art – Gamer Peak

Dungeon23 – Weeks 22 & 23

For the first time, I started to feel time being pinched to the point where a daily doodle and description had to be put aside. It’s exam season, and I have signed myself to a shedload of marking. Whilst this will prove rewarding in the long term, the next few weeks will be a grind.

Nevertheless, I stole back a couple of hours today and caught up with where I should be. The pause helped in a way, I was able to give this layer a bit more thought. I knew what I wanted to do, but I was concerned about making it too similar. I think I’ve cracked it now.

Dungeon23 – Week 21

There’s a lot of people in my megadungeon. They’ve all been different varieties of weird and dangerous, but they’ve all been something to be negotiated with. In future layers, as we delve deeper, the situation is going to get weirder and the NPCs are going to get less rational.

This layer is the tipping point. The self-righteous Ultores will assume new arrivals to be guilty of something. Anything. They’ll be desperate to get hold of the party and put them on “trial”. Go along with the charade, and the adventurers can get away without incident. It is ten times more likely that they will come to blows with the arrogant, incontestable Ultores.

Dungeon23 – Week 20

20 weeks! The time is flowing by, and somehow I’m keeping up with the Dungeon23 expectation. Some rooms are drawn very late in the evening, but so far I’ve managed to keep up the momentum.

This layer continues to be a develop into a work space for an international counter-terrorism group. This week we’re building the crucial living and workspaces for the ‘Magnus Ultores’, many of which are still around with nothing better to do than give the adventurers a hard time.

Dungeon23 – Week 19

Sometimes it is okay for a room to be empty. I keep having to remind myself of this fact. In any good dungeon crawl, an empty room is highly likely. That empty space might add some flavour to the complex, offer a safe space or contain a hidden treasure… but it really doesn’t need to. In any structure, there’s a room that doesn’t get used that often.

When I first started on the MegaDungeon, I was fully aware that on busy days I could simply write “empty room” and move on. I’ve been finding this hard to do, however. I feel a compulsion to include at least something in every space.

This week’s rooms (and this layer) are significantly less populated than those previously mentioned. There’s still a little something in every space, but in this case the lack of presence here tells a grim story.

Dungeon23 – Week 18

Politics at my gaming table isn’t expressly forbidden, but it is discouraged. If someone starts talking about real world issues during our dice-rolling escapism, they will be politely, lovingly (and somewhat jokingly) booed.

Fantasy politics on the other hand, now that’s a different thing. Learning the underhanded espionage and deep-rooted corruption of a pretend place is deeply interesting, and comes with no burdens. So long as the lore is not based on the real world with all the names changed…

With that in mind, Layer 5 of my megadungeon concerns pretend global terrorism.

Dungeon23 – Week 17

This week, as I approach the fifth month and fifth level of my Megadungeon, I’ve been thinking about death.

Specifically, whether or not anyone is still alive in this dungeon from when it was a properly functioning, high-tech facility. I already decided there would be friendlier NPCs mixed in with the monsters, to offer aid and drop nuggets of lore as the adventurers explore.

Now though, I’ve come to the decision that as the heroes delve deeper, they will see and hear from those responsible for this place. Old and wrinkly at first, in the first/older levels, but increasingly more spritely the more we descend.

Dungeon23 – Week 16

It can be quite morbid, sometimes, creating a dungeon. This week I decided hundreds of refugees and dozens of engineers were either eaten by a giant worm or taken over by its parasitic offspring. Now, the halls of this institute are abandoned, and the half-starved, worm-infested drones lie in wait for new food and hosts to come stumbling through their lair…

…so how was your week?

Dungeon23 – Week 13

91 Rooms. 3 Layers.

The time is flying by, and I’ve managed to keep up the momentum. I’ve had a few last-minute, near-misses, but so far the rooms have all be done on the right day.

This week, I only had one decision to make. I knew what I wanted for the last few rooms, but I still needed a boss for this level. I wanted something hiding behind the deadly growths in the laboratory, that had to be beaten in order to progress.

Dungeon23 – Week 12

Laboratories are a great place for horror. So are hospitals, anywhere that’s clean and white and sterile makes for a great contrast with whatever gore you want to paint on the walls.

That is the basis of Layer 3 in the megadungeon. A pristine living area, whose residents constantly fight back against the growths that fill the neighbouring laboratories.

So last week I finally got to invent and draw the icky part of this two-tone dungeon layer.

Dungeon 23 – Week 9

Boss battles are not necessary for a good adventure, but they sure can ensure a great one. Having a big enemy every not and then to contend with raises the stakes, and also boosts the feeling that you are making great progress.

Layer one of my megadungeon doesn’t really have a major boss. The leader of the Principles is slightly stronger, but not by a great margin. The leader of the Tungsten Line is very much Boss material.

So far in this dungeon, negotiating with the clans within can prove fruitful. Whilst the rest of the Tungsten Line are semi-rational creatures, ‘The Tungsten Supervisor’ is not going to let any unauthorised personnel wander ‘his domain’. When the party have to contend with this strange creature, the rest of the clan will be more than happy to look the other way; they aren’t fans of their Supervisor either…