View Full Version : Design a Dungeon

05-28-2013, 05:36 PM
Okay, so far we've seen just a few of the dungeons on offer, and heard tantalising rumours about a few others. But let's assume for a moment that you have that Producer perk, and get the chance to design a dungeon from the ground up - what would it end up like?

You need to think of a good theme for the dungeon, and the levels the player would pass through. Whether there would be alternate routes, NPCs to help or avoid, special rules in play for certain battles, and so on. And then, of course, what would the boss be, and what would their deck be like? What kind of unique cards would they have?

I'm sure we've got some creative types here who can do this justice; so, let's hear your ideas!

05-28-2013, 05:47 PM
I would design a randomly generated dungeon. There will be 5-6 stages, with no splitting paths, but every time you enter a new stage, it is randomly generated(from a pool of premade stages ofcourse).

The theme will be alternate universes. Every time at the end of the stage the player would enter another portal, never knowing into what alternate universe they are going. Some of them will simulate a draft and a mini tournament, some of them will be you battling 3 opponents(rules shifted in a way that it's still balanced, but still harder than usual for the player), and other things like that.

Different stages will include different alternate universes for example dwarves never developing their technology to its current level and remaining at a steampunk design. Or the dwarves technology has developped so much that they've taken over the entire galaxy. Things like that which make alternate universes so interesting.

Fun stuff like that!
(Crypto hire me, I have some awesome ideas!)

05-28-2013, 05:58 PM
Here's my post from the HEXTCG subreddit:

Yeti dungeon.
A cavernous city full of Yetis. Final boss is Yeti King.
Why? Cause Yetis.
Yetis will can have a freeze mechanic. Freeze: If the number of freeze counters on a card is equal to or higher than it's toughness then that card is frozen (unable to tap, but can use non-tap-able abilities and can still block). At the beginning of the players upkeep they remove 1 freeze counter from each card they own (as to defrost their cards).

Yeti Iceslinger (Troop): "Tap this card to add one freeze counter onto target creature"

Yeti Iceweaver (Troop): "add 2 freeze counters to target troop whenever Yeti Iceweaver's Owner plays a action (non-quick action) of the same color type of this card.

Snap Freeze (Quick Action): "Put 1 freeze counter on target opponent's troop. If it has freeze counters equal to double it's toughness then it is put into the graveyard"

Yeti Strategist (Troop): "Tap this card: at the beginning of opponent's next upkeep add 1 freeze counter to a random troop they control for each Yeti in play"

Frostbitten (Action): "remove X freeze counters from target troop, it takes X damage"

Yeti Bruiser (Troop): "Get's +X/0 for each freeze counter on troops it is in combat with"

Frozen One (Troop): "This troop gets +X/0 for each freeze counter on it" and "Tap this creature, if it is frozen it removes all freeze counters and deals X damage to target troop or champion, where X is the number of counters removed this way"

Icefang Spider (Troop): "This troop get's firs strike against all opponents with a freeze counter on it"

Defrost (Quick Action): "Remove all ice counters on target troop, draw 2 cards"

Frozen Mammoth (Troop): "This troop comes into play with 2+X freeze counters on it where X is it's toughness."

Yeti Bat-tamer (Troop): "Whenever this card deals damage to a player put an Icewing into play"

Icewing (Troop token with flying): "Whenever this troop deals combat damage it gains X freeze counters where X is equal to it's toughness"

Mr Freeze (Troop): "Anytime a player says an "ice" related pun (ice to meet you, keep cool, time to chill, etc) into chat put a freeze counter on a randomly selected troop that they own. That player then get's disconnected from the servers and feels sorry for what they have done"

05-28-2013, 06:20 PM
Wow MTree, that sounds awesome!!

I can't wait to see what crazy dungeons the devs have in store for us.

