Moldvay Musings XIX: Doors

I've blogged before about magically barring and opening doors as well as secret doors, but a recent thread on Dragonsfoot got me looking over the text on just plain old doors in dungeons.

Moldvay (B21) says:

NORMAL DOORS: Doors in a dungeon are usually closed, and are often stuck or locked. A lock must usually be picked by a thief. An unlocked door must be forced open to pass through it. To force open a door, roll Id6; a result of 1 or 2 (on Id6) means that the door is forced open. The roll should be adjusted by a character's Strength score adjustment. The number needed to open a door can never be less than 1 nor greater than 1-5.

Once a door is opened, it will usually swing shut when released unless it is spiked or wedged open. Doors will usually open automatically for monsters, unless the door is held, spiked, or closed with magical spells.

There's a lot to unpack here, given such a short entry, but that's part of BX's beauty, IMO.

First off, nearly everything described about doors is qualified with terms like "usually" or "often," leaving room for the DM to use their discretion and judgement. The language helps paint a picture of what dungeons are usually like. Doors warped and swollen in their frames bu the damp, or latches rusted shut. If it's a more heavily used location, like an active lair, perhaps a stuck door is rarer. Locks are still a thing, though.

This brings us to the next part: opening said doors. Locks are a thief's job, obviously. Of course a failed roll could lead to a brawny PC forcing it open as if it were stuck. This gives a sense of how these obstacles are expected to be handled. The smart party tries stealth first, force second.

The last part of this section seems at first a bit "gamey" in its language. Doors just swinging shut and especially the part about them simply opening automatically for the monsters. My own interpretation of this is that the location's denizens know the place well and are used to the doors' fiddly little ways. I wouldn't have a door just pop open for a creature that couldn't normally operate it, e.g. no hands or unintelligent.

As far as swinging shut, I interpret that as doors that no longer hang true on their hinges and naturally fall back closed. Again, this isn't every door all the time, but it can happen.

So all this begs the question of why? Why have door stick and slam shut? Why make it so the party has to take the time and effort to pick its lock, or force it open? The answer is time. All these efforts cost the party time. As classic D&D is a game of resource management and exploration, the players will have to make choices. Do we waste another turn trying to pick this lock? Do we risk attracting some wandering monster's attention with the noise of forcing open this door? How long until the current torch burns out?

But what if that's the door that leads to the PCs' goal? Or the lower levels? Aren't you just screwing with them by leaving whether the game progresses up to chance like that?

While you certainly can run a "pure" sandbox like that, with zero plot or plan; most experienced DMs follow the guideline of either A) not putting something critical out of reach because of one bad die roll, or B) Always have more than one way for the party to move forward. Maybe the lock is too tough for the thief and the door is too strong to be battered down. However, maybe there's a secret door they could find that will let them through? Or maybe there's a key to be found? I'm not suggesting this be the case with every door, and I admit it's still possible for bad luck to derail things, but used judiciously these wrinkles can add a lot of detail to an adventure.

RSA: Create Water and Create Food

As far as utility spells go, it's hard to get more utilitarian than create water or create food. There are obvious reasons for not seeing either in play more are: Taking up 4th and 5th level spell slots, not to mention how often resources like rations are simply not tracked in a game, especially once the PCs are higher in level and can afford all the beef jerky they want. Nevertheless, these are some powerful spells and, under the right circumstances, could provide a lot of fun for a campaign. But first, let's look at the spell descriptions. Both are from the Cook Expert rules.

Create Water (Cleric 4th)
Range: 0'
Duration: Permanent

With this spell, the cleric summons forth an enchanted spring from the ground or a wall that will give enough water for 12 men and their mounts for one day (about 50 gallons). For every level the cleric is above 8th, twelve additional men and mounts can be supplied.

Create Food (Cleric 5th)
Range: 0'
Duration: Permanent

With this spell, the cleric may create enough food to feed 12 men and their mounts for one day. For every level the cleric is above 8th, he or she is able to create food for 12 more men and their mounts. Thus a 10th level cleric could create enough food to sustain 36 men and their mounts for one day.

