World's Largest Dungeon in actual play [Spoilers!]

[The Horror]

Ok, so I'm going to start running the WLD this Sunday night.

Three of the group members are dead set on going paladins. One other is a half-orc vampire hunter (cleric). Another is a necromancer. Another wants to go an evil version of a paladin (likely an evil cleric or fighter). Finally player number 7 has not yet stated what type of character he wants, but he always plays characters that are out for themselves and always characters who border on evil.

So right now I am worried about group cohesiveness. The six players I've talked to so far are very eager to play, and are very enthused about their own character concepts. Paladins will not associate with evil characters. So what happens when 43%-57% of the group is evil (or close to it)?

I know this topic has come up before, but unfortunately I have not the access to a search function as of yet. So how do I handle this, especially in the context of the WLD?


The Horror

 

[spacecrime.com]

Paladins will not associate with evil characters. So what happens when 43%-57% of the group is evil (or close to it)?

Unfortunately, that sounds like a situation where you're going to have to at least bend the "Paladins will not associate" rule.

If you want a minimal bend, though, you could always have the Paladins be escorting the evil PCs back to the order as prisoners. They're under orders to get the bad guys back to the home office alive. They get stuck in the dungeon and have to Work Together if they have any hope of accomplishing their mission.

It's cheezy as hell, but it at least gives lip service to the rule.

cheers,

Chris Aylott
The Space-Crime Continuum
http://www.spacecrime.com/

 

[hitomikitage]

You basically have two options here:

First, you can bring out the old tried-and-true no evil characters rule. I use this because PC's will try to kill other PC's if the other has something they want. So to avoid a big mess, I always say no evil characters. This allows for the narrowing of alignment ranges and you can (or at least should) be able to gauge the common reaction to certain situations. This will help you plan better and make the dungeon more fun for you and the players.

Your second option would be to come up with a reason why all of the characters would need to stick and work together. This could be because they wake up in the dungeon and don't know how they got there and need to get out, or they are captives to be used by Longtail as sacrifices to summon the daemons, and then some darkmantles/stirges/dire rats kill off the guards and the PC's can pick up their equipment and start working together to find a way out. This works especially well if the evil people are lawful evil and can generally be trusted to hold to the letter of an agreement (if not the spirit of it) or neutral evil and you as a DM can trust them as a player to stick with the group.

Each method has it's advantages. Method 1 provides for a more cohesive game, while method 2 provides for a more interesting role-playing experience by your players.

Hope this helps.

Thank you,
Howard

 

[hitomikitage]

You basically have two options here:

First, you can bring out the old tried-and-true no evil characters rule. I use this because PC's will try to kill other PC's if the other has something they want. So to avoid a big mess, I always say no evil characters. This allows for the narrowing of alignment ranges and you can (or at least should) be able to gauge the common reaction to certain situations. This will help you plan better and make the dungeon more fun for you and the players.

Your second option would be to come up with a reason why all of the characters would need to stick and work together. This could be because they wake up in the dungeon and don't know how they got there and need to get out, or they are captives to be used by Longtail as sacrifices to summon the daemons, and then some darkmantles/stirges/dire rats kill off the guards and the PC's can pick up their equipment and start working together to find a way out. This works especially well if the evil people are lawful evil and can generally be trusted to hold to the letter of an agreement (if not the spirit of it) or neutral evil and you as a DM can trust them as a player to stick with the group.

Each method has it's advantages. Method 1 provides for a more cohesive game, while method 2 provides for a more interesting role-playing experience by your players.

Hope this helps.

Thank you,
Howard

 

[BlueBlackRed]

Three of the group members are dead set on going paladins. One other is a half-orc vampire hunter (cleric). Another is a necromancer. Another wants to go an evil version of a paladin (likely an evil cleric or fighter). Finally player number 7 has not yet stated what type of character he wants, but he always plays characters that are out for themselves and always characters who border on evil.

