Wyrm Dawn

Wyrmlings

Throrgrmir’s golden age ended when the dwarves woke the primordial wyrm. After the wyrm’s incursion, they rebuilt their civilization in a decadent age, which ended in civil war.

Meanwhile, the wyrm laid eggs. During Throrgrmir’s final era, the eggs hatch. While the dwarves struggle in the war’s aftermath, they must defend themselves against treasure-seeking wyrmlings.

Tinker & Tack

What’s fun about tinkering with rules in your own instance of a game is that they don’t have to work in every case. They only have to fulfill your present purpose. I tacked these additions on to the Age of Civilization. I present them here as an example of what you might do with your own game of How to Host a Dungeon.

Dwarves

When expanding and exploiting, dwarves prefer to move into dormitories and store treasures in vaults as far as possible from any active wyrmlings. They build, however, where they find space.

Wyrmlings

I name wyrmlings after the order in which they hatch, using the greek alphabet. From seven eggs, the wyrmlings are called Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, and Eta.

Following the dwarves’ building phase, the wyrmlings—all together—take their turn in phases as follows.

Incubation

Roll a d6 for each unhatched egg. For each 1 or 2, one egg hatches. Emerging wyrmlings immediately search for treasure.

Once hatched, a wyrmling may wake or search. Each of these actions may lead to subsequent actions, which are handled in the appropriate phase.

Wake

Roll a d6 for each sleeping wyrmling. The wyrmling wakes on a result of 1 to 4. Upon waking, it immediately searches for treasure.

Search

Wyrmlings seek gold and gems. As the offspring of primordial and cosmic parents, they have no affinity for epic treasures.

The wyrmling moves one finger toward the nearest dwarven treasure, excluding epic treasures. A wyrmling may move along waterways as well as tunnels.

If the wyrmling encounters a dwarven population, the conflict is resolved in the CONFLICT phase.

If the wyrmling encounters treasure, it returns immediately to the lair with the treasure, and its turn ends.

Conflict

When a wyrmling encounters a dwarven population, the conflict is resolved according to the rules for CONFLICTS AND ATTACKS in the Age of Monsters section, How to Host a Dungeon.

If multiple wyrmlings are in conflict with a population, they join forces and get a +1 bonus per additional wyrmling on the conflict roll.

The wyrmlings are young and, when outmatched, retreat back to the lair. Therefore, dwarves win all ties.

If the wyrmling wins the conflict, remove the dwarven population. The wyrmling’s turn ends.

If the dwarves win, the wyrmling retreats immediately back to the lair and sleeps.

The Wyrmling “She”

I don’t know yet if the offspring of the primordial wyrm and the World Dragon have a gender. Until we discover otherwise, I use feminine pronouns for the wyrmlings.

At the Gate

The dwarf gate blocks the tunnel from the Deepmost Caverns to the city of Throrgardr. Although no dwarven population is present, the dwarf gate is considered to be defended, unless occupied by wyrmlings. Defenders get the appropriate fortification bonus against attacks. From the gate, the dwarves also observe the waterway entrance.

A wyrmling at the gate may either attack the gate or sneak by it, swimming up the waterway. If more than one wyrmlings are present, they split into two even groups: some attack, others sneak. An odd wyrmling joins the attackers.

Multiple wyrmlings at the gate gain a +1 bonus for each additional wyrmling to the conflict roll if attacking, or if sneaking, gain a -1 bonus for each additional wyrmling at the gate. The bonuses apply to all wyrmlings, no matter in which activity they are engaged. One roll is made for each activity (attacking or sneaking) no matter how many wyrmlings are present. An example follows.

While a victorious wyrmling is at the gate, it is not defended. Dwarven defenders reinvest the gate at the beginning of their turn in which a wyrmling does not occupy the gate.

Attack

Attacking the gate is handled as a conflict, see CONFLICT above.

Sneak

Wyrmlings may attempt to get past the gate by swimming up the river. A 1 or 2 on a d6 indicates the dwarves do not detect the wyrmling. She immediately continues movement up the river. If the dwarves detect the wyrmling, she is repulsed and returns to the lair.

