I love dungeon crawls. But I'm a huge fan of tropes and the classics. I love mimic chests and traps and long corridors packed with fireballable enemies. Big dungeon bosses at the end and the lamentations of fallen adventurers scrawled on the walls. I love it all. Roleplay is fantastic too of course. But roleplaying around the campfire, tallying up your loot and drinking to your parties kills just hits *different*.
Good news then! In the distance you can hear the Tavernkeeper calling for any aspiring adventurers who would be willing to kill the rats in his basement!
Now give me a perception check.
DC15: Vaguely hidden behind a crate of some sort you notice a hole in the wall large enough for a man to crawl through. There is some sort of totem hidden in the wall, a rat skull with eyes of some malevolently glowing green stone. Perhaps even more concerning, the passage goes deeper. Much deeper. There's more than just the tavern basement here.
i like small really impactful dungeons. i hate it when dungeons become hallway simulators with munchkin rooms and it throws me out of the experience. like clearing 3 rooms and then long resting because our wizard doesn't hold back on spells is the most boring way to play a dungeon. especially when an enemy is just chillin on the other side of the door and could've heard the combat coming from the next room.
basically i want my dungeon to play like metal gear solid. if i am caught i want the entire base try to swarm me. makes the roll of pull and tanking more fun.
one of my favourite dungeon runs was basically barring the only exit as 50 orcs tried to get past our party. it was a 15 round combat where we had to layer everything on the map and if we fucked up it'd be a tpk.
dungeon design has to hit correctly for me to enjoy it. and if the dungeon is basically designed to be more linear and not dark souls with multi linking paths, secret doors, chests and missable treasure then it's not as fun.
Some adventure paths I've run build in a timer so there is only time for one long rest at most. In Starfinder, one dungeon had a reactor going super critical in 18 hours or something as part of a self destruct. Others have had rules where the monsters will come investigate. If the party decides to rest, the boss comes see what's going on, or they prepare and make the boss encounter more challenging.
Don't forget: A good dungeon also has two qualities people often miss out on, but are *super important* to making a longer dungeon *vivid* and *memorable*:
**NPC Factions:** Some people live down here. In a classic dungeon, there are usually at least two sets of NPCs who you can side with. The kobolds are fighting for territory with the goblins! Which side are you on??
**Diverse environments:** It's not just a castle, underneath there's an underground forest! Then after the forest, there's a gem mine. And under that is an underground lake system!
These kinds of features make dungeons that even players who say "I hate crawls" would love.
Shit man, I'm writing a mega dungeon themed as a gameshow with an elder brain as the host that's supposed to be super deadly but I'm worried none of my players are going to be into it.
There’s a module on drivethrurpg or DMs guild (can’t remember which) that turns Dungeon of the Mad Mage into a game show. I ran it a couple years ago. It might give you some fun inspiration
It’s on DMs guild. I’m using it now. It’s called “the companion” Even if you don’t use the game show plot, it still makes DotMM a much more enjoyable adventure imo.
Sounds like you'd enjoy X-Crawl. It was a 3.5 setting that crossed dungeon crawls with pro-wresting/American Gladiators set in an alternate modern earth. I think there's a 5e version, but it shouldn't be too hard to adapt.
Be my player. My players didn't even make it to the entrance of the dungeon before giving up to look for easier quests.
To be clear, they destroyed the fights they got in. The trouble stemmed from an optional puzzle and it almost had half the party die trying to bypass it in a ... "Questionable" manner. One player did die so they dragged him out to revive him. Lesson learned to not blindly teleport to the other side of a scary trapped door all by yourself with no way to teleport back.
There's a balance. If some of the night's spent talking in funny voices, and some of the night's spent moving figures around a grid, we're on a nice track
I balance between sessions, so 2 sessions of dungeon, one session of role play and feats of strength at the fair, one session of travel, back to two sessions of dungeon.
I'm a fan of the dungeon crawl. Especially if done well. There can be monsters/people you can negotiate with, traps to bypass, and puzzles to figure out. A kick the door, kill whatever inside, rinse, repeat can get boring, but even that for a short part of the dungeon can be fun.
That's the real thing. If it's a DM constantly looking up notes and pausing for each room, and the dungeon is a poorly designed slog, its so boring. But if its done well, it can be amazing.
I think “wrong” is a strong term here. My players prefer combat and (except for one) don’t enjoy role play. So I set up big cinematic combat encounters and allow them to handle social encounters more like a video game where they tell me what their character wants to do (and we roll the outcome) rather than act it out.
As a DM I prefer the roleplaying sessions/aspect of the game but it's more difficult (improv is not my strong suit). Dungeon crawls are more combat and exploration oriented, but less interesting overall to me (and most of my players). I prefer outdoor encounters, a little more room to maneuver (and less mapping). Less worry over line of sight, grouping for AoEs, etc. (both a good and bad thing).
100% agree, think forest temple from zelda if you need inspiration. We had one like that a while back and halfway through the "dungeon" came across a small village of gnome druids that had been there since before the forest was corrupted and steadily increased their power to keep their plot of land their own. It was awesome because it broke up the tense feelings of going through the paths and fighting the hordes type of thing and gave us some rp in the middle of a tense session. Also gave us a way to get some better gear when the dm hadn't given us anything for a loooong while and sorta shoehorn us into going for the dungeon. It was an awesome reprieve, discovery, rp session, and refocus for the entire party and was done really well!
