So, I made a world... (input requested)

[Sekhmet]

I made a campaign setting for personal use that I'm quite fond of now, it's somewhat low magic (in the sense that magical items are few and far between, and spell lists are somewhat reduced to be rid of the flashy damage dealing type spells lolicestormoutofnowhere), and I'm coming up on the overlying story arc that has driven the campaign, which is to free Bahamut.

Bahamut was trapped by a powerful wizard in an area of the world set off from the rest by a massive glacial wall. Five Great Wyrm White Dragons keep watch over him, constantly re-solidifying the massive block of magical ice that imprisons him, and my adventurers are coming up on the realization that, to reunite the world with it's parallel (which has had drastic complications), they need to free him.

The problems that keep presenting themselves is that I can't seem to settle on an arrangement for the massive, underground complex that would house such a thing. It would ideally have a breeding pit for white dragons, a large storeroom of acquired goods/hoard, and obviously the main chamber where Bahamut is kept.
Each of the five Great Wyrms would have their own chamber, because, as sentient creatures (even with the same goals), they'll have their own characteristics and will often not get along well with the other Great Wyrms.

I'm having trouble coming up with enough filler material that the dungeon won't just turn into "You enter room, X White Dragons of X size attack you. You kill dragons. You enter next room, X White Dragons of X size attack you", which could turn what should be an epic adventure into something boring and predictable.

I request your input on the situation. Any questions you have regarding world mechanics will also be answered.

 

[kitcik]

Take a look at the Giant modules. They had the same issue (except with giants rather than dragons) and overcame it admirably IMHO.

 

[Dandu]

Watch the Disney Aladdin movie? It had a pretty fun Cave of Wonders iirc.

 

[anest1s]

Low magic campaign where a wizard beats a dragon god?

Well you can always have magic dungeon....I guess?

 

[Tovec]

I guess my issue might be player expectations before and while they enter the dungeon. It is probably best broken up into separate questions with advice on each. Questions in bold.

Do they know there is going to be five dragons?
If they know there are going to be five, very big, very tough white dragons then they are going to be ready to have ice resistances and things to solve it. Personally if you haven't told them there are five white dragons guarding Bahamut, I wouldn't. It helps build the suspense and forces them to make preparations to fight any dragon type than just white (kill it with fire) dragons. If you HAVE already told them then change up the enemy as much as possible. Give them different stats, tactics, personalities, and powers for each dragon. It helps level the playing field if one specializes in long range, another casting, a third heals (or provides support), two attack in the foreground - like a party does.

Are they all going to be there at the same time? Or Are they going to have to fight them all at once or in sequence?
If the party is expecting to fight one they will gear up tactics different than expecting to fight hordes. This really sets up what the party will expect and how they deal with challenges. If they know there are five and will be expecting to fight all at the same time, then having them fight room after room of lesser whites might be okay, because it hopes they use up their generic anti-white spells before getting to the boss battle. If they think they're going to be dealing with several boss battles they'll stock resources differently.

Proper player expectations:
I can't stress this enough. If they don't know what to expect, don't know they are dragons and don't know how many, it works much better. Because after you have them fight a rigorous battle with one white have the curtain roll back revealing four more, similarly massive dragons yet to defeat. Then let them have a chance to escape with their hides after what would have been a fantastic battle they won. It has the added benefit of them training up to become stronger and come back to kill the remaining four.

Important bits to remember:
It is still a dungeon! Yes they'll end up fighting white dragons and they'll need to gear up for that appropriately. But it is still a dungeon. How would this be any different than if the party was invading a dungeon with mad cultists? Not every creature would be a demon, regardless if that was the cult's final goal. Throw a minotaur to buise them a bit, an ooze or two is an effective trap, a dryad can be responsible for putting them to sleep and delaying them, there are likely dozens of humanoid servants to cater to the elder dragons, there might be wizards who help re-enforce or who are there to secure the ice if something extra-ordinary happens. Perhaps un-aligned dwarves or drow, or anything really, have stumbled upon the ice-dungeon from below and seek to conquer it for themselves.

