Homebrew Gas lamps in dungeons?

[SkidAce]

Slow leaking natural gas? Piped to where you need it?

 

[SkidAce]

Methane? A reason to keep Otyughs...

 

[GMMichael]

It all depends on your players. If they're fine with a button in a dungeon that causes something to happen "in a distant area," they'll be fine with gas lighting.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It all depends on your players. If they're fine with a button in a dungeon that causes something to happen "in a distant area," they'll be fine with gas lighting.

I mean, that feels like a great thing to have in a big dungeon, whether it's a steampunk one or just purely old school magical dungeon.

"What was that noise? Was there a scream? Bob, did you pull that lever without knowing what it was?"

Just a nice variant of a fool of a Took letting a chain fall down a well in Moria, not knowing what it would unleash.

 

[Fenris-77]

I very much enjoy playing the party Took. I am a pusher of buttons and puller of levers.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Also, on the asphyxiation issue, if D&D can have 45,000 different magical metals (and in 3E, a bunch of magical woods), having a magical version of coal that only has the fun parts (powering engines, making a big mess, creating gas that can go boom) without the less fun realistic parts is pretty simple. Call it lapis ignis, and we're all set.

Heck, maybe that's why the former dark lord built his castle here to begin with.

 

[Umbran]

Just a nice variant of a fool of a Took letting a chain fall down a well in Moria, not knowing what it would unleash.

I very much enjoy playing the party Took. I am a pusher of buttons and puller of levers.

Pippin is much maligned. He didn't push an obvious button or throw a lever without knowing what it was. He touched something that had been stable for decades to centuries. If it was going to fall apart, it should have done so long before then. Not his fault.

Heck, Gandalf had already announced that the enemy was going to come for them! The fool of a Took didn't actually change anything - they weren't ever going to get out unscathed, which is why Gandalf didn't want to go there in the first place!

Also, on the asphyxiation issue, if D&D can have 45,000 different magical metals (and in 3E, a bunch of magical woods), having a magical version of coal that only has the fun parts (powering engines, making a big mess, creating gas that can go boom) without the less fun realistic parts is pretty simple. Call it lapis ignis, and we're all set.

Since when is risk of asphyxiation by poison gas not one of the fun parts?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Heck, Gandalf had already announced that the enemy was going to come for them! The fool of a Took didn't actually change anything - they weren't ever going to get out unscathed, which is why Gandalf didn't want to go there in the first place!

I read that as Gandalf being paternally frustrated in the movie, at least. (It helps to have such a warm actor in the role.) If they had gotten out of Moria together, I suspect he would have said something to that effect to Pippin.

Since when is risk of asphyxiation by poison gas not one of the fun parts?

Only when it deforms dungeon design too much. The goal is to have lots of three-hour expeditions at the FLGS, ideally with classic dungeon areas. If lack of oxygen means that larges parts of the dungeon simply don't work, it's gotta go for the most part. Having a special asphyxiation trap, though, is always on the table.

 

[Umbran]

I read that as Gandalf being paternally frustrated in the movie, at least.

I always saw it as an expression of his anxiety. He lashes out at Pippen because he's scared, and has been telegraphing it for a long time. He's pretty sure of what class of thing the dwarves uncovered, and that if it shows up, he's gonna have to try to deal with it, and probably die.

He just doesn't realize he'll be given a second go-round later.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I always saw it as an expression of his anxiety. He lashes out at Pippen because he's scared, and has been telegraphing it for a long time. He's pretty sure of what class of thing the dwarves uncovered, and that if it shows up, he's gonna have to try to deal with it, and probably die.

He just doesn't realize he'll be given a second go-round later.

I think a large part of parental feelings are probably masked anxiety for your kids.