This has to be one of the greatest articles I have ever read on dungeon design. It is a five part series that shows you how to breath life into any dungeon. “What Jaquays particularly excelled at in those early Judges Guild modules was non-linear dungeon design. The result is a fantastically complex and dynamic environment: You can literally run dozens of groups through this module and every one of them will have a fresh and unique experience.” More importantly, these are rather simple techniques that make a monumental difference. A must read for Dungeon Designers or Module recyclers.
http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/13085/roleplaying-games/jaquaying-the-dungeon
Isn’t it great? Caverns is so good.
This type of design concept is especially important in DW in order to facilitate GM moves. Being able to have enemies “back-door” the heroes, flee, or summon reinforcements all become easier to accommodate. Not to mention the additional options it gives creative players.
I came across this the other night and it blew my mind. I’ve never been very excited about developing large dungeons. I get side tracked with details. I find it hard to let go of ecological logic, complex over-elaborate traps, secrets, hidden features, etc… It just seems like an exercise in madness once I hit a certain level of designer immersion. This makes so much sense to me. If I can let up on some of the more perfectionist aspects of my design practices, I think I can compensate for cool factor with the theories available in this article series =D