Also..
Twists are always a good part to throw in, especially ones that happen at the end of everything happening correctly where a completely sideways outcome occurs. Something like, in their attempt to release Bahamut, Tiamat is released instead, forcing the already tired party to put the evil-five-headed-goddess back into her cage.

Oh And..
Never forget, "the princess is in another dungeon". Meaning while this may have all been set up a certain way, when the party gets there they could have been led into a trap or their objective moved.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Perhaps design the various rooms, but not hallways?

Since the Great Wyrms are constantly reinforcing the ice, which means the ice is constantly cracking/melting/chipping/whatever, have your players crawl through fissures, dug through large ice blocks, and risk all sorts of crushing and falling damage, as well as becoming trapped.

Ice Storms Out Of Nowhere would not fit in a campaign of white dragons and an ice prison??

 

[Sekhmet]

Low magic campaign where a wizard beats a dragon god?

Well you can always have magic dungeon....I guess?

None of the wizards most important spells are missing, just METEOR SWARM LOL and other such unnecessarily flashy damage dealers, nor is magical equipment creation missing from a player's opportunities - just that there exists no Joe's Magic Warehouse, everything half off because we're liquidating our entire stock!!!

Wall of Ideas, CL5

Thank you for the input. I'll readdress it when I'm not -so tired I can hardly think straight-.

Traps are super.

Yes, traps are an effective encounter. Unfortunately, for the most part, White Dragons are so stupid it hurts.

GIANTS

I hadn't thought much about Giants, but I could definitely see Trollkin and Giantkin working with them as servants. At least it is some variation. Also, i'll definitely look at what they did with the Giants adventures.

 

[Empirate]

Dragons fly exceedingly fast. There's no need for the 5 Great Wyrms to all live in the same place. Each could have its own unique den:
a windswept mountain fortress full of flying slaves and servants,
a frozen cave with lots of Wyrmling mobs,
a glacial abyss so deep it reaches into the Underdark,
an extraplanar mansion (Great Wyrm sized...) filled with magical traps,
and an urban palace where the human-polymorphed last Great Wyrm holds sway over a whole metropolis.

BTW: these are unique bosses, no need to stick to their exact stats in the Monster Manual.

 

[Aran Thule]

Following on from what Tovec suggested:

If there are five dragons and they are working together then you could have them doing differant jobs so to speak.

One could be the diplomat of the group, with the highest charisma as well as charm and dominate spells they would be the first contact with any visitors.

Other options are defence, dealing with scrying and the more mundane guards as well as trap maintenance (kobolds for the win)

If your using kobolds you could have a mix of large (for dragons and giants) and small (kobold) tunnels.

An idea that springs to mind would be that the base would be in a giant glacier.

Which brings me onto dragon three, development:
Builds and maintains the tunnels, kobold sorcs with balls of fire, a few frost giants and a pet Remorhaz as well as spells to protect the tunnels from fire/melt damage

Dragon four is responsable for supplies, be it trading/foraging or pillaging

Finally the fifth is the guard who maintains the protects the containment field.

If they were tasked with the mission by tiamat then i dont see them refusing but that does not mean that they would like each other.

As an alternative to the standard dragon slaying you could put a spin on things.
A special helm of reverse alignment for dragons could be used on one of them to make a ally out of one of the five who could then plan with the group against the other four.

 

[Sekhmet]

Perhaps design the various rooms, but not hallways?

Since the Great Wyrms are constantly reinforcing the ice, which means the ice is constantly cracking/melting/chipping/whatever, have your players crawl through fissures, dug through large ice blocks, and risk all sorts of crushing and falling damage, as well as becoming trapped.

Ice Storms Out Of Nowhere would not fit in a campaign of white dragons and an ice prison??

A level 3 Fireball being as powerful as an Ancient Brass Dragon's breath weapon seems a bit silly to me, don't you think?
I'm just leaving the flashy spells out, though, naturally, the player character can still invest his or her own money into the research of spells that deal direct damage.

Fantastic idea with the fissures/crawling/cramped conditions and crushing/falling/trapping damage. I'll use this definitely.