It didn't matter how who you were. You could been a bandit, a freedom fighter, a soldier, or just a peasant that didn't pay his taxes in time. The lord of the kingdom would have none of it, and rather than executing you on the spot, stripped you of your gears and tossed you inside. If you could escape, all your crimes would be absolved.
But lets be clear. This is not a dungeon. This is THE dungeon. This multi-layered, gigantic system of caves, labyrinths, underground fortresses, underground rivers and strange fauna is the size of a small country. Most of it is uncharted, and those who survived could do nothing but form small camps in the depths. The underground goblinoid races prowl endlessly looking for more victims, and not all prisoners can be trusted.
Welcome to the Dungeon.
>>43828608
Ok, can I go home now?
>>43828608
...I want a GM to run a game like this, just a group of level 1 characters that fuck up something fierce and end up with no gear in this place. It'll never happen though.
I need some brainstorming. The setting is a ancient, extremely huge dungeon with no known exit where the prisoners of a LE Overlords gets thrown down via one-way magical sinkholes.
The whole complex is enchanted with a special dimensional anchor spell, where creatures can teleport inside with ease but can't use such spells to escape.
Prisoners of all kinds group up and form camps to survive, which in turn become village. Others will become (or remain) bandits or adventurers and lurk deeper in the complex. Nearly all those inside the dungeon crossed with the overlord in some way or another.
The complex is filled with traps and monsters, usually from another age.
> The Black Guards, a faction of soldiers and warriors still loyal to the Overlord, guard some important places on the upper levels, such as weapon caches, or prisoner camps. They are recognizable by their black uniform with golden trim. Despite their affiliation, they are just as much a prisoner as you are.
>>43828791
What do you need help with?
>>43828940
Just ideas for the setting. Factions, places, items, important NPCs, etc.
> The Ur-River is probably the safest way to reach the underground village of Underport, since there is little wandering monsters in the way. The rapids, however, are another matter.
>>43828608
You know, I had a lot of fun playing Avernum way back in the day. I think you just decided what I'll do for the rest of the evening.
> The Seekers are a society of adventurers looking for clues about the complex, notably the exit. They are also in charge of cartographing the places they explore for future groups.
>>43829031
who set the enchantment preventing people from leaving? the overlord? did he find this cave enchanted as it was?
If the overlord himself didn't set the enchantment, I'd say a lich with no affiliation to the overlord on the lower levels of the dungeon is holding everyone in and slowly sapping power from the populace. Nothing noticeable, but since there are so many people down there he's gotten crazy powerful.
on another note, it'd help to know what system you're gonna run this in.
>>43829134
Probably Pathfinder myself, though the setting could be easily converted for any system.
The complex was made by a mad wizard in eons past. The Overlord (aka the Black Knight) is just abusing an existing structure.I might imprison something far more dangerous in the lower depths
> The Catacombs is a spiral staircase structure lined with sarcophagi. Most of the dead are put to rest there. Ancient magic prevents the dead from rising in these hallowed halls.
There is one rule every prisoner must abide by
Never ask what the mystery meat is.
>The wisps are monstrous thieves that fashion crude lanterns from woods and fungus for the sole reasons of luring curious individuals off the beaten path,often never to be seen whole again
>>43829536
> The Tunnel Sphinxes are a bunch of poser delinquents hanging out in prisoner camps. Their only purpose in life is to intimidate weaklings into granting them favors. They are easily rebuked.
>>43829219
>Pathfinder
well that certainly helps.
>The mad wizard's home seems to bend the rules of reality, extraplanar creatures bound in traps to defeat his enemies, the items he created while in his lair are powerful and mysterious, take caution, traveler, as they may be more dangerous than the mechanisms that guard them
There are men with dog-headed stitched onto their chests. The dog heads are alive, and they always fight bare chested. They are holy warriors of the cult of hounds- the only known people who can get new dogs down here besides the ones dropped from below.
There is a canopy in some of the tallest parts of the dungeon where young urchins and children play. They forbid adults from entering, because adults will break the canopy and send them all to their deaths. Any child who gets too old (or too heavy) must be kicked out before they destroy the sanctuary.
There is only one place in the dungeon where pure sunlight filters down once every day for a single moment at high noon. There is a clan of vampires that lives around the area and takes bets and turns on how many days they have left until it is there turn to self-immolate; holy suicide.
