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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Thinking of Running Arden Vul in 4e - looking for tips
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<blockquote data-quote="Mannahnin" data-source="post: 9262897" data-attributes="member: 7026594"><p>I'll agree with both takes here.</p><p></p><p>I think "classic" megadungeon play assumes a different resource tracking and risk/reward play structure that isn't a natural fit with 4E (and to a lesser extent 5E, or 3E without some house rules limiting magic item creation). And to the best of my knowledge Arden Vul is written and designed for that kind of play, so it wouldn't really work to play it "as is" in 4E.</p><p></p><p>That being said, I ran Thunderspire Labyrinth in 4E which was a megadungeon-themed module in that edition, and we had a lot of fun with it. In addition to designed set-piece encounters and areas, the module abstracted most of the Moria-scale megadungeon into a scale of map which kind of sketched out the whole mountain on a page and showed roughly where different areas of interest were in relation to each other, and approximate travel times. Some of these locations were actually detailed in the module; others were brief sketches for the DM to flesh out if desired. Rather than run "real" mapping of an extensive set of level maps, we abstracted travel between zones. If the PCs hit a random encounter when traveling between them, I'd slap down or draw out a random set of passages and corridors and adjacent chambers for the encounter to happen in. So in this way the megadungeon was kind of a zoned sandbox. Complete with the Seven Pillared Hall "safe" zone/trading town controlled by a faction of mages and occupied by various other folks and faction representatives exploring the place.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mannahnin, post: 9262897, member: 7026594"] I'll agree with both takes here. I think "classic" megadungeon play assumes a different resource tracking and risk/reward play structure that isn't a natural fit with 4E (and to a lesser extent 5E, or 3E without some house rules limiting magic item creation). And to the best of my knowledge Arden Vul is written and designed for that kind of play, so it wouldn't really work to play it "as is" in 4E. That being said, I ran Thunderspire Labyrinth in 4E which was a megadungeon-themed module in that edition, and we had a lot of fun with it. In addition to designed set-piece encounters and areas, the module abstracted most of the Moria-scale megadungeon into a scale of map which kind of sketched out the whole mountain on a page and showed roughly where different areas of interest were in relation to each other, and approximate travel times. Some of these locations were actually detailed in the module; others were brief sketches for the DM to flesh out if desired. Rather than run "real" mapping of an extensive set of level maps, we abstracted travel between zones. If the PCs hit a random encounter when traveling between them, I'd slap down or draw out a random set of passages and corridors and adjacent chambers for the encounter to happen in. So in this way the megadungeon was kind of a zoned sandbox. Complete with the Seven Pillared Hall "safe" zone/trading town controlled by a faction of mages and occupied by various other folks and faction representatives exploring the place. [/QUOTE]
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