Lessons Learnt Running Megadungeons

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I have been running megadungeon products a lot. I've run Barrowmaze (the first volume) for two regular players in person, I am still technically running Dwimmermount for a face-to-face group (although we only played like 3 sessions each year, and none so far this year), plus I am actively running Rappan Athuk online (we spent about 20 sessions down there, but the campaign is on the cusp of turning into something very different).

I have tried to summarise my thoughts about running megadungeons, focussing on some of the issues that I have. I must add that I immensely enjoy reading and running megadungeons, so these concerns aren't about invalidating the concept but rather things that if solved would make it an even better, smoother, and more rewarding experience. I should also add that these issues may come up in other types of adventures as well; they just seem exacerbated in megadungeons.

TL;DR: (1) consider the costs and benefits of grids and gridless dungeons; (2) add environmental cues around branching off points on the map; (3) use observable warning details around traps consistently; (4) secrets doors should always be interesting; (5) random encounters should have details that you can build on

Dwimmermount Town Procedures (Muntburg)

My current Dwimmermount campaign, as I have stated it on this blog, is exclusively focussing on the exploration of its tentpole megadungeon. The surface world merely serves as background; even its history is just a bag of clues to the dungeon (like how the red metal called areonite was used mostly by the Eld, who were great sorcerers, thus encountering something made of that is a sign that there might be magical traps around).

The base town of Muntburg is a place where characters go to sell their hard-earned loot and replenish their supplies of torches, helmets, and hirelings. In order to make these things expeditious yet interesting, we have been using some simple rules (namely that items were limited to a stock of 6 in the market per session and the Meatshields random henchmen generator), but they got boring soon. I wanted something that offered more player agency in the form of a simple mini-game.

Note: The numbers were written with Kazamaták és Kompániák in mind, which means it should work with S&W, LL, and the rest with no or minimal modification.

Dwimmermount - Session 3-6

I suppose it is time to update my blog with the most recent events of our face-to-face campaign; fortunately, my players have been keeping quite a detailed log of deaths, accomplishments, and all sorts of things related to this game, so this shouldn't be too taxing on me.

The party have explored most of the first level (Path of Mavors), including the kobold lair - where Éöpl cut a sweet deal with the forces that secretly lead these poor creatures -, the orc-controlled parts of the Laboratory, and most recently a good chunk of the Reliquary, where they met strong undead creatures, and a strange room of forgotten technology guarded by hobgoblins.

Dwimmermount - Session 1-2

Shortly after abandoning our Anima Prime game mid-campaign (on which I still intend to write a blog post; I just don't know when), we started another old-school campaign focussing on exploration. As a tent pole of the campaign, I chose Dwimmermount, a megadungeon I have recently reviewed on this very blog. Our system of choice was the under-development second edition of Kazamaták és Kompániák, a Hungarian retro-clone of B/X D&D.

Review: Dwimmermount

This is a review of Dwimmermount; something, I started working on the day I received my copy, but then I got distracted. Now it is finished, for better or for worse. I tried my best to make it as spoiler-free as possible, but still, read further at your own risk. Lastly, I present my personal thoughts regarding Dwimmermount as a whole, hoping that the Reader may see through my rambling and understand what I am trying to say.

Note that I am not interested in the discussion of the product's controversial history and Kickstarter campaign; the past is the past, and I firmly believe that the product can nevertheless be judged upon its own merits or lack thereof.