Flood Trap Megamodule

Here is a megadungeon module that’s slightly different: a Flood Trap. I described the idea some time ago, but haven’t used this location in play. It’s meant to be a side trip, a distraction, although if the players ignore some obvious signs, it can be deadly.

As with the other megamodules, you need filler areas connected to the exits around the module, which can be created with geomorphs or rolled randomly. In this case, the surrounding rooms can be anything; use other megamodules to define what they are. However, what’s above or below the trap are is important; there needs to be a water source above the area and a sewer level or sublevel of some kind below. I plan on doing megamodules for both as examples, but you could design your own.

Aside from wasting the player’s time if they figure out the trap (or wasting their lives if they don’t,) the area can serve as a difficult “back door” into either the level above or the level below. It would work well in a trap-themed sublevel, such as if you wanted to build your own Tomb of Horrors.

The module is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

Written with StackEdit.

Undergrove Cavern Megamodule

I started the map for this megamodule after finishing the first three, but I never got around to the key. I call it the Undergrove Cavern, because the plant arrangement is meant to be the central feature. The location is loosely based on an area in a dungeon I ran a couple years ago, although I’ve changed the details on the fruit and the creatures that fertilize the plants, and added a caretaker.

As with the other megamodules, you need filler areas connected to the exits around the module, which can be created with geomorphs or rolled randomly. I’m assuming that this module is part of an inhabited portion of a dungeon. The inhabitants are left vague, but I’m assuming human or orc; they are not described in the module, though, because they are not regular visitors, except for the caretaker, who is kind of unique. You could substitute any other intelligent creature that can climb a ladder or use a sickle as a weapon.

The module is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

Written with StackEdit.

The Rotating Chamber (Redone)

More re-working of material for the Maps tab. As with the previous two modules, the Rotating Circular Chamber mega-module was messed up by Google Docs, so I decided to update it, restore the missing map, and upload the PDF to Box. As with the other megamodules, you need filler areas connected to the exits around the module, which can be created with geomorphs or rolled randomly.

This module is meant to be part of an inhabited portion of a dungeon. The chamber’s rotation is powered by laborers pushing a wheel below the chamber. Thus, rotating the room controls access to different parts of the dungeon. I assumed that the western corridor was the “way out”, or at least the way out of this section of the dungeon. Raiding parties or work parties would ring the gong, rotate the chamber, and exit west, leaving the chamber aligned to that direction; when they returned, they would ring the gong, rotate the chamber back to the north, and thus seal the entrance to their lair.

Exactly who these inhabitants are is left vague. I only mention “warriors” and “laborers”, letting the GM decide whether these are the same species or not, or whether the laborers are slaves or just workers. These could be any creature desired. I did use “mastiff” for the guard animal, though, which I think of as primarily what humans would use, but you could keep the mastiffs for just about any kind of creature, or change it to some weird beetle or tiny hyena or whatever you wanted.

The module is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

Written with StackEdit.

The Spiral Staircase (Redone)

More re-working of material for the Maps tab. As with the Wizard’s Library, the Spiral Stairs mega-module was messed up by Google Docs, so I decided to update it, restore the missing map, and upload the PDF to Box. As with the other megamodules, you need filler areas connected to the exits around the module, which can be created with geomorphs or rolled randomly. In this case, there’s no guideline for what kind of rooms will be located in each direction, because this will depend on the theme of each area.

This module is meant to be a connection between four dungeon levels. Level One is connected to the eastern exit; alternatively, the eastern exit leads to the dungeon entrance. Level Two and Level Three are connected to the western exits. Level Four is connected to the northern exit at the bottom of the shaft. There’s also a sublevel ten feet lower than Level Three, connected to the southern exit. Contents of these rooms would be based on any megamodules or custom areas used for the theme of each level, but in a pinch you could use the trivial wandering monsters listed in this module.

The module is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

Written with StackEdit.

The Wizard's Library (Redone)

As I’ve said before, I’m working on fixing the material on the Maps tab. One of the problems I encountered was with three of the one-page dungeons. I started doing “megadungeon modules”, areas of interest that could be placed on a megadungeon level and surrounded by random filler rooms and tunnels. The filler areas could be laid out with geomorphs or rolled randomly, and would mostly be unoccupied, or occupied by random creatures; the modular areas would not be random, but would be deliberately designed with their purpose or history in mind.

