Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;917155And yet, despite the fact that is exactly what I do, I've never had an empty chair in 44 years.

I guess people only thought they were having fun.

Next on 60 Minutes: D&D Causes Mass Hysteria!

Quote from: Christopher Brady;917164I wouldn't call it shitty, or bad, I'd call it (AT THE VERY WORST) 'lazy', and even then, if it works, who the fuck cares why?  Game on, cucumber!

Or you are just cleverly leaving it up to the players' imaginations. They will probably fill in the "why" more creatively than you anyway. Humans are wonderful pattern-finders, even when there is no pattern.

Quote from: darthfozzywig;917170Humans are wonderful pattern-finders, even when there is no pattern.

...and other things D&D taught me.

One method I like to do with dungeons and other complexes is to have one good description of the style at the start and then just gloss over unless something dictates otherwise.

EG: "The dungeon walls are lined with morterless bricks all exactly the same dimensions in the standard herringbone layout. The bricks themselves have a slight greenish tinge to the stone. The floor tiles are hexagons with a reddish tinge while the ceiling is flat carved natural rock. There are no fixtures for torches or other light sources. There are plain wooden doors to your left and right made of pale oak with odd T-shaped silver handles."

And after that it would be

"And this room is 30 by 30 feet. No other exits. Theres a table against the back wall made of the same wood as the door. Beside the table are two sealed clay jars about three foot tall each and made from some sort of yellow clay. The seal is fitted silver."

And after that "And this room is 20 by 20. No other exits. There are two tables here and between them another sealed clay jar. This one is green."

Nice discussion on the Time Clock in the dungeon. I would make DM's copies of the character sheets and make inventory tracker sheets for consumables. How many torches, oil flasks, etc. Then I would mark them off as time ticked by. Inevitably the players would brush off the first couple of "You're getting low on torches" comments from the DM. But oh, what fun they finally realized that they might be fumbling around the dungeon in the dark... Especially the poor humans who didn't have infravision, and "no, you can't read the map with infravision".

Time spent dealing with wandering monsters was time with torches burning down. And camping in the dungeon so spell casters can recharge is far from certain when there is the threat of even a lowly goblin popping in to disrupt your study.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;917155And yet, despite the fact that is exactly what I do, I've never had an empty chair in 44 years.

I guess people only thought they were having fun.

Given your vivid posting style, I rather doubt you've ever just read off the charts, as Kellri described.

He just has really well written charts to read off... He is the Most Interesting DM in the World.

Quote from: Elfdart;917209Given your vivid posting style, I rather doubt you've ever just read off the charts, as Kellri described.

"You have been surprised by, and have not surprised, three wights.  They attack."

MY PALADIN DOUSES HIMSELF IN HOLY WATER AND GRAPPLES ONE!

(Actually happened in play this one time.)

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;917155And yet, despite the fact that is exactly what I do, I've never had an empty chair in 44 years.

I guess people only thought they were having fun.

Nah, they were just after your pee hole Gronan.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;917224"You have been surprised by, and have not surprised, three wights.  They attack."

Or as this would be said at my table "Here, start rolling."

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;917224"You have been surprised by, and have not surprised, three wights.  They attack."

You are getting soft in your old age there.

"Three wights surprise the party. They are 30 feet away. Round one. The wights close distance to attack. The first one reaches for Markus and misses. The Second reaches for Edicus and hits, draining him for one life level. The third one hits Edicus as well, draining him for another life level. Ed is now level 3. Round two. You may now respond. Roll initiative please."

Because surprise is a real bitch and it hates the PCs guts. Especially when undead are involved.

I just hadn't gotten to the actual combat round yet.

Yes, if the wights have surprise they'll get 2 attacks before the PCs can respond.  If the PCs are first level, the wights get three attacks each, per round.

This situation is a probable TPK of a first level party.

I think monsters need to have "immediate logic".  That is to say, living creatures inside locked rooms with no exits, or monsters too big to fit through any of the exits, are stuff that I find really bothersome.  But at the same time, I think the need to build up and explain some kind of "dungeon ecology" to justify everything is kind of stupid. It's more something that I think is there for book-readers than for players. It adds very little to the game on the ground.

Quote from: RPGPundit;918952I think monsters need to have "immediate logic".  That is to say, living creatures inside locked rooms with no exits, or monsters too big to fit through any of the exits, are stuff that I find really bothersome.  But at the same time, I think the need to build up and explain some kind of "dungeon ecology" to justify everything is kind of stupid. It's more something that I think is there for book-readers than for players. It adds very little to the game on the ground.

I like the term 'Immediate logic' and it's perfect for what I like to do in dungeons.  I don't need to know the long term reasons, just that it makes plausible sense to have six orcs in a room guarding a pie.