D&D General Best dungeons?

[TiQuinn]

I notice there's no mention of Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. And I agree as written it doesn't rank among the best. However we've been adventuring in it for 2 years now in one game, and with the right tweaking (by our excellent DM) it really rocks.

I second this. I really liked how they themed each level but still made them feel part of a greater whole.

 

[Mistwell]

My thoughts before I got to @Mistwell post and now emphasizing it, IMO the DM matters much more than the written/drawn dungeon. And then the players can turn a good dungeon into a bad campaign or with a good DM a poor dungeon in a great campaign.

I'd say somewhere around 75% of what makes a great dungeon is the DM and players.

Accounting for the play group, I would say Undermountain, but a version heavily developed from what has ever been published. UM as published has never been more than a rough toolkit (2e) or a mediocre reenvisioning (DotMM/5E).

Ignoring the play group, since we can't really account for that, I actually liked Against the Slave Lords. You know, the part where you are thrown in the dungeon with no supplies etc. Sure, all sort of possible complaints about agency etc. But it had all the elements for me for a lot of fun (exploration, danger, creative challenges, meaningful choices). At least if I remember it correctly!

I agree and thought of it after my post that the "thrown in the dungeon" module of the A series is one of my favorites. I think about that with 5e, and I wonder how I'd run it given cantrips would really mess with the adventure.

 

[Mistwell]

Boy you must have a truly excellent DM. I can't stand that dungeon.

He's good but it's still mostly the same dungeon. He just ties so many NPCs into a series of overarching themes which tie into Waterdeep itself.

For example, everlasting night was created over waterdeep by something in this dungeon. It's going to slowly kill the city due to crop failure and such, unless we can find the Villain and artifact they are using, and destroy it or at least turn it off.

To achieve this, the mage's guild in Waterdeep is working with us, gave us some sending stones to communicate once a day, working with a temple to give us one divination a day.

We're slowly gathering information on what level this artifact might be located on, and one clue led us to part of that information is with some vampires on another level. We needed to find them, but eventually found their enemies, who led us to them in exchange for taking care of a minor problem of theirs.

And this is how the whole dungeon had gone. We're not just randomly exploring, but each level is tied to a larger mission of some sort. We have allies on some levels, enemies on others.

Xanathar will be trouble because we killed his goldfish in Waterdeep.

We set some mechanical beings free in Waterdeep and now they've taken over a level down here somewhere and the local residents are in a battle with them.

We accidentally set fire to a druid's trees on another level while chasing other baddies, and now she despises us though she has information we need for another quest and we need to find a way to persuade her to not want to kill us every time she spots us. Everything has more structure and meaning because our DM spent time tweaking things.

We're also trying to turn the miniature castle into a bastion with a teleportation circle to our other bastion, a bar, we own and renovated in Waterdeep.

 

[Zardnaar]

I ran the original Caverns of Thracia several times back in the AD&D days and as mega-dungeons go, it's quite good. The many levels are interconnected in unexpected ways and it's rare for two runs to go exactly the same way. You can easily run a whole campaign there. I bought the 3e conversion when it came out, and I may do the same when Goodman Games puts out their 5e version.

I'm running Forge of Fury (the 5e version from Tales from the Yawning Portal) right now, in fact my group just began their third visit to the dungeon earlier today. I agree with all of Evaniel's points above. The roper fight was a big surprise that almost killed a PC, and the duergar encounter turned into a roleplaying opportunity that I used to preview the presence of the dragon. I like how each time you think you've found all there is to find, suddenly there's a whole other level with different kinds of threats. Plus as others have noted, it makes sense from a dungeon ecology standpoint.

I haven't actually run it, just used it for inspiration, but I have a fondness for the adventure "Tallow's Deep" in Dungeon magazine #18. Lots of creative traps, and makes your players take goblins seriously as a threat.

Run tallows deep twice in last decade or so. Once for 5E and once OSR.

It's basically tuckers kobokds at 5th level.

