Dungeon/Indoor/Underground Environments
Dungeon/Indoor/Underground Environments
Embedded Files
Movement and Time
Movement and Time
Movement within buildings is actually the same as in an underground setting.
Each square represents an area of 10 ft. per side, and movement is very slow as observation and map making and searching takes considerable time.
Base movement rate translates to 1 square per 1 factor in a turn (10 minute period). [Thus, a group moving at 9", the slowest member's speed, will take 1 turn to progress 90 feet or 9 ten-foot squares.]
In like manner, examination and mapping of a room or chamber will require about a 10 minute period.
Thorough searching of contents and examination of walls, floor, and possibly the ceiling as well is also a lengthy process.
How are doors and secret doors opened? and what about locks and fastenings? It is vital that the DM know such details thoroughly, so that the mundane processes of dungeon adventuring can be carried out rapidly, clearly, and in a fashion which will be interesting and exciting.
Investigative Activity
Investigative Activity
[The DM] must make some arbitrary decisions regarding the time expended in activities which are not strictly movement.
How long does it take to move along but a short section of passage, open a door, enter the room beyond, and search it?
Such variables as passage length, condition of the portal (locked, stuck, or normal), size of the room beyond, and thoroughness of the search make an absolute determination of time nearly impossible.
There are many variations of player character activity - looking far signs of use of the corridor, listening for noise, looking for traps, inspection of walls for secret doors, etc. - all of which compound the need for an arbitrary handling of time.
If a few fixed references are used, the task becomes a good deal easier, however.
Therefore, the following suggestions are offered:
- DOOR—search for traps = 1 round
- DOOR—listening for noise = 1 round
- ROOM—mapping, and casually examining a 20 ft. x 20 ft. area = 1 turn
- ROOM—thoroughly searching after initial examination* = 1 turn
- SECRET DOOR—checking for by simple tapping of floor or wall by 10 ft. x 10 ft. area = 1 round
- SECRET DOOR—thorough examination for means to open, by 10 ft. x 10 ft. area = 1 turn
* This assumes that, in fact, the area has items which can be checked for traps, examined, contents searched, hidden comportments looked for, and so on. If there are many containers and much furniture in the area, the time might actually be double that shown. If the place has nothing but some odds and ends, then a casual examination will discover all there is to know about the place (short of a check for secret doors) and a thorough search is contra-indicated.
Detection of unusual circumstances, traps, and hearing noise (DM Advice)
Detection of unusual circumstances, traps, and hearing noise (DM Advice)
Regardless of the means, it takes effort and concentration to perform any of these activities. A gnome, for instance, must remain relatively quiet and concentrate for a turn to detect facts about an underground setting. Likewise, a dwarf must work at it. An elf doesn't detect secret doors 16 ⅔% of the time by merely passing them unless he or she is actually concentrating on the act. A character with a sword must have it out and be thinking about its power in order for the weapon to communicate anything to him or her. To sum it all up, DON'T GIVE PLAYERS A FREE LUNCH!
Tell them what they "see", allow them to draw their own conclusions and initiate whatever activity they desire. You are the source of their input, a time keeper, and the motivator of all not connected with them. That is sufficient to keep you busy, rest assured.
Assume that your players are continually wasting time (thus making the so-called adventure drag out into a boring session of dice rolling and delay) if they are checking endlessly for traps and listening at every door.
If this persists, despite the obvious displeasure you express, the requirement that helmets be doffed and mail coifs removed to listen at a door, and then be carefully replaced, the warnings about ear seekers, and frequent checking for wandering monsters, then you will have to take more direct part in things.
Mocking their over-cautious behavior as near cowardice, rolling huge handfuls of dice and then telling them the results are negative, and statements to the effect that: "You detect nothing, and nothing has detected YOU so far. . .", might suffice. If the problem should continue, then rooms full with silent monsters will turn the tide, but that is the stuff of later adventures.
Resting Requirements for Dungeon/Indoor Environments
Resting Requirements for Dungeon/Indoor Environments
A party should be required to rest at least one turn in six.
...(remember, the average party packs a lot of equipment), and in addition, they should rest a turn after every time they engage in combat or any other strenuous activities.
