M is for Megadungeon

I'll be honest right off the bat; I love megadungeons. If I could spend the time and effort required to run one all the time I would. They are an awesome relic of a bygone era that I love to return to whenever I can convince my players to enter one. But before I get too far ahead of myself, what exactly is a megadungeon?

A megadungeon is more than just a really big dungeon, though it certainly is that. It is an entire ecosystem, a complex world that while different than the world on the surface, has similar considerations. They can be so large that entire cities can exist in their rooms, and dozens of factions of inhabitants will fight over resources. The megadungeon is built to house creatures from goblins to dragons to beholders. Whether friend or foe, there is something for everyone within.

Megadungeons first came about in the days of TSR, when the people creating the modules put a level of effort into their products that one rarely sees in officially sanctioned work these days. This may be personal opinion, but I feel that in the old days of D&D, when a dungeon and locale was released, every room, every trap, every monster was carefully detailed and ready to go for the Dungeon Master to use. Now, it seems there is a lot of burden on a DM to make things up on his own. While this of course is fantastic for those who enjoy the minutiae of dungeon building, for the typical DM with a job, a family, and a life outside of the game, one rarely has time to make a dungeon, let alone a megadungeon from scratch. Even now, most claims of modern megadungeons being all-inclusive fail to deliver; instead merely creating a map with a story, leaving up to you to fill.

In a megadungeon, the players seek to find riches and glory beyond their wildest dreams. They may face outlandish traps, mind-bending puzzles, horrifying monsters, and suffer fates worse than death. More-so than any other location, a megadungeon represents lethality. A party goes down deep into the earth, and may never return. They may never be heard from again, or be turned into ghastly undead for another party to face. Those who do return are stronger for their troubles, and usually much richer. That is really what a megadungeon is for: to test one's mettle, and get rich doing it. It is a balance between risk and reward. Life may be safer on the surface, but only the largest dungeon in the world has the glittering gold that makes an adventurer's mouth water.

The effect that players have an a megadungeon is up to the DM. Most dungeons are small enough that when a party wipes out a room, nothing happens if they come back to it later on. But a megadungeon is so massive and has so many creatures and factions within it, that a party might permanently change the political tide or ecological situation in an area. Killing the orc band that inhabits a section may leave it open for beholders to come in and make up base. Befriending the local duergar inhabitants may give the party cause to eradicate the drow camp, thereby allowing a larger influence for their allies. What happens to a dragon's hoard once the players take as much as they can carry out? The locals take it! Retrieving the stolen treasure might be an adventure on its own. No matter what happens in a megadungeon, the players can have a huge effect there, and there are literally no end to adventure opportunities.

Of the many available flavors, my favorite megadungeon is Undermountain, a fantastic beast of a dungeon with a great story involving the mad wizard Halaster Blackcloak. It's pretty much everything that defines old-school D&D adventuring, complete with insane traps, ridiculous scenarios, and monsters that are too big to fit in the dungeon. Most importantly of all, the dungeon builds in an excuse to why people cannot teleport throughout it, since Halaster has imbued powerful magic into the dungeon itself, barring such magic, except of course his own. This is great as it forces even high level players to do it the old fashioned way: walk. This megadungeon is alive and truly an amazing feat. Unfortunately, subsequent updates to 3rd and 4th editions of D&D have left much to be desired, with significantly less detail being applied to each new iteration of the dungeon.

Other great megadungeons include Castle Greyhawk and Rappan Athuk. The former is written by none other than Gary Gygax himself, while the latter concludes with an epic (and intentionally unwinnable) fight with Orcus, the demon lord of the undead. If you're interested in Rappan Athuk, it has been converted to the OGL system, but I don't believe Castle Greyhawk has. Also, I must point out that Monte Cook, one of the designers of the OGL and 3rd edition, has created a website called Dungeon-A-Day that sought to create a massive twenty level dungeon. I don't subscribe to the website myself, but those looking to find a complete and 100% detailed megadungeon may wish to look there. There is a yearly subscription fee, but for the level of completion there, I would highly recommend it.

