D&D 5E Help me build a small dungeon

[Gilladian]

I'm building a dungeon under a keep. It is long-abandoned. The dungeon was originally a real prison-dungeon, that held criminals and prisoners of war and such. There are a bunch of individual cells, some larger mob-holding cells, one small suite for an elite prisoner, a guard room, a torture room, etc... and of course a secret door that will lead to a long-forgotten ancient wing of the dungeon.

The main prison-cell portion of the dungeon was later taken over by a war-mad wizard or warlock or similar. He converted SOME of the area into a lab, and there's a clay golem in there, guarding it. Otherwise, I don't know what I want in this dungeon. Can you think of anything fun that would be in the "upper" portion with the clay golem? There'll be some traps, I think. I had an idea that maybe the suite for the elite prisoner was still occupied! Not by an undead, but by someone in a time stasis or something. I don't know... No idea who the prisoner would be, or why, but I thought they could make a fun NPC for the pcs to rescue and then later to have to "deal with" when he/she/it causes trouble.

And the older, even more hidden portion of the dungeon would be truly ancient; maybe a thousand years old. I'm thinking undead, here, but I'd also like some sort of interesting physical environment. Filled with poison gas? Unstable floors/ceilings? I want a small but potent section that will be different from their last tomb raid (Animated coffins! Skeletons rising from the dust!).

I love getting ideas from you folks here; it makes my dungeons and adventures so much less predictable! So please, chime in! If I can't use the ideas, I'm sure they'll inspire someone else.

Oh, and my PCs are about 4-6th level, but I'm not so worried about CR or level-appropriateness. I can tone down or beef up encounters pretty easily.

 

[Sunseeker]

You could have the "elite" prisoner be a vampire. They don't technically die from starvation but simply become incredibly weak. The party might find them unconcious but breathing on top of an intricate set of magical runes, which they inevitably disturb thus breaking the containment seal. Depending on how they 'save' this vampire could determine if he breaks free of the jail and goes on to be an antagonist in the world at large or if he simply goes blood-crazy on the party.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

How about, the prisoner in the suite is one of the PCs from the future...

They're caught up in a spell that locks them in there and they have to get themselves to do something to free them from the spell so they can get back to the future and finish off the deadly world threatening entity that trapped them.

Of course, they look different, and the players won't realise who it is...until later on when you describe to them how the character has been zapped into this temporal cell, chosen by the enemy from out of their memory...

If future PC has, say, acquired a scar or is wearing an item or clothing that is casually acquired and only makes sense in retrospect...

Dun dun duuuuun.

Especially sweet if the way to free them from the spell somehow causes the beginnings of what makes future PC look so different...like ending up with a head wound that eventually, once the dungeon is cleared, forms a scar on their face...

Enough time should have passed in session between acquiring wound and it turning into a scar that hopefully they'll never cotton on...until a year on in real life your future adventure hurls the PC back in time... Especially good in case in the future adventure that player has to miss a session or two...hey presto, time trap.

It sounds so good on paper...

 

[Gilladian]

You could have the "elite" prisoner be a vampire. They don't technically die from starvation but simply become incredibly weak. The party might find them unconcious but breathing on top of an intricate set of magical runes, which they inevitably disturb thus breaking the containment seal. Depending on how they 'save' this vampire could determine if he breaks free of the jail and goes on to be an antagonist in the world at large or if he simply goes blood-crazy on the party.

This sounds perfect! Why I didn't think of a vampire... is the reason I post on EnWorld! Thanks.

 

[Gilladian]

How about, the prisoner in the suite is one of the PCs from the future...

They're caught up in a spell that locks them in there and they have to get themselves to do something to free them from the spell so they can get back to the future and finish off the deadly world threatening entity that trapped them.

Of course, they look different, and the players won't realise who it is...until later on when you describe to them how the character has been zapped into this temporal cell, chosen by the enemy from out of their memory...

If future PC has, say, acquired a scar or is wearing an item or clothing that is casually acquired and only makes sense in retrospect...

Dun dun duuuuun.

Especially sweet if the way to free them from the spell somehow causes the beginnings of what makes future PC look so different...like ending up with a head wound that eventually, once the dungeon is cleared, forms a scar on their face...

Enough time should have passed in session between acquiring wound and it turning into a scar that hopefully they'll never cotton on...until a year on in real life your future adventure hurls the PC back in time... Especially good in case in the future adventure that player has to miss a session or two...hey presto, time trap.

It sounds so good on paper...

Yeah, sounds perfect on paper. Could be fun, if you're good at long, twisty-turny plots. Unfortunately, I'm not. So I'll pass on this idea, but I hope someone else falls in love with it.

 

[GMMichael]

Want less predictable? Try a random monster and random dungeon room:

Hand of Evil's monster suggestions:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/dnd_view_block.php?id=341

My dungeon room generator:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/dnd_view_block.php?id=1770

Random example:

"This room is pitch black. For just a moment, you can see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing, taste nothing, and you're not even entirely sure who you are.
It's a ransacked, circular room about 20 feet in diameter.
The hewn stone walls here surround a cobblestone floor.
You see no tea."

(The north wall has a loose rock placed to look like part of the wall, and there's a trapdoor in the floor with an average quality lock. Under the trapdoor, a merman prisoner sits in a muddy pool along with some female human teeth and, get this, a bulky bronze canoe. Hidden behind the loose rock are 16 silver pieces and 21 gold in a pouch.)

 

[Zaukrie]

Haunts or ghosts, not necessarily to fight, but to create atmosphere. Sounds of chains moving, sobbing, other atmosphere stuff.

 

[Alkavian]

I would suggest the "elite" prisoner be some form of celestial being. Perhaps the wizard/warlock was performing bizarre experiments on the being to extract some form of cosmic essence. Attempting to achieve a form of immortality outside the typical lichdom/undeath route? Maybe trying to bend the being to his will? Maybe rescuing this being could lead to a boon for the party out of gratitude? Just some ideas.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You don't know much about this dungeon. My first suggestion is to figure out who took over this dungeon and go from there. Why is there a clay golem as opposed to another type? Wouldn't that suggest an evil cleric instead? And if they're an evil cleric with a laboratory, doesn't that tell you something about what sort of entity they worship? That, in turn, will tell you something about what other sort of critters might be there, what sort of traps might be laid, what leftover effects still need to be worried about and even what sort of treasures might be found.

Figuring out this stuff actually makes stocking a dungeon less work, rather than more, since a lot of it will flow one after another, once you've figured the basic steps out.

(There's actually a mini-game that was popular a few years ago, called How to Host a Dungeon that worked off of this premise.)

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Ah, fat fingers. Meant to hit XP. Stupid tablet...