Step 3 is all about expanding my characters. Here’s the thing, though – this is a dungeon, not a novel. Characters don’t fulfill the same roll. So instead of characters, what if I did this with factions? And I’ll include the characters that are big enough forces to warrant it.

The webpage tells me I need the following:

• The character’s name

• A one-sentence summary of the character’s storyline

• The character’s motivation (what does he/she want abstractly?)

• The character’s goal (what does he/she want concretely?)

• The character’s conflict (what prevents him/her from reaching this goal?)

• The character’s epiphany (what will he/she learn, how will he/she change?

• A one-paragraph summary of the character’s storyline

Most of this will work really well. Let’s tweak some of it, shall we?

• A one-sentence summary of the character’s storyline

Okay, their “storyline” doesn’t exist. What if, instead, we framed this as what kind of challenge they’ll present to the PCs?

• The character’s epiphany (what will he/she learn, how will he/she change

Honestly, I don’t think I have a good analog to this. I’m pretty sure it’s just not needed for my ends. If you have a thought about what could fit here, lemme know. For now, I’m just gonna ignore it.

• A one-paragraph summary of the character’s storyline

I’m going to go with the same idea as above. I’m going to take that one main threat and divide it into five different threats. That’ll likely give me at least five rooms in the finished dungeon.

Here’s our little “character sheet” that we’re gonna use to flesh out the factions.

• The character’s name
• A one sentence summary of the threat the character poses to the PCs
• The character’s motivation (what does he/she want abstractly?)
• The character’s goal (what does he/she want concretely?)
• The character’s conflict (what prevents him/her from reaching this goal?
• A one-paragraph summary of the threat the character poses to the PCs.

Let’s start with that undying goblin. She was the inspiration for this whole dungeon.

• Name: Lugpopple
• One Sentence Threat: Lugpopple can not be killed and commands a horde of mutant followers
• Motivation: Safety. She’s scared af.
• Goal: To amass a mutant army that can protect her from the evil things in the depths.
• Conflict: The Ghouls have been eating her followers. The monks have started keeping watch. Now there’s fucking adventurers.
• One Paragraph Threat: Lugpopple can not be killed by normal means due to the forever stone lodged in her head. She controls a horde of mutant followers. Worse, as part of her curse, she can create more simply by biting someone. The goblin can see through the eyes of anyone she has infected, and hear through their ears. The dark priests also can not harm her directly, as they can not harm the stone.

Earlier, I threw out the “epiphany”, as it didn’t fit with dungeon design. I’m going to replace it with something completely different that was similar to one of the original sections of part 3 – a one sentence summary, not of the character’s “storyline”, but of their backstory. That seems important.

• One Sentence Backstory: After her tribe was decimated by adventurers, Lugpopple fled to the ruined temple, where she tripped down the shaft and impaled the Forever Stone into her head, granting her immortality.

And there we have it. The first “faction” of the dungeon fleshed out.

So what do you think? It this interesting? Should I keep doing it? Leave a comment below.