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Fire and Water: Designing themed dungeons
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<blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 7192759" data-attributes="member: 6801286"><p><span style="color: red"><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>8 - Ending a dungeon</strong></span></span></p><p></p><p>Eventually all good things must come to an end, and dungeons are no different. But how do you stick a satisfying ending to a dungeon? Well, the most obvious way would be a boss battle, but we've already discussed one of those. Maybe just a big battle with lots of baddies can be just as entertaining? Or maybe a big discovery or plot revelation? I think it helps if there are things at stake. </p><p></p><p>In this dungeon the stakes are really high. </p><p></p><p><strong>-We have an avatar of Teehlyian'tara who may or may not have escaped into this room. </strong></p><p><strong>-We have an army trying to invade the tower and bring in reinforcements using their siege crabs. The players will want to prevent that.</strong></p><p><strong>-We have two flood gates that prevent the siege crabs from entering (for the time being), and controls to open those flood gates.</strong></p><p><strong>-We have waves of enemies that will close in on the players.</strong></p><p><strong>-And we have a secret weapon that the bad guys want to bring in.</strong></p><p></p><p>Now in order to clearly communicate the various objectives to the players, I have decided that one siege crab will have already breached one of the gates. This also ensures a decent challenge, regardless of whether the avatar is still alive. One of the players will want to rush to the other gate controls, and prevent the bad guys from opening that gate as well. There's a special weapon on the way, so that adds a time component to this scene, and the players will want to close the gate that is already open ASAP. Both gate controls will be guarded, but we'll also throw in some interactive stuff to help the players out.</p><p></p><p>Key elements to this part of the dungeon are once again water, height differences, interactive environment elements, combined with multiple objectives. Steam pipes are included again, but there are less of them, so the players will have to rely more on other things to beat this fight. Flooding of the entire harbor is also a thing they need to watch out for. There are way more access points for the enemies to exploit to reach the players: Two ladders, two staircases, and one elevator. So they'll probably want to split up to cover all these angles.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH]87016[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p><strong>A - Crane controls</strong></p><p>The players start out on higher ground, looking down on the moon pool of the harbor. There are two pools of water (F and G), each with their own gate. The controls operate a giant steam powered mechanical crane (indicated by a crane icon) that travels across the tracks indicated with yellow lines. The crane has a maximum speed of 60ft. per round. The crane can lift heavy stuff and drop them on top of enemies, or it could even lift up one of the siege crabs, if the players think of that. There's also a nearby cargo elevator which is currently located at the top, but the bad guys could call it down. The players could use the elevator for some obscure plan, and it adds an extra path to the players for the enemies.</p><p></p><p><strong>B - Gate B controls</strong></p><p>These controls can close the gate to pool G, which has already been breached by a siege crab. To reach this location, the players can cross the bridge between A and B, which can be lifted up and down with a nearby valve, which could prove useful if enemies try to cross the bridge. </p><p></p><p><strong>C - Warehouse</strong></p><p>This warehouse contains cannonballs and gunpowder kegs. The players could make use of these during the battle. A walkway goes around the warehouse, and I've drawn the gray outlines of the harbor to show that there is space underneath the walkways. These walkways could also be smashed by the siege crabs, and the siege crabs can reach up there with their claws.</p><p></p><p><strong>D - Warehouse</strong></p><p>This warehouse contains a cannon, which the players could push to a useful position where they can take a shot at the bad guys. This is not essential for beating the battle, but it would make it a lot easier to take down the siege crabs, because of their high armor and resistances. Moving the cannon is time consuming though, and if they position it on the walkway, and the walkway collapses, they can kiss their cannon goodbye.</p><p></p><p><strong>E - Gate A controls</strong></p><p>These controls can open the floodgate to pool F. Keeping this gate closed is super important, but the controls will be swarmed with enemies when the players arrive. Fortunately the walkways limit the path that the enemies can take to reach the players, so they'll have some what of an upper hand here.</p><p></p><p><strong>F and G - Moon pools</strong></p><p>These pools of water are intended as docks for submarines. Massive underwater floodgates allow ships to enter the harbor here. The floodgate to pool G will already be open when the players arrive, and a large Siegecrab will be occupying the pool. Pool F however will still have its gate closed, but the players probably want to stop the bad guys from opening it.</p><p></p><p><strong>Flooding danger</strong></p><p>There is a large threat of water spilling into the harbor, because it is below sealevel. If too much of the harbor is destroyed or damaged during this battle, water will start pouring in, and the water level of the harbor will rise by 5ft. per round. I'm not sure yet how to determine when water should start coming in. The room itself is about 20 ft. high if measured from the top floor. So this means that once the water reaches the top level, the players have 4 more rounds until they are all completely underwater (so the harbor floods within 8 rounds). If they don't drown, they'll have to retreat.</p><p></p><p><strong>Defeat conditions</strong></p><p>If the players fail to stop the floodgates from opening, they will face an opposition force that is probably too much for them to handle. They may be forced to abandon the harbor, which means the invasion force can flood the tower, and stop the players from putting the tower to use later on. Failing to close the gates also means that the bad guys will be able to bring in their secret weapon, a fearsome Broodkeeper.</p><p></p><p><strong>Victory conditions</strong></p><p>If the players are able to prevent the bad guys from opening the floodgates, they still have a siege crab to deal with. Further more, the bad guys can also attempt to simply smash the remaining floodgate with their second siege crab. If the players can figure out a way to close off the entrance permanently, then the bad guys will be forced to abandon this plan and continue into phase 2 of the battle. Which is to assault the fleet of the allies of the players with everything they've got. This will be a massive cliffhanger for the next session, although I'm unsure how long it will take the players to make their way through this whole dungeon. It may just take them more than one session. This may seem surprising, considering the modest scope of the dungeon. But bare in mind that almost every room of the dungeon is filled with meaningful content, so they'll progress through the dungeon a lot slower than you might expect.