Jon Brazer Enterprises 
Previously, we talked about how to make your adventuring party, how to create dungeons, and sending your adventurers into the dungeon in Camp Dungeon Crawl. Today, we’re going to talk about adventurers coming back to life and the bosses that live in a dungeon.
As you move through the dungeons in the game, we introduce a number of additional rules to the game. The first is the ability to bring dead adventurers back. Remember, this is camp, so it is no fun to have campers sitting on the sidelines watching others having fun. Before starting the second, third, and fourth dungeons, you get to bring an adventurer that died back into your party. So you get to read their stats to your adventuring party. This can make a difference for your group if things are going badly.
The next rule that is added as the game progresses involves bosses. There is always a boss at the end of a dungeon, and we wanted to include them in the game. Bosses are more difficult than your typical dungeon segment. The last person that chooses a segment for the third and fourth dungeons decides which boss is in the dungeon. Bosses include things like avatars of banished deities, quelling restless tombs, dragons, kaiju, eldritch horrors, and of course, a one-eyed, one-handed lich. Mechanically, bosses work the same. Each boss has three skill checks, two easier and one hard. If your group passes two of the three checks, they defeat the boss and get the listed reward. Rewards for bosses are much better than a typical dungeon segment’s reward. Boss rewards allow every living member of a group to increase a skill, frequently letting individual adventurers to choose between two skills. Any failed check with a boss still results in a Wound for an adventurer. So if you pass two of the skill checks, one adventurer still takes a Wound. Additionally, as many adventurers as you want can cash in their reward for erasing a wound. So it is entirely possible for a group to not get any rewards because they are all erasing wounds.
Order or download your copy of Camp Dungeon Crawl today at DriveThruRPG.
With the Book of Magic: Spell Codex Volume 2 nearly finished up, we’re talking about what is inside this gem. Previously I shared one of my favorite spells in the book: planned assault. Today we’re talking about another of my favorites: conjure deadfall.
While this spell reminds me more of the original Super Mario Brothers Thwomp, I call this “The Kirby Spell.” The single biggest reason is that if you cast the spell, it is fighting for you, something a Thwomp didn’t do in that game. Kirby could turn into a rock or weight or some other object that land on their enemies is closer to the sense of this spell. No matter what you call it, this is a fun spell that should be added to anyone’s game.
If you haven’t already, grab yourself the Book of Magic: Spell Codex Volume 1 at DriveThruRPG or the Open Gaming Store.
Conjure Deadfall
School conjuration (creation); Level arcanist/sorcerer/wizard 4, magus 5, spiritualist 5
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (fistful of mithral tacks)
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area see text
Effect one spiked, falling block
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Reflex negates (see text); Spell Resistance yes
You conjure a large metal cube covered in sharp spikes. If you conjure the block so that it appears in midair, it immediately plummets downward onto all creatures below it. When you cast this spell, you select the size of the square area you wish it to affect. If you choose to create a deadfall over a single 5-foot square, the block deals 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage per caster level (maximum 15d6) to each creature in the area. A deadfall over a 10-foot square deals 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage per 2 caster levels (maximum 7d6), a deadfall over a 15-foot square deals 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage per 3 caster levels (maximum 5d6), a deadfall over a 20-foot square deals 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage per 4 caster levels (maximum 4d6), and a deadfall over a 25-foot square deals 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage per 5 caster levels (maximum 3d6). Only creatures that are on the outer edge of the area affected by a conjure deadfall spell can attempt Reflex saves to avoid the effect; creatures whose space does not touch the edge of the deadfall do not receive a save.
In order to deal damage, the conjured deadfall must start at least 10 feet above the tallest creature in the area to be affected. A conjured deadfall is as tall as it is wide, and the spell fails if you attempt to conjure a deadfall in an area already occupied by a creature or object (including the ceiling). Regardless, a deadfall conjured by this spell disappears as soon as it deals damage or strikes the ground.
The Book of Magic: Spell Codex Volume 2 is coming out soon, and we couldn’t be more excited. We really love this series. It makes spells more accessible for GMs and players, all while updating older spells to allow newer classes to cast them. The final list of spells for this book is complete, and only a few spells need that final touch to make them shine like they should. While going over this, I can’t help but notice that some classes in this book are making out like gangbusters.
