Do you ever use the "random" dungeon?

[dreaded_beast]

I was wondering about this, since I am still new to DMing.

Do you ever have an adventure where your players just hear about a dungeon and go exploring in it for no reason other than to find treasure and gain experience killing monsters?

If you do, do you create a background and story for the dungeon and why the monsters are living there or do you create your dungeon randomly using the tables in the DMG and story and common-sense be damned?

Personally, I think there is nothing wrong with either playstyle, and I somewhat miss those days of BASIC DND when you would just go into a dungeon and find the weirdest, funniest, and strangest things.

For examples, check out the Dungeon Cliche thread.

 

[Halivar]

I like both pre-planned and random. Often I have dungeons separated into the bottom-most "main event" area, where everything is preplanned and exists strictly within the confines of the main campaign's purpose, but the two or three dungeon levels above it are the "yard trash" levels, where everything is random (including rooms and hallways; I developed a handy algorithm for doing that).

And yeah, our group loves the "Ok, you guys meet and go to a dungeon. You're in the dungeon. Now go get the gold." Well, at least, every once in a while.

 

[FireLance]

Some players and DMs find that a truly random and weird dungeon interferes with their suspension of disbelief and hence their enjoyment of the game. However, if that does not apply to you or your player, go ahead and run a random dungeon.

 

[Telperion]

No. Never. I rarely use a dungeon as it is, so if I did use one it would be tailor made down to the hundreds of humanoid skeletons decorating all the walls.

 

[Li Shenron]

Do you ever have an adventure where your players just hear about a dungeon and go exploring in it for no reason other than to find treasure and gain experience killing monsters?

More or less, yes. I try not to make it too trivial, but sometimes it has basically been that

If you do, do you create a background and story for the dungeon and why the monsters are living there or do you create your dungeon randomly using the tables in the DMG and story and common-sense be damned?

I don't necessarily create a background story, just a couple of ideas to get the feeling that the dungeon is not there for the characters. I don't like generating the encounters randomly, mostly 1) because I am not fond of weirdos monsters in the tables, 2) because I prefer themed dungeons and not a random assortment of creatures, 3) because I like dungeons which still make some sense (which include first and foremost that there is no monster in EVERY single room and mosters have never moved from their room). Whenever possible, I like the dungeon to have a vaguely plausible ecology.

 

[MerricB]

I've used the random dungeon rules extensively. I generally try to add some sort of overall plot, but I find them very useful, especially when the PCs end up somewhere I didn't expect.

Cheers!

 

[Basaxerxes the First]

I did once. I needed a small dungeon, and was too intellectually drained to draw one up myself, so I headed off to one of the online dungeon generators. The result worked out just fine, although I did make a few wee alterations. It's certainly something I'd do again, if I needed to.

 

[Henry]

I did once. I needed a small dungeon, and was too intellectually drained to draw one up myself, so I headed off to one of the online dungeon generators.

In this sense, yes, I do this quite a lot - but rarely anymore do I have random dungeon sessions - though if my players search out a source of monsters and their hidey-holes, I give it to them. Faerun in my games are littered with small monster hidey holes in uncivilized lands, so there's no end of fun if they want to do something a little more violent than usual.

 

[Ylis]

Usually the only time I throw a random dungeon in the mix is:
a)the planned GM bowed out and I got suckered into the job without having time to prepare
b)I'm starting a new group that does not know each other in-game (random dungeons can help PCs get to know each other)
c)I want to throw something really nasty at them because they went completely off course in the game....
Other than that, I plan everything out. In fact, I rarely use dungeons.

 

[Altalazar]

I don't do them anymore, though when I was younger, I probably did.

But even in the adventures I do plan out, there are always "random dungeon"-like elements in places or perhaps in a side-trek. That, to me, is part of just the overall flavor of having a living, active world that exists outside of the narrow window of whatever "plot" is occupying the PCs of late.