Hey there, fellow adventurers! If you’re like me, you probably also love diving into the captivating world of solo RPGs, seeking out thrills, challenges, and epic quests all from the comfort of your own tabletop. And if you’re familiar with the solo game Four Against Darkness, you’ll know just how addictive and immersive these dungeon-crawling can be.
This is blog post #1 in a mini series of Four Against Darkness expansions / house rules. (Check out the 4AD rules expansion series here)
For those who haven’t yet ventured into the solo RPG depths of Four Against Darkness, let me give you a super quick rundown on it all.
Picture this: within minutes, you’re the master of your own destiny, assembling a band of four brave heroes to explore procedural generated treacherous dungeons, battling fearsome monsters, and uncovering untold treasures.
With its simple yet engaging mechanics, Four Against Darkness has become a staple of my solo RPG gaming nights. I’m pretty sure the gaming community feel the same too, with many enthusiasts, offering endless hours of adventure and excitement.
If you want to try exploring the dungeons of Four Against Darkness yourself, you should pickup the box for just £10 / $12 from Amazon – well worth every penny.
The author is Andrea Sfiligoi (Twitter profile) and published under his company – Ganesha Games.
New House Rules for Four Against Darkness
But here’s the thing about us gaming adventurers and GMs; we’re always seeking new challenges and new ways to enhance our games. That’s why I’m thrilled to compile a whole bunch of custom house-rules for the Four Against Darkness game. Do you need these house-rules, definitely not.
Is there anything fundamentally wrong with 4AD, also no. I just like to add new rules, bolster what Andrea Sfiligoi has given us. (Hopefully they don’t mind seeing the community expand upon what they created).
So I’ve putting together a mini-series of blog posts to share with you my latest house-rules. So grab your dice bag, sharpen your swords (or pencil), and let’s dive into this exciting new addition to our favorite solo RPG!
House Rule Mini Series
So this rule expansion mini-series is compiled of the following blog posts.
Treasure Trove – this post about additional treasure rules; including specific gems, custom jewelry pieces and much more.
Biomes & Themes – Custom rules for generating additional role-playing opportunities as the dungeon is procedurally generated.
Special Corridors – New rules for spicing up those otherwise empty corridors.
More Rooms – Additional rooms to bolster the blessed fountain, cursed alter and wandering healer.
Dangerous Encounters – A way to ramp up combat encounters even when the party is still sub-level 5.
Treasure Trove – Solo RPG House Rule
So what are my treasure trove house rules for Four Against Darkness, and why do I even write them?
Well, the default treasure table from the Four Against Darkness rulebook (Buy on Amazon) gives us the following D6 table of results. (Page 34)
| 1d6 | Treasure Table (Default) |
|---|---|
| 0 or less | No treasure found |
| 1 | 1d6 Gold Pieces |
| 2 | 2d6 Gold Pieces |
| 3 | A scroll with a random spell |
| 4 | One gem worth 2d6 x 5 gold pieces |
| 5 | One item of jewelry worth 3d6 x 10 gold pieces |
| 6+ | One random magic item from the Magic Treasure table |
And you know what – it works. Following the mantra – simple works. Things get steadily more exciting and more lucrative. Some monsters modify your treasure dice roll (Hobgoblins let you roll with a +1, while pesky goblin swarmlings force you to roll at a -1).
Its a simple table with a simple mechanic behind it. Roll for treasure – Roll for value. All coins are gold, all gems are just different valued ‘gems’, while all jewelry is just different values of ‘jewelry’.
Editors note; I’ve now implemented both the standard and custom treasure table in an online simple to use tool – check out my Four Against Darkness Treasure Generator tool.
Treasure Hunting in Four Against Darkness
What I wanted in my little 4AD treasure expansion, was to combine both the treasure type and its value, while also throwing in a bit more variety, a role-playing focus and maybe some keywords for imagery.
I attempted to keep the average value of findings the same across the table, as I didn’t want to unbalance treasure one way or another.
I drew up a d66 table; so two dice are rolled, one for tens, the other for units.
