What is a dungeon?

[Nyaricus]

Any larger, multi-level underground area is simply ridiculous. Where has all of the excavated material gone?

AEgyptian Pyramids, large natural caves, etc are all pointing the otehr way

 

[Melan]

Any larger, multi-level underground area is simply ridiculous. Where has all of the excavated material gone?

Dungeons exist for players to have fun with. The excavated material, I assume, is eaten by grues in the employ of the generations of wizards and insane geniuses.

 

[Nightfall]

What is a dungeon? For your viewing pleasure I present...Rappan Athuk! The Dungeon of Graves!

 

[Templetroll]

A dungeon is a heavily fortified underground defense installation.

Did you see the 'caves' used by the Taliban in Afganistan? A couple of years ago a news show had a 3d video of the caves and it looked exactly like what a dungeon would be! Long corridors, doors every so often to small sets of rooms for various purposes. Part of the design was to minimize damage from fireba... missiles. Newsweek Flash about Taliban caves Click Cave Layout to see what I mean.

 

[Nightfall]

Bah. The Taliban only wish they could room with Orcus in Rappan Athuk!

 

[Lanefan]

Any larger, multi-level underground area is simply ridiculous. Where has all of the excavated material gone?

Disintegrate is a very useful spell, often overlooked as a construction tool in favour of its more offensive capabilities...

As for what-is-a-dungeon, others have defined it fairly well, though a term is needed to mean "non-dungeon adventure". Examples:

Dungeon:

• G1,G2,G3
• Lost Temple of Tharizdun
• Tomb of the Lizard King
• White Plume Mountain
• Forge of Fury
• Rappan Athuk

Non-dungeon adventure:

• Journey to the Rock
• Dungeonland (despite the name)
• Night's Dark Terror (though there are tiny dungeon-ish bits within)
• To Find a King
• (various others, mostly 2e and 3e, that I've seen but neither bought nor run and whose names escape me now)

Lanefan

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh - not a dungeon (but with a near-dungeon element, the haunted hosue)

Dwellers of the Forbidden City- dungeon-like

Speaker in Dreams - not a dungeon

Freeport trilogy - no experience

Steading of the Hill Giant Chief - dungeon

Slavepits of the Undercity - dungeon

The Standing Stones - a linked adventure (not a dungeon) with dungeon sub-elements

Beyond the Crystal Cave - not a dungeon (but several dungeon-like sites)

Isle of Dread - not a dungeon, but with a dungeon site

Dungeonland -not a dungeon

Queen of the Demonweb Pits - dungeon with non-dungeon sites (the worlds off of the web)

Others:

Pharaoh - dungeon

Oasis of the White Palm - not a dungeon, but with dungeon elements

Lost Tomb of Martek - Mostly dungeon with non-dungeon elements

Ravenloft - dungeon

Lost City - dungeon

Tomb of Horrors - the classic dungeon (along with Undermountain)

Expedition to the Barrier Peaks - dungeon

---

I might add the term "site-based" to your definition, as in "a site-based adventure location where movement options are restricted by the physical configuration of the locale, primarily populated by PC enemies designed to be defeated or overcome."

 

[Mycanid]

Hey there Lanefan ... remember the notes in RttToEE about the beholder being brought along by the cultists so they could clear away the cave in throughout the lower dungeons?

Not TOTALLY forgotten ... perhaps by the players, though. Yes.

 

[Nightfall]

Eh. I still think Rappan Athuk when I think of a true dungeon. In any case I will say Freeport is an adventure, just not a dungeon.

 

[Screaming Monkey]

Pretty much what others said - an underground network of tunels and rooms. *shrug*