Interesting Dungeon Ideas?

[Cpt Lozan]

So I'm running a Campaign for the first time since like '07, and I'm pretty happy with how its going so far, but I need a good idea for a dungeon.

The world they are in used to be a highly mountainous world but super dry and arid. So the ye olyde kings/wizzards accidentally flooded the world (I put a lot more flavor in it for the players I swear)

Their current motivation is to seek treasures buried underneath this new global ocean. So they are presently in a goblin warren that old goblins dug that leads from the surface and old complex of caves that once housed Dragons and the like.

They just entered the dungeon and cleared one mob. But I really want some more interesting things than just "kill x goblin, get some xp and gold". The room they are presently is like a huge anti chamber and has 2 veils of deeper darkness that they cant' see thru.

This is my party's first ever campaign and I really want it to something they can remember. Thanks!

[atemu1234]

M. C. Escher-esque floor plan?

[Cpt Lozan]

M. C. Escher-esque floor plan?

What do you mean?

[Troacctid]

Is this an underwater dungeon? Because if not, DMG II has rules for flooding dungeons.

[atemu1234]

I mean noneuclidian geometries, breaking the laws of space.

[Cpt Lozan]

Is this an underwater dungeon? Because if not, DMG II has rules for flooding dungeons.


No, its sort of like an underwater cavern, the environment will get pretty wet, but it is still above land.

[daemonvatis]

Even before reading the details, I was gonna say "inside a really big monster." Now I'm picturing a really old, really big dragon (perhaps even a forgotten god) who just kinda fell asleep for eons. The players just walk into its mouth, not suspecting a thing. Heck, maybe the goblins set up camp in its innards and are trying to pull gold out if the stomach acid. (Dragons sometimes eat their hoards when they get old and tired of life.)

[Arbane]

Make the goblins a little more interesting with terrain?

In one area, they've scattered twigs, dry leaves, and other rubbish all over the floor. This conceals a crude covered pit trap at one point, makes a lot of noise when people walk through it, and (most importantly!) can be set on FIRE. (Yay, fire!) This makes a lot of smoke.

Another area, they've built a mini-town of huts on posts connected by rickety scaffolding. If the PCs don't climb up it to go after the goblins, they'll be pelted with spears, rocks, and rotten eggs. If they do... how much do they weigh, and how well can they swim?

Another area, the goblins have been fishing. Nothing too dangerous.... and there's something shiny at the bottom of the pool. Will the PCs try to dive in after it? (Some minor piece of treasure, if the PC who dives in can avoid drowning. The bad news is, if they didn't clear out the next area ahead, the goblins THERE will come in.)

A door the goblins have barricaded. (There's some zombies/skeletons on the other side, but thankfully, they can't get the door open.)

In the big room, how about some minor (or not so minor) flying monsters?

[Brendanicus]

Dumb but fun idea: A dungeon that reverses the alignments of all inside. (LG to CE and so on. Only TN is unaffected.) You can therefore fight whatever you want, and have a hell of a time roleplaying.

Here's some fluff for it: The party is approached by a mysterious monk/outsider/person and asks the party if they seek challenge, wisdom, and strength through a "spiritual quest", that will allow them to "see life from a new angle".

The quest involves getting to the end of magical ruins. However, the ruins' form changes to reflect whatever its visitors view as a challenge (Since the PC's are adventurers, this means a dungeon crawl). To really shake things up, the ruins reverse everyone's alignment so they can see their normal struggles from a new perspective. Once they beat the dungeon, they get transported to the start and return to normal. Maybe have the ruins vanish for good measure, or never let them accept the same visitor twice.

EDIT: For bonus points, have the boss be clones of the party, only the clones have all the resources the party had before they entered the dungeon.


Obviously, work with other ideas so you can adjust this.

[Red Fel]

The goblins are squatters. The dungeon is an ark, after a fashion. And not just of assorted lifeforms that might otherwise have been lost in the cataclysm; it contains entire ecosystems.

You enter one part of the dungeon, and the area expands to reveal a massive forest, in a state of perpetual autumn, artificial twilight sun overhead. Through a narrow cavern you reach a snow-blasted mountain pass, crawling with giants, bears, and winter wolves. Quickly into another cavern, you find green, grassy, springtime fields.

More than simply creating ecosystems capable of supporting life, however, this dungeon has created concepts. Whatever mysterious beings created this place, the byproduct of creating perfect embodiments of concepts like "mountains," "springtime," and so forth, is that their extraplanar representatives have taken notice. Fey have been called from their realm to frolic in the springtime fields; dark abyssal beings rise from Pandemonium to stalk the wind-torn subterranean mountains; restless spirits seek new forms amidst those eerie autumn trees.

The goblins are little more than doorkeepers. The real dungeon is behind a gate they couldn't even open. And that's where the fun begins.