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I have never done or even tried to do something like putting together a megadungeon. I suppose part of the deal for me, is that I immediately start asking questions like how to place this extremely implausible construction into a world that will make it seem plausible to the players, with the standard answer ("a wizard did it") being unsatisfactory to me. But, thinking about it, I think you're not doing something wildly different from "worldbuilding", just that your world consists of levels and indoor (or "indoor") spaces, while the cube-shaped planet project I've had on the back burner for 20 years has a different arrangement of pieces. What I am getting at is that if you want a setting that is thematically like-a-megadungeon, in that it has regions that are wildly different from one another, a formal/constrained connectivity, and a game theme oriented towards formalized exploration (your map has dungeon guild markers), approaches like those you're describing here are perhaps applicable. Which maybe leads me to a broader question. Why a megadungeon, instead of just a world - or a universe? What, to you, is the distinction?
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Nov 24, 2020 18:42
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| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 18:39 |
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Fair enough, and so I could in theory use similar cues if I wanted a bizarro-world explicitly strange around every corner with no expectation of "realistic" geography, but with a big outdoorsy feel to it.
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Nov 24, 2020 20:09
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It occurred to me this morning that Alpha Complex, the Paranoia setting, is a megadungeon. Complete with ephemerous undefined "any three-letter sequence" Sectors that your clone can come from, just so that you can make a funny pun with your clone's name; and permission granted to the GM to create a sector on the fly for any reason, and stuff it with whatever weird poo poo you want to have going on there, but salted with the trappings that make it still Alpha Complex - the presence (usually) of Friend Computer, colored security zones, bots and other clones, and... yeah probably some huge vats, there's usually vats. But this zone is maybe invested with giant mutant rats, or has been entirely taken over by a radical sect, or there's two competing sets of bots each trying to reconstruct the architecture to suit two radically different designs but they're all programmed against fighting so there's a neverending passive-aggressive war of robots rearranging the furniture. The theme in Paranoia is not so much about exploring the wondrous nature of Alpha Complex, so that sort of handwavey vagueness about the setting (as opposed to some sort of official Map of Alpha Complex tome filled with every detail of every nook and cranny) is exactly what's needed - it actually serves the intent, that players be paranoid about each other and their world at all times, because everyone really is out to get you, and you don't really know much about where you are or where you're going. Players cannot surreptitiously read the Gazeteer and then feel a sense of security in having that background knowledge. Plus it's all indoors (except for the outdoors bit) and progression of security clearance areas could be loosely compared to progression into deeper and consequently more dangerous levels?
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Nov 25, 2020 19:31
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What's Appendix N?
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Dec 1, 2020 19:46
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Ohhhhhh, right OK. It's been a long time since I pored over my old AD&D materials.
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Dec 1, 2020 20:22
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Is the idea that each of Navigation, Trials, and Combat represent discrete instances of the What should I Do Next loop, or are they supposed to be separate?
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Dec 12, 2020 01:46
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| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 18:39 |
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Another possible dynamic, which is not specifically related to a megadungeon, is that your play group may lack a member willing to step up and make decisions for the team when nobody has a strong opinion about what to do next. Some folks may feel like just telling the rest of the group what they're going to do next is rude; if everyone feels that way, a group can wind up lacking decisiveness. There are tricks and tools you can use to sort of press the players to make a decision: things like, rotating a Party Leader role; reducing choices to a small number with "nothing" not being an option, the way a choose-your-own-adventure book does it; having a "threat" pool that gains tokens every time the players waffle, and it triggers a dangerous encounter whenever the pool is full; just charging the characters rent that they must adventure in order to not wind up out on their ears; or perhaps just the classic out-of-character table discussion in which you explain the party need to get better at reaching decisions or the game won't work and then asking them for suggestions.
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Jan 25, 2022 02:20
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