The Dungeon d100s: Rewards

(An Italian translation of this post is available on Dragons’ Lair)

Nothing on this list is meant to be exchanged for money, nor could most of it be described as “magic items” in the traditional sense. Both those things are excellent rewards for players to find in dungeons. Both have even been subjects for my own writing, (see d100 Objects of Moderate Value, or the Magic Items subheading of my Index). However, my goal with this table is to focus on the sorts of treasures that are often neglected when planning a dungeon. Things like relationships, information, opportunities to be creative, unusual tools, character modifications, and access to tremendous and terrible power.

Like any reward from a dungeon, these objects must be earned. Once cannot simply place “friendship with an elder red dragon” inside a chest. Instead the players might find an elder red dragon whose tail was caught in a massive bear trap, and was left here to starve while adventurers looted his treasure horde. Other rewards on this list might be better suited to being quest rewards. For example, a king will listen to the party on matters of public policy if they go into the dungeon and take care of this’n’that for them.

The Dungeon d100s
1 – Themes
2 – Structures
3 – Rewards
4 – Doors, Floors, Walls, & Ceilings
5 – Factions
6 – Locks & Keys

Bonus – Auto-roller, at Liche’s Libram.

d100 Dungeon Rewards:

  1. A printing press.
  2. A fine fleet of chariots.
  3. Some well constructed bit of mobile siege equipment, such as a catapult or scorpion.
  4. Complex siege equipment which must be disassembled for transport, such as trebuchets or rolling towers.
  5. A supply of a rare material with incredible properties. Something like mithril or gopher wood.
  6. A ship in good condition.
  7. A war tank, perhaps brought here by a time warp, or a remnant from an ancient magical empire.
  8. A backhoe, cement mixer, bulldozer, steamroller, or other piece of time-warped industrial construction equipment or its ancient magical counterpart.
  9. A supply of absolutely primo drugs. They do all the stuff you like, none of the stuff you don’t like, and there’s enough of it to throw the world’s greatest party.
  10. A bank of unknown seeds with a supply sufficient for long term cultivation. They may be from a far distant land, extinct local flora, or from some entirely alien world.
  11. Command over a great orbiting eye (or telescope if your game allows for it) which can communicate its observations from space.
  12. Access to a heretofore unknown deposit of natural resources. A rich vein of precious metals, a well of oil, etc.
  13. A massive cache of supplies. Stuff like food, medicine, or war materiel. Enough to solve a famine, alleviate a plague, or outfit an army.
  14. A legitimate coin press, or a convincing counterfeit one. Enables the owner to create fake currency if they wish.
  15. An artifact from the future left behind by a clumsy time traveler. It could be information that advances the party’s knowledge, some bit of useful tech like a flashlight or motorcycle, or a weapon like a ray gun.
  16. A specialized encryption machine, which allows some certain group to send secret messages to one another. None has ever fallen into the wrong hands before, and with it the party could intercept highly sensitive messages.
  17. Access to a secret and wide ranging communications network, enabling the players to pass messages quickly and effectively over great distances. Alternately, the players may have the opportunity to exploit or disrupt such a network.
  18. A single-use item of tremendous restorative power. Using it could end a plague, or resurrect a dead army.
  19. A single-use item of tremendous destructive power. Essentially a briefcase sized atom bomb.
  20. A single-use item of tremendous transportation power. Enough that a whole city could be gracefully moved to another planet or plane of existence with the snap of a finger.
  21. An artifact of religious or historical significance which would alter what is commonly believed. The powers that be are probably threatened by this.
  22. Some bit of culture lost to history. Something like extra verses of Gilgamesh, a forgotten board game, or the lost writings of an ancient philosopher.
  23. An imprisoned dungeon delver. If freed they will join your party at least to the end of the dungeon, and if you impress them, may continue on as a hireling.
  24. A kidnapped prisoner, brought to the dungeon against their will. Are they known to be missing? Were they replaced by a doppelganger? Regardless of other circumstances, they will be grateful to be rescued.
  25. The friendship of a skilled professional of some kind, happy to perform some free work for the party. They may be a craftsperson, a lawyer, an accountant, a guide, an engineer, an artist, etc.
  26. The friendship of an individual or a group with the ability to easily access spaces which might be out of reach for the players. For example, merfolk, ghosts, harpies, mole men, desert worm riders, or plane hoppers.
  27. The friendship of an individual or a group which is usually intractably isolationist, or at least opposed to forming friendships with people of the player character’s type. Perhaps wood elves, faeries, or members of an enemy nation.
  28. The friendship of a great and terrible beast which might normally be inclined to eat you, like a troll or dragon.
  29. The friendship of a person who is highly placed within some powerful system. An aristocrat, military officer, or postmaster general.
  30. A group of slaves whom the party can set free. Some of them may choose to join the party, others will spread stories of their heroism, while still others might be positioned to offer substantive rewards once they get home.
  31. Animals of a heretofore unknown type. They might be alien creatures, dinosaurs frozen in ice, dodo birds surviving in a sealed valley, or anything in between. They could be useful for exotic meat, domestic labor, companionship, or merely as curiosities. There are enough to breed a healthy population.
