The most paranoia-inducing dungeon

[IZ42]

Have the entrance to the dungeon be in a forest clearing. Don't have it pimped out with skulls and gothic architecture and whatever, that's overdone and cliché and won't frighten anybody. Just have a simple doorway leading down. Now here's where the creepy part starts. If there's someone with keen senses, like an elf, just nonchalantly tell them "It dawns on you after standing in the clearing for a few moments that you can no longer hear the wildlife, or even the wind." If there's someone with scent or something like that, just tell them "The air in this clearing smells odd. Or rather, doesn't smell odd. There's absolutely no smell whatsoever." And in the clearing, describe everything with a hint of oddness, almost like an uncanny valley sort of feel, but with landscape. The grass looks TOO much like grass, so much that there's something off about it. The ground is unnaturally flat, with no dents or crevices. The dimensions of the clearing feel odd and unnatural. The party druid might feel absolutely nothing instead of the normal spirits of nature or whatever they call it nowadays. They can still cast, they just don't feel the presence of nature in this clearing. How creepy is that idea?

[Drakeburn]

One idea I have in mind for a dungeon that can drive somebody paranoid is a labyrinth of illusions!

Let me explain:

Say you have one giant labyrinth where the PCs have to maneuver through. But what makes this labyrinth so diabolical is that it is made up of real walls and illusions that look like other walls.

Just think of the possibilities you can have with this idea:

• The PCs can get lost forever in a maze where they can't tell the difference between fake walls and real walls, because everything looks the same!
  
  
• To make this more interesting, you can do the same with the flooring! Most of the flooring is there, while other flooring may be just an illusion, where any fool who steps through it will stumble into who-knows-what.
  
  
• Putting monsters into this complex labyrinth will make this even more interesting. Can you imagine the sheer terror of a monster suddenly "phasing" out through walls to get you?
  
  
• While we're at it, why not make illusions where several ways out of this labyrinth turn out to be illusions as well?
  
  
• Why should we limit ourselves to illusions? Why not make a wall, floor tile, or even an archway at an "exit" be mimics?
  
  

....... Do you think I'm going way too far with this idea?

[JNAProductions]

Yes. And I like it.

[Keltest]

And if it's an old man, do not let him out of the dungeon. Certainly don't let him out of a cage.
Nobody has ever imprisoned an old man in a dungeon. Unspeakable evils disguised as old men? They get locked in a dungeon every other Tuesday. Don't let them out.

Don't let them into the dungeon either. It invariably holds some ancient artifact of (evil) power that they want to use for (evil) things.

[MrStabby]

I am certainly going to use these ideas in a dungeon I think. I think my favourite is the dungeon stalking the players although for its appearance to remain the same and to build up the pattern of stalking you would need to remain in the same area/terrain type for some time.

I like the watching eye idea as well - I think that many players do not feel comfortable being watched.


The trouble with a lot of these places is that there is a need to populate them with challenges as well (probably monsters or people to fight). either they are unrelated to the causes of paranoia or they are by themselves very scary. It isn't paranoia if there is actually a Cabal of Liches in the dungeon. On the other hand you don't want it to be too anticlimactic. If you have people there they need a tie to the dungeon or at least can help explain its madness.

[Bard1cKnowledge]

Its not a dungeon at all, but simply an overly bureaucratic level, most monsters are goblins in cubicles. There is a beholder demanding you go on a nice tour of how a dungeon is made, shouting "BEHOLD!" at every stop. In charge of it all is a wizard

If the party attacks them, they go through nine or so levels

[DigoDragon]

The party finds the dead and charred remains of one of their members. The ruined remains of the clothing/armor is different however. Later on in the dungeon the party finds some treasure and among the items is the very clothes/armor the dead PC was found in. No matter how hard they search, they never find the dead body again, and any part of the remains they stash in their bags/packs for later mysterious disappears.

I did this once and the party SWORE they were dealing with some kind of mad wizard in the dungeon. They never found one, but I think it's funny that no one thought that if there was a wizard, maybe it was an illusionist.

