After Action Review Report
This After Action Review Report follows the first interactive dungeon run (“First Run”). Dungeon participants (“Delvers”) were as follows:
* 1 Level 4 Dark Goblin (presumed leader)
* 4 Level 2 Dark Goblins
1. Dungeon Assessment
The overall performance of the First Run of the Dungeon was successful. Four Delvers (1 level 4 Dark Goblin, 3 level 2 Dark Goblins) were terminated, and one Delver (1 level 2 Dark Goblin) was evicted.
Core integrity was maintained and core location was not identified.
However, the First Run demonstrated critical vulnerabilities as well as important weaknesses for specific dungeon design design elements. For my assessment, I am rating each room based on quality (whether the room worked as intended) and defensive effectiveness (whether the room successfully injured or killed delvers).
A. Dart Trap Room
Quality Rating: Poor
Defense Rating: Abysmal
I had originally thought the Dart Trap Room would work well as an introductory room for the dungeon. My original design intent for the Dart Trap Room was to provide 1) a reasonable warning of some danger, 2) hints as to what came later (the keys for the puzzle, the skeleton for the monsters), and 3) effective, efficient defense that acted to surprise new delvers. Unfortunately, the design assumed that a delver interacting with the skeleton would do so in a cautious way, not by kicking the skeleton over. As such, putting the dart mechanism inside the skull to shoot out of the mouth is a failure point that is easy to cause, as the skeleton’s body and skull can too easily be jostled or moved so that the darts don’t fly out of the mouth as intended.
Fortunately, it appears the Delvers didn’t notice the darts or the trap due to its failure. However, this still illustrates the biggest problem with traps–they are easy to avoid if you know they are there.
B. Spider Pot Room
Quality Rating: Poor
Defense Rating: Satisfactory
The Spider Pot Room, much like the Dart Trap Room, had been designed with assumptions that proved to be erroneous, namely, that people would be cautious and inspect the pots individually by looking in or putting their hands in. By smashing the pots on the floor, the Delvers reduced the amount of time needed to search the pots significantly. In addition, while this time I was lucky that a spider survived and was able to poison one Delver, destroying the pots could easily kill the hidden spiders, eliminating or reducing the risk of being bitten. Nevertheless, the fact that one Delver was killed in this room meant that ultimately, the room did work.
C. Bridge
Quality Rating: Good
Defense Rating: Excellent
Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies.
At first blush, the trap was brutally effective: two outright kills when the trap sprang and an indirect kill later. However, the sequence of events at the bridge revealed several serious problems with the trap’s trigger mechanisms. In the first case, the goblin scout avoided the trigger on the specific plank by simply stepping over it. While this turned out to be extremely fortuitous insofar as the trap triggered for higher valued enemies, this means the trap can be bypassed entirely (that may be a good thing, however?).
Secondly, the trap was set to trigger and there were two sets of footprints on the bridge. This meant it triggered as soon as the second person was on the bridge. This leaves the possibility of people who are quick enough to simply jump to their respective entrance and survive the trap. That seems generally acceptable to me.
Thirdly, the loss of the bridge acts as an inducement for people to go the wrong way. For example, should a delver fall down and survive, then others would be tempted to also go down to the bottom. In addition, without a means to cross, people may think they should try to go down. This would be bad considering it’s the actual correct path to my core.
D. Skeleton Room
Quality Rating: Average
Defense Rating: Satisfactory
The skeleton room was another mixed bag. On the one hand, it helped to net one kill (the Goblin scout); on the other hand, there were some problems that luckily didn’t manifest too much. The main problem, as I see it, is that the skeleton fighters could be subject to kiting tactics. When the scout was in visual range of the skeletons, they immediately moved to attack. Then, the two hidden ones joined in even as the scout had already started fleeing. Then they lined up and marched up the stairs. Smart adventurers could utilize this tendency to get the skeletons lined up in the hallway and take them out one-by-one.
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Also, the darkness of the room I had set up to try to make the skeletons less visible will be less effective with delvers that have Darkvision.
The system did not allow me to set a Skeleton Fighter lying down as part of a trap, so making a change to the skeleton’s fighting mechanics is probably also out. If I could find a way to limit their area of operation, that could be a feasible alternative.
