by DeAnn Iwan
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Dragon 43 | - | 1st Edition AD&D | - | Dragon |
When Tuborg the not-so-bright
<Priest> decides to cook breakfast in
the dungeon, the DM
can immediately roll for which of
the wandering monsters attracted to the
aroma of sizzling bacon arrives first. When Eldor the
elf shoots his crossbolt into melee and
clobbers Grimly the
dwarf, Grimly can take his hefty axe and chop
Eldor’s irritating head off. <missing
text>
what the strengths and weaknesses of his
own campaign are. All
players gloat the day they literally stumble
over an unguarded invisible chest
full of treasure. All players bitch the day the Magic-User
throws a lightning
bolt at the gelatinous cube,
and that bolt rebounds
to crisp the entire party.
But when the DM announces that he will offer
5,000 gp for a Rod
of
Cancellation but wants 40,000 gp for a Knock
Scroll, the hapless
character has nothing he can do to immediately
and forcefully voice
his displeasure. Well, the player can storm
out of the house in a huff,
but that approach is, strictly speaking,
outside the framework of D&D.
There simply isn’t (and realistically,
cannot be) automatic feedback
going from player to DM built into The
Game.
Ideally, DMs and players can informally
discuss the format of individual games between adventurers and the players
can thereby
coax the DM into adapting the campaign
more to their liking. But, as is
typical of most versions of Paradise,
this situation is rare. Even if a
player is willing to try and discuss a
DM’s campaign, the player may
succeed only in getting the DM defensive
and angry. This is particularly true if the player waits until the party
has just been wiped out by
7 spectres
encountered on the 1st level of a dungeon when the
average player level was 2nd. All too often,
players who really
enjoy D&D or AD&D
end up quitting campaigns in particular, and
even in general, when they find the DM’s
world unrewarding.
Yet, most DM’s have spent a lot of time
developing their dungeons
and want players to enjoy coming to their
adventures. DMs want to
run a good campaign, one that is FUN for
themselves and their players.
Yet even if a DM listens to his players,
he may not be able to figure out
what the strengths and weaknesses of his
own campaign are. All
players gloat the day they literally stumble
over an unguarded invisible chest
full of treasure. All players bitch the day the Magic-User
throws a lightning
bolt at the gelatinous cube,
and that bolt rebounds
to crisp the entire party.
Nor does sifting through Dragon
for helpful hints necessarily aid the
poor DM. For example, there have frequently
been articles and comments about campaigns which are far too liberal, where
150th-level
characters abound. Reading these articles
will not help the previously
mentioned DM who is offering 5,000 gp for
that rod of cancellation.
He’s likely to cross out half the (already
rare) treasures in his dungeon,
up the price on a sleep
scroll to 50,000,000 gp and tax all his players
85% of their take per adventure (not including
the cost of living). Nor
should a player be able to force a DM to
“go by the book.” Small-town
on the Bywater may not have 10 gp in the
entire town to pay for any
magic item or anything else.
More, there is no perfect game. An exciting
campaign geared for
30-year-old astrophysicists who’ve been
playing together for 5
years will leave a group of 12-year-olds
bewildered. A well-directed story line for small children which guides
them through an
adventure will bore college students used
to determining their
campaign as much as their DM does. In some
communities, players
may be able to walk out of one DM’s dungeon
and into another DM’s
without pausing for lunch. In some places,
DM’s can play in their own
worlds. A DM has to adapt to be at his
best.
The key to being a DM is to provide a BALANCED
campaign.
Since the one form of feedback intrinsically
missing from the game is
that from player to DM, the following worksheet
(read “slaughter
sheet”) may help. At least, it may help
the players to get even, if not to
get results.
Dungeon Master Evaluation
Form
(Fill in or indicate only those which apply)
1. ________ I think your games are much
too easy for characters.
No matter how stupidly we play, we survive,
advance and gain treasure.
________ Your games are much too difficult.
If I wanted the brutality of real life,
I'd be playing the stock market.
______ Bassically, I think hazards and rewards are fairly well balanced in your world.
2. ________ Haven't you ever heard of resurrection?
________ Doesn't anybody ever die in this
place?
For the frequency with which we play, I think that an average of of about ________ person(s) per ________ campaign(s) should die resurrectably/nonresurrectably in order to keep the game exciting.
3. ________ It's much too easy to gain treasure in your world.
4. ________ You need more treasure in your dungeons.
5. ________ Your major treasures are really
inventive, but you need a few more minor treasures
scattered about.
________ You have enough treasure in your
dungeon, but you need some concentrated piles we
can really be creative about going after.
