Task D: Large Dungeon

The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
What they're really paying to see.
I've seen mentions of possible links to the main dungeon on a couple of threads and it might help with these synergistic hooks and keys if we could at least lock down what this place is all about.

Who: Who built it (that one's easy; the Ancients). Who currently occupies it?
What: What is it? Dungeon? Megadungeon (have we just unlocked the first installment in this adventure?)? Gigadungeon (have we just unlocked a vast network of interconnected subterranean locations throughout the Wastes?)? Tower? Cave System? Other? All of the Above?
Where: Where is it located in relation to the three starting areas? What sort of biome is it located in?
Why: Why was it built? Fortress? Prison? Laboratory? Living Quarters? Menagerie? Palace? Other?
When: When do the PC's get there? Is there a timetable of events? A countdown?

There are lots of other considerations: Adventure Hooks. Predominant Inhabitants. BBEG. Climactic Event/Purpose of Dungeon/Big Discovery to wrap things up and propel events forward into future adventures.

Anyway, here's a space to start wrangling it all out and help us start connecting all the dots with our other Tasks.
 

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
How about "Doomsday Central HQ" for the Lost Civ? Where they coordinate their vaults, keep a nucleus of their civilization, and plan efforts to re-seed the planet with life after the apocalypse passes, because (spoiler alert) their apocalypse didn't actually come - ITS STILL ON THE WAY! They're all alive down in this mini-city! We simple surface folk just thought they were gone because we didn't see them around...

...or not - maybe the built the thing and died anyway because their expected apocalypse turned out to be a disease which only spread more rapidly in the confined space, and not a meteor or whatever.

Could be good for - I don't want to say "megadungeon" - but a very large, multi-part dungeon. We can easily break it into chunks - animal research wing, lifespan-extension section, doomsday-stopping division, habitation modules, etc.
 

Commodore

*eyeroll*
So I'm hearing something pretty Planet of the Apes; this seems more technological than I for one would prefer. I did really like the asymmetrically-advanced society idea, so how about something a little less like a Fallout Vault, and a little more like Machu Pichu, but with magically advanced places of research and observatories for stunningly accurate astrology? Hell, if you want a great "dungeon" map:
58
Add some earthquake shifts and caved in sections and you have one hell of a huge place to explore...
 

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
So you want us to essentially re-do Dwellers of the Forbidden City? I'm not saying "no", I just want to make sure that's what you're looking for.

But know this - I realize the whole original Mountain direction, the mountain frogs, and now the "fantasy Machu Picchu idea" all originated from you instead of through the organics of group consensus (which is a reality of the situation - group input is a lot more limited than any of us would like, and feels like the same 3 voices voting on anything around here). What I take from that is that you clearly have a very specific thing in mind, but it feels like the rest of us are steering away from it more than you'd like... So my question is this: will that be a deal-breaker for you?
 
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Commodore

*eyeroll*
Going back to the original thread, my "absolutely no go" is "too gonzo". I see ancients with lasers, I'm pulling the ripcord. That said, I'll keep lobbying for my ideas and amplifying others I like (glass frogs was...Ice?)
 

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
Going back to the original thread, my "absolutely no go" is "too gonzo". I see ancients with lasers, I'm pulling the ripcord. That said, I'll keep lobbying for my ideas and amplifying others I like (glass frogs was...Ice?)
I think you misunderstand, survivalist vault doesn't imply atomic-age super science - it's just a functionality attributed to a dungeon complex; a reason for its being. So far the most advanced thing we've got is "stainless steel" - that's a pretty far cry from flying robots and nuclear bombs. The most advanced thing the Lost Civ has produced thus far is no more advanced than my IKEA cutlery set.

I didn't mean to downplay your contributions or anything - your adventure sites with the grippli and the cabbage god and whatnot fit in perfectly, and are very clever.
 