First a note or two about both spells in general. I find it interesting that they both make specific mention of the characters' mounts. Since these are obviously spells geared toward wilderness/overland travel, it's logical that things like horses or camels would be addressed. Also, the fact that the amounts scale up so quickly. This would seem to move from dealing with a groups like a party and some hirelings to whole military units.

A couple of things about create water: One, note that even though the duration is permanent, the amount of water is finite. In other words, the spring stops springing after about a barrel of water has flowed. Two, there is no mention of retaining the water. By the book, the characters need to be ready with wineskins, bowls, what have you. Nice DMs, may cut some slack here, but if the party is in the middle of a desert, it's reasonable to expect the water to run off or soak into the sand.

Create food is very similar mechanically, but doesn't specify how the food appears or what form it takes. I would assume the food for the mounts is appropriate to the type of animal (grains, etc.). Other editions of D&D describe it as "nourishing." DMs are free to describe it how they will, but I've always imagined it as a sort of gruel or dense loaf. In other words, it will keep you fed, but that's it. Clerics aren't opening restaurants selling the stuff as "cuisine."

Now that we've covered the basics, how might one use this in their games? Well, let's say the party is planning a long trek across a desert to fight a blue dragon. Even if you don't normally track rations or water, you can give the players a gentle heads up by saying something like "The journey may take many days, and there aren't towns along the way. Make sure you have what you need to survive on your own." I'm not saying deliberately screw the PCs over, but if things like running out of food, getting lost, etc. is possible, then forewarned is forearmed.

Now, if there is a cleric in the party, he might prep these spells just in case but doesn't use them. Let's say they get to the beast's lair, kill it, and want to load up the hoard. Gold is heavy. So is water. What can they do? Why, drop the water of course and create it as needed along the way! Or perhaps the dragon (or a random encounter) killed some pack animals and the group has less carrying capacity.

Imagine the PCs are stuck in a siege situation. Create food or water might allow those stuck in the castle to stretch the rations by days or weeks. In a less benign situation, what if there were people in a place with no water. A not-nice cleric might charge for him to cast the spell each day. Heck, 50 gallons+ of water might even help put out a fire!

Despite not having the usual kinds of effects for "adventuring spells," when you're dealing with the possibility of starving or dying from dehydration, spells like these start looking a whole lot less useless.

RMA: Camels

No, I don't have a cigarette!

I think one of the reasons that camels are rare in my games, and I suspect other peoples is two-fold. One, they are heavily associated with desert climates and most campaigns are not set in the desert (at least not for extended periods). The second reason is that most games don't track resources and travel the way that lets these creatures shine.

Camel (from Cook)

AC: 7
HD: 2
Move: 150' (50')
Att: 1 bite /1 hoof
Damage: 1/1d4
No. App: 0 (2d8)
Save: F1
Morale: 7
Treasure: nil
AL: N

So we can see these stats are not impressive. Camels are not very tough, fast, brave, strong, or impressive in a fight. In the description, it even specifies that riders cannot perform a lance charge from camelback. Horses, on the other hand, can faster, do more damage, have better morale, and/or carrying capacity, depending on what type you choose. So why choose a camel?

Terrain: While it is true that a riding horse can easily outpace a camel (240' vs. 150'), remember that desert terrain drops movement by 2/3. Camels treat this as clear terrain, meaning under those conditions the difference is 160'  vs. 150'. Draft and war horses are even slower. This can make a crucial difference when it comes to overland travel in a harsh environment like a desert.

Climate: It's true that a camel cannot carry as much as some horses, but by moving faster through the desert, you need fewer supplies. Also, you don't need to carry water for the camels (provided you plan on being out for two weeks or less. I know that many campaigns aren't tracking every coin of encumbrance, but water is heavy and in the real world horses be thirsty critters! 5-10 gallons per day is normal for horses (as opposed to 2 quarts for people). For the record, that's 40-80 pounds! So even low-balling it for a horse that's more acclimated to the environment, you'd still need to pack 400cn of water for every day you plan on being out in the sandbox. And that's just for one horse!

