A few additional notes and ramblings which may or may not be of interest:
We will be playing by AD&D rules, modified slightly to reflect typical playstyles of three-plus decades ago. For example, we won’t be worrying about weapon speed factors and the like.
You do not have to be familiar with the system, or D&D in general, to have a shot at winning. In the past, there have been situations where prior knowledge has helped, but also others where lack of familiarity has led to out-of-the-box solutions.
If you can, please bring your lucky dice, pencils and paper. (If you can’t, there should be plenty to go around.) No rulebooks or other reference material, please.
It would be great if one person in each party could act as a timekeeper. People have been great about this in previous years, and although it seems like a simple thing, this has been a tremendously helpful in keeping things running smoothly.
Thiis will be an original scenario. If you’ve been trawling classic tournament modules … sorry.
Despite my very best intentions, the adventure might not be entirely devoid of a certain element of danger. Last year, no party made it through the evening without losing a character. Be careful out there.
I won’t reveal too much about the tournament’s scoring, except to say that it’s probably not a good idea to make too many assumptions. There may be a few changes this year, such as an attempt to allow for a broader variety of styles of play. One thing that I will say is that there will be no individual scoring. You will always be playing entirely as a team, and you will never be competing against your teammates, either directly or indirectly, as far as scoring is concerned.
Previously, scoring has always been extremely tight. Interestingly, there have often been large gaps between groups in the middle of the adventure, but scores have always converged by the end of the game. If you’re off to a rough start, don’t sweat it too much. Previous winners have never gotten off to particularly good starts.
Since scores are slightly interdependent, groups playing on the first day will have to wait a week to hear their results.
As to strategy, you should probably ask those who did well in previous tourneys. One thing I did notice is that, trite as it sounds, teamwork really is key.
And don’t count on strategems that worked well in the past to necessarily do so again, particularly those that aim to be universally effective. Consider it a badge of honor, GJ.
Bribery, on the other hand, always works.
I would have thought you’d go with this one. Arrr!
Anyway, enough rambling. Good luck!
