BookTenTiger
He / Him
Right now, I want you to make all the organic dungeon jokes you can think of. Um... I'd love to have organic dungeons, but they're more expensive than standard dungeons! Um... organic dungeons... what's next, cage-free dungeons? Um... I prefer my dungeons organic and non-GMO!
Okay, got it out of your system?
First, a little backstory...
I had an experience recently as a player that made me think about a cross-section between verisimilitude and fun. My goblin paladin and the rest of the crew were facing against some kind of animated armor that dropped spider swarms as it got damaged. As more and more swarms popped up, I had the thought, "Surely the adventure wouldn't have encounters we couldn't defeat..."
This made me reflect on what I expect in a session as a player. I realize that I have a subconscious expectation that what we find in a dungeon will be more or less appropriate to our level. Some encounters will be a little more challenging, some a little easier, but overall they should be appropriate challenges to face at whatever level we currently are, or will be reaching soon.
On the one hand, that provides consistent challenges that can generally be overcome. On the other hand, it really does break verisimilitude, and makes me a bit lazy in my combat strategies.
I'm between running campaigns myself, but in my next campaign I want to design more organic dungeons.
More Organic Dungeons
What I mean by this is that I want my dungeons, and the world in general, to feel more lived-in. If it would make sense for a Hill Giant to live in the area, I think there should be a Hill Giant, no matter the level I expect characters to be when they wander through. At the same time, if the lair of the ancient red dragon would have CR 1/2 Myconids living in it, I want there to be Myconids, even if they can be stepped on by the characters.
I want my players to feel like whatever is lurking behind that dungeon door is there because it makes sense in the world, not necessarily just because of their level!
As a DM, it would be fun to design dungeons and other settings in which the monstrous inhabitants tell a story. For example, if I am designing the Webwoods, a forest of dead trees and web-walled labyrinths, I'm going to be occupying it with giant spiders (CR 1), spider swarms (CR 1/2), and ettercaps (CR 2). But it might make sense that the woods were cursed when a Drow Arachnomancer (CR 13), exiled from the underdark, made her home here. And it would also make sense that the Arachnomancer would have some Drider (CR 6) guards!
So is the Webwood a low-level zone, meant for early adventurers to whom giant spiders at ettercaps are challenges? Is it a mid-level zone, where they will face swarms of giant spiders, spider-swarms, and a couple driders? Or is it a high-level zone, where giant spiders will flee, and the characters will face the Arachnomancer?
I'm not sure!
Communicating Challenge Levels to the Players
I find a lot of the time the way I design settings communicates a certain level of challenge to the players. For example, characters might start in a Hub Town. The areas near the town are usually filled with low-level encounters, and challenges become more deadly the further characters wander from the Hub.
Or I might drop a big mysterious temple near a village that's supposed to be a high-level danger zone. I will set up guardians or encounters outside the temple that are very challenging, communicating implicitly that whatever is in the temple will be as (or even more) of a challenge.
One of the dangers of more organic dungeons is that the implicit expectations communicated by adventure design get thrown out the window. In other words, a 1st-Level Character wandering through their first dungeon might encounter something super deadly, like a Behir (CR 11), if it makes sense. Players unfamiliar with Behirs might assume that this is an appropriate challenge for their characters, and then watch helplessly as they get restricted and swallowed whole. Yum.
I predict that a lot more communication has to happen in an organic dungeon. If such a dungeon contains extra super deadly encounters, there should be skulls littering the hallways, warnings written in blood on the walls, rumors and legends told in town. Characters with high Passive Perception should be hearing the breathing of a huge beast from many rooms away. There should be a smell of static in the air, or an unnerving lack of other natural predators. By the time the characters encounter something far above their level, they should already have encountered many warning signs.
Relying on the Exploration Pillar
Perhaps one way to design organic dungeons is to really push exploration as a goal, rather than purely combat. If players think they're expected to kill all the bad guys in a dungeon, they may be confused when encountering something above their level. On the other hand, if the goal is to find the Platinum Medallion of Royalty, and it's hanging on a chain around the neck of a Mummy Lord (CR 15), now things can get interesting. Heat Metal, anyone?
Organic dungeons would also be really good for multiple delves! The players will remember that there's an Adult Black Dragon (CR 14) sitting on a huge pile of treasure in that very first dungeon they explored at 1st Level, and when they've leveled up they can return and have some fun!
