OSR How to make dungeon crawls interesting

[Koloth]

Depends on the group. If mostly murder hobos, the 1-5 play loop is pretty close. If the group wants non combat encounters, you have a few more options.
For both types, #2 can include monsters that run away. Are they leaving just to save their own life? Or to warn nearby groups? Rally support? (Maybe that tribe of goblins is the 'reef cleaners' of the dungeon and are liked by many of the larger critters.) The party might find itself in a 'last stand' type of scenario if the many monsters that used the goblins are irritated that the pest control goblins were just killed. (Can the party recognize that the goblins are not hostile before the killing begins?)
#4 can include the possibility of finding a hidden cell with a kidnapped prince. Is the prince on the party's original list of things to do? Of course not! But it gives the party a decision to make.

If the party destroys the dungeon ecology, possible one of the results is a bunch of former dungeon critters wandering the topside looking for a new home and killing local farmers in the process. The nearby villagers could be rather pissed at the party of conquering heroes when the party shows up at a local tavern and begins boasting about the many battles. "Oh, YOU are the ones that caused the death of my sister's family! Sheriff, arrest them!"

 

[Bae'zel]

I always plan a few encounters that clearly aren't "a bunch of bad guys to fight".

Weird dungeon merchants, freaky riddles in the dark with mysterious sentient undead, strange "things" to interact with etc. Keeping things fresh and players on their toes.

I really draw inspiration from books like Vermis vol 1 and vol 2. Lots of bizarre, creepy or haunting encounters that don't necessarily have a "win" condition:

Vermis I - lost dungeons and forbidden woods (Forsaken Edition)

Vermis I - Lost Dungeons and Forbidden Woods(FORSAKEN EDITION)the official guideby Plastibooa LORE Game Book (loreGB)Vermis I (Forsaken Edition) is a Larger and Hard Cover version of the cult Vermis I (Regular Edition).3D embossed/dembossed front cover + dembossed back cover.With a double tissue...

hollow-press.net

Vermis II - mist & mirrors (Forsaken Edition)

Vermis II - Mist & Mirrors(FORSAKEN EDITION)the official guideby Plastibooa LORE Game Book (loreGB)Vermis II (Forsaken Edition) is a Larger and Hard Cover version of the cult Vermis II (Regular Edition).3D embossed/dembossed front cover + dembossed back cover.With a double tissue bookmark (black...

hollow-press.net

 

[Mannahnin]

Step 1, make kicking in the door a death sentence.

Unless one is going for a pulpy action game.

I think Overgeeked's use of "kick in the door" may be informed by the default expectation in OD&D that doors in dungeons are always stuck (for intruders) and must be forced. Obviously other games don't necessarily have that expectation.

I will say that this heavily depends on the GM- some folk would rather have to come up with reasons for random encounters and reaction rolls on the fly, and build that part of the faction/dungeon story as they go.
Why is there a halfling merchant caravan in the middle of the dungeon, or why are these orcs indifferent to the party when all the others have been hostile?

Probably a good time to link d4 Caltrop's OSE Encounter Activity tables, which gives d100 table for "what are the monsters doing?" for basically every monster in B/X / OSE.

OSE Encounter Activity Tables

Here is a consolidated list of all entries for my OSE Encounter Activity Table Project (includes all Monsters in the Rules Tome or B/X). By...

blog.d4caltrops.com

 

[Gus L]

While the

Near as I can tell the play loop of a dungeon crawl is:

1. Kick in the door.
2. Kill all the monsters.
3. Loot the bodies.
4. Search the room.
5. Find a new door.

While this might be a way to play a dungeon crawl, it's certainly not the only way (as others have suggested). The key to making a dungeon crawl feel like something beyond a string of fights is to focus on the crawl aspect - that the PCs have entered a fundamentally dangerous space where they are at best one pack of predators among others. They may even be able to win most fights, but they can't reliably win repeated fights - or EVERY fight.

My take on Dungeon Crawls (note I'm capitalizing it here - as a term) is that they focus on exploration as the locus of play rather then combat (though combat is obviously still a big part of the game). To do this the make the dungeon a dangerous environment for the PCs and this forces players to make decisions about how they proceed through the space - what challenges they face and what challenges they attempt to avoid or circumvent. The core player action in the dungeon crawl game is a clever scheme, not rolling for combat results.

To do so the Dungeon Crawl requires three related concepts and supporting rules - a sort of design tripod: Time, Supply, and Risk. Each of these corresponds to a set of mechanics: turn keeping, supply depletion/encumbrance, and random encounters. If you want to know more about this description of how exploration focused Dungeon Crawling works, and why it works with older rulesets, I've written a lot on the subject (as have others).

This is my basic FAQ/primer:

AN INTRODUCTION TO DUNGEON CRAWLING

You want to run a “Dungeon Crawl” adventure … Not just an adventure in a "dungeon", but a Dungeon Crawl - that distinct, classic mode of R...

alldeadgenerations.blogspot.com

- Gus

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I always tried to make the non combat stuff as much a part of it as the combat. lots of traps, lots of situations based around logic and puzzles to challenge the players, resource management and logistics. Having to make decisions on how and when to engage any foes very important by making the option of resting during the delve not a very good option. When the 15 minute adventuring day makes blowing your wad on a couple encounters before you grab a rest in the dungeon isn't an option players will have to make some decisions on how and when they spend their limited resources. Make the exploration part fun with gonzo elements and things that engage the players beyond just "when do we start fighting".

It depends on the group though. My last group of long time players and I started to want different things from the game. They seemed to lose the initiative to do anything that wasn't an ability on their sheet, and any kind of strategic thinking outside of combat fell to the wayside. But a couple players were obviously terribly bored when there wasn't a fight going on and didn't really engage with things outside of combat, but that was the same for most of the games we had played over the past several years. Even in modern games like TW2K 1e and the new version there was a rush to get into fights even when being shot in the head with an AK was not something that would be healed.

So my last OSE campaign ended when I lost interest in running the game some of them wanted, and now they are playing a game that is just an endless stream of combat encounters. I enjoy combat games but I play skirmish and larger wargames for that, D&D isn't the best tool for that kind of gaming for me or what I want to do with it. So they are playing their military 5e D&D game and enjoying it and I spend my gaming time on miniatures games.

 

[GM Lent]

My solution: run DCC modules. While they promise an old-school style of play and deliver to some extent, they pretty universally feature interesting setpieces, unexpected encounters (both with creatures and physical features) and innvative solutions.

Take a look at The Portal Under the Stars (one of the first adventures for DCC, if not the first; very widely available and easy to find) for an example of what I mean. And it's just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[overgeeked]

My solution: run DCC modules. While they promise an old-school style of play and deliver to some extent, they pretty universally feature interesting setpieces, unexpected encounters (both with creatures and physical features) and innvative solutions.

Take a look at The Portal Under the Stars (one of the first adventures for DCC, if not the first; very widely available and easy to find) for an example of what I mean. And it's just the tip of the iceberg.

Thanks, but no. I'm not touching anything DCC or Goodman Games related after Goodman's about face on working with bigots.