Imagine a scenario where a desert caravan with horses has to drag along casks of water in a wagon or some such only to have the containers destroyed by some foe or clever monster. They know the party will never make it out of the desert alive, so they just wait a few days and then pick over the caravan after everyone is dead of dehydration. A cleric with the Create Water spell could thwart this plan, but the odds favor it as a successful tactic. How many 6th+ level clerics are wandering the dunes anyway?

So we can see that using camels in such a situation would mean carrying a couple of gallons of water  per day for a party vs. 20+ gallons. This could be managed with several skins or one small cask. Food is still an issue, but that's true of both horses and camels.

Camels are specialized animals, for specialized environments. While it's true they aren't very impressive in a fight, that shouldn't be the only measure of their worth to a party of adventurers. Especially if they need are traversing the Emirates of Ylaruam or such places. 

Moldvay Musings VIII: Into the Wild

I had written a longer, more rambling post that bounced between general thoughts on resource management to critiquing how such rules are often applied in-game. After looking over that train wreck of text, I opted to delete most of it and start over with a simple walkthrough of overland travel rules as sort of a Random Encounter Fun (REF) entry, but with a little more focus on rules instead of a specific critter.

A lot of players (and more than a few DMs) complain that tracking every little thing can be tedious. I find the main issue players have is that they fail to plan well before the actual adventuring begins, and DMs fail to take some of the factors that will matter into account when they plan the session.

There is a terrific example of an expert level party preparing for an overland journey on page X19. If the players know that you (the DM) will be having them track resources consistently, and you as DM are keeping track of time, then it can all flow fairly smoothly. It's really just a question of organization and some minimal prep.

Here's an example of what I mean by minimal. This is a map I made in about 5 minutes on the computer. It's all I need to run an overland adventure with the rules in the book. I've set no fixed encounters. If I wanted, I could include several days' worth of weather for added detail. All rolls in this example will be recorded as they happen. As of writing these words, I don't know how this will play out.

The premise? A party of four PCs start in the village. They have heard rumors that the wizard Examplo the Mad is likely dead and his evil tower to the Northeast is ripe for the pickings. To get there, they must traverse the Spooky Forest and the Haunted Hills. They know it's about 40-50 miles.

There is no road, which means A) slower travel times, and B) they would be wise to seek out a map or guide. Sadly, our heroes are more bold than wise and decide they merely need to steer NE and they'll get there eventually. They do have enough sense to buy rations for two weeks apiece (x 4  = 56 days) plus bedrolls, tents, and a mule to carry most of the extra gear. Under these conditions, the PCs can travel 12 miles per day on open ground (Their slowest member moves at 60'). The DM also decides to only roll for encounters once per day and once per evening's rest. 

Day 1: The land outside the village is open grasslands with trails made by trappers and woodcutters leading to the woods. The DM rules no problem, the path negates the chance of getting lost. The PCs camp that night just inside the forest. There are no grassland or forest encounters (52 days' of food left).

Day 2: The trails don't go far into the forest, so now the PCs (lacking a map, guide, or personal knowledge of the terrain) need to rely on their own senses of direction. They are also moving slower (2/3 normal rate for wooded terrain = 8 miles a day). For simplicity, we'll call it (very) roughly 1.5 hexes. 

The DM rolls a d6. On a 1-2, the party takes a wrong turn. Uh-oh, a 2! Rolling again, the die comes up a 4, so the party heads NW, all the while THINKING they're heading NE. The trouble is already beginning! They camp again. Luckily, the encounter gods are with them yet again. They have no trouble that day or that night. (48 days' food remaining)

Day 3: Another roll vs getting lost. A 3 means they stay on course. Mind you, they still think NW is NE. Since they are still deep in the Spooky Forest, they have no landmarks to set them aright. More bad news as an encounter comes up for the their night's rest. A 2 (flyer) and an 11 for woodland encounters means sprites! The DM rules that the quiet little clearing where the PCs have unknowingly bivouacked is quite near the lair of 22 sprites. A reaction roll of 9 lists as "leaves or considers offer." Now normally I'd say that would be the end of it, but sprites love their pranks so I don't think they'd let the PCs go scot free. The DM decides that the little jokers pull the mule's picket and then spook the poor beast.  While the PCs chase it down, the sprites steal 11 days worth of food (one half per sprite) from the saddlebags. The PCs eat their dinner and try to rest (33 days' left, leaving a week for each of them).

