1

Credits
With thanks to the Penicillin Committee and the
Slaughterhouse Seven.
Everything by Chris Bissette.
Anyone may publish free or commercial material based
upon and/or declaring compatibility with “a dungeon
game” without express written permission from the
publisher, Loot The Room, as long as they adhere to the
following terms:
If your product declares compatibility with a dungeon
game you must state the following in your legal text
and on any websites from which a commercial product
is sold: “[product name] is an independent production
by [publisher name] and is not affiliated with Loot The
Room.”
Loot The Room takes no responsibility for any legal
claims against your product.
The mechanics and concepts of “a dungeon game” may
be reused freely.
The text of “a dungeon game” may not be used verbatim.

About
I intend to continue expanding this game. As a result,
this print version represents the state of the game as of
January 2023. The most complete version is available
online at dungeon.loottheroom.uk.
Second Printing.

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 Contents
Character Creation 5
Scars 7
Magic 14
Rituals 15
Ritual Generator 15
Using Spells From Other Games 16
Mishaps 17
Example of Play 19
Advancement 24
Doing Things 25
Attribute Checks 25
Saving Throws 25
Exertion 26
Violence 27
Dying 28
Timekeeping 29
Rituals in Combat 30
Surprise 31
Reactions 31
Morale 32
Resting 34
Equipment 35
Money 35
Weapons 35
Armour and Shields 36
Light 36
Adventuring Gear 37
Hirelings 38
Enemies 39
Want More? 48
Coming Soon! 49
 Character Creation
You are an Adventurer.
You possess 2d6 x 10sp, which you can use to outfit
yourself prior to the start of your adventure (see
Equipment).
You know nothing, but you will learn.

Roll Your Attributes

There are three attributes: Agility, Brawn, and Cunning.

Agility: Dodge things, tumble and climb,

make ranged attacks, run.
Brawn: Hit things, lift and push, make
melee attacks, resist.
Cunning: Spot things, sneak and deceive,
wield magic, hide.

Determine them by rolling 3d6 in order. You may swap

two results.

Determine Health
Roll 1d6 and add half your Brawn score (rounded down)
to determine your starting health.
If you reach 0 health for any reason, roll 2d6 and
compare the result to the number of Scars you have
earned.
If your roll is equal to or lower than the number of Scars
you have earned, you succumb to your accumulated
injuries and die.
If your roll is higher than the number of Scars you have
earned, gain a new Scar.

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Roll an Occupation
You always roll with advantage when performing tasks
related to your vocation.
1. Archaeologist
2. Astrologer
3. Brewer
4. Burglar
5. Clergyman
6. Courier
7. Dramatist
8. Ditch digger
9. Forester
10. Gambler
11. Hangman
12. Healer
13. Jeweler
14. Netmaker
15. Ostler
16. Scribe
17. Taxidermist
18. Trapper
19. Undertaker
20. Weaver

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Choose Scars
The more violence you do over the course of your
adventure, the more Scars you accumulate. All
characters start play with one historic Scar.
To select your Scars, roll 1d6 to select the body part that
was injured and then roll 1d6 again on the relevant list
on the pages that follow.
1. Head
2. Face
3. Arms
4. Hands
5. Legs
6. Torso
If you want to think about how you earned it then do so.
if you don’t, don’t. Sometimes it’s best not to dwell on
the past.
Every time you make a roll in combat you may modify
it by +/- X, where X is the number of Scars you possess.
These Scars contain graphic descriptions of bodily
injuries. If these are not to your tastes, you may wish to
write your own Scars.

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Head
1-1. The tip of one of your ears is hacked off.
1-2. A flap of skin was sheared away from your
scalp, revealing exposed bone. The skin will
never grow back.
1-3. Your ear becomes permanently swollen and
deformed, resembling a cauliflower.
1-4. There’s no physical sign that you were injured,
but you’ve become prone to apocalyptic
headaches that come on without warning.
1-5. The dome of your head is visibly mis-shapen,
and helmets don’t fit like they used to.
1-6. Hair only grows on one side of your head now.
The other side is knotted with scar tissue.

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Face
2-1. A broken tooth pierced your lip. Your mouth
is crooked and your lip is permanently a little
swollen.
2-2. The blade caught you in your mouth, slicing
straight through your cheek. The scar extends
up to just below your cheek bone, and it’s a
beautiful shade of dead-flesh-white.
2-3. You never use all of your teeth at the same
time anyway. Don’t worry - you’ll get used
to only being able to chew on one side
eventually.
2-4. The blow shattered your orbital bone, leaving
your eye hanging out of your skull. The bones
didn’t set quite right and your eye is visibly
lower in your face than it used to be.
2-5. Your nose oozes a small
trickle of blood constantly.

