D&D 5E Do You Delve?

[Charlaquin]

See, I disagree that every adventure is a delve, even in that sense.

Do your adventures not consist of scenes connected by transitions?

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I only had a couple groups that did no or virtually no "delving", and in both cases it had to do with DMs working in very low prep, improvisational styles. For most of my groups it has been a substantial part of play, though I would say that it has rarely been the norm.

 

[rgoodbb]

As a Player, I love to delve. The Exploration pillar is one of the most exciting parts of the game for me. Often only beaten (for me) by Inter-Party role-play. (not NPC Role-Play).

As an old player/new DM. Delving is part and parcel of D&D for me as this is a lot of D&D in older editions. But must be tempered as @Quickleaf eloquently described above.

P.S. What is the difference between a Delve, a Creep and a Crawl? The similarity is they are all great fun in the right circumstances.

 

[Charlaquin]

P.S. What is the difference between a Delve, a Creep and a Crawl? The similarity is they are all great fun in the right circumstances.

A delve is what you do in a dungeon. A crawl is what you do on a hex map. A creep is that one player nobody really likes but hasn’t caused enough problems to justify kicking them out yet

 

[Malmuria]

Rooms aren’t interesting. Scenes are interesting. If your room isn’t also a scene, it should just be a transition.

I like environments that tell the story of a location though. Even simple things like finding a painting of an npc in one room and later encountering the ghost of that npc in another

 

[Charlaquin]

I like environments that tell the story of a location though. Even simple things like finding a painting of an npc in one room and later encountering the ghost of that npc in another

Those sounds like scenes to me.

 

[Don Durito]

With D&D I do dungeon delving, because if I don't I'm not really sure why I'm using this game and not something else like 13th Age which I feel does dramatic scenes better. (Or a non D&D game entirely)

But when I do dungeons I do it in a much more modern way. My touchstones here are things like: Eyes of the Stone Thief, The Banewarrens, Parlainth Boxed Set, Vor Rukoth.

The dungeon is a kind of mythic entity that intertwines with a setting and the PCs enter into it to pursue story based goals and competition with factions, not just to explore and get loot.

 

[rgoodbb]

A delve is what you do in a dungeon. A crawl is what you do on a hex map. A creep is that one player nobody really likes but hasn’t caused enough problems to justify kicking them out yet

Ha! I of course, disagree. They are all terms of dungeon advances for me. Creep and Crawl meaning virtually the same thing. (in my opinion). I have not unfortunately been involved with a Hex Crawl in my years. (weird). Delve is a word that covers what my origional thought of a dungeon crawl would be like.

So to answer your question. As both a DM and Player...YES! I Delve....and I freakin love it!.....Every now and again....from time to time....Occasionally.

 

[Don Durito]

I like environments that tell the story of a location though. Even simple things like finding a painting of an npc in one room and later encountering the ghost of that npc in another

Those sounds like scenes to me.

It may be scenes, but it's also just good basic Dungeon design. Dungeons work best when, on top of whatever else players are doing in the dungeon, unravelling the mystery of the dungeon, what it is, how it works, what the history is, is a part of the game.

 

[Charlaquin]

It may be scenes, but it's also just good basic Dungeon design. Dungeons work best when, on top of whatever else players are doing in the dungeon, unravelling the mystery of the dungeon, what it is, how it works, what the history is, is a part of the game.

Agreed!