Day 4: Another travel roll yields a 1. Lost again! Direction roll is a 3. Two wrongs make a right and they're back on track, heading NE again! Their luck doesn't hold though. A wandering encounter roll during their days' travel comes up an 8: Dragon! "Luckily" it's not a REAL dragon, just a puny ELEVEN-HEADED HYDRA!

plus four more heads

Now, I'm not going to roll out a whole combat here, but it's probably not unfair to say that there are pretty good odds of four measly PCs getting their collective lunches handed to them here. And so, our noble heroes meet their fates in the Spooky Forest, never reaching the wizard's tower. If they had only had a guide or map, they might have avoided such a fate. Or not, random encounters be nasty!

There, now. That wasn't so hard, was it?

The BX setting (part 3)

OK, I am wrapping this up. Seriously!

To finish up my musings about settings for a setting representative of the Basic/Expert game, I wanted to touch on just a few more topics: Resources, Risks, and Rewards.

Resources

For me, and many grumpy old-schoolers, managing your resources is no small part of classic D&D play. Heck, I even created products specifically to make it easier to incorporate into tabletop play. Rules like encumbrance, searching times, movement rates, and light source duration all lead to some real cost/benefit decisions being made: Do we take the time to search every room? How many torches did you bring? Do we hire someone to carry our extra stuff?

Now all these sound more game mechanics-related than setting, but bear with me. A BX world is a place where not only do decisions like those above matter, they matter because it's a world where dungeon crawls are a relatively common thing. Ancient labyrinthine ruins, extensive subterranean caves, mysterious catacombs, they practically flourish in a BX world. Of course this is true for many other versions of D&D, too. The point is the characters live in a world where someone, at some point, decided that it was a good idea to carve out an underground lair that looked like this.

There are weird, even zany places in a BX world. Maybe they are ancient ruins or a mad wizard's tower, but those that decide to brave those places prepare for mapping long corridors, regular booby traps, hidden passages, and foul monsters lurking around corners. Which brings us to...

Risks

Whether it's claw, sword, or spell, PCs face most of their risks in combat. The BX world is one where monsters are real and your character is going to have to fight for his life at some point, if not many times. A BX world allows for the possibility of a dragon flying over your head as you travel the King's Road or for a hill giant to be walking down a city street! This is a fantasy world. 

That being said, most of these creatures are monsters, not NPC or PC "playable" races (BtB at least). But "monster' does not always equal "enemy." A decent reaction roll and the appropriate language slot can result in parley or even friendly communication. 

Combat can be de-emphasized and other aspects of play can be focussed upon, but by default at least the threat of violence is deeply ingrained into a D&D setting. What can give this a more "BX feel?" Well, BX is a fairly lethal flavor of D&D. PCs tend to be fragile with their lower hit dice and -by the book- 0 hit points being dead. Even mid to high level PCs can be killed fairly easily, and morale rolls can lead to the better part of valor being exercised by monster and hireling alike. Compare that to some of the later versions of the game and you can easily picture a world where life can be a bit cheap and those that live by the sword are likely to pick their battles carefully as well as try to squeeze every advantage out of a situation. And once the battle is over, they will be sure to get as much of the spoils as possible to offset the risks.

Rewards

XP for GP. That brief statement tells me this is a world where its inhabitants gain influence and become more competent by getting as much as they can for as little risk as possible. It's not the slaying of the monster, it's the treasure it was guarding. A BX world is a place where foul humanoids have piles of loot stolen from victims or looted from old castles they now infest. Half-rotted coin pouches lie among the bones in the lairs of terrifying trolls and gigantic spiders. And that axe of antique design wielded by the bugbear chieftain? It has a +2 enchantment on it. 