2-6. One of your cheeks is noticeably lower than

the other, with a visible lump where the bone
didn’t set properly.

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Arms
3-1. You fractured your shoulder socket. The joint
sometimes catches so your arm locks in place
and has to be forced back into motion, often
painfully. The joint grinds audibly when it
moves.
3-2. One of the tendons in your forearm is
permanently damaged. Now your hand
flops a little too far back at the wrist.

3-3. The bones of your wrist didn’t quite

line up properly when you healed and
now there’s a very visible misalignment
where your wrist joins your hand.

3-4. Your arm hung limp by your side for

so long before you set it and healed
that your shoulder now sits a little
lower than its opposite number.

3-5. Elbows are made to bend, and that’s

a good thing because yours will
never be able to extend fully again.

3-6. Your arm is twisted so that when you stand

the back of your hand sits at a right angle to
your body, the thumb parallel to your thigh.

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Hands
4-1. You lose the tip of one of your
fingers, just below the nail.

4-2. The fractured bones of your ring finger rotated

slightly during healing and now it overlaps
your middle finger every time you make a fist.

4-3. One of your fingers has had all

the meat and sinew torn away
from it, so that only bone remains.

4-4. The skin of your hand is boiled and charred,

like meat left on the fire for too long.

4-5. The veins in the back of your hand are

thick and black like they carry an infection.

4-6. Pick your favourite finger and say goodbye to

it. It’s gone now.

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Legs
5-1. The bones in your leg were shattered
beyond complete repair. That leg will always
be fractionally shorter than the other.

5-2. One of your feet twists inward at an odd angle,

and can never be straightened properly.

5-3. One of your kneecaps has been

shifted sideways so that it
rests on the outside of your leg.

5-4. You lose a foot, forever. Find

something to replace it with.

5-5. Your kneecap is shattered, leaving free-

floating chunks of bone just beneath your skin.

5-6. Your ankle is crushed, and heals with a large,

visible lump.

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Torso
6-1. Your chest is visibly concave, the
result of poorly-set broken ribs.

6-2. Most bruises heal. This one didn’t. The

skin where you were struck is permanently
stained a dull shade of piss-yellow, with
hints of brown and flecks of purple.

6-3. Your pectoral muscle is separated from

the bone, and when it heals your chest
on that side is lower than the other.

6-4. A thick knot of scar tissue runs

down the center of your chest, as
though you have been zipped up.

6-5. Your stomach was split open

and poorly stitched, and now
you have no visible belly button.

6-6. After breaking all of your ribs on one side, a

metal plate was grafted onto your bones. It
shines through the hole in your missing flesh.

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 Magic
All characters can learn magic, but it comes at a cost.
You can start with as many Rituals as you dare to learn. If
you overextend yourself and your health or any attribute
reaches 0, your character has died. Make a new one.
To learn a Ritual, roll on the Ritual Generator or choose
something from another game. Then roll 1d3 and reduce
either your maximum health or one of your attributes
by that amount permanently. Once you have decided to
learn a Ritual you can’t change your mind - you have to
roll and pay the price.
New Rituals must be discovered in play. When you
discover a new Ritual and try to learn it, roll 1d3 and
reduce your maximum health or one of your attributes
by that amount permanently. Then roll under your
Cunning on a d20. If the roll succeeds you learn the
Ritual. If it fails, that Ritual is forever lost to you - you
can never learn it. You can exert yourself on this roll.
To perform a Ritual, roll under your Cunning on a d20.
If you succeed the Ritual takes effect. If you roll your
Cunning score exactly it either lasts twice as long, or
is twice as effective (your choice). If you roll over your
Cunning score, the Ritual fails. Roll on the Mishap table,
adding the difference between your failed roll and your
Cunning score to your roll.
Rituals that deal damage deal Adventurer Level x 1d6
damage.

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Rituals
There are three kinds of Ritual: Phrases, Sigils, and
Ceremonies.
Phrases take no time to cast, occur instantly, and fade
as soon as they have taken effect.
Sigils take a minute to draw, can be triggered at will or
when a certain condition is met, and their effects last for
ten minutes per Adventurer Level of the caster.
Ceremonies take an hour or more to perform, occur as
soon as the ceremony is complete, and their effects last
for one day per Adventurer Level of the caster.

Ritual Generator
Rituals are made up of three parts - the Ritual Type
and two words that are combined to create the Ritual’s
effect. Interpret your spells as you see fit and put them
to creative use. You’ve paid the price to learn them; now
they work for you.
Roll 1d3 to determine the Ritual Type, then roll 1d20 on
each of the Word Lists on page 18 to determine the words
that form your Ritual.

