D&D General How Much Dungeon Crawling Do You Do?

[Ralif Redhammer]

Until recently, I was running Tomb of Annihilation, which at the end is 100% dungeon crawl. My other campaign is city-based and I've not done a proper dungeon in it months. Probably because that's all I was doing with the other group, and I needed something different.

 

[Reynard]

Like I said, it depends on how you define "dungeon crawl". If being in a set location qualifies as a dungeon, then the local tavern and the street outside could be a dungeon.

In other words, I don't think of (as one random example from my wife's campaign) pursuing the bad guys down to the sewers made it a dungeon crawl, it was just that we were tracking the bad guys and that's where they went. Now if we had heard rumors that there were treasures in the sewers of an abandoned village and those sewers were filled with a variety of monsters, traps and hazards then it would qualify as a dungeon crawl.

You are being more specific in the definition than I would be, but that's okay. Some folks would be even more specific than you are, with words like "megadungeon" and "10 foot pole" coming up.

 

[Oofta]

I voted with up to 75%. I see the broad sense of a dungeon bring most placed that get explored and have possible combats. Places like the inn's basement or an abandoned woodland cottage count.

Then just about anything that takes place in a physical location counts as a "dungeon crawl" and the words become kind of meaningless. It also probably wouldn't qualify based on wikipedia's definition

A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games in which heroes navigate a labyrinth environment (a "dungeon"), battling various monsters, avoiding traps, solving puzzles, and looting any treasure they may find.[1] Video games which predominantly feature dungeon crawl elements are considered to be a genre.[1]​

 

[Mallus]

Since our current campaign is Labyrinth Lord, we do a lot of dungeon crawling. Though in our last session we barely made it to the magic door of the dungeon because of random encounters which very nearly killed us (okay one was planned, I think...).

 

[Istbor]

I'd say very little.

I landed on 10%. The thing is, even if there is a 'dungeon' they are usually pretty small. 4-6 rooms, if that.

 

[J-H]

Sample size too small for me. I ran a ~25-session Castle Dracula campaign (find it on DM's Guild, it's 5e Castlevania!) that was pretty much all dungeon-crawl. The first four areas are outside the castle, but are still semi-confined by terrain.

Current campaign I'm a player in (2 sessions in) is overland travel.

The hexcrawl-ish thing I'm making to take the party from level 13-epic is overworld-centric, but will include at 8-12 dungeons as well as a few more 2-4 room areas. No idea how it'll really play out.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I voted up to 75% when you include things like ruins, an enemy fortress installation mission, even "confined area" explorations.

 

[aco175]

Then just about anything that takes place in a physical location counts as a "dungeon crawl" and the words become kind of meaningless. It also probably wouldn't qualify based on wikipedia's definition

Did you read the OP? Makes you want to think that any 'closed' location is a dungeon.

 

[Oofta]

Did you read the OP? Makes you want to think that any 'closed' location is a dungeon.

Yeah, I rejected that "broadest definition" in my first post because it would mean that practically any time you aren't outside you're in a dungeon. Need to find your shoes first thing in the morning after a bender? Dungeon crawl. Asking in the tavern for "Nine Fingers Malone"? Dungeon crawl.

It loses meaning if you do that. The last time I ran something I would consider a dungeon crawl was a couple of years ago when I did a haunted house for Halloween.

 

[Reynard]

Yeah, I rejected that "broadest definition" in my first post because it would mean that practically any time you aren't outside you're in a dungeon. Need to find your shoes first thing in the morning after a bender? Dungeon crawl. Asking in the tavern for "Nine Fingers Malone"? Dungeon crawl.

That's not at all what I proposed.