How does /tg/ design their dungeons? I want to homebrew my own

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>>54095415
There's a whole section in the D&D 5E DMG on making your own dungeons.

You can also use random generators like donjon.bin.sh.

>>54095415
I do it one of two ways.

If I have a really good grasp of the party's level, dynamic, and overall aptitude at dealing with what I can throw at them, I'll make a big proper dungeon. I'll sit down with some graph paper and start sketching out a dungeon, usually around some kind of theme. Maybe the whole dungeon is a circle, based around a central column where they fight the final boss, or maybe it's build into the side of a mountain so there's a lot of little narrow cliffsides on one side of it, whatever. Then I start putting in monsters and adding in traps, with places to rest and recuperate placed to the assumption that they do relatively okay. Then I start filling in little cool bits, details, flavor and the like. Keep in mind that I only really do this if I know the group well and can accurately understand their challenge level.

What I do more often is design my dungeon's layout, then make myself a table/list of encounters, traps, and events and put a "starting placement" for them on the map, for what I assume the players can deal with. However, if I misjudged their skill with the last puzzle, or if they got really fucked up by what I thought was a normal fight, I'll change the upcoming area. I'll shuffle around encounters and events to make sure that they don't get wrecked, have a fun and challenging adventure, and it also gives me time to amend or rework monsters and traps if it turns out I misjudged their effectiveness.

Also as >>54095759 said, the 5e DMG has a great little random dungeon generator that's fun to fuck around with, and can give you some interesting ideas.

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>>54095415
Very carefully.
http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/13085/roleplaying-games/jaquaying-the-dungeon

I actually just make a loose flowchart first, and worry about the architecture afterwards.

>>54095415

Steal a random dungeon from online. Use it. Next time you need a dungeon, re-use it, but flip it. Next time, use half of it. Then, the other half. Re-orient the map multiple times. Cut it in half, then stick one "ened" piece to a "middle" piece.

After a while, swipe another map; wash, rinse, repeat.

>>54095415

My players hate huge sprawling maze dungeons so I have to work with that. They cannot be arsed to map things or be meticulous about square by square movement. They also dislike random traps and other unexplainable things because they go to a lot of effort to think about why something would be trapped or why monsters would live in a place. On the other hand, they like rooms that have a lot going on and take time to properly deal with. Their "ideal dungeon" would probably just be a series of interesting rooms in a line.

So I'll tend to take something fairly normal and then dungeonmogrify it. The important bit is that the layout stays simple and realistic, so that navigation feels intuitive to them. Like the ground floor to a tower might have a cellar door, stairs up, and door out, and that's it. The real flavor happens when negotiating those doors, or those steps, where I can add traps and other threats.

I think of interesting visual scenes and then find a way to string them together. Floor plans should come first, followed some thought on the logical placement of enemies and area history

I take a map like you have there and I just put fun shit in each room.

I usually use maps that inspire me. Dyson Logos is great. He's got maps that really make you want to put shit in them.

>>54095415
Draw rooms, connect them in a few loops, and toss some encounters in there. A lot of people will tell you that you need to think really hard about the history and past purpose of a dungeon and that you should make it super realistic. You should ignore those people.

>>54095415
>designing dungeons.
Learn to IMPROVISE you shithead. Planning things is a sure sign of That DM.

>>54095911
>>54095974
>>54098692
>>54100507
>>54101160
>>54103328
>>54106163
>>54106234

Shit DMs, every single one of you.

>>54095415
if starting from Zero is overwhelming, take an adventure you've already run and 'reskin' it.

It was a cave full of bugbears? Now it's an ancient prison full of skeletons.

Next take an adventure you haven't run and change stuff.

After that, take TWO adventures you've got and smash them together.

DM collage, adventure-frankenstein. Do this a handful of times and you'll gain the confidence to start from nothing.

Bumping for interest.

Not OP, but I figure I can ask here instead of making a new thread.
I want to make an interesting exploration dungeon. Little-to-no combat, but I don't want there to just be a bunch of empty rooms. Should there be some mystery/puzzle or what?

>>54106707
Came into this thread just to give you this (you)

>>54108445
I'd go for one big puzzle with lots of little clues hidden throughout the rooms. Maybe have it be some kind of big multi-key lock that requires a specific order, and all of the rooms have either one of the required keys or clues as to the actual order?

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>>54095415
No one yet posted the hyperdimensional dungeon?

Come on /tg/, it's not like us to miss the chance to show off our autism.

>>54108445
see >>54108910

>>54108910
I had a GM run a Dread game in this. It was fucking insane.

>>54095415
thing is with a dungeon is you CAN change it on the fly, i made my first game where the party woke up in a weird dungeon with no recollection of how they got there... and had like 5 encounters that were balanced around themes, but after the first... (vine blight with ranged needle blights) I took away 3 of them and gave them a fairly easy one because they were all almost dead from being rooted and pelted. So do not be afraid to add or subtract things.

1. Think of what the building is/was, why was it built and for what purpose?
2. Think about who lives their now and why. Have they changed it to suit their purpose?
3. Think about how creature(s) of their approximate intelligence would use and defend the space and set it up accordingly, taking into account quirks from 1 and 2.
4. Add dank loot
5. done

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Thoughts on an extradimensional mobius strip dungeon? Maybe as a wizard's pocket demiplane? I figured I'd print out two-sided graph paper making sure it was centered and 10 squares to an inch, then make a strip and glue them together. Or just do the arrows thing to match them up. Could even do a klein bottle or projective plane.

>>54106234

Like most things the answer is somewhere in the middle. Having some idea what the thing used to be, what type of things live there, and why is generally more than enough.

>>54106707

I'm sure that the reason your players keep getting bored and wandering off is because they just don't understand your genius.

>>54108960
That does sound insane.

>>54108445

Inhabitants.

For real. Not everything in the dungeon has to be a monster. Have things (human or otherwise) that live in the dungeon that have goals, needs, or even other enemies inside the dungeon. Maybe the top level of the dungeon is owned by a particular faction, while the lower levels are being taken by some underground menace. Have third parties with their own ends. Have things to steal, and people to steal them, who might or might not welcome the PCs' help. Have trapped NPCs in need of rescue and give them something with which to bargain with the PCs, have their jailers and give them motivation too.

I am very much of the opinion that a dungeon should be every bit as full of people as it is of things. Regarding your comment about how much combat you want, it's also an excellent way to make sure the PCs only get into as much combat as they want to. You can always choose to just stab the guy and take his stuff, but that's not the *only* thing to do in this room.

>>54106707
>Shit DMs, every single one of you.
There are only so many hours in the day, Anon; besides, my players are more into social interactions, exploring exotic islands, having trade wars with each other...if I can get them into a dungeon, it's because they're running low on gold and monster-guts.