This is one of the best pieces on dungeon design I’ve read. Thanks for sharing!
Hey, thanks! That means a lot.
Yeah it really helped me reframe how I think about challenges in dungeons - the comparison to metroidvanias as hard locks with in-system solutions was awesome.
In regards to this, “Don’t put anything “essential” to your adventure behind [hard locks]”
I would say that an exception to this is that you can put —the most essential thing — there. Something that is nearly impossible to solve really stands out to players, and it signals to them that this challenge is very important. So it’s a good place to put incredibly powerful magic, the way to escape, the person they’re supposed to assassinate, or whatever primary goal the adventure has.
Hmm. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but I would be very cautious about it. Especially something like the means of escape.
I think you can get away with it more if it is something that is explicitly a puzzle dungeon, but I think it is usually a good idea for a dungeon to be able to be explored successfully without having to conquer every challenge within it.
well, the point of hard locking something essential, is that you can really drill down on it; so yes. cautious. but, since its the main thing, its easy to really focus on:
multiple keys to the lock. lots of hints. gentle fudging to fix fuck ups when playing. easy to playtest (like, its not going to be some side quest that all the playtest sessions missed, its the main thing!).
I’d probably prefer it the other way around. Everything essential goes behind soft locks, but there can be something big and extra behind a well-clued hard lock. And I’d still want to signal in fairly explicit terms that, however cool that thing may be, it’s secondary to the party’s overarching goal, and the conditions for getting it are very specific.
here is another way to look at it: a hard lock is functionally a pinch point. like, speaking super traditionally in a dungeon, if there is only one door to the main room with the main treasure, that door is a hard lock in terms of navigation. only one way there! if you don’t find it… you don’t find it. so you have to look around a little bit more till you do.
if the door to the main treasure room is well known, but there is only one key hidden somewhere, its the same thing gameplay wise. so its another option for variety, plus maybe you can add some clever things to the process to just make it all more fun.
I’ve quite enjoyed using hard locks in some situations, they can really change the dynamics of a dungeon. I think this is referencing cyclic dungeon design, which I will admit I am a huge fan off haha.