Ape for Going Ape?

[McTreble]

On first impression, the new format seems nice. What I noticed:

Everything is referred to as an Event. Roleplaying event, encounter event, and I don't believe I saw a single skill challenge present.

Not a single map was shoehorned into a jagged, awkward Dungeon Tiles layout. I love this. LEt the Dungeon Tiles be for our own encounters, not presented as the defacto standard for published work.

 

[Riastlin]

Yeah, the only problem with the encounter design is that they still have some encounters spread out over several pages. I like the idea of putting the encounter details in the heart of the adventure so we're not flipping back and forth, but we still have at least one encounter that was spread out over 4 pages. Not a huge deal for me since I usually print out the monster entries from the MB or Compendium anyway and use those as initiative cards, but could still be problematic for some.

 

[Locutus Zero]

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Going Ape)

 

[KidSnide]

Yeah, the only problem with the encounter design is that they still have some encounters spread out over several pages. I like the idea of putting the encounter details in the heart of the adventure so we're not flipping back and forth, but we still have at least one encounter that was spread out over 4 pages. Not a huge deal for me since I usually print out the monster entries from the MB or Compendium anyway and use those as initiative cards, but could still be problematic for some.

It's true, but they are still putting all the stat blocks onto a single page.

In my mind, the key advantage to the delve block is having all the monsters in a single place so I can run the combat without flipping around to find stat blocks. If I need to read four pages to set the encounter up, well, maybe that's because there is four pages of material that is relevant to the encounter. I'd rather have all the info related to the encounter in one place - even if it takes four pages - than half the setup info in the body of the adventure and half the setup info with the stat blocks.

And, of course, I'd like adventures to be complicated and interesting enough that (sometime at least) there are four pages of material that are relevant to an encounter. That's much better than dumbing down a module so that no encounter needs more than a paragraph or two of set-up.

-KS

 

[the Jester]

Hmm. Sounds promising. Unfortunately, since it's behind the paywall, I can't see it; could someone maybe answer me a few questions?

1. The maps- Glad to hear that they aren't tile-based. Do they indicate monster starting places, or are they suitable for printing as use as a battlemap if enlarged? Also, are there repeated maps in different places (e.g. a big encounter with a delve-format style writeup)?

2. Adventure Style- How linear is it? One of my big complaints about the 4e modules is that they have tended to be a sequence of encounters going 1-2-3. Have they broken away from this at all?

3. Use of space- How many pages and "events" are in this? I remember a couple of months ago one of the big complaints about the new adventure in Dungeon was that it was only like three or four encounters long.

Huh... I find myself far more interested in the format than in the actual content in this case.

 

[Scribble]

Hmm. Sounds promising. Unfortunately, since it's behind the paywall, I can't see it; could someone maybe answer me a few questions?

1. The maps- Glad to hear that they aren't tile-based. Do they indicate monster starting places, or are they suitable for printing as use as a battlemap if enlarged? Also, are there repeated maps in different places (e.g. a big encounter with a delve-format style writeup)?

They indicate starting spots.

They're not repeated, as I think they're supposed to be several random locations in the jungle area. There's an overland map style map at the beginning.

2. Adventure Style- How linear is it? One of my big complaints about the 4e modules is that they have tended to be a sequence of encounters going 1-2-3. Have they broken away from this at all?

Haven't actually read the whole thing through so I can't really answer this.

It does mention that while each encounter gives "clues" that might lead them in a certain path, the adventure can be approached from different angles, all sandboxy like.

3. Use of space- How many pages and "events" are in this? I remember a couple of months ago one of the big complaints about the new adventure in Dungeon was that it was only like three or four encounters long.

6 "Events"

2 Roleplaying Events and 4 Combat events.



A quote from the adventure about how to run it:

"Going Ape!” is presented as a series of events linked to individual locations that the characters are likely to visit throughout the course of the adventure. Although clues at each location can guide them along their journey and develop the plot, it’s possible that the player characters will Going Ape! skip locations, approach them in an unexpected order, or even go entirely “off the jungle path.” By all means, allow them to explore where they see fit and provide clues when you feel the players have overlooked something vital.

By the same token, don’t hesitate to expose the characters to the consequences of their actions if, for instance, they make an ill-advised foray into the ziggurat before uncovering at least some of its secrets."

 

[Dedekind]

Hmm. Sounds promising. Unfortunately, since it's behind the paywall, I can't see it; could someone maybe answer me a few questions?

1. The maps- Glad to hear that they aren't tile-based. Do they indicate monster starting places, or are they suitable for printing as use as a battlemap if enlarged? Also, are there repeated maps in different places (e.g. a big encounter with a delve-format style writeup)?

2. Adventure Style- How linear is it? One of my big complaints about the 4e modules is that they have tended to be a sequence of encounters going 1-2-3. Have they broken away from this at all?

3. Use of space- How many pages and "events" are in this? I remember a couple of months ago one of the big complaints about the new adventure in Dungeon was that it was only like three or four encounters long.

Huh... I find myself far more interested in the format than in the actual content in this case.

I was ninja'd! But here is my response.

1. They still indicate monster starting paces. (I'll have a follow up point in the next post.) No repeat of the maps, though.

2. Not completely linear. Depending on actions, one "Event" may be skipped and there is a section describing various things the PCs may or may not encounter in a ruined city. There are also some side quests that the PCs could deal with that aren't necessarily relevant. Also, this could be easily expanded if a DM wanted to add more hooks in the jungle. To put it in some perspective, it was richer in content than the typical LFR adventure, but definitely wasn't a sandbox.

3. There are 18 pages and 6 events. There are a couple pages of overview with hooks for the adventure, roughly 2-4 pages for each "event". If the players did every single encounter, there would be 5 combats. While there are no specific skill challenges, there are a few situations where multiple, diverse skill checks are needed to resolve things.

 

[Dedekind]

Hmm. Sounds promising. Unfortunately, since it's behind the paywall, I can't see it; could someone maybe answer me a few questions?

1. The maps- Glad to hear that they aren't tile-based. Do they indicate monster starting places, or are they suitable for printing as use as a battlemap if enlarged? Also, are there repeated maps in different places (e.g. a big encounter with a delve-format style writeup)?

...... < snip >


Huh... I find myself far more interested in the format than in the actual content in this case.

Regarding the maps, I don't like the monster locations either, but I use GIMP to edit them out for use with MapTools. It ain't perfect, but the players don't really notice and it is better than hand drawing :-/

I wonder if the monster locations are a rough copyright protection? If they didn't have the locations, they would be much more useful for people without a DDI subscription (and an unscrupulous DDI subscriber friend).


I was interested to see the format, too. I like it. I think it would be easier for both prep and at the table. Everything was pretty convenient and the monster statblocks being on one page was the main thing I needed out of the Delve format. I haven't run it, of course...

 

[Dannager]

Regarding the maps, I don't like the monster locations either, but I use GIMP to edit them out for use with MapTools. It ain't perfect, but the players don't really notice and it is better than hand drawing :-/

I wonder if the monster locations are a rough copyright protection? If they didn't have the locations, they would be much more useful for people without a DDI subscription (and an unscrupulous DDI subscriber friend).

WotC has, in the past, published art/map galleries for Dungeon towards the end of the month that contain versions of the map both with and without labels/monster placement. I'm not sure if this is something they still do or will be doing this month, but they do keep this sort of thing in mind.

 

[Pour]

WotC has, in the past, published art/map galleries for Dungeon towards the end of the month that contain versions of the map both with and without labels/monster placement. I'm not sure if this is something they still do or will be doing this month, but they do keep this sort of thing in mind.

I wish those maps were higher res, is all.