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<blockquote data-quote="Mannahnin" data-source="post: 9615532" data-attributes="member: 7026594">[ATTACH=full]400114[/ATTACH]Mind Flayers aren't on the level II table, but they are on the level VII table.&nbsp; And both level I and level VII monsters can be encountered on dungeon levels 5 and deeper.I think the difference you're talking about is more one of degree rather than kind.&nbsp; 0E, 1E, and 5E all have tables which can result in seemingly out of place or inappropriately-scaled encounters or treasures.&nbsp; How much to curate that and tweak it to keep it &quot;in bounds&quot; is up to the taste of the DM and group in question, much as you say.&nbsp; 3E and later bake in more guardrails.&nbsp; Just as 1E did compared to OE. One of the insights I've acquired from the OSR is a willingness to embrace some more randomness and roll with it.&nbsp; To not be as scared of stuff being overpowered.As a tangential note, I remember as a kid reading the rules for intelligent swords in Expert D&amp;D and in AD&amp;D and thinking these things were amazing but special, and in keeping with Gary's advice in the 1979 DMG to be stingy about treasure and avoid &quot;Monty Haulism&quot;, I don't think I ever saw more than one or two (or even a single Vorpal Sword) given out as treasure in the 80s or 90s.&nbsp; My recollection is that myself and a lot of other DMs avoided giving out intelligent swords so as not to deal with their complications or to worry about them being overpowered.&nbsp; But this had the unintended effect of making Fighters and similar martial characters less powerful and special.&nbsp; The treasures are in the books and on the tables so they show up!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mannahnin, post: 9615532, member: 7026594"] [ATTACH type="full" alt="AD&D 1E DMG random encounter by level table.JPG"]400114[/ATTACH] Mind Flayers aren't on the level II table, but they are on the level VII table. And both level I and level VII monsters can be encountered on dungeon levels 5 and deeper. I think the difference you're talking about is more one of degree rather than kind. 0E, 1E, and 5E all have tables which can result in seemingly out of place or inappropriately-scaled encounters or treasures. How much to curate that and tweak it to keep it "in bounds" is up to the taste of the DM and group in question, much as you say. 3E and later bake in more guardrails. Just as 1E did compared to OE. One of the insights I've acquired from the OSR is a willingness to embrace some more randomness and roll with it. To not be as scared of stuff being overpowered. As a tangential note, I remember as a kid reading the rules for intelligent swords in Expert D&D and in AD&D and thinking these things were amazing but special, and in keeping with Gary's advice in the 1979 DMG to be stingy about treasure and avoid "Monty Haulism", I don't think I ever saw more than one or two (or even a single Vorpal Sword) given out as treasure in the 80s or 90s. My recollection is that myself and a lot of other DMs avoided giving out intelligent swords so as not to deal with their complications or to worry about them being overpowered. But this had the unintended effect of making Fighters and similar martial characters less powerful and special. The treasures are in the books and on the tables so they show up! [/QUOTE]

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