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Message: <blockquote data-quote="psyekl" data-source="post: 1652935" data-attributes="member: 21025">As a matter of fact, this happens to be one of my pet-peeves as well.  Dungeons maps seem to be drawn without any logic, and are more of a collection of rooms and hallways than actually having a purposeful layout.Obviously there are some places that are illogical by nature (caverns for example), but for the most part there should be some logic involved.  Even a mad wizard is intelligent enough to not waste space (excluding the Winchester Mansion-type wizards, but these would be rare).  I always try to justify my dungeons, which is much harder than most may imagine.  Erosion, subterranean creatures/races and natural disasters are relatively good explanations for the design traits of an underground complex, but what other excuses are there for the smaller multi-level dungeons that don't link up to any larger underground area (ie the underdark)?For me, the most problematic design consideration is water:  How can there be a water source on level 1 when level 4 is possibly hundreds of feet below?  Even if the lower levels aren't directly below, the water table will most likely have flooded the levels below this point.  This comes up particularly when placing wells, since they are usually dependent on the water table.  In cases where there is a well on the uppermost level of a dungeon, the water source should logically be below the lowest level, potentially making the rope hundreds of feet long just to retrieve a single bucket of water.I for one like to design my underground complexes with logic and an attention to the living requirements of the creatures that created them by keeping in mind the 3 basic requirements for life: food (and water), comfort (which includes shelter from the elements, a place to sleep and for most creatures, sanitation) and safety (including security and the ability to respond to danger).Ultimately I end up attempting to suspend disbelief and design a dungeon that will be fun and challenging without being too distracted about the "hows and whys", while paying enough attention to the little details to make it feel like a logical setting.</blockquote>

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