Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="grodog" data-source="post: 3743552" data-attributes="member: 1613">FYI, I'm mixing and matching between two of Andre's posts here.While I appreciate your reminder's sentiment, the woodgrain boxes preceded the white box, and while I wasn't playing with either at the time that I started with Holmes Basic in '77, I am familiar with OD&D's contents <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />This is a good point, and one I've certainly lost sight of over the years.  There was certainly plenty of discussion in TD about DMing/group play styles, and coaching to help steer groups between the Scylla and Charybdis of Monte Haulism and Killer DMism, and much of that is likely trying to help steer the player base to a more middle ground of play.  Relatedly, and supporting your point, as I read through the first D&D/AD&D tourneys described in 40 Years of GenCon (prior to the creation of more consistent tourney standards) saw many more deathtrap tourney adventures in use, seemingly.  I concur heartily:  PC attrition is a standard part of the game, especially if you played in larger groups (8-12+ players), or on solo missions.  FWIW, I do'nt consider multi-level stairwells tricks or anything like save-or-die situations: they're normal in OD&D (and, to a lesser degree, AD&D); same thing with slanting passages.  If you descend 200' of stairs and think that you'll be facing the same level of monsters as a challenge, well, you're wrong, and you'll swiftly find out when you go from meeting ogres to rakshasas (or whatever) <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />These I consider quite a bit more deadly, since such channelling tricks/traps are often not reversible immediately, if at all (teleportation in particular).  Ditto <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />These I'm also less concerned about:  good mapping helps, as does not tarrying long in a dead end to search for secret doors on all available walls.  I'm always astonished how little advice there is on designing a good dungeon environment, myself, which always struck me as a glaring gap.  Thanks for the comments Andre, and everyone else:  you've definitely given me some good ideas to ponder further.</blockquote>

Verification