What's wrong with megadungeons?

I ran across a megadungeon article from last July. I know, I am a little behind, as I was dealing with my cancer when it came out.

In the blog, DM David lists 5 reasons why megadungeons don't work for most players.  I have replicated his list here:
1. Players never saw any examples.
2. The ecology and rational of megadungeons seemed ridiculous.
3. Play styles expanded.
4. Megadungons can feel monotonous.
5. Computers do megadungeons better.

Now, I think all of his premises are wrong. Let's start at the beginning:

1. Players never saw any examples.
A few examples were printed through Judges Guild early. Bill Webb and others contend that Tegel Manor is the first printed megadungeon. I lean towards Jennel Jaquays' Caverns of Thracia. There are other examples that people cite too (City-State of the Invincible Overlord's dungeons, the First Fantasy Campaign and probably others too).
The earliest TSR megadungeons didn't come out until the early-mid eighties: Temple of Elemental Evil, and the Lost City (B4).

If you argue that Greyhawk Ruins (first published in 1990) is the first true megadungeon, you could make David's point, but I have listed several examples from the first ten years of D&D that qualify in my expert opinion.

2. The ecology and rational of megadungeons seemed ridiculous.
If any of David's arguments hold weight, it is this one. But, holding to good standards of megadungeon design removes the gravitas. If only 1/3 of the rooms in a dungeon hold combatable creatures, that leaves 2/3 of the space to hold food/resources/restrooms etc. 
In Mord Mar, nearly every dwelling had a mushroom cellar. Rats run amok through the refuse and detritus strewn about by humanoids. They make tasty snacks for goblins. Bats find ways in and out of subterranean structures all the time. 
Rivers dot my megadungeons and when it rains, that water often drips through several levels. It doesn't take much creativity to add a room with a lot of buckets and some dripping water. (We will come back to this idea in #4).

3. Play styles expanded.
I really hate David's exposition on this one. Early D&D was filled with adventures and stories. It wasn't all just "stab the monster and take its stuff." The players used intrigue on each other. They had motivations and ideals and wanted more than David infers. 
I don't think play styles expanded at all. I think most people don't know how to craft a story within a megadungeon. The DM can't handle the possibility that the players may side with orcs, goblins, gnolls or attempt to eradicate all three. 

4. Megadungons can feel monotonous.
Sure, megadungeons can feel monotonous. So can a forest, or a jungle or the miles and miles of desert sand. Any locale will feel boring and stale if the DM can't create excitement in their tone and their words. 
Have your characters ever stood beside an orc raiding party attempting to take control of the water room as the rains started to fall? Maybe they are the diplomatic type and hammer out a solution that each group has a representative doling out water to their compatriots. Maybe the rapscallions seized control of the room and are auctioning water to the highest bidder? Putting good plot hooks in an adventure makes it feel dynamic. Don't blame bad DMing on the megadungeon, 'k?

5. Computers do megadungeons better.
Computers don't do any RPG better, full stop. The computer has certain parameters that need to be followed. That by definition makes them closed-loop games. Unlike D&D and megadungeons, where possibilities are endless. 

And David's concluding line:
"Although good design can yield a megadungeon that proves fun to play, ordinary dungeons can bring the same advantages. Today’s gamers tend to create megadungeons to foster nostalgia or to enable episodic play."

I don't think a smaller dungeon can bring the advantages I look for in a megadungeon. Out of the three tentposts of RPGs (role-play, combat, exploration), exploration is by far my favorite. Sure, I can also explore a forest or a jungle (both of which become repetitive and monotonous quickly) but a megadungeon adds so much more. It adds factions, and hidden rooms and secrets and a history to unearth. 

When you play a well crafted megadungeon, you peel back the layers like an onion, learning new things about the environment. And yes, I also like the episodic play aspect, as I have literally hundreds of friends that play D&D and are all welcome at my table.

Trap Tuesday: ToH PT 2

This is the second post on the Tomb of Horrors. The first can be found HERE.

I know it's a day late, and I'm sorry for that. I was surprised at how busy I was with the first 12 hours of the new Kickstarter: Creeping Cold. Now that the obligatory link is out of the way, let's dive back into the Tomb of Horrors. (And again, this blog is full of SPOILERS.)

