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Through Dungeons Deep: A Fantasy Gamers' Handbook
Through Dungeons Deep delves into the art of role-playing, showing players and Game Masters how to have more fun and excitement with fantasy role-playing games.
First published during the original Dungeons & Dragons boom, this book was an instant classic and is now part of the old-school revival. Long out of print, the original edition sells for several times its cover price. This Norton Creek Press reprint makes the book available (and affordable) again.
Robert Plamondon wrote Through Dungeons Deep after realizing that the most important part of role-playing games—role playing—is barely mentioned in gaming systems. When it is, role-playing is often confused with "following the rules." But role-playing really boils down to make-believe—or perhaps "interactive fiction" is the right term—and the real fun in role-playing games comes from unlocking your imagination.
But it's also important to carry a length of rope and wear shoes you can run in.
Visit for more of our classic reprints.
First published during the original Dungeons & Dragons boom, this book was an instant classic and is now part of the old-school revival. Long out of print, the original edition sells for several times its cover price. This Norton Creek Press reprint makes the book available (and affordable) again.
Robert Plamondon wrote Through Dungeons Deep after realizing that the most important part of role-playing games—role playing—is barely mentioned in gaming systems. When it is, role-playing is often confused with "following the rules." But role-playing really boils down to make-believe—or perhaps "interactive fiction" is the right term—and the real fun in role-playing games comes from unlocking your imagination.
But it's also important to carry a length of rope and wear shoes you can run in.
Visit for more of our classic reprints.
- GenresGamingGamesNonfiction
282 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 20, 2008
6 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 31, 2020
Although the table of contents is a bit of a mish-mash, reflecting the author's converting it from a list of potential articles for Dragon, the book is well-written and the content remains surprisingly relevant, thanks in large part to the OSR, which has turned this into a guidebook of how to play in old-school dungeons. There's also interesting material on gamemastering and campaign design, though it's a bit more scattered and has largely been superseded by more comprehensive books on the topic.
February 10, 2018
A little dated, but still one of the most practical books of advice for players of fantasy role playing games I have ever read. The advice for GMs is more limited and far more seems to have been written on that topic since, but what is there is still excellent.
February 7, 2026
## WHY I PICKED IT UP ##
My boy Will recommended it
## WHAT I LIKED ABOUT IT ##
The general principles are sound: games are better when they focus on role-playing and story-telling. Campaigns are more fun when the world and its characters are fully realized.
## WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT IT ##
Some of the detailed advice though is highly unreasonable. Who has time to develop an entire ecology and ecosystem for every creature in each cave / dungeon / wilderness, or to create a whole culture, origin, history, and backstory for each NPC? Sometimes "goblin with a funny hat, wants a BIGGER hat" is all you get, and that's more than enough!
## WHAT I WANT TO REMEMBER ##
There are several bits about about "doublethink," in one of which the author discusses how in a story-driven game, events continue to unfold and characters continue to live their lives regardless whether the players choose to engage with them. Things continue to happen in the background. And his assertion is that this is the way to create a world that is interesting for the players. But that if the world goes on without the players, then the world must have reasons to exist besides the enjoyment of the player.
## WHO I'D RECOMMEND IT TO ##
Maybe nobody? Certainly not players. The player guide section is like, here's how to safely loot a chest: poke the chest with a stick, drag the chest with a rope, tip the chest over, hack the BOTTOM of the chest open with a hatchet, stir the coins with a stick, do not handle the coins directly, shovel the coins into a bag with a trowel, put the bag in another bag....
Wow, this is truly deranged advice from a damaged person.
And the DM advice is not a whole lot better: if you're going to add a monster to the woods, you must also add an entire food chain for it, and consider its lair and its feeding and mating habits, and its impact on the local economy...
No dude, sometimes there's just a dragon in the mountains, wow.
On the other hand, this level of detail and paranoia does make it highly entertaining.
My boy Will recommended it
## WHAT I LIKED ABOUT IT ##
The general principles are sound: games are better when they focus on role-playing and story-telling. Campaigns are more fun when the world and its characters are fully realized.
## WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT IT ##
Some of the detailed advice though is highly unreasonable. Who has time to develop an entire ecology and ecosystem for every creature in each cave / dungeon / wilderness, or to create a whole culture, origin, history, and backstory for each NPC? Sometimes "goblin with a funny hat, wants a BIGGER hat" is all you get, and that's more than enough!
## WHAT I WANT TO REMEMBER ##
There are several bits about about "doublethink," in one of which the author discusses how in a story-driven game, events continue to unfold and characters continue to live their lives regardless whether the players choose to engage with them. Things continue to happen in the background. And his assertion is that this is the way to create a world that is interesting for the players. But that if the world goes on without the players, then the world must have reasons to exist besides the enjoyment of the player.
## WHO I'D RECOMMEND IT TO ##
Maybe nobody? Certainly not players. The player guide section is like, here's how to safely loot a chest: poke the chest with a stick, drag the chest with a rope, tip the chest over, hack the BOTTOM of the chest open with a hatchet, stir the coins with a stick, do not handle the coins directly, shovel the coins into a bag with a trowel, put the bag in another bag....
Wow, this is truly deranged advice from a damaged person.
And the DM advice is not a whole lot better: if you're going to add a monster to the woods, you must also add an entire food chain for it, and consider its lair and its feeding and mating habits, and its impact on the local economy...
No dude, sometimes there's just a dragon in the mountains, wow.
On the other hand, this level of detail and paranoia does make it highly entertaining.
May 1, 2011
One of the best and most accessable books on RPG's ever written.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews