John Wick rages against Tomb of Horrors and reveals the root of all his gaming issues

JesterRaiin · March 15, 2016, 03:30:29 AM

Quote from: Old One Eye;885131I do not think the Tomb deserves its reputation as a killer dungeon.

Just because someone climbed Mount Everest with relative ease, doesn't disprove the fact that plenty people didn't have much luck and the mountain killed them.

"Tomb of Horrors" killed probably more characters than crusades and World Wars combined, if it doesn't deserve the title of "a killer dungeon", nothing does.

Bren · March 15, 2016, 07:20:59 PM

Quote from: GameDaddy;885029In real life too...
See also: This is Sparta! or how to defeat a million man army with just three hundred Spartan warriors by inducing repeated morale check failures.

By the time they had to face another 10,000 Greek warriors united, the million man Persian army of Xerxes simply evaporated.

Everyone remembers the 300 Spartans, but most people forget the 7,000 Greeks that held off the Persians for the first 3 days of battle. And they also forget the 700 Thespians* and 400 Thebans who stayed until the end and died with the Spartans.

The Spartans – good warriors, great PR.

* Who knew theater majors were so fierce?

kosmos1214 · March 15, 2016, 09:03:56 PM

Quote from: Bren;885330Everyone remembers the 300 Spartans, but most people forget the 7,000 Greeks that held off the Persians for the first 3 days of battle. And they also forget the 700 Thespians* and 400 Thebans who stayed until the end and died with the Spartans.

The Spartans – good warriors, great PR.

* Who knew theater majors were so fierce?

very true people have a habit of remembering the legend but that's not the whole story

TristramEvans · March 15, 2016, 09:42:53 PM

Quote from: kosmos1214;885342very true people have a habit of remembering the legend but that's not the whole story

People have a habit of getting their history lessons from Hollywood films.

kosmos1214 · March 16, 2016, 07:55:03 PM

Quote from: TristramEvans;885346People have a habit of getting their history lessons from Hollywood films.

this is also true

RPGPundit · March 23, 2016, 08:10:17 AM

You know, I never much cared for Tomb of Horrors myself, and I especially don't care for the OSR "Nega-dungeon" concept which seems to be inspired by ToH. The idea of this kind of "screw you guys for doing what a good dungeoneer should be doing" mentality that to me is just retarded.

Xuc Xac · March 23, 2016, 04:48:53 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;886852You know, I never much cared for Tomb of Horrors myself, and I especially don't care for the OSR "Nega-dungeon" concept which seems to be inspired by ToH. The idea of this kind of "screw you guys for doing what a good dungeoneer should be doing" mentality that to me is just retarded.

Agreed. I don't play D&D to avoid exploring interesting things.

Spinachcat · March 23, 2016, 04:55:22 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;886852The idea of this kind of "screw you guys for doing what a good dungeoneer should be doing" mentality that to me is just retarded.

And that's the big difference between ToH and Nega-Dungeons. Being a good dungeoneer is crucial to ToH and greatly rewarded with goodies and a dead demi-lich.

Omega · March 23, 2016, 05:12:23 PM

Quote from: Spinachcat;886970And that's the big difference between ToH and Nega-Dungeons. Being a good dungeoneer is crucial to ToH and greatly rewarded with goodies and a dead demi-lich.

Its alot like many sequel and knock-off movies and comics. The producers havent a clue what made the first interesting and so focus on one element people mentioned and then wonder why the knock-offs arent met with the same welcome.

If all someone sees in Tomb of Horrors is "kill players" then they have totally and abysmally missed the point. And from posts right here some people have willfully missed the point so they can have an excuse to bitch.

Bren · March 23, 2016, 05:16:57 PM

Quote from: Omega;886978If all someone sees in Tomb of Horrors is "kill players" then they have totally and abysmally missed the point. And from posts right here some people have willfully missed the point so they can have an excuse to bitch.

Like we need an excuse.

Matt · March 23, 2016, 05:46:50 PM

I'm ignorant: what is a John Wick again and why do I care about his opinion of an ancient D&D module?

Bren · March 23, 2016, 05:50:51 PM

Some guy who designed some games and recently generated a record kickstarter amount for 7th Sea version 2. And you shouldn't care about his opinion about D&D. But thanks for stopping by anyways.

Matt · March 23, 2016, 05:55:27 PM

Cool. I'm going to start blogging about why old modules suck when I play them without regard for the instructions or helpful hints on how to make them work. I'll be sure to post a link.

Bren · March 23, 2016, 06:02:17 PM

Quote from: Matt;886995Cool. I'm going to start blogging about why old modules suck when I play them without regard for the instructions or helpful hints on how to make them work. I'll be sure to post a link.

Please do. Be sure to include at least one anecdote demonstrating how it was the module designer's fault that you behaved like an ass to your friends when you were 12 or 13. Bonus points if you include anecdotes of you being an ass to your friends more recently to show how much you've learned since you were 12 or 13.

dragoner · March 23, 2016, 07:50:49 PM

Played Tomb of Horrors around 1980 or so, it was ok, I seem to remember lots of scrying and poking things with 10' poles. The fact somebody has had huge problems with a module and then now has had a successful kickstarter? Probably bodes ill for the hobby, because what we need now more than ever is a ton like that.