tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886547051691715141.post8439638176619432149..comments2024-03-28T00:53:49.609-07:00Comments on PLANET ALGOL: Don't Be Cheap With the Lighting/Your Characters Should Die If They're Not Prepared...Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10884401206802336531noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886547051691715141.post-69453226233710534512011-08-24T18:53:27.826-07:002011-08-24T18:53:27.826-07:00Excellent post, and a very important point! It'...Excellent post, and a very important point! It's also the perfect excuse to add a couple of inches of water to any dungeon floor!David The Archmagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11649391406526258069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886547051691715141.post-58077760589217225922011-08-23T00:41:10.428-07:002011-08-23T00:41:10.428-07:00I always assumed 2 kinds of torches - the " f...I always assumed 2 kinds of torches - the " free " which is your classic bundle of sticks and scrap cloth made in your spare time or 5 for a copper, the have a 15' radius for their light , a 1 in 4 of going out if thrown or ill treated. The other kind are professionally made torches , made of tar or pitch bound wood wrapped in tar soaked cloth, they light a 30' radius and cost a copper each. The oil torches cost the same as lamps (and are in fact a type of lamps) .Chancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10185294168905336167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886547051691715141.post-88645062532770632762011-08-22T12:31:32.226-07:002011-08-22T12:31:32.226-07:00@ postgygaxian: I imagine D&D torches being li...@ postgygaxian: I imagine D&D torches being like well constrcuted Roman-era torches with the oil-soaked rushes and so forth, but this def. bears further research! As former bush-child myself I am well amused when players try to use burning branches as illumination :)<br /><br />@ gmkeros: 3 hours?!? Awesome story! Real life is a far harsher DM than I :)Blairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10884401206802336531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886547051691715141.post-44486385138561925922011-08-21T17:36:49.165-07:002011-08-21T17:36:49.165-07:00lighting is something that never really comes up i...lighting is something that never really comes up ingame. I used to work in a cave for a while and hell, without lights it was dark. Not your typical moonless night dark, no, darker than black. <br />Most people don't realize what that means.<br />I once had a colleague of mine enter an unlighted room (think 10x10 caveroom) when the electric torch went on the fritz. It took her 3h to find the exit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886547051691715141.post-53739243250744513952011-08-20T08:00:02.912-07:002011-08-20T08:00:02.912-07:00Haha! "once in my mine" I meant my mind!...Haha! "once in my mine" I meant my mind! It's my idea mine, I guess.Johnstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10416183152348428399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886547051691715141.post-66587924691593552832011-08-20T00:53:32.048-07:002011-08-20T00:53:32.048-07:00This is one of those all-too-frequent cases where ...This is one of those all-too-frequent cases where D&D sparks a disagreement about physics.<br /><br />A cheap medieval torch is not a modern road flare. Medieval torches went out easily. They were cheap, not robust. I don't have a lot of documentation for this, but it matches my real-life experience of making wood fires and keeping them lit outdoors and in cold conditions.<br /><br />In my games, whenever a torch is dropped, it has at most one minute before it goes out.<br /><br />Torches only burn well when their burning portion is free to have air around it. Dungeon floors are damp, dirty, and cold - not a good place to keep fires going.<br /><br />Lanterns, on the other hand, are relatively cheap and vastly more effective in my campaigns. And ever since 2000 or so, I've told starting players to get a continual light necklace at first level, before the dungeoneering starts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886547051691715141.post-72200430070728088952011-08-19T22:13:38.661-07:002011-08-19T22:13:38.661-07:00Oh of course. This is the kind of thing you need t...Oh of course. This is the kind of thing you need to fail at in order to consider it important, and I really should have been on it, but I was playing the dwarf. I can see in the dark, what do I care about those humans and their light sources? Oh right! When the lone torch-bearer flees, they all take off after him, leaving me alone with five monsters I can't outrun. Never trust a longshanks!<br /><br />I saw the whole tragedy unfold twice: once in my mine, and then again in reality.Johnstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10416183152348428399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886547051691715141.post-24199533826457359102011-08-19T21:17:19.081-07:002011-08-19T21:17:19.081-07:00You do understand that I'm not criticizing the...You do understand that I'm not criticizing the way you guys played, but instead was inspired by the incident to discuss the importance of lighting? :)<br /><br />Believe me, when I'm playing in Sean's AD&D game and folks are being cheap about carrying lighting I'm definately going to tell the above cautionary tale...<br /><br />BTW, I'd say that posting a guard at the dungeon entrance is really only practical for small dungeons, esp. as you might as well be posting guards at every bottleneck between the entrance and the party.Blairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10884401206802336531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886547051691715141.post-18057461159936661582011-08-19T21:06:42.268-07:002011-08-19T21:06:42.268-07:00Oh nevermind. I asked that before I realized we ha...Oh nevermind. I asked that before I realized we had the [thing I'm not going to tell you about]. The Continual Light trick is pretty good, but you have to realize we've only had two sessions so far where it was possible to play a character of high enough level to pull it off.Johnstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10416183152348428399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886547051691715141.post-84328275544684981052011-08-19T19:23:14.839-07:002011-08-19T19:23:14.839-07:00@ Johnstone: If I roll for a random encounter ever...@ Johnstone: If I roll for a random encounter every two turns or so, yes!Blairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10884401206802336531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886547051691715141.post-57648987195731182702011-08-19T17:50:59.358-07:002011-08-19T17:50:59.358-07:00So, pursuant to the "continual light pebbles,...So, pursuant to the "continual light pebbles," if my character spends the whole adventure guarding the entrance of the dungeon, do I still collect a share of the xp (in your opinion)?Johnstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10416183152348428399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6886547051691715141.post-67211459365726547732011-08-19T13:38:05.717-07:002011-08-19T13:38:05.717-07:00Preach it! <3Preach it! <3gdbackushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09245941451462450346noreply@blogger.com