>>43087970
Journey to the Center of the Earf (or whatever passes for a planet/cosmology in this world)

More questions:

> How do we deal with mortality in a huge dungeon with occasional settlements?
> How do you let players make meaningful decisions without hugely bloating the dungeon?
> What sorts of interesting NPCs can we add?

Two things. There definitely needs to be good loot. Nothing's worse than trudging through a dozen encounters for a few coppers and some crappy gear.

And what's this "nothing overtly evil" thing I'm seeing in the pastebin?

>>43088262
>Nothing overtly evil
Well, originally it was gonna be all-demon all-guns-blazing, but anon thought that it would be a little more fun if the players had to slowly figure out that what they were headed towards was a demon/wizard/benevolent god/whatever.

>Good loot
Duly noted. What are your criteria? Any suggestions? The problem is that at this scale you want loot that's relevant to later parts of the story but not essential.

>>43088412
There's one issue with the 'nothing overtly evil' idea, in my mind, and it's that some players won't feel compelled to keep going if there's not something worthy of vanquishing at the end.
Plus it severely limits what sort of creatures they can be pitted against.

Trial for immortality/demi god/god status.

>>43088412
Fuck that. Make the dungeon REALLY simple, maybe 3 or 4 levels at most, and then put a gate-portal at the end.

Gate leads to some kind of labyrinth hell plane designed by asshole wizards/devil/demons/whateverthefuck ala silent hill that transforms from 'safe' city or town full of creepy NPC's who deny anything in that plane being out of place or strange to... well, a massive silent hill dungeon.

Actually, fuck you OP, im doing this now. thanks for the inspiration.

>>43087970
>There wasn't one
Is this bait?

There are a lot of megadungeons, no?

>>43088599
Eh, I didn't post the thread.
The important part is that we're making one now.
Kinda.
Except this thread is mostly dead.
>/tg/ gets stuff done guis!

>>43088412
Read some of the loot tables/entries for World's Largest Dungeon.

Do the exact opposite of that.

>>43088621
So you're telling me that you expect /tg/ to do all the work for you?
do you even /tg/?

>>43088621
What megadungeons did you consider?

Btw, imo it's better use "ecologies" not "themes".

>>43088699
>So you're telling me that you expect /tg/ to do all the work for you?
No, I don't. I just expect someone else to contribute as well.
I've been doing the stuff for Underground Forest, which is the only reason I'm namefagging beside the fact that Chronicler isn't here.
>>43088706
We have the current notes in a titanpad, posted in OP.
It's supposed to be a series of ecologies, but so far there's not really a coherent path to the center.

What system are we using?

>>43088242
>> How do you let players make meaningful decisions without hugely bloating the dungeon?
This is a good question. What's a good interesting decision to make in dungeon environments in general?

>>43088412
I guess the loot needs to feel powerful? Technology, not trinkets. Give them some boots that let you levitate a few feet over the ground for ten seconds and then need a recharge and see what they do with it.

>>43088746
Yeah. I'm reading titanpad, but I don't see any specific references to the megadungeons.


>>43088766
I guess some unholy crossbreed between OSR/5e.

>>43088766
Honestly, I don't know.
We never decided, which is probably going to bite us in the ass.

>>43088775
Have the entire town reset every night, with a few exceptions like in groundhog day. Neutral town NPCs and vendors come back to life and act as if though nothing had happened. Top tier loot exists solely as a one-of, and if the PC's take it, others reference it as if though its still there.

As for decisions PCs make... not really sure. If we're treating this as an actual dungeon, none basically. If they're trapped in it and the only way out is in... then everything they do can be significant. depending on how you handle resources and loot, they may eventually run out and starve. unless you go with my idea in the previous paragraph.

>>43088802
Stuff like that sounds promising.

>>43088913
Yeah, that shit's kinda important.

>>43088913
How about you keep it system-less so fellow fa/tg/uys can convert it to whatever they play?

>>43088451
Well, there's always locking the door behind them and restricting their food supply.

>>43088575
Fuck you too anon. Good luck.

>>43088599
It was a pretty short thread, and now we're doing something. If you know any great ones, it'd be good to know what works and what doesn't.

>>43088706
Essentially none. I'll swap in 'ecologies'.

>>43088766
>>43088913
Apparently 3.pf, although that depends on who's making the encounters and doing the work.

