israel@qantel.UUCP ( Renegade@ex2564) (11/27/85)
You guys fell for the ole' Sphere of Annihilation in the Demon's Mouth Trap? People, when you hear about a hole of impenetrable darkness directly in front of you, that's the first thing you should check for! (We usually toss one end of a rope into it, and see what happens when you try to pull it back out.) You think you guys had problems - our entire party consisted of characters who were either evil or chaotic or both. (I was running a chaotic neutral thief and a chaotic evil fighter, both very well armed and armored.) The party would spend ridiculously long periods of time arguing about what to do about this or that, until a chaotic character would sneak off and try something on his own. This resulted in about five fatalities. (Luckily, we had more than enough raise deads to go around.) I think the only reason the party managed to survive at all is that as the party made its way down the first main corridor, my thief was looking for traps, and outlining them with chalk for the rest of the party. He was wearing a helm of comprehend languages at the time, so as he was doing this, he happened to notice the letters spelled out in the floor tile which gave some major hints on how to make it through the dungeon. This helped us avoid a number of dead ends (pardon the pun) and traps. One fortunate thing about this party - since nobody in it trusted anyone else, it kept everyone on their toes. Even so, as we left the dungeon (yes, we successfully completed it the first time through), most of the party was dead or close to it. My fighter had been killed twice, including once by the demilich. My thief, however, was virtually untouched, and ended up leading the party. But seeing as he had an AC of -7, a +3 sword, and was wearing a girdle of cloud giant strength, he was one of the more powerful members of the party anyway. As he led us out of the dungeon, we were attacked by about the nastiest gargolyes we'd ever seen. The thief took them out almost single-handedly, and actually felt better after the fight, because he was wearing a vampiric ring of regeneration. There is nothing worse in this or any other world than a chaotic neutral who not only thinks he can get away with anything, but actually does. Anyway, we eventually all got back safely, and raised everybody, and if that stinking thief ever shows his face again, we're gonna nail him good for ripping off the magic from the rest of the party. -- Renegade of Berkeley MDS Qantel or Renegade Systems ucbvax!dual!qantel!israel ucbvax!dual!qantel!hamster!israel Disclaimer: "Who, me? I wasn't even there!"
darin@ut-dillo.UUCP (Darin Adler) (11/27/85)
> ... party made its way down the first main corridor, my thief was looking for > traps, and outlining them with chalk for the rest of the party. He was > wearing a helm of comprehend languages at the time, so as he was doing this, > he happened to notice the letters spelled out in the floor tile which gave > some major hints on how to make it through the dungeon. This helped us avoid > a number of dead ends (pardon the pun) and traps. I have to assume this is an attempt at humor. When I adventured through the "Tomb of Horrors" a number of years ago, I am certain there were no miscellaneous clues written on the floor tiles. :-) Looking back at the text of the module, I find no such description. This would seem to be quite convenient for a DM who realized that the traps were just too difficult and wanted to give some clues. As I recall, the characters I used were the highest level that I have EVER bothered with, and we still were unable to bother the demi-lich. In another vein, I still do not understand this talk about 18th level characters. Are these one-shot characters created at a high level so that they will be powerful enough for the dungeon. If not, I recommend that you play more than one character, or more than one game. After 6-7 years of enjoyable AD&D play (and more years of DM'ing), the highest any of my first-level characters has ever attained was 12th level. Actually, this really has no bearing on anyone else's game, but I find the rules are mostly oriented around characters that are of this level and below. One more thing. Have you folks out there seen "Oriental Adventures" (yet another volume in the ever-growing EGG AD&D collection)? It looks interesting. I have a friend who particularly likes the Shukenja class (peaceful "clerics" who do not like killing, but pack quite a wallop). I think that the Monk class is a lot more interesting with the introduction of martial arts styles. -- Darin Adler {gatech,harvard,ihnp4,seismo}!ut-sally!ut-dillo!darin
kss@gitpyr.UUCP (Kevin Smith) (11/27/85)
I disagree with the recent assessment of the Tomb. I played this adventure
(and survived), and like any other its playability depends on the DM running it.
We started with a party of 6 and got out with 4, and we did solve most of the
traps. We were actually a pretty low level party, averaging somewhere around
8th; the DM adjusted, as is always necessary. The thing is, the Tomb is not
designed to be a monster crashing trip so much as a _thinking_ challenge.
The challenge of outwitting the particular traps given is one I have not seen
equalled anywhere. In my opinion, it is the responsibility of the DM to make
the challenge within the reach of the characters--every module I have looked
at starts with the advice "modify this to fit your needs" or some such. If
as we were you are given the very heavily worded advice that you have to think,
you can do it.
That borders on one of my pet grumbles. I've played and DM'ed both--we
kind of took turns among my group--and I've noticed a number of DMs set them-
selves up as antagonists against the party, even taking it personally when a
resourceful party beats one of their clever ploys. A DM is supposed to be a
*referee*, not an enemy. Thoughts?...
Kevin Smith
once known as - - Eelar the Blue (and others)
--
Kevin Smith
Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!ksscc100jr@gitpyr.UUCP (Joel M. Rives) (12/02/85)
Hear! Hear!
I applaud Kevin's statement about the Tomb of Horrors and DMing in general.
During this past holiday weekend, I recinded from my promise never to run
a D&D adventure again (prefering other systems instead) and brought out my
dusty copy of the Barrier Peaks adventure. For those of you who are unfamiliar
with this adventure, it is designed - or so it says - for a large party (the
module suggests 15 characters) of 8-12th level. Obviously this is not an easy
days adventure! As the situation would have it, we were four people - myself
and three players. What is more, these players have characters with long stand-
ing relationships and a lot of personality. So, I introduced two supportive
NPC's and allowed each player to bring along two of their characters. This
brought the party up to eight with an average level of 10.
Fortunately, these people are good players. I did wind up pulling a few punches
- so to speak - but not many. The major point, however, is that a DM must be
willing to be flexible. The module might say 30 Orcs are charging the party
of 3rd and 4th level players whereas 10-15 might make a challenging battle.
Use your discreation DM!
the never present whisper spirit
Joel Rives
Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!cc100jr
"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are!"
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