Chapter 3: Refining the Theme

In this chapter, you’ll define specific details about your dungeon by building on your theme and background. Additionally, you’ll draft an initial list of NPCs and monsters, sketching out factions in your dungeon. After this chapter’s activity, you’ll have a more complete picture of the space and creatures dwelling within it.

Table of contents

  1. Communicating your ideas through details
    1. Telling, not showing, while running the game
  2. Activity: Establish details about your environmentActivity
    1. Step 1. Consider space
    2. Step 2. Consider senses
  3. Dungeon denizens
    1. Common monsters
    2. Important NPCs
    3. Factions
    4. Dungeon lord
  4. Activity: Ideate dungeon denizensActivity
    1. Step 1. List common monsters
    2. Step 2. Name some NPCs
    3. Step 3. Dungeon lord
  5. Activity: Name your dungeonActivity
  6. Alternative Activity: Ask your playersAlternate Activity
  7. Further reading

Communicating your ideas through details

You’ve heard, I’m sure, the writing advice “show, don’t tell.” It’s simple but essential. Chuck Palaniuk sums this advice up like so:

“Instead of saying: ‘Adam knew Gwen liked him.’ You’ll have to say: ‘Between classes, Gwen had always leaned on his locker when he’d go to open it. She’d roll her eyes and shove off with one foot, leaving a black-heel mark on the painted metal, but she also left the smell of her perfume. The combination lock would still be warm from her butt. And the next break, Gwen would be leaned there, again.’“

This is salient advice for GMs as well. It is a great way to communicate ideas about the setting, history, and the game world to your players.1

You might know the boss of your dungeon, the Iron Lord, is a cruel tyrant, but showing acts of his cruelty and their results are a more emotionally effective way of communicating that idea to your players than just saying “You know the Iron Lord is very cruel.”

What’s worse, if you neglect to put these details into the game world, their absence might communicate the opposite of what you intend. As the players explore the dungeon, they don’t see any acts of cruelty. Frankly, the Iron Lord seems to be running a pretty efficient operation. Maybe he’s not such a bad guy after all!

Consider the background you’ve written and extrapolate specific details that your players can actually discover and interact with. Write room descriptions, NPCs, treasure, traps, and other pieces of dungeon dressing in a way that establishes the realities of your world.

Need inspiration?

Cairn 2E has a great list of spark tables to help you get started on your dungeon’s construction, its original purpose, and its current state.

Telling, not showing, while running the game

“Show, don’t tell” is great writing advice. It has limited uses in GMing.

I often find “Telling directly” to be a pretty good technique while at the table:

  • “She seems like she’s hiding something.”
  • “This guy is racist.”
  • “You can see a trapped pressure plate.”

Activity: Establish details about your environmentActivity

In this activity, you’ll establish some essential truths about what the dungeon looks like, what the structures are, how it’s lit, and so forth.

This step establishes a baseline—unless a room description specifies otherwise, these descriptions will be true by default in your dungeon. You’ll write the room-by-room descriptions later.

For this activity, open the workbook that you created in chapter 2.

If you want to see my version of the workbook with this activity complete, check it out here.

Step 1. Consider space

First, consider these questions:

What is your dungeon physically made of? Is it an open space, like a forest of a swamp? Is it a constructed space, like a king’s castle or a wizard’s tower? Is it a natural space, like a cavern or a giant tree? How high are the ceilings? What kind of doors are there? In a general way, are rooms light or dark?

Write one or two sentences for each of the following:

  1. How is the dungeon constructed?
  2. Does the dungeon have natural lighting, is it lit artificially, or is it pitch dark?

Step 2. Consider senses

Next, consider these questions:

What will the adventurers see? And just as importantly, what will they experience through other senses? What does the dungeon smell like? Sound like? How does it feel? What’s the temperature?

Write one or two sentences for each of the following:

  1. What does the dungeon look like?
  2. What does the dungeon sound like?
  3. Are there any strange smells or tastes in the air that the adventurers notice?