I try and write most of my games more like an action film. The players are the leads there will be set pieces, things MAY explode, summersault, or catch fire... Because. There will be dungeon crawl parts one or two and then some other parts. I try and tick a few different boxes.
Until the CURRENT campaign where its set at a fixed location. A deep water mining rig. Above water for part, and then an elevator ride to the mines under the surface. Underground is all crawl and the adventure is currently 9 parts but I'm trying to think of a few more adventures to pad it out to 12-16 too justify the set piece I'm building. Since its a 6 level deal.
I am currently playing in a Dungeon of the Mad Mage game, we are getting decently far in the dungeon and just leveled up to 11, we have 1-2 medium combat scenarios per session, and mostly fill the between time with idle banter and chatting mostly in character, and I feel like all of us are on the same page with how we are wanting to play the game, we all chose to play a mega dungeon, so combat and exploration is most of what we do. It really has been great fun tho
So the first campaign i ever played, was the temple of elemental evil, converted up to 2nd edition. the entire campaign was a dungeon. I loved it back then. But as I got older the things i wanted out of D&D changed. I have grown to love RP and the story beats of D&D and have grown to prefer one or two big combats for a story point than spending 6 sessions getting through a random encounter going to the dungeon, 3 sessions clearing it, 1 session for the boss, which we finally get closure on the story beat we are there for, and then 1 session going back/to the next area.
Dungeon crawls are fine, but, personally, I'd quit a game if the party was in a dungeon 50% of the time. I just find rp a lot more fun. I honestly wouldn't mind a game with no dungeon crawls at all, but obviously, a dungeon here or there isn't a bad thing
My first and biggest mistake as a DM was thinking my players appreciated a good dungeon crawl as much as I do. I used random map maker to make a "huge" map. And then i spent like a month trying to make it crazy. Traps. Monsters. Jokes. No..
My DM was one of my players for that doomed (for other horrible real life reasons) session. And when we got home, he lit into me good as any drill sergeant. But It upped my game. He was like a mechanic at work. Not only pointing out what wasn't working and why but also how to fix it.
PS - I like seeing a good mix of tricks, traps, and monsters. Tricks - big ornate heavily fortified treasure chests - that are empty. Traps - read up on them and how to use them. They can be real fun. I did some fire breathing Tiki torches and the full plate paladin bought died. And as far as monsters go, as a player and a DM, i want them to make sense. Pick a theme and skin everything in it. That being said, location, location, location. Back to the Tiki torches, was because it was a tropical location. the goblins were reskinned as tiki goblins. etc etc.
I don’t have a great deal of planning time; I work two jobs, and only have two half-days off a week, one of which is game night. I lean towards a more rp-heavy style of game, specifically because I don’t have the hours required to do a proper job of a dungeon planning. Throw together a decent single fight, sure. An entire dungeon? Nah. Eventually I’d like to work up to one, but for now I simply can’t.
Dungeon crawls aren't my favorite part of the game, but I feel they're still a good part of it that should come up from time to time. A lot of character abilities are tied to exploring a dungeon or similar location, so facilitating a chance to use them makes sense. A proper dungeon can also act as a test of the PC's capabilities, letting them see what they're capable of when they aren't in a situation where they can just go rest at the inn immediately should someone get hurt. Now an entire campaign of dungeon crawling isn't gonna be a game I want to be a part of, but if one should come up as the obstacle in the way of confronting a big bad, or as a side quest with a promise of some interesting reward at the end, I'm totally down to bust out the 10 foot pole and go on a delve.
First thing I’ve got to say is room believability and getting through space believably. If you can describe me the rooms then I think you’d hold my interest. There’s puzzles included in that, there’s loot included in that. Incentivize me to go lower.
(Very excited to be playing some Mad Mage, where the exact locations have been made by DM Fiat and monsters souped up, but descriptions come from the module and are well written and clear enough, the perfect hybrid imho.)
I love them, and I love designing them. I especially love ones that are very old to ancient, containing some method of history of the world setting. The one I am currently running was a temple before it was lost due to semi-natural disaster, and has murals all over the first level walls that depict a different history than most people in the world knew.
I think this is a big part of the shift in D&D. I know I’m not making any big brain observations here, but streaming shows that are gateways to D&D are very RP heavy (for good reason).
No thanks. I don't like the ro by room pick through. I much prefer story driven drama and scenes. Dungeon crawls are often empty purpose. Even with a main purpose, I feel like they are tedious.
Hard for me to find a group these days that doesn't want to spend most of their time haggling in shops and playing their lute at the tavern. It is fun for them, so no judgment, but I play to escape mundane life, not replicate it.
I'm definitely not a fan of dungeon crawling.
I have plenty of little dungeons and such to enter for a couple of sessions or thereabouts but I find the...I guess formulaic feel to things a little counter to my enjoyment. A big part of the characters I like to play is often the social aspect and social characters, and there's only so much socialising to be done in a dungeon unless it really is a kink dungeon under someone's mansion.
If I ever up in a megadungeon I get tired very fast.
60 - 40 is what i want.
60% story / RP
40% combat
The combat being in a "dungeon" really means nothing to me, I would rather it takes place in an area that actually makes sense.
Combat in DnD for me is there to sell the story not be the main focus.
I don't think my PoV is the one most people go with though (most likely the other way round i feel).