On occasion, a party may wish to cease movement and “hole up” for a long period, perhaps overnight, resting and recuperating, or recovering spells. This does not exempt them from occasional checks for wandering monsters, though the frequency may be moderated somewhat, depending on conditions. Too-frequent interruptions may make spell recovery impossible. Keeping correct records of duration of these periods is absolutely essential.
Falling Damage
Falling Damage
Falling into pits, from ledges, down shafts, and so forth will certainly cause damage unless the fall is broken.
While such falls could break limbs and other bones, it is probable that your referee will simply use a hit points damage computation based on 1d6 [per 10 ft.] for each 10 ft. of distance fallen to a maximum of 20d6, plus or minus adjustments for the surface fallen upon.
This treatment gives characters a better survival chance, although it is not as "realistic" as systems to determine breaks, sprains, dislocations, internal organ damage, etc. [Ed.: 10 ft.=1d6; 20 ft.=3d6; 30 ft.=6d6; 40 ft.=10d6, 50 ft.=15d6; 60 ft.=20d6, or terminal velocity.] (1, 2)
Doors
Doors
As a rule of thumb, all doors are hard to open and hard to keep closed or open for player characters, while inhabitants of the dungeon find little difficulty in these regards.
Regardless of how a door opens, it is usual that its weight and condition require that force be used to swiftly operate it.
Open Doors Roll. This is represented by the roll of d6 for each person involved in pushing, pulling, lifting, sliding, or whatever. A roll of 1 or 2 typically indicates success, anything above indicates the door still remains unopened.
Very heavy doors might reduce chances by half. Locked doors might only open if two or even three simultaneous 1's are rolled.
Most doors are about 8 ft. wide, and this allows up to three characters to attempt opening. A door of 3 ft. or less width allows but a single character to make an attempt.
Breaking Down Wooden Doors. If wooden doors (always metal bound, naturally) are broken down by axes and the like, it will take some time—a full turn is usual—and require at least three checks to see if nearby and/or wandering monsters are attracted by the noise.
[See below and also Dungeonmastering, Construction and Siege.]
Doors can also be blasted away by fireballs and other spells, for example. This will not be likely to draw monsters to the vicinity immediately. Any such destruction will, however, attract the attention of all passing creatures and possibly cause future problems. Intelligent dungeon inhabitants will certainly make efforts to repair damage if it is in their interest to do so.
Metal Doors. Finally, metal doors (usually locked) will be very difficult to open, requiring a knock spell or similar means most of the time.
[Campaign Rules.]
Using melee weapons against constructions is typically useless. However, some consideration is given based on the type of weapon and the material it is being used upon.
- Wooden Door = 1 structural point
- Wooden Door, Reinforced = 3 structural points
- Iron Door (1 inch plates) = 10 structural points (cannot be harmed unless by siege engines or spells, see Dungeonmastering, Construction and Siege)
Wooden Barriers (e.g. wood doors). Against doors made primarily of wood (no iron plating), an axe-type of weapon will do 0.5 structural points of damage for every blow that does, at minimum, 10 hit points of damage. If damage done is less than this, no structural damage occurs (although cosmetic damage is done). Pole arms with axe-heads and battle axes receive a +4 bonus on this damage (A door's AC is 10; No base armor rating) and most doors will be treated as Large sized. Note that weapons must have the required space to operate effectively.
Wooden Containers (e.g. wood chests). Against stout containers made primarily of wood (no iron plating), an axe-type of weapon will require the item to save vs. Crushing Blow for every blow that does, at minimum, 10 hit points of damage. If damage done is less than this, then a save vs. Normal Blow is made. Pole arms with axe-heads and battle axes receive a +4 bonus on this damage (A container's AC is 10; No base armor rating; Damage by the weapon is based on the size of the object). Reinforced wooden containers (like chests) will receive a bonus of +3 on saving throws vs. blows by melee weapons. Note that weapons must have the required space to operate effectively.
