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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9616888" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/SfMPIgR.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 357px" />Dungeons are typically thought of as places and things, lairs containing a dizzying amount of creatures, traps, and environments. Nothing is out of the question when venturing into such eldritch areas. But sometimes they get even stranger, and awaken to a state of self-awareness with a distinct soul. Various aspects of the dungeon's foundation serve as its vital organs: a treasure trove might be its heart, ley lines its bloodstream, and the cavernous stone its skin.Awakened dungeons typically lack mobility to move around their greater environment, so they learn to create a smaller extension of itself known as an avatar. Almost always humanoid in size and shape, they appear like another ancestry yet are formed from the dungeon's physical features. The avatar and dungeon are one and the same, the former being akin to a sensory organ extending out into the wider world. The avatar can also bring others with it into the awakened dungeon via an extraplanar process.It should go without saying that this ancestry is a bit more whimsical than the others. While the text is overall mechanical and serious-minded, this chapter's sidebars, titles, and ancestry features are filled with references to a wide variety of fantasy media, like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is_It_Wrong_to_Try_to_Pick_Up_Girls_in_a_Dungeon%3F" target="_blank">Is It Wrong To Pick Up Gold In a Dungeon?</a> for a sidebar talking about the ethical quandaries of looting treasure found in an awakened dungeon. Or <a href="https://slyflourish.com/lazydm/" target="_blank">The Lazy Dungeon Gamemaster</a> sidebar, which explains that the GM doesn't have to create a new dungeon wholesale to represent the PC if they don't have the time or energy to do so or would otherwise be disruptive to the campaign. These references are apparent but not omnipresent, so personally speaking they don't wear out their welcome for me.Like the demon, the dungeon base ancestry is rather open in not adhering closely to any role, with an ability boost to Constitution and another score of choice (in 5e it has a net +4 bonus, with +2 to Constitution and +1 to 2 other scores), Small or Medium size, average movement speed, and low-light vision or darkvision depending on the system. All awakened dungeons have an avatar connected to its life force, meaning that if one dies or is destroyed then the other is as well. Additionally, an avatar can transport itself and its allies into the awakened dungeon's extradimensional environs over the course of an hour, provided that they are all holding hands or otherwise in physical contact during that time.All awakened dungeons are arranged in a series of "floors" which must be completed in order, and their terrain and inhabitants are reflections of the dungeon's history and themes. Floors are filled with monsters, dangers, and other obstacles, and the inhabitants of a dungeon have no inherent fondness or loyalty to the avatar. An avatar can exit a dungeon the same way it enters, although the book suggests that clearing a floor allows the party to leave. A party is also forced to leave if they fail to clear a floor in an hour, representing a "forced retreat."Self-aware dungeons are rare to the point that they don't gather into groups or societies of the traditional sort. However, there are common mindsets and ideologies among awakened dungeons known as categories. Three of the categories that get 5e backgrounds are enthusiasts (thrill-seekers eager to test themselves and others against their own challenges), museums (collect all manner of objects and treasures to populate itself), and overlords (seek to "clean out" the floors of themselves and regain control, viewing inhabitants as squatters or invaders). The four other categories are fragments (they are pieces of some other entity and completing floors helps piece their origin and memories together), psyches (existence arose due to significant emotional events, and the floors contain inner dilemmas and conflicts), soul prisons (made up of souls of the fallen whose history and death are tied to the dungeon's), and quandaries (a "none of the above" option for dungeons that defy categorization).<img src="https://i.imgur.com/bgmmll5.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 382px" />A dungeon's subspecies/heritage is reflective of what kind of dungeon it is. Archipelago is a chain of islands which grant a swim speed and the amphibious trait; cavern grants darkvision, or in 5th Edition improved darkvision plus a climb speed that only functions in caverns, and adds double their proficiency bonus for identifying crystals and gems; labyrinth grants bonuses on checks related to navigational direction and proficiency in Survival (pf2e) or History plus the Minor Illusion cantrip (5e); leviathan means that the dungeon is actually a titanic extradimensional creature, and grants one choice from a list of unarmed natural weapons in both systems, plus proficiency in the Acrobatics or Athletics skill in 5e; mausoleums gain a bonus divine/cleric cantrip in both systems, and 5e grants resistance to necrotic damage and the Religion skill; towers are full of magical lore, granting a bonus arcane/wizard cantrip, while in 5e it also grants proficiency in one of the 4 Intelligence-based knowledge skills and once per long rest can summon a book from the dungeon's library to gain advantage on a relevant check pertaining to the tome's topic; and trees are enormous arboreal life forms, capable of communicating with plants and have better social influence over them in both systems. This last ancestry grants +2 on Perception checks and saving throws against plants in Pathfinder, while D&D grants them the Nature skill and +1 hit point per level.Two the 5e-exclusive subspecies features were converted into exclusive feats in the Pathfinder book. The book-summoning ability of the tower is a 5th level ancestry feat, as is the cavern's climb speed but also functions in non-cavernous environments.Thoughts: The awakened dungeon is definitely an odd choice conceptually. One might think that it would have darkvision even in Pathfinder 2e, given how dark most dungeons are in fantasy games. But I suppose that saving that for the cavern heritage helps make it stand out. While it takes too long to happen in a frantic life-or-death situation, being able to physically transport allies into an extradimensional dungeon at will feels a tad powerful to give out for free right off the bat. One could argue that the extradimensional dungeon isn't a safe space given that the GM is encouraged to populate it with dangers. But any adventuring party worth their salt is going to start clearing it out and using it as a mobile home base. The subspecies are all creative, although I do feel that the Pathfinder 2e version could've been given a bit more goodies like their 5e counterparts.