bad philosophy. I'm quite happy not overintellectualising my games or subscribing to shitty forge theory or other pseudo-academic-appearing notions.

But I think Pendragon in my mind, is and was closer to a work of art than other games. Firstly, drawing from the literary sources that I enjoy (without the weird nationalism) it gains a weight of literary references. I have also enjoyed lots of the tone of the art in various versions which is not really like fantasy game art. With the rise of story games, I'm amazed Pendragon was not cited more often because this and the Prince Valiant game were pioneers in this field. I still get people say it is too complex but it's not compared to D&D or RQ/BRP games.

This game has ideas that will benefit any campaign. It pioneered the yearly game turn or winter phase where its too snowy to adventure, and you do stuff like get married, work on your estate, train and more. You also roll to see if your partner or children or horses survive. You do maybe an adventure a year or try to play a year of time per game. 

For most D&D these ideas fit into high-level domain play well. For long-term sandbox games, these domain ideas can ad an extra layer to play. In my RQ games, we used lots of these as you need something to do with your money. Romance and family can make adventure hooks, and long downtime is good for training in a skill-based game.

Having a campaign game last years or decades is a great experience and feels more weighty. Probably since the 80s, Pendragon has influenced all my games. Beyond the campaign, the adventures feature moral and character-trait tests that are wildly different from physical challenges. Even in my Greek-themed games, tests of mercy, charity, and thoughtfulness might appear in your path as tests from the gods. Many challenges in Pendragon are moral threats that can change your knight character. These sorts of encounters can push more roleplaying and make being a murder hobo harder. Making up for your hasty mistakes can also be a challenge.

To play the full 70-year campaign, your knights need heirs to carry on their name, and luck might make this harder. You can just play one-off adventures, solo play or play famous knights, perhaps. I like starting as squires and getting to know the feudal system and estates bit by bit and growing to knighthood with your own estate. Religious test ideas could be used in lots of games too. Not every fight is necessary or wise. Encounters can be more important than they seem, testing your worthiness and not just combat.

Basics
Pendragon is a simplified BRP system with d20 rolls where combat can be quite lethal if fighting an equal. Bandits tend to flee quickly after a few are killed by mounted knights. Knights have various personality traits not just listed but with scores that are rolled during tests in play. Your knight is suspicious often, this trait might increase and they might fail to trust someone at some point. Your knight is seduced by your host's wife? Maybe they give in and it causes lots of trouble. The system tends to create plenty of non-combat drama and problem-solving is quite different when you consider your social standing and honour. Your character doing things you dont want to is kind of refreshing vs games where you never surrender or consider consequences much. Grudges with other knights is a serious problem so your interactions with NPCs are more nuanced. 

Injuries can take months to heal so another reason to adventure yearly.

Current Edition
The current edition is a beautiful product line with nice paper and art. It is a bit more wordy. I feel the 1990 edition and companion do most of what the core books now do with less space.

The box set is lovely with solo play and the start of a campagn to last multiple sessions. It has stunning gatefold character sheets to start and a solo adventure you could run with several players and get to meet Merlin and Arthur. All the basic game systems are detailed enough to get started. There are also cards for mass combat not in the other books, and they feel pretty essential. The campaign cements your relations with many characters and gives you various missions of diplomacy, enchanted woods and important support for the king's battles. It's one of the better box sets ever.

Feast cards are available online. I'm not sure if more battle cards are too - id hope you get other ones for later play. Chaosium is quite good for extra online material.

The Game Masters Screen Pack I feel, is essential to go forward or even start. Besides a nice screen, it has a map and two books. One is a kingdom gazetteer and another is for family backgrounds and marriage, essential for long campaigns. World info here is pretty essential to make your own adventures and incorporate players' families into the setting. In older editions, this stuff was in core character generation. Most of this stuff I keep in the box set.

The Core Rulebook sets up the feel and style of the setting, briefly outlines the chronology, types of knights, more detail on game mechanics and their use, more examples, other maps, travel, more detailed character creation, glory, passions, being melancholy, skills, honour, glory and other game concepts in more detail. With high scores in your personality traits, you can qualify for specific benefits and titles. Mass combat is a bigger feature than most games and I like this system and look forward to trying. Lots of detail on horses, arms and armour. The coat of arms generator is fun. Basically expands the box set rules and for more flexible character creation and advancement.

Gamemasters Handbook talks more about the setting, running campagn time, feasts, hunting, seduction, tournaments, jousts, diplomacy, religious options, holy sites, magic, miracles, faeries, fiends, more battle details, npc stats like famous knights you might meet or play, foes, bestiary and scenarios.  

You could just get the box set and play
You could just get the GM and core book to play
The Screen pack would help with either of the above
Starting with the box then getting other stuff would be best

I have Nobles book on the way
The old Pendragon Campagn book with 70 years of play is being updated with multiple volumes

The Sauvage King is a great adventure where for various reasons, you enter the haunted wood and resolve its curses. It could be revisited and is a great bit of adventure sandbox design. Id prefer to run this when characters start having babies to use the challenging hook. With work, you could use this for other games.

The Grey Knight is much improved over the older versions and is a good campagn of various challenges to help Gawain and save the kings honour vs an evil plot. Its a fetch quest into the cursed wasteland and probably better to run before Sauvage King. Basically a fetchquest but with lots of twists and turns and moral tests. This adventure a bit more linear but has many choices that will test your knights and have consequences. I don't think it would work as well for other games for adaptation. 

