Castles and Crusades

[Skanky Burns]

Originally posted by DrSpike
You don't need to worry until they ask for chainmail and a sword so they can LARP.

Nothing wrong with owning chainmail and/or a sword (or two).

[DrSpike]

Yes. Yes, there is.

[joncha]

[Stuie]

Originally posted by joncha
Then have various humanoid factions in the caves vying for control, each one big enough to hold its own but none strong enough to take out any other. That gives them a "reason" for being in such close proximity. If your kids attempt to pit one group against the other, all the more fun for you. If not, I'm sure they'll enjoy the dungeon crawl.

That's not a bad idea, but I think I've thought up a good idea for a huge dungeon that makes some sense (not a lot... but enough!).

The basic premise is that a huge sink hole has opened in the earth in the hills west of a small keep. (The keep guards the road between two of the larger towns in the Kingdom of Connacht.) The son of a local merchant disappeared near the sink hole while investigating the area with some friends, and a patrol was sent to find him. They have not been seen since. With orc trouble tying up the rest of the local garrison, the PCs are asked to go find a) the merchant's son and b) find the patrol.

At some point prior to reaching this area, the characters will here the legend of the lost city of Caer Duum (pronounced suspiciously like "Doom"). Caer Duum was the capital of the ancient empire that used to rule the entire island of Hibernia (which is now split into five kingdoms). It is said that the people of Caer Duum reached too high and were punished by the gods by being buried alive. Turns out this is true - at least something buried them.

Caer Duum was built on top of an old city (the Old City), which was build in turn on top of an even older city (the Original City). The sink hole is the result of a huge collapse in the Old City, and a dark pit at the bottom of the hole descends a couple hundred feet down into a portion of that city. On the side of the sink hole there is what appears to be a cave entrance - this is actually the upper floor of a tower from Caer Duum. Entering this will give access to the buried remains of Caer Duum. Dropping into the pit will land anyone in the buried remains of Old City, but the depth involved will hopefully discourage the characters from attempting a descent in the pit.

So there - each city will be several levels, lots of undead and other subterranean dwelling creatures. Maybe some Orc tunnels from the nearby mountains have bisected parts of the ruins. Maybe a drow kingdom deep beneath the remains. Old catacombs, sewers, crypts, etc. etc. that comprised the various cities "undergrounds" in their day. Lots of shops, residences, palaces, temples, etc. etc. making up the multitude of rooms in the dungeon. And the PCs can keep coming back to peel off another layer.

The merchant's son, by the way, should be found rather quickly a couple floors below the "cave" entrance (general rule for my campaign: don't kill kids. I'm playing with children after all). The patrol was not so lucky - they tried to enter by way of the pit and quickly met their doom at the hands of some really nasty undead creatures that dwell on those lower levels. Of course they are now part of the undead dwellers, so eventually the PCs will find them and have to fight them, then can return something from their remains to show they were found. Hopefully the PCs will explore the upper levels first, do some leveling up, and then tackle the lower dungeons. This could be the basis for a lot of gaming...

[joncha]

Sounds like a pretty good premise for an old-school megadungeon to me.

[Stuie]

I got the joncha stamp of approval!

[Nostromo]

A couple of days ago, I checked out what they're doing in PnP RPG land. Is it me or are they much more innovative than their collegues who are designing CRPG's? Take Universalis, for example:

Universalis is a role-playing game (RPG) from Ramshead Publishing that stresses interactive storytelling. The game uses a unique system, based on "coins" that are used to make additions to the game, which allows the entire group to participate in the creation of the setting and events in play without a traditional gamemaster. The rules also provide a means of negotiating their own alteration, allowing for unlimited customization for play. The system is meant to support any possible genre.

That could make a nice forum game...

[joncha]

Originally posted by Stuie
I got the joncha stamp of approval!

me

If you haven't already, I'd recommend checking out www.dragonsfoot.org. It's mostly an old-school D&D site, but they have a fairly active Castle & Crusade forum going.