Soft Stone Barriers (e.g. bricked walls). Against barriers made primarily of soft stone and not more than about a 1 foot in thickness, a pick-type of weapon will do 0.5 structural points of damage for every blow that does, at minimum, 10 hit points of damage. If damage done is less than this, no structural damage occurs (although cosmetic damage is done). Military picks receive a +4 bonus on this damage (A wall's AC is 10; No base armor rating) and most barriers will be treated as Large sized. Note that weapons must have the required space to operate effectively.
See Dungeonmastering, Construction and Siege.
[...]
Concealed Doors
Concealed Doors
These are doors which are hidden in some way—behind a curtain, covered with plaster, a trap door under a rug, etc. They differ from a secret door in that once their concealment is uncovered they are obviously doors.
Secret Doors
Secret Doors
These are portals which are made to appear to be a normal part of the surface they are in. They can possibly be sensed or detected by characters who are actively concentrating on such activity, or their possible location may be discovered by tapping (though the hollow place could be another passage or room beyond which has no portal in the hollow-sounding surface). Discovery does not mean that access to the door mechanism has been discovered, however. Checking requires a very thorough examination of the possible secret door area.
You may use either of two methods to allow discovery of the mechanism which operates the portal:
- You may designate probability by a linear curve, typically with a d6. Thus, a secret door is discovered 1-in-6 by any non-elf, 2-in-6 by elven or half-elven characters, each character being allowed to roll each turn in checking a 10 ft. x 10 ft. area. This also allows you to have some secret doors more difficult to discover, the linear curve being a d8 or d10.
- You may have the discovery of the existence of the secret door enable player characters to attempt to operate it by actual manipulation, i.e. the players concerned give instructions as to how they will have their characters attempt to make it function: "Turn the wall sconce.", "Slide it left.", "Press the small protrusion, and see if it pivots.", "Pull the chain."
It is quite acceptable to have a mixture of methods of discovering the operation of secret door.
1. Dragon #69, From the Sorcerer's Scroll. Falling damage. The correct procedure for determining falling damage in the AD&D game system is to roll 1d6 per 10’ fallen, cumulative. Since a falling body accelerates quickly, the damage mounts geometrically: 2d6 for the second 10 feet fallen, 3d6 for the third 10 feet, etc. The maximum of 20d6 is therefore reached after a fall of approximately 60 feet for most characters. A thief-acrobat can often fall further distances, but the same 20d6 maximum should be applied. The rationale behind this system will be discussed in the next issue (#70) of DRAGON™ Magazine. —Gary Gygax
2. Dragon #70, Falling Damage. As to the problem with falling damage , well, it all started back in the early 1970’s. (Editor’s note: The problem came to light during the preparation of Mr. Gygax’s column on the Thief-Acrobat "split class," which appeared in issue #69 of DRAGON™ Magazine. It was addressed in a brief note published along with that article, with a promise that a more detailed explanation, this article , would be forthcoming.) Gary has always used a geometrically increasing system for falling damage in AD&D games; the trouble arose because that system simply never made it into the rule books. When the AD&D Players Handbook was being assembled, a brief section on falling damage was included: a mere 7½ lines that offers more advice on broken bones and sprains than on falling damage. As we now understand the event, the section was not included in the first draft, and the editors requested a brief insert on this frequently referred-to topic. So Gary hastily wrote a sentence describing damage as "1d6 per 10’ for each 10’ fallen." Someone removed the "per 10’" as being (so it was thought) redundant, and off we went. That section was later quoted in passing in the Aerial Adventures section of the Dungeon Masters Guide, thereby becoming further entrenched in our game procedures. The main point of current controversy seems to be the simple fact that everyone has been using "1d6 for each 10’ fallen" for years, and the social inertia of Custom is still being cited as a reason to override common sense. And everyone still wants to know if you get a saving throw against falling damage; items do. (Note, however, that the "fall" category on DMG p. 80 mentions specifically falls of 5’ or so; in other words, a dropped item, rather than one that sustains a long fall. Adjustments should be applied for descents of greater distance than 5’.) Please understand first that when Gary writes something, he assumes that no important changes are being made between manuscript and printed product. (I’m sure most, if not all, other accomplished, best-selling authors assume