Backtracking to the Arch of Mist: I mentioned that this can separate parties. It sends incorrect guesses back to the beginning of the module. Following the correct path leads to a puzzle: "The Three Armed Statue." The puzzle has PCs destroy gems in 4 batches.
Destroying these gems once (3 total gems), twice (6 total gems), or thrice (9 total gems) causes nothing to happen.  The 10th gem triggers a Magic Mouth telling the PCs that they have gained something.
So far, I actually like the puzzle. An INVISIBLE Gem of Seeing (really, invisible? after 1000 gp of gems were destroyed? Seems a little much) appears in the severed fourth hand. And the Gem is "immune" to See Invisibility. If the "arm is carelessly moved, the gem will fall off and roll away."
Chances are the arm was carelessly moved before the Gem even appeared. And, the final part of the puzzle? The way out is a crawl-way, covered in illusion to look like the wall around it.

Image of Hall of Great Spheres from ToH

Following the passage from the "Three Armed Statue" leads to a room. (Great Hall of Spheres) with a couple of traps, including the 2nd most famous (the Magic Archway). There are 20 spheres here in the walls and glyphs. Two false doors and the Magic Archway are the only noticeable exits.
The nearest trap to the Three Armed Statue is a false door.  Every time the door is opened, a spear shoots out at a PC, forcing a Save vs Magic to avoid 2d8 damage. (My module only lists 1 of the doors as a trap. Other sources list both.) I am a fan of the false door trap. They are always unexpected (even here) and make for a fun jump-scare. Just don't over-use them!
Besides the Magic Archway, there are actually 3 exits from this room: the way to the Three Armed Statue, a door that needs a spell to open (Knock, Disintegrate, Rock to Mud, or Stone to Flesh), and another crawl-way that is covered with an illusion.
The Magic Archway is what dominates the room, though. As I mentioned previously, this is the 2nd most famous trap in Tomb of Horrors. It looks very similar to the Arch of Mist, but the colors are different. No messing with the stones changes what it looks like through the archway. Any character that goes through the archway is teleported back to the beginning of the dungeon. All of their equipment is teleported to the final boss.
Again, this trap sucks. It's an obvious way to advance. But, it steals your stuff instead. In a tournament or convention game, I would simply re-write it. In a tournament, I would have it take all treasure found within the Tomb and then send them back to the beginning. In a convention game, I would simply have it send them back to the beginning. In a home game, where the PCs can retreat, regroup and try again, I think it is a worthy challenge, and I would leave it alone.

Three Chests from ToH

Moving on to the last room of the day, The Chamber of the 3 Chests. This is another room hidden by an illusion (and again a crawl space). As the name implies, this room has 3 chests within: "gold," "silver" and wood. Both the precious metals are simply plating over iron (and worth less than their weight).
All three of the chests are trapped. The gold chest houses 12 (3 HD) asps. For the sake of verisimilitude I will assume the snakes were in a form of stasis (but, the chest is non-magical). They are venomous, and saves are made at -2. But, I am unsure what the poison does. I guess that it would be the same as a Poisonous Snake from the Monster Manual (3d6 damage).
So, I have a couple of problems with this trap. I mentioned both above. 1st, how do the snakes stay alive? It just feels like sloppy writing on Gygax's part. 2nd, the stats aren't clear on what they actually do.
The second chest is silver, and actually has treasure within: a 1,000 gp crystal case containing a Ring of Protection +1. Removing the crystal case causes 8 darts to shoot upwards, automatically hitting 1-2 PCs with 4 each. Each dart does a d6 damage with no Save or attack roll.
I like this trap. It's not specified in the notes of ways to avoid it, so creative players can find solutions. There is no warning for the trap, however. But, in ToH everyone should assume everything is trapped.
The final chest teleports an "animated statue of a giant" into it as the chest is opened. The skeleton gets 2 attacks/rd (2d6), edged weapons only do 1 damage (no surprise there) and it is immune to magic (and turning).
Overall, the wooden chest trap is unimaginative and I would have liked the skeleton in the gold chest. A different type of trap could have been better here. (As an aside, what happens when both monster chests are opened? Do the skeleton and snakes randomly attack each other?) I would like to see a trap that paralyzes a party member (permanently until removed/dispelled) or a ceiling collapsing trap. Something other than the same thing twice.

So at the end of four rooms, we have 13 traps. Tomb of Horrors is living up to its reputation.
 

Trap Tuesday -The Trap Module - PT 1

Today on Trap Tuesday I want to talk about the most infamous trap of all. This trap is so insidious that every D&D player has heard of it. Nearly every D&D player from the 80's has a story about how it killed them. Some love it, and some hate it. Know what it is yet?