| d66 | Treasure Trove Table |
|---|---|
| 01 – 06 | No treasure found |
| 11 – 16 | units Gold Pieces |
| 21 – 26 | 2 x units Gold Pieces |
| 31 – 32 | An unidentified magic scroll. Costs 50gp to identify in town |
| 33 – 34 | A random scroll. Roll on the Spells Table |
| 41 – 42 | Blue Quarts Gemstone (10gp) |
| 43 – 44 | Red Jasper Gemstone (30gp) |
| 45 | Bloodstone Gem (50gp) |
| 46 | Emerald (70gp) |
| 51 – 52 | Silver Amulet (50gp) |
| 53 – 54 | Gold Bracelet (100gp) |
| 55 | Mithril Torc (150gp) |
| 56 | Ruby Studded Crown (200gp) |
| 61 – 66 | Lookup units on the Magic Items table |
So it obviously is a little bit more extensive, and adds a whole bunch more RP flavour, but it’s not hugely more complicated (IMHO). Obviously for a d66 table, as I said above, you roll two d6 dice and use one as tens and the other as units. Sometimes that units face not only is used to find the treasure type, but is then used value or as a roll on another table (e.g. Magic Items)
If you need to roll up against the treasure table with a modifier, say a plus or minus one, you just modify the tens dice accordingly. So [4][3] would be decreased to [3][3] (e.g. against vampire frogs), or increased to [5][3] (e.g. against an orc brute).
4AD Custom Dungeon Loot
Gold Pieces
Not much changes here, apart from the units dice is also used as the value of the gold found.
So on the default treasure table, a roll of 2 would mean 2d6 gold. This would produce a bell curve averaging out at 7-8gp.
On my house-rule treasure table, a roll of 2 and a 5 (d66 remember), would be 2 x units gold pieces, or 2 x 5, 10gp. My table produces a linear distribution, averaging out as 7 gp.
Magic Scrolls
On the default table, a roll of 3 would lead to finding a magic scroll, that you would then roll on the magic spells table. I didn’t see too much room here to expand on scrolls without introducing new spells or new effects… both of which I didn’t want to introduce here, fear of risking to unbalance the game.
My treasure trove table, simple adds a 33% chance of the spell scroll not being identifiable within the dungeon. Maybe the scroll was written bizarrely, or in a unknown language to the party… or maybe the wizard had one eye on the door for fear of a ogre bursting through it.
Either way, a roll of 31 to 32 means you have a magic scroll, but you need to pay for someone to identify it when you return to town.
A result of 33 – 36 is treated in the same manner as the normal Four Against Darkness treasure table.
Gem Stones
In the default 4AD treasure table, a 4 was a generic gemstone worth 2d6 x 5 gold pieces. While this is simple and quick, it immediately devalues the excitement of it being a gem… it might as well be just gold pieces again*.
(* Obviously all treasure is just gold in a different guise, but hopefully you understand my point)
I wanted to tweak the table so that the gemstone is named – and hopefully it helps conjur up a mental image of your 1st level Dwarven character stumbling across a dusty red and white marbled jasper gemstone, down by the cursed magic alter. Beats just finding 30gp.
The default treasure item gem is worth 2d6 x 5, or 35 gp. (Range 10 – 60)
My little 4AD treasure expansion works out as an average of 33gp. (Range 10 – 70). So on average 2gp less, but with a slightly higher potential value.
Jewelry
Similar to rolling for gem stones in Four Against Darkness, my treasure expansion names a few different types of potential valuable jewlery found down in the dark dungeon.
The default treasure jewelry roll works as 3d6 x 10, or 110 on average. Range of 30 to 180.
My treasure table for jewelry works out on average as 108 gold pieces, ranging from 50 all the way up to 200. So a similar distribution of loot values as the gemstones.
Magic Items
At the moment I haven’t tweaked any results of the magic items treasure table, as I believe Andrea Sfiligoi has balanced them nicely. Keeping these as the starting items, at least for this dungeon expansion, means fewer tweaks that may unbalance the game.
Treasure Expansion Summary
This pretty much concludes this exploration of my little treasure expansion in Four Against Darkness, keeping the mantra that simplicity enhances gameplay. Through numerous trials I’ve found integrating named gems or rediscovering items like lost crowns within the dungeon, really adds depth and intrigue to my 4AD session. Such finds inject immersive roleplaying dynamics, prompting questions about the origins of treasures amidst grubby goblin hands, or the clutches of crumbling mummies.
If you found this article engaging, delve deeper into my repertoire of Four Against Darkness house rules and expansions featured in this ongoing 4AD expansion series.
Explore “Biomes & Themes,” a resource furnishing custom rules to elevate role-playing scenarios as dungeons unfold procedurally.
Consider “Special Empty Corridors,” introducing new regulations to invigorate seemingly mundane passages.
Embrace “More Rooms” for an expanded repertoire, fortifying elements like the blessed fountain, cursed altar, and the enigmatic wandering healer.
And for those seeking heightened challenges, “Dangerous Encounters” provides mechanisms to intensify combat, even for parties yet to climb up to fifth level.
With these additions, your Four Against Darkness adventures are poised to reach new heights, ensuring each delve into the depths is a thrilling escapade filled with treasures, challenges, and unforgettable tales.
I’ve now implemented the standard and custom treasure tables in an online simple to use tool – check out my Four Against Darkness Treasure Generator tool.