Labyrinth Design Thread

1. Labyrinth Design Thread

   #1

   Just out of curiosity, how shall we go about this task? I, for one, have no access to a scanner, so I'm wholly unable to produce maps for anyone... However, given a map I can produce descriptions, encounters, traps, and treasures for the entire mapped region...
   
   ...Should we divide it into two groups, one being the mappers, the other being the 'fill in the blank' group, with the mappers who wissh to being included in the fill-in group?

2. Labyrinth Design Thread

   #2

   There's that Dungeon Crafter software (and many others), that can make nice maps per computer, and there are many others.
   
   Am still not sure whether we use some actual maps... there is magic if you have to imagine the world...
   
   For now, divide and unite yerself as ye see fit, with myself benevolently ruling over ye (just having no ideas to show off :roll:).

3. Labyrinth Design Thread

   #3

   Well you could use the drawing tools in Word or something like that for maps (that's all I used for the maps I've posted on this site). Even ASCII would do... :twisted: But I think the crucial thing will be to unanimously decide on a setting, then split the dungeon up into different areas each of which can be tackled by an individual DM, obviously discussing the ideas as they go and posting them up for other DMs to view. After that we can draw maps.
   
   We could start that now if you wanted! We need to discuss the history of the Labyrinth! We need to decide on the whims of its creators: were they keen on a particular architectural style? On difficult puzzles or hideous traps? What kind of creatures did they prefer...
   
   ephemeralstability!

4. Labyrinth Design Thread

   #4

   Sounds like a plan.
   
   Will wrench my brain for ideas. Have some school in-between. Will it help? I guess not. :(

5. Labyrinth Design Thread

   #5

   History for the Labyrinth
   
   Sources of Dungeons:
   
   [*]The Dungeon Worm :wink:, a widely accepted source of dungeons.
   Positive: any weird layout possible, easy mapping.
   Negative: we don't need a new dungeon, we need old, dusty passages leading somewhere, hewn corridors changing into cavernous passages, without size limits, no easy mapping
   Usage: Problematic, but possible.
   
   [*]A tomb or gravesite.
   Positive: good for any killer-traps, for no innocents will be harmed (until they enter), Undead and magical constructs possible, horrible curses included
   Negative: too limited, little space for creatures to roam, many enclosed rooms or parts
   Usage: not as a whole dungeon, could make one part of it
   
   [*]Underground of a building(s), or (former) sewers
   Positive: rich history, much variability, water at hand :)
   Negative: limited to the needs of those that constructed them, some parts formerly connected to outside may not be directly accessible anymore
   Usage: one possible 'base' of the Labyrinth
   
   [*]Caves/Caverns
   Positive: may be really vast, space for many exotic creatures, rich fauna and flora, more cave-ins possible, natural enviromental hazards
   Negative: not artificial, no good for more sophisticated traps
   Usage: may make a good 'base' for the Labyrinth
   
   [*]Dungeon as base/lair for someone/something
   Positive: easier to apply a 'theme', clear purpose of building, house(d) a distinct group of people/monsters
   Negative: not necessarily small but limited in size, only one group at a time, little variability
   Usage: part of the Labyrinth
   
   [*]Civilised Underground (Dwarwen cities go here)
   Positive: greater chance of friendly folks living here, much loot if not
   Negative: possibly numerous hostile inhabitants
   Usage: another possible 'base' or part of the Labyrinth
   
   
   
   Yet it is named a Labyrinth. Why did we call it so, anyway?
   
   A Labyrinth presumes many twisting passages, intersecting and dividing, until you get lost... and something eats you in the dark. :wink:
   
   A Labyrinth also presumes purpose behind its creation. It may be strange, mysterious, even completely unknown, but there WAS a reason to create it. (Or not?) Those that wander its halls, seek the answer as they seek the treasure. Why is it here? Why does it have this design, this layout? What is that little button on the wall? Aaaargh...splat. Dead is he that asks too much.
   
   We want lots of space. We want everything possible lurking behind the corner. We want variability.
   
   - A once great city burned to the ground, its basements, secret passages and sewers still existing.
   - A city built completely under the ground, now monster-infested.
   - Vast cave-systems with much life, some parts inhabited, or connected to other dungeons.
   
   
   What do we choose then?

6. Labyrinth Design Thread

   #6

   Don't forget that there's a mapping thing-a-ma-doodle in the Alchemy section.

7. Labyrinth Design Thread

   #7

   Given the presence of magic, and the nature of the Labyrinth, I'd actually think it to be an immense, magically-constructed maze of unusual nature, possibly stretching for miles on a side...

8. soul labyrinth

   #8

   maybe if the labyrinth is made of the souls of all the thing that have died inside, if you do that you have an ednless labyrinth made of the adventurers and monsters souls and the body can remain in there as a undead .a soulless undead

9. Labyrinth Design Thread

   #9

   And maybe in that labyrinth every time a group of adventurers tries to get to the end and they all die there the labyrinth changes or gets extra monsters

10. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #10

    Perhaps the Labyrinth is the dream-spawned creation of some sleeping diety or elder being, thus making it an ever-shifting reality. Maybe those that die in the Labyrinth become a part of this deranged area, maybe even being absorbed by the sleeper or something.

11. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #11

    yeah the dream of an old one or the nightmare thats cool
    
    sound like the soul forgers or soul forge of that game of white wolf " wraith"
    
    the soul forgers get the souls to the soul forge and make with them items and part of the labyrinth .

12. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #12

    Now that's a source for a dungeon!
    
    Anothere reason why NOT to go there... you can die easily anywhere, but your soul usually travels to the afterlife (or insert appropriate mythos here).
    
    Certainly, some souls won't be collected/caught, and they roam freely through the Labyrinth as it is separated from the rest of the world. Another monster, but also an NPC. However angry and dangerous, most can speak yet and can be a valuable source of information. Sadly, some turn mad and cannot be reasoned with. And some look for a new body...

13. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #13

    i like that idea manfred is like hell but is cool
    maybe the people of that region punish their criminals and just make them go inside the labyrinth is like a prision or something like in that movie army of darkness when they make ash go inside a pit with a demon inside maybe the pit is the only entrance for the labyrinth and they promise to them that if they can escape the labyrinth they would be free but even the king and the people of that region dont know if there is a exit :twisted:

14. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #14

    That's what you can meet except strange and/or undead beasties:
    
    A hardy criminal, not (yet) killed, walking this fiendish maze and striving to survive.
    
    Others that were sent inside, or went freely. They may be friendly or not. Hunted people, that cannot return to the 'normal' world. Freaks. Madmen. Friendly deformed guys. All folks that usually live outside society, but are even more distant to the common folk.
    
    Usual example: A wizard or psionicist, with powers (s)he cannot control completely. which mere presence may hurt others.
    
    Of course, all these folks have to be fit to survive the labyrinth, or have at least the luck to survive for long enough to meet adventurers.

15. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #15

    Ooogh. I just spent 7 hours last night makin maps for a labyrinth of my own...

16. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #16

    The idea which occured to me while I was working on that six-part map: multiple mazes, all interconnected by teleportation portals, each randomly depositing the party somewhere else in the labyrinth's winding mazes... A truly lucky group might step from the entry maze t he ending maze - but more likely they'll visit each section several times, never knowing if they've just entered a section similar to ones they've been in before, or if they're revisiting old sections...

17. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #17

    Maybe if the party gets the bright idea of making marks so they know where they've been (and it's almost a sure thing someone will think of it), denizens of the Labyrinth, or the place itself, changes or removes those marks, thus creating even more confusion... And yes, this was inspired by the rat-like things in the movie Labyrinth (fitting, no?) who did just that.

18. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #18

    just like the movie when the girl mark something a little goblin turns the part where the marks is
    
    you see the movie labyrinth with david bowie as the king of the goblins font you? :wink:

19. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #19

    There is a mediocre game for the Playstation 2 called Wizardry that has given me an idea:
    
    The dungeon is a warped region of reality which is drawing other realities into it. For instance, it may be layered, and one layer is a graveyard, the next, a mine, the next, a castle, and so on.

20. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #20

    There is a mediocre game for the Playstation 2 called Wizardry that has given me an idea:
    
    The dungeon is a warped region of reality which is drawing other realities into it. For instance, it may be layered, and one layer is a graveyard, the next, a mine, the next, a castle, and so on.

    
    
    i used to play that game on the nes back in the 80s is a really weird game hehehe 8)

21. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #21

    How about something more internally consistent than that. For instance, a labyrinth based on the four elements: it has a continuous theme without becoming tedious. You could have themed creatures and traps, each section looked after by an elemental mage or beholder (I do like those eyes!).
    
    ephemeralstability!

22. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #22

    ...Why not a five, six, or eight-element theme?
    
    Five: Wind, Water, Fire, Wood, Metal
    Six: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Life, Death
    Eight: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Holy, Daemon, Life (spirit), Death (void)
    
    Or intermix the elemental type. Picture a region where the five-element system's Wood is mixed with the eight-element Fire - a maze of flame-shrouded wood. Or Metal and the eight-element Void - a maze of bone-chilling metal walls, with strange unliving creatures of dead flesh and frigid metal roaming the halls...

23. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #23

    Elemental themes are a cool idea. Doesn't have to be restricted to them though, use them as major themes when they get there and have everything else in between.
    
    I picture an almost gauntlet type labyrinth. Don't necessarily have to "clear the level" but maybe there could be a few parts that require the retrieval of a key or something.
    
    Could lead them on a puzzle path as well perhaps. Somewhere in the first levels they find a bottomless decanter or something. They will have to use that to defeat the fire level, there they find something to defeat wind etc etc. They aren't forced in any path, but if they find the fire portion before they have the item that will allow them to defeat it, they are sort of out of luck. Not saying kill them, but make a impassable fire wall or something that forces them to go back and find the 'key.' They will have to remember how to get back etc. Just some thoughts.

24. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #24

    :lol: Why is this thread starting to remind me of the dungeon levels of Zelda games? :o

25. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #25

    Maybe I should have played Zelda at some point. Would probably get the Gauntlet parallel out of my head.

26. Labyrinth Design Thread

    #26

    I saw a rather cool game that was played online called Faith. What is cool is that you did not have to donwload any program or file it was all run by the internet explorer if you want to check it out it is in:
    www.dragonclawstudio.com/faith
    maybe you can base your game on that one

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