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<blockquote data-quote="Neonchameleon" data-source="post: 5303845" data-attributes="member: 87792">Kill the wandering monster table.&nbsp; Dead.&nbsp; Kaput.&nbsp; Finished.&nbsp; You should never roll to find what monsters there are in a dungeon.&nbsp; At least not with SoD if you expect forewarning.&nbsp;&nbsp;He's a damn Wizard!&nbsp; He probably has 30 spells in his spell book at a minimum.&nbsp; That makes him too flexible to prepare against given that he can change his entire loadout on a day to day basis - unless he has a reputation for signature spells.&nbsp;&nbsp;Then it shouldn't be an autokill.&nbsp; Or at least not a commonly used one.&nbsp; Wasps have stripes so other creatures know they are dangerous.&nbsp; A weapon is a device for making the enemy change his mind.&nbsp; So creatures want the fact they have big guns to be well known even if what they actually are is concealed.&nbsp; Any other way is bad for long term survival.&nbsp;&nbsp;Heh.&nbsp; My PCs know that one.&nbsp;&nbsp;SoD footprints should normally be obvious.&nbsp; With the exception of non-confrontational monsters relying on camoflague.&nbsp; And those are the sort who should let you alone if you let them alone.&nbsp; And the much rarer possible exception of e.g. Trapdoor Spiders who are IMO far more fun if they aren't SoD.&nbsp; Desperate scrambles to get the captured PC back are far more interesting than dead PCs.&nbsp;Exactly.&nbsp; Or both.&nbsp; Wizards in pre-4e are too versatile to really prepare for.&nbsp;&nbsp;Give them the damn statues to find.&nbsp; And make the Medusa matter - the actual Medusa of myth rather than Monster #23.&nbsp;&nbsp;And if the copy of his spellbook (good luck finding that) said he knew Finger of Death, Prismatic Spray, and Baleful Polymorph?&nbsp; Which do you prepare for anyway.&nbsp;&nbsp;But SoD doesn't add much over massive damage.&nbsp; Except arbitrariness.&nbsp;And it gets more interesting because there is no right answer.&nbsp; My paladin will do one thing, my rogue another.&nbsp; There's something to respond to and RP off.&nbsp; Not &quot;Urk!&nbsp; I'm Dead!&quot;&nbsp; Or even &quot;Only an idiot would fail to take precautions x,y,z in the magical arms race&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp;Breaking a statue to pieces is hard and annoying.&nbsp; Laziness matters.&nbsp; But none of the pro SoD people have as far as I rememeber answered the challenge that the Medusa's snakes can't be spotted from range - the damn thing's a gotcha.&nbsp;&nbsp;So?&nbsp; That means sometimes it isn't.&nbsp;&nbsp;3e was the edition after the non-Gygaxian 2e.But you assume didn't like is the same as didn't understand.&nbsp; My opinion on 3e (and 4e) being non-Gygaxian D&amp;D is &quot;Ding, dong, the witch is dead!&quot;&nbsp; Now maybe we can have ecologies that make sense.&nbsp; Not a jerk system with a designer who invents creatures to infest doors and jump into peoples' ears because he doesn't like PCs listening at them - however stupid the ecology of this is.&nbsp; (EGG on Dragonsfoot).&nbsp; Ecologies were best in the 2e (i.e. non-Gygaxian) era.&nbsp; Gygaxian D&amp;D was the worst sort of DM gotcha game.&nbsp; And I for one wouldn't be playing D&amp;D if it was still Gygaxian.&nbsp; (I'd love to play Arnesonian D&amp;D on the other hand).&nbsp;&nbsp;I'm stetting up a sandbox campaign now.&nbsp; 3e and 4e in no way killed the sandbox or are otherwise hostile to it.&nbsp; It is no longer the default mode of play (I have never once run a dungeon in 4e).&nbsp;&nbsp;Of course foreshadowing is counterintuitive if you are trying to run a more narrative game.&nbsp; I mean, foreshadowing is not and has never been a literary device.&nbsp; Whereas there was no such thing as a wandering monster table containing Save or Die monsters in Gygaxian D&amp;D that would produce monsters that weren't foreshadowed.&nbsp; Riiight.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Neonchameleon, post: 5303845, member: 87792"] Kill the wandering monster table. Dead. Kaput. Finished. You should never roll to find what monsters there are in a dungeon. At least not with SoD if you expect forewarning. He's a damn Wizard! He probably has 30 spells in his spell book at a minimum. That makes him too flexible to prepare against given that he can change his entire loadout on a day to day basis - unless he has a reputation for signature spells. Then it shouldn't be an autokill. Or at least not a commonly used one. Wasps have stripes so other creatures know they are dangerous. A weapon is a device for making the enemy change his mind. So creatures want the fact they have big guns to be well known even if what they actually are is concealed. Any other way is bad for long term survival. Heh. My PCs know that one. SoD footprints should normally be obvious. With the exception of non-confrontational monsters relying on camoflague. And those are the sort who should let you alone if you let them alone. And the much rarer possible exception of e.g. Trapdoor Spiders who are IMO far more fun if they [I]aren't[/I] SoD. Desperate scrambles to get the captured PC back are far more interesting than dead PCs. Exactly. Or both. Wizards in pre-4e are too versatile to really prepare for. Give them the damn statues to find. And make the Medusa matter - the actual Medusa of myth rather than Monster #23. And if the copy of his spellbook (good luck finding that) said he knew Finger of Death, Prismatic Spray, and Baleful Polymorph? Which do you prepare for anyway. But SoD doesn't add much over massive damage. Except arbitrariness. And it gets more interesting because [I]there is no right answer[/I]. My paladin will do one thing, my rogue another. There's something to respond to and RP off. Not "Urk! I'm Dead!" Or even "Only an idiot would fail to take precautions x,y,z in the magical arms race". Breaking a statue to pieces is hard and annoying. Laziness matters. But [B]none[/B] of the pro SoD people have as far as I rememeber answered the challenge that the Medusa's snakes can't be spotted from range - the damn thing's a gotcha. So? That means sometimes it isn't. 3e was the edition after the non-Gygaxian 2e. But you assume didn't like is the same as didn't understand. My opinion on 3e (and 4e) being non-Gygaxian D&D is "Ding, dong, the witch is dead!" Now maybe we can have ecologies that make sense. Not a jerk system with a designer who invents creatures to infest doors and jump into peoples' ears because he doesn't like PCs listening at them - however stupid the ecology of this is. (EGG on Dragonsfoot). Ecologies were best in the 2e (i.e. non-Gygaxian) era. Gygaxian D&D was the worst sort of DM gotcha game. And I for one wouldn't be playing D&D if it was still Gygaxian. (I'd love to play Arnesonian D&D on the other hand). I'm stetting up a sandbox campaign now. 3e and 4e in no way killed the sandbox or are otherwise hostile to it. It is no longer the default mode of play (I have never once run a dungeon in 4e). Of [I]course[/I] foreshadowing is counterintuitive if you are trying to run a more narrative game. I mean, foreshadowing is not and has never been a literary device. Whereas there was no such thing as a wandering monster table containing Save or Die monsters in Gygaxian D&D that would produce monsters that weren't foreshadowed. Riiight. [/QUOTE]

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