Dungeon Master Table

Spec

Build a Dungeon Master Table — a one-shot pad you can run tonight.

PRODUCT
Inputs: tone (chips: grim, weird, heist, fairy-tale rotten, sword-and-mud), party level (1–3 / 4–6 / 7–10), setting seed (free text, e.g. “flooded tram depot”). Output a 5-room one-shot that is playable without another book.

PAD CONTENTS
- Pitch: 3 sentences the DM can read to themselves, not to the table
- 5 rooms: each has a name, boxed text (≤80 words, present tense, sensory), 2 interactables, 1 threat or choice, exits
- 3 NPCs: name, tell (what the table notices), public want, secret want, what they do if refused
- 2 twists: when they fire, and how the room changes
- Loot: 4 items. None are “+1 sword”. Each has a use and a cost (curse, attention, weight, a debt)
- Tables: 3 d6 — complication, rumor, weather/omens. Entries are specific to the seed, not “a storm rolls in” generic
- Run notes: implied clock (what happens if they stall)

SCREENS
1. Seed
2. Pad (print-friendly, wide)
3. Tables — a tap-to-roll d6 that highlights a row (client-side math.random is fine; show the pip)

VISUAL
Session pad. Paper in light, low phosphor in dark. Boxed text in a slightly raised pane. Handout-quality print. No fantasy stock art, no dice GIFs, no purple fire.

EMPTY
Sample seed: “weird / lvl 1–3 / the last trolley stop under a closed world’s fair”.

OUT OF SCOPE
VTT integration, account campaigns, token maps, 5e SRD legal dumps, proprietary stat blocks. Use plain language DCs (“hard for level 2”) not a stolen stat line.

ACCEPTANCE
- Five rooms, three NPCs with secret wants, three d6 tables.
- Loot list contains no “+1”.
- Roller highlights a row.
- Print is usable at the table (large enough boxed text).