Building an appropriate dungeon for a level 1 party

[Luccan]

I'm looking at getting into DMing, but I have limited experience at actually doing it and never really ran a dungeon crawl before nor played through one at first level. I figure starting from level 1 will mean I have less to worry about, save for two things: appropriate encounters and reward. While I'm sure I can find general advice on creating and running a dungeon (both from the DMG and from many threads online), I'm looking for help challenging a level 1 party without being extremely lethal.

[mastermisha1]

Do you know what the party makeuo is looking like? Depending on party composition and opyimization levels you are going to need different rhings to challenge them.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

For low level, a long-abandoned tomb or similar works well.

Lone weak opponents like a Dire Rat, an unarmed Human Skeleton, a small size Zombie (use Kobold Zombie stats, unarmed), tiny and small Animated Objects, vermin like monstrous centipedes or spiders, an underground area overgrown with tree roots with a Twig Blight (MM2), etc. are all fitting for a place that hasn't seen sentient life in decades.

There can also be environmental hazards that serve the same purpose as traps, like a collapsing floor, a flooded corridor, a collapsed corridor that's not completely closed but could finish collapsing if they're not careful, etc.

[OldTrees1]

Step 1: Know your players and their characters.

You should know them better than we do and thus should use that knowledge to further tailor our advice so that it fits your group. Things of particular note would be what playstyle they are expecting & what how relaxed/paranoid they will act in a dungeon.


Step 2: Why is the Dungeon?

Someone built it and they had a reason for doing so. As you ponder this question, that imaginary creator will start to carve out the dungeon to suit their needs/desires. Usually this means there are a bunch of connected functional rooms that are protected behind some defensive layer. The more fleshed out your understanding of the creator, the more the dungeon will reflect the personality of the creator.

Example: I am imagining some kind of dwarven locksmith as the architect. My mind fills with preconceptions about the stonework conventions I expect Dwarves to have. I see each room as being constructed of stone bricks placed in areas carved out by pick and hammer. I see lots of right angles and relatively smooth surfaces. There would be some functional rooms like sleeping quarters(bedrooms & barrack), eating area(larder, kitchen, dining hall), work area(forging parts, machining parts, assembling), and vault(heavily locked set of rooms that are containing whatever is being kept locked away). The functional rooms would be connected in clumps to create defensive chokepoints. There would be only a few entry points to the compound. Each of those would be a few rooms (more defensive chokepoints) that are heavily fortified. There would be strong walls, doors, and locks. There might even be a trap the defenders could arm/disarm as they pleased.


Step 3: Who lives there now?

If the current denizens are not the same as the original design, then they might have to adjust to make do with the incorrect layout/priorities of the rooms.

Example: A goblin tribe raided the dwarven compound. They converted the work area into slave pens, the chief lives in the first vault room(the door is busted open), and they have collapses all but one entrance.

Step 4: Encounter Design

Read the DMG. Just remember that anything that makes the encounter easier/harder makes the encounter act like a lower/higher level encounter.

Example: The entrance is designed with defense in mind so it will be a harder encounter than otherwise indicated by the 3 goblin guards. I would think of it as a CR 2 encounter rather than merely a CR 1 encounter.

[Elkad]

A note on lethality at 1st and 2nd level.

It's best managed by using low-damage monsters. Just use more of them. Orcs with Falchions and Greataxes are definitely not what you want.
By using lots of low-damage monsters, it's also easy to fudge the numbers as a new DM. Party meets 8 little monsters. If it's too tough, the last couple might run away. If it's too easy, a few reinforcements show up on round 3.

So I want to whip up a pretty standard starter adventure for a new or non-optimizer party.

Framework.

The remnants of a goblin tribe has recently setup in a cave near a tiny village, and has been raiding outlying farms (mostly for food). They are refugees from their previous location, and are poorly equipped. Their Shaman (a L1 druid) has befriended and trained a small pack of wolves. Leader has a Worg, the only one the tribe has.

