My Own Private Hell OR a Megadungeon

[Azures_Finest]

Heyyyooo,

So based on the other megadungeon thread, I figured I'd start my own. The title is more for drama's sake than anything.

As noted in the other thread, our group plays DnD 2nd Edition. We are lifelong friends who played when we were wee lads and just picked it up again last year, in our late 40s. We play roughly once a month for about 5 - 7 hours. Our first party died horrible deaths after the most epic failure of dice rolling (it was truly something to behold). We are currently running our second party through the Temple of Elemental Evil. We play pretty loose and arent overly rigid with rules and 'logic.' We play to have fun, roll some dice, laugh our butts off.

About 4 months ago, I ended up hearing about the Worlds Largest Dungeon. The concept was amazing and I obtained a copy. As it turns out, the dungeon (overall) is pretty crap. The maps are fantastic, for one. It has some nice hooks and ideas, but they are so poorly fleshed out. I remember saying to myself "any idiot could write this better." As it turns out .. Im the idiot in this experiment :) So, using some story hooks from the original WLD, some ideas from others on the interwebs, some common fantasy / DnD tropes, and stuff from my own brain, I am attempting to write/re-write my own megadungeon. I've hit some snags here and there but am making progress. The original dungeon was 16 levels. Im making it 10, with the potential for an add on afterwards. The megadungeon has an overall story arc, then each level has its own mini-arc. Some of the mini-arcs will interconnect with other levels, some wont.

Dungeon history (in a nutshell - the story arc is fleshed out to be about three pages long): dawn of time, gods ruled all and made all the decisions. Over time, celestials and angels questioned the gods. This is a no no... those that questioned were banished. The forsaken got angry, their anger turned to hate, hate turned them to the darkside and they became demons and devils. The bad guys (Infernal Legion) fought the good guys (Council of Radiance) for eternity. In a grueling battle, the celestials tried to destroy the ten leaders of the Infernal Legion with Spheres of Annihilation but they only trapped them inside, not kill them. So the celestials, with the help of a secret order of Monks, built a underground prison for the spheres. To guard the spheres, celestial archons were placed in the dungeon. The Monks were tasked with protecting the entrance. Over time, the pure evil radiating from the spheres lured evil from outside the dungeon to them. As more evil creatures entered the dungeon, the archons and Monks expanded the dungeon, level by level. The Archons placed magical wards on each level that allowed good to pass through but forbid evil - evil could go into the dungeon and crawl deeper and deeper .. but they couldnt leave. Fast forward and things are amiss in the dungeon. Wards are failing, evil is escaping. The Monks seek out a group of brave souls to enter the dungeon and see what is up.

Hook to get the party involved: each of the characters is living their lives as they see fit, when one day, a tattoo (the symbol of the Monk order) appears on their arms. The Monks seek them out and tell them they are destined to save the world. Silly? Absolutely. But I figure its a pretty common and easy trope to use.

Level 1 – a wererat was convinced by his familiar to enter the dungeon, in order to open a portal, to release a demon. By doing this, they would be granted power and influence with the demon. The wererat gathered a fighting force of Orcs, Troglodytes, and Kobolds and led them into the dungeon. Once the portal was opened, the level was taken over by fiendish beasts from said portal .. but no demon as yet. The wererat abandoned his garrison and tried to escape, but the magical wards wouldnt let him. So he is in hiding. The Orcs, Trogs and Kobolds, left to their own devices, just war with each other. Ultimately, PC's need to close down the portal. They can choose what they want to do with the warring tribes... wipe em out, help some of them, etc.

Level 2 – A group of Goblins inhabits this level. However, a doppleganger killed the Goblin King and took over. The Goblins fractured and became rebels who are trying to kill the new King. Throw in a tribe of Bugbears and its a large happy family. As an aside, the adventurers find an Elven Ranger who wandered in and got trapped. The PC's (hopefully) choose to save him and get him out of the dungeon (this may come back as a plot point later)

Level 3 – An angel was meant to imprison a minor demon on this level. The angel, his high priestess, the priestess' order of Paladins (one of the Paladins had a squire, his younger bumbling wizard of a brother) brought the demon to the prison. As they were attempting to put the demon in the soul cage, he fought back. The priestess and paladins sacrificed their lives to give the angel the power needed to finish the battle. The demon, with one trick left up his sleeve, managed to pull the angel into the soul cage with him. Only the wizard remained. He eventually heard a voice in his head (the demon pretending to be the angel) instructing him to let him out. Wizard gets corrupted by the evil in the dungeon and the spirit of the demon and is close to finding a way of opening the soul cage. The spirits of the Paladins, corrupted by evil, roam this level of the dungeon. The PC's battle a few of them as the paladins feel they are trespassing in their graves. OF COURSE, the PC's arrive just in time. The wizard opens the soul cage, then takes his fight to the PC's. The angel and demon battle each other. The corrupted paladins initially attack the PC's but their corruption is slowly cleansed, now that their angel has been released. They turn away from the PC's and, once again, give their lives to the angel. The angel manages to banish the demon. He tells the PC's that there are bigger forces at play and that he must return to the heavens to plead his case. The wizard, now realizing what he has done, cradles the body of his Paladin brother in his arms. They say their goodbyes and, as the paladin is about to die and in an act of mercy, kills the wizard so they can rest in the afterlife together.