>>43088775
>>43088914
Factions, maybe? Also, we'll have lots of little settlements along the way.

Also, names! The further we get, the more we need a name!

>>43088913
It can very well be neutral and whoever wants to use it has to work to adapt it.

>>43088962
What's the point of having megadungeon if you can't use it as is?

Let's stat at least in one system. Though I'm not sure if 3.p would be the right choice.

Anyway, suggesting for middle levels "Fungal Forest" ecology. I'll go lurk for some ideas.

>>43088980
>Fuck you too anon. Good luck.
Still here, still contributan. Thank you either way.

Would be great to have an astral-projected neautral NPC cleric in a cemetery or church trying to convince the PCs that theyre actually dead and are in purgatory/limbo. Hell, I'm already getting some dante's inferno vibes from the other posts.

>>43088980
Regarding factions you can have three or four very powerful NPCs. These NPCs give information and objectives to the party. The information must conflict in various points. They can also give the PCs quest or goals and these must also conflict. Each one has a goal of his own and you can decide if they're all evil or gray or whatever.

Good lord this is already looking like a massive trainwreck.

This reminds me of BLAME!, although it featured a megacity rather than a mega dudgeon. The settlements in this megacity were very isolated, and travelers were few and far between. I'd be interested in the religions that would develop in people from these settlements. Maybe they'd worship the earth, or believe the party to be messiahs to lead them from darkness.

>>43089086
This. Gonna have to decide which NPCs are important to the dungeon though. I vote for the devil/wizard convincing them to go further to be one of them.

>>43089098
thanks for your shitpost contribution.

>>43089134
someone who walks the underground to make sure that anyone trapped in the maze-like system survives? He could be head of the guard of a small settlement made out of other people who were trapped.

>>43089173
>Surreal Caretaker who wants to keep the place clean
>Pennant ghost of someone who died, trying to help others escape
>Never-seen helper who can teleport and leaves helpful scrawlings on walls
>Item Vendor who wants to help the PCs get loot to sell to them

Also, I'm gonna start keeping track of votes for different NPCs.

>>43089173
Make it a friendly ghost with a dire warning and poor memory after centuries of being dead. Maybe even one that refuses to believe he or she is actually dead. Have him/her lament that they are trapped in the same situation as they were hundreds of years ago, and so tries to guide them towards safety and survival. Bonus points when they find its ancient remains.

>>43089229
>leaves scrawling on the walls.

like rat man from portal. Neat idea anon. Id vote for the Wall Writer. I can already imagine the PCs freaking out when a message appears where they had been before, clear as day.

>>43089229
>Item Vendor who wants to help the PCs get loot to sell to them
Make that Eccentric Artificer, who wants PCs (and everyone else) to get him exotic ingredients from rare monsters/ores/...

>>43089229
Make the item vendor some kind of roguish explorer which follows the party stealthily. Popping once in a while to give advice about the dungeon. Tells them where traps and loot are but warns them about pathways they shouldnt take. These pathways are almost always very safe with some loot in there. If the party decides not to take his advice they find him taking the loot for himself.

Basically he follows them around while they clear the dangerous parts of the dungeon and tries to steer them into the dangerous sections while he takes the safer ones to grab the loot.

He is not trying to kill the party as they are valuable and has some type of arcane map of the dungeon which gives him the info he needs.

>>43089240
>>43089279
>A ghostly axeman who was killed in the underground forest,his former tool still carries his spirit and can be wielded as a magical sentient maul.
>Leaves messages on the ground and flora, carved with his axe.
>Can fight besides the PCs for a few rounds if they are badly hurt and the axe is nearby.

>>43089345
>has some kind of arcane map

THAT is dangerous, anon. My PCs will literally kill for a map like that, especially in a megadungeon. Just catching the roguish explorer dicking them out of minor loot would be grounds for a stabbing. :/ fucking murderhobos would end up killing their vendor right quick.

>>43089324
That sounds fine except it essentially amounts to fetch quests for bonus xp/gold just for doing something they were going to be doing anyway. Very lazy GMing, imo.

>>43089415
How about this:

A rare items collector who gives the PCs a list of items he wants. They all come from things the PCs will fight anyway, they just add a little spice, and in exchange, he'll give little bits of advice about how to beat the monsters, and when the PCs find him he'll give them general tips about the dungeon. No taking items, no forcing quests, just adding flavour and fluff, and giving an easy sidequest.

