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Grumpy, yet verbose.
Showing posts with label caller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label caller. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Moldvay Musings II


The next bit in Part 4 that I find amusing is that of the Caller. 

"One player should be chosen to tell the DM about the plans and actions of the party."

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've rarely played or run using this method. I can see its appeal on a certain level; the DM remains distanced from the debating between players as they figure out their next move, and then he gets a single voice telling him what they do.

On the flip side, it seems it would hurt the social aspect of the game, and I would be leery of letting one player dominate the table talk to such a degree. 

The Mapper:

I like the implication of this section; basically that it is the player's responsibility to make a map of the dungeon. The DM provides the description and detail, the player gets it down on paper. After years of using Chessex mats with hex and square grids, I found this sentence particularly interesting:

"It is most important to record proper directions, shape, and approximate size, rather than spending a lot of time determining exact distances and filling in minute details."

This would indicate to me that a player's map shouldn't be some perfect reproduction of the DM's, rather a "working diagram" that would let the PCs find their way around inside –and back out– of the dungeon.