D&D General Adventurers Go Left?

[Wiseblood]

Go right. To the left are snakes.

 

[Ovinomancer]

This is actually why tower stairs always rose clockwise. Going down you'd have room to swing your weapon, while going up you'd get caught up on the center.

Well, they descend clockwise and rise counter-clockwise.

 

[Esker]

Well, they descend clockwise and rise counter-clockwise.

Other way around, no? If you're right-handed then going clockwise puts your dominant hand to the interior, giving you less room.

 

[Nagol]

Barring some sort of pressure of time (or resources, or otherwise), the optimum route to clear out the dungeon is to be nice and systematic. So always go left.

(Of course, always go right would work just as well, as long as whatever is chosen is done consistently. But I've always done "go left", so... Oh, and @Seramus is right about the handedness issue.)

And of course, as a DM, it is of course incumbent on me to make sure that such systematic approaches aren't optimal - either because of traps designed to move the party against their will, invisible teleporters or other weirdness, or simply by applying one of those pressures I mentioned at the outset.

Always go X is a depth-first search. It's primary advantage is swapping hands will get you out eventually. I prefer breadth-first searches when not facing pressure: there's less chance something is going to close my escape route.

 

[clearstream]

Go right. To the left are snakes.

Yeah, but to the right is sharpness!

 

[Charlaquin]

My current players are fond of implementing the right hand rule in situations like this, which I think is ridiculous because it all but guarantees you'll traverse the entire maze, and it doesn't actually guarantee you'll traverse a dungeon.

But I have for some time been having the growing feeling that these sorts of left/right choices are probably the most boring sorts of choices that you can present a party.

When there’s nothing to differentiate the options, yes, they are. Describe the sound of snarling coming from one direction, and the other as having a thick layer of dust undisturbed for months if not years, and you’ve got an interesting decision.

 

[Ovinomancer]

Other way around, no? If you're right-handed then going clockwise puts your dominant hand to the interior, giving you less room.

Heh, just occurred to me maybe we need to define the stair a bit better, first. I'm imagining open stairs climbing the inside walls of the tower, such that you have tge exterior wall to you left as you descend. If you have a central stair, or exterior stair, I see your point.

 

[Shiroiken]

Heh, just occurred to me maybe we need to define the stair a bit better, first. I'm imagining open stairs climbing the inside walls of the tower, such that you have tge exterior wall to you left as you descend. If you have a central stair, or exterior stair, I see your point.

Castle towers usually had a central pillar around which the stairs were attached, so they weren't open in the center. If you stayed near the center (minimizing horizontal distance), the column would be in your way, so you'd have to stay closer to the outside wall to get a good swing. Coming down, you could stay closer to the column, and your swing could go all the way across the outside down the inside near the column, allowing a full range of motion. Of course, this all assumes a sword or other swinging weapon; a spear or dagger would benefit by being near the center column, as it wouldn't interfere with the attack much.

 

[Ovinomancer]

Castle towers usually had a central pillar around which the stairs were attached, so they weren't open in the center. If you stayed near the center (minimizing horizontal distance), the column would be in your way, so you'd have to stay closer to the outside wall to get a good swing. Coming down, you could stay closer to the column, and your swing could go all the way across the outside down the inside near the column, allowing a full range of motion. Of course, this all assumes a sword or other swinging weapon; a spear or dagger would benefit by being near the center column, as it wouldn't interfere with the attack much.

That applies to interior spiral stairs, which aren't anywhere near universal, or even necessarily "usually."

 

[Rob Kuntz]

Depends on where you originally started and where you perceive that you are going. If not the above, pass the chips and dip...

 

[Richards]

I created a dungeon once for my home campaign that was based on this concept. It was called the Magekiller, created by a guy named Arrogan who claimed he'd never been wrong in his life. He built it as a place to store his treasure, then crafted a bunch of killer traps in other rooms to slay anybody who tried entering. But his "never wrong" concept turned into "always right" which was the way to safely navigate his dungeon: whenever given an option, always go right. (Of course, my PCs started out doing just that but failed to find the hidden passageway leading down to the lower level from the first room to the right and ended checking out all of the other trap-filled rooms on the first floor as a result....)

Johnathan

 

[jgsugden]

Bang our weapons loudly and wait for the adventure to come to us...

 

[aco175]

search for secret doors straight ahead and then flip a coin.

 

[Seramus]

Of course, this all assumes a sword or other swinging weapon; a spear or dagger would benefit by being near the center column, as it wouldn't interfere with the attack much.

If you use a shield on your left, it is closer to the danger if you turn left. If your shield was on the outside, you could bring it around but then it would block your weapon while the other guy could bring his shield up AND maneuver his weapon.

Not everyone built their castles like that, but it’s a defense principal that any fantasy dungeon designer probably keeps in mind (if said designer is humanoid).