Things to Talk To in the Dungeon

[Rechan]

So I'm planning to run some newbies through a dungeon, but some of the advice I've received is "not just combat - teach them to roleplay".

Which is a good point. But, it's a little more of a challenge to come up with something hanging out in a dungeon full of monsters that you want the PCs to talk to.

What kind of thing would want to chat with a bunch of armored guys bursting in with weapons drawn? That doesn't naturally lend itself to "Hey let's talk" - the standard 'kick in the door' PC behavior, it's more reasonable to think it would kick in a dungeon-inhabitant's fight-or-flight response. Criminals typically don't try to reason with SWAT until they are on the ground, cuffed (i.e. surrendered), not while SWAT is bursting through the door.

This depends on your group of course, as your guys may go into every room with a smile and an olive branch. But let's talk about "a typical dungeon/adventure".

This leaves me to think that the easiest way to drop talking-NPCs into a dungeon is either 1) victims (someone being held against their will by the inhabitantsl), 2) Something that can't be attacked (a talking statue, something trapped in a mirror, etc) or 3) something so powerful that attacking is unnecessary. However, #3 leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

How do you set up potential RP arrangements in dungeons?

 

[Stoat]

Three broad categories:

1. Prisoners: Like your victims, they are here against their will, and they want help.

2. Traitors: "Enemy" forces in conflict with their own kind or with other factions in the dungeon. They want to use you to further their own agendas.

3. Other Adventurers: What do they want? How far are they willing to go to get it?

 

[pemerton]

I would suggest a variant on victims.

Victims are hard to use well (in my experience) because they're immediately sympathetic, which can undermine the drama/tension you're trying to create, and if they turn out to be traitors (the old succubus/yochlol/etc trick) then the players might feel that you, the GM, have tricked them.

The variant I suggest is the "neutral third party". As the PCs are coming to the end of a challenging encounter or series of encounters - and so perhaps looking to take a rest, or at least not necessarily inclined to start a fight they don't have to - they come across a shady but not obviously hostile NPC, or collection of NPCs, who are in the dungeon doing some sort of deal with the PCs' enemies. In H2 Thunderspire Labyrinth, I ran both the duergar in the Chamber of Eyes and the tieflings in the Well of Demons this way. Both worked well - tense and challenging negotiations with unexpected outcomes both times.

The key, in my view, is to go along with the players - let them find out the NPC(s)'s story and respond to it without prejudgement on your part. For more fun, set it up and adjudicate it so that the negotiations play on differences of outlook among the PCs - then the players can suddenly find themselves negotiating among one another!

 

[amerigoV]

Do not forget the party can roleplay amongst themselves. This is a great option as the players know the conversation is not something they have to "win" -- I think players get nervious when talking to NPCs in a dungeon as they fear "saying the wrong thing" will "mess up" whatever is going on.

Creating unclear situations and occasional moral quandries gets the players talking about what to do. Just remind them to view it from their character's point of view.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Monsters - Not all are evil and even if they are, some are bright. Maybe they are playing with you or leading to your doom but they are a chatty bunch. this could be things like ghost or hags or the white rabbit.

Other adventures - this depends on the size of the dungeon but if big enough, there is a chance adventures may meet others. Great for non-evil bad guys!

Guards and other staff - a loner guard or the torch lighter/replacer, a simple roll and they may not call for help and provide you with a bit of information.

 

[TanithT]

I would say, a cute little girl sitting on the floor playing with her dolly.

Problem is, my players would know that this is probably a precursor to something horribly dire, and she will soon be bleeding from her eyes and reciting creepy nursery rhymes in a sweet, high-pitched voice as the walls turn to mounds of quivering flesh around them.

Or something like that. Anyhow, cute and harmless can work. On some PC's, anyhow. Suspicious and jaded players may assume that something horrific is up, and some of them may strike pre-emptively on that assumption.

In which case the real fun to be had is when your players kill her and ask what the XP is. And then you calculate what the XP is for a 0 level 8 year old, and give them that. If they don't feel terrible as a result, and if that doesn't teach them to try talking first to things that aren't attacking them, then they are scarier people than I am.

 

[Rechan]

I think that something that isn't a monster/unable to be attacked (like a magical talking door you have to convince to open, etc) is the most fun, but coming up with things like that aren't as easy.

Victims are hard to use well (in my experience) because they're immediately sympathetic, which can undermine the drama/tension you're trying to create, and if they turn out to be traitors (the old succubus/yochlol/etc trick) then the players might feel that you, the GM, have tricked them.

