Does anybody not use dungeons?
- Thread starter NewJeffCT
- Start date
Eosin the Red
First Post
I am one of the "does a castle count as a dungeon" folks? I do not have any CHUD races IMC but I do have a race that built burial mounds (al la ....the First Emperor) and plan to have one in the next major story arch.
I will sign up for the "doesn't make sence to me" group. The only bad thing is that not using dungeons severly limits your module options and renders Dungeon Mag nearly useless. I can still salvage some goodies from them though.
I will sign up for the "doesn't make sence to me" group. The only bad thing is that not using dungeons severly limits your module options and renders Dungeon Mag nearly useless. I can still salvage some goodies from them though.
I guess I am with most here in that while I play insert a small room crypt or other subterranian encounter, I have never gone back to the "Keep on the Borderlands" type of dungeon campaign. (Although that was the first module I ever DM'd when I was eleven or so).
It seems that WOTC keeps trying to bring back the 'dungeon crawl' feel. I personally don't like these types of adventures as either a player or a DM, because I feel like the world should feel more open with endless possibilities, instead of going from room-to-room killing monsters and getting treasure. In my own campaign which has been running for almost 10 years, I have really enjoyed how there is an entire world out there to draw from in creating ideas for encounters. And the players really seem to enjoy the feelings that there is growth and change in the campaign world as well, especially in running into the same NPCs at the same places and noting that they have changed as well.
Although I think some people may be able to do some wondrous things with a dungeon crawl campaign, I haven't experienced it yet. However, I do use the occasional sewer, crypt, and cave, but I don't really create them into anymore than a few room encounter.
It seems that WOTC keeps trying to bring back the 'dungeon crawl' feel. I personally don't like these types of adventures as either a player or a DM, because I feel like the world should feel more open with endless possibilities, instead of going from room-to-room killing monsters and getting treasure. In my own campaign which has been running for almost 10 years, I have really enjoyed how there is an entire world out there to draw from in creating ideas for encounters. And the players really seem to enjoy the feelings that there is growth and change in the campaign world as well, especially in running into the same NPCs at the same places and noting that they have changed as well.
Although I think some people may be able to do some wondrous things with a dungeon crawl campaign, I haven't experienced it yet. However, I do use the occasional sewer, crypt, and cave, but I don't really create them into anymore than a few room encounter.
I have very rarely used dungeons... only twice in the last two and a half years. One was a abandoned then cursed dwarven home that any who entered couldn't leave (thus nicely explaining the assortment of creatures within and their constant preying on each other) and another was the classic (but small) elven tomb 
. Other then that... I don't use dungeons. What I'm amazed by is the Master Maze stuff by Dwarven Forge. They are very expensive and look great... but I know of few people that would get their moneys worth of it. Now, if they made one for towns and cities... that would be a different story .
. Other then that... I don't use dungeons. What I'm amazed by is the Master Maze stuff by Dwarven Forge. They are very expensive and look great... but I know of few people that would get their moneys worth of it. Now, if they made one for towns and cities... that would be a different story .
The only true dungeon I've been in in recent memory with the group of characters we've been playing for years now was Banewarrens. thats a true dungeon. I'm usually against those sort of things, but the way the banewarrens are laid out and the constant interaction with the town makes that adventure great.
~~Brandon
~~Brandon
I haven't run a dungeon crawl in years. As far as any smart alec definition goes, a "dungeon" is where you sneak around a structure and take on a lot of combat. The size of the structure ensure the party will contine to do this activity for most of the session, if not more than one session.
These "site-based" adventures can take on a variety of shapes, sizes and themes. Heck, TSR's old Top Secret game featured most adventures as modern day dungeon crawls with the additons of guns and super gadgets. A lot of TSR Gamma World adventures were post-apoc SF dungeon crawls.
Now for the times I play. I end up stuck in a 'crawl at least once a year. Flame me for this comment, but it seems that most of these 'crawls happen in the game when the GM didn't know what else to do for the night, so he pulled out or created the dungeon as a way to keep the game afloat until he came up with something to put us back on track. Usualy, if the campaign suddenly becomes "Meet this man to find out what item he needs so you can go to the next dungeon and get it so you can give it to him so he can tell you who the next man you need to talk to is .." at least twice in a row, then it's a sure sign the campiagn has jumped the shark.
