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What Would YOU Bring to a Dungeon Crawl?

G

Gyrfalcon

New Member
Another series I'm writing is LitRPG/GameLit and features Narnia-like portals that randomly lead into magical dungeons hidden around the world. The dungeons allow you to level up, grain magical powers and inhuman skills, and even produce treasure. They also tend to kill a lot of people because they're full of traps and monsters.

SO. I pose this question to you. If you knew you were going on a dungeon crawl, what all would you bring and why?

RULES
*The dungeon has no cellphone reception or internet access. Phones work, in face your phone is how you access your "character sheet" but making a call on it is out.
*NO GUNS. More modern weapons tend to blow up in people's hands. There's some spell that keeps things like firearms and explosives from working correctly in the dungeons.
 
pmmg

pmmg

Myth Weaver
Why would I need a character sheet if I was walking through a dungeon crawl?

I fear my RPG days are too far behind me to have a complete list anymore. But I decided when I was in the army, the minimum that I would need to survive was a knife, a canteen and a waterproof poncho, but the idea being that was the minimum I could expand from. A knife becomes a spear, a spear helps me get a rifle, and so on... For a dungeon, I would have to add a long lasting light.

But I could think of a lot of other things I would want. Rope, compass, chalk...
 
Queshire

Queshire

Istar
Well, since this is implied to be taking place in modern day I would look towards three places for inspiration; D&D, Urban Fantasy and Survivalist Manuals.

D&D:

Let's just get the ten foot pole out of the way now. D&D and their ilk have the benefit of decades spent dreaming up what would be useful for delving dungeons. Sure you'd need to come up with modern day equivalent to much of it, but it makes a good starting point. I like using the Pathfinder first edition SRD since it's free and describes a bunch of neat little starting kits for aspiring adventurers; https://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipmenT/goods-and-services/tools-kits/#Kit_Alchemist8217s

Urban Fantasy: By this I mean bringing along a lot of the common banes for monsters. You know, stuff like cold iron, silver or holy water. Considering it's a LitRPG I wouldn't expect them to be effective, but better to have them and not need them than the other way around.

Survivalist Manuals:

Between youtube videos, books on kindle or stuff checked out from your local library it's not hard to find plenty of eminently practical information on surviving in hostile environments. True, most aren't written with the idea that you'll be going after hostile monsters, dealing with traps or have superhuman abilities of your own, but it's still useful, down to earth information about what to bring and how to act.

Mmm... I'd probably study what military tactics I could as well. While not a one to one I imagine some knowledge of urban combat would be helpful in the classic dungeon environment.

Of course what skiils and abilities I get would affect this. Logically I think I would prioritize healing, defensive and summoning skills but knowing my temperament that would just end up with me as the tank and the summons adding dps instead of me supporting the summons.
 
Redfrogcrab

Redfrogcrab

Troubadour
What I'd bring and why:
-climbing gear: obviously for climbing over big pits and up ledges
-Radio: to communicate with others outside and within the dungeon, as long as I can get a single, a relay placed outside the dungeon's entrance would be good if the radio waves can't penetrate the walls/cave of the dungeon would be good as well
-2-5 friends: rule #1 of spelunking: NEVER DO IT ALONE
-4 days' worth of food and water: in case I get trapped and need to wait for rescue
-flashlight: obvious reason
-Crossbow: to kill things at a distance
-machete: to kill things within arm's reach and clear out vines/webs
-shovel: to dig, also good at dealing with the undead
-respirator: in case of poisonous gasses in the dungeon

that's it I think
 
LieutenantWolf34

LieutenantWolf34

Troubadour
If I can't bring guns I would probably bring one of the more modern crossbows along with a few other items.

Trench Shovel (for digging and bashing in a lich's skull)
Gas Mask and extra filters
Helmet one prepared to withstand me getting punched into a wall
At least 100 feet of rope.
Several MRES (at least 9)
A water purifier or two (a human being cannot for more than 3 days without water)
Geiger Counter (for detecting radiation or magic if magic is akin to radiation in these dungeons)
A Canary (an old mining trick for detecting gas)
Flashlights (one attached to a crossbow) another one being basically a floodlight which enough juice to blind hostiles.
A large backpack (for da loot)
At 2 least bowie knives
Dynamite (not sure if this works but it is an old explosive so it might?)
Lighters (the cigarette kind)
Matches (nice long ones that burn for a while)
Something to map the dungeon
Nightvision goggles (if all else fails...)
Thermal Vision Goggles (for detecting hostiles)
A silver knife or silver arrows (silver for monsters.....)

That's all I can think of for now.
 
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Redfrogcrab

Redfrogcrab

Troubadour
LieutenantWolf34 said:
Dynamite (not sure if this works but it is an old explosive)
Click to expand...

I mean, any container of high-pressure gas being released quickly IS a bomb, so, unless the dungeon is enchanted with anti-thermodynamics/law-of-conservation-of-matter spells, an overclocked crockpot with a faulty seal would do just fine as an explosive (TO ANY AND ALL FEDERAL AGENTS ON THIS FORUM: THIS IS A JOKE)
 
LieutenantWolf34

LieutenantWolf34

Troubadour
Redfrogcrab said:
I mean, any container of high-pressure gas being released quickly IS a bomb, so, unless the dungeon is enchanted with anti-thermodynamics/law-of-conservation-of-matter spells, an overclocked crockpot with a faulty seal would do just fine as an explosive (TO ANY AND ALL FEDERAL AGENTS ON THIS FORUM: THIS IS A JOKE)
Click to expand...
Well, then I can explode a minotaur then. This is good.
 
pmmg

pmmg

Myth Weaver
Redfrogcrab said:
I mean, any container of high-pressure gas being released quickly IS a bomb, so, unless the dungeon is enchanted with anti-thermodynamics/law-of-conservation-of-matter spells, an overclocked crockpot with a faulty seal would do just fine as an explosive (TO ANY AND ALL FEDERAL AGENTS ON THIS FORUM: THIS IS A JOKE)
Click to expand...

Noted...
 
T

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Technology inhibitors are dicey.

Inhibiting cell restriction/internet access? You get underground, yeah, quite a few things that could kill that.

Likewise, firing up any sort of internal combustion engine would eat up the oxygen and release toxins.

Electricity? Well, batteries are finite - but they could be recharged via simple crank or gravity devices.

Suppressing explosives is an old 'out' in fantasy novels. Problem is that rewrites the laws of physics. Dubious at best. I'd suggest allowing firearms and simply letting the ammo run out.
 
BearBear

BearBear

Archmage
A pick axe, drill, shovel, wheelbarrow and explosives. Don't tell me the magic bricks of the dungeon prevent penetration. The games that allow me to destruct the world, the first thing I do is sap the dungeons. A lot of good traps and skeletons are against good old tnt, nitro, c4 or even shape charges.
 
Queshire

Queshire

Istar
BearBear said:
A pick axe, drill, shovel, wheelbarrow and explosives. Don't tell me the magic bricks of the dungeon prevent penetration. The games that allow me to destruct the world, the first thing I do is sap the dungeons. A lot of good traps and skeletons are against good old tnt, nitro, c4 or even shape charges.
Click to expand...

Huh. You probably wouldn't like how I handle dungeons then. It's hard to do a dungeon bypass when they warp space TARDIS style as a result of corrupt, stagnant magic gathering in one place.
 
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