Taking suggestions for Dungeons of Doom

[SkeletonKey Ed]

Dungeons of Doom definitely goes beyond the square room to do combat in. How about a fight on the Piston Bridge? Or a subterranean naval battle? Or scaling a tower carved inside a 500ft. tall natural cave column? And how do you cross a lake of fire?

There will be plenty of things for PCs to worry about before you even stock these maps with monsters, trust me.

Thanks for all the input, keep it coming.

Cheers - Ed

 

[Graf]

An actual dragons lair.
(I'm serious.)

It would be someplace dragony, like a moutain, with an arial entrance, a few smaller paths that are guarded and trapped for servants, and maybe a secret exit for the dragon or some other "back door". Oh. And piles of treasure with a few private treasure rooms.

 

[orangefruitbat]

The important thing is to balance map beauty with fuctionality. This means consistently providng a grid (preferrably in 5' increments), clearly visible features, a good top-down view, a good legend, and colours appropriate to photocopy. I've seen many maps that look great but are pretty useless.

I'd also suggest providing a number of smaller maps that are suitable for 'mini' dungeons - a crypt, tunnels under a monestary, etc. Basically dungeons that can be fully explored in a single night of adventuring.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

-A hive type labyrinth or lair, for insectioid monsters and races.

-a desert based system of interconnecting tombs, sort of like the Valley of Kings in Egypt. Lots of small tombs that could be used individually, but with a set of tunnels and secret passages joining them up.

-a steamy jungle based tunnel system, sort of like the Cu Chi Tunnels used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam war. Basically a city of underground rooms and tunnels, with vegitation creeping in and taking over large areas that have fallen into disrepair.

-Lairs for elementals and extraplanar creatures

-A system of long extinct lava tubes that have been taken over by a river. Remember the water tunnels that the kids slide through in The Goonies just before they find the pirate ship? Thats what I'm talking about. Raging water through a maze of small tubes with ledges and offshoots everywhere, all emptying into a huge cavern with an underground lake.

 

[vsper]

vampire lair

I would like to see a vampire lair, that is set up to use their special abilities, ie spider climb, gasseous form to the best advantage. Also it should seperate the party, that would be one of the first things I would attempt to achieve as a vampire.
Vsper

 

[Vascant]

Maps that make sense, have seen to many maps where giant in areas that are designed for Kobolds and such. Have the area reflect the creatures that live there or the history of it.

No cookie cutter maps, maps should feel original and creative. If you have ever seen anything by Chris West, by far he is one of the best though I am certain there are a few others.

If you have these two items, then everything else falls into place.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Ideas for maps: go flip through the DMG's list of terrain and weather hazards. Yeah, I know you said these will be dungeon encounter maps.

But how about implementing a map with something that could be a fire hazard, per the Forest Fire trap on page 87? Or a flooded section of cave or dungeon that would bring in the rules on Bogs, or Quicksand? Or a cave that has an extended slope its entire length that would implement the rules on Slopes from the Hills Terrain section.

Certainly caves would have Dense Rubble fields, Rock Walls, Scree and Avalanche threats from the Mountain Terain section.

How about sensible lairs of particular monsters that would reside in a dungeon? A spot to sleep, a hunting perch (maybe at an ambush site), its stash of loot, its trash and byproducts. Maybe also do lairs where two or more creatures have taken up a mutually beneficial relationship.

How about ruins that have been "repurposed" by new residents. In this the ruins themselves have a story to tell. Maybe something that has been reused multiple times, and shows the signs of every occupant... some more subtly than others.


Regards,
Eric Anondson