05-28-2013, 06:51 PM
Name: Halls of the Firstborn

Theme: The dwarves have always been at home beneath Entrath, always digging and destroying and exploring. Many times they have chanced upon giant gates of unknown metal, each different colors, that have always resisted their attempts at opening them, either through key or force. Until just a month ago, when the Librarian Galvin brought a large sapphire Hex gem to the blue gate, and it opened to him. He and many other dwarves surged through in order to discover what new things there were to destroy within. Only one returned to the rest of the Underworld forces.

He reported a series of pristine chambers that greatly resembled a mixture between Human courts and Dwarven workshops. Chambers full of parts and artifact prototypes, halls of metal armor statues, and at the very end a grand door with an inscription unknown even to the Dwarves. However, he also reported that while there had been a few defenses active when they breached the gate, they had been weak and pathetic. Until the Hex gem was brought to the door of the last chamber.

The ancient armors had activated, unseen sentries made themselves known, and the entire expedition had been annihilated except for Librarian Galvin and the messenger. His eyes had glowed like the Necrotic, blue instead of white, and he had proclaimed that the Firstborn would rise again to finish their work. He had spared the last dwarf so that the mortal races would come to him. He had even provided a map that was labeled "Halls of the Firstborn."

Dungeon Story: The Halls of the Firstborn have been revealed, ancient even to Dwarf standards, predating any mortal race. Strange artifacts are resuming their work, powered by the Hex gems being brought in by enterprising adventurers. The Underworld forces seek to claim the Halls for their own. The Ardent however hold legends that urge them to force the Halls closed once more. It's up to you to delve into the Halls for your own reasons and answer your own questions. Why are Hex gems reacting to structures that predate the meteor by thousands of years? What are the Firstborn and what is their ultimate purpose? And what lies behind the final door guarded by Librarian Galvin? Seek the answers yourself.

Entrances: Ruby Gate, Sapphire Gate, Diamond Gate
Locations: Halls of the First, Genesis Workshop, Chambers of the Unknown King, Armory of the Legion, Court of the Eternal Sentinel, Chamber of the World's Heart.

The Hex Gates - Upon bringing a substantially-sized Hex gem of the appropriate color to the gate, it will open up and activate its first line of defense. You must brave your forces against a steady stream of artifacts while finding and shutting down the defense systems when they appear.

Halls of the Firstborn - A long hall engraved with murals of events of legends long gone, it is the only entrance to the rest of the Halls once the Gates are open. More defenses await, empowered by the Hex gem you carry. Sapphire illusions, Diamond reinforcing, and Ruby destruction allow you to pick your poison, just don't succumb to it before reaching the end of the hall.

Genesis Workshop - A grand room filled with rows of tables covered with abandoned parts and half-finished artifact prototypes. Blueprints and schematics litter the place, some of the artifacts that are impeding your path and some that are only portions of what looks like something much larger. The Hex gem resonates with the half-finished prototypes and begins to assemble them, forming amalgamations of unknown monstrosities that will do their best to cause your demise. A particularly enterprising adventurer may find ways to have these creations work for him however, and not just in combat.

Chambers of the Unknown King: A single room with a bed, some furniture, and a band of metal laying on a table. Unlike the rest of the Halls, there is no dust here, and recent footprints can be seen tracked into the room, but not leaving. Attempting to take the crown will force you to contend with the minds of those within it, alien and familiar at the same time. Depending on your answers to their questions they may become hostile or answer some of your own. Strangely enough, they all claim to have once held the title of Foreman. Successfully interacting with these beings will allow a deeper understanding of the Halls and the Firstborn, whereas subduing them will allow you to claim the crown for your own use.

Armory of the Legion: Rows upon rows of metal armor, the material unknown, stand at eternal attention. Upon entering the room, your Hex gem will activate them all, granting further abilities according to the color. They will move as organized squads, attempting to overwhelm you with tactics and power. Trying to defeat them all is a fool's game. Not impossible, but a better idea would be to find the colossal constructs leading the squadrons and destroy them. Only then can one who has proven themselves a friend of the crown, or its new bearer, order the legions to their command or to stand down.

