For those too excited to read:
These last few weeks, Chgowiz and I have been working at delivering on our promise of creating a special PDF file that brought together the very best entries from the contest One Page Dungeon contest.
Well the wait is over and we offer you the Hobbyist version of the: One Page Dungeon Codex 2009!
(Go ahead, download it, it’s 100% free)
The Codex collects all winners of the contest as well as the Runner-ups. We also added several blog articles about the history of the One Page Template and how to use it. Plus we got it a killer cover by artist Mark Allen.
Why ‘Hobbyist version’? Let’s just say that we are planning to release a ‘Deluxe’ version a few weeks from now with a few extras (like specific art representing the 3 winning entries drawn by AvatarArt). This version will be uploaded to the various PDFs shops courtesy of our friends of Tabletop Adventures.
And of course, the Pro version will also be free.
But that’s not all. By popular demand, we’re also releasing all, yes ALL, one-page dungeon contest entries, unedited and bunched together in a single file (it’s 30 MB long so be warned) we informally called the 1-pg Dungeon Compendium.
You can find it here.
Enjoy and let us know how you like it.
Congrats! It’s a ton of work to put together something like this, so never fail to be proud of it!
.-= Propagandroid´s last blog ..3.old Spell Lists =-.
Prop – what I’m most proud of is having a bunch of gamers devote time and energy to putting their best adventures forward for us to use and enjoy. Some things are truly timeless and I think this contest brought a lot of that out.
.-= Chgowiz´s last blog ..The One Page Dungeon Contest PDFs =-.
I wish there was a way to say “Finally! This is awesome!” without it sounding like I’m complaining about the time it’s taken to do this, but… it is awesome, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting it since you first announced that it would be coming.
Thanks to everyone involved in creating, judging, and compiling this – I’ve only skimmed it and read a few parts so far, but it’s very good stuff.
@Prop: Thanks man. I’m really proud and impressed of what was achieved here. I never thought that this project would get to the end when I first envisioned it and dropped it on Chgowiz’s head.
@Chgowiz: I too am amazed at the quality of the entries and the time spent on it. Once again I’ll high five you for the decision of making the whole thing system/game neutral. Heck we got a Mutant Future Adventure in that!
@User: Don’t worry… both Chgowiz and I said ‘Finally’ with all its implied meanings!
I’ve been looking at the Codex here are work. Thank goodness I have a cool workplace. This is a great piece of work. Congrats to everyone involved.
I have an early personal favorite: Arendt’s Old Peculiar by Antti Hulkkonen. It has immediate use and the idea is great.
Again, great stuff to everyone involved. Thank you.
Very cool work! I like the formatting and how every post along the way is credited. Seems like an awesome project, and I feel a little goofy for not knowing about it until seeing your Twitter posts. So much to read! Also, I’m struck by how much easier to read the computer-assisted maps are. Goes to show what a little polish can do to an great idea (sad, but true).
@jeffx I liked that one too. The aesthetics just jump out. Some of the smaller dungeons have cool premises as well.
Has anyone had a really good “Race Against the Clock” scenario? Do you implement a real-world clock along with an in-game clock? I’m imagining running a session almost like a chess game with an oppressive Tick Tick Tick Tick…
Well done! Going to download it now!
.-= RichGreen´s last blog ..Recent Reading: Books =-.
@jeffx: Arendt’s is one of my favorite entries too. Very Evocative. Going for the Starbucks trope was awesome.
@Calvino: I’m glad you liked it. And I have played ‘against the clock’ game where I counted rounds from beginning to end…
Heck we once played a whole dungeon underwater without any Water Breathing magic. That was fun!
Congratulations and a hearty thank you to the Chatty, Chgowiz, and the other judges and sponsors! You’ve all earned a well deserved rest. This was great fun and has given me a lot of material for my own upcoming campaign. Even if I don’t use every dungeon I can mine the great ideas and encounters in them to suite my needs. One question: I noticed you titled the PDF as One Page Dungeons Codex 2009. Does this leave open the possibility of a One Page Dungeon 2010 contest? I sure hope so!
