grodog's Mega-Dungeon Maps - Revising and Expanding the First Two Dungeon Levels of My Castle Greyhawk

In one of my two concurrent Greyhawk campaigns, the players are exploring the dungeons beneath Castle Greyhawk, which has been pushing me to revise and expand the first two levels of that infamous death trap.  The inventory work for all of my newly-designed levels from the past 15 years began a few years ago now, and continues as play evolves the environs.


*** Saturday and Sunday campaign spoilers ***
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*** Saturday and Sunday campaign spoilers *** ***
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*** Saturday and Sunday campaign spoilers ***
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*** Saturday and Sunday campaign spoilers ***
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*** Saturday and Sunday campaign spoilers ***

 

Level 1

My first and second levels were originally drawn in the early- to mid-1980s.  I was never deeply satisfied with the second level, so I began to redesign it significantly in 2017 as my sons began to explore beyond the first level.
   

grodog Castle Greyhawk map - level 1 left

grodog Castle Greyhawk map - level 1 right

I still rather like the design of the first level, but decided that I needed a bit more "breathing room" while running the current crew of players in it, and began to expand it earlier this month.  The original map was designed on 4 spi graph paper, and I began to worry that the players would soon exhaust its exploration potential, and that they may need a bit more breadth to pick-and-choose their level of challenge across the encounters among its inhabitants.  Unlike my revisions to the second level, I preserved most of the first level as-is, and simply extended its expanse, primarily to the south and a little to the west too.  

The original design for the first level spans ~660 feet (4 spi = 33 squares on each of 2 sheets @ 10' per square) by ~840 feet (4 spi = 42 squares on each of 2 sheets @ 10' per square), with a total area of ~554,400 square feet.   

The new level is drawn on Black Blade Publishing 11x17 6 spi graph paper, which significantly increases its size to ~1320 feet (6 spi = 66 squares on each of 2 sheets @ 10' per square) by ~1020 feet (6 spi = 102 squares on 1 sheet @ 10' per square), with a total area of 1.34 million square feet.  So it's more than twice the area of the original design, which should help with providing more exploration options for the players.  I hope!

My old 11x17 scanner is still on the fritz, so these are pictures taken with my cell phone:

grodog's Castle Greyhawk map -
level 1 - revised and expanded

As you can see, the original first level ends about 1/4 of the way into the bottom half of the new design. 

Level 2

grodog Castle Greyhawk map - level 2 left

grodog Castle Greyhawk map - level 2 center

grodog Castle Greyhawk map - level 2 right

The second level shows remnants of old changes---particularly around the entry location in the top center, and in its level name as "The Lair of Thelmon Onvalth"---as I wrestled with whether to step away from Castle Greyhawk and all its lore, canon, and known history.  Hard to believe, eh? :D 

grodog's Castle Greyhawk map -
level 2 - revised and expanded

The second level maps were expanded, and significantly revised to create a tighter adventuring environ.  Unlike the first level, while I did preserve aspects of the original second level design, I mostly took inspiration from the old level, cherry picked some specific elements I wanted to keep, and then began a wholesale revision.   

The new design replaces and builds out further from my old 6-sheet map for level two (on 4 spi paper). The old level included 193 rooms and the level was 1300 feet across at its greatest length.  The new 4-sheet level (with two added half-sheets, so I suppose it's really a 5-sheet level!) is built using Black Blade Publishing 11x17 6 spi graph paper.  I haven't tried to count rooms or to fully measure the level yet, since it's not completely designed, but the sheets' width will accommodate a level 2040 feet wide, or so.

Good Enough To Play

Neither level's design is complete.  The first level is prett close, probably about 85-90% or so, while the second level is more like 65-70% or so.  

However, both are good enough to DM with as-is, along with the expanded keys (which I'll touch on in my next update).  I'll plan the next design work in response to the players' explorations, since they may-well decide to delve into a sub-level, bypass the second level for a deeper one, jump outside the Castle to follow a treasure map, or whatever.  

You just never know where they'll take the game, which helps to keep me on my toes! :D

Allan.
 

P.S.:  Feel free to explore previous entries in my "Mega-Dungeon Mondays" series if you enjoyed this one.