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What dungeon, you ask? Dragon's Delve — a massive 27-level mega-dungeon more than half-a-million words long! It's an adventure with 661 encounters, none of which are empty rooms or featureless corridors, arranged over nearly 30 maps! A whole campaign worth of material, capable of taking characters from 1st to 20th level, that begins with a bell on a string set by goblins and ends with a battle against a great wyrm red dragon demigod where the fate of a god hangs in the balance!
And while Dragon's Delve may not be the biggest dungeon in the world, it has the distinction of having been conceived by Monte Cook (Ptolus, 3E Dungeon Master Guide) as the initial offering for Dungeonaday.com — a subscription website that created a classic "dungeon delve" style dungeon by releasing a single hyperlinked, cross-referenced encounter every weekday (each of which now has years of forum posts giving ideas on how to tweak, improve, or survive its challenges).
Over the site's original lifecycle Monte designed 14 levels of Dragon's Delve, and then turned to Super Genius Games to finish the massive adventure location with 13 more levels! Originally begun as a d20 OGL fantasy adventure, Super Genius Games supported the dungeon's original rules system but also added rules for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game to their expansions. The final battle with the Dragon Prince went live in July of 2011, and Dragon's Delve came to an end. Shortly afterwards it was decided to close the site for new patrons—existing memberships were honored, and four more (shorter) adventures released, but the encounter-a-day format ended.
Since that time, numerous additional customers have expressed an interest in gaining access to the five dungeons of Dungeonaday.com, but that posed a problem. The words and maps of these adventures could be saved and be sold in the form of PDFs, but what really made Dungeonaday.com special—the vast network of hyperlinks between the encounters that could continually be modified and added to—could not be maintained without the proprietary content management software that was used in the site's creation.
So, now we have an opportunity to enter a new stage of Dungeonaday.com. We want to make the site available again, and allow new customers to experience Dragon's Delve, and it's companion adventures (Necropolis of Pergia, Tomb-World of Alak-Amur, Night of the Starbird, and Temple of the Black Goat).
We have lots of additional things we'd like to do with the dungeon. We have a 3-D walkthrough video already finished for one level, and would love to produce more for the crucial levels of the Dragon's Delve. The Pathfinder game rules for some levels are not integrated into the early encounters, and many new Pathfinder supplements have been produced in the meanwhile, so we'd love to give the entire dungeon a top-down overhaul to fully take advantage of the rules, classes, monsters, and other awesome content that Paizo Publishing has released.
But those are things we can talk about a bit later—first what we want to do is offer patrons access to five complete online dungeons in all their hyperlinked glory, beginning the week after our Kickstarter campaign funds. Even if we never get the chance to do all the other amazing things we'd love to try (which we will add in the form of stretch goals once our basic target is met), this funding campaign aims to make some of the coolest dungeons ever written available to a broader audience.
Hell yea!!!
If I can come up with the $75 I'm in!
Okay, so Ive pledged!
And I see your more than halfway to you goal in less than 24 hours! When do we get to see stretch goals?
Owen, a couple of questions pertaining (sort of) to the Kickstarter --
1. Will there be options for subscription after the Kickstarter ends? I would love to put in at $100, but I'm not sure I can put together the scratch right now.
2. What is going to happen to the current "extended" subscriptions (from the original incarnation of DaD) when the Kickstarter is over?
3. If I remember correctly, there were a couple of things that were still in the pipeline that haven't come up yet. Are those still in the works, or did the Kickstarter supersede those?
OK, I guess that's three questions. Thanks for the info!
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Owen, a couple of questions pertaining (sort of) to the Kickstarter --
1. Will there be options for subscription after the Kickstarter ends? I would love to put in at $100, but I'm not sure I can put together the scratch right now.
Quite possibly not. That's going to depend on a lot of things, not the least of which is how much interest the Kickstarter generates. If it turns out there's only barely enough interest to keep the site open under a new business plan, I don't see us taking the administrative effort to make new subscriptions available. Also, with the KS, everyone;s 1-year subscription runs the same time frame, If we allow new subscriptions, we might end up with just 1 person having 6 more months of subscription after everyone else stops, and that's not financially viable.
And there are other issues and complications as well.
So I'm not ruling it out, but I wouldn't encourage anyone who wants access to wait. There very, very good reasons why we stopped general subscriptions, and why we decided to try something different fro the next stage of Dungeonaday.com's life.
2. What is going to happen to the current "extended" subscriptions (from the original incarnation of DaD) when the Kickstarter is over?
The will end, at a date TBD, subject to 3 below.
3. If I remember correctly, there were a couple of things that were still in the pipeline that haven't come up yet. Are those still in the works, or did the Kickstarter supersede those?
