Using Monster Relationships to Improve Megadungeon Verisimilitude

In my last post I addressed a number of issues in brief in regards to problems some see with megadungeons and problems with perceived verisimilitude. A great way to improve the nature of  of a megadungeon’s verisimilitude is to be aware of the relationships between monsters in the megadungeon.

The DM should of course design the overall power structure of the megadungeon. Environments that are dominated by a single leader, cooperative factions, disparate factions, a battleground between factions, or a true wilderness are going to foster different sorts of relationships between the residents. Factions can be divided along lines of species, confederacy of species, baroque nobility, religious belief, or alignment.

After A DM determines the overall power structure of the megadungeon areas of it should be designated as the territory of a specific faction , a contested area, or  neutral/wilderness area. From here the dungeon could be stocked as normal with an eye to the relationship of each encounter area (or collection of areas) has with the powerstructure.

In sections of a megadungeon stocked by random method a DM is free to decide on the relationship of monsters to the powerstructure or go with random tools and build on that.

The most basic of way to model this relationship is to determine if the monsters are invaders from outside the megadungeon powerstructure (raiders, predators, or thieves) , loyal members of a faction, disloyal members of a faction, subordinates of a faction, or opponents of a faction.

Relationship with Faction/Powerstructure

	Centralized Power	Cooperative  Factions	Competing Factions	Battleground
Invader	2-3	2-3	2-4	2-3
Disloyal	4-5	4-5	5-6	4
Loyal	6-10	6-8	7-9	5-7
Subordinate	11	9-11	10	8
Opponent	12	12	11-12	9-12

Roll 2d6 based on the genral power structure of the dungeon.

After determining the relationship to a monster or group of monsters with the power structure the relationship between neighbors should be determined by the DMs concept of the dungeon at large, making use of your rules reaction tables, or give a roll of the following table.

Modifiers for Table 2

	Invader	Disloyal	Loyal	Subordinate	Opponent
Invader	0	+1	-3	-2	+1
Disloyal	+1	+2	-4	-2	+2
Loyal	-3	-2	+4	+4	-4
Subordinate	-2	-2	+4	+1	-3
Opponent	+1	+1	-4	-3	0

F-Friendly,C-cooperative,N-Neutral,A-Aggressive, H- Hatred or Hostility

Table 2 Relationship with neighbor

3 or less	Hatred or Hostility, open violence against each other likely
4 to 5	Aggressive, pushing to overtake neighbor or resources
6 to 8	Neutral, may exploit weakness in neighbor
9 to 10	Cooperative, may move to aid each other
11 or more	Friendly, will move to aid quickly and willfully

Following these guidelines either mechanically or in general spirit will result in a rich megadungeon environment where factions battle with each other and neighbors support or plot against each other. 

As the PCs come storming in or sneaking about there will be a web of relationships they may be able to exploit or fall victim to.