Rate the stereotype - do you raid dungeons?

[MerakSpielman]

My players would find that sort of campaign boring. That's what computer games are for.

Not to dis computer games, by the way, I play far too many of those, too. It's just that D&D is capable of such depth, why play it so simplisticly?

 

[Mouseferatu]

I run the occasional dungeon either as a break from the main plot, or as part of it. (This is the lair of a main villain, or the like.) But I find a campaign that focuses entirely on dungeon crawls usually gets boring pretty quick. My players and I like an in-depth story (so long as it still allows for player choice, of course), we like multiple environments, and we like different kinds of plots. I've run entire games that were all investigation/discussion with no combat, and my average game has only one major fight. Dungeon crawls usually (not always, I know), focus almost exclusively on fighting, and I feel there's so much more to gaming than just rolling the dice.

 

[Vahktang]

Ya need the dungeons.
That's where the major threat comes from.
Out door encounters allow the PC's to heal up total between encounters.
Tricks and traps are fun and right possible in dungeons.

And I'm doing a 'kick in the door' as a player now.
Unfortunately, we got in too deep and had to do a 'Kill our biggest enemy and we'll forgive all the dead bodies around here' thing.
It's going well.

More later,

Vahktang

 

[Sir Whiskers]

Quote:
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... kicking down someones door, smashing up their stuff, hacking them and their companions to death with swords, axes, flails, burning their pet hydra to death in a fireball, stealing everything of worth and then doing the same to their neighbours in the next dungeon room...
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Ah, D&D as I learned it (waaayyy back in the mid-70's).

I actually ran my group through an adventure like this about 2 years ago. An old abandonded temple had to be cleared - the party was to kill or drive out all evil creatures so it could be restored. It had the normal mix of creatures, traps, and puzzles. And they found it thoroughly boring. I ended up eliminating about a dozen encounters just so they could finish it more quickly.

So much for nostalgia...

 

[Bregh]

That's so Old School that I have all but forgotten about running such sessions in my games. My players roll their eyes when such concepts are even mentioned.

And my Players roll their eyes whenever anything but a challenging "dungeon crawl" is suggested for the evening. Even after 14+ years.

Good thing, I guess, that these D&D games seem so accommodating of multiple styles of play.

KB's analogy seems a little over-simplified--and the suggestion that domination is next to useless in such a campaign shows a remarkable lack of insight into how much tactics and/or spontaneous role-playing matters to "hack-and-slash" (a term I loathe for its derrogatory connotations) Players--but what he describes still holds the absolute essence of what my regular Players and I find to be the pinnacle of a session of gaming entertainment.

 

[ThoughtBubble]

Well, I find raiding dugneons to be fun. Even with a contrlling DM, you still get some freedom of choice in there that's often missing. Dugneons are a great place for team work, since generally survival takes precidence over the social quibbles. Not to mention the simple fun of facing challeng after challenge.

However, rarely does the group I DM, or either of the groups I play with go into dungeons without reason. Sometimes a couple of characters would be interested if there was just a dungeon lying around and there was nothing to do. But the instant someone asks them to retrive a gemstone, it's on.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

KB's analogy seems a little over-simplified--and the suggestion that domination is next to useless in such a campaign shows a remarkable lack of insight into how much tactics and/or spontaneous role-playing matters to "hack-and-slash" (a term I loathe for its derrogatory connotations) Players--but what he describes still holds the absolute essence of what my regular Players and I find to be the pinnacle of a session of gaming entertainment.

lets see, I didn't make the analogy, it was a strawman thrown into the earlier discussion.

When I said that such a game wouldn't be "concerned" about domination, I thought it was clear I meant the moral implications of domination, sorry if it wasn't.

You'd be amazed at how much insight I can have into something and still be as derogetory as I please towards it.

I'm not a He.

Glad you like your game, even more glad I don't play in it.

Kahuna burger

 

[Dark Jezter]

Dungeon raids are fun.

Every few sessions in my campaign, the PCs find a dungeon to go exploring.

 

[Bregh]

lets see, I didn't make the analogy, it was a strawman thrown into the earlier discussion.

When I said that such a game wouldn't be "concerned" about domination, I thought it was clear I meant the moral implications of domination, sorry if it wasn't.

Apology accepted. Maybe you want to edit for clarification?

You'd be amazed at how much insight I can have into something and still be as derogetory as I please towards it.

Possibly. But I have seen no evidence of this so far.

I'm not a He.

Universal neuter pronoun in English. However, thanks for enlightening me.

Glad you like your game, even more glad I don't play in it.

Me too.

Kind of sad though. Speaks volumes about the sophistry and snobbery that plagues the hobby.

 

[Piratecat]

Quit sniping at each others, folks. Please discuss this without veiled OR overt insults.