Example

Three wyrmlings are at the gate. Two attack, while the third attempts to sneak by. The two attackers get a roll with a +2 bonus, while the sneaker gets a roll with a -2 bonus.

The dwarves roll a 3. A +1 for fortification gives them 4 against the wyrmling attackers roll of 2, +2 for numbers, which is a 4. Dwarves win the tie. The defeated wyrmlings return to the lair and sleep.

The sneaker rolled a 3, which, with a -2 for numbers, is a 1—a success. The wyrmling continues her movement, following the river.

Sibling Conflict

When more than one wyrmlings find a treasure, they fight over it. Roll a d6 for each wyrmling. If the optional Wyrmling Hierarchy rule (below) is used, add a bonus according to the wrymling’s rank, if any. The elder (or ranking) wyrmling wins ties. Winner takes the treasure back to the lair. Loosers remain; their turn ends.

Wyrmling Hierarchy (optional)

I have the idea that it will be important to know the wyrmlings’ hierarchy in later ages of the How to Host a Dungeon campaign. I found it not too onerous to keep track of wins and loses between the wyrmlings in the manner described below.

It does, however, prove difficult to detail how it works. Feel free to fill in holes or come up with your own system. If you don’t use the wyrmling hierarchy, assume the wyrmlings are ranked in order from eldest to youngest, i.e., as they hatch.

When any number of wyrmlings fight, the winner, if she doesn’t have one already, earns a ranking. If she is lower ranked than an opponent, she may move up in the ranking.

In all cases, a loss is recorded for each looser.

No rank: If the winner has no rank and she has an equal or fewer number of loses than her highest ranking opponent, she assumes the rank of that opponent.

Higher rank: If the winner is ranked higher than her opponents, she maintains her current rank.

Lower rank: If the winner is ranked lower than her highest ranking opponent and she has fewer loses than that opponent, she assumes that rank. Otherwise, she climbs in rank until she has fewer loses than the wyrmling whose rank she assumes.

Slipping rank: When a wyrmling’s rank is assumed by another, she slips down in the ranking. Compare the loses with the next lower ranked wyrmling. The wyrmling with fewer loses gets the higher ranking.

Empty Nest

If all the eggs hatch during this age, the primordial wyrm sleeps. Beginning on the next turn, she might wake up. In the WAKE phase, roll a d6. She wakes on a 1, and attacks the dwarf gate (with any wyrmlings present) in the CONFLICT phase, adding 1 to the conflict roll for each of her populations. She begins with 3 populations.

If the attack is unsuccessful, any wyrmlings return to the lair, and the primordial wyrm loses 1 population (return 1 token to the Deepmost Caverns). The primordial wyrm remains to press the attack in the next turn.

She continues the attack until she is successful or all her population tokens are returned to the Deepmost Caverns, at which time, she returns to the lair and sleeps. Check each turn for waking.

If the attack is successful, she occupies the gate, and her turn ends. The next turn, she moves into the city and makes a new lair there. While the primordial wyrm lairs in the city, dwarves may not reinvest the gate.

The wyrm sleeps and does not wake unless disturbed. Returning wyrmlings deposit their treasures and sleep in this new lair.

Unhatched Eggs

At the end of the Throrgrmir civilization, any unhatched eggs become epic treasures. In a later age, or in the later campaign, a wyrmling might be coaxed from an egg through an arcane ritual.

Civilization Ends

If civilization ends by industrial accident or other catastrophe, roll a d6 for any wyrmling above the dwarf gate and not in the lair—the primordial wyrm is impervious to the damage, and she protects her young. On a 1 the wyrmling does not survive the catastrophe.

If the dwarven population is reduced to five or fewer populations, the remaining dwarves depart, taking treasure (but not epic treasure) with them, and the Throrgrmir civilization ends. If she isn’t there already, the primordial wyrm moves, with her hoard and any unhatched eggs, into the city.

Active wyrmlings return to the current lair and sleep. Otherwise, follow the rules for the dwarven End of Civilization, How to Host a Dungeon.

Wyrmlings at the Gate
Wyrmlings at the Gate.
At the gate (center), Alpha attacks, while Gamma attempts to sneak up the river. Having previously penetrated the gate, Beta (background) engages a dwarven population. Four eggs remain in incubation (right).

