Why you shouldn't use 5 ft corridors

[kaomera]

"Which side are the hinges on? Which way does the door open?"

Maybe they're Star Trek doors?

"Shwooooooop!!!"

I've noticed this problem with some of the rooms in dungeons lately. If you have a medium monster in a 10x10 room only 3 characters can be in the room, and that is assuming there is no furniture or anything else in the room. Back in the day when we didn't have minis, we didn't really worry about this so much (or you could argue we weren't very good DMs at the time). I think that is why my oldest son keeps asking if we can have some adventures that occur outside!

I think that arguing that you where a poor DM for running the game without minis is a bit much. However, given that they general assumption is that most groups will be using minis, you have to think about the game more in the vein of a miniatures battle game. Specifically, you have to design encounters that will be fun to play out with figures on a battlemat. IMHO, however, this is pretty much at odds with typical dungeon-type adventures. The new standard encounter format from the "Expedition To" series leans much in this direction, however if you're trying to write and/or run a more traditional dungeon, then it becomes less useful to simply avoid things like 5-foot corridors, which might be hard (or impossible) to run effectively (ie: fun) for many groups. I think it's definitely something to think about in adventure design, and avoiding five-foot corridors unless there is something specific they are intended to add to an encounter is probably a good idea.

 

[NilesB]

For the door opening direction... I wish that map designers would consider that when making maps given the frequency with which I am asked that question. In this instance, I ruled that it opens into the hallway, and the hinges on the south.

The simplest solution would be to switch from rectangle door icon to a pie slice shaped one.
edit: In maps.

 

[Hussar]

Personally I play 1e where the rule is that three characters can stand abreast in a 10' corridor, six in a 20', but only one character in a 5' -- so the effect of differing corridor widths and room sizes is even more magnified. I haven't always designed around this principle in the past, having not always thought about it.

I always thought the number of people who could stand abreast would depend on the space requirement of their weapons?

 

[Raven Crowking]

ANYway... I am indeed taking the 5-foot-corridors scandal to heart, and I'll certainly keep that in mind when designing/developing dungeons in the future, but again, some dungeons are supposed to be cramped and crowded. The LD guild hall in "There Is No Honor" is one of them. Widening the halls out just to make it easier to move around in makes about as much sense to me as making sure that a beholder's dungeon is completly 2-dimensional and doesn't take advantage of the beholder's ability to move in a 3-D dungeon with ease. The dugneon should serve the needs of the story and its denizens first.

Please keep designing them the way you designed for TINH.

I agree with you, and enjoyed the adventure.


RC

 

[Storm Raven]

The monster in question would not have persued (at least not in my game) for a reason:

Spoiler

It is chained to the wall

In that case, the PCs should have no trouble dispatching the creature once they reorganize. Since they hold the tactical initiaitve at that point, they can set themselves up any way they like to take on the non-moving creature. An opponent who is rooted to one spot should be comparatively easy to defeat.

 

[Raven Crowking]

An opponent who is rooted to one spot should be comparatively easy to defeat.

To say the least!

In fact, the minute that it becomes obvious that the PCs can attack (and damage) something that has no chance of fighting back, I usually just tell them "It takes about six arrows to kill it" figuring average damage. Why bother rolling for crap like that?

RC

 

[Schmoe]

The simplest solution would be to switch from rectangle door icon to a pie slice shaped one.

That's a really great idea! Consider it stolen

 

[Jedi_Solo]

In that case, the PCs should have no trouble dispatching the creature once they reorganize. Since they hold the tactical initiaitve at that point, they can set themselves up any way they like to take on the non-moving creature. An opponent who is rooted to one spot should be comparatively easy to defeat.

Who says the critter isn't moving? Maybe it's heading in the other direction (running scared or going to get help). Maybe it will call in help from the next room (making the room even more crowded). Just because it doesn't persue doesn't mean it just sits there.

The last thing players want to do (usually) and I know my DM would hate if we did is to make a situation where we are facing two seporate encounters at the same time. That is the main reason we as a play group usually don't run when things go bad. When we come back things will be much, much worse.

 

[Hussar]

Or, y'know, the critter does something bizarre like shuts the door.

 

[The_Gneech]

Actually, I generally double the scale on the maps from the Dungeon Crawl Classics line for just this reason. My game has six PCs, an NPC, and two animal companions -- we need elbow room!

I do occasionally cramp things up just for the change, but that's a very different thing from having everything be "just wide enough for one".

-The Gneech