What is Dungeons & Dragons "dungeon delve format?"

[Emirikol]

What is "dungeon delve format" and what are "non-dungeon-delve formats"?

jh

 

[buzz]

Go to the WotC site and download any adventure they've released in the last six months or so.

Basically, each encounter gets a 1-2 page spread with all creature stats, environment details, and a highlighted map of the encounter area. Best thing to ever happen to adventures, IMO.

 

[Emirikol]

What was the old format called?
jh

 

[JVisgaitis]

What was the old format called?
jh

Um, text? I don't think it had a name.

 

[Hussar]

What was the old format called?
jh

Don't believe it had a name.

They've been using the Delve format for over a year now. I'm kinda ambivalent about it to be honest.

One thing I don't like is that they put the placement of the monsters on the maps. That makes reusing the maps almost impossible, and, it's just damn ugly. I wish they would include a player version of the maps with modules as well as a DM's version.

Really, I think they would be far better off to actually make DM's maps that give lots more information than they do. It would be pretty easy, for example, to include monster types and numbers on the DM's main map. Makes getting an overall sense of the adventure much easier.

I like the Delve format in that it makes it very easy to run encounters. I just think that the format could be tweaked a bit.

 

[Emirikol]

So the OD&D format was stuff like KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS where there was an adventure background, an expected plot flow, and then numbered encounters based on a map with the (then brief) stat-blocks listed with each encounter. This worked back when there werent' so many sub-rule-abilities for each monster don't you think?

Then there were things out there that were entirely fluff, which where it was just freeform, with NPC backgrounds and a story with stats randomly sprinkled in there somewhere. There were side-bars thrown in wherever they seemed to fit in the text. I remember a lot of 2e stuff being this way. The early 2e formatting seems really terrible for game play unless the DM has a photographic memory and just likes highlighting huge blocks of text.

RPGA seems to have pioneered the hybrid format I suppose with the advent of massive numbers of scenarios produced and feedback from DM's regarding formatting. Then they had the Living Greyhawk format where all of the stat blocks went at the END of the scenario, based on Tier (no thanks SRM . That was by far my LEAST favorite format.

DUNGEON tried the OD&D format, but with "symbols" for different types of encounters at one point as I recall too. Their magazine format had to fit with artistry in most cases. Referencing maps back and forth was always difficult in those types of scenarios.

Now that I think about it, a whole page (or two) in the DUNGEON DELVE format seems pretty DM friendly, but it seems to force the adventure towards being very D&D-Miniatures-Combat-Heavy. I'll admit, it's definately easier to run, but there has not been (thus far) much plot development capability for this approach. Yes? No?

jh

 

[mmu1]

Now that I think about it, a whole page (or two) in the DUNGEON DELVE format seems pretty DM friendly, but it seems to force the adventure towards being very D&D-Miniatures-Combat-Heavy. I'll admit, it's definately easier to run, but there has not been (thus far) much plot development capability for this approach. Yes? No?

I think it works great if you simply want to run the adventure as written, in a fairly linear fashion.

It's IMO not nearly as useful if you either want to use the published adventure as a base that you build on, or you use a more "sandbox" approach and things develop in a more freeform manner - then, you end up having to reverse-engineer the bigger picture and how it'd be affected from a bunch of unconnected encounters.

 

[Hussar]

Now that I think about it, a whole page (or two) in the DUNGEON DELVE format seems pretty DM friendly, but it seems to force the adventure towards being very D&D-Miniatures-Combat-Heavy. I'll admit, it's definately easier to run, but there has not been (thus far) much plot development capability for this approach. Yes? No?

Well, I'm not really sure how format relates to plot development to be honest. The purpose of the Delve format is to put everything in a combat encounter all in one place so the DM isn't flipping pages. You get all the tactics and possible developments in one go rather than spread over several pages.

The plot development stuff is still tied to the map key really. The descriptions of the keyed locations are found outside the Delve Format areas. If that makes sense.

I mean, looking at Keep on the Borderlands, the format is just brutal. Stream of consciousness writing with little or no thought to how it would actually be run at the table. While I love KotB, clearly written it's not.

So, I'm left sort of confused as to how plot relates to format and how you get the sense that this is forcing a "D&D-Miniatures-Combat-Heavy" element. Even before you had the Delve format, you were still breakign out the minis and battlemap in 3e. This just helps DM's set things up.

 

[JVisgaitis]

Go to the WotC site and download any adventure they've released in the last six months or so.

Totally off topic, but the quote in your sig attribited to The Rouse should be attributed to Rob Heinsoo.

 

[buzz]

Totally off topic, but the quote in your sig attribited to The Rouse should be attributed to Rob Heinsoo.

Thanks! My brain thought one thing and my fingers typed another.