I've just started directing D&D a few months ago (well, return to directing after more than a decade using other systems). Our first game was the first adventure from Keys from the Golden Vault, The Murkmire Malevolence. Following sessions were homebrewed content and now I'm preparing to run the third adventure from that book, Reach for the Stars.
The thing is... both of those adventures have a general features section of the adventure's location. On the first one it says that ceilings are 30 feet high, the second one are 20 feet high. As an interior designer I find these heights too high, specially on the second case. Maybe a museum's ceilings can be higher than usual (although I believe 30 feet are too much), but 20 feet for a house, even for a mansion, feels very high. I mean, the house should be at least 60 feet high, with just three floors above ground. Considering the usual height of a floor, including the framing between floors, it should be about (I am from Spain, so I am making calculations on meters and making the conversion to feet) 10 feet.
The question here is: Is there any mechanical reason why I shouldn't reduce the height to 10 feet? I know that as a DM I can modify the adventure as I want, but I want to be sure that I am not missing any reason to maintain it as it comes in the book.
I've just started directing D&D a few months ago (well, return to directing after more than a decade using other systems). Our first game was the first adventure from Keys from the Golden Vault, The Murkmire Malevolence. Following sessions were homebrewed content and now I'm preparing to run the third adventure from that book, Reach for the Stars.
The thing is... both of those adventures have a general features section of the adventure's location. On the first one it says that ceilings are 30 feet high, the second one are 20 feet high. As an interior designer I find these heights too high, specially on the second case. Maybe a museum's ceilings can be higher than usual (although I believe 30 feet are too much), but 20 feet for a house, even for a mansion, feels very high. I mean, the house should be at least 60 feet high, with just three floors above ground. Considering the usual height of a floor, including the framing between floors, it should be about (I am from Spain, so I am making calculations on meters and making the conversion to feet) 10 feet.
The question here is: Is there any mechanical reason why I shouldn't reduce the height to 10 feet? I know that as a DM I can modify the adventure as I want, but I want to be sure that I am not missing any reason to maintain it as it comes in the book.
Interior designer you might be but history and climate hold the answers in this case. Here in the UK ceiling heights on some of our stately homes and older building are anywhere from 12 to 35ft high. Buckingham Palace's ceilings vary anywhere from 12 to 24ft according to their official tour book. A look at many older building here in the UK can reveal terrifyingly high ceilings - churchs and cathedrals especially. Heck the Natural History Museum London's main hall must be something like 20m (60+ feet) high.
Consider though the difference...in Spain you generally have hotter climate than the UK...high ceilings would result in higher costs to cool that room. High ceilings were a sign of wealth and privilege...after all if you had a ceiling that high you could afford to heat and maintain it therefore you are pretty rich (a hangover ideal from the Norman Invasion and the French).
Mechanically in game, yes there are some good reasons...it offers your party fewer options should you choose to reduce the height. If anyone in the party have slippers of spider climbing for example...high ceilings present them a great tactical option. Players with other magic items or spells also can use that vertical height to their benefit. However, if you're just not giving out those magical items or the party aren't interested in vertical tactics in combat...you're all good. Go ahead and reduce down the height. Mechanically, I would imagine that's the key - magic items, spells and abilities. With a room that height a flying player character could utilise different abilities.
There are also some really good story reasons though it depends on the worlds you're talking about. Let's say you've got players used to the single story buildings of Phandalin, they progress through the adventures set there then move on with a clue from one of the sources you're referencing...imagine as a person who's only really spent time among small and modest buildings...imagine the sense of wonder and awe in the characters as this vast and grand setting is described to them. Imagine the implications in terms of wealth and power for the person who constructed this. There's a lot to mine here in terms of environmental storytelling.
I've just started directing D&D a few months ago (well, return to directing after more than a decade using other systems). Our first game was the first adventure from Keys from the Golden Vault, The Murkmire Malevolence. Following sessions were homebrewed content and now I'm preparing to run the third adventure from that book, Reach for the Stars.
The thing is... both of those adventures have a general features section of the adventure's location. On the first one it says that ceilings are 30 feet high, the second one are 20 feet high. As an interior designer I find these heights too high, specially on the second case. Maybe a museum's ceilings can be higher than usual (although I believe 30 feet are too much), but 20 feet for a house, even for a mansion, feels very high. I mean, the house should be at least 60 feet high, with just three floors above ground. Considering the usual height of a floor, including the framing between floors, it should be about (I am from Spain, so I am making calculations on meters and making the conversion to feet) 10 feet.