This is a world of coin-filled coffers and magic swords. Of scrolls containing mystic spells or treasure maps. Of idols with a single ruby eye the size of a golf ball. Of dragon hoards, staves of power and magical rings. The DM may not wish to flood his world with  magic items but in a BX world, such things exist and even leaving it to the random treasure charts the PCs will encounter at least some of them. 

Assuming the characters live long enough, it's also a world where lowly murder-hobos and would-be heroes might accrue enough wealth, fame, and connections to become lords (and ladies) of the land themselves. It's not a place where everything is 100% fixed sociopolitically. Maybe there are wars, or dynastic struggles, or rebellions and invasions. Maybe there are young nations that are still growing. The point is even if your PC started as a turnip farmer, he could one day be a knight in a keep with a fiefdom of his own to rule.

Wrapping Up

What does all this mean? Have I answered the question? Well, no. probably not. But I don't think that it's a question that can be answered definitively. What I do think I've accomplished is to work through some concepts of what I think a setting should or shouldn't have to be a good fit for Moldvay/Cook. 

And maybe it's done a bit that for you, too.

Shhh! It's a SECRET (door, that is)

Secret doors are so common in classic gaming that I'm surprised when see a dungeon map without one. Players regularly search for them, assuming they'll find one at some point in the crawl. Which is odd, when you think about it. Do you normally assume there are hidden stairs or tunnels in or out of rooms when you walk into them? Of course not, but we're not real-life murder hoboes, we just play them at the table.

According to BX (Moldvay),

"A secret door is any door that is hidden or concealed. A secret door usually does not look like a door; it may be a sliding panel or hidden under a rug. Any character has a 1 in 6 chance of finding a secret door; any elf has a 2 in 6 chance. The DM should only check for finding a secret door if a player says that the character is searching for one and searching for one in the correct area. The search takes one turn. Each character has only one chance to find each secret door."

 Whenever I think of secret doors, the default in my mind's eye is a sliding panel or door that's fashioned to blend with the wall. Surely that's a classic, but it behooves the dungeon designing DM to think about the other ways that a portal may be hidden.

Secret doors might be like the images above, or they could be concealed by a tapestry. They could simply be a tunnel with loose bricks or stones stacked in the opening. Perhaps a panel that isn't nailed down or loose planks? A cave entrance could be camouflaged by brush or rocks. Maybe it's even a magical or cunning optical illusion masking an otherwise open passage? The point is, you should feel free to mix it up a bit. 

So what's the point of elaborately designing such a thing if the players are just going to roll their search and find it (or not)? Well, two things:

1. Which is cooler in play? "We go back to that secret door in the last room." or "We go back through the revolving fireplace."? 
   
2. Remember the second part of the above rule citation. "The DM should only check for finding a secret door if a player says that the character is searching for one and searching for one in the correct area."  

If the players ignore something that doesn't look like the typical secret door, then their search rolls don't apply there. Of course, they can say they search "everywhere" but that takes time.

"The search takes one turn."

If you're doing your job as an old-school DM, you should at least consider tracking things like wandering monsters, needs for rest, and torches. Also, the PCs might be on the clock for other reasons. Maybe they need to find the hidden temple before midnight in order to stop the sacrifice or some such. The point is that time is a resource that shouldn't always be unlimited.

Curious Objects: Potion of Treasure Finding

This is a very simple item with a very short description:

"The user may, when concentrating, detect the direction and distance of the largest treasure within 360' (unless blocked by lead)."

I don't know that I've ever seen this one used. Granted, there's only a 2% chance of randomly rolling this result on the potions table, but I've certainly never placed it deliberately either.

Like other potions, it last for 7-12 turns, so it can be useful in triangulating a bit, but if you're moving at "dungeon exploration speed" and run into any kind of obstacles, you might not get to the loot before the potion wears off.

