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Help me grok mega-dungeons
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<blockquote data-quote="Monayuris" data-source="post: 7125972" data-attributes="member: 6859536"><p>The appeal, at least to me, of mega dungeons is the level of agency they deliver to players. The basic conceits of a mega dungeon usually include a sense of 'deeper you go, the greater the danger but also the richer the treasure.' This creates a a risk/reward proposition that is entirely player facing.</p><p></p><p>A mega dungeon is big enough that it can take multiple delves to explore an entire level and it also usually does nothing to block access to deeper levels (there is nothing that stops low level parity from going down stairs). </p><p></p><p>As a result it gives player the complete choice to choose their own difficulty. Do you stay on the first and second levels and expose yourself to less risk but less treasure, or do you delve down and take on greater risk but have the chance of getting better treasure?</p><p></p><p>Risk/reward is possible in any campaign, but in plot driven games it is provided by the DM in the plot or story they are providing. In a mega dungeon, it is provided by the dungeon, itself. Players have 100% agency to decide their difficultly level. </p><p></p><p>As a player, I feel like it is me against the dungeon... the dungeon itself is the adversary. As a DM, running one, I get to be challenged and surprised by the choices of the players... they decide where to goals what to do, they don't follow leads I give them. As a DM it is refreshing to react to the players.</p><p></p><p>This of course only works if the original conceit is maintained… the deeper you go the more dangerous but the greater reward. Which means running a mega dungeon means that a DM needs to know that a party of first level characters may delve down to the fourth level and encounter wights or such, and if they engage them in combat, the DM must be prepared to TPK them.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Monayuris, post: 7125972, member: 6859536"] The appeal, at least to me, of mega dungeons is the level of agency they deliver to players. The basic conceits of a mega dungeon usually include a sense of 'deeper you go, the greater the danger but also the richer the treasure.' This creates a a risk/reward proposition that is entirely player facing. A mega dungeon is big enough that it can take multiple delves to explore an entire level and it also usually does nothing to block access to deeper levels (there is nothing that stops low level parity from going down stairs). As a result it gives player the complete choice to choose their own difficulty. Do you stay on the first and second levels and expose yourself to less risk but less treasure, or do you delve down and take on greater risk but have the chance of getting better treasure? Risk/reward is possible in any campaign, but in plot driven games it is provided by the DM in the plot or story they are providing. In a mega dungeon, it is provided by the dungeon, itself. Players have 100% agency to decide their difficultly level. As a player, I feel like it is me against the dungeon... the dungeon itself is the adversary. As a DM, running one, I get to be challenged and surprised by the choices of the players... they decide where to goals what to do, they don't follow leads I give them. As a DM it is refreshing to react to the players. This of course only works if the original conceit is maintained… the deeper you go the more dangerous but the greater reward. Which means running a mega dungeon means that a DM needs to know that a party of first level characters may delve down to the fourth level and encounter wights or such, and if they engage them in combat, the DM must be prepared to TPK them. [/QUOTE]
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