The Dungeon Cards standard deck is designed to help you generate a playable dungeon layout

quickly (even while playing). The deck contains different areas that you can layout for the players
to explore. These are things like stairways, passages and rooms. You will also find 3 “objective”
cards as well. A total of 52 cards.

Setup
Have a sheet of paper and pencil available.
1. Take the 3 objective cards and the 4 stairway cards out of the deck.
2. Shuffle the deck thoroughly and draw 15 or more cards face
down. The more you draw the larger the dungeon.
3. Discard the rest of the deck you did not draw.
4. From the drawn cards, take the first 5 cards and choose, or randomly
select, 1 card and replace that with the “Primary Objective” card.
5. [Optional] Draw the next 5 cards from the remaining cards choose, or randomly select,
1 card and replace them with the “Secondary Objective”. Repeat this again with the next
5 cards and replace with the “Tertiary Objective” card. Keep the draw cards to the side
for later use. You do not have to use the “Secondary” and/or “Tertiary Object” cards if you don’t want to use them. Then
shuffle the 5 cards with the “Tertiary Objective” and place them at the bottom of the remaining deck face down (or it
becomes the bottom of the deck if no cards remain). Then repeat with the 5 cards with the “Secondary Objective”.
6. Then shuffle the 5 cards with the “Primary Objective” and place them at the bottom of the deck faced own.
7. Randomly add from 1 to 3 staircases into the deck if you wish to have additional levels. Then place
one staircase on top of the deck facedown. Any unused stairways must be discarded.

Card Types
1. Path cards represent areas that have one entrance (from the area before) and one normal
exit (to the next area). These are cards like “passage” and “corner”.
2. Termination cards are areas that only have an entrance and no normal exit. These are “dead end” and “room” cards.
3. Branching cards allow the dungeon to split into different directions. They will typically have
one entrance and two or three normal exits. These are “T-junction” (2 exits) and “4-way
intersection” (3 exits) cards. Doorways also create a branch (see “doorways” below)
4. Stairway cards lead to other levels either up or down. They can also be considered a
path or a termination card. Travelling a stairway starts a new dungeon.

Doorways
Every card has a doorway icon which indicates how many doors can lead off from that area. Doorways can create
branches only when no other branches exist (see branching). There is a door to this branch for which you can use
“Dungeon Door” cards to be sold separately, or make up your own door types for your game.
Doorways on path cards can create a branch - an additional exit to the normal one.
Doorways on termination cards are a bit different. If the termination card has a +1 doorway, then they become a
path card if no other branches exist elsewhere at that time. If the termination card has +2 doorways or more, then it becomes a
branching card if no other branches exist at that time.
Doorways on branching cards add addtional branches at your discretion.
If there are no other branches and the area has 0 doorways, then you can use a secret door where the card shows +1 (see secret
doors).
If there are no other branches and the area has both 0 doorways and 0 secret doors, then put the card at the bottom of the deck
and draw the next one.
When using a door, you may wish to place a marker to remind you.

Secret Doors
Every card has a secret door icon which indicates how many secret exits can lead off from that area. Secret doors are
only used in one of two ways.
Firstly when the card neighbours another previously placed card which also shows +1 secret door, then the card
creates a new exit which enters the previously placed card (creating a shortcut). The tunnel into the previous card is
considered to be undetectable, only the secret door on the most recently placed card is detectable.
Secondly if there are no other branches and the current area has 0 doorways, but has at least +1 secret door then you can create
a secret door to the next card to be drawn.
When using a secret door, you may wish to place a marker to remind you.

Building the Dungeon

1. Firstly determine the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary objectives (if any) for the characters to resolve and write
them down. Write down the card number of the cards drawn for the objectives with these for reference.
2. Draw and reveal the first card - this will be a staircase obviously. Place the card on the table.
 Now determine which direction you wish to continue and draw the next card. If this card allows
for branching in any way you must do that at the first opportunity (see branching).
3. Each card revealed will have an entrance from the card before. Not all cards will have a standard exit, as with
termination cards (dead ends or rooms). Some cards will have multiple exits, like a T-junction (2 exits) or 4-Way
Intersection (3 exits) these are branching cards (see branching). All other cards are assumed to have 1 exit.
4. Lay the cards out in a grid formation in front of you when you place them.
5. When you draw and reveal the next card place it in the direction you wish the dungeon to progress.
You can resort to the rules for additional exits provided by the doorway and secret door symbols.
6. You MUST create a branch at the first opportunity to do so when no other branches
exist. Do not create additional branches unless this is necessary to facilitate the normal
exits of an area (T-junction or 4-way intersection). See the rules for branching.

If a situation arises where there are no available exists to place new cards anywhere in the exposed dungeon layout you can
place a dungeon door or secret door in the most recent area placed, regardless of the type of area it is.

