D&D question: any advice for an 18th level dungeon?

[Balsamic Dragon]

How about this:

A wizard's school has been recently destroyed, the upper buildings have crumbled leaving only the subbasements intact. The head mage was working on a new form of magic that would avoid reliance upon the weave. However, the resulting energies from her experiment destroyed the school and made it a dead magic zone. Now, no magic functions in the area, except for this new type of magic that the mage discovered. The heroes must go in armed only with normal equipment and their wits. However, they can find items inside the school that will work (sort of if they can figure out how to use them. Of course, all the experiments got loose when the upper floors collapsed so the place is infested with all kinds of nasties. Plus a contingent of priests of Shar have shown up to investigate (and their shadowweave magic operates here as well!) Oh, and did I mention that the mage herself was turned into a demilich when everything backfired on her?

Balsamic Dragon

 

[Corwyn]

Or If you are a real "Rat Bastart DM" try to get a conversion of The labyrinth of Madness.

This is a high level dungeon crawl that will chalange even epic characters.

 

[Arravis]

I think you should have a dungeon packed with adventuring parties, all standing aimlessly in rooms waiting for creatures to be summoned in by the gods and killing them within seconds. The main challenge would be simply one of limited resources and frustration... oh wait, that's EQ, sorry.

Have them run around in the lower levels of Undermountain or have the entirity of Menzoberranzen be the dungeon, lol.

 

[Undead Pete]

ULGURSTASTA!!!

This would only be for one encounter, but for all-out creepy puke-inducing ability (something I ALWAYS strive for in my runs), you can't beat the ULGURSTASTA , a monster highlighted in issue #276 of Dragon.

If you don't have that ish, borrow it from someone who does.

Turn to page 88. It's listed as CR 11, but IMHO is much tougher, and can easily be upgraded by turning up the Hit Dice.

Here's a quick synopsis:

• Big Friggin' undead worm
• About 100' long
• 25/+3 Damage reduction
• Spell Resistance 21
• Breath Weapon: Necromantic Acid Vomit which permanently drains 3d6 CON
• It can easily swallow PC's whole
• It also likes to puke up previous victims as skeleton spawn (not your ordinary skels...they drain CON as well)
• Always followed by a band of 2d20+10 spawn

Sound good?

 

[Bob Aberton]

Well...

How about a running fight with a Red Dragon inside a wooden fort. What's the catch? The fort is on fire during the whole adventure, and the characters have to not only kill the dragon, but escape the burning fort before it collapses on them, burying them under tons and tons of flaming logs. Not only are they being chased by a dragon, but the dungeon itself is an environmental hazard.


Or...

As above, but in a wooden, burning ship instead, with an angry Red Dragon in the hold.


Or...

A neat twist - one of the characters has been poisoned/cursed, and the only way to free him is to capture, transport, and blackmail a Pit Fiend into helping the character. They may be used to killing things, but what about taking them alive. Substitute a different nasty for the Pit Fiend as necessary. Of course, first they have to get through the Pit Fiend's fortress in Hell.

Do I have good ideas or what?

 

[Celebrim]

The wonderful thing about the new rules is that you can kick out an infinite variaty of really evil monsters in a hurry between class levels, templates, and advancement. Picking monsters that can put up a fight against a party of 18th's is no longer a challenge.

I suggest that you make the module interesting, because by 18th level - heck, they've seen it all.

Wait a minute. I'm still thinking 1st edition. Eighteenth level characters have only been playing, what, six sessions? Throw any slop at them. They won't know the difference. Just don't make it anything but straight combat. The players of 18th level characters haven't yet got the experience to handle any sort of problem solving.

 

[the Jester]

Build your villains smarter, not bigger.