Sometimes the working of my mind feels a lot like the beginning of Alice’s adventure. I follow an idea and, before I know it:

The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, Chapter 1

It was with some delight that today I found myself tumbling down a familiar rabbit hole. I’ve been thinking about the project that has most consistently eluded me over the past several years: building my own megadungeon with GURPS.

Why Megadungeons?

Dungeons are where the roleplaying games hobby began back in the days when Dungeons & Dragons saw its genesis. Fifty years on, the draw of these “mazey dungeons”, especially the classic multi-level variant that we now call the Megadungeon, is as strong as ever.

Aren’t the “mazey dungeons” the home of hack and slash style of play? Some people believe so. It’s even lampooned in publications that speak of “munchkins” and suggest that journeys into the underdark for treasure are somehow outdated and cheap.

Even so, all over the world the so-called old-school dungeon is run for gamers who delight in the sub-genre and it’s not always about hacking and slashing. Cunning, clever play, and a delight in exploration also sits at the heart of the Megadungeon game.

Why GURPS?

For one thing, I’ve been running a consistent Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game campaign in the realm of Fellmyr for more than six months. That’s powered by GURPS Fourth Edition and we’ve been enjoying the play, so I am positively disposed towards the rules.

That being said, I’ve found DFRPG to be a pretty intense on-ramp to the GURPS engine. Last year I sat down with some friends in the RPR community and we started to work up Simple Dungeon GURPS powered by the Third Edition. A nudge from one of those friends this week reminded me of our progress.

Our notes last year were based on GURPS Lite Third Edition because it contains rules for magic and beasts which have been removed from the latest edition. We also find the “old-school” feel and presentation of the Third Edition to be particularly appealing.

Weirdly, my return to Third Edition this week to look at GURPS Traveller reignited my interest in the older set of rules. Despite the differences with the current edition, I find myself enjoying the simpler aesthetic and simpler on-route to play.

Tumbling Down The Deep

The biggest draw of this project is the idea of having a deep dark place of adventure all of my own. While I could easily adapt any number of classic or newer megadungeon designs, there is something magnetic about this creative challenge that I’ve always wanted to delve.

Within my group of friends there are also a few who would enjoy dusting off the classic GURPS from 1986 through 2003 and playing it again. The simplicity of 100 points characters built using the GURPS Basic Set plus (perhaps) GURPS Magic is an entertaining possibility.

For myself, I’ve been fiddling around with the Basic Set‘s introduction to magic in the game and been highly impressed by the solid start it gives any fantasy campaign. The idea of a game where we shed the assumptions of D&D-style delving and see where the GURPS rules can take us is appealing.

Perhaps the best place to begin is with a piece of squared paper, a pencil, a ruler, and an eraser. Getting myself back to the physical act of sketching some deep dark ruins ‘neath the ground feels like an amusing challenge. Who knows, perhaps someone will fancy exploring them sometime too.

Game on!