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Bruce R. Cordell

Dungeon Builder's Guidebook (AD&D Accessory) Paperback – May 19, 1998

by Bruce R. Cordell (Author)

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Basic pointers and advice on building dungeons. Permutations that provide ways to "twist" your dungeon in exciting ways. Six distinct dungeon types, each accompanied by property and encounter tables to help you flesh out your dungeon. A collection of 78 geomorphs that you can photocopy, trace, or freehand onto your own maps. The Trap Architect, a detailed process for generating lethal traps. The Autodungeon Engine, a series of tables that allow you to create a dungeon by attaching random geomorphs together, forming a unique dungeon each time.

Print length

64 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Wizards of the Coast
Publication date

May 19, 1998
Dimensions

8.5 x 0.25 x 11 inches
ISBN-10

0786912073
ISBN-13

978-0786912070
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Richard L. Baker
12
Paperback
13 offers from $65.93

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wizards of the Coast (May 19, 1998)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 64 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0786912073
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0786912070
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.25 x 11 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,784,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,021 in Dungeons & Dragons Game

Customer Reviews:
16 ratings

About the author

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Bruce R. Cordell

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Bruce R. Cordell authored books for Dungeons & Dragons over the course of 4 editions (2nd Edition through 5th Edition D&D). These days, he’s a senior designer for Monte Cook Games, LLC designing Numenera, Gods of the Fall, and The Strange. Also a novel author, his credits include several titles set in the Forgotten Realms. Bruce’s tenth novel, Myth of the Maker, is just now available from Angry Robot Books.

Customer reviews

5 star		57%
4 star		6%
3 star		15%
2 star		6%
1 star		16%

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Mark Packer

Kind of Unnecessary

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2018

Verified Purchase

I mean, it has a lot of the stuff that had already come with the first edition DMG. The only reason this seems to exist outside of the 2nd edition DMG is to make you spend more money. I would only buy it if you absolutely needed dungeon features, but didn't have the time to make them yourself

Helpful

JDH

D&D's version of 'Building Dungeons for Dummies! '

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2013

Verified Purchase

Upon opening the cover, which is loose like older D&D Modules, you see well crafted Dungeon geomorphs. These geomorphs are later explained in the book as optional starting points to be used by either copying by hand, using tracing paper, oyor to give you ideas on how to design your own. The book also includes a small interior booklet of dungeon geomorphs to use in creating dungeon sections. One of the best features is the random generator tables, which remind me of the 1st edition dungeon masters guide's tables, only better!

The layout of the book goes into helping you explain the reasons how, what, where, and why your dungeon exists, whether it is an old mine, a ruin, a cave, within an old castle, or even trapped in another dimension. This book brought up a lot of thoughts about how can your creatures survive in the dungeon without a food source? What is the food source? Is there an eco system for the monsters?

I give the product 5 stars because of thought put into designing a dungeon and the aides to do so, and its versatility. This product was made for D&D, but I see nothing that would prevent someone using it for any other fantasy setting.

One person found this helpful

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Mary Davis

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

Loved this. Beautiful condition. Arrived in @ timely condition.
Assantra

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2010

Verified Purchase

I ORDERED SEVERAL BOOKS IN THIS CATAGORY AS A PLAYER OF 30 YEARS STARTED A COLLECTION FOR MY GRANDSONS, ITS A GREAT GAMES AND A WONDERFUL SET OF LEARNING TOOLS FOR CHILDREN LIKE MATH, READING, COMPREHENSION, DEALING WITH WINS AND LOSSES, STRATAGY, AND A GREAT WAY TO SPEND TIME WITH KIDS DOING A ROLE PLAYING GAME.

One person found this helpful

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Alex

Doesn't provide insight

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2000

This book provides several ludicrous versions of completely random and altogether faceless dungeons (Normal dungeon, aerial dungeon(! ), extranaplanar dungeon, etc.) that can be created through determining how to put together randomly selected geomorphs. Also included a random ludicrously lethal trap generation table (walls that stick to characters and result in death, spoons that spout flames, tables that switch personalities with the PC, etc.). The discussion of dungeon ecosystems is limited to a few lines that give just a few broad tips ("creatures need food"), and reasons for dungeons to be inhabited in the first place are very unoriginal and uninspiring. Perhaps the only good part of this book is the listing of special features found in different dungeons, but those are merely trappings placed there to cover the lack of things to write.
If I were a beginning DM, I would have two options besides buying this book - a)randomly letting my pencil run over paper to create a random dungeon; and b)buying a boxed adventure, which is ready with planned encounters and some sort of story.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Good Tool for New DMs but Not for Experienced Ones

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2018

The "Dungeon Builder's Guidebook" is a decent, if not great, accessory to help novice DMs create dungeons. The insights here are, at best, generic and none of the model dungeons really stand out. Still, this is a helpful guide to new DMs though more experienced ones will shrug it off. I'd offer this book 3.5 stars if possible which does round my rating up.

One person found this helpful

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Kilvari

Not bad for new DMs.

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 1999

I bought this guidebook at the same time as I bought the World Builder's Guidebook. While not a terrible book, it left me rather luke warm.
Although I'm sure it would be helpful for brand-new DMs, it doesn't really offer all that much an experienced DM would find inspirational. If you need a quick, random (i.e. meaningless) dungeon, this would probably be helpful. I don't create random or meaningless dungeons, so it has no use for me there. If you've never created a dungeon before, this guide might help gently steer you along a safe course, priming your abilities to create your own dungeons later. Ultimately, though, I tend to believe this will end up on a bookshelf somewhere taking up valuable space.
In short, a possibly good purchase if you've never designed a dungeon before, want to DM, and have absolutely no idea where to start. I think you would be better off buying a "canned" module or two to start your campaign, though, and using your own creativity to drive it from that point.

One person found this helpful

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Steven McCaw

Experience needed

Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2006

I found this book helpful, admittedly, I don't use dungeons very often and I didn't use anything the way it was supposed to be used. I would reccomend those wanting to build dungeon crawls using just the table go elsewhere. However, if you take the time to modify the tables to your own needs, it can be valuable. For example, the trap table produces traps that are far too deadly for any gaming group, but it creates very interesting magical items in a pinch. Also, the random dungeon creation table has got to go.

One person found this helpful

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Dungeon Builder's Guidebook (AD&D Accessory) Paperback – May 19, 1998

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Bruce R. Cordell

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