In this instance, lack of tension is OK - I just want to give them something to talk to. Hence something like a talking statue. A victim/prisoner is just fine. Something they don't stab is good.

I hear what you're saying about the traitor - that's an overused card IMO and a pet peeve of mine. I think it's more effective if the traitor happens only after several legit experiences. Otherwise, anything that tries to talk to the PCs is tagged as a traitor.

But for general purposes, I wanted to expand on what someone else said:

Monsters - Not all are evil and even if they are, some are bright. Maybe they are playing with you or leading to your doom but they are a chatty bunch. this could be things like ghost or hags or the white rabbit.

2. Traitors: "Enemy" forces in conflict with their own kind or with other factions in the dungeon. They want to use you to further their own agendas.

Cowardly monsters aren't a bad idea either. In a reactive dungeon, not everything may come running to jump on the PCs' heads - some might high tail it out of there, or try a middle-ground approach like barricading themselves in an area and trying to negotiate through the barricade.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Something that is obviously way too powerful for the PCs to beat, but that they may be able to trick or persuade.

'Who are you that disturbs the rest of Kalam - Ra, lich priest of the god of the Sun in Shadow? Speak, lest I grow angry, and spare you from this world of woe.....' *Doors slam shut behind the PCs.*

Nothing like facing a bored lich to get you to thinking....

Dragons work for this as well, some giants, scary things....

The Auld Grump

 

[steeldragons]

What everyone else has said (I really need to look at these threads sooner. All the good stuff is taken! haha).

Anyway: As others have said Monsters.

The evil ones -either weak creatures or lone caught off guard ones are unlikely to want to take on 5-7 heavily armed individuals (I'm thinking humanoids of various caliber, but no reason an intelligent and/or powerful one might be interested in a chat about "the world outside".

The neutral ones -whether negotiations can be formed to benefit the party or not s one way to go about it. The other is, they simply don't care that the PCs are there. "You want the Treasure Trove of Awhsum? It's two levels down that way. Might want to watch out for Dum-dum, though. Cyclopses can get so cranky when they have pink-eye."

The good ones -for when the characters really DO need a respite. Depends on the type of dungeon (natural caves/caverns or a constructed edifice) but I'm thinking of the old trope of a party low on resources and water, they enter a natural chamber that is refreshingly cool and glowing from lunimnous fungi, crystals, whatever to see a scantily clad beautiful women (nymph, nixie, lone elf maiden doing some inda meditation, what have you) sitting upon a broad flat stone in the pool of water in the corner. I don't know of too many parties that would charge in blades blazing to attack a meek-looking unarmed beautiful woman.

Then there are the "prisoners", "victims" et al, who might easily be "monsters" of good alignment being round up by the forces of evil (though in underground adventures, I tend to veer away from flying/winged creatures).

Also...the environment itself. Through in a galeb-duhr or just a section of rock wall that comes "alive"/aware and can chat.

I know the "magic mouth" spell is supposed to be a pre-set "recorded" message, but long ago, I homebrewed a variation of the spell that did afford a degree of independent thought...so those lips above the archway can actually carry on a conversation....might have some useful info...might not...might try to actively deceive the party or was placed there by a former adventurer to help/guide others...

And one more thing...

Items!

Whence the talking swords of yore (or daggers or battle axes or...)? Enchanted singing harps? Cowardly shields that scream and cry when they go into battle/get struck? Argumentative magic mirrors? After a pitched battle with deadly foes, the party eagerly picks through the trove of treasure only to be interrupted in their revery by a "Hey! Watch yer hands, there sweetheart!" or "Thank the gods. I'm saved!" or "It's about bloody time! Do you have any idea how long it has been since I've had the pleasure of a mortal's touch? Take me up and let's kick some orc arse!"

Maybe even, just something that was discarded for being annoying. ("You find a beautifully crafted longsword just lying on the floor of the corridor. When you pick it up, a face forms from the metal and jewels of the hilt and starts thanking you in a demeaning fashion."

Items crafted/enchanted with intelligence or persons/creatures trapped or cursed within them (potential new quest on the "to do" list: Free the sorceror, Talkytiv, from his mirror prison. Whether Talkytiv is the kindly gentle "wronged" soul he presents himself to be is a matter for you to decide when/if he is actually freed

They can be helpful, informative, dry, emotional, condescending, complimentary...subversive...go nuts!

That's about all I have for this.

But have fun with it! and good luck with the new group.
--Steel Dragons

 

[Reynard]

One thing I have had great success with through many adventures is poor familiar -- usually an imp -- of some long dead sorcerer who once used the dungeon as a laboratory. Wicked and a little mad to be sure, but also terribly lonely.