  32. A golem or robot imprints itself on you. It follows wherever you lead and tirelessly performs any task you set it to. It is limited by rudimentary intelligence and creativity, and perhaps a lack of agility.
  1. An ethereal servitor imprints itself on you.
  2. The companionship of an animal which is not normally attainable as a pet. It may be an elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, elk, cheetah, etc. The animal is already trained, understands basic commands, and will aid you so long as it is well treated.
  3. An object with no significant trade value or use value, but which would be the perfect gift for a particular person in the game world. Perhaps a lost painting of a king’s dead lover, or the childhood toy of an elder dragon.
  4. The opportunity to create a new spell, ignoring many of the normal restrictions on time, cost, or scope.
  5. The opportunity to craft a powerful weapon or suit of armor, ignoring many of the normal restrictions on time, cost, or scope.
  6. The opportunity to use a rapid evolution device to guide a new form of animal into existence, matching specifications you set within a certain margin of error.
  7. The opportunity to plan a public works project on the scale of a bridge, road, bath house, grain dole, etc. The party will not need to pay for creating or maintaining this project.
  8. The opportunity to dictate what the production of a factory will be over a given period, and what will be done with the items produced. Players may wish to outfit an army, take a new product to market, or introduce new technology to society.
  9. Temporary command over a work force of builder elves. In a single night they will build any construction that is described to them.
  10. The opportunity to direct the efforts of a team of scientists or engineers towards a problem of the player characters’ choosing.
  11. The opportunity to establish a charity which will tackle some particular social ill.
  12. The opportunity to direct an angry mob towards a particular target.
  13. For a fraction of a second the character becomes a god. Just enough time to make a single world-altering decision. The other gods are swift to put the character back in their proper place, but will not undo this one change.
  14. The opportunity to advise someone powerful about how they ought to proceed. To influence the social policies of a king, or the military tactics of a general. This advice will be followed unless it would be suicidally absurd to do so.
  15. The opportunity to lay down the precepts of a new religion, or life philosophy, which will be adhered to (and no doubt eventually distorted to some degree) by a community of peoples.
  16. A clearly stated and completely accurate prophecy describing an a celestial, geological, or otherwise uncontrollable event. A solar eclipse, a falling meteor, an erupting volcano, a monarch dying or birthing an heir, etc. Only you know this thing will happen.
  17. A clearly stated and accurate prophecy describing an event which could be altered if you choose to pursue it. Someone being murdered, the outcome of a battle or an election, etc.
  18. Knowledge to any one secret in the world, so long as a single person exists who knows about it.
  19. The opportunity to ask an omnipotent intelligence a single question, and receive a fully detailed answer.
  20. The opportunity to ask an omnipotent intelligence three yes-or-no questions, which will be answered honestly and accurately.
  21. All the details of someone’s plans or battle strategies, or perhaps diagrams which describe their defensive arrangements in detail.
  22. Genealogical records which could alter someone’s social position. A member of or friend to the party may find that they’re actually a minor noble, or even in line of succession for the crown. Alternately these records might reveal that some aristocrat’s lineage has been faked.
  23. Evidence which disproves a criminal or embarrassing claim made against the party, friend of the party, or employer of the party. The evidence may or may not be faked, but it is convincing.
  24. Evidence which proves that one of the party’s foes has committed a serious crime, which they will otherwise get away with. Alternately, evidence of a conspiracy the party wishes to expose.
  25. Blackmail sufficiently damning to earn concessions from some person or group. The strength of the blackmail will determine how much the blackmailer can get for it.
  26. A pirate’s map, complete with annotations, passwords for safe rooms, several uncharted islands, and a few spots marked X.
  27. A map to an abandoned tower, castle, city, fleet of warships, or other sturdy construction left over from a previous era. It belongs to anyone who wants to lay claim to it.
  28. A map of a place the player characters would be familiar with. The map reveals hidden passages, buried treasures, forgotten underground structures, or other lost knowledge.
  29. A complete map of this, or some other dungeon, with enough information to make plundering dramatically easier.
  30. Access to an unknown hideyhole which allows someone to spy easily on some incredibly secret location, such as a monarch’s private audience chamber.
  31. Instructions for replicating some secret technology which has become lost. Ulfberht steel, roman concrete, greek fire, brilliantly blue paint, etc.
  32. A map which highlights a valuable traveling route, such as a quick path through a difficult range of mountains, directions that would allow ships to avoid rocks and sandbars in a treacherous river, the safe path through a minefield, or route through an impenetrable marsh.
  33. Access to a magic tunnel which, when crawled through, allows the crawler to temporarily inhabit the body of some notable figure in the game world. At the end of their time, they consistently appear at some place a few miles from the tunnel access.