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Imaculata, post: 7192759, member: 6801286"] [COLOR=red][SIZE=5][B]8 - Ending a dungeon[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] Eventually all good things must come to an end, and dungeons are no different. But how do you stick a satisfying ending to a dungeon? Well, the most obvious way would be a boss battle, but we've already discussed one of those. Maybe just a big battle with lots of baddies can be just as entertaining? Or maybe a big discovery or plot revelation? I think it helps if there are things at stake. In this dungeon the stakes are really high. [B]-We have an avatar of Teehlyian'tara who may or may not have escaped into this room. -We have an army trying to invade the tower and bring in reinforcements using their siege crabs. The players will want to prevent that. -We have two flood gates that prevent the siege crabs from entering (for the time being), and controls to open those flood gates. -We have waves of enemies that will close in on the players. -And we have a secret weapon that the bad guys want to bring in.[/B] Now in order to clearly communicate the various objectives to the players, I have decided that one siege crab will have already breached one of the gates. This also ensures a decent challenge, regardless of whether the avatar is still alive. One of the players will want to rush to the other gate controls, and prevent the bad guys from opening that gate as well. There's a special weapon on the way, so that adds a time component to this scene, and the players will want to close the gate that is already open ASAP. Both gate controls will be guarded, but we'll also throw in some interactive stuff to help the players out. Key elements to this part of the dungeon are once again water, height differences, interactive environment elements, combined with multiple objectives. Steam pipes are included again, but there are less of them, so the players will have to rely more on other things to beat this fight. Flooding of the entire harbor is also a thing they need to watch out for. There are way more access points for the enemies to exploit to reach the players: Two ladders, two staircases, and one elevator. So they'll probably want to split up to cover all these angles. [ATTACH=CONFIG]87016._xfImport[/ATTACH] [B]A - Crane controls[/B] The players start out on higher ground, looking down on the moon pool of the harbor. There are two pools of water (F and G), each with their own gate. The controls operate a giant steam powered mechanical crane (indicated by a crane icon) that travels across the tracks indicated with yellow lines. The crane has a maximum speed of 60ft. per round. The crane can lift heavy stuff and drop them on top of enemies, or it could even lift up one of the siege crabs, if the players think of that. There's also a nearby cargo elevator which is currently located at the top, but the bad guys could call it down. The players could use the elevator for some obscure plan, and it adds an extra path to the players for the enemies. [B]B - Gate B controls[/B] These controls can close the gate to pool G, which has already been breached by a siege crab. To reach this location, the players can cross the bridge between A and B, which can be lifted up and down with a nearby valve, which could prove useful if enemies try to cross the bridge. [B]C - Warehouse[/B] This warehouse contains cannonballs and gunpowder kegs. The players could make use of these during the battle. A walkway goes around the warehouse, and I've drawn the gray outlines of the harbor to show that there is space underneath the walkways. These walkways could also be smashed by the siege crabs, and the siege crabs can reach up there with their claws. [B]D - Warehouse[/B] This warehouse contains a cannon, which the players could push to a useful position where they can take a shot at the bad guys. This is not essential for beating the battle, but it would make it a lot easier to take down the siege crabs, because of their high armor and resistances. Moving the cannon is time consuming though, and if they position it on the walkway, and the walkway collapses, they can kiss their cannon goodbye. [B]E - Gate A controls[/B] These controls can open the floodgate to pool F. Keeping this gate closed is super important, but the controls will be swarmed with enemies when the players arrive. Fortunately the walkways limit the path that the enemies can take to reach the players, so they'll have some what of an upper hand here. [B]F and G - Moon pools[/B] These pools of water are intended as docks for submarines. Massive underwater floodgates allow ships to enter the harbor here. The floodgate to pool G will already be open when the players arrive, and a large Siegecrab will be occupying the pool. Pool F however will still have its gate closed, but the players probably want to stop the bad guys from opening it. [B]Flooding danger[/B] There is a large threat of water spilling into the harbor, because it is below sealevel. If too much of the harbor is destroyed or damaged during this battle, water will start pouring in, and the water level of the harbor will rise by 5ft. per round. I'm not sure yet how to determine when water should start coming in. The room itself is about 20 ft. high if measured from the top floor. So this means that once the water reaches the top level, the players have 4 more rounds until they are all completely underwater (so the harbor floods within 8 rounds). If they don't drown, they'll have to retreat. [B]Defeat conditions[/B] If the players fail to stop the floodgates from opening, they will face an opposition force that is probably too much for them to handle. They may be forced to abandon the harbor, which means the invasion force can flood the tower, and stop the players from putting the tower to use later on. Failing to close the gates also means that the bad guys will be able to bring in their secret weapon, a fearsome Broodkeeper. [B]Victory conditions[/B] If the players are able to prevent the bad guys from opening the floodgates, they still have a siege crab to deal with. Further more, the bad guys can also attempt to simply smash the remaining floodgate with their second siege crab. If the players can figure out a way to close off the entrance permanently, then the bad guys will be forced to abandon this plan and continue into phase 2 of the battle. Which is to assault the fleet of the allies of the players with everything they've got. This will be a massive cliffhanger for the next session, although I'm unsure how long it will take the players to make their way through this whole dungeon. It may just take them more than one session. This may seem surprising, considering the modest scope of the dungeon. But bare in mind that almost every room of the dungeon is filled with meaningful content, so they'll progress through the dungeon a lot slower than you might expect. [/QUOTE]
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