I love dungeon delving. I also enjoy other types of campaigns, but dungeons were my first love in Dungeons & Dragons, and it is fascinating to see how players approach them. And designing dungeons is one of the parts of D&D I enjoy most.

At present, I am often using a Dyson Logos map found in one of his packs on DriveThruRPG as the basis of the dungeon. After putting some numbers on it so I can make a key, I begin stocking the dungeon.

Theming levels or sections of the dungeons (especially when they are large) helps provide some context for the encounters and allows the players to make informed decisions. The dungeon my Waterdeep characters are currently exploring was once a stronghold of elves and dwarves which was later taken over by Knights of Helm. The level they are exploring was where the tombs were, so there are a fair number of undead present.

However, this is a fairly complex dungeon. Lower levels connect to the Underdark and the realms of the Abolethic Sovereignty. So, there are also incursions from below to consider.

As I have noted before, my dungeon keys can be quite terse. It is dangerous taking published adventures as the only way to design a dungeon: they are designed for people other than yourself!

Challenging Encounters

So, in my Waterdeep campaign tonight, the characters came up against a Wraith. It kept disappearing through the floor and then reappearing, so they could not use their full attacks on it.

At one point it hit one of the henchmen with the party, inflicting 18 damage. The henchman promptly failed the saving throw against the life drain ability. What was the henchman’s maximum hit points? 18. Oh dear!

Instant death. And *then* it used its ability to raise the dead to create a spectre that attacked the henchman’s master.

Yes, it is true: this session had a few challenging encounters in it.

Eight-Pack of Ghouls

Another room contained eight ghouls. The sorcerer won initiative, charged forward, and got four of the ghouls in a thunderwave. Hooray! The players were happy with that.

But he had been reckless: he did not have enough remaining movement to get back to the party! Guess who was next in the initiative?

That is right, it was the ghouls. He went down quickly, and the remainder of the ghouls rushed forward. This meant that the rest of the party were cut off – and they had no ranged healing spells.

Things got trickier when the first attack on the paladin paralysed him. And then the paladin just kept rolling low. He was paralysed for four or five rounds in all! I was not pulling many punches – whenever he became unparalysed, another ghoul hit him and he would fail the saving throw again.

However, the rogue and the ranger did enough to save the party.

The party normally does not have a cleric. It makes a difference!

Oozes

Also featured in this session was a passageway leading to an underground stream. The players never reached the stream, as there was a rusted portcullis in the way. As they searched for a way to operate it, the rogue realised the ground was moving towards them.

This was not a keyed encounter; it was a wandering monster!

I have not developed a good key of wandering monsters for this dungeon yet. Yes, I do improvise significantly even when I do prepare. However, this was my opportunity to bring in a little of the Abolethic Sovereignty. The river is polluted, a side-effect of Aboleth slime, and this led me to the conclusion that an ooze or two would work here. Two Gray Oozes, in fact!

However, because the party was already on edge from previous encounters, they did not realise that this would be an easy encounter. They were properly cautious and retreated. One of the oozes was killed in the process, but the rogue barred the door behind the adventurers, and they hurried away – the ooze could have squeezed under the door, but they did not tarry to see this. Wise!

At the end of the expedition into the dungeon, the players returned to Waterdeep and got a raise dead spell cast on the henchman. Little loot was found, but a fair bit of XP. There is a lot more to explore, but they may wish to be stronger and better prepared before they venture down again!