consider the tower and dungeon concept being already used up, what... else?
like a tower to climb is awesome
a dungeon to dive is awesome
what else is awesome. a horizontal crawl?
TheAlbatross 7 points 7 months ago
How about a hedge maze? Or subaquatic network of bismuth-walled caves? Sure, one could argue those are just aesthetic variants on the dungeon or tower, but it's a fun shake up anyhow.
moonpiedumplings 5 points 7 months ago
The most common alternative I have seen is a massive underground labyrinth. But that's really just one big, linked (sometimes alive) dungeon.
For something actually unique... hmmm.
What about subworlds? A "main world" can invade weaker planes of various sizes. The big thing about subworlds, is that they are entire worlds, with living sapient inhabitants. Dungeons and towers sometimes don't have any sapient inhabitents but boss monsters and the "players".
Some tower fantasy manhwa have each floor with sapient inhabitants, but I would argue that subworlds are different, because subworlds can't interact with eachother the way tower floors can. There is no "higher floor power puppets powers on lower floors" because subworlds can't talk to eachother, other than the most powerful worlds which wield dimensional transportation magic/technology.
The other interesting thing about subworlds, is that you could have them have unique magic systems per subworld, forcing adaptation from the main character. Characters could also bring some of this special magic back to their main world.
bluemoon 3 points 7 months ago
i think mazes are neat. mutually exclusive to you i thought of this since posting too!
so a theme to a maze. like a centre of a dojo to escape, beginning in the boss's chamber while that boss is out for some reason.
or a gym.
or a school.
or a cloistre.
each time exiting a layer like an onion :p
also boarding a horizon: shipwrecked at sea, a desert travel going from oasis to oasis, an endless snowfield going from hamlet to hamlet, ...
Bustedknuckles 5 points 7 months ago
Horizontal crawl but Hex! Mystic forest, honey I shrunk the party, Island hopping The City
But yeah, tower up, dungeon down, explore out, city complexity. And aesthetic reskins thereof
jordanlund 2 points 4 months ago
Have you read the book Piranesi? Main character is trapped in a thought construct.
Think Allegory of the Cave:
go to feed...
go to feed...
A mad wizard traps the characters in a vast distillation apparatus, to render them down to their essential humours?
save