How to Host a Dungeon is a tinker-friendly solo game of dungeon creation by Tony Dowler. In Wyrm Dawn, I’m using it to create back story for an upcoming B/X campaign. The game is available on DriveThruRPG, and you can support Tony Dowler’s work on his Patreon.

Wyrm’s Clutch

While the dwarves toiled to rebuild their civilization above, the primordial wyrm lurked below. In deep recesses of her cavern lair, she crept into crevasses and twisting tunnels, which led ever deeper below the sunlit surface.

At length she emerged into the world’s underside, where lived the World Dragon. In the dimness there, with the World Dragon she mated and, thereby, fertilized the eggs that grew in her belly.

Withdrawing, she returned to her lair in the Deepmost Caverns, and laid her eggs one by one. Seven eggs in all she brooded in the nether dark.

Wyrm’s Clutch
Wyrm’s Clutch.
Ovoid stones, overlarge, serve as eggs. In the final age of the Throrgrmir civilization, the eggs hatch. Emerging wyrmlings seek treasure.

Throrgrmir’s Age of Decadence

Tomb built, fallen heroes enshrined, the Throrgrmir dwarves recovered, though their population much reduced by the wyrm’s incursion. They continued their work and became rich beyond imagination. They built a smelter and improved the quality of their bronze tools. With a foundry, they increased metalwork production. To protect Throrgardr against further invasion from the nether reaches, they built a great gate at the city’s entrance above the Deepmost Caverns.

Meanwhile, gold mining continued until the primary vein was exhausted, at which time they turned their efforts to crystal and gem deposits.

They also embarked upon an ambitious project. Desiring to bring water to the upper levels, they planned to construct a canal along the empty vein. They built a simple yet enormous device to bring water up from the subterranean river. They named it “Eitri’s Screw,” after its audacious inventor.1

Applying knowledge of metallurgy and crystallography, they made a weapon. The purpose and use of which would be lost with the civilization that conceived it.2

As wealth increased, society grew self-indulgent. Successive emperors became less attentive to dwarfolk needs. Tension rose between laborers and bureaucrats. Protests turned to revolt. Revolt turned to civil war. Throrgardr burned.

Throrgrmir Civilization Before the Civil War Throrgrmir Civilization After the Civil War
Throrgrmir Civilization Before and After the Civil War.
At war’s end, half the remaining dwarven population departed3 with half the treasure, seeking a new home. Five populations, eight treasures, and three epic treasures remain.
Throrgrmir Civilization Age of Decadence overlay Throrgrmir Civilization Age of Decadence composite
Throrgrmir Civilization Age of Decadence Overlay and Composite.

Notes

1 In our world, its invention is attributed to Archimedes. The water screw is tilted at a 45-degree angle to hold the load as it screws up. Though it appears vertical on the campaign map, Eitri’s exemplar is tilted north, in our viewing direction.

2 Having no idea what sort of “doom weapon” dwarves might invent, I drew the sort with which my 1980s upbringing is familiar.

3 In the later Wyrmwyrd campaign, dwarves may be from remaining Throrgrmir clans or from clans of this diaspora.

Lyngheid’s Prize

The dwarf-wyrm encounter I envisioned became an adventure, both in-game and in its setting up. More than two weeks later, I’ve played the scenario several times in the dwarven city arranged in beach stones on two tables in my small apartment.

I’m tempted to recount the event in dramatic detail, but I’m more eager to get back to the history’s main thread. So I will, instead, summarize here only details pertinent to the current campaign and to that which is to come.

Future adventurers read the inscription on the dwarven lords’ tomb
Future adventurers read the inscription on the dwarven lords’ tomb.

The dwarven lords pushed the primordial wyrm back to her lair in the Deepmost Caverns. Four dwarven lords of ten survived. They rescued two dwarfolk groups but not the third, which the wyrm ate.

Six dwarven lords and a dwarfolk group, in total the Throrgrmir dwarves lose seven populations, and the primordial wyrm can lay as many eggs.

One of the surviving dwarfolk was a pre-adolescent female named Lyngheid. The dwarven lords discovered the dwarfkin, wearing an overlarge mail shirt and armed with wooden sword, marching toward the source of recent screams, quickly-squelched, and escorted her to the nearest exit. Unknown to them, as soon as they were out of sight, Lyngheid sneaked back in.

