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

[Henry]

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?

The last time we played in my FR campaign, the party was on a trade mission to the Underdark, to be the first to establish trade with the Duergar Dwarves. While venturing, they were cut off from the surface, and the mission went from "establish trade" to "get out alive."

They met, and freed, a Duergar Dwarf - the first one they had seen down in the passages. Not wanting to kill off their only lead, they had to communicate with him - and the party did NOT have any means to do so - no undercommon, no tongues, and the wizard neglected to prep comprehend languages for the day.

What followed was one of the most fun sessions roleplaying i've had in a while. They came THIS close to the Duergar attacking to save his own life from the bloody surfacers who would(n't) cut his throat in his sleep.

After all, how would YOU interpret

dwarf pantomimes pointing at party
dwarf pantomimes slit throat
dwarf pantomimes point at self
party grins and nods

They had misunderstood that he was asking if they WOULDN'T slit his throat.

After the comp-languages, it got a little better, if still one-sided.


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Introduce in this dungeon hell power groups - not everyone is always hostile all the time. Just as in Sunless citadel, the kobolds are potential allies, and useful besides, and in your setting, there could be power struggles, hidden info from times long past, there could be side quests with NOTHING to do with the task at hand (Gary Gygax was a master of this kind of thing in his original Greyhawk Dungeons, with things like the great stone face, or the alice-in wonderland side trek) and give your players a chance to stretch those diplomacy muscles as well as the sword and spell-arms.

 

[Hjorimir]

Just make sure there is more to do than kill the bad guys. A dungeon should have an ecology that makes sense. A strong setup will have the players trying to figure out how things work and how to achieve their goal(s) in the safest possible manner.

My first rule of dungeons is that they should be scary. The player characters are definitely out of their own territory and being behind enemy lines should never be a comfortable thing.