When walking down the passageways and caverns of the dungeon occasionally rhythmic tapping can be heard. These are dwarven diggers tapping messages along the way, and anyone who understands it can learn things. Messages like 'danger' or 'loot nearby' are all useful, but be warned as at least one creature in the dungeon has learned to imitate the noise to draw in victims.
Any item with flight is seen as being strangely valuable down here. You'd think it would be less useful on the surface, but potions and boots of flying are jealously hoarded and guarded for the day when someone can find a crack to the surface and use them to escape.
There is a giant castle/manor deep within the dungeons that seems fully on its own. Anyone entering can see a fully stocked and decorated place, but little life to be found. Most that enter don't leave though, it seems dangerous as the rest of the mega-dungeon. Every year there are tales of the mansion spreading; and indeed one day you'll notice a new wall somewhere where the mansion has built a new room.
And then some asshole rolls a monk and it all goes to hell.
>>43829852
>There is a giant castle/manor deep within the dungeons that seems fully on its own. Anyone entering can see a fully stocked and decorated place, but little life to be found. Most that enter don't leave though, it seems dangerous as the rest of the mega-dungeon. Every year there are tales of the mansion spreading; and indeed one day you'll notice a new wall somewhere where the mansion has built a new room.
>>43829844
>The mad wizard's home seems to bend the rules of reality, extraplanar creatures bound in traps to defeat his enemies, the items he created while in his lair are powerful and mysterious, take caution, traveler, as they may be more dangerous than the mechanisms that guard them
OP should combine these two, it makes sense, doesn't it?
The most common encountered monsters on the highest levels are the hobgoblins. They have built a large underground city in the depths, and will defend it with ferocity.
>>43829866
There are probably blacksmiths in prisoner villages and crude weapons left by the dead adventurers. Finding them, however, is another matter.
There are glowing crystals in the rocky walls of the mega-complex. They give off constant light as if it was a torch. Previous adventurers have tried to pick a piece, only for the light to fade away from it. They come in various colors, usually orange, purple, and teal.
The seekers recommend staying away from the red ones.
>>43829866
>Some of the caverns have loose soil, rich in phosphorus and nitrogren. These support short-lived, but rich ecosystems.
>Some of those caverns have had countless generations of moss and lichen grow, suffocate themselves, and die. The bottom of these caves is obscured by a humongous, odoriferous mass of rotted vegetable tar as black as the cavern floors, concealing small but very deep sinkholes. Men have been known to get stuck and slowly swallowed whole by these traps.
>A quick man could escape these tarpits, at the cost of his boots. If he were barefoot, though?
>>43830385
> Farming is a problem for most surface dwellers. Thankfully, some of the dwarves knows how to plant and grow the local fauna. Yes, you'll be getting plump helmets for breakfast and dinner.
>>43829615
Tunnel Spinxes Rule!
In the deepest levels there have been report of a large creature, the sound of it snoring reverberating on the caverns walls. So far, not one group has been able to localize it.
Some of the caves are deep vertical chasms, inhabited by strange flying creatures. Items with flight would be extremely handy here, if only they were not hoarded like crazy.
>>43828608
Congratulations, you've just made Legend of Grimrock!
>>43828608
I should really play Avernum again
>>43830935
Its not the first giant dungeon setting and won't be the last, anon.
> The Black Gate is a very large and deep underground lake. The borders are safe for fishing, but any boat going too deep may come under attack from tentacled horrors.
> Rumors says the current overlord is an impostor. The legitimate heir to the black throne was thrown in the dungeon, and is closely guarded by the Black Guards.
If the rumors are true, then he might known the secret to escape. Unfortunately, his identity is kept a closely guarded secret.
>no grave outside of the crypt stays full for long. It is not known what becomes of the bodies burred there. Reports of undead are uncommon, but there are far stranger faits
Why bother with the whole going sent to the dungeon thing? Just say the whole setting is underground like Arx Fatalis?
>>43831485
To give a purpose in the escape.
>>43831485
because eventually they have to go up there and kick the overlord's ass, and then they find out the world up above has gone to SHIT in their absence
>>43831523
also this
>>43828608
Make it watery and this is the Via Purifico from Final Fantasy X
Deep Iron Dwarves inhabit the lower depths, using magma forges to forge weapons of wonders. Unfortunately, they are extremely xenophobic to anything not resembling a dwarf. Only those who have proven their valor will be given a chance at diplomacy.
>>43834351
Shit left my name on.
