How to make this dungeon more interesting?

[toxicpie]

It's a dragon's lair underneath a mountain, with hollowed-out subterranean tunnels, and at the moment it just feels like a combat-fest. I've added cave-ins and poisonous plants and slime, but I'd like to add some traps or puzzles. However they wouldn't really make sense, because the dragon wouldn't really me dexterous enough to build and mount traps, and I'm not sure how to inplement puzzles in a cave...
Any help would be really appreciated!

[Terquem]

Is the Dragon the only inhabitant? If you've got some secondary creatures, things that might be ignored by a dragon that keep the place clean or otherwise can avoid the dragon's attention, one of my favorite tactics is to have several passageways that loop around and come back to themselves with nuisance monsters that harass the party, escape down one tunnel and then come at the party again from another direction. If the party gets fed up with this and tries to chase down the monsters it can become a real cat and mouse chase (and chase cards could be created for this).

[toxicpie]

Oh there are a lot of secondary creatures, yes. I'm trying to make it so they'll level up after the dragon boss.
CHASE CARDS! Fantastic, exactly what I needed thank you! I also like the idea of the circling passages. I was thinking a having a monster steal an item from them and running away, forcing them to chase it. Do you know of any monsters that have a tendency to steal (APL 4)

[El Baron de los Banditos]

Though a jerk move to use in a chase scene, Quicklings have always been one of my favourite. Just block it off with something it can't get through, or just gets murdered at the end by the dragon (thus ending the chase scene with their item still technically recoverable.)

Alternatively, kobolds. Kobolds have a penchant traps, use guerrilla tactics and might want to offer a dragon "gifts." Either throw them in stock and with numbers, or make an npc kobold with a few mooks; whatever you think would work best.

[Mike Franke]

Dragons are one of the smartest creatures out there. A dragon could definitely create traps if it wanted. Most likely a dragon also has minions such as kobolds who just happen to be great at traps. So whether the dragon is doing it itself or its minions are doing it traps are perfect for a dragons lair. When you think dragon think mastermind. Anything a smart human could come up with to protect its home a dragon certainly could and would do the same.

1. I would start with an alarm system either physical or magical.
2. Simple traps such as pits or chasms the dragon can easily bypass but humanoids can't. Remember it can fly.
3. If a water type flooded chambers that must be traveled threw to reach the lair, it can swim and breath water.
3. Complex traps such as darts, spears, blades, statues that breath whatever element the dragon is immune to (fire for red, etc)
4. Magic such as guards and wards for magically inclined dragons or those with magical servitors, illusions, areas of total darkness, etc. Dragon senses negate most things.

Play up the dragons immunities and abilities. That what smart creatures do.

[moan]

One Suggestion is that the Dragon, Could have some kind of Cult or Tribe as Worshipers, Kobolds would love building traps just an idea
but could be any monsters really or even Human(oids)
And I am sure the Dragon Would´nt mind be treated as a God especially if its worshipers was bringing it treasures and food.
Maybe some dragon disicples same color as the dragon would fit in nice here,
Puzzles are a bit more tricky but could be something as simple as a magic mouth spell on a door that gives some kind of riddle and would only open if answered correct.(just be sure there is anoter way around so it don´t ruin the entire sesion can the players not get it right)

Or you could have a floor covered with letters one letter a square having the party guess some password (a simple one could be something like Welcome or passage but anything they have a fair chance of guessing could work)steeping only on the correct letters, or something would happen, Could be anything from a monsters summons an atack the players til a silent alarm goes off some where, or the player in question is turned into stone, cursed or whatever.
The dragon could have done the puzzles, the might have been there from ancient time as some kind of test to join whatever cult or maybe they are just there because the dm decided it, just a few very quick ones without knowning anything about the group much about the adventure or anything else.

[Alarox]

You can create puzzles formed from the cave-ins.

[Matt Thomason]

toxicpie wrote:

Oh there are a lot of secondary creatures, yes. I'm trying to make it so they'll level up after the dragon boss.

What kind of secondary creatures?

Are they intelligent? Are they automatically hostile, and is there a way to turn them friendly - so they could work out as either an advantage or disadvantage depending on the PC's actions. Do some of them resent the Dragon's presence and are therefore willing to help get rid of it? Or perhaps they want to replace it and will turn on the PCs as soon as it is out of the way?

