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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ariosto" data-source="post: 5041297" data-attributes="member: 80487">From decades of first-hand experience, I know that it is no illusion!If all the characters are indeed 1st level, and 2nd-level monsters are about twice as tough,  then it is indeed wise -- because of the vulnerability of 1st-level characters in old D&D -- to stick to the 1st-level dungeons. With a party of mixed levels, it is not so simple. As the average level increases, so does the viable range of risk-reward levels.To the point as well is that the first skill in play is setting objectives. Wandering aimlessly yields poor returns on any level. Even with the big stretch of 1st-level PCs on the 2nd-3rd dungeon level, a sound plan can be very profitable. It can also be disastrous if it goes south -- the kind of balance that makes the game. "Intel" from research and reconnaissance is valuable; knowledge is power.That is simply not possible in the D&D dungeon as originally presented. Even degrading it tremendously, it should still be relatively unprofitable for any one party to clear out. Once you reach the 2nd level of experience, you get at most 1/2 the experience-point value for accomplishments on the 1st dungeon level. If there's not at least enough for two parties to "level up", then it's a pretty pathetic dungeon by the original standard.Even if that follows from your premises (which is itself unclear to me), your premises are at odds with the original instructions for setting up a D&D dungeon. It seems to me that one might give common sense the benefit of the doubt, and -- in the absence of actual knowledge of the subject -- assume that the game was designed to present meaningful choices. Certainly one might reasonably assume that present company includes people able in fact to refer to the actual books.[edit] Even on the same dungeon level, encounters cover a range of difficulties. In the 1e DMG, for example, the 1st level random encounters are 80% I, 15% II and 5% III. By the 8th level, they span the full range from I (kobolds, etc.) through X (arch-devils, demon princes, etc.).In general, richer treasures are more strongly guarded. Identifying a lair with an unusually high reward to risk is more profitable than blundering into tough wandering monsters with little or no treasure. That it is non-trivial to choose optimal paths through the event-space  of  the dungeons, but is feasible to discover better and worse choices -- both absolutely, and in terms of preferred trade-offs -- is central to the game design.</blockquote>

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