>Barbed red vines can be seen dangling from the ceiling in commonly transited back areas, accompanied by broken skeletons.
>On closer inspection, the vine is slightly bulbous, with white highlights, giving the appearance of muscle. This is more apt than you might think.
>There are also tiny, translucent, feathery feelers standing up from the surface, nearly invisible extending out a meter away from the vine.
>The barbs are hollow.
>If you looked up, with a bright enough source of light, you'd see semitransparent bulbs of liquid on top of the vine's root system.
>When two of the feelers are brushed, the vine snaps out in the direction of the victim, wrapping tightly around him/her. The impact and compression drives the barbs deep into the victim, which then release a potent slurry of neurotoxins and digestive acid.
>The Victim squirms and spasms in the vine's grip. Muscle spasms rip muscle from bone. The mind clouds even as the pain pierces their senses.
>If s/he is lucky, s/he dies there. The broken muscles and organs are then digested and sucked out through the barbs, leaving the skin and bones behind.
>When it has finished it's meal, hours to days later depending on the size, the vine releases the body and unfurls it's feelers, ready for another victim.
>Names vary on region: Red vine of death, Death's Touch, Lady of Pain, Oh God Don't Touch That You Idiot
>>43834564
>Some people of questionable morals/sanity harvest Death's Touch for it's neurotoxin and acid. Harvesting is difficult and highly lethal, but generally worth it if you're crazy enough to do it.
>DT neurotoxin is one of the most deadly substances known to the inhabitants of the dungeon. In small doses, as little as a few drops in a drink, it paralyzes and kills by suffocation.
>Larger doses cause muscle spasms, increasing in intensity as the dosage is increased. Large enough doses-drinking a shotglass of it- causes muscle spams that can tear muscle from bone.
>Survivors are also less intelligent and less aware of their surroundings, seemingly half asleep. This indicates brain damage.
>Thankfully, it can't be absorbed through the skin, which makes handling it relatively easy.
>Barbed arrows with hollow cores are a common delivery mechanism for those willing to sacrifice subtlety for lethality.
>DT digestive acid is more spectacular, but less lethal. 'Less' being somewhat relative.
>It digests anything organic into a mushy consistency. Wood, leather, flesh, doesn't matter.
>Strangely, it doesn't corrode metal or rock. At least not noticeably.
>DT flesh is also immune. DT gloves are practically mandatory for handling DT acid, assuming you care about your laborers.
>It(seems to?) lose it's digestive qualities when boiled down. This has led to 'exotic' cuisine using the acid to soften otherwise inedible hard fruits. Preparation of these dishs is incredibly delicate, as a misstep(or malevolent cook) can lead to active DT acid still present in the meal, with bloody results.
>>43828608
Why can't we just mine our way out?
>>43837843
Do you have pickaxes, wood for supports, and an idea of where you're going?
Have at it.
>>43828608
And then some asshole uses Iron Heart Surge to immediately end his confinement in The Dungeon.
>>43838036
I cast Summon Nature's Ally 3 and summon a Thoqqua. I tell it to start digging in the direction of up.
>>43838099
>Crawling straight up through hundreds of metres of 1 foot wide, blistering hot tunnel
Have fun with that anon. And that's before taking the duration of SNA into account.Also the rock is filled with the ghost of prisoners past
>>43838087
>Iron Heart Surge
The confinement is the natural state of the prisoner. Wouldn't work.
>>43838099
The digging noise attracts a large predator, roll initiative.
>>43837843
>>43838099
Digging up could be a decent sub-plot. There's a camp/village who use their labor to dig a passage to the surface. They've been going at it for years. They use mush-tree wood as support. Their miner have started dying one after another in a strange fashion - burned to death - the party must investigate.
>>43839227
Add in a religious angle; the miners are all descended from people who were sent to the dungeon in the last century or so and have created a cult of the surface light.
The note reads:
"We have found what we called The Green. Deep in surface canyon, the river reflects sunlight, filtered by a canopy of green leaves. Giant trees, wild grass and surface creatures abound on this place. We thought we had found an exit. We should had known better. Nothing can be allowed to leave."
On the rocky walls, that last line is scribed with charcoal, over and over again.
> Nothing can be allowed to leave.
> Nothing can be allowed to leave.
> Nothing can be allowed to leave.
What if... the mega-complex was a genius loci?
It doesn't interact with the prisoner until they try to escape via unconventional means, and will do anything to keep its existence a secret.
