My Appendix C: Part 1 Dungeons

 In discussions with folks, we often lament that there has never really been a version of D&D that actually told you how to make and run a campaign.

Now, there are plenty of other options for info, advice, etc. these days.  

However, I wanted to take a crack at making a more thorough document in line with classic D&D.

Below is part 1, Dungeons.

 

 

Design a Dungeon

When designing a dungeon from scratch, it should consist of several levels.  Each level should have access from above and below, and be made of interlocking corridors, passages, and secret doors.

We will start by designing one of these levels/areas.  A starting dungeon area should have 3-18 rooms of varying sizes.  Ultimately, the limit is the size of your graph paper or canvas.

 ·         Take your paper and sketch out a number of rooms across the surface.  These rooms can be standard rectangular constructed rooms, irregular shaped natural caves and tunnels or a mix.

·         Next, designate the room to be the main entrance to this area. 

·         Mark another area to be an exit to different level or area.

·         In addition to the main entrance and exit, an area should have an additional entrance/exit about every 6 rooms. There is a 50/50 chance that such a point of egress is a hidden or secret door.

·         Now, connect your rooms with hallways.  Keep in mind they aren’t simply connected all in a line.  For every 10 rooms or so consider adding an additional crossover between rooms that are not yet connected.  Again, there is a 50/50 chance that such a connection is hidden.

·         Place doors in rooms and between majors spaces. On a d6: 1-3 is a normal door; 4 is a Concealed Door; 5 is a Locke Door; 6 is a Trick Door (one way, portcullis, false door, etc.)

·         Consider adding; changes in elevation, water, and/or a rift or barrier to rooms or halls.

·         Leave yourself a space to hide a secret exit to even deeper levels should you want to expand this dungeon further.

At this point, you may wish to take your sketch and clean it up/redraw it.  For tips on map drawing, check out: https://dysonlogos.blog/maps/tutorials-help/.  But you don’t need to, your map does not need to be an artist rendering, it can look like a basic flow or org chart with squares to represent room and lines for hallways.

With your map finalized, each room and location should be given a number designation that you can reference when you create your key for the map.  This key will list the content of the room, be it treasure, traps, monsters, etc. as well as notes about important details.

Consider having 3 such levels or areas completed before play.  When combining levels consider:

·         Lower levels may connect directly outside via concealed passages or guarded entrances

·         A level may go down to two different unconnected levels (possibly to reconnect further down)

·         A level may go down to a much lower level, skipping a number of levels in between

Populate the Dungeon

We will now add features to our map.  Follow the steps below, and mark the features down alongside your map, keyed to the given room (see template below)

Step 1: Place one or two treasures in rooms on the first few levels on the dungeon, examples include:

·         One moderate magic item such as a Sword +1 or Boots of Elven Kind

·         A chest of 1000 silvers pieces and pair of 500 sp gems.

·         A cache of Jewels and Artwork valued at 2000 silver.

We will use rumors of these items later when generating our settlement as a call to adventure.

Step 2: For each room on the map, roll a d6 with a 1 indicating that a trap is present.  Generate the trap using the guidelines above (see Traps)

Step 3: For rooms without a trap, roll a d6 with a 1 or 2 indicating there are monsters present.  Generate monsters appropriate for the intended level of the dungeon area. (see Monsters)

Monsters can be randomly selected from those of the appropriate threat level, or selected by the Judge to match the theme or the area of previous monster types. 

Step 4: Any room with a monster has a 3 in 6 chance for a treasure.  Generate a treasure appropriate to the intended level of the dungeon area as shown below.

Step 5: For any room without a monster, there is a 1 in 6 chance that a (hidden) treasure is present.  Again, generate a treasure appropriate to the intended level of the dungeon area as shown below.

 

Dungeon Level	Copper	Silver (50%)*	Gems and/or Jewelry**	Magic***
1	d6 x 100	d6 x 10	5% each for d6 of either	5%
2-3	d6 x 200	d6 x 100	10% each for d6 of either	5%
4-5	d6 x 1,000	d6 x 200	20% each for d6 of either	10%
6-7	d6 x 2,000	d6 x 500	30% each for d6 of either	15%
8-9	d6 x 5,000	d6 x 1,000	40% each for d6 of either	20%
10-12	d6 x 5,000	d6 x 2,000	50% each for d6 of either	25%
13+	d6 x 10,000	d6 x 5,000	50% each for d6 of either	30%
* There is a 10% chance the coinage is in gold
** Gems and Jewelry can be generated using the tables in Vol II page 40.  Average value for gems is 501 sp each, and for jewelry is 3,410 sp each.
*** Magic items can be generated using the tables in Vol II page 23, or The Magic Table

 

Step 6: Create a list of 6 possible random encounters. Options 1-4 should match the creatures found in nearby rooms.  Entries 5-6 should be special: A leader, an NPC, an entirely different monster type, etc.

Updating the Dungeon: When an area of the dungeon is cleared of threats, there is a 1 in 6 chance per day that a group of 1HD creatures or other scavengers will fill the void.  Once a “season” the Judge should re-populate the vacated areas with monsters as they would a new dungeon.

Adding Details

Now that you have a collection of rooms, and their adventuring contents, it is time to flesh out the room descriptions.  The room contents (traps, treasure, monsters) can serve as a starting point. 

In general, a lair is going to have at least a rest area and a waste area.  For intelligent inhabitants, consider some of the below uses for rooms.

·         Galley/Kitchen

·         Living Quarters

·         Store Rooms

·         Guard Posts

·         Prisoner Area

·         Area of Worship/Tribute

·         Boss Room

·         Treasure Room

Once you know what is in a room, and decided what the room’s purpose is in the game world, consider what sort of mundane items may be in the room (furniture, containers, junk, decorative elements). 

What rooms have doors?  Which ones can lock?  How sturdy are they?  Take a moment to think about the sites, smells, and sounds present in each room; what can be perceived from down the hall/through the door that could influence the players’ decision-making?

Final Pass

With all that done, take a moment to mentally walk through your dungeon, both as a would be adventurer and as one of the occupants.  Does the placement of traps, hazards, etc. make sense?  Can wandering monsters move about?  Do you like the layout of the rooms, hallways, entrances, exits, etc.?

If not, move things around.  You don’t have to wait to the end to change anything.  If a result comes up and you don’t care for it, do something else.