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<blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 8621462" data-attributes="member: 6877472">Every so often I find an adventure that has a sidebar or some thoughts on troubleshooting.&nbsp; I really enjoy these, and when I write my own adventures, I make sure to jot down some notes on sections I think could have problems.No carefully, well thought-out adventure has ever survived contact with the player characters, but in a world with magic, someone is going to find a solution to a problem that you are then forced to either ignore, because the adventure gives you no guidance on how to deal with, or allow, and then the whole thing goes well off the rails.Example: in an adventure, my party encountered a portal in the forest that was allowing Devils entry to the Material Plane.&nbsp; They couldn't figure out what to do to close it (the adventure would have them find the means later), and I said &quot;well, if you could block it somehow, that would work&quot;.I then pointed out that due to it's size, they'd need a really big rock or some kind of fortification.&nbsp; Instead, my roommate produces a Quaal's Feather Token and plants a massive oak tree right on top of the portal!In that instant, I had to make a decision whether to reward his ingenuity or have it fail in some spectacular decision.&nbsp; I chose to let it work, figuring they'd still want to finish exploring, even if they had technically &quot;won&quot;.But the adventure itself?&nbsp; Utterly silent on the subject.&nbsp; Another fun example comes from way back in 2e.&nbsp; We were in a tomb of a long-dead sorceress.&nbsp; The tomb was constructed with several Wizard Locked doors that you needed to find special keys for (the party being too low level to cast Knock).The party then decided to show me the weakness of 2e's Wizard Lock.&nbsp; They simply cut their way through the door.&nbsp; I couldn't believe the spell didn't take this into account!And apparently, neither did the adventure writer!(In 3e, however, Wizard Lock does make doors harder to bust open, so apparently I wasn't the only one to ever run into this issue!)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="James Gasik, post: 8621462, member: 6877472"] Every so often I find an adventure that has a sidebar or some thoughts on troubleshooting. I really enjoy these, and when I write my own adventures, I make sure to jot down some notes on sections I think could have problems. No carefully, well thought-out adventure has ever survived contact with the player characters, but in a world with magic, someone is going to find a solution to a problem that you are then forced to either ignore, because the adventure gives you no guidance on how to deal with, or allow, and then the whole thing goes well off the rails. Example: in an adventure, my party encountered a portal in the forest that was allowing Devils entry to the Material Plane. They couldn't figure out what to do to close it (the adventure would have them find the means later), and I said "well, if you could block it somehow, that would work". I then pointed out that due to it's size, they'd need a really big rock or some kind of fortification. Instead, my roommate produces a [B]Quaal's Feather Token[/B] and plants a massive oak tree right on top of the portal! In that instant, I had to make a decision whether to reward his ingenuity or have it fail in some spectacular decision. I chose to let it work, figuring they'd still want to finish exploring, even if they had technically "won". But the adventure itself? Utterly silent on the subject. Another fun example comes from way back in 2e. We were in a tomb of a long-dead sorceress. The tomb was constructed with several [B]Wizard Locked[/B] doors that you needed to find special keys for (the party being too low level to cast [B]Knock[/B]). The party then decided to show me the weakness of 2e's [B]Wizard Lock[/B]. They simply cut their way through the door. I couldn't believe the spell didn't take this into account! And apparently, neither did the adventure writer! (In 3e, however, [B]Wizard Lock [/B]does make doors harder to bust open, so apparently I wasn't the only one to ever run into this issue!) [/QUOTE]

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