The never-before-seen Dungeonaday.com-exclusive Ed Greenwood adventure, The Black Skull Laughs, is in layout right now and should post by the end of the week. But I've had things delay this project before, and I'm certainly not going to end the extended subscriptions before people have had a reasonable timeframe to grab it.
OK, I guess that's three questions. Thanks for the info!
Anytime!
Owen, a couple of questions pertaining (sort of) to the Kickstarter --
1. Will there be options for subscription after the Kickstarter ends? I would love to put in at $100, but I'm not sure I can put together the scratch right now.
Quite possibly not. That's going to depend on a lot of things, not the least of which is how much interest the Kickstarter generates. If it turns out there's only barely enough interest to keep the site open under a new business plan, I don't see us taking the administrative effort to make new subscriptions available. Also, with the KS, everyone;s 1-year subscription runs the same time frame, If we allow new subscriptions, we might end up with just 1 person having 6 more months of subscription after everyone else stops, and that's not financially viable.
And there are other issues and complications as well.
So I'm not ruling it out, but I wouldn't encourage anyone who wants access to wait. There very, very good reasons why we stopped general subscriptions, and why we decided to try something different fro the next stage of Dungeonaday.com's life.
2. What is going to happen to the current "extended" subscriptions (from the original incarnation of DaD) when the Kickstarter is over?The will end, at a date TBD, subject to 3 below.
3. If I remember correctly, there were a couple of things that were still in the pipeline that haven't come up yet. Are those still in the works, or did the Kickstarter supersede those?The never-before-seen Dungeonaday.com-exclusive Ed Greenwood adventure, The Black Skull Laughs, is in layout right now and should post by the end of the week. But I've had things delay this project before, and I'm certainly not going to end the extended subscriptions before people have had a reasonable timeframe to grab it.
OK, I guess that's three questions. Thanks for the info!Anytime!
Owen,
Have you guys considered bundling the html/content of the levels/dungeons into downloadable files so that we could use the site offline? I would hate to see the ultra-useability of a website disappear after a year.
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Owen,
Have you guys considered bundling the html/content of the levels/dungeons into downloadable files so that we could use the site offline? I would hate to see the ultra-useability of a website disappear after a year.
It has been discussed, and I certainly understand the appeal. There are however significant complications for presenting the whole of this material in any format other than a website.
If the site was looking at a permanent shutdown, I'd likely make the rounds and see what we could do, but short of that it's not an effort I'm going to take the time for just now.
We have some other "Plan C" options we'd look at in such a contingency as well.
Backed.
Owen,
Have you guys considered bundling the html/content of the levels/dungeons into downloadable files so that we could use the site offline? I would hate to see the ultra-useability of a website disappear after a year.
It has been discussed, and I certainly understand the appeal. There are however significant complications for presenting the whole of this material in any format other than a website.
If the site was looking at a permanent shutdown, I'd likely make the rounds and see what we could do, but short of that it's not an effort I'm going to take the time for just now.
We have some other "Plan C" options we'd look at in such a contingency as well.
Cool deal. I am hoping the response will be so overwhelming that the situation doesn't come up :) thank you for the info.
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The never-before-seen Dungeonaday.com-exclusive Ed Greenwood adventure, The Black Skull Laughs, is in layout right now and should post by the end of the week. But I've had things delay this project before, and I'm certainly not going to end the extended subscriptions before people have had a reasonable timeframe to grab it.
In the realm of updates, The Black Skull Laughs by Ed Greenwood is now live at Dungeonaday.com, so for once something took less time than I predicted.
As of this writing the Dungeonaday Kickstarter is just $35 short of reaching its funding, and we're just 3 days in. We have stretch goals planned, but to be honest we're going to take a moment in light of this massive support and consider if we've been too hesitant in our earlier plans. The answer may be yes, and it may be no, but we want to take this input and decide if we need to offer bigger opportunities to our potential patrons.
I had *assumed* there just wasn't enough support to justify doing anything to the whole half-million-word Dragon's Delve megadungeon, but now...
Edit: Within 10 minutes of writing this, we actually hit the $2500 level, and then went to $2550, so things are moving along quickly...
Congrats!
woot!
I've been running dungeon-a-day for 4 years, I currently have a 13th level party exploring level 12. It's an epic, memorable dungeon that my players feel accomplished for surviving and conquering, and which has given them epic stories to share. I heartily recommend supporting this kickstarter!
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I can't remember, did anyone bring up the topic of a "players guide" to Dragon's Delve? There's a smattering of feats, magic items, and whatnot scattered throughout the delve, that couldn't hurt to compile. Maybe some traits, etc?
I was just thinking that Dungeonaday is mostly for the DM/GM's, you might get more sponsors if you had a reward for players. I know a couple of my players kicked in. I might have gotten more of them if there was something on the lower end of the reward tier for them.
