The Dungeon's Heart: City Building Tips


One of the challenges in dungeon-delving RPG campaigns is figuring out what to do with all the gold. Players often amass large sums of money without knowing how to spend it. The usual recommendations are upgrading equipment or managing a stronghold, but these are often vague suggestions without clear mechanics to support them.

One aspect I appreciate about His Majesty the Worm, the game I'm currently running, is its structured approach to the economy. When adventurers return to the surface, the City Phase begins, requiring them to pay taxes on their expedition's earnings, choose their level of comfort for lodging, and perform a City Action. These special actions allow gold to be spent in interesting ways with clear mechanics: commissioning a rare artifact (with a cost based on the number of words in its description), going on a spree to gain experience, hiring training services, building a tavern, and more.

These actions are standard, but the rulebook encourages adding districts with unique special actions, which led me to expand and detail the city.

Government & Taxes

Players must pay 50% of the gold they collect in the megadungeon every time they return. But why? In my setting, the city is ruled by an autocrat who exploits the megadungeon's popularity to squeeze adventurers for profit. The megadungeon is dangerous, and part of that gold funds a paramilitary force that keeps whatever lurks inside from escaping. However, this force is also riddled with corruption, with members abusing their power outside the law.

This decision not only mechanically justifies the system’s tax structure but also introduces the first faction and creates political tensions within the city.

Factions

To sustain a long and engaging campaign, factions are essential. They add depth and realism to the world, give players entities to interact with for solving problems, and can generate rivalries and conflicts. The key is to define their motivations and relationships; if the players show interest, they can be fleshed out further.

For my game, I adapted the factions from STALKER:

  • Dream Wardens: A paramilitary force under the despot’s rule. While they try to maintain order in the dungeon, they are also corrupt. Their goal is to prevent dangerous entities from spreading and to keep key areas under control.
  • Dream Seekers: Advocates for unrestricted dungeon exploration. Opposed to the Dream Wardens, they venture deeper to uncover secrets and treasures, defying established rules.
  • Oniric Inquirers: Scholars dedicated to understanding the dungeon and the nature of the Dream Worm. They care little for power or treasure, focusing solely on unraveling the dungeon’s mysteries.
  • The Nightmares: Raiders and criminals who thrive in the dungeon's chaos. They ambush adventurers and exploit the disorder to their advantage, using ruthless tactics.
  • Cult of the Worm: A sect devoted to the Dream Worm, worshiping it as a divine entity. They fiercely protect the dungeon’s depths.
  • Somnolent Company: Traders and merchants specializing in rare and magical goods found within the dungeon.
  • Veiled Syndicate: A group of mercenaries and covert agents with their own interests in the dungeon. They specialize in clandestine operations and offer services to anyone, regardless of morality.

City Districts

The city is vast, and exploring it would take weeks. Adventurers reside in their home district but can venture out to discover many more. To maintain intrigue, I provided my players with a map highlighting key locations, stating that navigating the city takes several days, allowing them to visit only one district per trip. This keeps things mysterious and ensures each visit remains engaging, with new opportunities.

Each district includes:

  • A clear theme
  • A unique City Action
  • Three key NPCs (with descriptions, desires, and secrets)
  • Six possible events

Example:

Lampwright’s Street

"A light in the darkness, a promise against the abyss."

  • District of light and fire: Chandlers, lamplighters, tallow-mongers, pyromancers, linkboys.

  • Always illuminated at night, making it a challenge for thieves.

  • Stealing here is considered a test of skill among criminal guilds.

  • The air is thick with smoke, melted wax, and burning oil.

City Action:

  •  Buy fireworks (25g each)
    • Blinding lights: Disrupt perception.
    • Piercing wounds: Cause damage if they explode nearby.
    • 25% risk of failure: May fail, fizzle out, or attract unwanted attention.

Key NPCs:

  •  Liora "The Wick" (human, leader of the candle-makers' guild)

    • Tall and thin, gray braided hair, smells of wax and oil.
    • Desires: Total control over the lighting trade.
    • Secret: Pays the Dream Wardens to protect her street.