The question here is: Is there any mechanical reason why I shouldn't reduce the height to 10 feet? I know that as a DM I can modify the adventure as I want, but I want to be sure that I am not missing any reason to maintain it as it comes in the book.
Character height,
Creature height,
weaponry room,
flight potential,
fireball and similar spell issus (lower ceilings mean greater spread of effect),
the fantastical and the sense of the fantastic.
That's stuff that comes to me off the top of my head as I drink my coffee.
Specific to the adventure, not a lot. Pretty basic -- nothing really flies, but at the same time, being able to go up could provide for useful combat efforts.
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I've just started directing D&D a few months ago (well, return to directing after more than a decade using other systems). Our first game was the first adventure from Keys from the Golden Vault, The Murkmire Malevolence. Following sessions were homebrewed content and now I'm preparing to run the third adventure from that book, Reach for the Stars.
The thing is... both of those adventures have a general features section of the adventure's location. On the first one it says that ceilings are 30 feet high, the second one are 20 feet high. As an interior designer I find these heights too high, specially on the second case. Maybe a museum's ceilings can be higher than usual (although I believe 30 feet are too much), but 20 feet for a house, even for a mansion, feels very high. I mean, the house should be at least 60 feet high, with just three floors above ground. Considering the usual height of a floor, including the framing between floors, it should be about (I am from Spain, so I am making calculations on meters and making the conversion to feet) 10 feet.
The question here is: Is there any mechanical reason why I shouldn't reduce the height to 10 feet? I know that as a DM I can modify the adventure as I want, but I want to be sure that I am not missing any reason to maintain it as it comes in the book.
Interior designer you might be but history and climate hold the answers in this case. Here in the UK ceiling heights on some of our stately homes and older building are anywhere from 12 to 35ft high. Buckingham Palace's ceilings vary anywhere from 12 to 24ft according to their official tour book. A look at many older building here in the UK can reveal terrifyingly high ceilings - churchs and cathedrals especially. Heck the Natural History Museum London's main hall must be something like 20m (60+ feet) high.
Consider though the difference...in Spain you generally have hotter climate than the UK...high ceilings would result in higher costs to cool that room. High ceilings were a sign of wealth and privilege...after all if you had a ceiling that high you could afford to heat and maintain it therefore you are pretty rich (a hangover ideal from the Norman Invasion and the French).
Ok, thanks. Maybe was the international point of view what I was missing. Here in the Basque Country (northern Spain) climate is pretty cold and rainy too (although I assume not as much as in the UK) and ceilings, even in the equivalent to stately homes don't reach 20 feet. Even 13-15 feet is quite uncommon. My home is almost 200 years old, built for a well-of family of the time, and ceilings are around 8 feet and 6 inches.
Anyway, what I was searching for was an explanation from the mechanical point of view and you all gave me some. So thank you. ;-)
One additional consideration could also be the fantastical variety in shape and size of the people in your D&D world. If we normally scale things to human standards, 10 feet might feel tall, but once you have a Goliath visit your house, it might seem a bit cramped :)
Keep in mind that part of the draw of fantasy is that you aren't going to typical Basque County buildings. Think of shows like Star Trek or Game of Thrones - for most practical purposes, their spaceship/castle rooms are way bigger than they need to be. But no one wants a sweeping epic tale to be told in cramped little rooms (unless a part of the story specifically requires cramped conditions).
A grand scale is an easy way to make any building more impressive. With this justification, authors feel empowered to make settings that also happen to accommodate dynamic battles with large creatures and area spell effects.
Architecture in D&D is generally super sized, for much the same reason it's super sized in video games -- a real sized map is difficult to work with, because tokens or miniatures aren't as packable as real humans.
Also think of the world. In our world getting a visitor that is over 10' tall isn't going to happen. DnD world has to accomodate creatures that are often much bigger than in our world.
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Hello there...
I've just started directing D&D a few months ago (well, return to directing after more than a decade using other systems). Our first game was the first adventure from Keys from the Golden Vault, The Murkmire Malevolence. Following sessions were homebrewed content and now I'm preparing to run the third adventure from that book, Reach for the Stars.
The thing is... both of those adventures have a general features section of the adventure's location. On the first one it says that ceilings are 30 feet high, the second one are 20 feet high. As an interior designer I find these heights too high, specially on the second case. Maybe a museum's ceilings can be higher than usual (although I believe 30 feet are too much), but 20 feet for a house, even for a mansion, feels very high. I mean, the house should be at least 60 feet high, with just three floors above ground. Considering the usual height of a floor, including the framing between floors, it should be about (I am from Spain, so I am making calculations on meters and making the conversion to feet) 10 feet.
The question here is: Is there any mechanical reason why I shouldn't reduce the height to 10 feet? I know that as a DM I can modify the adventure as I want, but I want to be sure that I am not missing any reason to maintain it as it comes in the book.
Interior designer you might be but history and climate hold the answers in this case. Here in the UK ceiling heights on some of our stately homes and older building are anywhere from 12 to 35ft high. Buckingham Palace's ceilings vary anywhere from 12 to 24ft according to their official tour book. A look at many older building here in the UK can reveal terrifyingly high ceilings - churchs and cathedrals especially. Heck the Natural History Museum London's main hall must be something like 20m (60+ feet) high.
Consider though the difference...in Spain you generally have hotter climate than the UK...high ceilings would result in higher costs to cool that room. High ceilings were a sign of wealth and privilege...after all if you had a ceiling that high you could afford to heat and maintain it therefore you are pretty rich (a hangover ideal from the Norman Invasion and the French).
Mechanically in game, yes there are some good reasons...it offers your party fewer options should you choose to reduce the height. If anyone in the party have slippers of spider climbing for example...high ceilings present them a great tactical option. Players with other magic items or spells also can use that vertical height to their benefit. However, if you're just not giving out those magical items or the party aren't interested in vertical tactics in combat...you're all good. Go ahead and reduce down the height. Mechanically, I would imagine that's the key - magic items, spells and abilities. With a room that height a flying player character could utilise different abilities.
There are also some really good story reasons though it depends on the worlds you're talking about. Let's say you've got players used to the single story buildings of Phandalin, they progress through the adventures set there then move on with a clue from one of the sources you're referencing...imagine as a person who's only really spent time among small and modest buildings...imagine the sense of wonder and awe in the characters as this vast and grand setting is described to them. Imagine the implications in terms of wealth and power for the person who constructed this. There's a lot to mine here in terms of environmental storytelling.
That's my take on it anyway.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.
That's stuff that comes to me off the top of my head as I drink my coffee.
Specific to the adventure, not a lot. Pretty basic -- nothing really flies, but at the same time, being able to go up could provide for useful combat efforts.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
Ok, thanks. Maybe was the international point of view what I was missing. Here in the Basque Country (northern Spain) climate is pretty cold and rainy too (although I assume not as much as in the UK) and ceilings, even in the equivalent to stately homes don't reach 20 feet. Even 13-15 feet is quite uncommon. My home is almost 200 years old, built for a well-of family of the time, and ceilings are around 8 feet and 6 inches.
Anyway, what I was searching for was an explanation from the mechanical point of view and you all gave me some. So thank you. ;-)
One additional consideration could also be the fantastical variety in shape and size of the people in your D&D world. If we normally scale things to human standards, 10 feet might feel tall, but once you have a Goliath visit your house, it might seem a bit cramped :)
Keep in mind that part of the draw of fantasy is that you aren't going to typical Basque County buildings. Think of shows like Star Trek or Game of Thrones - for most practical purposes, their spaceship/castle rooms are way bigger than they need to be. But no one wants a sweeping epic tale to be told in cramped little rooms (unless a part of the story specifically requires cramped conditions).
A grand scale is an easy way to make any building more impressive. With this justification, authors feel empowered to make settings that also happen to accommodate dynamic battles with large creatures and area spell effects.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Architecture in D&D is generally super sized, for much the same reason it's super sized in video games -- a real sized map is difficult to work with, because tokens or miniatures aren't as packable as real humans.
Also think of the world. In our world getting a visitor that is over 10' tall isn't going to happen. DnD world has to accomodate creatures that are often much bigger than in our world.