D&D Iconic Adventure Site Tropes

[Remathilis]

D&D is known for its settings and adventures, but so many of them seem similar. What I'm aiming to do is compile a list of the "Iconic" adventure settings. I'm not looking for specifics (the Tomb of Horrors), I'm looking for the Trope/Meme of the adventure (Trap-filled tomb).

So far, I have...

* The Abandoned Mine: Monsters have taken over a mine and the local mining community wants them out. ALT: Dwarven miners dug too deep and released monsters from far below.
* The Haunted House: Some ghostly/Undead monsters dwell in a long forgotten former residence, doomed to stay there until they are destroyed/set free.
* The City of the Underworld: A underground race (drow usually) has built an elaborate city which is an evil reflection of the above world cities, and the adventurers must travel the underdark to get there.
* The Fallen Keep: A former castle/keep/ruin of some sort is infested with monsters who are squatting there.
* The Ogre's Lair: A cave or subterranean complex is home of local monsters controlled by a single bigger monster whose ordered them to raid local villages.
* The Lost Isle: A uncharted or unexplored island holds fabulous treasure, but exotic, unknown creatures
* The Dark City: A city has grown so large it cannot help but be corrupted and unsafe; full of espionage and thieves and dark dealings or worse.
* The Dragon's Lair: A dragon (or other large power monster) lives in a remote locale with its huge treasure piles.
* The Evil God's Fane: A temple or other huge structure dedicated to a powerful evil force gathers all manner of evil and crazed human and monster worshippers to it.
* The Forest of the Fey: An enchanted woods which is home to either mischievous or malevolent fey and natural beasts.
* The Volcano: A powerful creature of fire has built its home in a semi-active or dormant volcano.
* The Ancient Crypt A powerful undead stalks his burial ground, filling it with undead servitors and deadly traps.

Anyone else got more? (Critiques and suggestions are welcomed)
*

 

[roguerouge]

The Watery Depths: a grotto, a treasure dive, a wrecked ship, or a sahaugin fortress. Stretches back to first edition modules with the U series.

Pirates!: Ship to ship battles, despite the lack of naval warfare options that are both dramatic and playable, seem to crop up quite a bit.

The Sewers: There's tons of sewer monsters and every urban campaign has a sewer crawl.

Lighthouse: There's at least a half dozen light house adventures out there for 3rd edition. Most of them use the lighthouse as a hook towards an underwater or a coastal cavern adventure.

The Royal Court: More often a feature of home-brew campaigns, these adventures feature costume balls, political intrigue, diplomacy, and romance.

The Stage: There's a few theater-based adventures in Dungeon, along with one on this very site's wiki for 3rd edition adventures.

 

[Weregrognard]

The Dungeon of Coexisting, yet Opposing Factions: Caves of Chaos, Temple of Elemental Evil, probably others.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

And, of course...

The Wizard's Tower: The (usually abandonded) home of a powerful wizard, necromancer, etc. Full of magical traps/monsters guarding the (former) owner's magical treasure.

The Dungeon: A cavern/tunnel complex inhabited by monsters who are there primarily so the heroes can kill them and take their stuff.

 

[Pbartender]

The Haunted House: Some ghostly/Undead monsters dwell in a long forgotten former residence, doomed to stay there until they are destroyed/set free.

A slight variation on the theme...

The Scooby-doo Haunted House: Some more mundane bad guys, cleverly disguised as ghostly/undead monsters to scare away the locals, dwell in a long forgotten former residence, plotting nasty evilness. Most notably, The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

The Planar Romp: In a place where the regular laws of physics don't apply, fight monsters that look like an Escher engraving! This trope cover pretty much every situation where you go through a portal into a place that has its own special environment, and it can be mixed with other tropes. For example, the Wizard's Tower on the Astral Plane or the Dark City of Brass.

And don't forget the derivative tropes, which rely on the original tropes to exist. For example:

The Evil God's (former) Fane: A ruined or abandoned location that was once the site of some crazy evil cult which was probably kicked out by adventurers. Then, the temple was taken over by monsters, cultist wanna-bes, opportunist bandits, or the like.

The (forgotten) City of the Underworld: Once upon a time, someone (usually dwarves) built a giant city underground. Then they all died, leaving a bunch of valuable stuff lying around. Monsters moved in after there were no dwarves to scare them off. Maybe there's a big, crazy artifact down there that only a few people even remember. Or maybe someone wants to clear out the city and return it to its former glory.

The Ancient Crypt (that isn't ancient or a crypt): A hole in the ground full of monsters and treasure turns out not to be a crypt or temple at all, but is in fact a spaceship. cf. White Plume Mountain

Oh, also already mentioned above: the Scooby-Doo haunted house.

 

[Remathilis]

I can't believe I missed Planar!

Good job, I love all of them keep it up!