Clever tricks in dungeons

[Harperfan7]

This thread is for those neat little ideas that you've used in dungeons (whether ones you created and DMed or played through as a PC), such as...

-having small drainage pipes that connect certain rooms and corridors, but only a fine sized creature could fit through the grates/pipes, thus meaning someone would have to polymorph or wildshape to access them.

-using speak with animals on small unimportant dungeon animals (bats, rats, etc.) to learn things about the dungeon or its inhabitants.

-in a room where one of the inhabitants of the dungeon got into a fight, spellcraft can identify many of the spells cast during such a battle solely from the damage or effects they had on the area (melted stone and the like).

Smoke 'em if you got 'em playground.

[Dr.Epic]

Soften Earth and Stone
Stone Shape

Now you can rearrange the architecture of the dungeon to your liking.

[Siegel]

Tuckers Kobolds

[Kurald Galain]

When a stone slab fell down to block a doorway, cast Reduce on it.

[Morph Bark]

Tuckers Kobolds

Yes. Tucker's Kobolds. Hire them. Now they are in your party.

[Curmudgeon]

Stone Tell is pretty much the answer to any question about how to find anything (an object you're seeking, which way out) in a dungeon.

[Person_Man]

Buy a large number of dogs and train them to guard and fetch. At the entrance to the dungeon command all but one of them to guard. Bring one with you, and play fetch with him down each hallway until you're satisfied that there are no traps. If your dog is killed by a trap, return to your pack and get other one. You might also need a few trained monkeys, to open doors.

[Cyrion]

Multiple floorplans for a dungeon that periodically shifts in a scenario where the dungeon itself was actively hostile.

I had an obsessive map-making party once. I put a lair inside of a tesseract. 4-dimensional geometry confused my 2-dimensional mappers.

[Private-Prinny]

I've been known to do this on occasion.

[EvilJoe15]

I like traps, that no matter what get you. Like placing use activated AMF arrows in my spring traps, and having an intricate painting of an open pit on the floor, that if examined will trigger the ceiling to collapse.

I also like to convert Grimtooth's traps to D20.

As far as reconfiguring the dungeon, that works both ways. Like having an evil Wizard run down a stone passage only to seal it behind them, then putting up a wall of force right behind it.

[Another_Poet]

1. Fire Cloudkill into the dungeon and wait a half hour before entering.

2. Bring a druid.

[Morph Bark]

Multiple floorplans for a dungeon that periodically shifts in a scenario where the dungeon itself was actively hostile.

I had an obsessive map-making party once. I put a lair inside of a tesseract. 4-dimensional geometry confused my 2-dimensional mappers.

How did you actually manage to make it 4-dimensional?

If that's possible, this requires a lengthy explanation methinks...

[Snake-Aes]

How did you actually manage to make it 4-dimensional?

If that's possible, this requires a lengthy explanation methinks...

You can project, emulate, represent (like a 3d object can be represented by 3 2d objects, or a 2d object in perspective). Actually visualizing it is too hard.
You can also go the matrix way and just have a few set positions in the 4th axis where you have more 3d environments to work on.

[ShriekingDrake]

I sometimes put interesting things in the adventures that have no purpose. For instance, I had a sculpture in a room of a cube resting on one corner so that it would rotate around. It was entirely mechanical and the party could push it around, but it didn't actually do anything other than spin around. It was just an artistic sculpture. But the spent a lot of time and resources trying to figure it out.

I also make sure that my castles/dungeons have rooms that actually serve the inhabitants. Bathrooms, dining areas, closets, etc. as well as internal systems of communication. Lights are located where lights would be for those inhabiting the dwelling, etc.

I also use lots of riddles, mechanical puzzles, and encounters where smart players can use the surroundings to avoid or prevail in an encounter without too much bloodshed.

