Whether it be a cobweb covered gate, a portcullis adorned with a green iron devil's face or a fissure in the stony ground belching a sulphurous smoke, the entrance to your dungeon sets the tone for the adventure. 

Use this list, to add interesting entrances to your dungeon: 

1. Thick curtains of ivy and thorny vines obscure the entrance. They undulate slightly in the breeze.

2. Mouldering brickwork blocks the entrance, but it is easily dismantled.

3. A mighty tree grows out of this cave-like entrance, obscuring the entrance shaft from sight.

4. A collapsed wagon lies across a trapdoor.

5. A bare expanse of sand conceals a stone slab that serves as a trapdoor.

6. The sunken entrance lies in a deep pool or lake. The entrance cavern is flooded, but the passages beyond rise quickly to drier caverns.

7. Innumerable thick strands of spider-silk render this door nearly invisible.

8. Canvas or burlap, cunningly painted to resemble the surrounds, stretches across the entrance.

9. Access to the dungeon is on the side of an overgrown ditch or moat, obscured by weeds.

10. A narrow crack in a tumbled crag leads to a cave that intersects with the dungeon.

Want More?

The material in this article appears in Dungeon Dressing: Dungeon Entrances by Jeff Erwin and Greg Marks which is available in 5e, Pathfinder 1, Pathfinder 2 and OSR editions.

Members of our Patreon campaign got all four editions as a thank you for their awesome support. Join today!