Empty Rooms, and what do they mean?

[ExploderWizard]

In a dungeon, does it really make sense that someone built a big room and then did nothing with it? Less so.

Assuming that whoever or whatever built the dungeon is still occupying it certainly.

More dungeons than not IME, have been explored long after thier original creators were gone. Take the old classic abandoned mine for example. Long ago there was a huge central chamber where the largest deposits of ore were found. Flash forward a few hundred years, the ore is all gone, and the mine is now home to nasty creatures who stay out of the light.

That large central chamber might be strewn with cobwebs and dust now. The little nasties that live in the tunnels don't like it because there is too much room for prey to fight effectively. Thus the biggest room in the complex is empty while the constricting smaller tunnels are deadly.

 

[Balsamic Dragon]

I do two kinds of empty rooms:

One is a bunch of empty rooms, with maybe one or two interesting things among them. In that case, there's a reason the area is abandoned, but the party still has the motivation to explore it. I don't have them map and explore each room. Instead, I use skill checks and abilities based on their description of how they are exploring the area. Are they splitting up? Are the buffing before every room? Who can detect secret doors and such? That helps me determine the state of the party when they eventually do discover something interesting, and I don't have to role-play each individual empty room.

If I have a few empty rooms in a mostly inhabited area, I'll do them individually. But story-wise, I like to have something in every room, even if it is just for foreshadowing or mood-setting purposes. Maybe a puddle of frozen water is in the corner of the room. Water has seeped through the wall, and later froze. This could give the party a clue as to the age of the structure and how long this room has been empty. Monsters could leave tracks in a room that they visit, even if they aren't there now. This keeps things relatively realistic, while not wasting the party's time.

 

[Nagol]

Empty rooms are a resource.

For the DM:

• They are places to put touches on the past of the locale -- things overlooked/disregarded by the current inhabitants; things with little intrinsic value that can provide insight and/or moments of interest for engaged players in a setting where the PCs aren't involved in an immediate life or death struggle.
• They provide natural breaks between placed encounters to help limit the amount of danger the PCs can pull at once.
• They increase player uncertainty as to threat level and reduce player's tendency to rely on short-term buffs.
• They allow for the placement of hidden threats that don't scream "I'm the only room without an obvious threat! Check me carefully!"

For the players:

• They allow the players to find tactically advantageous environments that can act as a safer killing field / home territory for the nearby area.
• They provide insight as to original and historical uses for the dungeon. For players of a DM that appreciates their use, this can be pretty handy when trying to decide what areas are likely to have secrets, should have had substantial treasure, and/or help orient the party as to their placement to specific locations in the dungeon.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

I think the traditional guideline about 1/3 of the rooms being empty assumes as certain style of play, with large dungeons that reward a focus on exploration. A high proportion of empty rooms in dungeons makes the most sense for very large "underworld" dungeons, as opposed to more purposeful (and usually smaller) "lair-style" dungeons. In an expansive underworld dungeon, the empty space serves several purposes:

• Empty space in a dungeon gives the PCs room to run, allowing for meaningful evasion and pursuit, including the use of multiple paths and techniques like hold portal, dropping food, dropping treasure, et cetera. It's often said that expert players "know when to run," but the environment needs to be able to support that as a viable tactic.
• The space can act as a buffer between dangerous areas or "territories"
• The space presents a measure of uncertainty to players, as they need to balance their desire to search everything and everywhere with the danger of spending many turns in which they could be attacked by wandering monsters.
• The space offers the benefit of repeat play. A given party of PCs is unlikely to finish or completely explore the large dungeon levels, and the empty rooms offer the DM fertile ground for restocking, changing, and adding features.
• Empty space allows observant PCs who are mapping and paying attention to find ways around dangerous or unwanted encounters.

I talk about this (and other design elements of the dungeon) in my Creating a Mythic Underworld Dungeon article.

 

[the Jester]

Empty rooms are awesome if used right. They often provide clues as to a place's history, the tricks and traps in it, the inhabitants, etc. Even something as simple as a few bones can give clues: what kinds of bones are they? How did they get here? Are they gnawed, are they half-melted, do they show burn marks?

