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Wandering Monsters 10/30/2013: Trick or Treat?
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<blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 6209357" data-attributes="member: 22424"><p>Aye, file this one under "been doing that for years". Still, it's good that WotC are aware of it, and hopefully going to act on it.</p><p></p><p>A lot of what he talks about, though, isn't really a matter of rules (which is probably why the rules have long remained silent on it), but rather of adventure design. If nothing else, because there is a huge scope for different tricks, and because the DM will want each trick to be (nearly) unique, there's only so much the DMG can actually do to help - it can give examples, but good adventures can probably give better examples more efficiently.</p><p></p><p>One more thing: Just as D&D now seems to have three pillars (combat, interaction, exploration), so too do I feel there should (ideally) be three 'layers' of tricks in an adventure:</p><p></p><p>- Those tricks that must be solved to complete the adventure. These should generally be few in number, and relatively simple. And, in particular, the adventure should always consider: what happens if the PCs fail to 'solve' this?</p><p></p><p>- A set of tricks that aren't required, but which open up desirable outcomes. For example, a puzzle that opens up a treasure room - if the PCs solve the puzzle then great, they get the treasure; but if they <em>don't</em>, then it's no big deal, especially if there are several such tricks. These should be used liberally, can be of wildly varying levels of difficulty. The only concerns should be to make sure that the game still works if the PCs solve <em>all</em> such puzzles and if the PCs solve <em>none</em> of them.</p><p></p><p>- The third set of tricks that are just <em>there</em>. In the article, the mystery of "why did the lost city fall" is a good example of this - the answer is there if the players want to search for it, but if they don't, or they don't find the answer then it's no big deal. And if they <em>do</em> solve the puzzle then there's no particular consequence either - they just get the warm glow of having discovered something. There should probably only be one or two such tricks in an adventure, but they can be as fiendishly complex as you like.</p><p></p><p>And that then allows the same adventure to suit different adventuring tastes - those players who just want to "complete the quest" can do so and move on. Those who want to spend a bit more time to thoroughly loot the place can do so, and for investing more into the adventure they get more out. And then those players who love finding "easter eggs" get their wish too - the eggs are there to be found, but only if they're <em>really</em> dedicated.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="delericho, post: 6209357, member: 22424"] Aye, file this one under "been doing that for years". Still, it's good that WotC are aware of it, and hopefully going to act on it. A lot of what he talks about, though, isn't really a matter of rules (which is probably why the rules have long remained silent on it), but rather of adventure design. If nothing else, because there is a huge scope for different tricks, and because the DM will want each trick to be (nearly) unique, there's only so much the DMG can actually do to help - it can give examples, but good adventures can probably give better examples more efficiently. One more thing: Just as D&D now seems to have three pillars (combat, interaction, exploration), so too do I feel there should (ideally) be three 'layers' of tricks in an adventure: - Those tricks that must be solved to complete the adventure. These should generally be few in number, and relatively simple. And, in particular, the adventure should always consider: what happens if the PCs fail to 'solve' this? - A set of tricks that aren't required, but which open up desirable outcomes. For example, a puzzle that opens up a treasure room - if the PCs solve the puzzle then great, they get the treasure; but if they [i]don't[/i], then it's no big deal, especially if there are several such tricks. These should be used liberally, can be of wildly varying levels of difficulty. The only concerns should be to make sure that the game still works if the PCs solve [i]all[/i] such puzzles and if the PCs solve [i]none[/i] of them. - The third set of tricks that are just [i]there[/i]. In the article, the mystery of "why did the lost city fall" is a good example of this - the answer is there if the players want to search for it, but if they don't, or they don't find the answer then it's no big deal. And if they [i]do[/i] solve the puzzle then there's no particular consequence either - they just get the warm glow of having discovered something. There should probably only be one or two such tricks in an adventure, but they can be as fiendishly complex as you like. And that then allows the same adventure to suit different adventuring tastes - those players who just want to "complete the quest" can do so and move on. Those who want to spend a bit more time to thoroughly loot the place can do so, and for investing more into the adventure they get more out. And then those players who love finding "easter eggs" get their wish too - the eggs are there to be found, but only if they're [i]really[/i] dedicated. [/QUOTE]
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