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Thoughts on running Rappan Athuk (and deadly megadungeons in general) [SPOILERS]
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<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 9011423" data-attributes="member: 2629"><p>My general thought on mega-dungeons: The story tends to be less of an emphasis, and that results in a campaign that gets repetitive and boring. The dungeon needs to be the location where a great story is told if you want a great game ... not just a place where a lot of combats take place.</p><p></p><p>My best megadungeon is a manor house on a large island. The PCs explore the ruined surrounding village, then the manor house. They discover connections to the Shadowfell, Feywild, Ethereal and pocket dimensions inside the place which allow for me to use four different maps of the island that have very different features. As they explore, the PCs discover the history of the island, a long dormant threat to the world that is arising, and dozens of shorter storylines that require them to solve puzzles, outsmart enemies that are more powerful than them, and eventually beat the giant big bad. There are twelve shorter storylines, three longer storylines, and one overarching storyline. The interdependence of the megadungeon's structure and the storylines is what makes this dungeon work really well for me. The PCs can approach the dungeon like a sandbox and visit areas in different orders - sometimes needing to find ways to avoid powerful enemies until they are strong enough to fight them. I've run it twice and am setting it up to run again in a year or two.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 9011423, member: 2629"] My general thought on mega-dungeons: The story tends to be less of an emphasis, and that results in a campaign that gets repetitive and boring. The dungeon needs to be the location where a great story is told if you want a great game ... not just a place where a lot of combats take place. My best megadungeon is a manor house on a large island. The PCs explore the ruined surrounding village, then the manor house. They discover connections to the Shadowfell, Feywild, Ethereal and pocket dimensions inside the place which allow for me to use four different maps of the island that have very different features. As they explore, the PCs discover the history of the island, a long dormant threat to the world that is arising, and dozens of shorter storylines that require them to solve puzzles, outsmart enemies that are more powerful than them, and eventually beat the giant big bad. There are twelve shorter storylines, three longer storylines, and one overarching storyline. The interdependence of the megadungeon's structure and the storylines is what makes this dungeon work really well for me. The PCs can approach the dungeon like a sandbox and visit areas in different orders - sometimes needing to find ways to avoid powerful enemies until they are strong enough to fight them. I've run it twice and am setting it up to run again in a year or two. [/QUOTE]
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Thoughts on running Rappan Athuk (and deadly megadungeons in general) [SPOILERS]
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