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Originally Posted by Sandwich  Also, thinking in terms of 4th edition, should I draw up maps for every possible dungeon, but still keep the actually encounters contained therein random? Or should I just have a few very basic maps that I can reuse (say by turning it upside down for one dungeon as opposed to another or something like that) and just improvise or randomly generate details? |
You should probably design three main kinds of dungeons:
1) Plot dungeons, well-detailed and with solid adventure hooks planted in the settings for the players to find and follow if you wish to. In a sandbox campaign always present the players with more than one choice; if they choose to ignore that particular dungeon, nothing bad happens; you could probably recycle 90% of it (map, monster placement, probably most of the plot) if you change the hook and twist the plot a bit.
2) "Mobile" dungeons, reasonably large but not tied to any given geographical location. Relatively generic dungeons - i.e. "goblin layer", "castle", "haunted catacomb system" and so on would do great in this category; just keep them varied and alter them enough when you recycle them to avoid repetition. Create (or find in published modules/the net/your notes from older campaigns) several of these when you have spare time, but don't place them on the map. These would be used (and placed on the map) when the players are looking for adventure where you haven't planned for. Once placed on the map, of course, they should remain there.
3) Small dungeons, typically lairs, small caves/tombs, and similar affairs, usually with a few rooms and containing a small number of encounters (probably one or two). These would serve to flesh out random wilderness encounters, especially for characters with exploration abilities/skills; instead of just "an ogre emerges from the shrubbery and attacks", you could let the players find an ogre's lair from time to time.
Don't just plan your own dungeons - in addition to crafting your own, also borrow, steal and rip from anywhere you could find them: notes from previous games you've run, published adventures, computer games (especially ones with strategy guides available online), internet sites, even non-fiction books (I once even found a very cool map of a bronze-age copper mine in a high-school chemistry textbook). Some - such as ones from computer games or non-fiction books - would need monster placement, others - from older edition material - would need stat conversion, but each of these sources would make your life easier.
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