OK, pens down! We’ll complete the Dungeon Worksheet page in the next activity later in this chapter. Next, we’ll discuss NPCs and monsters.

Dungeon denizens

Who dwells among the wreck and ruin of your dungeon? Who haunts the halls? In this section, you’ll brainstorm some ideas for different kinds of characters and creatures that populate your dungeon.

In this section, you’ll build on the brainstorming you did in chapter 2 and think more about different kinds of NPCs you want to use when you begin to populate your dungeon. You’ll clean up your notes to give yourself something more concrete to work with.2

This section is focused on thoughtwork. We’ll get into the specific stats and motivations of NPCs, factions, and wandering monsters in chapter 7.

surrounded by fishmen

Common monsters

Referring to your brainstorming notes, think about the inhabitants of the dungeon. What sort of monsters dwell there? What monsters make sense for the setting?

  • What sort of normal animals live in that environment?
  • Are there monstrous versions of those normal animals?
  • What human activities take place in that environment? Are there monsters reflective of those activities?
  • What mythological creatures are associated with that environment?
  • Consider the food chain. On what do these creatures prey? And who preys on them?

I’ll use my own ideation process for my dungeon as the example, below.

In my brainstorming worksheet, a lot of the ideas were based on shrines and statues, but also a clear current (ha!) of water themes: magic pools, wells, channels, water wheels, etc. The background describes layers of the City stacked on top of each other—the repetition of the repurposing of ancient spaces for modern life. The sacred becoming the profane. An underground temple with a sewer routed through it

These environments give us fertile ground for imagination.

What creatures live in a temple?

  • Church mice
  • Temple guardians
    • Gargoyles?
    • Golems?
  • Church grims (dogs that haunt graveyards)
  • Angels

What creatures live in a profaned temple?

  • Ghosts
  • Undead
    • Skeletons?
    • Bloodybones?
  • Ogres (nasty guys in any event)
  • Devil
  • Imps (these guys are everywhere)

What creatures live in a sewer?

  • Rats
  • Crocodiles
  • Clowns
  • Slimes

That’s a lot! I don’t need to use every single possible idea. Condensing this down to one or two ideas from each category: corrupt church mice (stats as dire rat), broken guardian golems, ogres, slimes, bloodybones, skeletons, effluence imps

Thinking about these creatures, something that strikes me is that the environmental hierarchy is very simple. Corrupt church mice are on the bottom of the food chain. They’re probably eaten by slimes. What do ogres eat? Humans, no doubt. We’ll have to think about this more in the future.

This free association lets you sketch out the essential shape of your monstrous ecology.

Use the devils you know

Because this course is about designing dungeons and not homebrewing monsters, I recommend that you stick to monsters that you have stats for. (Although, in a pinch, let me recommend the OSR trick of using “Stats as Bear.”)

Important NPCs

Beyond monsters, the most interesting challenges in a fantasy adventure game are NPCs—characters with their own interests, schemes, desires, likes, and dislikes. Remember, dungeons are deadly enough that not every single denizen needs to be hostile. Good NPCs give players opportunities to gather information, make unlikely allies, and take part in factional intrigue. Building on your brainstorming, consider what major NPCs might dwell in your level.

Here, I continue with my own brainstorming as an example.

Continuing with the example from the previous section, most of the monsters we listed are non-sentient. The ogre and maybe the guardian golem are two notable exceptions.

I think ogres are coolest when they feel like a fairy tale monster, like Bluebeard. Because there’s little for ogres to eat in the ecosystem of monsters, I’m imagining an ogre who tricks humans into a trap so that they can get enough to eat—maybe they serve as a classic “bridge troll.” And when they can’t, they break into the tombs of the place and gnaw on bones. Thinking about fairy tale names, let’s name him: Long Tall Tom.

