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<blockquote data-quote="Mannahnin" data-source="post: 9511482" data-attributes="member: 7026594">It's more than just that, though. It's also a way of rationalizing and justifying certain rules idiosyncrasies of OD&amp;D.Like the fact that dungeon doors are stuck by default, but ONLY for PCs.&nbsp; Monsters/inhabitants of the dungeon move through them freely and with ease.&nbsp; And that doors slip free and close on their own, even when spiked open, 1/3rd of the time. (Book III, page 9).&nbsp; Or the fact that all monsters in the dungeon can see in the dark, but ONLY as long as they are not serving a PC. (same page). My observations match yours, that Gygax and pretty much all the other designers chose to move increasingly away from these kinds of rules and towards making their dungeons more naturalistic.&nbsp; As exemplified by the &quot;Let There Be a Method to Your Madness&quot; article on dungeon design by Richard Gilbert in Dragon #10 (Oct '77), and similar comments by Gary on dungeon design in the AD&amp;D DMG two years later.&nbsp; Gygax increasingly embraced a design philosophy that rules should be symmetrical, as in his comments about critical hits on DMG 61.&nbsp; But the rules for doors being stuck for PCs but not a problem for the dungeon's inhabitants did hold on into AD&amp;D, see DMG 97.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mannahnin, post: 9511482, member: 7026594"] It's more than just that, though. It's also a way of rationalizing and justifying certain rules idiosyncrasies of OD&D. Like the fact that dungeon doors are stuck by default, but ONLY for PCs. Monsters/inhabitants of the dungeon move through them freely and with ease. And that doors slip free and close on their own, even when spiked open, 1/3rd of the time. (Book III, page 9). Or the fact that all monsters in the dungeon can see in the dark, but ONLY as long as they are not serving a PC. (same page). My observations match yours, that Gygax and pretty much all the other designers chose to move increasingly away from these kinds of rules and towards making their dungeons more naturalistic. As exemplified by the "Let There Be a Method to Your Madness" article on dungeon design by Richard Gilbert in Dragon #10 (Oct '77), and similar comments by Gary on dungeon design in the AD&D DMG two years later. Gygax increasingly embraced a design philosophy that rules should be symmetrical, as in his comments about critical hits on DMG 61. But the rules for doors being stuck for PCs but not a problem for the dungeon's inhabitants did hold on into AD&D, see DMG 97. [/QUOTE]

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