"A dungeon of at least half a dozen levels"
May 7, 2020 11:11:32 GMT -5
The Perilous Dreamer likes this
Post by ampleframework on May 7, 2020 11:11:32 GMT -5
One of the paradigm shifts I've noticed between OD&D and even something as closely tied to it as Holmes or B/X is that OD&D focuses strongly on a campaign built around a single dungeon. The booklets go so far as to straight up say the referee should at minimum prepare a dungeon of at least six layers which shall be continually built upon. This "mythic underworld" megadungeon style does occasionally pop up later but is largely supplanted by more open, sandbox settings with much smaller dungeons with more "ecology" and less "mythic fantasy" elements.
One of the first things I did, due to this focus on the dungeon, was to do just that and map out at least six layers of a mega-dungeon (there are multiple entrances, of course, so there's more than one "level 1" and several sub-levels in between each major level, some completely inaccessible early in the campaign) both as a thought exercise to familiarize myself with the feel of 3lbb, and to have one ready for when I run my games.
I understand that not everyone who runs/ran this game accepted this as the foundation of their campaigns, however. I'm wondering - how many of you have "a dungeon of at least half a dozen levels" drawn up? Is it a focal point of your world/campaign? Do your players enjoy dungeon delving for its own sake or do they tend to prefer some other type of adventures in OD&D? Perhaps hex crawling or bounty board jobs? For my part, I'm strongly attracted to the idea of "a dungeon campaign for its own sake" with the assumption that my players portray PCs who have fully bought into the dungeon delve, simply because this seems to be the main mechanical scope of OD&D, but I'd enjoy playing in and discussing any type of campaign using these rules, and the desire to run a game like that is more my personal preference. What are yours?
One of the first things I did, due to this focus on the dungeon, was to do just that and map out at least six layers of a mega-dungeon (there are multiple entrances, of course, so there's more than one "level 1" and several sub-levels in between each major level, some completely inaccessible early in the campaign) both as a thought exercise to familiarize myself with the feel of 3lbb, and to have one ready for when I run my games.
I understand that not everyone who runs/ran this game accepted this as the foundation of their campaigns, however. I'm wondering - how many of you have "a dungeon of at least half a dozen levels" drawn up? Is it a focal point of your world/campaign? Do your players enjoy dungeon delving for its own sake or do they tend to prefer some other type of adventures in OD&D? Perhaps hex crawling or bounty board jobs? For my part, I'm strongly attracted to the idea of "a dungeon campaign for its own sake" with the assumption that my players portray PCs who have fully bought into the dungeon delve, simply because this seems to be the main mechanical scope of OD&D, but I'd enjoy playing in and discussing any type of campaign using these rules, and the desire to run a game like that is more my personal preference. What are yours?
