If you were the bad guy

[Zippomcfry]

Hi,

I'm running a evil campaign inspired by way of the wicked and will soon arrive at the point where the Pcs will spend several months in their own dungeon.

I want to exploit the reversed view on being in a dungeon. I already have hero wannabes trying to loot the dungeon, betrayal, a bulette trashing the place and goblins coursing havoc.

I would however love to hear your take on the problems that might rise for a bad guy stuck in a dungeon.

Thank you very much

[~Valkyrie~]

Ooh, this is a very interesting idea. I feel like I would need more specific information in order to give a good answer. What is the purpose of the dungeon? Is the dungeon trap heavy? Is it labyrinthine? Are the goblins and bullette there as part of the dungeon, or did they just show up and start causing havoc? Things like that are things that you would want to take into account in planning this.

[Turin the Mad]

The basics - food, water, environmentally comfortable. Of utmost importance as the cleric/oracle/caster providing food and water can get killed. Dungeons are "typically" rather damp and moldy places, although WotW may address this particular concern.

Boredom and cabin fever are next. Not many people handle being underground for prolonged periods very well. They'll want/need to get outside to picnic, breathe fresh air and get some sun. Well, assuming they're more-or-less human.

Boredom is the biggest problem. Typically characters can only put so many hours a day in doing "work", perhaps with another half day for miscellaneous tasks. Presuming that they rest and 'recharge' 9 hours a day still leaves anywhere from 3 to 7 hours a day they will be doing something.

Of those 3 - 7 hours, an hour a day seems likely to be spent dealing with "mundane stuff" like basic personal hygiene and simple things of that nature.

What do they do for 2-6 hours a day?

[Guru-Meditation]

Read a good book?

Scry on people?

Watch Bloodsports of the lesser inhabitants?

Research, preferably of the Evil kind.

[VRMH]

Close off the entrances to the dungeon, and smoke/flush/burn the "heroes" out.

[Mathius]

Even at low levels.

Have more then 1 exit. Use locks, locking a door is a move action while it is at least a standard break it. Picking takes a min.

Secret doors are great a low levels.

If can breath water make certain areas accessible by water only.

If have energy resistance then make make it hot or cold. Acid and electricity are hard on the furniture.

Beads hanging for the ceiling will help reveal invisible creatures.

At midlevels

Have room with no doors to dim door as a fall back.
Undead do not need air so do not have it.
Vamps have gaseous form so lots of gratings makes good sense for them.
Teleport trap and private sanctum are good ideas.

If your PCs do not have these then exploit it.

[Drogos]

Well there's negotiating with minions and potential minions. Obviously a party of 4-7 would not be enough to defend a dungeon, so they would need to negotiate with minions. Perhaps they go around to nearby evil minions and subjugate or bribe them by performing a task for them. Even if the players plan on just using undead and mindless servants, you still need to gather materials and trap creatures to serve as protectors. Real BBEGs use wave after to wave of enemies to wear the heroes down so they can kill them with less effort. Those minions don't just show up in the hallways and start working together, so the biggest part of dungeon management ought to be minion management.

[ElterAgo]

The big things tend to be trust and reliability. As soon as an evil campaign starts, most players tend to shift into one of two polar opposite camps.

Either:
The players tend to expect everyone else to behave LG, but of course that is silly. "I haven't actually done anything evil to them so they will be loyal to me."

OR

The players assume everyone (including the other players) is out to stab them in the back and become completely paranoid.

[Corvino]

Just because you're stuck in a dungeon the world hasn't stopped turning. How will you keep an eye on your foes and micromanage your schemes?

There are all sorts of ways and means to this end: Scrying, Spy Networks, venturing out yourself, hiring mercenaries etc. Any one of those can be a story hook in itself.

[Melvin the Mediocre]

You could have another evil overlord keep stealing minions away either by luring them with better food/accommodations/slaves or by physically stealing them. Something could also be raiding the food supply or tainting the air.

For a sillier shtick, you could have the kobolds or hobgoblins unionize and demand better pay or voting power in the running of the dungeon. Even if it is not a silly campaign they might group together and demand payment of one form or another.

If they have mixed races of minions, have them war or skrimish or bring petty complaints to the PC's from time to time.

Mining collapses could occur requiring resources or mini adventures to rectify. Traps might wear out, secret doors with over use begin to show obvious signs of wear.

A lack of hygiene by some minions or monsters might have to be dealt with for the safety of all residents.

Do any PC's need to make sacrifices? Perhaps periodic surface raids are in order.

Intelligent monsters like dragons or illithids might have discovered the dungeon and are now trying to take it over or use it as a feeding grounds.

[Omnitricks]

If I was an evil person I would make my dungeon a resort world.

The adventurers wouldn't expect it one bit. Why would they? They will be caught off guard, somehow follow the flow and when all is said and some be in debt with me for services rendered and their trips to the casino.

Try and stiff the bill? Thats why I have bouncers. Better yet, since everything is legitimate I'll just send the local guard/paladin order on them.