The dwarfkin reappeared just in time to charge into the wyrm battle, stopping to pick up a sword, which lay next to the charred remains of its previous owner.

Lyngheid then squeezed into the melee and planted the sword in the wyrm’s nose. The wyrm fled with a sword +1, +3 vs. dragons stuck in her snout.

For her bravery and heroic deed, Lyngheid was made a hero and given honorary possession of the weapon.

“Lyngheid’s Prize” now lies in the wyrm’s treasure horde at the bottom of the Deepmost Caverns, where it gains intelligence and a distinct hatred for dragon kind.

Wyrm Dawn Campaign Map - The next age of the Throrgrmir civilization begins with the building of a tomb
Wyrm Dawn Campaign Map.
The next age of the Throrgrmir civilization begins with the building of a tomb.

Dwarven Lords vs. Wyrm

The earth shook. Limestone walls trembled. Yellow plumes of dust fell in straight lines from the great cavern’s ceiling onto rooftops and pavements of the dwarven city. While the ground rumbled, adults grabbed children and scurried under lintels, miners dove beneath timber shorings, crafters ducked under worktables.

Throrgardr’s inhabitants were accustomed to earthquakes. This one was stronger than usual, but the dwarves were confident that their buildings would stand it, and that the tremor would soon subside.

It did. But while crafters recovered their work and homemakers swept the dust, news came from the shaft below the city. The mining team there had broken into an enormous cavern. The miners were presumed dead, and something lurks in the open darkness of the Deepmost Caverns.

Astonished faces turned panic stricken when shouts came from the under-city quarters. A great serpentine beast emerged from the shaft. It breathed fire and lightning. Families fled the city as the colossal creature crept along the streets. Its scaly skin squeezed between homes and workshops. It scooped up stragglers in great claws. Ripping with gnashing teeth, it ate in a ravenous frenzy.

Now the heroes have assembled. Ten dwarven lords must enter the abandoned city to hunt down and destroy the wyrm.

Ten Dwarven Lords

The party consists of ten 12th-level dwarven lords, a representative from each clan.

Ability Scores

I rolled 3d6 mostly in order. That is, I rolled Strength then Constitution. If either result was below 9, I started again.

Five of the six abilities play into the encounter. Apart from the obvious, the bonus to saves vs. Spells (Wisdom) might be needed as the wyrm is a spell-user. I doubt the dwarves will have occasion to parlay with the creature, but I used Charisma to determine the chain of command within the party.

Adjustments

While I adjusted Intelligence and Wisdom down to raise Strength, I didn’t allow to lose any Wisdom bonus (see above). Though I guessed a dwarven lord wouldn’t care so much about knowing more languages, so I mined the ore out of Intelligence.

Dwarven Lords vs. Wyrm
For easy reference, I put the ten dwarven lords on a single sheet and the wyrm on an index card.

Equipment

Each dwarf is equipped with plate mail & shield and a sword, unless another magic weapon is at hand. All carry a backpack from which they may pull any standard equipment required.

Magic Items

Using the rules for NPC Magic Items (X53), each 12th-level dwarven lord has a 60% chance to have an item from each magic item subtable. Items not usable by dwarves are forfeit.

I rolled for each dwarf on the Wand/Staff/Rod table and was eventually rewarded with the only item they can use. I wasn’t sure what one would do with a rod of cancellation until I got a cursed armor result. The dwarf with AC 9 will discover his predicament when first struck.

Even the scroll results that are not spells are fairly useless to the dwarven party. I did get a treasure map showing the location of a magic item. I traded it immediately for a roll on the General Magic table (X44), which gave me a sword +1, +3 vs. dragons. Perhaps fate itself machinates against the wyrm.

On the subject of swords, I rolled the usual chance for intelligent swords and got two, one of which had a special purpose. Though, instead of dealing with another character, let alone two of them, I’m going to let the encounter with a primordial wyrm determine whether any swords gain intelligence.

