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Questions tagged [dungeon]

For questions about dungeons. A dungeon is a self-contained adventure area that may connect more areas thematically together. They often contain monsters, traps, and other interesting obstacles to challenge players.

8 votes
6 answers
3k views

Can player build dungeons in D&D? I thought that was just a job for the DM

I was just reading a post's answer when it said "Maybe they'll build a dungeon". Sorry if this is a stupid question, I don't know how to play D&D yet other than what I heard 😕, but I ...
Elvina Moonlight's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
176 views

Is there any offical guidance on pricing furniture or dungeon dressings?

My group is slowly getting closer to clear out the dungeon they are adventuring in, and it is quite possible they will want to take possession of it, and improve it by installing new traps, furnishing ...
Nobody the Hobgoblin's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
293 views

How can I best reward players for finding secrets without breaking game balance?

So I'm still fairly new to GMing and Pathfinder 2E, but one thing I like to include is secrets in my dungeons for my players to find. Finding secrets is fun, and getting rewards for doing so is even ...
Wipqozn's user avatar
  • 203
11 votes
1 answer
303 views

I remember a pre-2000 Japanese tabletop RPG about a world covered in dungeons (split between air, land, and sea types) – which RPG was it?

I remember reading about a pre-2000 Japanese tabletop RPG with black-and-white illustrations, that's about dungeon-building, or being really focused on dungeons. I think it has a nice tutorial section ...
Malady's user avatar
  • 1,315
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

How to I run the Tomb of horrors better? [closed]

I'm having trouble with the Tomb of Horrors. My party is mostly newer players except for one veteran player, who happens to power build with another newer player (the overpowered clerics from Tasha's ...
Kaiden M's user avatar
15 votes
5 answers
3k views

Would non-magical equipment from a dead adventurer be usable after X years in a dungeon?

There's this adventurer who died in the dungeon some years ago. Nobody took their equipment (maybe they died of poison, hunger, whatever). The PCs encounter the body years later. Naturally, they want ...
pgedm's user avatar
  • 275
46 votes
9 answers
12k views

How do I handle a player exploring the entire dungeon with his familiar?

My Warlock player has Pact of the Chain and Voice of the Chain Master Invocation, and likes to explore all the dungeon before going inside. The imp turns into an invisible spider and goes through the ...
BlueMoon93's user avatar
  • 46.7k
18 votes
3 answers
1k views

How to make Arcane Eye and our game style fit better together?

Our DM works fairly improvisationally, which results in a playstyle that is fluid and responsive to our actions. We have relatively short sessions, so we like to keep the game moving. There is no ...
TJC's user avatar
  • 446
17 votes
5 answers
3k views

How can I make theater-of-the-mind dungeon-crawling/location exploration fun and engaging?

I've been struggling with making exploration of locations/dungeon crawls engaging for the players. This is occurring for me in several systems including D&D 3.5e, D&D 5e, and Numenera. I've ...
Ruslan Osipov's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
800 views

Where did this dungeon come from that was spiral shaped and contained a statue of Dagon?

I remember there being a dungeon for D&D 5e, possibly as part of an AL adventure (I don't remember it being in a full published adventure like Out of the Abyss, etc), but if it was AL, I don't ...
NathanS's user avatar
  • 79.3k
35 votes
4 answers
5k views

How can I help my players make meaningful choice during dungeon navigation?

Foreword: I run a D&D 4e campaign, but I think that this question is overall system-agnostic. Recently I've somewhat shifted my D&D campagin towards a more traditional dungeon crawling style. ...
mprogrammer's user avatar
  • 1,836
8 votes
1 answer
747 views

What's a reasonable temperature of a dungeon in the Underdark, maintaining balance with a character built to keep the environment cold?

I have a player who will be changing the temperature in a large radius and most of the campaign will be in a large underground dungeon. The player's build is built around him using magic & keeping ...
Zarus's user avatar
  • 3,197
10 votes
2 answers
3k views

For the Dungeon of the Mad Mage adventure, how is a room's ceiling height determined?

As a player I am playing in the Dungeon of the Mad Mage adventure. On page 11, it describes how to determine ceiling height for rooms: A room's ceiling is at least as high as the room is wide, ...
Eternallord66's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
387 views

Dungeon with puzzle traps that force players to act as a team [closed]

I just started recently to DM a campaign (first campaign ever as DM), and I want to create a Dungeon with puzzle traps based on the concept of teamwork (much like that one SAW movie), and I have ...
Aaron Parrilla's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
2k views

How long should each room in a dungeon take if the party didn't declare how long they spent there?

I'm running the party through a multi-day dungeon, and they're looking to long rest. Which is perfectly fine, but I remembered that you can't long rest more than once in a 24-hour period. I know how ...
user55434's user avatar
  • 2,992
49 votes
11 answers
12k views

How can I discourage/prevent PCs from using door choke-points?