So our basic goblin is even more poorly equipped than normal. They only have clubs (d4) and slings (using 1d2 rocks). Sergeants are just stock Goblins with a Riding Wolf, with the regular goblin equipment of morningstar, leather, small shield, and a few javelins. A standard goblin squad is one goblin per PC (add extra goblins for animal companions, militia they hire, etc), plus a Sergeant&Wolf. Should work out to CR2 or 3. Spread them out a bit so the Wizard can't get all of them in the same Color Spray, but let him get 2-3 at once with good positioning. We want about 5 squads total, boss, miniboss, and some misc stuff. That gets your party to 2nd level nicely.

First encounter. Goblin Raiding Party (a standard squad). Wilderness or farmhouse.

Party tracks them back to their lair in some fashion. Insert a "wandering" monster here, of the single-but-tough variety. Wild Boar?

Fort/cave. Obvious entrance is a trap. Cave entrance has 50' of passageway. Tracking reveals regular foot traffic from goblins (if the party asks, no wolf tracks). 2 goblins with improved cover fire on the party from the far end. Give them bullets for their slings this time, and maybe an extra point of dex for another +1 hit bonus. 20' inside is a concealed pit trap, with some Tiny Monstrous Centipedes at the bottom. This is 3 encounters in one. Individually none are are hard. 1d6 non-lethal, 1hp centipedes, and 2 goblins, but the idea as the DM is to split the party while keeping them on the same map. You should have someone in the pit getting poisoned, and the rest of the party trying to help them out with a rope, jumping in to help fight, or jumping over to fight the goblins. Behind the goblins is a concealed tunnel sized for a tiny creature, which allows the goblins to escape by squeezing, but doesn't lead into the actual lair. The goblin tracks at the entrance are caused by goblins going in and out regularly to dump refuse in the pit.

Hidden entrance to actual lair (actually two, one is the back door). More guards with cover, and at least one will try to run for help. Design goal. Make your party fight, and then bring enough reinforcements to make them run away. They've had enough encounters for one day.

Return trip.

Ambush! L1 Druid Goblin (Wolf companion, Entangle and Obscuring Mist), and a squad of Goblins (dispersed). Get the party in the Entangle, and pelt it with 1d2 rocks from slings.

Depending how tough this goes, your party may elect for a 5-minute adventuring day and stop. That's fine.

Back inside. Same entrance encounter repeated, but this time hopefully the party will have a plan to prevent the runner from getting away.
Next. Guard room with obstacles for the goblins to defend (not actual traps, just chokepoints). Lay the dungeon out as a long curved hallway with a series of rooms. Entrances at both ends, boss in the middle, wolf lair in a side room. It doesn't matter which way the characters enter, it's reversible. When they get near the center, they get a glimpse of the boss, who takes a few shots and sets the regular wolves on the party, then tries to flee out the other door with the remaining half of his tribe. Since all the obstacles are designed to defend against people coming in, they don't work as well as the party fights their way back out.

Boss is a L2 or 3 Ranger (TWF) goblin, with high dex, a chain shirt, and a whole lot of throwing axes. Riding a Worg (the only one the tribe has). Idea is to make him hardish to hit, and make him hit a lot, but still do not-crazy damage. Pick feats for ranged mounted combat. Weapon Focus, Mounted Archery, etc.

Last encounter. Goblin squad, Ranger Boss, Worg, guards from other door, etc. This can go several ways.
In the lair (which means the party is probably on it's 4th or 5th encounter) the Boss mobility is limited, making him easier.
Outside the lair. Boss gets harder.
Party lets them escape. Goblins launch final raid on the village a day or 2 later.

(And of course the ever-present chance that your party will do something completely unexpected, like find both entrances, collapse them, wait for the goblins to suffocate, and then dig out the treasure.)

