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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 8051836" data-attributes="member: 22779">@[USER=6859536]Monayuris[/USER] makes some excellent points.&nbsp; I'd add a couple:1.&nbsp; While exploration is very cool and all, guided exploration is far more interesting.&nbsp; Take a random dungeon map.&nbsp; Without information, turning left or right doesn't really matter - it's a flip of the coin.&nbsp; But, imagine that you have a hand out map of the dungeon, withe convenient tears/waterstains/scorches that blot out, say, 40% of the map.&nbsp; Now, we have a guided exploration.&nbsp; We know some of the information, but, now we're filling in the blanks.&nbsp; It allows the players to think ahead - If we go down this corridor, it should connect to this bit here.&nbsp; Maybe.&nbsp; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin&nbsp; &nbsp; :D"&nbsp; data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />&nbsp; IOW, blind exploration is fun for about ten minutes then it's just tedious, and, frankly, random.&nbsp; Guided exploration is FAR more interesting.&nbsp; Note, guided could a map, or verbal clues from a NPC (prisoners are GREAT for this) or even something as simple as following the tracks of something.&nbsp; 2.&nbsp; Don't drag things out unnecessarily.&nbsp; If the players think of a way around your exploration bit, then, well, let them have it and move on.&nbsp; You wanted them to explore that location, but, they pulled out a scroll of Find the Path that they've been holding onto for a while and blitz through things?&nbsp; Ah well, c'est la vie.&nbsp; Recycle some of those encounters into another adventure and move on.&nbsp; 3.&nbsp; LET THE PLAYER'S SUCCEED.&nbsp; This is one that I see a lot.&nbsp; The players try to explore - they are scouting for more information so they can better plan their way forward.&nbsp; Yup, that character failed a stealth check.&nbsp; Did you really have to immediately alert the entire area and have every monster converge on the party so that the players spend the next three hours in a combat they were trying to avoid?&nbsp; Not every failure has to be a catastrophic one.&nbsp; If the players are trying to scout their way forward, don't force umpteen die rolls until someone fails and then make that failure a total failure.&nbsp; All you are doing is teaching your players that there's no point in exploration, it will almost assuredly fail and you will be in a worse position than you started from.Just some thoughts.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 8051836, member: 22779"] @[B][USER=6859536]Monayuris[/USER] makes [/B]some excellent points. I'd add a couple: 1. While exploration is very cool and all, guided exploration is far more interesting. Take a random dungeon map. Without information, turning left or right doesn't really matter - it's a flip of the coin. But, imagine that you have a hand out map of the dungeon, withe convenient tears/waterstains/scorches that blot out, say, 40% of the map. Now, we have a guided exploration. We know some of the information, but, now we're filling in the blanks. It allows the players to think ahead - If we go down this corridor, it [I]should [/I]connect[B] [/B]to this bit here. Maybe. :D IOW, blind exploration is fun for about ten minutes then it's just tedious, and, frankly, random. Guided exploration is FAR more interesting. Note, guided could a map, or verbal clues from a NPC (prisoners are GREAT for this) or even something as simple as following the tracks of something. 2. Don't drag things out unnecessarily. If the players think of a way around your exploration bit, then, well, let them have it and move on. You wanted them to explore that location, but, they pulled out a scroll of Find the Path that they've been holding onto for a while and blitz through things? Ah well, c'est la vie. Recycle some of those encounters into another adventure and move on. 3. LET THE PLAYER'S SUCCEED. This is one that I see a lot. The players try to explore - they are scouting for more information so they can better plan their way forward. Yup, that character failed a stealth check. Did you really have to immediately alert the entire area and have every monster converge on the party so that the players spend the next three hours in a combat they were trying to avoid? Not every failure has to be a catastrophic one. If the players are trying to scout their way forward, don't force umpteen die rolls until someone fails and then make that failure a total failure. All you are doing is teaching your players that there's no point in exploration, it will almost assuredly fail and you will be in a worse position than you started from. Just some thoughts. [/QUOTE]

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