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<blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 6319917" data-attributes="member: 6680772"><p>You are my EN World conscience, pemerton. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> I'll see what I can do.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Indeed. IMO, aside from focus on exploration, the primary difference between early TSR D&D (0e, 1e, and Classic) and WotC D&D (with 2e representing in my mind a kind of bridging point) has to do with what the players use to interact with the game. In early TSR D&D, this is the DM. In WotC D&D, this is the rules themselves. But these are just different paths up the mountain, so to speak.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well, we're getting pretty far afield of the topic, but what you've written here applies very much to games I've run in this style. Lots of little surprises, and unplanned vignettes that keep the game fresh. On the DM dungeon stocking side, one of the first dungeons I stocked with this philosophy was the 2nd level dungeon map found in Mentzer's DMG. I rolled Traders. Twice. Uh, okay. So what would traders be doing in the 2nd level of a dungeon? Later I rolled Bandits. A-ha! The bandits attacked the traders who fled into the dungeon, eventually reaching the second level, where they split up and the bandits lost them. Then I rolled Giant Geckos. Two rooms down from one of the parties of traders. And with a surprising store of treasure! So, it came to mind that the traders found themselves in the room with the geckos, and barely escaped with their lives. One didn't make it out, and it was his treasure that was in the room. Later a string of animal rolls in another section of the dungeon suggested what the giant geckos were doing there. They'd escaped from a menagerie! </p><p></p><p>During play, the players were searching around the outside of the first level. I rolled for wandering monsters and came up with...one Trader! And his initial reaction roll to the party was negative. So, improvising, I said that he was practically catatonic in shock and fear, and after the party talked him down, he explained about the traders and the bandits. This became one of the side quests for the party as they explored the dungeon -- rescue the traders from the dungeon. None of this was planned; until the PCs happened to run into the trader outside the dungeon, I didn't even have a "save the traders" plot hook. It all just turned out that way through the rolls I made.</p><p></p><p>Tavis Alison, of ACKS and Autarch fame, gave a podcast <a href="http://canonpuncture.geekyandgenki.com/canon-puncture-99-game-advocates-%E2%80%93-original-dd/" target="_blank">interview</a> extolling this mode of play, which I highly, highly recommend. He's talking mainly about OD&D, but what he talks about can be entirely applicable to any kind of RPG, IMO.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>If I'm making my own (rather than one of the handy random dungeon generators out there), I use primarily the rules in B/X that pemerton mentioned above. I either design my own dungeon/wilderness layouts, or use the layout (but not the key) of a pre-published module. For dungeons, Basic D&D has a random stocking table that uses d6: 1-2 Monster, 3 Trap, 4 Special, 5-6 Empty. If it's a monster, you roll on the Wandering Monster table of appropriate level to find who or what and how many of them are in there. Then you roll another d6 for Treasure and cross-check with what kind of room it is. 1-3 means there's treasure in a Monster room, 1-2 means there's treasure in a Trap room, and a 1 means there's treasure in an Empty room.</p><p></p><p>I sometimes dip into the random content generators in the 1st Ed AD&D books if I need inspiration, especially for dungeon sections. Using the random dungeon generator in the book can take you right off your graph paper, so I generally don't use it for the whole dungeon, but it's great for spicing up sections.</p><p></p><p>Few things have made me jump up and down in anticipation for 5e like the news that there will be reams of random content generators in the DMG!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iosue, post: 6319917, member: 6680772"] You are my EN World conscience, pemerton. :) I'll see what I can do. Indeed. IMO, aside from focus on exploration, the primary difference between early TSR D&D (0e, 1e, and Classic) and WotC D&D (with 2e representing in my mind a kind of bridging point) has to do with what the players use to interact with the game. In early TSR D&D, this is the DM. In WotC D&D, this is the rules themselves. But these are just different paths up the mountain, so to speak. Well, we're getting pretty far afield of the topic, but what you've written here applies very much to games I've run in this style. Lots of little surprises, and unplanned vignettes that keep the game fresh. On the DM dungeon stocking side, one of the first dungeons I stocked with this philosophy was the 2nd level dungeon map found in Mentzer's DMG. I rolled Traders. Twice. Uh, okay. So what would traders be doing in the 2nd level of a dungeon? Later I rolled Bandits. A-ha! The bandits attacked the traders who fled into the dungeon, eventually reaching the second level, where they split up and the bandits lost them. Then I rolled Giant Geckos. Two rooms down from one of the parties of traders. And with a surprising store of treasure! So, it came to mind that the traders found themselves in the room with the geckos, and barely escaped with their lives. One didn't make it out, and it was his treasure that was in the room. Later a string of animal rolls in another section of the dungeon suggested what the giant geckos were doing there. They'd escaped from a menagerie! During play, the players were searching around the outside of the first level. I rolled for wandering monsters and came up with...one Trader! And his initial reaction roll to the party was negative. So, improvising, I said that he was practically catatonic in shock and fear, and after the party talked him down, he explained about the traders and the bandits. This became one of the side quests for the party as they explored the dungeon -- rescue the traders from the dungeon. None of this was planned; until the PCs happened to run into the trader outside the dungeon, I didn't even have a "save the traders" plot hook. It all just turned out that way through the rolls I made. Tavis Alison, of ACKS and Autarch fame, gave a podcast [URL="http://canonpuncture.geekyandgenki.com/canon-puncture-99-game-advocates-%E2%80%93-original-dd/"]interview[/URL] extolling this mode of play, which I highly, highly recommend. He's talking mainly about OD&D, but what he talks about can be entirely applicable to any kind of RPG, IMO. If I'm making my own (rather than one of the handy random dungeon generators out there), I use primarily the rules in B/X that pemerton mentioned above. I either design my own dungeon/wilderness layouts, or use the layout (but not the key) of a pre-published module. For dungeons, Basic D&D has a random stocking table that uses d6: 1-2 Monster, 3 Trap, 4 Special, 5-6 Empty. If it's a monster, you roll on the Wandering Monster table of appropriate level to find who or what and how many of them are in there. Then you roll another d6 for Treasure and cross-check with what kind of room it is. 1-3 means there's treasure in a Monster room, 1-2 means there's treasure in a Trap room, and a 1 means there's treasure in an Empty room. I sometimes dip into the random content generators in the 1st Ed AD&D books if I need inspiration, especially for dungeon sections. Using the random dungeon generator in the book can take you right off your graph paper, so I generally don't use it for the whole dungeon, but it's great for spicing up sections. Few things have made me jump up and down in anticipation for 5e like the news that there will be reams of random content generators in the DMG! [/QUOTE]
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