How to tackle a Megadungeon

I've been thinking that I need to write up something about how to play in a Megadungeon campaign.  Likely most of you reading this will already be familiar with this sort of play style (even if it's just from reading some great posts on other blogs, or at one or another of the old school RPG forums).  But there are plenty of people out there who see a dungeon as boring hack and slash only, and to them 'Megadungeon' equates to "hack-and-slash campaign" which they want nothing to do with.

Sean of Tales from the Flaming Faggot is going to start a series of posts discussing Sun Tzu's The Art of War and how it relates to gaming.  I don't want to steal his thunder, but I will just recommend this classic treatise on strategy to all of you.  Likely he'll cover most of these points in detail.

And if there are any ideas I've missed, please chime in in the Comments below!

• Scouting Missions:  You're going into the dungeon to explore some new territory, find out where monsters and traps are so they may be avoided, and hopefully also learn where some treasure is located.  You want to avoid fights, avoid detection, and just add a bit to your map and knowledge of the dungeon.
• Fact Finding Missions:  You've heard a rumor of something you want to investigate in the dungeon.  Similar to scouting, but you've got a set goal to achieve, rather than just exploring as much new territory as you can.
• Combat Missions:  There's a certain monster, or monsters, standing between you and the treasure, or just generally giving you grief.  It's time to take them down.  Load for bear, and go down there with swords blazing.
• Rescue Missions:  A comrade fell, townspeople have disappeared, the princess has been led to be sacrificed to the dragon, etc.  You've got to go and get them back.  
• Acquisition Missions:  You know where the treasure is (from scouting, a map, or just dumb luck), and if you're lucky what guards it.  Now's the time to bring that rich stuff up to the surface.
• "Special" Missions:  Someone's got a curse, or was level drained, or needs a certain spell for their spellbook, etc.  There's a 'special encounter' room tailor made for this, and you're gonna find it and use it.

Of course, sometimes a party might want to tackle two or even three of these at the same time, but it's best, especially at lower levels, to stick to just one.  

I think a lot of gamers end up thinking a dungeon should just be tackled all at once because of a lot of modules.  In a tournament situation, you don't have time to go in and out of the dungeon, re-arming, changing spells, etc.  Since many early modules were tournament scenarios, this tends to skew the idea of what a 'dungeon delve' is supposed to be.  But with a Megedungeon, you're going to be going into the place time and time again, so why not tackle the dungeon in moderation?

I think I'll spend this week posting about each of these types of 'mission' in a bit more detail.  And like I said, if there are any ideas I've missed, let me know.  I could use some ideas for next week, too!

Continued Here

Creature Catalog AC9 vs. DMR2

Will asked about the differences between the earlier AC9 Creature Catalog (green bordered cover) and the later RC era DMR2 Creature Catalog (orange cover).

A poster on Dragonsfoot had made a couple of pdf files with all the 'missing' monsters, but when I tried to find them I found threads on DF, but the files are no longer up to download.

So I went through the tables of contents of the two (I've only got AC9 on pdf), and here's hopefully the complete list:

Creatures in AC9 that didn't make it to DMR2:

Agarat
Death Leech
Ghoul, Vapor
Huptzeen
Leveller (Bodendruker)
Oard
Phygorax
Possession
Reflector
Sacrol
Stalwart

Creatures in DMR2 that weren't in AC9:

Brownie/Redcap
Choker
Coltpixie
Deep Glaurant
Lizard, Rockhome
Lycanthrope: Werejaguar
Vampire: Nosferatu
Wychlamp

I think that's all.  Might have missed one or two, as the books have completely different layouts.  AC9 is divided into sections by monster type, while DRM2 just lists everything alphabetically.

AC9's Table of Contents also has every monster listed multiple times if it's got multiple names, or multiple words (Grey Philosopher is listed as is, but also as Philosopher, Grey later).  DMR2 also collects some of the independent listings of AC9 under groups, such as the prehistoric animals. 

