Beneath Ahknoor - Adding Trappings

 Beneath Ahknoor is a Carved from Brindlewood game about old-school megadungeon exploration. Each dungeon level is treated as a mystery. Adventurers move through Locations and confront Threats to gather Clues about who controls the level, what they want, and how they might be confronted, bargained with, or endured.

The listed Locations on a level are meant to be highlights, not an exhaustive map. In play, characters will pass through plenty of unnamed passages, chambers, and transitional spaces. As a result, Keepers will be improvising side locations regularly.

I originally leaned on the CfB concept of Moments to support that improvisation. More recently, Justin Alexander’s discussion of Corridor Themes helped clarify what was missing. I wanted something lighter weight, something that could be recombined on the fly without stopping play.

The result is Trappings.

Trappings on the Level Sheet

I am adding Trappings to each Level Sheet, along with a short explanation in the rules. Here is the current text from the “Reading a Level Sheet” section:

Trappings: A list of six details that can be used to describe passages and other unnamed locations on that level. During each Exploration Move, the Keeper should select one or two Trappings to create a more engaging description of the spaces the Adventurers pass through or investigate.

Trappings are not events. They do not demand action. They exist to ground improvisation in the specific texture of the level.

Example: The Warrens of the Beastfolk

Here are the Trappings and Moments from the Warrens of the Beastfolk.

Trappings

• Bits of cloth and fur bunched into a makeshift sleeping area

• A narrow space that must be passed single file, moving sideways

• Graffiti claiming the space in the name of one faction

• A foul stench whose source is not immediately apparent

• A broken weapon

• Bones cracked open to get at the marrow within

Moments

• Ankle-deep fetid water covers the floor. The sound of splashing footsteps carries through the narrow, low-ceilinged passage.

• Rotting beams sag overhead, groaning under the weight of stone.

• Choking smoke suddenly fills the passageway.

• A chimeric humanoid body lies on the floor, its mismatched limbs bent at unnatural angles. The severed head is missing.

• Hand-sized maggots crawl among the discarded remains of several beastfolk.

• Webs with strands as thick as a finger festoon the walls, making the way forward precarious.

These tools are complementary. Moments are specific and volatile. Trappings are reusable and ambient. A Keeper can easily build new Moments by combining Trappings, or simply pick one or two Trappings to dress an unlisted location as the Adventurers move through it, investigate it, or search it for Clues.

In Play

For example, after Berend and Yasoon fail an Exploration Move, the Keeper might say:

“As you move toward what you think is the Low Gallery, you find yourself at a three-way intersection, unsure how you got turned around. In a small niche, you spot a person-sized nest made from skins and fur, mixed with what looks like a pair of old trousers and a torn adventurer’s cloak.”

No map needed. No prewritten room required. The level still feels coherent, claimed, and alive.

That is the goal here. Trappings help Keepers improvise confidently while reinforcing the identity of the dungeon level and the pressures it puts on those who move through it.