Writing What do you need for a good dungeon story.

[MafiaNoble]

What do you need for a good dungeon story? I'm on the bench about starting one as purely a hobby project with potential R18 elements. Although I'm not fully sure about what to go for yet, but what's important?

- Some type of economy - I figured the dungeon would be able to transmutate/generate gold using mana. Used to lure adventurers whose death would generate new mana.

- some leveling system, what unlocks the dungeon at what level.

- Minion scaling - how much mana to summon what monsters, higher levels unlock new Minions, unlocking special biomes may unlock special Minions ( Sea floor = aquatic, Vulcano/fire = fire monsters. Forest = dryad's and treants etc.

- some type of Guardian or boss spawn mechanic.

- optional: a way to contract wild monsters which is cheaper then the summoning mechanic.

The idea is inspired on " a dungeon that kills " meaning it'd go more in the direction of a dungeon master progressing his dungeon. It'd like to give it more of a economical focus.

What else would be necessary or interesting?

 

[DismaiNaim]

Maybe write the dungeon from the dungeon's POV and kill off all the adventurers

 

[Rad622]

If you're willing to spend a bit of money I might suggest the wolf King's Lair by Devin Drake

 

[Bald-san]

How about a dungeon that doesn't suddenly spawn sheet, like they have to transfer all tools of their traps, vegetation, learn magic to maintain them, brick for brick

 

[MafiaNoble]

Maybe write the dungeon from the dungeon's POV and kill off all the adventurers

There are quite a few dungeon cores books, I personally think a dungeon master is more interested. As in, someone that works together with the dungeon cores or owns it.

That'd allow it to be active outside the dungeon (potentially interact with the town or whatever forms outside of it). I saw this in " a dungeon that kills " and honestly like that approach a lot more then the typical dungeon cores story.

If you're willing to spend a bit of money I might suggest the wolf King's Lair by Devin Drake

I'll make sure to look it up.

 

[DismaiNaim]

How about a story centered around the players, told through the eyes of their characters. Lilke you could have an elf sit down with a half-orc about to beat up a monster, but taking a break first to talk about some final exams coming up in differential equations that he's nervous about.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

Some type of tentacle monster a.k.a. danger noodles. They come in many flavors, but grape is my personal favorite.

 

[MafiaNoble]

How about a story centered around the players, told through the eyes of their characters. Lilke you could have an elf sit down with a half-orc about to beat up a monster, but taking a break first to talk about some final exams coming up in differential equations that he's nervous about.

Could be a POV change or something along the chapters or perhaps that the dungeon master outside the dungeon gets to know adventures who we then see trying to raid his dungeon.

" A dungeon that kills " does this as well, it's pretty nice.

 

[Zagaroth]

Well, first it requires the same thing as any other story: Interesting characters/people who are doing interesting things, written with sufficient skill. There is also the matter for personal taste for the type or style of a story.

For me personally, murder-holes are just as boring as murder-hobos, so I want a dungeon story that does more than that.

As for types of dungeons, there are endless variants, some LitRPG, and some that are not.

In "Dungeon of Knowledge", a natural dungeon is a class type. Specifically, a variant of classes that give you a domain. Having a domain means being able to summon stuff and tends to be very powerful, but you start to get a max health debuff starting from 24 hours away from your domain. Being a dungeon specifically requires the ability to learn new creatures from a feature other than class progression, whether it is deconstructing monster bodies or having your monsters evolve through some method. So, it is possible for a dungeon to start as a species normally seen as a person (human, elf, faerie, dwarf, etc), though whether they are seen as one after they unlock the dungeon class varies by preconceptions.

This one is a LitRPG.

In my own, "No Need For A Core?", they are a type of land spirit/genius loci, and are in fact called Spiritual Nexuses instead of Living Dungeons. A nexus has a nexus core that houses the mind and soul of the nexus, and has some other properties, such as being where the spirits or souls of its inhabitants are held when they are killed, presuming that they die within the nexus's territory. Nexuses also gain the ability to form an avatar as they grow, which means they can interact with other people in a fairly normal fashion, though they are initially limited to the nexus's territory.

Mine is not a LitRPG, and my current editing process is de-gamifying some terminology to make them feel like a more natural part of the world.

What these two stories have in common is the potential to live in symbiosis with the communities and nations around them, or to come into conflict. Like any other sapient entity, they are not limited to one sort of life choice. A dungeon is not just one type of thing, it is a concept with the potential to be many things.

As for the abilities of a dungeon: A) an ability to produce or spawn creatures in some way, B) an ability to create some form of rewards/treasure, C) the ability to learn new types of materials and creatures, and D) a way to grow its territory, with corresponding areas/zones/levels of increasing power.