The Fantastical Folding Fortress of Jaffe the Mad!

  

By Clint Hocking

One page dungeon contest 2022

No system, mid to high level.

Premise: A mage attempted to trap the infernal prince of madness and fell short.

What do we get here?

 A single page gives us a dungeon that shifts based on how you fold the page. Prepare to be confused.

 Usability/formatting

 I really like what this dungeon is trying to do, I am not sure I understand it but I like it. You probably have to print out a couple of copies of this one and play with folding them up to figure it out, at least my brain can't fully grok it without getting hands on with a physical copy. 

 Assuming it works the shifting nature of this dungeon is actually genius and likely to bamboozle your players till they get the hang of things. Given how things move around there are plenty of loops and alternate paths to explore.

 The art and graphic design of the map is very simple, black and white that is easy to follow. There is a lot of information on the page so you do have to zoom in a bit however it is never crowded or hard to read.

 Through out the whole thing is pretty thematic. There is a slight lack of traps, otherwise it is hard to fault this one. Even the treasure is pretty unique, possibly they could have been themed a bit more however they are perfectly decent.

 The base hook for the adventure is a bit bland, you should be able to spice that up yourself or seed rumours in your campaign ahead of time if you plan to run this one.

Portability

 All you need in your world is some suitably evil madness creating entity, be it a god or fiend, and you can drop this easily in.

Recommendation

  You definitely need to print this one out to run it and you do need to spend some time getting familiar with it for things to run smoothly at the table. This is one of the best efforts I have seen so far in the contest, top tier and one that definitely deserved a place in the winner's circle. I'll be looking out to see what else Clint Hocking has out there.

PWYW for the whole collection on gumroad or stump up cash on drivethru.

https://spielknights.gumroad.com/l/2022opdc

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/410915/One-Page-Dungeon-Compendium-2022-Edition

Devils and their Lies

 

By Simon Carryer

One page dungeon contest 2022

No system, no level given.

Premise: Dungeons beneath a ruined castle may contain missing gold and a portal that an evil noble escaped through.

What do we get here?

 A single page gives us six rooms to explore.

 Usability/formatting

 I am not sure about the instant death ending to this adventure, otherwise it is a perfectly usable little dungeon for players to explore. Despite only being 6 rooms they are nicely laid out to give different options for explorations and alternate pathways.

 It seems like this adventure will work with your favourite OSR game pretty easily. There is not much on the way of traps, the monsters are decent and there is a little bit of interaction to be had both with creatures discovered as well as stuff to poke and prod.

 You do not get much in the way of treasure however the random contract with a minor devil left lying around is more than enough to make the whole thing worth while.

 The writing is clear and simple, nothing evocative just get you by text that you can riff on. I also really like the art which is again simple but retains some charm to it.

Portability

 It should be fairly easy to plop this under any ruined castle although you will have to provide your own castle. As long as your setting as devils or something that can stand in for them you are good to go with this one.

Recommendation

 Definitely content you can run. A solid effort you can easily seed a rumour for then pull out as required.

PWYW for the whole collection on gumroad or stump up cash on drivethru.

https://spielknights.gumroad.com/l/2022opdc

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/410915/One-Page-Dungeon-Compendium-2022-Edition

Clarke's Third Law

  

By Peter Willington

One page dungeon contest 2022

No system, no level given.

Premise: The PCs are unknowingly test subjects in a simulation of a fantasy world that is actually in an abandoned science lab on an ice planet.

What do we get here?

 A single page gives us three rooms.

 Usability/formatting

 Essentially this is the old Metamorphosis Alpha bait and switch. What you get here is something you are supposed to layer on top of an existing fantasy adventure that the sim is running but glitching out on.

 It is easy enough to read through the text here and it is presented in a suitably sci-fi look. The problem is how much work you are going to have to do to get this one up and running, should you ever wish to. There is no adventure, map, factions, enemies or magic items for the base sim adventure, or any suggestion how often you should drop in the sci-fi rooms that are provided.

