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How important is it that a dungeon makes sense?
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<blockquote data-quote="Kinak" data-source="post: 6215907" data-attributes="member: 6694112"><p>I think [MENTION=386]LostSoul[/MENTION] nails this one. The more a dungeon (and the world) is internally consistent, the more players can actually engage in meaningful decisions.</p><p></p><p>If all you know is that there's a right door and a left door, the choice isn't meaningful or interesting. If the left door looks more used (because the goblins pass through there), you have something. If the right door is made out of a special material you've seen before, you have something.</p><p></p><p>Dungeons can certainly be enjoyable hackfests, but if they're going to be more than that, they have to follow an internal logic. And it's not particularly hard, you just need to set up the dungeon with that in mind.</p><p></p><p>Well said.</p><p></p><p>I'll also add that the more the dungeon makes sense, the easier it is to describe what's going on outside the lines of the boxed text. If the party peer down a hallway that isn't a keyed encounter area, what do they see? If the dungeon makes sense, it's easy to figure out and describe. If it doesn't, you basically have to make it make sense or your answers can end up being inconsistent later in the dungeon.</p><p></p><p>There's nothing quite like players asking what direction a river flows and only <em>then</em> realizing it goes from high point to high point. Or having players try to flood a dungeon and realizing it really should have been flooded in the first place, but not knowing why it hadn't been.</p><p></p><p>Cheers!</p><p>Kinak</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kinak, post: 6215907, member: 6694112"] I think [MENTION=386]LostSoul[/MENTION] nails this one. The more a dungeon (and the world) is internally consistent, the more players can actually engage in meaningful decisions. If all you know is that there's a right door and a left door, the choice isn't meaningful or interesting. If the left door looks more used (because the goblins pass through there), you have something. If the right door is made out of a special material you've seen before, you have something. Dungeons can certainly be enjoyable hackfests, but if they're going to be more than that, they have to follow an internal logic. And it's not particularly hard, you just need to set up the dungeon with that in mind. Well said. I'll also add that the more the dungeon makes sense, the easier it is to describe what's going on outside the lines of the boxed text. If the party peer down a hallway that isn't a keyed encounter area, what do they see? If the dungeon makes sense, it's easy to figure out and describe. If it doesn't, you basically have to make it make sense or your answers can end up being inconsistent later in the dungeon. There's nothing quite like players asking what direction a river flows and only [I]then[/I] realizing it goes from high point to high point. Or having players try to flood a dungeon and realizing it really should have been flooded in the first place, but not knowing why it hadn't been. Cheers! Kinak [/QUOTE]
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How important is it that a dungeon makes sense?
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