Ingenious "dungeon" locations/terrains

[PsychoBlonde]

Dungeons are a staple of this type of game (heck, we're going to get one ENORMOUS dungeon), but it seems like a lot of the time they look a lot like the SAME dungeon. The same few location types get trotted out again and again:

 

Sewers

Caves

Crypts

 

There have got to be more options than this. So I was curious to hear what sorts of ingenious things people could come up with.

[Sacred_Path]

seeing as dungeons are usually expected to be underground locations, that's sort of a limit.

 

I like the Shadow Rift in the Ravenloft setting though. A huge chasm that had different layers, an unknown depth and was very "active", in that monster sightings and disappearances were linked to it. Not so different from a cave though, and it probably wouldn't have worked in any other setting (in FR it would just have been another hole in the ground filled with monsters).

[necromate]

Stone made cathedral swallowed up by marshlands thousands of years ago, now it's above sea level so the water flowing trough the underground caves cleaned it out... might have crypts underneath xD but that would be reasonable... btw the water comes from the sewers, and the local officials asked you to take care of the leaking pipes XD

Edited November 16, 2012 by necromate

[Monte Carlo]

Temples, castles, great big galleys, bank vaults, armouries, mansions, keeps, underground maginot-line style defensive positions, laboratories, foundries, prisons, zoological oddities, follies, subterranean harbours, arenas, assassin's guilds, crashed spaceships, volcanoes, bunkers, libraries...

[Felithvian]

Hmm...

 

I can't think of anything else. Perhaps we could use a Portal Technology (3D Realms "Prey"). It would be a different way to break up 2d geometry. We could create a dynamic portal in space, go through it, turn around and close it like a window shade. We could have more different types of locations/terrains by doing such thing.

[necromate]

Would be fun to find a town of sentient fire/earth elementals/demons bathing in lava pools drinking martini that was cooled down with the water running through the undead frost lich's frozen crypt underneath the marshswallowed cathedral xD

 

edit: so in the end it would be a moral question to close down the pipes in the sewers and deprive the elementals from cool martini or not...

Edited November 16, 2012 by necromate

[jivex5k]

I've always liked going to Spirtual realms. We could have something akin to the Fade.

But yeah...obviously that's been done a lot too so it doesn't really break the mold.

 

A zoo would be awesome though! Or maybe a carnival.

I think there's a circus in BG2, I remember something like that.

 

Volcano...now that's a cool idea!

 

Oh...taking a page from Zelda, how about a big ass tree?

 

Or maybe a giant machine? A big statue or something?

 

Another page from Zelda, what if we are in the belly of some great beast?

 

Perhaps we can have a pyramid?

[Hormalakh]

Temples, castles, great big galleys, bank vaults, armouries, mansions, keeps, underground maginot-line style defensive positions, laboratories, foundries, prisons, zoological oddities, follies, subterranean harbours, arenas, assassin's guilds, crashed spaceships, volcanoes, bunkers, libraries...

 

... forests, ships, islands, gladiatorial arenas, lost dwarven cities, run-down bazaars, an actual dungeon (underneath a castle), being shrunken in size and traversing a single room ...

[Agelastos]

Kitchens.

[maggotheart]

I like 'belly of the beast' type areas. In Farscape they had the Budong which was a creature so large whole 'mining towns' could be built inside its carcass. Locals tried to scavenge valuable materials from within but had to deal with the obviously bizarre terrain, exploding acid nodules and predatory monsters feeding on the remains. In PE perhaps the soul of a creature that massive could have a great effect on the physical world - maybe providing unlimited magical energy within the carcass for several years after its death.

 

It would also be cool to see some kind of underwater quest: A vibrant, colorful reef teeming with life could be very interesting, perhaps with an ancient sunken ship or ruins of a city washed out to sea to explore. Something about underwater monsters seem so terrifying - tentacled monstrosities emerging from the depths, packs of sharks looking to feed and venomous serpents lurking in shadowy nooks.

[Battletide]

Hedge mazes, underwater shipwrecks, ruins buried under the desert/suffered an earthquake, alternate dimensions, jungle ruins, forgotten floating cities, unique magical constructs, lost towers, villages or castles that appear once every thousand years...

