Mom Plays Minecraft: Rogue Like Dungeons - the Between Lands

General Notes (specific things about each dimension are in different posts.)

I think that this one has been my favorite modpack so far.  Although it's quest based, the idea really is aimed toward exploration and there are some interesting rewards for exploring.  T

Inventory Pets really shine in this modpack.  I found I was constantly using the Enderman (teleports when health is low), Anvil (repairs equipment over time, including armor), and Ocelot (see in the dark... like... dungeons.)  The speed run of the chicken was something else I used frequently.  Chest pets (and double chest pets) are wonderful storage for your travels though you do have to keep feeding them planks or they won't open for you.

I do recommend (particularly for the novice) setting the game play to allow cheats for two reasons.  Firstly, there's no mechanic for recovering your inventory after death and that's a pain and the gravestone pet doesn't always work (the command /gamerule keepInventory true seems to work, though).  Secondly, in order to get to one of the worlds to explore, you have to find a "druid circle" and they're not very common.  You can travel via glider or via airship (if you can get that to work) but it's easier to enter creative mode and fly until you find the circle, put down a marker, and teleport to that area after you set the game back on normal mode.

Starting in the R.A.D. world for the first time means doing all the first time stuff (beating up trees, making rock pickaxes, and so forth.)  Once you get basic tools, start looking for single trunk oak trees in areas where there are other types of trees (spruce forests, for instance.)  There are chests hidden in the tops of these oak trees that contain an inventory pet, gemstones (usually), nuggets, leaves, and lots and lots (lots!) of melon slices.

After you've found a few chests, you will want to find cows (leather) and sheep (wool) to kill.  Four wool plus four leather plus a chest is the basic recipe for a backpack and you're going to need a lot of those.

My advice would be to wait until you find a village to set up a permanent house.  Some of the villagers will trade useful things (Eye of Ender) and it's easier to hand over an emerald for something than to go kill a dozen or more mobs and hope the random number gods favor you.  There are traveling vendors as well.

Wolves are very common, and I suggest creating a pack to follow you down into dungeons.  It cuts down on aggravating deaths.

There are only a few basic ores in this mod... so you won't have to worry about making bronze or any of the alloys.  Your basic mine-able blocks are diamond, emerald, coal, redstone, and iron (other materials are rarely found.)  These are all fairly abundant; one of the best places to look for those ores are on the fourth level of what I call the "homely house" dungeons (yes, a reference to Elf-Lord Elrond's abode in THE HOBBIT.)  The fourth level will also have magma blocks (which you will need) and nether quartz -- no need to make a nether portal to get those.

Not all the vegetation is friendly.  Feather blossoms will loft you high into the air -- and then drop you.  Purple fade leaf flowers will teleport you to random places.  I've lost a number of horses when I ran over those flowers.  Cinder blooms will set you on fire.  There are thornvines... and plants in the jungle that will try to eat you, just to keep it interesting.


Next up:  the wizard option