Original cover of ToH

Yup, it's Tomb of Horrors. This module is the trap module. And today, we are going to start talking about the trap tropes within. Love this module or hate it, ToH has had a profound effect on how traps are viewed and used in D&D. I am putting SPOILER ALERT up now. If you have not played this module and intend to, stop reading. I plan on a few posts on this subject, as ToH is a dense module with a lot of subject matter. Today we will only be covering the entrance hallway superficially. I hope that the reads ask questions and tell me what to elaborate on.
Ignoring the entrance "puzzle" (random choice, unless you are overly cautious or have disposable minions), the first traps an adventuring party comes to are pit traps. Gygax put several pits in the entrance hallway, none of which are in a straight line. (And he uses them to affect 3 out of the 4 uses we outlined previously.)
The next trap is probably the most famous in D&D. The "Face of the Great Green Devil" has confounded players for over 40 years. Without boxed text the details given about the encounter vary wildly. Three clues are emboldened in the text: "Dead, Evil, Magic." These clues should be enough to deter people from jumping in. People grouse about this trap, but if run properly it stands as a good example of an unique trap.
Moving to the immediate left of the Devil Face, we find the weakest of the traps within ToH, the Arch of Mist. It can separate parties (permanently) and does not facilitate fun. If it were modified so that all characters ended near each other (maybe bars separate them or they were 40 feet apart on different ledges) that would lead to interesting encounters. As it stands, this trap has a chance of limiting fun because the party has their time split.
We are still in the entrance hallway, and three different kinds traps already confound. Over the next few weeks, I plan to delve further into the module and discuss if the traps work and why.

See you in the dungeon halls.

Trap Tuesday - Green Slime

Ahh, green slime. One of Gary Gygax's cruelest tricks to play on players. For a reminder, let's go over it in a couple of editions.

5E
A creature that comes into contact with green slime takes 5 (1d10) acid damage. . . Against wood or metal, green slime deals 11 (2d20) acid damage. . . (5E DMG, 105).
(Note, these damage values are for a thin layer of 5x5 green slime.)

Swords & Wizardry
Green slime isn’t technically a monster, just an extremely dangerous hazard in underground tombs and other such places. Any metal or organic substance it touches begins to turn to green slime (saving throw). It can be killed with fire or extreme cold, and the transformation process can be arrested by the use of a Cure Disease spell.

AD&D 1E (Quoted from 1E Monster Manual, page 46)

Melanie Cook
https://www.thesprucepets.com/slime-algae-1378632

FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-6
ARMOR CLASS: 9
MOVE: 0"
HIT DICE: 2
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 0
DAMAGE/ATTACK: Nil
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: S
PSlONlC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
Green slimes are strange plant growths found in subterranean places. Although they cannot move, they slowly grow, feeding on animal, vegetable and metallic substances. They are sensitive to vibrations and will often drop upon passing creatures from above.
Green slime will attach itself to living flesh, and in 1-4 melee rounds thereafter turn the creature into green slime (no resurrection possible). It eats away wood slowly, consuming but one inch thickness in an hour. Green slime eats metals quickly, going through plate armor in 3 melee
rounds. It can be scraped off quickly (if the scraper is then discarded), excised, frozen, or burned. A cure disease spell kills green slime. Other forms of attack- including weapons or spell - do it no harm.
Occasionally huge slimes or colonies of dozens have been reported.

Turning the Slime Into a Trap
As you can see, the green slime is a trap in and of itself. It doesn't follow the normal rules for a monster, as far back as 1E. Just fireball your friend before he touches you. But, it can be so much worse.

Forgive my awful drawing skills.

Today, we are combining the green slime with a covered pit trap. When someone walks across the covered pit trap, it drops them into a massive vat of green slime. Someone alone in a dungeon that doesn't find this trap will almost surely die to it.

But, what about groups? That's where this trap gets fun. A halfling rogue may scout ahead of the party, and not even trip the trap. You can set whatever amount of weight you want for the pivot.
Two warriors go next, single file. They weigh about the same, so the trap doesn't move. But, when the wizard steps behind the second warrior, the trap triggers (because the wizard doesn't have heavy armor and weapons.) Oops, two dead adventurers. And the cleric is still on the far side of the trap, freaking out.

