Preparing a Dungeon

If you have time to prepare a dungeon and know that the Player Characters will explore it, the following process generally works well:

1. Think about the general look and mood of the dungeon: Is it a spooky ruin, a lavish castle, or perhaps a network of ancient tunnels?
2. Sketch a rough map of the dungeon: This doesn't need to be pretty, but does need to be functional. You're the only person that will use it, so make sure your notes are clear (especially if you plan on using the dungeon weeks or even months from now). If you're short on ideas, the internet is filled with awesome dungeon designs — there's nothing wrong with drawing inspiration from them.
3. Place rewards (see page 264) in your dungeon: These may be magic items, currency, or even Inventory Points. Try to avoid placing most of the rewards in the same room (you should encourage exploration).
4. Place obstacles and threats (traps, puzzles, hostile creatures) in your dungeon, preferably so that they guard or prevent access to rewards.
   • When you prepare an obstacle or threat, do not determine in advance how the Player Characters might approach it. That's for them to decide.
   • Avoid swarming the heroes with a large number of weak enemies; instead, focus on two or three challenging encounters (see page 292 for more).
   • If the reward is an item, the creature guarding it might use it in battle.
5. Think about one or two Danger Clocks appropriate for your dungeon, their size and what will happen if they are filled — will the heroes be ambushed? Is there a magical surveillance system? Will the tunnels be flooded by lava?
6. Determine the focal point of your dungeon (an antagonist, a precious artifact, a vital piece of information) and choose its location. Most of the time you will want to place this element far away from the entrance, but you might also make it relatively easy to reach (in this case, the rest of the dungeon will feature "optional content").

Philip Forlenza (Order #)