On the downside, with work, schedules and the 240 km distance, we only get to game every three weeks or so, and this Spring/Summer has had even larger gaps. That also means we have to make good use of the time, and we do get a lot of action out of individual sessions, but if I could play even every second week, that would be something. I hope to return to a better schedule this Autumn once I am through with some demanding projects, though. Maybe, hopefully.

But the point is, be happy you have a weekly game.

Quote from: Melan;397214I
In contrast, a simple "function, monster, treasure" type of key would usually do me no good. There is still a chance I could make up something, but that sort of setup is a bit dangerous for me. Granted, a good map tells a lot, and Rob's would be pretty useful to come up with something, so I think I would manage with those notes. The same goes for Tegel (where the rooms always have just weird detail), but not what I have seen of EGG's Greyhawk levels or the M&T Assortment.

Good points, the example of Tegal is why I made sure each room had a descriptive label even if it just a monster and treasure. I got a post half done titled, "Making maps earn their keep." where I will be talking about the Tegal style map.

I've really, over the years, gone the other direction, and I am positive I have less spare time than many.  I really enjoy making convoluted, detail-heavy adventures, despite the fact that in my youth the players never knew what I was reading and what was 'extrapolated'.

There is a lot that a map can do, though.  Tegel's map was probably the best example of a map that did 1/2 the job for the GM.  Damn Map was so good I had to toss away the key and use the map for a non-gonzo usage.

Detail and game style go hand in hand, and one 'teaches' their players what to expect by playing.  My guys would spend hours looking for the source of a 'strange moan' if they heard it in a hall, because they've been trained to.  It wouldn't even occur to them that it was "Dungeon Dressing".

Great thread fellers. I think I might even copy/paste into wordpad to save for later when making my own adventures. Keep 'em comin'

Quote from: LordVreeg;397228My guys would spend hours looking for the source of a 'strange moan' if they heard it in a hall, because they've been trained to.  It wouldn't even occur to them that it was "Dungeon Dressing".

Mine too! Which is great at the table because it makes it easy to plot adventures since I have a general idea of what they're going to do. But it makes it difficult to playtest commercial adventures because not every group reacts the same way. With the Labyrinth Lord adventure I'm about to release, my players jumped on every little plot hook and lead and the game ran so smoothly that I'm still not sure if it was good adventure design or the fact that I know their playstyle so well.

@Estar, can't wait to see your map post. I suck at drawing decent maps.

Pete

I also make heavy use of a classic PULP fiction (the books not the movie)staple in my games, if the party is like taking a long time to make decisions, or the game is moving slow or I haven't prepared for an area they want to explore, I throw in a random attack by some Monsters (bad guys) and figure out later why it happened, they never are the wiser.

The most important thing for me in designing / running dungeons is to understand the physical space and what use it's being put to. I lean very hard to the "natural ecology" model of dungeon design, and I tend to rely more on complex spaces and enemy tactics to vary things up than loading on a ton of different types of monsters. My dire enemy is "Read Aloud Text", especially if it's "mood" text.

Frex, I feel like I'd understand things better if a map entry was annotated as

Quote"Abandoned kitchen, 6 giant rats scavenging, 100 sp in a jar in the bottom cupboard."

than

Quote"Read this aloud to the players: 'As you enter the shadowy room, six pairs of beady red eyes stare out from between cupboard doors. The sound of skittering paws echoes through the room.' Six giant rats are hiding in the cupboards. They will attack as soon as the PCs disturb any of the food strewn about the room. Searching will reveal 100sp hidden in a jar," etc.

Quote from: flyingcircus;397197Ok, this is my 1st post here, I will say I love OD&D style games, far better imo, much easier to GM for me, then say 3.x/PF type games.  I quit doing those years ago after a brain spasm trying to create an adventure for my group, the detail and length of time was staggering to me.  I currently play Labyrinth Lord or OSRIC, my last dungeon took me 15 minutes in OSRIC to write-up and draw.  I did something somewhat like what you did, and they had a blast, only I used Sahuagin in a sewer sytem and Giant Rats as the main culprits along with a few random encounters, which turned out to be NPC adventurer's like themselves.  But yes I like your ideas.

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