My own dungeon: digging deeper

OK, generating the inhabitants of the first level of my dungeon wasn't too hard.  Let’s see what we get for the next level down, which is about the same size, room-wise (this time I won’t show you the step-by-step, just what I end up with):

bandit 10*

bandit 4*

bandit 8*

berserker 6*

elf 1

fire beetle 2*

fire beetle 4*

fire beetle 4*

ghoul 3

giant ant 5

giant ant 5

giant ant 6

giant rat 16*

giant spider 2

giant spider 3

giant tick 2

harpy 3

kobold 20*

skeleton 10*

wererat 3

*per Holmes, I doubled the number of first-level monsters encountered on the second level

This time, even though we had the same number of rooms, we have a lot more denizens—about 117.  For those of you who subscribe to the Dungeon as Mythic Underworld theory, this is evidence that foul creatures are drawn to the depths and shun the light of the overworld.  Or something like that.

Hmm, let’s see what the numbers mean.  More bandits, 22 all together—still not enough for them to rate a 4th level fighting man as leader, even with their half-dozen berserker buddies.  Oh, what the hades; I’ll give ‘em a 4^th level fighting man per the rules.  Obviously, these guys are with the same group as the guys upstairs, so we probably should put some vertical connectivity between these two crowds.  The lone elf must be their (escaped?) prisoner—is she buddies with the elf band above?  Sixteen giant ants means there’s a nest around here somewhere, maybe below.  Fire beetles and ticks are just more vermin, but the web-spinning giant spiders have low intelligence and chaotic evil alignment—maybe they let the ghouls gnaw on the husks of their victims after they drain their juices; the skeletons here arise from this unclean death and unsanctified disposal.  The wererats and giant rats are an obvious pairing, while the kobolds down here are trying to figure out how to rescue their buddies up top.  The harpies have their own way in and out of this level, but maybe they don’t leave because they like to prey on the bandits.

Time for level three, and another twenty rolls (actually 40 rolls--one to determine level and another to determine which monster) on the charts:

carrion crawler 1

carrion crawler 2

hippogriff 4

hippogriff 3

shrieker 2

shrieker 2

wererat 2

wererat 2

blink dogs 5

giant centipede 18**

giant spider 3

giant tick 1

grey ooze 1

hobgoblin 7

huge spider 4*

hydra 6 heads

lizard man 12*

ogre 3

wraith 1

zombie 14

*extrapolating from Holmes, doubled number of second-level monsters on third level

**per Holmes, tripled number of first-level monsters on third level

Only about as many occupants as the first level, but a lot more dangerous.  OK, carrion crawlers and shriekers interact just like on level 1.  No more giant ants; I guess the insects on the second level have their nest there.  Giant centipedes infest the third level, with the grey ooze wandering around to keep things clean.  Two pairs of wererats; let’s make them enemies of each other, each couple trying to ingratiate themselves with the trio of lycanthropes on level 2.  There must be some kind of way out of here to allow hippogriffs access (maybe it’s the same way the harpies get in and out).  I like the idea of the lizard men serving/worshipping the hydra.  I also like the idea of the wraith being someone who met his doom down here (maybe a greedy magic user in search of a relic from the ancient Mag’Uph’Un Empire); the zombies are his bodyguards whose oath extends beyond death.  The giant spiders don’t like the competition from their smaller cousins so those two groups are enemies.  To provide for more interaction options with players, I think these critters should be able to talk, just like those oversized arachnids in The Hobbit.  The blink dogs (who teleported in) were ordered to guard something here; maybe that’s what the wraith was after.  Not sure what the ogres and hobgoblins are up to; let’s see if there’s anything below to tell us.