twin thorn
You are looking to make dungeon rooms using 12 theme words like "scarecrow", for a "storybook" themed dungeon, yeah?
Before I delve into specific suggestions, what is the overall context of the dungeon? Why do players care? What are their PCs trying to do inside this dungeon?
Also, what's your party class & levels?
And is this 5e D&D?
rustic sphinx
You are looking to make dungeon rooms using 12 theme words like "scarecrow", for...
The players (Paladin, Wizard, and Monk at level 9) need to explore this dungeon to get an artifact they are looking for.
Rooms do not need to match the theme of the word that got them there, but it won't hurt if it does. That doesn't need to be a constrain on the dungeon.
Yes, 5e.
Paladin is also a warlock, and his patron has guided them here.
twin thorn
The players (Paladin, Wizard, and Monk at level 9) need to explore this dungeon ...
Is part of your idea that they're searching these 12 rooms for clues about the artifact? So if they are sharp and piece together clues they can get to the Artifact Room sooner, and thus bypass some of the rooms?
rustic sphinx
Is part of your idea that they're searching these 12 rooms for clues about the a...
They will get to the artifact room after going through the 12 portals in order.
They know it is there, they need to be able to complete the dungeon to get it.
twin thorn
They will get to the artifact room after going through the 12 portals in order.
Ah... ok so it's kinda of a storybook reenactment theme?
i.e. there's a sense of storybook narrative that should unfold across the 12 rooms?
rustic sphinx
If possible.
twin thorn
And part of the question this dungeon poses is: In what condition/state do the PCs reach the final Artifact Room, yeah?
rustic sphinx
Other than being alive, not really. The idea is the archfey or whomever created the dungeon wanted to protect their treasure and the artifact is in the treasure. They loved these short stories so they made a dungeon based off of them. If you can complete the dungeon, then the dungeon creator's gift of going though his favorite story is the treasure they find.
twin thorn
Right, what i meant was none of the rooms have a purpose in and of themselves (e.g. acquiring 4 power gems to open a door, learning essential clues in a certain room to solve the final scene, etc)
Scarecrow Room is right in the middle of your storybook dungeon, so I think that one should be a bit of a twist to liven things up and encourage players to think about the big picture and what they've experienced thus far.
So I'd want the Scarecrow (a literal scarecrow with some twists below) to be a "false guide" – presenting them with a choice/puzzle which involves the themes of the past 6 rooms: Archfey, Child, Dryad, Elf, Fire, and Fox. This puzzle could simply be arranging them in order. Or the puzzle could be matching which of "6 fairy tale moral lessons" matches each of the room themes (and you don't have to use all 6 rooms, maybe just 3 that are most interesting to you).
Instead of presenting it as a puzzle though, the scarecrow presents it as a binary choice "You can go through the Passage of Past Revealed or the Passage of Future to Come!" which appear as misty passages, the left (past) doing gloomy and magically dark, while the right (future) being so luminous it's almost blinding. However, both are traps! The past teleports to a previous room and imposes exhaustion/drains max hp. The future blinds PCs entering next room (appropriately: Shadow).
Maybe the puzzle is there are certain nooks near doors with Sylvan engravings, and there are tokens on the scarecrow/part of the scarecrow symbolizing those 6 previous room themes (or however may you choose to use - Archfey, Child, Dryad, Elf, Fire, and Fox). Solving puzzle causes two doors to phase shift on top of each other, revealing the (un-trapped) way forward.
rustic sphinx
Right, what i meant was none of the rooms have a purpose in and of themselves (e...
I like the idea!
Thanks for the input, that will really help a lot.