GLOGtober '23 prompts can be found here.
Not intentional traps, just very unsafe: Flooding
Water is a constant danger in any underground space, pooling and filling chambers. Without proper drainage there is no where for the water to go and many a dungeon has been abandoned due to flooding. Flash floods are a particular danger to those exploring underground spaces. While you occasional find some devious trap that floods a room intentionally, you should also be prepared for flash floods that can trap you underground.
When a sudden rainstorm hits the water has to go somewhere and if the dungeon entrance isn’t elevated all that water can come rushing down into the underground complex. If the dungeon had any thought behind it, a wise designer would include drainage channels and elevate the entrance above possible flood lines. But not all dungeons are designed wisely.
As the water fills the dungeon it often sweeps in dirt and detritus, along with other creatures. When the waters recede they often leave debris in their wake, reseeding the dungeon with fresh decor. The waves will also catch lose items throughout the underground halls, filling the murky water with all sorts of potential dangers. Some creatures can thrive in this environment, such as oozes or other naturally born water monstrosities who now enjoy a larger territory. Dungeons aren’t clean places either, so this water can easily become a health hazard as well.
Water can come in waves and poses a real danger sweeping an unprepared explorer away to their doom. Unlucky adventurers can also have passages between them and the exit flood, trapping them beneath the earth with limited supplies. Escaping these situations either involves hoping the water will drain before you run out of food, or trying to swim in pitch black flooded passages. Perhaps if you’re lucky going further into the dungeon will reveal a back way out, or just get you eaten by horrid monsters.
It's advised to avoid swimming through the waters unless absolutely necessary. If the water is still flowing it can be moving deceptively quick, sweeping you away to a watery grave. Sharp debris can lie concealed in the water, harming those who try to move through the waters. Navigating the waters without light quickly leads to drowning unless it’s the most well planned short swim. Even with light the passages are often confusing in the new aquatic perspective and it’s easy to kick up silt and cause a silt out, leading to further disorientation.
Using Floods in Play
Events like this, earthquakes, and other random disasters are likely not things you want to inflict on players randomly. Flooding a dungeon that is just a series of linear chambers and trapping the unprepared players in a single room with a quarter miles of flooded tunnels will likely just lead to their deaths.
Instead if you’re going to use this it’s probably best to plan it out beforehand. Design a dungeon where if it floods the main exit is blocked, forcing the players to try to remember where the other exits were relative to their position. Perhaps you want the players to try to navigate a flooded room or two, trying to figure out how to get a chest full of gold through murky waters.
Alternatively you don’t need to flood the dungeon for long periods of time, but rather just have a wave of water come rushing through. Players have to seek high ground to avoid being swept away, but the waters recede quickly. Maybe it could be a race against the clock to secure the ancient tomes before they’re ruined by the torrent of water, or just a constant worry as the water level slowly but steadily rises as the players explore.
You could also throw this all out and roll for flooding whenever weather tables indicate an especially heavy rain storm. If dungeon entrance is at the bottom of a canyon it might just happen. In this case definitely give players warnings as they hear the storm overhead and the water starting to trickle in. Hopefully most dungeons are designed to avoid flooding.
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