One-shot Dungeon planning

>>55200455
So far as monsters go, i have skellymans and maybe some sorta naga or lamia. Not sure on that one yet.

Generally going for that aztec feel, but more generic stuff is appreciated.

>>55200455
First of all, where is this ruin? What biological life exists outside the ruins, in a vicinity of at most a kilometer / a mile? If you already settled on something, you could use some critters to inhabit the entry. That would be a mellow start into the crawl and give the players a feeling on where they are. Later, they could encounter other creatures that want to permanently inhabit the place, or try to rob the last remaining pieces of value from the ruins.

Next, that building is a ruin. But what was it before it fell into disarray? You mentioned "like indiana jones", so is it a place of reverie that houses artifacts? In that case, design the traps in a way that makes it possible to reach said artifacts, but have them trigger when someone tries to take the displayed items. You could, just for fun, add the rock orb, or the nasty variants of it.

Last, give enough clues about the traps and the monsters. In my experience it makes the whole experience more fun if the players have the chance to anticipate what they are about to face.

>I'm gonna do theater of the mind type DMing
>doesn't have enough imagination to stock a one off dungeon crawl
I'm wondering if you thought this through, but this anon >>55202738 had some good starting point stuff

>>55202778
Gotta start somewhere. And i have trouble thinking of monsters sometimes. I literally just started planning this about an hour before i made the initial post. I thought of more traps than i figured i would initially, though.

>>55202738
Generally speaking, dense forest and jungle, with hills there-in. So maybe some swarms of insects, a gorilla, maybe a crocodile if they need to go near a river or something. Maybe a troll living in the entryway, since its a nice defensible position. Maybe a group of lizardfolk instead of the troll. Either way.

>In that case, design the traps in a way that makes it possible to reach said artifacts, but have them trigger when someone tries to take the displayed items

This i'd actually already intended. I was gonna have the cliche ass boulder trap right at the end. I could put a few others around to set up suspense for it though.

>give enough clues

This i also intended. Its those little tidbits that make them paranoid, and even giving some red herrings here and there could increase the tension dramatically.

Have a water well that has 15 feet of water 30 feet down. At the bottom is a jewel encrusted hilt of a sword stuck in a stone on the bottom. Put sovereign glue on it.

>>55202887
A troll is a good idea, you could enable your players to actually lure him into activating a trap to help them overcome him. If you go with this, place the lizardfolk further into the ruins. You could add Yuan-ti for that, too.

Does the party have a time agenda? Since it is a one-shot, you could try to add a time-element into the crawl. Like a series of earth quakes that shake and further destroy the ruins. You could tie this to an appearance of angry and confused earth elementals.

Aside from that, for the items of major importance the creators of the now-ruined-building may have employed stone guardians (think tomb raider).

>>55203211
nasty

>>55203211
This is diabolical. I love it.

>>55203226
Having lizardfolk patrol the inside is a good idea. Thats gonna be pretty far inside though.

The party doesn't really have a time agenda, and thats mostly because i'm gonna throw a 15 foot diameter boulder at them at the end they'll need to outrun. I'm planning to have it start slow, at 5 in the first round, then 10, then 20, then 30, then hit 40, 50, etc. I think the difference in tone between going at their own pace then outrunning a boulder over a span of a few hundred feet would be interesting.

>>55203211
Fucking nice but it's the typical nonsense dnd trap.

>>55203211
Y'know, this is a bit too punishing.

What if its hard to get out, but possible, but also cursed to do no damage? So unless they have universal solvent, they'd be swinging around one of those inflatable hammers

>>55203345
For a one-shot, you already have enough, but for magical monsters you might consider a wind elemental or a lesser ghost.

>>55206824
Both of these are great ideas.

I'm also considering a room with darkness cast into it, perhaps with some mundane traps on the floor. caltrops, glue, shit like that.