Court of the Eternal Sentinel: Librarian Galvin awaits you here, with the most powerful of the defenses in the Halls. Empowered by his own Hex gem and yours he will unleash the might of the Firstborn upon you, ranting and raving about the prime directive he must fulfill. While powerful on their own, if the defenses are not dealt with quickly enough then Galvin will link them together, creating colossal monstrosities wielding all three powers of the Hex gems. It will be a long and hard fight, but if Galvin is defeated then the final door will translate itself and open to you.

Chamber of the World's Heart: Upon Librarian Galvin's death, the inscription on the door glowed and its meaning resonated in your head, "By the power of the gems our orders were taken, by the power of the gems we now awaken." The door opens up and reveals a single room filled with more schematics and blueprints along with ancient treasure. On the far wall is another gate, though it remains sealed.

Searching the papers in the room, you find that they all combine into one massive blueprint, detailing all of Entrath. And at the very center of the schematics, in the core of Entrath, you find a strange design that looks oddly familiar. The ground suddenly quakes briefly, knocking you off your feet, and abates just as quickly. Ten seconds later, it occurs again, and again. The rhythm and tempo echo in your bones. You fall on the schematics, look down at them, and suddenly realize what was so familiar about the design in Entrath's core. It's a mechanical heart, one with a beat that shakes the world itself. Knowing that, you quickly decipher the rest of the schematics and understand what they were intended for.

Here, arms. There, legs. Organs, nerves, a brain, and everything else that makes up a body. The schematics didn't detail something being built inside Entrath, they detailed Entrath being built into something. The ground quakes again, a rhythmic heart beating, and you understand that you should never have come here. Through your efforts what was once asleep has begun to wake. And when it does, neither Ardent nor Underworld will be able to stop it.

I basically took the Dwarven belief of there being a golem at the center of Entrath and turned it up to 11. There's no golem in Entrath; Entrath IS a golem. As for the Firstborn, I envision them as a mixture of Necrotic (with Hex gems serving as sentience) and Primals. Ages ago they constructed Entrath, almost completing it, until something happened that broke the power of the Hex gems, putting them into stasis. Now that Hex gems are on Entrath again, and brought into the core of the Halls, they've begun to re-awaken to complete their construction. The dungeon would then lead into a raid meant to attack the Firstborn before they fully re-awaken and regain their power as well as facing off with the soul of Entrath, long trapped in the uncompleted body.

05-28-2013, 06:51 PM
Design a dungeon eh? How about this. You're trying to go to an ale festival in a hidden village inside an old volcano. The volcano burned out long ago, but the opening was wide enough for a jungle to grow in its incredibly fertile soil. Not one to miss an ale festival, you wander aimlessly looking for an entrance into the mountain. You spot a few inebriated adventurers (a human cleric, an orc warrior, a shin'hare mage, and a necrotic rogue) going into a cave nearby. You catch up, and find out they're adventurers who found the village earlier that day. Yes they're from opposing factions. It's an ale festival. They could deal with that for a day. While celebrating the ale festival, they heard of a great treasure hidden in a fierce jungle plant. Elves had made the plant come to life as a guardian long ago, but it grew corrupted by blood magic, and became too dangerous. They got lost trying to find it, and wound up outside the mountain. If you'll help them make it to the treasure, they promise to share the treasure, and take you back to the village. And yes, the village doesn't care about Ardent or Underworld. It's an ale festival. People are pretty cool about things.

The adventurers enter combat with you as cards on the board. If they die in the match, they're dead for the dungeon.

Each card is has unique bonuses that have a random chance of effect (because ale):
1. The warrior - on attack, 25% chance of doing no damage, 10% chance of doing double damage, 2/2
2. The rogue - unblockable, 0/1, 25% chance for Rage 2 to proc
3. The cleric - 0/1, When enemy plays a troop: 25% chance to give a permanent +0/+1 to all adventurers in your party. 15% chance to heal you for 3 health
4. The mage - 1/1 [1] exhaust card:
If targeting enemy: 30% chance to do attack's damage to target enemy. 10% chance to do 2x attack damage to target enemy. 15% chance to raise target enemy defense by its defense till end of turn.
If target is ally, flip these. 30% chance to heal ally by defense, 10% chance to heal double defense, 15% chance to damage ally by attack.

