map – Gamer Peak

Beginning the third layer of my dungeon, I wondered whether the people living here should be evil. I’ve had two layers where you can be friends with those living there, but it’s a challenge… and whether or not it’s worth it is debateable.

I pulled back on having the next group be monstrous, because I wanted them to cooperate with those above. They have their own quirks, dangerous if treated the wrong way, but there’s common sense in them.

In the end, that has led to the general feel of this layer. It’s a world of two halves. In the north, the scientist crew lives in ordered, gleaming, clean rooms, dedicated to keeping the otherworldly growths constantly spewing from the overgrown laboratories in the south.

One of the aspects that intrigues me about a Megadungeon is how they can feel so ‘lived in’. A standard dungeon might be completely barren of life – just ancient traps and treasures left behind – or it might still be occupied by a big bad monster or evil villain. If you greatly expand the limits of the rooms and landscape within, suddenly theirs room to add whole ecosystems, small pockets of civilisation, clans, potential allies and enemies.

I have an overall idea that several of the layers of my Dungeon23 creation will have humanoid groups living within. Remnants of a bygone age, or people seeking refuge from the calamities outside. As outlined in earlier blog posts, this ‘dungeon’ was a high-tech complex trying to save the world. Whilst it failed, and has since given way to the chaos, collapse and corruption, some pockets of the dungeon still support life.

If nothing else, offering a party potential companions/nemesis that are just trying to survive amongst the aging machinery and monstrous abominations, has the potential to create interesting scenarios and problems for the players to overcome. Unless they blast through human and monster alike without a second thought… that’s okay too.

Tag: map

Dungeon 23 – Week 10

Dungeon23 – Week 4