A Handbook on Dungeon making

[Blackhawk748]

A cursory google search nets me nothing, so does anyone know of a guide on Dungeon making or something similar?

[OldTrees1]

I don't think such a handbook exists (or at least I have not encountered one in my searches). Most of the written information is scattered around in various snippets and then there is a lot that is experience based.

Dungeonscape(D&D) and Dungeoncraft(d20) have some good material.

There is the topic of "What makes a trap bad, and thus how to not make bad traps?" for which I found this article bad-trap-syndrome/ (http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/90/bad-trap-syndrome/).

Also the Three Clue Rule (http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1118/roleplaying-games/three-clue-rule) is a good rule to remember although for puzzles you might want to use a 3 solutions known rule (aka the puzzle has at least 3 solutions and might have more).

Some pieces are larger: For example, you can map out your dungeon as a flowchart. This will make it much easier to see how many options you are allowing the PCs to have (linear, linear-branching, looping ...)

Other pieces are smaller: For example, dungeon ceilings should be vaulted/arched or otherwise reinforced to hold up the weight above them.

Eventually you get to the parts where it is more of an art than a science. Choice of shape, size, & edging can imply what kind of denizens live in that area (or at least what creatures built it).

[Fizban]

Funnily enough the "guide" making community is more focused on char-op lists than guiding advice most of the time. For that you want blogs and youtubes. The Alexandrian (http://thealexandrian.net/gamemastery-101) has a series of articles, not all of which I've read but those of which I have were great. Mat Colville (https://www.youtube.com/user/mcolville/videos)'s youtube about teaching people how to run the game, though I'm not sure he has a video so direct as "how to make a dungeon."

The simplest method is to find something that already exists which you like the looks of, then modify it as needed.

[Coidzor]

Most of the ones I've seen on DMing are either a fairly lengthy series of posts, such as by the Angry GM or are incomplete like this one from these very forums. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?76474-So-You-Wanna-Be-A-DM-A-Potentially-Helpful-Guide-(Reposted-and-Updated))

As for actual dungeon construction itself... Practically nothing, except for a few blog posts on the subject, such as part of a series like the Angry GM's.

[pupaeted]

Seconding the Angry GM. I've recently been doing a similar search, and ended up hitting posts like this (http://theangrygm.com/how-to-build-awesome-encounters/). There's also the Chris Perkins Dungeon Master's Experience Archive (https://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/DM_Experience_2011.pdf) that might be of interest. It's very broad, not just about adventure design, but touches on it a lot.

[DarkSoul]

See if you can track down the Dungeon Builder's Guidebook from 2e.

[BarbieTheRPG]

The 1st edition AD&D DMG has simple rules for building dungeons.

[Telonius]

Maybe the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook? As I remember it was a bit of a mess for editing, but it has some decent ideas in there.