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/uIlVSg7.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 365px" />We have 22 feats for D&D and 33 feats for Pathfinder, and they tend to be broad in use rolewise rather than adhering to tighter themes. The allotment of feats differ widely between systems. For example, we have Dungeon Familiar for Pathfinder (1st level, gain a familiar sharing physical/theme traits with the dungeon) and Dungeon Stocker for D&D (1st level, cast Find Familiar and Unseen Servant as rituals, can summon a tiny beast and cast Animal Messenger at 5th level), Dungeon Loot for Pathfinder (1st level, trained in Athletics and gain Hefty Hauler feat) and Dungeon Robber for D&D (+1 Dexterity, proficiency in thieves' tools and choice of 2 rogue-esque skills), Labyrinth of Magic for Pathfinder (5th level, labyrinth only, cast Illusory Object once per day) and Labyrinth of Secrets for D&D (4th level, cast Invisibility and See Invisibility once per long rest each), and finally Dark Dungeon for Pathfinder (1st level, gain darkvision).The Dungeon Armor feat appears in both systems, but its level-based prerequisite varies widely. For D&D it's a 1st level feat, where the avatar forms a physical shell to gain temporary hit points equal to "twice your dungeon level"* for 10 minutes once per short or long rest. In Pathfinder, it's a 13th level feat activated once per day, granting resistance 10 against all physical damage that isn't adamantine. Every time this resistance is applied, the value decreases by 1.*As an awakened dungeon is not a class, I presume they meant character level.The higher-level features continue to focus heavily on general-purpose utility vs direct combat applications. We have Disinter for the mausoleum (5th level in Pf2e, 9th level in 5e, can cast choice of animate dead or fear spell once per long rest or day, 5e version doesn't require a corpse), Leviathan's Prowess for the subspecies of the same name (4/5th level, D&D increases damage dice of natural weapon and treats as magical, Pathfinder grants critical specialization and the shove/grapple/trip traits to natural weapon), and Dungeon Dweomers (8/9th level, can learn two low-level spells that can be cast once per day/long rest each).The middle-levels are also rather summoner-friendly, with D&D getting Dungeon Caller (8th level, grants a new Conjure X spell at 8th and every 4 levels thereafter with each capable of being cast once per long rest), while Pathfinder has the absurdly long-named Dungeon? No, I'm Just a Passing Beast Master (9th level, grants the Beastmaster dedication feat and animal companions come from and can be stored in the extradimensional dungeon).Furthermore, Pathfinder gets not one, but three 9th-level feats that involve summoning features from the dungeon into the physical world. Call Forth Items grants Prescient Planner and Presciient Consumable feats, but the former's requirement changes to not being used since the last time the avatar entered the inner dungeon. Call Forth Room casts use of the Cozy Cabin spell once per day, but it's shaped like a room from the dungeon. Call Forth Traps grants the Snarecrafter dedication feat, and the quick deployment feature from the snarecrafter archetype is reflavored to being a trap summoned from the dungeon rather than being physically built. This last feat has a similar but functionally distinct feat in D&D called Trap Magic, that grants the Find Traps and Knock spell that can be cast once per long rest, and three times per long rest the avatar can use an action to create a magical trap that lasts until triggered for 24 hours, doing single-target physical damage that increases with level.The feats that grant the equivalent of a dedication feat can be taken even if the PC has already met their maximum amount of dedication feats for their level.The 12/13th and higher levels see some pretty potent AoE and terrain-changing effects, such as Dungeon World (12/13th level, radiates an aura that warps space and hinders movement), Wall Master (13th level, Pathfinder only, once per day can cast Wall of Stone), the Unwanted Undead Tempest (12th level in D&D, 17th level in Pathfinder calls forth a howling storm of undead spirits that deal necrotic damage and the frightened condition in 5e, casts Tempest of Shades in pf2e), Into the Dungeon/Into the Maze (16th/17th level, casts Maze in 5e, causes a target to vanish into an extradimensional space until they escape via an action or series of Survival/Perception checks depending on degree of failure in pf2e), Form of the Leviathan (16/17th level, Leviathan only, casts a buffed version of Monstrosity Form in pf2e, polymorphs avatar into a purple worm or roc in 5e), and Overlord (16/17th level, casts Magnificent Mansion in 5e, has a similar effect in pf2e where avatar can create a gateway into a safe portion of the dungeon whose size and features they can change and manipulate).Thoughts: The dungeon feats range from the average to the broadly useful, and there's a good amount of choices for just about any character concept here, Dungeon Armor and the Levithan feats are good for physical attackers, but as those require a specific subspecies they tend not to be as broad as the ones that can be taken by any heritage. 5e's Dungeon Stocker and Trap Magic feats are very good options for dungeon crawling campaigns, while the former 5e feat and pf2e's Call Forth Traps are both good for planning ambushes and battlefield control. Disinter's ability to not need a corpse in 5e makes it a very attractive option for necromancer builds, and the 8/9th level feats granting summoning spells or animal companions are attractive options for hordemaster types. Particularly 5e, given that summoning spells are particularly potent force multipliers in the action economy.Thoughts So Far: The Dungeon is the most offbeat and original idea in this book, so much so that it doesn't really feel like a "classic creature." However, it has an awful lot of attractive options for all manner of character builds, albeit the DM may need to keep an eye on some of the more exploitable abilities. Additionally, the ancestry's rather silly nature may make it an acquired taste suitable only for a small variety of campaigns.Join us next time as we cover Gremlins and learn how to break things!</blockquote>

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