  34. A control panel for activating some particular catastrophe. Perhaps an earthquake, a tsunami, a meteor, an ice age, etc. The players cannot choose what the disaster is, only where, when, and whether it will happen.
  1. Access to the settings for creation. The power of magnetism, the rate of evolution, etc. Curiously, gravity is currently set to 120% normal strength.
  2. The services of an expert assassin who will eliminate any one person of your choosing. No cost. Success guaranteed.
  3. Command over an army or navy of the damned who will be freed when a certain condition is met. It could be when they win their next battle, when they recapture a certain territory, or avenge an ancient wrong.
  4. The opportunity for characters to clone themselves. It may be that the clone is immediately active, or may be kept dormant. The clone may have complete free will, or be willing to defer to the original.
  5. The opportunity to time travel. This might be subject to any number of limitations (one way and permanent, only within the travelers lifetime, only outside their lifetime, only backwards in time, the traveler can only exist outside their proper time for a few moments, the list goes on.)
  6. The opportunity to stop time the whole world over, allowing the player characters some set period (a few hours/a day/a week) in which they may act before time sets itself into motion once again.
  7. The opportunity to open a door between our world and another. The pathway will be large, permanent, and accessible to many people on both sides. The inhabitants of both worlds will begin to mingle, and influence one another in unpredictable ways.
  8. The chance to bestow a curse of misfortune on someone, such that all their current prosperity will leave them, and all their future ventures will fail, until some condition is met.
  9. A large seed which, when planted, will spread and grow rapidly. In a single afternoon it will produce a whole forest of trees.
  10. The opportunity to parley on friendly terms with a powerful creature. Anywhere from an elder dragon, to a god.
  11. The opportunity to undo a single mistake from the characters past. It must be a choice they made, not just a roll they failed. The change may have unintended consequences.
  12. The opportunity to remove a single person from existence. They will have never existed, and much of what they’ve done
  13. The players find themselves in just the right place at just the right time to influence a war that is well beyond their ken. Some conflict between solar empires, or between the gods themselves. The choice the players make will tip the scales.
  14. A character is inducted into an auspicious order. In addition to potential social benefits, they may gain class features not normally available to their class. For example, they might be declared paladins, and gain a Smite Evil ability.
  15. An upgrade to a skill, spell, or ability the character already possesses. A spell which deals d4 damage may now deal d6; a skill may now be able to ignore certain limitations; An ability may be usable more times per day; etc.
  16. The opportunity to combine their genetic makeup with another creature in some beneficial way. Gaining bird’s wings, or the speed of a cheetah, or the dignified mane of a lion, etc.
  17. The opportunity to subject themselves to a random beneficial mutation.
  18. The opportunity for characters to alter their physical selves. Change their height, sex, age, reroll one or more stats, and even their species to whatever they want.
  19. The opportunity to work with a teacher or therapist who can help characters learn a new skill, or remove some mental hindrance.
  20. Magical or mechanical replacements for lost body parts, which function just as well (or perhaps better) than natural ones.
  21. Experimental body modifications. Adrenaline boosters, sub-dermal armor, internal potion injectors, etc.
  22. Become immune to some specified thing: burns from fire, inhaled poisons, axes, etc.
  23. Secret techniques for better living. Perhaps breathing techniques which double the length of time breath can be held, exercises which grant a set amount of temporary hit points each day they are performed, or sleeping methods which allow a full night’s rest in a scant few hours.
  24. A shipment of stolen goods which, if returned, would prevent a sea captain or merchant from going bankrupt.
  25. Documents which prove that an obscure law or treaty is still in effect. It may become repealed, but until it is the player characters can abuse it to some advantage.
  26. The ability to understand and speak with something unusual. Birds, cats, fish, trees, etc.
  27. The opportunity to perform a profoundly good deed, such as releasing a thousand imprisoned souls. Performing the good deed is trivial, but offers no tangible personal benefit.
  28. A key needed to access something in another dungeon, or a bank vault, or to bypass security somewhere.
  29. The remains of some notable figure who disappeared mysteriously. Perhaps a noted political reformer, a heroic adventurer, or a renowned artist. Apparently they met their end in this dungeon.
  30. The remains of a ghost or phylactery of a lich, enabling the characters to send some wayward spirit to its proper rest.
  31. The opportunity to undergo a ritual which will allow characters to become ghosts (or perhaps other forms of undead) when they die.
  32. Alternate versions of common spells which are dramatically more effective, but are more difficult to cast. Perhaps they have a longer casting time, require multiple casters, or have expensive material components.
  33. Access to a great tunnel through the underdark which allows travelers to bypass some surface danger, such as a terrible desert, marsh, or enemy nation.
  34. Access to one or more magical portals, which could transport a person instantaneously to set locations throughout the world, or even to different planes and planets.

