Idea for Super Dungeon - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Idea for Super Dungeon

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
teddishere
Jan 01, 2010 20:55:57 So basically heres my idea..

Could you make a whole campaign revolve around one Super Dungeon. The PC's would obviously get to stay in a home town, to resupply if they ever need to. The Plot could revolve around a single villain.

Now as for this Super Dungeon I'm Proposing..

You could construct it in the style of games like Doom, or castlevania, or even Metroid, and have multiple ways of beating the dungeon and special magic items to obtain, but you would only get these items upon the defeat of a boss character and the like. You could even make secret rooms or secret items to collect to increase replayability..

I'm not sure if this has been thought of before, but just a thought...
#2
vman3force
Jan 01, 2010 22:48:19 actually, a lot of oldschool adventures were set up exactly like this, where you would have a dungeon of unestablished size, and each level would equate to about 1 experience level. that was back in the days when the game was simpler, less conventionalized, and characters died every other session.
#3
Imruphel
Jan 02, 2010 21:56:56 Yeah it's been thought of before. Welcome to the 1980s...! ;)

Most important point: just be aware that a super-dungeon can quickly become very boring for the players. I have yet to see one done right (although others will have different opinions).

With that comment out of the way, there are a lot of good maps available online so most of your mapping work is already done for you. If you can find it, the 2E adventure The Ruins of Castle Greyhawk has some good stuff in it by way of key encounter areas/feature rooms that might provide inspiration. Some of them were yoinked for the 3.5E adventure Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk.

Can I ask? Who or what will be the villain and what are his goals and motivations?
#4
holydiver
Jan 03, 2010 0:05:48 I think a super dungeon would be a really fun game! It could be a little bit challenging to make sure there is a good flow of the action and plenty of variety in encounters and such since it seems like a campaign that would have a major focus on combat. But it would definitely be doable.

A 'Metroidvania' style dungeon layout would be perfect, that way the players would have fun revisiting old areas of the dungeon and finding new challenges or treasures.
#5
teddishere
Jan 03, 2010 19:23:39 In response to your question, Imruphel, it was just a thought, because I'm relatively new to dungeons and dragons, and the thought just popped into my head. Maybe its just cause I'm an old school type of gamer, and I've always wanted to do a Metroidvania style of game, as Holydiver suggests.
#6
novatack
Jan 05, 2010 19:20:29 You could go for the The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks approach: while the main goal is to delve deeper into the "super dungeon," the players must do things outside of the "super-dungeon" to get farther in. For a really basic example, one of the doors is blocked by a spiritual guardian, and the players need a token that will let them pass from a different, smaller dungeon to convince it that the PCs can pass (of course, you'll probably want to do something a bit more complex involving the actual plot, but the basic idea remains the same). This would allow for an occasional change in scenery from the one, all-encompassing dungeon.
#7
Imruphel
Jan 06, 2010 7:44:34
In response to your question, Imruphel, it was just a thought, because I'm relatively new to dungeons and dragons, and the thought just popped into my head. Maybe its just cause I'm an old school type of gamer, and I've always wanted to do a Metroidvania style of game, as Holydiver suggests.

No worries.

I didn't want to sound negative but I did want to warn you about how a super-dungeon can bog down very easily. If you do go the super-dungeon route, make sure you include some good opportunities for roleplaying/non-combat encounters. Trading posts are ideal for this.

Rather than super-dungeons, I have a preference for large-scale Underdark systems. It's basically a super-dungeon but spread over numerous caves. It's easy to include trading posts plus lots of other features for the PCs to explore... as well as combat encounters, of course.

Actually, if your players get bored, drop them in the Underdark and just keep going. You an even use the encounters you prepared for the dungeons, just set them in Underdark caverns instead.
#8
vman3force
Jan 06, 2010 14:54:37 Im currently designing my own "superdungeon" (it will fill up nine sheets of quarter inch graph paper.) one thing to keep in mind when designing it is the feel of different reigons of the dungeon. Maybe one area used to be the sewers of a collapsed city above, while another is a forgotten temple to the lord of worms. Another could be a thriving underground community of sentient animated furniture that escaped from the bottom levels of a nearby wizard's compound, through some hidden passages.