 I also think the "get into an escape pod" ending is a lot less interesting than using this set up to run a survival game on an ice planet once the characters get out of the sim.

 Really this is the premise of a one shot or campaign starter rather than an adventure itself.

Portability

 You need a specific one shot or campaign in mind to run this one, you can not just plonk it down anywhere.

Recommendation

 I like the potential here but I think it needs to be expanded on a bit in a longer format to actually be useful. You also have to be really careful dropping a bait and switch like this on your players for anything more than a one shot.

A maybe on this one with a lot more work and some big caveats.

PWYW for the whole collection on gumroad or stump up cash on drivethru.

https://spielknights.gumroad.com/l/2022opdc

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/410915/One-Page-Dungeon-Compendium-2022-Edition

Air elemental-kin, new class

  Elemental-kin were created by the djinn to be their slaves by binding the shard of an elemental to the soul of a mortal. Modern elemental-kin are the descendants of those slaves who were traded with the elves of the summer court and brought into the mundane world. Of the four types of elemental-kin the water elemental-kin are considered the rarest elemental-kin and viewed as temperamental outsiders.

Air elemental-kin

Requirements: None

Prime requisite: DEX, CON

Hit Dice: 1d6

Maximum level: 10

Armour: Leather, including shields

Weapons: Any

Languages: Alignment, Common, Primordial

Prime requisites: An air elemental-kin with at least 13 DEX and CON gains a 5% bonus to experience. A air elemental-kin with a score of 16 or higher in one prime requisite, and a 13 or higher in the other gains a 10% bonus.

Air elemental-kin Skills

Air elemental-kin can use the following skills with the chance of success shown below.

▶ Climb sheer surfaces (CS): A roll is required for each 100’ to be climbed. If the roll fails, the air elemental-kin falls at the halfway point, suffering falling damage.

▶ Falling (FA): Due to their nimble nature, air elemental-kin suffer no damage from the first 10’ of any fall. Damage due to falling from a greater height is reduced by the listed percentage (rounding fractions down).

▶ Hide in shadows (HS): The air elemental-kin must be motionless—attacking or moving while hiding is not possible.

▶ Move silently (MS): An air elemental-kin may attempt to sneak past enemies unnoticed.

▶ Tightrope walking (TW): Air elemental-kin can walk along tightropes, narrow beams, and ledges at up to half their normal movement rate. A roll is required every 60’. Failure indicates that the air elemental-kin falls and suffers falling damage. Windy conditions may reduce the chance of success by up to 20%.

Combat

Air elemental-kin cannot wear armour bulkier than leather and can use shields They can use all types of weapons.

Hold Breath

 Air elemental-kin are able to hold their breath indefinitely while not incapacitated.

Levitate

 Once per day air elemental-kin may cast the levitate spell from the magic-user spell list.

After Reaching 9th Level

An air elemental-kin may build a stronghold. 2d12 beings will join the air elemental-kin as followers.

Air elemental-kin Level Progression

Saving Throws

Level XP HD     THAC0 D   W  P  B   S

1 0         1d6      19 [0]                  10 11 12 13 14

2 1,750 2d6      19 [0]                  10 11 12 13 14

3 3,500 3d6      19 [0]                  10 11 12 13 14

4 7,000 4d6      17 [+2]   8   9 10 10 12

5 14,000 5d6      17 [+2]   8   9 10 10 12

6 28,000 6d6      17 [+2]   8   9 10 10 12

7 56,000 7d6      14 [+5]   6   7   8   8 10

8 112,000         8d6      14 [+5]   6   7   8   8 10

9 225,000         9d6      14 [+5]   6   7   8   8 10

10 350,000        9d6+2* 12 [+7]   4   5   6   5   8

* Modifiers from CON no longer apply. D: Death / poison; W: Wands;

                                                                                 P: Paralysis / petrify; B: Breath attacks;

                                                                                 S: Spells / rods / staves.

