Pretty Dungeons Are For DMs

 

The art of the dungeon.

Literally, the ART of the dungeon...

...is for Dungeon Masters.

Not players.

A cool map is for inspiration. A cool map makes the DM want to run the adventure. A cool map makes the DM want to BUY the adventure.

The players never get to see the maps. They might get a glimpse. They might already be aware of the adventure's existence, but they never get to study the beauty of the maps and the maps can go a long way in conveying the feel of the adventure. But ultimately, it is up to the DM to translate that feel into a language that inspires the players. If you think about it, the only version of the dungeon map a player gets to see, is the one they draw for themselves. Now we've all played both sides of the screen, but I've never really pondered this before.

So why even bother drawing pretty maps?

Because we like to. 

Period.

There's just something about the maze. Creating that space. Perhaps you, as a DM, first have to inspire yourself.

There's the classic grid, the isometric, and the side-view vertical. Interestingly, I've only toyed with drawing isometric maps a few times. They're fun to look at, but not as much fun to draw, and they only travel in one direction, meaning, they're like stairs. A true 3-D dungeon isn't possible. And isometrics are a pain for players to map.

Lately, I've been into the side-view, vertical dungeons (not sure what the official term is.) They're just fun to draw and you can put stuff into the drawing that gives you ideas for what's going on, other than, statue in the corner, fountain in the center.

The picture above was the first doodle that I drew for DATE OF EXPIRATION. It was just a doodle, no pencils, just ink -- pens and markers. Had no idea what is was. But it was so satisfying to draw, that I drew another, and then another, and another, and so on until I started to develop a plan. Over the course of a month I drew 43 of these and pieced them all together into what is referred to as, The Sapion Structure. That was almost two years ago. 

In DATE OF EXPIRATION, I think I've constructed one of the most visually interesting dungeons ever. Hopefully what I've created will inspire DMs to run it.

Keep rolling...

Dungeons of Grandeur.

I'm surprised I haven't shown these before now.  They're from my mid-teen years; late 80's.  Somewhere I came across poster-board sized graph paper and about a week later this dungeon was done.  I then glued it onto an actual poster-board.  Surprisingly, 30 years on and it's still in pretty good shape.

I never wrote it up as a dungeon.  Making 169 rooms interesting is a challenge now, let alone then -- I've never been a huge fan of empty rooms.  One curious thing, you can go from room 2 all the way to room 154 and only pass through 3 other rooms.  An unplanned feature for sure.

And then of course there's this bad-lad, four times the size.  Too bad I burned out.  It's much more dense than the one above and would have clocked in at around 800 rooms.  These sheets are in surprisingly good shape too.

They're now artifacts that make me want to put aside what I'm working on and attempt to draw the largest, most complex dungeon of all time.  Probably not gonna do that.  Besides, how would you scan such a thing?

I loved the concept of the Dungeon.  Still do.  Always will.  

Just saying.

4th & Sewers.

So, here we have the only dungeon I ever made for 4th Edition.  It was designed for a single player running a couple of low-level characters.  Don't remember too much about it other than it involved the Shadar-Kai and sewers.  Its fairly linear in that it ultimately goes in one direction, but there are multiple choices on the way there -- wherever "there" is, as you see, I never finished it and I believe we only got as far as the second page.

Once upon a time, some friends and I explored the sewers under a Detroit suburb.  Some of the architecture I saw down there, I included on these maps (drawn some 15 years later.)*  Being the main drainage lines and the height of summer, we were basically walking through large concrete pipes with a bit of surprisingly clear water.  Summer was really the only time you could safely explore.  We never once saw, "sewage," or much debris of any kind other than the occasional planks of wood.  One night, we actually came out through a manhole cover on someone's front lawn.  Our individual exits had to be timed perfectly due to steady traffic.  We were miles away from the entrance.....and the car.  The walk back on the streets is a whole 'nother story.....

*The entrance room on page 1 has a passage that starts 12 ft. up a slippery wall.  We experienced a chamber that had something like this.  The wall was slightly sloped and slick with a trickle of water.  Our first time down, we couldn't climb it.  The next time, thanks to a home-made grappling hook, we made it up (I believe it only took us 2 throws.)   And after all that effort, that higher passage didn't amount to much (obviously we missed the secret door!)  The main double-passage that links page 1 to page 2, is modeled directly after the main double-passage we followed for about a mile before branching off and exploring miles of smaller side passages that we often had to duck-walk through.  I'm still in pretty good shape, but no way could I do that now.

We wore rubber boots & gloves.  Flashlights were essential, with spare batteries just in case.  The darkness was oppressive.  Had something happened to our light sources, we'd have been far beyond screwed.....

Been busy working on my next module, spent most of March just working on the map.  It is ....different.

Game on.

Liven Up Those Corridors!

Dungeons are a thing of beauty, but too often I see empty, endless looping corridors where nothing ever happens save for the occasional wandering monster.  Mazes are awesome, options are great, but what is beautiful, isn't always playable.

Take Map A above.  All good right?  Nothing you haven't seen before.  But unless something happens in those passageways, you're going to waste a lot of time slogging from room 1 to 2 (especially if someone's mapping.)  It might look cool, might be fun to draw, might look fun to play, but it kind of isn't.  You could just do this.....

Map B might seem dull, but it's gonna make your session run a lot smoother.  You just saved about 20 minutes of unnecessary slog.  But that's no fun.  You want that dungeon to be a labyrinth.  You want that sense of exploration.  You want those players cautiously peeking around every corner.  You want them interested in the entire place.....not just the rooms.  Too often, hallways are just time-killers.

They shouldn't be.

Almost every time the players turn a corner something interesting should happen.  This doesn't have to be a fight, just something interesting.  Dungeons should not only be places of danger, but places of wonder.

Now look at Map C below.  I've added a fountain, a one-way door, an alter, a statue, a portcullis, a curtain, some stairs, and a huge pile of rubble -- all outside of rooms.   Not everything will be dangerous or meaningful, but the players sure as hell don't know that.  Every turn of a corner becomes interesting now.

Many of these objects should do something.  There should be a trick, something hidden, a treasure, a trap, a penalty, or a perk.  At a minimum on Map C, the players will have 2 encounters while traveling between the two rooms. These encounters can make sense or not make sense, but most of them should adhere to the theme of the dungeon.

And that's all it takes to liven up the place.  Now that small, 2-room section of dungeon is packed full of goodness.

Side note:  Your map doesn't have to be so finished -- you're the only one looking at it!  Consider  Map D, it took a minute to draw.  Fill in the margins with notes and stats and doodles and you'll be good to go with a dungeon just as fascinating to behold as the most professionally drawn piece!