The problem, however, was that I tried to create a one-page dungeon template on Google Docs. I would think that it was working, then change the size of some text to make it fit on one page… and the map would disappear. Eventually, I had it working… and months later, it stopped working again. This happened around the time Google did the Googe Drive switchover, and it’s something I’ve noticed in general about Google Docs/Drive: anytime they update their product, it modifies anything you have stored there.

So, I’ve started fixing the mega-modules, and have one finished: the Wizard’s Library mega-module. This is, of course, a library, with a nearby reading room/parlor. It includes notes on what to put in the random rooms immediately adjacent to the module. There’s a wandering monster/treasure table to stock the random rooms, but don’t use that to stock the three rooms described in the PDF. The module is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

This time, the PDF is on a Box account. Since this is the first time I’ve used that service, let me know if it works properly.

Written with StackEdit.

Restocking Dungeons

If adventurers return to a dungeon after clearing out some or all the rooms, or if you are running several groups of players through one megadungeon, you would typically restock some of the cleared rooms. Here are some quick ideas about restocking.

Quick General Guideline

Roll each visit: 5+ on 1d6 means new monster has moved in.

Treasure is not rerolled, but some monsters may bring incidental treasure

Small Lairs

Examples: Single troll in cave, 3-18 bandits in watchtower

Restocked by: random ordinary wildlife

Roll again if visited 1+ seasons later for human/humanoid/monster take-over

Small Dungeon

Example: One or two small levels below abandoned keep

Roll first for entire dungeon, then roll for each empty room if first roll is 5+

Restocked by: surviving monsters (or vermin, if none)

Survivors of last party visit will add up to 1/10th of their number
(Roll 1d6 if 20 to 60 monsters survive, 2d6 if 70 to 120 survive, etc.)

Completely cleared dungeons may be taken over after 1+ seasons as for lairs

Tomb

Most undead do not restock, so treat cleared areas as Small Lair

Undead that create more of their own kind, or cursed tombs that create undead, will restock as Small Dungeon

Large Dungeon

Examples: 2-6 medium levels below castle, extensive catacombs

Roll first for entire dungeon, as for Small Dungeon

If one level is completely cleared, it may be restocked by survivors on levels above or below (50/50 chance of either)

If a cleared level is to be restocked from above, but there are no surviving monsters above, treat that level as a completely cleared Small Dungeon, restocking with vermin and allowing a take-over by outside immigrants after a couple seasons.

Megadungeon

As Large Dungeon, but break each level down into regions

Restock a cleared region from adjacent regions. If there are stairs up in the region, the level(s) above are adjacent. If there are stairs down, the level below is adjacent.

After 1+ seasons, whether a region has been cleared or not, consider rolling for a possible take-over by a completely new creature.

Vermin are things like small bugs, rats, etc. These things should be everywhere, so they will eventually move into a cleared environment unless active measures are taken to prevent them.

Take-overs represent monsters traveling through the wilderness and settling in an abandoned area. Thus, if you clear an undead menace from a tomb near the town, bandits may take it over a couple seasons later to use as a base of operations. Random monster immigrants will not bring one of the standard treasure types with them; most beast-like monsters won't have any treasure to start with, and each intelligent creature may only bring 1d6 GP per hit die, with leaders of organized groups possibly having ten times as much. If a monster immigrant stays in a lair long enough, though, it may acquire treasure through looting:

• Semi-intelligent fantastic beasts: Type I
• Men: Type A, 10% normal value
• Humanoids: Type D, 10% normal value

Waypoints

I thought I'd expand on the connecting tunnels post a bit by talking about waypoints. A waypoint is a tiny dungeon meant to act as an obstacle, rest station, or, at the very least, something to break up the monotony of long tunnels. For that reason, waypoints are assumed to overlap or even straddle the tunnel; intelligent creatures may be operating a tollbooth or guard station, other creatures may set up ambush points here.

The number of rooms is 1d6 + 1. The "+ 1" room is the section of tunnel itself that passes through the waypoint; there will thus be 1d6 other rooms. Use a d6 with pips, and use the dot pattern as the arrangement of rooms. The bulk of the waypoint can be on either side of the tunnel, but for a waypoint with 7 rooms, I'd have three rooms on either side, with the tunnel running down the middle. There will be alternative access routes between the two sides, either underneath the main tunnel or on bridges across the tunnel.

