SimpleDnDMapv3 Feedback

 The players who played my map were Bennie Ksiazek and Fernando Uribe Hernandez. Bennie played Rogue this time around, while Fernando played Ranger. Something that went right with this playtest was that the players, despite the challenge being greater this time, seemed very motivated to take on the monsters. They engaged in fights with them, while also considering small strategies as to how to minimize possible damage they might take or maximize their damage dealt. It was very entertaining to watch them try and utilize their items in conjunction with their regular attacks based on whatever opponent they were dealing with at that moment. 

Another thing that went well was the progression of the map. The map was fairly straightforward, but both players were somewhat exploratory in terms of going in directions that were not essential to the main objective of the map.

Something that went wrong was that unfortunately, the players were unable to experience the second level to the map. When I originally made the map, I felt as if only having one level and fitting it onto the grid that we were given would not be enough to showcase as many items as I wanted to. So, I added an additional stage which included a more exploratory objective and a final boss. However, when the actual playtest proceeded, I found that I was not able to switch the players over to the second level. I simply did not know how, and I did not want to waste their time trying to troubleshoot something that I probably should have done in advance. 

In the future, I will improve the map by decreasing the number of item pickups scattered around the map, as well as slightly bumping up the number of monsters which the players encounter. Finally, the last change I would make would be to actually find out how to allow the players to move on to the next level.

I intend on decreasing the number of item pickups due to the sheer strength of each individual item. Each item, as far as the ones listed on the rulesheet, are for the most part very powerful and instantly bump up how strong each player is. Making the items slightly scarcer will help balance combat and make the players less overpowered. 

Another alternative to decreasing the item pickups is creating more items that are weaker in strength in order to bridge that gap. If the number of item pickups remains the same then the players should be more prone to picking up items that have less overall value, but will be able to tide the player over until they reach a major power spike with the main rulesheet items.

Bumping up the number of monsters which the players encounter could also potentially solve the issue of the players being too powerful, but it was not necessarily a priority as the number of monsters seemed appropriate for the playtest.

One last thing that I felt could have been improved slightly was the indication of where the players must move towards in order to progress. Something that I must take into consideration is the existence of the fog of war, which intentionally prevents players from seeing the entire map. I can improve the gameplay experience by hinting at where the players must go through color or landmarks or pickups.

The overall flow of the playtest proceeded quite smoothly. The players understood due to past experience how the game was played, and the map design itself was polished enough that the players were able to move through the level without any significant hitches.