Help! Noob GM question about Dungeons


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Hello, How is every one? Ok I for some time have been wanting to run a pathfinder game with my gaming group. And am Having a REALLY hard making a good encounter or dungeon. I have made a couple of Dungeons before but they have either been three rooms that all look the same or a temple that is kinda "on rails (like pretty much telling them where to go)" Also I need some help on making the actual encounter, like what they are fighting or stuff like that. I kinda am having some trouble figuring the APL or CR. some background info there three of them and we are starting at lv one. the characters they just made are a goblin bow fighter, a gnome bard, and Dwarf Barbarian. They choose to all be Chaotic neutral. So with that said what should I have them do, because there not "good" or "Evil" and at the start they hate each other. So any help tips or anything else would be great, thanks.

P.S. Sorry if this is in the wrong forum.


Maybe they've all been locked up in the same prison cell, and have to work together to get out of their cage, and subsequently, prison. Along the way they meet some helpful, and maybe not so helpful NPCs.

Have the prison a "sandbox", different paths getting out of their situation, so they're not being railroaded.


you can use gnolls there great every one hats them as far as good and evil . all so there every where so you dont need a dungeon you can fight in open fields, havening the party hunting them down for the gold at the gnoll camp rather some dungeon. there a great building bocks for a new dm (or gm) and it all was help to read up on your mobs be for hand
good luck


Hello to you and well met.

If it is the wrong place, I'm sure some helpful soul will be along shortly to shift it into wherever it's meant to go.

As for 'making' a Dungeon? Might I suggest trying to find some pre-loved ones out on the internet? Failing that I do know there are quick, free random delving dungeon generators around on the inter net.

As for any 'back story' behind WHY the Dungeon is there? That's always the hardest creative part.

Hope those little bits help. Glad to see you and wishing you the best of luck.

Cheery-O!


A batch of Chaotic Neutral would be awesome for a city or twon encounter with competing mercenaries, cutthroats, thieves, etc.

As far as dungeons go, there are a plethora of them out there. I am gearing up to run an oldschool dungeon called Orc's Nest that was written for OSRIC for Pathfinder. The premise? The characters were finding lost sheep when they see that the sheep have been taken into a hole in the side of a mountain. Wicked looking bootmarks are easily seen in the mud accompanying the prints of the lost flock. Once inside, the dungeon has many branches and the players drive the action from there.

The beginning scene will need to be set up, from there allow the players to move the story forward, with a few nudges here and there.


Hey Blahface,

When I'm making an adventure and I'm stuck, sometimes I look through modules for ideas. Not just the main ideas, NPCs, room\town layouts and writing style.

If you have even 3 modules that you respect (d20 is nice but any game is really possible) you can learn alot by considering how experienced writers did it. Try and look for structure and challenge types. WOTC still has a bunch of free adventures for 3.x and there are lots of sources on the web. You can use a module and never run it - setting, characters, are all there for you to reuse from your own module for your table.

The WOTC DMG and DMG2 have some good articles, especially the DMG2. The pathfinder section is a good read for power levels and the mechanics of this game but don't ignore old sources.

When in doubt, put yourself at the gaming table in the parties shoes and run some challenges. Remember CN is usually still in favour of life and freedom. Think about what type of players you have and what would rock their world.

At least a third of the information you need for a good adventure is written on your players character sheets already. You have the benefit of a small tight audience work from them and their backgrounds.

I hope this is helpful. Everyone has moments when they're looking for inspiration.

good luck

- Sigurd

Liberty's Edge

In some ways, Neutral parties are the easiest to motivate. Just imagine them as fantasy versions of Mr. Krabs from Spongebob Squarepants.

"Gold! Glorious gold! All mine! Mine mine mine!" They may kill each other over the loot, but that can be fun too. (And wow, am I up too late...)

If you're just starting out, you might be better off using a pre-made adventure, or even just looking over some of the pre-made ones and stealing ideas and maps from them.

You can find a bunch of free ones >here<. They are for 3rd Edition D&D, not Pathfinder, but they are close enough that you should be able to use them right off the rack with almost no trouble (although you could always use the conversion document if you wanted to be precise).

Also, don't worry about your first few adventures being "on rails." This is a hard thing for even experienced adventure-makers to overcome, and a lot of the time, it's not that big a deal. As long as you don't make your map as a single line, you'll be okay.
Some map-making advice: when you're drawing rooms and what-not, think of what the room was designed for. Was it made, or did it form naturally (a cave)? Dorms and private rooms will obviously be smaller than communal rooms. Audience chambers or temple centers will be grander than most - perhaps semicircular. Don't be confined to straight lines and rectangles! Hexagons, octagons, circles, semicircles, alcoves, pillars, daises, steps, balconies - spice things up.
Think about the layout of a building such as your house. Not everything is a straight line; rooms and hallways branch off. In most houses, there are "loops". For example, a door leads from the living room into the study. Another door leads from the study into the hallway, which leads to the kitchen. A door in the kitchen leads back into the living room. You get the idea.