[Sacred_Path]

Gize,

most of those can't count as ingenious dungeons because they could just as well be above ground.

 

:smug:

[Pshaw]

While I don't mind seeing these sorts of dungeons I think an easy solution is to take the dungeons into the open air. Give us outdoor ruins, magic strong holds that aren't just another tower (WoW The Oculus), or interesting zones like the underwater section of BG2. Hell let us do a 'dungeon' right in the city streets with a gang war, riot or siege. I also really enjoy dreamworld type dungeons such as the painting from oblivion.

 

We're used to little battles in the outdoors but rarely do we get that dungeon feel from them so I think they'd make a nice change of pace from always entering a castle of going underground. Alternitively let those underground dungeons be something other than dark and claustrophobic. Give us glowing crystals or open into an underground oasis of sorts. We can keep things in caves, sewers and crypts so long as they aren't all just bare stone.

Edited November 16, 2012 by Pshaw

[jezz555]

While I don't mind seeing these sorts of dungeons I think an easy solution is to take the dungeons into the open air. Give us outdoor ruins, magic strong holds that aren't just another tower (WoW The Oculus), or interesting zones like the underwater section of BG2. Hell let us do a 'dungeon' right in the city streets with a gang war, riot or siege. I also really enjoy dreamworld type dungeons such as the painting from oblivion.

 

We're used to little battles in the outdoors but rarely do we get that dungeon feel from them so I think they'd make a nice change of pace from always entering a castle of going underground. Alternitively let those underground dungeons be something other than dark and claustrophobic. Give us glowing crystals or open into an underground oasis of sorts. We can keep things in caves, sewers and crypts so long as they aren't all just bare stone.

 

Glowing crystals...now that's an original idea!

[Archmage Silver]

Hm... some things I'd like to see:

 

Underwater Ruins - some intact buildings with pockets of air in them and an enormous sea monster patrolling outside, possibly breaking a wall or two while you're inside a building

Ancient Magi Collective - an abandoned floating citadel in the lower atmosphere that diguises itself with magically produced cloud formations

Overgrown Castle - a deserted castle located in the middle of a jungle - tread with caution

Dragon's Lair - not your typical lair, but a mountain peak version with a nesting female dragon

[RiceMunk]

Remember in Oblivion when you had to go save that one painter from inside a painting? That was pretty cool.

More places: Submarine, House-that's-upside-down-for-some-reason, A colossal brain, A mandlebrot fractal, A four-dimensional generic dungeon, A Single Average-Sized Room That Has A Lot Of Doors That Lead To The Same Room Except It's A Bit Different Every Time And Monsters Spawn And There's A Deep Philosophical/Sinister Meaning And Stuff Behind The Things Changing.

Edited November 16, 2012 by RiceMunk

[necromate]

After reading all the above posts...

In my humble opinion, it's not good to put too much unique dungeons into the game, maybe 1 from every 5 could have something extraordinary, if there are only unique dungeons than unique can become ordinary, IF we are talking about "elder scrolls amount" of dungeons... but if we are talking about, idk, 5 to 10 major dungeons and their own theme, than it's a different story.

 

BTW I would enjoy a dungeon where, for defferent reasons (cave ins, magical trap), you could not get out for weeks, until your food runs out and the party gets weak. You would find immense ammounts of treasure, but would have to drop many items on the ground to be able to escape simply because you can't carry that much, or the items get stolen/turn out to be illusions. And when you get too weak, you would have to leave your armor behind too, making sacrifices to survive. The whole party would swear and feel like "WTF?" or just be happy to be alive when finally seeing the sky again :D

[Labadal]

A buried underground city.

[Calmar]

I don't very much like large sewers, but only because they are too anachronistic for me. I'm fine with crypts and caves. Cellars and mines are cool, too. I love castles and especially towers, but they are dungeons only in the broader sense.

 

Contemplating dungeons inspires me to a song...

 

 

 

Dungeon Zone

 

Gettin’ in your armor

Listen to the cleric pray

Heroes under tension

Burnin’ to decamp and go

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

Ride into the Dungeon Zone

 

Headin’ into twilight

Bashin’ monsters dead tonight

We got you runnin’ into traps

And keepin' our band alive

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

I'll take you

Right into the Dungeon Zone

 

You'll never say hello to you

Until you get your blade run red with blood

You'll never know what you can do

Until you make it down as deep as you can go

 

Down below the ruins

Always where I burn to be

The deeper underground

The hotter the intensity

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

Gonna take you

Right into the Dungeon Zone

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

 

 

[.Leif.]

