Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf 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 Nest
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!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
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
*TTRPGs General
Tomb of Horrors - example of many, or one of a kind?
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="Umbran" data-source="post: 5578976" data-attributes="member: 177"><p>I haven't looked at the module in years (maybe I'll review it when I get home), but I think I have something to note along Bullgrit's line here.</p><p></p><p>"Consistent" does not imply "predictable". Whether or not a thing is predictable depends on how much of what information you have. What you can see as a GM is much different than what a player can see. The GM, with all the information at his disposal, may feel it is predictable, while a player <em>in situ</em> won't have the information to make the same prediction with confidence at the time he needs to make a decision. Remember the player only gets information through trial and error, and errors are generally deadly in this scenario. </p><p></p><p>For example, if a module is consistent in that left turns always lead to deadly traps, the GM can see that because he can see all the turns at once, and know what they lead to. The player, however, can't make the same prediction until after he's taken both the left and right branches several times, to see the pattern, losing several party members in the process (how many points of consistency do you expect them to divine before they run out of party members?).</p><p></p><p>And, powers help you if the descriptions also have it that the deadly traps they've seen so far are also in rooms with grey stone walls, or maybe it was always that the elf was in front when they entered the deadly areas, and they decide the maker hated elves. I don't think it reasonable to expect the players will see which bits of information are the right ones to cue off off until they're already well into the module.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 5578976, member: 177"] I haven't looked at the module in years (maybe I'll review it when I get home), but I think I have something to note along Bullgrit's line here. "Consistent" does not imply "predictable". Whether or not a thing is predictable depends on how much of what information you have. What you can see as a GM is much different than what a player can see. The GM, with all the information at his disposal, may feel it is predictable, while a player [I]in situ[/I] won't have the information to make the same prediction with confidence at the time he needs to make a decision. Remember the player only gets information through trial and error, and errors are generally deadly in this scenario. For example, if a module is consistent in that left turns always lead to deadly traps, the GM can see that because he can see all the turns at once, and know what they lead to. The player, however, can't make the same prediction until after he's taken both the left and right branches several times, to see the pattern, losing several party members in the process (how many points of consistency do you expect them to divine before they run out of party members?). And, powers help you if the descriptions also have it that the deadly traps they've seen so far are also in rooms with grey stone walls, or maybe it was always that the elf was in front when they entered the deadly areas, and they decide the maker hated elves. I don't think it reasonable to expect the players will see which bits of information are the right ones to cue off off until they're already well into the module. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Tomb of Horrors - example of many, or one of a kind?
Top