Dungeon Design: Part 1 - Running RPGs

The first of a 2-part series covering my philosophies and approaches to making RPG dungeons. It covers Construction Types, Populations, History, Layout, and Architecture.
Part 2 will cover Traps, Rewards, and Plot Objectives.

If you want to check out the books I mentioned:

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#dnd

00:00 Intro
03:25 The Dungeon
03:59 Dungeon Types
06:34 Populating It
12:23 Social Ecology
13:14 Social Encounters
14:42 Dungeon History
16:38 Traces of Former Adventurers
17:08 Signs of Decay
18:47 Habitation Needs
21:09 Lighting
22:38 Food & Water
23.25 Architecture
27:08 Vary Room Shapes
30:31 Avoid Choke Points
33.43 Look to Real Architecture
35:43 Aesthetics
38:24 Inspiration
39:41 Closing

[RipOffProductionsLLC]

"But what do they eat" is one of those key questions from writing advice that game masters/developers can learn a lot from.

[gbgamer]

I know it'd be more for the second part, but I remember playing a session in 2300 where we boarded an abandoned ship from an alien species. The airlock into the ship was kinda trapped by design. Due to how they saw colors, red was their color for safe and green was the danger color. So as we approached the airlock it was pressurized, but looked safe to open. It was just a small detail that helped to show the former owners were different from us.

[elfbait]

I thought I was the only person who knew about "Kingdom of the Dwarves". That books forever informed the depictions of dwarves in my campaigns.

[Arcanyum]

Seth I would like to say that I will be trying my hand as a keeper for the haunting this Saturday. I'm very exited and thank you for introducing me to Call you Cthulhu

[jamesblount]

I can't help but click when you post because you have gotten me back into table top RPGs. My kids know DnD because of you, keep up the great work.

[adrianwebster]

Secret doors are the best. I have very fond memories of a private school I attended that was in an old mansion that had a hidden staircase. It opened to a closet on the upper floor. Old houses sometimes have servant's quarters/wings that might be a bit concealed to allow unobtrusive movement.

[steviebrd]

That shot of the 2nd edition catacombs guide brought back a sudden flush of memories for me. I gave TSR a LOT of my money back in the day... well my parent's money.

[dutch]

With the room checklist at 34:48 I was very much expecting to see Seth list latrines. Clown nursery was a complete surprise

[MrCafitzgerald]

@15:15 When Seth was describing reuse of the giant bronze doors, I saw one door suspended over a fire and used as a giant hibachi grill. Kobolds loudly running around prepping meals and delivering provisions in and out of the chamber.

[jamesaskins]

Solid gold as always.

Over the last couple years I've been running a campaign centred arround a knightly order that hid the parts of a powerful magical device in effectively "Dungeon Safes". First defence was no one knew they existed, but if you can locate them, then you have to find a way in, and through to the vault.

Had a great time working out linear dungeons with traps and bad guys who could be there through a long time, so elementals, automatons, undead, that sort of thing, but also making the challenges simple to bypass if you know how, but deadly if not, so the Knights could get through to the vault, but intruders would likely die trying.

Players have had a blast, and I had great fun designing them too!

[Brandon_Watson]

One of the things I enjoy doing when I forget and make a secret door essential to a dungeon is to have the characters catch a denizen using that door we're going down what appears to be a dead end Passage

[Colouroutofspace]

I am currently running the pathinder 2e adventure path Abomination Vaults. One of the main features is an indestructible lighthouse artifact that extends down through all 9 underground levels above a shrine to an outer god. When the players find that circular room it gives them a refrence point for whete they are in this place.

[jeluenhayo]

Here's a like and a comment for the algorythm. Also thanks for the quality content, Seth, you're the man. Also the ork and the demon and the cthulhu god - everything GM has to be :D

[SixWingZombi]

A few years ago my sisters got me a book called "The Monsters Know What They're Doing" by Keith Ammann. Great book with great ideas on how encounters with different monsters might work in a dungeon or which dungeon types work with which monsters in which ways. Highly recommended.

[richmcgee]

35:53 Honest, I played in a game back in the 80s where the DM described the dungeon as being made of cyclopean masonry and one of the other players (never having heard the term, which I admit is idiomatic) asked what he meant. The DM responded, absolutely deadpan, by telling him that every single giant block of stone had a single staring eye carved on it.

Rest of the table broke up laughing, leaving the guy who'd asked totally confused until we explained the joke. On the rare occasions we get together to game these days we've all been working those stones into things, been going on for decades now - even the guy whose question started the gag.

[baumbard]

In case anyone hadn't come across it yet, I'd also recommend the book "Image of the City". It's a short urban planning study/survey, and how people's spatial mental map building-blocks are paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks.

[Lockn]

No other channel has been so responsible in shaping me into the dm I am today, thank you Seth for your wealth of knowledge. Keep on keepin’ on!

[SorryBones]

I always did forget about the clown nurseries, thanks for the tip!! 🙏

[frankmueller]

I've drawn a lot of dungeons since 1977, and learned much of what you covered, yet still picked up some good points from your video. Thanks Seth.

[przr]

In regards to habitation needs, N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God has animated zombies that operate a pump to keep the swamp-based dungeon from flooding.