Sometimes, a plausible reason is needed to justify why a virgin dungeon lies so close to civilization, yet has never been plundered. Below are ten reasons why - of course, once word gets out, all sorts of adventurers, brigands, and scalawags will end up there and on the Random Encounter table.
Kinda like the gold boomtowns of the American Expansion in the 1800's.
Ten Twelve Means of Dungeon Discovery
1. A farmer clearing land or plowing a field breaks through the ceiling.
2. A builder renovating or expanding an older home discovers a passage or stairs.
3. A recent drought has lowered water levels, revealing the entrance.
4. An earthquake or landslide has uncovered the entrance.
5. Someone followed an ancient map to the X and now the dungeon lies open.
6. Water erosion (perhaps from heavy rains) opens a sinkhole leading into the complex.
7. Magic has brought the tower to the city or opened the stairwell into darkness in the marketplace.
8. It's always been here, but no one had the key ... until now.
9. Alternatively, the entrance has always been there, but the stars haven't been aligned until now.
10. A hunter chasing game, a child chasing a dog, or a shepherd chasing a stray sheep find a heretofore unknown cave.
11. Loggers or a storm have felled an ancient giant tree, revealing a complex below its root system.
12. Successive cities built on the same site merely cover over previous buildings, burying them, but never really closing them.
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Are the above cliche'? Many of them are, but that doesn't stop them from working at your table.
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