Of course, it's hit the funding goals, so what do I know? :-)
So happy that we're gonna get another year out of this, and can't wait to see how far we can take it!
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I can't remember, did anyone bring up the topic of a "players guide" to Dragon's Delve? There's a smattering of feats, magic items, and whatnot scattered throughout the delve, that couldn't hurt to compile. Maybe some traits, etc?
That's not a bad idea. What say you folks, anyone find this interesting? (Extra-specifically anyone who hasn't already pledged?)
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I can't remember, did anyone bring up the topic of a "players guide" to Dragon's Delve? There's a smattering of feats, magic items, and whatnot scattered throughout the delve, that couldn't hurt to compile. Maybe some traits, etc?That's not a bad idea. What say you folks, anyone find this interesting? (Extra-specifically anyone who hasn't already pledged?)
I haven't pledged yet, but I was going to with or without the guide, for another 18 months of the SGG firehose, if nothing else. Still, a player's guide would be a nice thing to see.
The reason I hadn't yet is I was wondering about just how current DAD membership and the Kickstarter will work together...
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I can't remember, did anyone bring up the topic of a "players guide" to Dragon's Delve? There's a smattering of feats, magic items, and whatnot scattered throughout the delve, that couldn't hurt to compile. Maybe some traits, etc?That's not a bad idea. What say you folks, anyone find this interesting? (Extra-specifically anyone who hasn't already pledged?)
Yeah, that'd be cool. I'm just struggling with the idea of paying for only 12 months of access. I'm unlikely to run this campaign within 12 months though.
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Yeah, that'd be cool. I'm just struggling with the idea of paying for only 12 months of access. I'm unlikely to run this campaign within 12 months though.I can't remember, did anyone bring up the topic of a "players guide" to Dragon's Delve? There's a smattering of feats, magic items, and whatnot scattered throughout the delve, that couldn't hurt to compile. Maybe some traits, etc?That's not a bad idea. What say you folks, anyone find this interesting? (Extra-specifically anyone who hasn't already pledged?)
Membership includes downloadable PDFs.
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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I can't remember, did anyone bring up the topic of a "players guide" to Dragon's Delve? There's a smattering of feats, magic items, and whatnot scattered throughout the delve, that couldn't hurt to compile. Maybe some traits, etc?That's not a bad idea. What say you folks, anyone find this interesting? (Extra-specifically anyone who hasn't already pledged?)
I certainly like this idea. Once Monte started introducing enough gods to have a pantheon, I asked on the boards to have a summary of them put in one place with domains, etc, so PC clerics could pick a diety relevant to the game. A full Player's Guide treatment would be great, even if it's just a brief on each class for choices that would work well with DaD, and some campaign traits. Background on the dungeon and town would be good as well.
Pledged! I'd been hoping for some method to renew my All-Genius Pass, now I've got it for another 18 months!
Edited to add: I would LOVE to see some way to wrap this into an offline package. Call me paranoid, I just don't trust the Internets. :)
Funded of course (since day 1). Very interested in seeing everything updated to Pathfinder and of course expanded if possible.
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The reason I hadn't yet is I was wondering about just how current DAD membership and the Kickstarter will work together...
All the free extended DAD memberships will end once the Kickstarter is done. If you are one of the few people who slipped through the cracks of our cancelling the renewal process and you have a normal subscription duration left, send me an email at owen@supergeniusgames.com and I'll figure out what we need to do for your special case.
A players guide is would be extremely useful, and would make a great addition.
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Hey folks, a couple of quick updates.
We're just a bit past 150% of our original funding goal right now, with three-and-a-half weeks to go.
We'll have stretch goals listed in the next couple of days. We did modify our plans, based on the great early response and patron feedback. A Player's Guide will be part of those goals (a really small one at first, with its size expanding as we reach higher goals).
There are only 2 $65 "Local Hero" reward options left (where a notice of commendation for a character of yours for an act you suggest is added to the description of Brindenford). While we might add some more options to have your characters written in to the dungeon, they're not likely to be this cool or this cheap. So if you want to get your PC (or a friend's) immortalized, now's the time.
Thanks to everyone for your support and recommendations, and I'll keep this thread updated as we have new developments. :D
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While we continue to be amazed at how quickly the Dungeonaday.com Kickstarter is growing, we're now beginning to get our heads around the new potential scope of our project. To whit, we have posted our first set of Stretch Goals.
If we hit $5,000 we will commission one piece of new custom art for a climatic encounter of each level, 1-10, of Dragon’s Delve and put together a 4-page Dragon’s Delve Player’s Guide.
