D&D General DM Authority

[Maxperson]

Well, the original rule had a lot more tables for the random dungeons. You rolled as per 5ed but, included were random traps (with a table), random monsters (16 tables if I remember correctly), random room content ( empty, monster, treasure and monsters with treasure). It was not only a set of tables for random directions and rooms. You could litterally build a whole mega dungeons along with furnitures, magical fonts (which had random effects, both good and bad), sliding and shifting rooms and even portals... The 1ed random dungeon generator was a lot more complete than its 5ed counter part.

That is why I think that we could pull DMless play with the 1ed random dungeon generator but mot with the 5ed one. The only drawback would be that ECL of encounters might not always be on spot as it could be possible to have 4th level monsters (or 5th?) as possible encounters. But otherwise it should be feasible.

24 tables if you count sub-tables. 8 if you don't.

Edit: If you want a REAL solo-dungeon generator, get the Central Casting: Dungeons book. It's really good for that. Makes the 1e DMG look like child's play.

 

[Jack Daniel]

You can't use rules from prior editions as RAW for the current one.

Oh? Where's that rule printed?

 

[Charlaquin]

Sure. But you're also missing the rule for solo play, so it's not only random traps.

You don’t really need a rule for solo play. Just... play solo. Boom, solo play achieved.

 

[Charlaquin]

Oh? Where's that rule printed?

It doesn’t need to be printed. The rules of AD&D are not the rules of D&D 5th edition as written. You can use them in 5th edition if you want, but it’s factually inaccurate to call it 5e RAW.

 

[Helldritch]

24 tables if you count sub-tables. 8 if you don't.

Edit: If you want a REAL solo-dungeon generator, get the Central Casting: Dungeons book. It's really good for that. Makes the 1e DMG look like child's play.

I am not aware of that book. TSR or some other publisher ?

 

[Maxperson]

Oh? Where's that rule printed?

Exactly. If it ain't printed, it ain''t RAW, and it ain't printed in 5e.

 

[Maxperson]

I am not aware of that book. TSR or some other publisher ?

Task force games, from 1991. 172 pages of random goodness. More really, but those are the tables.

 

[Maxperson]

You don’t really need a rule for solo play. Just... play solo. Boom, solo play achieved.

I wonder if the anti-DM as ultimate authority crowd is going to claim that he's not the ultimate authority in a solo game. They've already claimed that he can't play solo just by virtue of their argument.

 

[Charlaquin]

I wonder if the anti-DM as ultimate authority crowd is going to claim that he's not the ultimate authority in a solo game. They've already claimed that he can't play solo just by virtue of their argument.

I haven’t been following the thread closely, but it seems unlikely to me that anyone would have claimed D&D can’t be played solo. Regardless, there’s no need to determine who has authority in solo play. There’s only one player, so the question of if they have authority over themself is just kind of nonsense.

 

[Maxperson]

I haven’t been following the thread closely, but it seems unlikely to me that anyone would have claimed D&D can’t be played solo.

It's implicit in their argument that the players give the DM his authority and kick him out of the game. That cannot be true if the DM can just play the game solo. If they do not grant him his authority and can only leave his game, then the game remains his to play solo if he wants to.