Workshop: LPA4 Hatunallpa

Since I began writing for Maztica Alive! in 2011 I had considered working on a megadungeon that ran as a pure dungeon crawl.  My earliest attempt was the volcanic tunnels that supposedly ran below Mount Zatal in Nexal as described in FMA1 Fires of Zatal. 

The result was an adventure book called Zatal, that I eventually updated and placed on DMsGuild in a compilation called MZA4 The Mother of Life.

I love that adventure still, but it didn't satisfy the megadungeon itch that as I had hoped.  I wanted the Undermountain of the True World, and this wasn't quite it.

The way I saw it, there were three issues with writing a good megadungeon crawl.

  1. A good map
  2. A logical backstory
  3. The detailing of dozens or hundreds of locations.

Finding a Map

Discovering the proper map that was readily available for a commercial product and either relatively cheap of free to use was a challenge.  Success in this step however, was what got the ball rolling on Hatunallpa.

Thanks to the kindness of the amazing cartographer Dyson Logos, I found this map, which he allows for free commercial use!


How can you look at that beauty and not want to tell its story?

A Logical Backstory

Why would a megadungeon ever exist in a world, even a fantasy one?  Pondering this question helped me realize the brilliance and creativity of Ed Greenwood when he created the mad mage Halaster and his abode.

I also didn't truly want the backstory to be terribly important.  Having detailed many dungeons in the past, I know that a story that is too complicated would stifle creativity in encounter design.  How does one relate over one hundred encounters to a backstory?

So I determined to keep the backstory "light."  I don't want it to be a focus or the actual reason adventurers delve into the dungeon's depths unless they really want to.  This way, it can have the same objective most players delve into Undermountain.  Why go into the great dungeon of Faerûn if not just to explore, crush your monstrous enemies and bring home the booty!

I was still at a loss for an idea...but at least I had a map, and a plan.

Then I began reading about other mesoamerican cultures of the Andes outside of the Incas.  I do such leisurely research often for the inspiration it brings, but I didn't know it would lead to the spark of an idea that became Hatunallpa.

The rabbit hole led me to the mysterious Staff God iconography shared by the cultures of pre-Columbian Peru.  In reviews of earlier versions of the Lopango Campaign Guide, one of the criticisms was the following:

"...a few more human nations would be nice, and the fantasy incans are somewhat lacking."

I agreed and figured I could tackle this issue as well by introducing expanding on another small tribe known as the Carchicans (pronounced car-SICK-ans).  So bringing it all together, this would be the core of the idea...

The Carcichans have long been in decline because their (staff) god Hatunallpa Ukupi abandoned them a millennium in the past and he retreated into a dungeon of his own creation.  The deity was exhausted as the sole god of his people (after his wife had died or disappeared) and no longer believed his people deserved his attention.  Here, the god would wait for mankind to seek him out and prove their worth so he might return to them.

Well, that is the "logical backstory" in a nutshell and the reason why adventurers could enter the megadungeon and leave without "finishing" it.  Its why the dungeon was made in the fist place, and it helps fix some old issues with the Lopango campaign.

Locations, Locations
    
Ok, so here is the challenge and why this book, a year into its conception, is still in the workshop. 😁

I numbered the rooms and even leaving a few blank, I have one hundred and fifty three to detail!  This cannot be done at one time and I wait for inspiration to come in order to continue.  At the time I am first writing this post, I have completed forty-seven rooms.  

Linked is the Work in Progress 01-06-24.  Keep an eye out for updates on this blog, as the process continues!

Also, pleas note that LPA3 Hatunallpa's development is also being discussed here on the Piazza, and here on Candlekeep. 

Updated 01-06-24


Just created this as a potential reward after what might amount to a particularly nasty battle.


Updated 01-07-24


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