Making an epic dungeon

[PoeticDwarf]

For a campaign, I want to make a cool dungeon for two level 10 adventurers.
It can be everything, just go nuts and help me with this.

[Inevitability]

Interactive terrain is a major point if you want interesting encounters. If people stand there and exchange blows, you'll find combat getting boring quickly. Instead, have monsters snipe at the PC's from arrow slits, try to push them into chasms/rivers/pits filled with snakes, or even destroy the very room.

Also, have the dungeon be interactive. Monsters don't sit in their rooms until it's their turn to get slaughtered, they are (in most cases) intelligent creatures with their own motives. As the PC's progress, monsters may throw up barricades to force them into certain parts of the dungeon, flee, or lay ambushes.

[ImSAMazing]

For a campaign, I want to make a cool dungeon for two level 10 adventurers.
It can be everything, just go nuts and help me with this.

Look at Dungeon Generators, donjon.bin.sh has some good generators. Also, interactive terrain, chains, pillars, an unsolid surface, make it creative. You have some idea's dont ya? I dont think the forum is going to design a whole Dungeon for ya?

[PoeticDwarf]

Look at Dungeon Generators, donjon.bin.sh has some good generators. Also, interactive terrain, chains, pillars, an unsolid surface, make it creative. You have some idea's dont ya? I dont think the forum is going to design a whole Dungeon for ya?

I don't want a whole dungeon or a generator, I wasn't clear but I mean a cool idea. (like: an underwater temple, made by kuo-to but ruled by sahuagin, or something).

[Ninja_Prawn]

I don't want a whole dungeon or a generator, I wasn't clear but I mean a cool idea. (like: an underwater temple, made by kuo-to but ruled by sahuagin, or something).

But that's exactly what donjon is best at! The tables in the DMG (which I think it is based on) are pretty good for inspiration as well.

I'll come back and run a few generators, sift through the muck, add a sprinkle of magic, und so weiter when I've finished my tea.

This damp and echoing cave was once home to the legendary lich, Blirir Cabetugwet*, and since her downfall has changed hands many times. It is currently occupied by a young black dragon and its kobold followers, who are renowned for their cunning, which is exceeded only by their cruelty. The dragon took the cave from a small group of nuns (dedicated to a deity of love & beauty), one of whom escaped with her life and can be found (a skittish and shell-shocked creature) in a road-lodge nearby. It is possible that she has useful intelligence relating to the cave, though she was blinded by a blast of acid to the face and thus is unable to draw a map.

History
Before it gained its sinister name, the Hall of Terror was an unremarkable (if extensive) littoral cave that had been known to local sailors since time immemorial. For reasons lost to history, Blirir Cabetugwet chose this place for her ascendency (if you would call it that) to lichdom. Prior to undergoing the process, she cleared the cave of monsters (mostly carrion crawlers) and pursued several construction projects to extend certain caverns, smooth out the walls and floor, set up various rooms and, most importantly, drain it of seawater.

Post-lichdom, Blirir became a mighty force of evil, terrorising people up and down the coast and dragging many sailors to their doom. Several attempts were made by goodly heroes (and greedy knaves) to enter the halls, but all were repulsed by Blirir's power and a clever system of traps**, most of which involved seawater. Until, that is, the Council of Four sent a party of holy warriors into the cave, one to represent each church of the council.


Darrith Goldbeard the Paladin, noted for his bravery.
Grinain the Monk, a dour and puritanical fellow.
Aleindel Glittermoon the Cleric, an elven girl who loved adventure.
Sybel Graanvill the Wizard, a wealthy noblewoman.

The holy warriors fought through the cave and after an epic battle (if you're any good with ballads, write one about the battle and have a bard sing it in the road-lodge), slew Blirir. For centuries afterwards, the four churches squabbled over who the cave belonged to; they occasionally came to blows over it. All consider it a holy site and would love for the PCs to cleanse it of dragons et al.

Appearance
The walls are more-or-less smooth stone (mainly limestone). Some areas that were not used by Blirir or that have formed since her destruction are still natural stone, complete with stalactites, etc. The floor is mostly even, but covered in sand, seaweed, barnacles and other nautical detritus.

The caverns are reasonable bright and airy, except when high tide closes the entrance. They are dimly lit at all times by phosphorescent fungus/coral.

Rooms
Several notable rooms were established by Blirir and her workmen. Most are all but destroyed.

Library - once contained many books of dark magic and necromantic lore. The wrecked bookcases remain, but all the books have been carried away by flooding. A sealed, hidden door leads to a small chamber untouched since Blirir's time. It contains the secret to becoming a lich, on a set of encoded scrolls in an ancient (and forgotten) language. Also, the scrolls are sentient and very evil. The chamber also contains a Tome of Understanding, which is in working condition!
Ritual Chamber - covered in large runic circles. The rooms retains, even now, some of the evil magic that turned Blirir into a lich: undead gain some mechanical advantages in this room and it is magically protected from flooding. The dragon lairs here.
Laboratory - this room is slightly elevated and only gets part-flooded even at the highest of high tides. The kobolds use it as their headquarters, dormitory and workshop.

The Tides
Blirir's ancient drainage system is no longer functional, and the cave is now subject to twice-daily flooding with seawater. This is the 'interesting environmental effect' you were looking for. If your players are particularly enterprising, they might discover the broken-down pumps, rubble-filled channels, jammed-up sluices and foetid cisterns that the lich installed so long ago. If they are especially clever, they might even be able to use this to their advantage!


*Also known (by those who feared her) as she who returns with the tide and (by those who didn't) as Wetbones.
** Designed and installed by dwarven subcontractors.

Does this help at all?

