Some light humor for all the players who play monks...

Old Town Map.

I am going to start To fill in the old town, which is going to be the "starter town" but first I am going to start on the major locations.

1 - 2 are the main keep
3- 4 is the main gates outside
5 is the docks.

I plan over the next day or two to fill in these locations, then I will put in the next ones, which will be the Inn(s), followed by the main trades people.

More work on Megadungoning

I been working on a concept, and I think I have the concept I am going forward with.

The City of Harrowood once was a great city, good trade location, good farmland, and the rich mines under the city made it a center of wealth and culture, fine houses and great temples were built, as the mines went ever deeper to collect silver, gold, Mitral, and other items from the deep.

Soon the city was known as the Jeweled city, as goods flowed in and the guilds grew wealthy. However not all was well.

When miners found existing tunnels, they did not explore them, they blocked them off haphazardly and they continued to dig, and in greed, they dug a little too deep and little too much.

The metal was placed in the mythic age, before written history, to keep the many gates deep in the earth closed, as the site was a center for gates from all sorts of realms, many foul. Forty years ago enough was removed that the great device could no longer work, and suddenly the gates opened, and the depths was filled with horrors, who rose up the mines and the mostly unmapped passages, and in a week, Harrowood, the jeweled city, was in ruins.

A generation later, the survivors of Harrowood and new arrivals still hold on, while the city was mostly sacked, the old quarter, with its old keep and gates with the runes that predate history, and its solid walls held off the terrors, and now the people live in the shadow of the former city. The docks till holds traders, fishermen still bring in their catch, and brave and foolhardy free folks still venture out to collect wealth in the ruins.

In the day the surface is mostly safe, you might see goblin or orcs moving about, but at night it best to be in the old quarter or in another protected place, as dark things rise up on occasion, and sometimes a mist flows out from the ruined temple of the law that is in the city center. Which is a sign of true danger for anyone caught in the open.

Yet the Old city still lives, gardens in old building lots, chicken and sheep eating the weeds, traders still trade, and adventurers seek out the coin and treasures lost, bring much needed coin for the community.

Rulemaking

Been working on two things, got permission to use some maps for the dungeon creation, which will be a great boon to my efforts.

Secondly been working on a space naval game and been playtesting it.

But dungeon making is getting ready to commence now that I wrapped up permissions to use specific maps.

World Map

The Megadungeon is going to placed in my world of Harrowood, south of Yew in the Northwoods.

$5 heroes

Another project I am working on is called $5 heroes. The concept is to have a simple miniatures system for using whatever miniatures you can scrap together from scratch building, scrapping from board games, to using coins. 

Why may you ask?  Well since I am broke.

On Mega-dungeons

Mega-dungeons are odd things.

The most simple, direct definition of a megadungeon is "A dungeon that a entire campaign can be run in and around it."

Back in the early days of D&D, random, gonzo megadungeons were not uncommon, but over time more narrative play took hold, but there is still a place for Megadungeons.

Quite a few have been published - Undermountian is a big map with little filled out.  Temple of Elemental Evil is a classic example of a fully developed Megadungeon.   Over the last ten years or so many more have been published, castle of the mad archmage, stonehell, Rappen Athuk, Barrowmaze all come to mind. 

However to run a campaign of a mega-dungeon, you have to answer a few questions.

1) Why is it there?

Is this a old mine that been expanded?   Is it a old fortress?  Was it carved down, or was it carved upwards from the underdark? 

2)  Why are the upper levels not cleared out yet?

Quite simply if any adventure group could, the upper levels would be striped bare.   Is it newly discovered?  Perhaps there was some army defeated that opened the path to it.  Perhaps it was forgotten but now bands of evil have been raiding.

3)  Funhouse, Ecological,or somewhere in between?

Funhouse duneons are just whimsical dungeons that have random things thrown into most rooms.  No real rhyme or reason, Ecological design is were each location is carefully designed, with air, food, and logic dictating the design.

Or find a sweet spot in between.

4) Where will you get the maps?

Are you going to draw them yourself?  Will you use one of the many random dungeon generators?  or use someone elses maps that allow you to use them?

5) how BIG are your levels?

Are you going with a lot of small levels?   Or are you going with fewer sprawling levels?

Wolfsbane Keep - A Starter town

I am working on a fleshing out a campaign (its gonna be a megadungeon based one) however every good campaign needs a starting town were the party can rest, get supplies, and role play.

I plan to do at least daily posts as I first fill out the town, then develop the actual dungeon complex.

Campaign insperiation of the day, 2/2/20

Necromancy and blogs

It might be a bit of necromancy, but I decided to restart this blog and do a proper OSR blog.