the same thing.) So Gary checks the overall look before we in the TSR word factory send the final product off to the printer , but he doesn’t review all the details. After all, he knows what he wants to do in his home-style games, and he writes more generalized, system-applicable details for us. He doesn’t play AD&D games strictly by the book, and usually has no reason to double-check details in the books and other products before they are sent out for printing. (I usually end up with those tasks these days.) So it was not until years after that first appearance of the "1d6 per 10’ fallen" rule that Gary finally noticed we’ve been doing it wrong all these years. The "correct" damage incurred by falling is 1d6 for the first 10’, 2d6 for the second 10’ (total 3d6 for a 20’ fall), 3d6 for the third 10’, and so on, cumulative. The falling body reaches that 20d6 maximum shortly before passing the 60’ mark. This is definitely more realistic than a straight 1d6 per 10’; using the latter rule, I’ve seen a tough fighter dive off a cliff into a deep canyon, get up and dust himself off, and then start chasing monsters. If the DM had added, say, a saving throw vs. death with a -12 penalty, that would have been fairer; but there are no guidelines for such a save, and DMs are free to encourage fantastic stunts by ignoring inertia, the effect of acceleration on a falling body, and other "real" principles that apply in the "fantasy" world. —Frank Mentzer
2. Dragon #70, Falling Damage. As to the problem with falling damage , well, it all started back in the early 1970’s. (Editor’s note: The problem came to light during the preparation of Mr. Gygax’s column on the Thief-Acrobat "split class," which appeared in issue #69 of DRAGON™ Magazine. It was addressed in a brief note published along with that article, with a promise that a more detailed explanation, this article , would be forthcoming.) Gary has always used a geometrically increasing system for falling damage in AD&D games; the trouble arose because that system simply never made it into the rule books. When the AD&D Players Handbook was being assembled, a brief section on falling damage was included: a mere 7½ lines that offers more advice on broken bones and sprains than on falling damage. As we now understand the event, the section was not included in the first draft, and the editors requested a brief insert on this frequently referred-to topic. So Gary hastily wrote a sentence describing damage as "1d6 per 10’ for each 10’ fallen." Someone removed the "per 10’" as being (so it was thought) redundant, and off we went. That section was later quoted in passing in the Aerial Adventures section of the Dungeon Masters Guide, thereby becoming further entrenched in our game procedures. The main point of current controversy seems to be the simple fact that everyone has been using "1d6 for each 10’ fallen" for years, and the social inertia of Custom is still being cited as a reason to override common sense. And everyone still wants to know if you get a saving throw against falling damage; items do. (Note, however, that the "fall" category on DMG p. 80 mentions specifically falls of 5’ or so; in other words, a dropped item, rather than one that sustains a long fall. Adjustments should be applied for descents of greater distance than 5’.) Please understand first that when Gary writes something, he assumes that no important changes are being made between manuscript and printed product. (I’m sure most, if not all, other accomplished, best-selling authors assume the same thing.) So Gary checks the overall look before we in the TSR word factory send the final product off to the printer , but he doesn’t review all the details. After all, he knows what he wants to do in his home-style games, and he writes more generalized, system-applicable details for us. He doesn’t play AD&D games strictly by the book, and usually has no reason to double-check details in the books and other products before they are sent out for printing. (I usually end up with those tasks these days.) So it was not until years after that first appearance of the "1d6 per 10’ fallen" rule that Gary finally noticed we’ve been doing it wrong all these years. The "correct" damage incurred by falling is 1d6 for the first 10’, 2d6 for the second 10’ (total 3d6 for a 20’ fall), 3d6 for the third 10’, and so on, cumulative. The falling body reaches that 20d6 maximum shortly before passing the 60’ mark. This is definitely more realistic than a straight 1d6 per 10’; using the latter rule, I’ve seen a tough fighter dive off a cliff into a deep canyon, get up and dust himself off, and then start chasing monsters. If the DM had added, say, a saving throw vs. death with a -12 penalty, that would have been fairer; but there are no guidelines for such a save, and DMs are free to encourage fantastic stunts by ignoring inertia, the effect of acceleration on a falling body, and other "real" principles that apply in the "fantasy" world. —Frank Mentzer
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