Random Selectors
random dungeon chamber generator
To select a random room from the Dungeon Chambers section, start by rolling 1d6.
Choose the appropriate table as outlined on the first table, then roll 1d10 to select a chamber.
1d6 Roll On... Table 3
1 Table 1
2 Table 2 1d10 The party encounters... pg. 186
3 Table 3 pg. 188
4 Table 4 1 ...The Sand Pit pg. 190
5 Table 5 2 ...The Oozing Throne pg. 192
6 Roll Again 3 ...Shadow’s End pg. 194
4 ...The Cursed Treasury pg. 196
1d10 Table 1 pg. 146 5 ...The Garden of Reflection pg. 198
pg. 148 6 ...The Cavern of Cages pg. 200
1 The party encounters... pg. 150 7 ...The Wall of Despair pg. 202
2 pg. 152 8 ...Tomb of the Forgotten pg. 204
3 ...The Tower of Hope pg. 154 9 ...The Tumbler
4 ...The Holding Cells pg. 156 10 ...The Rotten Temple pg. 206
5 ...The Pit of Pendulums pg. 158 pg. 208
6 ...The Open Chasm pg. 160 Table 4 pg. 210
7 ...The Wave Pool pg. 162 pg. 212
8 ...The Firevault pg. 164 1d10 The party encounters... pg. 214
9 ...The Switchback 1 ...Construct Loop pg. 216
10 ...The Titan’s Trap pg. 166 2 ...The Monstrous Closet pg. 218
...The Mossy Hill pg. 168 3 ...The Final Ballroom pg. 220
...The Lava Floor pg. 170 4 ...Goblin Gully pg. 222
pg. 172 5 ...The Doors to Elsewhere pg. 224
Table 2 pg. 174 6 ...The Elemental Laboratory
pg. 176 7 ...The Hanging Pool pg. 226
1d10 The party encounters... pg. 178 8 ...The Chained Champion pg. 228
pg. 180 9 ...The Pixies’ Palace pg. 230
1 ...The Turntable pg. 182 10 ...The Hive pg. 232
2 ...The Perilous Crossing pg. 184 pg. 234
3 ...The Swimming Statues Table 5 pg. 236
4 ...The Octogenarium pg. 238
5 ...The Piston Palace 1d10 The party encounters... pg. 240
6 ...A Miniature Fortress pg. 242
7 ...The Gear Box 1 ...The Armory pg. 244
8 ...The Dungeoneer 2 ...The Bramble
9 ...The Underport 3 ...Those Four Pools
10 ...The Ball Pit 4 ...The Fungal Sanctuary
5 ...The Narrows
6 ...The Horrible Maw
7 ...The Bogmuck
8 ...The Chow Line
9 ...The Ascent
10 ...The Herbalist’s Greenhouse
Connecting the Chambers Halls and Walls Table
While these individual spaces are meant to serve 1d6 Halls and Walls Table
as supplements to other established spaces in your
own adventures, you can also present them as part 1 A curved corridor with two doors on the left and
of a continuous dungeon crawl you create on the fly one at the end.
(assuming your players enjoy chaos and the significant A narrow, 5-ft. corridor that stretches longer than
possibility of a TPK). If you want to create a connecting 2 is comfortable, with a door at the end.
series of chambers, start by using the entrance table
below, then roll on the Random Dungeon Chamber 3 A crossroads-like hallway that features a door at
Generator to select the first room in the dungeon. Once the end of three other halls.
your party leaves this room, roll on the Halls and Walls A hall that seems to dead-end, but features an
table to describe the path to the next chamber—at the 4 illusory wall.
end of this path, roll again on the Random Dungeon
Chamber Generator. Repeat as necessary until you’re 5 A hallway that features a random trap and leads
ready for the party to reach a finale, at which point sub to two doors.
out a roll on the Random Dungeon Chamber Generator A corridor that circles back on itself with three
for one on the Big Finish table. 6 doors along the right and one on the left, barred
with a random gateway puzzle.
Big Finish Table
Entrance Table
1d6 The party arrives at... 1d12 The party encounters...
1 ...an adult green dragon’s lair.
...a massive stone door blocked by one of this 2 ...a grotto where a clever aboleth lies
1 book’s gateway puzzles (roll on the table on pg. 3 in wait.
248). 4 ...a mummy lord’s resting chamber.
...a gateway shaped like the face of a long dead 5 ...a hag coven’s cavernous hut.
king. The gateway can be unlocked if the party 6 ...a death knight guarding a secret.
pull his rotten tooth (the backmost bottom 7 ...a portal to elsewhere haunted by a
2 left molar). The tooth smells of decay even 8 cursed archdruid.
though it is made of marble, and its rot could 9 ...a behir couple’s nest.
be discovered with a successful DC 15 Wisdom 10 ...a gathering of 8d10 zombies.
(Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) check. 11 ...a young black dragon’s swampy
...a large iron door surrounded by three dead 12 lair.
highwaymen. The door is trapped with one of the ...the roost of 2d4 + 1 wyverns.
3 painful traps in this book (determined by rolling ...a marilith ready for battle.
...a powerful purple worm.
on the table on pg. 246).
...a door shaped like an ancient dragon’s egg. A
DC 15 Wisdom (Nature) or Intelligence (History)
check would reveal that most eggs hatch after
4 experiencing a bit of heat. At GM discretion, if the
door is heated (through the use of flame, spells
or other means), it would open.
...a portal that swirls and crackles with arcane
power. When a creature enters this portal, roll
twice on the tables on pg. 250 to select two
5 random chambers. Number these chambers 1
and 2. Any creature that enters this portal must
roll 1d10, arriving in chamber 1 on an odd roll
and chamber 2 on an even roll.
...the entry to an abandoned crypt, its doorway
6 sealed with a random puzzle (pg. 248) and a
random disruptive trap (pg. 247).
The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons 251
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The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and
Dungeons, Copyright 2022, Topix Media Lab. Authors:
Jeff Ashworth with Jasmine Kalle, Tim Baker, Jasmine
Bhullar, Jeremy Brown, Jasper William Cartwright,
Jeremy Cobb, Trevor Courneen, Ben Egloff, Alexander
LeFort, Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo, Phil Sexton,
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The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and Dungeons 253
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ISBN-13: 978-1-948174-98-5
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CEO Tony Romando
Vice President & Publisher Phil Sexton Chief Content Officer Jeff Ashworth
Senior Vice President of Sales & New Markets Tom Mifsud Director of Editorial Operations Courtney Kerrigan
Vice President of Retail Sales & Logistics Linda Greenblatt
Creative Director Susan Dazzo
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Cover: Shutterstock
Photos: Shutterstock
Maps by Jasmine Kalle
Illustrations by Kyle Hilton
Editorial contributions by Jasmine Bhullar, Jeremy Brown,
Jasper William Cartwright, Jeremy Cobb, Ben Egloff, Alexander LeFort,
Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo and Colby Whittaker
AcknAouwtlheodrg’ms ents
CREATING AN ENTIRE BOOK OF TRAPS, PUZZLES AND DUNGEONS IS A
LOT LIKE A CLASSIC DUNGEON CRAWL—you can certainly try to do it by your-
self, but you’ll very likely end up a hollowed-out corpse before you reach the end. As such,
the following individuals served as this title’s adventuring party, and I couldn’t have made it
through this complex crucible without their aid.
To Jasmine Kalle, who often took ideas as vague as “a dungeon chamber that seems like a
mini-game designed by the team from American Gladiators” and somehow came up with 50
cleverly conceived encounter spaces as well as the maps associated with this title’s three one-
shot adventures, and to Kyle Hilton, whose illustrations accompany some of the traps in this
title, the quality of your work speaks for itself, but I like to tell people anyway: You’re awesome.
To one-shot contributors Jasmine Bhullar (“The Spire and the Scab”) and Jasper William
Cartwright, Jeremy Cobb and Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo of Three Black Halflings
(“Skhalhammer Manor”), it was an absolute blast to work with you on these adventures and
I’m certain players will enjoy experiencing your work as much as I have.
To puzzle contributors Jeremy Brown, Ben Egloff, Alexander LeFort and Colby Whittaker,
your creations kept me guessing even as I was scanning the solutions copy, so I’m certain each
of your puzzles will find permanent homes in the nightmares of players who encounter them
for years to come. As well they should.
Massive thanks to the entire team at Media Lab Books, but particularly to Tim Baker, Trevor
Courneen, Glen Karpowich, Courtney Kerrigan, Madeline Raynor, Phil Sexton, Juliana Sharaf
and Tara Sherman, whose efforts on and contributions to this title are the only reason it exists.
No matter how many times I felt trapped or puzzled by this title, one (and in many cases all) of
you knew the way out or the answer.
Finally, to my wife, who endured her own dungeon crawl during the course of this book’s
production but somehow managed to find time to listen to me kvetch about whether or not
my traps were deadly enough or my puzzles difficult enough or my dungeon rooms weird
enough (or, in at least a few cases, perhaps too weird): I love you endlessly.
Your GMs
JEFF ASHWORTH is a writer, editor and THREE BLACK HALFLINGS is a podcast
storyteller whose credits include The Game Master’s by Jasper William Cartwright, Luyanda Unati
Book of Random Encounters, The Game Master’s Lewis-Nyawo (but everybody calls her Unati)
Book of Non-Player Characters and work for and Jeremy Cobb: three nerdy friends with
Disney, Hasbro, Nickelodeon and World Wrestling strong opinions and even stronger Charisma
Entertainment. When he isn’t working on special scores. Join them in their quest to explore
projects for Media Lab Books, he enjoys playing and diversity in the incredible worlds of D&D and
designing RPGs with his friends. He and his wife pop culture while doling out DM tips, thought-
live on the East Coast with their dogs, Zelda and provoking conversations, a band of guests and
Lincoln. good times!
