There's something in one of the Discworld books where there is a tomb of a Trickster that is just full of traps, normally of the "custard pie in your face" kind of traps. The final trap is in the room containing the Trickster's empty coffin, where a gigantic stone slab slides down and blocks the entrance, with a sign saying "Who's laughing now?".

That makes a good dungeon without monsters.

Quote from: Tod13;1088881My players like role-playing -- especially with monsters/opponents. They'd hate a traps/riddles/exploration only dungeon.

Exactly. A dungeon without random encounters is a safe space.

This might be off-topic (feel free to say so), but has anyone had a group of PC's clear out a dungeon entirely thereby making it 'monsterless' and turned it to their own use? I had a group that turned an initially hostile labyrinth into their 'home base,' making it into a massive home/barracks/supply store/training ground for their new organization and as a sort of lockbox/security system for all the rare treasures they had motivation to keep.

If DMs create logistically sound dungeons, with ready-made water and food sources and other needs solved necessary for staying, then there's little reason for PCs not to take them as fortifiable strong points if everything else is favorable also.

IIRC The Grinding Gear for LotFP is mostly, if not all, just traps and puzzles with a well known trasure to draw folks in.

Quote from: Ratman_tf;1088763Tomb of Horrors almost qualifies. Are there any monsters besides the demi-lich?

I remember a four-armed gargoyle. But if you had a copy of the module you could bypass almost all of the monsters, so it was highly believable in Ready Player One (the book) that the low-level protagonist who obsessively studied 80s stuff including RPGs could navigate so far into it. Some of the old computer adventure games that were primarily exploration could also qualify.

A dungeon with no creatures at all would be somewhat boring; no NPCs to talk to, no combats (unless the traps conjured some opponents-is that still monsterless?). As attrition in advance of the big fight, that might work, but not on a scale where that fight ensues after more than a few sessions.

With some environmental hazard, a monsterless dungeon is not necessarily a safe space; there were inhabitants but I don't recall wandering monsters in Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (from Tales from the Yawning Portal) but the party is trapped within it and they have to find a way out, with poison gas causing attrition (in part of the dungeon) so they have to keep moving through traps and obstacles. Even without that, there would be time pressure from supplies and the threat that rivals or enemies will move in if the players go too slow.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1088739Has anyone run a dungeon without monsters?

I never have. I wonder if a dungeon where there are only traps and puzzles would be interesting enough for players.

My only semi-experience was a dungeon where the PCs knew they are heading into specifically to release a Big Bad from a vault to kick its ass, so the adventure was all about trying to get to the vault with the least suffering for the climactic fight scene.

I've run lots of adventures where the only "monsters" were other people but never one with only traps and puzzles.