CAGD 270 DnD Map 1 version 2 Feedback

DnD Map 1 Version 2 Feedback. (February 14^th, 2019)

The second test of The Temple of Fury was the polar opposite of my first test. The map this time is a two-level temple with a chasing sequence at the very end.

I was the second level to get tested again, and this time things went very smoothly. When the group played through my level, they ended up liking the variety of enemies. They liked that they were taught how to do most of the mechanics and that it utilized the mechanics that are covered less, like the float mechanic. My party didn’t die to the boss that I set up this time which is a better sign of success. They liked the chase sequence at the end because they were convinced that they won, but then had to backtrack through the rest of the level while avoiding falling debris from the ceiling. This forced them to jump over spike pits that they avoided otherwise.

When going through this tutorial level, I made it like a whole dungeon again rather than making a simple straightforward level. There wasn’t too much that went wrong this time, they were confused on how to start the level because there were vines in the way and I assumed that they would know how to attack, I had to quickly intervene to continue the story along.

If I were to improve my map in a future iteration, I would attempt to implicate a better tutorial for the vines portion, because if your players can’t understand the first part of the level then what’s the point with the rest? I wanted to add more enemies to this level, but I was afraid of killing the players (previous experience) so I went lighter than I should have with the enemies. I wanted to make the space a little bigger for the players to navigate through, my first floor was 3x3 rooms, this made movement a little harsh in nature, but it also limited my ability to put enemy spawns.

I introduced many mechanics in this level to the players, I demonstrated how to unlock doors, jump spike pits, attack, defend, and use heal spell. This gave the players useful information to progress through the map. I had a tutorial door at the start of the level and right before the boss room, I had them roll to open a higher security door.

The challenges that I gave the players I believe accurately represented a temple in South America, I put traps and locked doors, also enemies the players were forced to kill. They were correctly punished for trying to risk shortcuts across spike gaps. If they attacked the boss first, then they could consider their run done. The boss wants a fair fight, but his minions don’t so he orders you to kill them, then you could square off with the boss, if you attacked the boss first without him saying anything then he will order a direct offensive against you making it an unfair 2 vs 5 battle.

The path to the next floor was very obvious because my level this time is very linear. Players saw where the map ended and started making their way towards it. Challenges awaited them along the way, but they never lost the direction of the goal.

There weren’t many hallways this time around, it was mostly open rooms that the players went through, so I’d say that there aren’t any circulation elements.

Overall, I’m very happy with how this playtest went compared to the last one, I feel like I took the feedback given to me and created a whole new level out of it. My new goal for this level is to refine the teachings of this level. My first level was a joke, and this level was an improvement, and I want to improve it even more now.