Despite calling this blog post “winners” I don’t like that term because that implies there are losers, which there are definitely no losers in this book. Every spellcasting class in the game is getting new spells, so they are all winners in at senses. However, a few classes are standing out as gaining some serious benefit from this book.
Arcanists/Sorcerers/Wizards
This one is obvious. No class gains more spells than this group. With the spell list for these classes taking over 3-1/2 pages, there are a serious number of spells for these classes to add to their casting. There are about 30 new spells added to these classes’ capabilities within the second and third levels each. This book is a must-have for players of these classes.
Hunter
While a six-level caster like the hunter does not seem like an obvious choice as a standout, this class most definitely is. Druid definitely gets some excellent options in this book, but hunter is incredibly notable for its additions. Sure, the spell list is just the first six levels of druid, but it also gets ranger spells, and if both classes get the same spell, hunter gets it at the lower level. So spells like ally across time or stone throwing that no other class can cast at 1st level, the hunter can do just that. These spells are 2nd level for 6- and 9-level casters but 1st-level spells for 4-level casters like bloodrager, medium, and of course ranger. Because of this, hunter is the class that can cast some spells before any other class.
Druid, Psychic, Witch
All three of these classes stand out among the 9-level casters because these are the only classes that get new spells across all 9 levels. Neither wizard nor cleric nor shaman get spells across all levels. Only these three classes. Mind you, arcanists/sorcerers/wizards can cast spells like form of the exotic dragon III and temporal regression at 8th level, while druids can cast it at 9th level. Even if you exclude those spells, however, druids, psychics, and witches get threefold form at 9th level while none of the other classes get this spell at all.
Medium
The ranger may get more spells, and the bloodrager gets more damage-dealing spells, but I think the medium gets the most varied list for a four-level caster. By its nature of being able to channel different spirits means a medium can have different abilities from day to day. As such, the medium gets spells that reflect this varied aspect of the class.
Antipaladin
This one is an odd choice, but I’m adding it here. Sure, paladins get more spells, but the options for antipaladin will give GMs a way to surprise and shock their players. This book is a real must-have for GMs that run games that feature such an evil knight.
Rogue
If you thought antipaladin came out of left field, adding rogue is such an odd choice, it is like a basketball player taking up baseball (I’m looking at you Michael Jordon). Having said that, rogue definitely needs to be included on this list of winners. The rogue minor magic talent lets a rogue take a 0-level arcanist/sorcerer/wizard spell and cast it 3 times/day. This book has the perfect spell for every rogue that climbs a tree to scout ahead or perches themselves on a high ledge for sneak attacks: grasp. If you fail a Climb check, you cast this as an immediate action, and you can attempt another Climb check (with a minor penalty). If you succeed, you don’t fall. Seriously, this is going to be the rogue’s new best friend.
If you haven’t already, grab yourself the Book of Magic: Spell Codex Volume 1 at DriveThruRPG or the Open Gaming Store.
Lately we’ve been detailing how to play our new game Camp Dungeon Crawl. So far we talked about how to create your adventuring party and how to create dungeons. So now it is time for those two to meet, sending your adventurers into those very dungeons.
The basic game mechanic is pretty simple. A dungeon segment falls for a specific skill with a difficulty number listed next to it. Roll a d12 and add the bonus of your adventuring party. If the resulting number is equal to or greater than the number listed in the segment, you beat that part of the dungeon, and you get a reward. If you get less than the number, you fail and someone in the party gets Wounded. That’s the basics.
So what’s a Wound? Well, you reduce the skill of one of your adventurers by 1. Also, you check one of the Wounded boxes next to the adventurer. A single adventurer can suffer two wounds with no ill effects. If the adventurer takes a third wound, they die and you have to subtract their stats from your adventuring party stats.
If adventurers can be wounded, can they be healed? Yes. Rewards from passing dungeon segments come in two varieties: a bonus for one character or a bonus for two characters. If you get one of the two adventurer bonus types, you can instead have one take a bonus and one gets to erase a Wounded box.
Next time, we will talk about how the rules change over the course of the game. Download Camp Dungeon Crawl today at DriveThruRPG.
We’re hard at work on the Book of Magic: Spell Codex Volume 2. Volume 1 was a huge success and we had so much fun working on this. Right now, we’re in the editing phase and starting the preliminary layout.
