D&D 5E Help me grok mega-dungeons

Zardnaar · May 29, 2017

I never managed to grok them. A large dungeon to me is B4 The Lost City.

500+ ones like ToEE I can't get into.

Staffan · May 29, 2017

Lanefan said:
I'll take your word for it, having never heard of either one of those modules.

Mega, or near-mega, for each?

I can't speak for Eyes of the Stone Thief, but I would classify Emerald Spire as near-mega. While it does have a whopping 16 levels, each level is fairly small. They all fit on a Pathfinder flip-mat (24 x 30 squares, each 5') - and you can even buy a pack of maps for it (for $80).

Satyrn · May 29, 2017

Staffan said:
I can't speak for Eyes of the Stone Thief, but I would classify Emerald Spire as near-mega. While it does have a whopping 16 levels, each level is fairly small. They all fit on a Pathfinder flip-mat (24 x 30 squares, each 5') - and you can even buy a pack of maps for it (for $80).

Yeah. In fact, Each level of Emerald Spire seems more like a separate Mini-Dungeon.

It reminds me more of 4e's Dungeon Delve book (a 3-encounter dungeon for each character level), but with a few more encounters and a lot fewer levels, and linked together more .

Maxperson · May 29, 2017

Lanefan said:
Just for kicks (and to narrow down the definitions a bit) it might be fun to list what published megadungeons are out there. I can quickly think of:

Ruins of Undermountain (2 box sets, not sure whether the third one ever saw the light of day)
Dragon Mountain (box set)
Ruins of Myth Drannor (box set, a whole ruined danger-filled city rather than just a single dungeon)
Temple of Elemental Evil (both the original and the return-to versions)
Rappan Athuk

And a few on the fringe of mega-dom:

Dark Tower (it's big, but not quite mega)
Princes of the Apocalypse (the interlinked dungeons below might be a bordeline mega but could also be seen as 4 not-mega standalones)
Tegal Manor

I'm not sure what versions of Castle Greyhawk ever got published other than the joke version (WGA-7, was it?).

Feel free to add to this list, I know I've missed a bunch.

Lanefan

The World's Largest Dungeon

Chaosmancer · May 29, 2017

Mouseferatu said:
[MENTION=6801228]Chaosmancer[/MENTION], you'd have to do some conversion, since it's a 13th Age product, but take a look at Eyes of the Stone Thief. I'm reading it right now, as part of my deeper look at mega-dungeons, and I think you might find it exactly what you want, as there's room for both story ideas you mentioned.

Oh yeah, I'd heard of that a few years back. Even got a page saved where someone was selling a copy. The idea of a living dungeon is really cool and the artwork on the cover was really evocative

Maxperson · May 29, 2017

Chaosmancer said:
Oh yeah, I'd heard of that a few years back. Even got a page saved where someone was selling a copy. The idea of a living dungeon is really cool and the artwork on the cover was really evocative

The World's Largest Dungeon is a living place with factions, too. It's a bit more segmented than I would like it to be. Given the amount of time that it has been developing according to the backstory, the levels would probably be more intermixed than they are. Still, it's got a good foundation.

Mouseferatu · May 30, 2017

Maxperson said:
The World's Largest Dungeon is a living place with factions, too. It's a bit more segmented than I would like it to be. Given the amount of time that it has been developing according to the backstory, the levels would probably be more intermixed than they are. Still, it's got a good foundation.

Oh, the Stone Thief--the dungeon in Eyes of the Stone Thief--is literally a living dungeon. It travels, it shifts levels around to try to kill the PCs, it builds new levels of itself out of what it consumes, and it actively hunts places and people the PCs love to destroy them.

Maxperson · May 30, 2017

Mouseferatu said:
Oh, the Stone Thief--the dungeon in Eyes of the Stone Thief--is literally a living dungeon. It travels, it shifts levels around to try to kill the PCs, it builds new levels of itself out of what it consumes, and it actively hunts places and people the PCs love to destroy them.

Heh. Interesting. What's the story behind it?

Satyrn · May 30, 2017

Mouseferatu said:
Oh, the Stone Thief--the dungeon in Eyes of the Stone Thief--is literally a living dungeon. It travels, it shifts levels around to try to kill the PCs, it builds new levels of itself out of what it consumes, and it actively hunts places and people the PCs love to destroy them.

Is [MENTION=6801219]Lanliss[/MENTION] aware of this?

Mouseferatu · May 30, 2017

Maxperson said:
Heh. Interesting. What's the story behind it?

Well, living dungeons as mindless, stationary things, aren't too uncommon in 13th Age. The Stone Thief is unique in having an actual personality (albeit not necessarily intelligence as we understand it), being mobile, etc. It's an ancient thing, but as to where it actually comes from, I'm not sure. (I haven't read the whole thing yet, and I'm not sure that question is answered more than "Here are some legends" anyway.)

The adventure is written to make the dungeon the main plotline for mid- to high-levels. The PCs encounter it multiple times, delving for a different purpose and getting to a different depth each time, while adventuring on the surface between those encounters and trying to find ways to stop/trap/predict/kill it.