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First time making a "serious" dungeon! How do you do it?
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<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7016485" data-attributes="member: 20323"><p>Haha, par for the course for me. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Totally. Where necessary, I'll sacrifice in favor of playability. </p><p></p><p>To be fair, there is another fortress (Krak al-Niraan, from <em>A Dozen and One Adventures</em>) the PCs are likely to encounter, which is much more of a military fortress with overwhelming strength of arms, lookouts, ballistae, ramparts, etc. With that one, I'm expecting lateral thinking from the PCs... for example, they might try to undermine the coalition of monstrous humanoids comprising the mercenary army... or they might try to sneak in using stealth/magic (in which case I may use a homebrew supplement I found called <em>Strongholds & Sentinels</em> to deal with stages of raising an alarm, rather than the alarm being raised all at once). That said, there is the opportunity for some really epic combat, if that's the route they choose or end up in.</p><p></p><p>So for my current project – Krak al-Mazhar – I'm aiming for something different than that fortress...</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It dates back to a very old civilization (~1,000 years), founded by mystics who were corrupted into becoming the Brotherhood of True Flame</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sulfur mines are source of revenue for the Brotherhood, operated by their slaves</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Arcane tutelage of Shig'harakh (lesser flame mages)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Indoctrination of Flamedeath holy slayers</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Meeting place for several powerful leaders/mages on the Council of Beys </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Spell research</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Expeditions through a portal to the Plane of Fire</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Reception hall for efreeti ambassadors/messengers</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Lava tubes and caverns amidst the caldera hide secrets</li> </ul><p></p><p>So it's a <strong>bunch</strong> of things rolled into one: Corrupted Sacred Site, Fortress, Mine, "University", "Embassy", Planar Gate, and "Wizard's Tower."</p><p></p><p></p><p>Yeah, I noticed that with the fortress in <em>A Dozen and One Adventures</em>. Great verisimilitude down to the latrines and arrowslits, but iffy playability.</p><p></p><p>My initial list of areas in Krak al-Mazhar during my brainstorming was...</p><p></p><p>Alchemy Lab</p><p>Barracks, Flamedeath</p><p>Barracks, Imperishable Mamluks</p><p>Crematorium</p><p>Dungeon</p><p>Great Garden</p><p>Infernal Hall</p><p>Initiation Chamber</p><p>Kitchens</p><p>Library</p><p>Phoenix Egg Chamber (?)</p><p>Portal of Fire</p><p>Quarters, Shig’harakh</p><p>Quarters, Slave</p><p>Shrine to Kossuth</p><p>Summoning Chamber</p><p>Teleportation Circle</p><p>Training Grounds</p><p>Treasure Vault</p><p>Tower of the Bonfire</p><p></p><p></p><p>My approach has been the same as with my adventure writing – I want to provide multiple angles of approach for the PCs, literally in terms of different entrance options, but also figuratively in terms of whether they want to try a guerrilla warfare approach, field a small army of their own, blitzkrieg the dungeon, infiltrate the Brotherhood undercover, sneak in, etc.</p><p></p><p>The Brotherhood isn't a monolithic entity; due to the self-serving and tempestuous nature of the flame mages, there are often splinter groups branching off (according to AL-QADIM lore). It's sort of the nature of fire – it sends sparks out because maintaining a consistent flame is really difficult. While loyalist supporters of the leader (the Bonfire) are strongest in Krak al-Mazhar, there are other factions within the Brotherhood in play...</p><p></p><p>I have written up 4 of these so far:</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong><em>The Scarabythra:</em></strong> Transmuters and diabolists seeking to create new forms of fire-resistant life in preparation for the “great convergence” with the Plane of Fire.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong><em>Tenth Circle / Cult of the Red Bull:</em></strong> Pyromaniacal followers of Imix stricken with a terrible curse.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong><em>Knights of the Fire Drake:</em></strong> Followers of the prophesied “Fire Drake” avatar of Kossuth, waging holy war against sea mages and marids against the Bonfire’s orders.