As all DMs are well aware of, we have to steal/borrow/reuse things from other genres. We might not label them that way, but we throw in not Infinity Stones, or run a Not Hogwarts, perhaps even run a Not Fairy Tail Guild. I am also guilty of that. Everything has already been done, so you might as well reskin it or combine it with something else to make it seem more unique.
I'm not big on random encounters. I feel as if they distract from the narrative of the campaign if the players are on a werewolf hunt and suddenly get ambushed by goblins. However, if those encounters are designed to fit with the narrative eventually, then use them. Of course, if your players are serial dungeon delvers with a guidemap to the most infamous dungeons in the world, then you'll need something to entertain them with. And, to boot, you can attract the lore-loving players.
Bethesda has a really nice system for dungeons. They don't feel forced, but they let you experience the world while you bash bandits crawling around a fort in Skyrim or shooting up the feral Gary Clones in Fallout. Additionally, Fallout lets you learn of the fate of the vault you are exploring, something that truly heightens my experience with their games. I thought I might narrow down how I feel Bethesda creates their dungeons, and help make dungeons fun/interesting to players. So, with that said, here's a dungeon creation guide the Bethesda Way.
When you want to create a dungeon for your world, consider some questions: 1. Who made it? 2. What happened to the original creator(s)? 3. What was the purpose? 4. What is in there now? 5. What would make your players want to go inside (assuming they're not just hunting for loot)? 6. What kinds of challenges, obstacles, and monsters do you want inside your dungeon? 7. What, and where, is the loot?
Following Bethesda's design, we can make some pretty cool dungeons. I'll use a Fallout experiment esque dungeon I created as an example. Feel free to create your own or even use this one. 1. A group of wizards, seeking the advancement of both knowledge and magic, sought to learn what they could by studying society. These are the Tower Experiments. The towers aren't numbered, but are labeled by a set of three arcane symbols (a school of magic, a beast, and the wizard's initials). We'll say that this is Necromancy, Dog, RCA. 2. The original creator, Rocelli Cakro Amadeus, died within a year of the experiment's design. He was killed as the experiment backfired entirely (see 4). 3. The purpose of this tower was to study the concept of enslavement and racism. The wizard intentionally made ten percent of the occupants (out of 50) old, sickly, and frail. Of course, these folks slowly began to die. The bodies were reanimated as mindless undead. The people were made to believe they were so, but the undead were designed to slowly achieve sentience. 4. Living there now is a society of undead with an enslaved living folk. As you can tell from 3, the undead decided to turn the tables on their masters. 5. Well, in this instance, I intend to have a "friendly" NPC lock them into the tower with all the undead. He doesn't want to get his hands dirty, and if they disappear into the haunted tower then there aren't any questions. Of course, there are rumors of hearing clanging and shoveling underneath the towns. 6. There's about three floors. This tower is in a dwarven area, so there's a fairly large cave underneath the tower. There is a log of the wizard's experiment notes detailing the initial experiment and the results, some of which are torn up and scattered across the dungeon. The top floor, what used to be the wizard's quarters, contains a wight and a few skeletons, and requires a key to enter. The second floor is made of the living quarters and kitchens, which is now filled with skeletons and zombies. The bottom floor is the work space (forge, carpentry tools, ect.), where there are a few skeletons supervising the slaves working. The cave area contains a secret tunnel that the slaves are digging to escape. There are more skeletons here supervising slaves digging mines.
7. As for loot, there's: A chest containing some raw minerals and mining supplies in the cave A chest guarding the secret tunnel (a mimic that the slaves have brokered a deal with in exchange for sacrificing one of their own to him when he hungers) Scattered notes from the wizard Plenty of rations and cooking materials A staff that allows undead to follow your commands (locked away in the wizard's quarters), a few spell scrolls, and some old books and art. There might be a potion or two lying around in the wizard's quarters.
This one isn't really going to have much in terms of traps, but it will either require some pretty heavy combat, slick rolling, or just some good ol' fashioned roleplaying while they try to escape.
Anyway, I hope this helps with future dungeon creation.
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At every session, I say, "Everyone's here, except Waluigi."
What's really fun is that the DMG (starting on page 99) provides almost the exact same framework with random tables to give you a starting point. Using the points that you've provided, and the tables provided in the DMG, it's possible to structure a dungeon with a very robust story behind it.
This, combined with the advice from DMG, is a great help in making your dungeon much more interesting for both players and the DM. I'm currently making a dungeon where my Big Bad Boss is waiting for the PC-group and I noticed I never bothered to answer question 2: what DID happen to the builders of the dungeon? Pondering that I came up with an idea of a cult of a powerful fiend/celestial that was imprisoned and its servants hunted down. Now, If the PC's manage to conquer the dungeon and slay the BBB but fail to either report it to the authorities or otherwise make sure no evildoers return to claim it, maybe the cult returns to the dungeon to research a way to free their deity of its imprisonment.
Thanks for sharing this guide!
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As all DMs are well aware of, we have to steal/borrow/reuse things from other genres. We might not label them that way, but we throw in not Infinity Stones, or run a Not Hogwarts, perhaps even run a Not Fairy Tail Guild. I am also guilty of that. Everything has already been done, so you might as well reskin it or combine it with something else to make it seem more unique.
