A new direction leads to a better dungeon

L

 ast week, I wrote about how I blew up my progress and restarted my work. It was a decision I did not take lightly. Honestly, it was something I did not want to do. However, the more I worked on the dungeon, the more I truly hated what I was creating. So I pulled the trigger and blew the whole thing up.

While standing in the ruins, I rethought the whole thing and worked out the project's overall theme. Then, with the theme in mind, the background came into focus. To be honest, I had a rough idea of what the background is. After all, the title of this project is The Temple of the Lost Flame, so it gives you an idea of what we are in for.

Once all of the rethinking was over, everything clicked, and the work was fun and on track. The first thing I created was a small keep that served as a base for a group of bandits. These bandits have no clue what lies below them. In addition, one of the rooms in the keep is only accessed via a room in the lower levels of the dungeons. This has been part of my plans since the start, and I have now made it better.

Over the next few days, my next task will be fleshing out the small village of Elias' Spring. This village is going to serve two purposes. The first is the most obvious. It will be a home base for the players while they explore and deal with the threat the dungeon is. The second purpose is how it ties into my overall plot. 

Sure, a home base is essential, but equally important is having locations outside of the dungeon that serves the plot. For example, the village will have people spying on things for those working on their nefarious plot. In addition, there are bandits in the area, and a town is a crucial tie-in.

The last thing on my list is a rough map of the general area. This will help me figure out critical locations outside the dungeon that serves as other ways in and out. Also, I need a general idea of the surrounding area for the bandits to work.

So why is there no dungeon level this month? There is.

I have always considered the area outside of the dungeon as being Level 1. It is here that the players get the feel of things. Think of it as their warmup for the main event. Once the 1st level is "done," the players are ready to descend into the danger below.

Looking at where things stand now, everything above ground will be finished by the end of the month. Then I can deal with the fun stuff.

That is where we are this week. Next week might have a few posts dealing with other topics.

From the ruins

I

 mentioned last week how I hated what I had created and how it affected my not being happy with my work. Instead of giving up, I changed course and rethought the first level. By doing this, I created something I like better. 

Sitting down and thinking about what I wanted to do before I did it, I realized that the first level of any dungeon needs to be the hook that sucks you in. Without that first level, you lack a clear idea of where you want things to go. Just randomly starting with a 10x10 square room and putting something in there does not give you an exciting dungeon.

My work on this project has one important rule:

Do not look at the past.

It looks pretty funny coming from the one who created Colonial Gothic. Yet I needed to set this in stone and keep it in mind. There are many, many, many, many, many megadungeons out there. The temptation exists to look at them and study the structure of the whole thing. This is dangerous.

Why? 

Simple, they influence you when designing. I've played and run The Temple of Elemental Evil a few times. I am going to need help remembering what I know. However, if I went back to reread it, I knew it would subconsciously affect my design.

Where does my project stand with all of that out of the way? Since blowing everything up, the first level begins in a keep held by bandits. Slowly developing, these bandits have tied some way into the plot surrounding the dungeon.

One surprising thing that surprised me is another group that is active in the dungeon appeared that I should have accounted for. I jotted down the notes for the three factions and knew they would be a significant subplot for the jail.

The third day inside the dungeon

One of the rules I have set for myself is that I will only spend a little time on this project. I have things requiring my full attention, and I do not need a distraction. That does not mean I am not going to do a dungeon room a day -- or something related to it -- it means I am not going to blog about my progress daily.

Why?

Mainly, it is tedious. Day after day, sharing a room with the brief notes I have, is dull. I would not want to read something like that, and I assume neither would you.

Another reason for this is I just do not have it in me.

Still, I know people enjoy seeing progress, so I plan to share what happens every few days. That way, you can see that I am working, and it forces me to not go silent while working on this.

With that out of the way, here is what I have so far.

The first thing you notice is simple: I suck at maps.

Only some people are as talented as Dyson, and I will not attempt to mimic that style. Sure I can use one of the few dungeon map generators out there, but that takes the fun out of doing this. The charm of dungeons is taking a pencil and letting your imagination wander. Allowing the computer to generate one randomly for you kills the fun. I loved taking pencil to graph paper as a kid and letting my imagination run wild. So that is what I am doing here.

One last thing; tools. As a follow-up to my previous post, I have assembled the rest of my tools. So, if you want to know what I use, here they are.

Picture one is a To Do list and the first of three notebooks I will use. As you see from the title, this one covers any notes I want to jot down. I am also a nerd, and I indicate the date I started it and number it to keep things organized.

Pictures two and three show you the other two notebooks. They also have the start date and book number indicated on the cover.

Picture four is my writing pouch and my writing tools.

Picture five is everything together. The leather cover is one of my favorite things. It has three elastic strings, which allow for one book each. It has enough room to keep my planner and a pad of sticky notes. The elastic band provides for everything to be secured in one spot.

That is the three-day summary, and three rooms are done so far.

Will I continue creating the dungeon?

Will I continue blogging about it?

Will I go make myself a cup of coffee?

Tune in next time for the answers to this and all questions.