this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2025
36 points (97.4% liked)
rpg
4211 readers
6 users here now
This community is for meaningful discussions of tabletop/pen & paper RPGs
Rules (wip):
- Do not distribute pirate content
- Do not incite arguments/flamewars/gatekeeping.
- Do not submit video game content unless the game is based on a tabletop RPG property and is newsworthy.
- Image and video links MUST be TTRPG related and should be shared as self posts/text with context or discussion unless they fall under our specific case rules.
- Do not submit posts looking for players, groups or games.
- Do not advertise for livestreams
- Limit Self-promotions. Active members may promote their own content once per week. Crowdfunding posts are limited to one announcement and one reminder across all users.
- Comment respectfully. Refrain from personal attacks and discriminatory (racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc.) comments. Comments deemed abusive may be removed by moderators.
- No Zak S content.
- Off-Topic: Book trade, Boardgames, wargames, video games are generally off-topic.
- No AI-generated content. Discussion of AI generation pertaining to RPGs is explicitly allowed.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I feel like that's more how megadungeons. Yeah, megadungeons have a history in our hobby, and they're great, but why should I prefer a megadungeon over a sandbox or linear campaign?
I get a kick out of people who express non-dungeon campaigns as a megadungeon. That kind of meta is helpful for game design.
Agreed, and isn't a country or kingdom a dungeon in itself? Generally mega dungeons have towns, wilderness, ruins, forts, named monsters, sub factions and leadership.....ya know, like anywhere the hell else. Who cares if your dungeon has a rock roof or an air one
Yeah. That's how I would look at it. I can see how a dungeon simplifies description: I wouldn't expect to see as much stuff in a dungeon hall, as I would in a Shadowrun street. That in turn can constrain challenges: getting over a spike pit has fewer options than convincing a bouncer to let you into the club.
I remember hearing or reading somewhere that Gygax basically insisted on only running dungeons, and that PCs were supposed to lose all their cash in between adventures cuz they lived lavishly or the local economy scrubbed their pockets super fast.
I always wondered why have a roll playing game with LESS roll play or even world building for that matter
Like isn't the crappy town sucking them dry more monstrous than Halaster? Is not the tyranny of the legitimate king or local lords or merchant guild more devious than some cult summoning demons on level 8? Probably not but its nice to have the option
IIRC you spent gold on XP by carousing; basically, blowing all your cash on ale and brothels was how you leveled up.
Wasn't the original D&D more of a war game than role playing?
I dunno, I'm all for weird limits and mechanics in games so long as everyone is having fun. I'm sure I'll run dungeons again, and hopefully it'll be in a system that is designed for it.
@P1k1e @sbv That basically comes from Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar stories. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser were always going broke between adventures.