Megadungeon Random Level Connections

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Croco posted this on the Discord but I thought it would be better served here, where we’ve got more robust text formatting. Here’s their original post:

A probably terrible, strange way to plan a megadungeon (especially for the players):

For each level, roll 1d6 for number of connections and for each connection roll the corresponding level. Then for each connection roll the type of connection.

This means a level can connect to any other level (have fun on level 20 at level 1 :V) or connect to itself (I interpret this to mean a sublevel). It could also happen that some levels are not accessible (they might open up later, or have to be dug to => hints).

Extra effort can be put into creating random encounter lists that include chances for monsters from connecting levels, balanced (or not) as one wants them to be.

For extra difficulty/stupidity, you can make the connections rolled for each level one-way. So two levels can only be freely traversed between if they each rolled the other as connection. Hope the players like keeping track of level connections :V

Once all the connections are made, you can connect them as makes sense. For example, you can have all the levels connected via caves be part of a cave network.

d6 Level Connection Type
1 Natural
2 Constructed
3 Elevator/Lift
4 Sublevel
5 Teleporter
6 Weird
d4 Natural Connection Type
1 Cave
2 Cliff
3 River
4 Underwater
d4 Constructed Connection Type
1 Stairs
2 Slope
3 Pit
4 Waterway
d4 Elevator/Lift Connection Type
1-2 Mechanical
3 -4 Magical
d4 Sublevel
1-2 Connection leads to sublevel[1]
3-4 Connect leads through plane to level[2]
d4 Teleporter Type
1 Portal (open or closed)
2 Circle (open or locked)
3 Item
4 NPC (via payment or quest)
d4 Weird
??? Make something strange up, e.g. a break in reality, plane shift, shrink and enter a mouse hole, summon demons to bring you to the level through the ethereal plane, etc.
d6 Level Connection Accessability (if applicable)
1 Freely accessible
2 Hidden (Secret Door, Trapdoor, Pit, etc.)
3 One-way only
4 Needs to be unlocked first
5 Guarded by Trap
6 Guarded by Monster

  1. Check Level Connection Accessability of sublevel to actual level ↩︎

  2. Need appropriate precautions/gear to make the journey (E.g. Plane of Fire/Water/Air/Earth, Hell, Heaven, Demiplane, Space, etc.) ↩︎

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Here’s my first take. I think that I’d organize it just a bit differently.

What type of connection is it?

First, let’s determine the type of connection that we’re generating.

d6 Connection Type
1-2 Natural
3-4 Constructed
5-6 Supernatural

How deep does it go?

Next, let’s figure out how deep the connection goes.

d6 Connection Depth
1-3 Shallow (1d6-3)[1]
4-5 Moderate (1d6+3)
6 Deep (1d6+9)

How does it connect?

How does this connection link the two levels together?

d6 Connection Method
1-3 Sheer drop[2]
4-5 Gradual decent[3]
6 Vehicle

Example so far: (rolled three dice: 4, 6, 2) constructed connection, deep (to level 10), via a sheer drop; so a carved pit or shaft?

Is there a mechanism? If so, what sort?

Does this connection utilize a mechanism of some sort to transport across levels?

d6 Connection Mechanism
1-3 None
4-5 Mechanical
6 Mystical

Is there a complication?

What might complicate use of this connection?

d6 Connection Complication
1-3 None
4-5 Elemental
6 Supernatural

Elemental complications

d6 Elemental Complication
1-2 Earth
3-4 Water
5 Air
6 Fire

Supernatural complications

d6 Supernatural Complication
1-2 Magical
3 Divine
4 Infernal
5 Extraplanar
6 Negative Energy

Example so far: (rolled three dice: 4, 6, 2) constructed connection, deep (to level 10), via a sheer drop; so a carved pit or shaft?
…continued (rolled three dice: 5, 5, 2) mechanical mechanism, elemental (earth) complication; an elevator runs up and down the shaft but is stuck due to a rock-fall or partial collapse of the shaft.

Is there an obstacle preventing use?

Does anything forbid use of the connection until solved?

d6 Connection Obstacle
1-2 None
3-4 Non-Functional
5-6 Locked

Locks

d6 Type of Lock
1-2 Key required
3-4 Hidden entrance
5 NPC
6 Cryptic mechanism

Keys

d6 Keys
1-2 Item
3-4 Activation via another area
5-6 Performance

Example so far: (rolled three dice: 4, 6, 2) constructed connection, deep (to level 10), via a sheer drop; so a carved pit or shaft?
…continued (rolled three dice: 5, 5, 2) mechanical mechanism, elemental (earth) complication; an elevator runs up and down the shaft but is stuck due to a rock-fall or partial collapse of the shaft.
…continued (rolled three dice: 5, 2, 4) locked, key required, activation via another area; the elevator will not operate unless a generator is activated in an engineering area.

