D&D General What do you think of mega-dungeons for online D&D play?

[Klaudius Rex]

Normally, i dont like large scale dungeon crawls for in-person D&D...but i'm starting to think it might be well suited for online D&D with like Roll20 or whatever...

Even during in-person play, storylines while some very interesting can still be hard for players to decide on what to do, or where to go, or what exactly is going on...and i think this may be even more challenging for players to keep track of storylines and side quests and the like while playing online...

so, i'm thinking about running the Dungeon of the Mad Mage mega-dungeon so players dont have to worry too much about the larger story and at least players will be engaged regularly if it was a sort of video game style combat heavy survival mode dungeon crawl resource management with some but low backstory and social NPC interaction but mostly big XP rewards for combat and exploration.

i just think players will be more involved if they knew what was going on in the moment as it relates to thier very survival... with a backstory and hook in the back of thier mind while slogging through each level...get from point to point without dying on the regular!

My pitch is to allow any race/class combo and players will either be from or working for the Zhentarim guild hired to delve into Undermountain (for reasons) ...yada, yada, yada...be ready to fight sucka!

By the way, i understand that not all Dungeon of the Mad Mage is entirely combat and dungeon crawling...but i know a lot of it is...and i will definitely incorporate as much social interaction and allowing players to sneak or deceive monsters...whatever they need or come up with...but lets be honest, it is a long term dungeon slog

Let me know if you think this idea sucks? In particular, let me know if this will work better for online D&D as opposed to in-person play. And, while this isnt a recruitment post, we are always looking for new players, so if you're interested, send me a message.

 

[Retreater]

Quick answer: dungeons are great on VTTs. I am DMing Barrowmaze, playing in Caverns of Thracia, and DMing an original dungeon I've created for an OSR game.
So I've had some good success running Barrowmaze for 5e exclusively on Roll20. The automation is good enough to keep combats running fast. The dynamic lighting (or even legacy fog of war) can make mapping very quick.
That said, I specifically disliked the Dungeon of the Mad Mage as an adventure and mega-dungeon. If you would like me to share my review in this thread, I'll be happy to do so, but I don't want to derail the thread about the quality of DotMM.

 

[iserith]

"The story" is what the characters do in the context of the setting as they set about pursuing their goals. Exploring a dungeon, killing or allying with its denizens, recovering treasure, and improving over time as a player and character is a fine goal that makes for an exciting, memorable story. So, yes, a mega-dungeon will give you many sessions worth of great stories whether online or in person.

 

[Mannahnin]

I've been running a dungeon-focused OSR game for almost a year now, originally centered on Dyson's Delve (Dyson Logos' "mini-megadungeon") as my tentpole dungeon, with Tomb of the Serpent Kings, James V. West's Crypt of the Worm Idol, and several other smaller dungeons scattered around the landscape.

I've also played for a few months off and on in an OSE game of Barrowmaze, another in Stonehell for a while, and have recently been poking into a version of Castle Greyhawk in an OD&D game.

Long story short, yes, I think it's very suitable for this sort of play.

Being able to set up dungeon levels I find much easier than running the 5E game I was previously, with tons of overland travel, in which I was accustomed to often improvising battlefields and antagonists using markers on a Chessex battlemat and my extensive collection of wargames and D&D miniatures. Initially when Covid hit I found trying to transition that game to Roll20 too intimidating to really face, and I started the OSR dungeon-crawling game in part to teach myself Roll20. It worked well and that game has continued, though the 5E game had to go on hiatus due to other real life issues for the players.

One logistical item you'll need to figure out your group's preferred answer to, depending on your session length and which system you're using, is how you handle travel into and out of the dungeon, and to what extent "clearing" it is possible. Random Encounters are definitely part of the fun of old-school dungeon games, and managing the risk from them is part of the skill of delving.

 

[Oofta]

While I don't do dungeons, even now that I'm VTT only, I do think VTT would work really well for dungeon crawls. The limited sight lines, light sources (or lack therein) does add something.

It's probably about the only thing I'll miss about VTTs when we go back to play in person. Especially since I DM and people have to come to our house.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Yep, I ran the Doomvault on Roll20, works great! Even if you don't have things like dynamic lighting, dungeon crawling still works really well in an online format.

I do recommend spending the extra few $ getting the material pre-made for you on whatever platform you use. Unless you have a lot of free time, it is a big hassle to upload the maps and file every room with the necessary tokens and enemies. For something like Dungeon of the Mad Mage, it's just better to spend some dollars and have it all done for you.

 

[embee]

VTT is great for tactical play. Practice makes perfect and the more time you spend laying down DL boundaries in Roll20 the better you get at it. It's just a lot of clicking. And then, once you've got that laid down, you're almost done.

Words of warning: You're going to want to break up the dungeon into manageable sections. Your game is realistically only as fast as your slowest player's computer.

Do NOT use Roll20s AV system. It's terrible. Roll your own with either Discord, Zoom, Skype, or whatever. Just not Roll20.

 

[beast013]

Dungeon crawls work great in a VTT environment. Fog of war makes for a suspenseful adventure. I'm going to run Steading of the Hill giants via VTT as part of my on-going campaign.

 

[iserith]

Dungeon crawls work great in a VTT environment. Fog of war makes for a suspenseful adventure. I'm going to run Steading of the Hill giants via VTT as part of my on-going campaign.

My group played that one a few months ago (as well as the subsequent modules) on Roll20. We were a heavy metal band called Rage Against the Giants. In Steading of the Hill Giants, we had to clear the place out as it was to be a big venue for our upcoming concert to launch our most introspective album to date, plus we needed treasure to square our debt with the record label.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I have definitely been leaning harder into dungeons (not usually my thing) while things have been forced digital. Giant sprawling battlemaps with well-defined boundaries plays to the strengths of VTT.