2. Key Takeaways
A. Assumptions Regarding Delver Behavior
I realized now that I had designed the dungeon with a set of assumptions about delver behavior. Those assumptions were based in large part on my previous life experience with RPGs and computer games. First, the dungeon was specifically tailored to people who expected the dungeon to be run like a DnD dungeon. That is to say, that the players would approach each room in a systematic way. An experienced role player would loot the keys because the RPG version of Chekov’s gun suggested that the keys would be needed later. In a similar vein, a rogue-type trying to take the keys off the skeleton would have tried to do it with as light a touch as possible.
But the Delvers in the First Run were not an adventuring party from Earth. Their behaviors and interests were different. My best theory was that the goblins might have been a hunting or raiding party. The Delvers' use of “smash and grab” suggested they were not interested in delving into the mysteries of a deep dungeon, but just finding easy, takeable rewards and getting out quickly. Ultimately, the overall design did work though. The Delvers figured out that the keys were essential for further progress and went back to get them.
Ultimately, I am forced to guess at their behavior due to the fact that I did not have an understanding of what they were saying. Without a universal translation cheat ability, even manually learning the goblins’ language might not be helpful when listening to other races or groups. If only everyone in the world spoke English.
The final consideration is that the porter goblin might squeal to others of his ilk. This means information contain on the first three rooms is at risk; if he returns with another group, they will probably use the smash and grab style too. Therefore, the first three rooms definitely need alterations to take these factors into account.
A. Lock-out
It’s a common trope of dungeon core stories, but even so, it’s now one I know I must deal with–I am prohibited from affecting the dungeon in any way while there is someone inside my demesne. I understand the need for it–if the core could change things in real time, they could just drop a ton of rocks on every party and have perfect defense. So, I get locked-out.
The problem, however, is a critical one: it is very possible that I could be locked-out indefinitely. The poisoned goblin taking almost two days to die evinces this. If things had been just a bit more unlucky, the goblin scout could have become trapped on the wrong side of the shaft. If that had happened, I would have been locked-out for days or even weeks! Furthermore, it was also possible that people can rotate in such a way that, while individuals come and go, my demesne becomes permanently locked because someone is always inside.
This problem is severely compounded by the next key takeaway.
B. Resetting the Dungeon
I would think that if my demesne is subject to a lock-out system, it should also have a reset system. What I mean is, the dungeon should automatically reset to its original position as a matter of course. But, of course, I don’t have that. What this means is that not only must I manually reconstitute the dungeon every time, but I must also pay full cost to do so (although none of my skeletons died during the delve, lacking any evidence to the contrary, I must assume that they too must be remade from scratch each time). In other words, consistent use of my dungeon will probably lead me to mana bankruptcy.
3. Action Items
A. Solve the Lock-out and Reset Problems
These two problems are the highest priority. An immediate solution might just be to make a damn front door that limits people from entering. Another low-cost solution may be to create “safe zones” that are effectively gaps in my demesne. may allow me the advantage to make ad hoc changes during the middle of a run. Ultimately, I will want to work towards some sort of instancing system. This should include automated resetting and hopefully means to get mana discounts for rebuilding. I may have to allocate DP to this.
B. Iterate Further Dungeon Improvements
Review each room and make improvements based on the First Run. As part of this, I can work towards making the traps more dynamic. Trap Creation has been a friendly skill, so I should rely on it even more.
Figure out a way to change, or limit, the skeleton’s behavior or fighting area.
Finally, I should make backup pathing options in case things go off the rails again.
C. Acquire the Lingo
Learning the local language is paramount to better understand the motives of people delving into my dungeon. I should try to get a translation skill or rapid learning skill. I may have to allocate DP to this too.
D. Make a Boss
All of the Skeleton Fighters are level 2. The leader of the First Run was level 4. I am nowhere close to having enough Essence to make the Warden. In order to get enough Essence, I will have to face multiple incursions with sufficient lethality. To do this, I need to make a new unit that is higher level and has improved fighting capabilities–a “boss” unit. Perhaps somewhere still hidden in the system are “boss” mechanics.