But at a glance, there's what's different between the two editions.

Creature Catalog Favorites!

I've had the DMR2 version of the Creature Catalog for quite some time.  I picked it up sometime while I was in college, so between '93 (when it was published) and '96 (when I graduated).  I've gotten a lot of good use out of the book, as there are quite a few monsters that aren't well known by every gamer on the planet (unlike everything in, say any version of the Basic and either of the Expert sets).  The monsters were primarily taken from modules produced for Classic D&D, but there are apparently a few originals as well.

A few of my favorite Creature Catalog beasties include:

Aranea (originally from X1 Isle of Dread):  creepy, giant spell-casting spiders.  What's not to like?  And they were cool enough that the 3E designers decided to throw them in the 3E MM, so they're open game content now, too!

Deep Glaurant (this one may be original, I don't remember seeing them in any modules):  big, scaly, demon-like underground predators. 

Undead Dragon (again, not sure what module this is from, if any):  Having read Pillars of Pentegarn and played plenty of Castlevania as a kid, I've always liked throwing in skeletal/zombified dragons in my games from time to time.

Gray Philosopher (pretty sure it's original to the CC):  An undead cleric who doesn't do anything but ponder Cthulian mysteries while his evil animated thoughts attack you.  Creepy and cool at the same time.

Nagpa (from X4/X5 Desert Nomads modules, forget exactly which one at the moment):  Skeksis (do I need to say more?)

Tabi (not sure where they're from either):  Flying Monkeys (again, kinda speaks for itself).

Wyrd (B7 Rahasia):  Undead elves who attack by throwing glowing orbs of energy, similar to the way Venger attacks in the D&D Cartoon.

Endless Quest Crimson Crystal Adventure #4: Stop That Witch!

"Your training as a ranger hasn't quite prepared you for the day you return to your village and find all the inhabitants turned into lizards by a mysterious red dragon."  --from the back cover.

Stop That Witch!, by Mary Clark, is book 4 of the EQ spin-off series of 'Crimson Crystal' books.  Basically it's a gimmick where they include a little rectangular clear red plastic film with the book, and certain pages contain pictures in mostly red ink, but if you hold the film up to them you can see the gray lines showing the 'hidden' picture (although it's really not hard to see the gray lines without the 'crystal' actually).

I'll state up front that I wasn't a big fan of this book when I was a kid.  I got it because of the gimmick, and was rather unimpressed by it.  So I never got any more in the Crimson Crystal series.  Re-reading the book now, I realized that the story in it isn't as bad as I remember.  It's no where near as bad as Spell of the Winter Wizard.

In the book, you're Hedge, an apprentice ranger from a small village of rangers.  You and your hawk Springer are out on a training exercise when a red dragon (the evil witch Carlynn polymorphed into a dragon, actually) flies into the village and then flies away.  When you get there, everyone's been turned into a lizard.  A young, timid cleric arrives, and despite the fact that he seems hopeless, you team up with him to rescue both your master Pebo (now a chameleon), but the cleric's master who's stuck in a mirror of life trapping in Carlynn's castle.  Due to his first spell he tries to cast on you backfiring, you give the cleric the nickname Sparks.

The book starts out with a fairly linear narrative, but after a while it begins branching, and has some good options and interesting encounters.  It does have an unfortunate tendency to offer you a choice, and then if you pick the 'wrong' choice, it then gives you another choice to pick the option you didn't or continue with your original choice.  Every single time, this is telegraphing a bad ending if you continue.  These sorts of 'training wheels' are just a waste of space, in my opinion.  If I'm gonna get a bad ending, I can go back and pick the other one myself.  I don't think anyone needs the author guiding them to the right path (likely this is one of the reasons I didn't like this one as a kid--it felt too 'kidified' for my tastes).

