mgshamster
2016-04-27, 07:12 AM
I'm reading the book "The Dungeoneers" by Jeffery Russell, a D&D-like adventure book about a group that professionally clears out Dungeons, crypts, or any place that might have an artifact to give to the king who hired them. It's pretty funny.
In it two characters are discussing useful skills required for dungeoneering:
"So, before you joined the expedition, you were a guard? Got any useful skills for dungeoneering? Can you use a sword?"
"No sword, we used big sticks."
"Got any experience with it?"
"Not really, the gate I was at was the live stock entrance. I spent most of the time counting sheep heads."
"Got any other skills that will be useful?"
"What, you mean like lock picking?"
"Heavens, no son. Lock picking isn't useful for searching Dungeons and crypts. No, I mean something useful, like botany or engineering. Experience with machinery. Architecture. Stuff like that."
"But don't you need to pick locks on a chest or a door?"
"Look, son. Their ain't no locked chests in Dungeons. Why lock it? The whole point of keeping it in a dungeon is so it's already behind a maze behind massive doors and traps and guards. You don't need to lock a chest. As for doors, if you're raiding a dungeon looking for artifacts like we are, there are more efficient ways to get through a door than waiting for some fool to pick the lock while praying it ain't trapped."
I thought this was a really cool take on the difference between what us gamers usually think is usual for exploring dungeons/crypts/caves/etc and what is actually useful if it were a real place with real dangers and traps.
In the book, they discuss architecture being a key skill needed for exploring dungeons; it allows you to determine the general shape of the dungeon, easily map/draw it out, determine why specific let's of the dungeon are set up a certain why and how to get around it.
Botony is useful for determining conditions for specific species to grow, whether something is toxic or edible, what ther life forms may be feeding on it, how to use plants found for medicinal use, and more.
Engineering is a big one for figuring out large traps, rotating rooms, hidden machinery, designing tools for overcoming obstacles, etc.
What other interesting uses of skills can you think of for dungeons, beyond what we consider the traditionally used skills (trap removal, opening locks, sneaking, perception)? What interesting skills do you use in your Dungeons. Would you consider designing dungeons for your players that use skills that aren't the traditional gamer's idea of what's needed (or have you done so in the past)?
In it two characters are discussing useful skills required for dungeoneering:
"So, before you joined the expedition, you were a guard? Got any useful skills for dungeoneering? Can you use a sword?"
"No sword, we used big sticks."
"Got any experience with it?"
"Not really, the gate I was at was the live stock entrance. I spent most of the time counting sheep heads."
"Got any other skills that will be useful?"
"What, you mean like lock picking?"
"Heavens, no son. Lock picking isn't useful for searching Dungeons and crypts. No, I mean something useful, like botany or engineering. Experience with machinery. Architecture. Stuff like that."
"But don't you need to pick locks on a chest or a door?"
"Look, son. Their ain't no locked chests in Dungeons. Why lock it? The whole point of keeping it in a dungeon is so it's already behind a maze behind massive doors and traps and guards. You don't need to lock a chest. As for doors, if you're raiding a dungeon looking for artifacts like we are, there are more efficient ways to get through a door than waiting for some fool to pick the lock while praying it ain't trapped."
I thought this was a really cool take on the difference between what us gamers usually think is usual for exploring dungeons/crypts/caves/etc and what is actually useful if it were a real place with real dangers and traps.
In the book, they discuss architecture being a key skill needed for exploring dungeons; it allows you to determine the general shape of the dungeon, easily map/draw it out, determine why specific let's of the dungeon are set up a certain why and how to get around it.
Botony is useful for determining conditions for specific species to grow, whether something is toxic or edible, what ther life forms may be feeding on it, how to use plants found for medicinal use, and more.
Engineering is a big one for figuring out large traps, rotating rooms, hidden machinery, designing tools for overcoming obstacles, etc.
What other interesting uses of skills can you think of for dungeons, beyond what we consider the traditionally used skills (trap removal, opening locks, sneaking, perception)? What interesting skills do you use in your Dungeons. Would you consider designing dungeons for your players that use skills that aren't the traditional gamer's idea of what's needed (or have you done so in the past)?