by Benjamin Laurence
This podcast is about the tools and techniques GMs use to create and run megadungeons, entire tabletop roleplaying game campaigns where the adventuring takes place in a single giant dungeon with 100’s of rooms spread out over many levels. Why run a megadungeon campaign? How can you build a single adventure location so that it sustains excitement over more than 100 sessions? To answer these questions and many more, Ben talks to the people who know best: GMs with years of experience running amazing megadungeon campaigns.
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7/18/2023
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October 31, 2023
<p>In this special Halloween episode, Ben takes us Into the Megadungeon to interview Miranda Elkins about her Nightwick Abbey campaign--a dungeon literally possessed by a demon. They talk about the secrets of successful restocking, the importance of theme, and how to use geomorphs to craft your dungeon map. They also talk about how to run a horror themed dungeon by externalizing psychology and making metaphor literal.</p> <p>For access to the full geomorphs for levels 1-3 of Nightwick Abbey, and much more, visit the In Places Deep Patreon <a href="https://www.patreon.com/InPlacesDeep" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">here</a>.</p> <p>Check out Miranda's longrunning blog In Places Deep <a href="https://inplacesdeep.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">here</a>. </p> <p>You can find more extensive reader's note, as always, on my substack, Missives from Beyond the Veil of Sleep <a href="https://substack.com/home/post/p-138435758?source=queue" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">here</a>. </p> <p>You can find a transcript of the interview <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mk7bLosF_JCKDxeqV3-xW5qWJh_Phaqc/view?usp=drive_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">here</a>. </p> <p>Music for the episode is "Sticks and Stones" by Samuel Peter Davies, and "The Horror Inside" by Eric Harper.</p>
October 17, 2023
<p>In this episode Ben takes us into the megadungeon to interview Luke Gearing about his weekly lunchtime megadungeon campaign, as well as his published megadungeon <em>Gradient Descent</em>. They talk about why the dungeon is more fun if every creature is an NPC and how random stocking produces interesting results. They also talk about how science horror gaming differs other genres at the table, and how <em>Gradient Descent </em>turns the dungeon itself into a malignant presence that haunts the players. </p> <p>You can find luke's blog <a href="https://lukegearing.blot.im/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">here</a>.</p> <p>You can find Sean McCoy's <em>Warden's Operation Manual</em> <a href="https://mothership-boxed-set.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders/384108" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">here</a>. </p> <p>And, of course, you can find <em>Gradient Descent</em> <a href="https://www.mothershiprpg.com/gradient-descent" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">here</a>. </p> <p>You can access a transcript of this episode <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1py6649DUxErQTxc7A8mZt5JDBDyL8YHC/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">here</a>.</p> <p>For fuller readers notes, as always, you can travel over to Ben's substack, Missives Beyond the Veil of Sleep <a href="https://ultansdoor.substack.com/p/into-the-megadungeon-episode-06-a" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">here</a>. </p> <p>The music for this episode is "Sticks and Stones" by Samuel Peter Davies. </p> <p><br></p>
October 10, 2023
<p>In this episode, Ben takes us into the megadungeon to interview Nick L.S. Whelan about two megadungeon campaigns, "Dungeon Moon" and "Five Years Left". They discuss why GMing is so hard and what lessons we can learn from our failures. They talk about why some kinds of prep only increases your anxiety at the table, how the GM's experience can be dissatisfying even when the players are having a good time, and how play is subtly shaped by what we take seriously at the table and what we're happy to let slide. </p> <p>You can find Nick's blog, Papers & Pencils <a href="https://www.paperspencils.com/">here</a>.</p> <p>You can find more about Dungeon Moon <a href="https://www.paperspencils.com/dungeon-moon/">here</a>, and play reports for Five Years Left <a href="https://www.paperspencils.com/five-years-left/">here</a>. </p> <p>Read about "flux space" <a href="https://www.paperspencils.com/flux-space/">here</a>. </p> <p>Read Nick's fantastic posts about structuring encounter tables <a href="https://www.paperspencils.com/structuring-encounter-tables-amended-restated/">here</a>.</p> <p>You can follow Nick's next dungeon adventure project, Sanctimonious Slime vs. Expired Epicures <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/avaislam/sanctimonious-slimes-vs-expired-epicures?ref=21zo6q">here</a>. </p> <p>As always, you can find further reader's notes on my substack <a href="https://ultansdoor.substack.com/p/into-the-megadungeon-episode-5-lessons" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">here</a>.</p> <p>The music used in this episode is "Sticks and Stones" by Samuel Peter Davies. </p> <p><br></p>
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