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The Rock Dungeon: Navigating a Forgotten World
Sunfire
CONTENTS
The Premise
Dungeons in fantasy aren’t just important settings. Every one of them has a story to tell and the only way to listen is to explore everything they have to offer. It’s up to you to create an impressive dungeon that tells an amazing tale. The rock dungeon is one such place.
While the rock dungeon might be overlooked due to it not being as flashy as fire or electric, it still has a story waiting to be told. It’s more of a grounded environment (see what I did there lol!) which means it tells its story in a different fashion. The way it communicates its story to the audience distinguishes it from its more-glamorous elemental cousins.
Since rock is part of the natural order — earth is simply another term for rock and the two are easily interchangeable — its architecture leans towards the more organic side of things. The dungeons of this kind tend to be more naturally occurring than manmade, much like caves.
Traversing through the typical rock dungeon connects you to the natural world. A world where nature reigns supreme. It’s as if you’ve stepped in an era long-past which means you have to solve puzzles the way nature intended and battle enemies the old-fashioned way.
Speaking of which, even though the rock dungeon may be a relic of the past, it contains monsters who aren’t just from a long time ago. Instead, there’s a mixture of modern-day fiends and those from the past. They stand united to defend their home turf from unwanted guests.
This is the fourth in a series analyzing the different types of dungeons. If you haven’t read the first three, they’re just below:
Diving into The Mystical World of The Forest Dungeon
A Peek into The Fire Dungeon’s Searing World
The Water Dungeon: A Fascinating World Unlike Any Other
We have tons more and you can find them on our blog page!
Types of Rock Dungeons
The design of the average rock dungeon is more organic than the others. By that, it takes from nature with a few man-made adjustments to make it feel like a real place. As much of nature remains pristine, untouched as possible. Moreover, its design aren’t as grandiose as that of a fire or water dungeon. It takes more of a subtle approach.
Caves are perfect spots to house a rock dungeon in. They’re naturally-made and found in different locales than many other elemental dungeons. Coming in different sizes and colors, caves can present a simple challenge or be difficult to complete.
Even better, different kinds of caves work for a rock dungeon. You can have one that’s all crystal, one ice, or just an ordinary one. This gives you many different possibilities to create a fantastic dungeon in this vein!
Mines are another great way to base a dungeon around rock on. For starters, the two are intimately connected. If there was no rock, mines would never exist.
Found within mountains or hills, mines have nothing but rock scattered all over, from the forges that have a bunch of rocks sitting adjacent to them to the mine-carts full of precious gems zooming around the tracks. There’s a lot of pieces here you can use to shape a compelling tale.
You can tell an incredible story using mines. There’s nothing like stepping into a forgotten world where you see how deeply a civilization delved into the mountain before they felt the mountain’s wrath.
The Rock Dungeon's Ambience
Just because a rock dungeon may not get as much attention as some others doesn’t mean you shouldn’t come up with a great ambience for it. Take this opportunity to make one that stands on par with the others. After all, the atmosphere is only part of the story the dungeon’s telling. It establishes the mood and tone that will last all the way through to its end.
Entering a rock dungeon takes you to a time when the world was young. You see only the rawness, the wild environment. No matter where you are in the dungeon, nature dominates all and you have no choice but to obey it in order to reach the boss and conquer it before you can move on.
It comes to no surprise that you find lava and water in different areas of the dungeon. Those two are part of the story the dungeon’s telling you. They play their own roles in the natural cycle and you must find a way to safely navigate them. The lava and water are the dungeon’s way of telling you that though you might be in a place that doesn’t exist today, by no means is it a safe place. Quite the opposite, it’s far more dangerous than you know.
When using a cave as a rock dungeon, the atmosphere is dark. There’s little to no light coming from the outside which means you don’t know what’s lying in the depths. Your senses are tingling as the anticipation of the unknown fills your heart with dread. This is a great way to ramp up the tension since the fear of the unknown is a powerful driving force and can cause you to do things you wouldn’t do.
Regarding the ambience of the mines, you’re in a place where you feel the weight of history on you. You know it was once a bustling place but it isn’t that way anymore. Instead, it’s become an area filled with all sorts of dangers. Exploring it thoroughly may not necessarily be the best idea.
Enemies from The Present and The Past
It wouldn’t be a dungeon if it wasn’t overrun by monsters. While most are evil and actively work to impede the hero, there’s some that’s only protecting their territory. As long as you stay out of their way, they’ll leave you alone. If you’re foolish enough to get a tad too close for comfort, you better be prepared to fight.
While the rock dungeon gives the audience a glimpse of the past, the creatures who live there aren’t exclusively from a time long forgotten. Some from the present have moved in and for the most part, they get along swimmingly with those of the past.
There’s a great variety of monsters you come across in the rock dungeon. Bats are one of the most seen, which shouldn’t be surprising since the dungeon is either underground or inside a mountain. You see a greater diversity of the bats here, from the little ones to fully-grown adults and even beyond!
Rock monsters also populate the area. They’re a greater danger than usual due to how easily they blend in with their surroundings. You have some as big as pebbles and others tower over you where one punch is all it takes to pulverize you.
Many species of lizards call the rock dungeon home. It’s a natural environment for them to flourish in which means you’re traveling on their turf. Not all walk on four legs; those that move on two legs are capable of wielding conventional weapons which means you have to fight them in a different way compared to the others. Oh and some lizards can breathe fire so keep that in mind.
The big bad of the dungeon is a large lizard most of the time. It can be a dragon or simply a gigantic fire-breathing lizard. For the times where a different creature is the boss, using a larger variant of the bat or rock monster will suffice. No matter which weapon you use, fighting the boss of the rock dungeon will be challenging!
Tying it all Together
Spelunking through the darkness of the rock dungeon leaves an indelible memory in your mind. You’re wading through a world drenched in the dark and when you finally shine light upon it, you see a place frozen in time. A place that gives you a preview of what the past was like.
Many dungeons that revolve around rock go with a subtle design to differentiate them from the other elements. They’re a reminder of simpler times, of how things once were. Not many changes needed to be made, for nearly everything was where they should be.
Entering the dungeon proper, you feel a connection to a world long gone. You’re in an area where nature holds sway over everything and you must do what you’re asked in order to reach the boss which is the place’s final challenge. You can only use both the tools at your disposal and those provided to you in order to progress naturally.
The denizens of the rock dungeon are a mixture of those found today and those from the past. Each one presents their own set of challenges that the hero must figure out so that he can defeat them before facing off against the boss.
Including a rock dungeon in a story where there’s many dungeons is always a plus! It enables you to work with incorporating elements from the past and the present to make one dungeon that stands out! You can give the audience a sneak peek into the world of the past.
Go ahead and bring it into your story. You could create an amazing rock dungeon that takes your audience on an exciting ride, one they’ll remember for a long time!
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Thanks for reading this and until the next time,
Sunfire
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