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The idea of "monster generators" was discussed on MUD-DEV recently, and I've been thinking about the possibilities such a feature might provide. For those not familiar with Gauntlet, a "monster generator" (unsurprisingly) is a "thing" which generates monsters - the stronger the generator, the stronger the monsters it produces.
Within a mud setting, I envision the generators being scattered randomly around the landscape, with the appearance of a small settlement. Over time they would grow from village into town and eventually into a city - and send stronger and better armed monsters out into the surroundings. Players could fight these monsters (and indeed might be forced to, should the settlement grow too strong), but could also weaken (or even destroy) the settlement itself (although this would be significantly more difficult). When this occurs, I would suggest that a new settlement be created somewhere else in the world.
Each generator would be based around a specific race, although it might have different troop types - for example a dark elf settlement might also include driders and various summoned nasties, while an undead "settlement" could have several types of undead. Different generators would fight each other, although it could be possible to have alliances between generators of the same type. This could allow regular player-run cities to get caught in the middle of NPC wars, which would be rather fun IMO.
It's a fairly simple concept, but I think it could work quite well. I'd be interested to hear other peoples thoughts on the matter (as long as your thoughts are more than two words in length:P).
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