GLoGmas 2025: Ephemera Tables for Dungeon Mail
Merry GLoGmas Vivanter!
Follows are some tables for their Dungeon Mail game about being dungeoneering couriers. I thought their idea to add a direct linear objective to existing OSR adventures is a great touch, it gives less-focused parties some direction and provides easy hooks for GMs.
What is the Delivery target doing in the dungeon when you arrive?
| d12 | Dungeon Activity |
|---|---|
| 1 | Cooking and eating a dungeon denizen |
| 2 | Squabbling over loot with their companions |
| 3 | Negotiating safe passage with a powerful foe |
| 4 | Trying desperately to save the life of a dying companion |
| 5 | Recuperating after a harrowing battle |
| 6 | Pondering a puzzle or riddle |
| 7 | Setting off a deadly trap, hopefully not on top of the couriers |
| 8 | Being captured by a larger force of dungeon denizens |
| 9 | They're dead, oops |
| 10 | Causing a distraction to lure a dangerous foe |
| 11 | Desecrating a shrine or sanctuary |
| 12 | Cracking open a treasure cache |
Random Mundane Items (To Deliver, As Payment, Found On Body, etc)
| d12 | Junk | Trade Goods | Magic Item |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | bag of rat teeth | large cheese wheel | ring of ratspeech |
| 2 | pitted dagger w/ illegible engraving | sheaf of sword blanks | dagger of spiderclimb |
| 3 | ball of loose twine | bolt of woolen cloth | chameleon cloak |
| 4 | empty vial labelled "POISON" | jug of oil [olive, whale, bear, corn] | potion of cureall |
| 5 | list of people to kill, 2 names scratched off | gold ingot | arrow of humanslaying |
| 6 | crumpled ad for local theater | jug of ink | paired notebooks of message-sending |
| 7 | worn key, unmarked | barrel of nails | wand of door destruction |
| 8 | flat striated rock | block of marble | ointment of petrification |
| 9 | stained rag | sealed bucket of paint | bag of endless fireworks |
| 10 | tarnished iron ring | barrel of salt pork | bloody axe of vampirism |
| 11 | single boot | cask of wine | amulet of waterbreathing |
| 12 | shiny belt buckle | sack of flour | circlet of crowshape |
Thoughts on Dungeon Mail
I highly recommend taking a look at Vivanter's play reports on their Dungeon Mail game here (1 2 3 etc). The reports show how effective giving a simple delivery job to a group of PCs can be for directly embroiling them in a setting. New jobs can be given any time the party gets stuck or stalls out, preventing the tendency for unfocused groups to just sort of wait for something interesting to happen.
The framing of the PCs as couriers barging into an ongoing dungeon crawl as a third-party also offers many opportunities for novel situations. Experienced parties have frequently battled dangerous foes, squabbled over loot, or debated the best way to traverse an obstacle but its much rarer to see another party doing those things in the wild. Inter-party dynamics have a lot of potential and using Dungeon Mail's framing is a great way to engage with them directly.