On a final note, I will say that megadungeons are not for the feint of heart. They require a lot of time and effort to set up. However, they can lead to endless fun in an RPG game, and will provide your players with hundreds of stories by the time they are finished. Just be prepared for a game that lasts several years. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned tomorrow for "N is for NPC".

Relevant Links
The Megadungeon Blog
Megadungeons.com
Dungeon-A-Day

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L is for Legend

The legend that a character creates is an important factor of being a Dungeon Master. While some parties prefer to be anonymous treasure hunters all the way to max level, it is difficult in the course of adventuring not to at least inadvertently save a town, making a name for themselves. Eventually, someone somewhere has heard of the party, and that may have interesting consequences.

Player legends can be both good or bad, depending on what was done, or even the locations of an act. One kingdom may love them while another hates them. I make a point to always record any person or organization that the players make an enemy of, no matter how slight. You never know when some shorted merchant may be able to take his petty revenge on them at the worst possible moment. In contrast, I also record their allies, in case they are in dire need of aid, an old friend can come to save day. Whether good or bad, a player's legend grows as they continue their adventures, and the sphere of their influence grows with it.

In older editions of the game, a fighter's influence actually rose based on their level. For example, in second edition, at ninth level a fighter would become a lord and automatically gain followers and elite units that would follow him into battle based on his fame. It was built into the game. In 3.5 though, there is the Leadership feat, which allows players to do something similar, acquiring cohorts and followers, but depending more on their actual legend, and past experiences. But these only affect friendly NPCs that are meant to flesh out a party, or build an army. How does one imbue a player's legend into the game if they don't allow cohorts and followers, in an attempt to keep things simple?

For myself, I ignore the Leadership feat and tend to ban cohorts and the like. I find them distracting from the "small band of adventurers" aesthetic I like to keep in my games. Cohorts and followers would only slow down combat, and the party would become a small mob, half of whom would be NPCs controlled by the DM. That's not a game, that's a DM playing with himself. Alternately, the legend a character cultivates could be used to garner favor from the regions they have aided in some manner. If they require a teleport spell to a faraway land, a lord may be able to procure that for them. On the other end, a party with a poor reputation might find themselves the target of assassination attempts or over zealous corrupt law enforcers. What people think of the party is important, they do not exist in a vacuum where their actions do not matter.

A player of mine started DMing a game of his own, and he attempted an interesting idea where a city the main campaign took place in was controlled by a number of factions and guilds. He set up a complex system where they all were intertwined with each other and helping one faction in one way would gain favor with them and their allies, and lose favor with their enemies. Only some of the factions had secret allegiances and loyalty changes, so one could never tell who was an ally and who was an enemy at any time. But all knew the party. It was a fascinating idea, and one I could see leading to plenty of dark intrigues.

In the end, how fame and legend plays into your game is up to you. I enjoy bringing it into my game for no other reason than it opens the doors for more adventure ideas. No reason to restrict my creativity by not using it, and the more options I'm given, the better quality adventures I can come up with. I hope something I wrote was helpful to you. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned Monday for "M is for Megadungeon".

Relevant Link
D&D 3.5 Leadership Feat
Pathfinder Leadership Feat

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K is for Knowledge

Today I'm talking specifically about the Knowledge skill, not about the concept of knowledge itself, which would involve much more time and effort than I can devote in a day. The Knowledge skill is a fantastic skill that I have seen entire parties spread their skill ranks into to make sure every one was maxed out by someone at all times.

Knowledge can be used in a general sense to determine what a character knows about a related field. For example: Knowledge Dungeoneering would allow someone to identify a mineral, or determine a slope. But you can also use Knowledge as a sort of Pokedex which the players can use to identify monster weaknesses, strengths, etc. I'll be honest I didn't even know that until about a year ago when a player pointed it out to me. Obviously I must have skimmed over that little bit in the book.

In relation to monster information, the actual rules on the subject are slim, explaining that a character knows its powers and weaknesses and not much else. While D&D gives the DC of a monster check as 10 + the monster's CR, Pathfinder scales it up or down by 5 based on the rarity of the creature. The books also state that more information is to be given per 5 that the DC is beaten by. What exactly is more information? How does one quantify this, and how much information is too much?

