I'm still addicted to the quirky, unique flavor of AD&D. It's like John Bellairs' Face in the Frost -- detailed, baroque, imaginative, highly resistant to general description.
AD&D wouldn't be AD&D without illusions and divination. In their original AD&D context, both work perfectly well. If one tries to take them to a new level, however, the results are often disastrous, whether it's in 2nd Ed D&D, 3.x D&D, or another game system.
I suspect that illusions tend to favor the DM and divinations tend to favor the party.
Game characters, much more than real life folks, are made with an expectation of combat. Folks in real life use a lot more diplomacy, large-group cooperation, etc.
An illusion in D&D is usually sprung on a small group of dungeon delvers, isolated from society. Take for example the classic illusionary monster. Even if one could produce something comparable in a real-life setting, folks would call police or emergency services, or else raise a mob of fifty citizens to deal with the apparent threat. (Eventually, one hopes, enough folks would make a saving throw versus magic to realize that it was not a threat, and convince the others.) Dungeon delvers have little choice but to attack, defend, or flee. Their best hope is often that a large number of adventurers give the party extra saving throws to resist mind control or spot inconsistent details.
I recently saw a classic module, {highlight to reveal spoilers}
that used quite a few illusions. It was intended for tournament play, but I would have found it to be an exercise in frustration or rapid death if I faced it in a tournament.
The module is much harder than anything I would throw at the intended level range -- character levels 1-4.
{highlight to reveal spoilers}
The module mentions that the magic items found will require specific keywords. Some of those keywords can be located in the dungeon descriptions; others cannot and must be found by some divination, possibly "Contact Other Plane." (Which means the level 1-4 characters must survive, escape with the useless loot, and have their patron divine the command words...)
Assuming that the party was not trapped or killed outright, the module has enough illusions to completely incapacitate parties showing an average level of aggressiveness. (Perhaps tournament players are expected to be more careful about traps and illusions, but most parties I have played with are looking for instant entertainment, which often means combat.)
The problem is not limited to D&D. Even games which focus on magic, such as Mage: the Ascension, can be completely overpowered by illusions. The problem, I think, is that the DM is naturally made stronger by concealing information or giving misleading impressions -- the party always has limited information about the DM's resources, but the DM always has complete information about the party's resources.
When I have designed illusions, I have often assumed that the party would *try* to disbelieve. Thus I would put an illusionary menace in front of a crucial plot element. Without exception, my players would sneak up to the menace, decide that it wasn't worth the risk, and run away from the crucial plot point!
The flip side is divination. The AD&D rules don't make divination easy for anyone but the highest-level characters. D&D 3.0 changes the balance a bit, IMHO, but notes in the rules that divinations can destroy a campaign. I wish I had known that twenty years ago, before allowing characters to get powerful divination abilities early in campaigns, thus short-circuiting planned adventures.
Someone once said that the two necessary ingredients of adventure are mystery and danger. Illusions increase mystery; divinations decrease it. Both of them can get out of balance very easily.
AD&D wouldn't be AD&D without illusions and divination. In their original AD&D context, both work perfectly well. If one tries to take them to a new level, however, the results are often disastrous, whether it's in 2nd Ed D&D, 3.x D&D, or another game system.
I suspect that illusions tend to favor the DM and divinations tend to favor the party.
Game characters, much more than real life folks, are made with an expectation of combat. Folks in real life use a lot more diplomacy, large-group cooperation, etc.
An illusion in D&D is usually sprung on a small group of dungeon delvers, isolated from society. Take for example the classic illusionary monster. Even if one could produce something comparable in a real-life setting, folks would call police or emergency services, or else raise a mob of fifty citizens to deal with the apparent threat. (Eventually, one hopes, enough folks would make a saving throw versus magic to realize that it was not a threat, and convince the others.) Dungeon delvers have little choice but to attack, defend, or flee. Their best hope is often that a large number of adventurers give the party extra saving throws to resist mind control or spot inconsistent details.
I recently saw a classic module, {highlight to reveal spoilers}
Lost Island of Castanamir,
The module is much harder than anything I would throw at the intended level range -- character levels 1-4.
{highlight to reveal spoilers}
The characters are on a mission to recover the books from the library. (Many of the books require 20 Intelligence to understand!) The books are heavy, fragile, and trapped. The characters have no hope of leaving unless they can signal a passing ship and swim out to it -- which IMHO means that they will ruin the books unless they are lucky enough to chance the right set of heroic waterproofing measures.
The characters are trapped on an island that wrecks ships which approach too closely -- no saving throw. However the island has an effectively unlimited food supply and a special teleporter that imports monsters. If I were playing it in a campaign setting, with unlimited time, I would try to have the party clear out the existing threats, then use the monster teleporter and unlimited food to level up until they could understand the books in the library. It would be faster than ordinary questing -- they would be free of many of the dangers -- and eventually, with higher level magic-users, they could hope to use the wizard's old equipment to stop the storms, teleport to safety, etc.
The characters are trapped on an island that wrecks ships which approach too closely -- no saving throw. However the island has an effectively unlimited food supply and a special teleporter that imports monsters. If I were playing it in a campaign setting, with unlimited time, I would try to have the party clear out the existing threats, then use the monster teleporter and unlimited food to level up until they could understand the books in the library. It would be faster than ordinary questing -- they would be free of many of the dangers -- and eventually, with higher level magic-users, they could hope to use the wizard's old equipment to stop the storms, teleport to safety, etc.
The module mentions that the magic items found will require specific keywords. Some of those keywords can be located in the dungeon descriptions; others cannot and must be found by some divination, possibly "Contact Other Plane." (Which means the level 1-4 characters must survive, escape with the useless loot, and have their patron divine the command words...)
Assuming that the party was not trapped or killed outright, the module has enough illusions to completely incapacitate parties showing an average level of aggressiveness. (Perhaps tournament players are expected to be more careful about traps and illusions, but most parties I have played with are looking for instant entertainment, which often means combat.)
The problem is not limited to D&D. Even games which focus on magic, such as Mage: the Ascension, can be completely overpowered by illusions. The problem, I think, is that the DM is naturally made stronger by concealing information or giving misleading impressions -- the party always has limited information about the DM's resources, but the DM always has complete information about the party's resources.
When I have designed illusions, I have often assumed that the party would *try* to disbelieve. Thus I would put an illusionary menace in front of a crucial plot element. Without exception, my players would sneak up to the menace, decide that it wasn't worth the risk, and run away from the crucial plot point!
The flip side is divination. The AD&D rules don't make divination easy for anyone but the highest-level characters. D&D 3.0 changes the balance a bit, IMHO, but notes in the rules that divinations can destroy a campaign. I wish I had known that twenty years ago, before allowing characters to get powerful divination abilities early in campaigns, thus short-circuiting planned adventures.
Someone once said that the two necessary ingredients of adventure are mystery and danger. Illusions increase mystery; divinations decrease it. Both of them can get out of balance very easily.