Another minus is the fact that your character, Hedge, is a bit of a douche.  He's a braggart who then gets surprised that his master actually thinks he can do more than wipe his own nose.  He bullies and berates Sparks, whines and complains about his hawk's advice (which unlike many sidekick animals, tends to be a bit sensible and not overly moralizing), and his speech is full of phrases like 'criminey!' and 'yoiks!'  I don't remember  'Zounds!' in there, but it's kind of annoying.

On the plus side, one cool thing about this book is that there's a fairly coherent narrative.  No matter what path you take, there are certain particulars that don't change.  For example, Carlynn is not the real Carlynn, it's her apprentice Jenna who usurped the real Carlynn's power.  The Mirror of Life Trapping is always in the same place.  The down side of this is that many of the endings then end up being very similar.  There are actually quite a few good endings, but most are rather low key.  "OK, the witch is defeated.  Say, could anyone change my master back into a person?"  I think the fact that there are so many good endings, and not one of them really stands out as a 'best' ending, is another reason I didn't like this book as a kid.  It's too easy to get a victory.

Finally, the art in the book is fairly uninspiring.  The cover by Keith Parkinson is serviceable, but the interior art by Mario D. Macari seems rather lackluster to me.  The fact that it's pixelated like in an old Sunday newspaper cartoon doesn't help.  I like clean ink line drawings much better.  And the gimmick 'crimson crystal' pages are generally not so interesting.  One interesting side note is that the 'crimson crystal' pages are still very white, while the normal pages have tanned considerably. 

Overall, this is not a great Endless Quest book, but it's not completely worthless.  There are some interesting events and encounters, at least, so there may be some ideas worth mining for your home games.  It's also maybe a good book to start younger kids reading.  The English level didn't seem much lower than normal EQ books, but it's much more forgiving of poor choices (the telegraphing of bad endings by giving you a second chance to choose the correct option, paired with numerous good endings).

Protagonist: A conceited Ranger's apprentice on his first real mission.
Sidekicks: A hawk who isn't too preachy, a Cleric lacking self confidence, and depending on your path, your Ranger master polymorphed into a chameleon or an Elf named Wynn.
Adventure: Linear at the beginning, but with some good branches and interesting choices later.
Endings:  Too many good ones, and most of them are rather low key for a victory ending.  Only one neutral ending that I remember reading (you don't die, but don't make it to the castle either).
Art: So so cover (Parkinson), unappealing interiors (Macari).
Overall: Poor, but not worthless.

Maybe the sky falling is a good thing?

Just some random speculation on my part here, but think about it:

I believe that a gutting of the recording industry may be a good thing for all of us.  Of course, the 'industry' is never going to disappear.  People love music, and are willing to pay for it.  There will always be ways for musicians to make a buck.

But the whole 'recording industry' as a big corporate run deal could disappear within our lifetime.  And if it does, I say hurray! 

Think about it.  We're living in a world where anything that gets recorded is soon available for free as a download/torrent.  And while there are still people out there willing to buy CDs and DVDs of their favorite bands (and even not so favorite ones), they're doing it a lot less than they used to. 

And as this happens, the 'industry' is turning more and more to crap that will make them a quick buck.

It seems like a recipe for disaster.  As soon as the teeny-boppers stop buying Jonas Brothers albums and download them instead, there goes most of the big money left to be made from CD sales.

And where will that leave us? 

Big name groups will mostly rely on concert tours and TV/streaming internet performances to make money.

Small name groups will likely rely on playing local venues, and again internet self promotion.

Mass market produced bands (including just about every pop group here in Korea) will no longer be marketable.  If the group can't actually sing or play their instruments well, they just look good on TV or have that ear-worm inducing crappy sound indiscriminate kids love, would they really survive in a more cutthroat market where musicians are competing for attention as live audiences?  I don't think so.

We, the music loving populace, would be left with a world where talent once again matters, and musicians who have that talent and dedication would make a living (maybe not rock stars, but they'd be making a living) while the posers and wannabes would be left behind.

Or maybe I'm dreaming.  Maybe the populace is stupid enough, and has poor enough taste, that the crap would remain. 

Actually, unfortunately, that's likely the case.

But it also means that the RPG industry ain't going anywhere anytime soon, either.  We're in the age where anyone can whip up an RPG, and either give it away free on the internet, sell it as a download, or use a POD service to sell actual copies.  Yeah, no one doing that is likely to earn a ton of money, or meet the sales numbers of a big publisher, but as long as there are folks out there with some passion putting out their own RPGs and RPG modules/supplements, there's going to be people making some money off of all of this.

Maybe not a gold mine, but a small corner store isn't unthinkable.

Inspiration on my DVD Shelf

Having recently posted an alternate 'Appendix N' based on one of the shelves on my book case, here's another based on some of the DVDs on another shelf of the next bookcase over.

Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, 1954)
Kagemusha (Kurosawa, 1980)
Musa (Korean period action movie, 2001)
Sakuya (Japanese manga-based live action fantasy, 2000)
Hero (Jet Li, 2002)
Red Shadow (Japanese ninja live action, 2001)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)
Enter the Dragon (Bruce Lee, 1973)
Owl's Castle (Japanese ninja live action, 1999)
Vagabond Trilogy (Toshiro Mifune as Miyamoto Musashi, 1951, 1955, 1956)
Azumi (Japanese manga-based live action, 2003)
The Seven Swords (Chinese wuxia, 2005)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (pirate fantasy, 2003)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (pirate fantasy, 2006)
Willow (George Lucas, 1988)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (Errol Flynn, 1938)
Arabian Nights (Hall/Sabu, 1942)
Red Sonja (Nielsen/Schwarzenegger, 1985)
Conan the Barbarian (Schwarzenegger, 1982)
Conan the Destroyer (Schwarzenegger, 1984)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Disney, 2005)
The Princess Bride (Reiner, 1987)
Dragonslayer (MacNichol, 1981)
Legend (Cruise/Curry, 1985)
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Hall, 1944)
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (Harryhausen, 1958)
Samson and Delilah (DeMille, 1949)
The Vikings (Douglas/Curtis, 1958)
Excalibur (Boorman, 1981)
The Scorpion King (The Rock, 2002)
Brahm Stoker's Dracula (Oldman, 1992)
Dracula (Lugosi, 1931)
Van Helsing (Jackman, 2004)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Cleese/Idle/Jones/Chapman/Gilliam/Palin, 1975)
Ben Hur (1925)
The Wizard of Oz (Garland, 1939)
The Three Musketeers (Kelly, 1948)

Not all of them are good movies, but they've likely all got at least a little something that could inspire adventures (or at least interesting encounters or NPCs) in a game.

[By the way, I have the Lord of the Rings movies on DVD, and the TV mini-series Shogun as well, but being boxed sets, they're on another shelf.]

Who is the best villain on TV?

Back in high school, our social studies teacher asked that question to our class.  Then he offered up a few suggestions:

Back then, the season-long story arc was a rarity in TV.  It was mostly episodic TV, with mostly unrelated stories linked only by the fact that they happened to the same characters. 

And villains like the above were typically defeated in comical fashion, rather than dramatic fashion.  If there was drama involved with a villain, typically it was on a one-shot episode (or occasionally a 'to be continued' two-shot).

What's all this got to do with RPGs?  Well, I think it's just another way of saying "if the PCs find a way to defeat your villain early, let them."  There are tons of monsters, and NPCs are a dime a dozen.  If your players end up offing your BBEG, it's not that hard to make up a new one. 

Sure, there are times when letting a villain escape, comic-book or soap opera style, is appropriate.  And a good recurring villain can be fun, if used properly.  But if the PCs decide to actually put the hurt on the Green Goblin, Stephano or Skeletor rather than just capture, humiliate, and then put in an easily escaped prison/sanatorium, let them.

Yeah, let them kill Bargle.  He deserves it.