Level 4 - Unknown
Level 5 - Unknown
Level 6 - Unknown
Level 7 - Unknown
Level 8 - Unknown
Level 9 - Unknown

Level 10 – the spheres holding the demons are failing. The PC's have to stop the baddies from escaping (see below for additional plot points). In the grand battle, the celestials come to their aid and banish the baddies back to hell.

This can lead to an add on where the high level PC's invade the Nine Circles of Hell.

Additional plot points: somewhere in there, it will come to light that the part of the story involving the Order of Monks is a lie. The Monks are actually trying to release the demons and using the PC's as pawns to do their dirty work. As well, the Elven Ranger that was rescued in Level 2, will have a role in helping the PC's (him and his Elven folks - very LOTR-ish). ot sure how to fit those two in yet.

I have some ideas kicking around for the other levels but havent sufficiently flushed them out or figured out how to interweave them into the overall story quite yet:

- the PC's encounter a group of Dwarves that have been mining precious minerals near the dungeon. They accidentally dug into the dungeon (since the magical wards only cover going from one level of the dungeon to another). In the process, they have done 'x' and need help to stop it

- since its all underground, there is a group of Drow/Driders trying to create a portal to the underdark, which they hope to use as a launch pad for a surprise attack on the surface world

- on one of the levels of the dungeon, the archons are failing (see next plot device below). There is an artifact (??) that helps 'recharge' the archons but it has been stolen. If the archons completely fail, the prison will be open to the world, allowing all inhabitants to escape. PC's need to find said artifact and return it

- the players encounter a group of mind flayers that have been using their psionic abilities to manipulate the celestial archons, causing them to malfunction. The mind flayers are attempting to use the power of the spheres to enhance their own power. This would be the location of said artifact from the previous item


Anywho, as I say, Im still working on how this will progress. I am in NO way a professional writer (I think that much is obvious) and Im sure there are holes you could drive a car through that I am just not seeing. So if anyone has suggestions/comments, have at 'er.

Thanks for reading folks :)

[Azures_Finest]

Heyo again,

So, I'm struggling a bit.

As I mentioned in my previous post, a group of Monks hired the group to ensure that the spheres in lvl10 remain safe. Secretly, the Monks just want the group to clear out the dungeon (so they dont have to), giving them free reign to let loose the spheres themselves.

I've decided that on Level 5, I want to go with the hook: "- since its all underground, there is a group of Drow/Driders trying to create a portal to the underdark, which they hope to use as a launch pad for a surprise attack on the surface world."

Cool. However, whilst they are on level 5, I want our party to meet up with another NPC party. But Im struggling on how to get them there. Who sent them? Did they wander on their own?

I would like something plausible-ish (at least within the confines of the world of DnD) but Im struggling with coming up with said plausible hook.

I've got most of the level roughly outlined and want to start real writing but cant until I get this hook.

Halp meeee :)

Thanks folks.

[Amnestic]

Cool. However, whilst they are on level 5, I want our party to meet up with another NPC party. But Im struggling on how to get them there. Who sent them? Did they wander on their own?

If level 5 is the 'drow' level, they could be escaped prisoners/slaves from the drow who are trying to get away/out?

Alternatively they could have been pulled into the dungeon by drow portal experiments. They don't know where they are or what's going on, just that they're in danger.

[Azures_Finest]

If level 5 is the 'drow' level, they could be escaped prisoners/slaves from the drow who are trying to get away/out?

Alternatively they could have been pulled into the dungeon by drow portal experiments. They don't know where they are or what's going on, just that they're in danger.

DUH. That 2nd idea is amazing and yet, so simple. I could not think of a way to get them into the dungeon, without using the same entrance as our party. If they had used the same one, they'd have already cleared out the first 4 levels of the dungeon. So 'logically' they wouldnt been populated, so densely, so quickly. This totally bypasses that AND fits in nicely with the story of the 'drow level.'

Doooode, thank you. That's awesome.

I know I'll be seeking additional help with some other stuff soon(ish) :)