What's in Your Basement?

[Annex]

This idea will never get implemented but I'll share it just for fun.

So...many games have housing. A "house" usually consists of a piece of property with some kind of structure, rooms within the structure, some form of storage, and decorations. Some games let you place decorations freely. Some games use decoration hooks. Decorations come from vendors, special drops, the game store, and events.

Some players expend great effort decorating. Some players never decorate and use the "house" as a storage chest. Some players show off their "house". Some players even role play in their "house". However, after the initial decorating frenzy wears off, visitors become a rarity and almost every "house" becomes just another form of storage. Yawn.

A "house" in Dungeons & Dragons could take many forms such as a Cleric's Temple, a Paladin's Castle, a Thief's Hideout, or a Wizard's Tower. But what every "house" in Dungeons & Dragons really needs is...an actual dungeon! Not just any dungeon, mind you. A working dungeon under the control of the saintly or completely diabolical player.

Under this suggestion, every "house" includes a set of stairs leading down to a dungeon. The dungeon consists of a 5 by 5 grid of Room Tiles and Wall Segments. Each Room Tile and Wall Segment acts as a hook point. In the course of adventuring, players will find Room Tiles and Wall Segments for their personal "house" dungeon. The player may then slot these items into the corresponding dungeon hook points. Since each dungeon consists of a 5 by 5 grid, it may hold 25 Tile Rooms and 40 Wall Segments. This makes one entire "house" dungeon comparable in size and graphics load to the largest Guild Airships.

A Tile Room works just like a Guild Amenity. It comprises a complete dungeon room with all terrain, set decorations, monsters, traps, and so forth in place. Once slotted, it becomes active. Traps become live and monsters start to wander about.

Now for the fun part. Monsters will never attack the owner of the dungeon. The owner of the dungeon cannot trigger traps. The owner of the dungeon can walk through Wall Segments as if they were illusory. The same is not true for visitors! If a visitor enters a "house" dungeon, all monsters and traps react appropriately. In this way, a player may create a mini-dungeon for her friends to explore!

Room Tiles may come in many configurations and I will leave it to the reader to imagine the possibilities. However, one critical form of Room Tile will contain a Treasure Chest. A dungeon Treasure Chest acts like a Storage Chest with a 10 item capacity but anyone who reaches such a chest can loot it. In this way, the owner of the dungeon may stock all Treasure Chests as a reward for whomever braves the dungeon! Even better, players who reach a Treasure Chest may also deposit items! As a result, the contents of a Treasure Chest may surprise anyone, including the owner!

Now it gets a little crazy. You see, all dungeons on a given server actually interconnect! Each dungeon has 4 exits located at the cardinal points. A fifth exit in the northeast corner always leads to the owning player's house. The owner may lock this fifth exit. All other exits lead to "house" dungeons created by other players!

Monsters and traps in "house" dungeons always scale to Level 30, making exploration of "house" dungeons an "End Game" activity. This precludes the need for messy rules concerning scaling and who entered what dungeon first. If a visiting player "activates" a monster or trap, everyone in the area becomes a valid target, including the owner. However, owners may escape through walls, unlike visitors. All "house" dungeons reset 5 minutes after the last player leaves, just like a normal dungeon.

I hope you enjoyed this crazy suggestion that will never happen. Thank you for reading and good luck with your adventures!

[Annex]

1) As the owner of a "house" dungeon, can I lock the north, south, east, and west exits.
No. Dungeons are dark and scary places. Who knows where one might lead!

2) How come "house" dungeons are level 30?
Scaling rules require all sorts of rules and calculations that stress developers and servers. Keep it simple, stu...dungeon explorer!

3) I purchased a "house". Do I need to outfit my dungeon?
No. Outfitting your personal "house" dungeon is completely optional but if your leave your "house" dungeon empty, you are a big pustule of ooze and everyone will hate you.

4) Do I need to fill every Room Tile and Wall Segment in my "house" dungeon?
No! You may arrange rooms and walls to your liking.

5) Do I need to put stuff in the "house" dungeon treasure chests?
No, but they sure make a great place to store trap parts!

6) Do I get experience for exploring "house" dungeons?
No!

7) What happens if someone removes a Room Tile while I'm fighting monsters in it?
Umm...I don't know!

8) Annex, how come you always post these dumb ideas at 3 in the morning?
Insomnia!

9) Can "house" dungeons contain Monster Champions?
Probably not as it would introduce problems with regards who sets the difficulty.

10) Can I play "house" dungeons in Reaper Mode?
Probably not as it would introduce problems with regards who sets the difficulty.

11) How may people can enter a "house" dungeon at once?
Probably twelve and maybe six to avoid Night Revels type lag.

[Annex]

Extreme Idea #1: "House" Dungeon Bosses
Every Room Tile comes with a fixed detachment of monsters and/or traps to waylay greedy adventurers. Approximately 3% of the time, when select Room Tiles spawn, an Orange Named Boss Monster will spawn along with the normal compliment of monsters and/or traps. Approximately 1% of the time, when select Room Times spawn, a Red Named Boss Monster will spawn along with the normal compliment of monsters and/or traps.

Extreme Idea #2: "Real" Treasure Chests
Approximately 1% of the time, when select Room Times spawn, a "real" treasure chest will spawn with it, containing a normal, random allotment of L30 items. In addition, a "real" treasure chest will spawn after defeating an Orange or Red Named Boss.

Extreme Idea #3: Actual Experience
Upon defeating an Orange or Red Named Boss, all players in the "house" dungeon will earn a fixed amount of experience in the manner of a wilderness area random encounter.