Final Example: an elevator descends from the first to the tenth level of the dungeon; it must first be activated by engaging the generator in the engineering area before it can be called up; there is a blockage part way down the shaft that must be cleared for the elevator to descend completely.

  1. If less than zero: -2, connects to a sublevel; -1, connects to a different dungeon area at the same depth; 0, connects to another part of this level. ↩︎

  2. in the case of moving to the same level, a sheer drop indicates a sub-level connects the two dungeon areas. ↩︎

  3. in the case of moving to the same level, a gradual descent indicates a flat, horizontal connection. ↩︎

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Another example, for kicks:

(rolled 10 dice: 5, 6, 5, 2, 6, 5, 3, 1, 4, 2) supernatural connection, deep (level 13), gradual decent, no mechanism, supernatural complication (extraplanar), non-functional; an extra-planar gateway leads from level one to level thirteen; however, the level 13 access point is no-longer functional; it must be fixed, on that level, before the end-point of the connection can be used.

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Very nice, I will look it over and see if I can add anything new.

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Nothing to add for now. I’ll expand on the 20 level dungeon I rolled and see if anything there comes up. Time for Dungeon 2025 1/2 I guess :slight_smile:

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I’ll take that to mean that my version is perfect and warrants no revisions! :rofl:

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I’ll try to see if there’s an easy way to bundle connections of the same type together. For example if two levels both connect to the same level via Connection Type Natural, you could say they are both part of the same cave network. The only problem is that you then have a connection between those two levels as well (though I guess they are indirectly connected anyway if they connect to the same level).

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It could be an alternate way of generating a sub-level.

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I wonder if this methodology, or something like it, could be used for any dungeon connections, including the dungeon entrance. Just use the levels for the depth and difficulty of the connected space.

Just for kicks, if we wanted to randomize the size of the dungeon levels:

1d6 Level size
1-3 Small (2d6 rooms, 1d3 connections)
4-5 Medium (12 + 2d6) rooms, 2d3 connections)
6 Vast (24 + 2d6 rooms, 2d6 connections)

The room numbers I just spitballed. I have no idea what average room densities og dungeon levels are but these would work for me, more or less.

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I’ll give it a spin when I rough out my dungeon.

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Slowly I’m morphing this into more of a generic dungeon generator. :laughing:

d6 Small Medium Vast
1-3 1 zone 1d3 zones 2d6 zones
4-5 2 zones 1d6 zones 3d6 zones
6 3 zones 1d6+3 zones 4d6 zones
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Zones are equivalent to levels, or do they include sublevels too?
(Also, having like 10 c0nnections per level sure is a lot of work :sweat_smile:)

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Not levels, areas or themes or whatever that represent different parts of a single level, such as the necropolis, the temple, the dormitory, the warrens, the laboratory, etc.

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I reworked the tables a bit, I think Gradual descent should be more common, since that includes stairs. And I added hidden to obstacles, since it fits there more. Also added monsters and traps again, though you could argue those belong to the room content.

d6 Connection Depth
1-3 Shallow (1d6-3)*
4-5 Moderate (1d6+3)
6 Deep (1d6+9)

*If less than zero: -2, connects to a sublevel; -1, connects to a different (isloated) dungeon area at the same depth; 0, connects to another part of this level.

d6 Connection Type
1-2 Natural
3-4 Constructed
5-6 Supernatural
d6 Connection Method
1-2 Sheer drop*
3-5 Gradual descent**
6 Vehicle

*in the case of moving to the same level, a sheer drop indicates a sub-level connects the two dungeon areas.
** in the case of moving to the same level, a gradual descent indicates a flat, horizontal connection.

d6 Connection Mechanism
1-3 None
4-5 Mechanical
6 Mystical
d6 Connection Complication
1-3 None
4-5 Elemental
6 Supernatural
d6 Elemental Complication
1-2 Earth
3-4 Water
5 Air
6 Fire
d6 Supernatural Complication
1-2 Magical
3 Divine
4 Infernal
5 Extraplanar
6 Negative Energy
d6 Connection Obstacle
1 None
2 Hidden entrance
3 Locked
4 Non-Functional
5 Trap
6 Monster
d6 Type of Lock
1-2 Key required
3-4 NPC
5-6 Cryptic mechanism
d6 Keys
1-2 Item
3-4 Activation via another area
5-6 Performance
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Finished determining all the connections and level themes for my example dungeon.
Now I have 20 Levels (4 of those in 2 parts), 9 Sub-Levels and ~70 Connections to detail. :upside_down_face:
Way too much to be an example, so I guess I’ll make it its own thing. Dungeon 2025 (1/2), here I go.