Khunmar: the most wondrous megadungeon I've seen

[geoffrey]

Whether or not you are already familiar with the Mines of Khunmar by Stefan Poag, check-out how far he has gotten with getting it ready for eventual publication: It is 400 pages! It has something like 50 levels! And it was made in 1980. Imagine Moria with a lot of sword & sorcery injected, and you'll have a good general idea about these dungeons.

Click here: aldeboran.blogspot.com/2014/03/mines-of-khunmar-draft-march-2014.html

[machpants]

Wow that is a whole lot of goodness there, thanks for the heads up! And I love his art too.

[Falconer]

Great work, geoffrey!

[kent]

Judging from the maps alone it looks like one of the few interesting things to come from the OSR. Dipping into the content here and there it looks fairly standard stuff but the whole might be elevated by the quality of the maps.

[Falconer]

Why do the maps lack a grid, anyone know? The old version had gridded maps which made it easier to judge sizes (and convey them to the players).

[kent]

A grid overlay is possibly useful but also gamey as in boardgamey. A map looks better without one because it is closer to reality. If that is tough for players then so be it. Describing an environment in 10 ft squares is kinda daft IMHO.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the shout out, Geoffrey.
All answers, of course, depend on whether or when I finish Khunmar and what form that 'finishing' takes. If people want to adventure within in the meantime, then I offer the pdf.
The maps will eventually probably but not definitely) have a grid. Map aesthetics are a hobby of mine. My favorite maps are probably some of the Judges Guild ones... there was a set of dungeon maps (presented without a descriptive key) in City State of the Invincible Overlord that originally inspired Khunmar... this was a dungeon which was under the city and could be entered through a tavern cellar or something as I recall correctly. It had all teh standard features, including a lake of fire on one level, that have their counterparts in Khunmar. I don't really like the classic TSR style maps and much prefer the hand drawn Judges Guild maps.
I have a long list of really big dungeons I admire --- Greyhawk Ruins, Rappan Athuk, everything by Judges Guild, etc. There are different things I like about all of these different dungeons.
For me, the end product is probably secondary to the enjoyment I get from inventing the dungeon and encounters.
I'd like to eventually publish it via Lulu or similar service so that I don't need to work on fulfillment and those who want to can order a copy when they are ready (i.e.: avoid the 'order now or lose out' frenzy of the kickstarter and not force me to pack thousands of parcels and make hundreds of trips to the post office).

[havard]

Mar 31, 2014 18:30:45 GMT -6 kent said:

A grid overlay is possibly useful but also gamey as in boardgamey. A map looks better without one because it is closer to reality. If that is tough for players then so be it. Describing an environment in 10 ft squares is kinda daft IMHO.

ROTFLMAO!

-Havard

[machpants]

Apr 1, 2014 8:39:53 GMT -6 @gleepwurp said:

Thanks for the shout out, Geoffrey.
All answers, of course, depend on whether or when I finish Khunmar and what form that 'finishing' takes. If people want to adventure within in the meantime, then I offer the pdf.
The maps will eventually probably but not definitely) have a grid. Map aesthetics are a hobby of mine. My favorite maps are probably some of the Judges Guild ones... there was a set of dungeon maps (presented without a descriptive key) in City State of the Invincible Overlord that originally inspired Khunmar... this was a dungeon which was under the city and could be entered through a tavern cellar or something as I recall correctly. It had all teh standard features, including a lake of fire on one level, that have their counterparts in Khunmar. I don't really like the classic TSR style maps and much prefer the hand drawn Judges Guild maps.
I have a long list of really big dungeons I admire --- Greyhawk Ruins, Rappan Athuk, everything by Judges Guild, etc. There are different things I like about all of these different dungeons.
For me, the end product is probably secondary to the enjoyment I get from inventing the dungeon and encounters.
I'd like to eventually publish it via Lulu or similar service so that I don't need to work on fulfillment and those who want to can order a copy when they are ready (i.e.: avoid the 'order now or lose out' frenzy of the kickstarter and not force me to pack thousands of parcels and make hundreds of trips to the post office).

I am sure there would be a big interest for this on Lulu, but enjoy your dungeon design and we can wait. There is a ton of inspiration there anyway

[Torreny]

Hey, man. This is gonna be my weekend read!

[coffee]

Apr 1, 2014 8:39:53 GMT -6 @gleepwurp said:

I'd like to eventually publish it via Lulu or similar service so that I don't need to work on fulfillment and those who want to can order a copy when they are ready (i.e.: avoid the 'order now or lose out' frenzy of the kickstarter and not force me to pack thousands of parcels and make hundreds of trips to the post office).

