A few days ago I wrote about the 200 Word RPG contest, and that reminded me that the One Page Dungeon contest exists, so I went looking to see when it was for this year. Lo and behold, it’s right now!
A One Page Dungeon is a complete dungeon, including maps, descriptions, and room contents all on a single page of paper. Just like the 200 Word RPG contest, it takes great skill to communicate a complete dungeon in so little space. Winning entries do this all while making it interesting, and with some sort of theme or cohesive story. The submissions, due by May 1st, 2017, must fit on one side of one sheet of paper (A4 or US Letter) and submitted as a PDF. They must be completely original, and not violate any copyright, including legal use of included fonts. The One Page Dungeon should be system neutral and released under a Creative Commons license. More details can be found in the One Page Dungeon Submission Guide.
There are also many great sources with recommendations for the content of the of your dungeon. First, you should be sure to make it playable.
“Style does not win out over substance. One of the things people love about One Page Dungeons is that they are easy to pick up and run.” (OPDC Submission Guide, Pg. 8)
The One Page Dungeon should also be interesting.
“Your dungeon must be compelling enough to make people want to play it. Flash is no substitute for a compelling story and interesting characters to interact with.” (OPDC Submission Guide, Pg. 8)
More recommendations can be found with a little searching, such as in this blog post with questions and answers with One Page Dungeon judges.
Even if you’re not interested in entering a submission, the contest is a great source for content for your own RPG campaigns, regardless of your system, be it any version of D&D, Pathfinder, or countless others. Each year contest entries are compiled into compendiums and available for sale. The 2016 compendium includes over 60 One Page Dungeons and is just $3 for the PDF and $11 for the print version. The 2015 version has over 90 One Page Dungeons.
If you want the 2017 compendium for free, just submit an entry! If you plan on entering though, you better get your dungeon-building minions to work because the deadline is May 1st! Jump on over to DungeonContest.com and get going.
For some inspiration, check out all the winners from 2016.
