I do remember stopping and looking for treasure after completing each encounter, but I have noticed those same behaviors are not routinely practiced in play-by-post games. I chalk it up to the slow pace of games and players' desire to keep things moving, rather than getting bogged down in logistics. But, it's just a theory. :)

I agree that the tabletop (well Roll20) game in which I participate is much more encounter-battle-treasure oriented.  I think in PbP there is also more a sense of participating in a novel.  And you don't see a lot of novels spend significant paragraphs on the heroes poking around for treasure after every exchange.  It's more a case of "follow the plot".

Very true. I almost think it might not be a bad practice for play-by-post GMs to wrap-up encounters by assuming the party does a quick sweep of the area and gathers up any available treasure, and then just annotating it in the roll-up post without waiting for players to post they are prying fillings, rifling through pockets, etc.

Of course, I am not in any way dictating how our excellent DM should run the game. More thinking out loud and mulling over using this approach in the games I may run. :)

There's no doubt that PBP is a completely different beast from the real or virtual tabletop.

In another OSRIC game I am in, the DM simply describes the treasure found in each room, very similar to what Ella noted, as if the search was done without asking.

On the other hand in yet another OSRIC game, we only find treasure if we search for it explicitly.

Not sure which is better! I think the group could provide some SOPs and let the DM do the rolls out of game to keep the action flowing.

Old modules even at times had places that described how the place would recover as the adventurers were away, most assumed you wouldn't go straight thru. But yes treasure was all over, back in the day I pointed out to one of my friends who was just starting out to DM that most of the old modules were essentially monty haul in nature of treasure. He didn't believe me until I was going thru one collecting all the treasure he was DMing (it was not a module I'd read before but I knew enough of the TSR model to know where to look for everything...)

Check the altar for secret panels, check the statue for a staircase underneath, check the bottom of pools, check the bricks in and out of the fireplace!!

For me, it’s a little amusing just because this particular scenario, by virtue of its locale, doesn’t offer much in terms of traditional treasure. The former inhabitants of the Steel Caves didn’t stash away piles of gold coins and gems in their quarters.

That said, there are some really interesting finds to be had, most of which the adventurers haven’t encountered just yet.

I remember one time he's like Hey aren't you going to check this this time, Nope I can't carry anymore.....was my response.

I don’t want to jump the gun. I know there’s been a suggestion made about the party finding their way to a lower level of the caverns. Is that the will of the group? Does anyone want to do anything else in the current location before you depart?

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 594):

Seems to be the case, No one wants to do any searching or looting so off we go.

I can do some searching.

Searching is difficult in PbP.  The DM has to really describe everything in detail and the players then have to pick what they want to search.  For the DM just hits a couple of highlights basically telling the players where to search.

It takes too long to say what is the wall made of, what does this look like, etc.  And then end up waiting for a reply from the DM and on and on and on

Re: not devoting time to searching for, or even securing visibile treasure along the way...

Aside from the obvious downside of not picking up potentially useful magic items that our characters may need later in the adventure, another issue is AD&D primayly assumes characters will gain levels from acquiring treasure--not defeating monsters. We're basically leaving XP on the table and not really gaining much for beating up aberrations, constructs and other monstrosities.

Just something to think about.

While I appreciate the sentiment of gathering as much treasure as possible as we go along, for levels and benefit against enemies, I would prefer to focus on a good story and trust in our DM to manage our opportunities to improve and keep up with the challenges placed before us.

Plus, we can always come back to this area afterward.  Go pearl/ruby/emerald diving, search fireplace bricks, and whatever else we would like.  Nothing prevents us from doing that, once we've discovered the fate of the elven scouts.

I'm not focussed on levelling at all in this game!

Azad has 270,000 XP, level 11 is at 375,000 - he needs to gain 40% of his current total; most of the multi-class PCs are not exactly BTB, but I don't think they will be anywhere near levelling either.

Picking up stuff we see/find makes sense, but diving in the lake for gems when we are on a "rescue the scouts" and "stop the beasties from being released" quest seems out of place.

Now if we find a couple of blasters or a lightsabre, I'm not going to say, oh leave them behind!!!  :-)

But that may not be true. It may not be possible to get back where we were later. Or worse, the adventure itself makes certain assumptions and failing to find X item may make things harder later.

PbP does focus more on the story but at the same time we are playing a specific module that makes certain assumptions.

In reply to Azad Rola (msg # 600):

But that's the point. We don't know what we are leaving behind if we don't search places. Hell we don't even understand what we are in yet really. So there's potential information to gain by searching. I'm not opposed to moving forward but I just want people to realize we are potentially leaving a lot of things behind as we go that could make things easier or even doable at all.

With regard to the XP issue, I agree that the experience point system, as defined in First Edition, presumes that PCs are going to gain a significant share of their experience awards by collecting any treasure they can find.

Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is an unusual scenario within the First Edition canon, in part because it doesn’t offer many opportunities for treasure gathering. I’ll grant that there are a number of unique items the adventurers can find, but not a great deal in terms of pure monetary rewards.

I’m not sure that Gygax ever addresses that issue directly in the module itself. Were I running it as part of an ongoing campaign, I feel that I would, out of fairness, need to give an additional experience award to players, just in recognition of them having successfully navigated a set of unique challenges and dangers. As well, given the set up, I would make certain that the reward for the completion of the quest from Grand Duke Owen was a substantial one.

That is assuredly what I intend to do here for those that prevail against the steel caves’ perils.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:57, Tue 16 Mar 2021.

Just so everyone's clear and there are no misunderstandings, I am not suggesting anything needs to change with respect to how this game is being run. The DM is doing an admirable job running what I assume to be a difficult adventure for the PbP format. Not that I know for certain, as I have never played or run this module and don't own it. At any rate, I would imagine any published module would be quite difficult.

My points were merely a discussion item, you know, table chatter.

I didn’t take your input (or anyone else’s) as criticism. :) I just wanted to be sure to point out how Expedition to the Barrier Peaks differs from other adventures that were published for First Edition. Most other modules from the same period offer plentiful amounts of treasure to for adventurers to plunder.

True enough.

But, as you said PBP is far more story-focussed, and I figure that this group of heroes will be bent on meeting their objective of stopping the strange beasties from harassing the town-folk; and the added search for the elven scouting party adds urgency.

If we can figure out how to stop the stasis cages from opening, maybe we then have time to wander around and see what we missed.

And, DM, I have to give you kudos as this does not seem like a module that is a good fit for PBP, and you are managing to make it run smoothly (or at least so it appears to me!).

I really appreciate the kind words. The biggest challenge for me, at least so far, has been describing the environment and some of the creatures encountered in a manner that would make sense in the context of a medieval era world. Unfortunately, Expedition to the Barrier Peaks was written before modules included content like, ”When the adventurers enter this chamber, read the following paragraph to them.”

That said, I’ve had a great time running this game. You guys have navigated this challenge extremely well.

On another note, I’m going by memory, but I believe that the party has black, yellow, and red “glass keys” in their possession. The door at the end of the aquatic chamber does not have any notable color displayed around the lock.

I’m making the assumption that the adventurers took both the odd bracelet and the hinged, lantern like device with them before departing the underwater chamber. Because of their bulk, I’m also presuming that the suits of armor were left there. If I’m incorrect about any of that, please let me know.

In reply to Dungeon Master (msg # 608):

I would concur, unless someone has a bag of holding or similar (I don't).

I certainly don't have such would be nice or a nice portable hole...