A two-room waypoint may just be a cave to one side of the main tunnel, possibly on a ledge or in a chasm or pool. Three- and four-room waypoints might be the same, although they might be regular rooms if the inhabitants are intelligence.

You can use the tunnel description roll for the waypoint, too. Certainly, the d4 roll could be used to determine the general class of monster:

1. Earthy: Construct (golem, juggernaut, animated dead)
2. Watery: Animal, if not actually near water. This means there will be access to food above or in caverns below.
3. Airy: Manned outpost.
4. Fiery: Spirit of some kind.

Results of 9+ on the description table imply that the waypoint is a rest stop and re-supply center. Some kind of water source will be in one of the rooms; there may also be food stores. Keep in mind that even short tunnels with waypoints may take a day or two of travel, and the longer tunnels are going to take a month or two, so the food supplies may be large, indeed.

Connecting Tunnels II

The connecting tunnels post was useful for creating a basic connection between two dungeons, including minimal description. But you could get more variation if you used a second roll, based on an updated version of the ruined tunnels table using ideas I tossed around for more detailed reaction rolls.

Roll d4+d8 for each stage of a connecting tunnel to determine its character. The d4 result by itself determines an "elemental modifier":

1. Earthy: Dirt or Rock Debris (slows pace) or Blockage (must be dug out.)
2. Watery: Leakage (slippery, slows pace) or Flooded. Water source is safe to drink on 5+ (1d6.)
3. Airy: Gusty (torches burn half as long) or Windy Ledge along canyon (fall on 5+ if moving at full speed.)
4. Fiery: Lit (glowing fungus) or blocked by Magma Pool.

Use the first option unless the tunnel is blocked. Blocked tunnels use the second option.

The d4 result is also added to the d8 result and used with the following table:

Random Tunnel Details

d4+d8		Tunnel Description
1		Ruined Tunnel, blocked by horror (Earthy = purple worm, Watery = sea serpent, Airy = invisible stalker, Fiery = efreet.) Deduct -1 from any further tunnel rolls.
2		Collapsed/Blocked Tunnel. Can be cleared (change to result 3, below.)
3		Ruined Tunnel w/ debris and chance of cave-in (6+ on 1d6, one roll per day.) Fiery tunnels are Scorching (running or armored characters roll 5+ on 1d6 every hour or lose 1 hit. -1 if running in armor.)
4-5		Ruined w/ debris, no cave-in chance unless digging.
6-8		Abandoned Tunnel, possibly being reclaimed.
9-10		In Good Condition. Earthy = mine cart/tracks, Watery = barge/canal.
11		As for Good Condition, above, but Airy has a one-way sail-driven wagon.
12		Good Condition and Patrolled. Earthy patrols are a mining race; assign others as desired.
13+		Magical or High-Tech version of Good Condition (steam-powered train system or steamship, balloon able to travel either direction, or electric vehicle.) Add +1 to any further tunnel rolls.

Of course, some of the results above are only possible with modifiers to the roll. Subtract 1 for a cursed or evil area, or for every 10 full levels deep. Add 1 for blessed/sacred areas. Results of 1 or less, or 13+, modify rolls for the next stage of a tunnel, as well as for the destination or any tunnel connected to the destination.

Connecting Tunnels

Zak S. posted a while ago about the relationship of dungeons to megadungeons in his game: every small dungeon --- every small dungeon --- is connected to one huge megadungeon that spans the entire planet. That doesn't mean that the megadungeon has a uniform density; as he said in a comment, individual complexes are connected to each other by miles of tunnel.

It occurs to me that just that one idea, miles of tunnels connecting separate dungeons, is a rich topic to explore.

For starters, suppose you've made and played a standalone dungeon. Now you've read Zak's post and said, "Damn, I want to do some of that!" You want to connect your dungeon to other dungeons, but you don't have any immediate ideas. You want a table for random creative input.

OK, how about this one?