But I can’t stop myself from sharing what’s inside. We’re updating some spells that go all the way back to 2009, when the Pathfinder RPG was brand new. Oh, how young of a game you were then. You had no idea what a warpriest was, neither a slayer nor shifter. And now look where the game is all these years later.
*Back from the bunny trail* So yea, this spell comes from a player book that focused on dwarves. I just love the idea of this spell. Maybe it is because I have had sooooooo many groups that can’t stick to the plan. Were I in one of those groups with this spell, I’d totally use it as a way to get the group to actually stick to the plan, when we made a plan.
If you haven’t already, grab yourself the Book of Magic: Spell Codex Volume 1 at DriveThruRPG or the Open Gaming Store.
Planned Assault
School transmutation; Level cleric/oracle/warpriest 3, hunter 4, paladin 3, ranger 4
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, DF
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Area one creature/level, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart
Duration 1 minute/level or until discharged
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
This spell increases the effectiveness of a planned action. If the targets spend at least 1 minute studying a situation, they receive bonuses to their first actions in response to the situation. All targets must declare in advance what their intended actions are. If they perform those actions, they receive a +2 sacred bonus to AC, saving throws, and checks for the first round. This bonus increases to +4 at 10th level and +6 at 15th level.
For example, the PCs discover a camp of orcs; the PC cleric casts planned assault, the group spends 1 minute analyzing the layout of the camp, and then declares its actions. As long as the PCs stick to the plan, they gain a +2 sacred bonus to AC, saving throws, and checks for the first round.
The vast majority of the time, I GM my home game. However, I recently joined an OSRIC game where I’m a player. It has been quite some time since I’ve played 1e or any OSR game, and I’m rather enjoying it. But it didn’t take long for me to get the bug to create something in the system. So I decided to create something simple yet rather memorable. The spiderbear is a favorite of mine so I present it to you for your home 1e game.
Be sure to let us know if you want to see more 1e compatible monsters and more.
Spiderbear
Frequency: Uncommon
No. Encountered: 1d6
Size: Large
Move: 90 ft; 120 ft in web
Armour Class: 5
Hit Dice: 4+4
Attacks: 2
Damage: 1d8/1d8
Special Attacks: Poison, webs
Special Defences: None
Magic Resistance: Standard
Lair Probability: 75%
Intelligence: Low to average
Alignment: Chaotic evil
Level/XP: 4/325+5/hp
Webs: It takes 2 combat rounds to break free from the spiderbear’s webs (+1 additional round for each point of strength below 17).
Treasure: 2d6×1,000 cp (20%), 1d6×1,000 sp (25%), 1d4×1,000 ep (10%), 1d6 gems (25%), 1d3 jewellery (15%), 1d3 magic items (10%).
Right now, DriveThruRPG is promoting all the PocketQuest 2022 games. One of which is Camp Dungeon Crawl, created by us at Jon Brazer Enterprises. We are really proud of this, as it is our first full game created by us. In this game, everyone plays their own adventuring party. So if you have four players at the table, you have four adventuring parties. In previous blog posts, we discussed how you make your adventuring party in Camp Dungeon Crawl. Today we want to talk about how to create dungeons that your adventuring parties will be diving into.
You create a total of four dungeons in Camp Dungeon Crawl, one for each round. Everyone at the table creates a single dungeon per round. One person goes first and picks a piece of the dungeon (or segment, as they are called) from the list in the book. The next person picks the second dungeon segment, and so on. The first dungeon is easy, having only three dungeon segments. Each successive dungeon gets harder, having an additional dungeon segment to a total of six for the final dungeon.
So when it is your turn to decide which dungeon segment that you want for the dungeon, you have to choose one that is either easy to pass—earning a small reward if you pass—or a segment that is more difficult to pass—potentially nabbing yourself a bigger reward. Here’s the thing, though: what is a difficult roll for you may not be so difficult a roll for someone else. You may be trying to nab a reward for yourself and inadvertently help one of the other adventuring groups improve their stats. So when you pick your dungeon segment, you have to pick carefully.
There is one rule when creating dungeons: you can’t pick a segment that requires a skill that is already being used in that dungeon. So if the first person picks a segment that tests a group’s Magic, you can’t pick Magic again. You have to pick something else, like Religion or Offense. This makes sure that any particular dungeon tests a variety of skills, making it more difficult for a group that specializes in one or two skills is not the automatic winner of the game.
