To stock the dungeon, I’m using the Old-School ’77 Dungeon Stocking Tables for general room contents. Look for results here sometime within a week or so. See also “Periphron’s Tower and Excavation: Adventure in the Making” for development notes.
Lacking space in the six-page PDF, I omitted a frontispiece. The dungeon map from the cover of the Old-School ’77 Dungeon Stocking Tables, in the cartographer’s opinion, warrants a showcase.
Taking cues from the map god, I provide, for your personal use, grid and no-grid versions of the map without scale or compass rose accompanied by background text. The cartographer’s apologies to cross-hatching aficionados.
It was stocking his Deep Halls that prompted the development of the Old-School ’77 tables. Furthermore, it is through study of his work that we learn dungeon map design. More than that, the example of his career teaches the value of diligence and perseverance in pursuit of our dreams. This map is dedicated to Dyson Logos.
The wizard Periphron seeks a powerful artifact called “the Seventh.” His research, which includes use of a crystal ball and multiple castings of contact other plane, aided by a library of esoteric tomes, indicates the Seventh is located within the ruins of an ancient town, purportedly buried under a rocky hill in an arid plain.
After charming the blue dragon that laired within, Periphron rebuilt a ruined tower on the hillside. Beneath the tower, he excavated several tunnels in search of the ancient town. Exploratory tunnels broke into a series of natural caverns, which leads to the ancient town’s underground ruins.
Periphron uses the charmed blue dragon to guard the tower entrance. The excavation is accomplished by move earth spells and stone giants. Periphron’s apprentices handle the excavation’s day-to-day management.
Meanwhile, the wizard continues research. For, with the Seventh, Periphron intends to begin the prophesied Age of Dragons. How he will achieve this is unknown, even to the wizard himself.
But lawful factions want to prevent Periphron’s finding the artifact. Chaotic factions want to steal it. After so many uses of contact other plane, Periphron might be fairly nuts.
—from “Periphron’s Tower and Excavation: Adventure in the Making”