I had a few sessions as squires and would like to try a long holiday game some time. I highly recommend it to try and learn from for ideas in other fantasy games. I think it works better with more of the books for a longer campaign but a box set for taste is a good start. If you see the 1990 edition and campagn they do most of what the gm pack, box set and two hardback rules tomes do. I felt more comfortable running it with all the above books and the older edition gear still is useful. Any other Arthurian game seems shallow compared to this.

  

Auldwood or the Wild North? EMO Gamelog

A game of my homebrew today.

Ive got the skeleton of character classes built but now I'm getting equipment lists and a weapon chart done. Modding skills and weapon footnotes mostly. Next will start Skill revision and getting some player input.

Three players tonight.

The mysterious Big Ted, a masked seer who has gone from common pub cook to disciplined mentalist warrior seer. He wears heavier armour and a large kite shield. He uses a mace which his Seer power lets him vibrate for extra damage and he has some cantrips. Has also been working on lay hands and a Healing Lore that lets all his healing spells and powers +1 point. He uses his disciplines to gorge himself on food and booze to heal himself also. Has adopted a dog Salty and bought him armour. Also a teen lizard person. Has oaths to help commoners and is good enough and strong enough now to not let others push him into Murderhoboism. Seers use their abilities to find lost knowledge and are the martial arm of Mystics.

Handfish player was absent but in party caravan with lizard teen follower. 

The Baroness an expert (at Deciet) runs her travelling theatre, adopting ladies, especially ones who were pretending to be boys to get into adventuring. Sonja her first follower is a axe weilding woodswoman. Others include Granny a merchant and a few crowsbow goons, a lizard teen woman and all zero level. Experts have lots of skills but also lots of followers. 

Edward the Wizard gone from being a militiaman to wizard. He has a student with a clean cantrip, a bodyguard and a lizard teen. He has gained some good spells and the skill to cast spella without visable computer game like sparkles.

They bought 4 wagons. A one horse cart with a kitchen for Big Ted, a covered wagon with hammocks for the core party, a covered wagon with a stage and theatre props and costumes, and a covered wagon with a nice paintjob for the Baroness. They hired ex cab drivers and boght cab horses. One was a lady so the Barroness put her in charge of her personal language.

Players spent a hour selling off old goods and dividing treasure and shopping a few bought magic items. Stumpy the party murder hobo hireling sold the smugglers ship and naval partol charts to a rival smuggler faction. Party had fled Saltmarsh because they really wanted the stolen brandy and thought the taxman might rob them for the king. 

The party left Seaton for Ironton and on the way saw bandits. A fancy bandit, Clayton the Vagabond in a fancy hat, sat by road while others were hiding with tiny bow. The party opened fire and got the drivers to charge. Edward charmed Clayton and his seconds tried to restrain the gang boss. But Clayton killed one of his own luitenants and two bandits died from arrow fire from the party. The gang got an ineffective volley off and Edward made them all go to sleep and Clayton killed his other second-best man. 

The bandits were all captured and given jobs by the paty. Edward would daily have two charm spells ready for the 4th level gang boss (the players are 2nd Lv).

The bandits explained Ironton was broke since the war ended and helped the party rest at a crime guild caravan rest. Big ted set up his soup kitchen and the party did a good job of impressing the Guild. They were debating to go to the forbidden north or Auldwood. The Baroness asked about the dwarf Ruin.The bandits explained the lore. Insert Dwarrowdeep Megadungeon minus the campaign map and setting town. They thought they would go past the famous open entrance, and I showed them the art of the gate in between the legs of a 300-foot-tall dwarf statue. 

So with a few flunkies, they went in while the caravan of the party made camp. It was only lunchtime. There were impressive rooms, empy chambers, rubble mounds and wandering undead. They heard goblins a few times but mostly fought undead like zombies and skeletons. There was a baby mimic chest they shot on sight and debated if it was edible or not. Stirges were killed and prepared for an evening meal. Edward was hit with slime but his pals burned it off quickly. Guys with magic lamps sat back uselessly. There was a statue pillar with gem eyes they decided was unlikley to exist if not defended.

The best loot was in rubble mounds and in secret rooms so lots of time searching was burned for old weapons and smallchange and a few magic items and runestones. Edward used his history spell on the inscriptions. One mentioned a famous dwarf artifact possibly in the ruins. They methodically searched a third of the dungeon and when battered the decided to leave and goblins attacked.

They were quite togh and there were a dozen led by a magician on a huge centipede. The party killed him first. They feared him reaching party with his Shocking Grasp spell. He got off a Burning Hands on Ted and his dog. The fight was pretty bad, and half the party was knocked out but the Baroness played up the goblin bosses' deaths in goblin speech and they retreated. Their retreating spear volley took two more party members. Clayton the Vagabond was very helpful with traps and listening and locks and killed a few retreating goblins. Big Ted when not using his singing mace had lots of pistols like a pirate. The Baroness had her daggers and was quite dangerous.

The party got back to camp and identified the magic items, including a staff that heal each subject a d6 a day that Big Ted got and helped the party recover faster. There was a +1 dagger and a sharpening Runestone (i modified to be good for one hit after the duration ended). The party was pretty thrilled and, after a night's rest, went back to Ironton to sell the loot. 

They seem keen to finish the level for the fame (and a promised level-up achievement unlocked).

Quite happy at weird characters and sneaky spell use.

Felt like a proper oldschool dungeon. Lots of empty space and hidden secrets to make time a resource. Plan to return and try detect magic in some of the rubble rooms. An unexpected twist of a sandbox game and possibly after the level is cleansed, they might come back when done with the North. I have the whole region detailed, and I'm happy to drop in more dungeons from published adventures.

Ill post an update of my Theros Games soon, including one in the Caverns of Thracia.