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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Worlds of Design: The Lost Art of Being Lost
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<blockquote data-quote="Stormonu" data-source="post: 8873336" data-attributes="member: 52734"><p>I still get lost in Diablo 3 underground systems sometime, or on (new) maps for Battlefield and similar games - even with in-game radars and maps.</p><p></p><p>I think with the modern conveniences of GPS, Google Maps and the like, we tend to forget that it's very easy to get lost or mixed up in areas you aren't familiar with. Moreso, it's seen as a time-waster and inconvenience rather than an opportunity for mystery and uncertainty. It's been a long time since a party in any of my games has gotten lost in the wilderness or a dungeon. I think the last time may have been in 2E with a dungeon with shifting passageways - with that being the primary "trick" of the dungeon.</p><p></p><p>Interestingly, I've seen similar attitudes toward disease in D&D, pre-Covid. Prior to the current epidemic, players would have complained that death to disease to be "dumb", especially in a world with all sorts of healing magic. Nowadays, not so much - though certainly not a way most players would like to go, they at least understand it's a threat.</p><p></p><p>I think that also applies to getting lost - demonstrating in game that getting lost isn't just a waste of time, but an opportunity for interesting consequences makes it much more palatable. Not just a "you lose 3 hours backtracking and/or a day's rations", but "you stumble on a forgotten ruin half-choked by old forest growth" or even something like a dungeon chute or teleporter that drops you in an unexpected and dangerous part of a dungeon - with no clear back to where you came - is something that can be occasionally interjected and be done in a way that is interesting.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Stormonu, post: 8873336, member: 52734"] I still get lost in Diablo 3 underground systems sometime, or on (new) maps for Battlefield and similar games - even with in-game radars and maps. I think with the modern conveniences of GPS, Google Maps and the like, we tend to forget that it's very easy to get lost or mixed up in areas you aren't familiar with. Moreso, it's seen as a time-waster and inconvenience rather than an opportunity for mystery and uncertainty. It's been a long time since a party in any of my games has gotten lost in the wilderness or a dungeon. I think the last time may have been in 2E with a dungeon with shifting passageways - with that being the primary "trick" of the dungeon. Interestingly, I've seen similar attitudes toward disease in D&D, pre-Covid. Prior to the current epidemic, players would have complained that death to disease to be "dumb", especially in a world with all sorts of healing magic. Nowadays, not so much - though certainly not a way most players would like to go, they at least understand it's a threat. I think that also applies to getting lost - demonstrating in game that getting lost isn't just a waste of time, but an opportunity for interesting consequences makes it much more palatable. Not just a "you lose 3 hours backtracking and/or a day's rations", but "you stumble on a forgotten ruin half-choked by old forest growth" or even something like a dungeon chute or teleporter that drops you in an unexpected and dangerous part of a dungeon - with no clear back to where you came - is something that can be occasionally interjected and be done in a way that is interesting. [/QUOTE]
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