magerette
Hedgewitch
- Joined
- October 18, 2006
- Messages
- 7,834
The dungeon crawl is often stygmatized as a boring grind or a mindless hack n slash event that is merely endured to score loot and level characters. But IMO the dungeon can often make the game.
There may be great rpgs out there without great dungeons, but I haven't played any lately. I thought we might reminisce in this thread over the dungeon crawls that were a success and not a boring interlude to be endured. How and why did they enliven the game and which have stayed in your mind over the years for one reason or another?
My short list is as follows:
1. The Temple of Baa (Might & Magic 6)
My first and never to be forgotten. A relatively easy dungeon, but not one to forgive the mistakes of rash overconfidance either. There was no boss fight and meager loot, but acres of tunnels full of rats, spiders, and nasty undead, mixed in with some puzzles and that aura that just says 'you are now an adventurer"
2. The Severed Hand (Icewind Dale)
An upside down dungeon, with levels twisting into the upper regions instead of the abyss, full of hordes of Undead, ghostly not-really-there bar patrons, horrific battles and terrifying monsters(the large skeletal Boneguards in particular creeped me out). I thought the dead shopkeepers were a nice touch.
3. Ravels Maze/the Modron Maze (Planescape:Torment)
These tie in my affections. Two very different dungeons, The modron maze was like an ever changing rubic's cube, baffling and complex and full of challenges in terms of combat and puzzle-unraveling. Ravel's Maze is probably the only dungeon on record that ends in a boss fight conducted almost entirely through the dialogue tree, where at times the adversary heals and rewards you. One of the many facets of this jewel of an rpg.
4. The Asylum/Asylum Dungeons (Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn)
A well-named dungeon, because it could have the effect of making you wish you were in one. The hallmark here is deception, and in many layers. An intricate combination of all the rpg archetypes, the arch-villain Irenicus, the not so harmless crazies, NPC's and plot, combat and confusion.
I know there's many more I've missed. I'm thinking crpgs, but if you have a great one from another genre, feel free to pitch it in the pile.
Also, if you hate and loathe dungeons, feel free to put in the ones you hated and loathed the most.
There may be great rpgs out there without great dungeons, but I haven't played any lately. I thought we might reminisce in this thread over the dungeon crawls that were a success and not a boring interlude to be endured. How and why did they enliven the game and which have stayed in your mind over the years for one reason or another?
My short list is as follows:
1. The Temple of Baa (Might & Magic 6)
My first and never to be forgotten. A relatively easy dungeon, but not one to forgive the mistakes of rash overconfidance either. There was no boss fight and meager loot, but acres of tunnels full of rats, spiders, and nasty undead, mixed in with some puzzles and that aura that just says 'you are now an adventurer"
2. The Severed Hand (Icewind Dale)
An upside down dungeon, with levels twisting into the upper regions instead of the abyss, full of hordes of Undead, ghostly not-really-there bar patrons, horrific battles and terrifying monsters(the large skeletal Boneguards in particular creeped me out). I thought the dead shopkeepers were a nice touch.
3. Ravels Maze/the Modron Maze (Planescape:Torment)
These tie in my affections. Two very different dungeons, The modron maze was like an ever changing rubic's cube, baffling and complex and full of challenges in terms of combat and puzzle-unraveling. Ravel's Maze is probably the only dungeon on record that ends in a boss fight conducted almost entirely through the dialogue tree, where at times the adversary heals and rewards you. One of the many facets of this jewel of an rpg.
4. The Asylum/Asylum Dungeons (Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn)
A well-named dungeon, because it could have the effect of making you wish you were in one. The hallmark here is deception, and in many layers. An intricate combination of all the rpg archetypes, the arch-villain Irenicus, the not so harmless crazies, NPC's and plot, combat and confusion.
I know there's many more I've missed. I'm thinking crpgs, but if you have a great one from another genre, feel free to pitch it in the pile.
Also, if you hate and loathe dungeons, feel free to put in the ones you hated and loathed the most.
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- Joined
- Oct 18, 2006
- Messages
- 7,834