Ritual Type
1. Phrase
2. Sigil
3. Ceremony

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Word 1 Word 2
1. Limerent 1. Death
2. Entropic 2. Life
3. Corrupting 3. Swarm
4. Shifting 4. Hate
5. Rotting 5. Light
6. Preserved 6. Darkness
7. Violating 7. Silence
8. Desecrating 8. Noise
9. Summoning 9. Violence
10. Sloughing 10. Peace
11. Rambling 11. Bears
12. Creating 12. Abominations
13. Imbibing 13. Flesh
14. Glimmering 14. Blood
15. Evading 15. Ooze
16. Wandering 16. Flight
17. Concealing 17. Alarm
18. Revealing 18. Stone
19. Lingering 19. Grief
20. Combusting 20. Hatred

Using Spells From Other Games

Instead of rolling 1d3 when attempting to learn a new
Ritual, reduce your maximum health or one of your
attributes by the level of the spell you are attempting
to learn.
If the spell you are attempting to learn has no level or is
level 0, roll 1d3 as normal.

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Mishaps
Roll 2d6 + the difference between your failed roll and
your Cunning, then apply the effect below.
Unless specified otherwise, you don’t remember new
Words that replace those in the Ritual you failed to cast
once the Ritual is complete.
Roll Effect
2 Replace the first Word in your Ritual with a random different
Word and cast it on the same target. Add the new Word to
your list of Words known.
3 Replace the second Word in your Ritual with a random
different Word and cast it on the same target.
4 Replace the first Word in your Ritual with a random different
Word and cast it on a different target.
5 Replace both Words in your Ritual with different random
Words and cast it on a different target, in addition to your
original Ritual.
6 Take 1d6 damage. If you take 4 or more damage, forget the
second Word in your Ritual and learn a new one in its place.
7 Take 1d6 damage. Your Ritual works as intended.
8 Take 1d6 damage. If you take 4 or more damage, your Ritual
fails. If you take 3 or less damage, your Ritual works as
intended.
9 Your spell has the opposite effect.
10 Summon 2 x Adventurer Level bears.
11 Lose 1d3 Brawn permanently.
12 Lose 1d3 Agility permanently.
13 Lose 1d3 Cunning permanently.
14 Lose 250 x Adventurer Level XP. If this takes you below 0 XP
you die.
15 Roll twice and apply both effects. This result stacks.
16+ You permanently lose the ability to perform Rituals.

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Roll an Extra
2. +1d3 Cunning
3. +1d3 Brawn
4. +1d3 Agility
5. +1d3 health points
6. -2 to saving throws vs
Poison
7. -2 to saving throws vs
Spells
8. +2d6 x 10sp
9. +2 AC, always
10. +1 to recovery rolls
11. +1 damage
12. Learn a Ritual without
reducing health or
attributes

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 Example of Play
The party is exploring a section of the dungeon they
haven’t seen before. As they travel down a new corridor,
Steph (the GM) checks for wandering encounters by
rolling a six-sided die (1d6). The result shows a 1, which
means that the players will encounter something.
Next she rolls 2d6 on the encounter table she wrote
for this floor of the dungeon when she designed it. She
obtains a result of **7: 2d6 goblins**. Another die roll
tells her there are 5 of the creatures, and a roll on the
reaction table gives a result of **11: Murderous**. In a
previous session the party has had dealings with goblins
in the dungeon that have gone badly, and a small group
has begun to actively hunt them through the dungeon.
Steph decides that this is that group.
After generating the encounter she checks for the
distance of the encounter, rolling 2d6 and multiplying
it by 10 to determine that the goblins are 90 feet away
when the players encounter them. Her map shows that
the passage turns ahead of the party, and so she decides
that they will hear the goblins coming from around the
corner.
This whole process takes a couple of seconds, occurring
while the players chat and joke amongst themselves.
Then Steph describes the situation, and the players
react:
Steph: The corridor extends about 40 feet ahead of
you, with no doors or openings off it, before turning
to the left just on the edge of your lantern light.
You can see that there’s a metal grate in the ceiling
maybe ten feet ahead of you. As you look around you
realise that you can hear something from around
the corner - the scrape of metal on stone, the tread

