Exposure to the Mythic Environment

My Dannak megadungeon will be based on the principle of the mythic underworld. One of the things this allows, and something I have always wanted, is a concrete, sensible rationale to regard the PCs as regular folks that dare to achieve.

Most of the NPCs of the setting will be 0-level folks just trying to get by. That is the stock the PCs spring from. Sure, they may have a couple of above average stats, or be able to command simple magics, but at the beginning of their adventures they are only barely separated from the NPCs. This is why I am definitely limiting the availability of starting classes. Some classes are just too specialized to be allowable right out of the gate, in this environment.

It is their exposure to the mythic underworld that annoints them as true adventurers. Once they have braved its dangers and faced its horrors, they begin to acquire a certain legend surrounding themselves. I see this as an upward spiral, just as the game was designed to engender. The more capable (legendary, in mythic terms) the characters become, the greater the dangers they can face. The greater the danger, the greater the reward, and if they best that challenge and return with that reward, their legend grows, and the cycle perpetuates itself. This is represented, of course, by the character gaining levels, which enable him to delve ever deeper into the dungeon, slay more powerful opponents, take their shit, and continue gaining levels.

I have been a big fan of the notion that says "If enough people believe in it enough, it must be true". I think Earthdawn pulled that off pretty well, and I love it for that. I've seen rules in later iterations of D&D that have made a nod toward it, with magic items that can gain in power, but that never really satisfied. This, though, makes sense to me. The mechanics are already in place, with D&D's levels. All I needed was a campaign specific "dressing" (dare I say "narrative"?) to give form to the function.

So, here we will have a group of suicidal people trying to wrest their fortune from the ruins of Dannak (the 1st level party). After some time they return with some coin and jewelry, along with tales of horrors faced and battles won. Some of their former peers will be impressed, some will thumb their noses at the modest success. Orcs and goblins, though, are no longer feared by the characters, and having tasted success, and confident in their abilities, they reprovision and head back in. With each successful foray, rumors spread, becoming legend, and the PCs are no longer even part of the society that spawned them.

Which brings me to my next point. With the bulk of NPCs being 0-level, it would seem easy for the PCs, even at modest level, to take over. To be honest, I can't really divine a way to prevent that mechanically, other than the obvious solution of giving the NPCs levels. That is too artificial, in a lot of ways. No, this has to be handled narratively (there's that word again). The players have to realize and understand that once their characters have essentially become mythic through exposure to the mythic underworld, they no longer view 0-level people as worthy adversaries. They likewise are not tempted by whatever mundane wealth could be gained by slaughtering common folk.

If a player or two has trouble with that concept from time to time, a scattering a higher level NPCs should keep them in check. Mentors, and other like-minded adventurers are sure to be present. Side adventures could even involve one of these running amok, and the PCs hired to stop them. A little object lesson never hurts.

So, that's my take on weaving exposure to the mythic environment into the mechanics of leveling. As always, comments and discourse are welcomed.

Misnomers and House Rules

It is amazing what a little clarity of vision, married with a well-defined goal, can enable one to accomplish.

It has never been lost on me that D&D is a toolkit. Especially D&D as presented in the LBBs. It is also well-known that it demands tinkering and house-ruling right out of the box (pardon the pun). I think, though, that maybe "house rules" is a term that is a bit misleading. I think the term should be "campaign modifications", or some variation thereof. Please allow me to explain.

For virtually my entire gaming "career" I have house ruled any game I have ever owned. Whether I had a group or not, a campaign in development or underway, or not, I was house ruling. It never dawned on me that I wasn't house ruling at all. Without a campaign in mind, I was actually modifying the toolkit. It isn't until the toolkit is applied to the campaign that it becomes a rules set. Some changes can be made to the toolkit, to be sure. The vast majority of the house rules should be informed by specific details of the campaign, however. Very few people will go to their workshop and modify their hammer or screwdriver, but they will take the blueprint for a project and modify it to better suit the unique nature of their needs.

Development of Dannak has lead me to this conclusion. Anyone can play D&D straight from the box. Anyone can start house ruling willy-nilly on their first read-thru. The best modifications, though, are the ones implemented to reflect specific peculiarities of the campaign.

System of Choice

Now that I have my megadungeon direction, I have to firmly focus myself on a system. Naturally, it will be old-school D&D, but via which route? For me, it is all about the characters and the combat system. It is about the one that produces characters that I want to play (even though I'll be designing/refereeing). it also has to deliver characters I want to referee, so no abilities that get real sticky with math or exceptions. Combat has to pop, move right along, be exciting, terrifying, and quick. I refuse to track segments or arrow flight times or any of the other "realism" nonsense that people have tried to bolt onto the abstraction engine at the heart of D&D.

So, it really comes down to three options for me: Swords & Wizardry Complete, Labyrinth Lord, and Labyrinth Lord + Advanced Edition Companion.

Complete really is in the driver's seat. The LBBs plus supplements were proto-AD&D, and so is Complete. I think it would require minimal house ruling (mostly for the Fighter, Cleric, and changes to the Magic-User xp chart). Its rules are closest to the ones I started with, so the comfort factor is off the chart.

LL and LL+AEC are superb games. Very well presented and organized. As I've mentioned, I've never held an actual copy of B or X, so there is zero familiarity or nostalgia for me in LL. The AEC does conjure some memories, though, because it truly does capture the spirit of how we actually played "AD&D" back then. I just bolted it onto the LBBs instead of B/X. The biggest thing holding these two back, beyond the nostalgia factor, is size. I have a program that splits pdfs into their individual pages, then add or rearrange pages. I cobbled together an LL "complete", which is base LL minus sections 2 and 3, added in everything from the AEC, left out the known world stuff, and it is still 236 pages. Not bad compared to close to 500 for Pathfinder Core, which doesn't include monsters. But S&W Complete comes in over 100 pages shorter. I like that.

The other option I didn't include is my own S&W based house rules doc. I still have mixed feelings on it, so it will almost certainly remain on the shelf for now.

Mondays

I have exhausted my initial batch of misconceptions. I'm certain more will come to me, but for now I'm out.

So, I have a new thing for Monday. Megadungeon Monday. I've been wanting to do this, but just didn't have a unifying theme. Just this very morning, one hit me like a ton of bricks. I am very excited about it, excited to share it, and hopeful that I'll get some feedback and conversations going with it.

Even though I'll be looking at it as a mythic underworld, I still wanted it to have some historical context for existing. I do want research in town to be a viable and worthy option. I wanted a good backstory for the players that could at least hint at why this sprawling underground complex would come to be. As far as my referee's backstory goes, there is a certain point where the dungeon took on a mythical life of its own, thus obviating the need to give even a passing nod to reality issues.

The inaugural Megadungeon Monday is up next, with a rough draft of the backstory idea. Please let me know what you think.