Generators Guide to Dungeons (Updated)

"A wide broken statue in a dark cliff side marks the entrance to this dungeon. Beyond the broken statue lies..."

Find out what tools and random charts there are for visualising, detailing and expanding your Dungeon. Description above from a dungeon description generator at Fantasy Name Generators

[Photo by Elena Maffioli on Unsplash]

Disclaimer: I'm an affiliate for DriveThru RPG and DM's Guild

Starting Points for Dungeon Gens

Dungeons have evolved since they first showcased the roleplaying game of D&D. There is a story behind many of them, and certain sense in them. Mega-dungeons like Undermountain or Rappan Athuk stand beside the 5-room Dungeon and other developments.

For a solo rpg game of random dungeons, D100 Dungeon is a good option.

One layout to be aware of is the Five Room Dungeon, which can be used to make a dungeon (or other adventure), playable in one session. Gnome Stew has an old article detailing 9 forms of the 5-room dungeon.

Related Guides include Dungeon Maps and Random Dungeon Titles.

Updates...Jan 2024 - removed broken links, refreshed gens & images

5 Dungeon Random PDFs

Here are a few pdfs of random tables for Dungeons. Taken from the full list of Dungeon PDFs.

GM's Miscellany: Dungeon Dressing (System Neutral) from Raging Swan Press brings together lists to fill out urban areas from smaller titles
Caves are covered with Pink Dice Bag Publishing and the Cave Generator with 16 tables to detail those caverns
The Random Dungeon Room Generator is written by Kent Kelly with an old school look. It has a generator and many tables for creating unique dungeon rooms
The Dungeon Builder's Deck from AAW Games has 114 double-sided poker-sized cards of dungeon maps.
Inkwell Ideas has Sidequest Decks: Dungeons, Caves, & Ruins Fantasy, 50+ cards with dungeon plots and encounters.

Dungeon Overview

Maze of the Destroyed Witch. Point of the Secret Serpent. The Voiceless Cells. The Bellowing Tombs.

...from Dungeon Name Generator at Fantasy Name Generators

A good name can help or hinder a dungeon in the same way as it can a character. If it's a cave complex then "The Colorless Caves" or "Stratdover Overhang" are suggestions from the related cave name generator.

DNGNGEN creates a dark fantasy dungeon overview, meant for Mork Borg but works for most fantasy dungeons! Magical Gurll has the opposite vibe, and includes a Fantasy Dungeon Adventure brief description.

For something more involved Sersa Victory at Itch has Cyclical Dungeon Generation pdfs to download.

I've written some random tables for 5-room dungeons here on Rand Roll.

Filling our dungeons with monsters are 100 Interesting Dungeon Encounters from d/100 on reddit.

Dungeon Maps

Maps for dungeons is a large topic that has a guide to itself.

First of my favourites is One Page Dungeon from watabou which creates a dungeon and annotated descriptions.

For an underground settlement, the Fantasy Town Generator at donjon has an option under "Environment" for Subterranean settlements.

Dave's Mapper is a tile-based map generator that can handle dungeon, caverns or both at the same time. Double click on an artist to create a map with just tiles of their art.

Traps and Obstacles

"There is a magical ward in front of the character. Before they trigger it, they might notice the faintest of odors left by the painting of the glyph. Once activated, the magical ward will conjure 5 poisoned arrows to fire at the character."

...from Dungeon Trap Generator at 5thDnD.com

To challenge characters without monsters or npcs a dungeon creator can turn to traps, puzzles and other obstacles. Whether they maim, kill, frustrate or provide clues they are important in a well-rounded dungeon

Try one trap from OMGM, which has settings for purpose and level (D&D) or ten at once from donjon.

100 Riddles and their answers from DnD Speak gives a different type of challenge.

Doors

"a locked bone door. It has a built-in mirror"

...from a simple Dungeon Door generator I made at Chartopia

A well-presented door can bring a group of adventurers to a halt, no matter how powerful they are. The thought of "what might be beyond?" can play on their minds.

There are 100 Interesting Dungeon Doors at DnDSpeak,

We have a secret doors from donjon. Or a magical portal from Chaotic Shiny

You might like a special key for the door from Springhole too

If pdfs are your thing try The Incredible World of Doors and Locks or a trapped deadly dungeon door (pdf)

Dungeon Dressing

A skeleton head laying upon a pillar in the center of the room.

... from at 100 Dungeon Dressings at DnDSpeak. Which also has 100 Interesting Statue Descriptions and Dailed Graffiti

Rooms and caverns need things to interact with, such as the Dungeon Object at Chartopia. So try a bodies chart from the Dungeon Dozen.

Auto Roll Tables (under the Dungeon tab) has all sorts of dungeons and ideas. There are several tables with dungeon dressing at r/DnDBehindTheScreen on Reddit.

And something to put on any surface try some graffiti from donjon a few mystic runes from Chaotic Shiny.