Welcome To Pocket Dungeon 1.0
Welcome To Pocket Dungeon 1.0
Welcome To Pocket Dungeon 1.0
Pocket Dungeon is what I have come to call a "stealth-game" or ninja-game. What that is, is a game that can be played out in the open without people knowing you are playing a game. Pocket Dungeon at its core is a Dungeon generator (the DunGen system) and slimmed down Dungeon crawler. The cool part about this, is this game also serves as a tutorial on how to stealth-game using items you will find (or would not look out of place) on your office or school desk. Pocket Dungeon is completely free to print and play, but if you enjoy the game and would like donation information, it can be found in the FAQ at the end. The goal in Pocket Dungeon is very simple: Enter a dungeon, kill lots of stuff, get phat lewt, bring death to the Boss and try to avoid Death's clammy grip. And don't get caught by your boss or coworkers while doing it!
Looks like a just a random bunch of letters and numbers huh? I like to call this game camouflage. But you are a smart gamer; you should be able to make sense out of this after I detail how to use it. Mastering this system should give you a sense of accomplishment, hopefully more so then the work you are avoiding doing by playing games. First, before I get into what the Letters mean, lets look at how to read the numbers, shall we? When you see something like this: 1-3 X 4-5 Y 6Z Read it like this. On a roll of 1 to 3, do X. On a 4 or 5, do Y. And If I roll a 6, then I will do Z. Simple enough.
So Im in this dungeon, going around killing all these goblins, and Im like Whaaats the deal?
Now that you are ready to start generating your dungeon, it is time to decide what the goal of it will be. As with most of the rest of the game, I will provide you with some examples, and framework, but the decision remains yours to make. The default goal is to find the exit and leave the dungeon. Heres the rub. The exit is locked, and its not pick-able or bash-able. Who has the key? The Boss! Where is the boss? Waiting for you in his lair. Whos the boss? Hopefully not Tony Danza! So when you start creating your dungeon, put the exit on the side opposite of your entrance. When you finally place the boss in his lair, he obeys a couple different rules. He will not leave the room he is spawned in, and you cannot attack through the door of his lair. Boss monsters do not need to be fought immediately, as you may need to get some better equipment before you can kill him. Quests There will be pre-made scenarios that you can download that have more complex goals. They will feature specific instructions and rules. Be sure to read through them before beginning your adventure. So that wraps the basics up. Pretty complicated huh? So lets try one out together (see sidebar), and then I will tell you how to kill stuff via the super simple combat system (also patent pending)
Warrior (HP is 10 + d8) May not use spells or scrolls. Bash - 1AP - bash a locked door or chest. Succeeds on 5-6. +1 to the roll for every 3 points of Strength Jump - 1AP - May jump over an enemy into an empty space. Succeeds on 5-6 Precision Strike - 1AP - Your attack this round gets +2H but -1D Knockdown - 2AP - You knock your opponent down immobilizing them for 2 turns. Whirlwind - 2AP - Attack all enemies adjacent to your hero. Must make a successful attack roll on the enemy with the highest Armor. Battle cry - 3AP - You let out a piercing scream, all monsters attacking you get -1 to their rolls to hit you for the next two rounds of combat. Flurry of Blows - 4AP - You rain blows down on your opponent, you may make twice your normal amount of attacks this turn.
Thief (HP is 8 +d8) May not use spells, but they can use scrolls. Thieves may only use Cloth and Leather Armor. They may also only use 1Hnd weapons and Bows. Pick Lock - 1AP - May attempt to pick a treasure chest or door lock. Succeeds on 5-6. +1 to the roll for every 3 points of Dexterity Sneak 1AP May attempt to pass through a room unnoticed. Must roll 3-6 to succeed. Check for every monster whose LOS you pass. Once you fail a sneak check, you may not sneak again in the current room. Blinding dust 1AP You throw a handful of dust in target enemies eyes. They receive -1 to their combat roll this turn. Critical Strike 2AP Deal Double damage to a monster. Must make a successful attack roll. Vengeful Strike 2AP You may only use this attack against an enemy that has just dealt damage to you. Your next normal attack cannot miss. Blade flood 3AP You may make your normal amount of attacks on each adjacent enemy. Each attack must be rolled separately. Backstab 4AP You must make a successful attack while sneaking to use this ability. Kill target adjacent non-boss enemy. If your attack fails, you lose your next 2 rounds of combat.
