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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 9139969" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dungeon Issue 86: May/Jun 2001part 6/6Adventure Design Tips: They’re obviously still struggling to get submissions that stick to the much stricter 3e rules and formatting, as this shows up again just 6 months after the last time. It’s not just a straight copy-paste though, skipping the general stuff we’ve seen plenty of times before for a very specific 7 page list of what you should include, in what order, regardless of the type of adventure you’re writing. Some of the elements are optional, but if you do include them, this is the way you should be doing it. Yet another thing that reinforces that 3e operates on very different design principles to previous editions and you have to step up your game if you want to create things that fit within it and work as intended with all the subtle interlocking rules. If you don’t, they have to work twice as hard to make what you send in ready for publishing, and that’s if they still like the basic idea enough to not immediately throw it on the scrap pile. You can see how this environment would lead them to stick with already established writers more. Monster Tokens - Set #2: Well, at least this second set get scanned properly. It sticks to the monsters that actually appear in the adventures this issue, which leads to a motley collection of public domain creatures and D&D specific ones. Regular 5x5 ones are Chuul, digester, mummy, skeleton, bronze statue, ghost, huecvava, shadow, grimlock, ice mephit, magmin, ghoul, baaz draconian, assassin vine, minotaur, tiefling, vrock and gargoyle. Long 10x5 monsters you really have to worry about facing for are a young red dragon, tiger, yrthak, and destrachan. 10x10 large creatures are retriever, tendriculos, phase spider and giant constrictor snake. Since there’s more than one of many of these monsters in the adventures, you are not only permitted but encouraged to photocopy these. That provides you with a good carrot to get people playing using the grid system rather than old school theatre of the mind.Map of Mystery is a fairly large Egyptian themed temple complex this time, with both a square and a circular pool in different rooms, plus multiple stairs leading down to a lower level. There could be quite the megadungeon beneath the shifting sands if you’re willing to fill it in. (and come up with an excuse why said sand hasn’t already filled in the underground levels forcing you to excavate the place before it can be properly explored)An issue filled with adventures that are interesting reads, but easily the hardest to use in your average campaign without reworking so far this edition. As such it feels like a bit of a throwback to mid 2e when they were putting more obscure setting material in to keep from repeating themselves at the expense of accessibility to the casual reader. It’s still probably worthwhile overall, but not the kind of thing they should be doing every issue. If next issue is going to do anything experimental, it should be a very different set of experiments to please a different subset of their audience.</blockquote>

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