Dungeons in Modern Games

Running “dungeons” in any genre or setting.

Roleplaying Tips GM Richmond grabbed my book, Logical Dungeon Design: Tactical Cartography, and sent me this note:

Johnn,

I have read the first chapter and part of the second. I don’t know how useful it will be for the game I am currently running, but I may be able to use it in a future campaign.

My current game is Savage Michigan using Savage Worlds rules.

For adventures in Michigan, I can use modern building designs. I have used Google Maps and Street View for a couple of the missions they have been on.

I am currently running the game as an open-world, sandbox game providing a setting for them to operate in. They are members of the Capitol Area Adventurers Guild, and they get jobs, missions and quests from the guild jobs board and website.

They sell general loot to the Guild Pawnbroker, they have their funds deposited into their Adventurers Guild Credit Union accounts, and they pay for things with their AGCU debit cards. So far, the players have been enjoying it.

I look forward to reading the rest of the Logical Dungeon Design book and hopefully applying its concepts in the future.

That’s excellent, Richmond!

Savage Michigan sounds awesome. The Adventurers Guild Credit Union and debit cards idea is great. I do love me some faction play.

You are taking the right approach.

Substitute buildings, park trails, and large ships for “dungeon” and apply the book’s concepts.

For example:

Loops. Office buildings have hallways that loop. Enemies can flank using a maintenance corridor (Secret Connector) while they pin the party down in the lobby.
Verticality. In Savage Worlds, high ground grants a bonus iirc. Use the book’s tips on Verticality to turn a stairwell ambush, elevator chase, or air conditioning ceiling routes into tactical puzzles.
Multiple Entrances. You mentioned the PCs do missions (e.g., “dungeon raids”). Instead of just kicking down the front door of a warehouse, use the Entrances chapter to design a roof infiltration or sewer grate intrusion.

Even when we aren’t drawing maps from scratch, we are the architects of factions, locations, and encounters. We get to decide which doors are locked (blocking the linear path), which fire escapes are rusted (risk versus reward), and where the Hub (security room, staff room, maintenance area) is located.

Modern Dungeons

I’m not the most experienced modern GM, but I think you could make these locations work like dungeons:

d12 Locations

Abandoned Shopping Mall (create Loops with employee-only back hallways and loading docks).
Multi-Level Parking Garage (Skip Levels by jumping over railings and traversing stairwells).
Gardens or Greenhouse (block Line of Sight with foliage, Loops via paths).
Airport (multiple Entrances galore, Terminal is a Hub, gates are Micro-Dungeons).
Shipping Container Yard (stacked containers for Verticality, Crane as Landmark).
Cruise Ship (Secret Connectors via staff routes, Skip Level via Elevators).
Underground Subway (platforms as Micro-Dungeons, trains/tracks for Skip Levels).
Water Treatment Plant (warren of pipe-filled hallways for Loops, main open area for Verticality).
Hospital (nurse stations for Hubs, wards for Micro-Dungeons, colour-lined halls for Loops).
Museum (welcome area as Hub, huge feature areas for Verticality).
Library (stacks to block Line of Site, themed floors for Skip Levels).
Self-Storage Site (lockers for ambushes, tiers for Skip Levels).

By focusing on maps as tactical layouts instead of what should happen next, we set the stage for emergent storytelling.

When you provide non-linear maps with internal logic—loops, verticality, and hubs, you’re providing a playground. You provide The What and let players handle The How. They get to puzzle things out on their own, drive the game for you, and create a fantastic story from the gameplay that emerges.

Dear Game Master, if you want a map-making strategy and lots of ideas for creating such maps in your campaign, grab my book Logical Dungeon Design: Tactical Cartography right now.

Cheers,
Johnn
roleplayingtips.com
https://discord.gg/6MxTRAqQ76
Have more fun at every game!

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