How would you go about doing a playable sentient dungeon character?

[Greywander]

Why do they call it "Dungeons and Dragons" if you can't play as either a dungeon or a dragon?

Of course, dragons would be pretty easy; basically just a much stronger player race, probably with winged flight, a bit of draconic sorcery, a breath weapon, and some natural weapons and armor. Maybe a shapechanging feature.

A playable dungeon, on the other hand, is just so completely different from anything I've ever seen in a tabletop game, there are many different ways one could go with this concept, and I'm not sure which one is best. It goes without saying that D&D isn't really meant for this, but I don't think anyone would take an option like this in a serious game anyway.

Now, it's called Dungeons and Dragons, not Dungeons or Dragons, so why not be a dragon who is also a dungeon? Perhaps the dragon can take on the appearance of natural landscape (a hill, for example), and their mouth transforms into a natural or constructed opening into the dungeon inside them. Which leads us to the question: what exactly is the dungeon character? They could just be a location, but that's going to be difficult to work into play, as any time the party leaves the dungeon player gets left behind. Perhaps it makes more sense for the PC to be a creature who can create or turn into the entrance to their dungeon.

I think it's obvious that "dungeon" has to be a class. In which case, you could choose dragon as your race to be a dungeon and dragon. But you could also go with more mundane options, like an elf or dwarf. Perhaps you (the creature) are the anthropomorphic manifestation of a sentient dungeon. The dungeon itself exists on a demiplane, allowing you to take it with you wherever you go.

I'm still struggling to figure out what role such a character would play in a party. Obviously, you can use the dungeon as a home base. Which, if you think about it, is one of the main ways a dungeon is used: a home base for the dungeon occupants/owners. Most of your class features would likely go toward making your dungeon bigger, allowing you to summon stronger wandering monsters, having more devious traps, and so on. But what about in combat? Perhaps you can "swallow" a creature, teleporting them to a random or specific location within the dungeon, and they have to navigate that dungeon to escape it. Perhaps you can also pull allies in so they can fight on their home turf. Maybe you can conjure up a wandering monster and "expel" it outside of the dungeon, essentially summoning it to the battlefield.

It's just a bit weird to think of playing as a dungeon, but you're also a creature who can wear armor and use a weapon. One way to handle this is to say that you aren't the dungeon itself, but rather a dungeon architect. You're building a dungeon, but the dungeon isn't you. I don't think this is quite as interesting as playing as a sentient dungeon, but it's a bit easier to rationalize.

Anyway, what are some ways you might handle this? What sorts of features would you give the character?

(Honorable mention to the Genielock, whose vessel is kinda like this. It's only a single room, and you can't enter and exit at will. You could sort of play it as a dungeon, but it wouldn't really work that well.)

[strangebloke]

What are you talking about? The dungeon has always been a playable character! There's a dungeon player at ever table, they're commonly called the dungeon master.

[ShadowSandbag]

As long as you're okay with pulling a Fantastic Voyage, all of the playable races are already dungeons.

[KillingTime]

Check out Dungeon Keeper.
It's a 1997 classic.

[SharkForce]

What are you talking about? The dungeon has always been a playable character! There's a dungeon player at ever table, they're commonly called the dungeon master.

also, council of wyrms (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Wyrms) :)

[Millstone85]

I would take inspiration from the warforged colossus in RftLW, which is both a dungeon (mapped page 224) and a creature (statted page 314). Here is how I imagine a DM could handle an adventuring party of manned colossi.

Gargantuan is the New Medium
Instead of treating the PCs as Gargantuan, you could treat most everything else as Tiny, effectively having the campaign take place in the land of Lilliput.

Mecha versus Kaiju
The PCs naturally get to Pacific Rim it up against ancient dragons, krakens, rocs or the tarrasque. They could even befriend a few and assemble a true party of dungeons and dragons. *ba dum tss*

New Type of Item: Crewmember
The PCs come with built-in weaponry and other goodies, but need people to operate, maintain and improve that stuff. Part of the campaign may involve finding, recruiting and "equipping" competent individuals.