Tunnel Type, Length and Depth

Level/Roll	Connection Type (Length)
2	Simple Tunnel (Leagues x 100)
3	Tunnel w/ Waypoint (Leagues x 100)
4-5	Tunnel w/ Level/2 Stages (Leagues x 100)
6-8	Tunnel w/ Level/3 Stages (Leagues x 10)
9-10	Tunnel w/ Level/3 Stages (5d6 Leagues)
11	Tunnel w/ Waypoint (2d6 Leagues)
12	Simple Tunnel (1d6 yards x 1000)

To use the table:

1. Count the number of levels in your dungeon.
2. Roll 2d6. If the result is less than the number of levels, there is a connection to another dungeon on the indicated level.
3. Look up the result on the table to get the type of connecting tunnel and length.
4. Roll the dice indicated to get the exact length. For results below 9, roll 1d6 per level to get the length in the indicated units.

A waypoint is a tiny dungeon (1d6+1 rooms) in between the two ends of the tunnel. When you roll the length of the tunnel (3d6 or 2d6,) the first die is the distance from the start point to the way point, while the remain dice shows the distance from the waypoint to the other endpoint. The waypoint will be guarded by something, either a spirit, undead creature, construct, or intelligent creature; if the creature is alive, the waypoint is connected to either the surface (5+ on 1d6) or a vast underworld with an ecosystem that can supply the guardian with necessities.

If a tunnel has stages (not a straight, uniform tunnel,) divide the level by 2 or 3 and round up to get the number of stages (2 to 4.) The first and fourth stages will probably be simple tunnels, but the second or third stages will each be a different environment: underground lake, canyon, flooded waterway, lavaflow, etc., any change of tunnel features that would require a change of equipment or transportation. When rolling the tunnel length, read the dice in groups of 2 or 3 dice, based the divisor. The first group of 2 or 3 dice will be the length of the first stage, the second group will be the length of the second stage, and so on.

If there is no ready-made connection point for your tunnel on the indicated level, then the tunnel is behind a secret door or a false wall. If you want your dungeon to be connected no matter what, then when you roll 2d6 in Step 2 above, if the result is not less than the number of levels, the connection is downwards to another dungeon via a chute or shaft; again, the chute/shaft can be concealed behind a secret door or false wall/floor, and the length will be a number of levels equal to the result of the roll.

For ideas about distance between levels and how far down you could go, see my old post about how deep a megadungeon could be.

Boring Menace in Interesting Labyrinth

Roger had a blog post yesterday about how the first level or two of a typical megadungeon is often pretty boring, with scanty treasure guarded by rats and centipedes and the occasional small band of goblins. His point, of course, is that this paradox of a boring introduction to much more interesting levels below is due to people slavishly copying the old megadungeons.

I don't think that's entirely the case, since most of what we know of old megadungeons has been pieced together recently. The old megadungeons weren't published. Also, there's something to be said for easing players into the dungeon; you want the first couple levels to be not too difficult, so that players can prepare for the greater challenge below.

However, I think you can maintain the approach of stocking low-level common monsters in a mostly-empty level if you the level interesting in other ways. One is to include hints of what's below. A single stone head that seems to have been broken off a statue, but it's done in a more realistic style than any of the statues on the level (hint: medusa or something like that down below.) An adventurer corpse with a partial map and strange things scrawled on it, like "AVOID THE EYES!" or "ROD GOES HERE." A pelt of some unknown creature, still pretty fresh.

Another thing is to stock it with resources, a few obvious (wooden items that can be turned into makeshift torches or bars for doors,) but many that are only potentially useful, without a clear and obvious pointer to that use (bag of salt, box of marbles.)

What I'd like to explore sometime is a third way to make it interesting: "semi-tricks". We're all pretty familiar with tricks, but a lot of the trick ideas floating around out there (fountain of random potions, statue that grants wishes or utters curses) are pretty major effects. I'm thinking of a "semi-trick" as being something designed on the same principal, but without as big an impact.

More on this some other time.

Return to the Megadungeon

I'd been thinking "I really ought to return to developing some of the ideas I had about megadungeons". Perhaps even redo a lot of the maps I've done. And then I checked the Google Docs links for the "megamodules" and discovered that Google Docs, in the switch -over to Google Drive, completely mangled the few megamodules I actually did.

So maybe I *should* go back and redo everything from scratch.

The idea I've been leaning towards lately is a giant gaping hole left by a wormpocalypse that destroyed the former glorious empire. The worm's burrowings have exposed some gem veins and other sources of wealth. There's a new town founded nearby as part of a gold rush, and some of the upper levels have been explored and exploited, but the natural and supernatural aspects of the worm's passing have produced monstrous infestations as a side effect. Adventurers are scouring the cleared levels for scraps others have missed, and occasionally daring to delve deeper, in areas controlled by unknown monstrosities.