Next hook. What drove the goblins out of the wilderness into civilized lands. Fleeing enslavement by Hobgoblins? Ghouls took over their tribal graveyard, and then invaded their former lair?

[Luccan]

I really appreciate all the advice, especially with the in-depth stuff. I know I really need to be aware of my players' party make-up, but still, the general advice is appreciated.

[ViperMagnum357]

I second a forgotten tomb-vermin, skeletons/zombies and partial HD NPCs like goblins give a good variety without being especially lethal. Poison from small vermin add variety and the chances of a few points of ability damage can challenge a party to apportion time and resources at a level where they cannot easily retreat or hide in a Rope Trick/hut/mansion. Stay away from Orcs and go with the low level classics-goblins and kobolds can plan traps and ambushes, and have the right combination of cunning and cowardice to press or retreat as needed, without obviously throwing a struggling party a bone/making an encounter little more than a speed bump.

[Bucky]

The nice thing about the first couple of levels is that a mundane obstacle course has actual obstacles. You can set up situations where a member of the party needs to Climb, Swim or Balance and the answer won't be to teleport across. You can include door that they can't hack their way through.

[JustIgnoreMe]

I found an example of a "teaching" dungeon a while back, designed for new players as well as new characters. It's OSR, not 3.5, but the concepts are good and the lessons universal.

https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Tomb%20of%20the%20Serpent%20Kings?m=0

[daremetoidareyo]

Guarding a caravan going through a pass from low hp goblin ambushers is a fun tactical 1st level adventure if you want your adventure to basically be one big fight where everyone learns the rules. Throw a wondrous item in the loot that a goblin liked but couldn't figure out what to use, plus a few hundred gp in wages/recovered goods reward.

Another tactic that works is the concept of "mooks" from 4th ed. Mooks are fully functional monsters who only have a single hp. Using mooks helps the PCs feel awesome. They roll damage and you describe their death. You can use mooks all the way up to 20th level. They are awesome.

[Mike Miller]

The "5 room dungeon" can be good for any party but especially so for lower levels as the PCs have fewer resources. Googling that will find ideas and resources but the basic idea is a short (5 room) dungeon where each room is unique in challenge

[Gildedragon]

A good idea for a lvl 1 dungeon:
Abandoned Keep
Ground floor is a solid home base for exploring.

Upper story is ruined, some old furniture, find a couple keys and clues for lower levels

Dungeon has a couple monsters, a locked treasure room

Sub dungeon a couple caverns and a potential entry to the underdark (not to be used in this expedition)

[Starbuck_II]

I liked Kobold Hall (4E DMG) when I converted it from 4th to Pathfinder.
While most enemies are kobolds, there are a mix of other foes (dragon, pet creature [I used tiny veociraptors or Fire Drake with Drunk and Young template], pit traps, etc), it has a good mix of encounters.

The V's cant' kill but have a lot of attacks if the charge or full attack.

For normal minions I use NPC point buy (10 I forget, but dump Con to 7) lowering hps. Because minions have good AC/saves, but bad hp.

[Mordaedil]

I don't recommend a dungeon at first level. If at all, they shouldn't run into more than a few weaker enemies, nothing bigger than a kobold or goblin.

I recommend a starting town, that the adventurers come to because they've been having problems, but most of their issues are domestic and easy enough to resolve with a few words, skill checks, ability checks and maybe a single combat encounter that is easily defeated non-lethaly.

If you must have combat and you want the players to feel like heroes, make it an encounter where their opponents are so surprised to meet resistance that they can't fight back effectively, tactically and will prioritize running after first blood. A patrol of 10 orcs seems intimidating, but maybe it's a poorly assembled scouting party of 9 warriors and a ranger, but they are so caught off-guard meeting resistance that they flee for reinforcements as soon as your players attack them. Let at most 2 orcs remain behind to fight to the death/capture, but have the rest flee in terror.

A 1st level dungeon shouldn't be much more than a cave.