[Toliudar]

Not mine, but interesting:

A dungeon that features large stone doors that work on some magic version of hydraulics. The doors open at a slight push, but take a while with hissing and grinding before they actually start to move. In effect, it gives creatures on the other side of the door time to know that someone is coming in. Sure, you can bash down the big stone doors, but by the time you get through, the effect is much the same.

[jiriku]

I ran an Egyptian-themed pyramid with many undead guardians that had a hidden central chamber filled with black sand. Any undead that escaped encounters with the party would retreat to this room and use the negative energy damage from the black sand to full-heal over the course of a minute or two.

For devious trap-mongering, I'm fond of pit trips placed about 20' ahead of a door, and a glyph or trap of some kind with, say, explosive scintillating sphere of the three thunders on it, lined up juuuust right to knock anyone in the blast back onto the pit trap. Gets 'em coming and going!

[Malificus]

You can project, emulate, represent (like a 3d object can be represented by 3 2d objects, or a 2d object in perspective). Actually visualizing it is too hard.
You can also go the matrix way and just have a few set positions in the 4th axis where you have more 3d environments to work on.

Basically you have 8 rooms that are perfect cubes. The inside, the 6 around it, and the outside (the outside is not actually an exterior, and is still a cubic room).

Starting from the inside, if you pick any direction (up, down, right, left, straight, back), and go straight for 4 rooms, you'll be back in the inside. As long as you don't do anything fancy, you're basically waking on the surface of a cube. But once you start going up and down floors, you can situate yourself to be walking on walls or the ceiling. That picture would have up 8 rooms and 48 "floors" to go through.

By taking the door straight ahead, then going down a floor, and going through the right door, you'd be on the wall of the original room.

[Marnath]

Not mine, but interesting:

A dungeon that features large stone doors that work on some magic version of hydraulics. The doors open at a slight push, but take a while with hissing and grinding before they actually start to move. In effect, it gives creatures on the other side of the door time to know that someone is coming in. Sure, you can bash down the big stone doors, but by the time you get through, the effect is much the same.

1. Cast passwall on the door
2. send the rogue through, invisible, to oil the piston
3. ???
4. Profit

[dextercorvia]

Not mine, but interesting:

A dungeon that features large stone doors that work on some magic version of hydraulics. The doors open at a slight push, but take a while with hissing and grinding before they actually start to move. In effect, it gives creatures on the other side of the door time to know that someone is coming in. Sure, you can bash down the big stone doors, but by the time you get through, the effect is much the same.

This sounds like a job for Time Hop.

[WarKitty]

I sometimes put interesting things in the adventures that have no purpose. For instance, I had a sculpture in a room of a cube resting on one corner so that it would rotate around. It was entirely mechanical and the party could push it around, but it didn't actually do anything other than spin around. It was just an artistic sculpture. But the spent a lot of time and resources trying to figure it out.

I also make sure that my castles/dungeons have rooms that actually serve the inhabitants. Bathrooms, dining areas, closets, etc. as well as internal systems of communication. Lights are located where lights would be for those inhabiting the dwelling, etc.

I also use lots of riddles, mechanical puzzles, and encounters where smart players can use the surroundings to avoid or prevail in an encounter without too much bloodshed.

I've found there can be great fun intricately describing the armors, weapons, amulets, bracelets, etc. that they find. Particularly given your typical player's assumption that anything detailed like that must be magical. Until they find out that nice armor and sword was just some noble kid's parade dress.

One a DM did to us: "you smell a powerful stench up ahead." We went forward and walked in on a pair of trolls using the loo.

[Randel]

Having a kennel for the guard dogs the goblins use. I played in a game with that and we were able to kill the goblin in charge and all the attack dogs. When the goblins outside the door heard the commotion my fighter was able to bluff them by saying "Those dogs were acting up again, but I calmed them down." in Goblinese.

Yeah, I tend to make my characters always have at least one known language be a language our enemies would be using. It was worth it having the goblins outside confused for a second but long enough for use to rush out and attack them all before they knew what was going on.


(edited my post since my previous one involved using Control Winds cheese to suck all the oxygen out of the dungeon.)

