EN WORLD DUNGEON: 16 months until 5e. Let's start building.

[RangerWickett]

Since a major component of 5e appears to be evoking oldschool D&D feel, I want to have a sprawling dungeon complex prepared in time for the game's release. I intend to run a classic monsters-traps-and-puzzles dungeon crawl with high attrition so we can test out the new rules and see what we like.

Now obviously I can't balance specific encounters yet, but I can brainstorm. What I hope to end up with is something like Undermountain -- a massive maze that was built over centuries, designed with the intention of killing anyone who tries to get to the bottom.

Toward that end, I'd love it if we could collaborate on dungeon design. Maybe start with a thread of ideas, then start a wiki with entries for different sections, rooms, monsters, puzzles, and traps. Taking a cue from 5e, the whole thing can be modular, and so when the game is finally released we can take whichever pieces of the dungeon we like and put them together for our home games, or one-shots, or play-by-posts. Maybe we could even get players to fill in an "In Character" wiki, to represent the lore gathered by centuries of survivors.



So first, some structure. This is a dungeon in a world with magic, so it doesn't have to make a lot of sense, but it shouldn't be nonsensical. Anyone want to propose ideas for who built the place and why? Where is it located? What resources do we have to build with?

Let's try to start chronologically. Maybe the first builders just were hiding some treasure of a dead pharaoh, but the place was co-opted by other groups later, who expanded and put their own spin on lower levels. As groups of treasure hunters got through the first layer of doom, maybe the party wizard of one of these groups thought, "This shall be my new lair, wherein I will craft the most wretched abominations to safeguard my treasures."

And then that place was mostly looted by religious zealots, who built a temple beneath it, or something. And so on.

So yeah, we've got 16 months. Anyone have some good ideas?

 

[Wycen]

Sounds like fun.

My first thought is, why did they choose to build the tomb or pyramid where they did? Because it was a place of power. Perhaps the slumbering grave of a forgotten primordial power or a portal to his or her or its realm. Of course you'd want to build your vault here. Not only does it enhance your prestige, but also your magical might, as well as represent a journey from one realm, of the living, to another realm, which may or may not be death. Who says you have to die?

Now of course I don't know if I should just keep going or wait for more from others to comment and build on. I think I'll wait for good measure

 

[SkidAce]

I feel there should be kobolds infesting the first level.

 

[SkidAce]

The complex could be built around a source of power/magic from an ancient society. Dangerous stuff that they had to keep contained.

Similar to how we build defenses around our nuclear power plants, the complex could have been built to:

1. Keep people from gaining access who didn't have the knowledge to use the power properly.
2. Keep their enemies from destroying or stealing the source of power. The outer perimeter (1st level) would be fairly innocuous, like a fence today, with warnings etc. The closer you got to the power source, the more deadly the security gets.
3. Contain the power, which could cause untold devastation if improperly unleashed.

We could even make up why the society would be different based on this source of magic. Were there repercussions to this power? If based on imprisoned genies or primordials, what happens if they break loose, are there side effects? Is it just a strange source of energy that empowers magic or twists reality if unchecked?

Some of these ideas could explain some of the "odd" peculiarities of D&D dungeons...

 

[Kaodi]

If I may submit an alternative original builder/use... An apocalyptic cult of giants, convinced that their age was doomed to soon end in war and devestation, descended from their castles is the clouds to build a mighty fortress and bunker in which they would be able to shelter the coming storm. The end of this age did come, but long after the cult had died out and their lair had been taken up by another, smaller, race which expanded it into even deeper places where the giants had been loathe to go.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

Eons ago, something came down from heaven, crushing into the unsettled land, and leaving a deep, deep hole in the ground, looking like some monstrous spear had landed there.

Something at the bottom of the mile-deep hole started calling to the forces of Chaos. Chaotic creatures heard the call and came to the hole, exploring it and extending it by digging tunnels and caves.

As is the nature of chaos, they fought each other and killed each other, so over the years the population of the underground areas changed every so often.

Once, five hundred years ago, the mighty Barzznack succeeded in partly uniting the forces and started a campaign to overthrow the surrounding lands. In the end, the civilized folks remained victorious, but they couldn't exterminate all chaos in the area.

So they decided to contain the problem, building a fortified wall around the hole and manning it with armed forces. Over the centuries, their vigilance lessened, though, and today all what remains is an unoccupied wall, a monastery of a religion of knowledge/history, and a small village catering for those hardy folks, who want to explore the hole and caves.

 

[Storminator]

What if the source of power was well known, and a bunch of different groups all dug out their own dungeons trying to control it? These dungeon eventually interconnected in a variety of ways and places. Then waves of other groups replaced the originals, re-purposing and expanding (occasionally walling off) various sections.

That way you can have the complex be huge, varied, and have a variety of entrances and exits. Also, you can have old maps of parts of it floating around with various degrees of accuracy.

PS

 

[TarionzCousin]

I think it would be cool to return to White Plume Mountain (again) and have multiple clones of Keraptis--and possibly a demon or devil with minions.

Make the dungeon new territory, a sprawling complex far below the original dungeon.

This wouldn't be a module for level one characters. Perhaps somewhere in the 6 - 8 range would work best for a starting point.

 

[steeldragons]

Somewhere in the dungeon...perhaps the chief resident/cause of the whole place, perhaps not...but in there someplace there is an evil wizard from ages past, his name barely spoken by the wizards of today and even then only in hushed whispers...

He became an archmage when the elves were young, mastered the mysteries of the arcane and dove into the secrets of divinity. He rose as a lich when the current age was just beginning and is on the verge of/working towards his demi-lichdom...

Do you and your companions have the strength, the cunning, the devotion and arcane might to venture into the hidden depths held by....

BARGLE! <cue thundercrashes and flashes of lightning>

 

[Kaodi]

To expand on my idea a bit, I think the "secret" at the end of the dungeon would be a cloud giant artifact or store of knowledge that could be used to lift a castle into the sky. Next to the main fortress would the ruins of a flying castle that fell out of the sky long ago when its pilot lost control of an imperfect copy of the artifact.