not-so-newguy
I'm the Straw Man in your argument
Bargle as the BBEG
D&D 5E The Classic Dungeon
I like what we have so far, just to flesh things out, the inn owner sees how good they were in the bar room brawl and asks them to clear out the giant rat problem he is having in his cellar. Once there, they see that the rats are coming in from a hidden passage that leads to the dungeon.
A few tropes I would like to include:
- The place was built by a mad wizard for no discernible reason
- There are guys out the front charging entrance to the place. You have to pay money to get entry and explore for loot. Steve Jackson used this one a bit in the early days if I remember correctly. The idea of a dungeon of a mad wizard being a tourist attraction for adventurers is just so absurd I love it.
- A latrine that serve no purpose but to house an Ortyugh (sp?) it also strangely has lots of treasure in it. Other latrines have treasure but not the monster, who knows why.
- A messed up ecosystem with goblins living next door to harpies and rust monsters for no apparent reason.
- An absurdly powerful item, preferably a ring of wish or a Deck of Many Things that can completely break the game. It is not the object of the quest, just off in a side room for some reason.
- A door that takes 4 gems to open, one of each element, of course they are guarded in themed rooms for each element.
- Definitely a magic mouth riddle door, as we previously mentioned
- A chessboard room of course
- A mirror that changes alignment, or creates dopplegangers
- Mimics, but also rug monsters, stalagtite lurker things and a dark mantle pretending to be the roof.
- Potions of different colors, unlabeled with no way to tell what they do
A few tropes I would like to include:
- The place was built by a mad wizard for no discernible reason
- There are guys out the front charging entrance to the place. You have to pay money to get entry and explore for loot. Steve Jackson used this one a bit in the early days if I remember correctly. The idea of a dungeon of a mad wizard being a tourist attraction for adventurers is just so absurd I love it.
- A latrine that serve no purpose but to house an Ortyugh (sp?) it also strangely has lots of treasure in it. Other latrines have treasure but not the monster, who knows why.
- A messed up ecosystem with goblins living next door to harpies and rust monsters for no apparent reason.
- An absurdly powerful item, preferably a ring of wish or a Deck of Many Things that can completely break the game. It is not the object of the quest, just off in a side room for some reason.
- A door that takes 4 gems to open, one of each element, of course they are guarded in themed rooms for each element.
- Definitely a magic mouth riddle door, as we previously mentioned
- A chessboard room of course
- A mirror that changes alignment, or creates dopplegangers
- Mimics, but also rug monsters, stalagtite lurker things and a dark mantle pretending to be the roof.
- Potions of different colors, unlabeled with no way to tell what they do
Eltab
Lord of the Hidden Layer
- One room with a vaulted ceiling appears to be braced with dragon ribs.
- One room has a painting / mosaic of a dragon on one wall. This animates and attacks anybody who gets to close to it. (Rise of Tiamat has a 'mosaic griffon' which is my inspiration.)
- Dragon skeleton nestled on a 'hoard' (actually ivory chunks or yellowed bones) that rises up and spits a "breath weapon" - a string of knuckle bones - at you.
- Room of orcs next to a room of kobolds. If you stop and listen through the keyhole (and understand their language) you can hear them planning to attack each other.
- Cursed candelabra that turns you CE Alignment if you pick it up. Cursed Full Plate Armor turns you into an LE Alignment worshipper of Asmodeus or Bane.
- Crazy old hermit lives in a nearby swamp. He knows a helpful secret about something in the dungeon, but also likes to watch his "pet" monster stalk, fight, and eat people.
- Captives to be rescued. Merchants, mercenaries, helpless commoners. They might be destined for a cookpot or just held for ransom.
- One room has a painting / mosaic of a dragon on one wall. This animates and attacks anybody who gets to close to it. (Rise of Tiamat has a 'mosaic griffon' which is my inspiration.)
- Dragon skeleton nestled on a 'hoard' (actually ivory chunks or yellowed bones) that rises up and spits a "breath weapon" - a string of knuckle bones - at you.
- Room of orcs next to a room of kobolds. If you stop and listen through the keyhole (and understand their language) you can hear them planning to attack each other.
- Cursed candelabra that turns you CE Alignment if you pick it up. Cursed Full Plate Armor turns you into an LE Alignment worshipper of Asmodeus or Bane.
- Crazy old hermit lives in a nearby swamp. He knows a helpful secret about something in the dungeon, but also likes to watch his "pet" monster stalk, fight, and eat people.
- Captives to be rescued. Merchants, mercenaries, helpless commoners. They might be destined for a cookpot or just held for ransom.
ccs
41st lv DM
Secret doors & and pointless secret passage ways.
It often seemed that early module writers simply tried to use EVERY square on their graph paper.
Treasure in bizarre places that lead to the question: "WHY would I ever search there?"
This stuff CANNOT be found via dice rolls alone. Or generalized statements. The player has to specifically indicate they search the ridiculous place. Afterall, you've gone to the effort to write down an exact location for it.
Save or die traps. Well, at least one or two.
Monsters that are in locations that, much like the secret doors/treasures beg the question: "WHY?"
White apes chained up guarding the bath tub? In a long abandoned castle ruin. Sure....
More monsters than the party could ever hope to triumph over. CR system be damned.
Slopes misc. changes in stonework - to give those dwarf & gnome players something to notice.
Healing potions scattered about.
Trick/traps/solutions that are only able to be addressed ooc/by meta-gaming.
It often seemed that early module writers simply tried to use EVERY square on their graph paper.
Treasure in bizarre places that lead to the question: "WHY would I ever search there?"
This stuff CANNOT be found via dice rolls alone. Or generalized statements. The player has to specifically indicate they search the ridiculous place. Afterall, you've gone to the effort to write down an exact location for it.
Save or die traps. Well, at least one or two.
Monsters that are in locations that, much like the secret doors/treasures beg the question: "WHY?"
White apes chained up guarding the bath tub? In a long abandoned castle ruin. Sure....
More monsters than the party could ever hope to triumph over. CR system be damned.
Slopes misc. changes in stonework - to give those dwarf & gnome players something to notice.
Healing potions scattered about.
Trick/traps/solutions that are only able to be addressed ooc/by meta-gaming.
At least one Gazebo. It is a huge mimic and will eat PCs that get close enough.
Of course, most of these suggestions are classic dungeons for very experienced players that love/hate them from days of yore. You would want to skip many of them for new and young folks, as they will just seem weird without the fond nostalgia.
Of course, most of these suggestions are classic dungeons for very experienced players that love/hate them from days of yore. You would want to skip many of them for new and young folks, as they will just seem weird without the fond nostalgia.
Rod Staffwand
aka Ermlaspur Flormbator
A giant demon statue with gems for eyes that animates when you steal them.
Will Doyle
Explorer
Fantastic suggestions here, folks. I shall incubate them for a while, and hopefully spawn something devious. 
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