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Dungeon of the Mad Mage: Adventure or Setting Book?
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<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 8465223" data-attributes="member: 2629"><p>My advice, should you not find it enjoyable, as is, but wish to continue in it: </p><p></p><p>1.) Add some storyline to it. Look at some of the connecting tissue between levels and flesh it out to give you more of a continuous hook. [spoiler]For example, there are drow in various locations in the upper levels. You can connect them better, and give them a plot they are undertaking within Waterdeep itself, giving the PCs a reason to leave the dungeon and thwart the plan before returning.[/spoiler]</p><p></p><p>2.) Just eliminate combats that don't seem interesting for your group. There are a lot of combats in this dungeon that are just <em>there</em> with no real significance. There is no great treasure to be found, nothing interesting about the environment, no secondary challenge to be won - just an easy combat against a forgetable foe. You can also add a secondary element to these combats to make them more interesting (such as a chance to rescue the remains of another adventuring party that is about to be killed off, or stopping a monster from devouring something valuable the PCs might want to recover, or having an enemy trigger a trap that provides an extra challenge in the combat), but there are so many encounters in the first few levels that are bland that it would be a lot of work to upgrade all of them.</p><p></p><p>3.) Skip levels. Read a level ahead. If it doesn't catch your interest, remove it and take the essential elements in it and move it to another level. You can advance the PCs a little faster in the other levels to let them stay on target for milestone advancement.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 8465223, member: 2629"] My advice, should you not find it enjoyable, as is, but wish to continue in it: 1.) Add some storyline to it. Look at some of the connecting tissue between levels and flesh it out to give you more of a continuous hook. [spoiler]For example, there are drow in various locations in the upper levels. You can connect them better, and give them a plot they are undertaking within Waterdeep itself, giving the PCs a reason to leave the dungeon and thwart the plan before returning.[/spoiler] 2.) Just eliminate combats that don't seem interesting for your group. There are a lot of combats in this dungeon that are just [I]there[/I] with no real significance. There is no great treasure to be found, nothing interesting about the environment, no secondary challenge to be won - just an easy combat against a forgetable foe. You can also add a secondary element to these combats to make them more interesting (such as a chance to rescue the remains of another adventuring party that is about to be killed off, or stopping a monster from devouring something valuable the PCs might want to recover, or having an enemy trigger a trap that provides an extra challenge in the combat), but there are so many encounters in the first few levels that are bland that it would be a lot of work to upgrade all of them. 3.) Skip levels. Read a level ahead. If it doesn't catch your interest, remove it and take the essential elements in it and move it to another level. You can advance the PCs a little faster in the other levels to let them stay on target for milestone advancement. [/QUOTE]
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Dungeon of the Mad Mage: Adventure or Setting Book?
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