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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 7878069" data-attributes="member: 22779">I do loves me mega dungeons.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />  One of the proudest times I have of running D&D was the World's Largest Dungeon.  So, I've been where you are.So, to answer your questions first:- How must a megadungeon be themed? Is it feasible to have a consistent theme in a megadungeon? If so, how, and, if not, what is the best method of theme variation?A consistent theme for the whole mega dungeon?  It's possible, but, I don't think you have to go that way.  In the WLD (World's Largest Dungeon), I set it up as an escape from prison campaign where the PC's needed to survive long enough to get out.  But, that being said, every section of the WLD was themed differently.  There was the watery section, the demony section, the maze section, the really, really stomach turningly living section of the dungeon and so on.  So, I think you can have a general theme - Undermountain, Underdark, whatever - but, each smaller section, likely defined by monster CR as much as anything, will suggest themes for that section.- How can a plot work in a megadungeon environment? And, how must factions be organized in such an odd environment?I am assuming that the PC's can leave your mega dungeon - they can come and go repeatedly.  With that assumption, I would suggest you set mission goals for the PC's.  Not just "kill everything", but, things like, "rescue so and so who has entered the dungeon but hasn't come out" or "retrieve this or that macguffin", things like that.Now, as far as factions go, there's all sorts of things you can do.  Obviously, tribal groups are an option - the goblins live here, the orcs live there, the troglodytes live over there.  But, also, religious groups (see Module B4 The Lost City for an EXCELLENT treatment of this), cults, and whatnot.  I think what you generally end up with is this group controls this region, that group controls that region, in between those regions is largely no-man's land where critters prowl.  I found it helpful to color code my maps with different factions controlling different regions, so I could keep them all straight.- What is a good way to justify the existence of a megadungeon?Well, there's all sorts of stuff here.  Is your mega dungeon excavated or natural?  Planar or mundane?  D&D has all sorts of digger critters - purple worms, umber hulks, bullettes, that sort of thing, that make the existence of a mega dungeon pretty easy to justify.  Corpse of a dead god?  Test from the gods a la the Magi anime?  Giant lava tubes.  Immense crypt.  The possibilities are endless.  Few other tidbits that might help you:1.  Get information into the player's hands ASAP.  If they capture someone, let that someone sing like a bird and info dump.  Drop maps (or map fragments) as parts of treasure.  Friendly inhabitants pass along information.  The more information the PC's have, the more they will engage with the dungeon.2.  Add verticality.  One of the mistakes of the WLD was that the dungeon was almost entirely flat.  BORING.  Chutes, slopes, ledges, anything that gets the scene 3D is a good thing.3.  Make a random table of room effects - cold, warm, that sort of thing.  The whole dungeon dressing section from the DMG.  Really helps.4.  Put encounters outside of chambers.  Again, one of the failings of the WLD (and, I'm learning, Dungeon of the Mad Mage) is that you almost never have encounters outside of rooms.  So, the PC's wander from room to room, and there is so much dead space (and dead time) as they wander down empty corridors.  There's a room with 10 kobolds?  Have half of them coming out of the room as the PC's turn the corner.  That sort of thing.  5.  If you really want to increase difficulty, start keeping careful track of lighting and lines of sight.  It's shocking how short range everything gets when you're using torches and it makes for REALLY challenging fights when half the time the PC's can't see the baddies.</blockquote>

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