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Author Topic: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?  (Read 7341 times)

Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« on: December 01, 2010, 02:07:41 PM »
I've been thinking about the idea of building a 3d board game. I think this may have subconsciously been dredged up due to nostalgia after someone mentioned the old "Dungeon!" board game recently.

At first I was thinking of just making my own rules (been going over them in my head while painting, occasionally jotting down ideas on paper) and eventually I just looked up Dungeon! at Boardgame Geek and have been considering just trying that out. But I haven't played it since I was a young child, which was well over 25 years ago. Simple is good, though.

Anyway, the two things I am wondering are...

Anyone have any comments, ideas, links on rules?

Does anyone have any good links for 3d game board dungeons? I'm not as interested in pre-made or casting stuff, as I'll be doing this on a budget. But I'll still take a look at those for ideas.


Offline WallyTWest

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Re: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« Reply #1 on: December 01, 2010, 04:04:20 PM »
Generic Links - Heroquest
http://oldscratch.smackwell.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?action=print%3Bnum=1188297209
http://oldscratch.smackwell.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1227510304
I can get a hold of the advanced hero quest stuff if you want it.
Mordhiem - (Border Town Burning)
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Board Games
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/38114/ravenloft-quest
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30/dark-tower
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31/dark-world
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1933/key-to-the-kingdom
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1152/mystic-wood
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2999/gobbos-banquet

Best Links
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34889/labyrintus
http://www.goodman-games.com/3e.html
http://www.megaminis.com/
http://www.ironhands.com/gobbledygook.htm

I have played with this idea a lot Zero, and ended up running two events for a con a few years ago. I played Key to the Kingdom with some painted miniatures at the first event; at the second I created a multi dungeon hero quest challenge with no less than 3 TPKs. They went very well, but where stand-ins for the 3D dungeon I did not have money for.... :icon_sad:

Modeling a 3D dungeon is an awesome undertaking, I often toy with the idea of a 3D mystic wood. The conclusion that I came to is that a good 3-D dungeon is a one use affair with very little payoff. You are making an "event" or somehow creating something to supplement your gaming, but unless you do something simple its unlikely to pay off modeling wise.

I have seen people use common tile from home depot/lowes to make dungeon floors with very nice effect. (Cheap) Caves carved out of pink foam with a heat gun. Quark and the like for dungeon walls. You have lots of options.

If I where going to attempt something like this I would create a 3D labyrintus. Simple enough to enjoy, low figure requirements, can be created from scratch for very little, high visual appeal. A simple board could be made from bathroom tile, painted and cut basswood, pillars and a collection of crazy creatures. Its visual appeal could be outstanding for the effort.

I would also consider using the LOTR rules to model a dungeon encounter scenario; they are very forgiving, simple to learn, play quick and produce challenging light games. The number of miniatures required is low.
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Offline WallyTWest

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Re: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« Reply #2 on: December 01, 2010, 04:25:25 PM »
It’s all about Renaissance Punk.

Offline GamesPoet

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Re: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« Reply #3 on: December 01, 2010, 09:13:57 PM »
When I read "3D", I was thinking of multiple levels to the dungeon.  That would be very complex to build.  But if it is all set up for one level, this would certainly be easier.

My gut also tells me that you'd want it to be something where the floor plan can be altered.  Sort of like the pieces for the 40K based game called, "Space Hulk".  I recall having some dungeon card board pieces that I used when I was in the early 80's that were all things that could be used over and over again for different floor plans and this is what we did for fantasy roleplaying games.
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Offline WallyTWest

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Re: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2010, 03:01:21 PM »
Am I a post killer?
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Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« Reply #5 on: December 02, 2010, 03:25:25 PM »


No. And thank you for the links. I've checked out some of them, but I haven't had time to read them all yet.

I used to have Heroquest, but don't know what happened to it.


Offline Warlord

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Re: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« Reply #6 on: December 03, 2010, 05:04:36 AM »
I have built such a thing. Kinda.

I used MDF boards (placemat sized, some smaller, some larger), balsa bricks (about 2cm x 1cm), and lino tiles as flooring. I ensured I set doorways at standard measurements on the boards, to ensure I have a variety of configurations. Couple it with Heroquest furniture (I have been on Ebay for the past few years scooping up the cheaper Heroquest boxes in Aus), and some other imaginative pieces and I made myself a cool looking dungeon. Now if only I had a game I could play in it. Thinking perhaps Mordhiem...
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Offline rufus sparkfire

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Re: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« Reply #7 on: December 03, 2010, 02:29:54 PM »
I have built such a thing. Kinda.

Let's see a picture then!
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Offline Brad

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Re: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« Reply #8 on: December 03, 2010, 10:34:02 PM »
I started writing my own set of dungeon-crawl rules once.  I gave up after it became apparent that I am no good at writing rules  :icon_wink:

Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« Reply #9 on: December 04, 2010, 06:02:08 AM »


Before I started thinking about using existing rules, I was working on my own. Still may develop them. Not horribly original, but...

Attack = Number of dice thrown when making an attack. Separate stats for melee and missile.
Armour = Target number for dice. Any rolls >= target number are wounds.
Speed = Each character moves d6+Speed stat.
Wounds = how much damage you can take (negative effects at certain points.)

Turn order is determined by a deck of cards. One card for each character or monster. Plus a certain number of "spawn" cards in the deck at any given time. "Spawn" cards deploy either a monster or a treasure at a random location (I have a system for determining location, too.)

When it's your turn, doll your speed dice. That's how many spaces you can move. You can move up to your speed number. Anywhere along the way you can also perform one action: attack, pick up item, drop item, trade items. Opening or closing a door counts as moving one space.


That's the structure. I've also got a basic list of magic items. Like I said, not too original. A lot of simple ideas borrowed from elsewhere. Combat dice would most likely be a d10.

Offline WallyTWest

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Re: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« Reply #10 on: December 04, 2010, 12:23:36 PM »
OK, it might take a few days until I can get my lab top back but you really need to look at the advanced heroquest rules. D12 instead of a D10, but spot on to what you may be looking for.
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Offline Dihenydd

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Re: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« Reply #11 on: January 02, 2011, 06:01:58 PM »
Bloodbowl?

Catacombs?

Warhammer Quest

HeroQuest



And defintely check out Hirst Arts, although it doesn't classify as 'cheap', the ideas are good.
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Offline Von Kurst

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Re: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« Reply #12 on: January 04, 2011, 03:40:47 AM »
Homemade dungeon based on Warhammerquest constructed by a friend--its featured in a couple of battle reports on page 5 and 6 of this thread.  We use it for Mordheim dungeon crawls.

http://boringmordheimforum.forumieren.com/t3613p125-the-treasures-of-toth-amon
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Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« Reply #13 on: January 04, 2011, 05:05:27 AM »
That looks great!

Are those cast pieces?


Maybe I should just go with a simplified Mordheim type game, and do it as a dungeon crawl, like that...


Offline Von Kurst

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Re: Home made "Dungeon!" style games?
« Reply #14 on: January 04, 2011, 12:13:11 PM »
Those are styrofoam walls and hardboard floors with some cast details from Hirst.
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