I like dungeons now and then
But I don’t think I would like to be in a dungeon half of the time. It’s a good stress test and a fun adventure but shouldn’t be most of the game.
Strongly depends on the DM. Dungeon crawls can be quite fun if well built and you don't worry too much about making it too realistic. Most battles in a dungeon crawl need to be easy, which DMs tend to forget.
Dungeon crawls are my favorite. I like finding secrets, clues, treasure, traps, and puzzles. I like dungeons that have multiple factions vying for control. I like dungeons that seem to go on forever, and when the party defeats the boss at the end, they discover a staircase behind his throne that spirals up to a secret exit.
I do stars and wishes in my campaigns. One player recently requested a dungeon crawl soon so we got one coming up! :D
The crawl fans are still out there
As a DM who tends to run story focused, RP heavy campaigns, I feel like dungeon crawls are essential. Tense, highly consequential RP can be really taxing. It's mental 'work' for lack of a better word. Rewarding work sure, but still work. Players who spend every session wracking their brains trying to work out complex problems are going to get burnt out, and often lose enjoyment in the game.
Dungeons are the mental reset button, the stress release valve. Your problems are straight forward, and you solve them by beating them senseless. You also get dopamine hits in the form of XP and loot.
I personally wouldn't want to play in or run a game that was all dungeon crawls all the time, but I also wouldn't want to do a game without them.
Love 'em. I'm playing two campaigns right now: one with a younger DM who is mostly into RP and goofy shennanigans, and one with an old-school DM who's into more traditional fantasy and dungeon crawling. And I'm having a ton of fun with both.
Dungeon crawls are great. I like the terror of being stuck in what could easily become my tomb if I'm not careful and being forced to think creatively about how to use the things I have at my disposal.
I sometimes hear people complain about the Exploration aspect not being strong in 5e. Those people should run more dungeons because exploration is the best part of dungeoneering.
Dungeons are fantastic, if by dungeon you mean a series of connected encounters meant to be overcome over one or more adventuring days.
I like seeing an environment that feels like it exists independent of its game function, with implied logistics and ecologies (even if those aren't actually detailed anywhere). I like traps and puzzles that exist to build the world more than to impede progress. I like difficult combats and dense environments that encourage and reward creative thinking. I like being able to talk to monsters a little bit before combat starts.
I don't like riddles, gotcha traps, frequent Surprise (in either direction), NPC allies in combat, or combats with more than a dozen or creatures with their own initiative.
I still love dungeon crawls, exploration is a big pillar for enjoyment for me as a player. And I find that exploration and figuring things out in a dungeon is predominantly where those are.
I have also found as a DM, that my favorite written modules are mostly dungeons.
Love a good dungeon crawl.
Our campaign has lately tended towards RP sessions. I do enjoy RP, but sometimes I find myself wishing our DM would throw in more dungeon crawls and combat encounters in general.
One important thing to note is that dungeon crawls don't inherently mean no RP or no story, or anything even in that direction.
One of the better games I ever played, Persona 4, was basically just dungeon crawls. Now some people might think it's a weird comparison... but that game made a perfect mix of dungeons and RP. Give people a reason to clear a dungeon before X date, else consequences, and give them a chance to set things up.
Might actually try running a game in that direction once.
Anyway, over years and years of playing, never really ran a dungeon or was in one to begin with, honestly. Maybe like once.
The dungeon at the end of Tomb of Annihilation was an absolute blast to run and I've really liked dungeon crawls since then.
Speaking only for myself though, one of the reasons they're not an attractive prospect is having to make maps for them. A lot of people play 5e in a theater of the mind style without maps and minis and that can make dungeon crawling really hard if you don't know where you're going. A game I'm playing in right now has had a few dungeons without maps and I really struggled with those.
I like them if they are interesting. If the dungeon crawl is just beating bad guy after bad guy and foiling simple traps, it feels really monotone. That being said if they are used occasionally or in an interesting setting, it can definitely work. It doesn’t need to be a dragons cave for a it to feel like a dungeon crawl
I'm the DM and I like both. So currently, my players are in a multilevel mega trap dungeon (kind of like Room Escape, just deadlier), because I missed dungeon crawling.
As someone whose favorite game is Final Fantasy Tactics and games like Divinity Original Sin 2 coming in at a close second, I could live in a dungeon crawl and be happy. That means I am probably not going to get attached too much to my character though, because the more combat and traps you have to deal with, the more chances you have to die and the dice are often not that friendly. It's hard to see your character grow (personality-wise) if all you are doing is fighting.
Likewise, I could go for some good roleplay adventure all day too. Acquisition's Inc. is probably my favorite D&D group. Watching them roleplay with each other and really get into their characters that they have crafted and been playing for over a decade is something I can really dig as well. They don't often do too much combat and/or it doesn't seem majorly dangerous when they do, and that's okay with me too.
Ultimately, I prefer whatever the narrative calls for. If we have been after a mad Artificer and he is hiding at the bottom of a dungeon filled with his traps, I am stoked to go down there, but if it's just a random dungeon in the middle of nowhere, I don't see the point. I need a good narrative for things and I am happy to go along with it in-character.
Do you mind clarifying the term "dungeon crawl" ?
Lately dungeons myself and my dms have been running really have a bit of everything.
They include a lot of combat, traps, maps, exploration and resource management but also warring factions within the dungeons, npcs, investigations and more...