Also, defund the police.

The Dungeon d100s: Doors, Floors, Walls & Ceilings

(An Italian translation of this post is available on Dragons’ Lair)

It has been my experience that even the most creatively written dungeons tend to ignore the opportunity to be creative with their basic building blocks. This isn’t the worst thing. Stone walls and wood doors work. Dungeons don’t exist to be flashy, they exist to channel play into interesting situations. That said, something as simple as giving your dungeon carpeted floors and steel doors goes a long way towards making it memorable. After being introduced those details can easily slip into the background, until brought forward again when the Magic User tries to power up their Lightning Bolt by rubbing their socks on the carpet.

Because this table is made up of details which are meant to slip into the background, I have specifically indicated that each results applies to everything of its type. That’s just my framing, though. If you roll “Floors are carpeted,” it is worth considering that instead of all the floors, perhaps only some are carpeted. Alternatively it may be that all floors in a particular section are carpeted. For that matter you might also consider that if the floors are carpeted, what does that say about the walls? The ceilings? Are they carpeted as well, or do they have some other styling which seems like an appropriate accompaniment to carpeted floors?

Thanks are due to Qpop for proof reading this post.

The Dungeon d100s
1 – Themes
2 – Structures
3 – Rewards
4 – Doors, Floors, Walls, & Ceilings
5 – Factions
6 – Locks & Keys

Bonus – Auto-roller, at Liche’s Libram.

d100 Dungeon Doors, Floors, Walls & Ceilings:

  1. Doors are all heavy portculli. They are difficult to lift, and will slam shut again the moment they are released unless special care is taken to brace them.
  2. Doors open automatically whenever someone comes near them, and automatically close again behind them.
  3. Doors are all quite small, requiring adult humans to crouch or crawl to pass through.
  4. Doors all swing freely in either direction, like saloon doors do (also called batwing doors).
  5. Doors all have windows in them. Perhaps open bars or safety glass which can only be looked through, or perhaps easily broken plate glass.
  6. Doors all have windows in them which advantage viewing from a single side, such as peep holes, or sliding hatches.
  7. Doors are all terribly noisy when opened or closed. Perhaps their hinges squeak, or maybe each has a chime attached to it.
  8. Doors have arms on the hinge side, allowing them to be barred. Some or all may even have bars nearby ready to be put in place.
  9. Doors are all high up on the walls, and must be climbed up to.
  10. Doors are all trapdoors in the floor or ceiling. Thus even rooms on the same dungeon level are connected by passages above or below.
  11. Doors are all one-way. They close behind each person who passes through them, and cannot be opened from the other side.
  12. Doors are all revolving doors, with “wings” that rotate around a central pivot point. There may be 2 or more of these, creating separated sections between them.
  13. Doors are all open doorways, without any way of being closed.
  14. Doors are all insubstantial. Hanging drapes, or strings of beads. Just enough to block clear sight, but not sound or entry.
  15. Doors are all rollup style, like a garage door. The rails which guide and hold it might be exposed, or could be enclosed within the wall.
  16. Doors all have a stable door style, with upper and lower halves. (Also called Dutch Doors.)
  17. Doors all have smaller “wicket doors” built into them. (Are the wicket doors for creatures smaller than humans, or are the proper doors for masses of humans / large creatures?)
  18. Doors all have a lower lip to step over as you go through them, like those found on ships.
  19. Doors are all air tight, and opened via a time consuming turn crank or wheel.
  20. Doors are all airlock chambers, with air tight doors on each side, and a space between where characters must wait. The airlocks might exist because the rooms are kept at different temperatures or pressure levels, or because their atmospheres contain trace elements which are dangerous when mixed, or potentially for no reason at all.
  21. Doors are all janky, old, and often get stuck.
  22. Doors are all locked, barred, or otherwise intentionally sealed. Some creatures may carry key rings, key cards, know passwords, etc.
  23. Doors are all sliding doors.
  24. Doors are all folding doors, to one or both sides.
  25. Doors are all double doors.
  26. Doors all have sticky notes, thumbtacks, or doodles on them. Clearly they’re being used as a means of casual communication between dungeon inhabitants.
  27. Doors are made in the style of oversize pet doors. Great flaps which must be lifted as one passes through, and fall back down behind.
  28. Floors are carpeted.
  29. Floors are all slippery, perhaps covered in goo, or ice.
  30. Floors are a raised constructed path through a natural space. Like a catwalk through a cave, or a pontoon walkway along a canal.
  31. Floors are packed earth, or so thoroughly covered in dirt that they may as well be packed earth.
  32. Floors are sandy, snowy, or otherwise provide awkward and unstable footing.
  1. Floors are bouncy. They might be springy lick a trampoline or mattress, or they may have been coated in flubber.
  2. Floors all have drains in them, and are gently sloped so water will run towards these drains.
  3. Floors have dry channels running at their edges, perhaps once used as gutters, or ruts for wheels.
  4. Floors are cracked and uneven. Footing is poor, and dropped items may be lost.
  5. Floors have many weeds growing up through them, perhaps dense enough to occasionally tangle feet during vigorous action.
  6. Floors are loose tiles or boards which can be removed easily.
  7. Floors are noisy: metal plates, creaking timbers, or covered in dry leaves.
  8. Floors all have paths to various locations painted on them, like you might see in an airport or train station.
  9. Floors are solid marble.
  10. Floors are angled steeply to one side, as if the dungeon is tilted at a 20°+ angle.
  11. Oops! All pressure plates! There is nowhere to step that doesn’t depress with an ominous mechanical click.
  12. Floors move those who stand on them. They may be conveyor belts, or be under the influence of magical riptides.
  13. Floors are scattered with toys. Dolls, balls, bicycles, left scattered haphazardly about.
  14. Floors have a rail system built on them. There may be mine carts or handcars.
  15. Floors are wet, soggy, or perhaps even covered in ankle-deep water.
  16. Floors are very wet. The water is at least waist high. A boat may be required.
  17. Floors are fragile. Glass, or ice. One must tread carefully lest it crack, and drop them into danger, or simply into a lower level.
