Welcome to Shol Lomenar, the abandoned kingdom of the Elves! Most dungeons are horizontal. Since the dawn of dnd and Gary Gygax’s Castle Greyhawk levels, dungeon maps have been flat. The levels are stacked on top of each other like layers of cake. Previously, I talked about #Dungeon23, here is a sketch of the first few months of dungeon rooms.
What if we thought of this a little differently? Andy Duvall (@DuvelmanDice) created an amazing resource of dungeon designing tools. “How to Design a Great Metroidvania Map.” really grabbed my attention. (Metroidvania is a genre of game inspired by Metroid and Castlevania) Written by the creators of Hollow Knight, they lay out the concept that inspired The Halls of the Elven King’s map layout.
First, in Hollow Knight, the deeper into the dungeon you go the deeper beneath the surface you are. Instead of my levels being stacked on top of each other like flapjacks they are glommed onto one another. The further these rooms are explored the deeper into the earth the players will be.
Secondly, in a metroidvania game, you constantly retrace your steps and discover new pathways as you unlock new powers. In my dungeon there are a series of portals that can be connected and secret tunnels built by dwarf artisans. There are secret messages only visible to dwarves (the builders of Shol Lomenar).
Let’s take a look at the map I started sketching out on a huge sheet of graph paper. It resembles a flowchart or a point crawl. The squares and rectangles represent encounters and chambers of various size. The lines represent thin bridges stretching over yawning expanses and twisting hallways carved from natural caverns that are so large that torchlight cannot reach the ceiling.
Random Encounters While Traveling the Twisting Halls
- Party of 1d7 Beastman Hunter gatherers. (Roll for Beastmen type: 1. Goatman, 2. Dogman, 3. Sheepman, 4. Bullman, 5. Pigman, 6. Horseman).
- 1d4 Cursed Ones. They are on the prowl and hungry for fresh flesh. They’ll trade information for fresh meat.
- Elf Specter. It doesn’t seem to notice you’re even there. It just wallows in despair.
- Something has spun a massive sticky spider web 20’ across a deep canyon.
- An ancient dried up corpse. 75% chance it’s a dead elf. 22% chance it’s a dwarf riddled with arrows. 3% chance it’s dead adventurer. They probably have some cool stuff.
- Dr. Thresh P. Mono, gnome merchant, has been traveling through these halls with his cart for months. He thought it would be a shortcut. He’ll trade you 250 gp of his goods for a drawn map to the nearest exit. (The players have to draw a map and turn it in.
- A portion of the bridge crumbles beneath the weight of centuries. One player with the lowest initiative must make a DC 12 Reflex saving throw or fall 100 ft. The bridge is still usable.
- The bridge crumbles completely beneath the weight of centuries. All players must make a DC 12 Reflex saving throw or fall 100 ft. The bridge is no longer usable. (The party might be cut off completely unless they can come up with a plan to traverse the expanse).
Christopher Willett is the author and illustrator of AEON: Ancient Greece and the Ziggurat of the Blood God, coming soon to Kickstarter. He also teaches high school World History and Current Events. Follow him on twitter @gnomemaster.