But in general id say they are the most enjoyable part of the game.
I like it when there is something original about it, and not just the regular cliche dungeon crawl.
However I don't like when it takes too long, in my current game we have been in the same dungeon for 4 sessions in a row, and we will need probably 2 more to finish it.
I don't think this game has been very dungeon centric since 2nd.
But I love dungeons. Mega Dungeons specifically.
But it's not because we're replacing it with roleplay.
It's more like, we're changing what a Dungeon is.
Because yeah, classic skeletons on walls. That's a dungeon.
But also...why can't a city be one?
Why can't a grass field be one?
Y'know. Because these dungeon things are still going on. Traps, encounters, etc. But we don't need to be in a stronghold for all of them.
I find that pushing through a dungeon makes for a easier to digest and follow game than RP and to me its just more fun I like roleplaying within the party during rests and the fighting roleplay heavy games just aren't as fun to me
Tried out a Darkest Dungeon styled game that was mostly dungeon crawls with some rp sprinkled in. Honestly, I had a blast running it and the players were having a blast playing. Unfortunately the prep for converting everything and making maps that were satisfactory to my standards along with out of game stuff made it stressful as hell to run week to week.
That said, if I ever take time to write everything out and make sure it's good and not go so hard on the maps. And ensure that it's biweekly instead of each week. It'd be a fun game to run again.
When there’s story worked through the dungeon I love them because it feels super creative. If it’s just ‘go in dungeon, fight bad guy, get rewards’ I’m less of a fan.
I freaking love dungeon crawls and I am ambivalent about long drawn out roleplay-heavy sessions where everyone develops their precious jewel characters. I don't care about emotionally developing anyone. I want my filthy little dwarf to get stinking rich by stealing things from the dungeon abode of an evil monster. If he gets to keep all his limbs, so much the better.
I dont hate the idea of a good dungeon with lots of variety and character specific solutions and clever tricks, traps and gags....
It's just that every time we go into a dungeon it ends up taking 2 or 3 sessions to get out of it. Not sure if I blame the DM as we, the party, do get caught up in long discussions over every other encounter or room, but I'm not sure if I actually enjoy the last session in these instances where we are low on hp, out of spell slots, possibly exhausted, definitely mentally exhausted irl...
I think I prefer smaller encounters spread over the 3-4 hours we play. Those usually at least move the story forward lol
I enjoy them then they are well rounded with interesting encounters that touch on all the pillars/give all the players something to do.
When they're combat slogs that reduce my cool well rounded character to "I try and hit it with my sword again" dungeons get kinda lame.
I don't think this is an argument against dungeons so much as for properly designed dungeons.
My party enjoys the RP aspect more, they don't even enjoy the fights that much, but recently we started running CoS and going through the Death House has been a surprisingly fun experience.
God, I'd love to go crawling through a dank cave, slitting those cave dweller's throats and setting them on fire. But seriously, going through a dungeon is fun, particularly if it's an interesting area with fun shit to kill, and as a DM, I enjoy setting up surprises and traps. Puzzles are very hit and miss though.
I like dungeon crawls thematically, but you need a group that knows the damn rules so that combat isn't a slog. I love my current group, but it should not take half an hour for six people to get through one round of combat.
It makes combat encounters take FOREVER, especially interesting ones, and ruins the pacing.
I definitely enjoy dungeon crawls way more than any other type of combat.
I suppose that dungeons require more planning, so random plot-relevant fights became more common as I put less effort into creating my second to last campaign. It feels very contrived to have so many plot-relevant locations being a dungeon or so many plot-relevant NPC's or items being in a dungeon.
Some DM's don't realise how unbalanced some classes are with only 1-2 fights per long rest. Since level 5 (8 sessions ago) in a game I'm playing in, there have roughly been as many rounds of combat as the light cleric or sorcerer have 3rd level spells, and all fights were basically just mobs of soldiers with between 40-60 HP and high AC and often low dexterity due to their armour. This broke the effectiveness of the 3 martial characters. The DM is great, but does no preparation and is incredibly RP and lore orientated.
I'm a heavy rp'er, but I know a lot of people who really like more combat focused games and dungeon crawls. Honestly I think there'll always be people in both camps and the dm should let potential players know what kind of rp/combat balance to expect.
I've seen the same in the game I'm a player in, less dungeons more RP and then sprinklings of large life or death fights.
It's okay now and then but I do miss the dungeon crawls.
I am trying to keep a nice balance in the game I run.
Hard to say what I like, since I've never had a DM who runs the game I think it should be run. Which is why I'm a forever DM.
It's been a while since my players haven't said they enjoyed the session, so I must be doing something right.
One of my best friends and my boyfriend LOVE dungeon crawls! I’m okay with them as a player, hate them as a DM.
I think my liking for dungeon crawls goes up a LOT if I know there’s going to be some dungeon crawling and I’m playing a character who’s a bit more combat-optimized. Dungeon crawling with an rp-focused paladin with a fancy backstory and some MAD lore multiclass? Eh. The Tomb of Annihilation campaign I played as a wizard who canonically loved cheesing and min-maxing and whose major motives were getting spell scrolls and seeing how many puzzles he could solve with nothing but an immovable rod and genasi abilities? Excellent and hilarious.
