Need a dungeon within an hour!!! help please!!!!

[ddude987]

Hello playgrounders. My DM is sick. As such, since we are behind schedule and haven't met in a few weeks I am running the campaign this week. I am just going to do a simple dungeon crawl that should take one session (about 10 or so hours) to keep the party leveling up and gaining wealth. My character will not be running through the dungeon.

The party is as follows:
Rogue/Acrobatic (something or other)/1 Bard/3 Master of Masks :: ECL 12
Dragon Sorcerer/Abjurant Champion :: ECL 11
4 Rogue/2 Swashbuckler/1 Wizard/3 Unseen Seer :: ECl 10
Warmage/2 Sandshaper :: ECL 11
Goliath 11 Barbarian :: ECL 11 (LA buyoff) (Might not be playing)

So any suggestions for an adventure or dungeon I can use? Please include a link if the source is officially (and legally) available online. Thanks!!!! Really need the help!

[limejuicepowder]

If you can get access to the Book of Challenges, it should would be a great place to start. Some (most) of the encounters in that book are downright devious, and all are pretty original. Finding a PDF somewhere shouldn't be too hard.

[OverdrivePrime]

Here's a great tool for creating a dungeon in a hurry:
http://www.myth-weavers.com/generate_dungeon.php?

Myth-weavers has a few other tools like this for generating stuff on the fly. They're not particularly elegant, but if you need to get up and running fast, they're super useful.

Note that unless you're really lucky, you'll need to explain why you've got a dungeon with an adult red dragon and a good aligned storm giant shacking up within 100 feet of one another. The generator does not provide a "D&D Sitcom Setup" seed.

[Chaosvii7]

http://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/dungeon/

More variety in your random dungeon generator. There's a ton of them out there, but this one and Myth Weavers are probably your best bet.

[OverdrivePrime]

http://donjon.bin.sh/fantasy/dungeon/

More variety in your random dungeon generator. There's a ton of them out there, but this one and Myth Weavers are probably your best bet.

WOW. I love the shape options in the generator you liked. I wish it populated them, but man... that gives some really sweet dungeon designs, almost instantly.

[ddude987]

Maybe I am just bad at making dungeons but every dungeon I try to make either has endless tunnels that go nowhere and which I know from experience these players hate or there are x12 of some monsters in other rooms. The theme is some caves below a mad scientists house but I am having trouble making it. Can anyone who knows the ins and outs of these map gens do any better?

[Jerthanis]

My favorite means of quick generation of dungeons is to take a map from an oldschool rpg or FPS and port them directly over. Modern FPSes are really linear, but if you take a look at, say, Doom 2 maps, they've got a really good combination of interconnected rooms, monster layouts, and even secret doors and the occasional trap.

Here's a website with all of the classic Doom maps (http://www.classicdoom.com/maps/d2maps/d2.htm)

You'd have to make your own monsters for each room, but it's a good method for making a quick, realistic looking layout.


Maybe I am just bad at making dungeons but every dungeon I try to make either has endless tunnels that go nowhere and which I know from experience these players hate or there are x12 of some monsters in other rooms. The theme is some caves below a mad scientists house but I am having trouble making it. Can anyone who knows the ins and outs of these map gens do any better?

On the If you set Remove Deadends to 100% and make each room smaller, it should keep your hallways from spiralling out everywhere and it should allocate fewer monsters to each room.

[ddude987]

My favorite means of quick generation of dungeons is to take a map from an oldschool rpg or FPS and port them directly over. Modern FPSes are really linear, but if you take a look at, say, Doom 2 maps, they've got a really good combination of interconnected rooms, monster layouts, and even secret doors and the occasional trap.

Here's a website with all of the classic Doom maps (http://www.classicdoom.com/maps/d2maps/d2.htm)

You'd have to make your own monsters for each room, but it's a good method for making a quick, realistic looking layout.

That's a good idea. We are starting in half an hour though so I would rather use a premade dungeon from a module or a random generated one though I can't get anything to my liking from random generators.

[OverdrivePrime]

Okay, not sure if it's too late, but This Random Dungeon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/generate_dungeon.php?do=dungeon&width=60&roomcnt=many&height=40&minroomw=3&maxroomw=12&sparse=quite&minroomh=3&maxroomh=12&random=5&secret=10&deadends=100&concealed=20&level=11&resolution=20&seed=718555365) is pretty great. ECL 11, lots so fun monsters to fight - dragons, trogs, devils and such. Some pretty excellent treasure, too!

[ddude987]

Okay, not sure if it's too late, but This Random Dungeon (http://www.myth-weavers.com/generate_dungeon.php?do=dungeon&width=60&roomcnt=many&height=40&minroomw=3&maxroomw=12&sparse=quite&minroomh=3&maxroomh=12&random=5&secret=10&deadends=100&concealed=20&level=11&resolution=20&seed=718555365) is pretty great. ECL 11, lots so fun monsters to fight - dragons, trogs, devils and such. Some pretty excellent treasure, too!

seems great. The creatures are something I would fine in a crazy scientists caves. I will just change the layout a bit to be caves. thanks so much just in time! :D

[OverdrivePrime]

seems great. The creatures are something I would fine in a crazy scientists caves. I will just change the layout a bit to be caves. thanks so much just in time! :D
Awesome! Glad to be of service!

[Darrin]

Criticall Miss addressed this issue a while ago:

http://www.criticalmiss.com/issue1/gmingwithnothing.html

[ddude987]

Thanks a bunch. I just made mild changes and cherry picked some of the encounters. It went off well. Except two people died from the death throes of the Frost Worm and then another to the Beholder... Maybe I shouldn't purposely attack the weaker players when the bsf is next to me doing all the damage.

[hypnotoad]

Do a Tomb of Horrors session.

(everyone will hate you after that, but its hilariously funny)


IIRC you can get it from the WotC website.

[JusticeZero]

If you know enough to say "that shouldn't be there", you know enough to change it to something that should be while they're hemming and hawing about AOEs to hit a monster two rooms back from it. :smallsmile:

[darkelf]

WOW. I love the shape options in the generator you liked. I wish it populated them, but man... that gives some really sweet dungeon designs, almost instantly.

populated? take your pick...

http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/dungeon/
http://donjon.bin.sh/pathfinder/dungeon/
http://donjon.bin.sh/4e/dungeon/

[OverdrivePrime]

Okay, Darkelf, that's pretty much the best. You've definitely made the next several months of my life a lot easier. Cheers to you. If you're ever in Milwaukee, I owe you a beer.

[Hyde]

I hear Tomb of Horrors is a pretty good dungeon...

[ZamielVanWeber]

This thread totally saved my self too. Yay this thread! Had to make a few strategic changes, but it worked.