Dungeon Ecology, or Orc Poop

[Witterquick]

I'm thinking of taking 0one's "Dungeon Under the Mountain" and outfit the rooms. For those who don't know, the DUtM is nothing more than huge maps (eight letter-sized pages per map) without any room details at all.

I run a pretty crawl-heavy campaign, but I'm always wrestling with the "dungeon ecology" issue. To put it another way: what are six orcs doing in a 20' by 30' locked room all day? Waiting for a bus? What do they eat? Where do they relieve themselves? So I always end up putting in outhouses and pantries and all sorts of other rather mundane rooms into my dungeons.

But how important is this to you? Does it all need to "make sense"? How much does it all have to hang together? When I'm looking at filling out 200+ rooms, I start to wonder how much of a ecological system is really required.
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[Julian Grimm]

I never really have worried about full on ecology. I usually include a kitchen, pantry, bunk area and privy for show only and go on from there. I never really had time to fully fix and ecology issues and they never have came up in my games.
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[Treebore]

It matters to me, but not hugely. I've thought of using their dungeon too. You can make an ecology work by creating factions, giving them their own routes to the surface, and having clerics to supply them with food and water.

Using a lot of undead, fungus', oozes', constructs, etc... can help with ecology questions as well. Even Trolls. Trolls make a great regenerating food supply.
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[ssfsx17]

This issue just might have something to do with why all the monsters are often referred to as "foul" denizens of the dungeons, and why they are always depicted as having dark skin.

They're covered in the stuff.

[Barrataria]

Witterquick wrote:
To put it another way: what are six orcs doing in a 20' by 30' locked room all day? Waiting for a bus? What do they eat? Where do they relieve themselves? So I always end up putting in outhouses and pantries and all sorts of other rather mundane rooms into my dungeons.

But how important is this to you? Does it all need to "make sense"? How much does it all have to hang together? When I'm looking at filling out 200+ rooms, I start to wonder how much of a ecological system is really required.

I commend you for making some effort at all. Remember to put empty rooms and unoccupied bed/sleeping chambers. As for privies, if there are humans or effete races (maybe mind flayers? drow?) I think they would have them. I think the humanoids would have a privy cave somewhere. Trolls? They just go wherever.

I think it's harder to justify ecology in megadungeons than in smaller complexes. Include big grottoes that connect to different areas, have streams and waterfalls that run through, etc.

In general, I don't pick nits where the author has made some provision. If it's a 6 room dungeon and every room is an orc guardroom, that isn't so good.

BB
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[Witterquick]

Right now, I'm going with the following "food chain":

vermin eat refuse

humanoids eat vermin

oozes eat humanoids

oozes die quickly of natural causes

I've gotten the "outside encounters" and the first few rooms of the DUtM1 finished. Perhaps I'll post a preview.
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[jamesmishler]

Just a point that I developed some time back about dungeon ecologies... this is why you would often have a room in the dungeon that had access to an underground river. When the dungeon is initially created and occupied, water is collected in buckets and such where the water flows into the room, and refuse is dumped from chamberpots and the like at the point where the water exits the room. Slaves were used to perform both functions.

In some cases, a "bottomless pit" discovered during construction can also be used as a midden... and as a form of entrance for foul creatures from below!

Then, too, if you are dealing with dwarven delves, they can build a pipe system to bring water from the source to several fountains throughout the dungeon, and sewers that pipe used water and refuse out... but these are rarer, as they can be dangerous if broken! Flooding in a dungeon gets ugly quickly!
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[Omote]

In my own head, I try to figure out the ecology of the dungeon as I design. With the massiveness of Dungeon Under the Mountain, there will no doubt have to be some innovative ways of making the dungeon ecology. Honestly, it might be better to just "wing it" for DUtM... especially if you are trying to connect all 7 known levels.

Great product though. Love 0One games.

-O
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[serleran]

If ecology is important to the dungeon, then I make it important. Otherwise, I don't really care.

[CharlieRock]

I added a janitors' closet once. A 5x5 room with shelves, a bucket, some rags, and soap stains over all. The players spent fifteen minutes tearing it up looking for a nonexistant secret door. I finally had to show them my notes to get them to leave it alone. "I hit the shelves. Okay, I throw the bucket against the wall. Okay, I tap all the walls. Okay I hit the walls. etc."

I also once added a latrine room. It was basically a 5x5 room with a small hole that led to a rune of annihilation. (or was it sigil? the one where you touched it , go bye-bye) Instant Poo-B-Gone right?

They threw the halfling down there to look for treasure.
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[Treebore]

CharlieRock wrote:
I added a janitors' closet once. A 5x5 room with shelves, a bucket, some rags, and soap stains over all. The players spent fifteen minutes tearing it up looking for a nonexistant secret door. I finally had to show them my notes to get them to leave it alone. "I hit the shelves. Okay, I throw the bucket against the wall. Okay, I tap all the walls. Okay I hit the walls. etc."

I also once added a latrine room. It was basically a 5x5 room with a small hole that led to a rune of annihilation. (or was it sigil? the one where you touched it , go bye-bye) Instant Poo-B-Gone right?

They threw the halfling down there to look for treasure.

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[Julian Grimm]

CharlieRock wrote:
I also once added a latrine room. It was basically a 5x5 room with a small hole that led to a rune of annihilation. (or was it sigil? the one where you touched it , go bye-bye) Instant Poo-B-Gone right?
They threw the halfling down there to look for treasure.

Best use of a hafling ever!!!!
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