03-30-2011, 11:16 AM
neuronphaser Wrote:Once again, thanks!!
I've posted some of my thoughts to my blog, but since then, I've actually been able to get my hands on a copy of First Fantasy Campaign to peruse, so I'll be posting again on this topic to cover that and Tavis' maps.
One thing I will say immediately is how barren the dungeons are in FFC. It's noted that some of Arneson's notes were lost or misplaced at the time of the writing, so the encounter/treasure lists are pretty compact, but it amazes me how this is such a deadly dungeon, but there's so much empty space. I'm guessing it's deadly because some of the rooms are just filled to the brim with enemies, and several encounters (especially wandering ones like Sir Fang) are totally freakin' deadly, even though they have a chance of occurring at very low-level times for the PCs. Anyway, all that means is that I'm happy to use a lot of what's in Zeitgeist Games' Dungeons... book because they've pretty much thrown something in almost every single room.
A lot of the rooms are empty because that was how the dungeon was intended - call it Arnesonian realism - to reflect actual use, as opposed to a gonzo monty hall situation. Dave stocked primarily by letting the dice decide for him. Take another look at that DF post for the castle or the intro in the FFC where Dave discusses his stocking percentages.
Another thing was that Dave had the "bad habit" of restocking his dungeon however he pleased - imagine that. So there are some accounts that describe stuff not seen elswhere. I try to account for the locations of some of those accounts in this thread http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?bo ... hread=4666
But its mostly guesswork...