Anyone else not a fan of HUGE dungeon crawls?

[the Jester]

I love great big megadungeons; in my 5e game, the local megadungeon has proven to be the most popular place to adventure for both groups of pcs.

I'm pretty solidly of the "adventures set in a megadungeon aren't about clearing out the megadungeon" mindset. It's important that the pcs be able to choose a goal (even if it's just "explore more of the dungeon") that gives them a sense of "we made it" without having to clear 400+ rooms of monsters, traps, etc.

One thing that's really important (to me) in this kind of environment is a variety of encounter types. Some monsters, some traps, the rare free treasure, dungeon hazards, weird magic pools, chances to talk to strange monster/npc types, etc.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I do enjoy large megadungeons as long as they are interesting places to explore and not just an endless series of rooms, monsters & treasures. With any environment that adventurers spend much time in, there needs to be some variety and also some mysterious tidbits to keep the PCs guessing. A boring dungeon is boring at 5 rooms or 500. An exciting dynamic environment full of surprises and opportunity for entertaining interaction and exploration can be as big as it needs to be.

 

[Jimbro]

I don't like dungeon crawls - I like dungeon runs. That requires good table management, scene-building, and pacing. In a way, any adventure is a dungeon in that it's just a structure to create an environment in which to play. So whether it's a mega-complex or a slice of untamed wilderness, it's all good to me as long as it's designed and executed well.

The best series of articles I have ever read on the subject of dungeon design comes from Deeper in the Game (not my blog). I'll post the series below. It's a must-read in my view before any DM designs a dungeon:

1) Dungeons Part One: Theory and Design
2) Dungeons Part Two: What Players Want
3) Dungeons Part Three: Running the Dungeon
4) Dungeons Part Four: Threat Structure
5) Dungeons Part Five: Information Management
6) Dungeons Part Six: Monsters, Hazards, and Stunting
7) Dungeons Part Seven: Flow and Area Encounter Design

Dungeon runs sound awesome.

 

[Jimbro]

Thanks for pointing out your blog, James! You've got some great free resources. I especially liked your downtime options & your hazards/traps. Both things that 5e needs more of for toolbox DMs. Kudos

I've been on both sides of the mega-dungeon debate, having run games with hardly using any dungeons at all, and games entirely focused on dungeon-delving. Both can work.

Since you were asking about how to make a mega-dungeon interesting and engaging, I attempted exactly that in my 4e Dragon Mountain conversion (see my sig). Most important point, echoing [MENTION=6680772]Iosue[/MENTION] and [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION] here, is to make the dungeon dynamic. Of course, HOW you do that is the subject of vigorous debate. There are entire blogs dedicated to how to run mega-dungeons, after all.

Hey thanks for the kind words! I really appreciate it. If you have any feedback on that stuff, I'd love to hear it.

Checking out your Dragon Mountain conversion now!

 

[Jimbro]

There is some really great stuff in this thread that has me thinking and reaching for graph paper. Thanks everyone!