Donjon problems

[Wulf]

Having just submitted a mostly glowing review of Donjon, I have to now admit our weekly game has hit a severe problem. Worse, having recently stated on another thread that I didn't think it possible to build a level-1 Combat Monster, I now wholeheartedly withdraw that and admit I have seen just this. One character who totally dominated every combat, killed opposition way too powerful for his level, and was seemingly immune to any form of attack. The rules say even a full party should have problems fighting an opponent of (level+3) - four level 1 characters tore through 6 level 4 opponents, then, as soon as they levelled up, four level 2 characters swiftly killed off 3 level 6 trolls. Actually, that's not quite true - one character and three also-rans. These were the factors:

Random rolled, player-assigned Attributes can be dangerous. Even 24 points in total can be overbalancing if they are concentrated in Virility, Adroitness and Wherewithall (and a decent Discernment). Stick to 21 assigned points!

Do not allow village magic shops (or at least give a massive mark-up).

Do not allow Skills which directly add to Looting rolls (or severely limit available Loot - Level+3 resistance maximum seems reasonable). Otherwise you end up with a mass of over-powered magic items which will allow characters to breeze through to their next level.

Always prepare situations to directly challenge one-trick ponies. There's no use in pulling out a wizard if he hasn't got time to fire off a spell before the UberDwarf closes and hacks him down. And damaging spells have to beat his Wherewithall anyway, so work out spells in advance.

Forget subtle situations in direct conditions. Prepare interesting puzzles and magical traps on treasure chests? WHACK! goes the axe, end of chests. Start up a conversation with a potentially dangerous opponent? WHACK! Stick said chatting partner behind a wall, with a viewport, so eliminate direct threats from both sides.

Anyone else see this sort of trend? Donjon turns out to need far more, and far more lengthy, forethought than a standard game, despite forcing you to constantly improvise. I'm not sure our group will want to return to Donjon after this, three out of four players (guess who was loving it?) looked fed up and bored. And basically, I can only blame myself for lack of foresight.

Wulf

[Clinton R. Nixon]

Wulf,

I'm sympathetic to your plight, but it sounds like you realize that it's the DM's job to make challenges that target the characters' weaknesses. If you've got a party of combat monsters, engineer problems that'll require Cerebrality and Discernment and Sociality, and vice versa.

Is there anything in the rules that's causing you problems?

Best,
Clinton

[Valamir]

You'll need to post his stats, the stats of the monsters he was fighting and what rolls he was making.  Donjon does allow for some over the top powerlevels, but I gotta think there's something you were missing.  I've not seen anything that nasty.

[Wulf]

Clinton, I didn't have a party of them, just one. No-one else got a look in!  I was really looking forward to the room with the five different trapped chests. Five axe strokes later, room finished. And, yes, I realise I should have gone for the Cerebrality and Sociality (which was 1, and well played as such, but what sort of challenge can you pose against Sociality in a Dunge... erm... Donjon?). Like I say, lack of preparation. The only rules posing problems were the Looting rules combined with the skill 'Search for treasure' (ironically, since I designed a character just like this). Oh, and what happens if I give a general call for 'Spot hidden' and everyone gets successes? That can be a LOT of facts racked against me!

Can't do any of that really Valamir, I'm afraid, I didn't take notes. Virility Discernment and Wherewithall were high, 5s or 6s. Hit Things with Axe must have been 4. I could detail the monsters, of course, but think typical combat thingies. I also realised I really SHOULD give my humanoids weapons and armour (so the level 6 Trolls got 3-die Mauls and 2-die armour, and still took just a few hits apiece - despite a bit of regeneration). We were rolling D10 instead of D20, and the numbers of D10 rolled made ties very, very frequent, so that the end results were far more decisive. This was, I think, the decisive factor overall, but even sorting out D10 was taking too long.

Basically, he just rolled way more 10's than me, and put them all into damage... rolling 16 dice quite often (not helped by my having allowed him to Loot a 6-die magic axe, which was solved by my friend the Rust Monster).

I didn't really expect anyone to achieve an analysis of my woes, I just wanted to vent, really... With more preparation and more pre-set encounters (and maybe a whole shed load of D20) it would have worked.

All others, consider yourself warned. Keep watching the skies too.

Wulf