The secret to better D&D Dungeons (and Defense of the Funhouse)

Everything you need to create the best dungeons is here in this video. Do you want to learn the tricks for creating a fantasy dungeons from a Dungeon Master with over 40 years of gaming experience? Let this video guide you to the secret Dungeon Master tricks to creating the best fantasy dungeons!

00:00 Introduction
02:39 Dungeon Design History
07:04 Practical Dungeon Tips
11:46 Embracing Funhouse Dungeons
13:45 Designing with Purpose
21:27 Example Dungeon Walkthrough

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[DUNGEONCRAFT]

This video is outstanding. This channel is going to be huge. Keep creating. May all your rolls be 20s!

[shayulghul]

Agreed. Real-world castles (both East and West) had defensible designs that included switchbacks, traps, and layouts that would confuse strangers. A confusing or funhouse design is perfect for repelling trespassers.

[Lowe]

There was a mansion here in Chicago that H. H. Holmes one of the first serial murderers in America lived in. It was described just as you described the Winchester mystery house. I believe he dissolved his victims in acid in the basement and had all kinds of stairways to nowhere secret rooms etc. They called it the "Murder Castle". Gruesome stuff lol.

[archlittle]

A Wood Elf level 1 Druid/level 9 Wizard with Criminal Background can make a modular dungeon in a year. The dungeon has 130, 000 cubic feet of open space underground and up to 130 rooms above, is inside a permanent Mordekainen Private Sanctum and has a permanent Teleportation Circle, with traps made, set and hidden. The Elf has two skilled feats for mason, carpenter, woodcutter, leather maker, smith and weaver.

Pick any location. Fabricate 125 cubic feet of bricks from an area of rock 4 times/day (3+1 with Arcane Recovery). Animated skeletons move these onto a pallet and eventually hollow out the area of the spell. Then Floating Disk them to the surface. Use the bricks to build an above ground structure. This creates 500 cu. ft. of open space per day underground. That's 130 (10'x10'x10') cubes of open space per year (260 work days). A 10 foot cube of bricks can form 20 flat sections of 10 ft. x 10 ft. that are six inches thick to make a room 20 ft. x 20 ft. ten feet high with walls, floor, ceiling and interior supports. So, 130 such rooms above ground.
Cast Mordekainen's Private Sanctum at 5th level every day for that year to make it permanent throughout the dungeon area. That's a compound 200 ft. x 100 ft. with the total area above and below ground of 100 feet in depth. The Circle is also made permanent by daily casting. The Circle is on the roof of the structure. The floor the Circle is on can be raised above the Sanctum with a mechanical crank so that it works outside of the Sanctum's effect. In addition to self use, the Wizard could make this as the henchman for a higher level character or even for the PC party. Arcane Locks (25 gold cost), Magic Mouth (10g), Snares (0), Glyph of Warding (200g) and C. Flame (50g) can be added at an additional expense.

PHB pg. 285: "For example, a common item might confer the benefit of a 1st-level spell once per day (or just once if it's consumable)."
So once per day a large stone table common Magic Item (MI) can cast Goodberry and a stone trough can cast Create 14 gallons of water. Several of these could support a garrison. Other "once per day" MIs might cure wounds or cast animal friendship.

Each day, the Elf casts Private sanctum 10 min. and Teleportation circle 1 min. and on work days 4 Fabricate 40 min., Floating disk 10 min. for an hour, and 2 Animate dead 2 min. while crafting a potion or MI for 8 hours.

An Elf might make a hundred or more of these dungeons over their lifetime.

[artistpoet]

I've been designing on a point crawl method which helps get the areas down and set. I've looked into Crown and Skull from Runehammer recently and really like the mapless dungeon set up. This video fits into this design plan quite nicely as all I'll have to do is come up with the lists of monsters, traps, events and areas and just focus on what makes sense in the world instead of fussing on about with maps and layout.

[queenannsrevenge]

I close my eyes, and Nick Offerman is giving me expert dungeon design advice 😄

Thank you for your excellent video on dungeon design. Many of these ideas I’ve picked up through many years of running D&D and Pathfinder, but there are some things I’ve never thought about before; thank you!

[LB_adventurer]

I also forgot to add.... I am now subscribed. Thanks for the videos.

[Lester-Witherspoon]

This adventure you're running...with the skulk tunnels and the sisters of (something)...this sounds fun. I wish that were something I could watch on here.

[GKahla]

Great point about others' declaiming hard rules being about them revealing their own limitations! Lovely summation about the salient points; consistency, history, and consequences. Thanks, Aten!

[helimancer]

I wanted to say that I love your content. I've been playing 5e for a few years now and I've been DMing for just over a year and your advice has been the most rewarding and fruitful for my weird brain.

"Creativity is like a muscle" is definitely true. I know it to be true as my creativity has never been more tested as a DM.

Keep doing what you do. I love the sage wisdom you have as well as your respect and love for creative freedom.

[social_ghost]

Just got recommended this video and I have to say it was excellent. As someone really into both the history of DnD and playing older editions I love it anytime anyone speaks favorably of funhouse dungeons and older design ideas. And to anyone who may be reading this and is looking for a practical example of a dungeon I can't recommend anything better than 'Dyson's Delve' by Dyson Logos as a starting point.

[mjp]

The point about unknown reasons for things being as they are is so spot on - allow me to expand a bit on it. Several times my players have gifted me future plot hooks by openly discussing why some detail in a dungeon was a certain way. Often times it was something that I hadn't even considered that they would latch on to.
In those situations I have learned to quickly jot down the salient points of their discussions and develop their ideas further for future sessions. Not only does this make my work easier, it also makes the players feel smart because they "figured out the plot".

[C]

I appreciate these videos you're putting out, I enjoy both the aesthetic and the advice. I also found out that, while doing the dishes and relistening to this video, the cadence of your voice strikes me as similar to that of famed actor, Nicholas Cage. So thanks for that as well!

[benschrose]

hearing about passion for a hobby and about opinions is never a waste of time. it expands the horizon. any bit of it might be new information for any of us. so dont sweat it so much :D

[darcyw]

Great video. I will be using a ton of this info.

[asturias]

I just discovered this channel and I already love it. I'm planning to start DMing soon and this information is very helpful.

[zombiDS]

The timing of this is great. I'm working on a dungeon right now and realizing I might have overplanned.

[AJBernard]

This is the first of your videos I have found, but it was good! Liked and subbed. Looking forward to seeing more of your content!

[kontrarien]

Great video. Regardless of what you make and why, I think the ultimate judgement is whether or not it's fun for players. My understanding of all the rules and guidelines is that they're all about creating a good experience at the table.

[BobWorldBuilder]

Glad this came up in my feed! Great discussion