Mega-Dungeons and Multiple Adventuring Groups

[Breakstone]

Say, if any of my players happen to be reading this, please don't. It'll just ruin the fun of the next campaign. Thank you!






So I'm having my next campaign center around this mega-dungeon and the dozens of adventuring groups that are hacking and slashing their ways through it.

My questions are two:

1) Do you have any tips on designing and running a mega-dungeon?

and

2) Do you have any tips on how the main characters should encounter the other adventurers? How should I adjust the dungeon because of these other adventurers?

Thank you for your time and advice.

 

[Mista Collins]

Less magic items (the adventures have come acrossed it and picked it up)

Naked Dead Bodies (the adventures have picked it clean)

Dead monster bodies here and there

Some traps that have been set off

Random encounters with the other group (could lead to allainces or enemies)

As for running it, I would have no clue because I have never tried this, but have been planning something like this. I will have to use this thread as an information gathering point.

 

[The Cardinal]

I might steal this idea...

How "mega" is this dungeon? How many levels? 5, 10, 20, more?
If you wanted to fit each level within a square, how long would its sides need to be? 300 feet, 1000 feet, a mile?
When did those dozens of adventuring parties began looting the place? Days, weeks, months, or years ago?

If the dungeon is big enough, and if some of those parties came here weeks or months ago, then there might be large "havens", i.e. secured and cleaned areas where parties may rest, and trade and negotiate with other parties. Some guys may even have gone native and are now making a living as merchants, innkeepers, and shopowners in this place...

 

[Hand of Evil]

I place my mega-dungeon in a large area, thinking land rush, you may have a 2 level empty dungeon or a 6 level one, the party has to try and figure the best place.

As for other groups, I break them down:

1. those that will deal with the party
2. those that ignore the party
3. those that will kill the party

Most of your monsters will have been killed or run off, so I use a lot of plants, undead and golems type of creature.

 

[The Cardinal]

If you want to keep a high "monster density" you should use several large humanoid adventuring parties, maybe even one or two small tribes, who arrived some time ago and set up camp in parts of the dungeon.
Then let the PCs hear (from some other adventuring groups) that some crucial items are in the possession of those humanoids - or maybe the items in question are just rumored to be hidden somewhere within one of the areas claimed by the humanoids...

 

[Aaron2]

So I'm having my next campaign center around this mega-dungeon and the dozens of adventuring groups that are hacking and slashing their ways through it.

I had a similar thing in an old campaign of mine (WFRP). Basically, there was this underground dwarven kingdom that was fantastically wealthy. A big ol' dragon could smell the treasure (there was so much) so he went down, killed all the dwarves, and took over the place. However, the treasure was so well hidden that he could only find a small portion of it. Years later a great Dwarven hero went down and killed the dragon but could only retreave what treasure he could carry. Now, his descendents have laid claim to the entire complex but lack the strength and numbers to properly clean it all out. So, they built a massive iron gate and fortress at the surface entrance and charge adventuring parties a fee (100 gp + 10% of treasure found) to go down and try their luck.

What was nice about this arangemnt was that it was semi-plausible and the surface fortress gave the party an easy place to rest up if things went too bad.

2) Do you have any tips on how the main characters should encounter the other adventurers? How should I adjust the dungeon because of these other adventurers?

Don't forget to include Orc and goblin adventuring parties too. If humans know of the treasure, monsters will too.


Aaron

 

[Gregor]

Im not sure how large (in terms of squares) your dungeon levels are going to be, but my advice would be to divide up areas into "blocs" or territories that will contain each of your 3 types of enemies / allies.

For example, one level could contain both groups that want to kill the adventurers and those who will help the adventurers - both fighting for control. Divide the dungeon level up into a number of areas, each one controlled by a different group. You can implement borders such as certain locked doors or secret passage ways that lead into each territory, as well a alot of "no-man's land" such as passageways where most of the fighting takes place.

This can help you to organize where the groups are and in terms of the map you can draw for your players, this allows you to focus on smaller self-contained areas.

Just my two cents!

Cheers,

 

[The Cardinal]

...actually multiple adventuring parties in such a mega dungeon are a good rationale for lots of *active* traps in a dungeon: they're not remnants of a lost age, but the creations of your competitors!
In this setting rules for inventing and setting up traps - rather than just disarming them - may become quite important...

 

[S'mon]

The Fighting Fantasy gamebook Deathtrap Dungeon is a great example of this, although there the rival adventurers are all solo rather than in groups. If the rivals are medium level or higher they'll have brought a lot of magic items into the dungeon. Encounters may include decimated parties, lone survivors, wounded monsters with a heap of dead adventurers nearby (and loads of goodies, well over standard by EL), disarmed traps, activated traps with dead adventurers still in them, as well as fighting-fit rival groups. Use a good mix of alignments for the rivals - neutral, good and evil groups will act very differently (unless the PCs attack everything on sight). Recently made traps and recently summoned guardian monsters/demons are also likely.

 

[The Cardinal]

...another nice example for this type of gameplay is the old Wizardry 7 CRPG where several different groups of competing NPCs (who often form or break alliances) are questing for the same legendary map parts that the player's party is looking for: so it could happen that you'd find a large and impressive but *empty* chest at the end of some nasty dungeon, or that you were forced to buy a missing map part from a NPC party - or rip it from their cold dead hands...