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

[Reynard]

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?

That depends: do you bring torches?

 

[Doug McCrae]

a dungeon is any place where the structure of the adventure coincides with a physical structure.

That's an interesting idea. A linear dungeon, such as one that consists of five rooms in a row, will probably lead to a linear adventure. A non-linear structure, such as a mega-dungeon, will lead to a non-linear adventure. We don't know if the PCs will spend all their time on level 1 dealing with giant centipedes and kobolds, or fall down a chute to level 4 and get killed by werewolves.

A couple of problems:
1) A linear dungeon that exists in a sandbox campaign could be part of a non-linear adventure. The PCs might enter the first room, get scared, and go back home or enter a different dungeon.
2) A city map containing marked points of interest would, like the mega-dungeon, lead to a non-linear adventure. But we wouldn't normally call that a dungeon, even though the physical structure (non-linear) does coincide with the adventure structure.

 

[TwoSix]

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?

Man, I'm not going to touch that with a 10 foot pole.

 

[Oofta]

That depends: do you bring torches?

Depends on what's on sale or if I have a coupon. Sometimes it's just pitchforks unless there's a 2-for-1 sale then we go for both.

 

[Reynard]

2) A city map containing marked points of interest would, like the mega-dungeon, lead to a non-linear adventure. But we wouldn't normally call that a dungeon, even though the physical structure (non-linear) does coincide with the adventure structure.

I think this question underscores one important aspect of what makes something a "dungeon" -- it has to be an unfriendly contained* location, where the PCs aren't just exploring but also under threat. A city isn't a megadungeon normally, but Goblintown might be.

*This part is important too.The Cursed Wood isn't a dungeon if the PCs can go any direction at any time within it, but it is if their movements is so hampered as to force choices along set paths.

 

[iserith]

I realize that nobody reads the DMG, particularly experienced DMs of which there are many on enworld, but dungeons are defined in the DMG, page 99, and fleshed out on subsequent pages. Adventure types - location-based vs. event-based - are defined on pages 72 and 75, respectively. If you really need a definition before you can decide how to answer a poll, there you go.

 

[GlassJaw]

I've found my group likes dungeon crawling in the 25-40% range. They thrive in the social and exploration pillars but get bogged down when there's a lot of filler combat (which tends to be the case in published modules and dungeons).

When I do bring a dungeon into the campaign, I really try to make it concise and thematic. Same for combat. Every battle doesn't need to be an epic struggle to save the world but if it's just goblins after goblins my group checks out (understandably).

 

[DND_Reborn]

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?

Yes. Simply Yes. And I hope you make it out alive... we would miss you here otherwise.

 

[pogre]

When I run D&D I run a ton of Dungeons - it's in the name! Besides the rules work really well for dungeon crawling and it matches players' expectations for a game of D&D. When I run different games there are virtually no dungeons - different expectations and all that.

Naturally, YMMV!

 

[Reynard]

I realize that nobody reads the DMG, particularly experienced DMs of which there are many on enworld, but dungeons are defined in the DMG, page 99, and fleshed out on subsequent pages. Adventure types - location-based vs. event-based - are defined on pages 72 and 75, respectively. If you really need a definition before you can decide how to answer a poll, there you go.

Good thing I defined the term in the OP, huh?