Metroid Dungeon Design for D&D
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- What lessons can we take from Metroid dungeon design to create our own for Dungeons and Dragons? Find more dungeon design tips at www.masterthed...
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Another important bit of Metroid philosophy: always, ALWAYS show players the lock before you give them the key! Show them the super hot areas before they get the varia suit, and let them flounder underwater for a while before they get the gravity suit. Show them green doors before they get super missiles. Show them a crumbling bridge they're too slow to run over! Actually, that last one might be a bit weird in a setting where rooms don't reset when you leave. Magic, maybe?
This sounds like a perfect fit for the tavern-crawler campaign idea I had, essentially the party is trapped in an extra dimensional tavern that leads into a massive set of dungeons, meaning the entire campaign would be the one dungeon system
"You meet in a tavern... and never leave it! Bwahaha!!"
I've been obsessed with the Metroidvania game genre lately and just started DMing a new campaign. I never thought to combine the two! Awesome video!
Put what you love in your games.
There was another point in the Draygon boss fight that I think is a really good pointer for boss encounter design. In the battle, there are 3 (with one more already having been destroyed) turrets on the walls. You can destroy them to stop them shooting you of course, but then if she uses her grab attack, you can in turn use the grapple beam on the destroyed turrets, dealing a fair amount of damage to yourself, but then MASSIVE amounts of damage to the boss. Being able to turn the boss's abilities back on them is a great concept to explore.
This surely also works very nicely with normal sized dungeons being connected to larger cave-systems or the underdark.
Or a gigantic ancient spaceship dropped interpreted as forgotten ruins by the fantasy world it crashlanded it
Absolutely. There's no reason you can't mix environments in an encounter.
Isn't that 'Beyond The Barrier Peaks'?
It does raise the question of how the inhabitants of the dungeon are able to survive and traverse their home. Many of them could be extremophiles that are at home in incredibly hostile conditions, but mere goblins living in a sealed room makes you wonder why they haven't starved or suffocated by the time you actually find them.
This is a Chronurgy wizard's dungeon, and the goblins are actually stuck in a time loop, a la "Groundhogs Day". Every time they run out of resources like food or water, the loop resets. The goblins have learned to perfectly dodge each and every hyper-dangerous trap that is continuously going off. IF you can befriend them, they might be able to lead you through the worst of it, but they've also been gaslit on a consistent strain of programmed illusions that spread paranoia and propaganda that further entrenches their belief that they can trust no one but their own team. The world has ended, and this time-looped home is the only thing keeping them alive. This is reinforced by the loss of resources and near-death experiences right before each reset. Or perhaps the worst and most subtle hazards only begin at the end of the time loop. Maybe the heroes will bypass the elaborate trap system. Maybe they'll destroy this abomination against ethical magic. Will they be trapped with the goblins forever? What if other adventurers have already been trapped with them? Has this thrown off the careful balance of the resources? Is it a regular war between factions to be the last ones standing with the limited resources? Are they all just living on borrowed time?
A great break down. What your talking about in Metroid has existed in older versions of Dungeons and Dragons. Great illustration.
Thanks for the heads up yesterday!
Love the mega dungeon design! I'm currently developing a 'Souls like' Rpg for my players, to be the "back up" rpg when one week the session had to be cancelled. So we don't have to be RPGless
The main objective is for this module is to be easy to implement and play whenever that happens. And to be challenging for the players to beat, so it has lots of dungeon crawling and exploration
Oh, that sounds like a lot of fun! If you need extra ideas, check out our video on How to Kill Your Players to keep that hardcore vibe ua-cam.com/video/b6q_TTu55Jo/v-deo.html
@@masterthedungeon hehe thx!
Your videos are so underrated. When I first saw how many subscribers you had I just couldn't believe it. These are quality videos and I find them very helpful. Thank you for still uploading, and I hope you get the viewers you deserve soon.
I never thought of Metroid as a dungeon crawler... but yeah, that checks out.
Huh.
I think it's that way for a lot of space themed games. The sci-fi genre has a lot of dungeon crawlers but they don't really look like what we might think of as dungeons so it's easy to overlook good ideas we can pull for our own dungeon designs.
I'm really digging these design vids. Thanks for making them!
If someone could link an example of a Metroid-style Dnd dungeon, that would be IMMENSELY helpful (and appreciated!)
In terms of a 1-20 style dungeon with unique zones, Dungeon of the Mad Mage is probably the closest equivalent
@@drujo25 Undermountain isn't that interconnected though, is it? I haven't played it, but I thought the levels were pretty independent.