To keep this from being voted as a duplicate of this, let me clarify. The other question asks for DM tactics to battle chokepoints. Its answers are all focused on fighting at these choke-points. I ask ...
BlueMoon93's user avatar
  • 46.7k
1 vote
0 answers
120 views

What are the roots of "dungeons" as a theme for "dungeons and dragons" [duplicate]

As far as I know, the roots of role playing games and dungeons and dragons lie in wargaming and conflict simulations? Is there a reason known (perhaps from an interview) why dungeons were a ...
Thomas Junk's user avatar
91 votes
17 answers
24k views

How do I communicate to my players that a door is, for the time being, absolutely locked to them?

I have a small dungeon in my campaign, a temple, that is a significant location for the broader story of my world. The players might very well enter this temple pretty early on in their adventuring. ...
Pink Sweetener's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
412 views

Dungeons and planes based on fractals? [closed]

I'm trying to create a dungeon or even a semi-plane for my D&D5 game that would actually be fractal-based, like infinite and finite at the same time... Yeah, I quite love these concepts. I've ...
Stephane.P's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
503 views

Random Dungeon Generation: How Individual Treasure or Horde Treasure [closed]

So I've got a dungeon I've mapped out using the DMG's random Dungeon Tables. I've fleshed it out save for the treasure. There are times I have "Monster" or "Monster with treasure." There's a ...
Dallas's user avatar
  • 51
18 votes
4 answers
6k views

Handling party progression in a dungeon

I think I've gotten the wrong end of the stick when it comes to what and when the DM should be calling for rolls when the party is exploring a dungeon. Picture your typical D&D dungeon crawl. ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 8,130
6 votes
4 answers
2k views

How can I have a sentient dungeon (or race thereof) in my story?

Lately I have seen many books (e.g.) that work on the premise of a dungeon being a sentient creature. In those books dungeons are large crystals that are capable of creating monsters as well as traps ...
Maiko Chikyu's user avatar
  • 21.7k
13 votes
3 answers
1k views

How do I design traps or dungeon rooms for a party with remote manipulation abilities?

The party that I'm DMing for has access to a lot of remote manipulation abilities, such as mage hand, telekinesis, and familiars. Because they are smart characters and smart players, they have used ...
Icyfire's user avatar
  • 63.7k
15 votes
1 answer
1k views

How should I handle TPK's and retrying in a dungeon crawl?

I will be running a group through Tomb of Horrors from the 5e adaptation in Tales from the Yawning Portal. For those who don't know, Tomb of Horrors is infamously sadistic. The book itself claims that ...
Eidolon108's user avatar
  • 4,897
132 votes
9 answers
29k views

What's the point of long, empty hallways in dungeons?

Many dungeons—published and homemade—often contain a multitude of long, empty passageways between rooms. For example, my DM is running "The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan" from Tales from the Yawning ...
Icyfire's user avatar
  • 63.7k
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

What is a monster pet or allied creature referring to DMG p 296?

The DMG in it's Dungeon chamber contents table on p 296 reference a "Monster (pet or allied creature). Does this mean this Monster is allied to the dominant inhabitant, or is this supposed to be a ...
user34704's user avatar
10 votes
5 answers
965 views

Handling dungeons in a non-heroic setting

For non-heroic I mean that players have no quality beyond any other human (in a fantasy world): If players have access to magic, it's scarce and more utility than power Players can easily die (as any ...
Masclins's user avatar
  • 3,976
1 vote
2 answers
426 views

How to build an interesting Dungeon that exists to kill the players? [closed]

So, here's the deal. I'm DMing this campaign for a long time using the Brazilian scenario called Tormenta. They have 20 superior gods for the world of Arton. My players are about to get to the epic ...
Davi Braid's user avatar
  • 4,439
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

How many horrifying visages can affect a PC?

I'm making a dungeon with a bunch of ghosts in it. The situation is: Time Stop is cast by a necromancer using an artifact at the very end of the dungeon. The PCs will see the whole dungeon, realize ...
Nick Sweet's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
103 views

How long do metal, wood and other materials last when left unattended? [closed]

In most RPGs, adventurers break in long forgotten tombs filed with treasure that looks just like it was left there the day before. In a more realistic game, what would happen to materials left ...
MessyGoblin's user avatar
46 votes
9 answers
9k views

I want to run vast and realistic dungeons, but my players get frustrated trying to search every room

Because my players' suspension of disbelief began to suffer when exploring more "normal" dungeons, I have created some big dungeons which are based on bigger, realistic structures: castles, towns, ...
Thorsten S.'s user avatar
  • 1,211
20 votes
3 answers
3k views

How can I move a one-ton gem out of Undermountain?

Looking for some ideas on a particular conundrum my party is faced with. We're in the depths of a dungeon in Undermountain and have come across a literally one-ton gem. We're all 9th level and are a ...
gregor's user avatar
  • 309
8 votes
1 answer
357 views

How to travel through a Thoqqua's tunnel?

