You don’t always need a map to know where you are going…
I first heard of Mapless Dungeons when I watched this video by the creative genius Hankerin Ferinale of Runehammer Games. He explained the concept and how he incorporated it into his game, Crown and Skull. It’s a brilliant idea that I’ve tried a few times at my own table, and it works really well. In this guide I’ll explain what Mapless Dungeons are, how they work and of course go through my own evolved version!
What are they?
Mapless Dungeons is a concept designed for running semi procedurally generated dungeons. It’s a minimalistic way to build and run dungeons that can work just as well as the classic way with a map detailed room descriptions. I wouldn’t say that it’s better or worse, it’s just different.
Instead of a map, the dungeon is based on two types of tables, one “Area” table and one “Encounter” table. You roll on both of these whenever the PCs go from one area to the next and by doing so you procedurally generate the dungeon as you go.
The big selling point of Mapless Dungeons is the fact that they only show the players AND the game master the interesting parts of the dungeon, everything else is removed, it’s highly streamlined.
How do Mapless Dungeons work?
To create a Mapless Dungeon you need two tables:
- Areas – Areas or area types that are thematic to the dungeon
- Encounters – Creatures, events, traps and other things the PCs can encounter in the dungeon
Mapless Dungeons are best when they are made up of multiple sections or parts, for example: “Upper caves, Lower caves and Inner sanctum” where each part has it’s own set of area and encounter tables.
Whenever the players decide to venture forth into the dungeon you roll two dice and pair the two results together, one area and one encounter in that area.
“Exit” – A critical component
To keep a good pace of exploration, Mapless Dungeons work best with D4 tables. A key component in the design is to always reserve the highest result of the “Area” table to the entry “Exit“. Which means that the PCs have found the exit to the next part of the dungeon, Upper caves -> Lower caves -> Inner sanctum. This is what makes the whole concept come together.
Let’s use an example to make it all more clear.
Example dungeon – The Necromancer Lord’s Castle
Below are the tables for the first section of the Mapless Dungeon: “The Necromancer Lord’s Castle”. The PCs are determined to explore the castle and find the evil necromancer living there. The GM rolls 2D4 and get a 3 and a 1, meaning that the PCs enter a large hall and in it they find 1D6 skeleton archers.
Areas
- Servants’ quarters
- Ramparts
- Large hall
- Exit
Encounters
- Skeleton archers (1D6)
- Necromancer apprentice and two undead hounds
- Unholy ritual site, deals 1D4 necrotic damage to anyone trying to pass through the room (can be neutralized by turning undead or throwing holy water at it)
- 1D4 Wights
If they defeat the skeletons and decide to explore further the GM rolls another set of 2D4, this time it’s a 2 and a 3, meaning the PCs have made their way up on the ramparts in their attempt to explore the castle. This process continues until the GM rolls a 4 on the “Area” roll, meaning the PCs have found the stairs leading to the upper levels of the keep, where another set of Area and Encounter tables await.
More like ‘area types’
Another important aspect of building and running Mapless Dungeons is the fact that areas are meant to be interpreted as “area types” rather than unique areas. If the GM rolls “3: Large hall” a second time, it doesn’t mean that the PCs have found the same large hall again, it’s meant to be interpreted as the PCs finding another large hall. So when writing the area table entries, make sure they make sense as repeat rolls. Don’t add an area that’s “Main gate”, because there should only be one main gate. The same goes for encounters, they are meant to be repeatable, so don’t add the Necromancer Lord to the encounter table in the first section of the dungeon.
Works just as well for wilderness exploration
A cool thing about this concept is that it works really well for outdoor adventures as well. It doesn’t have to be confined to a dungeon. You can use the format for exploring a swamp, getting through a dangerous mountain pass or even getting around a sprawling city. Each roll of 4 in the area table leads to the next section, which could be a different part of the swamp, higher up in the mountain or the next part of the city the players are trying to make their way through.
The Dawnfist way – An evolved version!
The above explanation covers the original machination of Hankerin Ferinale. But I have come up with my own refined model, which I think works better and solves some of the issues of the Runehammer method, I’ll of course call it the Dawnfist way.
