How much "dungeon crawl" do you like in a campaign?

[ivocaliban]

As a DM I tend to avoid dungeon-crawls unless there's a very specific and story-related reason for having one in the first place. I personally find them very dull and often filled with too many random, lethal dangers for plot-central sagas. While I'm not above having my heroes meet their doom, I don't like the thought of the "boiling oil trap on level seven" being an end to something we've worked on for several years now. So, just as Lord of the Rings would have been spoiled if Bilbo had died from some random event while travelling through Moria, I prefer death to come, if it comes at all, during something tied directly to the plot. While this does place cinema above realism in terms of value, it seems more fun to both me and my players if they die in some deliberate or purposeful way than simply because they tripped and fell.

Still, I enjoy a dungeon crawl from time to time. In the four years I've been running my current campaign I only recall four or five dungeon crawls (only one of which lasted more than a single session). The general reasons for these dungeon crawls are: 1) rescue attempts, 2) pursuit of an enemy, and 3) item retrieval. There has yet to be a dungeon crawl for the sake of treasure-hunting or dungeon crawling, mostly because my players haven't sought one out. Furthermore, as many have mentioned above, none of these "dungeon crawls" have taken place in actual dungeons. Temples, caverns, etc. for the most part.

 

[Mystery Man]

As a DM I tend to avoid dungeon-crawls unless there's a very specific and story-related reason for having one in the first place. I personally find them very dull and often filled with too many random, lethal dangers for plot-central sagas.

As a DM it's your fault if they're dull, too random, too lethal or whatever. If you find them that way change it.

 

[Pants]

While I'm not above having my heroes meet their doom, I don't like the thought of the "boiling oil trap on level seven" being an end to something we've worked on for several years now. So, just as Lord of the Rings would have been spoiled if Bilbo had died from some random event while travelling through Moria, I prefer death to come, if it comes at all, during something tied directly to the plot.

Fun anecdote:

The players in my semi-high level campaign had gotten really tired of political intruige, fighting undead and demons, and wanted to take on something slightly different and less brain-intensive. They were currently located in a northern, tundra-esque landscape and I had been building up the presence of a group of unruly frost giants for several game sessions. This whole side-quest was by no means related to the overall plot.

During the first conflict, the gnome druid died and refused to be reincarnated. During the first assault on the frost giant's lair, the human barbarian bit the dust (again) and the party retreated. During the second (and final) attack, the dwarven rogue got split in a lucky crit by the Frost Giant leader.

I killed 3 characters during a small, completely unrelated side-quest. So, it just goes to show that dungeon crawls aren't the only methods of killing off characters in unexpected (and unwanted) ways.

 

[Stormborn]

I said 60%, but I honestly have no idea because I have never gotten to play anything like a dungeon crawl. The exception being Sunless Citadel, which was my first pen and paper RPG experiance and the only thing that ever seemed remotely like a "dungeon crawl" in the last 3-4 years of gaming. This is mainly due to the make up the players, particularly the other person who tend to DM other than myself. (We tease her about being a LARPer.) The other person in the group who DMs on occasion seems to be want to PLAY more dungeon crawl style games, but never RUNS a game that way. While occasionally we have played one shots that were supposed to be dungeon- crawly in nature, it never really felt that way to me.

I would love to play a "site based adventure" with a logical enviroment and a story driven motive for adventuring there. No static orcs sitting around for no good reason who never leave that area no matter what happens around them, no random dungeons, no random treasure, I want it to make sense.

I have read a significant portion of Banewarrens, with the intent of cannabilizing for my game or tryign to talk them into palying it some day, and thats the kind of thing I have in mind when I say "dungeon crawl" and thats the kind of game I would like to play.