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Nerdarchy > Dungeons & Dragons  > Dungeons and Dragons – Dungeons & What they Mean to Me – Part 2

Dungeons and Dragons – Dungeons & What they Mean to Me – Part 2

Dungeons and Dragons - Dungeons & What they Mean to Me - Part 1
Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition - Dark Myth a Custom Campaign Setting

Dungeon and DragonsNelson of Infinite RolePlay here to bring you part 2.

Now when I design a dungeon those are the 2 rules that keep it on track for me. As long as I can stay true to those 2 things, then I have made a dungeon. Easy enough right? I mean with that sort of curriculum just about anything can be a dungeon! Well, yes and no

Take this launching station & space elevator for example. It has quite a large a number of large spaces. You definitely wouldn’t feel that a 60 foot wide room would make for much of a dungeon & you would be totally right. The reason, or rather the narrative behind the creation of this particular dungeon map, is that the large open spaces are primarily for freight.

Having a large area filled with stacks upon stack of crates, pallets, barrels etc.  get that large space feeling claustrophobic really quickly. The varying levels of height and possible straightaways in there begin instilling the essence of a dungeon. . . . FEAR!

How Scary is your Dungeon in your Dungeons and Dragons Game

That’s what sells a dungeon to me, the ability to create situations that will make your adventurers & hopefully the players portraying them, fearful. The small tight spaces, constant breaking of line of sight, the mind games of a long straight hall & constant intersecting halls and room doors.

It’s what I LOVE about dungeons!! Or rather its dungeons that support what I love. T screw with the player’s minds. Not their characters but the player’s themselves! It’s easy to get a true representation of how a character would react if you can get your players to feel that worry, that panic . .

“Do I want to walk down this narrow straight corridor? It’s only 5 feet wide and we would have to walk single file. There are doors on eitherDungeons and Dragons side of the hall every ten feet but what about that one on the left 3 doors down? It’s 15ft away from its nearest counterpart. Is that a clue? Is it a trap? Should I check every single door as we walk down the hall? Can I afford not to check all these doors?”

Maybe it sounds a bit sadistic to you and maybe it is, but for me the ability to get into people’s heads & get them to think is amazing. To truly challenge them with traditional and practical puzzles. To watch the gears of their mind turning. To hear the creative solutions . . and that moment after all that torture when they overcome . . . That excites me as a GM. Sometimes I think it excites me more than the players.

So when thinking about designing your own dungeon remember; Whether it’s deep within the bowels of the earth or reaching beyond the clouds high in a mountain your dungeon should have a sense of claustrophobia. There needs to be an almost ever present feeling of genuine danger & the ultimate goal is to get your players to feel that fear that their characters should be feeling.

Do Your Maps Instill Fear in Your Dungeons and Dragons Players?

Don’t be afraid to beat the to hell, not let them rest & make every corner sound lets it’s the last they’ll ever turn. Don’t be afraid to kill a character either, BUT DON’T make that your endgame. Killing a player character should never be your actual goal, but rather a Dungeons and Dragonsrepercussion for the player doing something stupid.

Like standing and fighting a gelatinous cube on a dirt road in a forest when they can just walk around it! Yes, I’ve watched 2 players stand in the middle of the road to fight one before. Continuing to fight after being sucked in and digested a bit . . all while watching my character simply walk away from it. Yes I would have gladly watched as they players killed their characters. ( but I was not the GM at the time )

With that said..  Having a permanent invisibility spell cast on a sphere of annihilation that’s siting in the middle of a long hall. . . That’s just not cool! No I haven’t had it don’t to me & I haven’t done it, YET. It is one of many devious ideas though.

You can check out Infinite RolePlay for more on maps and info.

Until Next Time, Stay Nerdy!

 

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