Typically in old school Dungeons & Dragons games it takes a full turn (usually 10 minutes of game time) to search a 10' by 10' space. The player will tell the Dungeon Master which area they want to search and the Dungeon Master will describe (if anything) what has been found. This is straight forward enough, but who could this possibly work in a solo game of D&D in which everything is randomly generated?

Searching a Dungeon Room in a Solo D&D Game

The Judges Guild handled this problem quite well with their searching method described in the 1978 Ready Reference Sheets. This method handles the problem by allowing a roll on a table which may result in treasure, a trap, a secret passage, a wandering monster, a sound, a clue, a combination of any of these or nothing at all. The table may also result in what is called a "finding roll" which at the Dungeon Master's discretion can allow a roll on a sub table to see what mundane item is found.

When rolling on the main table elves get a +1 bonus and dwarves a -1 and as treasure and traps are on the lower end of the table and secret passages on the higher end this allows elves a higher chance of finding secret passages and dwarves a higher chance of finding treasure and traps. I really like this mechanic.

I believe that main table should be a 3d6 roll and not a d20 roll. This means that on the first attempt treasure or secret passages cannot be found without a trap being present and it is much less likely (due to the bell curve probabilities) that humans and halflings will find any treasure or secret passages at all in comparison to elves and dwarves. It also cleans things up so a negative number cannot be rolled and rolls above 20 are no longer possible. A 3d6 roll also influences how clues work. A result of clue gives a -2 or +2 to the next roll, meaning that if a clue is found only then can a result of 1 or 20 be achieved. Take a look at the table to see what I mean:

1     Treasure

2     Treasure & Trap Found

3     Treasure & Trap Sprung

4     Treasure, Trap Sprung & Clue (roll again with -2)

5     Clue (roll again with -2)

6     Sound

7     Nothing

8     Finding Roll

9     Finding Roll, Wandering Monster

10    Wandering Monster

11    Wandering Monster

12    Finding Roll, Wandering Monster

13    Finding Roll

14    Nothing

15    Sound

16    Clue (roll again with +2)

17    Secret Passage, Trap Sprung & Clue (+2)

18    Secret Passage, Trap Sprung

19    Secret Passage, Trap Found

20    Secret Passage

After figuring this out I decided to develop the concept further by introducing a new feature which allows an object to be a container. If an object is a container then a further inspection can be carried out using the main table but any result of “Finding Roll” should be ignored and instead the object is not a container after all. Otherwise the object will either contain treasure, a trap, a clue, even a sound, nothing or of course, a combination of things.

I also decided that if the container is empty then it may only appear so.. it can be inspected by a thief using their Lock Pick ability and on a success they have found a secret compartment within the container.

My "finding roll" table also contains results of messages, inscriptions, letters and books. I decided that messages and inscriptions will be written in a random creature language and allow characters who can comprehend them to either (depending on a die roll) randomly generate more of the dungeon map or receive instructions on how to avoid the next trap, which basically means that the next trap encountered will not be sprung and the characters will have automatic knowledge of how to overcome any puzzle element that might be associated with it.

Like messages & inscriptions, letters & books are written in a random creature language and if readable will have a 2 in 6 chance of providing characters with clues as to the location of an artefact or relic. These clues can be collected until enough information has been gathered. 4 clues must be found in order to locate the item.

I'm still experimenting with these rules and eventually hope to develop them into something that is much more unique and stands alone in comparison to the original Judges Guild rules. Let me know what you think!