Kinak
First Post
Yeah, been there :/
If money's an issue, there are a ton of maps on the Wizards site to get you started. Certainly better value than getting a module just to use the maps.
Cheers!
Kinak
Pathfinder 1E Help creating a low level dungeon.
- Thread starter Andrew Ridenour
- Start date
If money's an issue, there are a ton of maps on the Wizards site to get you started. Certainly better value than getting a module just to use the maps.
Cheers!
Kinak
Andrew Ridenour
First Post
Could someone, maybe link me to a free dungeon (of any level) so I can see how one might lay out the different encounters, and so I can see about how big one may be? (So, I guess a lower level one might be a bit more accurate to help.)
Andrew Ridenour
First Post
So, I've been working on it, and here's what I have so far... a basic hook, and how they get to the, as I'm calling it, "Temple of Many Things". It's a working name, just a place holder for now...
The players are settlers of an untamed frontier. They are living in a small settlement when the guy in charge, the "Governor", comes to them and says that a merchant that was carrying there monthly re-supply, has gone missing on the road. The only thing left is a shredded corpse of his horse, as well as his bodyguards.
When they get there, they'll face a couple of weakened goblins, who are mostly dazed and injured from them attacking the merchant's wagon, and having been left behind. (I'd imagine they have very low HP, and are easy to defeat.) They'll need to look for clues to find out where the merchant was taken. If smart, they'll attempt to question the goblins. However, if they killed first, then they'll need to look around for disturbed ground that'll lead them off toward this temple.
That's all I have for now. I don't have these "injured" goblins stated, or anything else stated for that matter, but with a week, I'm sure I have the time... I just want to make sure I have a lay out for my first 2-4 floors of this temple.
The players are settlers of an untamed frontier. They are living in a small settlement when the guy in charge, the "Governor", comes to them and says that a merchant that was carrying there monthly re-supply, has gone missing on the road. The only thing left is a shredded corpse of his horse, as well as his bodyguards.
When they get there, they'll face a couple of weakened goblins, who are mostly dazed and injured from them attacking the merchant's wagon, and having been left behind. (I'd imagine they have very low HP, and are easy to defeat.) They'll need to look for clues to find out where the merchant was taken. If smart, they'll attempt to question the goblins. However, if they killed first, then they'll need to look around for disturbed ground that'll lead them off toward this temple.
That's all I have for now. I don't have these "injured" goblins stated, or anything else stated for that matter, but with a week, I'm sure I have the time... I just want to make sure I have a lay out for my first 2-4 floors of this temple.
Herobizkit
Adventurer
If you don't mind your game being a little silly, you could conceivably have a "Dungeon-of-the-Week" business in game.
Every week (or month, even though it's called Dungeon of the Week), adventurers (and regular folk) can pay a fee to explore a new, custom-made dungeon. This is a nod to D&D Encounters, a 4e staple that has real-life shopkeepers run a series of linked one-encounter mini-adventures every month to showcase a new supplement.
It could always be the same number of rooms (and even in the same location!), but arranged differently and populated with level-relevant adventures and treasure.
Every week (or month, even though it's called Dungeon of the Week), adventurers (and regular folk) can pay a fee to explore a new, custom-made dungeon. This is a nod to D&D Encounters, a 4e staple that has real-life shopkeepers run a series of linked one-encounter mini-adventures every month to showcase a new supplement.
It could always be the same number of rooms (and even in the same location!), but arranged differently and populated with level-relevant adventures and treasure.
Andrew Ridenour
First Post
My party and I need no help in being "silly". The kind of games we play are more of a relaxed nature anyways, and they play there characters silly. Plus, my NPCs are bizarre, and silly as well. (Like a Half-Orc and Gnome duo that are actually brothers by birth, but one was killed, and reincarnated... but they don't know which one it was.) So, I have no trouble being funny at my table, and neither do my players. (Though, the idea is kinda cool, so I'll probably keep that in mind for the future.)
Andrew Ridenour
First Post
I'm still looking for a basic layout style, since one of the issues I have is piling to much on my players at once. I have issues with not being able to stagger out the encounters that I give them.
So a sample, or any advice will be highly appreciated.
So a sample, or any advice will be highly appreciated.
howandwhy99
Adventurer
Use T1 Village of Hommlett
It has a starting level dungeon with 2 levels to it, one above ground and one below. There are monsters, traps, treasure, hidden secrets, paths, and doors, as well as potential captured allies. Plus, it has ties which can ultimately lead to a larger, actual megadungeon the Temple of Elemental Evil. However, that later one isn't quite as good, but you could build your own and pull in pieces you do like or toss it altogether.
Anyways, in T1 you have a fully fleshed out town too. That's important to old school play as you don't easily heal up in the dungeons. Towns are like allied dungeons - as long as you don't make the people there your enemies - and lawful ones like Hommlet have places to rest, heal, plan, and also rules for commerce, hiring aid, befriending others, as well as learning current rumors and history about the local area, people, and other inhabitants. It's as much a smorgasbord to explore and play with as any normal dungeon. And Hommlett has all of those things and more in it, if not as prominently marked as it could be.
