For example, I recently wrote this lengthy description of the island Dunster Hollow:
Wonderfully written sketch of the island!
My descriptions are usually not quite as lengthy as this one. But there were a lot of details to cover. This description is not one I would literally read to my players. Instead, it is one that I read myself to remind myself of important details, so my telling is consistent from session to session (and to get in the right mindset). Some of the important names that are dropped in the text, have their own descriptions as well, later on in the document.
I really like what you say about "getting in the right mindset." To me, that's a
huge part of successful DMing. If I understand the site, even if I forget details or mess up a particular encounter, I'm still messing up through that lens of understanding, so the game will still feel on theme, still be hitting the atmosphere and motifs of the rugged haunted Parrot Island (or whatever the adventure site is).
There's a school of thought that advocates for quick-read style bullet point descriptions so DMs can quickly grok what they need. I think you can support "getting in the right mindset" that way, but it requires more from the writer's prose; in other words, it's easier to "get the DM in the right mindset" using natural prose both from a writer's and reader's standpoint.
Often I'll also look up some fitting artwork to go along with the description. Again, this is not something I feel I need to show to my players. It is purely there for myself as something to fall back on.
Indeed, I do the same.
I think it might be a helpful aid for your dungeon to follow this same approach. What do the areas look like, and how would you describe it to yourself?
Lets start for example with the Dragon Aerie, and how it connects to the upper gardens. What sort of environment is the Aerie located it? You mentioned a desert, but there are many kinds of desert. Is it a rocky area, sandy, or perhaps covered in salt? What sounds do the players hear? What is the weather usually like here? What is the overall mood? Can the players see the upper gardens from the entrance at the Aerie, or is it all obscured by a vast complex? This also raises an important question: Is the garden an interior or exterior location?
Absolutely. Thanks for prompting me. I tend to visualize stuff so intensely that I forget to put it into writing (which can lead to me forgetting to describe it to my players).
General Environmental Conditions. The Great Anvil, at whose heart lies Krak al-Mazhar built into the ridge of a caldera, is inhospitable desert. Water is incredibly scarce and rain comes only once or twice a year. The foraging DC for the Great Anvil is 25 (see DMG p. 111). Temperatures during the day soar over 130° F (54° C), while at night they plummet to below freezing (see DMG p. 110). Sandstorms wrack the Great Anvil almost weekly. On a clear day, visibility is about 2 miles. Ruins litter the desert, including open-air strongholds once inhabited by desert giants, tombs dating back to the time of Al-Anwahar (the ancient civilization from which Krak al-Mazhar was constructed), and secret vaults of Brotherhood mages.
Shadow Wyvern Aerie. Where the minarets and towers of Krak al-Mazhar emerge from the caldera they are carved into, they are scarcely visible, being built from the same volcanic rock and hardened ash that makes up the rest of the caldera. The shadow wyvern aerie provides one mostly open-air flat spot that flying creatures (or the most reckless of climbers) can access. Winds whip through here, kicking up intermittent sprays of ash and salt, which pool around the base of old pillars supporting heavy arches and roosting places for the shadow wyverns. Due to the rough play of the wyverns, usually one or more of these pillars and arches is toppled. The sounds of their snarls, snoring, yawns, and screeching mingle with the sound of hissing sands. Sometimes the bloody scent of a wyvern's recent kill fills the aerie, and at these times they can either be found contentedly feasting or squabbling among one another for scraps.
Connections. From the aerie, there are three sandstone viaducts spanning uneven treacherous volcanic gullies and trenches. One bad fall here could leave a creature impaled or careening down the caldera's steep ridge. These open-air viaducts lead to two watchtowers and to the teleportation tower. At the eastern end of the aerie are two large recessed doors going indoors, one leading to the Shig'harakhi Quarters (lesser flame mages) & the other to the long hallway leading to The Great Garden; this hallway is separated from the Summoning Chamber (where mages practice spells) by a perforated lattice wall like a
mashrabiya or jali; peering through the lattice allows one to catch only the vaguest glimpses of spellcasting and conjured creatures. However, an enchantment distorts all sound passing through the lattice, so the voices sound garbled as if echoing, faint, and swallowed by crackling flames all at the same time.
The Great Garden. It's wholly an interior location, which is why there's an illusion of the sky on the inside of its domed ceiling. However, the exterior of its roof dome is just visible emerging from the caldera rock up top.
tk32 said:
I'd equate it to the underground hideouts that military dictators have used in WWII in Germany, or the underground hideouts of Iraq, etc. These are places that are meant to be able to hide a small population, not to be a castle that requires a military army to storm.
Wow! Sounds like quite the ambitious hobby project you've got there. I take it you're happy with the pieces you've been 3-D printing?
Yes, those sorts of hideouts are a good model for villainous lairs, and fit how I'm envisioning my dungeon as well.