I rerolled duplicates. I thought three potions of speed, however useful, were unimaginative. But I kept items that seemed to me to be useless in the scenario. Protection from undead scroll, dimunition potion, ring of animal control: should these items survive the wyrm’s breath, they may be useful to adventurers who discover the dwarven tombs.

Gender

Without rules to differentiate, B/X implies a setting in which equal numbers of male and female heroes set out on adventures and contend with ferocious monsters. Unless some reason dictates a character’s gender, I let a dice decide: odd male, even female. Of the ten, four are dwarven ladies.

Assault and Support Teams

I imagine the dwarves might conduct a raid on the wyrm’s position, if she’s stationary, or an ambush, if on the prowl. Either way, the party is divided into assault and support teams. The support team uses missile fire to weaken the enemy and keep it occupied, while the assault team closes for melee. I assigned dwarves to teams by weapon type—melee or missile.

Chain of Command

The dwarves are shown on the character sheet in command order, leader on the left. The assault team leader is the mission commander. If a team leader is out of combat for any reason, the next in command (to the right) takes charge to continue the mission.

Morale

Because the encounter is intended to simulate events, the dwarves’ morale is important. Like the wyrm, the dwarves might retreat, if combat goes badly, to regroup and return later. The morale of both teams is 10 as long as the mission commander is alive and fighting. Otherwise, it drops to 8. If the support team leader is out of combat, the team’s morale becomes 9 unless it joins the assault team.

Dwarven Lords' Character Sheet
The dwarven lords’ character sheet is color coded according to the table below. The ability scores match, more or less, to the sphere.

Color Sphere Ability
Red Melee Strength
Orange Missile Dexterity
Yellow Movement Charisma
Green Healing Constitution
Blue Protection Intelligence
Purple Utilities Wisdom

Names

Brisingi
f. flame

Rekkr
m. warrior, hero

Dagfinna
f. day finder

Thrasir
m. the one in rage

Aurvangr
m. mud field, gravely plain

Blainn
m. dark, blackish

Dorri
f. spearwoman

Herraud
f. army-peace

Ivaldi
m. yew bow wielder

Farli
m. the faring one

These few brave go to defend the dwarven home. Remember their names for the drinking halls will resound with songs to glorify their victory or dirges to mourn their deaths.

Primordial Wyrm

The primordial wyrm, a 16th-level monster, is 80’ long. Her serpentine body has eight legs and nascent wings. Though she cannot fly, she swims, and she climbs walls and ceilings as well as she crawls on the ground. She breathes fire and lightning. Being of dragon kind, she is vulnerable to attacks and magic vs. dragons.

The wyrm has a preternatural intelligence and the ability to speak, though not yet having been exposed, she knows no languages save that of magic.

After being awakened by the dwarves from a millenia-long slumber, she is hungry. For every dwarven lord (population) she eats, she can lay one egg.

The Wyrm Awakens

“They Delve too Deep. Draw a shaft off the bottom of the page.” (Dowler)

Dwarves who “delve too deep” is a fantasy staple—maybe a cliché. Whether it’s a balrog from the depths of the earth or an ambiguous nether-dwelling monster, in How to Host a Dungeon’s first edition (2008), the dwarves can hardly avert this end to their civilization. In the second edition, the too-deep delving can be avoided at a simple decision point, but the civilization’s end cannot.

I mentioned earlier that I want to use all the dwarven constructions, and there is still white space on the map. Through some rule-bending, I figured out how to do it. It will become clear later how that is achieved.

First, a fun diversion presents itself: The Throrgrmir dwarves have awakened the primordial wyrm. According to the rules, the civilization ends, and we move on to the Age of Monsters. But, in order to embellish the dungeon history for the subsequent campaign, I have the idea to simulate the battle between the dwarves and the wyrm with a B/X D&D encounter.1

Quick Math Using Mean Numbers

  • Ten 12th-level dwarves (a dwarven lord to represent each population token) versus a 16th-level dragon (the wyrm).2
  • Each dwarf has (4.5 x 9 + 9) 49 hit points and armor class 1 (platemail and shield with a +1 magic bonus).
  • The wyrm has (16 x 4.5) 72 hp and AC -3.3
  • In the first round of combat, the dwarves close for melee under the dragon’s breath weapon: Two dwarves (20%, they need a 4) fail the save vs. Dragon Breath and do not survive. Eight dwarves take half damage, 36 points, and are reduced to 13 hp.
  • In the second round, the dwarves attack. Assuming +2 “to hit” and damage for strength and magic weapons, dwarves need a 13 to deal damage. Of eight dwarves, five (65%) hit for (4.5 + 2) 6.5 points of damage each, which is 32 points, reducing the dragon to 40 hp.
  • The same round, the dragon wounds two more dwarves with its claws, and she bites another in half.
Rolling up dwarven lords
Rolling up dwarven lords for a B/X encounter.