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 of booted feet, and low voices talking amongst
themselves. What do you do?
Mikey (playing Tommy Twelve Teeth): Can we make
out what they’re saying?
Steph: If you could speak the language you probably
could, but you can’t. You immediately recognise this
as goblin.
Mol (playing Contessa): Oh crap, do you think these
are the ones that have been looking for us?
Mikey: I bet they are. Tommy is going to turn to the
group and say, really quietly, “Okay everybody keep
quiet, our not-so-friendly-friends are up around that
corner. Maybe we can get the drop on them.” Steph,
does it sound like they’ve heard us?
Steph: Hard to tell but you don’t think so yet. That
said, it sounds like they’re getting closer and it
probably won’t be long before they see the light from
your lantern.
Nick (playing Arrigo): Okay, Contessa should drop
back a bit with the lantern just to keep the light
away from that corner. I’m going to have a quick
look at that grate in the ceiling. Does it look like it
leads anywhere or like I can get it open?
Steph checks her map and sees that the grate opens into a
corridor on the floor above this one. She decides to make
another wandering encounter check to see if it’s occupied,
rolling 1d6 and getting a result of 5 - no encounter.
Steph: You can see that it opens into another space
but the bars of the grate are too close together to
get your head through to make out any details. Now
you’re close you can see hinges - it looks like it could
be pushed up into whatever space is above you, but
it’s going to be heavy. Mikey, Tommy can hear those

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 boots getting closer. You think they’re going to be
around the corner pretty soon.
Steph isn’t tracking the movement of the goblins here, she’s
just going with her gut and trying to put pressure on the
group to make a decision quickly.
Mol: Okay, let’s get that grate open and climb up out
of this corridor. I’ve got my lantern. Maybe I could
drop it on them when they move beneath us. Would
a lantern explode?
Steph: I love that. There aren’t actually any rules for
using lanterns as weapons but how does this sound?
Since you’re just dropping it from above the group
as they move beneath you you probably don’t need
to roll an attack, you can just do it. All weapons in
the game do 1d6 damage, so we’ll deal that initially
and I’ll roll to see how many enemies it actually hits.
Then we’ll use the normal light rules to see how
long the oil continues to burn for, and anybody in
the space where the flames are takes damage every
Round they’re there. Sound good?
Mol: Amazing!
Steph: Brilliant. Okay, Arrigo, talk to me about this
grate. You can hear the boots now and it looks like
this thing is going to be heavy. What are you doing?
Nick: The ceiling is ten feet above me, right?
Steph: It is, yeah.
Nick: Okay. Mikey, get Tommy over here to boost me
up and then I’m going to try and get this grate open.
Mikey: Got it, let’s go.
Steph: Okay, I’m not going to ask for any checks
for Tommy to boost Arrigo up because that’s pretty
straightforward. Arrigo, we’ll make a Brawn check

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to get this thing open quickly. It’s heavy but it’s not
locked so you can definitely open it, it’s just a matter
of time here - will the goblins get around the corner
while you’re struggling with it, or do you open it
in time for everyone to climb up through the hole.
Sound good?
Nick: Sounds great. What am I doing, making a
Brawn check?
Steph: Exactly that.
Nick rolls 1d20, getting an 18. Arrigo’s Brawn is 15, so
this is a failure, but initially Nick doesn’t realise it.
Nick: Yes! 18. Smashed it.
Steph: Oh wow is your Brawn 18? That’s high, I never
realised!
Mol: You have to roll under, not over, remember?
Nick: Oh damn I always forget that!
Steph: Okay, so the goblins come round the corner
while you’re straining with the grate and they see
you. You hear the rattle of swords being drawn and
a snarl of many voices as they-
Nick: Wait, shit, sorry, sorry to interrupt. Can I exert
myself on this?
Steph: Oh yeah of course you can, sorry! You rolled
an 18, right?
Nick: Yeah it is, and my Brawn is 15 so that’s a
difference of 3. So I subtract 3 points from my
Brawn and then it’s a success?
Steph: Yep! So let’s roll it back a bit. The goblins
haven’t come round the corner yet. Arrigo pushes
and strains against the grate and it won’t move, but
they bear down and grind through it and manage

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 to lever it up enough to pull themselves up and
through the gap. Your Brawn is reduced to 12, and
if you want to recover it you’ll have to take a week of
bed rest once you’re back in town and roll to see how
much of your strength you get back.
Nick: Can I make sure that I lower it quietly once I’m
up there? I don’t want to give the game away.
Steph: Absolutely. And then I assume Arrigo reaches
down to help Tommy and Contessa up, right?
Nick: That’s the plan.
Steph: Fantastic. So you pull yourselves up,
Contessa’s boots just clearing the opening in the
ceiling as you hear the goblins round the corner
and start moving down the corridor towards you.
Contessa, you wanted to use your lantern to drop
down on them - that means you’re keeping it lit. Are
you doing anything to shield the light from spilling
through that hole you just climbed through or are
you happy for the goblins to see light up there?