Thinking about the guardian golem, I’m picturing an animate statue (lots of statues in this dungeon!) that’s become damaged over the course of the great ages of time it’s spent in the Underworld. When first encountered, perhaps it is slow, powerless, and unspeaking. Perhaps it can only communicate through gestures. Perhaps the players can find parts that are needed to repair it: its stone mouth or stone brain. I like to give golems long Biblical names, like Puritans. What about: The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom. (How will the players shorten it, I wonder?)

With the presence of the undead, perhaps one of them could be a sentient NPC. Thinking about the way mummified saints are kept in monstrances in cathedrals. I’m imagining a saint’s corpse as a walkie talkie from heaven. Putting a pin in this to think about this later.

The idea of “corrupted church mice” feels really compelling to me, too. It was just a throwaway bit of brainstorming, but maybe we can do more with that. Maybe we can have a rat pope that’s uncorrupted, and mourns for his brethren. He is still an animal, though. You would need to have a spell like speak to animals to talk to it.

Factions

Some denizens aren’t solitary creatures, but part of larger organizations—organizations with their own goals and resources. These are commonly referred to as factions.

Factions add a new dynamic to interactions with denizens. Fighting a single NPC has more weight when the displeasure of an entire large guild might be brought down against the players. An escaping NPC that can retreat to their faction’s home base will receive reinforcements, healing, and support. Similarly, forming an alliance with a NPC backed by a powerful faction brings the promise of resources and support beyond what a single character can offer. Moreover, some individual creatures, like a dragon, might be powerful enough to be a faction in their own right.

“THREAT - The Risk Economy Part III,” Gus. L

“Factions provide the players with more than potential foes. They are key to building the story structure of the game world. Factions provide interaction along with jobs, quests and rumors. These interactions give players a chance to make decisions about the future of the campaign by determining which factions will succeed, fail and whose interests the campaign expands upon.” 3

Factions should each have their own goals. It’s most interesting when these goals are understandable, sympathetic, fantastical, difficult to achieve, and directly in conflict with what the players want for themselves. For example, a monastic order who enlightens themselves by exposing themselves to brainworms might wish to give every person their own brainworm and assimilate them into the collective. They’re nonviolent about this goal—they might even be helpful to the players. But everything they do in the dungeon is in furtherance of putting brainworms up people’s noses.

Importantly, the “ecology” of the dungeon includes not only naturalistic predator/prey dynamics, but the relationships between these factions as they work against or with each other. The Order of the Brainworm’s goals are in direct opposition of the Void Monks, who seek to eliminate conscious thought in the Wide World (for only then can G-d stop dreaming and awaken). Both are opposed by the Templars of Mythrys, who wish to conquer the Underworld. Clever players can exploit the tensions created by the criss-cross of opposing goals.

Continued examples from my parallel work in this lesson.

Taking a look at the important NPCs we sketched out in the previous step, it feels as if there are several singular characters. How might we expand these characters’ connections?

First, it feels as if the rat pope and guardian golem’s goals might be aligned. They might not be enough to be considered a faction in their own right, but it’s good to think about how these NPCs are allies.

What about Long Tall Tom the ogre? Perhaps he is part of a faction—not one in this dungeon, but one who has a headquarters in an adjacent dungeon level. Perhaps he’s part of a murderous family of ogres. If aggrieved, he can retreat to enlist the help of his brothers and his precious Mommy Maggot.

Although the factions of my sample dungeon are not elaborate, the adventure will be improved by having thought of the relationship between the NPCs.

Dungeon lord

OSR-style games don’t need to have a big boss monster. There’s no expectation that you “complete” a dungeon, working your way through each room, until you come to the boss. Even so, some modules are built around an idea of a big, nearly undefeatable monster in the center of the dungeon—the titular monster of Lair of the Lamb, Acererak at the bottom of the Tomb of Horrors, etc. There’s something compelling about the idea.

