Markdown conventions for Cairn modules
This is a style-guide for drafting adventure modules in a similar style to the Cairn Adventure Series which itself is a simplified flavor of the OSE "bullet dungeon" mixed with general Into the Odd and other OSR conventions.
- Loot the Room's Form and Structure: The DNA of Adventure Modules is a great deep-dive into styles including OSE.
- DIY & dragons' Landmark, Hidden, Secret is cited in Beyond the Pale as an influence on the Cairn style.
- Joseph R. Lewis' Dungeon Age Adventures are also great examples.
Why this matters: Having a set of conventions makes it possible to build publishing tools and linters. It's much easier (and cheaper) to be able to whip-up an adventure with markdown compared to a full design tool like Affinity Publisher or Adobe InDeesign.
- A publishing tool can parse markdown and use the conventions to "understand" what each section about.
- Transforming markdown to HTML and using the @page CSS spec lets us build a HTML document that can be saved as a PDF with nice layout (e.g. A5 two-column).
- Separating the content from the presentation is good practice, especially if collaborating.
# Module title
A brief introduction.
## Warden information
This is a good place to include factions or backstory sections that the warden can use to embody your world.
## The spooky dungeon
### Encounters
| d6 | Encounter |
| -- | --------- |
| 1 | Spooky |
| 2 | Scary |
| 3 | Skeletons |
| 4 | Shivers |
| 5 | Down |
| 6 | Spine |
### D1. First keyed location
A short description of the location, with important **things** bolded. Elaborations on these bolded **items** and any **hidden** or additional information about them will be included in the **list** below. This all sounds good.
- **Things:** An unordered list with the key terms bolded above is used to provide additional details.
- **Items:** Each list item should begin with the bolded term followed by a colon and the description.
- **Hidden:** Some items have hidden information that is described in nested line items under the term.
- These items don't need a prefixed bold term, they're assumed to be relevant to the parent item.
- The information doesn't necessarily need to be "hidden" information and might just be elaborations.
- **List:** After a term with additional details the list continues as usual.
## Stats
### Example skeleton
_5 HP, 1 Armor, 8 STR, 13 DEX, 2 WIL, sword (d6)_
A quick, one-sentence-ish, description of the character or monster.
- Additional specific details about the creature behavior, lore, or mechanics.
- Frequently found serving a master or necromancer, often in groups of 3 or more.
- If a skeleton is killed and its bones are not scattered, it reforms.