Simple DnD Map v3
On Thursday February 20th, Hunter (as a Warrior) and Davis (as a Rogue) playtested my third version of my Dungeons and Dragons map. This is my third time making a D&D map, so I now have even more fun things to add. I modified my map to include more game elements, such as items and checkpoints. I also added new enemies.The theme changed to alien invasion, prison break.
What Went Right
Hunter and Davis looked like they were having a lot of fun with the items. I made certain items that hurt the player and would also reward them at the same time, which made interesting decisions to come about. Also, I made it so when the players defeated an enemy they would get an item.
For example, there is the Computer Girlfriend from Space item, which would cause you to miss your first attack half the time at the beginning of each combat. However, if you also received the Computer Boyfriend from Space, then (you would still have a chance to miss on your first attack, but) you have a chance to deal double damage. When Davis received both items, he had to choose whether or not to get rid of them, or make the chance. Since he already had other attack buffs, he chose to keep the Computer Couple. Once they fought the boss, he managed to roll the double damage, and brought the boss down to less than half health with one blow.
What Went Wrong
While items allowed for the players to become strong, the enemies were stronger, and needed rebalancing. I did the calculations for enemy stats quickly at 12am a couple days before playtesting, and as a result I made the enemies too strong. This made the game more interesting, but there were some large changes I had to make immediately.
For example, the first time Hunter and Davis encountered an enemy (Alien with a gun), the alien shot Hunter once and brought him immediately to 3 health out of 10. I liked giving the enemy a lot of damage, but this alien also had 16 health! It would have taken them 3-4 turns to defeat him, and by then they would die multiple times, probably. I decided to cut the alien’s health to 8, making him a glass-cannon-type enemy.
Another example of rebalancing was when they encountered the final boss, who had 20 defense… I did not realize this, but it was hardly possible for them to have nearly enough attack stat to deal any damage. I cut his defense stat to 10 (and he was still a challenge).
Besides the rebalancing, the level ended up being a success. The challenging enemies made players think about what move they should do next.
How I Could Improve My Map
During playtesting, I would choose when items the enemies dropped. However, creating some random item drop system would create more unique gameplay experiences. I could have players roll a dice, and depending what they roll is the item they would get.
The checkpoint system could be improved. It was not specified what would happen if players died (whether or not enemies would be back to full health). The only rule that was said was the entire team would be brought back to the checkpoint. I bent to rules a lot when they died. Sometimes I would bring the enemies to full health if the players had an easy time, and other times I would have the enemies keep their health for something hard like a boss. I tried to keep it fun, but a more consistent rule about checkpoints could have helped the level.
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