D&D General How Much Dungeon Crawling Do You Do?

[Flamestrike]

Then just about anything that takes place in a physical location counts as a "dungeon crawl" and the words become kind of meaningless. It also probably wouldn't qualify based on wikipedia's definition

A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games in which heroes navigate a labyrinth environment (a "dungeon"), battling various monsters, avoiding traps, solving puzzles, and looting any treasure they may find.[1] Video games which predominantly feature dungeon crawl elements are considered to be a genre.[1]​

For me a 'dungeon' is any locale where the players are expected to deal with a series of encounters in relative close proximity to each other (temporally).

It could be a ruin, a cave network, a castle, sewers, trails and clearings in a forest, mines or anything of that nature.

Any time the party are in formation, and moving from area to area dealing with something in that area.

For mine, 'dungeons' take up 50-75 percent of game time, with the rest being mainly upkeep in towns, travel to (and (from) dungeons, and social pillar stuff.

 

[Azzy]

Up to 75%. Generally more than I'd like, but it's an easy fallback and the players seem to enjoy it for the most part.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

I run mostly location-based adventures. For example, in my Dragon Heist remix, the 3rd level PCs have:

1. Burgled a house
2. Infiltrated a prison to rescue one prisoner and kill another
3. Assaulted a ruined clock tower
4. Investigated an ancient library

I consider each of those to be a "dungeon" for purposes of this poll.

In between each of those adventures have been a single session where the PCs deal with the fallout from their last adventure and plan their next move.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

Personally, I enjoy an equal mix of dungeon-crawling, hex crawling, and politicking.

I defined dungeon as an enclosed space (cavern, library, haunted house, etc.), where time is measure in movement and movement choices are inherently limited.

 

[Charlaquin]

There is (unsurprisingly) a bit of disagreement going on here as to what qualifies as a “dungeon.” The OP defines a dungeon as “any closed location where the primary goal of the PCs is to explore (probably in search of something) with dangers and wonders in their way.” That’s not a bad definition, and by that definition I voted “a lot, up to 75%.”

For those who find the definition too narrow, I propose this alternative: a dungeon is any place where the structure of the adventure coincides with a physical structure. In a dungeon, the scenes and encounters are associated with literal rooms, and the transitions between those scenes and encounters are literal hallways.

 

[Lanefan]

For those who find the definition too narrow, I propose this alternative: a dungeon is any place where the structure of the adventure coincides with a physical structure. In a dungeon, the scenes and encounters are associated with literal rooms, and the transitions between those scenes and encounters are literal hallways.

That's a reasonable definition, though there's always going to be edge cases the most obvious of which is when the 'physical structure' is particularly large and-or has undefined borders such as a forest or city or even a whole new plane.

Is X1 Isle of Dread a dungeon? For purposes of the definition as presented in the OP I'd say yes, though I personally don't see it as a 'dungeon crawl'.

Given that broadness in definition, and thinking only in terms of actual adventuring time as opposed to downtime, treasury division, etc. which I ignored, I voted 90%

 

[Oofta]

That's not at all what I proposed.

But that is how @aco175 is interpreting it. I mean, yes, I agree that my haunted house was a dungeon, and an exception to my general "no dungeon" rules. But it was the exception to the rule for my campaign, a structure or location that actively puts obstacles in the way of the PCs. In my case, the house itself was an opponent and full of obstacles the PCs had to overcome.

That's quite rare in my campaigns. Environment and hazards have an effect now and then, but it doesn't matter if it's indoors or outdoors. I'm not saying you took it to that extreme, just that if someone does then it ceases to have much meaning IMHO. I would never consider a cottage a dungeon for example, because it's going to only have a couple of rooms. Unless of course, you've been shrunken down to the size of mice and need to battle the mighty house cat Fluffy.

In any case, sorry for derailing the thread. I just don't think that because an encounter takes place in a defined location that the location becomes a dungeon and it gets qualified as a dungeon crawl. To me, the wikipedia entry defines it well. I agree that a crashed spaceship, a tunnel network, a sunken pirate ship can all function as dungeon crawls. On the other hand, fighting off pirates on a ship even if the PCs start in the lower decks of the ship and have to fight their way the top through multiple areas.

 

[Reynard]

For those who find the definition too narrow, I propose this alternative: a dungeon is any place where the structure of the adventure coincides with a physical structure. In a dungeon, the scenes and encounters are associated with literal rooms, and the transitions between those scenes and encounters are literal hallways.

My personal quibble with this definition is that it includes, for example, the PCs gathering information from various sides of a political conflict in a friendly castle. That's a perfectly valid and fun adventure, politicking and trading favors, but it isn't what I would define as a "dungeon adventure" for purposes of the poll. Now, make the place unfriendly and throw in a sense of tension through danger and exploration (the politicking is between the Drow Theocracy and the Ghoul Empire and the PCs aren't supposed to be there) and it's a dungeon again.

 

[TwoSix]

My personal quibble with this definition is that it includes, for example, the PCs gathering information from various sides of a political conflict in a friendly castle. That's a perfectly valid and fun adventure, politicking and trading favors, but it isn't what I would define as a "dungeon adventure" for purposes of the poll. Now, make the place unfriendly and throw in a sense of tension through danger and exploration (the politicking is between the Drow Theocracy and the Ghoul Empire and the PCs aren't supposed to be there) and it's a dungeon again.

An adventure defined by intruding into and exploring a physical space for purposes of discovery and acquisition?

I mean, if you're not intruding, it's not really a dungeon crawl.

 

[Oofta]

If going into a location with potentially hostile enemies qualifies as a dungeon crawl, does that mean I do dungeon crawls when I visit my in-laws?