6. ________ More minor magical items would add a lot to your campaign.
________ You need more major magical items in your world.
7. ________ I think it's most FUN to play
low level (1-3 level) characters when you're scrambling
for coppers to buy torches
for the expedition. This is the level most like real people; I
identify with it.
8. ________ I prefer games with only a character per player per adventure.
________ I prefer party-sized adventures where some or all of the player characters have one or two companions in arms.
________ The best games are when we play armies against armies.
9. ________ The whole point of these games
is creativity. When I'm inventive and daring
enough to pick the vampire's
pocket, I expect to be rewarded if I succeed.
________ Picking the key out of that vampire's
pocket was cheating. You should have to hack
your way through a monster.
10. ________ The best parts of your campaigns
are the dungeons themselves. Your rooms,
traps and the like are always a surprise,
delightful or otherwise.
________ Your NPCs are what makes your game.
We run into the most fascinating
people; they bring the adventure to life.
________ Your inventive curses are intriguing. Were you a gypsy in a former life?
________ It's really the themes to places
in your world that give the campaign
body. No one will
ever say you had a computer run off rooms,
monsters and treasures.
11. ________ It's most FUN to
play competent characters. I prefer the "newer" techniques of <Method
I-IV, Method V>
rolling up characteristics. I can fall
over the trash can in real life. When I come to D&D, I want
to
track my arch-enemy over rocky mountains
and through marshy mires.
________ One of the best parts of playing
a character is to accomodate their attributes. It's a
challenge and a delight to play a grumpy
dwarf that hacks down the door everyone
else is tip-toeing
by. I prefer "older" techniques of rolling
up characters which give more average, more believable traits.
12. ________ Overall, I thought your last adventure was ________ excellent; ________ pretty good;
________ better than being hung up by my
toes for 4 hours;
a few more that bad and I'll stay
home to wash my hair.
13. Usually, though, your games are
fantastic; ________ great; ________ FUN;
________ better than being run over by
a Volkswagen;
________ worse than being hit by a Mack
truck.
14. Your games give too much advantage to
________ Wizards;
________ Fighters;
________ Druids; ________ Thieves;
________ Elves;
________ Priests;
________ Illusionists; ________ Humans;
________ Dwarves;
________ Other ( ___________________________________________________
).
15. On the other hand, it's a horror to
be a ________ Wizard;
________ Fighter;
________ Ranger;
________ Human;
________ Priest;
________ Paladin;
________ Elf;
________ Druid;
________ Thief;
________ Dwarf;
________ Other _________________________________________
) in your world.
16. Advancement in your dungeon is ________
too FAST; ________ SLOW;
________ too variable;
as close to perfect as it could be unless I were DM.
17. The pacing of an adventure is almost
entirely up to you as DM. In general, your pacing is
________ good; could stand some beefing
up; Pacing? Do you have pacing?
18. Your pacing could be improved if ________
you stopped characters from discussing their
moves in melee by making that discussion
their move;
________ you rolled for wandering monsters when the party gets bogged down in an argument;
________ you were a little sharper and more
orderly about asking each person what they were
doing in melee;
________ you didn't let one of the characters boss the others so much;
________ you didn't let one of the characters boss you so much;
________ you didn't take half of forever to look up something in the manual all the time;
________ you didn't stop characters to make
them back up moves when you thought of something
after the fact;
________ other ( __________________________________________________________ )
19. On those occasions when you don't quite
remember what the manual says on a certain
point, I would prefer that you ________
look up the answer no matter how long it takes;
________ guess, if you have to. After all, the reason we have a DM instead of a computer running us is for flexibility, creativity and responsiveness.
20. ________ DMs should almost always go exactly by the rule book. I value consistency above all.
________ Each DM creates his or her own
world. The rule books are intended only as a guide to
aid in playability.
21. Your game is consistent/inconsistent
with itself, and consistent/inconsistent with D&D
or AD&D. I do/do not like this
situation.
22. Your campaign world could use more/less
(write "m" or "l") ________ general weapons.
________ complicated, realistic combat;
________ powerful wandering monsters;
________ simple, fast-moving combat systems; ________ general wandering monsters
________ chaos/law confrontations; ________ dead characters;
________ chaotic creatures; ________ available resurrections
________ lawful creatures; ________ DIVINE INTERVENTION
________ powerful magic items; ________ ways to get information;
________ lesser magical items; ________ ways to get useful information;
________ very minor and obscure magical items; ________ NPCs;
________ interesting non-magical items (e.g., telescopes) ________ room for player initiative;
________ variability (e.g., being likely to run into machine gun wielding commandoes or carapaced humanoids); ________ gold; ________ gems; ________ armor; ________ silver and copper;
________ other ( ________________________________________________________ )
23. ________ There is too much magick in the campaign.
