DnD Map v2 Feedback

DnD Map v2 Feedback & Response

       Version 2 definitely improved upon its predecessor, but some issues lingered and new ones arose.

       For this second playthrough of my Dungeons and Dragons map, Angel Madueno chose the Ranger class and Magnus Marshall chose the Mage class. Overall, the flow of the level was noted by the players to be much smoother in terms of enemy difficulty scaling and the teaching order of mechanics, but some minor issues still lingered. Firstly, Magnus recommended adding an introductory jump prior to the two tile jump in the third room, so the addition has been made in the form of a one tile wide pit in the first room outside of the spawn room. This change is shown directly below.

        Beyond the initial handful of enemies that were meant to be easily overtaken, the tougher among them often had too high of an attack stat and too low of a defense stat. Such enemies took the form of "glass cannon" fighters that could keep things interesting for mid and late game combat, but may be way too risky for a tutorial level. The players got fairly upset when a duo of skeletons were able to take one of them out in a single shot. This issue is only exemplified by the low health value the players are given based on the rule sheet. Despite this, the map was still able to be completed and even enjoyed.

        The first glaring issue was the initial archer encounter in which a locked door was lacking a lever. As the dungeon master, I decided to explain to the part that killing the enemy had magically unlocked the door, leaving the oversight to be hopefully unrecognized. Sometimes when we work in a fast paced environment, it can be easy to forget minor details, but a lever that could actually lock someone's playthrough of a level is no minor oversight. Said lever was the first addition made in version three of my map, as seen below. Following the lever is a red power line for players to begin building a visual connection between red wires and powered doors. This connection is further reinforced in the next room and culminates in a puzzle later in the third version of the level.

        The next room played really well once the heavy archer was placed across the medium sized pit. Having him after the minor archer was noted by the party to be much more cohesive and natural. His new placement also helped liven up what was previously a fairly boring room. When I first made the decision, I had worried that the players might struggle due to their reliance on close quarters combat, but they thankfully recognized the suggested route of action. Another thing of note in this room is the second red wire, placed again in hopes of helping the party solve the light puzzle in the lever room. Overall, the new enemy placement really helped in spicing up the room, according to the players.

        Immediately following the pit room was the new skeleton hallway- a narrow corridor inhabited by two skeletons. I thought the players would have an easy time defeating the skeletons, but a failure to defend themselves led to the incapacitation of one party member. After a quick revival, the duo finished off the skeletons and kept moving onward. One detail of note was that Magnus was fairly confused by the row of barrels placed in the hallway. Though technically a leftover from the first version of the map, I left the barrels in anticipation of putting another long range fight further down the hall, but after realizing I focused too much on ranged combat, I scrapped the encounter and left the barrels thinking they would at least serve as set dressing. What I didn't expect was that their placement would greatly confuse Magnus since said placement still suggested essential use. After reworking the skeleton duo, I removed the barrel, leading to a succinct though somewhat dull corridor.

        Nearing the end of the dungeon, the players were now met with a room containing three switches- a simple puzzle. Since the layout hadn't changed from the first iteration, the players 'solved' it almost immediately. In the third take on the approach, I used the recurring theme of red wires to make the challenge visually engaging. Now with multiple second switches, players would have to follow the wires in finding out which connection was the true solution. While the change is nice, part of me considered making it even harder.

        Last is the boss chamber. The skeleton archer has been removed and the boss's stats have been changed. His attack is now 1 and his defense is now 10. This helps him feel like a challenge without overexerting the difficulty upon the players. I also moved the key to the upper corner to further incentivize combat and heighten the emotional intensity.