2024-10-09 Why are megadungeons great?
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We all know the reason they are not great: there's so mega much to
read!

A well-written megadungeon doesn't require you to read it all,
however. You should be able to run your first session by just reading
about the area around the main entrance to the first level. Everything
else should come later.

Do not waste time role-playing in the nearby town before adventuring
in the dungeon.

Do not waste time exploring the wilderness around the main entrance
before adventuring in the dungeon.

Do not waste time searching for other entries before using the main
entrance.

A dungeon has "regions" that are not easily traversed because there
aren't all that many places to cross from one region to the next.
That's why you can get away with just preparing the area around the
main entrance to the first level.

The benefit of this approach is that players will revisit the area
around the main entrance to the first level many times. And this is
true all throughout the megadungeon. Players will return to known
locations many times. For the person running the megadungeon, this is
great. Only small things have changed as far as prep is concerned but
the interactions between the things is vastly different.

The map remains the same. The rooms remain the same. Perhaps new
monsters have shown up. Perhaps this time they have a different
routine. Perhaps they don't want to fight, this time. Perhaps they're
complaining about something and need the party's help, this time.

This is the thing! This is why megadungeons are great: The locations,
numbers, attitudes and reactions of dungeon denizens is easy to change
on the spot but writing and drawing a new dungeon is not. Every
location can be visited many times and it'll still be interesting. New
traps, new monsters, new treasures; same monsters, new reactions, new
quests, new allies. This stuff is easy for us to improvise once we
have a map and the initial setup.

​#RPG #Megadungeon ​#Megadungeon