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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gus L" data-source="post: 9539984" data-attributes="member: 7045072">I don't have a recommendation between those two - but I would make the following recommendations about "OSR" play.* Read the adventure you're running at least once through a day or two prior to your session (or reread your design notes once they're finished). * Make a copy of the map and write yourself notes on it - things like "SPEARTRAP!" in big letters or "8 GIANT RATS" so that you have an at a glance record of what is where in the dungeon and can connect the rooms more easily to the keys in play.* Imagine likely scenarios - not elaborate ones, but basic stuff like "How will I describe the secret door if the players say they are tapping the wall with a pole to find hollow spaces?" or "What happens if the party decides they want to help the molemen fight the giant beetles in exchange for mole gems? How will the molemen respond to this offer"?* Following from the molemen example - the near most important rolls that the referee makes are random encounter checks and reaction checks. Don't forget about them.  Always roll for encounters even if the part of a location is safe (unless the party knows that).  Consider what the monsters want and how they will react to a positive reaction result, or a less then fully hostile one. No horrible moleman (etc) is likely to be entirely friendly to heavily armed home invaders ... but a positive reaction means something.* Don't pull punches but don't hide basic information and double check if a player says their character is says they are doing something obviously dangerous or stupid.  The player may no have understood your description, so it's not fair to punish them for that. Build trust with the players by being fair, rolling in the open and giving the characters the benefit of the doubt when it comes to seeing things and knowing stuff.  A dungeon robber is going to know the sound of a crossbow being winched back, or understand if a rope looks too rotten to hold their weight.  Let the players know what the characters see and hear - the danger is still their and so is a puzzle... Who is loading a crossbow nearby? How will they cross the chasm if the bridge is rotten?</blockquote>

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