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Dungeon, Dungeons & Dragons, Dyson Mega Delve, Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, Maps, Megadungeon, Mines, OSR, RPG, Tower
And here we are with the final map of “The Upper Levels” of the Dyson Mega Delve. Added in on a whim when I was working on the Dwarven City levels, the Harpy Tower climbs up above the rest of the dungeon and seals the deal as the 31st map of the set.
The Harpy Tower (with grid)
Climbing up over 2,000 feet above the dwarven city it watches over, this tower has become home to a clamour of harpies who have taken over most of the easily accessible levels of this mighty tower.
When reading the map, the levels are set out with the bottom most level of the tower on the upper right corner, and then the levels are laid out in a clockwise pattern with the second level below the first, then the two upper levels (which are the homes of the harpies) on the lower left and middle left, and then finally the tower itself on the upper left.
The stairs connecting this tower to the dwarven city gates below were destroyed when the dwarven city was sealed off after the great war. The lowest level of the tower is 120 feet above the floor of the city gates level, and well over 60 feet above the top of the ruined staircase.
And of course, anyone making that climb would have to remain wary of harpy scouts and dive-bombing.
The Harpy Tower (no grid)
As we were discussing this map on google+ when I drew it, I realized that the design of the Harpy Tower is kind of central to D&D mythology because of Durin’s Tower and the Endless Stair in Moria, destroyed in the battle between the Balrog and that Mary Sue DMPC Gandalf.
To the point that I didn’t even realize that’s what I was drawing until I had drawn it and started discussing it.
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Dyson's Dodecahedron 
A clamour of harpies…nice!
Congratulations! This is an awesome beast, and it’s an accomplishment to finish.
Don’t dis’ Gandalf. It’s not his fault.
More lovely maps, but I have trouble understanding the stairs. This is something I have noticed in some of your other maps too. Maybe it is because you do not close the ends, so it is hard to immediately tell which end each staircase can be be accessed from. (For example, which end of the bottom level left hand staircase is the top?)
Also, if you don’t want to add numbers to identify the levels, you could put the cross-section in the middle and use indicator lines.
Sorry to harp on these minor points.
Oh, and LotR is rife with GMPCs and NPC-to-NPC conversations. Almost like JRR was writing a novel.
In his style, the longer lines on the stairs begin at the top of the flight and get shorter as the stairs go down. Therefore on the bottom level, the left hand staircase does indeed go down to where the dwarf city gate would have been.
Yes, but it is not clear at a glance what the stairs are doing.
My confusion arose from seeing each level as having a central room. After reading the description more carefully, I now understand that the central tower itself is just a stairwell without floors and that the thin lines are ledges looking into this abyss. Maybe some light shading in the middle to show this?
I see now that the stairs continue to spiral around the well, which is why there are no end lines. I wonder if there is a graphical way to show that they continue.
Anyway, I guess if I had clearly thought about the reference to Durin’s Tower, I would have gotten it. Instead I might of come across as dopey, but I am happy now.
By the way, it does make me wonder why the dwarves would build a big open stairwell like this. Maybe it was also an important air tunnel or perhaps even a special gathering place.
Well done! Congratulations for the “cherry on top” of a super-dungeon that will give thousands of players hundreds of hours of enjoyment each!
All I can say, Dyson, is that you and your work is so feckin’ brilliant that I can barely stand the awesomeness. I’m looking forward to being able to join your Patreon Campaign soon!
Where can I find a link that has a list of the order of all 31 maps?
Where on the whole megadungeon map is this located? I can’t seem to find it.
It sits above the Gates of the City. https://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/2015/01/13/megadelve-the-gates-of-the-city/
Here’s the node map
And it connects to the Gates of the City map via the collapsed stairwell in the lower right corner
Thank you! It was the second question that I was struggling with. That is actually where I had guessed it was based on the connections, but I didn’t see an indicator to that effect on the map.
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