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<blockquote data-quote="Primal" data-source="post: 4049404" data-attributes="member: 30678">I agree. All this reminded me heavily of the 'Expedition to Undermountain'-module. First of all, we didn't use the really lousy backstory (&quot;You dream of Halaster dying, and with tearful eyes you realize that you *must* do something for Undermountain... etc.&quot;) because it was just laughable. It featured&nbsp; so badly done maps for levels 1 and 2 that they were practically unusable -- not to mention that the rift featured in the 'Delve'-format encounter area maps was not shown at all. And since they couldn't fit the whole level maps on one page, they just cropped them, which resulted in many corridors leading off the edge of the maps. You really needed the original 'Undermountain Boxed Set' to run this adventure properly.&nbsp; All in all, if I ran this module without the original room and level descriptions, it would feel like the players were stumbling through endlessly long and empty corridors (&quot;Hey, it seems that the reputation of this place is way exaggerated -- so far no monsters or treasure at all, and we've probably mapped half the level!&quot;).Which brings me to my actual point. You see, I think this will be the &quot;new&quot; thesis for Adventure Building in 4E -- you only need the Encounter Areas and the rest of the dungeon will be just &quot;You enter the Halls of the Bronzebottom Dwarven Clan and pass through two miles of empty chambers and musty corridors... *UNTIL* you finally find a set of bronze double doors deep within the halls! Roll for Perception, guys!&quot;-type of short descriptions. Isn't 4E all about combat action, after all? I think it works in fiction (e.g. couldn't imagine why Tolkien would have described every passage or room in Moria) but I *like* to draw maps, and I think this style of DMing (or playing) would not fit me.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Primal, post: 4049404, member: 30678"] I agree. All this reminded me heavily of the 'Expedition to Undermountain'-module. First of all, we didn't use the really lousy backstory ("You dream of Halaster dying, and with tearful eyes you realize that you *must* do something for Undermountain... etc.") because it was just laughable. It featured so badly done maps for levels 1 and 2 that they were practically unusable -- not to mention that the rift featured in the 'Delve'-format encounter area maps was not shown at all. And since they couldn't fit the whole level maps on one page, they just cropped them, which resulted in many corridors leading off the edge of the maps. You really needed the original 'Undermountain Boxed Set' to run this adventure properly. All in all, if I ran this module without the original room and level descriptions, it would feel like the players were stumbling through endlessly long and empty corridors ("Hey, it seems that the reputation of this place is way exaggerated -- so far no monsters or treasure at all, and we've probably mapped half the level!"). Which brings me to my actual point. You see, I think this will be the "new" thesis for Adventure Building in 4E -- you only need the Encounter Areas and the rest of the dungeon will be just "You enter the Halls of the Bronzebottom Dwarven Clan and pass through two miles of empty chambers and musty corridors... *UNTIL* you finally find a set of bronze double doors deep within the halls! Roll for Perception, guys!"-type of short descriptions. Isn't 4E all about combat action, after all? I think it works in fiction (e.g. couldn't imagine why Tolkien would have described every passage or room in Moria) but I *like* to draw maps, and I think this style of DMing (or playing) would not fit me. [/QUOTE]

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