Your players are sitting around, waiting to go on some nefarious quest. Oh wait, it's just another goblin cave, and they're saving the farmer's lost pig from being tomorrow's dinner. Can't you do any better than that? Here's some RPG Design tips for building the perfect dungeon.

A better quest: Most players enjoy playing for the story, well, many do. Try to give them a compelling reason to do whatever quest you've set them on. Will the village be destroyed? A player's mother is in danger? Maybe someone stole the Sword of SUPER SHINY the players got as a recent reward? Anything that relates to the players works much better than random villagers or saving the world.

Architecture: Are your RPG dungeons all something that could be grids on a piece of paper? Mix it up a little! Give it a few different floors, or a mountain that could be climbed both inside and out, with numerous caves dotting the landscape that have to be traversed. Arch ways that change the elemental areas of the room, teleport traps, spinners that change your player's directions...

Traps: Enough said? Here's a list of over 100 traps, puzzles and challenges.

Unique Creatures, Landscape or Accessories: Every dungeon should have something to stand out from everything else in the RPG. You shouldn't have players trampse through goblin cave after goblin cave. For example, one could be inhabited by mushrooms. That's a horrible example, but it's the least you can do to make somewhere interesting. Some of the worst RPGs, both on the computer and other ways of playing them, force players to wander through the same environment, fighting the same creatures, over and over again. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor anyone?

A sparkly reward: You don't have to make it treasure. Anything will do! A maiden's kiss? Recognition from the mayor? A statue in the town square? Discount from the merchant shops? How about a new RPG quest, triggered by completing this dungeon? You could even have the quest rewarder betray them... or the maiden you rescued from Deep Dark Prison turn out to be an evil succubus enchanting the townsmen.

Puzzles: Not everyone enjoys these in a RPG. Use with care!

Collectible Items: Your RPG dungeons could have a few things scattered around that townspeople might be collecting. Dusty banking tomes? Lost sonnets of a famous poet? Ancient gold coins from a time long ago? Cave fungus? Weapons from the monster's you'll be putting the players up against?

There's all kinds of things you can do to while building the perfect dungeon. Your RPG Design shouldn't just be cookie cutter, put some time into it!