Dungeon A Day.com
Hyperlinks, fresh content, and the ability to talk back with the author make blogs and community sites popular, but few such gaming sites can match the buzz generated by DungeonADay.com. DungeonADay.com, the brainchild of game designer Monte Cook, is a new website devoted to giving subscribers fresh content every weekday in the form of new blog posts, encounters, and a few new magic items, feats, artwork, etc. The site also presents an ever-growing dungeon which becomes more difficult the lower it goes.
All in all, DungeonADay.com is a concept whose time has come. Right now, the site is still in its infancy, but it is easy to see its potential. Already, the site hosts two huge dungeon levels complete with maps, hand outs, suggested miniatures, creature stats and suggestions for how to layout 3D terrain. There’s also a glossary so that those new to the site can have quick access to a list of concepts found in the dungeon. Even the blog, though updated infrequently, contains great information, like strategic use of a new type of door (explained in the glossary), and tips on being a DM. For certain DMs and player groups, the price of DungeonADay.com will be worth every penny.
Of course, the question will always be asked “Is it worth paying for DungeonADay.com?” There are millions of freely available feats, classes, story hooks, magical items, spells, pregens, etc. on the web. It cannot be denied that some of them are well written, have been playtested, and would make welcome additions to any D&D table.
However, many of those sites lack the professional touch of a veteran game designer. In addition to writing core portions of Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition and Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, Monte Cook has contributed a huge amount of work to Dungeons & Dragons canon. Few people, if any, better understand how to create monsters, artifacts, spells, etc. that work well and fairly in Dungeons & Dragons. While it is safe to say that many of the ideas floating around on the Internet are equally as good, with DungeonADay.com, there’s no guesswork as to whether or not a particular idea and mechanic is high quality.
If you’re not a fan of Cook’s work, the website may still be of interest to you because of its consistency of theme and location. So far, most of the site’s content describes the same dungeon with the same author writing the encounters. As time progresses, the sheer amount of information about this one area should rival other great D&D destinations like Ptlous, Freeport or Zobeck.
However, this strength could also be DungeonADay.com’s downfall. As it stands now, the website does not have much content apart from the dungeon Cook is continually building. While you can always lift whole rooms out of the dungeon for your use, there’s just not a lot of other standalone content. Some of the Bonus Encounters are suitable for standalone usage as is some of his advice, but this site is not like The Book of Eldritch Might which allowed you to add new magic types and classes to any campaign. With DungeonADay.com you are primarily getting a dungeon, the bad guys who inhabit it, and the goodies you can take from it.
Ultimately, whether it’s a good buy or not depends on your needs as a DM and as a gaming group. There is no denying the quality of the information in DungeonADay.com. Still, if all you want is a few artifacts, encounters, or nasty creatures to throw into your game, it may not be the best investment. On the other hand, DMs who want a new dungeon to throw at their players or groups who want a new challenge should find that DungeonADay.com is a great resource that will only get better.
In either case, a subscription to DungeonADay.com is also a great way to get in contact with Cook and other D&D fans on the forums. Whether you want new content or not, having this opportunity may well make the monthly subscription fee worth it on its own.
Want to learn more about Dungeon A Day? Read on…
- Atomic Array: Episode 020: Dungeon A Day
- Game Cryer: Dungeon A Day Review
- Musing of the Chatty DM: Chatty’s Review
- Emerson’s Bookshelf: Monte Cook Groks Right
- RPG Bomb: IRC Chat on April 14th
Drop by Dungeon A Day today!
June 10th, 2009 at 21:19
Hi, I can’t understand how to add your site in my rss reader. Can you help me, please
June 10th, 2009 at 21:32
Sure. Do you see the RSS icon on the left, next to the kid w/ the laptop? Click that.