Day 0: Design and Ideation

To start I will be writing some ideas for the central concept of the dungeon. The overall whole which will guide creative decisions and provide constraints to my design. I really have been enjoying some Call of Cthulhu and X-Files of late so I'm really feeling some antique, vintage style locations with a horror twist and perhaps a touch of mystery.

Pillars

The Tone: Corruption & Decay.

The Purpose: A Hotel

The Central Tension: Trapped / Mystery / Rescue

Where Did it Come From?

Who built this place?

Since the Hotel is called Hotel De Quai, which is Hotel of Quai - its only sensible to presume it was built by someone of the last name Quai. Perhaps a countess, or someone with rich heritage. Once Elegant now corrupted.

What was its original purpose?

It was a hotel; guests would flock far and wide not only for the beautiful surroundings but also for the luxury of the hotel. I'm thinking this hotel will be placed in a beautiful area far from a nearby town or city. A retreat for the rich and influential.

Is it still being used as intended?

Most certainly not, it has as the tone and pillars suggest, I think been corrupted. Perhaps so has this Quai character or maybe they have passed. Now any who enter do not come out.

Who has been here recently?

Perhaps there has been a grand reopening, a trap to invite some new blood into the hotel. Or maybe that has come and gone, and it is the player characters jobs to rescue those who have fallen victim - it they can. Perhaps they each get to create a character who visited the hotel and must find and save them.

What should it feel like?

Since there will be quite a few rooms in this hotel, the "vibe" should shift from time to time, though the main vibe should be one of horror and mystery. A sense of decay and fallen grandeur, squaller where once there was luxury.

What does the end look like?

This will be a dangerous place, there should be a sense of urgency to escape and also reclaim their lost friends if that is the hook that is used. Perhaps a much harder but rewarding ending is that for the more inquisitive players they can potentially reverse the decay here and remove the horror from the hotel. Failure would be the death of their friends, death of the party or corruption by the hotel itself!

What Threats or Forces are Present?

The Hotel should have a variety of threats within, representing the different clientel groups, staff and the owner of the hotel.

Dangerous Environments

The hotel itself should be dangerous, potentially even hinting at an entity possessing the building itself. Which means representing this through the hotel itself being dangerous will involve traps, corrupting effects and even some non-sensical Euclidean geometry!

Monsters Oh My!

The creatures inhabiting this hotel should be a mix of corrupted creatures with a strong theme of Victorian gothic horror. Personally, I am a big fan of this vibe and think for the systems I may be leaning towards for this dungeon I feel these themes for creatures will give me a lot to work with. I would also like to ensure that the creatures encountered are in varying stages of corruption so that there will be a mix of social encounters and fun dungeon combat to be had in the hotel.

Some thoughts on System

I personally love many different game systems, though the games I have been lucky enough to play the most and do the most work designing homebrew for would be 5e, Call of Cthulhu and Draw Steel. So if I land on a system to really create this "Dungeon" around I think it will be one I am excited to create for and one that I am familiar enough with to design for.