Designing a mega-dungeon - looking for ideas, products

[Jack99]

Also: Castle Whiterock (Goodman Games) is probably the best designed mega-dungeon I've ever seen in terms of fleshed out content. Amazing.

This

Rappan Athuk Reloaded is also a great one.

And this..

Aside from that, I have always gotten a lot of mileage out of the 2e Undermountain boxed sets.

But really, Castle Whiterock is, if you can find it for sale, really in a league of its own, IMO.

 

[Filcher]

Whiterock. Exhaustive, not exhausting.

 

[timbannock]

I can't believe I forgot Rappan Athuk Reloaded. I only used that as the culmination of the longest campaign I ever ran!!!

Anyway, yeah, it's good.

As to WLD's criticism: there are parts that are lackluster (sadly the first Region, which spells "immediate turn-off" to many people), but I'd say something like 90% of it is highly useful, and the best part is that (almost) every region is self-contained, so splitting it up into different dungeons is about as easy as it gets.

I'm using the two underwater Regions as the Lightless Lake/Black Reservoir in Castle Greyhawk/Zagyg.

Whiterock is the best, though, by a long shot.

 

[Dedekind]

Shackled City had a lot of dungeons that all took place under the same mountain. They weren't necessarily connected, but they could be. I think this is available on pdf now for much cheaper than the original hardcover.

 

[Darrin Drader]

I got my Castle Whiterock and I'm thrilled to have it. It's kind of the end-all be-all mega-dungeon, which has been oft-attempted, but rarely completed by several publishers. Hat's off to Goodman for that beauty.

You can still find it online at the following places:

Dungeon Crawl Classics #51: Castle Whiterock Box Set - eBay (item 370005371453 end time Feb-04-09 17:41:12 PST)

Castle Whiterock (DC51) d20 Campaign Box Set *NEW* - eBay (item 190276575583 end time Jan-26-09 16:48:35 PST)

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Crawl-Classics-51-Whiterock/dp/097933294X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232402494&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Dungeon Crawl Classics 51: Castle Whiterock (Dungeon Crawl Classics): Chris Doyle, Adrian Pommier: Books[/ame]

Barnes & Noble.com - All Product Search: castle whiterock

I recommend picking it up before it starts going for $300.

 

[Rechan]

Shackled City had a lot of dungeons that all took place under the same mountain. They weren't necessarily connected, but they could be. I think this is available on pdf now for much cheaper than the original hardcover.

I only have experience with the dungeon involved in the Wand quest, but that dungeon map is awful. The DM was very annoyed every time he had to draw out a dungeon room, given the odd shape of all the rooms and how they fit together.

 

[JohnBiles]

Castle Whiterock is a must. It is, in my opinion, the best megadungeon I have ever seen.

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

I'll have to look into picking up Whiterock - I'd heard lukewarm things about it elsewhere.

From an old-school perspective I'd give big ups to Paul Jaquay's Caverns of Thracia. It's got a great mix of well-worked out naturalism (especially in the easiest areas to access) and freakiness (especially in the secret areas). The layout is awesome, with multiple entry points, connections between levels, and secret areas that I think would make it fascinating to run over and over again. And the theme is pulpy and evocative, without having a story that's plotted in advance; the setup is very dynamic, with multiple factions, so that there's enormous scope for player action to change how things turn out.

The players in my White Sandbox campaign has just cleared out the above-ground ambush sites above the caverns and made contact with some of the human tribesmen, so I'm looking forward to our first descent, and will perhaps add some side corridors that go into some of these other megadungeons!

Caverns of Thracia isn't connected to a city - by default it exists in ruins somewhere desolate - but you could easily swap out the (minimal) aboveground portion and develop connections between the ancient cult and your modern city above the caverns.

 

[Mercurius]

Yes I did. And I still feel that way. Unfortunately, Whiterock is now mostly unavailable.

Good thing I got it for $5 from RPGNow before Jan 1. It is PDF, of course, which is a bit of a downer--but adventures are one of the only kinds of books that I can deal with in electronic format. And of course the overwhelming accolades in this thread inspire me to go over to my place of employment's computer lab and print the sucker out.

Rappan Athuk is good as well.

While I always seem to come back around to Rappan Athuk in curiosity (or maybe it is the name), I've been a bit off-put by it, reading comments like it is a "killer dungeon" in which entire party death is inevitable, sort of like how I remember feeling about Tomb of Horrors back in the day.

As for Ptolus, it is on my list of items to get if private school teachers suddenly make more money

 

[Jengenritz]

If you'll pardon me speaking about something I co-wrote, it sounds like Castle Whiterock would fit, particularly levels 9, 9B, and 10-12.

...including a newly contacted duergar empire...

The duergar are the de facto rulers of CW, and their holdings include a bloodsport arena (level 10) and a massive fortress (levels 11, 11A, and 12).
They are introduced as early as level 2 (IIRC).

...and rumors of drow, etc.

The drow stronghold (level 9B, IIRC) is something of an Easter Egg - a reward for thorough players - but there are enough clues and suspicion about it that most parties should find it.

Even if exploring a mountain beneath a castle isn't what you're looking for, the adventure is (by design) modular enough you can lift out entire levels to fit your game.

Hope this helps.