Dyson’s Delve and Swords & Wizardry - Retrospective

Having now wrapped up an entire solo playthrough of Dyson’s Delve with Swords & Wizardry, I wanted to think a little about how the dungeon felt, the game, and solo TTRPGs more broadly. At the end, I’ll link to the full set of resources I used for this campaign.

The Mini Mega Dungeon

I have supported Dyson Logos’s Patreon for many years. He’s such a mainstay of the community that I hope more people continue to do so as well! While the adventure text (stocked rooms, etc.) is just for Patreon supporters, he’s kindly made all the maps available for everyone to enjoy. I don’t have any affiliation other than being a fan; all of this has just been to show some support. I had considered doing this for a long time, and Lone Horizon’s playthrough with DCC inspired me to finally do it.

Dyson describes this as “the original mini mega dungeon”, and it certainly felt that way to me. It’s a dungeon that can be the backbone of a campaign, but each level is fairly small. That then means he tunes up the treasure a little bit:

Because each level is fairly small, and I didn’t want each level to be the same difficulty level, the delve contains a significant amount of treasure for the difficulty - The amounts are possible within the treasure types of the creatures encountered, but are significantly higher [than] statistically probable.

To be honest, it did feel a little cramped. In a group game, of course, the GM could just modify things by adding sections here and there, and in fact the module makes a few suggestions in that regard. It’s also quite vanilla, but that seems like perhaps a design goal.

All that said, I don’t think I’d run a megadungeon this way again. When losing characters, it makes it hard to level up the new ones. Ultimately, I need to spend more time figuring out how I want to restock dungeons. There are some useful blog posts out there, but not having been the one to populate the dungeon in the first place, I was indecisive about following that up. I also alluded a few times to the Goblin Gully adventure from Dyson Logos2, which I have run a few times for groups. I could have had a side quest over there to get some more treasure (and thus experience), though it never became necessary.

Swords & Wizardry

I played the Complete Revised version this time. Eventually I started houseruling more things, which OD&D certainly encourages. However, it’s “OD&D plus the supplements”, which adds quite a few things relative to White Box or Core, which I’ve also played and enjoyed. Adding in classes the Book of Options ended up feeling like too much, or at least perhaps I should have been more selective about which ones to use (as will happen in my next campaign). S&W Core isn’t really a thing anymore, although it gets referenced a bit in this book. I miss it, but I could pare back some things from Complete and maybe get a similar feel. (Alternatively, I could use Fantasy Medieval Campaigns or White Box). The game incorporates a few nice touches from B/X, like the morale rules, and in fact represents a nice bridge between the original-est edition and B/X, while still retaining enough of the wild feel of OD&D for my tastes.

The Swords & Wizardry books: Complete Revised, Book of Options, and Fiends & Foes.

My hard copies of the Book of Options and Fiends & Foes arrived a few days ago, as I was nearing completion of this campaign. They’re gorgeous, and (unlike the main rule book) printed on matte paper. That makes them far more readable for me, since glossy paper gets those annoying reflections from the lights. The new layout in the Revised books from Mythmere games is clean and readable, with lots of the familiar art from earlier editions. The lack of an index is a damn shame. The Referee Log turned out not that useful for solo play (although obviously that was never the intended use case anyway). The class-specific “Digital Spellbooks” are a really nice touch, though; there is one for each of the three spellcasting classes in the core book (Cleric, Druid, and Magic-User).

Lessons about OD&D

The most important character attribute is actually Hit Points, followed by Constitution. High numbers may not save you, but low numbers make survival very difficulty.

As soon as possible, start recruiting hirelings and henchmen. Yes, this can spread out the treasure and, in the case of “special hirelings,” experience. But this is actually how characters grow in power, amassing an expeditionary force. This is a game of attrition and, to an extent, logistics. Resource management isn’t just about torches and rations, or even HP and spells (although clearly those matter). It’s also about followers: can you afford them? Can you keep them alive and loyal? Do you have the reputation to convince folks to follow you on some “damn fool crusade” or even into a dark hole in the ground, with an expectation they will come back alive?

The OSR community frequently talks about non-linear thinking, grim settings, weird magic, faction play, and exploration. But I think this “follower game” (recruitment, morale, loyalty, logistics) really stands on par with some of the other pillars of this play style. Ultimately, this is its own form of in-world advancement: not your level, but how many strong arms will keep braving the underworld and wilderness with you.

For what it’s worth, this analysis (which I started writing before the end of the campaign) helped me realize I wasn’t paying the retainers enough, or even understanding how they should work. That also helps alleviate the problems of in-game wealth accumulation: what to do with all that gold? Hire men-at-arms and other followers!

A group game of OD&D works in part on the assumption that a player (real-life person at the gaming table) has a “main” and several “alts” (to use MMORPG jargon). That means that, in a solo game, I need to run more characters: not just porters and torchbearers, but “special hirelings”. That also means I need to think about mechanics for reputation and the supply of willing and able adventuring types in whatever town or home base the characters use.

The reaction roll very often results in a neutral result: “the monsters withhold judgment and wait to see if the adventurers are hostile”, or similar. Does that always mean they choose not to aggress if the party doesn’t? After some thought, I think this is why it’s important to know what the monsters want and whether they think they can achieve it.

Solo TTRPGs

Thinking about RPGs more broadly in this solo play style, I really like procedural play. Dungeon turns, random encounters, surprise checks, reaction rolls, morale… all these things not only provide a useful structure to the game, they provide their own sort of “oracle” without falling back on the general open questions (e.g. the Action / Theme oracle in Ironsworn).

I still enjoy journaling games, and there are definitely times when I want to incorporate something like Mythic GME. But, given where my life is at the moment, including my reserves of mental and emotional energy at the end of the day or on the weekend, following procedures and checklists with relatively concrete results helps.

Compared to computer games, not only do they offer more flexibility and creativity than even the most sandboxy of open-world games, they also don’t rely on the quality of my Internet connection or even sitting in front of a screen (at least, not necessarily). Sometimes I really like just gathering up my books and zines and journals and dice and a nice pen, going into another room, and working with paper and ink rather than bits and bytes.

Resources

I’ve linked to Dyson’s Delve (related blog post) a few times above, but here are the links to the rules, mechanics, and other sources I used:

• Mythmere Games:
  • Swords & Wizardry Complete Revised rulebook
  • Book of Options
  • Fiends & Foes
  • Tome of Adventure Design
• The Monster Overhaul
• Downtime in Zyan
• Feats of Exploration
• D30 Sandbox Companion
• Old-School Essentials System Reference Document
• Blog posts:
  • The Underclock: Fixing the Random Encounter (Arnold K.)
  • time, movement, and action economy in dungeon games (Marcia B.)
  • What Is A Thoul? (perdustin)
  • Henchmen and Hirelings in Dungeons and Dragons (Joe Mohr)
  • Spending Your Gold Pieces! (Dyson Logos)

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which don’t cost you anything extra but help me buy even more supplements to use in these posts. I don’t have any other affiliation with these publishers or designers.