Daniel (@dungeondive) reviews two useful tools for solo dungeon delving and lazy GM prep: OSR Dungeon Cards (Volumes 1-2) from Philip Reed and the Dungeon Designers Deck from Loke Battlemats.
Philip Reed’s OSR Dungeon Cards: These card sets generate random dungeons through dungeon geomorphs and quick-load cards. Mix cards to create rooms, inhabitants, unusual details, and traps. The back of each card provides inspiration for dungeon features—entrances, forms, layout, ruination, rewards, activity, details, tricks, hazards, and traps. Two volumes provide enormous variety.
Loke Battlemats’ Dungeon Designers Deck: A 100-card supplement that includes everything for DND 5e encounters (easily adapted to other systems). Features include enemy encounter cards (beasts, undead, denizens at multiple difficulty tiers), dual-sided treasure cards (coins/standard loot and magical loot), quest cards, door cards with difficulty ratings and contents, room objective cards, and 60 random encounter cards with D6 tables on the back.
Practical Benefits: Each encounter card fits perfectly on Loke Battlemats squares. On reverses, D6 tables determine what each encounter actually contains—weapon stashes, cooking areas, burial sites, etc. This creates organic dungeon population.
Synergistic Use: Daniel suggests using them together: lay out a dungeon using Philip Reed’s cards, then use Loke’s encounter cards as detailed room contents. The different scales and purposes complement each other perfectly.
Affordable and Practical: Both products represent excellent value. Cards take minimal storage space, are affordable, and work great for solo play or lazy preparation.