Review: The Dungeon Dozen

I like to take the time to review game material I especially enjoyed. This is one of my favorites.

For more reviews, see my reviews page.



by Jason Sholtis
222 pages
$8.00 PDF, $28 hardcopy

The Dungeon Dozen is a book of tables. All based on the 1d12 (all hail the dodecahedron!) And all of the content - except possible the art - is available for free on Jason Sholtis's The Dungeon Dozen blog.

The tables are pretty much whimsical. They're not, generally, there for on-the-fly rolling to see what sounds the PCs hear or what the orcs are carrying. Or maybe they are, if you're really ready to improvise gonzo weirdness that springs from the results. Generally they are things that would do with some time and development.

But they are incredible inspirational. You'll want to use some of the customs of barbarian tribes, encounter some of the knights best avoided, stumble across the odd clues found in the dungeon, or have your ship hove into view of the city going through hard times. I could go on, but it's easier to just flip around on the blog and see what it's about. If you like what you see there, you'll appreciate having them all on your device . . . or in your hands.

You can also get a hard back from Lulu. In fact, I recommend that, especially when Lulu does a hardcopy sale. This is one of the books that's vastly better in hardcopy than in PDF.

It's extremely flippable. It's ideal for opening randomly and just reading all, some, or most of a 1d12 table. It's eye catching and entertaining. It's the kind of book where you re-read the stuff you come across that you've already read. I got a copy in hardcover and it's one of the best purchases I've made in recent years. I keep opening it back up, I keep it handy, I bring it to game to show my players (and then take away, to avoid distracting them with it). I open it at random and just read. And yes, I've used some of the material - never with an actual 1d12 roll, but still, some results are so inspirational I've just snagged them and used them to color my game.

Highly recommended.