Dungeon Building 101

Anyone who has had interest in being a DM/GM generally reads the game specific guide on it.

I'm sure the information is there and ocd read the DMG and PHB. While it gives a great amount of information, what I really need is some kind of step by step guide with explanations and more.

When building a dungeon some things are obvious.

Monsters that are well below the party ECL are pointless. To high and they are too hard to beat.

Repetition is bad. Don't use equal cr to the ECL over and over. It's both boring and to simplistic. Vary the monsters cr.

Everything is considered an encounter. Combat and traps have a specific cr. Conversations and puzzles do not.

The dungeon itself has an overall cr. I assume this is an average of all the cr in the dungeon.


I guess what I need is something like a math out point buy system so I understand how much to put in. I can ad lib fairly well and just record along the way but prepping a dungeon leaves me confused.

I don't know how many fights or encounters to include. How to manage treasure from all these. Proper packing and pacing.

Focus on what's reasonable in context. Regarding fights, for instance, how many wolves and bears are honestly going to pop out of the woodwork? If the woods are unreasonably hostile, the players will notice and the setting will seem game-y. If the woods are totally pleasant, there's no need to do much besides describe them and move on. Maybe the woods just need some exploration-based encounters to establish the setting and focus on the party's goals (a crow thieves a shiny object from the party and must be chased. A creature must be tracked. Terrain must be traversed). Wildlife combat can be a rare, vivid threat supplementing this.

Spec NPCs, monsters, loot, and key terrain, but be ready to modify them on the fly to suit player's needs (especially fudging monster stats), and more importantly, flesh out your setting so you can improvise new content entirely (inventing new hazards if old ones are overcome too quickly, inventing characters when interaction would be reasonable, inventing terrain when player's wander).

As long as the setting is coherent and interesting
As long as the gameplay is varied and creatively challenging
As long as the players have clear goals and clear leads

You're doing great.

I do most of that as of when ad libbing. I just try to keep notes on what IVF come up with on the fly.

How about when building an actual dungeon? How do I determine an adequate number of fights for the average party?

I'm using the 5 scene set up of a fistful of dices videos. I also expand that with multiple locations along the route.

From beginning of the dungeon to the boss, how many encounters are appropriate and how do I add it all together to determine dungeon cr?

Do i include trap cr with monster cr when doing the math?

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Originally Posted by Zakier

I do most of that as of when ad libbing. I just try to keep notes on what IVF come up with on the fly.

How about when building an actual dungeon? How do I determine an adequate number of fights for the average party?

I'm using the 5 scene set up of a fistful of dices videos. I also expand that with multiple locations along the route.

From beginning of the dungeon to the boss, how many encounters are appropriate and how do I add it all together to determine dungeon cr?

Do i include trap cr with monster cr when doing the math?

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No, this is precisely what I mean. I honestly don't concern myself with exact CR, because that would involve assuming an exact set of conflicts--a linear game-while most problems should be approachable from multiple angles. I try to avoid lists of encounters and even strict maps. I keep a stock of creatures and setting fluff instead.

Ah I understand. Someone had given me the advice to design for example a natural location. Let's say a castle. As if it where really a castle, multiple corridors and rooms as if it was built for its original purpose. So multiple ways to get around the entire place. Not a straight line.

Then infest it with encounters, logical traps, roleplay elements that come up either along with or because of the infestation.

This leaves it both believable and more interesting.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zakier

Ah I understand. Someone had given me the advice to design for example a natural location. Let's say a castle. As if it where really a castle, multiple corridors and rooms as if it was built for its original purpose. So multiple ways to get around the entire place. Not a straight line.

Then infest it with encounters, logical traps, roleplay elements that come up either along with or because of the infestation.

This leaves it both believable and more interesting.

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I think that may be more trouble than its worth. Nobody will see the majority of paths, nor the majority of possible threats. Players won't experience much difference vs improv.

What's more, this doesn't solve your CR problem: it aggravates it. It means youre developing enougg threat for the encounter several times over, and risking that players run into more than their share.

I thought about that. Assumed blending the dm forge 5 scene method and this just for designing the layout.