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
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
ToEE: Help me flesh out the elemental caverns!
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="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6090029" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>I am not at all a fan of the ToEE design, which is why I've never even considered running it.</p><p></p><p>The nodes in particular are really uninspiring, being little more than a random collection of monsters which vaguely fit the elemental theme, but which don't give us any reason to explore. Basically, I would want to begin by giving each node some conceptual exploration space. So for example, we have this node of evil air. Air symbolizes thought and imagination, so logically the node of evil elemental air is about evil thoughts and imagination and something within that space must embody or represent this problem. Instead we get a totally juvenile dungeon map with a list of things to kill. </p><p></p><p>One thing I'd be tempted to do is have something in node turn out to be something radically different than it seems to be. So for example, I might have a village in the node that is supposed to be where the survivors have gone, only for it to turn out that the village is replaying ground hog day like the same week of history over and over again, ending with this choking fog that causes everyone to lose conscious, and then wake up and repeat the same week again, and that all of the villagers are long since dead except for one whose evil brooding fantasies ultimately led to a terrible tragedy - say by poisoning the whole village. And maybe during the week I'd plant hints as to where the bodies are hidden, and were the villain is now. And oh, on tuesday, the village is attacked by a white dragon, and on wednesday Valarius asks the PC to help him kill the vapor rats that have gotten into the granery. And meanwhile maybe I'd scatter these vapor monsters around that would turn out to actually be evil thoughts (I'd use stats for a ghost, making a magic jar attack) and if possessed you'd live out some dark fantasy (murder, theft, whatever). Or something because this is all just stream of consciousness right now. Anything but the lameness that is the original design, because really its not even excuseable. By the time the supermodule comes out, TSR has already produced lots of cool conceptual stuff with narrative to it and symbolism and well meaning.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 6090029, member: 4937"] I am not at all a fan of the ToEE design, which is why I've never even considered running it. The nodes in particular are really uninspiring, being little more than a random collection of monsters which vaguely fit the elemental theme, but which don't give us any reason to explore. Basically, I would want to begin by giving each node some conceptual exploration space. So for example, we have this node of evil air. Air symbolizes thought and imagination, so logically the node of evil elemental air is about evil thoughts and imagination and something within that space must embody or represent this problem. Instead we get a totally juvenile dungeon map with a list of things to kill. One thing I'd be tempted to do is have something in node turn out to be something radically different than it seems to be. So for example, I might have a village in the node that is supposed to be where the survivors have gone, only for it to turn out that the village is replaying ground hog day like the same week of history over and over again, ending with this choking fog that causes everyone to lose conscious, and then wake up and repeat the same week again, and that all of the villagers are long since dead except for one whose evil brooding fantasies ultimately led to a terrible tragedy - say by poisoning the whole village. And maybe during the week I'd plant hints as to where the bodies are hidden, and were the villain is now. And oh, on tuesday, the village is attacked by a white dragon, and on wednesday Valarius asks the PC to help him kill the vapor rats that have gotten into the granery. And meanwhile maybe I'd scatter these vapor monsters around that would turn out to actually be evil thoughts (I'd use stats for a ghost, making a magic jar attack) and if possessed you'd live out some dark fantasy (murder, theft, whatever). Or something because this is all just stream of consciousness right now. Anything but the lameness that is the original design, because really its not even excuseable. By the time the supermodule comes out, TSR has already produced lots of cool conceptual stuff with narrative to it and symbolism and well meaning. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
ToEE: Help me flesh out the elemental caverns!
Top