Lanefan
Victoria Rules
My main pushback would be that the resulting adventures/dungeons are simply too short - no sooner do you get your teeth sunk into it than it's over. And while a very short adventure is fine now and then, they're not something I want to run every time.I was taken aback by this. I've used the model to great success for years as it makes sure that the variety of personalities at my table are each given something to do over the course of two hours. I've used the structure for dungeons, point crawls, urban adventures and more.
For #dungeon23, I'm trying to hit all five encounter types each week, plus an empty room, plus a wild card room.
Is there some big pushback against the model I'm not familiar with? If so, what's the root of it?
While it's nice if one can do this, my preference is not to worry about it and instead write adventures that are each more geared to one class or character type, and mix it up that way.I did run across another good model. In an Arcane Library livestream, Kelsey Dionne advocates for having combats and encounters instead rotate through PC character archetypes, and making sure to give fighters, rogues, clerics and wizards each something to do in the adventure (ideally in every combat, although that's not always possible).
Right now, for example, I'm running a string of homebrew adventures. As it turned out, the first one was mostly for the explorers and investigators (there were only four monster encounters in the whole place and the PCs never met two of them), the second and third were kind of for everyone, the fourth (in progress) is for the warriors, and the fifth will be for the trap-finders and clerics. But in each, all the other characters certainly have stuff to do nearly all the time, so it's not like anyone is sitting out.
As for size, the first had something like 25 keyed areas plus a village; the second had about 50 keyed areas, the third had 15, the fourth has 52, and the fifth will probably have more (if only because it involved a keyed maze) but I'm still designing it. By "keyed area" I mean a numbered room or site on the map that has a write-up in the module, even if there's no monster or treasure there.
Specific frame? No. Rather, I think of what would make sense in an adventure based on whatever inspiration sparked the idea, then design such that those elements can be present and fit in. Then I add some extra stuff as red herring material or diversions or just for kicks, and start mapping.Do you use the five room dungeon model? If not, why not? Is there a better adventure design frame you suggest?