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drengnikrafe
2009-11-18, 06:46 PM
Every now and again I see people on these boards asking for advice in regards to how to be a better DM, or how to deal with certain PCs, or other things that a wide array of personal opinion can help with. I'm here to ask another one of those questions.

I will be DMing the Tomb of Horrors at some unknown point not all that far in the future. As a DM, what should I tell my players beforehand, what should I do while running it, etc. Really, any advice you have would be very welcome.

d13
2009-11-18, 06:48 PM
Tell them to have 5 or 6 spare characters... Each :smalltongue:

jokey665
2009-11-18, 06:48 PM
Make sure nobody in the party can find or disable traps.

Aidan305
2009-11-18, 06:50 PM
Perfect your maniacal laugh.

Mr. Mud
2009-11-18, 06:51 PM
Tell them to have 5 or 6 spare characters... Each :smalltongue:

Per session. :smallbiggrin:

Katana_Geldar
2009-11-18, 06:52 PM
You planning for serious or fun? As tomb of horrors would be fun if you didn't take it seriously AT ALL.

And we are talking about the real one with the demi-lich, right?

drengnikrafe
2009-11-18, 06:56 PM
For serious. Well, unless you think that's a really bad idea.

And yes, the real one. Unless there's some sort of fake one that still has a demi-lich at the end.

Katana_Geldar
2009-11-18, 07:01 PM
No, there's just a fake one without the demilich that was done for 3.5 (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20051031a). I think it's just a statue.

They'll be updating it for 4E (http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/drfe/20090814)

But I was reading through the original and thinking how mean it was and how fun to play in a non-serious manner. "Sphere of Annihilation? Oh dear. What happens if I stick a torch in? Half a torch. What happens if I stick my sword in? Half a sword. What happens if I climb in?"

drengnikrafe
2009-11-18, 07:10 PM
Ahh, okay.

In any case, I think a joke campaign through ToH would be GREAT... if we had run through it once already. Because, at that point, they may well hit all the traps again just to see what the weird things I've done to the traps are. Plush spikes, and poison gas that makes you tell jokes nonstop, or other such things.

Mercenary Pen
2009-11-18, 07:14 PM
Ahh, okay.

In any case, I think a joke campaign through ToH would be GREAT... if we had run through it once already. Because, at that point, they may well hit all the traps again just to see what the weird things I've done to the traps are. Plush spikes, and poison gas that makes you tell jokes nonstop, or other such things.

Yep, I can see this working.

Fighter: Okay I touch the sphere.
DM: Okay, you just touched the sphere of annihilating vermin. Every vermin creature on the same plane is annihilated without a saving throw. However, it's coated in contact poison, make a saving throw.

UglyPanda
2009-11-18, 09:17 PM
Tomb of Horrors is Gynaxian. If you can keep your head about you and act properly (completely and constantly) paranoid, you will survive much longer than usual*.

If you take it as a normal dungeon crawl and don't poke the right things with an eleven-foot-pole (or the wrong things with a ten-foot-pole), you're going to die very very often.

DM tip: You should require that players describe actions in detail. A number of puzzles have a critical reliance on minor details like whether something is moved clockwise or counter-clockwise. If you suddenly spring this on a player, it's like a red flag to them.


*Not a guarantee. Much longer than usual simply means at least one standard deviation from the mean.

drengnikrafe
2009-11-18, 09:23 PM
Ohh, that'll be a good one. I have the problem of rarely (if ever) describing things in decent detail, or asking my PCs to do so. I'll need to work on that. Thank you.

Akal Saris
2009-11-18, 09:53 PM
I'd prepare a decent map of the main hallway, with a small chart listing the various hieroglyphics (man with bird head, etc), and their colors. It will cut down on a lot of charting and reminding. Same for the long, rambly clue that the PCs find somewhere - print it out.

Otherwise, let them know that this isn't an RP-heavy or a combat-heavy game. The barbarian PC when I ran it was a bit disappointed by it :P

Katana_Geldar
2009-11-18, 09:58 PM
Aren't there a lot of pictures included with the module anyway?

drengnikrafe
2009-11-18, 10:01 PM
Oh, yeah. As many pictures as there are rooms. Maybe more.

Katana_Geldar
2009-11-18, 10:02 PM
Maybe make a few copies of the important ones.