Figuring out the actual encounters, ie. "what to fight" is another tricky part. Goblins and kobolds are great low-level dungeon enemies. They aren't very difficult to overcome, and they are always moving into abandoned mines, caves, cellars, ruins, etc. and using them as nests.
You can also easily give one of them a level or two in a character class and make them the "boss", or simply use a larger monster like a bugbear or some hobgoblins. Hobgoblins tend to boss goblins around anyway. Just come up with a goal or reason for them being there.
Are they building a base so that they can start raiding nearby towns? Maybe they came here looking for some sort of magic item supposedly hidden here, and they haven't found it yet (maybe it's there, maybe it's not). Perhaps they were kicked out of their tribe, and are now trying to remain hidden from their former fellows. Remember that not all bad guys are allies - perhaps there were some drow already living here, and they've been fighting with the goblins since they arrived (not to mention the handful of carrion crawlers, which were here before any of the others).

All sorts of things are possible. Read through the Pathfinder Bestiary (or whatever monster book you have access to) and read the entries of creatures with a CR of less than 3 or so. See if those descriptions strike you in any way.

Furthermore, don't forget about traps and puzzles and other challenges. Your fighter and barbarian probably just want to hit things, but your bard would probably like it if some of the bad guys were able to be charmed, or reasoned with, or if he was able to bluff his way around them. And everyone loves getting hit with a good trap now and again. Even a good old fashioned pit trap can do wonders - it might not do much damage, but it gives the PCs a chance to use their skills: jumping over, climbing out of, searching the bottom for dropped coins, etc.

Wow, I went on a lot longer than I intended to. I hope that's helped, and if I can be of service in any other way, don't hesitate to ask. :)


Hmm, let's try what we can achieve with the info you've given... just a little thought construct adventure. Let's start with a classic.

The PCs are sitting in a wayside inn at the road through woods. The evening slowly passes when a merchant rushes in and after having something stronger he explains what happened to him. Four masked goblins had just robbed him and ran away into the woods! Two of the guys drinking here actually hate goblins and take it as an opportunity to vent their aggression. "The goblin is a spy for the robbers!"

Tadah! First encounter on the way. Let's use something pathetic (You have a group of lvl 1 characters, so the APL is 1 (well, keep in mind that you have only 3 characters, so You should subtract 1 from that amount later) and these two probably have CR 1/4 each, but you can award the XP based on roleplay this time IMO) - two human commoners, both drunk and unarmed (-2 on most checks and attacks, but quite resistant to intimidation and persuassion (diplomacy), +2 against the PCs instead). The catch is in what means will the PCs use to neutralize this threat. Will they prove level headed and calm the aggressors down, or will they have to pay for broken furniture and be thrown outside...

The Merchant may approach the PCs (although with different attitude) anyway and ask them to bring his possesions back and offers a reward. If the PCs weren't destructive, he may talk the innkeeper to give PCs some healing potions.

After getting where the merchant has pointed them and searching for clues. They quickly find a trail leading toward a small cave nearby. The entrance is a crawl, but deeper inside the passage is rough, but otherwise easy to walk through, if sometimes slippery (let the PCs roll against some low DC, 7 perhaps for ballance. You wouldn't believe what fun can the PCs have with slipping and making noise serves you later).

Down bellow the passage opens to an empty chamber with a few stalactites, columns and rough floor (wannabe natural caves are the simplest thing to make, just draw something like a potato and throw in some columns, 2 or 3 to larger chambers like this one, oh and of course one or two passages exiting the chamber). Let the PCs scout around a little, and perhaps find the remains of one of the goblins, who was eaten by the actual threat of this room (and it also serves the PCs as a warning). This chamber is actually a lair of a Darkmantle, that just moved in and surprised the goblins (a tough fight for inexperienced players, roll initiative as soon as the players find the corpse and give them a chance to spot the monster before it attacks or clouds them with darkness two stealth vs perception checks they'll be ready and perhaps a litle scared, yet still unprepared for what this monster can do , be careful to target someone who can survive at least one round against it's attack, surprise kills are no fun). CR 1 monster

After finishing the fight and probably some healing the players will explore the other pasage (or two). One will invariably lead them to a small room (roughly circular) with three to death scared goblins (shaken codition). CR 1 total, but the condition will make it a bit easier for PCs if they are already beaten, it's up to you to decide whether to use it or not. Whom the PCs can either talk into surrendering or fight. The room also contains merchant's possession, as well as some treasue (mostly goods and silver coins). The other room may be empty, but the PCs may find a cheap gem or perhaps somethign more valuable, if they are craftly. A hole with human bones below (a fool who fell down while exploring the cave with some jewelry and gear still intact - climbing, ... some amulet fallen in a hole too tight for goblin arm to reach...).

Hope that it will help

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / General Discussion / Help! Noob GM question about Dungeons All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in General Discussion