If there are no other branches, but there are cards left in the deck and the area has both 0 doorways and 0 secret doors,
then put the card at the bottom of the deck and draw the next one.
7. “Corner” cards, doorways, secret entrances and intersections allow you to
change direction in any direction you like, even diagonally.
8. “Staircase” cards lead to the next level or layout, or back to the previous level in the case of the initial staircase.
9. When you reveal an “Objective” card replace it with the card assigned to it that you put aside earlier.
10. Continue to place cards until the deck runs out, completing the dungeon level.

Branching
When the direction splits through rules for additional doors, t-junctions, 4-way intersection, etc, split the deck into two or more
branching decks by dealing from the bottom of the deck 1 card for each direction into seperate piles, one for each direction
split, and repeat until no more cards are left to deal. Then reveal cards from the branching deck when you continue on in that
direction. You may find that you end up with a large number of seperate decks if you are playing a large dungeon. It is important
that you deal from the bottom of the deck in order to keep the primary objective card later in the dungeon layout.
When you reach a termination card (room or dead end) and another branch deck exists, take the remaining cards from this
branching deck and place them at the bottom of the other branching deck. If multiple branching decks exist, deal each deck one
card at a time cycling through the decks until no more cards remain, place these at the bottom of the appropriate decks.
If the last card to be placed is a path card it immediately becomes a dead end termination card.

Make a map
Keep a map of your dungeon to record the locations of doors, secret doors, features, flora and objectives. If your game runs into
additional sessions you can also record card numbers to layout the same areas again next session.

Assembling the cards

Each of the attached pages has 4 cards (front and back) on them. Print out these 13 pages. To preserve any colour cartridge you
may wish to print “grey scale” or “black only”. Cut out the cards (the back of each card will always be on its left), keep the back
and front together - do not separate them with a cut. Then fold them down the center. You can use a gluestick to adhere the two
sides together, or use “card protector sleeves” used in collectable card games - just insert the folded card into them. These make
the deck much easier to handle and shuffle.

This barrel icon indicates the number of mundane “dungeon features”

you could add to this area. These include things like a barrel, table,
cupboard, tapestry or even a fountain. This will add additional flavor to
4 -Way Intersection your game. A deck of dungeon features will be available separately.

This leaf icon indicates the number of “dungeon flora” you could add to
this area to serve a variety of purposes, including obscuring “secret doors”
or providing sustainance, healing or even danger in the form of poisons
and irritants. A deck of dungeon flora will be available separately.

0 0 +1 +1 In the bottom right corner of every card is the card number to uniquely
001 identify the card. The one to the left is card “001”. This will assist with
keeping track of cards in between sessions. It also helps to look up rules
changes or make notes about certain cards.
4 -Way Intersection Corner

0 0 +1 +1 0 0 0 +1
001 002

Corner Corner

0 0 +1 0 0 +1 +1 0
003 004
 Corner Corner

+1 0 0 +1 +1 +1 0 +1
005 006

Curved Passage Curved Passage

0 0 0 +1 +1 0 +1 0
007 008
Dead End Dead End

0 +1 +1 0 0 0 0 +1
009 010

Dead End Huge Room

0 0 0 0 +3 +1 +2 +2
011 012
Large Room Large Room

+2 0 +1 +1 +1 0 0 +1
013 014

Large Room Medium Room

0 +1 +1 0 +2 0 +1 +1
015 016
Medium Room Medium Room

+1 0 +2 0 0 0 0 +2
017 018

Medium Room Medium Room

+1 0 +1 0 0 +1 0 +1
019 020
 Narrow Corner Narrow Corner

0 0 0 +1 0 +1 0 0
021 022

Narrow Dead End Narrow Passage

0 +1 0 +1 0 0 0 +1
023 024
 Narrow Passage Primary Objective
Replace this card with the card
you have selected as your
Primary Objective

+1 0 0 0
025 026

Secondary Objective Small Room

Replace this card with the room
you have selected as your
Secondary Objective

0 0 0 +1
027 028
Small Room Small Room

0 0 +1 0 0 0 0 0
029 030

Small Room Small Room

0 +1 +1 0 +1 0 +1 0
031 032
Small Room Small Room

+1 0 0 +1 +1 0 +1 +1
033 034

Small Room Spiral Stairway

+1 +1 0 0 0 0 0 +1
035 036
Spiral Stairway Straight Passage

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
037 038

Straight Passage Straight Passage

0 0 0 +1 0 0 +1 +1
039 040
Straight Passage Straight Passage

0 +1 +1 0 0 +1 0 +1
041 042

Straight Passage Straight Passage

+1 0 +1 0 +1 0 0 +1
043 044
 Straight Passage Straight Passage

+1 +1 0 0 +2 0 0 0
045 046

Straight Stairway Straight Stairway

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 +1
047 048
 Tertiary Objective T - Junction
Replace this card with the room
you have selected as your
Tertiary Objective

0 0 0 +1
049 050

T - Junction T - Junction

0 0 +1 0 +1 0 0 0
051 052