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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 6143768" data-attributes="member: 6680772">I can't really say how good I may or may not be.  My players seem to have fun.  There is some 4e influence; we use minis, 4e dungeon tiles, and Monster Vault tokens, the majority of my players are regular 4e players, and I myself only felt comfortable running B/X with minis after experience with 4e.  Which is not to say we use 4e minis rules.  Merely that I don't know if we are approaching the game quite as someone would in the 70s.Also, earlier I mentioned drift.  When I played B/X back in the day, we drifted it to high fantasy heroic adventure.  This current group, though, has 4e well-designed to handle that particular area.  So I'm trying to keep largely to the "default" experience, focusing on somewhat suspenseful exploration in the dark.  Also, I'm rusty as all hell as a DM.  To this end, Pulsipher's idea of planning out the whole dungeon has served me well.  OTOH, since B/X's method of dungeon stocking relies on random tables, there's this element of surprise, out of my control, as well.  OK, now the game tells me there are bandits in this area of the dungeon.  Oh, and there are traders over here!  Maybe the bandits chased the traders?  And how will the PCs interact with either party?  I didn't really have to plan ahead there.  The bandits were suspicious; the traders were frightened.  But otherwise it depended very much on the reaction roll.I think, as long as a group is interested in exploration, this works very effectively, and DMing feels quite easy.  A pre-stocked, non-linear dungeon, random encounters, and random reaction and morale rules.  I sit back and let the players play, as it were.  The random aspects stimulate my imagination while reducing mental overhead.  The randomness also goes a long way to resolving the conflict of interest.  In my experience, it creates the independence Pulsipher talks about, while at the same time providing for surprises and new opportunities.  I get a 1 on a Wandering Monster check.  I roll to see what it is.  I roll to check distance and direction.  When the party and monster meet, I roll for surprise.  If they talk I roll reaction.  If they fight, I roll morale.  In essence, I strive to treat the monsters/NPCs as Carr recommends for the players: allow them to make the decision.  It's just that their decision making is decided by the dice, rather than primarily what I think is the personality of the NPC.The hardest thing is to sit back and let it all happen, though.  You want to make suggestions.  You want to fix their map.  You want to mitigate the player's mistakes.  You want to nudge players towards a particular room you're sure they'll enjoy.  I'm still working my way through that.  Reading Mike Carr's B1 helps me get into the mindset.</blockquote>

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