Dungeon Building 101

[GalacticAxekick]

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.

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.