Its not a dungeon at all, but simply an overly bureaucratic level, most monsters are goblins in cubicles. There is a beholder demanding you go on a nice tour of how a dungeon is made, shouting "BEHOLD!" at every stop. In charge of it all is a wizard

Maybe a bit more hilarious than paranoid to me, but I'd totally put this in an adventure regardless. :D

[Strigon]

The party finds the dead and charred remains of one of their members. The ruined remains of the clothing/armor is different however. Later on in the dungeon the party finds some treasure and among the items is the very clothes/armor the dead PC was found in. No matter how hard they search, they never find the dead body again, and any part of the remains they stash in their bags/packs for later mysterious disappears.

Very Doctor Who; I like it :3

Another fun thing to do is put a valuable object out in the open (double points if it's on a pedestal) in an otherwise empty room.
Watch how many potential traps they try to disarm/prepare for.

[Gnomish Wanderer]

It turned out to be some idea he had come up with on the spot.

Number one rule of DMing: NEVER let your players know you came up with things on the spot. They'll think you're a genius who plans out amazing things :P

[JAL_1138]

One idea I have in mind for a dungeon that can drive somebody paranoid is a labyrinth of illusions!

Let me explain:

Say you have one giant labyrinth where the PCs have to maneuver through. But what makes this labyrinth so diabolical is that it is made up of real walls and illusions that look like other walls.

Just think of the possibilities you can have with this idea:

• The PCs can get lost forever in a maze where they can't tell the difference between fake walls and real walls, because everything looks the same!
  
  
• To make this more interesting, you can do the same with the flooring! Most of the flooring is there, while other flooring may be just an illusion, where any fool who steps through it will stumble into who-knows-what.
  
  
• Putting monsters into this complex labyrinth will make this even more interesting. Can you imagine the sheer terror of a monster suddenly "phasing" out through walls to get you?
  
  
• While we're at it, why not make illusions where several ways out of this labyrinth turn out to be illusions as well?
  
  
• Why should we limit ourselves to illusions? Why not make a wall, floor tile, or even an archway at an "exit" be mimics?
  
  

....... Do you think I'm going way too far with this idea?

Illusory walls? 10ft poles and only make left turns. Illusory floor? 10ft pole. Illusory monster? (10ft) Polearm. Mimic? Polearm.

[Keltest]

Illusory walls? 10ft poles and only make left turns. Illusory floor? 10ft pole. Illusory monster? (10ft) Polearm. Mimic? Polearm.

When you say "polearm" with regards to the mimic, all I can envision is a giant 10 foot long arm ending in a hand being reached out to take stuff from the chest.

[JAL_1138]

When you say "polearm" with regards to the mimic, all I can envision is a giant 10 foot long arm ending in a hand being reached out to take stuff from the chest.

I meant whack it real good with a reach weapon to see if it goes "Graaaargh!" and, if it does, whack it with the aforesaid reach weapon until it's dead. Although I've used polearms with the right kind of pointy bits, choppy bits, or smashy bits on the end to pick up objects too.

And now I want to add a Pole Arm to the List of Mostly Useless Magic Items.

[Keltest]

I meant whack it real good with a reach weapon to see if it goes "Graaaargh!" and, if it does, whack it with the aforesaid reach weapon until it's dead. Although I've used polearms with the right kind of pointy bits, choppy bits, or smashy bits on the end to pick up objects too.

And now I want to add a Pole Arm to the List of Mostly Useless Magic Items.

I know what you meant, but a 10 foot arm seemed infinitely more amusing. However, I do rather like the "Graaaargh!" test as well, when you put it that way.

[JAL_1138]

I know what you meant, but a 10 foot arm seemed infinitely more amusing. However, I do rather like the "Graaaargh!" test as well, when you put it that way.

I figured you knew, I just wanted an excuse to write that

I've used the "graaargh" test on practically every treasure chest I've ever encountered in an RPG, although I haven't had a name for it until now

[Lord Raziere]

Illusory walls? 10ft poles and only make left turns. Illusory floor? 10ft pole. Illusory monster? (10ft) Polearm. Mimic? Polearm.

A dungeon where all poles of 10 ft or more in length grow eyes and ears and start listening and watching you.

[JAL_1138]

A dungeon where all poles of 10 ft or more in length grow eyes and ears and start listening and watching you.

Stab out the eyes and ears, continue to use them to prod the terrain and objects.

EDIT: Alternatively, make friends. They've saved your life before, after all, if you've lived past level three in AD&D.

