The Bloodsoaked Gem Caverns in action

Vance A from Leicester's Ramble ran my dungeon, Bloadsoaked Gem Caverns. You can read the actual play report here! 

They used Shadowdark. The PCs definitely lucked out on the Reaction rolls!

The dungeon can be found here. It's an abandoned mine (overtaken by monsters) that the party can explore and even start exploiting.

[Dungeon] Wreck Worship - a sea & salt themed cult dungeon

Here's the hide-out of a shipwreck-worshipping cult of weirdos! They even have their own lighthouse to lure sailors onto the reefs. The dungeon is this best situated on a seaside cliff. 

19 keyed areas, minimal keys. Print on two pages or even on a single page. Stats are for Searchers of the Unknown, so, you know, D&D.

There are stairs to a potential level 2 (I envision it to be a Deep One cave?), but who knows if that ever gets created.

The lighthouse is not described in detail here. I imagine it to be a tall tower without an overground entrance, only reachable from below (or if somebody manages to scale the walls).

Actually, now I have TWO sea-cult dungeons. I'm gonna post the other one later as well, because it's also good, plus it was playtested in The World of Tomorrow campaign. But there is some overlap between them, so I cannot just connect them together.

The process was simple:

1. I picked 8 monsters that fit thematically, put them on the wandering encounters list, and also used that list to stock the monster rooms.
2. I rolled up the basic structure and contents from the Atelier Clandestin Sandbox Generator (pretty sweet book!)
3. I re-rolled results that didn't quite fit (like overlong corridors) and then modified everything on the go to make it fit better with the theme

GRAB THE PDF HERE

Have fun.

What do I love in dungeons?

A classic element or two... Idols with gems for eyes. Secret passage behind a waterfall. Statues coming alive. Torch sconce that opens a secret door. Eyes of a portrait that follow you – animate art object or peepholes for a hidden observer? Okay, so most classic elements are about EYES and SECRETS and STATUES. Crystals, too. Crystals, fungi, tentacles. Classic archetypical dungeon stuff that gives you a buzz when it shows up. We don't get to play often. So don't skimp on the classics.

Variety and reveals. A big change in the dungeon is always cool. Two thirds of the dungeon might be dwarven-engineered corridors. But then you suddenly transition into a large natural cave area. Or maybe a section is flooded. Somehow a flooded area is the biggest fear or many players – it is a gamechanger, your lights and movement are not as you are used to.

ROPE PLAY. A good dungeon always provides opportunity for rope play. And masks! Uh... I mean. Yeah, the dungeon must have places where players can satisfy their urges to fix ropes to each other. Grappling hooks, basic mountaineering.

Verticality. This ties in with the rope play aspect, but not only. I love balconies, overhands, BRIDGES, esp. rope bridges, stairs, ramps. When the way forward is also above or below. And the opportunity to spy a place before reaching it.

Which also leads to cool architecture. You don’t have to make every room special, but rectangular boxes become boring quickly. A couple of pillars, niches, platforms. Think about the ceiling, is it flat, domed, vaulted? Are all doors rectangular slabs of wood? Vault doors. Airlocks. Arched passageways. Dunno, horizontal slits for all those slithering creatures.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to put this in writing quickly.

Obligatory links to the OSR’s classic posts, Goblin Punch’s Dungeon Checklist and Grognardia’s Old School Dungeon Design.

 

don’t forget,

ROLE PLAY IS ROPE PLAY

and the game is the door game

AD&D DMG, p. 68