Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="GMMichael" data-source="post: 9813516" data-attributes="member: 6685730">I'm curious: what makes this a specifically D&D thread?  I imagine other games have something to contribute to dungeon-design theory.  From this quote, the answer is, "what D&D is trying to do."  So, no, realism has no place in dungeon design, or anywhere else in D&D, for what D&D is trying to do.Realism in other games is an important factor in how fun the play is for me.  It's largely immersion-related.  For example, if there's one hidden switch in the prior room that disables the electrified puddle trap, I'm not having fun.  I'm asking myself a ton of questions instead, most of which don't have good answers.So is this about utility or playability?  50 10' x 10' cells sounds like, well, a cellblock.  I don't imagine that those are too hard to explore.  But linear isn't always a bad quality.  Some PC groups (most?) have no leader, so linear simplifies things a lot and keeps the game going.  It's good for the warrior, so she can simply advance to get to the next fight.  The thief, however, is probably interested in alternate routes and/or flanking, and probably doesn't like linearity as much.Not every fight should be a hallway fight.  But they're not inherently bad, either.  Many hallways will have some sort of flanking opportunity, so PCs can attempt to be the first flanker, or feel the time crunch as they hope to break through before being flanked.  But let's say you're using a bad r/battlemap, and there's no flanking opportunity.  The front line can swing it out.  Or they could turn it into a shoving match, with the weaker side getting trampled.  Are there torches involved?  Throw them at the tapestries/giant spider webs, and see what the enemy thinks of having fire in its midst.  Maybe they want to go toe-to-toe for 13 rounds, but that's a lot of time for reinforcements to show up.  With nets.  Let the archer stand on your back, and shoot at some heads.  While you're at it, pick up the party dwarf and toss her into the fray . . . sorry Gimli!</blockquote>

Verification