The Snowflake Dungeon Part 7

If you’ve missed the previous posts about a snowflake dungeon, you can find them here.

After fleshing out the factions of the snowflake dungeon, we’re finally ready to move to the next step – expanding the plot.

In the Snowflake Method, made for writing novels, that means taking each sentence of our summary paragraph from part 2 and expanding each sentence into a full paragraph.

But it’s a dungeon, so there isn’t a plot, per say.

So here’s what I’m thinking – I’m going to take each sentence and create five one sentence “scenes” from it. Scenes in this context will likely be a single dungeon room, or perhaps a hex.

(I’m thinking this dungeon might need a small overland map to accompany it.)

So in theory, at the end of this, I will have a rough outline of 25 locations. That’s enough for a small adventure.

Let’s look back at our one paragraph summary.

Mutant fanatics, wearing religious vestments, have been kidnapping monks from a monastery. They are dragging them back to a nearby ruined temple and presenting them to an undying goblin for her bizarre rituals. Until recently, the temple had solely been inhabited by ghouls, content to feed on the flesh of corpses from the graveyard outside of Riverbend Mills. Unknown to them both, the temples original inhabitants live there still, serving the dark whims of a foul beast far beneath the surface. The dark priests and their master will not rest until the Forever Stone is back in their hands – but it is the very thing that is lodged in the chest of the Undying Goblin, keeping her alive!

Now let’s expand it! We’ll start with sentence one. Even though the Snowflake Method expects these to be in paragraph form, I’m going to do it in a numbered list. I think that’ll work better for our purposes. I’ll be referencing the faction info from previous steps for inspiration.

Sentence one: Mutant fanatics, wearing religious vestments, have been kidnapping monks from a monastery.

1. Sister Avoire tends the monastery garden, wary of anyone who approaches, for she worries about being abducted. (At the Monastery)

2. A mutant, wearing the garb of an abducted priest by the name of Brother Fervice, hides in the stable, eating a donkey. (At the Monastery)

3. Four Mutants lurk in the trees, waiting to take more captives. (Likely along a path to the ruined temple)

4. The monastery’s treasury holds many riches, but is protected by the spirit of Sister Riccosso. (At the Monastery)

5. Only Father Agor is allowed into the reliquary, where the history of the old temple and the order are kept – he wishes to keep the ancient shame of the order a secret. (At the Monastery)

Sentence two: They are dragging them back to a nearby ruined temple and presenting them to an undying goblin for her bizarre rituals.

1. Five mutants surround a ghoul, stabbing it with pikes (Ruined Temple)

2. A long shaft descends into the ground through the broken floor, little shrines set up around it’s perimeter. (Ruined Temple)

3. Three Monks are bound hand and foot to heavy desks in the library, a single mutant watching over them. (Ruined Temple)

4. Eight mutants sit in the pews, chanting made up bullshit in veneration of Lugpopple (Ruined Temple)

5. A small, harmless looking goblin with a stone embedded in their head sits upon a throne, attended to by two large mutants. (This is Lugpopple. Also in the Ruined Temple)..

Sentence three: Until recently, the temple had solely been inhabited by ghouls, content to feed on the flesh of corpses from the graveyard outside of Riverbend Mills.

1. Mists have permanently settled amidst the crumbled gravestones of the old cemetery. (An adjacent hex to the Temple, likely a random encounter table heavy on ghouls)

2. The citizens of Riverbend Mills lower a chained coffin into the ground while the Ghoul inside pounds on the lid to be free. (Riverbend Cemetery).*

3. Vilada, a huge ghoul and grandson to Francissi, guards the entrance to the bell tower, wielding a two handed axe in each hand. (Temple Bell tower)

4. Five ghouls, descendants of Francissi, sit in the light of a single candle, complaining that they must ration the corpse in front of them. (Temple Bell tower)

5. Francissi sits in a rocking chair, staring out from the bell tower sorrowfully. (Temple Bell tower)

* I’m imaging a semi small amount of ghouls in this dungeon, as they seem to all be one family. Francissi would certainly appreciate the return of her descendent who is trapped in the coffin.

Sentence four: Unknown to them both, the temples original inhabitants live there still, serving the dark whims of a foul beast far beneath the surface.

1. Two dark acolytes drag a protesting mutant down the hallway. (Entrance to the Below)

2. The inhabitants of the Below only enter this area to leave a sacrifice before quickly departing, as it’s the dwelling of The Devourer of Shadow.* (The Below)

3. Father Bone administers a sacrament of blood, freshly “squeezed” from a mutant, to two dark acolytes. (The Below)

4. The floor is covered in arcane symbols with a bound mutant in the middle of each one. (This is the ritual room to release Thazalag) (The Below)

5. A ghoul hides behind a tapestry, spying on three dark acolytes.** (The Below)

*This is going to be a series of rooms with a hunting die (I’d link to what that is if I could find the blog post where I first read about it again – my google is failing me.) Basically, they’ll find signs of the Devourer and it’ll get ever closer to closing in on the PCs.

** Francissi probably doesn’t know where this ghoul is either. This is another possible hook on that end.

Okay, that was a lot. I realize there was one more sentence to go. Here’s the thing – that sentence was more of a summary of the main conflict than anything else.

I have some ideas about it, but I’m going to let this all stew for a bit first. This has given me the basics for twenty locations, which isn’t bad. It does occur to me that doing a dungeon in this manor will result in a very specific type of dungeon if replicated – same amount of rooms, likely same amount of factions, etc. Personally, I’m okay with that.