Regards,
Gary
“The Clockwork Crypt”
Just a fantastic project all around. This will make for some great bedside reading. Nice work, team!
@calvino If my memory serves me there was a Dragonlance module I played once that was sensitive to time. There was a round counter included. If I remember correctly, if you didn’t accomplish something the tower collapsed and a war started.
The one page entry I would have submitted, had work not required an insane schedule at the time, was a “time tracker”.
@ChattyDM: Starbucks Trope,..Ha!
The more I look at this the more impressed I am by it. The entries are awesome and the detail in the Codex makes it a great tome.
If I recall correctly, “A Few of My Favorite Things,” which appears in the complete smorgasbord version, is an “against the clock” dungeon. I think it was the only one out of the 112 that featured such a wrinkle.
.-= AmityvilleMike´s last blog ..He Wants to Hold Your Hand, Hand, Hand, Hand… =-.
@Gary: As I told you over email, I loved the Crypt and named it my Judge’s choice in the honorable mentions! As for putting the year on the Codex, let’s just say that we’re paving the way to the next bunch of crazies who’ll take over the project next time.
@walkerp: Thnaks for the kudos, I’m so happy to have seen this thing through!
@Amityville Mike: I actually found out that there were 114 entries… that will teach us all to let a Microbiologist handle numbers. 🙂
This was pretty awesome reading. If/when I DM again, I’ll definitely be taking both some of the actual dungeons presented as well as the concept and putting them to use.
I hope you do this again next year, as I’d like a shot at submitting one of my own. I found this site far too late to do one this time.
Glad to see these maps all in one place. Thanks for putting this together!
.-= Storyteller´s last blog ..The Polls Are Closed! =-.
Glad to see the winners compiled in one PDF. Thanks for you guys hosting and judging the submissions. At the very least I’ll have a bunch of sources for inspiration in future game nights. Cheers!
.-= Geek Ken´s last blog ..Games I Will Play With My Kids =-.
@Jeffx, Calvino, Chatty: Thanks for the kind words, guys! As if I didn’t feel honoured enough already… The “Starbucks trope” came naturally – I run on coffee.
And thanks & congratulations all around for everyone involved. The Codex looks awesome, and the Compendium is a veritable juggernaut of creativity and inspiration. Gosh, we’re great!
Antti
This is one of the coolest PDFs I’ve seen in a long, long time. Congratulations to all, including winners, runners and editors 🙂
.-= Carlos de la Cruz´s last blog ..Incursión en el Barrio Troll =-.
Fantastic. It is great to see all the entries inside a PDF. I am still going through each entry and I can see a lot of creativity there. Given that you’ve thrown ‘2009’ into the title; I can only hope that this will be a continued annual event.
Well done to ChattyDM, Chgowiz and the rest of the people who put this together. Some great work.
Simply fantastic!
What a great set of submissions.
No doubt next year’s submissions will be even better!
well, heck, I guess I’ll join in on the dogpile of praise for Arendt’s. Honestly, when I first read that one, before the winners were announced, I thought “well, there’s the one to beat…”
If there’s ever a second contest, I’m definitely breaking from the template and just laying it out in a graphics program. The difference in readability and even my own reception of the dungeon as a reader is huge. Don’t get me wrong, the template is great for what it’s intended to do…but it just doesn’t come across in the same way as the more polished presentations.
Thanks everyone for the kind words. The Codex has been receiving a lot of praise and we are humbled.
As for determining the winner, it was a hard process and with 6 judges, the bid for best of the best came down to compromises and what dungeon garnered the most support.
Will we do another one next year? Ask us in January. We put 2009, just to allow people doing one next year the possibility of using the PDF’s brand recognition.
Did the pro version materialize? Looked around a bit (not very hard) couldn’t find it.
.-= Norman Harman´s last blog ..The Mythic Wilderness =-.
Also wondering whether the Pro version will appear soon? I’d love to get a print version, say from Lulu.
The Pro Version will appear early next year, we’ll announce it when we get there. The schedule was pushed back for a few Real life reasons.