Adding spice to the dungeon crawl

[Breakstone]

I hate to say this, but could my players please stay out of this thread? I'd hate to ruin any surprises for the future of my campaign. Thank you!

Now, onto the real topic:


If everything goes to plan, my next campaign is going to be pretty dungeon-heavy. There's going to be the classic dungeon feel- the monster-filled catacombs, the deadly traps, the mind-bending puzzles- but I know it needs spice to keep in from a boring "kill the monsters, take the treasure, onto the next room..." sort of drawl.

So I was pondering a few ways in which to spice it up, and I came up with the following:

Rivalries: Throwing another adventuring party into the mix could add a rivalry between the two groups. When the Demonbane Blade has already been won by the Knights of the Oakenbarrel Tavern, it'll add another reason to get to the Heavenforged Hammer first.

Mysteries: Calling back upon Gary Gygax's original Great Stone Face and Running Jewel Man, I've been pondering a few mysteries to place into my dungeons as well. Archaic passages chiseled into dungeon walls, translateable only through books found throughout the dungeon should peak the characters' curiousities, especially if the passages give away secrets about the dungeon's past and where certain treasures can be found. A race of mysterious gray-cloaked flute players who seem to keep the dungeon neat and clean could add another reason to journey deeper and deeper.

Recruitment: Instead of journeying into the dungeon with a vow to kill all undead, the characters could be on a mission to build an army. Why kill the minotaur when he can be used to knock down those pesky locked doors; why slay the mimic when he can keep guard over your treasure? Although other adventuring groups and villains may get the same idea!

How about you, folks? How do you add spice to your dungeons?

 

[Voadam]

One nice touch is to have the layout of a dungeon be in a pentagram, as the party maps they create a sigil that if brought into an extradimensional prison area, well the map erupts into flames and bad things pop up.

When they enter the room ask who is carrying the map.

Have the layouts of different levels make different arcane symbols. Or letter shaped rooms that spell something out.

Mapping can be fun.

 

[d20Dwarf]

the Mysteries section above is good. Have areas that the PCs can't figure out or defeat, and just when they've forgotten about them, throw them another clue and watch them walk, nay RUN!, back to the old site and try to piece together what they know. If they don't leave everything behind them dead and looted, they will come to feel more at home in the dungeons and add depth to the world.

Don't forget to vary your fighting locations greatly. Have one fight in the middle of a stone bridge spanning a chasm, have slick moss cover the ground of a room, aquatic battles, lava caverns....use everything at your disposal to make every battle memorable.

Have recurring monsters that may or may not be hazardous to the PCs' health. Think Gollum from Lord of the Rings. A choker makes a great Gollum figure for a dungeon, and it could have a personality about it that makes the PCs want to let it live, especially if it doesn't attack them. This can be a mystery too...how does a Choker know Common, and why is it telling us about that secret passage?

Ok, I better get back to work on my mega-dungeon for Dire Kobold before I give all my secrets away.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I favor cumin and cayenne pepper, myself.

Rivalries with other parties are great -- especially if some are in competition, some in cooperation, some directly opposed.

Recurring villains are a must ... the party get's a glimpse of the BBEG, and gradually lerarns mroe and more about him, with minor encounters before getting a chance to take him out.

Lots of rumors & legends. Let them hear about the mysterious fountain on level 3, or the black mouth that eats adventurers whole, and things like that. Occasionally make some of them true.

Play against their metagame tendencies. Set things up so that they expect one thing, and get another (did this with a "wight" wolf in my last gaming session). Gas spores are great for this. Other things not as they appear -- the good necromancer, the evil knightly hero.

Consider pacing of the dungeon carefully. Break up the monotony of searching areas/killing monsters with some encounters designed specifically for roleplay: perhaps a band of deep dwarves has established a stronghold in a part of the dungeon, where the party can rest & recuperate, and maybe trade fro goods -- provided they do some favors first to prove themselves.

Teach them early that the answer to everything isn't to fraw swords. Some set piece encounters over their heads can be good for this -- they should learn to run early & often, so they can go back, plan, and return to defeat whatever it is.

In a very long campaign, occasionally throw in strange, quirky things that break up the monotony (like Dungeonland/Land Beyond the Magic Mirror in the original Castle Greyhawk campaign, if you're familiar with that).

Break up environments -- caves, catacombs, polished dungeons, lava pits, underdark mushroom forests, deep earth oceans, whatever.