I wrote about depthcrawls before as part of my dive into four main types of dungeons, and how to combine them. Heck, I made my own depthcrawl this year! I came across a cool blog series by giant robot tackler on depthcrawls (who also referenced my blog, so we’re doing a ouroboros-type deal here), which in turn gave me some new ideas!
In Studying The Ancient Texts, giant robot tackler explores, partially based on my post, whether depthcrawls must always be infinite and unknowable.
if your space is infinite and unknowable, you’ve got a depthcrawl!
if your space is infinite and knowable, you’ve got something like a procedural dungeon that is generated such that anyone who runs it produces the same results. Think: Minecraft seeds.
if your space is finite and knowable, you’ve got a dungeon, pointcrawl, or maze / flux space.
if your space is finite and unknowable… you… still have a depthcrawl!
I think the conclusion that a finite and unknowable space can still be a depthcrawl is a valid one (thus making unknowability the only requirement to a depthcrawl), though I do feel like unknowability tends to go hand-in-hand with infinity – and that infinite things are inherently unknowable (but that’s mostly semantics).
The next bit that really resonates with me is the “statistical analysis” of Gardens of Ynn/the Stygian Library, which is very much how I start with ideas, as well.
Locations and Details are rolled for with a Depth+1dX type formula, so by mixing up the locations but stacking the more dangerous ones towards the end of the lists, we get an increasing sense of danger.
For Locations, giant robot tackler creates 3 categories: Safe, Odd and Harmful (which also mixes nicely with classic dungeon stocking methods focusing on Empty, Special and Trap/Monster rooms). By tweaking the ratio between these rooms, you’re already deciding something about the nature of a depthcrawl, and creating a guideline for creation at the same time.
For Details 3 similar categories: Flavor, Beneficial and Harmful, which speak for themselves. If we combine these two axis, we get a matrix:
| Details ↓ / Locations → | Safe | Odd | Harmful |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flavor | Tranquil Zone: A space with peaceful, immersive flavor, but no direct benefits. | Curiosity Chamber: A strange, harmless place with peculiar or experimental elements. | Foreboding Area: An unsettling space hinting at danger, but not actively harmful yet. |
| Beneficial | Safe Haven: A space that’s secure and directly rewarding. | Alien Boon: A place with odd, experimental features that offer benefits. | Perilous Opportunity: A harmful area with clear benefits to be gained at a cost. |
| Harmful | Subtle Threat: A seemingly safe space where harmful details lurk beneath the surface. | Twisted Hazard: A bizarre, disorienting area with dynamics that actively cause harm. | High Danger: An overtly hostile environment with harmful dynamics and elements. |
These intersections are not directly useful when writing the depthcrawl; they are more like emergent properties through play, a way of classifying combinations.
In both Garden and Library, there is a separate Event roll which can trigger Encounters, with 2 separate encounter tables for the current ‘state’ of the location; alert for Library, day/night for Garden.
A possible application of the above table is to link separate encounter tables to specific combinations, or assign particular modifiers or dice sizes to rolls on the encounter table based on combinations. For instance:
- Red cells could have a separate encounter table, or require rolling 1d20 on the encounter table.
- Orange cells could have their own table, or require rolling 1d12 on the encounter table.
- Green cells could have (you get the idea), and involve rolling 1d8 on the encounter table.
I’m not saying these additions are groundbreaking – but sometimes I like planting seeds like this on here, to see if they grow. Posting it in blog shape forces me to at least think about it somewhat, and it’s a nice archive to also browse through later myself. As I heard someone say:
First, make it exist. You can make it look good later.
In New Blood, giant robot tackler’s next post in the series, they dive into Downrooted, which adds a few new fun ideas and concepts to the depthcrawl structure, such as fast travel and distinct layers.
I used layers myself for Deep Delve, but only as a guideline while I was writing (and to make writing 34 locations/details more palpable, by splitting them up). I didn’t mention the distinct layering in the final text, as the random rolls could create combinations that wouldn’t make sense, and the large die size (1d20) made it possible for ‘early’ layer locations to show up quite deep. That brings me to posit that distinct layers can create a stronger sense of progression, but also require smaller ‘ranges’ when making random rolls (such as the 1d6 used in Downrooted), which does limit the chance of ‘interesting combinations that the writer didn’t even think of’.
In that sense, the die used is a very important deciding factor – a dial to finetune – when making a hexcrawl, as it determines the range of random combinations, and in an abstract way, the ‘unknowability’ of a space.
Sidenote: giant robot tackler is really 'showing their work' with this series of posts, which is a style I really appreciate (and also often strive for in my own writing). I wouldn't dare to assume that the way I 'finalize' my initial ideas is the best way, so I tend to try and show how I went from 'idea' to 'final thing', so a reader might understand why certain choices were made, and where they can make other ones.
In Death and the Comet, giant robot tackler lays out the framework for their own depthcrawl. They have an evocative style of writing/painting scenes that I envy – it’s the type of writing that goes really well with settings/systems such as Electric Bastionland, and is visible as well in giant robot tackler’s body of work. It is, incidentally, a style of writing I find very difficult – and is one of the reasons I drifted to Cairn as the implied setting and tone of Into The Odd and Electric Bastionland is something I love, but isn’t my own.
I especially love how the above diagram integrates the concept of two infinite outer layers and a finite innermost core, and how this concept is literally included in the worldbuilding. One can go inwards, which is a randomly generated-but-finite delve, or sideways, which is a process that can be repeated indefinitely.
This is also the part where I have less to say/add to giant robot tackler’s writing, because I feel that all I can do is “read and appreciate”. The way the setting is built and says something about how something such as a sprawling city is experienced on the miniscule scale of one’s own perception – how the feeling I had visiting a city like Tokyo, which, from my perspective, might as well be infinite, with every building having countless windows and every window having so many people behind it with so many experiences…
Yeah, me and my urge to “ground” things could never write something like this, which makes me appreciate it all the more.
I highly recommend reading giant robot tackler’s blog for yourself. This post isn’t meant as a critique or review, or even to add anything especially meaningful; if anything, I hope it can act as a “Hey, check out how cool this is!”.
Happy holidays!
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