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<blockquote data-quote="JiffyPopTart" data-source="post: 8249681" data-attributes="member: 4881">I GM a completely homebrew campaign, so if I want to feature a dungeon I either have to spend a LOT of time actually preplanning it OR I have to import it from another adventure and make it fit.As a general rule I really dislike dungeons without a thought out ecology, so my designs for long lost locations are limited to a small pallette of monsters that are essentially &quot;timeless guards&quot; OR I have to throw away the classic traps and puzzles because they have already been sprung or solved by the current inhabitants.The biggest dungeon designed in my world was a complex of 4 pyramids in the middle of a desert.&nbsp;&nbsp; One of the pyramids was inhabited by Yuan-Ti and slaving caravans.&nbsp; It was trap and puzzleless, offered up RP opportunities, and was basically a city style location.A second pyramid was uninhabited but VERY hard to find a way into and full of trap.&nbsp;A third pyramid was previously looted and was open to desert critters with little reward.the final pyramid, the largest, was protected from teleportation and highly guarded by whoever built the pyramids long ago.&nbsp; In addition to teleportation blocking magic in the stone, the tomb was filled with undead tomb guardians.&nbsp; It also had the best loot.This one complex was by far the most time I spent on any one location in my campaign, essentially having to write a complete module ahead of time.&nbsp; Normally I am very much an improv style GM with a half a page of notes, a palette of monsters pre chosen, and some ideas floating in my head.When I hit middle age and had to juggle work, a house, kids, parents, and other issues....taking 5 hours to design and populate a dungeon isn't high on the list of thing I want to do.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="JiffyPopTart, post: 8249681, member: 4881"] I GM a completely homebrew campaign, so if I want to feature a dungeon I either have to spend a LOT of time actually preplanning it OR I have to import it from another adventure and make it fit. As a general rule I really dislike dungeons without a thought out ecology, so my designs for long lost locations are limited to a small pallette of monsters that are essentially "timeless guards" OR I have to throw away the classic traps and puzzles because they have already been sprung or solved by the current inhabitants. The biggest dungeon designed in my world was a complex of 4 pyramids in the middle of a desert. One of the pyramids was inhabited by Yuan-Ti and slaving caravans. It was trap and puzzleless, offered up RP opportunities, and was basically a city style location. A second pyramid was uninhabited but VERY hard to find a way into and full of trap. A third pyramid was previously looted and was open to desert critters with little reward. the final pyramid, the largest, was protected from teleportation and highly guarded by whoever built the pyramids long ago. In addition to teleportation blocking magic in the stone, the tomb was filled with undead tomb guardians. It also had the best loot. This one complex was by far the most time I spent on any one location in my campaign, essentially having to write a complete module ahead of time. Normally I am very much an improv style GM with a half a page of notes, a palette of monsters pre chosen, and some ideas floating in my head. When I hit middle age and had to juggle work, a house, kids, parents, and other issues....taking 5 hours to design and populate a dungeon isn't high on the list of thing I want to do. [/QUOTE]

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