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DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
How about this as a compromise: the Lost Civ's big settlement was a Machu Picchu-style city (as above) on top of a mountain at the fringe of an Exile wasteland (where the Exiles are stuck); with their advanced astrology/astronomy, the lost Civ predicted their own apocalypse, and so kicked off their doomsday prepping phase, most notably by tunnelling from their city into the centre of the mountain where they hoped to avoid catastrophe.

So we have two big dungeon locales - the ruins of the ancient city (for low-level play), and the apocalypse bunker beneath it (for high-level play). The Conglomerate [name pending] is swarming over the city ruins because they are still trying to find the entrance to the bunker. But the city is big, and they're digging in the wrong spot! (heh, Raiders reference).
 

Ice

*eyeroll*
How about this as a compromise: the Lost Civ's big settlement was a Machu Picchu-style city (as above) on top of a mountain at the fringe of an Exile wasteland (where the Exiles are stuck); with their advanced astrology/astronomy, the lost Civ predicted their own apocalypse, and so kicked off their doomsday prepping phase, most notably by tunnelling from their city into the centre of the mountain where they hoped to avoid catastrophe.

So we have two big dungeon locales - the ruins of the ancient city (for low-level play), and the apocalypse bunker beneath it (for high-level play). The Conglomerate [name pending] is swarming over the city ruins because they are still trying to find the entrance to the bunker. But the city is big, and they're digging in the wrong spot! (heh, Raiders reference).
This is a cool idea. As with all dungeons, it would be interesting if instead of one entrance, there were several. I have had the most fun DMing dungeons when there were multiple ways in and out. It leads to wacky and wild situations. Not sure how that would work with a vault idea, but you guys are clever and creative.

I hadn't actually read Dwellers of the Forbidden City, so I glanced through it. It's pretty similar! You are totally right. We probably want to consciously avoid drifting too close to that. The ruins are even filled with Bullywugs. The maps are definitely worth a look though.
 

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
Not sure how that would work with a vault idea, but you guys are clever and creative.
I think people are getting too hung up on the term "vault" - I just use it as a term which implies a safe space to stow things away. Mainly taking from the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

"Bunker", "Archive", "Conservation Nucleus", "Safe Haven" - choose whatever term you want, but the idea is protection and perseverance, not locking things out or keeping valuables safe from theives.
 

The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
This section of the forum is getting pretty cluttered, so I can't find the previous conversation we had about technology levels. Someone suggested we keep the Ancients at a similar or slightly further ahead level of technology (renaissance or reformation) with one or two areas light years ahead and I was a big fan of that. Especially if that advancement is alien, arcane or biological rather than technological.
 

The1True

My my my, we just loooove to hear ourselves don't we?
Found it. I'll save people the trip:
Grutzi:
I think they should be on the same level (or slighty more advanced) than our "normal" folks in almost all areas except in one or two in which they are lightyears ahead of anyone else.
A kind of specialization taken to the extreme. This specialization then in turn shaped their whole civ into strange directions.
Maybe the were absolute geniuses when it came to transportation and transmutation magic, but that in turn led them to believe that nothing was ever real as anything was easily changeable. Thus they became some kind of nihilists that seeked real truth in other dimensions and higher spheres ... or something like that.
Me:
Yeah, slightly more advanced with one or two types of hyper-advanced alienist magic. The seed-vault implies plant and animal alteration to create structures, tools, weapons and labour.
 

Beoric

8, 8, I forget what is for
This section of the forum is getting pretty cluttered, so I can't find the previous conversation we had about technology levels.
I've been thinking this might be easier with a wiki or some other form of summary to hold established elements.
 

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
A wiki is overkill. We could accomplish the same feat with a normal forum (i.e. one that's not doubled up as part of 10footpole). Easier to collaborate, review suggestions, load on a webpage, link to files, etc.

Sidenote: my PC fucking DIED yesterday, so my activity on here will dwindle to contributing during office hours (gotta love that sweet government job with little supervision and lots of downtime).
 
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