Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
I haven't run an actual dungeon crawl in about three years because that's not what my table is looking for. When I do run dungeons now, I design them following the "Five Room Dungeon" concept. Here's a decent overview: https://roleplayingtips.com/rptn/rpt156-6-methods-making-dungeons-interesting/
Basically a dungeon has about five challenges of specific sorts, much like some of the conventions of a three act play. This keeps it from being a grind.
Don't let "room" trip you up though - for example in the last dungeon one "room" was a maze. I didn't make them map it, just tell me the strategies, skills and and resources they wanted to use. Based on that it was a bit like a skill challenge from D&D 4e to determine what hazards, traps and encounters they had during it and how long it took.
As a matter of fact I rarely bother mapping it - descriptions of the types of rooms they are going through and such is sufficient. Choices like "which way do you go at the T" that have no information to make the choice aren't meaningful, and if you do have information are basically automatic - at my table that's handled more by an overarching dialog instead of at a decide-each-choice one.
"So you've told me you think the ritual chamber is at the center. Do you want to try to head there most direct route you find?"
"No, I want to make sure we don't leave enemies behind us to attack from behind."
The five room dungeon concept isn't for all tables, especially ones that are looking forward to the extended crawl of exploration, hazards and encounters. But it's an interesting viewpoint on it that you can mine for ideas even if not used in whole.
Basically a dungeon has about five challenges of specific sorts, much like some of the conventions of a three act play. This keeps it from being a grind.
Don't let "room" trip you up though - for example in the last dungeon one "room" was a maze. I didn't make them map it, just tell me the strategies, skills and and resources they wanted to use. Based on that it was a bit like a skill challenge from D&D 4e to determine what hazards, traps and encounters they had during it and how long it took.
As a matter of fact I rarely bother mapping it - descriptions of the types of rooms they are going through and such is sufficient. Choices like "which way do you go at the T" that have no information to make the choice aren't meaningful, and if you do have information are basically automatic - at my table that's handled more by an overarching dialog instead of at a decide-each-choice one.
"So you've told me you think the ritual chamber is at the center. Do you want to try to head there most direct route you find?"
"No, I want to make sure we don't leave enemies behind us to attack from behind."
The five room dungeon concept isn't for all tables, especially ones that are looking forward to the extended crawl of exploration, hazards and encounters. But it's an interesting viewpoint on it that you can mine for ideas even if not used in whole.
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