A reader of this blog emailed me and asked, basically, how to start with a GURPS megadungeon.
Here is basically what I wrote:
I think the best advice I can give you is mostly on the blog already, and in one GURPS book.
Mapping and size is dealt with in this series of posts:
Megadungeon Design
Rule-wise, take a look here and the two posts linked within in:
Felltower Reflections: 5 Years Later
Also, spend $3 on this:
GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 21: Megadungeons
I did my best to make that a primer on the idea of megadungeons and the rules and ramifications of them in GURPS.
Did I miss anything?
Obviously, if the above reading - it's a lot, admittedly - doesn't cover something that someone a starting GURPS-based megadungeon campaign - let me know in the comments and I'll see if I can't get writing it.
I really thought it would be about what CP to start characters at
ReplyDelete250? 125? Doesn't really matter.
DeleteYeah--starting at 125 or 162 or whatever may be more like D&D 1st level progression, but starting at 250 is pretty standard for DFRPG. As characters advance, as I am sure Peter will advise, you need harder hitting monsters, more numbers, etc., etc., to challenge the players. Designing challenges for five 200 or 250 point guys, probably not that hard. For nine guys around 330-450 points? Probably more challenging. But that's from my viewpoint as a player in this game and a GM in another. Peter may disagree on the challenge.
DeleteHaving said all of that, DF21 Megadungeons and the posts are all great resources for designing a megadungeon.
Giving the extremely heavily bounded/restricted nature of DFRPG characters an encounter for 500pt DFRPG characters is way easier than 300pt psychedelic fruitbats of more freeform GURPS
DeleteI've always put in restrictions that make sense with the campaign, so I've never really had that as a concern. If your Venn diagram of the campaign allows characters that are outside of what the campaign otherwise assumes and is prepared for, yeah, you're got your work cut out for you. And for a megadungeon game, you've decided that's how the game works so it's incumbent upon you to make sure the character choices allow it to work.
DeleteI don't allow characters that don't fit the campaign, I want psychedelic fruitbats as one of the main reasons I am attracted to GURPS to begin with, but having later on tried DMing with DFRPG characters I find that incredibly easier even if the characters were higher point value.
Delete