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Message: <blockquote data-quote="thulsa" data-source="post: 399381" data-attributes="member: 5776">Hi again,a couple of more comments: OK. I said I might be wrong about my initial assumption. No big deal. As I've said, the group is experienced, clever and resourceful. Ormraxes probably knows the rules better than any of us. I think it would be to underestimate the group's combined intelligence to assume that they need more hints as to whether the module is dangerous or not.I believe in using the resources and intelligence of the NPCs, and making the dungeon a dynamic, living environment. If the dungeon consists of three rooms with two orcs in each, the orcs in room #2 aren't going to sit idly by while their friends in room #1 are slaughtered. If the PCs barge in and start throwing fireballs, they will put the entire dungeon on alert and the foes will coordinate their attacks. If the PCs withdraw, the opponents will follow and press their advantage if they feel they have the upper hand. If there are spellcasters among the foes, they will use animate dead and glyphs of warding to bolster their defense for the next time the PCs come for a visit.All this is just common-sense tactics. I believe it would detract from the players' sense of accomplishment if I play intelligent, resourceful opponents as if they were stupid and/or mindless. Might as well play a computer game. Ahem. I guess Ormraxes "failed" to mention that he already has Int 21 (which becomes Int 23 with the headband). His character is 17 years old... and already nearing demigod intelligence. That's just plain silly to me.Also, regarding starting treasure: According to the poll, only 25% of DMs actually use the DMG PC wealth table. I also find it utterly silly that Ormraxes uses words like "we SHOULD have such-and-such items/wealth by now" or "we're SUPPOSED to have such-and-such by now". In the campaigns I DM, the players will have whatever equipment and magical items they find/make/buy/commission during the game, they don't simply get it "because it says so in the DMG". It seems you are under the impression that the characters have NO magical items -- that's simply not true. (Such misinformation and half-truths are the trademarks of Ormraxes' stratagems; please don't make any assumptions based on his words alone.) The party has found many magical items, including magical swords, rings, wands, etc., not to mention potions, scrolls and spellbooks. It's true that they've lost some of these as a result of character deaths. A lot of you wanted my thoughts on the number of character deaths. Let me explain: I've DMed several campaigns for the last 10 years. All of them, before RttToEE, have been 2nd Edition, long-lasting campaigns with emphasis on character development and setting (but also combat-heavy).RttToEE is our group's (and me as a DM's) first campaign using 3rd Edition rules. I told the players pretty early on that I would use this adventure as a way to learn the new rules (the players also needed to learn the new rules) and as a testing ground for what works in the new rules, and what doesn't.With its focus on combat, RttToEE does a good job to learn us different aspects of the new rules. We also learn what monsters are dangerous, what spells are broken, what spots the rules don't cover very well, and so on. My attitude is to "go with the book" and see how it turns out. However, since we've spent a year already and we're only half-way through, I've got to make an adjustment here and there to avoid wasting this amount of time only to find out that things have gotten out of control.The number of character deaths serve one good purpose in this regard: The players get to try out many new classes and multiclass combinations, prestige classes, etc. I've told my players that my next campaign will be quite different. After RttToEE, I will make adjustments for what I feel doesn't work very well or is broken in 3rd edition. If the players want character development, I'll relax things a bit and give them the chance to develop them. But if they give me fresh character sheets with no background history and tell me that (as Ormraxes usually does) "my entire family is dead, it doesn't matter where I come from", well... then we might as well roll-play like we do now. - thulsa=============================================Roleplaying in Robert E. Howard's Swords & Sorcery World of Conan The Hyborian Age d20 Campaign Web Site - <a href="http://hyboria.xoth.net" target="_blank">http://hyboria.xoth.net</a>Maps - Characters - Gods - Monsters - Spells - Items & Artifacts=============================================</blockquote>

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