Alone in the Dungeon

Introduction

Along in the Dungeon is a hack of Takuma Okada’s Alone Among the Stars. This is a journaling game requiring one player, a pack of 52 standard playing cards and a six-sided die (1d6) or another suitable randomizer.

You are a Dungeon Delver, a treasure seeker and explorer who explores the realms and chambers beneath the surface, seeking to wrest wealth from the realms below. Some Delvers team up with others to search dungeons, but a few, like yourself, work alone. You travel through a dungeon's chambers and tunnels, natural and artificial, watching out for traps and hazards, other denizens and explorers, in your search for treasure, and perhaps even fame when you return to the surface.

To explore a new level of the dungeon, roll 1d6 and draw a number of cards equal to the result of the roll and place them face down.

To turn a card over and discover something, roll 1d6.

On a 1-2 you find it whilst slowly exploring.

On a 3-4 you find it whilst following a map made by a previous Delver.

On a 5-6 you find it through a trail, sound or smell.

The suit and rank of the card turned over determine what you discover. You make a journal of your travels in a small leather-bound book used by Delvers - though a paper notebook or text typed into a computer or phone work fine as a substitute - recording a short description of what you found and what your reaction to it was. Use a few sentences to do this, and then roll for the next card.

Continue your travels until you wish to return to the surface, perhaps with a haul of treasure, perhaps just with your life. If you want to remember your travels through the dungeon, save your journal. If you do not, then destroy or delete it.

⯁ Diamonds

Diamonds are treasure and useful items: Coins, gems, magic items, ore, metal ingots, weapons, tools, light sources, food, tools etc.

♣ Clubs

Clubs are the peculiarities of the dungeon: Tricks, puzzles, secret doors, portals, gates, random debris, statues, pillars, fountains, altars, coffins etc.

♥ Hearts

Hearts are the creatures found in the dungeon: Monstrous inhabitants, intelligent creatures, rival Delvers, undead, constructs, strange lifeforms etc.

♠ Spades

Spades are the hazards of a dungeon: Traps, dangerous spores, unstable roofs, poisons, festering and diseased rubbish, crumbling floors, vile smells, lava etc.

A: A natural cave or cavern.

2: A tunnel or passageway, natural or excavated.

3: A nexus of tunnels and passages, radiating off in different directions.

4: A store room, empty or full.

5: Personal quarters, dormitories, single chambers or suites of rooms.

6: Underground pool, stream, river or lake.

7: Workrooms, service areas, forges and kitchens.

8: Mining area, for minerals, gems or rock.

9: Underground garden of fungi, mosses or lichen.

10: Lair, occupied or not, of a monster or other dungeon inhabitant.

J: A way to reach another level, such as a staircase, chute or ladder.

Q: Subterranean temples, active or abandoned, and burial sites.

K: Underground markets, shops and service places.