Dungeon Master's Guide

CHAMBER CONTENTS
Once you have a sense of the purpose of the various
dungeon chambers, you can think about the contents
of those areas. The Dungeon Chamber Contents table
allows you to randomly roll contents for a chamber, or
you can choose contents for specific areas. If you choose
contents, be sure to include an interesting, colorful
assortment of things. In addition to the contents shown
on this table, refer to "Dungeon Dressing" later in this
appendix for additional items and elements to fill rooms.
In the Dungeon Chamber Contents table, a "dominant
inhabitant" is a creature that controls an area. Pets
and allied creatures are subservient to the dominant
inhabitant. "Random creatures" are scavengers or
nuisances, usually lone monsters or small groups
passing through the area. They include such creatures
as carrion crawlers, dire rats, gelatinous cubes, and rust
monsters. See chapter 3, "Creating Adventures," for
more information on random encounters.
DUNGEON CHAMBER CONTENTS
dlOO
01-08
09-15
16-27
28-33
34-42
43-50
51-58
59-63
64-73
74-76
77-80
Contents
Monster (dominant inhabitant)
Monster (dominant inhabitant) with treasure
Monster (pet or allied creature)
Monster (pet or allied creature) guarding treasure
Monster (random creature)
Monster (random creature) with treasure
Dungeon hazard (see "Random Dungeon
Hazards") with incidental treasure
Obstacle (see "Random Obstacles")
Trap (see " Random Traps")
Trap (see " Random Traps") protecting treasure
Trick (see "Random Tricks")
81-88 Empty room
89-94 Empty room with dungeon hazard (see "Random
Dungeon Hazards")
95-00 Empty room with treasure
MONSTERS AND MOTIVATIONS
See chapter 3, "Creating Adventures," for guidance on
creating encounters with monsters. To foster variety
and suspense, be sure to include encounters of varying
difficulty.
A powerful creature encountered early in the dungeon
sets an exciting tone and forces the adventurers to
rely on their wits. For example, an ancient red dragon
might slumber on the first level of a dungeon, a pall of
smoke and the sound of its heavy breathing filling the
chambers near its lair. Clever characters will do their
utmost to avoid the dragon, even as the party's brave
thief makes off with a few coins from its hoard.
Not all monsters are automatically hostile. When
placing monsters in your dungeon, consider their
relationships to nearby creatures and their attitudes
toward adventurers. Characters might be able to
appease a hungry beast by offering it food, and smarter
creatures have complex motivations. The Monster
Motivation table lets you use a monster's goals to define
its presence in the dungeon.
For large groups of monsters encountered across
multiple chambers, motivation could apply to the entire
group, or each subgroup could have conflicting goals.
MONSTER MOTIVATION
d20 Goals d20 Goals
1-2 Find a sanctuary 12-13 Hide from
3-5 Conquer the enemies
dungeon 14-15 Recover from a
6-8 Seek an item in battle
the dungeon 16-17 Avoid danger
9-11 Slay a rival 18-20 Seek wealth
RANDOM DUNGEON HAZARDS
Hazards are rarely found in inhabited areas, because
monsters either clear them away or avoid them.
Shriekers and violet fungi are described in the
Monster Manual. The other hazards on the table are
described in chapter 5, "Adventure Environments."
DUNGEON HAZARDS
d20 Hazard d20 Hazard
1-3 Brown mold 11-15 Spiderwebs
4-8 Green slime 16-17 Violet fungus
9-10 Shrieker 18-20 Yellow mold
RANDOM OBSTACLES
Obstacles block progress through the dungeon. In some
cases, what adventurers consider an obstacle is an
easy path for the dungeon's inhabitants. For example,
a flooded chamber is a barrier to many characters but
easily navigated by water-breathing creatures.
Obstacles can affect more than one room. A chasm
might run through several passages and chambers,
or send cracks through the stonework in a wider area
around it. An area of battering winds that emanates
from a magic altar could stir the air less dangerously for
hundreds of feet in all directions.
APPENDIX A I RANDOM DUNGEONS