Ranger (HP is 8 +d6) May use spells (May only have one equipped at a time) and scrolls. Rangers may only use Cloth and Leather Armor. They may also only use 1Hnd weapons and Bows. Quick Strike 1AP You may both make an attack and move this round of combat. Aimed Shot 1AP Requires bow equipped. Instead of attacking this turn, you may focus your energy on piercing an enemies defenses. For each round spent in this manner, you gain 2H on your next attack. For every round past the first, you also gain +1 damage. For example if you spend 3 rounds, and 1AP per round, on your fourth round you make an attack with a +6 bonus to Hit, and +2 bonus to Damage) Striders Legs 1AP You call upon your years of navigating treacherous terrain, add 2 to your movement rate for 3 turns. Cripple 2AP Targets movement is reduced by half. If the targets movement is already 1, it may only move every other turn. Bear Trap 2AP Makes a square of the dungeon impassable for 2 turns. Triple shot 3AP Requires bow equipped. You fire off three shots in rapid succession. Each shot beyond the first gets -1 to your hit roll. Focused Speed 4AP Double your Dexterity for 2 turns.
Wizard (HP is 6 +d6) May have two spells at a time memorized. This is because of their huge amounts of Wisdom, or the notepad they carry around with them. May use spells and scrolls. Wizards may only use Cloth armor and may not use shields (Gotta keep those hands free for spell casting). Dark Rituals 0AP You may take 4 damage to recover 4AP. Spell Recall 1AP You may swap out one memorized spell with one in your spell book during combat. Empower Spell 2AP May double one aspect of your next spell. May choose Range, Damage, or Hit Bonus Overload - X AP - for each AP spent, each turn you regenerate X AP per X turns (i.e.: 1AP - each turn you regenerate 1 AP for 1 turn; 2AP - each turn you regenerate 2AP for 2 turns; and so on ..), when Overload wears off, take 1 damage for each AP you still have Etherlink - 4AP - regenerate 2AP per turn. Ends, if you perform any other action besides casting spells.
Now, pick your starting equipment. You get one W(eapon) or S(pell), and either 2 P(otions) or 1 Cl(oth armor). The weapon and spell stats are simple. R(ange) D(amage) H(it bonus) and Hnd(handedness). Only Wizards and Rangers can have spells. Each weapon will detail in the equipment list what skill it uses for its attack roll, along with any special effects it has. See the last page for a list of equipment.
Ill be calling my hero Meathead the Squishy. So first I assign my stats, he is S1 D3 W5. I wonder what class I should choose. How about (W)izard? Lets hope he doesnt ever need to run away or come face to face with anything too nasty. A quick *flip* and I can write down his health as 8, and I put his movement down as 2. I also put down that he has 10AP. I'm going to choose MM as his spell and 2 P(otions) 1 Health Potion, and 1 AP potion. So now I have my adventurer. Here is a picture of the our first room
The green line is Line of Sight, which obviously fails. Everyone knows you cant cast magic missiles around corners, that would just be silly. So combat goes like this Round 1 I move one square right, the Kobold moves one square down towards me. Round 2 I unleash my two MMs *flip*5 + 5 +1 (flip, plus my W(isdom), plus MMs H(it bonus) *flip*1 +5 + 1. The first one hits! (The Kobold has A8, so I have to beat that) and do the D1 listed at the end of the instructions (I also wrote that info down with my character stats). The Kobold, and his friends moves down again closing the gap between us. Round 3 Pew Pew! *flip*3 +5 +1 *flip*2+5 +1 One hit, one miss. He is mad! *flip*4 for his attack. I take 2 damage. And it goes on like this. In the end, Meathead is triumphant and gets to open the chest. *flip*2, unlocked! From here all I need to do is find out what kind of treasures await me in the chest, and decide which door to go through.
By now you should have a good enough idea how to play. Here are a few other little notes and details. Combat: You may NOT attack through doors. You can only have one monster in each square around you at a time. In squares farther away, you can clump then together, but you cant have more than 4 monsters attacking you at once. Any additional monsters will line up behind them like in old Kung fu movies. For every 5 enemies you kill, mark down a fudge point. You can use these fudge points to fudge a roll by plus or minus one. Once a point is used, it is gone forever. You can also save your fudge points and trade in 3 of them for a permanent +1 to any stat, or +3HP. Each turn of combat you have three choices. Move, Fight, or Use a scroll. You can use a potion AND do any of those things as well. Enemies behave with a very predictable pattern. If they are far away and have no range attack, they move closer. If they are close enough to attack, then they do it. Spells, skills, and other effects can override this. Out of Combat is defined as No monsters are present in the current room, or any adjacent revealed rooms. Armor soaks its Armor value in damage each round of combat. So if you get hit by 2 Kobolds in a round of combat, and you have cloth armor, then it would absorb 1 of the 4 HP of damage you would need to take. Shields can only be used if you have a 1 Handed weapon equipped. They cannot be used with two handed weapons.
