Last-Minute dungeon generation

[talysman]

I've been fiddling more with quick random generation of dungeon floorplans and have the start of what I think could become a nifty way of doing it. Posting here (and my blog) for feedback.

This post will just cover tunnel systems and doors in tunnels. What's behind doors comes later.

1. Start with basic tunnel section (60 feet long.)
2. Roll 3d6 and read each d6 separately for side exits: 1-3 = North or West side of tunnel, 4-6 = East or South side of tunnel. Doubles or triples are doors, otherwise, each d6 represents a side passage.
3. Roll 3d6 for each unmapped end of the tunnel section and read each d6 separately to see if the tunnel turns, branches, or continues: 1-2 = turn left, 4-5 = turn right, 3 or 6 = continue straight. Triples indicates tunnel ends in a door.
4. Repeat for 60-foot tunnel section created by this procedure.

Each door, of course, would be checked to see what's behind it, but that's something I'm still working on. For Step 2 (Side Exit roll,) doubles and triples can represent different kinds of doors (by default, standard doors and heavy doors.) There's also ways to modify the steps for different dungeon themes.

(I developed this originally for a series of tiny semi-random dungeon pamphlets I made. Each pamphlet had four possible standard rooms and four possible special rooms, and the d6 rolls inserted some variety to make the dungeons reusable.)

[talysman]

Continuing the procedure...

Doors

Anytime doubles or triples are rolled for the side exits in a tunnel, that exit is a door rather than a passageway. Most of the time, doors lead to rooms rather than another tunnel.

Roll 2d6 for the Exit Destination. If doubles 5s or double 6s are rolled, it's another tunnel heading in the door's direction. Otherwise, check the Common Rooms table for your intended dungeon theme. Sample table below.

2d6 Roll	Room Type	(If Doubles)
2	-->	Collapsed floor
3	Jail cell(s)	--
4	Food prep or storage	Farm or kennel
5	Lair/Living Area	--
6	Storage	Special Storage (Armory, Library, etc.)
7	Monument/Statue	--
8	Killing Chamber	Flooded pit
9	Guard/Defense Point	--
10	Crafting Area (forge, lab)	Tunnel
11	Debris/Abandoned	--
12	-->	Tunnel

An optional procedure is to use two different tables for Exit Destinations, based on whether the Side Exits result was doubles (Common Room) or triples (Rare Room.)

Room Size

The size of a room is at least 15 feet by 15 feet. This is taken from the length of a base tunnel section (60 feet) divided by three, the maximum number of side passages along one side of a tunnel section, which gives us 20 feet of space for a room, but we need to allow for wall thickness. However, rooms can expand into empty areas as long as they don't intersect or connect with existing dungeon structures. For example, rooms along the North or South side of a horizontal tunnel can be extended North or South, becoming 15' x 30', 15' x 45', and so on, or they can extend East or West if there is no room or side passage occupying that "exit slot". Increasing the tunnel section length increases the potential room size as well.

Room Exits

Roll 3d6 and read each d6 individually as the location of an exit. This works like the Side Exits roll for tunnels, but the numbers represent walls:

1. North Wall
2. East Wall
3. South Wall
4. West Wall
5. Exit Down (stair, ladder, etc.)
6. Exit Up (stair, ladder, etc.)

Each wall only has one exit by default, including the door leading into this room from the originating tunnel section. Just like the Side Exits roll, doubles or triples indicate a door in that wall, while d6 results that don't match any other dice indicate an open doorway. Roll for what each exit connects to using the Exit Destinations table(s).

[tkdco2]

Cool! I'll try it out sometime.

[talysman]

Sept 2, 2021 17:12:44 GMT -6 tkdco2 said:

Cool! I'll try it out sometime.

Let me know how it works out for you!

Also, if you think of any room types you'd like to see, let me know. I plan on developing several tables for different dungeon themes.

[Starbeard]

Excellent work. I really like the gamey Yahtzee approach.

Unless I'm reading something wrong, it seems like the dungeon would be rather busy. More than half of all rooms would have at least 3 exits, and 1 in 4 would have the max 4 exits. And every 60' section would have multiple intersections or doors. It does seem excessive to me, but—But!—I don't think that is necessarily a point against, it just unfolds a particular type of dungeon. Not all dungeons should look the same or use the same design principles.

For example, I can see a module, say of a wizard's tower or minotaur's labyrinth, where walking into a certain section of the map leads you into this randomized dungeon. Every time you enter it is procedurally generated anew, and the only way out is to explore your way off the page and back into the "stable" part of the dungeon.

[talysman]

Sept 9, 2021 11:40:34 GMT -6 Starbeard said:

Excellent work. I really like the gamey Yahtzee approach.

Unless I'm reading something wrong, it seems like the dungeon would be rather busy. More than half of all rooms would have at least 3 exits, and 1 in 4 would have the max 4 exits. And every 60' section would have multiple intersections or doors. It does seem excessive to me, but—But!—I don't think that is necessarily a point against, it just unfolds a particular type of dungeon. Not all dungeons should look the same or use the same design principles.

Thanks!

I'm not as worried about number of exits/doors, but I did spot the large number of intersections when I did some testing, which makes for a very maze-y dungeon with few rooms. I updated to a (pseudo) drop dice version yesterday on my blog:

Last-Minute d6 Dungeons: Drop Dice Version

Summary of blog post: Roll 3d6, one dark-colored and two light-colored dice, for tunnel side exits, tunnel turns, and exits from rooms. Read each d6 in order to find positions of exits in order. Dark d6 helps interpret directions of tunnel turns. Result of each d6 is looked up on one of three Exit SubTables (triples, doubles, or loose d6 results.)

The "dungeon themes" that I mention would change the look of a dungeon level or subsection by tweaking the standard rules.

• Standard section length can be increased from 60 feet to 90, 120, or 180 fee to create levels with more sprawl and greater distance between exits/doors.
• Number of dice can be lowered to 2d6 to make exits rarer, or increased to 4d6 to make them more common.
• Dice can be kept at 3d6, but non-matches can be ignored to make exits much rarer.
• Exit table entries can be change to fit particular themes (wizard dungeon, necropolis, insect tunnels.)

This is an idea I'm still working on, so I haven't created specific themes yet.