  18. Floors are metal grating.
  19. There is no proper floor. One must traverse the rooms and corridors by hopping between stepping stones.
  20. Floors are pointy, covered in caltrops, broken glass, or nails mounted as spikes.
  21. Floors are covered in detritus and trash. It may be omnipresent but scattered, or so dense that one’s feet sink into it.
  22. Walls are easily destructible, perhaps made of rice paper.
  23. Walls are dense with written language. It could be intended carvings, modern graffiti, or science fictiony scrolling text.
  24. Walls are dense with art, perhaps carved bas relief, or murals.
  25. Walls are dense with holes, cupboards, drawers, or animal burrows. These are mostly empty, gross, dangerous, or filled with useless junk.
  26. Walls are dense with buttons, switches, and other controls. Some don’t do anything, others seem to cause random events to occur. Insert your favorite random table here.
  27. Walls are dense with shelves displaying tchotchkes. Ceramic figurines, papercraft, old toys, fake flowers. Objects which once brought someone joy, but now serve only to collect dust.
  28. Walls are plaster, and perhaps covered with wallpaper. The pattern could be nearly anything.
  29. Walls are densely stacked with bones.
  30. Walls have regularly spaced air vents built into them, which are too small to climb into.
  31. Walls have regularly spaced air vents built into them, which are large enough to climb into.
  32. Walls are very smooth. Not even the most skilled climber could find handholds.
  33. Walls are rough. Even a complete novice can climb them with relative ease.
  34. Walls are padded. Perhaps thoroughly so to prevent injury, as in an asylum. Alternately they may be fine tufted leather or velvet, meant to create an air of sophistication.
  1. Walls often have windows into adjacent spaces. These might be glass, wicker, barred with metal, tiny arrow slits, etc.
  2. Walls are periodically interrupted by half columns which could be used for cover.
  3. Walls are constructed of a thick bramble, like blackberry bushes.
  4. Something icky oozes out of the walls. Slime, blood, or more feculent excretions.
  5. Walls are limited force fields. They might keep air in, and water/vacuum/monsters out. However, if one were to stumble, they’d go right through, and may not be able to get back.
  6. Walls are constructed of poorly mortared bricks, many of which are loose.
  7. Walls are made from honeycomb, shellac, or other insect excretion.
  8. Walls on the interior of the dungeon are all metal bars. They can be seen through, reached through, and for particularly small characters possibly squeezed through.
  9. Walls are dangerous to touch. Perhaps because they are very hot or cold, are dense with sharp protrusions, or charged with electricity.
  10. Walls and Ceilings can be walked on as easily as floors.
  11. Walls are great ramshackle heaps of junk. Oak tables nailed to bed frames, densely stacked chairs, supported by cast iron bath tubs, and insulated with soiled mattresses.
  12. Ceilings have pipes running along them.
  13. Ceiling leaks. Probably water, but perhaps fluids less wholesome.
  14. Ceilings have thick roots protruding through them from plants up above.
  15. Ceilings are low. Human sized creatures will need to hunch, or even crawl to get through.
  16. Ceilings have cameras, crystal balls, or disgusting organic eyes on them. It’s unclear who (if anyone) is observing.
  17. Ceilings are high enough that most light sources cannot illuminate them. What might lurk up there?
  18. Ceilings are mirrored.
  19. Ceilings have skylights or open shafts in them, which partially illuminate the dungeon.
  20. Ceilings do not exist. The dungeon is open to the sky, perhaps with some danger on top of the walls preventing easily cheating one’s way through the dungeon.
  21. Ceilings are covered by colorful drapes. These might be bright and tidy, or soiled and tattered.
  22. Ceilings are home to a number of birds who’ve made their nests in the dungeon.
  23. Ceilings are covered in sleeping bats, or docile insects. If disturbed they will swarm.
  24. Ceilings are covered in loose paneling, which could be pushed aside to access a crawlspace above.
  25. Ceiling has exposed rafters.
  26. Ceilings are made up of something which, if the laws of physics were being obeyed, ought to immediately collapse. Something like water, or loose sand.
  27. Ceiling has regularly placed fans, which may or may not operate.
  28. Ceilings droop precariously, and are supported by ramshackle post hoc construction.
  29. Ceilings have footprints on them.
  30. Ceilings are coated in a weird and dense mist. If it is dangerous to breathe, it is at least too high to be accidentally inhaled.
  31. Ceilings are dense with hanging chains, hooks, pulleys, and rails.
  32. Ceilings are metal of a peculiar color. Anything which hits them bounces directly away without losing energy.
  33. Ceilings are dense with hanging papercrafts clearly made by children.
  34. Ceilings are dense with precarious icicles or stalactites, ready to drop dangerously if jostled.

Also, All Cops Are Bastards.