scadgrad wrote:I've ran this idea by Djeryv and he gave it a pass, but I still think a randomly generated empty room tool would be nice and quite useful in my estimation.
I would be interested to see such a thing from anyone who "claims" to pull this off with reasonable results. Even if you took the AD&D DMG at the precise dice rolls, the dungeon would be quite chaotic if you roll that it is "clear" on one room and then "steamy" in the hallway...or a result of a "gusty wind" in a small room. The unexplained sounds is another issue...you better be ready as a DM to explain where they are coming from and what is actually making the sounds. The main issue I have is that I work with geomorphs to create the maps I use. If you use them, you would notice that it is a mixture of caves and square rooms. It would be annoying to have a cave come up with bedroom decorations. These dungeon dressing listings really seem more of "ideas" than a practical way to decorate a dungeon. I have seen one site that uses these to generate random dungeons. I can't remember the link but they actually have the nicest one yet. They generate a random dungeon map (no caves...just rooms/halls) and fill each room with traps, monsters, treasures, and decorations (I think they give you choice with Basic D&D and some other game system for treasure/monsters). The problem I have with the results is that the dungeon doesn't make sense to me...and I know the players would be just as confused and pulled out of the setting because of it. So good luck to whoever pulls it off. As for me I decorate around the map and monsters within it. If the room has a giant frog in it...I might say that the room (I choose whether the room was a bedroom, kitchen, jail cell, etc) has water on the floor with a caved in ceiling where you can see the swamp above. Something to explain why the frog is in the room. I also write descriptions with the randomly generated traps in mind. I want the players to have a room described that gives clues/hints about potential dangers and not reduce it to...
You open the door and see a room that is misty with bones, rags, shelf, fire pit, candle, pot, and apron in it. You hear splashing coming from somewhere.
...you end up writing more to this anyway...I would hope.
- Djeryv