Dungeon Room Index: Living Quarters

Bedrooms, studies--the somewhat personal spaces where people sleep and think.

Here are the rooms:

To live would be a great adventure

This can be a rabbit-hole if you're not careful. Dungeons do not have to be completely realistic spaces--touches of realism are great for immersion and encouraging certain bands of problem-solving. But getting side tracked while drawing your dungeon with questions like "where are the bathrooms?" is probably a high-cost, low-return distraction.

Even so, living spaces can be a great inclusion. Aside from boosting the sheer variety of rooms in your space, they do add some verisimilitude, and they're a great place for placing characterful loot and lore.

The questions to ask are:

• who built/occupied this space originally?
• what was their status? worthy of excellent craftsmanship and opulence? or lowly and humble?
• what was their attitude? ostentatious, or utilitarian?

You may also consider the species of these occupants, and how the construction and decoration of their living space could differ accordingly.

Room Notes

Servant quarters

These servants were packed in like sardines, but at least they got a little privacy! Each room has barely enough room for a bed and perhaps a personal trunk. A room like this is a great place to find small personal items, but do yourself a favor and don't key these rooms individually. Rather, make yourself a small table of the sorts of things you might find, and roll on that in accordance any time your players search one of these rooms.

These servants have a little more space, but each room is shared. Either two beds, or even bunks. Just a different possible layout.

It is worth discussing how servant areas in a dungeon or castle might be different: where the more public or elite spaces may have wide, comfortable hallways, servant areas are probably more cramped and utilitarian. A dungeon might have many wide hallways and grand rooms connected by a maze of tight servant halls.

Should you determine that your dungeon should have servant areas, you might scatter servant quarters in many different quarters of the dungeon, and give each a slightly different flavor.

These servants had the worst situation: a single public chamber filled with crowded bunks. I imagine that in a living situation like this, the occupants might get a little more creative about where they stow personal objects--they would probably have very few, and hide them well under beds and loose flagstones.

Again, if you determine your dungeon should have supported many servants originally, rooms like this and other similar amenities are a good way to fill up some of the whitespace, and create additional connections between areas.

Barracks

The situation of a barracks is similar to the situation of a servant, as a soldier is much like a specialized servant. This row of bunks is spaced a little more comfortably, and each bad may have space for a large trunk at it's foot. The difference would mostly be in the key: scraps of armor or weapons, perhaps a patriotic banner, that sort of thing.

The lower ranking soldiers are bunked on the main floor, and more senior individuals have more comfortable--but still utilitarian--living space. The upper story is still open so that sudden orders may be audible to all situated here.

Opulent bedrooms

Drawing the rooms of a servant is depressing; drawing the rooms of a king or similar is more fun, and allows for much greater variety! This large bedroom features a wide, four-post bed, a dressing area, shelves, a desk and couch, and most importantly of all a long hall of mirrors so this narcissist could check his clothes on his way out.
Within your dungeon layout, it's most obvious that an individual bedroom would be a terminal node--only one entrance or exit. Of course, you can always add a secret passage, but for a sufficiently high status individual it's plausible that there would be a servant door for attendants to come and go in their regular duties.

This bedroom's prominent feature is the elevated central section where the large bed rests. This individual clearly regarded themselves as above normal life, and felt the need to even sleep on a higher level.

What's more luxurious than an indoor water feature? Who doesn't find the sound of water relaxing? Desks across the moat are where senior scribes would sit and wait patiently for their ruler to awaken and dictate the night's dreams.

Adjacent spaces

A simple communal bath where several servants would clean themselves in a rush to get to their morning duties.

A large personal bath for the high status individual. Multiple faucets are operated from a raised area by trusted servants, and a large shelf on the south side stores luxurious soaps and scented creams.

Most closets, even if they're a distinct space, are probably too small to be interesting. This closet is ostentatious in the extreme, featuring an lower and upper level, and a prominent space with several mirrors for examining one's dress from all angles.

Alternate living spaces

For some reason, the first alternative here that always comes to mind is frog-folk. So this communal living space features several submerged chambers where semi-aquatic dwellers come to rest. Each chamber appears small, but is significantly larger under the water. I might expect these dwellers to close their "front doors" with wicker "lids", and hang personal effects like woven nets or fishing spears.

Another partially submerged living space, except this one also has a prominent area above water. Perhaps the fully mature adults sleep on land, while their immature brood dart about in the water.

This communal space is composed of large nests of soft matter, with nearby woven baskets for storing food stuffs or useful tools.

Though mundane, a family living space for humans may be an uncommon sight within a dungeon. Several cots line the walls, along with a modestly sized bath and a central fire pit.

Alternate modes of rest

The beings who repose here do not sleep--they meditate--each in a circular chamber of their own. The unsophisticated would hardly know the difference, as their meditation is so deep that they are usually unresponsive; even so, it is quite odd to sleep in a cross-legged position.

The automatons who patrol the halls of this dungeon must periodically power down and recharge. Complex, angular chambers serve as their charging stations.

The beings in the pods lining this hall appear to be in some kind of long-term statis. It would be best not to meddle and risk waking them...

Studies

The simplest form I can think of is more like an office--a desk, some shelves, and a personal fireplace. The occupant surely came here for productive personal reflection, and also receiving news or reports from visitors.

This study is a little larger, more comfortable, and more accustomed for long-form negotiation, with reasonably comfortable seating for up to two visitors. Even more so than a bedroom, a study like this is a great place for more interesting secrets and items of special interest--artifacts, maps, significant texts, etc.

Really, a study is much like a miniature library. Where a library is filled to the brim with information of all kinds, the contents of a study will be more curated by the owner. Either for special purpose, or just for personal interest. This room is less like a personal office, and more of a personal library.

I love me a big old globe.

Bonus: things to find in a bedroom

• A ring. A simple gold band, or an intricately etched laurel design.
• A mask. As would be worn to a masquerade ball--like the phantom of the opera.
• A cloak. Red and black argyle with fine gold embroidery.
• A special weapon. Ceremonial, with words of an unknown script etched along the length of the shaft or blade.
• A family tapestry. Moldering and archaic, depicting a family with a son and daughter. Expressions are placid. One of the parents wears a particularly distinct--and valuable--item. 
• An animated bedsheet. Snakes up the bed posts and casts itself out wide like a net.
• A pristine mirror. Your reflection seems to move more slowly then they should, as if it was a person imitating you with a wry twinkle in their eye.
• A figurine. Wooden or stone, carved simply, of an animal of noble bearing.
• A scrap of clothing. Simple and humble.
• A single finger. Petrified in a wooden jewelry box of fine craftsmanship.
• A lock of hair. Tied with a simple thread
• A letter. Remarkably well preserved, detailing a secret affair.
• A desiccated corpse. Lying on a bed, tucked peacefully in tattered, moth eaten sheets.
• A quill feather. Black as midnight.
• A pair of shoes. Encrusted with small jewels.
• A silver water basin. Full of stagnant water. 
• A golden chamber pot. Sealed, and still full.
• A comb or brush. Made of an uncommon mineral.
• A chest mimic. Plain and simple.
• A cluster of slimy eggs. Stuck to the walls and ceiling.

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