Sketchbox Underworld

I've been musing over that idea of a sprawling sketchbox underworld suggested in a previous post. This is a bit different from the "megamodule" approach to megadungeons that I suggested a while back. Sure, I still see the usefulness, even the need, for themed sets of rooms at scattered locations, but a sketchbox underworld would show a little more attention to the area around the modular parts.

The idea is: a sketchbox underworld used to be a city, so if you build it on the fly, you use the same techniques you'd use to build a standard city on the fly. Such as these techniques here. You start with an "undervillage" or "underhamlet". You map that out with some of those techniques. You use the population dice map to place other former settlements on the underworld map. You figure out what the connecting passages are like (burrows, subterranean river, wet or dry canal, chasm, rough-hewn lairs.) There would have to be a way to determine which sections have collapsed, which have been altered or expanded, which have flooded, which have become overgrown with fungus or other environmental changes.

Since I started thinking about this, I went back to the population dice map and started to redo it; I'm trying to merge it with the quarter system and the random town table, not only to make it more useful as an all-in-one town creation tool, but also to adapt it to sketchbox underworld use. Maybe I can get to the point where a GM could run a whole campaign using that tool, the Quickie Dice Tool, and GM notes created during play. The only thing needing prep would be a handful of megamodules to drop in from time to time.

MegaModule: Rotating Circular Chamber

I know I've done this before as an unkeyed geomorph, but this version of the old rotating room cliché is arranged a little different. The interpretation here is that the room is designed to control access to a living/working area, located to the east of the map. The center is a circular chamber with a couple stools and a gong; when the gong is rung, slaves or some other team of laborers in a room below begin pushing a large horizontal wheel with spokes, causing the stone wall resting on top to rotate. A single 10-foot gap in the wall lines up with different exits as it rotates. Another ringing of the gong lets the laborers know when to stop; they may also have instructions to stop after one full rotation.

Edit: I had deleted the treasure content of the chest because I was going to change it, then forgot to actually do so. Sorry! The chest contains 300 gp in addition to the listed books. Module text now reflects that change.

The dungeon I am currently running is not a megadungeon and has a much smaller conceptual area, so the rotating room the players dealt with yesterday worked quite differently; it was more of a puzzle room than a control point, and there were no guards or living areas. Instead, the room rotates continuously, and in the center of the room is a capstan. Turning the capstan in different directions changes the rate of rotation:

• Reference Point: room rotates counterclockwise once per day
• 1 Complete Turn Clockwise: room stops rotating
• 1 Complete Turn Counterclockwise: room rotates once per hour

There's another capstan in one of the connecting rooms which has the same effect. The players figured this all out, so they can now enter and exit the area without problem.

MegaModule: Great Spiral Stair

Another megadungeon module based on an element I used in my local game. This one is a spiral staircase leading down a deep shaft. When I used this originally, the location of the landings was slightly different and there were no wandering monsters, no pool at the bottom, and no visible doors, but the elf found a secret door at the bottom. I've added several doors to this version and the other elements to make it an interesting dungeon entrance, or perhaps a boundary zone between the upper levels of a dungeon and the lower ones below the broken stair. I've also included my jumping rules, in case your players decide to take that risk; mine chose to climb down ropes instead.

Because this version of the spiral stair is mean to be a generic connecting point rather than a themed module, there are no suggestions for surrounding room types, other than a general suggestion that the southern exit should be treated as a sublevel of the southwestern level.

Depths are given relative to the start level, which is connected to the eastern exit. Thus, if the eastern exit leads to the surface (Level 0,) the northwestern exit will connect to Level 1, the southwestern connects to Level 2, the southern exit is Level 2 1/2, and the northern exit is Level 3. I probably should have labeled the exits as +1 Level, +2 Level and +3 Level, instead of using -1/-2/-3, but it should still make sense.

