tldr:
- Someone to talk with (NPCs)
- Something to do/experiment with (Puzzles, magic items, obstacles, etc.)
- Meaningful decisions (More one what makes a decision “meaningful” below)
One of the reasons I write reviews is to help myself figure out what makes a good adventure. I’m starting to figure it out.
Arnold K has a “checklist” of things every dungeon should have:
- Something to Steal
- Something to be Killed
- Something to Kill You
- Different Paths
- Someone to Talk To
- Something to Experiment With
- Something the Players Probably Won’t Find
The post is well worth a read, both for designers and for GMs to help decide which dungeons to run and which to skip, or how to improve a dungeon that’s almost but not quite good enough to run. Arnold has good thoughts on each of these elements and how to make each of them more interesting.
Most dungeons have the stealing and killing part covered, and I’m not too worried about different paths or things players won’t find. What really grabs my attention is “Someone to Talk To,” ie NPCs, and “Something to Experiment With,” ie stuff for the PCs — and by extension the players — to do besides combat.
I would add to Arnold’s list: Meaningful decisions. This is actually a theme that runs throughout his post but he doesn’t give it its own checklist item.
Let’s take a look at each:
Someone to talk to
I don’t have much to add here beyond what Arnold wrote, but it’s very helpful to give some information about how to personify an NPC, what their motivations are, what they want and don’t want, etc.
Slumbering Ursine Dunes does a really good job of this, describing the major NPC’s relationships to other factions and giving examples of how they talk. Operation Unfathomable is also quite good in this regard.
Something to do/experiment with
Things to do/experiment with can include several overlapping categories:
- Puzzles
- Traps
- Obstacles, barriers
- Items
- Natural surroundings
- Architectural features of specific spaces
- Weird stuff (Arnold provides a bunch of great examples)
Examples:
- The automata in Stirring the Hornet’s Nest at Het Thamsya or The Alchemist’s Repose.
- The underground lake full of crocodiles in N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God (or the river full of crocodiles in Warlock of Firetop Mountain, which proves you can make engaging non-combat encounters even in a solo module).
Meaningful decisions
In my view, for a decision to be meaningful, it should be consequential, non-arbitrary, and preferably non-binary.
I say consequential because the decisions need to matter. I don’t mind the occasional quantum ogre to keep things on track (I’d say they’re ok to use occasionally if it makes the game more fun for everyone), but player decisions have to matter.
I say non-arbitrary because choosing between going left or right at a fork in a tunnel can be a consequential decision, but it’s arbitrary if there isn’t a reason to choose one over the other. On the other hand, saying “Webbed footprints lead to a fork on the left. You feel a cool breeze from the fork to the right” gives players a chance to reason about what decision they should make.
I say non-binary because if a creature attacks automatically, the players only really have a choice of running or engaging in combat. You can argue that creative players will come up with other options, but whatever. The point is, if you enter a room and a creature doesn’t attack right away, the PCs have a lot more options: stealth, disguise, trickery, negotiation, and bribery are added to the list, along with “violence” and “retreat.” Not every decision in an adventure needs to be non-binary, and it’s not a big deal if some some decisions are arbitrary choices between door number one and door number two, and I’m sure there are times that non-consequential decisions are fun. But there need to be some decisions that are all three.