So, the third combat round opens with a 40-hit-point wyrm versus seven dwarves, who could still take a claw to the face and do a collective 30 points of damage.

The scenario doesn’t account for the vagaries of combat, but the odds are close enough. I’m rolling up some dwarven lords. Let’s go wyrm hunting!

Notes

1 My first thought was to run the scenario using the Chainmail miniatures rules (Gygax and Perren, Guidon Games, 1971). As fun as that might be, the combat would be overly complex for the present purpose. Plus, this is a fantastic opportunity to exercise the D&D Expert Rulebook.

2 See the DONJON LANDS Level Tiers table below. Being primordial, the wyrm is mythic. The dwarven lords, from the Age of Civilization, are epic.

3 I considered the possibility that the wyrm could cast spells. In the quick scenario outlined here, however, the dragon’s best first-round action is a 72-point breath weapon [not to mention, in B/X, a dragon always attacks with its breath weapon first (B34)], and after the dwarves close for melee, she couldn’t get off a spell.

DONJON LANDS Level Tiers

Tier Character Levels Period Historical Age Dungeon Age*
Heroic 1-4 Medieval (Dark) Villainy
Legendary 5-8 Ancient Iron Monsters
Epic 9-12 Ancient Bronze Civilization
Mythic 13-16 Prehistoric Stone Primordial

*Ages from How to Host a Dungeon.

Throrgrmir’s Golden Age

Following the primordial earthquake that spawned the wyrm, seasons skipped across years, like stones on the river’s placid surface. Fairies frolicked in the primeval woods, while the river wound its way to the sea. Beneath it, water dripped from ceilings in subterranean caverns. Trickles crept between cold rock into dark flowing streams. Magma bubbled in deep chambers, and so, millennia passed while the wyrm slept, and the land, above and below, was quiet.

Then, wind rattled leaves in the old woods, and dwarves came rambling down from the western mountains. They sought gold, and they found it beneath the limestone hills and established a mine there. The vein was rich, the dwarves prospered, their number increased, and the Throrgrmir civilization, named for a founding father, was thus established.1

A note about the notes: As standard practice, I include the context in each footnote, so the reader may comfortably follow the narrative and read the notes afterward, using—if necessary—the superscript numbers for reference. The notes, while integral to the continuing story, are not essential to the immediate narrative.

As they mined the ore, the dwarves dug tunnels and built dormitories, treasure vaults, and workshops. Soon they caroused in a drinking hall,2 and a citadel3 enclosed the surface entrance to their underground domain.

Throrgrmir’s Golden Age
The Golden Age of Throrgrmir.
On the map, I mimic Dowler’s shapes from How to Host a Dungeon, and since I’m learning to draw, I mimic the style as well. In this photo, the tokens obscure the dungeon. See bottom for the civilization’s overlay extracted and a composite of the primordial and civilization ages.

The dwarves built a city in a great cavern, which they excavated from around the subterranean river.4 They erected a colossal statue of the founding father, which straddled the river where it entered the city.5 Throrgrmir flourished in a golden age of growth and prosperity.

From the crystal caverns, they mined gypsum, with which they covered the walls of their dwellings and carved into statues and course glasswork. They built a furnace and melted crystal,6 thus producing fine glassware tinted pink and blue. Over the river, they built a great bridge and, beyond it, a throne room, whence an emperor ruled over a mighty domain.