In the 3.5 monster manual, it states It burrowing leaves behind a usable tunnel, albeit a small one with blistering hot walls. What does this mean in terms of game-rules? Would a medium creature ...
Arthaban's user avatar
  • 7,798
3 votes
2 answers
971 views

How many times can a Teleport Circle be activated without a Permanency spell?

I know that the Pathfinder version of this spell can be made permanent and lasts 10 minutes per level, but how many times can it be activated before rendered inert? For instance, if a high level ...
Areadbhair's user avatar
  • 3,226
26 votes
4 answers
3k views

How can I generate multi-story random dungeons without having to do the entire random gen process by hand?

I sometimes like to use randomly generated dungeons for short-form games or when I'm trying to design something that's more intended to be a speedbump than a showpiece, if you will. However, existing ...
Shalvenay's user avatar
  • 11.1k
16 votes
6 answers
3k views

How to design and clearly represent a 3-D location?

I would like to design a dungeon-like location, a city surrounding a keep built on a limestone hill littered with caves. Tunnels and caverns would connect certain city locations to keep dungeons but ...
eimyr's user avatar
  • 17.2k
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

Replacement for a Samurai Mount in a Dungeon-Crawler

With some friends of mine, I play pathfinder in a dungeon-crawler way (a bit inspired by the phenomenal game Darkest Dungeon, so the heroes venture into dungeons to gain treasure and rebuild a town, ...
Patta's user avatar
  • 9,796
18 votes
3 answers
64k views

Where can I find free digital dungeon tiles? [closed]

I'm currently running a D&D 4e campaign on Roll20. I have been drawing the maps in Roll20, but it's a hassle and I'd like to switch to something pre-made. Most of the tiles on Roll20's site aren't ...
Aldath Le'Carde's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
807 views

What do I consider when populating D&D 4E Dungeons?

Ok guys, tomorrow is gonna be my first dungeon crawl experience with my new group of level 1 players, and after some encounters to let them understand the game, we're finally trying dungeon delving. ...
Aldath Le'Carde's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
2k views

How do you actually crawl through a dungeon in online play?

Yes, this is quite a silly question considering I've been gamemastering for almost five years now, but one thing that drove me away from (and the same thing that made me return to) D&D 4E was ...
Aldath Le'Carde's user avatar
20 votes
7 answers
6k views

Where can I find resources to create a realistic castle dungeon? [closed]

Shortly, I will send my PCs into a castle ruin, and I plan on them spending some time there, possibly to refurbish the castle and claim it as their own. I want to make this castle a realistic place, ...
Bakabaka's user avatar
  • 374
8 votes
2 answers
750 views

Recommend large, complex, logical dungeons

I did not find the right question, so if this has a duplicate, simply relink this question. As a treat for my players I would like to master a very good dungeon. Good means: It should be free or so ...
Thorsten S.'s user avatar
  • 1,211
24 votes
6 answers
54k views

How do I build interesting dungeons? [closed]

I'm a new GM and I need to undestand how to build enjoyable locations. I don't get how to build interesting dungeons. For example, I need to explore a castle. But a castle is not as complicated as ...
olinarr's user avatar
  • 2,901
5 votes
2 answers
4k views

Creating a free online dungeon map maker - advice on where I can find tiles to offer the users? [closed]

I have been looking around on various dungeon map making tools and I have not yet found one I am comfortable with. So I am thinking of creating my own online HTML5 dungeon map tool and share it with ...
corgrath's user avatar
  • 389
20 votes
7 answers
2k views

How can I judge if combat in a dungeon room attracts attention?

A question that usually props up at my table is "If we start a fight in this room, will we attract any attention?" I guess usually this refers to the noise and din of combat. So, say the party is ...
Extrakun's user avatar
  • 7,057
42 votes
16 answers
5k views

Dungeons that aren't dungeons

I'd like to make a "dungeon" for my party to explore, but it needs to be something other than an old-school "dungeon". Underground hallways and rooms with creatures in them have been overdone for us. ...
Joe's user avatar
  • 17.1k
15 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is DTiles gone forever? [closed]

Now that Undermountain Games has gone out of business, that brings an untimely death to one of the easiest dungeon-making software programs I've ever seen. It's sad to lose such a great program, and ...
Gary Nichols's user avatar
34 votes
9 answers
6k views

How can I more effectively use darkness in a dungeon?

In more than one of my D&D campaigns, I've found myself feeling disappointed at my inability to make the darkness of the dungeon matter. Everyone has enough torches, and I'm not likely to be able ...
rjbs's user avatar
  • 8,437
19 votes
5 answers
3k views

High-Tech Dungeon Crawling in Hard Sci-Fi [closed]

I've started playing Eclipse Phase with a group of friends. Most of them have a Dungeons and Dragon history, and love getting magic items and such. I've already made up my mind to take the party on ...
Tasuret's user avatar
  • 500
8 votes
3 answers
514 views

Old school dungeon with undead toads

I remember reading a dungeon that involved either undead or vampiric toads as the final encounter. Now I can't find it again. Does anyone know what it was? I know it was from one of the OSR-type ...
Phil's user avatar
  • 81

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