(TFT) Death Test Variant

["Dan Tulloh" <dwtulloh@zianet.com>]

****  Warning ... this text contains spoilers for Death
Test ... if you don't want to know the layout of the
rooms, do NOT continue reading this article!!  ****


A new variant for Death Test 1

DEATH TEST was a fantastic supplement to the MELEE/WIZARD
system when it came out.  I ran a team of figures through
the maze, and then another, and another ...

After several run-throughs, however, I noticed that my
characters weren't dying as often as they had the first
time.  I was learning how to structure my encounters: what
rooms to visit in what order, what my responses should be,
how to maximize the loot my characters could gain during
the maze traversal.  I was learning to "game" the system.
Consequentially, as the risk to my figures fell, so too
did my enjoyment of the module.

I began to wonder what I could do to fix the situation.
At first, I tried making all of the monsters stronger.
This worked initially, it didnt fix the underlying problem.
I tried randomizing the order in which I encountered the
rooms, but this proved unsatisfactory as well.  Why?  Well,
there were 2 reasons.  First, I still had access to know-
ledge which my characters wouldn't have known (which gar-
goyle statue to shoot at, how to place my figures around
the chest in the Red Room, etc.).  A second, and much more
subtle reason, was that the rooms were laid out in a very
specific order.  So these then are the problems to consider:
1) how to vary the order of the rooms which you encounter
and 2) how to add variability to the encounters within the
rooms.

I considered developing a table to sample the list of rooms
but using a table creates the unfortunate possibility of
selecting the same entry multiple times.  There are two
ways to conduct sampling: with and without replacement.
The best way to conduct sampling with replacement is to
use a standard table; roll X, event Y happens.  The best
way to conduct sampling without replacement is to use cards.

So here is the sytem I developed for room encounters: Use
a set of cards to represent the rooms.  Each time you get
to a section of the rulebook where you are about to enter
a new room, draw a card and use that room instead.  Make
a set of cards using the following template:



            +=================================+
            |
|
            |      Name: _______________                         |
            |
|
            |
|
            |  East                                                  West  |
            |
|
            |
|
            |
|
            |
|
            +=================================+


Write in the name of the room where indicated and underneath
the East and West ends of the card, note the instruction
that Death Test uses to access the rooms.  For example:


            +=================================+
            |
|
            |      Name: __RED__________                       |
            |
|
            |
|
            |  East                                                  West  |
            |    1                                                        42
|
            |
|
            |
|
            |
|
            +=================================+


To vary the encounters within the rooms, you can make up a
table and put it on the card.  For example, with the chest
in the Red Room, you can have spiders (as per Death Test),
some kind of explosive that attacks characters at a set
range from the test, or perhaps rocks that fall out of the
walls to attack those who choose to stand up against the
wall.  In the Orange Room, have the gargoyle at X on a
1 or 2, at Y on a 3 or 4 and at Z on a 5 or a 6.

Here is the layout of rooms within the maze:          S
                                                                            E
-+- W
                +--XXXX--XXXX--+--XXXX--XXXX--+          N
                 |                         |                         |
     XXXX---+-------XXXX-------+--------XXXX-------+--XXXX--XXXX
                 |                         |                         |
                +--XXXX--XXXX--+--XXXX--XXXX--+


               Room      East       West
              ======     ====       ====
              Red          1         42
              Indigo      86        155
              Green      143          4
              Orange      17         29
              White        5        133
              Gold       144          6
              Black       88        113
              Azure      145         44
              Violet     156         30
              Silver      19         91
              Yellow     114         20
              Copper     131         10
              Brown      115         32

I hope this provides you with enough information to revitalize
your enjoyment of the Death Test module.

Dan
=====
Post to the entire list by writing to tft@brainiac.com.
Unsubscribe by mailing to majordomo@brainiac.com with the message body
"unsubscribe tft"