Led by pride and the search for new wealth, the dwarves dug a shaft below the city. Cutting through the last layer of granite, the miners broke into red limestone. The limestone, more porous and fragile, crumbled beneath them. The miners fell, with a great mass of rock, into the deepest caverns, where slept the wyrm.7

Notes

1 From lists of Norse dwarf names (see below), I derived Throrgrmir: thror (boar) + grmir (mask). I see adventurers finding ancient treasures stamped with a symbol of the masked boar, and three syllables with only two vowels sounds goodly dwarvish to my ear. When my human tongue stumbles over the name, dwarves only grunt their amusement.

Dwarf name sources:

2 Where the dwarves built inside the Dead Caverns (stratum 2), they used natural pathways between constructions. To guide travelers, they erected cairns along the paths (shown on the map). Counting five of these rock piles from the easternmost vault, one arrives at the drinking hall, known as “Sixth Cairn.”

3 I reserve the citadel’s face for a stylized symbol of the masked boar.

4 How to Host a Dungeon makes you think about things you might not otherwise consider. Example: While the dwarves used much of the excavated rock for building, future surface explorers will notice rubble strewn down hillsides and piled in ravines. Though it’s mostly limestone, also present are basalt and granite, the latter sometimes streaked with quartz. By then, the rubble may be covered by a layer of soil or overgrown by vegetation. Still, through close examination, clever delvers might infer, from the rubble, the existence of a nearby dungeon; from the amount, its size; and perhaps from the style of markings on discarded carvings, that dwarves built it. The presence of quartz, which often accompanies gold, might lead the greedy and the foolhardy to make bad decisions.

5 Note the detail inset of the colossal statue: In case of flood or invasion, the axe is lowered to dam the river and block the passage. Meanwhile, a chute opens in the hollow handle, which channels the flow through a tunnel to a point downstream, below the city.

6 Last week it was geology, this week I’m stretching chemistry thin over the fantasy. Some crystal, not selenite, can be melted into glass. In modern civilization, this decreases its value. But since glass is otherwise unknown in this age, Throrgrmir glassware is a valuable commodity in the milieu.

7 The dwarves’ blunder reformed the ceiling of the deepest cavern and deposited a huge pile of rubble into it, possibly creating an island in the lake. The event also rerouted the subterranean river, cutting it short and drying up the eastern loop.

milieu noun
pronounced mēl-yü
: the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops : ENVIRONMENT

—Webster’s

[Popularized among old-school gamers by Gary Gygax, most notably in his Advanced D&D Dungeon Masters Guide (TSR Games, 1979), a 238-page work, wherein we find 72 instances.]

Throrgrmir’s Golden Age - overlay Throrgrmir’s Golden Age - composite
Throrgrmir Civilization Overlay and Composite.

Pebbles, Coins, Seashells, and Constructions

Symbols and Supplies

“These rules include a few symbols you should know… ⛭ Stands for epic treasure. These are optional….”
—Tony Dowler, How to Host a Dungeon

In the Supplies section of the rules, Dowler suggests using glass beads, coins, and board game tokens for the four symbols. I don’t have any beads, and I’m away from my games collection. I do have small change, though, and I’m spending the present lock-down near the sea.

Wyrm Dawn tokens for How to Host a Dungeon
I can’t imagine how epic treasure might be optional. I hope I’m playing this game right…

Flat, round, thumb-sized pebbles, fetched from the surf, do for populations. Shiny yellow ten-euro-cent pieces look like treasure. One-cent pieces, copper in color, are special bonuses, and seashells represent epic treasure.

Drawing

“There’s no right or wrong way to draw stuff, but there is a better and a worse way. The better way is one that’s pleasing to you and creates a dungeon you like.”

To draw the features in the age of civilization, Dowler suggests using a particular style to reflect the characteristics of the civilization that emerges following the primordial age. Dwarves, for example, build straight corridors at right angles. In construction, they use geometric shapes, often symmetrical. He also suggests using a different shape for each kind of construction.

Dwarven constructions for How to Host a Dungeon - Wyrm Dawn
To maintain a consistent size, I start with a circle—outline of a ten-cent coin—and draw the shape on and inside the edges. For larger constructions, like the power plant and throne room, I keep outside the circle. The city and battlefield are extra large, made with three circles.

According to my reading of the rules, the dwarves won’t have the opportunity to build all the rooms. But now that I’ve got shapes for them all, I might have to figure something out.