From here play continues, with the group triggering

their ambush and play moving into a brief combat phase.
Because of their smart thinking and higher ground the
party overcomes the goblins, eliminating a persistent
threat that’s been plaguing them over several weeks of
play.

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 Advancement
Adventurer Recovery Melee
Level XP Health Die Die Damage
1 0 1d6 1d3 +0
2 2,500 1d6+1 1d3+1 +0
3 5,000 2d6 1d4 +0
4 10,000 2d6+1 1d4+1 +1
5 20,000 3d6 1d6 +1
6 35,000 4d6 1d6+1 +1
7 50,000 5d6 1d6+2 +2
8 75,000 6d6 2d6 +2
9 100,000 7d6 2d6+1 +3
10 200,000 8d6 2d6+2 +4

You gain Experience Points (XP) for overcoming

challenges and gathering wealth.
For each silver piece you extract from the wilds, you gain
1 XP. Monsters give 100 XP per hit die, whether defeated,
avoided, or captured. All XP earned is split evenly among
the party.
When you advance a level, roll your new Health Dice. If
the amount rolled is greater than your current maximum
health, increase it to the new total. Otherwise, increase it
by one. You do not add half your Brawn score to this new
roll; this bonus is only granted at the first level.

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 Doing Things
Attribute Checks
When you want to do something and failure would be
interesting or risky you roll dice. If failure wouldn’t be
interesting or risky, you just do it.
If you lack the skills or tools to do something, or if
success is otherwise impossible, you cannot succeed.
Find another plan.
To do things, decide which attribute you are using and
roll under it on a d20. If you roll your attribute exactly
you do it really well.
If you’re particularly well positioned to do the thing
well, roll with Advantage: roll two dice and take the best
result. If things are going poorly for you and it’s going to
be harder than normal, Disadvantage works the same
way but you take the worst result.

Saving Throws
Saving throws made against traps and natural hazards
use the same procedure as attribute checks, rolling
under the most appropriate attribute on 1d20.
To makes a saving throw against creature abilities or
spells and effects caused by enemies, roll under the
appropriate attribute but over the enemy’s HD.

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Exertion
After failing a roll you can choose to exert yourself in
order to succeed.
If you rolled over your attribute: Subtract your attribute
from the result of your roll. Reduce your attribute by this
number permanently and treat the roll as a success.
If you rolled under your enemy’s AC in combat: Subtract
your roll from the enemy AC. Reduce your attribute by
this number permanently and treat the roll as a success.
You can’t exert yourself on saving throws.

26
Violence
You’re made of meat and when people poke holes in you
you bleed and die. If you’re going to fight you have to be
prepared for it to be to the death, and you should be sure
you’re going to win before you draw your blade.
When you attack something, pick which attribute you’re
using. Unless you can come up with a good reason why
it should be different, use Agility for ranged attacks,
Brawn for melee attacks, and Cunning if there’s magic
or trickery involved.
Roll 1d20. If your result is less than or equal to your
attribute and above their Armour Class (AC), you hit
them. Roll your weapon’s damage.
If your result is either higher than your attribute or equal
to or lower than your enemy’s AC, you miss.
If you roll your attribute exactly your enemy is
temporarily stunned and you get to make another attack
immediately.
If you roll the enemy’s AC exactly you deal no damage
but reduce their AC by 1 for the rest of the encounter.
Armour breaks when the AC reaches 0.
Every roll you make in combat can be modified by +/- X,
where X is the number of Scars you possess.
Enemy attacks work in the same manner as adventurer
attacks, rolling between their Attack and the
adventurer’s AC.
Roll morale for enemies when they reach half health to
see if they stay and fight or try to flee.

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Dying
If you reach 0 health for any reason, roll 2d6 and
compare the result to the number of Scars you have
earned.
If your roll is equal to or lower than the number of Scars
you have earned, you succumb to your accumulated
injuries and die.
If your roll is higher than the number of Scars you have
earned, gain a new Scar.

28
Timekeeping
Time in the dungeon is measured in exploration turns
(Turns) and combat rounds (Rounds).
An exploration Turn is approximately ten minutes.
This is enough time to search a single room, traverse a
corridor, take a short rest, perform an attribute check,
or the like.
Check for random encounters after every Turn by rolling
1d6. On a 1, an encounter occurs. In less populated areas
of the dungeon you may wish to change this frequency,
lowering checks to every other Turn or even every third
Turn.
Combat is measured in Rounds. Each Round is
approximately one minute in game time. Characters
have enough time to traverse a normal-sized room and
take an action - ready a weapon, retrieve something from
a pack, make an attack, make an attribute check, etc.
Time outside the dungeon passes in 6 hour Watches.
This is enough time to cross or explore a single hex,
or make camp and sleep overnight. Roll for random
encounters once per Watch.

