Find Your Inspiration for Amazing RPG Experiences within DungeonMorphs

The scope of tabletop roleplaying games has never been more broad than it is right now. The system options for players are staggering and even considering the dominance of Dungeons & Dragons within this particular RPG the range of playstyles and approaches to the game are are varied as the people playing them. One aspect shared by nearly all Game Masters is preparation and even the staunchest advocate for improvisation relies on some starting point. The folks at Inkwell Ideas consistently deliver solid resources for GMs and their latest project DungeonMorphs IV aims to continue this fine tradition.

More RPG Map Design Dice & Cards

Playing RPGs whether your running the game or participating as a player means drawing on inspiration and combining those ideas with your own imagination to create something unique and memorable among your group. We focus on encouraging this a lot here at Nerdarchy and a big part of our philosophy is recognizing or identifying a great jumping off point.

What’s cool about DungeonMorphs IV is how many distinct jumping off points this project provides. Starting with the new DungeonMorph dice in this set just looking at them is already causing ideas to percolate in my imagination. The three sets — crypts, lairs and sewers — suggest the fantasy genre but I’m thinking of how many other genres can incorporate these elements too. Lately I’ve been playing a lot (i.e. obsessed with) Red Dead Redemption 2 so my first thought is DungeonMorph dice can be useful in a old west setting. Crypts certainly fit right in there, and a lair could be an old fort taken over by an outlaw gang. Head back east and more modern cities boast sewer systems too.

Science fiction stories can benefit equally here too. You might be playing in a science fiction version of our own Earth and solar system or a completely fabricated setting but either way when planet hopping is involved there’s no limit to the kinds of locations characters might explore and adventure within. Even a campaign set in our own current era in the real world would no doubt include all three of those environments.

Looking at the DungeonMorph dice alone I can foresee how useful these would be for both preparing in advance and on the fly during a game session. There’s enough detail on each side of the dice to give GMs at least a jumping off point. Remember — players do a lot of heavy lifting through their engagement with whatever is presented to them. Give me a new chamber with eight coffins, an ankh symbol and resumably statues in alcoves of each cardinal direction represented by stars and players will give you the means for a memorable scenario. At the very least they’ll spend some time exploring.

And this is only from the dice! DungeonMorphs IV builds from this point with a variety of resources to help facilitate awesome game sessions. In addition to the three dice sets there’s also print-and-play cards featuring the geomorph style rooms with the same two points of connection on every side. You can deal out a randomly generated location as you play or choose the chambers you find particularly inspirational and create a fresh locale.

If you’re seeking the ultimate GM play aid Inkwell Ideas developed a booklet companion for their dice and cards too. The 100+ page DungeonMorph Delving booklet contains further details for each design, in this case crypts, lairs and sewers. There’s entire scenarios included in the book replete with monsters, threats, treasures and features to discover as characters explore.

My favorite thing about this project is how it’s system agnostic, which kinda makes it genre agnostic too like I mentioned earlier. I’m more excited by interesting resources like this because I can use them for all sorts of games and they free designers of such products to focus on presenting evocative and inspirational material rather than the nuts and bolts of a particular game system.

There’s a lot going on with this project and many more details on the crowdfunding page. There’s even three free PDF samples you can download and use right now! There’s a DungeonMorph Design Preview robust enough to use in a game immediately, an amazing Tomb Raiding Delve and a fantastic Quickstart document. The latter even includes an appendix with tips for enriching the story — awesome stuff I’d recommend using for each and every game you run. Check out DungeonMorphs IV and discover the best pledge level for you and your gaming group here.