Wise man.

I do fulfillment for a living. And in a weird way I like it, but if it wasn't my job I would never have touched it.

[Finarvyn]

A pretty impressive dungeon. I can't imagine ever getting to the end, however. My players don't have that much patience. :-)

[kenmeister]

Apr 1, 2014 8:39:53 GMT -6 @gleepwurp said:

Thanks for the shout out, Geoffrey.
All answers, of course, depend on whether or when I finish Khunmar and what form that 'finishing' takes. If people want to adventure within in the meantime, then I offer the pdf.
The maps will eventually probably but not definitely) have a grid. Map aesthetics are a hobby of mine. My favorite maps are probably some of the Judges Guild ones... there was a set of dungeon maps (presented without a descriptive key) in City State of the Invincible Overlord that originally inspired Khunmar... this was a dungeon which was under the city and could be entered through a tavern cellar or something as I recall correctly. It had all teh standard features, including a lake of fire on one level, that have their counterparts in Khunmar. I don't really like the classic TSR style maps and much prefer the hand drawn Judges Guild maps.
I have a long list of really big dungeons I admire --- Greyhawk Ruins, Rappan Athuk, everything by Judges Guild, etc. There are different things I like about all of these different dungeons.
For me, the end product is probably secondary to the enjoyment I get from inventing the dungeon and encounters.
I'd like to eventually publish it via Lulu or similar service so that I don't need to work on fulfillment and those who want to can order a copy when they are ready (i.e.: avoid the 'order now or lose out' frenzy of the kickstarter and not force me to pack thousands of parcels and make hundreds of trips to the post office).

I love the CSIO maps too!

Big thanks for putting this pdf out.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Mar 30, 2014 21:01:42 GMT -6 geoffrey said:

Whether or not you are already familiar with the Mines of Khunmar by Stefan Poag, check-out how far he has gotten with getting it ready for eventual publication: It is 400 pages! It has something like 50 levels! And it was made in 1980. Imagine Moria with a lot of sword & sorcery injected, and you'll have a good general idea about these dungeons.

Click here: aldeboran.blogspot.com/2014/03/mines-of-khunmar-draft-march-2014.html

Wow! I have some reading to do...

[Harbinger]

d**n! I missed it. The blog is gone... time to go googling...

[flailsnail75]

I’m so glad I stumbled upon this old thread. I had never heard of this adventure before so I downloaded it to check it out, and wow is it good.

This is easily the best megadungeon I’ve ever seen, and right up there with any of the all-time greats from TSR etc..

[muddy]

How did you find it? When I follow the link it says permission denied.

[hamurai]

The only version I found is from the Dragonsfoot forums and leads to a 2014 draft here: docs.google.com/file/d/0B0Al3eVvPmaRb2RDVy1tbzFzUDQ/edit

Not sure if this was ever completed, but it may serve your purpose.

[asaki]

I have an earlier draft from 2004 with filename "khunmar_digest.pdf". Don't remember where I got it from, but I can upload it if it can't be found. Edit: Super easy to find, at the moment.

I actually didn't have this 2014 edition, so thanks for that.

[geoffrey]

Dec 31, 2020 12:31:18 GMT -6 hamurai said:

The only version I found is from the Dragonsfoot forums and leads to a 2014 draft here: docs.google.com/file/d/0B0Al3eVvPmaRb2RDVy1tbzFzUDQ/edit

Not sure if this was ever completed, but it may serve your purpose.

I asked Stefan (the creator of Khunmar) earlier this year if there was a later version than the 2014 version, and he said no. So if you have the 2014 Khunmar, you have the latest version.

[makofan]

I ran players through this in one of my games on this board, and they explored a good many levels. It was a blast

[muddy]

Why hasn't he made this available? there was so much work put into it.

[DungeonDevil]

I looked through it, but the illos need to be in HD -- most look promising, but were not saved in a good resolution. Overall, I really dig his style of cartography.

[tacojohn4547]

Jan 1, 2021 11:08:52 GMT -6 muddy said:

Why hasn't he made this available? there was so much work put into it.

He (Stefan) had (or has) plans to eventually release it. We looked at publishing it with/for him, but we got sidetracked and he decided to keep it ‘in house’. He’s also been doing a lot freelance work for Goodman Games, so he’s kind of gotten sidetracked too.

[flailsnail75]

The 2014 399 page version is the one I’ve been reading. It’s basically ready to run as is, it could use a little polishing but it is more than ready to be run.