Knights & Knaves Alehouse

The gameplay itself is definitely boring and frustrating, but I really, really dig the vibe and atmosphere that comes from those charts, and that is conveyed so much better by experiencing them in action than just looking at them as charts: the maze of winding hallways and corridors, the constant fear of traps and wandering monsters, the excitement of doors and rooms (and the disappointment when they're empty), the snap decisions when you encounter a monster how to deal with it - whether to try to sneak past it, talk to it, attack it, or run away from it - the thrill of descending to a lower level where both the risks and the rewards are greater, the "oh shit!" factor when you accidentally get too deep and realize you might not be able to make it back, the coolness when you encounter something (a monster, treasure, or even trap-type) that you've never seen before, and the satisfaction of coming home alive with a pile of treasure and getting to buy new gear and level up and make it so that next time you can delve deeper and take bigger risks and find bigger treasures (and of course the raised stakes once you become invested in someone who's survived a few expeditions and made it up to a decent level and acquired some cool gear - that you find yourself caring a lot more about this guy's survival than the horde of faceless 0-levels who bought it on their first trip underground). Plus, because everything's so automated and simplified, it moves really quickly so you can get a full "game" in in about 10 minutes (and you can get a failed one in way more quickly than that) compared to 3-4 hours (and the need to sync 4-6 busy adults' schedules) for an actual tabletop game.

This game isn't real D&D, obviously, but it's got an awful lot of the flavor of D&D and is, honestly, more fun and satisfying to me than a large percentage of actual tabletop D&D games I've played in

So it turns out that when you're playing as a fighter, and even moreso when you're playing as a cleric, this game becomes surprisingly easy. However, when playing as a magic-user, it goes back to being really difficult - probably more difficult than playing as a thief or dungeon robber. I think once I get one successful m-u to prove I can do it I'm going to switch back to fighters and clerics in order to finish this thing off and retire as King.

Matthew wrote: Russell the Righteous

You're G*d damned right!

Hey this is fun!

I'm glad I found it, I retired my first character as a merchant and I want to play more but it's really late for me so... bed time!

Got sick of seeing my 3rd level magic-users with 5 hp get one-shot killed, so I went back to a cleric. Just hit 10th level and instead of retiring and allowing the town smithy to sell magic armor I'm thinking of letting it ride to see if I can retire as King and be officially considered to have "won" the game

Hmm, that final 50K XP hump between 10th and 11th level is proving to be kind of tough. I've now lost two 10th level characters both in the 65-70K XP range and am debating whether I want to bother with another one or just call it a career...

After a couple days' break I'm taking another crack at this, because it'll feel like I've failed if I quit without having retired a King.

Wizards really suck in this game because they have terrible HP and AC and their spell-use ability doesn't make up for it since they only ever get the same 4 spells - Magic Missile, Sleep, Charm, and Haste. It would've been cooler if the spell-list more closely mirrored D&D by allowing additional, more powerful, spells at higher levels. Something like:

level 1: KNOCK (automatically opens 1 door)
level 3: INVISIBILITY (bonus to Sneak, like Ring of Invisibillity)
level 5: MONSTER SUMMONING (gain random level 1 monster as Henchman)
level 7: TELEPORT (instantly go to Room 0 of any dungeon level, or to Town)
level 9: CONJURE ELEMENTAL (gain high AC/attack ability monster as Henchman)
level 11: DISINTEGRATE (save or die)

Clerics aren't as bad, because they have better HP and can wear armor, but they also could've been given additional spells:

level 1: CREATE FOOD (provides 1-4 Food)
level 3: FIND TRAPS (avoids 1 trap)
level 5: ANIMATE DEAD [moved from being automatically available]
level 7: WORD OF RECALL (instantly return to Town)
level 9: AERIAL SERVANT (gain high AC/attack ability Henchman)
level 11: DISPEL EVIL (undead and demons save or die)

T. Foster wrote:After a couple days' break I'm taking another crack at this, because it'll feel like I've failed if I quit without having retired a King.

A recent comment from the Blog of Holding on the game:

I’m up to level 11 fighter and have over 250000 xp points on advanced. Are there any additional experience levels? Thanks, great game.

So, it's possible that the game might top-out at level 11, Trent

Yeah, I assumed based on the "100,000 XP & up" description that 11th level was the max, which is why once I've retired an 11th level character I will consider myself to have "won" the game.

Finally!

Congratulations to King Michael! He ventured into the dungeon and returned rich! He is now a king. Michael played on Advanced difficulty. The story of King Michael shall be recorded on the Adventurer's Monument to inspire further generations.

Congrats on getting your life back.

Congrats!

Hail King Michael!!!

All this talk of Dungeon Robber, I pulled up my two year old campaign game. I had completely forgotten, looks like I have about half the slots filled (including King!) in a really haphazard way. Now I'm dedicated to filling up all of the spots I missed the first time, playing the classes I haven't yet (mage and cleric), and then getting another King. It is addicting in it's own weird way.

Mike B.

Okay, it's clearly time to jump into this time-sink!