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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 7692899" data-attributes="member: 2067">I think ToH could stand to be much more dynamic, but I also think that this is a stylistic thing. Bringing sheep to the dungeon is like earning 10 gp from some orcs and then giving up to go home and become a baker because adventuring is too dangerous. Or in the mystery analogy, deciding after the second murder to just call the cops rather than find out how to survive. If the goal of play is to confront and overcome a challenge, it's not going to be fun if a bunch of summoned monsters beat the challenge. (Though this was in 1e, where divination spells and summoned monsters could just as easily screw over the party that used them much of the time). Now, ToH does kind of encourage this kind of extreme lateral thinking. I wouldn't say the module is perfect by any stretch.But for the right goals of play, it's good at what it does. The "right goals of play" here really doesn't include "tell a compelling narrative." That's not what ToH is interested in at all.It is interested in "reduce information asymmetry," ie, "solve the mystery." It's not necessarily the BEST THING EVER at that, but it's really what the module is offering, and that's where the fun of the module lies. Use your spells and abilities and puzzle-solving skills to determine how to get through this thing without grisly death. That can be a fun game, and ToH is totally a reasonable stab at that kind of fun with a lot of solid elements (like the gargoyle face). Given that play goal, ToH is clever and devious. A flying rogue on a rope is just a FOO strategy that might dominate the play experience, but given that ToH was one of the earliest examples of this design, I don't fault it much. The first group that beat it with a flying rogue on a rope would've felt VERY clever indeed before the Internet just ruined all the secrets! Given the goal of "Explore the unknown," though, ToH is just unfair and punishing you for doing what you think is fun.</blockquote>

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