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"><strong><em>The Illuminated:</em></strong> False messiahs reprogramming victims with “holy” visions on the Plane of Fire then sending them forth as agents. (from the PLANESCAPE adventure <em>The Eternal Boundary</em>)</li> </ol><p></p><p>EDIT: And warming up my map-making skills which have lain dormant...</p><p></p><p>[SBLOCK=Quick Dungeon Painter map based on a 3-D model]</p><p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/ApCj705.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p>[/SBLOCK]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 7016485, member: 20323"] Haha, par for the course for me. :) Totally. Where necessary, I'll sacrifice in favor of playability. To be fair, there is another fortress (Krak al-Niraan, from [I]A Dozen and One Adventures[/I]) the PCs are likely to encounter, which is much more of a military fortress with overwhelming strength of arms, lookouts, ballistae, ramparts, etc. With that one, I'm expecting lateral thinking from the PCs... for example, they might try to undermine the coalition of monstrous humanoids comprising the mercenary army... or they might try to sneak in using stealth/magic (in which case I may use a homebrew supplement I found called [I]Strongholds & Sentinels[/I] to deal with stages of raising an alarm, rather than the alarm being raised all at once). That said, there is the opportunity for some really epic combat, if that's the route they choose or end up in. So for my current project – Krak al-Mazhar – I'm aiming for something different than that fortress... [list][*]It dates back to a very old civilization (~1,000 years), founded by mystics who were corrupted into becoming the Brotherhood of True Flame [*]Sulfur mines are source of revenue for the Brotherhood, operated by their slaves [*]Arcane tutelage of Shig'harakh (lesser flame mages) [*]Indoctrination of Flamedeath holy slayers [*]Meeting place for several powerful leaders/mages on the Council of Beys [*]Spell research [*]Expeditions through a portal to the Plane of Fire [*]Reception hall for efreeti ambassadors/messengers [*]Lava tubes and caverns amidst the caldera hide secrets[/list] So it's a [B]bunch[/B] of things rolled into one: Corrupted Sacred Site, Fortress, Mine, "University", "Embassy", Planar Gate, and "Wizard's Tower." Yeah, I noticed that with the fortress in [I]A Dozen and One Adventures[/I]. Great verisimilitude down to the latrines and arrowslits, but iffy playability. My initial list of areas in Krak al-Mazhar during my brainstorming was... Alchemy Lab Barracks, Flamedeath Barracks, Imperishable Mamluks Crematorium Dungeon Great Garden Infernal Hall Initiation Chamber Kitchens Library Phoenix Egg Chamber (?) Portal of Fire Quarters, Shig’harakh Quarters, Slave Shrine to Kossuth Summoning Chamber Teleportation Circle Training Grounds Treasure Vault Tower of the Bonfire My approach has been the same as with my adventure writing – I want to provide multiple angles of approach for the PCs, literally in terms of different entrance options, but also figuratively in terms of whether they want to try a guerrilla warfare approach, field a small army of their own, blitzkrieg the dungeon, infiltrate the Brotherhood undercover, sneak in, etc. The Brotherhood isn't a monolithic entity; due to the self-serving and tempestuous nature of the flame mages, there are often splinter groups branching off (according to AL-QADIM lore). It's sort of the nature of fire – it sends sparks out because maintaining a consistent flame is really difficult. While loyalist supporters of the leader (the Bonfire) are strongest in Krak al-Mazhar, there are other factions within the Brotherhood in play... I have written up 4 of these so far: [list=1][*][B][I]The Scarabythra:[/I][/B] Transmuters and diabolists seeking to create new forms of fire-resistant life in preparation for the “great convergence” with the Plane of Fire. [*][B][I]Tenth Circle / Cult of the Red Bull:[/I][/B] Pyromaniacal followers of Imix stricken with a terrible curse. [*][B][I]Knights of the Fire Drake:[/I][/B] Followers of the prophesied “Fire Drake” avatar of Kossuth, waging holy war against sea mages and marids against the Bonfire’s orders. [*][B][I]The Illuminated:[/I][/B] False messiahs reprogramming victims with “holy” visions on the Plane of Fire then sending them forth as agents. (from the PLANESCAPE adventure [I]The Eternal Boundary[/I])[/list] EDIT: And warming up my map-making skills which have lain dormant... [SBLOCK=Quick Dungeon Painter map based on a 3-D model] [img]http://i.imgur.com/ApCj705.png[/img] [/SBLOCK] [/QUOTE]
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