Lots of blog discussion recently (eg https://beyondfomalhaut.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/blog-aid-not-replacement.html) about good design for RPG publications. I've noticed that the stuff I can and do actually use at table is in the wonderful One Page Dungeon format, eg Dyson's Delves I & II and Stonehell Dungeon*. Using this stuff after slogging through Paizo Adventure Paths is like waking from a nightmare into a dream, and I want more!

But there doesn't seem a huge amount available, other than the One Page Dungeon Contest entries, which started very well but soon went off into arch weirdness - reading entertainment not in play utility. So I'm wondering are there other publishers out there producing good, useable material in this terse format, or something very similar?

*Whereas I'm finding trad-format adventures  by eg Kobold Press pretty much unuseable these days, clearly designed for reading not play. I have been getting good use from Streets of Zobeck by ignoring the plotted adventures and only using the nicely detailed NPCs at the front, whether talky stuff or putting them into a Dyson's Delves map for my PCs to fight.

One-page barebones-info dungeons can be awesome, especially if they have a touch of creativity. Not totally bland, though also not so utterly weird and wacky that they go too far into limited play.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1028885One-page barebones-info dungeons can be awesome, especially if they have a touch of creativity. Not totally bland, though also not so utterly weird and wacky that they go too far into limited play.

Yeah - Dyson Logos and Michael Curtis get it exactly right for me, whereas most of the 1PD contest entries are either very bland (rare now, but see eg The Ancient Academy) or utterly weird & wacky (dozens of them). There's quite a narrow sweet spot to hit.

I'm not a fan of them. They are an interesting concept and make for a good writing challenge - can you cram a fully functional dungeon into a limited format? - but most of them fail in practice because few people actually have the skills to express themselves so economically without losing the meat that actually makes an adventure worth playing. It is a good idea - don't overwrite, be efficient with your prose - carried too far, and sometimes infused with obnoxious hipsterism. The resulting one-pagers are either very barebones, or they are a fancy piece of artwork without much content hanging from them.

The sane solution would be to stop at five or six pages, and make dense mini-adventures in that range. Instead, that particular genre is saturated by pieces which are, ironically enough, very overwritten... the proverbial one good idea in a large heap o' words. Now if the better one-page authors channelled their talent into writing adventures in four, or god forbid, ten to twelve pages, while keeping the lessons they learned from one-pagers... that would be something.

With all that out of the way, I really liked where The Fall of Whitecliff was going. Far from perfect, but a good start.

Michael Curtis actually uses 4 pages per Stonehell sub level (about 30 rooms) - facing map & key pages, and 2 extra pages for special stuff that is much more in depth. It works really well. Dyson does do it with just 1 page but his lovely maps take a lot of the strain.

You might get some use out of this when it releases in a few months: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/adventureaweek/mini-dungeon-tome-for-5th-edition-or-pathfinder-rp. Most of the dungeons included should already be available individually if you find that they're the sort of thing that would be useful.

I certainly hope there is more material in the format in the future. I personally love it.

I prefer them as a writing exercise than as the final product.  My ideal would be someone who made a serious attempt to produce a series of the 1-page format--then used the resulting material for a combined product that didn't automatically stick to that format.  

In particular, I'd prefer that the 1-page things are done as drafts, and then the format semi-abandoned for the layout stage.  The 1-pagers that really need to be 1.25 or 1.5 pages would use the remaining parts of the page for sidebars and other partial page bits, rather than trying to expand those things into a full page.  Now, keeping any one thing inside two (facing) pages is a much more worthwhile final goal.

Now that is a practical compromise - and it uses the format as a tool, not as a straightjacket.

I've been steadily putting out short-form adventure locations (with occasional regions and settlements) almost monthly for four years now. They're all free at:

http://blog.trilemma.com/search/label/adventure

I'm compiling them for a print edition to be kickstarted later this year.

Quote from: Steven Mitchell;1028983I prefer them as a writing exercise than as the final product.  My ideal would be someone who made a serious attempt to produce a series of the 1-page format--then used the resulting material for a combined product that didn't automatically stick to that format.  

In particular, I'd prefer that the 1-page things are done as drafts, and then the format semi-abandoned for the layout stage.  The 1-pagers that really need to be 1.25 or 1.5 pages would use the remaining parts of the page for sidebars and other partial page bits, rather than trying to expand those things into a full page.  Now, keeping any one thing inside two (facing) pages is a much more worthwhile final goal.

This is a bit like how Stonehell's format works in practice, with the 2 facing pages per dungeon sub-level (as big as most full levels in other dungeons) preceded by 2 pages of notes.

I found it odd at first; the thing is it's designed for use at table, not for reading entertainment. The big thing is that it is SO easy to use in play that I finish most 4-5 hour sessions feeling relaxed and energised, whereas running PF Adventure Paths I'd end the session feeling exhausted and guilty that I hadn't put enough effort into reading the endless reams of text pre-play. I really want that feeling of "Wow, this is SO easy!" in all my games now, hence my query.

Quote from: fuseboy;1029005I've been steadily putting out short-form adventure locations (with occasional regions and settlements) almost monthly for four years now. They're all free at:

http://blog.trilemma.com/search/label/adventure

I'm compiling them for a print edition to be kickstarted later this year.

Nice, thanks!

The folks that publish the Gumshoe RPG have so far held two One Page adventure contests.

On some occasions, I've just taken illustrations of one-page dungeons, totally ignored what's on there, and used the dungeons themselves for games by putting my own stuff in. I've done that a lot in DCC.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1029957On some occasions, I've just taken illustrations of one-page dungeons, totally ignored what's on there, and used the dungeons themselves for games by putting my own stuff in. I've done that a lot in DCC.

I'm really bad at 'cold stocking' a blank map. Like, weirdly bad - I get some kind of mental block; my efforts have been abysmal. But I can take a Dyson Logos keyed map, change 90% of what he keyed, just keep a few things here and there that seem to fit, and get a great result.