Yearning to explore the megadungeon internet
Freedom from platforms might rest at the center of a labyrinth.
Megadungeons are nearly synonymous with tabletop RPGs, manifesting from pencil on gridded paper to represent the ultimate challenge that a group of roleplaying delvers can overcome. The Temple of Elemental Evil might be the first to cement a notorious legacy during the era of Dungeons & Dragons 1E, but other standouts pepper both the past and the present–Caverns of Thracia, Stonehell, and Mothership’s Gradient Descent.
But what if the angular, labyrinthine structure of the megadungeon held a deeper meaning? One that accurately–and perhaps hopefully–mapped onto our modern understanding of the internet? That’s the thrust of an academic paper from Gabriele de Seta and Paolo Berti, recently published in the journal, magazén. I came across this article and its fascinating premise thanks to the crew at Never Post, a podcast co-hosted by Mike Rugnetta that digs into the internet’s many unusual folds through an audio-focused format. It’s fantastic and worker-owned, just like us.
