Pathfinder 1E Help creating a low level dungeon.

Sounds like a lot of fun.

One thing to keep in mind; write situations, not story. Don't think to yourself "when the PCs do x, I will do y". They never do X. Or if they do, they do X+1, or X and Y at the same time.

Also, sometimes when writing up a dungeon, I will make notes such as this: rooms 5-9: living quarters. 25 orcs live in these 4 rooms. About 15 will be present at any given time; others are out hunting or gathering food, etc... If daytime, half may be sleeping (delay 3-5 rounds joining combat).

This means I don't need to worry about EXACTLY what the rooms are like til the players get there. If I've given myself these key bits of info, I can have as few as 10 orcs present if the PCs are down a party member, or maybe there's a "holiday" and ALL of them are present. Also by not cementing which are in what rooms, I can shift them about just a bit for maximum or minimum impact, as needed on the day of the adventure. Also, never bother to describe rooms in full sentences and layered detail.

Instead, give keywords and phrases; moldy walls, irritating smell for the room where food is stored. Smoky air and old funk for the main hall, and rancid body odor for sleeping rooms. Let the situation that develops dictate the exact details. That's where the fun is!
 

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So, I said I'd say how the first session went, and... It went pretty okay. Not perfect. I realized a small design flaw in the way I had the Goblins react, that actually changed things for the worse. And, as usual, the players did a couple of things different then they would normally of done, because I set up something for them to do, that they would normally do.

We haven't finished the first floor yet, or even half of it. Mainly because one of the players had to write up a new character sheet, because he lost his at some point over the last 2 weeks, and ended up just starting from scratch... Still a Halfling Caviler, riding a Wolf, but different order, stats, and general build style. That took an hour and a half of precious game time away from us. We lost another 30 minutes due to general goofing off, which is normal for us, honestly.

Anyways, in 2 weeks, we'll hopefully finish up the first floor, they'll find out the guy they came to save is now a zombie, as is his wife. Though his daughter is sill being held in captivity.

I've ditched the coin idea, and instead changed that more into a "Let's stop this evil dude from being summoned!" kinda deal, which I'm liking much better anyways, and it's easier to implement.
 

If the game's objective is to tell a fictional story, and the players are playing to that objective, then you want themes to bring up to inspire the ongoing tale. Think situations, characters, action.

If your game's objective is to win or master a game, and the players are playing to that objective, then you want game constructs for them to engage with as a game. Think mazes (spatial & social situation), resources and trade, memorizing/recording, patterns to enable strategic play.
 

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