Dungeon Room Index: Great Halls

(Last time we did Libraries)

I really like a big room, don't I? There are the reasons I already gave, but maybe it's that I find bigger rooms easier to diversify as well; I guess we'll find out what happens when I seriously attempt something smaller.

Anyways, here are the rooms, with notes to follow:

Halls, that are Great

When I say "Great Hall", I'm using this as somewhat of a blanket term for a variety of large, open spaces: ballrooms, banquet halls, hallways (that are really big and grand; it's in the name!). Basically any space that is best served by a large, open area, especially one with high, vaulted ceilings. (And remember, if the ceilings aren't vaulted, they are quite liable to collapse! Better get some pillars in there...)

With a room like this, I find myself a little at a loss at first to come up with new aesthetic flourishes; mostly it's all about the layout. However, there are a few things I find fit well in rooms like this:

• Fireplaces/braziers/firepits. Whether for heat, light, a place to cook, or all of the above.
• Balconies. Remember how much I like verticality? These are an easy fit for a Great Hall. I imagine uppercrust types wanting to stand up where they can look down on everyone.
  
• Tables. Long ones. If it's a feast hall, there should be places for people to sit! And again, they make for nice dynamic set pieces, whatever form they take.
• Statues. You can never have too many in my opinion; useful as a focal point or just decoration. I think big statues are especially welcome in a room like this.
• Fountains/pools. Just depends on the vibe you're going for, but these are on the "fancy" end.
• Pillars. Get used to them, they're not going away.

That's what comes to mind as far as things that could be distinctly visible on the map itself, but there are other aesthetic touches that come readily to mind as well: banners/tapestries, wall sconces, chandeliers, paintings, murals/reliefs, mosaics, interesting tile-work or floor mosaic things, ...benches. That sort of thing.

A note on usage

Two thoughts.

One is that a great hall is to some degree "repeatable". Ultimately, all rooms are (a library, for example, can be spread out over mutltiple rooms, each a different "section" focused on a different topic), but the more a great hall skews towards just "a big, open area", the more easily you can sprinkle those around in the same dungeon. There's a "north great hall" and a "west great hall" and a "central great hall", and so on. (This is leaning into the "hall" idea more than perhaps the ballrooms and feast halls and so on.)

Second, as with any dungeon, there's "what the room was designed for" and "what it's currently being used for", (or even, "what has someone used it for in the interrim?"), and those can be very, very distinct things. I find this element of dungeon design a little more nebulous than the layout portion, but here are some thoughts for great halls:

• No mans land. Multiple factions are in this dungeon, and the great hall at it's center is where they clash or parley. Lookouts are always stationed at either end. 
• Makeshift village. A group has settled down here with tents and bonfires. It's the only (sort of safe) place where they can all gather in one place.
• Beast's lair. A creature has made it's nest here, either because other rooms are too small to be comfortable, or because it's easier to keep a lookout for potential thieves. Or, because it's a great place to catch unwary passersby. 
• Burial mound. Just a huge pile of dead bodies, burned or left to rot; this is where all casualties of inter-faction conflicts end up.
• Scrap heap. Similar to the burial mound, this is just where dungeon denizens pile up their leftovers and broken stuff.
• Training ground. A faction has set up here for target practice and other martial needs.
• Mushroom farming. Hey, you gotta stretch your brain sometimes. Plus it's funny. You emerge from dark, cramped halls, to an open pillared chamber full of... mushrooms. And slugs. Big slugs being herded like livestock.

All that is good, but of course it's also great just to have a big, empty hall. Remember the scene in Moria? Sometimes being big and empty is enough.

Room Notes

Pillars and tables Not much to add. A large hall with tables and pillars is a great minimum-viable-product.

 
Elevated areas A minimal elevated area; a stair-to-balcony over a large doorway. This room is incredibly simple, yet that fixture alone could make this space an interesting space for springing a trap on something lured through the north doorway. A room like this may be simple in concept, but a blank canvas can be a great place for some evocative imagery even so.

 
When playing with multiple levels, it's always interesting to expose levels to eachother without actually connecting them. In this room, elevated walkways on either side look down on a wide room. Getting to those walkways either means climbing in some way, or finding another way up. I love these kinds of visual hints. Now, if you want to make a way up, that's easy: just crumble part of one of those walkways to make a natural rubble-stair. It's functional and evocative!

  You can come up with endless variations on this simple theme.

 
Leaning into bigger, more opulent spaces, a large room has a raised balcony at each corner; I imagine this like a ballroom where those looking for a quieter conversation would park up on these raised areas. The statue is a nice focal point and decoration.

 
Firepits and similar A simple, asymmetric hall. A lower ceilinged area on the left is wrapped in pillars, and the main hall terminates in a fireplace. Some windows here would be nice if the dungeon setting allows it!

 
A little more dramatic, a little bigger. This room has a much larger fireplace, dramatically set at the end of a reflection pool. Seeing that fire reflected across the water is appropriately dramatic, and that fireplace flanked in statues practically begs for a secret room hidden behind it.

 

Pillars separate fires or braziers from long tables. I imagine some gathering around the flames for conversation or cooking while others sit at the tables for feasting, etc.

This is basically an adaption from the Great Hall at Hogwarts. A head table looks down from slight elevation on the rest of the hall. A large brazier is the focal point. Don't forget that wooden tables surely can't last intact forever!

    
A large firepit is the focal point of this rounded hall. Even though a room of this sort will likely be found long abandoned in a dungeon context, it's still a fun idea to find a group of goblins or other dungeon dwellers dancing around a huge bonfire.

Levels

Each of these feature upper levels looking down on a central area. Whether or not to connect or keep the upper levels split is an interesting decision! The lower level may be submerged in murky water, or simply the camp or lair of some dangerous creature. Do you give the players a way to simply sneak past quietly, or do you force them to descend? (Or even attempt to jump the gap! There could be a nice chandelier hanging over the gap for just such a purpose...)

 
Make them Great It's very satisfying to just make a Great Hall biiig. This space is probably just a transition between more purpose-built rooms, but it's pillars towering up into the darkness evoke a mood all their own. Moreso with a few pillars collapsed and splayed across the floor. A useful barricade or hiding place.

  Pulling it all together, we have a large central area suitable as a ballroom, with pillars and tables on either side. Large statues loom on the north and south ends of the room, flanked by gently curving staircases to upper levels. The south end in particular features a large, imposing door. Put some firepits or fountains at the feet of those statues and we've got it all!

 
Stretching our expectations Again, I looked for alternate forms. First, a kobold den's Great Hall; mostly a large chamber with prominent fire pits. Perhaps we could add some ledges for relaxation and observation?

  A waterfall crashes from the ceiling into those large, open watery cavern. I pictured bullywugs or other semi-acquatic bipeds convening in their own "Great Hall".