________ There is not enough magick in the campaign.
24. ________ is the ideal ratio of levels progressed through to games played.
25. You have too many/few curses in your game; the ones you have are dull/inventive.
26. You have too many/too few physical traps
in your game; the ones you have are horribly
mystifying/delightfully simple.
27. You have too many/few NPCs in your game;
the ones you have are
fascinating personalities/boring cannon
fodder.
28. ________ I prefer that NPCs have strong
personalities and can be persuaded
into being true side-kick companions.
________ I just want to hire me some cannon
fodder. When I charge him at the golem,
I don't
want to feel bad about losing the turkey.
29. You do/do not let a bossy player get away with running everybody else.
If you do, you might be able to limit this
by ________ specifically asking each character what
they're doing; ________
making any "bossing" that character's move in melee;
________ devise a method of choosing a leader,
such as making the character with the highest
Charismas-plus-level
lead; having some NPC put a zipper spell on the jerk's
mouth; ________ I don't know but PLEASE
do something.
30. ________ Worlds where the DM borrows
heavily on mythologies, literary fantasies, etc.
which interest him -- whether or not these
are in the AD&D manuals -- are the most interesting
worlds.
________ Please stick to the manuals. I don't play often enough to figure out all of your quirks.
31. ________ DMs who guide us through an adventure are best.
________ I prefer lots of opportunity to
choose my own path in your world, but this does require
lots of chances to find out information
(blind stumbling around is boring).
32. You need more/less everyday objects
in your campaign. Finding a good pair of scissors
or a flashlight may sound trivial, ________
and it is ;
________ but ultimately such objects vastly
expand what you can think of to do and hence
make the game much more fun.
33. ________ I don't like getting knifed
in the back. We shouldn't invite unruly and unreliable
characters to our games anymore.
________ On occasion, I like a chaotic adventure where I can vent my hostilities as an Assassin.
34. The best part of your game is________ the break for pizza;
________ the incredible detail of your world; ________ the concrete rewards of money for effort;
________ the fascinating NPCs; ________ seeing my character steadily advance.
__________ the inventiveness you encourage in us players; ________ the thrill of defeating monsters;
________ the ingenious traps; ________ playing a game with people instead of against them;
35. My favorite RPG is ________ one close to medieval tales; ________ heroic fantasy;
________ one with a heavy scientific bent; ________ one with mutants; ________ one with space travel;
________ other ( ______________________________________________________ )
36. My favorite game (irrespective of DMs) is________ D&D; ________ AD&D; ________ Traveller;
________ Runequest; ________ Metamorphosis Alpha; ________ other ( _______________ )
37. The gods should be offended when a player ____________________________________
38. If I were to make ONE single suggestion
about how to improve your campaign, it would
be _____________________________________________________________________
39. I don't think you give enough credit
to ________ lawful integrity; ________ chaotic audacity;
________ bravery; ________ brute force;
________ persistence; ________ other (________________________________)
40. ________ I enjoy miniatures. Elaborate miniatures are one of the best parts of the game.
________ Miniatures are useful for knowing who Clumsy Alfred fell into when he stumbled.
________ Miniatures are irrevelant or even distracting from the game.
41. ________ Town adventures are one of the most colorful parts of the game.
________ Wasting an hour in town bartering for a sword or hireling is boring.
42. Time
in your dungeon is/is not realistic, and your distortions make the game
more/less
playable.
________ It doesn't take a man on crutches 10 minutes to walk 30 paces.
________ Not even Conan
could polish off 3 vampires, a dragon
and 42 orcs while traveling 100
miles in a single morning.
43. ________ I like to hack and slash. ________ I like dungeons that take many adventures.
________ I like minicampaigns that take
one or two adventures to complete.
It’s okay to copy
Dear Editor:
Your Dungeon Master Evaluation Form
(Issue #43)
should be invaluable to any DM
desiring to improve his dungeon. However,
one copy of the form will not be enough.
May
the form be reproduced from the magazine?
You didn’t say.
Paul Parsons
Silver Spring,
Md.
(Dragon #46)
Oversight on our part, Paul. Yes,
the form
may be photocopied or otherwise reproduced
so that it can be distributed among a group
of
players. The article should have
carried a
notice to that effect, but obviously it
didn't.
-- Kim
(Dragon #46)