The big key is: make this your own. It needs to make sense to you before you run it as well as agree with the Pathfinder ruleset. Which may mean finding a similar starting adventure, but Town and Dungeons aren't too hard to find.
Whatever you go with have an area map without too much beyond it, something you can "grow off of". Make your own material or purchase any of the Pathfinder adventures. They have some great designers there and a variety of styles for their adventures, not just adventure paths.
It has a starting level dungeon with 2 levels to it, one above ground and one below. There are monsters, traps, treasure, hidden secrets, paths, and doors, as well as potential captured allies. Plus, it has ties which can ultimately lead to a larger, actual megadungeon the Temple of Elemental Evil. However, that later one isn't quite as good, but you could build your own and pull in pieces you do like or toss it altogether.
Anyways, in T1 you have a fully fleshed out town too. That's important to old school play as you don't easily heal up in the dungeons. Towns are like allied dungeons - as long as you don't make the people there your enemies - and lawful ones like Hommlet have places to rest, heal, plan, and also rules for commerce, hiring aid, befriending others, as well as learning current rumors and history about the local area, people, and other inhabitants. It's as much a smorgasbord to explore and play with as any normal dungeon. And Hommlett has all of those things and more in it, if not as prominently marked as it could be.
The big key is: make this your own. It needs to make sense to you before you run it as well as agree with the Pathfinder ruleset. Which may mean finding a similar starting adventure, but Town and Dungeons aren't too hard to find.
Whatever you go with have an area map without too much beyond it, something you can "grow off of". Make your own material or purchase any of the Pathfinder adventures. They have some great designers there and a variety of styles for their adventures, not just adventure paths.
Scrivener of Doom
Adventurer
Here's a link to an excellent blog that includes the maps and a 4E conversion of the legendary moathouse from T1 The Village of Hommlet.
http://towerofzenopus.blogspot.com/2011/09/toee-dm-notes-moathouse.html
I know, I know; you're wondering why I am pointing you toward a 4E conversion when you are running Pathfinder. It's simple: the maps are there and it's easy enough to substitute Pathfinder monsters. And he's made some effort to try and make the moathouse make sense in terms of the structuring of the encounters. Anyway, hope it helps.
http://towerofzenopus.blogspot.com/2011/09/toee-dm-notes-moathouse.html
I know, I know; you're wondering why I am pointing you toward a 4E conversion when you are running Pathfinder. It's simple: the maps are there and it's easy enough to substitute Pathfinder monsters. And he's made some effort to try and make the moathouse make sense in terms of the structuring of the encounters. Anyway, hope it helps.
Kinak
First Post
I'm not really sure I've ever seen a great format for that. It's usually just a keyed map with indications in each key what's there and (if the designer is on their game) how monsters in nearby rooms will respond to a battle there.
If you're inclined to have too many encounters come in at once, write out some notes for yourself like that, check that they create reasonable encounters (by the CR system) and stick to your notes.
I'd consider running something more like the tomb I mentioned first if that's the problem. Determining when a group of intelligent creatures will gather to counterattack or flee can require some finesse. If you have a bunch of mindless guardians, it makes a lot more sense for them to just stay in their rooms until the party gets there, becoming discrete encounters.
Cheers!
Kinak
Celebrim
Legend
So, first I don't necessarily recommend dungeon delving as a primary campaign style.
The dungeon delve based around a mega-dungeon has two primary advantages:
a) Very high ratio of play time to preparation time.
b) Ability to support a regularly changing player base, since no particular PC is important to the story and the session generally always ends with returning up to The Haven. In essence, it's episodic.
However, if you feel like going old school I'd suggest finding some dungeon geomorphs and just more or less randomly populating them with low level encounters. Modify the random tables to expand variety or give a level or area a particular focus.
And of course the classic source of inspiration for dungeon delving is the appendixes of the 1e AD&D DMG around random dungeon generation.
Try http://davesmapper.com/ for example. There are several good random tilers out there.
While 'random' might not seem like the best way to create a dungeon, in practice random dungeons tend to be better designed than 90% of what novice DMs create. Once you figure out why a random dungeon works better than your own designs, you are ready to start taking a bigger hand in the planning process. This will occur organically as you gain experience.
The dungeon delve based around a mega-dungeon has two primary advantages:
a) Very high ratio of play time to preparation time.
b) Ability to support a regularly changing player base, since no particular PC is important to the story and the session generally always ends with returning up to The Haven. In essence, it's episodic.
However, if you feel like going old school I'd suggest finding some dungeon geomorphs and just more or less randomly populating them with low level encounters. Modify the random tables to expand variety or give a level or area a particular focus.
And of course the classic source of inspiration for dungeon delving is the appendixes of the 1e AD&D DMG around random dungeon generation.
Try http://davesmapper.com/ for example. There are several good random tilers out there.
While 'random' might not seem like the best way to create a dungeon, in practice random dungeons tend to be better designed than 90% of what novice DMs create. Once you figure out why a random dungeon works better than your own designs, you are ready to start taking a bigger hand in the planning process. This will occur organically as you gain experience.
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