New Type of Foe: Swarm of Humanoids
Opposing armies can be represented as swarms, and the PCs themselves may contain troops ready to pour out.

Sea, Sky and Space Variants
The warforged colossus can be considered a fancy landship, but why stop at the land?

Sidekicks, Ready to Beam Down
At times, you may want to bring the story back to regular scales. Each player could have one or more humanoid sidekicks ready to go on a stroll through town.

[Imbalance]

I would name the character Brick Road (https://earthbound.fandom.com/wiki/Brick_Road), for starters.

[Zuras]

There are also living Demiplanes, where the character would basically interact with the party as a sentient door with a dungeon inside it. The dungeon could even go on adventures inside itself like a sentient Klein bottle.

[Millstone85]

As long as you're okay with pulling a Fantastic Voyage, all of the playable races are already dungeons.This could be the basis for a freaky druid subclass, something like Circle of the World Within.
For starters, you could expand an use of Wild Shape to turn another creature into one of your blood cells.


There are also living Demiplanes, where the character would basically interact with the party as a sentient door with a dungeon inside it. The dungeon could even go on adventures inside itself like a sentient Klein bottle.And this would make a cool sorcerous origin and/or warlock patron.
Your power comes with the eerie feeling that you are always about to noclip into the Backrooms.

[Greywander]

What are you talking about? The dungeon has always been a playable character! There's a dungeon player at ever table, they're commonly called the dungeon master.
This made me think about those scenarios where all the players independently show up as the same class, a "dungeon master" in this case. Maybe except one player, who now feels like the odd man out. That reminded me of the greentext story about 6 DMs with 1 player (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMTjnnwYKD0).

>6 GMs
>all speak in unison
>"what do you do anon?"


I would take inspiration from the warforged colossus in RftLW, which is both a dungeon (mapped page 224) and a creature (statted page 314). Here is how I imagine a DM could handle an adventuring party of manned colossi.
This seems more similar to piloting a ship/airship/spaceship, or other large vehicle, where you'd have a mix of in-person adventuring with large scale ship-to-ship battles. A cool idea, but not really what I'm looking for here. What I'm thinking of is something that would allow for a mixed party, where one or more players are a living dungeons while the other players are normal classes.


There are also living Demiplanes, where the character would basically interact with the party as a sentient door with a dungeon inside it. The dungeon could even go on adventures inside itself like a sentient Klein bottle.
Yeah, this is more what I had in mind. The idea of the dungeon adventuring inside itself is also kind of funny. How I imagined it was that the dungeon has sort of god-like powers within itself (though not that strong), where it is aware of where every creature is, and can activate traps or create wandering monsters. Not sure it would make sense for the dungeon's avatar to enter itself, but that's certainly something that could be on the table.

[strangebloke]

So classic trick but.

UA warforged envoy with integrated tool, then you choose "water vehicles" as your tool. This "tool" is then "built into" your body. Cast guards and wards on yourself. Become the ghost ship.

[Millstone85]

This seems more similar to piloting a ship/airship/spaceship, or other large vehicle, where you'd have a mix of in-person adventuring with large scale ship-to-ship battles.That was actually going to be my suggestion. What is an adventuring dungeon? A ship. Then I realized it would work even better with a mecha, and I remembered they had those on Eberron.


A cool idea, but not really what I'm looking for here. What I'm thinking of is something that would allow for a mixed party, where one or more players are a living dungeons while the other players are normal classes.
So classic trick but.

UA warforged envoy with integrated tool, then you choose "water vehicles" as your tool. This "tool" is then "built into" your body. Cast guards and wards on yourself. Become the ghost ship.Then take three levels in warlock to have a sprite familiar live inside you. Or directly present yourself as a "miniature warforged colossus" whose crew would like to be brought back to their normal size.

[Zhorn]

no one's suggested playing as a dungeon sized mimic yet? shame.