[DF] What's worked? What hasn't?

[Kromm]

I have a few comments stemming from the (very) long-running fantasy campaign that inspired GURPS Dungeon Fantasy and served as a testbed for the supplements I wrote alone or with Peter (DF 1-4, 6, 11, 14-16, and DFM 1-2).

Originally Posted by Edges

Were there any particular supplements that you felt were indispensable? Were there any that you found problematic or unnecessary for your game?

I'd call DF 1-2 "essential" if you plan to use any of the other supplements in the series.

As my campaign's power level rose, I felt a strong need to invent the content that now appears in DF 6 and 11, and the scariest critters in DFM 1-2. I'm glad I did! If you plan to keep the power level low, though, those selfsame supplements might prove less useful or even useless to you.

Personally, I'm not a fan of "pets" for adventurers and so never had any use for the stuff in DF 5 or 9. I also don't mix psi with my fantasy, despite having written DF 14.

Oh, and I think DF 16 is absolutely essential if your campaign is more about roaming the world than raiding dungeons, which mine was.

And DF 15 is a good idea, too, if in eschewing supernatural and summoned "pets" – as I did – you create a need for PCs to retain NPCs.

Originally Posted by Edges

I have heard claims that some templates tend to dominate combat and make things less fun for the others (specifically the Scout and Swashbuckler but there may be others). Have you found there to be any truth to these claims? If so, how would you suggest addressing them?

That sounds like a problem in campaigns where your enemies are all basically mundane mortals (humans, elves, orcs, ogres, etc., as well as big animals) who die easily from having holes poked in them. That wasn't my campaign.

Yes, I had lots of fights with human bad guys – and yes, those favored PCs with high weapon skill and impaling weapons. But most of the fights that mattered were with horrors who had many and varied forms of Injury Tolerance, or who were ghostly, shadowy, or otherwise not material. I used a lot of undead – corporeal and incorporeal – as well as demons and magical automatons.

Just as important, I threw in a lot of social and leadership situations that would be dominated by what DF calls the bard, or at least a holy warrior or knight with lots of Born War Leader and Tactics. I also presented puzzles and research challenges worthy of very capable artificers and scholars. In fact, I'm pathologically incapable of not doing that. :P

Originally Posted by Edges

I have heard that some spells in GURPS Magic can be problematic. Do you have any warnings for me when it comes to DF?

I'd strongly advise that you get Pyramid #3/60: Dungeon Fantasy III and use "Wizardry Refined."

Originally Posted by Edges

Have you used the Extra Effort rules as written? Were you happy with the results?

Quite a few of those were tested in my campaign, too. I was happy with all of them. I think the dislike some have for Heroic Charge is tied to the overuse of easily impaled humanoid foes. Against greater demons that take dozens of telling hits to take down, and spirits that can just fade into the floor or teleport away, that option didn't really change the face of battle in my game. Its main effect was to let those who invested in extra Basic Speed and Basic Move instead of extra ST (everybody had lots of DX!) have fun in fights vs. mooks.

Originally Posted by Edges

Do you use the armor from Basic or Low-Tech? Or do you house rule armor?

My campaign used armor from the Basic Set, and DF was written and balanced assuming that armor. Use other armor rules at your own risk.

Originally Posted by Edges

What, if anything, have you done to address the issue of ST-based weapons penetrating armor too easily? Is it worth it to do in DF?

Hack 'n' slash is more fun if you leave this alone. Armor isn't the DR you care about anyway. If you use a proper mix of foes, it's natural DR that matters . . . and you can tweak that to be whatever you want on an Elder Thing with a cosmic force field.

Originally Posted by Edges

What system(s) have you adopted for point awards? What would you recommend for someone who was raised on the "slow" advancement of AD&D?

I gave out about 2 points/session plus 10 points whenever a major plot arc was closed.

Originally Posted by Edges

How have you treated the purchase of enchanted items?

My setting had no magical economy at all. All magic items were found and not easily sold.

Originally Posted by Edges

How has healing gone? Have you used any optional/house rules for it? In actual play, are HP and healing spells the object of resource management that they seem to be intended to be? How do you treat healing potions?

Healing was the main limit on PC combat might in my campaign. Once "per person per day" penalties got scary on Healing spells and the Healing advantage, everybody got very, very cautious.

Originally Posted by Edges

Also, is there an index somewhere of published DF material? Which Pyramid issues contain which DF articles?

Start with the GURPS Dungeon Fantasy page and be sure to scroll through the whole thing.