Does anybody not use dungeons?

[Shallown]

I do but very seldom. Usually at the end point of a particular story arc only becuase the story arcs end with finding a specific Item that is protected or lost.

Characters are at 9th soon to be 10th level. so far I have had

Gorgulond's (SP?) Guantlet. Mainly becuase the party was new and I liked it. It was a little side trip but I used it to introduce the Prophecy the players are dealing with. Also the "Supervisor" there still communicates with the party Bard on occasion.

A Ogre Magi Lair. More a lair then dungeon. the difference being it was focused around a single monster with some trained/enslaved lackeys. Had a small maze and like 2 rooms with a long corridor to reach it. Not much of a "Dungeon" though physically it met the description.

The ancient (even for elves) Burial chambers of the first free King of the Elves (A drow of course, well now an Undead Drow). Mostly undead was much like the Ogre lair but with more undead and traps but it was pretty linear since they avoided the other 20 odd tombs of kings there.

And now they are about to enter into the Blue Crab a giant (by comparison) mechanical/magical crab that Gnomes built many years ago. This will be much more like a Dungeon than anything else. About 25 rooms and 20 corridors (all gnome sized) two seperate groups of inhabitants living in a semi-peaceful truce. With a Third big nasty locked away in one room by the two inhabitants. Should prove interesting hardest part is getting there is underwater and guarded by other nasties.

I don't do many dungeons unless they have a reason to exist. I do lots of town/city stuff with inn floorplans and houses were things can even be more complicated I think than a dungeon. Dungeons are more controlled then living places like a town/city. I also do a lot of cross country travel with the group, though now that Teleport has become available that may slow down a bit.

Later

 

[Dark Eternal]

I use them.

And mine make logical sense.

That's challenging to design - which is the biggest reason I do it, of course.

I think I should be a designer, so I don't have to distract myself from my true first love just to run or play games.

 

[jonesy]

Do sewer systems or old castle basements count?

 

[Mercule]

Depends on how you're defining dungeon.

If you mean 42 levels of critters, traps, and treasure, then no I really don't use them.

If you include sneaking into a human-inhabited castle to capture an artifact or person, then yeah I use 'em. I also use the occasional 6-8 room fortified tomb or whatnot that has a specific treasure in it, but those aren't usually that common.

 

[Viking Bastard]

I sometimes use underground places but they really really rarely
filled with monsters.

And the PCs never just wander in, there usually are very good
reasons to venture into that dark dangerous place (get something
or save someone or something etc.).

 

[thegreatbuddha]

Once I get my campaign up and running, I'll be running some modules in Kalamar. The set of adventures (Coin's End Trikogy), has 3 dungeons in it's entirety, the largest being about 8 rooms and some connecting corridors.


Of course, after that, I'll be running the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil

So, it all just depends on whether the dungoen makes sense in the context of the campaign or not.

 

[Zappo]

I don't use many dungeons. Actually, I use damn few dungeons, and most of them are a few rooms at best. Most of the combat in my campaign takes place in the open, or within normal and common buildings.

Like Tsyr, I feel that dungeons often don't really make sense. My artefacts and BBEGs hide in normal castles, protected by an adequate and well-organized force of mercenaries - not in an unnecessarily costly underground complex which was apparently built without a plan, protected by monsters that for some reason are just tough enough to present a challenge to the PCs and that the characters can easily fight one at a time. There are exceptions, but I find that there are very few reasons to actually build a dungeon (or live in a natural one).

 

[Jenale]

If you use "dungeon" loosely to include things like an abandoned tower or other building that the party has to go through in order to accomplish a goal, yes I use them.

If you keep the term "dungeon" to refer strictly to underground complexes, then I haven't yet (but I might--all depends on which story hook people pick up on).

 

[Erebus Red]

crawling...

Definition issues aside I like to avoid them for as long as possible, and then run a huge one.

That way it's a real 'event' that we all enjoy - but for the most part my players would rather be meeting people in a city.

 

[Gospog]

Not really.

Tried it once, and it went so poorly, I ended up cutting out the middle eight rooms and bringing the PCs straight to the end.

They were really releived to get out of the dungeon, as was I!

Mind you, like many other posters, the PCs have to enter the occasional crypt or sewer system, but nothing to put the "crawl" back in to "dungeon".