>>43089368
Stellar. I like this, except for it fighting for them if they are badly hurt. Granted, that is up to GM discretion, but a sentient axe with a conditional dancing weapon enchantment sounds fair.

>>43089415
Nerf the map then. Make it so it's difficult to use. Maybe they dont know how to use it or its range is very limited. And if the players want to kill him so be it.

>>43089452
Maybe that's its only benefit, with no weapon enhancements besides it, and it can only be used for X rounds.
It's basically a friendly NPC anyways, one just has to limit the use.
I know there are rules on sentient weapons, let me pull them up.

I liked the idea behind this one. A ruined dwarven city now occupied by monsters. Classic.
https://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/tag/megadungeon/

>>43089451
That... seems good. I am all for flavor and fluff. Can you come up with a short backstory as to why that guy is trapped there, though? or to what ends hes trying to collect things for?

>>43089452
Or just dont give him a map. Have him talk his way out of them killing him should he get caught, explaining(lies) that he disarmed a number of traps here and that is how he gets most of his inventory.

Also became a namefag, seeing as how about a third of the posts here are mine. Lets hope i dont regret it.

Ecologies to consider:

- Original Forest (all a huge illusion manned by pixies, secretly mostly rocks?) (UGFfag is manning this one)
- Mushroom forest distinct from the forest (may be combined with the above)
- General huge mine
- Massive underground reservoir/lake filled with cool giant monsters
- Infinite spider pit
- The abandoned temple

If you want to add your own, or take one under your wing, post.

>>43089561
Of course they would'nt know about the map. They would get it if they kill him which is always a possibility. If it's not to your liking you can always come up with some other reason why he knows where the safe loot is.

>>43089561
>Backstory

Maybe make him local to one of the underground settlements. Maybe give him a dreadful curse that kills him unless he eats a rare herb that only grows down here. Maybe he's lost something very precious to an adventurer who he thinks died in this dungeon somewhere - then the adventurers can find it after he leaves and debate returning.

>>43089596
I feel like a map like that is a bit too powerful. It completely undoes a large section of the dungeon.

>>43089596
Thats the thing though. For all intents and purposes, him having the map is pointless if the PCs cant use it, so why even bother explaining how the guy can navigate through everything?

Unless you would rather the PCs have said map at some point in the future... but again, to what ends? I still worry that it may be game breaking, unless the map itself is unreliable, which would make it VERY interesting. Either the dungeon transforms, or the map lies.

>>43089589
ehh.... I am seriously considering taking on something, though i am admittedly a poor encounter designer. I am much better at doing what im doing right now... whatever that is.

>>43089695
Why not design an underground city then? You don't need to make encounters, you need to make people and ideas and things, which you seem better suited to.

>>43089666
>dreadful curse
This seems to be a recurring theme in this dungeon, which i dont mind. Sounds like a crapsack world. Either way, yeah, that works for me as long as it doesnt go grimdark or becomes edgy.

>>43089732
Sure, ill make a city if i can silent hill it like in my first post
>>43088575
here.

>>43089830
Don't stretch it too far - there needs to be a way in and a way out, and it needs to be about 1-3 levels in size. If it's a side area, then think of a decent reason for the PCs to go there.

File: AMilenniaInMSPaint.png (10 KB, 600x600)

10 KB PNG

Here's the shitty, shitty map for the Underground 'Forest'.

Green parts are magically created plants which may or may not be actively attempting to eat you, red parts are pieces of loot the fairies have laid out to try and bait you into traps, purple parts are just general hordes of fungi.
In the left bottom near the river is the druid's house. He (She?) doesn't like to interfere with his/her experiments too much, so knocking you out and leaving you somewhere else is more likely than outright killing you.

The orange part in the bottom right hand corner surrounding red and with splotches in it is a small mountain of treasure (belonging to most of the victims) which is surrounded by intoxicating plants that will put you to sleep and eventually kill you if given enough time. If you want to risk it, you might find that someone else had something useful.
Just trust me when I say fire won't help you here.
The pink part in the center is the fairy island where they cheerfully plot to murder you and leave you possessions as bait for the next horde of victims- I mean visitors.