So right now I am worried about group cohesiveness. The six players I've talked to so far are very eager to play, and are very enthused about their own character concepts. Paladins will not associate with evil characters. So what happens when 43%-57% of the group is evil (or close to it)?

Evil PCs in groups rarely make it fun for the rest.
So add 2 rules.
#1) No evil PCs. If your group has no cohesiveness, then they won't even care about the dungeon. Eventually the party will implode in some way, and you would have wasted $100.
#2) If someone turns evil, they become an NPC. The person who previously controlled that NPC now has to create a level 1 PC as a form of punishment (If alread level 1 - then makem nekked too).

Make it clear to your players that an evil group will not do so well in the WLD. Especially in Region E.

Also tell them to check their munchkin attitudes at the door.

 

[BlueBlackRed]

This thread is slowing to the point of near death. I fear it will be dead and gone by the time I get back to the WLD campaign with my group.

I wish could argue this point with you, but I am maintaining hope that this thread is not yet history.

I know of several groups playing the WLD actively. They just don't post on these forums.

I also put a post on my WLD blog to ask people to let me know they were still reading it and that I wasn't wasting my time. I got a dozen e-mails (not an internet shattering number, but enough for me ). Most of the people who replied were about to start their own WLD once the new year began.

Some of the my own group has done some grumblings about the WLD, but now that they're in region E, they've stopped grumbling for the time being.

So I'd say, just wait a couple of weeks. Maybe it's just the holidays.

And if it does die, then I'll just go to the Alderac forums and chat some there.

 

[The Horror]

Well, our first session went quite well. The seven player party progressed north from the entrance until they reached the ogre in the room with the columns and water. They butchered the five orcs at the beginning, struggled a bit against some darkmantles, and struggled a fair bit against a rat swarm. The fiendish stirges they dispatched without any troubles.

The paladin was all for killing the ogre straight off the bat, or for slitting his throat in his sleep. The rest of the group managed to stay his hand though, and they learned about the central hallway where the main battle took place before all hell broke loose. So they headed in that general direction through endless empty hallways until they stumbled right into A49. After that, frustrated from the wandering they entered the Darkmantle nest east of A49 and managed to kill them all, though the bard almost died in the process.

Next session they level up. I am going to throw in a lantern archon to guide them towards Longtail and then to Region B. That's going to be their ticket, since I've made the cleric, monk and paladin all be members of the Order of Myruun, 50 years after the order was practically destroyed by the pilgrimage of paladins into the dungeon. Their mission here is to find out what happened to their fellow paladins all those years back, and to bring their tale out to the world at large. The bard is there to compose an epic poem of their triumphs (both the groups and the paladins of old).

All and all it's going well. They are getting a bit frustrated with all the empty rooms and endless hallways, but really they have just been plain lucky in managing to avoid every trap so far (as in not even encountering them). All for the best really, since the party has no Rogue in it despite all of my recommendations....



The Horror

 

[The Horror]

Does anyone have a picture of the entire dungeon, with all the maps together? I would like to send out by email to my players a weekly update of their progress, including a small picture of the entire dungeon with the places they've already explored highlighted. It should give them a nice sense of achievement as well as help keeping things in perspective.



The Horror

 

[haiiro]

I wish could argue this point with you, but I am maintaining hope that this thread is not yet history.

Well, after starting it and following it with intense interest for awhile, I stopped posting to it because I stopped running the dungeon. The amount of work I would have needed to do to retrofit Region A to my tastes, coupled with the metric crapload of other stuff going on in my life, meant it wasn't worth continuing.

Sorry to be part of the whole slow death thing. :\

 

[BlueBlackRed]

Does anyone have a picture of the entire dungeon, with all the maps together? I would like to send out by email to my players a weekly update of their progress, including a small picture of the entire dungeon with the places they've already explored highlighted. It should give them a nice sense of achievement as well as help keeping things in perspective.

The Horror

I believe there is one at www.worldslargestdungeon.com
A giant PDF.