Equipment: For every 5 rooms you have explored, you may add one point onto a new item when you find it. For example: If I open a chest in room 11 and it has a sword, I have two bonus points I can add to the weapon I find. So a base S(word) is R1 D2 H0. I can distribute the points any way I want, so I decide that this sword is going to be R1 D3 H1. This is to represent the better items deeper into the dungeon. The cost is the same (2 bonus points). Exceptions to this rule are: Armor - You may only increase armor 1 point for every 15 rooms, but you may spend unspent bonus points on aspects, these are magical things about a piece of armor, you may only have one of each aspect assigned to any piece of armor. You may also use the aspects from the armor table below on weapons. They cost 2 bonus points each, and are follows: Bears Strength - +1 to Str while this armor is equipped. Weasels Quickness - +1 to Dex while this armor is equipped. Mountains Knowledge - +1 to Wisdom while this armor is equipped. True Striking - +1 To Hit while this armor is equipped. Hardiness - +3 to HP while this armor is equipped. Youths Vigor +4 to your max AP while this armor is equipped. Spells Bonus points can only be spent on Combat spells. You may also increase spells range with bonus points, along with the standard D and H. You may swap spells from your spell book, to your equipped spell slots as long as you are out of combat. To learn new spells, you will need to find spell books in treasure chests. See the description of Spellbook in the Magic Items section at the end of this manual.
Monsters: Each room is considered a monsters area. A monster will not leave his area unless there is a chance they will be able to catch you. So if your speed is greater than theirs, the monsters will not follow you outside of their area. If your speed is equal to or less than theirs, they will follow you until one of you are dead. If you run away from a monster (leave it behind in its room), when you return they will be fully healed. The boss Monster is placed in the room number indicated on the DunGen chart. He does not need to be immediately fought, as you may need to explore a few more rooms until you can find equipment that is leveled enough to allow you to hit him. The boss monster will never leave his lair, and fully heals as soon as you leave. When a room is completely cleared of monsters, you may roll to determine if the monsters have any loot on them. On 5-6 on a d6 you find one piece of salvageable equipment. Roll on the Treasure Type chart to determine what you find. The DunGen system uses a scalar system for monster placement. Feel free to adjust this number to accommodate different crawl lengths. If you want a longer dungeon crawl, then change it to 1-15. 16-31, 32-47, 50. Or even longer if you feel. You will notice the system varies between the PocketMod version, and the Deluxe version, this is because the PocketMod version is intended for quicker play, so it has a slightly quicker set.
Different Versions: The PocketMod version of the game features a lighter version of the DunGen system. The monsters do not have a Movement stat (they all move 1), and there are blank lines to write in the Scrolls/Potions, and Magical Items you want. This is mostly because the deluxe version depends on an entire page of equipment for the treasure rolls. The Deluxe version does not have any DunGen charts for Weapon, armor, Scrolls/Potions, or Magic Items. Thats because its on page two and should be printed on the back. The numbers are beside each item for your rolls. Convenient huh?
M.U.F.A.Q. (Made Up Frequently Asked Questions) Q - The system for flipping the rolls seems pretty flaky. Can't I cheat by trying to hit the same spot in the note stack every time? A - srlsy? You want to cheat in a solo game. Sorry, you lose at life buddy. If you are not stealth gaming, feel free to use dice as well. Q This game is tooooo hard. I keep dying. A That is very likely. A couple common causes: o o o Are you using your Bonus Points to improve equipment when you find it? Remember, 1 BP for every 5 rooms. Dont forget your Fudge Points. They can either be used to save you from a bad roll, or saved up and spent on character improvements. Still dying? Try messing around under the hood of the game. Feel free to Distribute 10 points at character creation, or lower some of the enemy stats in the DunGen (Likely candidates would be Armor and Damage, maybe HP). Feel free to experiment with the game and find out what works best for you. I personally love a good challenge. The goal here is to have fun! Im just the kind of guy who still plays Nethack because its so brutal, and thinks its a blast.