  • Argus Flint (dwarf, master pyrotechnician)

    • Short, stocky, singed beard, hands covered in burns.
    • Desires: To create the perfect firework.
    • Secret: Has secretly sold gunpowder to the Thieves’ Guild.

  •  Veyla "Shadow-Tongue" (elf, criminal informant)

    • Tall, ash-gray skin, sharp smile, dark clothes with subtle jewelry.
    • Desires: To keep the war between thieves and candle-makers as "a sport."
    • Secret: Occasionally protects the candle-makers if paid well.

1d6 Events:
- A live theft: A thief tries to snatch a coin pouch. Guards arrive quickly. Do you intervene?
 -A dangerous explosion: One of Argus Flint’s experiments goes wrong.
 -A mysterious lantern: A merchant sells a lamp that "never goes out."
 -A message in fire: A firework forms letters in the sky.
 -Dark echoes: Shadows don’t match their owners. Something lurks.
 -Candlemakers vs. thieves: A nighttime brawl erupts.

This approach keeps the city alive, filled with opportunities, and ensures new surprises with every visit.

All of this fits onto a single printed page, with concise descriptions that allow for quick reference on the fly, providing enough material to describe a situation or moment seamlessly.

I believe this is more than enough to feel comfortable running the players’ arrival in the city. With so many points to explore, they’ll receive plenty of stimulation, and there’s no need to over-explain each one. By the second session, based on what happened in the first, you can refine or expand details that interest them the most.

This has been my approach to campaign design for years: I scatter the gunpowder and let the fire choose its path.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Preparing to Play His Majesty the Worm and a Summary of the First Session

   Since the game is focused on exploring a megadungeon, the first thing I needed was one. The first option was to adapt a pre-existing dungeon to the system, but in my experience, converting monsters and treasures, studying the lore, generating encounter tables, etc., is quite labor-intensive. So I decided to start from scratch. The Concept   The idea for my dungeon is that an entity known as the Dream Worm created this place beneath the city WhisperShadows ruled by a tyrant. Legend has it that the Worm dwells in the deepest parts of the dungeon, and anyone who finds it will have their wishes granted. The place is also filled with treasures and magical items created by this entity, which it uses to lure adventurers into its domain. The Worm feeds on people's dreams, and adventurers, being greedy and ambitious, are highly nourishing.   Certain factions operate in both the city and the dungeon, which are always important to have. They can open up storylines for playe...
Read more

Session 2 - A deeper descent and mechanics analysis

  Session 2: Deeper into the Dream Dungeon Fifteen days after our first session, we gathered for the second, this time extending the playtime to four hours. As established, whenever the party enters a new room or a significant amount of time passes, we secretly draw a card from the Meatgrinder encounter table. During the last session, upon entering a new area, I drew card #21, which indicated that the event should provide a clue about their quest. This was perfect, as the players had been feeling like they were opening doors at random without clear direction. To fulfill this, I placed an ethereal gnome selling potions at the entrance of the corridor where they stood. These creatures, foreign to the dungeon, remain unaffected by the Worm’s magic due to their magical nature. They take advantage of this to live here, primarily engaging in the trade of dreams, potions, and gems. The players seized the opportunity to purchase some healing ointments. They also inquired about the gnome’s...
Read more

Inaugurating the blog: My journey in role-playing and the arrival of His Majesty the Worm

    Hello everyone, to inaugurate this blog about RPGs and other interests, I want to share a bit about my personal experience. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I started playing tabletop RPGs more than 15 years ago. My first experiences were with AD&D 2nd Edition and Paranoia, but they were short-lived. Later, I joined a virtual table for a zombie game in a system I can't recall, but it ended up going nowhere—though it left me wanting more.   With the release of D&D 5th Edition, my interest was reignited, so I took the initiative to start GMing for some friends with whom I played MTG. I began with standard adventures like the Giant storyline and Phandelver, but I didn't like how linear they were. So, I decided to create my own setting and adventures while painting miniatures and tons of terrain for each encounter. It was a great experience but exhausting, and it ultimately didn't fulfill my goals. Since I wanted to 3D print and paint final bosses, I ended up rail...
Read more