For the answer, I found an unofficial source for what information to give out. Now usually I'm reluctant to use unofficial or third party rules, (heck, I don't much like using anything besides core rules) but in this case, I felt it the best way to stay consistent with what the Knowledge skill provides. This way, my players always know what to expect based on their roll. The source I site is actually from a forum at the Wizards of the Coast community page called the Monster Lore Compendium. In the past, the exact information to give out when a player made a roll was vague, the compendium was comprised by a forum poster who went through almost every book available and actually wrote out what information was given by what roll. On the Pathfinder SRD, they actually integrated this amazing work into the monster pages themselves. Really fantastic stuff. As a source, I could not recommend anything more than I recommend this.

I'm running a bit behind today, as I've been very busy DMing a D&D 3.5 and a Pathfinder game every week, so I don't have much to say about the Knowledge skill, though I hope to go more in-depth with each skill eventually. Thank you for reading, and stay tuned tomorrow for "L is for Legend".

Relevant Links
Monster Lore Compendium

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J is for Journal

A journal is a specific form of story-telling in gaming. Often-times it is difficult for a DM to convey history in a place, and so they must use methods that show that story in a direct manner. Journals are one of the best ways to show this, in my experience, and allow DMs who like writing (such as myself) a fun distraction from adventure-crafting.

Journals, besides showing a story, can also be used as evidence against a character. Finding the true thoughts of a person can be damning when they are suspected of a crime. Of course, it's silly to imagine that every NPC records every action they take, but an occasional diary here and there can really spice up an otherwise dull character, especially if they are not talkative and closed off.

Journals can be used as a hint of the villain's innocence as well. I once had a journal mention that it's owner was going to soon head north where there had been reports of "creatures of madness and nightmare". North of the party's location was where they had inadvertently released aboleths from a realm of pure madness. Putting two and two together, they could theorize that perhaps the character was not in fact so much an evil person, as potentially under the control of an aboleth. It was up to them to decide whether she was worth the attempt to save or not.

When a player finds a journal, I often decide to trap it. Just like modern diaries, no one much likes others reading their personal thoughts, so it makes sense to me that they would protect themselves with a trap. A glyph of warding or a sigil spell if the owner is magical, and usually a small mechanical trap if not. When a journal sets off a trap, obviously the type of trap could lead to disastrous results for the journal. Fire and acid are not the friend of paper, though a clever arcane caster could imbue an illusion of the journal burning in the resulting explosion, thereby keeping his journal safe without having to destroy it.

Diaries can also be used to explain what happened in an area, when other avenues of inquiry are less revealing. Journals can reveal the reason why an entire city is abandoned, or go into depth of a particular person's experience. The character could have been scared, or attempting to comfort a child, or enraged at an enemy. A diary is first and foremost in my mind a way to make the players care about either the author, or the people they represent. A deeper look into their psyche and what they were feeling at the time they wrote the entry.

I have often used journals to give players vital information. One journal they found was written by a man who challenged a god in combat. The author revealed that the god tends to favor his right side before he died of his wounds, which the players used to gain an attack bonus against the god. Another time they found a journal that intimated that the killer they had been tracking down was in fact an old arch-nemesis of theirs.

There are very few limits to what can be done with a journal story-wise, and I highly recommend using them when applicable. They are the easiest clue to the events of the past, and will help to emerge your players in the game and hopefully to care about characters that aren't their own. Thank you for reading, and stay tuned tomorrow for "K is for Knowledge".

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I is for Intelligent Item

An intelligent item is any item that is self-aware and has a personality quantified by a number called an ego. Ego is essentially the force of will of the item. The more powers an item has, the higher its ego score, which is used as the DC of a roll when a wielding character attempts an action that goes against the item's alignment or wishes. Oh yeah, intelligent items also have alignments. They are basically wearable characters, and because of this can be both villainous and beneficial in their use, depending on the party's tendencies.

When I think of intelligent items, I tend to think of weapons, but there's nothing that states intelligent items can't be armor, pendants, or rings. The One Ring from the Lord of the Rings is of course an intelligent item, probably the intelligent item of fantasy. It may never have spoken, but it had a purpose, a will, and could choose its wielder by abandoning its previous one. Unfortunately, its hard to introduce a ring without players immediately thinking of those books, the source for nearly all Dungeon & Dragons tropes, and assuming the worst. On that note, I will address more about how to use a player's meta-gaming habits against them in a later post, probably next month after the A to Z challenge.