Have any adventurers come along before, and if so what remains of them? Have they left any clues about what killed them and how to avoid it?

What's the hook to get the characters here in the first place? Is a nearby village under threat from the inhabitants? Perhaps there's even someone whose best interests are served by it not being cleared out, or perhaps there's someone that would like the PCs to look for something else while they're inside, such as an item they lost there before fleeing or a rare herb that only grows in the deepest cave.

[Terquem]

Also, never forget Kahn's weakness!

(I’ve used these in underground settings so many times, that it is embarrassing how well it works.)

Have you ever been in actual limestone caves?

Most DM’s over look the use of three-dimensional tunnels. Tunnels that go up and down and often connect above and below where the players are standing.

One of my favorites is to have a low wall separating the level that the players are standing on from a level a few feet (five to ten) below them and to the side. The party will take note of this but usually ignore it, then a side passageway curves down and away from the passageway the characters are in to the opposite side, curves in 360 degrees and arrives on the lower passageway (the characters then, unless they have a character with stonecunning, have a difficult time realizing that the place they came from is now over their heads, and monsters can harass them at will from above, if the characters have become confused).

[Mazlith]

How about you put in eco system of creatures living in the mountain. They have underground farms, hatchery, few traps but generally peaceful society stuff. Then the PCs come in smashing around and before they know it they are the monsters. PLOT TWIST!

[Mike Franke]

You know what you don't see often anymore...hatchlings. Make em fierce and tough. Or how about a hatchling swarm! Your players will never have seen that before!

[Chief Cook and Bottlewasher]

Kobold minions. Kobolds are excellent miners and trap-setters, and are proud of their claimed draconic ancestry, so easily believable as fanatically loyal to a dragon

[VRMH]

A few Symbol spells here and there can liven things up too.
Or maybe the ghost of a previous explorer.

[Melvin the Mediocre]

Nothing makes a cave more interesting than a bi-weekly disco night. Do the whole works, Disco ball, roller skates, and a DJ with two turn tables and a microphone.

And for the puzzle, http://nowherecollective.net/2011/09/29/puzzles-in-roleplaying-games-guide- links-and-resources/

You could also have some trickser type minions that will ask riddles. If the players answer correctly, they get some information of whats ahead as a reweard. If they don't answer, the trickster might set of a trap, steal an item and flee, or just dissapear.

[RedDogMT]

Have a set of caverns with old cave drawings. It could be a puzzle leading to an old, primitive tomb. There may be a little combat, but it would be more about using skill checks and PC smarts.

[Lincoln Hills]

Expanding on that, an old cave temple (with a hallow or unhallow effect) can be of interest either as a side zone or as the dragon's final lair. Haunts or undead related to the temple are optional. (A dragon subject to occasional possession is an idea there.)

[RedDogMT]

Expanding further, the old tomb (or temple) could be from a small group of dragon worshipers that have long since died out.

[toxicpie]

I really can't thank you all enough, every one of these ideas is brilliant (especially the disco ball one ;D). I can't address everybody individually, but yeah, so many ideas to use and play around with for future dungeons. :)
You're awesome, guys!

[Chemlak]

My wife believes that the best way to "make this more interesting" would be to include signs that say "Cake, This Way" and graffiti scrawls proclaiming "The Cake Is A Lie". Oh, and random pits.

Personally, I don't disagree, but from a GMing perspective, you can't go far wrong with water, sumps, very narrow passageways, and since dragons can fly, chimneys are always an excellent problem for groundbound adventurers.

To go with other "dragons ain't stoopid" points, consider the following:

A black dragon whose sleeping chamber can only be accessed by swimming through a small acid lake (be nice, don't make it 20d6 per round damage).

A blue dragon that simply buries itself and it's treasure. After all, it's not really a problem for a creature with burrow.

A green dragon that lives deep inside a will-o'-wisp-infested forest cavern. The wisps will love the effect of the dragon's fear aura.

A red dragon whose lair is a solid rock in the middle of a lava-lake.

A white dragon that lives on an iceberg which is heading for warmer climes, and starting to break apart.

At the end of the day, my trick is to come up with some situation, but don't create the solution myself. That's the players' job.