Q - What?! Why are there so few weapons and cool stuff? I want to shop and do more stuff!! Where is my crafting and trade skills!?!?!??!? *head asplode* A - Go play DnD. Q - I just got fired for doing this at work. A - You used dice didn't you? And minis too huh? You wore your nerd-cloak. AND you made the guy in the next cubicle DM? Yeah.. Not really sure why you got fired, sounds normal to me. Q - Fantasy games suck! Can I make it a Sci-fi Western Steampunk game? A - Sure! Substitute the weapons for other things like L for Lasersword and R for raygun. The monsters can be H(eadcrab), A(lien), R(obot-Steam driven) and the B can be a Giant mechanical spidery thing driven by cowboy space hobbits for all I care. The rooms are still rooms, just way more scifi and steampunky. Q - What about character progression? Levels? anything like that? A For every 15 monsters killed, you can raise a skill point or you HP, and if you carry your character between adventures, then thats kind of like progress, right? Q - I can't play a game without a REAL goal. All I'm supposed to do is kill stuff and loot? A Well, I guess you could say the REAL goal was avoiding work. Q - Is this it? What do you have planned down the road? A - Its still pretty early in development. I would eventually like to add some stuff that uses S(trength) and D(exterity) like traps or something, and some more weapons and possibly a weapon modifier system. And more spells. Everyone loves more spells, right? And probably some of the stuff from the next question too. Q - I'm not creative at all. Can I have a list of Monsters and stats? How about spells I can switch out? Bigger lewt tables? A - Yes. Check the end of this manual, or print out the Deluxe version, which includes more equipment and more Monsters. Q What can and cant I do with your game? A - Please don't resell this game as your own work, or alter it without attributing me (Jonathan Gilmour). Please DO feel free to upload additional content (premade quests and dungeons, etc) to board game geek for the community to enjoy. Q Sir you have pleased the pants right off of me with this fun and awesome game. I would like to return the favor. Is there anything I can do for you? A Just the fact that people are enjoying my game is an awful big reward, but I know the feeling. You may send a donation to me via PayPal via my email address: jgilmour@gmail.com If you rather send me a game or a package or just want to ask me a question or make a suggestion, then feel free to email me, or you can reach me on BGGat http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/jgilmour . I will be donating a portion of any proceeds to a local charity. Q I just bought this game from a website. A This game is only distributed for FREE via www.boardgamegeeks.com. The webpage for the game is http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/42361 If you found the game somewhere else, please contact me.
W(eapons) 1. Hand Axe - R1 D2 H0 1Hnd (Attack Skill is Strength) 2. Sword - R1 D2 H0 1Hnd (Attack Skill is Strength) 3. Dagger - R1 D1 H1 1Hnd (Attack Skill is Strength. A Thief may use Dexterity for attack with this weapon instead) 4. Pair of Daggers - R1 D1 H0 2Hnd Note: The hero may make 2 separate attacks per turn. If both attacks are successful, the dagger does an extra point of damage to one of the attacks (Attack Skill is Strength. A Thief may use Dexterity for attack with this weapon instead) 5. Battle Axe R1 D3 H0 2Hnd (Attack Skill is Strength) 6. Iron Knuckles R1 D1 H1 2Hnd Note: May make 2 separate attacks per turn. If both attacks are successful, the weapon does an extra point of damage to both attacks. (Attack Skill is Strength) 7. Bow - R3 D2 H0 2Hnd (Attack Skill is Dexterity) 8. Wand - R3 D1 H1 (Attack Skill is Wisdom) (S)pells All spells need to have an attack roll made for success. Fireball - R2 D4 H0 3AP Magic Missile - R5 D1 H1 1AP (shoots 2 missiles at the same time, roll them separately. They can target separate targets if you want) Heal - 2AP Heals 4HP (no damage or range, that would be pretty superfluous for a healing spell. Does not need an attack roll, it is successful on 3-6 on d6) Fire Breath R4 D2 H0 2AP Attack all monsters (within rage) in a straight line from the character. Milfs Grip of Terror R4 D0 H0 2AP Hold target monster in place. It cannot move for 3 turns Fear R2 D0 H0 2AP - Target monster moves away from your character for 3 turns Shocking Grasp R1 D3 H0 1AP
