best published funhouse dungeons

[tetramorph]

We have a couple of good threads going on best published player base for a campaign, and also for which are the best published mega dungeons.

I have fun in megadungeons, but they are not my main thing. What I love is what is called "funhouse."

What are the best published funhouse dungeons out there?

From back in the day, I have played but not yet run:

The Ghost Tower of Inverness TSR
White Plume Mountain TSR

I own but have not played or run:

Tegel Manor: Judges Guild

From austinjimm 's Scribes of Sparn I have played and run:

Tomb of the Sea Kings
The Castle that Fell from the Sky

I have played but not run:

The Contemptable Cube of Quazar
The Odboxx of Zoforon

I have run:

The Kringle Castle Invaders

What else is out there I need to know about?

Fight on!

EDIT:

Also: I have played in but never run:

Palace of the Vampire Queen, Wee Warriors

[grodog]

Jul 31, 2019 13:25:36 GMT -6 tetramorph said:

I have fun in megadungeons, but they are not my main thing. What I love is what is called "funhouse."

What are the best published funhouse dungeons out there?

What else is out there I need to know about?

Some classics to check out:

- Gygax's two Alice in Wonderland adventures EX1 and EX2, and the Gygax/Kuntz S3 too, for that matter
- Kuntz's Maze of Zayene modules (you can still pick up the 1980s versions for $10 each from NobleKnight)
- Kuntz's Bottle City (Black Blade )
- Kuntz's Dark Chateau (Troll Lords, but only if you can put up with their atrocious editing!)
- The Abduction of Good King Despot by Will & Shar Niebling (New Infinities 1987)

More recent ones:

- The Spire of Iron and Crystal by Matt Finch (if you can find the version with the original Mullen cover that's the one to pick up)
- Ghost Ship of the Desert Dunes by Jeff Talanian (ASSH; all of his advnetures are good, though so you should browse @ www.hyperborea.tv/products.html and pick out what catches your eye)

I'm sure some more will wend their way into my backbrain while sleeping tonight

Allan.

[geoffrey]

Jul 31, 2019 20:59:58 GMT -6 grodog said:

Kuntz's Bottle City (Black Blade )

My favorite module ever.

Jul 31, 2019 20:59:58 GMT -6 grodog said:

The Spire of Iron and Crystal by Matt Finch (if you can find the version with the original Mullen cover that's the one to pick up)

Does the version with the original Mullen cover have different content, or simply a better cover?

[Deleted]

Temple of the Frog, in any of its installments, needs to be up there with the best; it's not my style, and the sense of humor of playing froglings is surely somewhat limited - but overall, it's entertaining, a bit over the top, and, yet, challenging - which is how I'd define a "funhouse dungeon".

There is also another one that I think fits this category, but I've forgotten it's name: "The Keys of Tirandor", perhaps?

[grodog]

Aug 1, 2019 11:19:49 GMT -6 geoffrey said:

Jul 31, 2019 20:59:58 GMT -6 grodog said:

The Spire of Iron and Crystal by Matt Finch (if you can find the version with the original Mullen cover that's the one to pick up)

Does the version with the original Mullen cover have different content, or simply a better cover?

A vastly better cover =)

Allan.

[tetramorph]

Jul 31, 2019 21:04:52 GMT -6 Piper said:

I've always enjoyed running the dungeons I've written the most. I ran a few JG products BitD, and I liked using a Keep on the Borderlands and Village of Hommlet inspired starting area for beginners, but overall about 85% of my campaign was custom generated. I never saw the point (back then, I feel I bit differently now) in using other people's work at my table. I see published works as a way to break the mold and challenge my own design tendencies.

Yes, Piper, I agree.

I only run modules that floor me. Otherwise, I mine them for material for my own creations.

This is not because I am SO AMAZING.

In fact, quite the opposite. I run my own stuff rather than other's because of the amount of work. When I make something myself it is mine, I own it, and it is already within the fabric of my imagination.

If I write: "level treasure, trapped, hidden, 3 orcs," then, when playing, I can make up a whole room coherent with the dungeon and perhaps even the campaign location, even world, from my brain. I will know how to describe the room. And I am much more comfortable winging it. As I was noting it, I had no idea what the treasure was in, how it was hidden or the nature of the trap. As the players explore the room I "see it" in my own mind. After they deal with the orcs, I go over to Josh's online od&d random generator and hit treasure for that level. Then I describe the room, "There is a bench with some scraps of orc loin cloths on it [my attempt at dungeon humor. Sorry.]" "We look under the cloths and bench." "There is a small wicker casket under the bench up against the wall." "I pull it out." "Make a save." There was contact poison smeared into the wicker. I am able to do this all on the spot. All from jotting down the above description prepping the day before or day of if necessary.

Now, imagine I am using a module. I read the SAME description in the module (and this is really possible, especially in well written ones that don't try to think for me and bore me with unnecessary text. See, especially Judges Guild stuff for this) and I HAVE NO IDEA what is going on. I do not have the dungeon and its world already in my mind, so I cannot build on the details in the same on-the-fly way. Instead, what I must do, is study the absolute heck out of it. At least two, if not three close, note-taking readings. I have to list all the major monsters / NPCs on separate sheets, cannon fodder on another. Why are they here? Relationship? Etc. Only then can I do with the dungeon description -- same one, mind you -- what I could already do with it when I quickly threw off a dungeon key.

So, really, it is about cost-benefit analysis for me, and, frankly, my players. It is about diminishing returns. My players benefit more from faster play, a less confused and more confident referee, than they would benefit from all the gee-whiz how-cool whizimigorfins, BRAND NEW MONSTERS ™, CRAZY NEW TREASURE ITEMS ™, unbelievable backstory, carefully crafted clues, etc.

So I usually mine modules for ideas. Especially for tricks and traps a bit less so. I am always racking my brain for cool tricks so borrowing those is a real relief. You know, instead of geomorphs (I've got Dyson Logos for that now -- and I use his maps all the time) on the one hand and M&T Assortments on the other, I would most benefit from an amazing book of TRICKS. Something like a Grimtooth's of tricks instead of traps. But, even there, my campaign has a certain flavor. So sometimes it is hard for me to really figure out how I could port someone else's trick into my world/dungeon because of this subtle differences of vibe and sense of what counts as fun.

Here is what I need in each dungeon my players go into. Per 6 room unit:
One treasure guarded, usually by the level denizen.
One treasure hidden or trapped (or both).
One monster, perhaps random or even unique.
One crazy funhouse trick.
One room with clues about one or more of the above.
When I stick to the above formula my players seem to keep coming back.

So the module has to be absolutely AMAZING, super fun, jaw dropping for me to use it. And then I still study the heck out of it, fit it into my own campaign setting, "make it my own," etc. Sheesh!

I often have no idea what people mean when they say that modules SAVE them time and work! It feels opposite to me.

Fight on!