D&D General Do You Use "Dungeons" In Your Game

[Reynard]

First: we are going with a loose definition of dungeon here. It means any contained environment stocked with hazards and enemies, the point of which is to be explored (maybe to find treasure, maybe to fight the boss, maybe to free prisoners, whatever).

Second: this question arose from an assertion I have seen in a couple threads recently that many or most people don't actually use dungeons in their D&D games, so I am interested in answering the question from that perspective. As such, it does not really matter WHY you do or don't use dungeons, just IF. Of course feel free to explain, expound and express however you like!

So, do you use dungeons in your D&D games?

I tried to make the poll options serve the purpose of the question, but of course feel free to post an answer that you like better.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I really enjoy dungeons. A friend of mine described them as a series of problems to solve, and that's how I like to approach them too.

When I create a campaign, I'll usually plop a dungeon in each general location the characters will be exploring. Sometimes the dungeon is key to the adventure, and sometimes it's just a fun place to explore.

 

[VashVet]

If I’m playing Dungeons and Dragons, there will be one or more dungeons in the campaign.

 

[TwoSix]

Pretty rarely. Definitely not in the sense that I have a prepared map stocked with encounters and treasures. The few times I've tried, I inevitably break the prepared map with some weird improv thing in a session or two.

I'm just temperamentally unsuited to running a game "straight".

 

[Remathilis]

I think you definition is so loose you can't NOT be playing in a dungeon. For example: by the definition above, every Star Wars movie features a dungeon. The heroes are sneaking into or out of a defined space full of enemies and/or hazards, sometimes there is a boss fight, and often it's to rescue someone or recover a McGuffin. Superhero games use supervillain lairs and mooks to the same effect. CoC starts out with that element while your exploring the cultists lair, until the horrors show up. Pretty much any action, spy, superhero, or horror plot will have some dungeon elements in it.

Now I'm sure you can construct an RPG without a dungeon, but to me it won't be an action RPG. It's gonna be focused on social encounters and nonviolent action over the usual genre fair. And I'm sure some people would enjoy a session of Prides & Prejudices to Dungeons & Dragons. But most popular RPGs don't and thus the dungeon, even if it's a crime lords warehouse hideaway, persists.

 

[saviirkad]

I put "sometimes but not regularly," but my campaign it really ranged from "somewhat regularly" at lower levels to "pretty much never" at higher levels. I think the last dungeon they went through on the way to level 20 was when they were lvl 11.

 

[TwoSix]

I think you definition is so loose you can't NOT be playing in a dungeon. For example: by the definition above, every Star Wars movie features a dungeon. The heroes are sneaking into or out of a defined space full of enemies and/or hazards, sometimes there is a boss fight, and often it's to rescue someone or recover a McGuffin. Superhero games use supervillain lairs and mooks to the same effect. CoC starts out with that element while your exploring the cultists lair, until the horrors show up. Pretty much any action, spy, superhero, or horror plot will have some dungeon elements in it.

Now I'm sure you can construct an RPG without a dungeon, but to me it won't be an action RPG. It's gonna be focused on social encounters and nonviolent action over the usual genre fair. And I'm sure some people would enjoy a session of Prides & Prejudices to Dungeons & Dragons. But most popular RPGs don't and thus the dungeon, even if it's a crime lords warehouse hideaway, persists.

Yea, I think the definition might be a little too broad. I, personally, don't consider going into an enclosed area to face one encounter a "dungeon". A dragon's lair which is a big cavern with the dragon inside is not a "dungeon" to me.

To be a dungeon, I think there have to be some elements of "rooms" and "corridors" where the rooms can be encountered in some kind of non-linear fashion.

 

[Reynard]

Yea, I think the definition might be a little too broad. I, personally, don't consider going into an enclosed area to face one encounter a "dungeon". A dragon's lair which is a big cavern with the dragon inside is not a "dungeon" to me.

To be a dungeon, I think there have to be some elements of "rooms" and "corridors" where the rooms can be encountered in some kind of non-linear fashion.

The definition explicitly includes the line "the purpose of which is to be explored."

 

[Umbran]

So, do you use dungeons in your D&D games?

When I run D&D lately, I work a lot with published materials - if the published material has a dungeon in it, then I use a dungeon.

Like... The Wilds Beyond the Witchlight? Not a lot of dungeon in there. There's the interior of some structures and castles and such, but not a whole lot of actual dungeon.

 

[Reynard]

I think you definition is so loose you can't NOT be playing in a dungeon. For example: by the definition above, every Star Wars movie features a dungeon. The heroes are sneaking into or out of a defined space full of enemies and/or hazards, sometimes there is a boss fight, and often it's to rescue someone or recover a McGuffin. Superhero games use supervillain lairs and mooks to the same effect. CoC starts out with that element while your exploring the cultists lair, until the horrors show up. Pretty much any action, spy, superhero, or horror plot will have some dungeon elements in it.

You are forgetting the important part: the purpose of the dungeon is to be explored.

The point of making it loose is to ignore arguments about whether a shipwreck is a dungeon (or similar), which is an argument we have EVERY TIME this subject comes up. Yes, a shipwreck is a dungeon.