29
Combat Rounds
At the start of combat, each character involved makes
an initiative roll by rolling 1d20 versus their Agility.
Characters who roll under their Agility act before
enemies. Those who fail act after enemies.
Characters who roll their Agility exactly may make one
quick action before combat commences - readying a
weapon, quaffing a potion, etc.
On your initiative you have enough time to traverse a
normal-sized room and perform one action.
Accessing items in your pack during combat requires a
Cunning check to quickly lay hands on it. Passing the
check means that it takes your action on your initiative
to locate the item, which may be used the next Round.
Rolling your Cunning exactly means that you can use the
item on the same initiative Round that you retrieved it.
Characters failing this check can’t quickly locate the item
and must either forgo retrieving it or spend 1d3 Rounds
searching for it while unable to take other actions.

Rituals in Combat
Performing Rituals while fighting is difficult and
dangerous. You can’t cast a spell and move in the same
Round.
If you take damage before your go in a combat Round,
your Cunning check to perform the Ritual only succeeds
if it is equal to or below your Cunning but greater than
the amount of damage you took. If you fail, roll a Mishap
as normal.

30
Surprise
When enemies are encountered in the dungeon, the
fiction will tell you whether one side surprises the other.
If one side is surprised and combat begins, the surprised
party takes no actions in the first combat Round.
If not made obvious by the fiction, encounters in the
dungeon occur at 2d6 x 10 feet. Encounters outside
occur at 2d6 x 10 yards.

Reactions
Roll to determine the initial attitude of any enemy
whose reaction to the adventurers isn’t obvious from
the fiction.
2d6 Reaction
2-3 Friendly.
4-6 Helpful.
7 Uninterested.
8-10 Hostile.
11-12 Murderous.

31
Morale

Enemy Morale
Most enemies will not fight to the death, preferring to
flee and live to fight another day. If the enemy response
to violence isn’t clear from the fiction, make a Morale
check for them.
• When the adventurers face a lone enemy, roll
Morale at the end of the first Round in which the
enemy is reduced to half hit points and for every
subsequent Round in which they take damage.
• When facing a group of enemies, roll Morale at
the end of each Round in which one of them dies.
- If a group of enemies has a clear leader or is well
organised, you may decide to roll for the leader as
though they were a lone enemy rather than making
checks for the group. This check should also occur
at the end of the first Round in which half of the
group is slain, and for every subsequent Round in
which one of them dies.
To test Morale, roll 1d20 under 10 + the enemy’s HD. If
they are successful, they continue to fight. If they fail,
they flee or surrender at the first opportunity. Enemies
who flee may regroup and strike again, lay ambushes,
pursue the adventurers, or simply hold a grudge.
Enemies who roll exactly 10 + their HD on a Morale test
rally themselves. They gain an additional attack in the
next combat Round, and don’t test Morale again during
the encounter.

32
Hireling Morale
Hirelings who find themselves in combat are likely to
break and flee. At the end of the first Round in which
a hireling takes damage or witnesses a member of the
party die, the adventurer who hired them must test their
Morale.
To test Hireling Morale, roll under your Cunning but over
the Hireling’s HD on a d20.
• On a success, the hireling’s morale holds.
• On a failure, the hireling flees and cannot be hired
again.
• If you roll exactly the hireling’s HD, they waver.
They can be convinced to stand and fight if paid
an additional HD x 15sp.
• If you roll exactly your Cunning, you inspire the
hireling to heroics. They may make an additional
attack in the next combat Round, and their Morale
can’t be broken during this fight.

33
 Resting
Rest somewhere safe for the night to recover 1d6 health.
Attributes that have been reduced due to exertion can
only be recovered in civilisation. For each week of bed
rest, roll your recovery die and regain that many points
in your exerted attribute. If you have exerted more than
one attribute you may divide these points among them
as you see fit, but you only roll once per week of rest. If
the roll would increase an attribute beyond its previous
maximum, increase that attribute to the new total
permanently. Attributes can’t be increased above 18.

34
 Equipment
You have inventory slots equal to your Brawn minus your
AC. Items not worn or carried in the hands take up slots.
Each slot can hold up to 200 coins and gems.

Money
The standard unit of currency is the silver piece (sp),
which may be broken into 10 copper pennies (cp). Fifty
silver pieces are worth 1 gold pound (gp).

Melee Weapons
Small. 4sp. 1d6-1 damage. Ignores armour when enemies
are prone.
Medium. 8sp. 1d6 damage.
Large. 12sp. 1d6 damage with advantage. +2 to initiative.