>>43089915
Its a town with an inn, foodstuffs, vendors and possibly some kind of NPC healings during its 'day' time. During the 'night' time its dangerous with the NPCs losing sanity and monsters coming out to hunt the townspeople and possibly PCs if they venture out of their rooms or enter the town at the wrong time. Neither the monsters nor the NPCs truly die, though, instead the town "resets" in the morning. Im thinking of a couple of quests that are only possible to fulfill at night because of magic doors or secret levels and so on.

>>43089589
Love these ideas.

>>43090392
Want to peg any?

>>43090452
As in generate? I really just like to use preexisting maps and a few shoopery programs. I particularly enjoy how Donjon maps (the cavern format one seems really good) are versatile and can be twisted into all manner of shapes. Though, maybe I'll think of contribootan something helpful.

If by "peg" you mean add some, of the two main ideas I've had for dungeon floors/rooms, one is a deathly silent library for evil wizards, the other is a sprawling dark temple. These two dungeon formats have stuck in my head for awhile, because they're opposites of each other in many ways.

Specifically, the wizards are by themselves most of the time and very vulnerable, so its a rogue's paradise, but they'd better gank them by surprise or else. They may also have bound neutral and good planar servitors, like celestials, to defend them -- which will likely return home if their masters are killed and they're freed. Its a very dangerous place to raise a racket, as there's scrolls and books everywhere, very vulnerable to fire, and they may have explosive runes -- or they may just plain be valuables the PCs don't want to burn up.

The dark temple idea is distinct in terms that its an obscenely powerful location densely packed with baddies. However, the sound is drowned out by the worshipful prayers to the dark gods, making it easy to sneak around, even if you're a full plated fighter -- there's no danger in 'aggro'ing the entire floor. The dark gods watch over such a place, however, and virtually every edifice, fixture and surface is something sacred to one dark deity or another. Destroying terrain is an absolute nono and will unleash fiendish and undead forces, and while the dark clerics are lost in their prayers, they may notice fights that happen in their immediate vicinity.

By contrast, the dark gods don't mind their -servants- being killed, so they won't intervene to smite the PCs with minions unless they start trashing the temple itself.

>>43089998
That sounds pretty incredible. Make all of the NPCs just really surreal characters who generally seem kind of dazed or otherwise out-of-place. Force the PCs to vendor their crap at a place they're unsure if they can trust. Make them worry every time they sit down to eat some rations.

It'd be pretty cool to have some sort of huge temple that's a safe zone for the players where nobody's armed, but it's made clear that dark gods are watching them and that they will be thrown out. Just a surreal test to screw over any PCs that try to murderhobo and outdo the gods. Force them to do penance quests to get back in, and make the place just eerily unthreatening.

I know this is kinda off topic, but I've been thinking about building a megadungeon recently, and have no idea where to start. I'm pretty much my group's eternal-GM (by choice, mind you) but I've never been much of a dungeon designer. So, what would you guys say is the best way to learn how to design megadungeons?

On a more related note, is there a tl;dr of what's been worked on so far? I want to help out, but it looks to me that the work has been very broad at this point, with a lot of different things being covered at the same time.

>>43090728
yeah, planning to have the local church and priestess be one of the two or three places that are "safe", though even the priestess will be paranoid about the PCs come nightfall. She'll run to the saferoom every evening come nightfall. Should the Pcs follow, she wont stop them, instead she'll ask for a favor - such as for the PCs to go back and get her holy symbol that she left at the altar - only to lock them out once they leave.

>>43091239
Check OPs post. The work IS very broad -megadungeon broad. So far there are a handful of us working on it at the same time, and only weakly tied together by an overarching goal; Not that this is necessarily a bad thing.

>>43091239
As for the megadungeon, what do you struggle with? Plots? Making dungeon room layouts? Making dungeon themes?

As for the summary, read the titanpad linked at the top - just the beginning should explain the basics.

>>43091401
I can easily make plots, I'm decent with dungeon room layouts, and I have an idea of how to do dungeon themes. I consider myself pretty good at making fluff, but I'm not nearly as proficient with the crunch side. And, as I said, I haven't done much dungeon design in general.

Also, I'll look over the titanpad now and see if I can give any suggestions.

>>43091865
>Crunch side
You mean like making monsters? I just scroll through monsters by CR and see what fits. I feel as though picking out monsters isn't what you're talking about, though.

