Some questions for Doc:
Did you limit players with choosing starting weapons in any way? (Did everyone get to do this?) I myself feel I went way too conservative, as I felt there probably would be some penalty for choosing a masterwork +5 adamantine flame sword and matching bow, so am wondering if anyone attempted something like that?

What would've happened if the chains in the central chamber hadn't been pulled or if only some of them had been pulled? Would the tunnels have dead-ended, with adventurers needing to backtrack to the central chamber?

Was Snookums intended to chase after us into the tunnels, or only to clear the central chamber?

Traps on the side of player characters were completely underutilized, despite the brigands starting out with them, and one or more thieves also collecting them. The one location where I thought their use would've worked well was as part of ambushes at the entrances to the first enemy-filled rooms in the tunnels, but the brigand distribution was such that this would've only really worked in the south side tunnel, and sadly Beldarion overruled me there by storming in.
Were they intended to allow more player-vs-player conflict? Did I worry too much about setup time and should I just have used them during fights? Or were they a defense against Snookums?

My weapon dialogue with Doc was:
Doc: "Please choose your weapon from staff, cudgel or club and I will then roll to see if it has any magical properties."
Me: "Staff".
Doc: "Your staff has the meld ability. What this means is that you can use it to pass through stone or earth walls/ objects (as in meld into the wall then out the other side). This could be key to your escape, providing something doesn't eat you first."

So I'd say in my case (halfling druid) it was very limited.

I believe Cicatrix could have used traps, difficulting our chase.

Also, regarding weapons, I just chose "dual short swords" or "dual daggers", no +5 adamantine, not even elemental damage, nothing. That's what I thought... then I received a message from Doc saying: "Hey, you start with all this stuff" (rope, trap disarm kit, flaming short swords, leather armor and potions).

Maybe I got rewarded for requesting mundane weapons? Doc literally asked "what weapons do you want?" So I could have said literally anything.

Oh, and then I found a +2 longbow... Talk about luck.

Ah. The question I got was completely open: "What weapon(s) would you like?"
Probably should've taken advantage of that, then. Ah well, I ended the game with three additional weapons next to my chain, so it all worked out okay. :)

Interesting. I got my equipment list before the weapon choice question. But so it looks like Doc probably rolled for magical properties for your choice, and thus probably did for me as well, with me just having bad luck on the roll so it stayed mundane.

I guess fighters got more choice in weapons, while spellcasters got more choice in spells (I could choose 7 out of a list of 27 druid spells).

I don't think so, but not sure. I'm not that familiar with the common D&D/ D20 rules these days so I just winged it. Trapping wouldn't have been consistent with the character anyway.

What I was told by Doc was that Drow have the natural ability to levitate; high dexterity; a hidden small crossbow with 20 bolts covered in a sleeping poison; started with Studded leather armour, bandages, and a whistle which will summon a Dire Wolf; and that I was to select a main bow weapon and a melee weapon.

I selected scimitar and short bow. The Dire Wolf lasts until defeated but could not be resummoned until three turns after being defeated or banished, which is why I was sparing in using it.

There were several occasions when I had told Doc privately that I would use the crossbow against anyone who got close, but each time either my stealth held or the person got distracted with something else.

Ah, my choices were more detailed and limited, like choose 10 spells from this list and 1 wand or staff with these magic attacks.

I was told to choose any weapon I wanted. I didn't have a list or anything so I went with classic sword and shield. I was thinking of purely Baldur's Gate rules and used that as a guideline on what weapons I could choose. Didn't think about picking any kind of sword like a +5 Ultima Weapon or anything like that but later made up for it when I asked if I could have a phaser and tricorder for my starfleet roleplay. As some of you already know, they were merely props that had no potential to be used until near the end of the game when Doc restored power to them which allowed my character to defeat the Hag in our tunnel.

I got to choose weapon type & shield yes/no. Doc then rolled for special characteristics. Spells were give to me as is.

I was simply a paladin of divine faith. I chose my weapon type (modified by Doc) and shield, and he granted me my spells. Given the limited number compared to other paladins, I assume my physical stats must have been through the roof, and I played him as such. Not because I assumed the stats (I obviously didn't guess that until I actually saw other players loadouts) but rather because Roosevelt is a brash and brazen man of action.

Regarding starting weapons, most were normal unless a dice roll decided they had magical properties. I made a couple of exceptions for people who roleplaying a certain character and asked if they could have a specific weapon.
If the chains hadn't been pulled then their respective tunnels would have dead-ended and yes, you would have had to backtrack.
Snookums was meant to pick a tunnel then go up killing any stragglers.

Traps are one thing that didn't really work out. Sounded good in my head as I tried to make Brigands a useful class but no real opportunities to use them. I think they could have worked if it had been the 20 people in the dungeon that I had planned as I could have engineered situations to make the most of them then.

The Hags were meant to be a minor battle for you. A door was meant to be opened in the Western tunnel earlier which would have drawn them away sooner, with the possibility of one of them having been killed by Morte before that happened.

This would have left more time for you to reach the Beholder who was supposed to have a small army of enslaved minions with him. I had to cut them out or you would never have had time to escape.

Thanks for those notes, Doc! I'm really enjoying reading these behind the scenes insights. :)

Oh, and was Morte guaranteed to one-shot the hag and the beholder, or were those lucky dice rolls?

All in the dice.

Now that the game is over, can I get my "Drive Your DM Mad"™ dice back?

[i]The following never made it out of the dungeon:

72 - park_84 - Darrim - Dwarf Warrior [/i]

Damn...