For the Love of Minidungeons

I've always had a fondness for the small and compact in my D&D experiences where dungeons are involved. I've run games from one end of the multiverse to the other -- I happily design entire crystal spheres -- but when I want dungeons, I want small ones, whether pre-designed or scratched out on graph paper as the ideas flit through my head.

These days I find myself working on an even smaller scale; "microdungeons" might be a better name. With time constricted and my games designed for a single player (at most, a single PC and an NPC companion), I'd rather focus my energies on a themed, explorable-in-a-session minidungeon than on one small chunk of a sprawling complex that -- due to real-world constraints in time and attention spa, given the length of time between sessions -- will probably never quite hang together properly in my player's mind.

But when I get right down to it, I just like tiny dungeons. The smallest I've designed recently was two and a half chambers plus connecting passage and descent stairwell; most of my dungeons hover around the six-to-ten count for chambers, plus access routes. I've even made multiple-level minis with this room count. It's a nice comfortable number that I can readily apply a theme to if I wish.

And themes have always had an appeal to me. Random rooms don't have the same feel; I want a tomb for a specific individual or organization, a delve generated by a certain sinister power, a temple dedicated to some long-dead (or not so dead!) godling. All of these things can and have been done with larger dungeons, of course! But it's still a factor in the minidungeon appeal for me.

Of course, there's always the potential for adding more. Slip a secret door or a previously-unpassable blockage (or a warp-glyph, or a magical archway, or, or ...) into the design, and minidungeons can be daisy-chained together into a larger complex if I suddenly find myself wanting or needing more playspace.

I do think there's a certain finesse (that I haven't achieved, alas) to a really good minidungeon, in the same way that there's a flair and finesse to a finely designed megadungeon. The minis, unfortunately, seem to be neglected at times; used as a throwaway or a quick diversion rather than a worthy pastime in their own right.

Even during this renaissance of the megadungeon, I maintain that there's a place for the small and the compact.