[RPG] For the Dungeon of the Mad Mage adventure, how is a room’s ceiling height determined

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As a player I am playing in the Dungeon of the Mad Mage adventure. On page 11, it describes how to determine ceiling height for rooms:

A room's ceiling is at least as high as the room is wide, often higher. If a room's ceiling isn't specified in the text, assume it's the minimum height.

What dimension do we use to figure this out? For example: a room is 30 feet (N-S) by 40 feet (E-W), with a door on the North wall and a door on the West wall.

Would this room be 30 feet or 40 feet "wide" (and thus 30 feet tall)? Assume the room height is not otherwise specified.

What if the room is odd shaped?

Best Answer

Assumption: The question is actually "How can I determine the height of a room where the height is not explicitly stated and the room is an irregular shape?"

Unfortunately, ask the DM

Often, a room's height doesn't matter. Many DM's (myself included) forget about ceilings until it actually comes up in play.

But if you're a connoisseur of ceilings, a renaissance-man of roofs, or a tourist of tops, you'll likely keep an eye out for such details, in case it comes in handy.

Matt Vincent has an excellent answer about "normally" shaped rooms, but in any case where "length" and "width" aren't easily measurable ('s' shaped rooms, '@' shaped rooms, 'etc' shaped rooms, etc.), you're just going to have to ask the DM.

Over time (Maybe before the end of the module), your DM will start learning to include that information, and you won't have to ask.


It may be worth noting that If you're trying to play a highly tactical game where the height of a room is critically important to your play style, you and your DM (or the other players) might not be all on the same page. A mini-session-zero revisit to address this could help out.