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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Painfully" data-source="post: 210712" data-attributes="member: 601">Just the obvious dungeon dressing suggestions below.Make the dungeon just as vivid and dynamic as the creatures in your dungeon.  Walls should show the flickering of faint light before the PCs turn the corner, the ground should shake when a large creature walks, or echo when a large  creature growls/roars/screeches.  The walls must have something on them, right?  Scribblings of a slave/prisoner, claw marks from an unfortunate encounter many years ago, roots showing through cracks (handy for enlarge or entangle spells at times).Sound should also be important.  Let's face it, it's a dungeon down there and it's dark, but you can always smell, hear, or feel things well before you can see them.  Cool, moist air should precede a room with a pool of water, a strong smell should precede a creature's unkept lair littered with scraps.  The latrine should be obvious even before the door is opened.Make the walls move!  That's right, don't let the players just map things out without any suprises.  The inhabitants of the castle will likely have something precious to protect from outsiders, so why leave a door there?    Make it impossible for anybody but those intended to get into the key "vault" area.  If a vampire owns the place it makes sense to allow obvious entry only in gaseous form.  Leave a clue or two, but just don't give it away--make the existance of a vault known, but it's protections unknown.  The PCs might have to go and backtrack just to look more closely for the vault--it is supposed to be a secret after all.The dungeon should also not be a void.  If it isn't being cared for make sure there are rats scurrying around (and preventing a good rest for mages), rainwater dripping from the ceiling in places, puddles on the floor that hinder silent movement.  The halls should echo sounds if there are no tapestries or other things covering the walls.  Personal affects should have a theme.  Did the owner collect gems?  The gems are probably all gone if the castle is abandoned, but he should have tools, magnifying glasses, and books on the subject lying around.  Perhaps they think of their heritage as important--a series of family portraits and personal journals should be somewhere in the castle.Throw a curse on the players, or otherwise inflict a time critical motivation.  Maybe if the curse isn't cured by the next full moon it becomes permanent, that sort of thing.  You can always turn things around a bit.  Let the players be captured by their intended enemy, and make them escape from the dungeon.  The party should be weakened and need to get out without setting off any alarms.   The first edition slaver modules were popular because experienced PCs had to begin anew with only their skills and some pointy sticks.Of course none of this works until you've mastered the art of suspense.  Do a mental walkthrough of how your players might proceed through your dungeon and try to make sure there is a motivation to move on.  The PC's should know their next objective and be willing to take certain risks in order to acheive them sooner rather than later.  Motivations work best when they tie in closely with each individual PC, so I you're on your own there.  Use a lot of foreshadowing whenever possible.</blockquote>

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