Dungeon Defenders

Much of the standard fare of D&D involves the PCs delving into lost dungeons, crypts, lairs, or other various underground locations in an effort to clean and clear it of the evil creatures within. Once they have reached whatever Big Bad rules said location, and have hopefully defeated it, they then merrily gather up the loot and head out to the nearest tavern for some well-deserved R&R.

Do they ever give that location a second thought afterwards? Rarely.

Here are a couple of suggestions on how to flip and extend that tired old encounter.

Scenario 1

The PCs battle creatures and evade traps along one of many paths to get to the heart of the location, where they fight and defeat the Big Bad.

Or so they thought.

That large crystal embedded into the Big Bad’s throne? Upon his death, Big Bad’s soul went into it to patiently wait out until the PCs leave, and he can re-manifest in a few weeks and begin his reign of terror anew.

Good news: the observant mage in the PC group notices the crystal, and divines its purpose. Looks as if destroying the crystal will permanently destroy Big Bad.

Bad news: the crystal is immune to all forms of direct damage. The only way to destroy it is by performing a 12-hour ritual, during which time the mage absolutely must not be disturbed.

More bad news: once Big Bad’s soul entered the crystal, it triggered the major protection spell he had active throughout the location. Magically-hidden doorways and / or portals open up at various points, and release another horde of creatures into the location, all of whom begin slowly advancing towards the heart of the location.

The PC’s role suddenly switches from dungeon attackers to dungeon defenders. It’s now up to the them to decide how to establish and execute a defensive plan for the next 12-hours.

Scenario 2

The PC’s, along with a brigade of the Queen’s elite soldiers, have infiltrated along separate paths to get to the heart of the location to defeat the Big Bad. The PCs accomplish this mission, of course. Thankfully, more than a few of the Queen’s elite also make their way successfully to the heart of the location.

As in the first scenario, the Big Bad’s dead man switch is triggered, except now the PCs have an advantage with the Queen’s elite. The PCs can now direct those soldiers to cover specific entrances, while they either lead or support the soldiers at their points, or rally directly around the mage performing the ritual.

In either scenario, leave some very subtle clues the PC may keep in mind about how they can better plan to stay alive after the trap is triggered. Make Perception rolls when a trap is being inspected, and if highly successful, have the inspector notice that the trap can be easily and quickly reset. Have successful Detect Magic rolls vaguely point to blank spaces of solid wall, where the portals and doors will open once the trap is triggered. Or maybe that quip the bard made about this whole thing being ‘suspiciously easy’ and the seemingly ‘lack of defenses’ causes the group to take some actions before they reach the Big Bad.

How do these dungeon defender ideas sound to you? What ideas do you have, and which ones have you put into play / come up against? Let me know in the Comments below, or send them to me at my Google+ profile (google.com/+RPDMJim), or @RoleplayingDM on Twitter.