Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Mannahnin" data-source="post: 8697805" data-attributes="member: 7026594">To me it's a matter of embracing the setting conceit.&nbsp; If doors in the dungeon DO behave differently for adventurers vs. monsters, why?Sometimes it might be a relatively mundane explanation- I have lived with doors which had a bit of a trick to them, hung incorrectly or where the lock was slightly misaligned, where you had to know the trick- pull up on the handle to get them un-stuck from the frame, or push in slightly to get the lock mechanism lined up, or what have you.&nbsp; Gary described dungeon doors as commonly being swollen with moisture, having rusted hinges or other difficult qualities.&nbsp; It would make sense that someone who lives with those doors would be accustomed to dealing with them and their idiosyncrasies and handle them more easily than an intruder.But I'm also on board with a dungeon being an inherently inimical place to surface dwellers, where the regular daylight rules and expectations don't apply.&nbsp; Actually I was researching something else and ran into an article in Dragon #40 from Douglas Bachmann, Believe it or Not, Fantasy Has Reality, where he goes into the same Joseph Campbell idea that the Mythic Underworld concept draws on.&nbsp; He talks in the piece about the distinction between Home Areas and Wyrd Areas.I'm on board with creating a specific, rationalized explanation if it's not too much work and I think it will pay off in terms of the players problem solving.&nbsp; But I agree with your earlier point that it's all too possible to overthink it.I absolutely do not feel beholden to realism in making a fun dungeon.&nbsp; Magic and mystery and weirdness are more important.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mannahnin, post: 8697805, member: 7026594"] To me it's a matter of embracing the setting conceit. If doors in the dungeon DO behave differently for adventurers vs. monsters, why? Sometimes it might be a relatively mundane explanation- I have lived with doors which had a bit of a trick to them, hung incorrectly or where the lock was slightly misaligned, where you had to know the trick- pull up on the handle to get them un-stuck from the frame, or push in slightly to get the lock mechanism lined up, or what have you. Gary described dungeon doors as commonly being swollen with moisture, having rusted hinges or other difficult qualities. It would make sense that someone who lives with those doors would be accustomed to dealing with them and their idiosyncrasies and handle them more easily than an intruder. But I'm also on board with a dungeon being an inherently inimical place to surface dwellers, where the regular daylight rules and expectations don't apply. Actually I was researching something else and ran into an article in Dragon #40 from Douglas Bachmann, [I]Believe it or Not,[/I] [I]Fantasy Has Reality[/I], where he goes into the same Joseph Campbell idea that the Mythic Underworld concept draws on. He talks in the piece about the distinction between Home Areas and Wyrd Areas. I'm on board with creating a specific, rationalized explanation if it's not too much work and I think it will pay off in terms of the players problem solving. But I agree with your earlier point that it's all too possible to overthink it. I absolutely do not feel beholden to realism in making a fun dungeon. Magic and mystery and weirdness are more important. [/QUOTE]

Verification