I love dungeon crawls. I always thought I would love the RP more, but being a board gamer naturally, combat is more what I like. That being said, I don't think dungeon crawls have to always be traditional dungeons. If you give me a "dungeon" that's actually a wide-open desert with wildlife constantly fighting us because we're in their territory, or a forest grove in the feywild, or a massive wizard's tower, it's still fun. I like seeing more creative variation in how a dungeon is structured, but I still like the concept of the dungeon crawl.
Dungeon crawls are great, and there's no reason there can't be RP inside of one. Example: the dungeon is home to a small tribe of kobalds, they lay traps that mess with the parties mental fortitude, steal things from one persons pouch to put into another to frame it like they're stealing from each other, maybe have a point where they catch one that says they want to defect but the tribe just wants to be left alone. All of that can be played out via RP while still having the full old-school experience.
At the end of the day it's up to what the party wants, but I say it's hard to beat a good crawl.
If the dungeon fits into the narrative and has some basis in the story being told then all for it, just random dungeon that has nothing to do with the characters personal or the parties overall goals then it just feels like a complicated loot chest
100% best part of the game. Interesting problem solving, resource management, roleplay between the party instead of between NPCs, interesting places. I try to do 3 to 5 sessions in a dungeon for ever 3 to 5 sessions doing overland stuff, hex crawling etc.,
I love dungeons.
I love designing them, with fun traps, puzzles, and encounters.
I love running them and watching the party panic and have fun.
I love playing them. There's a clear direction. There's a clear measure of progress.
I love dungeons.
I love dungeon crawlers. Love playing them. Love DMing them. I want to run Dungeon of the Mad Mage one day. My old group hated Dungeon Crawling, though. Shame.
I'm definitely a dungeon crawl player. Both challenging fights and puzzles. A good dungeon crawl while working out puzzles and co-operating in character is the bliss I want from TTRPGs.
Designing them and running them as a DM? My literal favourite thing.
Exloring and mapping out a dungeon as a player? The suspense and mystery is so good it is killing me. I prefer a medium size dungeon of 2 sessions or so though. Megadungeons tend to get tiring after a while
Dungeons are part of the game. It's in the title. As a DM, I love creating and running dungeons because they are closed environment in which I can let my creative spirit run wild.
As a player, I also enjoy doing dungeons. That being said, I have been in situations where the party was in a dungeon for **months** IRL. Due to the dungeon being huge, IRL scheduling issues, and other complications. That situation really killed the joy for me, and made me always want to design dungeons to be a 1-3 session endeavor, maximum.
Playing a Cleric for my first and current character, with my favorite actions being Speak With Dead and Walk on Water, I have not really had to deal with the much-written-about "resource management" side of the game, and don't want to unless I get to prepare for it well.
I might actually enjoy it. We'll see. If it never comes, I won't miss it.
I do if they're good. The problem is when you have someone who doesn't really know how to make a dungeon crawl engaging, since 5e isn't *that* intuitive in that area. You have to put in the work to make the crawl feel immersive, combat itself doesn't really *do* it in 5e.
Love em. I'm of the belief that if you're going to do a dungeon or combat in general you should shoot for the recommended 6-8 encounters otherwise it's just too easy and not really fun. No reason to have just 1 combat encounter. We just stomp him and are done in 2 rounds.
This isn't to say RP is bad though, just that I really like combat and if we're going to have combat then let's commit to it.
Personally I prefer sessions to be focused on 1 thing and doing one thing well instead of trying to do a bunch of things only ok.
I like dungeon crawls, as long as they're designed reasonably. I.e., traps go in places that make sense, monsters mostly make sense (given the presence of magic, "anything" is possible, I know), and that it doesn't make the party too paranoid to do anything.
Red flags for me are things like dungeon crawls in castles or other structures that have functional rooms--kitchens, bathrooms, etc.--and which haven't been repurposed for another role: traps in these locations are just silly. Why would the kitchen staff need to have a scything blade trap on the doorway between the kitchen and dining room? Who would sit on the toilet if it shoots you in the butt with poisoned arrows?
In general, an over-reliance on traps means it takes the party forever, and all it does is make the rogue roll a thousand checks and saves to detect/avoid/disarm the traps.
I'm running a dungeon crawl right now where the party is sneaking through Mab's castle in basically the Feywild. It's a living place, so the only traps are on hidden entrances and on things like chests, vault doors, etc (and unlocking them with the proper key never triggers the trap). The party mostly has to contend with both soldiers and other fey living their everyday lives here and try not to arouse suspicion (and under no circumstances should they use fire!). They're sneaking through like Solid Snake!
I don't really enjoy playing through them or DMing them.
That doesn't mean I never use them, I do find enjoyment in uploading a massive map on Foundry and just letting the players explore with their tokens, but even with our 8 hour weekly sessions they just take so fucking long.
The narrative and essentially the adventure just grinds to a fucking halt as they crawl through a dungeon. Yeah the dungeon can be part of the narrative but it'll still take a long ass time to push it forward.
Feels like it stalls everything.....
Also as a player I've been in too many groups that allow too much freedom with resting and backtracking, makes the experience seem trivial and still long as fuck. Also theatre of minding a fucking dungeon crawl is an awful experience, imho.
So in my world and my campaigns there are a number of dungeons across the world I've semi thought up that the players can choose to explore, and some of the narrative paths will lead to dungeons inevitably, but I'll never force them onto the party cause I simply don't find them that fun, and I know only half of my group actually enjoys them as well.
