One Page Dungeon Contest: Getting Started with Your First Entry
I’ve decided to jump into something completely new – the One Page Dungeon Contest. This annual competition has been running since 2009 and is now in its 17th year.
I’ve never created a one-page dungeon before, and honestly, I’ve never even played one. But it sounds like an exciting challenge, and what’s the worst that could happen? I don’t win? No big deal.
This is the first of three posts where I’ll walk you through my entire process of creating a dungeon entry.
I have no idea what I’m doing, but sometimes the best way to learn is by doing it and sharing what you discover along the way.
What Exactly Is a One-Page Dungeon?
Pretty simple, it’s exactly what it sounds like. You create an entire playable dungeon adventure that fits on just one side of a regular sheet of paper.
That includes everything: the story, room descriptions, monsters, treasure, AND the map.
Usually, the map and title take up about a third of the page, which means you have to be really good at writing concisely.
What Goes Into a One-Page Dungeon?
You need to include all the same stuff you’d find in any dungeon adventure:
- A catchy title
- Basic setting information
- A dungeon map
- Description of each room
- The overall story or premise
The tricky part is fitting all of this into such a small space while still telling a compelling story.
This actually forces you to keep things fairly simple, which isn’t necessarily bad – it gives the person running your dungeon room to make it their own.
Current Contest Rules (2025)
Here are the main requirements if you want to enter:
- File size: Must be under 10 megabytes
- System neutral: Can’t be written for a specific game system like D&D – needs to work with any tabletop RPG
- No copyrighted material: Can’t use characters, monsters, or content that belongs to someone else
- Single page: Must fit on one side of standard letter-sized paper
- Submissions: Open July 1st, 2025
The file size limit means I can’t go crazy with fancy graphics. One tip from the contest organisers is to use interesting fonts to help set the mood – I hadn’t thought of that before.
Making it system-neutral is going to be challenging for me since I mostly think in terms of D&D 5th edition. I’ll have to use generic terms like “fish-people” instead of “kuo-toa” and describe threats without using specific game mechanics.
My Brainstorming Process
Before diving in, I spent time thinking about what I wanted to create. Here’s what I decided on:
Target Audience: New players and game masters – I want something that’s easy to understand and run.
Power Level: Low-level characters – this should be completable in a single 3-4 hour gaming session.
Central Theme: I want to focus on one specific type of creature to keep things cohesive.
The Setting I Chose
I’m going with fish-people (think humanoid creatures that live underwater or in caves). In D&D, these would be kuo-toa, but for the contest, I have to use generic terms.
These creatures are interesting because they’re known for worshipping random things – sometimes objects, sometimes animals, sometimes even player characters.
The adventure takes place in a disgusting, slimy cave system. As players go deeper, they’ll find piles of garbage and bones scattered around – clearly, these fish-people are hoarders looking for something specific.
Some of these piles might contain coins or valuable items that the fish-people didn’t want, but the players might find useful.
The final room will have a large cauldron of boiling water with captured humans tied up above it, ready to be lowered in.
A few fish-people will be there along with their “god” – actually a small devil who’s manipulating them. Think of something clever enough to take advantage of these creatures’ tendency to worship anything.
The Story
I wanted a simple but engaging hook. Here’s what I came up with:
The player characters are camping for the night after leaving a nearby town.
They’ve bought fresh ingredients and are looking forward to a delicious stew after a long day of travelling. They put the pot on the fire and go to set up their tents.
Suddenly, they spot two fish-people grabbing their dinner pot and running off into the woods!
The fish-people are clumsy but stick to tree cover, making them hard to attack with ranged weapons but easy to track. They lead the players to a hidden cave entrance.
Inside, the cave floor is slick and muddy – easy for webbed feet to navigate, but treacherous for everyone else. This gives the thieves time to escape deeper into the cave.
Players will have to fight through traps and more fish-people, solve a simple puzzle, and finally reach the last room where they discover the horrible truth: the fish-people didn’t just steal their stew – they were going to use it as a base for cooking captured humans!
The small devil “god” wants the players killed and added to the meal.
Adding Flavor
To make this more interesting, each time players enter a room, they’ll see the two original thieves running out the other side. But there’s a hidden shortcut – if players can find it, they can get ahead of the culprits and confront them directly.
The cave will be filled with evidence that these aren’t just random monsters – they’re hoarders and scavengers who’ve been stealing from travellers for a while. This explains all the junk everywhere but also provides opportunities for players to find useful items.
The real twist comes with the devil. These mischievous fish-people aren’t inherently evil – they’re being manipulated by something much worse. This gives players a choice: do they kill everything, or do they show mercy to the fish-people and focus on the real threat?
Challenges I’m Facing
Treasure and Rewards: Since this has to work with any game system, I can’t be specific about magical items or exact coin amounts. I’ll probably go with vague descriptions like “a glowing dagger” or “a small pouch of coins” and let individual game masters figure out the details.
Balancing Encounters: Normally, I’d spend a lot of time making sure fights are fair and challenging. Since this needs to work with any game system and I have limited space, I’ll just aim for 4-5 players and keep enemy groups to 3-6 creatures.
What’s Next
Now that I have a solid plan, I feel much more confident about actually creating this thing. I know what story I’m telling, what the encounters should feel like, and how big the dungeon needs to be.
Next week, I’ll work on drawing the map and writing everything up. The only problem? I’m terrible at drawing. I have no idea how I’m going to make a decent-looking map, but I’ll figure something out.
If you have any suggestions for someone who can’t draw, trying to make a dungeon map, I’d love to hear them!
The One Page Dungeon Contest is currently organised by Spiel Knights and runs every summer. All entries become part of a free community compendium, so even if you don’t win, your creation gets shared with gamers around the world.
Check out dungeoncontest.com for current rules and submission deadlines.