Building an ever-changing dungeon - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Building an ever-changing dungeon

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
dragon_master_zero
Aug 04, 2009 3:13:29 I'm having trouble coming up with some stuff for an interesting area in the shared campaign i'm playing.
Basically there is the Tower of Eleison which is a 100ft tall, 1 mile diameter tower, around which the city of Streya has risen. Beneath the tower is a massive underground complex, known as The Conflux, that contains planar rifts (to the Elemental Forgelands, Aberrant Seas, Shadowmire, Feyborn Jungle, and Immortal Plains).

I was going to have it so that due to planar essence and portals opening and closing the different 'floors' or 'areas' of The Conflux would constantly shift.
eg. In week X area Y, The place is full of greenery and an underground jungle, 2 weeks later its decaying and becomes a place full of shadowborn and undead.

I essentially need help fleshing out how everything manages to function, especially the city and actually trying to adventure into The Conflux (like how to differentiate areas/floors and maybe some sort of big overarching plot)
#2
humanmind
Aug 04, 2009 5:32:11 You could have the city maped out with certain pionts that can enter the conflux. As for the Conflux itself, you can use the random dungeon maker in the dmg. You may have create some of your own tables for the different planes. If the players turn back, the old rooms change after X amount of rooms.

Is this the kind of thing you were thinking of?
#3
dragon_master_zero
Aug 04, 2009 5:42:21
You could have the city maped out with certain pionts that can enter the conflux. As for the Conflux itself, you can use the random dungeon maker in the dmg. You may have create some of your own tables for the different planes. If the players turn back, the old rooms change after X amount of rooms.

Well I have that the only way to enter the Conflux is through the Tower, and Streya simply exists because its more convenient for adventurers to have a comfortable place to stay and trade. Mainly Streya came up because a bunch of merchants were like "Hey this place has highly valuable things coming from it (Flora, body parts, magic items), lets try and make some money off it" so they went on and started a small thing that eventually grew.

For the Conflux itself I was figuring something more cave-like and natural than square dungeons..though that's an interesting idea and certainly more feasible.

Extra Note: Anyone who has seen the Tower of Druaga anime, that's basically what I was going for, but going down instead of up.
#4
humanmind
Aug 04, 2009 6:43:09 Ah, OK.

Well the tower will be a good "rest" point. As for the random dungeon, it doesn't have to be squared. You can use the dimensions as a base and add or subtract areas in order to get the "feel" your after. If you don't want doors you can reroll or remove them from the table, or change them so they are a rarity.

I think that will be the best way to get the "ever changing chaos" effect your after.
#5
dragon_master_zero
Aug 04, 2009 23:55:42 ....I just realized my Tower/City/Dungeon combo is basically the original Diablo, except with a bigger city and instead of Hell its the 5 converging planes.
#6
garner_adam
Aug 05, 2009 15:10:27
....I just realized my Tower/City/Dungeon combo is basically the original Diablo, except with a bigger city and instead of Hell its the 5 converging planes.

This is actually a fairly common concept/trope out there. There's some other video games that did this same thing like Azure Dreams for the playstation 1 and almost the entire wizardry series.

Some that can be said about all these is that the dungeon is meant to be extremely harsh. To the point that the adventurers only go in for a short while but always return to town. In a way the town is where the real action is. They go there to resupply and what not but because the town's commerce exists solely from the dungeon a lot of very very ambitious people are now living all around it. Some of those ambitious people might have different ideas about how things should be done and who should enter and so on. The potential for conflict and tension in town is fairly high.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 dragon_master_zero Aug 04, 2009 3:13:29	I'm having trouble coming up with some stuff for an interesting area in the shared campaign i'm playing. Basically there is the Tower of Eleison which is a 100ft tall, 1 mile diameter tower, around which the city of Streya has risen. Beneath the tower is a massive underground complex, known as The Conflux, that contains planar rifts (to the Elemental Forgelands, Aberrant Seas, Shadowmire, Feyborn Jungle, and Immortal Plains). I was going to have it so that due to planar essence and portals opening and closing the different 'floors' or 'areas' of The Conflux would constantly shift. eg. In week X area Y, The place is full of greenery and an underground jungle, 2 weeks later its decaying and becomes a place full of shadowborn and undead. I essentially need help fleshing out how everything manages to function, especially the city and actually trying to adventure into The Conflux (like how to differentiate areas/floors and maybe some sort of big overarching plot)
#2 humanmind Aug 04, 2009 5:32:11	You could have the city maped out with certain pionts that can enter the conflux. As for the Conflux itself, you can use the random dungeon maker in the dmg. You may have create some of your own tables for the different planes. If the players turn back, the old rooms change after X amount of rooms. Is this the kind of thing you were thinking of?
#3 dragon_master_zero Aug 04, 2009 5:42:21	You could have the city maped out with certain pionts that can enter the conflux. As for the Conflux itself, you can use the random dungeon maker in the dmg. You may have create some of your own tables for the different planes. If the players turn back, the old rooms change after X amount of rooms. Well I have that the only way to enter the Conflux is through the Tower, and Streya simply exists because its more convenient for adventurers to have a comfortable place to stay and trade. Mainly Streya came up because a bunch of merchants were like "Hey this place has highly valuable things coming from it (Flora, body parts, magic items), lets try and make some money off it" so they went on and started a small thing that eventually grew. For the Conflux itself I was figuring something more cave-like and natural than square dungeons..though that's an interesting idea and certainly more feasible. Extra Note: Anyone who has seen the Tower of Druaga anime, that's basically what I was going for, but going down instead of up.
#4 humanmind Aug 04, 2009 6:43:09	Ah, OK. Well the tower will be a good "rest" point. As for the random dungeon, it doesn't have to be squared. You can use the dimensions as a base and add or subtract areas in order to get the "feel" your after. If you don't want doors you can reroll or remove them from the table, or change them so they are a rarity. I think that will be the best way to get the "ever changing chaos" effect your after.
#5 dragon_master_zero Aug 04, 2009 23:55:42	....I just realized my Tower/City/Dungeon combo is basically the original Diablo, except with a bigger city and instead of Hell its the 5 converging planes.
#6 garner_adam Aug 05, 2009 15:10:27	....I just realized my Tower/City/Dungeon combo is basically the original Diablo, except with a bigger city and instead of Hell its the 5 converging planes. This is actually a fairly common concept/trope out there. There's some other video games that did this same thing like Azure Dreams for the playstation 1 and almost the entire wizardry series. Some that can be said about all these is that the dungeon is meant to be extremely harsh. To the point that the adventurers only go in for a short while but always return to town. In a way the town is where the real action is. They go there to resupply and what not but because the town's commerce exists solely from the dungeon a lot of very very ambitious people are now living all around it. Some of those ambitious people might have different ideas about how things should be done and who should enter and so on. The potential for conflict and tension in town is fairly high.