The third and four rounds add Bosses to the dungeons. The person that goes last picking segments for those dungeons gets to pick the more powerful creature that is awaiting at the end. These are threats like dragons, mad necromancers, avatars of banished deities, skeletal hordes, and much worse. Bosses require three skill checks and offer a much bigger reward.
Next time we’ll talk about sending your adventuring party into these dungeons.
Download or order your copy of Camp Dungeon Crawl today at DriveThruRPG.
Welcome to Camp Dungeon Crawl
Do you want to traverse dangerous dungeons, defeat monsters, and face deadly traps, but aren’t sure you have what it takes? Are you ready to work with a group of adventurers that have your back amidst terrible dangers? Then Camp Dungeon Crawl is for you! In this game, you will create a group of adventurers and then handcraft dungeons for those adventurers to explore and conquer.
Designed for 3-6 players, Camp Dungeon Crawl is a quick game that is fun for the whole family or perfect for your regular gaming group as a break from your usual campaign! Join Camp Dungeon Crawl today!
Download Camp Dungeon Crawl today at DriveThruRPG.
If you haven’t heard DriveThruRPG is trying to encourage the next generation of game designers with PocketQuest where designers are to write a complete game in under 20 pages. Having not created a game since starting Jon Brazer Enterprises, I decided it was time I created my own complete game. This brings us to Camp Dungeon Crawl.
What is Camp Dungeon Crawl?
Camp Dungeon Crawl is a game where you and everyone else at the table play camp counselors, trying to train up their campers to be adventuring parties. Your group of campers has an adventuring party, and each other player at the table has their own adventuring party. You create your adventuring party by choosing from 11 different classes. Each class has a different array of skills. You add up the bonuses to each skill for your adventuring party to create your group stats.
Once you have your campers selected, your adventuring party needs dungeons to go through. As a camp counselor, you have to make them from dungeon “segments”—various challenges for your adventuring party. You select segments to create your dungeon. Once everyone has done that, you run your adventurers through the dungeon. If your adventuring party passes a segment, they get a reward to help them with future dungeons. If they fail, an adventurer gets an injury. Take too many injuries and an adventurer dies.
The winner is the group with the most adventurers wins. If there’s a tie, the adventuring party with the fewest injuries wins.
There’s more to it than that, but that’s the basics. We’ll talk more about each part in future blog posts but right now we want to talk about making an adventuring party.
Making Your Adventuring Party
You get to select what kind of adventurers are in your party. You choose from the 11 classes: bard, barbarian, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, and wizard. Each of these classes has strengths and weaknesses. Fighters are exceptional at Offense and Defense but not much else. Rogues excel at Awareness. Clerics and Druid are top-notch at Religion.
So if you take the original four classes—Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, Wizard—you will have a very well-rounded party, but they won’t excel at much. If you take a group that is much more martial-focused—Barbarian, Fighter, Monk, Paladin—your Offense and Defense will be baller and you will have something in all the rest of the skills, but it will be more difficult to pass certain dungeon segments.
Of course, the most important party of any adventuring group is names. You have to name all your adventurers and the adventuring party. You can’t adventure with a fighter who’s name is “Fighter.” You have to give them a name worthy of their quests like Gunther Highbeard or Misty Tanfur.
A very conscious decision on our part was to not have ancestries/races/species/whatever to have a mechanical difference. They exist in the world as we have the adventuring party face off against orcs, kobolds and much more. However, we feel you should be allowed to compose your adventuring party how you feel is best and not choose who composes your adventuring party just to get some bonus. You want your heroes to be orcs? Go right ahead. You want the goblin and kobold party, that’s all you. Gnomes, gnomes, everywhere gnomes? Enjoy yourself.
Our next blog post, we’ll be talking about how to make dungeons. In the meantime, be sure to head over to DriveThruRPG and check out all of our Pathfinder, Traveller, and other supplements.
Coming soon from JBE. Camp Dungeon Crawl is a brand new game where you build dungeons and run adventurers through them, training them for the dangers they face in a real dungeon.
We’ll talk more about it soon. For right now, we wanted to just show off the cover (after a slight hickup). We will be sharing more details as we get closer to publication.
Check out all of our products at DriveThruRPG.
Jon Brazer Enterprises 