The Megadungeon and other Campaign Structures

[Celebrim]

One of the big things that differentiates my AD&D campaign from a standard D&D campaign you run in your home is that I'm running it in my FLGS, with an ever-changing array of players.

Been there (well, not my FLGS, but as the in house DM of a FLGS), and yes, this is the one circumstance I've found where the mega-dungeon absolutely makes more sense than any other approach to the game.

 

[howandwhy99]

So, I'm wondering if people other than myself use megadungeons? And, if you don't (which I expect is most of you), how would you describe how your campaign is structured?

Cheers!

The Caverns of the Oracle sound awesome. More info please!

I've run megadungeons, most recently the Troll Lord's Castle Zagyg as you mention you have too, but I have a very different philosophy about the term "Dungeon" than what a lot of old school design folks use. I treat it like AD&D's definition of "Monster", only it refers to everything constructed in the game - even monsters. The multiverse is a dungeon, but not in the way of FFE's Dungeon World or World's Largest Dungeon. Underground, settlements, overland, underwater, aerial, other planar, there are all kinds of dungeon terrain types. So my standard Megadungeon looks more like B2 with a wilderness dungeon to explore, several caves and worked tunnels, a fortified collection of buildings, and even items, monsters, and magic itself. The standard design applies of increasing difficulty, power, and strangeness as players explore further and begin to play better. But, yeah, there are some really big underground complexes too.

 

[Crothian]

One thing I did with the mega dungeon is explain to the players that due to the scope of the dungeon I was only able to prepare so much. So, if they were about to head to an area I had not prepped I would tell them and they had the option of continuing the session by going somewhere else or ending the session there and we would pick up next week once I got it prepped. This was a condition that everyone knew about going into the campaign and everyone agreed to. It ended up working really well for us.

 

[MerricB]

One thing I did with the mega dungeon is explain to the players that due to the scope of the dungeon I was only able to prepare so much. So, if they were about to head to an area I had not prepped I would tell them and they had the option of continuing the session by going somewhere else or ending the session there and we would pick up next week once I got it prepped. This was a condition that everyone knew about going into the campaign and everyone agreed to. It ended up working really well for us.

Cool. My style is now almost completely improvised (with notes used when they revisit areas). I tend to use the old method of stocking rooms when they're entered: roll 2d6: 1-2 monster, 3 trap, 4 special, 5-6 nothing with the other die indicating treasure.

Last session, the first special I rolled was made into a room where a white-haired giant sat, roasting large chestnuts. He was pretty grumpy (the door depicted a grumpy face) and shooed away the characters after they disturbed him. All well and good.

The second special was a room where a happy, white-haired giant sat, eating ice-creams; he offered some to the players and three accepted... only then to discover they were poisoned! Two of the PCs went down (including the 9th level magic-user). After the others defeated him in combat, they realised that the characters were still just alive... but would die within 10 minutes (too short a time for them to return to town). Working on a guess, they returned to the first giant, and fed the dying characters the chestnuts, which revived them!

The trick is that although I'd decided immediately that the chestnuts would revive the poisoned PCs once I'd decided upon the ice-creams, I had no idea there was another giant when I improvised the first room: it was just a potential room for interaction.

Cheers!

 

[MJS]

In my O/AD&D game I've recently started, there is an Underworld, connecting eventually to the Hells and the Abyss. One entrance lies in a lawless collective known as "Goblin-town", but there are many such entries.

I am also leaving the details of unexplored wilderness intentionally blank, for similar purpose - lots of Great Unknown Areas, and I like that I, as DM, get to see it take form via player exploration. The PCs may even take a part in naming the geography they encounter. I put all my detail work into towns, NPCs, and modular encounters.