Advanced Fantasy Dungeons was a whole lotta maximalist design. You might be surprised to find that’s not what I usually play, and I’m craving simplicity. So I wrote SLMDNGN. Today. You can download it here for free. The design principles:

• Basically B/X
• Run it mainly in my head
• Just d6s
• Live conversion only

I drew from Skerples’ GLOG hack Many Rats on Sticks and Blades in the Dark for this wee pamphlet game.

Here are my poorly organised design notes:

• I basically wrote it because I was sick of deciding what system to use, so I’ll playtest it when I next playtest a module I’ve written.
• I chose GLOG as a partial template mainly because I love GLOG classes, and it’s a way more interesting and approach to classes to make weird unique versions of the three core classes for your characters or campaigns than to make a bunch of classes that already exists.
• I chose B/X because I wanna just play B/X modules, and I tend to stat for B/X simplified (HP, AC as armour, attacks and saving throws).
• Everyone gets 1d8 HP equivalent at Level 1. This basically means wizards and thieves have bonus 2HP extra, and clerics have bonus 1 HP extra every level. I should incorporate these bonus HP into their class powers. Fighters get a 1 HP penalty each level as they level up; this really adds up. These are incorporated into Wizard and Fighter as Bodge and Parry, but I don’t have anything for the thief.
• I basically modelled saves after resistance because they don’t have a target number, and I didn’t want a matrix of values. I changed my mind about AC and enemies rolling dice, but then realised it’s a cool power for Fighters to be able to just nope the occasional attack, so I left it Steel Saves in anyway.
• Dynamite was inspired by Monsterhearts and my friends in the Dice Exploder discord.
• I decided to use meters because this is for me, and 10 feet — the size of a typical B/X flagstone — is the easy to remember 3 meters.
• Death saves are fun and dramatic. If this was more than a pamphlet, I’d include a fatal wounds table.
• It was hard to squeeze classes in, so the most interesting thing from Skerple’s hack had to be cut — the unique skills.
• The only thing that would need on the fly conversion is ability score related stuff, which I’d award as a positive or negative condition.
• I’ll just have to remember the new ACs, sorry, but there are only 3 of them.
• Heritages I just wanted to be there, I borrowed them all from Skerples I think.

That’s my whole thought process.

I hope you enjoy SLMDNGN.

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