Consider whether or not your dungeon has a “Dungeon lord.” If so, what might it be? A lich, a dragon, an unborn god, a literal angel trying to do good but fucking it up, the king of slimes?4

Earlier, I jotted down the idea about clowns living in sewers because I was thinking of It. I like thinking of clowns more like a monster than as a profession—I think they should be a species of critter. I also had the idea of drains being clogged with hair during my brainstorming session. I think the idea of having a clown monster with long hair is very scary. To explore that idea, I’m going to elect to add a “Clown Queen” as a dungeon lord.

saladhog

Activity: Ideate dungeon denizensActivity

In this activity, you will write down the names of some monsters you want to use for stocking rooms or your random encounter tables. You will think about potential NPCs to use, and roughly sketch out their names and goals. You will also consider the relationships between these NPCs and if they are aligned with any of your setting’s factions.

For this activity, open the workbook that you created in chapter 2. During this activity, you’ll complete the Dungeon Worksheet page.

If you want to see my version of the workbook with this activity complete, check it out here.

Step 1. List common monsters

Consider the environmental details you listed previously. Then, write a list of 5-10 common monsters that probably dwell in this sort of location.

Step 2. Name some NPCs

  1. Write simple descriptions of 3-5 sentient characters (humans, demi-humans, or otherwise).
  2. Give each of them a memorable name.

Step 3. Dungeon lord

Consider if you want your dungeon to have a central superpower. If so, answer these questions:

  1. Write a simple description of the dungeon lord.
  2. Give your dungeon lord an evocative name.

Activity: Name your dungeonActivity

Last but not least, give your dungeon an evocative name. Write it in the Dungeon Name space on your Dungeon Worksheet.

And with that, you have completed the initial brainstorming stages of the dungeon. In future chapters, you’ll begin using this essential work to begin actually mapping out the space and filling it with interesting things.

All of this is still thoughtwork that you’ll use when you actually start populating your dungeon! You can change the things you wrote today in the future. The important part is that you’re having cool ideas.

If you haven’t already, check out at my completed Dungeon Worksheet. I’ll be working more on this project throughout this series.

Alternative Activity: Ask your playersAlternate Activity

Here’s a simple but effective way to generate a lot of ideas: just ask your players what they expect! I’m calling this alternate dungeon idea: The Barrow Wizard.

Sometimes a dungeon designer can have so many initial ideas it’s hard to choose just one or two to move forward with. One way to break that tie is to ask your players what ideas or concepts jump to their mind when they think of dungeons. This might be especially good if it’s your group’s first foray into dungeons, classic/OSR play, or just to maybe gauge the level of “wyrd” your players are expecting.

I recently asked a couple of family members I play D&D with: “What are the first things you think about when you think of a dungeon?” I asked them this question across the categories of monsters, traps, and treasures. Here is what I got:

Monsters: goblin, orc, spider, gelatinous cube, skeleton, bats, wight
Traps: pits, statues, coffins
Treasures: gold, gems, magic swords, wands, potions, scrolls

Many of these are classics, but they got me started thinking. And I knew my next task too was figuring out how to give these classics a creative twist.

You can see my copy of the completed Dungeon Worksheet here!

Further reading

How do you build a fantastic world that’s fun to play at the table and not just GM navel gazing?

“I want to talk about how you engage in high concept world building while also running a game that is focused on hex crawling, GP for XP dungeon trawling, and faction play, all with total freedom of player choice, and emergent story telling.”

World Building and Old-School Games by Ben L talks through the tensions of having a bespoke world filled with lore and letting your players embrace the old-school playstyle of “don’t prep plots.”

What “work” are monsters doing in your adventure games?

“The idea that at the core of an adventure is a relationship between the characters and a foe is a narrative structure that impedes exploration, but worse to the ethics of the classic dungeon crawl, it removes opportunity for player choice by presupposing that relationship. In the dungeon crawl, no matter how fun and exciting monsters are, mechanically they serve as the risk that creates time and supply pressure via random encounters…”

Threat - The Risk Economy, Part III by Gus L talks through the pressures that monsters put on players, both as threats and as social puzzles, and why they’re important for old-school style gaming.