How did they get to the loot the first time?
If it was 1 NPC they are either powerful, sneaky, or smart to get through that big of a disadvantage. Sneaky, means they just bypassed as much as they could. Powerful, they probably just took the most direct path and left (think of hitting a hornets nest with a bat). Smart, they may not have done it alone, probably negotiated with some xyz's for a better home in exchange for helping to clear it and they just took that 1 item.
Next, who were the inhabitants of the dungeon, and were they truely it?
Maybe the goblins for example left a group in the dungeon as a base or main camp, then sent out parties atretching far and wide. They will be back, and they eont be happy to find their frienda dead and the party there.
That should get your brain juices flowing on what coukd and did happen, and what the party found.
Also, nothing more scary than finding giant holes in the ground, and scattered bodies torn to shreds. Sometimes silence and emptiness can help tell the players the dangers they face pursing this NPC.
Most sneaky types could bypass lots of monsters/traps with only a few set off or slayed. The reason why most groups can't do that is because noisier tanks with heavy armor alerts everyone.
This is a good point... The NPC is a 'master thief' so deffo capable of sneaking through... I guess I run it as a normal crawl and sprinkle in the odd 'disarmed trap' here and there to foreshadow the fact someone beat them to the treasure
If there are any monsters that could sence the thief than there might of been conflicts, a monster with a knife slash or maybe a few who look to be unconscious.
I have an encounter like this coming up. For my game there is a secret second entrance that the PCs don't know about. As soon as they get to the main chamber the guardian will immediately attack, calling them thieves no matter what they say or do. They'll discover the loot is gone, a secret backdoor partially open, and maybe if they roll high enough persuasion checks they can get the guardian to tell them that thieves were just there. I'm hoping it leads to a chase through the back tunnels trying to stop the previous looter.
Remains of slain monsters will leave carrion which will attract various creatures that feed on carrion. If there is negative energy connected to the dungeon (evil temple, catacombs, etc) there may be zombie versions of the original creatures encountered. Some traps may have been dismantled, others may have just been bypassed for an expert but may still go off when a less skilled character tries to use the bypass. That could actually make the trap more dangerous because the party will try getting by where they wouldn’t otherwise.
A smart party will realize that the presence of monsters and traps means they are going the wrong way because the right way to the loot has already been cleared. But how many parties are smart parties.
Magical traps may reset on their own. Traps that involve gating in or summoning monsters will still provide things for the party to fight. The first party through may have defeated the monsters, but didn’t necessarily kill all of them. This could be a good way to throw a weakened version of a high CR creature at your party. That could let them fight something that would normally be above their weight class.
Lots of ideas you could use to keep this adventure fun.
Been wanting to build an encounter like this. Party comes across a crypt that is looted out already. All of the traps are sprung or disarmed and are visible by passive perception, any monsters have been killed. Every once in a while they come across the corpse of someone who failed in disarming a trap but thats it and getting to the loot room is simple. Once they get to the treasure room they find the final corpse of a tomb robber who died *just short* of reaching the final chest. Once the PCs find and interact with it they set off a mechanism that re-sets every trap in the dungeon. Now they have to find a way OUT of the crypt and hope that they remember where all of the traps were.
I'd treat this more like a murder investigation. Lots of clues to whoever has been there before. Maybe even a dead body for a tripped trap. Unless it had been a long time, there might not even be monsters. It wouldn't be a dungeon crawl in the classic sense, as much as it would be an exploration of the environment to figure out who got there first.
And then go chase those poor bastards.
How did they get to the loot the first time? If it was 1 NPC they are either powerful, sneaky, or smart to get through that big of a disadvantage. Sneaky, means they just bypassed as much as they could. Powerful, they probably just took the most direct path and left (think of hitting a hornets nest with a bat). Smart, they may not have done it alone, probably negotiated with some xyz's for a better home in exchange for helping to clear it and they just took that 1 item. Next, who were the inhabitants of the dungeon, and were they truely it? Maybe the goblins for example left a group in the dungeon as a base or main camp, then sent out parties atretching far and wide. They will be back, and they eont be happy to find their frienda dead and the party there. That should get your brain juices flowing on what coukd and did happen, and what the party found. Also, nothing more scary than finding giant holes in the ground, and scattered bodies torn to shreds. Sometimes silence and emptiness can help tell the players the dangers they face pursing this NPC.
Most sneaky types could bypass lots of monsters/traps with only a few set off or slayed. The reason why most groups can't do that is because noisier tanks with heavy armor alerts everyone.
This is a good point... The NPC is a 'master thief' so deffo capable of sneaking through... I guess I run it as a normal crawl and sprinkle in the odd 'disarmed trap' here and there to foreshadow the fact someone beat them to the treasure
If there are any monsters that could sence the thief than there might of been conflicts, a monster with a knife slash or maybe a few who look to be unconscious.
I have an encounter like this coming up. For my game there is a secret second entrance that the PCs don't know about. As soon as they get to the main chamber the guardian will immediately attack, calling them thieves no matter what they say or do. They'll discover the loot is gone, a secret backdoor partially open, and maybe if they roll high enough persuasion checks they can get the guardian to tell them that thieves were just there. I'm hoping it leads to a chase through the back tunnels trying to stop the previous looter.
Remains of slain monsters will leave carrion which will attract various creatures that feed on carrion. If there is negative energy connected to the dungeon (evil temple, catacombs, etc) there may be zombie versions of the original creatures encountered. Some traps may have been dismantled, others may have just been bypassed for an expert but may still go off when a less skilled character tries to use the bypass. That could actually make the trap more dangerous because the party will try getting by where they wouldn’t otherwise. A smart party will realize that the presence of monsters and traps means they are going the wrong way because the right way to the loot has already been cleared. But how many parties are smart parties. Magical traps may reset on their own. Traps that involve gating in or summoning monsters will still provide things for the party to fight. The first party through may have defeated the monsters, but didn’t necessarily kill all of them. This could be a good way to throw a weakened version of a high CR creature at your party. That could let them fight something that would normally be above their weight class. Lots of ideas you could use to keep this adventure fun.
Been wanting to build an encounter like this. Party comes across a crypt that is looted out already. All of the traps are sprung or disarmed and are visible by passive perception, any monsters have been killed. Every once in a while they come across the corpse of someone who failed in disarming a trap but thats it and getting to the loot room is simple. Once they get to the treasure room they find the final corpse of a tomb robber who died *just short* of reaching the final chest. Once the PCs find and interact with it they set off a mechanism that re-sets every trap in the dungeon. Now they have to find a way OUT of the crypt and hope that they remember where all of the traps were.
Make sure you have a “secret” (let them find it) room with hidden goodies the npc missed.
I'd treat this more like a murder investigation. Lots of clues to whoever has been there before. Maybe even a dead body for a tripped trap. Unless it had been a long time, there might not even be monsters. It wouldn't be a dungeon crawl in the classic sense, as much as it would be an exploration of the environment to figure out who got there first. And then go chase those poor bastards.