Having a showdown on the top of a Ziggurat carved on the side of a mountain would be pretty epic.

 

A 'lively' Necropolis city would be interesting with a clan structure all it's own and corruption and crime problems.The Wicked ones never really die.

 

Encountering a vibrant mushroom forest in the underdark can be deadly. The paralyzing spores and the giant insects that roam the area make adventures think twice before entering.

 

The Dwarven clan Beardhammer reside in their fortress like they always have, yet after the cave-in they lost access to the surface but for one giant door. This door was locked in panic during a siege of Orcs and Goblins. The Lava-pipes did their deadly job but sealed many exits with molten rock and caused the cave-in. Generations have gone by and the Dwarves, unable to open the door, have degenerated into violent cannibals. They breed dogs for meat and they forage for fungus in the caves below. Sometimes they manage to slay a giant insect of the cave but those raids take a terrible toll on the desperate hunters. Recently whole patrols have been going missing. Everything changes when the adventurers find a way to open their Front Gate.

 

Fighting off Father Dagon, a Kraken, an Aboleth or some other unspeakable sea-horror while on a pirate-ship would be a memorable encounter. To be among the last of the crew with their (relative) sanity as the rest of the crew writhes on the upper deck from the agony and terror.

 

To stumble upon a Death-Cult residing in the hallowed-out skull of gargantuan Mega-beast would be pretty brutal. A whole macabre economy might spring up from harvesting the materials found growing in and around the site. This would be a perfect place to fight an arch-lich.

 

Being entertained by the Lord of Madness in his masked court in lost Cracosa could prove interesting. Unable to leave the chaotic plane unless you play the part of a party guest and the host is sufficiently amused.

 

If Lich-Dragons are featured in the game it would make sense to find one (or a few) in a Dragon-Bone Garden. At the end of their lives Dragons seem to always make a journey to one of these sites considered holy to them. An especially foul Necro-Dragon could await them and ensnare their souls to use as bargaining chips in devious plots.

 

Baldur's Gate 2 had some amazingly fleshed-out slums and I would like PE to copy that energy in both of their large cities. Being able to make a difference (for good or ill) in a community helps the player feel like the they have agency in the world. You could stamp out poverty or become a Slumlord.

 

Somewhere out in the wilderness the rejects from the Royal Magic academy make their camp. Wild rituals and dark sacraments can be heard on the winds nearby. Even the nearby flora and fauna have been warped by their dark magics. It is rumored they are led by a Demon-blooded Wild-Mage with a cruel sense of humor.

 

Deep in the Forests the Druid glades offer refuge for nature spirits and the people of the woods to heal and recuperate. All peaceful folk are welcome to reside in the shade of the Obsidian megalith. Yet recently a thick fog has begun to sweep over the Forest-floor as the elders talk of foul hags gathering marauders for bloody conquest of the Glade.

[Somna]

Forest "dungeon."

 

You're magically tossed into the middle of a forboding forest shrouded in mist. You can go wherever you like in the forest but the exit involves triggering several keystones at the same time to activate a portal to leave. Trying to leave in a more mundane manner simply has you circle back to where you started. You can only get in with at least 3 people, however.

 

Elemental Air "dungeon."

 

More of a gravity maze. You can float around, but down is up or right or left, depending on what part of the maze you're in. Combat, as a result, is awkward, and your goal is just to GTFO ASAP. You can spend a round to stop moving and re-orient yourself, but as soon as you stop concentrating, it's free fall time all over again.

[Agelastos]

I don't very much like large sewers, but only because they are too anachronistic for me. I'm fine with crypts and caves. Cellars and mines are cool, too. I love castles and especially towers, but they are dungeons only in the broader sense.

 

Contemplating dungeons inspires me to a song...