Knock Unlocks a Door or Treasure. R1 1AP Blink Teleport to the most recently visited empty room. 3AP A(rmor) - Armor soaks up its A value in damage each round of combat. Shields may only be equipped if wielding a 1Hnd Weapon and permitted by class) 1. Cloth - 1A 2. Leather - 2A 3. Platemail - 3A 4. Buckler 1A 5. Heater Shield 2A 6. Tower Shield 3A P(otions) May be used at any time. So you may drink or throw a potion and still perform your normal actions. 1. Potion of Healing - Heals 4HP 2. AP Restoration Potion - Fully restores your AP 3. Potion of Explodify - Range 3 D4 attack to all enemies in target square, D2 attack to each enemy adjacent to target square. 4. Potion of Invisibility - You may quaff this potion to pass through a room unnoticed by any monsters in it (except for the Boss monster). You can also open any chests in the room without having to kill the monsters. 5. Potion of Fire Breathing - D2 attack to all monsters in a straight line (4 spaces) in front of your character. 6. Unstable Potion - Add +1 to random stat. 1-2 Str, 3-4 Dex, 5-6 Wis S(crolls) You may use a S(croll) instead of a Move or Attack action. Scrolls can only be used once, and then they are consumed. 1. Scroll of + Str - +1 to your Str for 5 rounds 2. Scroll of + Dex - +1 to your Dex for 5 rounds 3. Scroll of + Wis - +1 to your Wis for 5 rounds 4. Scroll of + HP - +2 to your HP for 5 rounds 5. Scroll of Healing - Heals 8HP 6. Scroll of Mapping - Reveals all rooms (including the treasures and monsters) connected to the current room. M(agical)I(tems) These arent done yet!!! Use them at your own peril 1. Ring of Invisibility 4 uses - You may pass through rooms undetected, You may not open chests or attack monsters while invisible from this ring 2. Lucky Coin 5 uses - Flip d6 at any time, on a 5-6 you may add or subtract 1 to another non-combat roll. This may only be used once per roll. 3. Pocket Thief 5 uses - You may automatically unlock one door or treasure chest per use. 4. Mithril Armor - 4A 5. Ring of Teleport - 3 uses Move your character from the current room to one that has already been explored. 6. Cartographers Glasses - 8 uses - Reveals a room adjacent to the current room without opening the door. 7. Bag of Items - 5 uses Your character reaches into the bag and pulls out a item (generated by Treasure chart) with 5 bonus points to distribute. The item vanishes when you leave the room it was generated in. 8. Spellbook - You may learn one new spell from the list of spells above.
Default Monsters: Kobolds M1 R1 A6 H1-2 D1 HP3 Note:+2 Per Room (after you roll to spawn, add two.) Goblins M1 R1 A8 H1-3 D2 HP6 Orcs M1 R1 A10 H1-4 D3 HP10 Stonehand The Giant M2 R1 A12 H1-5 D4 HP14 1-2 Note: Before each round of combat *flip* d6. On a 6 Stonehand makes a R3 D3 attack. If the attack is successful you may not move for the next two rounds of combat. Skeletons M1 R1 A7 H1-2 D1 HP2 Note: If there are more than 1 Skeletons in the room, Half (rounded up) are archers with R4. Zombies M1 R1 A8 H1-3 D2 HP6 Ghouls M1 R1 A9 H1-4 D3 HP10 Arkanos (lich) M1 R3 A11 H1-4 D5 HP15 Note: Each round of combat flip d6, on 1-4 do nothing. On 5-6 bring a random monster into play next to Arkanos. 1-2 Skeleton, 3-4 Zombie, 5-6 Ghoul Cultist M1 R1 A7 H1-2 D2 HP2 Fanatic M2 R1 A9 H1-3 D3 HP6 Priest M1 R3 A10 H1-4 D4 HP10 Mozozar (Demon) M1 R1 A12 H1-4 D5 HP16 Note: Each round on a 5-6 summons an imp in a empty spot adjacent to him. Imp M3 R1 A16 H1-3 D5 HP9
Hard - Increase all weapon base stats by D2 H4 1-9 Skeletons M1 R1 A13 H1-2 D4 HP9 Note: If there are more than 1 Skeletons in the room, Half (rounded up) are archers with R4. 10-19 Zombies M1 R1 A15 H1-3 D6 HP12 20-29 Ghouls M1 R1 A17 H1-4 D7 HP16 30 Arkanos (lich) M1 R3 A17 H1-4 D9 HP21 Note: Each round of combat flip d6, on 1-5 do nothing. On 6 bring a random monsters into play in a empty spot adjacent to Arkanos. 1-9 Cultist M1 R1 A18 H1-2 D1 HP2 Note: +1 Per room. The extra one will be a caster with range 3 10-19 Fanatic M2 R1 A20 H1-3 D3 HP6 20-29 Priest M1 R3 A21 H1-4 D4 HP10 30 Mozozar (Demon) M1 R1 A22 H1-4 D5 HP16 Note: Each round on a 5-6 Summons a Lesser Demon in a empty spot adjacent to him. Lesser Demon M1 R1 A9 H1-3 D3 HP7