@@GalvatronRodimus yeah, but each of the levels themselves are SUPER huge. Considering all of the ones I've looked at state the squares are 10 by 10 instead of 5 by 5, they're gigantic in scale.
@@bumblebot2458 10-foot squares is pretty standard for a dungeon map.
@@GalvatronRodimus most peeps use 5x5 squares for dungeons, last I checked.
This channel continually proves to me that inspiration is *EVERYWHERE* :D
4:30 This brought to mind a fun magic item I came up with (and how the player rolled with it).
Bracers of the Spider-kin - this set of bracers has a web pattern across them and a small statuette of a spider on the inside of the wrist. They grant their user Spider Climb at will and the ability to produce webs in two ways from the spiders, the uses of this ability equal to their level per hour. A Webline, which can be used to pull the user (or enemies/objects) or to swing; or a standard Web spell effect.
The player who got it went out of their way to get a ring with Danger Sense as a constant effect and a Belt of Giant Strength to live the full Spider-Man experience.
The quality of your videos is exceptional!
It's a mistery why your channel hasn't blow up yet!
This tips are very valuable, thank you so much! 🤗 I'm currently designing a mega dungeon as a kind of Museum of the Multiverse and this video really helped me out to design the big layout and obstacles
I think Metroid is more based off old D&D dungeon design and what you are talking about is modern D&D dungeon design. In old version of D&D there is more of this idea of needing to figure things out and I think that is where the ideas if Zelda and Metroid got its design philosophy.
You can also make it so that they need to be at a certain level to get to a certain point in the dungeon, but not necessarily get to that level while there. This could be a dungeon they can revisit any time but not progress until the reach that level. You can even homebrew a level perk that applies only to that dungeon. That will give you more time make another area and a reminder for them to come back whenever that want.
I just found your channel in the past week or 2 and these videos already have helped my game immensely. You also explain things in a vary easy to understand way that has helped me with my younger players. Thanks for the awesome content and please keep up the amazing work.
Thank you, glad we could help!
I recently found your channel and I have become *obsessed*. Your art style is wonderful, you have a lovely, soothing voice, and your scripts are all so well thought out, clearly communicating these awesome ideas. I can't get enough 😍😍
This is similar to a dungeon I built. The ruins of Cazmodus. Somewhere in the ruins of the ancient town there is a cave that has very valuable flowers for alchemy. The adventure it's self is for starting characters but within the dungeon they'll find things that they won't be ready for till lvl 5 (ie extra attack and dispel magic) I personally like to make my players to to places they've gone before to do something they couldn't at the time saves me a lot of prep work and allows my players to make more emotional connections to simple things if they encountered them separately. This video gives me ideas on better ways to soft block the areas that would otherwise wipe the party.
Great video! Will for sure try this with my next dungeon!
Let us know how it goes!
This is the best video to see the day before I start a new game. Now I have so many changes to do. Thank you
I love this channel, stumbled onto it recently and the bite sized vids with great advice is great. Most other tabletop advice and aid channels have like 30 minute long videos, which is great if you have the spare time but I sadly do not. XD
Also a fun place to take inspiration for this idea, Hollow Knight, its map layout its insanely large but makes sense surprisingly for the most part when you realize what connects to what and even helps in telling part of the story.
MAN this is so great, giving the actual dungeon a character is something I've always wanted to experience as a player in DnD. Might not be able to play something like this, might DM it myself, but the idea of a kind of progressively exploring something like the circles from dantes inferno or made in abyss is hella tight
Very interesting approach to dungeon design that I'd be interested in trying out at some point.
Much stronger design direction and outline in this video than the Zelda video. I've been musing over games such as Myst, Obduction, and Outer Wilds to try and flesh out what ttrpgs can't do that video games excel at, and this video has helped me click some things into place! I think the idea of perilous early explorations are interesting, because you can say set up a route that should be visited later, while still throwing a small reward for the players that want to go for it immediately instead of trying to find something else in the dungeon that will solve their problem.
The idea of the video is great but also I love the art!
I love your videos on the subject! I've been wanting to design Zelda/Metroidvania style dungeons for awhile, and I think you've done a great job of figuring out how to lay these kinds of dungeons out in a relatively system-neutral way. You're very focused on game design itself. Your work is super valuable!
How would you implement Skill Checks in a Zelda/Metroidvania style dungeon? Actually, how would you implement skill checks in any kind of encounter? I always thought they were a little weird, never knew how to use them quite right. Especially when running dungeons based on puzzling and problem-solving rather than a strict combat gauntlet.
