Dungeon Realism

[Vorput]

Hi all, been reading these boards for awhile- but never posted before. I have a question for the DMs, and I suppose players too, out there.

How important is dungeon realism to you guys? I'm creating a network of caves below a temple, nothing too extravagant- just something suitable for a group of level 1 PCs and I'm wondering how much attention I should pay to realism.

For example, should I make it clear how certain monsters got there? Should I connect to a larger set of caves just in order to explain why chokers, darkmantles, and rats ended up in the same place? How much attention should I give to the question of food supply, for instance how the darkmantles have managed to live in a fairly abandoned dungeon all this time? Where these creatures get water, etc.

DMs, when you create adventures- how much thought do you put into elements like this?

Players, do you notice little details like these? If you do, do you care about them? Does an adveture of just random underground encounters strung together annoy you?

Am I paying too much attention to detail? Or does such realism/detail help create a more believable world?

Any insight/advice would be much appreciated. Thx.

 

[LogicsFate]

I'm a logic monkey, if something doesn't make sense it takes a lot of the fun from me
(i.e. I'm walking down a corridor and I see two displacer beasts standing there, most people draw there weaqpons, I ask why are they there) That said I notice when the DM put extra work into explaining how the monsters are surviving in a dungeaon, or how the goblins have set up a system for disposing their mounting thrash

 

[Meloncov]

The degree of backstory and realism varies from DM to DM, as well as from group to group. If your players can suspend disbelief enough that they can handle a Orc and Pie game, then by all means, go ahead having dungeons that are not logically arranged. As long as your players are alright with it, it won't make the game any less fun, but it will affect the mood; most likely, it will lead to a game enviorment that does not support deep imersion.

 

[IronWolf]

Some logical reason is usually nice to have. It doesn't necessarily have to be without its flaws, but some small tie in can help add some realism to most any dungeon.

 

[Hussar]

^ That's very true. The logic doesn't have to be airtight. If it did, most movies couldn't be made. But, a nod in the direction helps. I find that it also helps the players get into the feel of the game as well. Sure, rats are nasty. But rats swimming in piles of trash and other goodies is just a whole lot more ... immersive. A darkmantle is fun. A darkmantle munching on a rat when the party comes in is better. That sort of thing.

 

[Ambrus]

I'm of the same mind as LogicsFate. I also notice and appreciate extra effort on the DM's part. Sometimes I see a dungeon and I'm left wondering what exactly I'm looking at. A sealed dungeon several hundred or even thousands of years old with a surviving colony of trolls? Even if a source of endless water and food is conveniently placed, it begs the question where did they go to the bathroom all these years? Wouldn't the entire dungeon be filled to the ceiling with tons of waste? Saying its "magic" is just a poor explanation. Wait, there's a magically sealed door separating the trolls from their only water source? In fact, why did the trolls ever leave any locked doors in the dungeon? They could surely have demolished them all over the centuries, one of them might have led to a way out...

It doesn't take that much effort to ensure that things make a certain amount of sense. Anything that lives in a dungeon needs a way to have gotten there, have a way to eat and drink, somewhere to dispose of waste if it stays there long enough and if possible a way to reproduce. Keep in mind how long its been there and what changes it may have made to the place during that time. I find thinking about these things as a DM makes my portrayal of the creatures more believable and interesting for the players.

 

[Vorput]

Wow... I never realized just how active these forums are... but then I got 5 replies in under an hour heh.

Thanks guys- I'm inclined to agree, I do try to provide at least some amount of explainable realism... even if it does make adventures that much more annoying to generate.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Stick a gelatinous cube or an otyugh in a pit, and really, that's my major contribution to dungeon realism when I'm putting together a dungeon crawl. Once you know where the waste goes, the rest are relatively minor details, IMO, so long as you don't have the residents sealed in and unable to leave the dungeon to go hunting.

 

[Wormwood]

Realism? Bah.

If it doesn't give XP or GP, I couldn't care less.

 

[Aeric]

It depends on your players. Some people need logical (or at least feasible) explanations for things, others don't.