What makes a good dungeon /tg/?

Ideally couple dedicated skillful and well-paid craftsmen.
But realistically you usually have to do with a bulk of cheap unskilled labor and single overseer to give the directions.

>>51200420
For context, I'm a first time DM my players are about to enter an abandoned mine in order to find a certain gem. Any tips are appreciated but mostly I'm worried about how to path it and give it real flavor. I don't want them to feel like they're wandering aimlessly, and I don't want to make it feel like a series of boxes they pass through on the way to an objective.

>>51200420
A memorable one. Everyone can write a dungeon with some rooms, traps, treasure, monsters and a BBEG at the end. Very few can write "that" dungeon, the dungeon your players will talk about for many sessions to come, the dungeon they will months later remember as "that really good dungeon".

A reason to be there, unique design, a compelling atmosphere and perhaps interesting inhabitants. I think Dungeon Meshi has a pretty good dungeon, as far as standard fantasy manga dungeons go.

>>51200481
I'll check it out, thanks.

>>51200420
Dragons.

>>51200458
One trick I use in dungeon design, for something that was meant to be a functional place originally - like say a mine, or a fortress, or whatever - is to roughly sketch out a map of what the original layout would've been, making sure that everything important is actually there - toilets, kitchens, store rooms, etc - and then selectively destroy or lock off parts of it in order to form more traditional pathways. Cave in a tunnel, collapse a ceiling, that kind of thing. That way you're able to describe this environment and give the impression that it was a real, thought-out place, even though you've cut down the actual pathways to something sensibly manageable for you to plan around.

>>51200420
Dungeons are always the most boring part of the campaign for me. I play tabletop RPGs because you can do whatever the fuck you want in them, not because I want to beat up a bunch of monsters in vidya-tier linear hallways.

>>51200420
Unbreakable doors and railroad tracks.

>>51204071
>thinking dungeons are just combat hallways

Look at this pleb and laugh.

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>>51204118
>having a shitty GM makes you a pleb

>>51204531
Blaming dungeons as a whole instead of blaming his shitty GM is what makes him a pleb.

>>51200445
>single overseer to give the directions
That's not budgeting, it's just miserly.

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>>51200420

Obviously you need the essential "traps, monsters, and treasure" elements to craft a rudimentary adventure dungeon, but beyond that, here are some things I've learned to add to my dungeons to make them more fun and memorable over the years.

>1: Locked doors or "hidden areas" that the PC's can't access... yet.
Always have one or two passages that the PC's can't go through "just yet" It'll help them remember that dungeon and that there was one or two doors left unopened, and you can use them as plot devices in future adventures or things to do in one-offs or "adventuring downtime."

>2: Puzzles
Always throw in a puzzle. It doesn't have to be complicated or too unique, but a puzzle is always a fun little brain tease and is a nice break in the action for hostile encounters with the dungeons inhabitants. I take a lot of inspiration from Zelda games for these.

>3: Terrain challenges
Having to jump/span across a crevasse or shimmy around an abyssal pit is always a fun and nerve wracking challenge. Dungeons are usually old and wretched, and constant passage of time has withered and destroyed much of the original structure, creating even more obstacles for unwanted guests.

>4: Atmosphere
Really try to sell the feeling and prescence of a dungeon to your players. Vivid and sensory descriptions are great (very dark, cold and dry, arid smell, a constant drone gets louder the deeper the players go, etc) as well as sticking with an overall "theme"

Just to list a few.

If you're playing 5e, I also highly recommend you check out the random generator in the back of DMG. Great for dungeon crafting.

Also chekt

>>51200922
That's actually super helpful, thanks!

>>51204714
Really the whole thing seems like a disaster waiting to happen. I don't think skilled craftsmen could make an entire dungeon in a reasonable amount of time, even assuming power tools exist.

>>51207335
TWO skilled craftsmen my bad

The monsters live there.

I don't mean that the monsters have set up a refuge there, I mean the fuckers LIVE there.

Do you know how fast most dungeon monsters breed? There's a reason that, out of nowhere, goblins can suddenly become a major issue in the region.

When you walk into a dungeon, you're not walking into a dungeon; you're walking into the homeland of a tribe whose fathers lived there, and their grandfathers, and maybe even the fathers of their grandfathers.

>>51200420
A task for everybody

>>51200420
1. Multiple Objectives
2. Riddles
3. Memorable Encounters
4. Collectable Stuff
5. Environmental Story

>>51206696
you sound like an awesome dm, your players are lucky

>>51200420
A Lich.

>>51208626
That's actually an interesting concept, I've never thought about it like that