From the Rabbit Hole

As part of the tabletop campaign I run, I’ve gotten to do something I’ve been hoping to for a while: show my players the dwarven civilisation that’s been living next door to them. My notes go back years, mostly for my own entertainment. However, the heroes won’t be staying long. They’re here to get in, slay a monster of flame and malice that crawled up from the deep, take its heart, and leave for the overworld again.

Challenge mine: let them experience the magic of this place without getting in the way of the adventure.

The big thing I wanted them to experience in Deepridge, dwarven capital of Dokh Kolur, was the 3rd dimension. The city grows up and down as much as it grows sideways. I sprinkled a hint of this in right at the gate, where the heroes encountered the Lateral Periphery, essentially the dwarf version of Border Force. Whether the players wondered if there was also a Ventral and Dorsal Periphery, or if they were preoccupied preparing for the fiery beast ahead, I felt clever for that bit.

The part I’m really proud of, however, is the Map. Not an actual map I drew. Goodness no. How would one even draw a map of a 3-dimensional city?

How indeed?

Emerging from being questioned by a bored clerk, having their magic items tagged, and their names registered, a helpful employee of the Periphery handed them a contraption of vellum sheets and bolts that could move over each other. After some study, they realised they’d been given all they needed to navigate, but no instruction on how to use it.

Skill rolls took care of the rest (I think we settled on Notice if they navigated by landmarks, Lore if they navigated by the street map). Every time the heroes went somewhere – an inn to sleep, the Council Office to claim their monster-hunting contract, finally the mines where the monster resided – they rolled. With each journey, I got to describe based on their result the near misses of exits into spiraling ramps, the backtracking once they found a landmark that oriented them, and the eventual arrival. Just a quick montage and no wasting of real time. All in all, they rolled well and found their way, but I got the sense that the dread of getting hopelessly lost in the hive was real.

What I think worked very well about this map was that it managed to simultaneously play into three key aspects of Deepridge at once:

1. Navigating the third dimension is tricky for overworlders used to two
2. The city is used to foreigners who need maps
3. The dwarves are bureaucratic and organised. They designed a reliable (if confusing) map of their city and make sure you get one

If your players are in a hurry, hand them a map, but make it a fun one.