DUNGEON23: What "Dungeon" Means to Different Players Who Are Not All D&D Nerds

 

In part of my brainstorming for #dungeon23 I reached out to three different people I know to get their opinions of on the following question:

Really Random Question: If I was gonna run a dungeon for you or you wanted to show someone whose never played D&D a dungeon, what would you want in there?

Because the dungeon I create for this event is something I want to be able to pull out and run for people get fantasy but maybe are not steeped in D&D or know the exact difference between "trad" and "OSR". But I still want the dungeon to embody several of the quality of good old-school dungeons-- mainly decisions making, while being something that people "grok" immediately. This is why I'm constantly trying design good "french vanilla" fantasy.

PLAYER 1: ~40 yro, 5 kids, working professional, reads a lot of fantasy novels, Battletech versed:

• "A good narrative environment"
• "Choices, problem solving"
• "I picture LotR or Willow"
• "PCs with different backgrounds and skills coming together to adventure to gain kills & wealth"
• Freedom, quests, challenges"
• "I think less about dungeons and more about wandering through woods & castles"
• "Abandon homes left vacant from years gone; war that has ravaged the land"
• "Magic culture receding"
• Monsters:
• trolls
• wraiths
• goblins/orks
• dark elves

PLAYER 2: ~21 yro, enjoys D&D, plays NES retrogames, working through Dark Souls

• "A couple of easy enemy types"
• "Puzzles that are not immediately obvious"
• "Roaming baddie that poses a big threat/different course of action"
• "Options for how to approach things"
• "stealth vs fighting vs diplomacy" (I joked: steal, steel, or stall)
• "I like multi-story tower kinda thing"
• "Or maybe a deep forest maze/mushroom people"

PLAYER 3: ~50 yro, completed Temple of Elemental Evil back in the day, steeped in D&D

• "Abandon tomb or library, something very old and you have to keep pushing to figure it all out"
• "Dungeon should show off a variety of D&D"
• "Want surprises, traps, puzzles, various monsters, and undead"
• "Lot of treasure"
• Monsters, "Not all my favorites":
• skeleton, zombie
• grey ooze, ochre jelly
• owlbear/bulette/otyugh
• giant spider/scorpion/centipede/rats/wolves