Rhetorical Questions for Dungeons

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  1. Understand how challenges and rewards interact with room layout.
    • A deathtrap in a chokepoint of the dungeon makes dealing with the trap necessary for progress. Is this a crucial obstacle or a permanent hindrance?
    • Loops allow the party to approach a challenge from a different angle. What might be in the room that needs a new perspective?
    • Branches allow interchangeable exploration of rooms. Should the room contents be interchangeable?
  2. Interconnectivity promotes exploration and keeps players hooked.
    • Locks and keys (not necessarily literal) are enticing as they show you rooms, implicitly or explicitly. What might be worth locking up?
    • NPCs may give information about the dungeon - what information might be smart to give?
    • Fragmented items gives hints to another part. What is so dangerous it needed breaking?
  3. Secrets are tweaked by their degree of concealment, but hints don't give answers.
    • A gap in a map suggests a hidden room, but only suggests. When should a gap hide a secret?
    • Knowing there is a secret doesn't tell you the secret. What hints don't give away the answer?
    • Is there anything that can't be secret?
  4. Traps are permanent tools.
    • Anything might set off a trap. Who in the dungeon knows about it?
    • A party sometimes needs to use violence to progress. Should a deathtrap be disabled?
    • Traps may harm, but they may do other things as well. What would be worth the damage?
  5. Deeper levels means tougher challenges.
    • When are shortcuts to deeper levels cheapening the increased difficulty?
    • When is being in over your head fun?
    • How much choice in difficulty should the party have?
  6. Breaking preconceptions is frustrating during and rewarding after.
    • Learning a pattern of "left doors trapped, right doors locked" is fun. How many ways are there to subvert that pattern?
    • Players get comfy with rumors if they know them to be true. What misinformation might mislead the party into a sticky situation?
    • The deadliest traps are not the ones that do the most damage, but the most surprising. What easy traps would set up easy preconceptions for a party?

 

Some Magic Items:

1. Saw Chalk: when a closed loop is drawn on a wooden surface by this chalk, the shape is bored into the surface straight to the other side. Great for locked doors and chests.

2. Friend Bell: Bell that can be heard only by those who have touched it. Very loud but not deafening in a dungeon; resets once a day.

3. Jar of Miasma: noxious fumes enclosed. Instantly causes the effect of food poisoning if huffed in significant capacities. Chuck it.

4.  Shadow Butterfly Net: catches shadows, no harm to owner. The shadows can then be manipulated like canvas to obscure light and visibility.

5.  Ultimate Meat Hook: barb covered hook than can secure any flesh. Must always be cut out.

6.  Dragon gland: Creates a breath weapon if you have a source of fire. The tonsillectomy to obtain this must have been quite nerve-wracking...

 

originally appeared here on my website, now with less fluff on the blog.

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