Which Edition for a Megadungeon Campaign? Why?

[delericho]

I'd use 3.5e, because the megadungeon I own (Castle Whiterock) is for that edition. Or I'd use 5e, simply because it's my current go-to edition. Or I'd use 1st Ed, because it's one of three I've never run and it seems appropriate for something so old school.

As for what my megadungeon is like... dunno. I've never really given it a huge amount of thought - it's one of those things I've occasionally thought could be fun, but just never really gotten around to.

 

[S'mon]

This forum section for older editions so 5E can't be an answer .

I'd make it for BECMI. No skills to get in the way of narrative exploration. Get lots and lots explored per session so it doesn't take forever to complete!

I ran months of Stonehell in 5e, it worked ok but a bit slow. For that reason I think BX or BFRPG would be better as combat plays a lot faster.

 

[Retreater]

It's kind of a case of "pick your poison."
In TSR-era D&D, you have simple rules and speed, but a snowball's chance in Hades of actually surviving or making meaningful progress into the dungeon without being one-shot killed by a kobold or dying instantly to a poison needle trap.
In WotC-era D&D (and PF), you have somewhat slow and cumbersome rules, but greater tactical options and better odds of living through an encounter.
Honestly, if I were going to run a dungeon crawler, I'd just run HeroQuest or Descent, either of which would capture the experience better than D&D.

 

[aco175]

I think I would go with 3e so the players could make any character they wanted. I love those multiclass rules for 3e. There would be lots of combat and big magic reminiscent of the Gygax articles on the original Castle Greyhawk.

 

[Reynard]

Honestly, if I were going to run a dungeon crawler, I'd just run HeroQuest or Descent, either of which would capture the experience better than D&D.

I would argue -- rather vehemently, in fact -- that neither of those games is ANYTHING like a megadungeon exploration campaign. In fact, a megadungeon exploration campaign isn't the same genre as a "dungeon crawler" in the way you are putting it. You are talking about tabletop Diablo, which is not what a megadungeon campaign is.

 

[Blue]

Well, the Megadungeon that I most want to run is Eyes of the Stone Thief, and it was written for 13th Age, a d20 system that would do admirably for mega-dungeons. Eyes of the Stone Thief has won a lot of awards and accolades.

If I'm staying strictly within D&D editions, I think the strengths of 4e are a good match for what I look for megadungeons.

 

[Malmuria]

It's kind of a case of "pick your poison."
In TSR-era D&D, you have simple rules and speed, but a snowball's chance in Hades of actually surviving or making meaningful progress into the dungeon without being one-shot killed by a kobold or dying instantly to a poison needle trap.
In WotC-era D&D (and PF), you have somewhat slow and cumbersome rules, but greater tactical options and better odds of living through an encounter.
Honestly, if I were going to run a dungeon crawler, I'd just run HeroQuest or Descent, either of which would capture the experience better than D&D.

you could go with a “darkest dungeons” vibe and have each player responsible to 2-3 characters, some of which stay back at the home base

 

[Retreater]

I would argue -- rather vehemently, in fact -- that neither of those games is ANYTHING like a megadungeon exploration campaign. In fact, a megadungeon exploration campaign isn't the same genre as a "dungeon crawler" in the way you are putting it. You are talking about tabletop Diablo, which is not what a megadungeon campaign is.

They have combats, traps, treasure, leveling up, a little bit of story (as much as you'd like to add), secret doors - everything to craft a thematic, original dungeon.
HeroQuest was my Red Box/Basic D&D, so I'm definitely going to defend it as a viable, fun tabletop game that certainly meets the needs of dungeon fun for my players and me. Not the only option, but certainly a suitable one for me.

 

[Hussar]

Out of curiosity what do you do with random encounters or wandering monsters? Do they become ad hoc cinematic set pieces, or do you deal with them by way of a "combat skill challenge" (does 4E have a "fast battle" system like Savage Worlds?) or do you just not include random encounters?

I'd go with 4e as well, primarily because the unit that matters in 4e is the encounter. So, all that stuff about adventuring days and daily resource tracking, which in a mega dungeon doesn't work worth a damn, gets folded into the economy of 4e much more easily. Additionally, because 4e has a much broader range of encounter difficulty (you can generally go +/-5 levels for any given opponent) it's so much easier to fill in the dungeon without having to repeat monster after monster after monster that is pretty much the same as the last monster. An orc brute and an orc skirmisher are totally different monsters in 4e. In other editions, an orc is by and large an orc unless you start down the road of adding class levels and that's far too much work to prep.

As far as random encounters go, that's always been a myth that 4e doesn't do random encounters. That's just not true. Presumably random encounters would have a bunch of sort of "stock" random encounter maps to use, complete with a handful of stock terrain effects, and you're off to the races. It's very, very simple to do and because the math is very clear and open, you can judge the effects pretty quickly.

No, for my money, 4e would be the best system for a mega-dungeon. Just by far the best system for that amount of combat.

 

[S'mon]

I get the impression most posters here are not aware of what a 'megadungeon campaign' is in the OSR/old school D&D context.
Extended exploration and mapping of a very large simulated environment is a very important element of this kind of campaign. Resource management is a big factor - not necessarily torches & rations, but certainly spell slots & hit points. The game is played at strategic, operational & tactical levels, so a purely tactical RPG like 4e D&D is a very poor fit - and I have tried! Nor is it a story game like Dungeon World.

@OP Have you tried asking on a dedicated OSR forum? Eg Dragonsfoot has a Megadungeon dedicated forum Megadungeons - Dragonsfoot