These "site-based" adventures can take on a variety of shapes, sizes and themes. Heck, TSR's old Top Secret game featured most adventures as modern day dungeon crawls with the additons of guns and super gadgets. A lot of TSR Gamma World adventures were post-apoc SF dungeon crawls.
Now for the times I play. I end up stuck in a 'crawl at least once a year. Flame me for this comment, but it seems that most of these 'crawls happen in the game when the GM didn't know what else to do for the night, so he pulled out or created the dungeon as a way to keep the game afloat until he came up with something to put us back on track. Usualy, if the campaign suddenly becomes "Meet this man to find out what item he needs so you can go to the next dungeon and get it so you can give it to him so he can tell you who the next man you need to talk to is .." at least twice in a row, then it's a sure sign the campiagn has jumped the shark.
Last edited:
Kilmore
First Post
There's many things that can qualify as a dungeon, and many reasons why they exist and why players should go there. Fact is, to get to epic levels, characters probably go through hundreds of hours of gaming. Dungeons are one of several main types of adventures that characters can go on. Others that come to mind are wilderness, city, nautical, underwater, and planar. Some parties may have a strong preference for one or the other, but as far as I'm concerned, I like variety.
So yes, I use dungeons.
So yes, I use dungeons.
G'day
I hardly ever run adventures in which PCs explore, raid, traverse, or penetrate adventure areas consisting of networks of areas keyed to descriptions, lists of contents, or local encounters. My adventures are plot-driven and extemporised in collaboration with the players.
'Encounters' take place in streets, in houses, on rooftops, on roads, in ballrooms, in forest glades, on athletics grounds, on battlements, in gardens, in deserted pavilions during thunderstorms, on the decks of ships, on mountainsides, in lagoons, on deserted moors at midnight, and on swaying rope bridges across torrents.
Regards,
Agback
I hardly ever run adventures in which PCs explore, raid, traverse, or penetrate adventure areas consisting of networks of areas keyed to descriptions, lists of contents, or local encounters. My adventures are plot-driven and extemporised in collaboration with the players.
'Encounters' take place in streets, in houses, on rooftops, on roads, in ballrooms, in forest glades, on athletics grounds, on battlements, in gardens, in deserted pavilions during thunderstorms, on the decks of ships, on mountainsides, in lagoons, on deserted moors at midnight, and on swaying rope bridges across torrents.
Regards,
Agback
I don't use the classic dungeon with multiple levels, traps and monsters very often. The closest structures I regularly use are ancient tombs, but even those are seldom bigger than a couple rooms with a few traps and maybe some undead or construct guardians. I rarely use monsters, so there are not many lairs either. underground hideouts or escape routes, and catacombs are more common, since one campaign is centered in a big, ancient city with a vast network/maze of underground passages. Even when the party descends into those tunnels for some reason or other (rebels or cultists hiding there, f.e.) it does not take them much time to get to the "main room" - I hate the "crawling feeling" where you slowly progress for hours through one room/coridor after another.
The last "dungeon adventure" I had was when the party, who was stalked by some mysterious figure, decided to solve the mystery of the stolen corpse of a former PC. They visited the burial grounds in the catacombs under the temple of the god of death, talked with the priests and found the tracks of the thief. Following the tracks led the group to a secret door hidden behind an illusion, which was also trapped. Arriving here took around 5 minutes real time. Opening the door and overcoming the trap took another 5 to 10 minutes. After that the PCs traveled down a few corridors and found a big chamber where the BBEG (A thief the former PC had harmed and driven crazy) was hiding.
The last "dungeon adventure" I had was when the party, who was stalked by some mysterious figure, decided to solve the mystery of the stolen corpse of a former PC. They visited the burial grounds in the catacombs under the temple of the god of death, talked with the priests and found the tracks of the thief. Following the tracks led the group to a secret door hidden behind an illusion, which was also trapped. Arriving here took around 5 minutes real time. Opening the door and overcoming the trap took another 5 to 10 minutes. After that the PCs traveled down a few corridors and found a big chamber where the BBEG (A thief the former PC had harmed and driven crazy) was hiding.
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