So trolls have smaller hunting grounds than a cat? Okay.

Quote from: Bren;998967Maybe it did kill some. Or maybe goblin just isn't as tasty as adventurer.

I always figured that D&D trolls' rubbery physique (I think that's how they were originally described) and magical regeneration meant that they didn't need to eat very often. So they might patiently gnaw a few old bones while waiting for something tasty to drop in.

So the goblins had some of their fellow eaten and decided to just keep hanging out within a few hundred feet of the troll instead of moving on?  

You're trying desperately to explain it away. If this was a huge cavern complex and there were miles and miles between them if would make more believable but that wasn't the example given.

I don't think dungeons need to make sense and this is perfect example why, common sense applied to most renders them highly unlikely, to put it mildly.

Megadungeons have the benefit of being the main campaign focus.

What are we doing this week? Going to the dungeon.
Then what? We leave the dungeon and recover.
Then what? We go back to the dungeon.

For some groups, that kicks ass. I have run Tunnels & Trolls with mini-mega-dungeons and the players had a grand time.

I've always wanted to run Gamma World as a mega-dungeon. Of course, that's the setting for Metamorphosis Alpha.

If a troll is next to goblins on a permanent basis, they have some kind of relationship; eg the goblins bring food for protection/to be left alone. It's not complicated.

Quote from: Dumarest;998008I saw there were a couple of recent threads about megadungeons on here. As I've never understood the appeal, I'm curious to know: What do you like about megadungeons?

From a GM perspective, it is an all you can eat adventurer buffet!

That and in designing one, I enjoy the challenge of getting the ecology and politics of the different groups inhabiting it correct. Backstory as well is fun to create, why was it started in the first place? Why haven't the different humanoid tribes in the megadungeon banded together and taken over the local area?

As a Player, I like it because everything is all in one place. Want a higher level challenge? Go deeper.

Quote from: Voros;999016So the goblins had some of their fellow eaten and decided to just keep hanging out within a few hundred feet of the troll instead of moving on?  

You're trying desperately to explain it away. If this was a huge cavern complex and there were miles and miles between them if would make more believable but that wasn't the example given.

I don't think dungeons need to make sense and this is perfect example why, common sense applied to most renders them highly unlikely, to put it mildly.

Yes, they are highly unlikely.  So is the casting a fireball spells.  None of it really needs to make any sense.  

However, if I were creating my own megadungeon it would essentially be a "toy" managed by a god or deity of some sort (hence my mention of Nyarlathotep earlier) who takes pleasure in watching adventuring parties make their way through his maze.  This entity runs the dungeon - he places the monsters, feeds them as needed, moves them around...lets them out for fresh air once in a while, resets the traps, restocks cleared areas and places the tempting treasures...but he isn't a completely nefarious being.  He has a sense of "fair play" to a degree.  If he wanted to, he could destroy the adventurers without much effort but he'd rather set challenges before them that they might be able to handle and see how far they can get in his funhouse.  He's happy to let factions take form and what not.  It's like his "Sim City"  He just wants to set things up and then watch the show.

I wonder if the poor OP has given up yet.

My point was that I love Undermountain because they went out of their way to explain why.  That to me is what makes a good dungeon, mega or otherwise.  Context.

Quote from: Voros;999016You're trying desperately to explain it away.

I'm not desperate. Several possible explanations have been provided by several different people. You have chosen to discount every single one of them both individually and in combination. Clearly there isn't any productive discussion to be had with you on this topic.

Quote from: S'mon;999025If a troll is next to goblins on a permanent basis, they have some kind of relationship; eg the goblins bring food for protection/to be left alone. It's not complicated.

That is the most likely explanation.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;999070I wonder if the poor OP has given up yet.

Not visibly. I venture he's voraciously viewing the voluminous verbiage vouchsafing valuable vying versions vaguely verifying the various verdicts.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;999073My point was that I love Undermountain because they went out of their way to explain why.  That to me is what makes a good dungeon, mega or otherwise.  Context.

Good post.  Saying what you like and why you like it is just what the OP was asking.

And I personally am OK with the "Fun House From Hell."  I like it because it's bizarre.  Not everybody likes it.  They don't have to.

Quote from: Bren;999076I'm not desperate. Several possible explanations have been provided by several different people. You have chosen to discount every single one of them both individually and in combination. Clearly there isn't any productive discussion to be had with you on this topic.

THIS topic?  Shitting up discussions is his major schtick.

Quote from: Zevious Zoquis;999049Yes, they are highly unlikely.  So is the casting a fireball spells.  None of it really needs to make any sense.  

However, if I were creating my own megadungeon it would essentially be a "toy" managed by a god or deity of some sort (hence my mention of Nyarlathotep earlier) who takes pleasure in watching adventuring parties make their way through his maze.  This entity runs the dungeon - he places the monsters, feeds them as needed, moves them around...lets them out for fresh air once in a while, resets the traps, restocks cleared areas and places the tempting treasures...but he isn't a completely nefarious being.  He has a sense of "fair play" to a degree.  If he wanted to, he could destroy the adventurers without much effort but he'd rather set challenges before them that they might be able to handle and see how far they can get in his funhouse.  He's happy to let factions take form and what not.  It's like his "Sim City"  He just wants to set things up and then watch the show.

I can grok that. I even like the idea a lot.

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Quote from: Christopher Brady;999073My point was that I love Undermountain because they went out of their way to explain why.  That to me is what makes a good dungeon, mega or otherwise.  Context.

I love undermountain because the map set is fucking great, particularly if you own both boxed sets and Skullport. Also, the room entries are too long, but they are actually pretty creative. And there is a lot of undescribed real estate so you have a lot of space to fill in. And it is functionally infinite; no one is 'finishing' this thing.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;999070I wonder if the poor OP has given up yet.

Ha ha, I'm still reading, I'm just curious about the appeal to different people. I haven't played any that I thought were especially great and usually would rather adventure overland and in various smaller ruins, temples, dungeons, spelunkable caverns, and cities that make more sense to me, but I can see the appeal of the funhouse in small doses. I get stuck as ref at least 90% of the time so it's not as if I'm being forced into Dwimmermount any time soon.

Quote from: jeff37923;999084I can grok that. I even like the idea a lot.

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Cool illustration.