File: dwarfs journal.jpg (616 KB, 1280x800)

616 KB JPG

Ozilmar's Journal - Yr605, 24th day of Darsin in the Age of Myrrh
>Not only has Godrin's crew successfully extracted the precious mithril, but the vein itself was discovered to be far larger than we had anticipated! The entire town is preparing for a celebration to praise the gods for our good fortune. I eagerly await miss Marrissa Stonecutter's rosemary ale, it is by far the best drink in Taohn. Furthermore, my anchoring spell is coming along rather well. Once I have enough ore, it will be a simple matter to forge it into a proper receptacle to enchant it. If my research is correct, I will be able to establish a stable paradox and be able to reuse any ore we mine without the need for processing! Not only will I have solved our water problem, but with further research, we may be able to continue fabrication without risking more lives into the deeper levels of the mine. Even now, some of the crew tell tales of being followed through the tunnels back into town. Kobolds or dark elves or duergar - no matter, we can simply collapse their only way to town and we can remain as industrious as ever.

>>43091904
>You mean like making monsters?
More like making things that have numbers attached. Traps, monsters, NPCs, that kind of thing. But I don't think that's super relevant here; there are already plenty of existing resources for that.

Other than the broad question of "help I want megadungeon," I think I've narrowed it down a bit. They're still a bit vague, but hopefully they're a bit easier to answer. Here's a few things I want to know:
>How do I go about making the initial concept for a megadungeon?
>What things do I absolutely need to do/include?
>What should I definitely NOT do/include?
>How much planning should go into a megadungeon, and what part should I spend the most time planning?
>Are there any good resources (books, websites, etc.) about building megadungeons?
>Other general advice?

Thanks for helping me out, by the way. I'm still looking over the titanpad thing; I'll get back to you on that in a minute.

>>43087970
You could Always call back to Nethack and call it "The Mazes of Menace". It had some peaceful parts to rest in, but mostly death.

>>43092050

Ozilmar's Journal - Yr 605, 26th day of Darsin in the Age of Myrrh
>The Receptacle has been forged and my temporal anchoring spell is a success!! And with the most divine timing, too, for today is the day of joyous celebration. With any luck, I'll be having more than just Marissa's ale, if you catch my drift. Better still, upon casting the second of my pair spells, I may even be able to relive this glorious day for as long as I'd like! Wait until the rest of the clan learns of my discovery tonight, they might even make me Forgemaster, HA! Imagine that!

>>43092319
If you don't mind 3.5e...

Traps: dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Traps#Sample_Traps
Monsters:
Monsters:
dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Creatures_by_CR

Initial Concept: Think of why someone would make a dungeon, and scale it up.
What to Include: Narrative. When you have that big a dungeon, it will be really boring unless there's a story behind it, and reasons for the players to solve puzzles. Puzzles are good.
What not to Include: Don't put the same monster in every room. If it's gonna be big, you have to have variety, not repetition.
Planning: Figure out your narrative, figure out your key exciting rooms/battles, then fill in the gaps. Honestly, it depends on what sort of game you tend to play.
Resources: Not that I know of.

>>43092401
Ozilmar's Journal - Yr 605, 26th day of Darsin in the Age of Myrrh
>Waht a Party! Litlle Alee has the voice of an angle I swears! Haha, and the mess we've left for old Tharket to clean up at his inn will surely take all of tomorrow to clean up, butit was WELL wroth it. Gods, and Miss Stonecutter, she can dansce! Still... the rest of the clan wasn't as supportive of my research as I had initially thought. I've been ordered to undo the enchantment afore anything goes awry. Ever since the forgemaster pulled me aside and told me to tell no one else of my work, I can't shake this felling in my gut. No matter, I'v checked and recheked all my caculatiuns, and evrythin is still stable sinse this morning. Surely there's no harm in relving today once or twice more, right? And this time I'll keep the spell to myself - until tomorrow that is.

>>43092429
Ozilmar's Journal - Yr 605, 27th day of Darsin in the Age of Myrrh
>The forgemaster was right, and I've discovered my folly too late. I fear I have cursed Taohn... and I am at a loss as to how to undo it. I have drunkenly - and mistakenly reworked sections of my anchoring spell last night, and I've no recollection of doing so, but this new spell has been cast and the paradox is no longer stable. As the day progresses everyone within Taohn will suffer through the countless of times I relived yesterday. They said I had aged at least a hundred years today, but the forgemaster knows the truth. Still, I cannot bear to witness what I have done to my people. May the gods forgive me, I only sought to do what was best for us.