"Black Dougal gasps 'Poison!' and falls to the floor. He looks dead."

Saturday, February 21, 2009

B. Decide on a Setting

From page B51:
"It is not necessary to draw a detailed map of the dungeon first, but it is useful to have a general idea of what it will look like. When deciding on the shape of the dungeon, the DM should also outline ideas for rooms or areas in the dungeon. A few common settings include:
1. castle or tower
2. Caves or cavern
3. Abandoned mine
4. Crypt or tomb
5. Ancient temple
6. Stronghold or town"


A few thoughts about this passage:
1. It focuses strictly on the dungeon;
2. All of the examples are of limited scale;
3. Between section A. Choose a Scenario and this section (which have really outlined the where and why of the adventure), the form (to me at least) is one of a site-based adventure. Sure there is a reason to go there (the scenario) but the location is what is interacted with; and
4. Notice that in the set up of the adventure the is not a mention of "Plot".

Some of my preliminary thoughts about the setting for the Pit of Tortured Souls:
1. Size - I want the dungeon to be a fairly good size. I am thinking about maybe 6 levels with a few sub-levels thrown in. I don't know how many levels I will develop here - maybe just the first one or two or maybe all of them.
2. Location - I want to keep the broader setting very generic. I might want to use this as my "Cave of the Unknown" if I run the Keep on the Borderlands or as the Dark Pit if I run a West Marches-style version of an altered Thunder Rift.
3. I want the main geographic feature to be a large pit - big surprise - which would allow entry into a couple of different levels.

Next up - I think I will draw a cross section...

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