Grottoes in Mist

A Guided Tour of Dungeonsynth

Editor’s Note:

Brady is off this week spending time on other creative projects. Zack has taken over and cultivated his own playlist for our music lovers to enjoy.

Grab your headphones and go for a walk. You’re in for a treat!

- Frank Theodat

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A lesser publication would begin by rote explanations of the (short) history and (impossible to pin down) genre conventions of the proliferating musical style/artistic conceit/80s larp that is Dungeon Synth. You are, thankfully, not enjoying a lesser publication. So we’re just going to jump right in and experience some of the best fruits of this branching tree of micro-genera. I hope I can introduce you to the feelings of this wonderful cottage industry, content to churn out intentionally limited work (the cassette-liner album artwork is often actually used on physical tapes) and evoking a special sense of place and story that continues to delight at least this hearer.

We’ve prepared a tasting menu of sorts from all across the spectrum. Please enjoy, and feel free to add your recommendations and discoveries below. Many happy journeys, traveler. I hope you packed your headphones!

1. “Into the Ruins of the Enchanted Forest” - dungeontroll: Bakshicore
   You step into a clearing in the slowly decaying stands of trees. Warned never to enter the forest, you cannot shake a vague feeling of dread as the fungus-encrusted place slumbers in magical repose. Even now, you can sense the relaxation seeping into your bones. Don’t fall asleep. And now what’s this caravan of weird beings entering the clearing from the road?

2. “Tales from Southern Realms” - Ziggurath: Alladincore
   From your perch atop the swaying camel, you can see the whole sorry retinue straggling behind you. A week out from town and already the sands are playing tricks on your mind. You sip scalding mint tea and sigh resignedly. That saddlebag of rubies isn’t exactly going to fence itself. Will somebody strangle that accursed monkey and his tambourine?

3. “Fear is the Mind Killer” - L A N D S R A A D: Terrible-Purpose-core
   The rolling waves and breakers of sand swim before your eyes as you contemplate the world that has smashed your great house and taken your father. Soaring on visions and images, you are carried on the strength of will, transcending even the demands of this desperate environment, crystalizing into a certainty. You have seen it.

4. “A Walk Among the Ruins” - Psyclopean: Shoggothcore
   As you flit silently between crumbling blasted pillars defaced by inconceivable scrawlings of dire aspect, you cannot keep yourself from wondering what lidless unsleeping eyes may be regarding you from one of the stone portals that used to hold a city of denizens so strange beyond reckoning; no wonder that your friends and colleagues preferred to think you insane than grant the possibility of your story’s bizarre truth.

5. “The Farthest Planet” - Bespin Moons: Kennercore
   No fuel, a couple credits, a sizable bounty to deal with, and now the Carpet is pretty sure he saw that skulking Kubaz again so you might have to make a quick exit from this bar. That weird old man had better be sure he knows what he’s doing, or you’re all going to be extended stay guests in an Imperial prison hulk.

6. “An Unlikely Pair” - Hermit Knight: Grailcore
   It’s been miles, the lance you’re carrying is giving you splinters, and at some point you know the swaybacked nag the old man insists on riding is going to die of sheer spite. If he hadn’t taken simultaneous oaths of poverty and service to this quest, you might not be in this mess. Suddenly, you round the bend and a charger ridden by a ponderous warrior decked in purple blocks the way. This is about to be an interesting day.

7. “Ashes from a Terrestrial Fall” - Midnight Odyssey: Depthcore
   You float imprisoned on the rumbling tides of the dreamspace. Trimming the sails of your slumbership, you catch gusts and eddies while trying to tear your eyes from the limitless skyscapes that dance above you. The stars watch, as they have since before your time.

8. “Edge of Town” - DIM: Encarta-Mindmaze-core
   You can finally see the walls of the bustling port town as skirling pipes beckon you to the fair-day ground. With any good fortune, you’ll sell the whole contents of your pack and maybe bring in some extra coppers from the farmers hoping for a new tale or song to complement their merriment. Might be nice to sleep under a roof for a change.

9. “Illuminated by Magelight” - Fogweaver: Slumbercore
   It’s a weird place to camp to be sure, with the fey gardens around you and the moons lighting the sky in ceaseless twilight. But tomorrow is going to be the real challenge so you’d best sleep while and while you can. A few well-placed wards ought to keep them from bothering you for the evening, if you can call it that in this eerie halflight place.

10. “Star Lore” - Aindulmedir: Orb-Contemplation-core
    In the far reaches of the night, you remain locked in the tower. Evil this stunningly bold will surely hide itself so well that only a scholar of true devotion will be able to trace its path. You catch yourself slipping into dark reveries. No time for that now. Where was that scroll?

11. “The Mystic Mire” - Tales Under the Oak: Zoombinicore
    Your little boat creaks as you shuffle through packs and bags until your tobacco-pouch is relocated. Webbed feet are excellent for navigating the swamp but less so for this sort of work. In a few minutes you puff contentedly as you punt the coracle through reedbeds and under log bridges in the drizzle. You’re sure they said left when you come to the fallen pine?

12. “The Arrival” - Pafund: OSRcore
    You are beginning a campaign of box-set D&D with a couple buddies and that one older brother of Tony’s that’s really into metal. A cassette came in the box along with a blue-and-white hex map and a set of transparent red dice. Apparently there is an evil and possibly quite dead cleric haunting the remains of his abbey. Who needs more backstory, did you bring chips? Roll for initiative.

13. “Return of the Thunder Lizard” - Diplodocus: Longneckcore
    All the gunbearers fled or dismembered, Lewton raving with the jungle fever, the map clearly a sham at this point, and to crown it all the last of the Gordon’s dry is now expended. However, another of the lumbering cretaceous beasts is slowly making its way into the valley, droning sonorous calls as it heads to feed. You’ve still got the punt guns. Bring it down, and you’ll be a legend.

14. “Morning Rain by the Overhill Yards, a Harvest of Wet Lumber” - Hole Dweller: Tookcore
    Your woolen coat and cape is beginning to get wet and heavy, and there’s no sign of the weather letting up. But you’ve got a mug of tea and brandy steaming under the cover of the hedge, and a long clay carefully packed with good leaf whenever you need a break. Who says that work has to be cheerless? Fearful miseries, that’s who. Probably from Town, anyway.