Dungeon design is an art that, like many others, lacks hard-set rules. Dungeons are as unique as the Game Master or Dungeon Master that brings them to life; yet, for the average mapmaker, the creation of dungeon maps isn’t always straightforward.
Even when building in Dungeon Scrawl, distractions, fresh ideas, and even blank pages can get in the way of the process, which is why designing using an outline can come in handy. Nearly all dungeons share a few key traits that can be boiled down to a go-to process outline to jumpstart your design.
Theme
If there were ever one "wrong" way to design a dungeon, it'd be an approach that took all your best ideas and jammed them into a single map. As with designing almost anything in D&D, a measured approach is always best. Before you jump right into assembling traps, puzzles, and villains, there's one step you should always take first. Decide on the theme.
Theme isn't just the setting of your story or the decor lining your dungeon’s halls. It's the central idea or even the message of your dungeon. Curse of Strahd, for example, includes elements of gothic horror due to the dungeon/castle in the story (Castle Ravenloft), but the main theme of the adventure is Strahd's great power. Every creature that he encounters eventually falls under his influence.
Before deciding how to fill your dungeon out, identify your theme and come up with a short list of encounters that can support your message. For example, if your dungeon is set in a druidic grove, determine what the dungeon represents about the topic of nature. Is it a grove of rebirth and renewal? Or a tortured experiment and a curse to the natural world? The setting doesn't inherently dictate the theme, so have fun experimenting with the many ways dungeons in different environments can tell different stories.
Opening & Closing Encounters
Boss encounters are almost non-negotiable in dungeons. While not all will be combat-oriented, for the most part, a good dungeon will feature at least one major encounter that stands between the players and their objective.
Keep in mind that what heroes call a "dungeon", monsters often call "home"; the creature that claims the space your party is exploring, if intelligent, might be the one pulling the strings with traps and waves of lower-level enemies! Even if it’s something simpler like a bear, it'll be helpful to consider how the bear uses the dungeon: where it brings scraps, where it keeps its cubs, and where it rests.
Once you've determined who your boss is, you can start planning both your final fight and a setup encounter to foreshadow what the dungeon holds within for your adventurers. Whether combat or roleplay, setup encounters provide investment to the story better than a big arrow sign that says "dungeon here" (unless you're foreshadowing an encounter with Bugs Bunny). Use the opportunity to reinforce your theme and hint at the monster in the dungeon by providing lore, puzzles, or combat. Some GMs find it helpful to plan their boss battle first, then work backwards to create the setup encounter afterward.
Traps and Puzzles
Traps and puzzles are the secret ingredient of any dungeon worth its salt. It's easy to see dungeons as nothing more than glorified battle zones, but there's more to a dungeon than slinging spells and swinging swords. When a dungeon is at its best, it asks the players to engage with not just their hearts, but their minds. An opportunity for players to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds with their wits and combined teamwork will make them a stronger team when they leave than when they arrived.
When designing a dungeon, try to include at least one trap and one puzzle. Both traps and puzzles can be dropped in at basically any point in the dungeon. Think of them as gateways or tests that ask the players to prove their mettle before moving onward. A door trap can warn players of what awaits them ahead, and a pit trap might balance the odds at the halfway point. Likewise, a puzzle towards the end of the dungeon can give players the key they need to defeat the boss, or a final test of the boss's dying breath. If you're looking for visuals to represent either on your maps, Dungeon Scrawl's Free Images from Angry Golem Games and David F. Walthall come with tons of icons for different traps and puzzles.
A Much Needed Break
Balance is key to any truly enjoyable encounter. While dungeons packed with puzzles and fights might seem hardcore from a GM perspective, chances are your players won't enjoy it. Ultimately, you want to give them a fighting chance, and if you can't offer them a moment to catch their breath, they might be rightfully discouraged. If you're a more sadistic GM, think of it this way: a hearty resting moment earns an equally hearty combat encounter.
Break rooms generally are best positioned towards the halfway point of a dungeon, or shortly before the most taxing encounter. While your players might have a specific objective, if the dungeon takes its toll, their new objective will likely be to replenish and recharge their resources. This is why a break room is best positioned shortly after the players have expended great energy, but before they're about to expend more. Think of it as the "meeting with the goddess", a natural turning point in the dungeon that gives the players the courage they need to continue onward. To that end, a successfully defeated trap room or a solved puzzle room often serves well as a break room.
LOOT!!!
You can design your dungeon layout and its inhabitants as much as you want, but no true dungeon is complete without its loot. Whether looted off the body of a gilded necromancer, pulled from the clutches of a cobwebbed treasure chest, or rewarded to the players by the gods themselves, every dungeon comes with goodies. Still, when it comes to the matter of designing dungeons, even loot is worth some careful consideration.
So how do you go about populating your dungeon with loot? When handing out loot, a generally smart practice is to look at the party and identify which archetypes can be supported by various items. If your party has a fighter and a ranger, it might just so happen that your boss encounter is what stands between the party and a shiny new longsword and bow. But the party isn't the only thing to consider. Refer back to the central premise of your dungeon, and try to determine exactly what items might be found within. A complex cave system populated by undead creatures might hold cursed, necromantic treasures within, while a multi-level casino might carry great treasures locked behind games of chance.
The Foolproof Dungeon
Just as much as anything else, a dungeon is an expression of the GM’s creative instinct, game design, and narrative. When designing a dungeon, the best principle is to follow your heart. Dungeons can come in many shapes and sizes, and if done right, will introduce a variety of challenges at every turn. When drawing up a dungeon, use this checklist as a guide to keep you on track, but don’t be afraid to experiment with Dungeon Scrawl’s many features.
Once you’ve gotten a taste of Dungeon Scrawl’s core features, consider whether Dungeon Scrawl Pro might be a good fit for your games, with tools like Lighting, or Fog of War - which can be used in conjunction with the Send to Tabletop feature for seamless in-person play, and can be especially effective when applied to puzzles and traps. While you’re exploring Pro features, try out World Building Presets to bring life to your dungeons. If you’ve got a dungeon in mind, there’s no place to take your idea from mockup to masterpiece than Dungeon Scrawl.