Rolling Solo Season 3 shifts gear with dungeoncrawling in the depths of 2d6 Dungeon.
2d6 dungeon solo - intro | partway | finish | all season 3 | all rolling solo
Dedicated solo - all solo | 2d6 dungeon | apothecaria | broken cask | english eerie | ironsworn | starforged
Disclosure - I'm a DriveThru RPG affiliate.
Game Introduction - 2d6 Dungeon
2d6 dungeon | my delver | first dungeon | level 2 delver
2d6 Dungeon (drivethrurpg link) by Toby Lancaster is a solo dungeon delving game. You explore dungeons, defeat creatures and find treasures, trying to get from through 10 levels of Dungeons.
My physical copy is split into 2 booklets (you can get them in one), the Core Rules (64 pages) and the Tables Codex (144 pages). The game uses only d6s. There are several expansions, including Lair Expansion, overland Realms and a Haunted House. But as normal I'm sticking to the basic rules.
The Tables Index is all random tables for the dungeons, treasures, starting characters and things for the game loops. Plus monster stats. And happily it includes a decent index of the tables.
The Core Rules has rules for your adventurer, drawing the dungeon exploring the dungeon, combat, creatures, visiting town and the gods. It also has some additional rules including two ways to increase the difficulty level.
The basic game loop is choosing an exit from a room or passage and mapping it. You'll roll two d6s to find out the space of what you're exploring, using one for x-axis (left-right / east-west) and the other for the y-axis (up-down / north-south).
So a 3 and a 5 wound be a room of 3x5 with 15 squares. A 1 on either die means it's a corridor. Doubles means you roll the dice again and add them to the original roll. So double 3s would result in an extra 2d6. 2 and 6 on these would be a total of 5 (3+2) and 9 (3+6), resulting in a large 5x9 room of 45 squares.
There are other bits to mapping such as not going over the edge or over other rooms. You finish off the room by rolling for number of Exits.
Next you Encounter the Room, determining the room type with a different table for each Dungeon Level, including ones for Small Rooms (2x3 or 3x2) and Large Rooms (45+ squares). From here you know the types of exit, any Creatures to encounter (most are hostile) and anything else such as barriers, prisoners, locks and unique features. Some rooms are Unique and can only be encountered once per level.
The Combat is quick, rolling 2d6 for each combatant each round (one at a time), trying to get a 2-dice Manoeuver depending on the character or foe(s). My character has a successful hit with their axe on a (4-1) or a (4-3), with the 4 having to be on the Primary d6. Each combatant can Shift dice a number of times to try and get a hit, and this increases as the fight continues.
It's more involved than most solo combat (which is good in a dungeon crawler). There are also rules for mishaps, prime attacks (criticals), armour, interrupts, throwing weapons and potion bombs.
As your character progresses they level up by defeating creatures and maybe acquiring XP from other events. Your Shifts, Precision and Discipline go up, you get more Hit Points and can improve your weapon Manoeuvres.
One important ideas is Inventive Usage. This is the bit that marks it more as an RPG, as there are guidelines for using the things you find, combining common sense and imagination to interact with the dungeon in ways not detailed in the rules. You might be backtracking on the same level to make repairs, use containers, harvest parts of creatures, praying to the gods. attracting attention with your noise, cobbling together rations and making your own story.
The magic options for 2d6 Dungeon are using magic scrolls, magic potions and praying for the favour of the gods.
There's also the option of going back to Town once per dungeon level. Here you can discover fate of prisoners released, visit the market, the engraver, herbalist and the tavern, temple and town hall. I should be visiting town at least once in the next part so ad more detail there.
The Intrepid Adventurer and Char Gen
2d6 dungeon | my delver | first dungeon | level 2 delver
Kerwyn of Burrowbrook
Level 1, XP 0, Discipline +1, Precision +0
Greataxe Manoeuvres (2 x lvl 1) - Sharp Slash (4 + 1, d6 damage), Carve (4 + 3, d6-1 damage)
Gear - great axe, jerkin (4, -1 damage), steel lantern, large backpack, scroll of melt metal, potion of healing, wax sealing kit
Character Generation
The only things to choose for a character after naming are your manoeuvres and a couple bits of equipment. You get a choice of 3 weapons and choose from several Level 1 manoeuvres for each type. You also get a choice of armour and one of four scrolls.
Game Start - Level 1 of Saltcrown Fissure
2d6 dungeon | my delver | first dungeon | level 2 delver
I used a Dungeon Name Generator (one of mine) to name where I'm exploring and started off.
Delve 1 - Entering the Dungeon
For as long as we can remember Burrowbrook has been a place of farmers, hunters and shepherds, largely forgotten by the world. But we live under the curse of Saltcrown Fissure, a sinister place two days travel away, where the dregs of humanity fall under it's sway. My family has sought to extinguish the evil that dwells in it's depth, one from each generation. My grandmother made it down at least three levels, and father reported back once before we lost contact. Now it is my turn, but my daughter will be there one day if I fail...
Narrative Moments
Notable moments for exploration include...
- Found two prisoners in a closet. One attacked and wounded me when freed, some kind of adept. The other died of their wounds. (I used one of the optional tables, the one for Closets)
- Defeated a giant snake to get the greatest of rewards. Some cheese is mine! (Levelled up to Level 2)
- Found first grand room in a Marble Hall.
- Made a wooden shield from strips of material and a smashed up table, using a mason's workbench and fire in the marble hall.
- Smashed wooden bars with greataxe to release a prisoner
- Found a strange canteen. Found my father's old shield on the wall.
- Injured by a vicious dog and his handler. Might be time to retreat to town.
Kerwyn, Level 2 Delver
2d6 dungeon | my delver | first dungeon | level 2 delver
Still partway through dungeon level 1, Kerwyn looks like this...
Kerwyn of Burrowbrook
Level 2, HP 20 (currently 6), XP 170, Discipline +1, Precision +1, Shift 2
Favour - Madura (1), Grakada (1), Rodacina (3)
Greataxe Manoeuvres (2 x lvl 1) - Sharp Slash (4 + 1, d6 damage), Carve (4 + 3, d6-1 damage)
Gear - great axe, jerkin (4, -1 damage), wooden table shield (5+3, -2 damage), steel lantern, large backpack, wax sealing kit, throwing dagger
Treasure - 8 sp, gold ring (1gc), garnet, contract for rat tails quest (IAU1, 6-4)
Heavy Items - tea chest, metal chain,
Junk - ball bearings, necklace of ebony beads, spiked collar
Food and Components - 3 rations, 3 geist mushrooms, 3 slices of cheese, old carrots, beetroot, bag of seeds, 1 x ilios petals, 1 x scarlet orievatus, 1 x dankoma stems, 1 x zoumerous leaves
Magic - potion of healing, scroll of melt metal
Finishing Up
That's quite alot to start off with! More Dungeon Levels and some town shopping to come. Assuming Kerwyn survives!
Have you played 2d6 Dungeon?