Ranged Weapons
Small. 4sp. 1d6-1 damage. -2 to initiative.
Medium. 8sp. 1d6 damage.
Large. 12sp. 1d6 damage with advantage. Ignores
armour.
Reloading a small ranged weapon is a free action.
Reloading a medium ranged weapon takes a move
action.
Reloading a large ranged weapon takes an entire round.

35
Armour and Shields
Light. 30sp. AC 3.
Medium. 50sp. AC 5.
Heavy. 80sp. AC 7.
Shield. 15sp. +1 AC.
Helmet. 10sp. Can be sacrificed to negate a single
damage roll.
Unarmoured characters have AC 0.

Light
The dungeon lacks light. You must provide your own.
A candle, torch, or lantern sheds enough light to
illuminate a single room. Each Turn, a player with a light
makes a light check by rolling the source’s light dice. If
the result is greater than 4, increase the number of dice
for the next check. If any of your dice ever shows a 6 or
you fail on 3d6 the light goes out.
• Candle, 3d6. 1cp.
• Torch, 2d6. 1sp.
• Lantern, 1d6. 7sp.
When the light source is threatened by wind or moisture,
add an additional die to the roll. If you fail it goes out,
regardless of the number of dice being used.

36
Adventuring Gear
The following list includes the mundane equipment your
character may want or need for adventuring. Most items
are readily available and may be purchased when resting
outside the dungeon in between adventures.
Item Cost Item Cost
Backpack 2sp Bell 1sp
Belt pouch* 1sp Birdcage 5cp
Block and tackle 5sp Bucket 5cp
Chain (per ft.)** 3sp Canvas (per sq. yard) 1sp
Chalk 1cp Crampons 4sp
Crowbar 3sp Drill, iron 5sp
Dry rations (per week) 10sp Glass bottle 10sp
Grappling hook 75sp Holy water (flask) 25sp
Hourglass 25sp Kayak 5gp
Ladder, 10 ft. 5sp Lamp oil (flask) 6cp
Lard, pint 5cp Lockpicks
Magnifying glass 2gp Map or scroll case 1sp
Mirror, small metal 10sp Pickaxe
Piton 3cp Pole (10 ft.) 2sp
Pulley 25sp Reed, hollow 1cp
Rope (per 50ft.) 10sp Salt (per lb.) 1cp
Shovel 10sp Signal whistle 8cp
Soap (per lb.) 5cp Spyglass 20gp
Tent*** 5sp

* Can store one item, which can be accessed instantly in

combat as though you rolled exactly your Cunning.
** Every 5 feet of chain carried uses one inventory slot.
*** Sleeps two people.

37
Hirelings
Hirelings looking for work can be found in most
settlements.
When you hire a hireling, roll 1d3 to determine their HD.
• Guide. 2sp per day to show the way.
• Torchbearer. 2sp per day to carry things and light
a path. Has HD + 6 inventory slots.
• Tunnel Digger. 5sp per day to dig tunnels.
• Sellsword. 10sp per day to fight (light armour,
medium melee weapon, small ranged weapon
or medium armour, small melee weapon, heavy
ranged weapon).

38
 Enemies
Enemies have HDd6 health. When their health reaches
0 they are dead.
Enemy attacks do 1d6 damage unless noted otherwise.
When they roll exactly their Attack, their damage is
doubled.
Enemy Attack is equal to 11+HD (maximum 19).
Enemies make saving throws by rolling under 10 + HD
on 1d20. Rolling exactly their number means they are
immune to that effect for the rest of the encounter.
Enemies of HD 1-3 have one attack per Round, HD 4-7
have two attacks, HD 8-11 have three, and HD 12+ have
four.
# Appearing indicates an average group size for a given
encounter. The GM should adjust this to taste when
creating wandering monster tables and encounters for
their own adventures.

39
Bear
HD 6
AC 6
# Appearing 1d6
May forego moving to hug for 2d6 damage.
Bears will continue to fight beyond the point of mortal
damage. At the end of a Round in which the bear took
damage and has 0 health, roll equal to or under HD on
1d20. On a success, the bear continues fighting.

Black Pudding
HD 10
AC 6
# Appearing 1d3
When the black pudding attacks and misses, reduce
the AC of the enemy’s armour by 1. If the enemy is
unarmoured deal 1d3 damage even on failed attacks.
When struck with slashing or lightning attacks the black
pudding divides instead of taking damage. Split its HD
among the new puddings.

Carrion Crawler
HD 3
AC 3
# Appearing 1d6
Enemies struck by the carrion crawler must make a
Brawn saving throw or be paraylsed for 1d6 Rounds.