MegaModule: Abandoned Wizard's Library

I want to get Map Mondays back on track with a series of "megadungeon modules". The plan is to develop the technique I mused about in Megadungeon Format Tricks and its sequel. In summary: each megadungeon module is a single room or set of rooms focused on a single concept (puzzle room, throne room, crypt of a knight, arcane prison of a demon, elaborate trap, guard room, gateway...) This is what I sometimes have called a "hub". The module is in a one-page dungeon format with a 10x10 or less map, structured like a geomorph, with exits (if any) in one or more of the standard geomorph exit locations; it also includes a full write-up of the room or rooms and a list of one to four supporting room types, monsters and treasures. To use the module, you position it on your level map and padded the borders with ordinary rooms, which you draw by hand or fill in using geomorphs or random mapping techniques. Designate the surrounding rooms as being of one of the types defined in the module and randomly stock them as described for each type; thus, it does not matter where "storeroom with 1d6 rats and 2d12 silver coins in a sack" is located, how it's shaped, or what it connects to.

I would like to try out each module concept before I write it up as a module, so to start off, here's a module based on a couple rooms the players in my group explored last month. It's not exactly the same; I've changed the shapes and connections, added some things, removed some others. The basic concept is a library for magical research, abandoned by the library's owner; in our game, the wizard is said to have fled the area about a century ago. I've changed the "abandoned familiar" from the one I actually used, since the little bat-winged critter in our game is still hanging around because of a Charm Person spell. Can't give the party any clues as to what that little guy is!

My test download of this MegaModule fits all on one page, but it was difficult to get Google Docs to do that, so I fully expect people will report problems with the document. Google Docs doesn't like the one-page template; I had to fight the format to get everything to fit. One weird problem was that the map image would disappear if I changed one of the headings to a different size. I hope the changes in this version stick, so that I can just create a copy and edit it to create future MegaModules.

NecromaToads Redux

Map Monday is back, although in a way, this one's a cheat: a redone map of the Forgotten Crypts of the NecroToads. For one, the toads are renamed to "NecromaToads", since there's someone with a username "necrotoad" and I'd rather avoid the naming conflict. Another change is the addition of some dungeon dressing: the crypts proper have sarcophagi and slabs, rocks have been added to some locations, and there are sentinels at the entrance to the NecromaToad lair section. I wanted to redo this because I've started on the next map, which connects to this one on the right-hand side; the collapsed tunnel connects to a sealed-off section of the original crypts, while the southernmost tunnel connects to the old necromatoad lair, now taken over by... something else.

I'll try to get a doc with an actual dungeon key started this week.

More Megadungeon Format Tricks

After reading through the comments in the Grognardia post on an ideal megadungeon format, I discovered that many people were covering some of the same ideas I presented. I should have read those comments first, so that I could point out that that list of special "hub" rooms (what some people call "Saturday Night Specials") would fit the role of "modular megadungeons", as expressed by Ed Dove in particular. Each region equals one module; there are multiple regions (modules) in each level, but they are designed to fit together conceptually, perhaps answering Zak's objection to the modular approach. Furthermore, there could be free-floating modules with a monster theme but no "hub", or only a very minor hub, which could be dropped into any level at any location.

The physical arrangement of modules (regions) within a level is completely up to the GM; each GM's implementation of the megadungeon is unique.

And you know that list of hub concepts for the level? Which probably has a unique monster or two listed next to each concept? That list of unique monsters -- basically, the bosses -- can be annotated to show relationships. The lich-king may be subservient to the undead priest; an ogre boss in one region may be unaware of the goblin-king, but the goblin-king's minions may be stealing small quantities of gold and provisions from the ogre, and the ogre may be looking for someone to blame.

The concept list would also include any special magic items, cursed items, or otherwise notable items. Think of this as a four-column table, with Name, Concept, Monster(s) and Item(s) as the table headings. If we're talking about a series of commercial products, each module for a level would include the entire level list, plus the most important monster/item from each of the other proposed levels, so that the GM has a central place to look up important items and drop hints or directions to important beings and objects.

Since the rooms that aren't "Saturday Night Specials" are all pretty generic (three to five types per region,) you need some way to distinguish them. The encounter list for each region can begin with a descriptor word, perhaps randomly selected, which is combined with the actual room type to create a specific key phrase the GM can elaborate on during play. "Filthy storeroom" and "Manure-filled storeroom" will seem like very different places.

Megadungeon Format Tricks

James Maliszewski at Grognardia has asked "what is your ideal format for a published megadungeon?" As it so happens, a couple recent forum posts have reminded me that I intended to return to the topic of megadungeons. I've been thinking about a couple points which might not necessarily be my ideal format, but I'm thinking they might be worth exploring.