[Curmudgeon]

(edited my post since my previous one involved using Control Winds cheese to suck all the oxygen out of the dungeon.)

Good, because that doesn't come close to working. The most intense hurricane listed on Wikipedia only got down to 870 millibar (i.e., a 13% reduction from normal sea level air pressure), which is about the same as the average pressure at 3800' above sea level ─ easily breathable.

[ShadowsGrnEyes]

GM tricks:
obvious great rewards behind impossible for the level traps. . .but easier alternative entries if the party thinks outside the box. . .

1 or 2 painfully high cr monsters that the party really really needs to go around. . . (because i hate it when my party thinks the answer to every monster is, "kill it!")

Traps that the party wont recognize until they're already trapped. . . and must then escape.

false treasure rooms. . .

Player tricks:
Divination spells to see rooms father into the dungeon followed by teleporting. (when applicable)

Summoned minions to set traps off.

Throw the halfling! (solves more difficult dungeon problems than youd realize)

screw disabling the trap just buff the hell out of the fighter and push him through. . . he can break it from the other side. (for when the rogue is not there or not capable)

going ETHEREAL. . . HAHA suckit dungeon! (gm's may throw a book at you. . . or an ethereal monster if you do it too often)

[Keld Denar]

You know those ginormous imposing adamantine bound steel doors? The ones that are locked 16 times down the front with a sign that says "Trespasser's will be shocked, survivors will be shocked again!"? Yea, they are usually attached to the walls. The stone walls. Use Stone Shape to carve out the hinges and laugh as the door opens backwards.

For bonus points, loot the door.

[Randel]

Good, because that doesn't come close to working. The most intense hurricane listed on Wikipedia only got down to 870 millibar (i.e., a 13% reduction from normal sea level air pressure), which is about the same as the average pressure at 3800' above sea level ─ easily breathable.

Well to be fair, my idea was to have the Control Winds spell blow all the wind directly out of the first room and out of the front door. If the spell moves air in only one direction then it would be creating a vacuum that would suck air out of the room and in turn suck in air from other rooms.

Though a dungeon would hopefully have air holes other than the front door so it would be able to replenish the air sucked out. It would be breathable but then again it would still have 175+ MPH winds that could "destroy all nonfortified buildings and uproot large trees" occurring inside a building. Would be breathable but still uncomfortable for its inhabitants.

[Escheton]

You know those ginormous imposing adamantine bound steel doors? The ones that are locked 16 times down the front with a sign that says "Trespasser's will be shocked, survivors will be shocked again!"? Yea, they are usually attached to the walls. The stone walls. Use Stone Shape to carve out the hinges and laugh as the door opens backwards.

For bonus points, loot the door.

yeah, if those things are actually on hinges and not deadbolts extending 5 to 10 ft into every direction that is some shoddy work. Given the price of such a door also very unlikely.

[Snake-Aes]

A much simpler logic for doors is that it doesn't make sense for them to be more fortified than the walls they're attached to.

Also, Telekinetic Maneuver + hostile = trap disabled.

[Jack_Simth]

I'm fond of the Summon Elemental Reserve Feat for dealing with traps, myself. Goes well with the Permanancy spell applied to Detect Magic. You'll also want something in a direct-offense reserve feat, for purposes of smashing the source of the trap, if it's one of those pesky rapid-reset traps.

[Deth Muncher]

I'm fond of the Summon Elemental Reserve Feat for dealing with traps, myself. Goes well with the Permanancy spell applied to Detect Magic. You'll also want something in a direct-offense reserve feat, for purposes of smashing the source of the trap, if it's one of those pesky rapid-reset traps.

Screw Detect Magic, go for Arcane Vision or whatever it's called.

[Jack_Simth]

Screw Detect Magic, go for Arcane Vision or whatever it's called.

Arcane Sight. And yes, it is better to go with Arcane Sight ... but you can't Permanency that until 11th. Detect Magic can be done at 9th.