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Desert of Desolation - your experiences?
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<blockquote data-quote="gizmo33" data-source="post: 2446382" data-attributes="member: 30001"><p>I don't think any of your complaints so far rank as "major" issues, though I suspect that difference is the core reason why some folks (like me) consider the modules great while others (you) do not. </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>Back in the old days DMs knew how to multiply by 5. Now the MM does that for you.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>25 or so years of DMing and no player has ever asked me why someone has 10 hit points instead of 4. Who cares about stuff like this? The bandits with 2 HD are tough. Maybe next time someone in your campaign meets a 5th level fighter NPC they should demand to see an XP sheet enumerating each of the XP gains.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>My memory is a little hazy, but there were sections of the dungeon that bordered on other dimensions. I don't recall it explicitly stating that there was only one way in - though perhaps the module only described one way. One of the issues is that in practice (IME anyway), PCs assume that there is a logic behind it, and they're a little too busy trying to stay alive to want to undertake a study of the ecology of the place. Even if the module says one way in, it's not that big of a deal to add others - do you really think the module would have been great if half of it were taken up with useless backstories of NPCs that got killed in the first round by a fireball?</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>When I run modules in my campaign, I take notes on PCs actions so that those that revisit the dungeon find it altered by the events. It is NOT uncommon for PCs to discard items, even a magic item that no one had time to examine. </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite5" alt=":confused:" title="Confused :confused:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":confused:" /> Ok, so one thing that makes less sense than a discared warhammer in the middle of the floor is a TRAPPED discarded warhammer in the middle of the floor. </p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>Welcome to 1st edition DnD. There were no skills. It would take a whole seperate thread to describe the various ways of DMing non-combat situations - but suffice to say IMO that there were few guidelines. Any system that you propose (intelligence-based for instance) would be just as flawed in certain cases (what if my dumb fighter were from the desert?) "30%" chance takes up a whole lot less space than a 3E-ish "sidebar" explaining the rules. The modules in the old days were lean and mean.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>The oldest of 1e modules were just pure out-and-out slug-fests (or trap-fests, like Tomb of Horrors). The I-series was one of the first to add a story and interesting non-combat elements to the mix. You still have to do some work to get it to mesh with your campaign world - but I find the tantalizing bits that the I-series does provide to be much more interesting than the pages and pages of fluff that I'd have to discard anyway. Maybe it's a little light on details for today's thespians, but back in the day all the extra flavor text that you seem to be asking for would have been wasted space.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gizmo33, post: 2446382, member: 30001"] I don't think any of your complaints so far rank as "major" issues, though I suspect that difference is the core reason why some folks (like me) consider the modules great while others (you) do not. Back in the old days DMs knew how to multiply by 5. Now the MM does that for you. 25 or so years of DMing and no player has ever asked me why someone has 10 hit points instead of 4. Who cares about stuff like this? The bandits with 2 HD are tough. Maybe next time someone in your campaign meets a 5th level fighter NPC they should demand to see an XP sheet enumerating each of the XP gains. My memory is a little hazy, but there were sections of the dungeon that bordered on other dimensions. I don't recall it explicitly stating that there was only one way in - though perhaps the module only described one way. One of the issues is that in practice (IME anyway), PCs assume that there is a logic behind it, and they're a little too busy trying to stay alive to want to undertake a study of the ecology of the place. Even if the module says one way in, it's not that big of a deal to add others - do you really think the module would have been great if half of it were taken up with useless backstories of NPCs that got killed in the first round by a fireball? When I run modules in my campaign, I take notes on PCs actions so that those that revisit the dungeon find it altered by the events. It is NOT uncommon for PCs to discard items, even a magic item that no one had time to examine. :confused: Ok, so one thing that makes less sense than a discared warhammer in the middle of the floor is a TRAPPED discarded warhammer in the middle of the floor. Welcome to 1st edition DnD. There were no skills. It would take a whole seperate thread to describe the various ways of DMing non-combat situations - but suffice to say IMO that there were few guidelines. Any system that you propose (intelligence-based for instance) would be just as flawed in certain cases (what if my dumb fighter were from the desert?) "30%" chance takes up a whole lot less space than a 3E-ish "sidebar" explaining the rules. The modules in the old days were lean and mean. The oldest of 1e modules were just pure out-and-out slug-fests (or trap-fests, like Tomb of Horrors). The I-series was one of the first to add a story and interesting non-combat elements to the mix. You still have to do some work to get it to mesh with your campaign world - but I find the tantalizing bits that the I-series does provide to be much more interesting than the pages and pages of fluff that I'd have to discard anyway. Maybe it's a little light on details for today's thespians, but back in the day all the extra flavor text that you seem to be asking for would have been wasted space. [/QUOTE]
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