Another thing (in big dungeons, anyway) that's cool about empty rooms is that it gives you more ability to use different factions by acting as a "neutral zone" for them.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Empty rooms are great for providing spots to put well-hidden or very non-standard treasure; clues for the adventure or wider campaign; an interesting reason for being empty; or an obvious mundane functions that keeps it empty. They're also nice for opening up alternate routes for the party (or bad guys) to wander an adventure map, or providing rest areas, fall back positions or ambushes, caches, or whatever for the party to use.

The biggest problem to me is that too many empty rooms can really slow down a session with a paranoid or especially greedy party. I think it's a good idea to have a pre-determined somewhat mechanical way to tell the party "It's empty already, move along!".

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I always put a typewriter and a box for PCs to store items in in empty dungeon rooms. Oh, and no monsters can EVER get in the room, no matter what!

 

[TarionzCousin]

In a dungeon, does it really make sense that someone built a big room and then did nothing with it? Less so.

Unless the current dungeon occupants aren't the original dungeon's designers/builders.

Empty rooms are awesome if used right. They often provide clues as to a place's history, the tricks and traps in it, the inhabitants, etc. Even something as simple as a few bones can give clues: what kinds of bones are they? How did they get here? Are they gnawed, are they half-melted, do they show burn marks?

Another thing (in big dungeons, anyway) that's cool about empty rooms is that it gives you more ability to use different factions by acting as a "neutral zone" for them.

I agree wholeheartedly with this.

I once had a dungeon that the PC's entered in the "middle" through a secret door. None of the factions in the dungeon had discovered the secret door. The PC's exploration eventually lead them to see barricades in hallways. They went deeper and had to run from those monsters--but the monsters stopped at their barricade. The big "empty" area wherein they had found refuge suddenly became creepy and scary, and they started to notice things....

 

[Ed_Laprade]

All of the above are good reasons for having empty rooms in a dungeon. There is one other, however. They answer the age old question: "Why don't all the inhabitants come arunnin' when a fight breaks out?" They're too far away to hear it! (Ok, maybe not, but it works as an excuse once in a while. )

 

[delericho]

Conversely, in 4th edition and Pathfinder, empty rooms are much less common. Pathfinder specifically states to "avoid empty rooms" as they "Clutter the map", whereas 4th edition published adventures very rarely have empty rooms at all (as dungeons are really just strings of encounters).

Two things:

1) In a published adventure, space is necessarily at a premium. The last thing I (as a customer) want is to see the map or, worse, the text cluttered up with empty rooms - if it doesn't add value to the adventure, it should be cut.

However...

2) I do think published adventures have lost something over the years. An adventure should not just be "a string of encounters". Adventures should have meaningful choices, and that includes having multiple paths through - even if that necessarily means skipping some encounters.

Where do you stand on the issue? Do you use a lot of empty rooms? What do you think their role (if any) is in D&D? Does this opinion change depending on what side of the GM screen you are on?

I like empty rooms, used sparingly. Also, very few rooms should be truly empty - there should be some dungeon dressing or something to give the room character. I also don't believe there should be a lot of empty rooms - in many cases I'd have to ask why the neighbouring monsters haven't expanded their territory.

As for the role of empty rooms, I think there are a few. They provide a change of pace. They can give the party some respite. They can offer a sense of versimilitude. They allow the DM to provide some character for his dungeons without inflating XP or treasure budgets.

I haven't spent a lot of time on the player side of the screen, so I can't comment on whether that would change my opinion. I can certainly foresee becoming rather bored if I encountered too many empty rooms in succession.

The biggest problem to me is that too many empty rooms can really slow down a session with a paranoid or especially greedy party. I think it's a good idea to have a pre-determined somewhat mechanical way to tell the party "It's empty already, move along!".

Well, 3e had the "take 20" rule. If a party insisted on lingering for endless searches, I (as DM) would invoke that rule, and thus let them know they'd done a thorough search.

Older editions made heavier use of wandering monsters, which generally didn't carry treasure and were worth little XP (relative to the risk they posed, or the XP from treasure).