No, what I find most interesting about this item is its existence at all. Sure, detecting gold and gems makes sense in D&D, but offering the ability as a potion is telling to me. The idea that it isn't a spell, but anyone (e.g. a thief) can quaff this and scry the location of the "largest treasure" underscores the idea that classic games like BX are about exploration, not combat. Finding the treasure gets you more XP than killing the monster. Wasting time checking every door and risking random encounters is not the preferred method. Home in on the reward and get out. You can always come back and check the next area after the Teeth of Gwalhur are safely back at the base camp.

Moldvay Musings VI: Encumbrance

I always forget that encumbrance in BX is an optional rule. I use it so often in my games that it seems integral to the system to me. I can totally understand someone choosing to "hand wave" the whole thing though.

It seems that encumbrance is one of those mechanics that RPGs tend to struggle with. Despite the simplicity of the idea ("Carrying lots of stuff is hard!"), different games have tried all sorts of methods to represent this. More often than not, they come up short, either in playability, or realism, or both.

The B/X method –being one of the oldest– is fairly simple compared to some, and while far from perfect, does the job well enough, IMO.

Two of the most commonly cited "weaknesses" of the mechanic are:

• No Strength modifier for carrying capacity.
• 10 coins per pound is a harsh scale.

The first is easily house-ruled. I commonly allow a character's STR adjustment (to hit/damage) to alter the allowed weights by 100 cn per ±1. So, for example, an 18 STR can carry 700 cn without being slowed down, while a 3 STR character could only carry 100 cn before being encumbered. 

The idea that an individual coin weighs 1.6 oz. means you're talking some serious metal discs and a LOT of gold per piece. It's easy enough to explain away though; a relatively primitive society, lots of impurities in the alloy (a "gold piece" would probably be more like 10K than 18 or 24K), etc.

One tidbit I like in the system is the idea of armor slowing you down regardless of weight. The very fact you are in armor limits movement, etc. It tends to make PCs a bit slow. When you love resource management and wandering monsters as much as I do, though, that's a feature not a bug! To me, it's as much a part of the challenge as fighting monsters when players need to sweat running out of torches, or the extra time it takes to move through an area, because of all the stuff they are carrying or wearing. Watching them debate taking that one more sack of coins but leave their rations behind? Priceless!

Moldvay Musings IV

From the section on movement (B19):

"A base movement of 120' in ten minutes may seem slow, but it assumes that the players are mapping carefully, searching, and trying to be quiet. It also takes into account the generally 'dark and dingy' conditions of the dungeon in which characters are adventuring."

Consider a hallway with no windows and no lights, or perhaps a natural tunnel/cave. What if you could only see 30' in any direction by a flickering torch or oil lantern before darkness obscures everything? Now imagine that you have never been in this place before. You have no idea what lies ahead. Now imagine you are worried about booby traps, possible cave-ins, and monsters. You're testing the floor with every step to make sure it's safe to step on (possibly pressing with a long pole). Even the guys in plate armor are trying not to make too much noise as they clank along, keeping weapons at the ready. All the while someone in the group is trying to sketch a map with parchment and a quill to find your way back out again.

Are you really moving all that fast?

It's also small wonder that such a group –especially carrying loads of equipment, armor, weapons, and eventually (hopefully) treasure– would need to rest every hour or so, just to take a sip of water, a bite of dried meat, catch their breath, and sheathe that sword for a minute after holding it at the ready for so long. 

Now, once you've been up and down the entrance corridor a few times to and from base camp, it makes sense that you'd go a bit faster. Moldvay doesn't disappoint on this score:

"The DM may wish to allow characters to move faster when traveling through areas they are familiar with."

Overall, I find these rules elegant and quite "realistic" enough to emulate what I feel they were after; the experience of fortune-seekers exploring and searching through ancient subterranean ruins and lairs.

Moldvay Musings III

First off, let me just quote the entire paragraph on time (from page B19):

"TIME: Time in D&D adventures is given in turns of ten minutes each. A turn is not a measure of real time, but is a measure of how much a character can do within a given amount of time. A character may explore and map an area equal to his or her movement rate in one turn. It also takes a turn for a character to search a 10' x 10' area, for a thief to check an item for traps, to rest or to load a bag with treasure. The DM should decide how long other actions that characters might try will take."