[PoeticDwarf]

** Designed and installed by dwarven subcontractors.

When I saw this, I knew this was just a good answer:smallsmile:

[Ninja_Prawn]

** Designed and installed by dwarven subcontractors.

When I saw this, I knew this was just a good answer:smallsmile:

In case anyone missed the reference, this (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Stupid_dwarf_trick#Drowning_chamber) is what I was alluding to.

To say nothing of complex traps in the vicinity of cunning kobolds...

[Inevitability]

In case anyone missed the reference, this (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Stupid_dwarf_trick#Drowning_chamber) is what I was alluding to.

To say nothing of complex traps in the vicinity of cunning kobolds...

And here I thought it was an OOTS (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0276.html) reference...

[Ninja_Prawn]

And here I thought it was an OOTS (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0276.html) reference...

Oh man, I had completely forgotten about that! Maybe it got imprinted on my subconscious somehow?

The OP has to run this now; it's like a triple-layered easter egg!

[Naanomi]

Put a time dynamic to a dungeon can be fun; a dungeon tha floods and drains with the tide; some places only accessible at 'low tide', others by swimming at high tide... And some chambers you have strict time limits to get through before you drown.

Other ideas on the same path are a shifting maze or one built on rotating gears so some passages only appear some of the time. Don't tell players about any of this before hand, just let them figure it out when the door doesn't lead to the same place every time...

[Ramshack]

I'm a big fan of a Dark and Horror Fantasy. the 3.5 Splat Book Heroes of Horror is a great reference for creating dark, foreboding and generally scary campaign and adventure settings and I typically try to incorporate the suggestions in that book even to my 5.0 adventures.

That said, when you said level 10 adventure, I thought of the Vampire from the MM, a CR 13 (Hard encounter for a group of 4 level 10 adventures).

Adventure Hook, Young woman, lady kidnapped from her Noble Family town house in the middle of night, Noble hires adventures to track her down. She was last seen in a black carriage riding to <insert name> caste. An abandonded fortress not used in centuries. Insert rumores or tales of ghost stories etc.

On the road to track her down, notice increased amounts of rats, wolves, bats etc on the road towards the castle. As you approach the depcrited fortress a thick fog emminates around the grounds, moving slowly and purposefully, players think they see images in the fog such as a claw reaching out to them or a face, but it never lasts long enough for them to be sure they've seen anything at all.

Shadows cast in this area are long and gaunt and players think they see them move on their own, even if the item casting the shadow didn't move.

There could be a graveyard around the castle grounds, could be some undead shennanigans here,

Players should see the black carriage outside, no foot prints can be found and no traces of horses or stabilizing are visible

The Castle entrance should be locked and trapped, during the day, this should be a puzzle to get inside.

Once inside, use the effects of the guards and wards spell to protect the first floor.

Create a winding, maze like floor plan, keep windows to a minimum, characters can't tell what direction their facing or exactly what time of day it. Illusions should be the name of the game. Traps, strange things like fighting shadows, animated objects, seeing strange things in corridors.

You can create several cool elements in various rooms of the castle. And reward the players for exploring it thoroughly, maybe some rare loot etc. The basement should be the goal to find, a twisting labrynth beneath the castle itself. This where your combat encounters should be. Wraiths, Undead, golems Maybe other fantasy horror creatures such as a werewolf, vampire spawn, dread nights, mummies are all good for this.

You should eventually find the vampires private sanctum. use the vampire lair actions from the monster manual for the fight. It's up to you to determine the fate of the girl, give a timed element to save her less she be killed, maybe she went with the vampire willingly and is love and now you have a vampire and his bride to fight. Toats up to you. Maybe the vampires are actually just taking refuge at a benefactors strong hold, and this wasn't even there final destination, maybe a necromancer or lich and there is a bigger plot to uncover.

[Kurt Kurageous]

Easy set up. Things mistaken for zombies, gorillas, giant flies, etc killing villagers, Lord's ability to maintain order at stake, blah blah blah asks for your help in return for knighthood or something equally meaningful or less.

Real threat, an opening to the Abyss must be sealed else doom to the kingdom.

CR not a problem, demons come in all CRs in 5e.

Demons may have allied with other CE types (goblins, etc.) or spiders and ettercaps to keep the real threat hidden. Their real purpose to wear down the party before the real fun begins. Remember the Demons goal is to just cause pain to prime material plane, ok?

I agree degrading environments are really hot this time of the millennia. Falling pillars, shifting fog/floors, in fight spawn points all sexy.

Consider a time limitation set by the demons to limit the possible rests. Make it a one day mission or else the demons pack up and go back or before a bigger demon decides to join the fun. When they count every arrow, every spell slot, every potion, etc. the PCs will be engaged.

Demons destroy. Denude the environment. Dead things everywhere. Little of value in sight. And chests hidden from demons will be hard for NPCs to find, too.

Last but not least playtest it yourself using similar PC sheets. Control both sides, use average damages, speed it up. Find out if they can make it in a direct line? If barely, back off the CR or make sure they can get a rest/oasis, or plan to bail them out by the miraculous arrival of a planar ally or something if they fail to make it to the finish line. A tie is ok, TPK is not.

These are my thoughts. This is something I just wrote up today for an 8th level sequel to a 1-4 level xp farm based on the ettercap writeup in the MM, and the fact that a green dragon lair effect works well for an outdoor forest maze infested with ettercaps/spiders against the side of a mountain that recently developed a crack in the A...byss.

Don't tell my players, ok?

[Naanomi]

Another fun one is the battlefield dungeon: where there are monsters fighting each other and not just you. Great opportunities for picking and choosing battles tactically. Recently had a Marid lair being invaded by sahaugin and merrow who were more interested in killing each other than the party. Party snuck through the mess and assassinated the Marid... Then had to flee through the mess who were suddenly *very* interested in them