After every fight, you get to put one point of attack or defense into one of the cards.
As you bring them around the dungeon, different members will inform you of different hidden passages. If they're dead, they're not there to let you know.

Enemies - troop heavy, little / no direct damage / kill cards. Starts out with shroomkins, turns into plant based decks. Growth / token / reanimate heavy, keeping the plants / shroomkin 'growing'. Wild / Blood decks.

The boss is plant based, a mutant offspring of the town's elves from a long time ago. Inside him is the magical treasure the adventurers want. His charge power would be a sun-beam, that could heal target plant, or damage target non-plant.

Map: starts out with caves, opening up to the jungle. There are side passages and hidden spots with treasure, that if you can keep the group alive while running all over the map, they'll get you small treasures. These spots are zig zagged all over, so you'll have to fully clear the dungeon to maximize loot. If all members are dead at the final fight, you get a treasure drop from the boss, and go to the festival alone. If any are alive, you get your boss loot at the village from the survivors. If all of them survive, you get a celebratory ale festival deck sleeve to honor the time you saw a inebriated adventurers and went "yeah, that sounds like a good idea, I'll follow them".

05-28-2013, 06:52 PM
I just want to say all of these are amazing

05-28-2013, 07:14 PM
I would probably either go for a dwarf sort of hypercube-movie inspired one, with interesting mechanized obstacles or perhaps something really fleshy and sort of organic monster's insides-living dungeon. Either way it would be awesome.

05-28-2013, 07:23 PM
Probably something to do with the Void or Outsiders. Maybe the Fae.

...I'm a bit of a Dresden fan.

05-28-2013, 09:13 PM
Name: Bastion of Corrupted Order

Theme: Long ago, when the Human kingdoms were new, there were the Knights of Order. They answered to no king, held no ties to any kingdom, their only purpose was to uphold the law of the land. They listened to cases big and small, meted out justice no matter the offender's rank, and were praised as neutral guardians of the three kingdoms. Their headquarters, the Bastion of Order, was the ultimate goal for every knight who wished to join their cause.

Their fall was as tragic as it was unexpected. When the Hex meteor descended, and littered the land with its shards, the Knights stood against the Underworld forces even without magic. The appearance of a Knight on the battlefield was a cause of dread for even the Necrotic. They were too strong to oppose directly, and so they chose to do so indirectly. During battle, a vennen rogue injected one of the Knight with a dormant blood plague before the Underworld forces pulled back. No one knew until it was too late, when the Knight exploded during dinner.

It didn't take long for the plague to spread, and soon bodies and blood stained the once-pristine halls of the Bastion. Unable to approach them for burial lest they be struck by the plague, the three kingdoms chose to seal the Bastion and remember it for what it had been. The few Knights who had escaped went into seclusion, casting away their titles.

That was several years ago. Recently however, there have been...unsettling reports. Reports that the banner of the Knights was being flown at the scene of horrible massacres. A squadron decimated to the last man, a village slaughtered in its entirety, a cathedral stained red. Even worse were the rumors of those in the armor of the Knights with sapphire gems for eyes. Even worse, neither Ardent nor Underworld is spared from their blades.

As an Underworld adventurer, you are assigned to investigate these reports and determine if they are a new type of Necrotic and who raised them. As an Ardent adventurer, you are told to find out if these are truly the Knights of Order and, if so, eradicate them. Either way, your journey will lead to the Bastion of Corrupted Order, where you will battle your way through what was once one of the greatest forces in Entrath, now empowered by the reality-shifting powers of the sapphire Hex gems, all the way to the inner sanctum. There you will discover the truth behind the fall of the Knights, their resurrection, and what it means to the Underworld and Ardent alike.