When I first read the book, I took this to mean that a turn didn't represent ten minutes of "table time." Rather it represented ten minutes "in-game." Now, I have a somewhat different take.

The "real time" the book refers to is in-game, but the point is that only a certain amount can be accomplished within a given stretch of time (in this case, ten minutes), not that these tasks all take exactly ten minutes to complete. Is it an abstraction? Absolutely! But what a lovely abstraction it is! 

If –as some folk purport – old-school D&D puts a focus on resource management, then time certainly becomes a crucial factor. Not the split seconds of combat; but the days of food you have left, the hours of light, or the last time you rested. The turn is a simple, digestible chunk of time that allows the players and the DM to keep track of time and other resources. 

Damn! I thought torches lasted EIGHT turns!

The examples of "One Turn Tasks" given above also bring a smile to my face. Do you spend an hour searching that 20' x 30' room for secret doors? A thief needs a turn to check that chest for traps, too. "Loading a bag with treasure" taking a turn brings to mind careful loading of things like potions and statuary to avoid crushing them under the weight of coins.

Players often have confused –IMO– opinions of how quickly many things are done, often trying to "fast-forward" through the mundane stuff. A quick tap of the pommel on the wall as you walk past counts as "searching for secret doors." (Another favorite of mine is how quickly they can count thousands of coins and separate them by type.) Maybe a given task doesn't take exactly 600 seconds, but in the interests of keeping the game moving, it's a fair approximation. Further, the "mundane" can turn quite nasty if a DM is on his game and keeping track of things. 

We live to tell the tale!

We finished our fledgling DM's dungeon last PM and a good time was had by all. It was a nice blend of classic tropes and atypical challenges that put in me in mind of some of my RMAs.

Without going into spoiler-ish details (she is submitting this for the 2012 One Page Dungeon Contest), the premise of the crawl is very simple: A demented nobleman had once created a vicious "funhouse" to torment those who had offended him. The Earl is now long gone, but there are rumors of treasure to be found within. Our group of thrill-seeking 2nd-3rd level PCs needed no more hook than that to head straight off into the woods seeking the place. Suffice it to say we found the dungeon and quickly discovered the real challenge wasn't just getting through it, it was getting back out!

Overall, I was intensely pleased with how we –a group of experienced players– found ourselves challenged. The nature of the challenges we faced were nasty. Many of the "monsters" we encountered were normal, but dangerous, critters like snakes (among others). Because we were trapped in the place, we also faced keeping careful track of things like torches and rations (and water!). Our DM had us use counters like M&Ms for consumables. By the end, our cleric was using Purify Food & Drink on what we'd killed to extend our rations!

There were many fun fights, but extremely scary as some involved "Save or Die" situations. We'd been given a few options to make them slightly more survivable (the option to purchase potions when we were in town, etc.), but we ran as much as we fought: because the goal wasn't combat. She also let us try nutty stuff like leeching poison from a wound after a failed save. Some DMs might not have been so lenient, but we HAD the leeches right there, after all!  Such improvisation and off the wall ideas are a hallmark of fun gameplay, IMO.

In the end, we found lots of loot (more than we could comfortably carry) and –we hoped– the means to get out. We then had a race to the surface where we picked our battles and concentrated on getting out before our rations were gone or we were killed in an unnecessary fight. When we stumbled into the daylight with packs full of swag, we felt like we had really earned it. We'd left more than we took (though we tried to get the most valuable stuff first). No one had quite died, but by the gods, it had been a near thing for all of us, and it made the finish all the sweeter.

This was one of the best classic style, resource-intensive crawls I'd played in for a long time. People who say they want an "old-school" adventure and care about things like rations or encumbrance should definitely look for this one among this year's contest entries. I think if she'd been a little more experienced DM she could have made it even more of a nail-biter, but it's hard to imagine how. So kudos to our GMs first trip behind the screen. Here's hoping to see you there more in the near future!