“The same goes for these rules…. You’ll probably get a better result following your instinct than worrying about the rules.”

Primordial Wyrm

Using How to Host a Dungeon, the game map is divided into eight “strata” (enumerated on the right, map below). Each game stratum is made up of one or more geologic strata. I use the same term for both, I think without too much confusion. Each enumerated stratum also contains a feature. In Wyrm Dawn’s primordial age, many features are created by two rivers—one surface, another subsurface—and an earthquake.

Primordial Wyrm
Wyrm Dawn Campaign Map Cross-Section.
We are looking north. To the right is east; left west.

Here I describe each enumerated stratum. A table below summarizes.

1. Surface

A languid river meanders across its floodplain carved in a limestone bed. It deposits rich soil on its banks and seeps through porous rock to form a subterranean stream (stratum 4). From the soil grow lush grasses and primeval woods: deciduous on the flood plain, conifer higher up.

2. Dead Caves

Where the river spares the limestone, hills remain. Beneath them, limestone caverns, formed by river water in an earlier epoch, are now dry.1

3. Gold Vein

The result of an earthquake deep below the surface, the fissure struck through a layer of granite and quartz, forming the gold vein in an instant.2

4. Crystal Caverns

The subterranean stream comes out in this limestone layer to create these caverns. When the river runs nearer the hills, another stream gives into the western cave.3 A previous water line is still visible throughout the complex. Even where the stream doesn’t run, the caverns are still damp, creating selenite crystals.4, 5

5. Subterranean River

This subterranean river etches a course through limestone. It is swift but navigable from the east to where it falls through basalt (stratum 6).

6. Gem Deposits

A stratum of basalt contains gem deposits.

7. Magma Chamber

The earthquake also opened a fissure in this granite stratum from a magma source far below.

8. Mother of Dragons

Earth, shuddering in her labor, opened this large cavern complex to spawn a primordial wyrm. The parthenogenic creature emerged fully grown into the earth. She now seeks nourishment, so to lay her eggs.

Strata Summary

Stratum Primary rock Feature
1 Soil Biomes: deciduous and conifer woods, river, grassland, hills
2 Limestone, green6 Caves: connected caverns
3 Granite, quartz Ore: gold vein
4 Limestone, blue6 Biome: crystal caverns
5 Limestone, yellow6 Water: river
6 Basalt Gems: deposits
7 Granite Magma: chamber
8 Limestone, red6 Nexus: mother of monsters—dragons

 

The stage now set, the Age of Civilization begins.

Notes

1 A tunnel from the surface leads to the dead caves’ western cavern.
2 It seems our mundane world still wields much magic. A study described in this Nature article proposes that a gold vein can indeed be formed by an earthquake “in an instant.”
3 Like the dead caves above, a tunnel from the surface must lead down to the western cave mouth in the crystal caverns, while a tunnel to the eastern mouth is submerged. I’d look for a whirlpool in the surface river.
4 For the crystal caverns, I’m inspired by the selenite crystals from Mexico’s Naica cave.
5 Selenite, a variety of gypsum, is transparent and colorless, but impurities can give it a tinge of color, including blue and magenta, like a certain pair of game boxes—I’m going with that.
6 Who knew limestone comes in different colors? Savvy explorers might know how deep they have ventured by the kind and color of rock.

B/X D&D 40th-Anniversary Game

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of my favorite DUNGEONS & DRAGONS edition, I’m starting a new B/X campaign. Wyrmwyrd is a solo campaign, and I’m using Tony Dowler’s How to Host a Dungeon to create some back story. I think of it as a prequel campaign—working title: Wyrm Dawn. I just finished the primordial age. The mother of dragons spawned in the deepest caverns.

Wyrm Dawn
Wyrm Dawn Campaign Map with B/X D&D and Host to Host a Dungeon.

The original edition of D&D, created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, was published in 1974. The edition known as “B/X” was edited by Tom Moldvay and David Cook with Steve Marsh and published as DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Fantasy Adventure Game Basic and Expert Rulebooks by TSR Hobbies, Lake Geneva, WI, in 1981 (first printing in January). How to Host a Dungeon: the solo game of dungeon creation by Tony Dowler is in its second edition (2019). The cross-section map is my own.