The main difference between the two methods is the addition of unique areas and encounters.
Unique areas and encounters
Create a few unique entries (two is often enough) for both the “Area” and “Encounter” table. These are truly unique and non-repeatable. When using this addition the highest result on both tables i replaced by “Unique” and when rolled prompts a secondary roll on the list of unique areas/encounters. There should still be an “Exit” entry on the area table, but it’s now nested within the unique areas.
Continuing with the castle example above, the unique areas could be the throne room and the kitchen, there is most likely only one of these in the castle. The unique encounters could be an interesting NPC and a magic mirror housing all the souls of the dead that has been re-animated by the Necromancer Lord.
Fully explored when all unique areas have been found
Adding these unique areas gives the GM a way to determine when the PCs have fully explored a dungeon or section of a dungeon. When all unique areas have been discovered the dungeon i mapped out and fully explored, regardless wether the PCs have gone through three or eight rooms. You don’t have to determine in advance how big the dungeon is but you will still know when the PCs have found all the rooms.
Multiple exits make the dungeon less linear
Adding more than one exit to the list of unique areas can make the dungeon feel less linear. For example, one exit could lead up into the keep of the Necromancer Lord and another could lead down into the catacombs of the castle. That way you’ve built a Mapless Dungeon in three sections that aren’t placed one after another.
Nasty unique encounters
The unique encounters add a way to spice up the encounter table with some really nasty or interesting things, that should logically be unique, such as the horrifying flesh golem Lump or the eccentric scholar who’s snuck into the castle to secretly study the exquisite paintings adorning the hallways. These type of encounters might not be suitable as repeat encounters, and can add much needed pinch of curated uniqueness.
Odd scenarios and how to handle them
Whenever dice is involved there will be weird outcomes. Here are the most notable ones and how to handle them at the table.
1: Repeating areas – The first thing that might come to mind is, “How do I handle rolling a 1 three times in a row?” It’s not as troublesome as it might sound, just describe how either the servants’ quarters are much larger than they first appeared, or how the PCs follow a long winding corridor and end up in yet another section of servants’ quarters, the Necromancer Lord obviously needed a lot of servants.
2: Repeating encounters – Rolling skeletal archer three times in a row might sound very boring and repetitive, and it could be, but you will most likely have rolled different areas, and that should help you make each encounter more interesting. Five skeletal archer on the ramparts is very different from the same number of archers in a large hall.
3: Failing to progress – Rolling a 4 to be able to progress up into the keep can sometimes be easier said than done. It’s not unlikely that you’ll have to roll that dice ten times before rolling a single 4, you have a few options when this happens. Either embrace the randomness and explain how the PCs seem to be lost, wandering from hall to hall in the massive castle. Or just do some GM intervention and make the sixth roll a 4 to get on with it. Mapless Dungeons are an abstraction meant to reduce prep time and burdensome mapping at the table, so it goes without saying that a little nudge from the almighty GM is just fine.
4: Early exit – When using a D4 there is a 25% chance that the players roll a 4 on the first roll, and that is fine. In the above example it means that the stairs to the upper levels is located in the entrance hall, which kind of makes sense.
As you can see there are a few odd scenarios, but just keep an open mind, and adapt. The rolls will tell you what happens.
Have you ever run a dungeon without a map?
Loading ...Closing thoughts on using Mapless Dungeons
GMs need a large toolbox of techniques and tricks to use when prepping and running games. The more alternatives I have the less I choke when prepping an adventure. Sometimes I feel inspired to build a point crawl, sometimes I want to write a classic dungeon crawl with an intricately crafted map, and sometimes I want the dungeon crawl experience but without making a map. Thanks to the brilliant mind of Ingrid Bernal (that guy has a lot of alter egos) at Runehammer Games I could add Mapless Dungeons to my toolbox and elevate my games.
Use this technique in any way you want, the Dawnfist way or the Runhammer way, or even better, your own way. Grow your toolbox and don’t forget to share any great discoveries you make with the community, we both know that GMs all over the world need all the help they can get!
