Start Your Own Megadungeon: a DM's Day Gift

This Post is Dedicated to the Memory of E. Gary Gygax.

May You Rock your Dice in Peace Bro.

CHECK OUT THE COMMUNITY MEGADUNGEON PROJECT

What a better way to honor Ye Olde Gary G. than a tool to start a megadungeon campaign? I couldn't think of anything better. So this morning when I woke up, I did this map and prepared a bunch of notes for you, gentle readers. Now it's 9.44 pm here in Italy, and my challenge is to have that all posted before midnight. Let's see if I can do that!

So, you've heard all this stuff about old school playing, megadungeons et cetera, and you think it's gotta be a lot of fun! Still, you are not able to start your own. Perhaps you are puzzled by concepts like "connectivity", "re-stocking", and the most obscure of all: "Gygaxian naturalism". Or maybe you just don't have enough time to figure the whole thing out by yourself, and need a proper seed to start. Whichever the case, this tool/tutorial is right for you. To go ahead with this project, you need the following things:

1. A printer (if you don't have one, ask your neighbor);
2. Paper and pencil;
3. Funny shaped dice;
4. A first edition Dungeon Masters Guide, or a Basic Dungeons & Dragons manual by Tom Moldvay, or Labyrinth Lord, Mutant Future, OSRIC, in short: a whatever manual that has random dungeon stocking tables inside;
5. A couple of hours of free time.

Ok, so provided you have all this stuff (or perhaps asked your nice neighbor for some, if not all of it), keep reading.

STEP 1: THE MEGADUNGEON BACKGROUND

Every proper megadungeon has a good and solid background. But you just want to play, so why waste your time writing an original one? So steal that background! Choose randomly (1d6):

1. Moria
2. Castle Greyhawk
3. The Huge Ruined Pile
4. Dwimmermount
5. Caverns of Thracia
6. The Temple of Demogorgon

Well done, now you have your background. It was pretty easy, wasn't it?

STEP 2: THE FIRST LEVEL MAP

If you have read enough articles and posts, you probably already know that a good looking dungeon map for a megadungeon level basically needs three things: connectivity, empty space and special goodies. Designing a good map may take a lot of time, especially if it's your first time. So why bother, since The Grimoire has already got you covered? Here you are, a perfect looking map for your first level. You have a lot of rooms, but not so many as to go crazy trying to key them. You have the right amount of connections between levels (two stairs down to second level, one to level 1A, and two elevators to send your characters wherever you want). It also has a couple of special goodies, which we will see later in this post.

Your Level 1

STEP 3: MEGADUNGEON SPECIALS

Megadungeon specials are a couple of rooms which will not need to be re-stocked once your players go out and in again. This megadungeon has a lot of specials, here they are properly keyed.

Room 11, The Hellevator: This is totally stolen from Jeff Rients (if you are smart enough, steal everything you can from his blog: that guy is über-awesome). This elevator will take the party down to level 4. It won't come back down for 6 hours, so they have to survive.

Room 29, The Labyrinth: This room is pretty crazy. The archways here looks like normal archways which lead to a normal 6x6 room. But once you cross them and turn back, you see only wall. Also, Passwall doesn't work here. If the characters reach the central room, they will be imprisoned there forever, unless someone else rescues them using a Teleport spell. Time in the central room has stopped, so they can even be rescued a thousand years later. This way, you can have their characters rescued by another character, which is hypothetically the character that the player has made after having lost the previous one in that room, and who has achieved enough experience and ability to actually cast a Teleport spell and save their asses. They are safe now, but many years have passed in their world, and everything has changed in the dungeon. WHOA! If you have understood a single word of what I have just written, then congrats.

Room 36, The Jewel Throne: This room must have been some sort of a Throne Room in the past. Actually, it is probably the Lair of the chief of the kobolds/goblins/orcs/whatever you rolled in step 4 (later). The throne is very big, made of obsidian, and has two GIANT diamonds set on the armrests. Each worth about 1,000 gp - if you manage to steal them!

Room 47, The Fake Tomb: This is a fake tomb. A big coffin, made of rock, lies on the altar near the east wall. Two statues representing very tall men, wielding two great swords. Against the south and north walls, there are four sarcophagi. If the characters try to open the coffin near the east wall, four Shadows will crawl out of the sarcophagi, to kill the thieves. Also, the statues animate as Steel Golems. Run, you fools!

Rooms 48 to 50, The Real Tomb: This is the real tomb. Room 48 contains the tomb, while rooms 49 and 50 contain the treasure. A really outstanding treasure! Roll a red dragon treasure, and divide it equally.

STEP 4: STOCKING AND RE-STOCKING

Use the random tables from your manual of choice to stock the dungeon. And be honest: let fate guide your hand. Ignore logic, for logic makes for no fun at all. Then think for 5 minutes (not one more, don't waste your time) about the possible connections between the monsters you rolled. Whenever the players leave the megadungeon and then return after a considerable period (perhaps a month of gaming time or so), re-stock the already visited rooms. Use the awesome random tables for doors, ceilings and such from Beyond the Black Gate.

STEP 5: FINAL TOUCHES

Don't waste your time creating wandering monsters tables, use the ones from your manual. Choose a name for your megadungeon, one for the level, and call your friends to give it a shot. If you like it, design level 1A and 2, and then 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, etc., as you see fit. Well done buddy, you've just started your first megadungeon campaign!

LICENSE

You are allowed to use the above map for personal use only. If you want to key it and re-distribute it, you must 1) credit me, 2) link this post, 3) keep the OSR logo, which can be found here and 4) distribute it for free.

Have a good time folks, see ya soon!