So what do you think? Do you design your settings to be organic, or level-appropriate? What are the challenges of creating or using more organic dungeons? What are some of the dangers? Do you think players would enjoy it, or does it breach the contract of player-DM trust?
Okay, got it out of your system?
First, a little backstory...
I had an experience recently as a player that made me think about a cross-section between verisimilitude and fun. My goblin paladin and the rest of the crew were facing against some kind of animated armor that dropped spider swarms as it got damaged. As more and more swarms popped up, I had the thought, "Surely the adventure wouldn't have encounters we couldn't defeat..."
This made me reflect on what I expect in a session as a player. I realize that I have a subconscious expectation that what we find in a dungeon will be more or less appropriate to our level. Some encounters will be a little more challenging, some a little easier, but overall they should be appropriate challenges to face at whatever level we currently are, or will be reaching soon.
On the one hand, that provides consistent challenges that can generally be overcome. On the other hand, it really does break verisimilitude, and makes me a bit lazy in my combat strategies.
I'm between running campaigns myself, but in my next campaign I want to design more organic dungeons.
More Organic Dungeons
What I mean by this is that I want my dungeons, and the world in general, to feel more lived-in. If it would make sense for a Hill Giant to live in the area, I think there should be a Hill Giant, no matter the level I expect characters to be when they wander through. At the same time, if the lair of the ancient red dragon would have CR 1/2 Myconids living in it, I want there to be Myconids, even if they can be stepped on by the characters.
I want my players to feel like whatever is lurking behind that dungeon door is there because it makes sense in the world, not necessarily just because of their level!
As a DM, it would be fun to design dungeons and other settings in which the monstrous inhabitants tell a story. For example, if I am designing the Webwoods, a forest of dead trees and web-walled labyrinths, I'm going to be occupying it with giant spiders (CR 1), spider swarms (CR 1/2), and ettercaps (CR 2). But it might make sense that the woods were cursed when a Drow Arachnomancer (CR 13), exiled from the underdark, made her home here. And it would also make sense that the Arachnomancer would have some Drider (CR 6) guards!
So is the Webwood a low-level zone, meant for early adventurers to whom giant spiders at ettercaps are challenges? Is it a mid-level zone, where they will face swarms of giant spiders, spider-swarms, and a couple driders? Or is it a high-level zone, where giant spiders will flee, and the characters will face the Arachnomancer?
I'm not sure!
Communicating Challenge Levels to the Players
I find a lot of the time the way I design settings communicates a certain level of challenge to the players. For example, characters might start in a Hub Town. The areas near the town are usually filled with low-level encounters, and challenges become more deadly the further characters wander from the Hub.
Or I might drop a big mysterious temple near a village that's supposed to be a high-level danger zone. I will set up guardians or encounters outside the temple that are very challenging, communicating implicitly that whatever is in the temple will be as (or even more) of a challenge.
One of the dangers of more organic dungeons is that the implicit expectations communicated by adventure design get thrown out the window. In other words, a 1st-Level Character wandering through their first dungeon might encounter something super deadly, like a Behir (CR 11), if it makes sense. Players unfamiliar with Behirs might assume that this is an appropriate challenge for their characters, and then watch helplessly as they get restricted and swallowed whole. Yum.
I predict that a lot more communication has to happen in an organic dungeon. If such a dungeon contains extra super deadly encounters, there should be skulls littering the hallways, warnings written in blood on the walls, rumors and legends told in town. Characters with high Passive Perception should be hearing the breathing of a huge beast from many rooms away. There should be a smell of static in the air, or an unnerving lack of other natural predators. By the time the characters encounter something far above their level, they should already have encountered many warning signs.
Relying on the Exploration Pillar
Perhaps one way to design organic dungeons is to really push exploration as a goal, rather than purely combat. If players think they're expected to kill all the bad guys in a dungeon, they may be confused when encountering something above their level. On the other hand, if the goal is to find the Platinum Medallion of Royalty, and it's hanging on a chain around the neck of a Mummy Lord (CR 15), now things can get interesting. Heat Metal, anyone?
Organic dungeons would also be really good for multiple delves! The players will remember that there's an Adult Black Dragon (CR 14) sitting on a huge pile of treasure in that very first dungeon they explored at 1st Level, and when they've leveled up they can return and have some fun!
So what do you think? Do you design your settings to be organic, or level-appropriate? What are the challenges of creating or using more organic dungeons? What are some of the dangers? Do you think players would enjoy it, or does it breach the contract of player-DM trust?
