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View Full Version : Dungeonbuilding with minimal prep time?



seedjar
2008-10-26, 06:13 PM
Does anyone have any references to compelling prefab dungeon/fortress/etc. maps appropriate for a d20 game? My game has been on hold for a while because people moved/got jobs, but now some have moved back, and the rest of us are bored enough that gaming is looking likely. I had a little horror scenario I was putting together last year for Halloween, and now that D&D is on my mind again, I really want to run it for my group. Problem is, Halloween is next week and I don't have my dungeons planned!
I want to put together a siege and also a survival/horror-type gauntlet with zombies and terrain hazards. Minimal on sneaky, trapsense-required type traps because my group doesn't pay enough attention (flashy encounter traps welcome.) Looking for ideas for cornering PCs, interesting melee conditions, traps/hazards to bullrush opponents into, that kind of thing. Suggestions would be great, or a link to a site with free maps or resources for mapbuilding. I'm already skimming Dungeonscape and sketching ideas, going to look over the Tomb of Horrors later tonight, but if someone can make my job easier, you won't hear me complaining.
Thanks,
~Joe

Mushroom Ninja
2008-10-26, 06:19 PM
How minimal prep time?

I've found that it's not too hard to improvise simple dungeon complexes.

(hee hee -- simple complexes -- hee hee)

RTGoodman
2008-10-26, 06:35 PM
If you get a chance to run to a gaming store, you could try Goodman Game's Dungeon Crawl Classics modules. They're cheap, and most of them have basic sorts of maps included with them that you could probably just use without using the module (unless you wanted to).

If you get a chance to go to a bookstore of any sort, the Dungeon Master for Dummies book actually has a whole appendix in the back that lets you roll on random tables to generate a whole dungeon to your specifications.

Also, Google is your friend (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=random+dungeon+map&btnG=Google+Search&aq=2&oq=Random+Dungeon+).

WychWeird
2008-10-26, 07:12 PM
We had a long standing 'campaign' running which was just random dungeons and encounters (and almost required no DM!) We used sheets of A3 graph paper and the 1st Ed DMG random dungeon generator - draw an entrance and then see what's rolled - use common sense in that if the corridor/room/etc doesn't fit in a gap either make something else fit or re-roll (we used a rule that if a corridor and room/corridor intersected a 6 on a d6 would indicate a secret door otherwise it was a dead-end)

Encounters and loot were all randomly generated there and then - you'll be amazed at how quick people get involved in wanting to randomise something. :smallwink:

shadow_archmagi
2008-10-26, 07:14 PM
Let me just rummage around in my "handy haversack" folder in bookmarks, letsee...

Ah! http://direpress.bin.sh/tools/dungeon.cgi

OverdrivePrime
2008-10-26, 07:54 PM
Myth-Weavers.com has some pretty sweet instant town/dungeon/npc/treasure generators. If you're just looking for a quickie random dungeon or town, you just plug in your paramaters and boom! You've got a night of dungeon crawling ready in about 3 minutes.

Here's a link to their dungeon generator. (http://www.myth-weavers.com/dungeon.php?)