A Real-Life Dungeon

[Guinaur]

This idea has been stuck in my head for a while now and I would like to discuss it with the rest of the forum. My idea is that of building a sort of classic dungeon in real life. Now I know that this would probably need allot of money, but the idea still interests me. Now I would like to ask you how and where you would build a dungeon (IRL), and what would your design be?

Now I could probably start ^_^ :
I live in south africa and we have allot of mountains in the area, so I would build a nice dungeon/dwarven-mine in a mountain. I would also put in allot of "safe" traps for fun. It could make a nice amuzement park or LARPing place. I'm not sure of a design right now, but the first level of the "Forge of Fury" could be nice.

[Serpentine]

I think the Winchester House (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_house) is already well on its way to dungeondom. Interesting idea, though...

[Totally Guy]

The trouble with building something like that it that it is unfeasable to make any money out of it commercially. I have to assume that building regulations are similar in South Africa to here in England both being commonwealth and I know South Africa's construction industry is looking good in all areas (except H&S) until the world cup is held and things might slow down...

But anyway the fundamental flaw in the plan is accessibility and fire escapes. You'd need ramps and handrails everywhere with uneven floor and an internationally recognised "way out" sign for a fire escape every so many metres.

Then there's ventilation. A dungeon in a cave of mountain is like a mine (I've been down a platinum mine when I visited South Africa), you need a big ol' fan outside to keep the dungeon from having "sick building syndrome".

You might be able to build it if you could call it a dwelling but really it would only be good for you and your circle of friends.

[Jibar]

Want to know why England has had it's economic take a blow the last few years?
We're building dungeons.
Yuh huh, absolutely true. Charity can back me up.
All this overcrowding of prisons has led to us building a set of dungeons all around the country. We stick the really bad people in there, and let them have a pardon if they can escape.
Of course, we can't exactly tell people, or else we'll get human right groups descending like larva.
So, just be careful about what you do in England good sir, or we'll put you in Picadilly Dungeon, and let the chimera have it's way with you.

[Castaras]

There was a place I went to...Forbidden Corner, I think it was...That had a bit of a dungeony bit...

Well, more of a grotto, but effect's the same. Was awesome.

*Goes to search for links*

[Charity]

I believe there are a few around the Soho area Jib... least thats what I've heard. Things could get tricky should the international community every find out that ASBO actually stands for Another Boy Sent to Oubliette, so keep it under your hat Jib old man.

Oh and http://www.labyrinthe.demon.co.uk/

There also used to be one in Cheddar Gorge and Wookey hole, but I can't find details so they might have died.

[Aramil Liadon]

I recommend a Prince of Persia-style area. Balance beams, thin ledges, the works. Just for kicks.

[Kitya]

OOhhh THAT kind of Dungeon... *whew* I thought you meant... wait... never mind... *shuts up* :smallredface:

If you wanted to do a dungeon crawl without having to worry bout all the ventilation and stuff, make a really really big corn maze. You could have people waiting in different areas to attack you, kind of like the Maze in American Gladiators (been watching the reruns on espnClassic, can ya tell?). It wouldn't maybe LOOK dungeonesque, but doing a corn maze in the middle of the night can be kind of creepy.

[[Insert Neat Username Here]]

http://www.truedungeon.com

It's been done.

[Hefty Lefty]

I would build a nice dungeon/dwarven-mine in a mountain.

Actually, that'd be a human mine...unless you actually are a dwarf.

[nerulean]

I believe there are a few around the Soho area Jib... least thats what I've heard. Things could get tricky should the international community every find out that ASBO actually stands for Another Boy Sent to Oubliette, so keep it under your hat Jib old man.

Oh and http://www.labyrinthe.demon.co.uk/

There also used to be one in Cheddar Gorge and Wookey hole, but I can't find details so they might have died.

Oooh, that's actually quite close to me. Don't suppose you're actually involved in that larp?

[Charity]

I'm afraid not.
I have larped in the past, in whooky hole as it goes, but nah, I'm far too old and decrepid for that malarky.

In truth I'm not a big fan of larp, too many kiddies telling me they are 8th level warrior heros, then being battered to death by my mate who's playing a one armed goblin, with his stick of moderate pointyness.

[Lord Herman]

Actually, that'd be a human mine...unless you actually are a dwarf.

Don't be silly. You don't mine for humans.

[Aeyamar]

I'd probably build one in an abandoned castle. But you'd have to divide up a lot of the really big rooms to get the more maze-like effect of a true dungeon.

[Cruxador]

Me and some friends have made a dungeon a few years ago. I wasn't much of a dungeon though. more like the tunneling of a retarded outcast goblin. we spent two summers just hanging out digging tunnels. mostly about 4'6" high an two feet wide, and I'd guess like 20ft of tunnels total, but it was fun. Whole thing collapsed during the winter before last.

[Wizzardman]

Don't be silly. You don't mine for humans.

Oh, so its a fish mine, then?

Biggest problem with a real life dungeon? Level scaling. How are you going to stop a group of Level 1's from accidentally wandering into the Tarrasque Pit?

It sounds like a really cool super-larp theme park idea, but you may also have problems getting enough customers for it.

[MostlyHarmless]

In the states we have these built all over the place at Halloween time, usually in empty warehouses. They're called 'haunted houses'. They are A) dark B) labyrinthine C) Scary with whatever features can be dreamt up by the creators but also D) safe enough once the house lights are turned on to reveal exits.

But I love your idea better. In addition to a mine, an abandoned underground quarry would be an awesome place. Those are typically larger than mines because they are actually excavating as much rock as they can from the place, rather than just tunneling to strike a vein. The coolest one I've been to is the Catacombs underneath Paris. To make the ex-quarry even better, they filled it up with millions of bones.

I visited a really cool site one time that would have made a cool dungeon. It was an abandoned cement plant. It the remains of two buildings if you can call them that. One was the foundations of a basement or a holding pit or something. It had a deep cement pit with a cement structure in the middle and support beams extending over the pit to the central core. From the core, there were stair steps down into the pit, more of a moat really. The other thing was a two story tall cement enclosure. I'm still curious what it was. It had no door to speak of. You could get inside the walls though by descending into a pit and crawling through a tunnel which had pit openings on the inside of the walls.

The whole place then had about 30 years of overgrowth growing all over it, trees, bushes and vines. To a kid like me it was like discovering Aztec ruins or something.

So, the 'take aways' here are mainly to look for more open interior spaces like warehouses and section them off to suit your needs. If you cleverly designed your walls and things, you could reconfigure them periodically to make a new dungeon. Building a wooden box to simulate a tunnel is much safer than digging an actual tunnel. Secret doors can be easily built into such structures as well. And rooms and chambers can open up as big as you want them to be.

EDIT: After noticing this on the True Dungeon site, I am reminded of the coolest cheap effect I have seen thus far. Using a billowy fabric material and proper application of yellow, orange and red spots and some big fans out of sight, fires can be safely simulated. I've seen everything from mini hand fans with tissue paper 'torches' to the raging inferno found on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney.