Why Wandering Monsters Mattered..
Wandering monsters were never just random fights. In D&D, they created pressure. They drained resources. They punished wasted time. They stopped players from resting after every encounter and reminded everyone that the dungeon was alive.
I often am relaxed when it comes to wandering monsters in my dungeons, mostly because, well, sometimes I don’t want to deal with combat, and I want characters to explore things a little. I put time and effort into putting things into rooms; I want the characters to find these things. I feel like wandering monsters at times is just annoying. BUT I am WRONG; they are there to remind players their characters are never safe, and spending too much time exploring, making noise, and running about will surely attract “friends”. So take a listen to the podcast or the video and give me your thoughts on the situation.
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A very interesting discussion, wandering monsters are an excellent pressure mechanism, especially when the party is loaded down with treasure and trying to get out as quickly as possible.
It's not strictly true AD&D is unbalanced, whilst not balanced to the party level it is balanced to the dungeon level, and the monsters adjusted accordingly, it becomes a party choice to delve deeper and risk getting more treasure, or not too deep and forgo booty, there is a balance, just one that can be tweak by player agency.
Really enjoy your videos. As a classic D&D player since 1982, this reminds me of my college years.