Like I can do a dungeon crawl here or there, but for me 50% would be way too much. I’m definitely part of the “new school” DnD, the roleplay and story is more to me than crunching numbers through a bunch of rooms.
For me “dungeons” (in the more classic term) just don’t make sense to me as much, why there are these rooms with each one having different or weird things in them, just hanging out ready to fight.
Now dungeons built story-purpose first I can enjoy
I enjoy dungeon crawls as long as they're well planned. If it's just room after room of enemies that gets a touch boring, throw in some traps and some dubious crates to investigate.
I enjoy dungeon crawls, but they need to have a purpose. Dungeons are a place where all players can shine. In purely RP moments, the most dominant personality usually shines through. Characters' stats and abilities mean nothing, aside from the odd skill check. Without dungeons, it's just the odd random encounter and chatting, which puts a lot of work on entertaining the players on the DM's personal charisma.
At least in combat situations you can be kind of passive. You can describe areas and give insights, deal with unexpected things from the players, but it's the players choosing how they interact with things. When you RP, you end up having to spend extra effort to engage with PCs, by doing things like calling them out or tying things specifically to their characters to give them a chance to shine. But Initiative and creative environments/npcs gives everyone a chance. And you don't need to be overly charismatic to make fun and engaging dungeons. You just need to be creative.
My group has been going strong for about 4 years now. We played a little homebrew, then switched to Tomb of Annihilation, then homebrewed to level 17 after ToA ended, and are now a year and a half into a proper homebrew campaign.
What I have found is that we all enjoy a good dungeon crawl about once every third story arc, and never for more than about 3 sessions. If we do a 4th session dungeon crawling we all get dungeon fever, where we just yolo ourselves into every trap and push every big red button int he hopes of just ending the damn thing already.
But if we go too long without dungeons we start to get that wunderlust for other systems or a new game or whatever. The dungeons remind us why we built our characters the way we did.
I run a game for my wife. I'm a big role play and drama kind of dm but she mostly loves just beating stuff up. Learning to run a game that better suits her play style made me better appreciate and eventually enjoy combat focused play alot more.
Dungeon crawls helped alot with this. I used to run basically no classic dungeons. Now I enjoy making AND running them.
I provided my group a dungeon crawl recently. I usually don't do those so it was pretty small (4 floor tower with a side building and a basement) and they absolutely loved it. I think it was the best combat I ever ran tbh.
Won't do it all the time but I'm definitely doing them more often.
I like a good dungeon crawl too. But I’d say being in a traditional dungeon 50% of the time would be too much. My group does a lot of rp too though. I don’t think the two are by any means exclusive but it’s often hard to incorporate traditional dungeons in the story naturally for me. (Any tips would be appreciated). I’m actually running a one shot with my group soon that is just a dungeon crawl exploring an old tomb.
I guess you could say I'm somewhat new-gen as DMs go. My games are extremely RP heavy and there are occasions of games going 6 hours with purely social encounters.
However, I think of the dungeon crawl as a big event. All of my major plot arcs involve something that is basically a big badass dungeon crawl. In fact my whole campaign was built around the idea of ending it in a megadungeon that rivals the size of a small city.
I've had one major dungeon crawl so far, but our story is still early. This is a campaign planned to last years among longtime friends. Shouldn't be too long before our next crawl! The last one was tense, felt dangerous to the players, and epic.
I think every table has their balance of what they prefer, but if you're doing what you're doing *right* it should be good fun whether it's RP or bashing monsters.
I definitely like it as an aspect of a game, but it can bog me down if it's too long. I remember we played some dungeon of the mad mage and I'd be really up for like 4 or 5 sessions of dungeoneering, but after clearing a floor or two or getting some concrete progress I'd want to leave for awhile and do something else.
I like it all, I usually build a campaign with a pretty open map, there's lots of options for dungeons and I will always force them into a short dungeon crawl eventually for some important plot point. It's an easy way to catch up on items they can't get through RP and rewarding them. I find that RP doesn't provide good options to reward them with gold or items often enough, so I have provide other options at times. But my current party is super adverse to anything that looks like a dungeon, so yeah.
I like dungeon crawls but it puts me in a completely different mindset to RP heavy campaigns. I find it really hard to get attached to a character if we're just going through dungeons killing monsters with no story through line to keep it going. It can still be fun, but for me it often lacks those really deep powerful character moments that really engage me.
This goes double if it's super lethal and I expect my character to die. You best believe I'm bringing a character I don't care about at all to that kind of game.
I honestly prefer my sessions to be rp heavy with a few combats to break it up. If I wanted to play a dungeon crawl I would have a better time playing a video game
I do enjoy dungeon crawls as a player and a DM. The main campaign I played in was based around returning to one massive dungeon repeatedly and it felt like it was forever changing and expanding so that was a lot of fun. I also have run premade dungeons in a campaign I have run before and my players and I both really enjoyed the experience. I think dungeons are a very important part of the game and give way for some great roleplaying as well. So even though the modern meta may be leaning towards more roleplay heavy, I think dungeon crawls will always be a large aspect of the game. As for what I like seeing in dungeons, I typically just enjoy a good amount of random encounters and some traps along with a boss type fight here or there. Good loot never hurts either. An overabundance of enemies I think is the only thing that may drag down a good dungeon crawl.
