Frayed Knights Dungeon Design Principles Blog, Part Three and Four

Since we last checked, Jay Barnson has posted two more of his “Dungeon Creation Rules” blog posts, here and here, further elaborating the principles that govern the Frayed Knights’ dungeon design. Here’s a couple of interesting tidbits:

#12 Sleeping Areas

A large dungeon should contain at least one area where the party can sleep for full fatigue removal. This does not need to be unlimited it may be an area that can only be used two or three times until it is discovered or otherwise no longer safe. This saves the player a boring trip back to town just for the sake of a full recovery, but it should be out of the way enough (past patrols and random encounter areas, etc.) that getting there and back again is a non-trivial chore and not something the player can do without thinking about it.

#13 Role-Playing Encounters

Any dungeon of medium size or larger should have at least one encounter that involves dialog and some kind of choice on the part of the player. One choice option may end in combat (actually, all choices could end in combat). The dialog may not have to be with an NPC it could simply be the party vocalizing the decision and options. The thing here is that it should not be a right / wrong decision, or a (lawful stupid vs. chaotic psychopath) type of choice. It should be a choice between legitimate options, an approach to solve a problem that is more of a case of the player deciding on a course of action. All options should be justified (or at least amusing). Even though it is a comedy (or maybe especially because it is a comedy), moral or ethical quandaries work well here, allowing the player to decide what is the greater of two goods, or the lesser of two evils. Or it can simply be a case of letting the player decide how subtle or direct they want the Frayed Knights to be.