The Dungeons of Kollchap

Quite some time ago, a reader very kindly sent me a couple of books to read, one of which was Butterfield, Parker, and Honigmann's What is Dungeons & Dragons? After I'd read it all those years ago, I'd intended to write several posts about its contents, but never did so, unfortunately. Recently, while doing some cleaning, I came across the book again, which includes the sample dungeon map below.

The Dungeon of Kollchap, as it is called, is described in some detail in the book. Each room gets a paragraph or two, along with game stats (which appear based on the Tom Moldvay D&D Basic Rules). There's even a new monster type, "an animated humanoid, made of red-coloured stone," called a Rockman. 

All in all, the Dungeon of Kollchap is nothing special but then it's not really supposed to be. Its purpose is to illustrate the principles of dungeon design, the subject of the chapter of the book in which it appears. In this respect, it's more than adequate, with a few charming features, like a female halfling NPC named Rosa Dobbit, and a rhyming statue that answers questions put to it so long as they contain twelve or fewer words. As I said, nothing world shattering, but I have a fondness for "beginner" dungeons, especially those intended for illustrative purposes like this one.