Air elemental-kin Skills Chance of Success

Level CS FA HS MS TW

1         87  25 10  20   60

2         88  25 15  25   65

3         89  25 20  30   70

4         90  33 25  35   75

5         91  33 30  40   80

6         92  33 33  43   85

7         93  33 36  46   90

8         94  50 40  50   95

9         95  50 43  53   99

10         96  50 46  56   99

The Noisy Barn

  

By SDGibson

One page dungeon contest 2022

No system, no level given.

Premise: The local guard want you to check on a barn that has strange noises coming from it.

What do we get here?

 A single page gives us a map of a barn with 5 keyed rooms.

 Usability/formatting

 There is really not much to this one, not even much of a hook. This is barely more than an encounter, not really an adventure.

What I do like here is the attempt to randomise things although I am not sure how useful it is. Beyond that there are no real loops, faction play or magic items worth getting. 

 While there is no system stated for the adventure the skill checks indicate this is a 5E adventure.

Portability

 I suppose if you have a town and a setting with wyrmlings you can run this adventure.

Recommendation

 Just skip this one, there is nothing to it really.

 PWYW for the whole collection on gumroad or stump up cash on drivethru.

https://spielknights.gumroad.com/l/2022opdc

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/410915/One-Page-Dungeon-Compendium-2022-Edition

Alicarnassus' Mausoleum

  

By Barakiel the archangel

One page dungeon contest 2022

No system, no level given.

Premise: None of the previous attempts at robbing this tomb have had any success, might as well have a punt?

What do we get here?

 A single page gives us a map of a dungeon with 8 keyed rooms.

 Usability/formatting

  I suppose this just about functions as a dungeon, some things are weirdly placed and I'm not a fan of having random tables for treasures. Even the random table of encounters seems a little out of place in such a short dungeon.

 There is nothing evocative about this presumably ancient Greece themed adventure, it really lacks in the flavour department. The dungeon is not completely linear so it has that going for it I suppose even if there is not much in the way of loops or factions play.

 The art is fine in a get you buy kind of way, I can easily make sense of the map.

Portability

 As with many of the other dungeons in the compilation there is not much to hang your hat on here so you can plop this adventure down with ease should you want to.

Recommendation

 You could probably come up with something similar to this yourself in about 20 minutes so I am not really seeing any draw to run this one.

 PWYW for the whole collection on gumroad or stump up cash on drivethru.

https://spielknights.gumroad.com/l/2022opdc

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/410915/One-Page-Dungeon-Compendium-2022-Edition

Vault of the Forgotten King

 

By John Nash

One page dungeon contest 2022

No system, no level given.

Premise: The tomb of a forgotten king awaits exploration.

What do we get here?

 A single page gives us a map of a dungeon with 16 keyed rooms.

 Usability/formatting

 As a dungeon to hack through this is a perfectly serviceable effort. Both the map and room keys are mostly easy to understand. I would say the the actual design of the dungeon is probably the best part here, plenty of loops and secret or obscured doors. A good example of how to give yourself a solid foundation to build from.

 There is a good smattering of stuff to interact with and a decent wandering monsters table even if the rooms themselves are a little short on monsters in my opinion. Unfortunately the monsters are a mix of beasts and undead with little chance of faction play. 

The issue here is that despite there being mention of murals on a number the rooms they do not come together to tell a story or add much flavour to the dungeon. 

Portability

 Without any real lore or details attached to this adventure you can drop it in anywhere.

Recommendation

 I would say this is a fine dungeon to build your own adventure on top of rather than an adventure ready to go. If you spend the time to polish this one up a bit, flavouring it to your own setting it is well worth running. A decent start even if you would not run it straight out of the box.

 PWYW for the whole collection on gumroad or stump up cash on drivethru.

https://spielknights.gumroad.com/l/2022opdc

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/410915/One-Page-Dungeon-Compendium-2022-Edition