Things I want to do with it.
1-I want to run it as a funnel at the start.
I'm thinking of having the dungeon be placed under a town and have part of the town actually collapse into the dungeon.Kinda the adventure comes and finds YOU instead of the normal way.In order for the pc's to survive they have to figure out a way out,all the while dodging bands of horrid creatures. After the first funnel I can have the city stop up the entrance.Perhaps even use the dungeon as a form of punishment for criminals/political opponents of it's Tyrant Ruler! Future funnels can be 0 level (troublemakers) forced to survive within its depths. I like the idea of being sentenced to Death or Escape. Live through the ordeal and report back to the magistrate all that happened within,including a map,and have all charges against you nullified!
2-I want to place stopping points in the dungeon so that advancement past a certain point is stymied until the PC's get higher level. To provide breaks from the dungeon itself so that it doesn't get old and stale and also so that I can use other DCCRPG modules and adventure ideas.
I could do this a number of ways. There could be exits from the dungeon in locations to allow those imprisoned within it to escape(and thereby be free).I could simply place doors that could not be opened until a higher level ability can be brought to bare on it.I could place guardians on the entrance to the deeper sections that are clearly too powerful for the current level group(that was will lead to deaths I know,my players are foolhardy). I could even place riddles and questions that have to be answered to pass ie it's not till during the 13th skull adventure that a clue to the riddle is found ect..
3-I want to create a more difficult atmosphere to this crawl as my players are all experience at this point.I really want to worry my players without killing them unnecessarily.
I'm thinking of levels with strange alterations to the game.a level with strange radiation so that even the walls glow that prevents healing or perhaps all magic,a level where the walls are greatly magnetized so any metal(weapons,armor ect) stick to the walls and are unusable until the effect can be turned off at the end of the level.Perhaps a entire level underwater or a huge deep pit with platforms that someone has to be lowered by rope and then swung out really far to reach the next platform.
4- I want a overwhelming reason of why the adventurers want to explore the dungeon. For my idea to work the players need to be invested into exploring the dungeon. I need to hit home reasons to do so that are not tied into helping others.
For the first funnel part I don't think it's a issue. After all for that part the adventure comes to them. After that other than "you made the Tyrant angry and are forced into the dungeons depths" I need to brainstorm and really come up with something special. For wizards it's not too hard. I plan to make the entire place the a alien wizards experiment/abode. But why would the player playing a dwarf really care? Need more here.
The basic idea is that thousands of years ago a long lived alien ship crashed at this location,and could not repair his ship. The alien used his degrading(hey man even advanced batteries run down after a while
![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
The dungeon would be filled with traps and horrible creatures to slay anyone seeking to finish off the wizard,dark summoning traps,terrifying alien technology and even the undead servants/apprentices the alien wizard once enslaved.