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How do YOU design a dungeon?
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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 6217886" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>It depends, firstly, on whether I'm designing for the party or for the world. </p><p></p><p>I almost always design for the world. If I'm designing for the party, the dungeon is tailored to them in terms of approximate level and so on. It also might tie into the party's quests or goals- perhaps the dungeon is where a macguffin is, or maybe it's another outpost of the party's foes.</p><p></p><p>In that case, I define the goal first ("the pcs are here to extract information/kill their arch-foe/steal the key/whatever"), then build toward that.</p><p></p><p>Much more commonly, I'll build a dungeon independent of any party that might go through it. Since my campaign milieu is a longstanding one and a sandbox, none of that work is ever wasted; I can always come back to it years later and use it if the pcs are in the right place. Often, I'll update/revise old dungeons, too- or sometimes tie one into another (especially linking local dungeons to a nearby megadungeon). </p><p></p><p>For instance, right now I'm detailing a megadungeon that's going to be near the next group I start up; that's months away, and who knows what the pcs will be? I don't tailor encounters or treasure in these cases; I build them according to in-world logic.</p><p></p><p>So in this kind of case, I'll first ask either who is running the dungeon these days (if that's the sort of dungeon that it is) or where it came from and who/what has lived there over the decades, centuries or millenia of its existence. I'll often have three or four layers of "these guys lived here" in a place, and sometimes you can put together who they were- but other times, the traces are gone, but it helps me to know. </p><p></p><p>I'll usually work on a map and encounter ideas together; in my current effort, I've been labeling many of the rooms in pencil with names describing their original function even when they are now used for something different or empty and abandoned; it just helps me fill in a lot of the small details. </p><p></p><p>When I fill in the encounters, including traps and tricks, I try to justify everything. Does this monster have a way to eat and drink? Where does it poop? Is it too close to this other monster? I try to have a fair amount of "no monsters, just flavor" areas- I love the whole weird art on the walls, leering carvings, etc. type of thing. </p><p></p><p>I tend to use a lot of vermin/scavenger monsters (oozes, stirges, giant insects, etc) in abandoned dungeons. I like to put in big food sources. I like to make sure my elevator room and stairs from level 1 to level 2 line up right. </p><p></p><p>Sometimes, for especially cool encounters, I'll make custom battlemaps on 1" grid paper I'll print for the purpose.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 6217886, member: 1210"] It depends, firstly, on whether I'm designing for the party or for the world. I almost always design for the world. If I'm designing for the party, the dungeon is tailored to them in terms of approximate level and so on. It also might tie into the party's quests or goals- perhaps the dungeon is where a macguffin is, or maybe it's another outpost of the party's foes. In that case, I define the goal first ("the pcs are here to extract information/kill their arch-foe/steal the key/whatever"), then build toward that. Much more commonly, I'll build a dungeon independent of any party that might go through it. Since my campaign milieu is a longstanding one and a sandbox, none of that work is ever wasted; I can always come back to it years later and use it if the pcs are in the right place. Often, I'll update/revise old dungeons, too- or sometimes tie one into another (especially linking local dungeons to a nearby megadungeon). For instance, right now I'm detailing a megadungeon that's going to be near the next group I start up; that's months away, and who knows what the pcs will be? I don't tailor encounters or treasure in these cases; I build them according to in-world logic. So in this kind of case, I'll first ask either who is running the dungeon these days (if that's the sort of dungeon that it is) or where it came from and who/what has lived there over the decades, centuries or millenia of its existence. I'll often have three or four layers of "these guys lived here" in a place, and sometimes you can put together who they were- but other times, the traces are gone, but it helps me to know. I'll usually work on a map and encounter ideas together; in my current effort, I've been labeling many of the rooms in pencil with names describing their original function even when they are now used for something different or empty and abandoned; it just helps me fill in a lot of the small details. When I fill in the encounters, including traps and tricks, I try to justify everything. Does this monster have a way to eat and drink? Where does it poop? Is it too close to this other monster? I try to have a fair amount of "no monsters, just flavor" areas- I love the whole weird art on the walls, leering carvings, etc. type of thing. I tend to use a lot of vermin/scavenger monsters (oozes, stirges, giant insects, etc) in abandoned dungeons. I like to put in big food sources. I like to make sure my elevator room and stairs from level 1 to level 2 line up right. Sometimes, for especially cool encounters, I'll make custom battlemaps on 1" grid paper I'll print for the purpose. [/QUOTE]
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