I mentioned in my post for Level 3 that I'm not posting Level 4. It was 4 completely discreet sections, each of which I'll be reusing as sublevels in the new megadungeon.So here's Level 5. Why is it that the 4th or 5th level always seems to be where the underground river comes into the picture? Well, this dungeon is no exception. I didn't have much planned out for this level in my mind, except that the top left section across the bridge would, I had thought, contain a sort of Greco-Roman architecture and classical Greek monsters (the world above, at the time, was a heavily Viking influenced setting).
Again, with this level, the problem is mostly the size of it. 57 encounter areas. There's also (since I hadn't started working on the level 7 or lower maps) only access points further down to level 6. Of course, by the time characters are 4th to 6th level, they're likely doing a fair amount of wilderness adventure as well (at least going by the Basic/Expert gauge), so maybe a smaller level around this point might not be so bad. You can supplement your advancement to the next character level by doing some exploring of The Isle of Dread or going against the Master of the Desert Nomads.
Still, any reworked version will likely be at least 2 sheets of graph paper, and no less than 100 encounter areas.
I find it most amusing, your notion that 57 encounter areas is too small. I have a few players who whinge if a dungeon is more than 12 areas. :p
ReplyDeleteeach to their own, I guess.
This is my favorite so far!
ReplyDeleteIt makes more natural sense for a megadungeon to be built to take advantage of underground resources like a river, etc.
How true! My current megadungeon has the requisite river on Level 5, as well. The party is currently poking around it.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I did that might be different is that I have the river end in a huge waterfall that drops down something like a mile to the 7th level, where it feeds a large underground lake.
There are reasons things become cliches...
@Welleran: They may be cliche, but that doesn't mean they aren't good adventuring!
ReplyDeleteJarrah, I've got players like that, too. That's why this dungeon isn't getting used...unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteBut if I seriously would like to consider a campaign where characters could go from 1st level to Name level all in one location, I think the levels will need to be bigger, if for some reason they decide they don't want to do any wilderness exploring and just stick with the dungeon.