@@Rannos22 I like that random generator, especially for solo play and deciding if rooms have monsters or treasure, I used it a bit for the dungeon I’m working on.
@@heroeshomebrewI like it for what I use it for but it does have the issue of just making an insane layout Which is fine if you're playing both the dungeon as an almost sentient evil place but if you want a more realistic place it doesn't jive well with that
Great video as always, brother. To answer your pin: I design them procedurally with flavor/ style either randomized or nested in the setting/ environment. Scarlet Heroes has a great dungeon generator, but my favorite for simple/ solo is Pocket Lands (1st edition) with it's random rooms and thematic modifiers. Also, regarding your nine square grid methodology, the game Five Torches Deep has a brilliant dungeon generator that uses a Rubik's cube: scramble the cube and roll it like a d6, the top facing revealing the color coded layout of the current dungeon level along with possible entrances/ exits. Lastly, the Castles & Crusades Castle Keeper's Guide (i.e. DMG) has an exceptional chapter on dungeon theory with topics covered ranging from design and ecology/ ecosystems to origin and construction (even as a high level domain/ stronghold asset). That said, I don't do much with dungeons anymore as we discussed previously, but that doesn't mean I haven't delved and designed my fair share. LOL
That’s a great list of resources. I completely forgot about Scarlet Heroes, I’m going to go look at it again. I think I have Castles and Crusades somewhere. I’ve never looked at Five Torches Deep, that’s another one on my list for future pick ups.
@@heroeshomebrew, there's a lot of material out there. It's no longer a challenge figuring out "what" or "how" as much as "why" and keeping it all straight. LOL
@@BlackOrc1988 The deck is a fantastic resource, it gives you everything you need. And if you want to return to that dungeon and keep exploring you can just take a picture and rebuild it later.
Great video, thank you, glad you enjoyed the process 8) I have many other design guides as well for those who want more guided options (latest being the Oldskull Underworld Generator). ~Kent
Fun practice - it's a different reality when one enters the "underground". The underground has different dwellers who may occasionally invade the surface world, but likely will soon retreat back into the underground because the surface is very weird to them. The underground is other-worldly. Vision is different underground. Time passes weirdly underground. Magic abounds underground and surface logic doesn't always apply there. Within the underground there are distinct areas, clusters of locations where a single type of creature will be commonly encountered. The creatures in this area will compete with their underground neighbors and may raid the surface. An undergroun wet area filled with amphibious folk may be next to a cavern area where predators lurk, which is next to a rat-folk den area where the rats tunnel into the near-by human town sewers. Each district of the underground is connected to others as well as to the surface. Make it interesting and that means mysterious and varied. Good topic. Borrowing ideas is often the best way to be creative.
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How do you design your dungeons? Do you have a method or is it just put in what you think works for the location?
I just use the AD&D appendix A generation, sometimes even on the fly
I've gotten pretty quick with it now with practice
@@Rannos22 I like that random generator, especially for solo play and deciding if rooms have monsters or treasure, I used it a bit for the dungeon I’m working on.
@@heroeshomebrewI like it for what I use it for but it does have the issue of just making an insane layout
Which is fine if you're playing both the dungeon as an almost sentient evil place but if you want a more realistic place it doesn't jive well with that
@@Rannos22 There’s always the option of just making it make sense too but yeah random isn’t always better
I find the crypt generator towards the end of Barrowmaze pretty handy. Maybe not ideal for a large dungeon, but for what it's designed for is great.
Great video as always, brother.
To answer your pin: I design them procedurally with flavor/ style either randomized or nested in the setting/ environment.
Scarlet Heroes has a great dungeon generator, but my favorite for simple/ solo is Pocket Lands (1st edition) with it's random rooms and thematic modifiers.
Also, regarding your nine square grid methodology, the game Five Torches Deep has a brilliant dungeon generator that uses a Rubik's cube: scramble the cube and roll it like a d6, the top facing revealing the color coded layout of the current dungeon level along with possible entrances/ exits.
Lastly, the Castles & Crusades Castle Keeper's Guide (i.e. DMG) has an exceptional chapter on dungeon theory with topics covered ranging from design and ecology/ ecosystems to origin and construction (even as a high level domain/ stronghold asset).
That said, I don't do much with dungeons anymore as we discussed previously, but that doesn't mean I haven't delved and designed my fair share. LOL
That’s a great list of resources. I completely forgot about Scarlet Heroes, I’m going to go look at it again.
I think I have Castles and Crusades somewhere. I’ve never looked at Five Torches Deep, that’s another one on my list for future pick ups.
@@heroeshomebrew, there's a lot of material out there. It's no longer a challenge figuring out "what" or "how" as much as "why" and keeping it all straight. LOL
@@DjigitDaniel so many PDFs taking up so much space on my computer.
@@heroeshomebrew , right? *sigh*
Like you I have printed out and cut out the deck of many dungeons
That’s a great resource especially for quick dungeons at the table or solo play.
I love the Deck of many dungeons, I did exactly like you, printed them out and cut out and put them into the card sleeves:) looks great
@@BlackOrc1988 The deck is a fantastic resource, it gives you everything you need. And if you want to return to that dungeon and keep exploring you can just take a picture and rebuild it later.
I ended up putting playing cards in the sleeves for some stability. I need to put weight on the deck to force the air out of the sleeves.
@@RPGDAD1980 that’s a smart move. I still have the deck I printed loose with a hair elastic wrapped around it lol
Great video, thank you, glad you enjoyed the process 8) I have many other design guides as well for those who want more guided options (latest being the Oldskull Underworld Generator). ~Kent
Thanks! I’m a big fan of the books. I’m using all the Dungeon Design Guides I-IV to work in this dungeon as well as the traps book.
@@heroeshomebrew Awesome, glad you're enjoying them so far. More to come soon.
The Maginot Line is most likely to have a comparative setting in Eberron. I'll have to ask about it.🤔
Possibly. Eberron is interesting but I’ve always had a hard time running in established settings.
Fun practice - it's a different reality when one enters the "underground". The underground has different dwellers who may occasionally invade the surface world, but likely will soon retreat back into the underground because the surface is very weird to them. The underground is other-worldly. Vision is different underground. Time passes weirdly underground. Magic abounds underground and surface logic doesn't always apply there.
Within the underground there are distinct areas, clusters of locations where a single type of creature will be commonly encountered. The creatures in this area will compete with their underground neighbors and may raid the surface. An undergroun wet area filled with amphibious folk may be next to a cavern area where predators lurk, which is next to a rat-folk den area where the rats tunnel into the near-by human town sewers.
Each district of the underground is connected to others as well as to the surface. Make it interesting and that means mysterious and varied. Good topic. Borrowing ideas is often the best way to be creative.
Well said. Building an underground adventure is a great way to get creative and weird and not worry too much about logic and realism.