I was a terrible farmer, even before I broke both my legs. After that I spent the summer learning to swim and spearfish in Caraway Pond. Dani would sling me over her shoulder like a bag of manure every morning, hike over the ridge, and leave me there. Jeno Slimps and some other kids found a tunnel in the mud behind some rocks at low tide. I was the scrawniest and could swim alright, and we all knew there was treasure under the Pit in Mud Camp, so I crawled on my belly with a candle and a knife. Mud and rotting weeds clogged the passage as it angled down, and it was a tight squeeze, even for my skinny ass. I'll never forget the smell. I was covered in snot and fish shit and Crael knows what else, but I thought I saw a glint of bright colors ahead. Couldn't get much further and wasn't sure if I could get out. I blacked out when the tunnel collapsed and woke up in the dark with mud up to my chest. I shouted and heard an echo like some kind of well, and felt cold rough stone. Tried to scramble upright but couldn't grip the slimy walls. Up above I saw the shimmer of those bright colors, green and blue and peach and golden white. Light washed over me and I felt new strength in my weak legs. Then the damn mud stood up and grabbed me...
- Vaus Hungo -
Please Note: All of my written ideas about TTRPGs are very specific opinions and based on less research and experience than yours.
So, what is the point? This is what I keep asking myself as I pursue this project. For single sessions or short adventures, maybe all you need to keep everyone engaged is player buy-in. This is a concept I can appreciate and am generally on board with. I'm just happy to be there with my friends. I'm less convinced that all the characters need to be enthusiastic about the party goal or even outwardly cooperative. Try not to be a dick about it in real life.
For longer campaigns and MEGADUNGEONS, what is it that keeps players coming back? The promise of imaginary treasure? Probably not. Some players are motivated by character development and narrative, playing out the story of some grand intrigue or apocalyptic conspiracy. These are tricky things in an old school game. Personally I'm happy to fully inhabit whatever rando Mörk Borg weirdo I just rolled up and jam until he dies. On to the next bad accent. Where's the middle ground? As a GM (my preferred role), I try to never know what's going to happen next. The dungeon/setting shouldn't dictate the narrative of play, but it can tell its own story and it can be a mystery to solve. It's entirely up to the players to decide if they want to pursue that, but it's up to the GM to keep them coming back. If the setting and the dungeon are good, it should make the GM's job easy. You might not need to kill the Boss Monster to retire a hero, but it might help. Or at least you died stupid.
As of writing, I am currently caught up on my Dungeon23 entries. Each new page brings more questions than answers, but pieces of the first few weeks are falling into place as later maps develop and evolve. I have many notes in the margins of things to revisit or flesh out and random tables to create. So the story of the dungeon develops. Why is it here and what is it? I am constantly thinking about ways to tell that story to the players through play and discovery. I don't want anyone (especially me) to read boxed text and it makes no sense to have long-winded expository NPCs explain things. It also shouldn't be imperative that the party find any or all clues. Lore should be open to interpretation, but what's the point of writing it if it doesn't affect the way players play? The journey of the party and their interactions with the world should be the only plot that matters.
I will write more in the future about the joys of a persistent dynamic world as I work on the overall setting in which this dungeon resides. I intend to use some hexcrawl playtesting as a way to create the larger world map. Please get in touch if you're interested in playtesting either this dungeon or the overworld.
To the maps!
