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<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 8980850" data-attributes="member: 20323">Most enjoyable dungeon scenario I ran:PCs were led blindfolded into Fane of the Night Serpent (Tomb of Annihilation) to negotiate with yuan-ti. I described what they observed with their other senses going in, then revealed what they could see deep in the dungeon. It began with really tense negotiations (hostage release in exchange for magic McGuffin item), and the drama kept ratcheting up... oh, they're holding more hostages than we thought... oh, this yuan-ti lord Ras Nsi is super evil but he makes some really good points and good be a useful ally... oh, there's intense feuding happening between a couple factions within the yuan-ti... oh, there's a tempting spellbook the wizard PC would like to steal.What I liked about how I adapted the dungeon was that there were clear Story Beats that evoked some emotional response and required more than problem-solving thinking, but also thinking about what mattered to the character. Starting it as a primarily social scene was a really nice change of pace.I also like how I flipped the usual script of PCs gathering at the dungeon entrance.Other larger dungeons I've run tend to overstay their welcome because they lacked A) good &quot;connection points&quot; to insert emotional/character growth story beats, and B) stayed a little too &quot;on track&quot; to the dungeon delving formula.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 8980850, member: 20323"] Most enjoyable dungeon scenario I ran: PCs were led blindfolded into Fane of the Night Serpent (Tomb of Annihilation) to negotiate with yuan-ti. I described what they observed with their other senses going in, then revealed what they could see deep in the dungeon. It began with really tense negotiations (hostage release in exchange for magic McGuffin item), and the drama kept ratcheting up... oh, they're holding more hostages than we thought... oh, this yuan-ti lord Ras Nsi is super evil but he makes some really good points and good be a useful ally... oh, there's intense feuding happening between a couple factions within the yuan-ti... oh, there's a tempting spellbook the wizard PC would like to steal. What I liked about how I adapted the dungeon was that there were clear Story Beats that evoked some emotional response and required more than problem-solving thinking, but also thinking about what mattered to the character. Starting it as a primarily social scene was a really nice change of pace. I also like how I flipped the usual script of PCs gathering at the dungeon entrance. Other larger dungeons I've run tend to overstay their welcome because they lacked A) good "connection points" to insert emotional/character growth story beats, and B) stayed a little too "on track" to the dungeon delving formula. [/QUOTE]

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