At $6,500 we'll get one piece of new custom art for a climatic encounter at levels 11-20 of Dragon’s Delve in addition to the above and the Dragon’s Delve Player’s Guide expands to 8 total pages.
If we manage to get to $8,000 we will produce one piece of new custom art for a climatic encounter of all the remaining levels of Dragon’s Delve (Terregaunt's Tower, the Island of Khorant, Chordille Keep, the Crimson Aerie, Fane of the Sea God, and the Tomb of Nibul), and the Dragon’s Delve Player’s Guide expands to 12 total pages.
And at $10,000 in addition to all the above, we will update the entirety of Dragon’s Delve to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Rules, including using the hardcover rulebooks that have been published since Dragon’s Delve ended, and the Dragon’s Delve Player’s Guide expands to 16 total pages.
The talk of the player's guide here obviously had an impact on these goals, so by all means let us know what else you might like to see! And if you want to see these goals be met, contact your friends and online peers and spread the word!
Um, I don't want to sound too negative, but a $10,000 stretch goal for pathfinderizing the early levels and adding a 16-page player's guide seems a bit steep...
It could well be that I am biased though, as this was what I would like to see first (as opposed to artwork) and I was hoping that a more modest strecth goal would be dedicated to that. Oh, well... :)
Edit: Also from what I can see the stretch goals are not linked in any way to specific incentives for people to make a higher pledge than they would otherwise make(ie if we reach X then ppl who pledge Y and higher get Z).
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Um, I don't want to sound too negative, but a $10,000 stretch goal for pathfinderizing the early levels and adding a 16-page player's guide seems a bit steep...
We're not just Pathfinderizing the early levels. We're doing a development pass on the whole half-million-word megadungeon to add in support for options from books we didn't originally have. While we will make sure we have dotted the i's and crossed the t's for Pathfinder games, that's only part of the objective here.
Edit: Also from what I can see the stretch goals are not linked in any way to specific incentives for people to make a higher pledge than they would otherwise make(ie if we reach X then ppl who pledge Y and higher get Z).
You are correct. Given how fast we've hit 150% of our original goal we don't have any real fear we won't hit the 10k goal, and I don't want to extort anyone. If you feel the rewards you already have is good enough, that's fine by me! If you want to give a little more to see us sharped up the whole dungeon with the best Pathfinder has to offer, feel free to give a little more. :D
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Well folks, the Local Hero reward, allowing your character to be immortalized forever with a commendation posted in the description of Brindenford has sold out! If you want a chance to describe a body to be found in the halls of Dragon's Delve you'd better take one of those rewards fast!
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Welcome to the Dungeon!
As one who got in on Day One but had to bow out after year two, this is interesting...
WOOF!
I think I might be misunderstanding something:
Does the $50 pledge include the PDF of the mega-dungeon itself (as well as PDFs of the 4 smaller dungeons)?
Or will there be no such thing as a PDF of the mega-dungeon (i.e. the mega-dungeon itself will only be available on the website)?
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Thanks for the question Arnwyn, and sorry for the confusion!
At the $50 level you absolutely get the PDFs for Dragon;s Delve. You'll get access tot he existing PDFs nearly immediately (it'll take a little time to enter everyone's information to give you access to the site you can download them from). All levels currently have PDFs, though obviously as we update the levels (I'm convinced we're hitting the $10,000 level, clearly) we'll also release updated versions of the pdfs.
So if all you want is online and PDF access to all our dungeons, including the 27-level megadungeon, including all the revisions we do over the next year, the $50 level has you covered.
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We've talked about doing 3D walkthrough videos of the various levels of Dragon's Delve and we'd like to show you just what we mean. Here is the first one which is for "Fane of the Sea God", written by Charles Ryan. The 3D visuals were produced by Sterling Hershey.
We've talked about doing 3D walkthrough videos of the various levels of Dragon's Delve and we'd like to show you just what we mean. Here is the first one which is for "Fane of the Sea God", written by Charles Ryan. The 3D visuals were produced by Sterling Hershey.
Wow, that is really cool! Great idea.
Level four was the
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The walkthrough for Level 4 might have to go one dimension beyond 3D. Level 19's walkthrough should be interesting as well.
There's no doubt that creating videos for those levels would provide challenges which, if we get to that point, we look forward to tackling!
Level four was the ** spoiler omitted ** one right?
Yep!"The Prison of the Red Saint" officially.
It's clear that you are focusing on digital content and this is great, but I was wondering whether there are any thoughts about bringing a final fully pathfinderized version (along with an expanded player's guide, etc.) out as a hardbound book (a la Rappan Athuk).
Owen,
How much longer will the Kickstarter last? How long do we have to contribute?
The total Pathfinderization of Dragon's Delve excites me, but I need to know how long I have to get the funds together.