Making some Dungeons

[Blackhawk748]

If you are one of my PCs, stay out!

Now that that is out of the way i want to design a few Legend of Zelda style dungeons for an eventual Oriental campaign. The Dungeons will each have been made by a specific type of demon (which is a generic term in this setting) and connect to the Demonwastes. The Dungeons serve as a base for that type of demon and allow them to attack the surrounding area and, most of all, it allows them to bypass the Turtle Clan's Obsidian Wall. However these dungeons have a flaw, only the demons it was created by can use it. So if a dungeon is created by Ogres, only Ogres can use it as a bypass. This is good news because noone wants a horde of Legion Devils getting a backdoor entrance.

All of the Dungeons will have these things in common.

1. The all have a very heavy theme
2. They all incorporate the surrounding area into their design
3. They all have a large "End Boss"
4. They must be designed so that their inhabitants can actually live in them

The first Dungeon i had in mind was the Lair of the Spider Queen, which was basically the Ocarina of Time's Inside the Deku Tree. The end boss will be a giant spider (obviously) and when they kill it the tree will return to what it was, a giant tree. This will be true for all of the dungeons. Beat their Guardian and they return to what they where before the magic warped them.

Guardians, by their very nature, are typically one really big scary thing, and since i know that that doesnt work well in DnD they get a special rule. Guardians get to take a second turn at -5 Initiative. So they get 2 turns in a round.

Things to note: We are using Spheres of Power for all of our casting needs, and as of now Path of War is not in use, though i may allow it in a bit later, if i get a chance to look it over. Other than that all of PF is available.

Spoiler: Lair of the Spider Queen

Show

Enemies
Archer Bushes
Aranea
Giant Spiders

Guardian
Half Fiend Guardian Advanced Ogre Spider

The layout of the Dungeon will be much the same as Inside the Great Deku Tree. The big difference is that instead of a web blocking the floor when you enter, it will be a large wooden plug, that can be opened on a ledge at the top of the tree. The Araneas just use Mage Hand to press the switch.

Archer bushes replace the Deku Shrubs and the rooms where it was just Deku shrubs are now just basic combat rooms.

The Fairy Slingshot room will be replaced by a simple storeroom with a mini boss.

The basement will look much the same as the Aranea arnet bothered by all the webs blocking the doors, as they arent slowed by them. The room with the spiked rod across the pool will be redone and instead have a simple walkway across it and the water will have a Fiendish Giant Squid in it who can cause certain sections of walkway to sink. The following room is the same, light the Torches, open the door. Except that they will be getting shot at by Archer Bushes. After that they just fight some more Aranea, burn some more webs and then get to the Web covered pit that leads to Basement 2.

Basement 2 will look exactly the same, a handful of Archer bushes will protect the door and after the PCs beat them they can fight the Guardian.

[Krazzman]

I can't find the article about dungeons being living spaces for monsters...

But the main points are:
Plan locations (that make sense) for the basic needs (Food, Sleep and Waste[byproduct of Food]).
Steal from existing architecture (if you don't know how certain defenses would work or similar).
Create Bottlenecks for Intruders but multiple vantage points for defenders.

Hope this helps, I personally suck at designing dungeons...

[Gildedragon]

An ooze/water/acid themed one.
Demons that lived there used charms to protect against oozes' acid. Traps may involve poisonous gases; walls or floors that are not wholly solid (quicksand-esque) or oozes lying in wait; flooding room traps; constricting corridors... Monster inhabitants: oozes, beings riding inside of oozes using them as mounts/ablative armor, acidborn (3.5 but easy to port over) creatures. Treasures are mostly stone or acid resistant as organic materials and metals tend to not last.

As for living situation: the oozes function as waste disposal/sanitation. Water is plentiful in the reservoirs, and stuff like algae or yeast or fish can be grown for rations. For sleeping: resting suspended inside a gelatinous cube wouldn't be bad.
Recreation areas and training areas are probably needed. Stone dice and thin slate cards are found, as well as glass game boards. Swimming might be a pastime and physical training; stone weights are probably found around the pools.

A metal themed dungeon:
Boss: a steel golem (or a weaker or stronger one depending on the party) or a chain devil

dungeon may have a fair few chain-climbing puzzles/areas, with leaping challenges over pits of metal spikes...

If going LoZy then there is an order to the dungeons where the treasure or lessons of one help defeat the next. Might I recommend using the Cycle of Elements (either destructive or constructive) to inspire the dungeon order

[Blackhawk748]

I am loving the Acid dungeon. I was actually going to use acidic water and an Acid Born Giant Octopus in another game but i never got the chance. Totally going to now though.

[Jormengand]

Two wizards have a century-long fight that takes them through plane after plane after plane; they end up building their own demiplanes, weaving them together, and making a tangled mess of extraplanar stuff. This dungeon ends up being a mish-mash of microclimates, and at the centre of it all is one of the wizards responsible, standing over the tangled remains of his opponent. Because of all of these different planes colliding, grassy knolls sharply give way to volcanic hellscapes. Gaps in reality and fault lines where the planes have collided into each other dominate the "Dungeon", which is more like a warzone of creatures whose homes have been caught up in the meddling of such powerful beings.

[Blackhawk748]

Two wizards have a century-long fight that takes them through plane after plane after plane; they end up building their own demiplanes, weaving them together, and making a tangled mess of extraplanar stuff. This dungeon ends up being a mish-mash of microclimates, and at the centre of it all is one of the wizards responsible, standing over the tangled remains of his opponent. Because of all of these different planes colliding, grassy knolls sharply give way to volcanic hellscapes. Gaps in reality and fault lines where the planes have collided into each other dominate the "Dungeon", which is more like a warzone of creatures whose homes have been caught up in the meddling of such powerful beings.

Well thats spiffy, but that sounds almost more like a Megadungeon campaign