Spelljammer …Wait till you see Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage (Spelljammer?)

Storyteller Hero · Sep 21, 2018

Espadadelaaurora said:
Another Spelljammer tease, good. I would like to have the campaign setting in a hardback anytime soon.

I'm working on the next best thing, as far as DMsGuild policies allow. I'm currently researching to get it as compatible as possible with published canon, outside of the original Realmspace book, which I'm partially retconning and massively expanding. Here's a free preview, to get a sense of the expanded scope for the project.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/226326/REALMSPACE-Travellers-Guide--PREVIEW-EDITION

Reynard · Sep 22, 2018

Joseph Nardo said:
The main dungeon has almost 60 levels. There are over 1000 numbered encounter areas. I'm pretty sure that rapan is considered a mega dungeon. Now add in all the new 5e material which includes additional main dungeon levels AND brand new dungeons and I doubt it could be finished short of five years of playing.

You know what? You're right. I should have researched before I replied. I bought and ran RA when it first appeared at the dawn of 3E and then it was certainly a neat old school death trap dungeon, it was not especially "mega" in either scope or scale. It seems the designers have continuously expanded upon it over the years, which is one of the important conditions for a megadungeon.

If anyone is curious, I am using the OSR definition of the term, which is built around Castle Greyhawk as a definitive example, and which Undermountain is another example. People quibble over Myth Dranor and Xak Tsaroth, though I think the former is one and the latter is simply meant to evoke one.

Joseph Nardo · Sep 22, 2018

Reynard said:
You know what? You're right. I should have researched before I replied. I bought and ran RA when it first appeared at the dawn of 3E and then it was certainly a neat old school death trap dungeon, it was not especially "mega" in either scope or scale. It seems the designers have continuously expanded upon it over the years, which is one of the important conditions for a megadungeon.

If anyone is curious, I am using the OSR definition of the term, which is built around Castle Greyhawk as a definitive example, and which Undermountain is another example. People quibble over Myth Dranor and Xak Tsaroth, though I think the former is one and the latter is simply meant to evoke one.

You just said something that leads to my heart!.......XAK TSAROTH!!!!!!!!!!!

Juomari Veren · Sep 22, 2018

Lidgar said:
I expect this will be similar to the 3.5e Ruins of Castle Greyhawk Hardbound book. Have some set piece encounters, with the remaining levels/areas being treated as dungeon wilderness.

Crashed spelljammer ship? Mindflayers? Boo? I'm pumped.

I loved the expedition books (There was coincidentally also one for Undermountain, and I was working on converting it until they announced this book in June). Virtually everything I would need to jumpstart a new campaign in the palm of my hand. They've made it even easier this time around by covering all 20 levels of play and giving me a whole city as a backdrop too, back in 3.5 they just said "yeah waterdeep is on top of undermountain but you probably won't need it so don't worry about it). After DoTMM comes out, we'll have half of the original run of them updated for 5e (the other one to be effectively remade was Ravenloft with Curse of Strahd).

I'd love to see Castle Greyhawk get revisited in 5e, and the Demonweb Pits too (we have some unfinished business with Lolth after Out of The Aybss after all).

SkidAce · Sep 22, 2018

MNblockhead said:
Cite, please. I've never heard or read this. The term "megadungeon" has been used to mean "a big-ass dungeon" since the 80s. I like GnosticMoron's definition posted in a discussion on the topic at Matt Colveille's Reddit Page: "A mega dungeon is big enough to be the sole or overwhelming focus of a long campaign." (link)

Agreed.

Espadadelaaurora · Sep 22, 2018

Storyteller Hero said:
I'm working on the next best thing, as far as DMsGuild policies allow. I'm currently researching to get it as compatible as possible with published canon, outside of the original Realmspace book, which I'm partially retconning and massively expanding. Here's a free preview, to get a sense of the expanded scope for the project.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/226326/REALMSPACE-Travellers-Guide--PREVIEW-EDITION

Great idea, I lreally love that supplementsspecially Greyspace.

MNblockhead · Sep 22, 2018

robus said:
Cool, though I have a small suggestion: Ditch the textured background behind the text (or make it much more subtle). My old eyes would get very tired very quickly reading through the doc (this is based on the preview - so if that's misleading then OK.. )

Or offer a "printer-friendly" version. Many content creators provide two versions of their PDFs, the fancy version with the colorful illustrations and backgrounds and printer-friendly grayscale versions with backgrounds removed. I almost always read the later exclusively.

robus · Sep 22, 2018

MNblockhead said:
Or offer a "printer-friendly" version. Many content creators provide two versions of their PDFs, the fancy version with the colorful illustrations and backgrounds and printer-friendly grayscale versions with backgrounds removed. I almost always read the later exclusively.

I still prefer my eye-friendly option!

Enevhar Aldarion · Sep 22, 2018

Reynard said:
You know what? You're right. I should have researched before I replied. I bought and ran RA when it first appeared at the dawn of 3E and then it was certainly a neat old school death trap dungeon, it was not especially "mega" in either scope or scale. It seems the designers have continuously expanded upon it over the years, which is one of the important conditions for a megadungeon.

If anyone is curious, I am using the OSR definition of the term, which is built around Castle Greyhawk as a definitive example, and which Undermountain is another example. People quibble over Myth Dranor and Xak Tsaroth, though I think the former is one and the latter is simply meant to evoke one.

When I think megadungeon, and not looking specifically at D&D settings, I think Moria.

As for this product specifically, the mapping is so extensive for the 23 levels detailed, that it is getting its own separate map pack. For those who missed this info:

http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/waterdeep-dungeon-mad-mage-0

I am also looking forward to the 5E update to Skullport that will also be in the campaign book.

Paul Farquhar · Sep 22, 2018

Moria has large distances, but very little actual content compared to your typical D&D megadungeon.

It's more like an underdark "wilderness" area.

Spelljammer …Wait till you see Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage (Spelljammer?)

Storyteller Hero

Adventurer

Reynard

Legend

Joseph Nardo

Explorer

Juomari Veren

Adventurer

SkidAce

Legend

Espadadelaaurora

Explorer

MNblockhead

A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site

robus

Lowcountry Low Roller

Enevhar Aldarion

Hero

Paul Farquhar

Legend

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