As long as you continually put thought and care into the areas your designing, rather than writing up monotonous amounts of 10 by 20 rooms with an orc and a treasure chest, you can easily run a super dungeon campaign.
#9
Imruphel
Jan 06, 2010 18:55:09 Yes, the key is ensuring that there is no monotony.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 teddishere Jan 01, 2010 20:55:57	So basically heres my idea.. Could you make a whole campaign revolve around one Super Dungeon. The PC's would obviously get to stay in a home town, to resupply if they ever need to. The Plot could revolve around a single villain. Now as for this Super Dungeon I'm Proposing.. You could construct it in the style of games like Doom, or castlevania, or even Metroid, and have multiple ways of beating the dungeon and special magic items to obtain, but you would only get these items upon the defeat of a boss character and the like. You could even make secret rooms or secret items to collect to increase replayability.. I'm not sure if this has been thought of before, but just a thought...
#2 vman3force Jan 01, 2010 22:48:19	actually, a lot of oldschool adventures were set up exactly like this, where you would have a dungeon of unestablished size, and each level would equate to about 1 experience level. that was back in the days when the game was simpler, less conventionalized, and characters died every other session.
#3 Imruphel Jan 02, 2010 21:56:56	Yeah it's been thought of before. Welcome to the 1980s...! ;) Most important point: just be aware that a super-dungeon can quickly become very boring for the players. I have yet to see one done right (although others will have different opinions). With that comment out of the way, there are a lot of good maps available online so most of your mapping work is already done for you. If you can find it, the 2E adventure The Ruins of Castle Greyhawk has some good stuff in it by way of key encounter areas/feature rooms that might provide inspiration. Some of them were yoinked for the 3.5E adventure Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk. Can I ask? Who or what will be the villain and what are his goals and motivations?
#4 holydiver Jan 03, 2010 0:05:48	I think a super dungeon would be a really fun game! It could be a little bit challenging to make sure there is a good flow of the action and plenty of variety in encounters and such since it seems like a campaign that would have a major focus on combat. But it would definitely be doable. A 'Metroidvania' style dungeon layout would be perfect, that way the players would have fun revisiting old areas of the dungeon and finding new challenges or treasures.
#5 teddishere Jan 03, 2010 19:23:39	In response to your question, Imruphel, it was just a thought, because I'm relatively new to dungeons and dragons, and the thought just popped into my head. Maybe its just cause I'm an old school type of gamer, and I've always wanted to do a Metroidvania style of game, as Holydiver suggests.
#6 novatack Jan 05, 2010 19:20:29	You could go for the The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks approach: while the main goal is to delve deeper into the "super dungeon," the players must do things outside of the "super-dungeon" to get farther in. For a really basic example, one of the doors is blocked by a spiritual guardian, and the players need a token that will let them pass from a different, smaller dungeon to convince it that the PCs can pass (of course, you'll probably want to do something a bit more complex involving the actual plot, but the basic idea remains the same). This would allow for an occasional change in scenery from the one, all-encompassing dungeon.
#7 Imruphel Jan 06, 2010 7:44:34	In response to your question, Imruphel, it was just a thought, because I'm relatively new to dungeons and dragons, and the thought just popped into my head. Maybe its just cause I'm an old school type of gamer, and I've always wanted to do a Metroidvania style of game, as Holydiver suggests. No worries. I didn't want to sound negative but I did want to warn you about how a super-dungeon can bog down very easily. If you do go the super-dungeon route, make sure you include some good opportunities for roleplaying/non-combat encounters. Trading posts are ideal for this. Rather than super-dungeons, I have a preference for large-scale Underdark systems. It's basically a super-dungeon but spread over numerous caves. It's easy to include trading posts plus lots of other features for the PCs to explore... as well as combat encounters, of course. Actually, if your players get bored, drop them in the Underdark and just keep going. You an even use the encounters you prepared for the dungeons, just set them in Underdark caverns instead.
#8 vman3force Jan 06, 2010 14:54:37	Im currently designing my own "superdungeon" (it will fill up nine sheets of quarter inch graph paper.) one thing to keep in mind when designing it is the feel of different reigons of the dungeon. Maybe one area used to be the sewers of a collapsed city above, while another is a forgotten temple to the lord of worms. Another could be a thriving underground community of sentient animated furniture that escaped from the bottom levels of a nearby wizard's compound, through some hidden passages. As long as you continually put thought and care into the areas your designing, rather than writing up monotonous amounts of 10 by 20 rooms with an orc and a treasure chest, you can easily run a super dungeon campaign.
#9 Imruphel Jan 06, 2010 18:55:09	Yes, the key is ensuring that there is no monotony.