wombstar wrote:I wasn't sure if they gave them a Truth spell to make sure they got at least one correct, maybe being all girls the production team thought they might not be as good? (But a wall monster eating a dungenner would be cool, other than the blocker later series)
I'm all but certain assumptions of that nature simply wouldn't have been made, after all it would have been borderline sexism, that makes little sense when you consider that (during that period of time) on average girls out-performed boys at school. I managed to somehow be in set 1 in all my school classes, and apart from a handful of the same male faces those classes consisted primarily of girls
If we're going to assume the "TRUTH" spell was a unique but legitimate and planned feature of that team's Level 1, there are two possibilities as far as I can see:
1) The spell was intended for use later in the dungeon. The troll did say that misuse of the spell would be dangerous, but it's difficult to imagine how a spell with a name such as "TRUTH" could be dangerous in any way. Perhaps a later room
required the use of the spell to pass safely, meaning that the team would have failed their quest if they made it to that point, even if they'd taken the ice pack for Lillith.
2) A wall monster was being used to it's fullest here. As we know a team has to answer three riddles, the outcome differing depending on how many correct answers were given.
One correct answer allows the dungeoneer to pass, no real clues are given beside the occasional statement of the quest object; though most teams could usually use a combination of their wits, logic, luck and the Adventurer's Code to pick the correct two clue objects to pass the obstacles ahead.
Two correct answers grants the team a cryptic clue; these clues are usually fairly obvious (but not always), and usually help point out one correct clue item, one clue item to be avoided or sometimes both. This clue is normally all that's required, because if the Adventurer's Code is followed the proper two clue objects are usually abundantly clear.
Three correct answers is the tricky one: the team may command the wall monster, and this can result in anything from a clue-object clue that practically states which two objects to take, to being granted a spell.
It's worth noting that no team was ever seen getting every answer wrong. This may be the cause of the controversy, since every team has managed at least one correct answer and either passed or failed the level based on the particular clue objects they decided to take. Since the answers given to the wall monster don't affect which items are available, even with no clues at all there is still a possibility the team might take two correct items - especially if there is a dagger or other blatant object to be avoided among the choices.
So it all hinges on what exactly was intended to happen at the three correct answers stage. Since it was rare (but not exactly unheard of) for all three answers to be given correctly, the reward for three correct answers wasn't usually anything particularly vital - a bonus clue that wasn't absolutely necessary though helpful nonetheless being the normal reward.
What if the team were in a scripted Level 1 which absolutely hinged on being granted a spell, and the spell being granted to them by a wall monster? Just for once, the three correct answers would be vital. Since that's almost too difficult a requirement for Level 1, their chances of pulling off such a feat will have needed to be improved - hence the "TRUTH" spell.
The majority of teams, when confronted with a wall monster, managed two correct answers out of three to the point where it was the general expected result. Most teams struggled with at least one riddle, and the "TRUTH" spell may very well have existed to essentially remove that one tricky riddle from the table, and essentially act as a lifeline in maintaining a perfect score.
The controversy is expedited by the team's inability to answer the first riddle correctly, at which point the "TRUTH" spell was used. Had the team correctly managed the first riddle, but used the spell for either the second or the third then we'd have had some indication that the spell was intended, not to guarantee the team the ability to survive the chamber, but to work towards a difficult to obtain reward that in this case could have been more vital than usual.