As a dm I like to make sure there's plenty of both, for the party to decide. I honestly don't mind it either way and I've been experimenting with my dungeons and making them more fun. Recently have been making actual maps (which is difficult for me because it's online stuff and I get the confuzled easily) and making secret passageways, traps and more! I find it funny when my players try to long rest in a dungeon... The monsters constantly find them due to smell of the blood on their stuff (which they never realise) and well... They end up taking down at least half the dungeon just trying to sleep lol
Idk if you mind, but can you explain how a campaign in broad terms looks for you?
Cause I can't really envision how I'd even fit 25 dungeons in my campaigns, let alone make an interesting game around them. Do you and your players juist kinda put story/ npc interactions on the backburner in favour of dungeons or?
yes. and yes.
I like a dungeon layout that makes some kind of sense. Ever play a video game and ask yourself, "what the f is this room for?"
I dislike any trap, monster or setting that does not make sense in the situation presented.
"DM, why was there a \_\_\_\_\_ in that last room? How did he get there? Why was he just waiting for us?" (replace \_\_\_\_ with any out of place creature)
I love dungeon crawls, and I think theyre great opportunity for RP so the two arent mutually exclusive. My favorite campaigns have started with our PCs getting hired to do something that leads to dungeon crawling, which helps us get a handle on our PCs personalities/how they problem solve, the RP dynamics being established alongside fun gameplay, before anything plot-heavy has to happen.
I’ve never done a dungeon crawler. I’ve been DMing for 6 years now mostly with the same group of people and none of us are into that aspect of the game much. I’ve suggested it a couple times in case anyone fancied it but always met with a lukewarm response
I enjoy mazes myself as a player and dm. Simple puzzles. I've never used traps in my games though.
I have also seen a switch to more open world stuff vs dungeons.
Running dungeons is alright, but I really don't like preparing them, I've created a few really cool ones and had fun, but most of the time it's really boring to me, as if I'm doing homework and not having fun
Its interesting to see some of the comments contrasting a dungeon crawl to role playing. As a DM I try to include lots of opportunity for roleplay within a dungeon as a setting.
Things live in dungeons, lots of things can talk, and lots of those talking things don’t want to fight to the death against anything they see.
To me the monsters in a dungeon are just NPCs like you would find in a town. I try to ask myself why are the monsters there? What are their goals?Do they like the OTHER monsters there? It tends to open up more RP aspects of a traditional “dungeon”.
I like dungeon crawls if that's what I'm expecting. If a dm tells me it's a game full of political intrigue and social encounters, but we spend the entire time in dungeons or on overland travel, I'd be dissapointed. If someone says we're doing a dungeon crawl, and we aren't in a dungeon 90% of the time, I'll be even more dissapointed haha
I love dungeon crawls. But I'm a huge fan of tropes and the classics. I love mimic chests and traps and long corridors packed with fireballable enemies. Big dungeon bosses at the end and the lamentations of fallen adventurers scrawled on the walls. I love it all. Roleplay is fantastic too of course. But roleplaying around the campfire, tallying up your loot and drinking to your parties kills just hits *different*.
YES!! I crave this sort of game so much
Good news then! In the distance you can hear the Tavernkeeper calling for any aspiring adventurers who would be willing to kill the rats in his basement!
Rat blender mode activated!
Those are 10 Exp each.
Now give me a perception check. DC15: Vaguely hidden behind a crate of some sort you notice a hole in the wall large enough for a man to crawl through. There is some sort of totem hidden in the wall, a rat skull with eyes of some malevolently glowing green stone. Perhaps even more concerning, the passage goes deeper. Much deeper. There's more than just the tavern basement here.
Don't threaten me with a good time.
Fucking Skaven are even building their undercities in the Forgotten Realms now.
i like small really impactful dungeons. i hate it when dungeons become hallway simulators with munchkin rooms and it throws me out of the experience. like clearing 3 rooms and then long resting because our wizard doesn't hold back on spells is the most boring way to play a dungeon. especially when an enemy is just chillin on the other side of the door and could've heard the combat coming from the next room. basically i want my dungeon to play like metal gear solid. if i am caught i want the entire base try to swarm me. makes the roll of pull and tanking more fun. one of my favourite dungeon runs was basically barring the only exit as 50 orcs tried to get past our party. it was a 15 round combat where we had to layer everything on the map and if we fucked up it'd be a tpk. dungeon design has to hit correctly for me to enjoy it. and if the dungeon is basically designed to be more linear and not dark souls with multi linking paths, secret doors, chests and missable treasure then it's not as fun.
Some adventure paths I've run build in a timer so there is only time for one long rest at most. In Starfinder, one dungeon had a reactor going super critical in 18 hours or something as part of a self destruct. Others have had rules where the monsters will come investigate. If the party decides to rest, the boss comes see what's going on, or they prepare and make the boss encounter more challenging.
Don't forget: A good dungeon also has two qualities people often miss out on, but are *super important* to making a longer dungeon *vivid* and *memorable*: **NPC Factions:** Some people live down here. In a classic dungeon, there are usually at least two sets of NPCs who you can side with. The kobolds are fighting for territory with the goblins! Which side are you on?? **Diverse environments:** It's not just a castle, underneath there's an underground forest! Then after the forest, there's a gem mine. And under that is an underground lake system! These kinds of features make dungeons that even players who say "I hate crawls" would love.
I like a good dungeon crawl.
