Dungeon Adventures Designer Interview

'Skulking from table to table, snarling and frothing at the maw...the beast was uncontrollable as the red mist descended, leaving all in its path trembling in fear. "Where are my Chocolate Hobnobs?" Ronnie shrieked, as the management team cowered under the meeting room table.'

Phew...I made it back to my desk. That one was scary!

Martin here again! For today's blog, I sat down with my good friend and most excellent Mantic fan, Andrew Jones, who is the author of the four Dungeon Adventure sets.

MT - Hi Andrew, welcome back to the Mantic Blog. With the launch of Volume 3 and 4 of the Dungeon Adventures, I thought we should get back in touch... So we have two new adventures launching this month. All very exciting! So what are they about?

AJ - Hi Martin! So for this set, we have Beware the Green Rage, where the players have to stop a tide of orcs from destroying nearby villages by killing their leader, and Curse of the Vampire, where they have to try and kill, well, a vampire. The characters are weaker than those who normally try this feat, so they have to try and race against time and kill the creature before the sun goes down!

MT - Sounds like a tonne of fun! Do they link together in any way? Can players use them as stand alone ‘one shot’ as well as build them into existing campaigns?

AJ - These are not linked together. This was decided to allow players to use them as one shots, plug them into their own campaigns, and generally be as flexible as possible.

MT - Is there a progression from Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 into these new sets?

AJ - Each set has a level progression which means you could play each game in sequence, starting at level 3 with Into the Necromancer's Lair and ending at level 6 with Curse of the Vampire. Also, in terms of game progression, volume 1 was designed to be slightly easier to run than Volume 2 (and onward), which has more complex characters and interactions.

MT - What age and/or experience do the GM and players need to have to enjoy these sets?

AJ - I think pre-written adventures inherently have to be written assuming the GM has some experience running games, but you don't need much to use the sets. If you are a super experienced GM these sets can be used as a good framework for further expansion. It was entertaining watching the stream of BlueboxRPG and how the GM adapted the game and expanded it for his party - definitely an example of an experienced GM adapting to fit his party.

MT - Has your gaming group used them to run any short campaigns? How was the feedback?

AJ - Yes! We were actually playing a day long session of 5E and I was receiving regular updates from a friend who was running her group through Secrets of the Wizard's Tower at the same time. The mat and terrain pieces looked great alongside their own hero miniatures. They certainly looked like they were having fun!

MT - Have you seen the range of accompanying products we've put together? Did you have any favourites?

AJ - Yes, I love the terrain crate stuff. Especially the tables, bookshelves and library sets  - really helpful for when I have the players attack a study of a well-meaning but ultimately evil and soon-dead wizard.

MT - That's all for now. Thanks for your words n stuff!

AJ - Thanks. LOVE YOU BYEEE!