When it comes to building a better realm for your players to play in, the most often overlooked aspect of location building is the relationship our dungeons/towns/ports have to the world around them. If you don't spend time nursing these relationships, your locations will feel cold and fake.
Icing on the Cake
Putting together a great dungeon or town for your adventurers to explore is like planning a birthday party. "I need a cake." will get the job done, but "What kind of cake should I get?" is the kind of question that will yield better results.
The difference between the two is that the first thought simply defines a task while the second informs the relationship between the cake and the party. Understanding the connection changes "I need a throne room" to "Why would a secret hideout need a place to receive visitors?". It may very well be that there should be a throne room, but you certainly don't need the grand tapestry-draped space of a castle buried under a shack in the woods.
Going back to our analogy, keep in mind that you won't be the one going out to buy the cake. Your adventurers will. So to keep them from coming back with a "wedding cake", ask yourself the same questions that your adventurers will ask and then use the answers to connect the dots between the location you're building and the world around it.
Into the Witch's Lair
As an example, let's think of the questions we should ask when designing the underground lair of an evil witch.
Outside to Outside
- How is the outside of the lair hidden from the nearby town?
- Do the townsfolk know of the lair or is it secret?
- Did the villagers post a sign that says, "Danger: Witch Lair"?
- Is there a blueprint in a book in a library somewhere?
- Was the lair originally something else, like a fort or a mansion?
- Is there a map to the lair somewhere? Why was it drawn?
- Is the town adversely affected by the nearby witch lair? Is tourism down? Is the water running red?
- Does the town have a guard patrol that watches the area?
- Do animals in the area act funny near the lair?
- Does the witch wander the woods at night?
- Does the witch call the lair a different name than the townspeople?
- Do sailors and caravans refuse to travel through the area?
Outside to Inside
- Do creatures from the above-ground world sneak into the lair?
- Has anyone ever escaped from the lair?
- What kind of security is there preventing just anyone from walking in?
- How is the entrance hidden?
- Is there a lock that must be picked?
- Is there a secret panel or button that must be pushed?
- Is there an incantation that must be read?
- Is there grass/moss/tree roots from the outside?
- Are the walls stone? Are there archways? Columns?
- Is there fresh air?
- Where does the water come from?
Inside to Outside
- How and where does the witch buy supplies/food/ingredients from?
- Does the lair give off an odor?
- Does the lair cause localized pollution?
- Does the lair cause unexplained disappearances?
- How did the witch get all the furniture down there? Did she build some of it or bring it down in pieces?
- Where does the lighting come from?
- Are some of the walls made from old crates?
- Are the walls smooth and perfectly square?
- What kind of loot is here? Does a witch really keep 50gp in a lair or just some great potions and poisoned arrows?
Inside to Inside
- Do the creatures of the lair get along? Are there factions?
- Where do the spiders get their food from?
- Are the suits of armor cared for or rusting?
- When the statue comes to life, is it dusty?
- Are there four bedrooms for one witch?
- Is there a secret passageway?
- Is there another way in/out?
- Are the traps well oiled or do they stick and squeak?
- Why is there a room for cutting up bodies?
- What happens to the bodies once they've been skinned?
- Is the witch growing plants for ingredient purposes?
- Does she have caged animals for ingredient purposes?
- Do the caged animals make noise as you pass them?
- How many hallways do you actually need? Can we kill the hallway and go straight from room to room?
- Why is there a throne room in a secret lair? Who's coming?
- Why is there a foyer? Do you even know what that is?
- Do multiple witches meet here? Do they all have chairs?
What kind of questions do you like to ask when building your dungeons? Leave them in the comments below and, if you like this post, please share it with your friends on Twitter and Facebook.