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.

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.

Campaign Pitch: Gothic Megadungeon

Instead of prepping for my upcoming game or finishing my articles for Kazamata, I thought about megadungeons and came up with a couple of different - and at this stage, very vague - ideas, that I am going to present. The first one is:

The Sempiternal Citadel of Maleficence

Rappan Athuk - Stages of Play

What follows is a detailed gameplay description of my forthcoming Rappan Athuk megadungeon campaign. I tried to make it as thorough yet simple as possible, but I am sure there may still be parts unclear to some, so I encourage those who are interested in either playing or are simply into the idea of such a campaign to articulate their questions or concerns.

To be sure you understand the context in which the following applies, read my proposition for the campaign and possibly the description of the available classes (it comes particularly handy for typical exploration activities).

To put it simply, the game consists of the following parts: (1) first, the players are given information about the dungeon so they can plan ahead, buy proper equipment, and hire qualified followers; (2) then actual dungeon crawling is resolved with exploration, friendly encounters, and deadly combats galore; (3) finally, they return to base, sell loot, and spend some money. Below, you find detailed description for each stage, procedures that have to be followed, and some of the rules that help resolve the situations that arise.

Rappan Athuk - Starting a Megadungeon Campaign

Since I got my hands on a pdf copy of Rappan Athuk Reloaded (available on rpgnow), I have been thinking about running it. Then the new edition came out (which was reviewed by Bryce Lynch, if you are interested), and I really wanted to run this baby of monstrous beauty. So, that is exactly what I am going to do. Below you find a couple of my thoughts on the campaign, a sort of "design goals" that I intend to accomplish.

Mind you, this is going to be a Google+ game, for now, run in Hungarian.

To sum it up:

• an exploration-driven campaign
• XP awarded only for treasure recovered
• extensive use of rumours and quests
• limited number of town activities
• unique magic items (except for potions, scrolls, and wands)
• B/X-esque base + house rules