JASMINE KALLE is a writer, illustrator and KYLE HILTON is a recent role playing convert
editor with a Master of Arts (Writing, Editing and and illustrator whose work regularly appears in
Publishing) from the University of Queensland. The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly and
She has over half a decade of TTRPG experience others. He lives in Jackson, Mississippi, with his
and her credits include The Game Master’s Book wife and daughter.
of Random Encounters and The Game Master’s
Book of Non-Player Characters. She spends most JIM DAVIS AND JONATHAN PRUITT are
of her days trying to survive the Canberra winters the founders of the popular YouTube channel
while working for the government, and her Web DM. Since 2015, Web DM’s mission has
nights dreaming up all kinds of fun and painful been to inspire gamers to play emergent and
encounters to put her parties through next. player-driven TTRPGs. Through professionally
produced, carefully researched videos about all
JASMINE BHULLAR is an actress, internet aspects of tabletop gaming, deep topic podcast
personality and content creator best known for dives and heartfelt actual play streaming, Web
her daily livestreams at twitch.tv/thatbronzegirl DM helps hundreds of thousands of people play
as well as the many RPG productions she’s been better games every month.
part of. She’s not only an experienced tabletop
RPG player but a skilled game master as well. She
got her start on Geek & Sundry, which led her to
play the infamous Beryl the Brutal on Relics and
Rarities. She’s also the creator, host and GM of
Shikar, a new D&D 5th Edition game on Twitch.
When she’s not reading science fiction novels,
Jasmine enjoys creating video game, RPG and
comic book content.
*Not a word @GameMaster_5e
BECAUSE CHALLENGINGCompatible with your favorite
YOUR PLAYERS5th edition Fantasy Tabletop RPGs!
SHOULDN’T BE SO HARD...UnforgettableRhyming Riddles, Deadly, Painful,
Dungeon Integrated Disruptive and
THE GAME MASTER’S BOOK OF TRAPS, PUZZLES AND DUNGEONSCiphers andComplex Traps
provides endless options for populating your adventures with perplexingChambers andfor Various Party Levels
riddles, puzzles, spiked pits, Rube Goldberg-style death traps and much more—One-Shot AdventuresIntricate Door Puzzles
everything you need to push your adventurers to their limit and
bring new levels of excitement (and anxiety) to your campaign.
WHETHER PART OF A PREPLANNED ADVENTURE or a random encounter, these
brainteasers, puzzles and traps will make every dungeon crawl, fortress break-in or temple
sacking that much more fun—assuming you find the prospect of death at every turn to be
a good time. GMs will find dozens of challenging puzzles, four unique trap categories and
50 modular dungeon chambers, each with its own set of variant encounters, meaning you
can generate a fully functional death maze with a few rolls of the dice. With maps, trap
illustrations and one-shot adventures written by Jasmine Bhullar and the creators of
the Three Black Halflings podcast, The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and
Dungeons is the ideal tool for any GM hoping to put the fun back in fun-geon.*
INCLUDES
BECAUSE CHALLENGING
Rhyming Riddles, Unforgettable
YOUR PLAYERS Integrated Dungeon
Ciphers and
SHOULDN’T BE SO HARD... Chambers and
Intricate Door Puzzles One-Shot Adventures
THE GAME MASTER’S BOOK OF TRAPS, PUZZLES AND DUNGEONS
provides endless options for populating your adventures with perplexing
riddles, puzzles, spiked pits, Rube Goldberg-style death traps and much more—
everything you need to push your adventurers to their limit and
bring new levels of excitement (and anxiety) to your campaign.
WHETHER PART OF A PREPLANNED ADVENTURE or a random encounter, these
brainteasers, puzzles and traps will make every dungeon crawl, fortress break-in or temple
sacking that much more fun—assuming you find the prospect of death at every turn to be
a good time. GMs will find dozens of challenging puzzles, four unique trap categories and
50 modular dungeon chambers, each with its own set of variant encounters, meaning you
can generate a fully functional death maze with a few rolls of the dice. With maps, trap
illustrations and one-shot adventures written by Jasmine Bhullar and the creators of
the Three Black Halflings podcast, The Game Master’s Book of Traps, Puzzles and
Dungeons is the ideal tool for any GM hoping to put the fun back in fun-geon.*
INCLUDES
Deadly, Painful,
Disruptive and
Complex Traps
for Various Party Levels
Compatible with your favorite
5th edition Fantasy Tabletop RPGs!
@GameMaster_5e *Not a word