 

 

 

Dungeon Zone

 

Gettin’ in your armor

Listen to the cleric pray

Heroes under tension

Burnin’ to decamp and go

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

Ride into the Dungeon Zone

 

Headin’ into twilight

Bashin’ monsters dead tonight

We got you runnin’ into traps

And keepin' our band alive

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

I'll take you

Right into the Dungeon Zone

 

You'll never say hello to you

Until you get your blade run red with blood

You'll never know what you can do

Until you make it down as deep as you can go

 

Down below the ruins

Always where I burn to be

The deeper underground

The hotter the intensity

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

Gonna take you

Right into the Dungeon Zone

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

 

 

 

How are sewers anachronistic? They've been around for thousands of years, since the Indus Valley civilization.

I'm not sure if the medieval Europeans built any sewers themselves, but some European cities had fully serviceable sewer systems built by the ancient Romans.

So, if the P.E. continent had a mother culture of skilled engineers, like the Romans, there is no reason that there shouldn't be sewers.

[Calmar]

I don't very much like large sewers, but only because they are too anachronistic for me. I'm fine with crypts and caves. Cellars and mines are cool, too. I love castles and especially towers, but they are dungeons only in the broader sense.

 

Contemplating dungeons inspires me to a song...

 

 

 

Dungeon Zone

 

Gettin’ in your armor

Listen to the cleric pray

Heroes under tension

Burnin’ to decamp and go

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

Ride into the Dungeon Zone

 

Headin’ into twilight

Bashin’ monsters dead tonight

We got you runnin’ into traps

And keepin' our band alive

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

I'll take you

Right into the Dungeon Zone

 

You'll never say hello to you

Until you get your blade run red with blood

You'll never know what you can do

Until you make it down as deep as you can go

 

Down below the ruins

Always where I burn to be

The deeper underground

The hotter the intensity

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

Gonna take you

Right into the Dungeon Zone

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

 

 

 

How are sewers anachronistic? They've been around for thousands of years, since the Indus Valley civilization.

I'm not sure if the medieval Europeans built any sewers themselves, but some European cities had fully serviceable sewer systems built by the ancient Romans.

So, if the P.E. continent had a mother culture of skilled engineers, like the Romans, there is no reason that there shouldn't be sewers.

 

Sure. I was referring to large, roamable sewers, fed by pipes - in a roughly European medieval context (which PE very much seems to aim at). As such, China and Arabia were also more advanced than Europe, but that does not have to mean that their achievements need to be available to the Dyrwood.

 

Sewers are also the one type of dungeon that's really always the same to me. Filth, rats, spiders, cultists and slavers. I don't find them really interesting anymore.

[Agelastos]

I don't very much like large sewers, but only because they are too anachronistic for me. I'm fine with crypts and caves. Cellars and mines are cool, too. I love castles and especially towers, but they are dungeons only in the broader sense.

 

Contemplating dungeons inspires me to a song...

 

 

 

Dungeon Zone

 

Gettin’ in your armor

Listen to the cleric pray

Heroes under tension

Burnin’ to decamp and go

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

Ride into the Dungeon Zone

 

Headin’ into twilight

Bashin’ monsters dead tonight

We got you runnin’ into traps

And keepin' our band alive

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

I'll take you

Right into the Dungeon Zone

 

You'll never say hello to you

Until you get your blade run red with blood

You'll never know what you can do

Until you make it down as deep as you can go

 

Down below the ruins

Always where I burn to be

The deeper underground

The hotter the intensity

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

Gonna take you

Right into the Dungeon Zone

 

Highway to the Dungeon Zone

 

 

 

How are sewers anachronistic? They've been around for thousands of years, since the Indus Valley civilization.

I'm not sure if the medieval Europeans built any sewers themselves, but some European cities had fully serviceable sewer systems built by the ancient Romans.

So, if the P.E. continent had a mother culture of skilled engineers, like the Romans, there is no reason that there shouldn't be sewers.

 

Sure. I was referring to large, roamable sewers, fed by pipes

 

The Cloaca Maxima in Rome was, and is, definitely roamable.

 

Apparently the medieval Europeans DID build sewers. I thought the Parisian sewer system was built in the 18th century, but parts of it was apparently built as early as the late 14th century. Mea culpa!

[Calmar]

Well then, those Parisian tunnels that may, or may not, have been as spacious in 1370 as they are since 1850 shall serve as proud example of the average Europea urban sewage disposal system.