I'm not big on random encounters. I feel as if they distract from the narrative of the campaign if the players are on a werewolf hunt and suddenly get ambushed by goblins. However, if those encounters are designed to fit with the narrative eventually, then use them. Of course, if your players are serial dungeon delvers with a guidemap to the most infamous dungeons in the world, then you'll need something to entertain them with. And, to boot, you can attract the lore-loving players.
Bethesda has a really nice system for dungeons. They don't feel forced, but they let you experience the world while you bash bandits crawling around a fort in Skyrim or shooting up the feral Gary Clones in Fallout. Additionally, Fallout lets you learn of the fate of the vault you are exploring, something that truly heightens my experience with their games. I thought I might narrow down how I feel Bethesda creates their dungeons, and help make dungeons fun/interesting to players. So, with that said, here's a dungeon creation guide the Bethesda Way.
When you want to create a dungeon for your world, consider some questions:
1. Who made it?
2. What happened to the original creator(s)?
3. What was the purpose?
4. What is in there now?
5. What would make your players want to go inside (assuming they're not just hunting for loot)?
6. What kinds of challenges, obstacles, and monsters do you want inside your dungeon?
7. What, and where, is the loot?
Following Bethesda's design, we can make some pretty cool dungeons. I'll use a Fallout experiment esque dungeon I created as an example. Feel free to create your own or even use this one.
1. A group of wizards, seeking the advancement of both knowledge and magic, sought to learn what they could by studying society. These are the Tower Experiments. The towers aren't numbered, but are labeled by a set of three arcane symbols (a school of magic, a beast, and the wizard's initials). We'll say that this is Necromancy, Dog, RCA.
2. The original creator, Rocelli Cakro Amadeus, died within a year of the experiment's design. He was killed as the experiment backfired entirely (see 4).
3. The purpose of this tower was to study the concept of enslavement and racism. The wizard intentionally made ten percent of the occupants (out of 50) old, sickly, and frail. Of course, these folks slowly began to die. The bodies were reanimated as mindless undead. The people were made to believe they were so, but the undead were designed to slowly achieve sentience.
4. Living there now is a society of undead with an enslaved living folk. As you can tell from 3, the undead decided to turn the tables on their masters.
5. Well, in this instance, I intend to have a "friendly" NPC lock them into the tower with all the undead. He doesn't want to get his hands dirty, and if they disappear into the haunted tower then there aren't any questions. Of course, there are rumors of hearing clanging and shoveling underneath the towns.
6. There's about three floors. This tower is in a dwarven area, so there's a fairly large cave underneath the tower. There is a log of the wizard's experiment notes detailing the initial experiment and the results, some of which are torn up and scattered across the dungeon. The top floor, what used to be the wizard's quarters, contains a wight and a few skeletons, and requires a key to enter. The second floor is made of the living quarters and kitchens, which is now filled with skeletons and zombies. The bottom floor is the work space (forge, carpentry tools, ect.), where there are a few skeletons supervising the slaves working. The cave area contains a secret tunnel that the slaves are digging to escape. There are more skeletons here supervising slaves digging mines.
7. As for loot, there's:
A chest containing some raw minerals and mining supplies in the cave
A chest guarding the secret tunnel (a mimic that the slaves have brokered a deal with in exchange for sacrificing one of their own to him when he hungers)
Scattered notes from the wizard
Plenty of rations and cooking materials
A staff that allows undead to follow your commands (locked away in the wizard's quarters), a few spell scrolls, and some old books and art. There might be a potion or two lying around in the wizard's quarters.
This one isn't really going to have much in terms of traps, but it will either require some pretty heavy combat, slick rolling, or just some good ol' fashioned roleplaying while they try to escape.
Anyway, I hope this helps with future dungeon creation.
At every session, I say, "Everyone's here, except Waluigi."
Quite a nice guideline, thanks!
I would add the following questions:
3.1 Can that purpose be somehow perverted for evil means?
3.2 How did it go originally? Did they fail? Did they succeed? Tying into point 2.
4.1 As time progressed, what happened to the dungeon's interior? Decor, safety measures, traps, leftovers.
4.2 If secured, how did the new population get in there?
4.3 How tied is the new population to their home? Would they defend it to the death of flee?
Let chaos rain... uh, reign!
8. The "end" of the dungeon ALWAYS loops back to the entrance.
What's really fun is that the DMG (starting on page 99) provides almost the exact same framework with random tables to give you a starting point. Using the points that you've provided, and the tables provided in the DMG, it's possible to structure a dungeon with a very robust story behind it.
This, combined with the advice from DMG, is a great help in making your dungeon much more interesting for both players and the DM. I'm currently making a dungeon where my Big Bad Boss is waiting for the PC-group and I noticed I never bothered to answer question 2: what DID happen to the builders of the dungeon? Pondering that I came up with an idea of a cult of a powerful fiend/celestial that was imprisoned and its servants hunted down. Now, If the PC's manage to conquer the dungeon and slay the BBB but fail to either report it to the authorities or otherwise make sure no evildoers return to claim it, maybe the cult returns to the dungeon to research a way to free their deity of its imprisonment.
Thanks for sharing this guide!