Do you use dungeons?

[Trickstergod]

I'm not a fan of dungeons for the simple fact that, often enough, they don't make sense. I'll use some caves with a limited amount of work or civilization or whatever within them, a one or two floor dungeon but, typically, don't really use many.

However, that isn't to say that I think they're not fun. Most certainly not; they definitely can be. As such, should the PC's ever get that far in my Scarred Lands game, or go down that route (my games are open ended; they might not), I have at least one dungeon in it that I intend to be fairly large.

But that dungeon has a purpose, which is the big deal for me. I can accept one or two mad wizards with their mad dungeons, but more than that strains my suspension of disbelief.

 

[LostSoul]

I don't like dungeons with empty or boring rooms.

I see dungeons the same way I see any other type of adventure. In a city-based adventure, you have your encounters spread all over the city, connected by many streets and roads. Time is also a factor here. In the dungeon, you have your encounters in more defined places connected by very few corridors. Time can be a factor, and should be.

What I don't like about dungeons, or any adventuring, is when you end up at an encounter and there is nothing to do. I don't want to open up barrels of garbage or look at food or bolts of cloth. Give me one line about that, tell me we searched the room and found nothing, then let us go on.

To me, an empty and/or boring dungeon room is like playing out mundane tasks in a city environment. If the PCs were trying to find someone at an inn or tavern in Waterdeep, you wouldn't have them pick every single one, tell you which streets they travelled on, etc. You'd just have them roll Gather Information and be done with it. i think the same thing should be done with dungeons; cut out the boring parts and just deal with the fun encounters.

 

[MerakSpielman]

My players were thinking exploring empty rooms was getting boring. Then they discovered that one of the "empty" rooms used to be used by a construct-crafter, and the furnature was all animated objects. Now they're much more on their toes.

To be fair, though, only about 1/4 of the rooms were empty. The party just happened to pretty much randomly decide to explore that area first.

 

[wedgeski]

As someone else said: I :heart: dungeons.

Part of it is sheer laziness: they're great for putting a wall around the game and letting the DM relax once in a while. An experienced set of players can quite happily drop into the dungeon groove as easily as slipping your car into a new gear. An awkward or faltering session can often be rescued even by a very small dungeon. There are also so many staid conventions to blow apart as well, that almost every one you play can have a surprise or two in store for the party.

I don't really have any time for 'realistic' dungeons, or dungeons with elaborate ecologies and half-page descriptions of why that tunnel turns right just so. As long as there is a little randomness, and a feeling that, when it matters, a dungeon will adapt to encroaching adventurers and steel itself for their return, I'm happy. And so are my players.

 

[Nellisir]

I :HEART: dungeons also, but the party has to have a goal! I've run a dungeon campaign, where the party essentially went out and cleared dungeons -- they ventured through the Well of Swords, the Endless Dungeon (not a big winner, I learned a bit with that one), the Keep of Wyrms, the Vanishing Dungeon (I played while a player DMed, also educational), The Barrows of the Three Kings of Woe (VERY successful), another player-DMed adventure that bored me to tears (hint: if a 1-time character concept is built around his equipment, taking it all away doesn't make for a fun time), the lair of three hags (wherein the powergamer player proved utterly and totally unable to even attempt to roleplay), and the bare beginnings of the Temple of the Rat Mother.

A few keys are - make it distinctive. The Well of Swords is more memorable than "that first dungeon".
- If there's a backstory, and it's interesting, tell the players. Don't make it into an ordeal, just drop it into the story. An old story they heard, or rumors overheard, or an abandoned journal.
- Make sure they have a purpose, that they know it, and that they can get there. Nothing gets frustrating faster than not knowing what the heck you're supposed to be doing, particularly when it's clear you're supposed to be doing something.

Cheers
Nell.

 

[JDJarvis]

My dungeons are all over the place in size and particulars.

Some are simple 4 or 5 encounter/sittuations in size others are truely huge.
There is one dugneon in my game that is 50 levels deep not to mention sub levels. Another is a large ruined city that itself hold dozens of smaller "dungeons" varying from couple of rooms to a half dozen or so levels each.
Big dungeons are only boring if folks think they have to move from room to room. encounter to encounter until they beat the dungeon. A really big dungeon can have purpose during the entire lifespan of a campaign. If folks find themselves coming back to a dungeon every now and then mapping them also becomes a lot more important and actually makes some sense.

 

[EricNoah]

I like 'em all, and I like to mix 'em up as the campaign progresses.