Thanks! Huge thumbs up! :)
A good mega-Dungeon idea is an abandoned ancient city, far from a modern town. It has to be at least a weeks travel in game away from the nearest population center, is naturally divided into "zones" (neighborhoods or districts) and can be full of both leftover guardians, environmental hazards, and animals, beasts, vermin, and plants that moved in.
Im new to DM'ing but now i wanna homebrew this for my first campaign. Thank you very much for such a fantastic idea. Im also gonna implement the vending machines into it
This was an awesome video! Got my notes and doodles, time to scribble away a mega dungeon to plop in a dms lap.
There is similar elements in games like Resident Evil. Recursive unlocking and backtracking are key elements to that game, with solving puzzles and finding keys to expand your access to the location being a major part of the gameplay. The enemies aren’t just obstacles to overcome, but tell a story, and in some versions, evolve and adapt. Plus’s, after a time, new and more dangerous enemies repopulate the area, making sure that players don’t get too comfortable.
These are things you can adapt to your own games to help enhance the game experience.
First one of your videos I've seen and I'm already a fan. Commenting here before this channel blows up and gets super famous.
The campaign I’m plannin’ has 3 arcs, each with dungeons that this video would be great for! I’ve really gotten into hollow knight and’ve been thinkin’ ‘bout how to apply that to me dungeons, so this is just what I needed.
Done something like this in Ta Mando for one of our players.
An old temple with ten levels where each level represents thousands of years of cultural and religious history for a civilization now functionally endangered and long having forgotten the importance of this temple.
Several npc's have died in it.
Main party consistently has to leave and come back before using old loot on new rooms.
This was a really good video!
They can mostly leave and come back whenever they like.. Which is good cause it's been so nightmarish at times they've just wanted breaks xD
Good news for me: partway through the video I realised, this is EXACTLY what I want
Alternative to players making a map, you could make or print one and leave all the rooms visible with check marks where they’ve been, or cover all rooms they haven’t been either in or adjacent to.
6:01
This is a certified Merle classic
Considering that VRGR released rules on how to build a Domain of Dread, and that Metroid games are a subgenre of horror, now's a good time to put these design tips to the test.
An exception to this style would definitely be Prime 3 and, to a lesser extent, the other prime games. You go to different locations and explore those dungeons. In prime 1, they were different dungeons on the same world. In 3, they're literally different worlds
Prime 2? Other than the 2 dimension, I don't remember well if there were different areas. I think there were
Going to the Underdark would work for this.
She had a druid elf quote the ying yang twins. Funny stuff.
already brimming with ideas for a mega dungeon. Geniunly criminal this is not one of the more popular videos on this channel.
Good stuff here. If I can give players limited, consumable items that they can use to set traps, destroy walls between rooms, find secrets, and directly attack enemies, that becomes a valuable resource and makes the dungeon feel more interesting and expansive.
As someone who dreams of one day doing a heavily Hollow Knight inspired mega dungeon campaign, this will come in handy!
I really wanna run a campaign like this some time.
Even if you don't want a megadungeon, I see these concept better applied not for a single dungeon, but for a whole campaign region (or the world itself, if you are a megalomaniac DM).
Never played Metroid. Now I have to. Thanks!
This is also great for a megadungeon, as metroid is
I was wondering when someone was going to cover this.
Mmetroid also has the ability to give rewards for extra paths whereas d&d doesn’t allow you to have lots of rewards without the party either not caring about the reward or getting to be too powerful.
Have you played the Metroid RPG Zebes Invasion Order?
Well, not really an RPG, but a game book. Someone made a browser game version called Twinetroid out of it.
Metroid really blew us away back then. So many games shamelessly borrow from it today, and new gamers have no appreciation for when these tropes were brand new
I've gotta know what the song is in these videos.
Excellent video, I like the advice of using spells for keys as you've laid out here. I I'll be honest though, the pace of the video was painful for me to listen through. I had it played at x2 site TY he woke time, lol. Great video though, regardless.
:D
Missiles limited...pff....maybe for individual fights, but all you have to do is find a spawner and camp for a few xD
So what you're saying is that I should bomb every wall and crevice in your mega dungeon? 😆
Note: Play more Nintendo games = better dungeon design got it
So, in other words, go back to the 70s and early 80s dungeon design? Metroid didn't teach that, it stole it from D&D. You young kids have so much to learn....