A Run-Down House in Baldiens

This is a WIP dnd dungeon map. This is what I have done right now, this is a two story dungeon this is just the top floor.

The dungeon is underground, walls are patched dirt, flooring is rotting wood and magic mold grows about the place giving it some light (its dim light over all) and yes there is a tree growing within the dungeon.

Barbarian: What causes your character to become enraged more so than anything else?

Bard: Can your character recall a time that music has had a special power over them? What was this song, where did they hear it, and did it affect them positively, negatively, or neutrally?

Cleric: What does your character place their faith in - a deity, universal energy, themselves, the government, etc.?

Druid: Does your character have a positive or negative opinion of nature (animals included)? Do they prefer the outdoors or the indoors?

Fighter: What cause does your character primarily fight for?

Monk: What natural physical abilities does your character possess? Can they perform acrobatic stunts, can they effectively punch an opponent, or can they do nothing but cower in fear when danger comes?

Paladin: Does your character have an oath, a mantra, or a code by which they live their life? Do they ever defy this code, and if so, what are the consequences?

Ranger: What one thing does your character hunt for - money, a family heirloom, a source of power, a lost love, a missing relative, etc.?

Rogue: What does your character hide from - the law enforcement, their friends, their family, themselves, their secrets, etc.?

Sorcerer: What comes naturally to your character that would require other people to train or to study in order to accomplish?

Warlock: What alliances does your character rely on for survival? What do these relationships offer them - protection, power, wealth, love, etc.?

A quick little something I knocked together, the patented tragic backstory generator ™ is the easiest way to give your character a mythically horrible origin. 

The funny thing is that even though the word “dungeon” has a very specific real world meaning (an underground prison) through its use in D&D it has pretty much come to mean “any old hole in the ground with monsters and treasure to be had.”

The only actual dungeons I’ve ever used in my games are the ones where my characters escape from to kick off a campaign, so I got thinking about the different ways to use actual dungeons in games.

The dungeon is still maintained by its original staff and the goal is to sneak in and extract a prisoner. Who is the prisoner and why are they important to the characters?

The dungeon is abandoned, having been overrun by monsters. Why was it abandoned? What came of the original wardens and prisoners? This one is perfect for using some traditional chain-rattling ghosts as the restless spirits of those who died imprisoned for crimes they did not commit.

The inmates are running the dungeon. Following a prison riot the prisoners are now running the show. Depending on how nasty the prisoners are they may have killed their wardens, they might be keeping them imprisoned and visiting various humiliations on them as a way of exacting revenge on them, or the wardens may have joined the prisoners. What are the prisoners’ ultimate plans? Just to live free, or are they gathering forces to strike against those who imprisoned them?

The dungeon is actually a pocket of a plane used to imprison supernatural threats (Carceri from the Great Wheel cosmology works perfectly for this). What are the characters after? Who might be imprisoned there? Examples might include fallen angels from the war against heaven who did not take sides with either the gods or Asmodeus, weaker primordials biding their time to exact vengeance on the gods for their humiliation in the dawn war, or perhaps… the Tarrasque?!

Also, since I mentioned Carceri, go full Piranesi on your dungeon design:

The dungeon, like the Tower of London, is in the same building as a treasury. Start a jailbreak as a distraction to go after the treasure

You need the warden for something for which they don’t want to see you, and for some reason the best time to get them is while they’re working. Break in and make them face you.

‘A glimmering blue tonic is set in a crystalline glass before you. The bartender, a fire genasi with a charming smile, informs you that this is his signature drink. Made from the powder of a Slaad’s crystal, he says. You can’t help but find his name, Havic, oddly fitting as he reads off a list of possible side effects. It doesn’t matter that he insists his name is spelled with an i rather than o. ‘

A Wild-Magic-like potion created by the wizard character of yours truly. Drink at your own risk!

1.) What influenced the creation of this character?

2.) Describe your character’s backstory in three sentences or less.

3.) Who is your character’s closest friend?

4.) Is there anyone your character would kill for? Would die for?

5.) For better or for worse, who has impacted your character the most?

6.) Does your character have any habits? If so, list some!

7.) Which of the Seven Deadly Sins fits your character most?

8.) What is your character’s relationship with their family?

9.) What makes your character the happiest?

10.) If your character had three wishes, what would they wish for? (No wishing for more wishes!)

11.) When not adventuring, what can your character be seen doing?

12.) What’s the easiest way to annoy your character? How would they react to being annoyed?

13.) What is your character’s greatest fear?

14.) How old is your character? Is that any different from their mental age?

15.) How did your character begin adventuring?

16.) Where did your character grow up?

17.) Has your character ever had any other jobs? If so, what jobs?

18.) What is one of your character’s strange quirks?

19.) Does your character enjoy fighting, or would they rather stay out of it?