In-depth role playing in a dungeon environment... is it possible?

[Arravis]

Our games tend to be very role-playing intensive, with combat and such taking a secondary role to the interactions between players, and their interactions with NPC's. Anyway... my upcoming game will be set in a dungeon-esque hideaway of a dragon cult (a cult of the dragon sect beneath Yulash, for you FR guys ). I'd like to include more then just combat in this game, but I'm not sure how to do so.

The only thing I've come up with so far is to have several holding cells with prisoners, and that will give the players a chance to interact with those within. And of course the required main-villain's speech .

What have you guys done, in either games you've run or played in, to have some interesting role-playing encounters in a dungeon/bad-guy compound? I'd love to hear your experiences and advice, thanks guys!

 

[diaglo]

drop a few items, scrolls, sigils, treasure maps, or notes around rooms.

 

[el-remmen]

If your players are used to playing in this fashion (as mine are) usually they create their own opportunities for role-playing - either among themselves or with NPCs. It can be hard to tell what players will find interesting or intriguing enough to look into - so I would say - set up your dungeon as it would make sense for verisimilitude's sake, and then let the PCs do whatever it is they want to do - if they have the inclination to learn something and get involved in some larger plot they will and if they just want to kill things (and thus never learn vital info or have a chance to develop their character and their relationships. . . bah!) then let them do that, too. . .

 

[nopantsyet]

Depending on your group, some variety might not be a bad thing. My campaign has just passed an important milestone in which the previous six months of six hour bi-weekly sessions averaged one combat every two sessions and 1.5 in game days per session. I call that RP-heavy. Not that there couldn't have been more combat, but my players did manage to unknowingly avoid quite a bit of it. So now they're about to head in a different direction, though I won't know which until next session. But it's going to be a bit more varied for a little while to lighten things up.

In your situation, I'd consider a few options. 1) There might be varying levels of devotion to the cult; maybe some people are just along for the perks. So you can have RP encounters that don't have to turn into combat. 2) The cult could be infiltrated by some opposition group whose overall goals/methods are not compatible with those of the PCs. 3) Unexpected inhabitants have taken up residence in an unused part of the hideaway, or have found a breach into the compound.

That's all that comes to mind, but that mind is laboring under infant sleep deprivation, I'll think some more on it since I'll need to think of things like this for my game as well.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Having the PCs getting captured and then have to organize a prison break is a great way to inject good role-playing into such a dungeon crawl. Without weapons and armor they'll have to rely on their wits.

Edit: If you want to create a sense of urgency have them witness some other captives being sacrificed to a rather large dragon whom the cult worships. A Black Dragon would be great... be descriptive of the victim's screams and anguish as they are disolved under the Black Dragon's acid breath.

 

[Zappo]

If it's a dungeon, then of course it's in depth. Please don't hurt me.

Seriously, chapter 2 of the Abyssal Campaign is all about this. Check the link in my signature.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

If it's a dungeon, then of course it's in depth. Please don't hurt me.

Seriously, chapter 2 of the Abyssal Campaign is all about this. Check the link in my signature.

<<Smacks Zappo Up-Side the Head>>

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

The characters could meet some underground-dwelling folks that don't like the cult and would like to see it taken care of. Of course, said folks would be mostly inept at combat.

The cult leader could invite the characters to dinner, to try and explain his plans to them to get them on his side.

The characters could meet someone who has infiltrated the cult.

AR

 

[Thanee]

The important part is the reason why you go into the dungeon.

If there actually is a reason (other than killing monsters and taking their stuff), then you'll find it fairly easy to make a role-playing focused adventure out of it.

You can further enhance this by visually describing the dark atmosphere of the cavern complex and getting nervous at the sound of flapping bat-wings, and so on.

You just need to put the focus onto different parts, really.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Arravis]

Well... the reason they are going is two-fold. One of the players has been researching chronomancy and this has led her into the exploration of very ancient ruins (Imaskari). A series of scrolls, scattered here and there, give clues to the location of these ruins. Both the PC's and the cult have been racing to get the scrolls and search the ruins before the other does. They know that one of the scrols is within this compound. Additionally, one of the PC's family members had been enslaved by the cult as well. The party just found out that she might be in the cult's Yulash compound, so they're going there to free her.

Btw, I love the idea of dinner .