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You might want to check the other thread on how to do sandboxes. They are far from inefficient and can be really easy to prep for. And as an aside, the original Ravenloft presented a large area that could be sandboxes too. So the hardcover didn’t really introduce that.

Is it efficient though? In my view, it’s bloated to fill page count. Is anything meaningful or integral added to curse of strahd vs the original i6 Ravenloft?

This is a misunderstanding of Moria. It’s certainly not a linear dungeon, it’s huge! The party’s objective was to just sneak through it. That doesn’t make it linear, that is just a goal the party chose. They could’ve chosen to find the treasure vault for example. Their time was only initially...

See, I was tempted earlier to mention Quasqueton from B1 in search of the unknown. I think anyone who is curious about old school dungeon crawls should read this module as I feel it is the archetypal dungeon crawl. It has everything a good dungeon should have. Note, it’s not perfect, it does...

Yes, heaven forfend a DM must do more than simply read and blindly carry out what is in an adventure without thought. An Adventure is simply the barest script written in a generic way as the writer cannot account for individual party variation or every conceivable action. They can tell you...

EDIT: misread because I am tired. All apologies, move along, there’s nothing to see here.

Meh, I’d disagree, the adventure itself doesn’t need a goal. The site can exist, and the players can create their own goal based on rumours they’ve heard for example. Do the encounters have to make sense? Not always, at least not an obvious sense, especially if you are making a mythic...

See my post above in my original reply to you. Obviously I gave generic examples, but you could easily come up with tomb specific examples.

If we are talking that specific dungeon from skyrim, then no. There is no real puzzle there (matching a really obvious symbol with a sign/claw with obvious symbols is not a puzzle). Those traps aren’t exploration. You’re forced to encounter them and avoid them in that limited corridor. You...

I accept this is a valid concern of some. Though Two rebuttals here: 1) to some extent, verisimilitude can go hang. You can embrace the mythic underworld nature of dungeons should you wish. There is a logic, but it’s a distorted one. 2) Broaden your definition of a dungeon to maintain...

Yup, I’d agree with this. This style of play has been poorly represented in modern editions, leading to a knowledge loss in the “mainstream”. There is a wealth of knowledge and advice out there for the curious DM, but most aren’t interested as combined with the knowledge deficit in the new...

Oh jeez. Everything. If you wanted to make a short one and done dungeon in a session, chop at least half those fights, preferably more. There should be a couple of empty rooms (empty in the sense of encounters/traps/tricks). These should have dungeon decor, creating some environmental story...

Oh god, skyrim dungeons (the vast majority) were awful bland affairs. And what you’ve laid out here doesn’t sell it. It’s an awful design that puts people off dungeon crawls. You’ve listed a chain of rooms with non stop fights, 1 puzzle and a couple of traps. No thank you.

That’s not convention though. A large portion of dungeon inhabitants wouldn’t be attacking on sight. That’s why you have the reaction rolls. Thus meaning you can have all 3 types of encounter in the dungeon just as easily.

What exploration rules? That’s the point. It has none really for dungeons.

Yeah, I see that. It makes me cringe. I mean, fair enough if people enjoy it, all power to them, just fantasy shop simulator isn’t for me.

Yeah, I kinda see that. Though you best be having a list of names to pull out ready (and prepared for) :p. “Again? This is the 5th Dave we’ve met. Why is his surname his profession? Why is the Blacksmiths just called “the Blacksmiths”? There are shortcuts though to help. 1) Whenever you see a...

But they aren’t prep heavy? They are (or at least can be) far easier to develop than other kinds of adventures because you are creating an environment that inherently limits player choice compared to the wide expanse or numerous variables of a town or city.

This is true, it can be hand waived, but one can then start running into problems like the 5 mwd or the players resorting to hack and slash. This isn’t a problem if you’ve already got the ideas in the sequence down pat and can tweak and adapt. As later editions just assume that knowledge, or...

Dungeon delves are supposed to be short, strike missions with a clear party goal. If however you have the 15 minute day, This is because all the procedures aren’t used properly. If the party is resting in the dungeon, are you making the wandering monster checks? Have the party exhausted all...