The Rules of the Deep
Flex Dungeon Master is a solo tabletop quest. Forge a hero, descend into a procedurally-conjured dungeon, and survive a gauntlet of foes drawn from the old bestiaries — all in a single sitting. Heed these laws, adventurer…
Choose thy path — Warrior (steel & armor, pure melee), Mage (mighty but limited arcane spells), or Cleric (holy warrior, divine magic, deadly to the undead).
Forge thy hero — set name, race, and bearing; thy blood and calling shape thy strengths.
Descend the dark — five encounters bar the way to the deep; foes rise from the FDM API’s own bestiary.
Roll the die — a d20 governs each blow: beat the foe’s armor to land it, and pray for a natural 20.
Spend wisely — spells and heals are few; guard when the odds turn, strike when they don’t.
Live or fall — survive all five and thy legend is written in the epilogue; fall, and the dark keeps thee.
Reading the Numbers
Hit Points (HP) — thy life force. Reach zero and thy quest ends; Constitution sets how many you carry.
Armor Class (AC) — how hard you are to strike. An attack must meet or beat thy AC to land — the heavier the armor, the higher the AC.
The d20 — every blow rolls a twenty-sided die plus thy skill, measured against the foe’s AC. A natural 20 is a critical hit for double damage; a natural 1 always misses.
Damage dice — a hit that lands rolls its weapon or spell dice (say 2d6) plus thy ability bonus to wound the foe.
The Measure of a Hero
Scores & bonuses — each ability grants a bonus the further it climbs above 10, added to thy attack rolls and thy damage.
Strength — raw might; drives the Warrior’s weapon strikes and the damage they deal.
Dexterity — speed and finesse; quickens thy reflexes and defense.
Constitution — endurance; sets Hit Points for every class, so the hardy last longest.
Intelligence — arcane mastery; fuels the Mage’s spells and their potency.
Wisdom — divine insight; powers the Cleric’s holy magic, doubly fierce against the undead.
Charisma — force of presence and force of will.
Thy Calling
Warrior → Strength — steel and armor; hits hardest and endures the most.
Mage → Intelligence — devastating but finite spells; brilliant, yet fragile.
Cleric → Wisdom — divine magic and armor both, with holy fire that scours the undead.
Fortune favors the bold. Mostly.