First: Taking the suggestion in Underworld & Wilderness Adventures more literally. Page 6 tells us to place the special treasures (and special areas) first, then randomly assign monsters, treasures and traps, leaving most of the rooms empty. What I'm thinking: the map should actually reflect this fact. Start with a concept for your megadungeon, then create related concepts for each level; for each of these levels, brainstorm a list of related areas. For example, if you have an "undead city" level, come up with a list of special rooms or areas that would fit into the theme "undead city":

• graveyard (dig here for treasure, risk resurrecting more undead)
• undead temple (undead "priest" turns Lawful clerics)
• throne of the lich-king (might or might not be a full-powered lich)
• etc.

Each of these special rooms, and perhaps 1 or 2 related rooms, becomes the hub of a region on the level. All the other rooms in a region can be randomly mapped in some way, perhaps filled in with geomophs, leximorphs, or random mapping techniques.

Second: Cut the connection between individual rooms and individual encounters. Decide what the monster theme is for each region: maybe the graveyard on the undead city level has skeletons, zombies, carrion crawlers, flesh-eating centipedes, and rats as its primary monsters. Also decide what the typical room-type(s) would be in this region: the graveyard can be surrounded by crypts, repositories for cremation urns, funeral niches, and pits for bone fragments. Use the One-Page Dungeon format for each region, and list these room types and monsters off to the side of the map. Number the encounters as usual, but treat this as an "encounter roster", perhaps sorted by room type. The map itself is only labeled with room-type codes.

When prepping the level, randomly stock each encounter as if it were a room, but don't place the number on the map. Leave "empty" rooms blank. During play, describe each room based on its room type, randomly select an encounter from the roster; after all, these monsters, unlike any special encounters, are moving into rooms that are already there and converting them into lairs. Ad the encounter numbers to the map as you use them. Cross off used encounters from the roster as they are cleared; fill in some of the blank encounters between sessions, to represent new monsters moving into cleared rooms. When all encounters are crossed off, redo the monster list using only vermin types; this area will now be mostly monster-free.

Third: Leave lots of blank space on each level. Make a level-wide sketch-map that just shows squares labeled with each region name and lines indicating major tunnels that connect the region. There may be numerous rooms between each region connected to the tunnels, but these can be left unmapped until needed (pull out a geomorph as needed, or fill in an area between sessions.) You can note monsters for minor areas directly on this map, using letter codes.

Fourth: Periodically update the sketch-map to add new full regions. Instead of marking areas "under construction" and asking players not to explore there yet, leave long stretches of simple tunnel and have monsters in a new region dig a passage into the existing complex as each region becomes ready. Also periodically replace completely cleared regions that the PCs rarely visit with new special monsters; maybe if the players have sanctified the cursed graveyard and slain all the undead and carrion crawlers, after a couple months an expedition of trolls moves in and converts the cemetery into a shroom garden; occasional trolls and shriekers wandering into nearby regions may clue the players in that something has changed.

I may have some more to say on this later.

Evolving Dungeon Stories

I posted a comment on the Lost Continent blog relating to inspiration and creativity from random sources, and thought I should elaborate on the idea here. The topic is the two extremes of dungeon design: coming up with concept first and developing it deliberately and logically, vs. rolling up everything randomly and improvising a story from that material. I outlined a sort of back-and-forth middle path, where you can start with a random idea or two, , use those random seeds to fill in details deliberately instead of randomly, then fill in empty areas around the deliberately-designed features with more random material, which can then be developed deliberately, followed by more randomness, and so on.

MegaDungeon: GUAN-1

The next installment of the test megadungeon, GUAN-1: the raiding area. I wanted to include this specifically as a second entrance area; megadungeons should have multiple entrances. Also, since the list of monsters used in the dungeon is getting fleshed out more, I started using a technique mentioned briefly in the training series: using letter labels like "M:Q" directly on the map. I changed the letters for "extraordinary monsters" to lowercase so that I could make a temporary pair of six-letter labels off to the side of the map to act as my 2d6 monster roll. This enabled me to do room stocking rolls while drawing the map in Inkscape: add a label if a monster is indicated, draw a container if it's a monster with treasure, and draw a dotted box on a room floor or cache behind a wall if a hidden treasure is indicated.