Is there one thing that the failure to include it in a dungeon adventure will lead to a less fun experience for all?
Is there something that should never be in a dungen adventure, but often is?
These don't need to be physical items, but they could be themes or whatever.
Rats and coppers are invalid answers ;)
For me, most every dungeon should have a treasure room. It might not get found by the players, it may be found but overlooked, it may have a false analog to fool the players, but generally speaking, there should be a treasure room. Heck, it might not be usable treasure. It may have been valuable at the time the dungeon was built / created but now has little to no value due to deterioration, change of valued metal types or the like.
No dungeon should have unavoidable deathtraps. There should be warnings, hints, signs or the like so that the players have the opportunity to make an educated guess, even if wrong. It shouldn't be there to screw the players but to challenge them.
What are your thoughts?
Every dungeon needs just one more level.
ReplyDeleteNo dungeon should have empty rooms.
I'd agree with yours, and add these:
ReplyDeleteEvery dungeon needs a theme and no dungeon should require you to digest a long backstory to enjoy it.
Theme: It doesn't have to be a good one, but coherence helps make it interesting and seem less like you just randomly rolled up some crap. Plus, the PCs can start to intelligently guess about what's coming up.
No dungeon should have a giant backstory you need to understand to enjoy it. It's okay if there is a whole history, but you better be able to just show up, start exploring, and learn it as you go. If you can't start the dungeon until you've listened to 10 paragraphs of history written in High Gygaxian, it's not a good backstory.