 

[Burnside]

He's good but it's still mostly the same dungeon. He just ties so many NPCs into a series of overarching themes which tie into Waterdeep itself.

For example, everlasting night was created over waterdeep by something in this dungeon. It's going to slowly kill the city due to crop failure and such, unless we can find the Villain and artifact they are using, and destroy it or at least turn it off.

To achieve this, the mage's guild in Waterdeep is working with us, gave us some sending stones to communicate once a day, working with a temple to give us one divination a day.

We're slowly gathering information on what level this artifact might be located on, and one clue led us to part of that information is with some vampires on another level. We needed to find them, but eventually found their enemies, who led us to them in exchange for taking care of a minor problem of theirs.

And this is how the whole dungeon had gone. We're not just randomly exploring, but each level is tied to a larger mission of some sort. We have allies on some levels, enemies on others.

Xanathar will be trouble because we killed his goldfish in Waterdeep.

We set some mechanical beings free in Waterdeep and now they've taken over a level down here somewhere and the local residents are in a battle with them.

We accidentally set fire to a druid's trees on another level while chasing other baddies, and now she despises us though she has information we need for another quest and we need to find a way to persuade her to not want to kill us every time she spots us. Everything has more structure and meaning because our DM spent time tweaking things.

We're also trying to turn the miniature castle into a bastion with a teleportation circle to our other bastion, a bar, we own and renovated in Waterdeep.

I do think that what your DM, and others, have done is essential to making DoMM work.

As published, the book falls short on this. It's a great location, or series of locations. There are some suggested "missions" but they're paper thin. I realize it's an enormous book already, but a chapter devoted entirely to well-developed possible missions/quests/goals for entering Undermountain would have greatly enhanced that book. As it is, it is VERY reliant on the DM to breath life into it.

I'd also argue that, even with a great DM...it's just too long to really play the whole dungeon.

 

[Mistwell]

I do think that what your DM, and others, have done is essential to making DoMM work.

As published, the book falls short on this. It's a great location, or series of locations. There are some suggested "missions" but they're paper thin. I realize it's an enormous book already, but a chapter devoted entirely to well-developed possible missions/quests/goals for entering Undermountain would have greatly enhanced that book. As it is, it is VERY reliant on the DM to breath life into it.

I'd also argue that, even with a great DM...it's just too long to really play the whole dungeon.

Well, we're going to try to do the whole dungeon. We're entering year three in real life. It's going pretty well. But agreed, it's massive.

We had this issue with the 3e version of Elemental Evil. It was so big we spent years trying to beat it, and just couldn't make enough progress. We'd clear an entire quarter, retreat for rest, and return to find it was re-conquered. Over and over, battle after battle, it became so difficult to make progress in that adventure. I think we ended as we'd finally found a bridge to the inner dungeon (s).

 

[John R Davis]

The classic Starstone from 1982? Has a couple of excellent dungeons

Also have great memories of Silver Princess, Castle Amber and Rahasia having good social dungeons

 

[TiQuinn]

The classic Starstone from 1982? Has a couple of excellent dungeons

Also have great memories of Silver Princess, Castle Amber and Rahasia having good social dungeons

Love Rahasia and wish more people knew about that one.

 

[Shadowdweller00]

I think Forge of Fury and Lost Shrine of Tamoachan were pretty good. And the original Tomb of Horrors (under the right circumstances). It's been decades but I remember liking Castle Greyhawk.

I never did understand the love for the Sunless Citadel though - thought that one was boring.

 

[Shadowdweller00]

We had this issue with the 3e version of Elemental Evil. It was so big we spent years trying to beat it, and just couldn't make enough progress. We'd clear an entire quarter, retreat for rest, and return to find it was re-conquered. Over and over, battle after battle, it became so difficult to make progress in that adventure. I think we ended as we'd finally found a bridge to the inner dungeon (s).

The Crater Ridge mines really weren't intended to be fully cleared IMO. I like...the occasional targeted foray into a mega-dungeon. But as a major campaign focus or feature I find they get pretty tedious.