Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The senseless achitecture in most official products
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7901529" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>Hell no I'm not! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>It's my responsibility to design the dungeon* and present it neutrally, giving as best I can such information as the PCs would be able to observe while not giving away info they wouldn't be able to observe or learn. What the players/PCs do with the dungeon - or to it - and how they interact with it is entirely up to them. (even including turning their backs on the whole thing and going somewhere else, which has happened once or twice)</p><p></p><p>* - if I wrote it myself or significantly tweaked a published module; if I'm running a published module stock then only the presentation aspect applies.</p><p></p><p>That's why you map, and once you're done with the obvious foes you check the map and see if there's any known exits, passages or doorways yet unexplored.</p><p></p><p>Yep, our goals differ a bit. I've had a party miss an entire adventure simply because they couldn't find the entrance! I didn't want to lead them by the nose (at the time I was actively trying to train myself away from doing this), and thus took the stance of if they find it they find it and if not then so be it. So they wandered around in the forest, beat up a few stray random monsters, eventually gave up, went back to town, and reported failure on the mission.</p><p></p><p>Which brings to mind another thing: IMO parties have to be allowed to outright fail now and then.</p><p></p><p>Another option, which I've seen in some published modules, is to give several entrances that on the surface look more or less identical. Examples: the three caves at the start of Tomb of Horrors, or the four (or more?) caves south of Suderham in A-3 Slave Lords. Without some hardcore divination it's trial-by-guess as to which one actually goes somewhere useful, and I don't mind that: a lucky party guesses correctly, a less-lucky party has to slog through some extra encounters (and thus weaken themselves) before hitting the meat of it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 7901529, member: 29398"] Hell no I'm not! :) It's my responsibility to design the dungeon* and present it neutrally, giving as best I can such information as the PCs would be able to observe while not giving away info they wouldn't be able to observe or learn. What the players/PCs do with the dungeon - or to it - and how they interact with it is entirely up to them. (even including turning their backs on the whole thing and going somewhere else, which has happened once or twice) * - if I wrote it myself or significantly tweaked a published module; if I'm running a published module stock then only the presentation aspect applies. That's why you map, and once you're done with the obvious foes you check the map and see if there's any known exits, passages or doorways yet unexplored. Yep, our goals differ a bit. I've had a party miss an entire adventure simply because they couldn't find the entrance! I didn't want to lead them by the nose (at the time I was actively trying to train myself away from doing this), and thus took the stance of if they find it they find it and if not then so be it. So they wandered around in the forest, beat up a few stray random monsters, eventually gave up, went back to town, and reported failure on the mission. Which brings to mind another thing: IMO parties have to be allowed to outright fail now and then. Another option, which I've seen in some published modules, is to give several entrances that on the surface look more or less identical. Examples: the three caves at the start of Tomb of Horrors, or the four (or more?) caves south of Suderham in A-3 Slave Lords. Without some hardcore divination it's trial-by-guess as to which one actually goes somewhere useful, and I don't mind that: a lucky party guesses correctly, a less-lucky party has to slog through some extra encounters (and thus weaken themselves) before hitting the meat of it. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The senseless achitecture in most official products
Top