Redbeard's Ravings

Thinking out loud:  suppose you’ve got an episodic megadungeon campaign.     Each session, the group picks a location in the megadungeon to explore.   Sometimes these locations are already deep within the dungeon.   Now, a well-designed megadungeon has multiple entrances, some of which provide ready access to deeper parts.   But what if those entrances haven’t been found yet?   Reality impedes our gaming quite enough – how much time do we spend just “getting to the good parts”?    I'm pondering a game mechanic - whether a random roll, skill check or something more or less involved that can shorten that process.  I haven't made one yet, but I'm putting this out here for feedback. Some groups may spend precious game time working through the map (newly restocked as a megadungeon should) attempting to avoid encounters.   Other games or groups may just hand wave away this difficulty and start play deep within the dungeon. ...

I suppose it's a commentary on my work ethic, but I'm finally working in earnest on the megadungeon that I threatened back in this post .  The overall setting of the campaign was described (at my usual pace) here .  Because I suck at making pretty maps, I'm just using Warhammer's campaign setting as a map.  Middenheim is the city that the dungeon is beneath. Part of the creation of the megadungeon will be MacGuffins, and that's the focus of this post.  MacGuffins drive dungeon exploration, but a megadungeon should have many to keep driving exploration.  You can find one, but there will always be more.  Also, like any MacGuffin, they'll drive intrigue in and out of the dungeon as well.  The stereotypical MacGuffin doesn't have much use on its own.  Player characters can trade any of these MacGuffins for gold (and I'm using gold for EXP) but some of these MacGuffins will have tempting uses on their own.  Whenever I need a new hook for the meg...