How I Would Adjudicate The Trap
First, I would describe the room or the hallway its in. "The air here is sharp and acrid. It's also somewhat dry compared to the other areas you have been in the complex. You occasionally hear a drip noise from somewhere you can't pinpoint."
Next, I would set a fairly high DC for finding the pit. For 5E this would be 20+. For OSR games, it would be a 15% penalty to Find Traps. The reason for this is twofold. First, this is a high-level trap. I wouldn't throw it at any characters less than level 10, no matter which system. Second, I want wiggle room for how they explore the area. If they just tamp with a 10' pole, no bonus (remember to set the pivot weight at 40+ lbs). If they pour water down the hallway, I will give them a bonus. Players are creative people, and I want to be able to reward the creativity without sacrificing lethality.
Finally, I would use the trap as intended. If it is not found, it should kill someone. Like, gone forever. And their gear. If it is found, I would let them come up with creative solutions to "locking" the trap. Maybe they lay ropes tightly over it, and spike them into the ground. Maybe they just use it as a gold storage facility (keeping the upward-moving side at ground level). Maybe they come up with something entirely unexpected.

Generational Campaigns

Early D&D was dotted by long campaigns. Both Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson had sprawling campaigns with many moving parts. Ernie Gygax later had the Hobby Shop Dungeon. My own Mord Mar campaign has run for many years, in many iterations. But, each builds off the previous. Others too have run campaigns for years.

Found on SocietalMarketing.Org

This is one of the true joys of Dungeons and Dragons, and is often lacking in games today. In the beginning, the multi-generational campaign was hard-wired into the rules. As an example, I quote Blackmoor: "The Order is structured in such a way that there is only one man at each level above the 6th (Grand Master). At such time as a 6th-level character gains sufficient experience points to rank as 7th level he temporarily gains the appropriate attributes. He must then seek out the Grand Master of Dragons, and defeat him in a fair fight. There will always be a higher level to fight, even if there is no player character in the role." (Page 4, referring to monks).

Arneson's rule allowed the return to the spotlight for long retired characters. It created adventures. It made previous adventures seem important. These things are not possible in a series of disparate campaigns. 

Even Wizards of the Coast jumped on the verisimilitude bandwagon. They released products like Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. The Expedition series followed in much the same vein. WotC counted on these products to draw in older gamers. They did.

5th Edition is using the nostalgia in a completely different way. Curse of Strahd, and Tales of the Yawning Portal are almost the original modules re-written for 5th edition. They do not pull history of players into the books. Instead, they push the books' histories into the players.

This has been an important strategy to bring new players into the game. And it has worked. D&D and the RPG industry is as strong as it has ever been. But, its been built on the history that came before today. Even the rules set is primarily built from the previous rules iterations. 

With this in mind, how does a modern DM incorporate the past into the future? That's the crux of this blog. Here's some strategies to help with both published adventures and home-brew campaigns.

1. Tie-in early. Add a Tarroka reader into the Rise of Tiamat. Use words like "lineage" and "bloodline." Don't give information on the current adventure. Let the players wonder which adventure is actually being run. 

2. Use the "Masters' Rule" from Arneson where appropriate. Druids and Monks both have a tradition of seeking out their betters. Both can have supernaturally long lives. Even paladins and warlocks may have a similar system. Return the PCs to the game if you can. 

3. Start and end your games in the same world and region. In your epilogue session, mention who has settled down, and who had kids. Try to tie these into previous characters. If Bill played a Dragonborn last adventure and is playing a human this adventure, maybe Karen is playing Bill's Dragonborn's daughter.

4. Cross-contaminate artifacts. If the players have the Sunsword after Strahd's defeat, have Acererak send his undead minions to claim it at the beginning of the Tomb of Annihilation campaign. If a character sees that weapon as their birthright, they will be in high gear to track it down.

5. If old PCs are still alive, have them show up. Maybe a chance meeting at a marketplace. "I knew your mother, she saved my life many times. I hope your group is as tight as we were." "You're adventuring with a Bucklebeer? Watch that one. His father once stabbed me for a magic ring." Let the old stories seep into the new game.

6. Have re-occurring villains. Not in just one adventure, but many campaigns. Strahd, Tiamat, Acererak and others are basically immortal. They have powerful minions that can show back up too. "Your grandparents thwarted our destruction of this realm. I only have vengeance for you now!"

7. Keep the retired adventurers who became queens or emperors on their thrones. Give the PCs some latitude when dealing with them. "Your uncle helped me gain this throne, and I shall repay the favor." Just make sure not to give too much.

8. Have a location that shows up in every campaign. One that is affected by the adventurers. Maybe they broke a hole in a wall. Let them know they've been there before. 

9. Have a construct that shows up again and again. Maybe it was a stone golem that the fighter removed the head of. The next generation runs across the same golem, now with a bronze head, and a club that has its previous head at the top. A subsequent generation finds the same golem, now with a mithril arm too.

10. Keep notes of the changes your players force upon the world. There are several websites available for this, and I use Obsidian Portal. Find one you like and keep extra notes. Review them before the next story, and re-use interesting elements.

-Rocky