Daniel Dvorkin<p>Helping a friend at a <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/storage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>storage</span></a> <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/unit" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>unit</span></a> the other day, I had a revelation: indoor storage units are dungeons, in the <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/DnD" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DnD</span></a> sense. Long straight <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/corridors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>corridors</span></a>, all at right angles, neat units of distance, and <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/niches" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>niches</span></a> full of <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/treasure" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>treasure</span></a> to either side.</p><p>Which makes me think it would be a lot of fun to run a game in a far-post-apocalyptic-<a href="https://qoto.org/tags/fantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fantasy</span></a> setting, preferably without the players knowing at first that’s what it is, where they are exploring a <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/dungeon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>dungeon</span></a> which turns out to be a buried building. The niches all have cryptic symbols above them they can’t decipher, but which appear to be some kind of numbering system. When they pick or break the ancient locks, they find some niches have ancient treasures, while others contain incomprehensible <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/artifacts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>artifacts</span></a>, and still others are full of plain junk.</p><p>The main danger on the upper levels comes not from <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/monsters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>monsters</span></a>, but from precariously piled heaps that fall down as the doors are opened. The players, of course, will perceive these as <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/traps" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>traps</span></a>.</p><p>A dungeon needs <em>some</em> monsters. Here they’re more numerous on the lower levels, in the form of <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/undead" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>undead</span></a> employees. The players will eventually discover that they venture forth from a chamber on the bottom level, known in the ancient tales as the “Manager’s Office.” The <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/Manager" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Manager</span></a> itself is the final boss fight.</p><p>Upon defeating the Manager and venturing out the door, they find that the lower levels of the building are surrounded by a vast <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/cavern" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cavern</span></a>, with an oddly flat floor and the ruins of a huge sign. The party sage puzzles out the ancient writing: PUBLIC STORAGE.</p><p>… I guess outdoor units are ruins, but anyone DMing that game needs to figure out how they’ve lasted that long. A <a href="https://qoto.org/tags/curse" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>curse</span></a> is a chillingly believable explanation.</p>