The first aspect I'd like to address about these items is their proclivity for murder. Reading through the official rules, special purpose intelligent items have a percentile roll to see what their purpose is. Approximately 75% of these options are to defeat or slay a certain class, people, race, alignment, etc. with another 5% open to choice. One may argue that this only applies to special purpose items, but what character worth his salt doesn't have a goal, a dream, a desire? The purposes listed just so happen to lean heavily toward the murder variety. This is not a bad thing, I'm just saying how amusing it is.

I've always been fond of talkative and high ego intelligent items. To me, if an intelligent item isn't vying for control of its wielder or the entire party, it might as well not be intelligent. Obviously the item has to be good enough that a character would find it worth dealing with an antagonistic piece of furniture, but occasional disagreements should happen. Even if generally in agreement and alignment with the character, no personalities are always in sync. I would strongly encourage a DM to be prepared for these fantastic roleplaying moments and know the item's personality and goals very well in order to best represent the item. The first time I ever brought an intelligent item into my campaign I forgot to use it to talk shortly after the first couple of sessions and after that it never really showed up as a character. I consider this a lost opportunity and wish I had done more to guide its wielder.

The second time I brought one in, however, I was better prepared. I actually crafted an entire murder-mystery adventure around an evil cursed human-slaying bow that had taken control of an elven lord. The players, after a lengthy adventure of sleuthing and spying, had pin-pointed the lord as the culprit, but did not realize until the end that the bow had taken control of him. This turned out to be rather interesting when one of the players managed to disarm the lord of the bow, then promptly picked it up, only to fail his save against the bow's ego, and start shooting at his own teammates. Eventually he had to be disarmed as well, at which point the bow teleported away, calling out to the players that this was not over, and it would see them again. Essentially I had made an item a reoccurring villain. Who would be its next victim?

I feel the most important aspect of the intelligent item is really what it wants and what it feels. Besides its special purpose, why does it exist? Does it have other desires? Is it actually a coward, opting to above all else avoid combat? Is it passive-aggressive, or lazy? Does it desire to be put in a museum, to be ogled at by the masses? I would suggest thinking on these aspects of an intelligent item's personality before introducing one to your game, as they could really add some flavor when applied with imagination. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned tomorrow for "J is for Journal".

Relevant Links
D&D 3.5 Intelligent Items
Pathfinder Intelligent Items

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H is for Homunculus

In history, homunculi are alchemically-created people, involving some questionable rituals involving the seed of a man, human blood, and a horse's womb. The person created was functionally no different than a man, though said to be considerably smaller, hence the name homunculus, being the Latin diminutive form of homo (man). In RPG gaming however, it is a specific creature created with the Craft Construct feat. Luckily for us, the process by which one creates a homunculus is considerably less disturbing, though one could always choose to involve the more historically accurate version if they wish.

A homunculus is telepathically linked to its master (the supplier of the blood), conveying all its experiences, but cannot speak. This has never stopped me, homunculi can be fun creatures, and talking makes them much more interesting. They also share the nature and alignment of their master, so unlike golems, which are invariably neutral, they actually have personalities that may get them in trouble. It can be fun to watch a player interact with his homunculus, it reveals traits about the character they may never have noticed otherwise. If the construct is under the control of the DM, it can be a way for the DM to comment on the player's perceived nature, though always be aware that a homunculus is unwaveringly loyal to its master, no matter how chaotic or evil they may be.

 I think it important to ask a player crafting a homunculus what sort of physical features they would like to give their pet. It says a lot about their opinion of their creations, as well as themselves. Does a character craft himself a handsome butler, or an ugly misshapen lump? Does he make him identical to himself? What gender does he choose, if one at all? What race? Is his homunculus portly or lanky? Dark-skinned or fair? Does he give it hair? While these choices may have little effect in a rule setting, when roleplaying they can provide adventure ideas or opportunities to further character progression, especially when compared with what the character thinks of himself. The player may forget that the homunculus is an extension of his character, but I try not to forget it. It may come in handy.

