Dungeons Part 4: Themes and Factions

So one of the initial stages of planning a dungeon is coming up with what the dungeon is and what monsters inhabit it, this can help inform other parts of the dungeon such as traps, layout and treasure.

The Theme of the dungeon usually starts with its original purpose, the standard options you see a lot of are tombs, temples and forts of some kind. More unusual options will stand out more and can add a lot of variety to a dungeon crawl with elements that aren't usual to the standard dungeon types.

Regardless the original purpose of the dungeon is important for creating the layout and inbuilt features of the dungeon and on top of theses features made by the original builders of the dungeon, the current inhabitants may make modifications to theses pre existing features or make brand new owns. This for example may take the form of a cannel network used to transport materials in a dwarven city that becomes the home of a band of subterranean pirate goblins or a ventilation system to supply air deeper into the dungeon that has become the nest for a pack of giant rats. Think about what creatures might be able to make tools to tunnel through stone and how they may modify the dungeon to suit them more, either in terms of space or function.  

In terms of factions, having a single faction for a small to medium dungeon works fine. But when building something larger adding in conflicting factions can make the dungeon exploration more dynamic. I think the best example of this I have seen in a dungeon is in The Lost City, in this dungeon there are 4-5 factions depending on how you look at things. There are the local mask wearing inhabitants, which contain within them three factions of priests of separate gods, and a group of hobgoblins that seem to have recently entered the dungeon based on the dead hobgoblin propping open the entrance to the city itself. Since 3-4 of these groups can be friendly or at least neutral to the party depending on multiple factors, it gives plenty of opportunity for roleplaying and a chance to form an alliance with one or more of the factions. Understanding how the different factions coexist or conflict is important to resolving character interaction.

A good way to organize both dungeon features and factions is to break the whole dungeon down into different areas(each roughly around 5-10 rooms in size), each with different common features and factions, for example a half submerged ruin may have a group of goblins living in the parts above water while some sort of fish men lair in the submerged area, the two groups may conflict over the local fish supply and other resources but would be perfectly content avoiding outright war (at least as long as there numbers are relatively equal and neither side has a clear advantage).

If your looking for a good source of inspiration for dungeon themes i would recommend checking out the Ruin tables in Worlds Without Number, these tables are available in the free version which can be found here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/348809/Worlds-Without-Number-Free-Edition?term=Worlds+Without+number

M.C.