Sunday, May 6, 2018

One Thing: "Abandoned Quarry"

Once upon a time, in what feels like a lifetime ago after the past couple of weeks, I posted a series of posts on my "wastedthegame" blog where I highlighted one thing that I loved about One Page Dungeons submitted to previous contests.  It's not easy to pick just one thing to love about these entries, and maybe sometimes I blurred that line, but I will be at it again starting with the 2018 submissions. Remember that I am not a judge, and so these opinions are strictly my own....

One thing I love about Daniel OHare's "Abandoned Quarry Turned Dwarf Raiding Camp" is the clever use of the environment as a "security feature".  A slight slope leading to the entry of the "fortress in progress" is scattered with loose gravel, and unwitting player characters can easily disturb the small stones, sending them rolling towards the entrance.  This of course, alerts the guards and increases the difficulty level of the adventure quite a bit, forcing the characters to take the more perilous option to gain entry.

This simple "alarm trap" is well thought out, and adds consequences to the actions of the players. It is avoidable, as the dwarven raiders have cleared out a small path that can be noticed by dwarven characters, or other observant or cautious "ten foo pole" types.  Nice work Daniel!

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