Between editions, one difference makes itself known: what happens when its master is destroyed. In D&D 3.5, its body dissolves into ichor, while in Pathfinder it instead goes insane, becoming a mindless watchdog for the surrounding area. Some homunculi have been known to recover from this and aspire to more, such as claiming to be the heir to their master's possessions or even their spirit incarnate. A homunculus with a trap the soul gem crafted within it could be an interesting curse that the players could free a friendly wizard from, or better yet, a much more insidious villain. A particularly well-crafted homunculus could even pass for a halfling, so long as it didn't betray the fact that it could fly and had a poisonous bite.

Homunculi can also be used as familiars, with the Improved Familiar feat, making advancing them easier and cheaper. Though a well-funded wizard, (with an accommodating DM) could find ways to build homunculi with more hit dice and then use that as their familiar. The rule that says a familiar must be a normal, unmodified version of the creature normally prevents this from being allowed, but one could always argue that in the case of a constructed being, the terms 'normal' and 'unmodified' are open to interpretation.

That's about all I have to say about homunculi today, if you have any questions or suggestions don't be shy to make a comment. I'm always open to ideas for future posts or A to Z suggestions. Stay tuned tomorrow for "I is for Intelligent Item".

Relevant Links
D&D Homunculus
Pathfinder Homunculus
Wikipedia Homunculus

G is for Golem

First and foremost, a golem is a construct, but a construct isn't necessarily a golem. Constructs have one fundamental difference between D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder: players cannot critically hit, and rogues cannot sneak attack a construct in 3.5, while they may do so in Pathfinder.

This distinction obviously made a lot of rogues happy when switching to Pathfinder, but I feel golems lost a bit of what made them unique. Where exactly is a magically constructed and imbued automaton's weak spot? Of course, I can understand the game designer's thought process. Without sneak attack, a rogue is stripped of his most damaging attack. Combine it with a golem's damage reduction, and the rogue is quickly without much to do in a golem fight. Obviously players don't want to be stuck doing nothing.

To define a golem in game terms, they are automatons that are specifically infused with the essence of an elemental, making them permanently attached to the body of the golem. From a point of view, a golem is an enslaved or captured elemental. Which is in its own right a rich source of potential adventure ideas. Golems are also bound to their creators, obeying without question the orders they are given, even after the creator's death or disappearance. That said, not all golems are hostile, even if created by a hostile person. Some are used for menial tasks or labor, though all will defend themselves if attacked.

Players can create golems as well. In fact, my brother is playing a conjurer wizard with all the requisite feats to create golems of his own. He's still too low-leveled to really do much with it, but we hope to see how it works out in the coming months, and I'll readdress the topic eventually. While a costly venture, we're both confident it will be incredibly fun. We imagine a small squad of golems used to attack enemies and make scout runs.

Golems are a fantastic enemy type to throw at players. They are hard to kill, are naturally resistant to most magic, immune to Fortitude saves, and will never back down from their mission. They have no morale, and because of their automaton nature, do not understand taunting, or attempts to befriend them. As a reoccurring villain, while they leave a lot to be desired in original thought, they can be used effectively if their last received orders were quite complex and grand in scope. I try to come up with a 'last received order' script for every golem I create, to make sure they are working within the scope of the rules. Perhaps in the future I should attempt to create a golem villain that is attempting to follow their master's last orders, like opening six seals leading to the Abyss. The master is foiled by the players, but his golem continues his dark purpose. Do the players have what it takes to stop this unwavering foe that needs neither food, water, air, or sleep?

I enjoy using golems as mechs as well. Weaker enemies that may need a bit more time to stay alive can exist within a golem, controlling it with a series of complex levers and switches. I once had a weaker imp familiar villain control a Hellfire Engine, and invented some rules for breaking open the hatch that he was in, and for grappling him within it. It made an otherwise easily killed enemy quite difficult, and gave my players some pause before they ultimately decided to opt for striking a deal with the imp rather than attempt to fight it. Golems are fun, and can be the bane of any party, when used with a bit of imagination. Thanks for reading, stay tuned tomorrow for "H is for Homunculus".

Relevant Links
D&D 3.5 Golem
Pathfinder Golem

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