[Lord Raziere]

Stab out the eyes and ears, continue to use them to prod the terrain and objects.

New ones pop up, until the entire pole is destroyed.

[Blake Hannon]

1. Have a system of narrow tunnels that the PC's can barely fit through.

2. Have a bunch of skinny, climby monsters that can scamper through the tunnels easily and have Sneak Attack or can grab you and yank you in.

3. Put at least two tunnel entrances in every room.

[JAL_1138]

1. Have a system of narrow tunnels that the PC's can barely fit through.

2. Have a bunch of skinny, climby monsters that can scamper through the tunnels easily and have Sneak Attack or can grab you and yank you in.

3. Put at least two tunnel entrances in every room.

Add murderholes/arrowslits in the walls and grates to pour boiling oil through, too.

[Strigon]

1. Have a system of narrow tunnels that the PC's can barely fit through.

Do you even need more than that to make PC's nervous?

[NowhereMan583]

1. Have a system of narrow tunnels that the PC's can barely fit through.

2. Have a bunch of skinny, climby monsters that can scamper through the tunnels easily and have Sneak Attack or can grab you and yank you in.

3. Put at least two tunnel entrances in every room.

And there's how you make sure your dungeon actually contains a challenge rather than just anticlimactic paranoia -- the whole thing is run by kobolds with a cruel sense of humor.

[Bard1cKnowledge]

A bunch of werewolves sitting at a desk playing poker, they invite the PCs to play

[Keltest]

A bunch of werewolves sitting at a desk playing poker, they invite the PCs to play

While that would make me many things, paranoid would probably not be one of them. Nothing is more disarming than poker.

[Tiktik Ironclaw]

These ideas are great.

This may just be me, but look at the illustration in Tomb of Horrors for the shaking room with the acidic curtains: in the corner is some statue or stuffed animal of a polar bear. Seems innocuous, right? Except that there's no mention of it (at least in 3.5) and it's tucked away in the back of the room, not disheveled like the rest of the room, and it is grinning! I even called this out in a story I wrote from the point of a party exploring the room. The party, a hobgoblin mage, human fighter, kobold rogue, Boccob priestess dressed only with the fake Acererak's cloak and ring, hobbit bard with a magic guitar, and a bratty drow sorceress, show up. The stout warrior begins flipping out at the sight of the thing, and the wizard says to leave. Then a the room shakes and a gnome merc gets melted by a curtain.

Also, mind flayers are obvious as the villains behind a paranoia dungeon (if cliche). A thread a while ago about either them or eldritch horror mentioned how a single illithid in charge of a complex could delude adventurers into thinking their whole life was traveling and dying horribly in the terrible complex, never seeing the amused captor. Say, go a few poorly lit rooms, until they reach a dead end. Let them search but find nothing. They open the door back up, and find a football-length sea of lava where once the passage was. Then, a door at the back that hadn't been there creaks open, leading into blackness with faint wails issuing forth. Then, magic gets weird. Be prepared for whimpers, people running away, or the sudden need to mop up your kitchen table chairs.

[TurboGhast]

Put a dangerous trap in an obvious place once. Depending on preference, have it show up again in a less obvious spot or just sit in the back or the player's minds.

[Strigon]

When they next visit a tavern, have an old man "have what they're having". He then has a heart attack later in the night.

Just like that, they'll be convinced someone is out to kill them!

[DigoDragon]

When they next visit a tavern, have an old man "have what they're having". He then has a heart attack later in the night.
Just like that, they'll be convinced someone is out to kill them!

I'd personally prefix this one with asking the players to make a Fortitude check before they enter the tavern, but not tell them why. Only continue with the scene as nothing is wrong. Yet.
Occasional checks without context will get a player to wonder.

[Bard1cKnowledge]

The deeper you go, the more primitive the monsters become, eventually you start running into stone age eldritch horrors, or as I like to call them, neanderthralls

[Drakeburn]

What if the dungeon was alive?

What if the adventurers are wandering inside a primordial, a gargantuan animated statue, a slumbering ancient god who has been forgotten?

[Strigon]

When the Pc's enter a dungeon, their torches go out. No mundane attempt to relight them succeeds. If they use a magical source of light, an ear-splitting scream emits from deep inside the dungeon.