[SDPhantom]

Let's take your earlier code for example.

Option 1:
(Depth check was moved to before attempting to recursive call)

	for k, v in pairs(tbl) do
		if type(v) ~= 'table' then
			print(v)
		elseif depth > 1 then
			scope(v, depth - 1)
		else
			print("Maximum depth reached!")
		end
	end

Option 2:

	if depth > 0 then
		for k, v in pairs(tbl) do
			if type(v) ~= 'table' then
				print(v)
			else
				scope(v, depth - 1)
			end
		end
	else
		print("Maximum depth reached!")
	end