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<blockquote data-quote="Retreater" data-source="post: 8291972" data-attributes="member: 42040">Yeah. There are a few obviously evil NPCs who will tell you their backstory and master plan if the party agrees to surrender and be sacrificed to their dark god. Unfortunately, I don't know many groups that will do that, and if they did, I guess the campaign would end with their sacrifice. But perhaps most importantly it's that the story doesn't really matter to the AP. It's not pertinent to the combats, doesn't provide motivation for the exploration. It's just background of what happened in the dungeon in the past. (At least as far as I've read - basically the first book and half of the second.) I have a strong suspicion it will come to be important, but by the time it does, that's going to be 6-7 levels of experience later (and several months of play). It's also presented as no clear villains or masterplan (or plot). For me, as the GM, I could read ahead to the end of the 3rd volume, try to figure out what's going on, and then figure out how to present that to the party.&nbsp; I can't help but think that the AP was written without an end goal in mind, whereas the mega-dungeon that I am writing for the OSR incorporates the villain in the history throughout the dungeon, and he makes his presence known on the surface world, giving the party a real reason to challenge him. I'm definitely no James Jacobs, but I feel this is mega-dungeon design 101.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Retreater, post: 8291972, member: 42040"] Yeah. There are a few obviously evil NPCs who will tell you their backstory and master plan if the party agrees to surrender and be sacrificed to their dark god. Unfortunately, I don't know many groups that will do that, and if they did, I guess the campaign would end with their sacrifice. But perhaps most importantly it's that the story doesn't really matter to the AP. It's not pertinent to the combats, doesn't provide motivation for the exploration. It's just background of what happened in the dungeon in the past. (At least as far as I've read - basically the first book and half of the second.) I have a strong suspicion it will come to be important, but by the time it does, that's going to be 6-7 levels of experience later (and several months of play). It's also presented as no clear villains or masterplan (or plot). For me, as the GM, I could read ahead to the end of the 3rd volume, try to figure out what's going on, and then figure out how to present that to the party. I can't help but think that the AP was written without an end goal in mind, whereas the mega-dungeon that I am writing for the OSR incorporates the villain in the history throughout the dungeon, and he makes his presence known on the surface world, giving the party a real reason to challenge him. I'm definitely no James Jacobs, but I feel this is mega-dungeon design 101. [/QUOTE]

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