40
Crawling Hand
HD 2
AC 3
# Appearing 1d20
Crushing grip deals 2d6 damage to enemies wearing
light or no armour.

Doppleganger
HD as enemy
AC as enemy
# Appearing 2d6+1
Know thyself.

Dragon
HD 10 or more
AC equivalent to HD
# Appearing 1
Every third Round the dragon exhales. 3d6+HD damage.
Vain and greedy, a dragon is always open to offers of
great wealth in exchange for mercy.

Gelatinous Cube
HD 4
AC 3
# Appearing 1
Invisible until it moves.
Those consumed are paralysed.

41
Ghost
HD 10
AC 10/0
# Appearing 1
Can only be harmed by magic weapons or silver. When
invisible, AC is 10. Becomes semi-visible to attack (AC 0)
for one Round.
When struck by a ghost, age 1d3x10 years instantly.
While invisible the ghost can attempt to possess
creatures it can see. Cunning save to resist.

Giant Spider
HD 3
AC 5
# Appearing 1d6+2
Never surprised on their webs.
Attacks twice per Round.

Goblin
HD 1
AC as Armour
# Appearing 4d6
Damage as Weapon.
They don’t test Morale, they simply flee. Some call it
cowardice. They call it survival.

42
Hill Giant
HD 12
AC as Armour
# Appearing 2d6
Damage as Weapon+1d6.
2-in-6 chance they catch missiles, returning them to
their point of origin.

Kakodemon
HD 8-12
AC 16 minus HD
# Appearing 1
Never surprised. Rituals it witnesses being cast fizzle
out with no effect. On its go in combat it only moves,
but it shoots each enemy with its eye beams at the end
of their go.

Purple Worm
HD 15
AC 7
# Appearing 1
Damage 2d6.
When it deals 8 or more damage it swallows its foe. A
swallowed creature dies in 1d6 Rounds and digested in
1d6 hours. Death in this manner prevents being raised
from the dead.

43
Rust Monster
HD 5
AC 9
# Appearing 1d3
Metal weapons deal no damage, turning instantly to
rust.
When the rust monster attacks, reduce the AC of the
enemy’s armour by 1 unless the rust monster rolled over
its Attack. If it rolls exactly the enemy’s AC, reduce that
AC by 2.

Shadow
HD 3
AC 7
# Appearing 1d20+1
Can only be harmed by silver or magic. When struck,
Brawn save of lose 1 point of Brawn permanently in
addition to normal damage.

Troll
HD 6
AC 5
Heals 1d6 health each Round it wasn’t struck by fire
or acid. Each time they reach 0 health and are left to
recover, gain 1 HD.
Roll Morale immediately if it sees fire.

44
Wight
HD 4
AC 5
# Appearing 3d6
Deals damage directly to Cunning, bypassing health.
This damage doesn’t recover through rest. Characters
reduced to 0 Cunning die, rising again as wights under
the control of the one who killed them in 1d6 days.

45
a dungeon
game dungeon.loottheroom.uk

NAME
OCCUPATION
SCARS modify any combat roll by +/-
the number of scars you bear.

1
2
3
4
5 Recovery D
NOTES XP
RITUA
 WEAPON
WEAPON
ARMOUR HELMET
(sacrifice to negate
AC a single damage roll)
max current
INVENTORY
you have slots equal to your BRAWN minus your AC

COIN
max current

max current

max current

Die
Level
ALS
ceremony
word
sigil
 Want More?
A Dungeon Game is still early in its life. I’m continuously
expanding it with new monsters, and over the next year
will be writing treasure tables, magic items, and new
character abilities for the game. The best place to find
the most up-to-date version of the game will always be
at dungeon.loottheroom.uk.
If you would like a PDF or epub version of this book, you
can pick that up for free along with the character sheets
at loottheroom.itch.io/a-dungeon-game.
This game is and will continue to be free. If you’d like
to support it financially it’s Pay What You Want on
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48
 Coming Soon!
DRAGON
An introductory adventure for A Dungeon Game,
designed for players brand new to tabletop adventure
games. Sign up at chrisbissette.substack.com and make
sure you don’t miss out!
 Coming Soon!
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A competition adventure module for A Dungeon Game.
Get as deep into the dungeon as you can, grab the loot,
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50
51
“My new favourite fantasy RPG”
- Spencer Campbell
(RUNE, Slayers, Lumen)

Reviews of the first edition.

“A Dragon Game is a brutally
simple take on OSR roleplaying
games.”
- Dicebreaker
“Seriously it’s not a real game.”
- A Satisfied Customer