Tell me about your Megadungeon

[ishmann]

After a few years away from D&D I'm getting the itch to do something that I've always wanted to try. A Megadungeon! To get some inspiration I would like to hear about yours (or your dungeon if it isn't of the Mega variety)

How many levels? Unique features? Interesting monsters? Tales from the brave adventurers that ventured into the depths.

If I get ambitious I will start another thread chronicling my Megadungeon!

[Deleted]

I have some information posted at these links:

These two are for the 2009 era of the game:
(I) Murkhill Mega-Dungeon

(I) Campaign Events from back in 2009

This barely scratches the surface, there is a lot more to post if I can get it done.

[Deleted]

I've got one of the "Lost City" variety. It's more wide rather than deep, with the players having to explore the various quarters or sections.

What I think might be of interest to you is that the city is mostly empty and uninhabited; players need to be motivated by the desire to explore rather than fight, and must be wary of traps and natural hazards (sporadic tremors that can knock the players into pits and crevasses, getting lost in labyrinthine hallways, etc.).

Since the city is extraterrestrial in origin (of the HP Lovecraft variety), I have the appropriate creatures lurking where they're expected to be: isolated laboratories, locked vaults, etc. If and when the players encounter them, they will likely be far beyond the players ability to fight—at least in any conventional sense. Meanwhile, regular combat encounters will mostly come from rival adventuring parties rather than monsters. I like keeping monsters rare and truly monstrous.

Treasure is mostly in the form of antique artifacts from the various cultures that once inhabited the city. The ones with magical properties are truly valuable—but they are often cursed. If the players delve deep enough, they might encounter the advanced bio-technology of the Elder Things, or the unheard-of sorcery of the Amaxi (a lost and forgotten civilization founded by the Bone Men of Carcosa).

The other great treasure is information: the city holds clues to the true origins of the men, elves, and dwarves in the world, which certain factions in the game would kill to either possess or keep secret.

Full disclosure: I haven't run this "Megadungeon" yet...I have enough trouble maintaining a weekly game group. But I will one day...one day...

[Scott Anderson]

I don't make megadungeons. I'm not creative in that way. I have read Castle Triskelion front to back and love it when he posts a new room. I want to use Castle Triskleion for an open table game at the FLGS.

[scottenkainen]

I have a mega-hideout I've been working on. It's all one huge basement level so far, but it's got at least 100 rooms to it, and soon I should be adding ways to go down to it.

This time, rather than detail every room, I've keyed sections of the hideout so that each section has its own theme or its own details. Instead of set encounters, every section has a high chance of wandering encounters of just 1 or 2 varieties. Treasure and trophy items are set in specific places, though.

Highlights so far have been how ominous everyone thought the (actually deserted) Egyptian-themed rooms were, how trepidatious they were initially about the cowboy rooms (this is H&H), how determined they are to never go back into the maze area again, how quick they were to form an allegiance with the mysterymen in their area, and how well they did in the lair of the bloodthirsty hoodlums -- the biggest battle of the campaign so far.