Making a Cruise ship into a megadungeon

[Shades of Eternity]

I've long considered a sea cruise ship to be the ultimate megadungeon and had this idea.

I've created my own organization for world domination, loosely based on a fictional organization, whom survived the apocalypse and have taking a mega cruise ship and made it the biggest ship in the sea, but also a dungeon for plucky adventurers.

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Here's my breakdown of the evil organization: O.R.C.A.

https://www.hodgepocalypse.com/2022/02/orca-terror-of-seas-part-1-organization.html

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What I'm asking for are ideas on how to retrofit a cruise ship into 1. a weapon of war and 2. a dungeon for plucky adventurers.

As well as any strange cruise ship experiences that would make great gaming material.

 

[Malmuria]

This might be interesting for you: Vampire Cruise by amandalee

 

[MGibster]

This is more science fiction, but in Warhammer 40k they have a game called Space Hulk. In maritime terms, a hulk is just a ship that's been stripped of almost anything that makes it seaworthy and is permanently moored to be used for storage or some other purpose. In Space Hulk, the hulk is a conglomeration of many ships that are connected to one another drifting through space. Often these hulks are inhabited by all sorts of creatures, orks, eldar, and the dreaded tyranides, and they contain all sorts of treasures in the form of lost technologies or knowledge.

 

[Eltab]

You may find the history of Armed Merchant Cruisers to be of interest.

Two highlights (and a warning to ORCA):
From World War One, there is "The Ship That Hunted Itself" - two ships from the opposing sides disguised as each other.
In World War Two, the battle history of the armed liner Rawalpindi.

 

[Umbran]

What I'm asking for are ideas on how to retrofit a cruise ship into 1. a weapon of war and 2. a dungeon for plucky adventurers.

There is a bit of logic to work out - why do this?

You have this highly valuable weapon of war, and you're going to have highly violent, armed people who are not in your command roaming around killing things? Eventually, some of them are going to get out of the dungeon section, and then the owners of this ship are well and truly screwed. Why, exactly, is whoever owns this weapon taking this security risk?

The answer to that question will heavily inform the rest of the design.

 

[GreyLord]

I've long considered a sea cruise ship to be the ultimate megadungeon and had this idea.

I've created my own organization for world domination, loosely based on a fictional organization, whom survived the apocalypse and have taking a mega cruise ship and made it the biggest ship in the sea, but also a dungeon for plucky adventurers.

*************************************************

Here's my breakdown of the evil organization: O.R.C.A.

https://www.hodgepocalypse.com/2022/02/orca-terror-of-seas-part-1-organization.html

*************************************************
What I'm asking for are ideas on how to retrofit a cruise ship into 1. a weapon of war and 2. a dungeon for plucky adventurers.

As well as any strange cruise ship experiences that would make great gaming material.

Well, in the Expanse, they have the Nauvoo (not exactly a cruise ship, but a colony ship), one of the largest ever, retrofitted to become a massive dreadnought.

So, a similar method could be used...though it doesn't ever really become a massive dungeon that I recall.

 

[Retreater]

The piece of advice I'd give is one that I was given when planning a dungeon based in an elven castle back in the day. Draw up a logical map of the site, drawing straight corridors and placing your rooms with an architectural balance, connecting everything with utility in mind. Then, mess it all up. Draw in new walls to block off certain areas, destroy certain walls to make bigger rooms, put holes in the floors to allow access to other levels. This will make a more interesting dungeon design.
So after you have your new map, create explanations why this happened. Did the occupants put up new walls for greater protection, maybe there was an attack that changed the layout?

 

[Shades of Eternity]

I think I may have found my map, once I tweak it accordingly.

Deck Plans | Oasis of the Seas | Royal Caribbean Cruises

Find Oasis of the Seas' deck plans. Learn about the ships size, staterooms, and public areas. The deck plans are great tools to understand the stateroom locations and get an idea of the cruise ship's layout before booking your cruise.

www.royalcaribbean.com

However, I got a question.

Would a retractable flight deck actually work on this ship? I do want at least the equivalent of hovercycles and at least some aircraft, but not sure how far I can push it before people lose their buy-in?

Failing that, I might just have a few small carriers (talking HMS Victorious (R38)) follow the ship as a sheep dog.

 

[Eltab]

The hovercycles could take off from the pool area, or a big uncluttered flat area (extra deck can be built as an adaptation) near the bow. Any airplane will have to be a seaplane - could be launched by catapult or off that bow flight deck - but due to space limitations aboard it must land on the water and be hoisted back aboard. (See 1920 or so best practices for seaplane carriers and proto-aircraft carriers.)

Another thought (for INT 20 types): modern cruise ships look like they ought to be top-heavy, especially compared to the trans-Atlantic liners of yesteryear. If ORCA installed a bunch of heavy armor plate up around the bridge, built casemates around deck guns, internal fortification around the engine rooms, &c then the ship may have two weaknesses:
1) What used to be the lowermost deck with portholes may be at / just below the waterline. Open or smash a bunch of them (as with an underwater sonic blast) ...
2) Anger and taunt the ship's Master so much that he will pursue your ship into a nasty storm. Gradually adjust your course so the waves strike from broadside. Wind plus waves rocking ORCA's ship may finally push it to heel over far enough that it naturally keeps going - and now you get the remake of The Posideon Adventure.

 

[Baron Opal II]

See if you can find any data on HMS Apollyon.