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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fanaelialae" data-source="post: 5921967" data-attributes="member: 53980">It's the gotcha style of DMing that SoD engenders that I object to. I'm sure that there are plenty of DMs who understand how to use SoD properly, but I've seen quite a few who did not (especially true of new DMs, who may or may not learn better).I never said that every DM does that, which seems to me what you're implying. However, it can help to encourage an atmosphere of paranoia. IME, paranoia bogs play down, as players spend hours trying to plan for every contingency the DM might throw at them. Or it leads to SOP, where they slather on Death Wards and keep their wands of Stone to Flesh close at hand, thereby rendering any real risk from the encounter null and void. It's not the style of play I like.I prefer tension to paranoia. In that sense, most of the rest of the caves is good (although a tad underdeveloped for my tastes). There are a lot of creatures in the caves, and the players stand no real chance if they manage to alert more than one or two groups to their whereabouts. That creates tension and risk, because runners become a high priority target (as they'll no doubt bring more of their kind).I never waste a wolf in sheep's clothing on a throwaway encounter. When I use one, it's an NPC who I intend to use repeatedly. There will be multiple opportunities to discover the NPC's treachery, and he'll do more harm than simply turning them to stone (and then turning them back via the contrivance he carries). Using it on a throwaway encounter such as this one is a waste and worse, because it shows that the DM is willing to use gotcha throwaway encounters. Those encounters, in turn, will engender an atmosphere of paranoia in the players.Like I said elsewhere, I have no issue with SoD being an option. However, I'd very much like to see an hp threshold or even SoSoD option in the MM. The simplest way that I can see is to put the rules in there and then tell DMs that they can ignore them if they want a deadlier game (preferably with advice for doing it the right way).The problem is that, despite all the foreshadowing wisdom, it doesn't necessarily work. In the scenario, there are no statues to warn the players. Sure, the DM might drop hints via the cultists, but some DMs might not realize they should while other DMs might forget to do so. I've seen wandering monster tables in modules that included SoD monsters, while 3.x had dragons on the tables (a creature that was underrated for it's CR on purpose, because the designers assumed that players would knowingly be hunting the dragon). My point is that it's not always so cut and dry. Make SoD creatures that default to a power level where it's fair and reasonable to drop them on any wandering monster table. Then, if the DM wants to use them as a set piece, give advice for making them deadlier.</blockquote>

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