My first successfully(and sadly currently the ONLY) created dungeon was a haunted orphanage. It was built by a kindly woman who wanted to give orphaned children a home, but she lacked the money to pay for it. But one day, a mysterious man gave her the fundings needed to pay for the oprhanage. But unbeknownst to her, the man was a necromancer, and he and his cult were secretly using the orphanage as a front for their cult. When the cops caught wind of this, the necromancers fled, leaving the caretaker and oprhaned children to be wrongfully accused, convicted, and burned at the stake for witchcraft. The necromancers magic however, still remains in the orphanage, along with some skeletons and zombies. Additionally, the souls of the caretaker and children are now trapped in the orphanage. They can only move on if someone finds and kills the necromancers who damned them.
It would have been a BECMI thing in the early 80’s. One of those monster hotel-type dungeons where’s there’s skeletons in one room and orcs down the hall, and they don’t bother each other because it never occurred to us that they would. And random traps in hallways that protect nothing, and whoever set them surely want coming around to re-set them, which means that somehow neither the orcs nor the skeletons tripped them. But dang it, there was treasure in there, and the players were going to get it or die trying. Mostly, die trying.
That was back in AD&D. Best recollection I went with the well-worn trope of a temple for some kobold or goblin deity at the very end of their underground lair. Traps were keyed to intruders taller and or heavier than the gobbolds. Probably 6-7 rooms total, all interconnected except the temple, and the great prize at the end was some kind of relic the high priest was trying to corrupt. If memory serves I was a bit more forgiving with my design than comparable modules from other DMs or official publications.
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I had always just used pre-made maps until I ran my friends through a villainous one-shot, so the first dungeon I created from scratch was essentially the basement of a fort that the characters had to navigate. It was mostly traps, but the one-shot was mostly played for laughs, so it included a fight against some Power Rangers knockoffs, and a security system where players had to prove they were "good" by answering a very obvious questionnaire about things like "are drugs good" or "should you talk to strangers"?
My first successfully(and sadly currently the ONLY) created dungeon was a haunted orphanage. It was built by a kindly woman who wanted to give orphaned children a home, but she lacked the money to pay for it. But one day, a mysterious man gave her the fundings needed to pay for the oprhanage. But unbeknownst to her, the man was a necromancer, and he and his cult were secretly using the orphanage as a front for their cult. When the cops caught wind of this, the necromancers fled, leaving the caretaker and oprhaned children to be wrongfully accused, convicted, and burned at the stake for witchcraft. The necromancers magic however, still remains in the orphanage, along with some skeletons and zombies. Additionally, the souls of the caretaker and children are now trapped in the orphanage. They can only move on if someone finds and kills the necromancers who damned them.
Here's the dungeon layout.
It would have been a BECMI thing in the early 80’s. One of those monster hotel-type dungeons where’s there’s skeletons in one room and orcs down the hall, and they don’t bother each other because it never occurred to us that they would. And random traps in hallways that protect nothing, and whoever set them surely want coming around to re-set them, which means that somehow neither the orcs nor the skeletons tripped them. But dang it, there was treasure in there, and the players were going to get it or die trying. Mostly, die trying.
That was back in AD&D. Best recollection I went with the well-worn trope of a temple for some kobold or goblin deity at the very end of their underground lair. Traps were keyed to intruders taller and or heavier than the gobbolds. Probably 6-7 rooms total, all interconnected except the temple, and the great prize at the end was some kind of relic the high priest was trying to corrupt. If memory serves I was a bit more forgiving with my design than comparable modules from other DMs or official publications.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
I had always just used pre-made maps until I ran my friends through a villainous one-shot, so the first dungeon I created from scratch was essentially the basement of a fort that the characters had to navigate. It was mostly traps, but the one-shot was mostly played for laughs, so it included a fight against some Power Rangers knockoffs, and a security system where players had to prove they were "good" by answering a very obvious questionnaire about things like "are drugs good" or "should you talk to strangers"?
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thanks to donjon, I made this massive catacomb system with 100 rooms
Everything is true, but not all is canon.
Everything is canon, but not all is true.