Dungeon Crawl... how do you do it?

[Dredly]

I'm a new DM and I'm running the game group through the Keep on the Shadowfell campaign. My party is about to get to the point where they are heading into the keep...

so how do I run a dungeon crawl? How do you experienced DM's do it? especially in regards to how to do the maps, vision,... etc

thanks for any tips!

 

[Starfox]

Our DM laid out the map for each encounter for all to see, then placed the models for monsters as we saw them. Mostly, this was very straightforward, as we never really tried using stealth or subtle exploration. I suppose knowing the layout of the room behind the corner might have been a boon to us, but mostly we stood our ground and let the monsters come to us, so it was never an issue.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

In terms of mapping for the table top we always just use a battlemat and wet erase markers. We might also have some props to put on the map instead of just drawing certain things. So maybe an altar is represented by a little model I happen to have, or a chest might be a little miniature chest, etc. We have figures for monsters, though sometimes they end up being dice or whatever if we don't have enough.

In terms of more "strategic" mapping the players usually designate one character as the mapper. The player of that PC will draw a map on graph paper if they want to. This isn't usually needed if the dungeon is pretty limited in size like KotS but it works well for huge maze-like areas or overland.

As far as vision goes just draw in whatever the PCs can see in a tactical situation. If they can't see it, then don't draw it right away. Once in a while its convenient to draw in a few things the PCs can reasonably extrapolate just to get it all done and set up so don't obsess about it. In some cases the PCs really cannot see much and they may really only know there's a wall next to them or a doorway in front of them with darkness on the other side.

 

[Blackbrrd]

I usually use dice for monsters. I have three sets of d6's in white, purple and black. I use a red and blue d4 for elite/solo monsters and d10's for minions.

Let's say I have an encounter with
2 spearman
3 longbowmen
1 elite dog

I assign the dices like this:
Spearman W1
Spearman W2
Longbowman B1
Longbowman B2
Longbowman B3
Elite Dog Red d4

W = White
B = Black
Red d4 = the red d4

This way it's all color coded and easy for both you and the players to keep track of. If I use minions they go on the same initiative and I don't bother keeping track of what minion is what, I just have a count of them. So if I start with 5 minions and they kill two, there is three left.

 

[Umbran]

As a note - Dungeon Crawling is not edition-specific, or rules-specific. If you want a bit more visibility to this topic, you might consider reposting it in the General Discussion forum.

 

[Dredly]

I usually use dice for monsters. I have three sets of d6's in white, purple and black. I use a red and blue d4 for elite/solo monsters and d10's for minions.

Let's say I have an encounter with
2 spearman
3 longbowmen
1 elite dog

I assign the dices like this:
Spearman W1
Spearman W2
Longbowman B1
Longbowman B2
Longbowman B3
Elite Dog Red d4

W = White
B = Black
Red d4 = the red d4

This way it's all color coded and easy for both you and the players to keep track of. If I use minions they go on the same initiative and I don't bother keeping track of what minion is what, I just have a count of them. So if I start with 5 minions and they kill two, there is three left.

I stole someones idea of printing out the guys to use as tokens.

I went to D&D Miniatures Gallery and find the mobs I want, put them on a spreadsheet twice (rotate one) so they appear joined at the head and then i bend them into an A frame, they stand up great and fit into the squares on the board. it makes it much better for the players as well since they know what they are attacking due to different pictures. its also WAY cheaper then anything else I've come up with. It takes a little extra work on the DM side since I need to keep track of them though.

my main question is how do I do the map layout, thats the thing I'm having the most trouble with.

btw, you can go here: D&D Miniatures Master List and type in a monter type and it will tell you where to find it in the list of minis

 

[karooba]

I ran this entire adventure with my group and they had a blast.

First, go here: Eleven Foot Pole: February 2009 and read through the excellent walk-through posted by this DM. His blog helped a lot when planning encounters.

Next, join the cartographer's guild and download and print the battlemats made by loydb. Link is here: http://forum.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?2806-Keep-on-the-Shadowfell-battlemats These hepled tremendously on the visual-side.

Also, make sure you are using the updated version of the adventure, which can be downloaded for free from wotc.

 

[bardolph]

I'm a new DM and I'm running the game group through the Keep on the Shadowfell campaign. My party is about to get to the point where they are heading into the keep...

so how do I run a dungeon crawl? How do you experienced DM's do it? especially in regards to how to do the maps, vision,... etc

thanks for any tips!

I use a battle mat and wet-erase markers.

In the past, when I haven't had a battle mat, I've used a pile of 8.5 x 11 inch blank paper and a permanent black marker to draw the map. When the characters go of one edge, just add another piece of paper. Use a ruler to measure distances, or just eyeball it, and you should be fine.

 

[eriktheguy]

In terms of the overall experience, start by just running the dungeon and the encounters as they are presented in the module. You are off to a great start running keep on shadowfell.
Feel free to mix things up once you get into it. For example, keep on shadowfell has a lot of combats in it. This is great for a new group because it helps everyone learn the game. If your players start to get bored of fighting all the time though, feel free to remove the monsters from a few rooms.
There is good advice in this thread for running combats already.
Combat will likely take a long time for a new group at first, so don't worry. If long fights (or anything else) starts to get bothersome, you might want to come back to the forums for some more advanced tips later on.
Just browsing the forums in general is a great way to pick up tips that can make your games more fun and engaging.
Also, try the general rpg discussion forums for tips on how to run things. The DnD 4e forums are more likely to focus on specific rules for this edition, which really isn't that similar to what you are looking for.

 

[Dredly]

Thanks for the advice, so far my party is really enjoying the Keep on the Shadowfell quest, we are up to lvl 4 now (was giving exp out wrong... ehh well) so they have leveled up every session which I actually like quite a bit as it encourages them to look at DnD stuff during the week and not just on the night of the game

My biggest questions were around the map / dungeon and how to make it work. however pointed me to the maps on cartogrpher guild... THANK YOU! My buddy is printing them out and we'll just lay the maps on the table as they get to that room, it will make life a ton easier and way more enjoyable then just marker on a map.

btw - I have scaled up all the combats to be in line with the current rank and number of players, 7 lvl 4 players do a lot more damage then 4 lvl 1 players