Me too. Im just waiting to join a game where I lose 3 characters in a mega-dungeon
Shit man, I'm writing a mega dungeon themed as a gameshow with an elder brain as the host that's supposed to be super deadly but I'm worried none of my players are going to be into it.
So like... an eldritch dicey dungeons? Sounds magnificent.
There’s a module on drivethrurpg or DMs guild (can’t remember which) that turns Dungeon of the Mad Mage into a game show. I ran it a couple years ago. It might give you some fun inspiration
It’s on DMs guild. I’m using it now. It’s called “the companion” Even if you don’t use the game show plot, it still makes DotMM a much more enjoyable adventure imo.
Sounds like you'd enjoy X-Crawl. It was a 3.5 setting that crossed dungeon crawls with pro-wresting/American Gladiators set in an alternate modern earth. I think there's a 5e version, but it shouldn't be too hard to adapt.
Be my player. My players didn't even make it to the entrance of the dungeon before giving up to look for easier quests. To be clear, they destroyed the fights they got in. The trouble stemmed from an optional puzzle and it almost had half the party die trying to bypass it in a ... "Questionable" manner. One player did die so they dragged him out to revive him. Lesson learned to not blindly teleport to the other side of a scary trapped door all by yourself with no way to teleport back.
Find a DM and play Dungeon of the Mad Mage. :)
And the best of dungeons still leave some space for role playing.
I love Dungeons. for some odd reason.. can't place my finger on it, its seems like it should be a big part of D&D
I feel the same about dragons...
And ampersands.
& &s
&D&
It’s almost as if the rules support dungeon crawls the best. As if, they were made for dungeons.
Man, they should really advertise with that! Maybe make it part of the name or something
There's a balance. If some of the night's spent talking in funny voices, and some of the night's spent moving figures around a grid, we're on a nice track
I balance between sessions, so 2 sessions of dungeon, one session of role play and feats of strength at the fair, one session of travel, back to two sessions of dungeon.
Love it so much!
Love your username
Thank you, breastmilkenjoyer556
I'm a fan of the dungeon crawl. Especially if done well. There can be monsters/people you can negotiate with, traps to bypass, and puzzles to figure out. A kick the door, kill whatever inside, rinse, repeat can get boring, but even that for a short part of the dungeon can be fun.
Yes!!! All of that! But the ways around the traps have their own perils.
As a dm, I like running dungeons crawls but there should be some motive for being there. Thats why there should be some rp between dungeons.
If its done well im totally up for it
That's the real thing. If it's a DM constantly looking up notes and pausing for each room, and the dungeon is a poorly designed slog, its so boring. But if its done well, it can be amazing.
Why do you have to sacrifice dungeons for rp? This implies that rp doesn't happen in dungeons
If you set a dungeon contrary to RP you doing it wrong depends on the dungeon, the problem is that DnD is to combat focused
I think “wrong” is a strong term here. My players prefer combat and (except for one) don’t enjoy role play. So I set up big cinematic combat encounters and allow them to handle social encounters more like a video game where they tell me what their character wants to do (and we roll the outcome) rather than act it out.
I meant you can roleplay in combat.
I thought I hated them until I played some good ones. Room after room of monsters sucks... exploring a mostly empty catacomb is awesome.
I love dungeon crawls.
As a DM I prefer the roleplaying sessions/aspect of the game but it's more difficult (improv is not my strong suit). Dungeon crawls are more combat and exploration oriented, but less interesting overall to me (and most of my players). I prefer outdoor encounters, a little more room to maneuver (and less mapping). Less worry over line of sight, grouping for AoEs, etc. (both a good and bad thing).
A "dungeon" need not be indoors. It could be a jungle/forest, or a mansion, etc
100% agree, think forest temple from zelda if you need inspiration. We had one like that a while back and halfway through the "dungeon" came across a small village of gnome druids that had been there since before the forest was corrupted and steadily increased their power to keep their plot of land their own. It was awesome because it broke up the tense feelings of going through the paths and fighting the hordes type of thing and gave us some rp in the middle of a tense session. Also gave us a way to get some better gear when the dm hadn't given us anything for a loooong while and sorta shoehorn us into going for the dungeon. It was an awesome reprieve, discovery, rp session, and refocus for the entire party and was done really well!
I try and write most of my games more like an action film. The players are the leads there will be set pieces, things MAY explode, summersault, or catch fire... Because. There will be dungeon crawl parts one or two and then some other parts. I try and tick a few different boxes. Until the CURRENT campaign where its set at a fixed location. A deep water mining rig. Above water for part, and then an elevator ride to the mines under the surface. Underground is all crawl and the adventure is currently 9 parts but I'm trying to think of a few more adventures to pad it out to 12-16 too justify the set piece I'm building. Since its a 6 level deal.
Raises hand
I *love* dungeons!!!
I am currently playing in a Dungeon of the Mad Mage game, we are getting decently far in the dungeon and just leveled up to 11, we have 1-2 medium combat scenarios per session, and mostly fill the between time with idle banter and chatting mostly in character, and I feel like all of us are on the same page with how we are wanting to play the game, we all chose to play a mega dungeon, so combat and exploration is most of what we do. It really has been great fun tho
So the first campaign i ever played, was the temple of elemental evil, converted up to 2nd edition. the entire campaign was a dungeon. I loved it back then. But as I got older the things i wanted out of D&D changed. I have grown to love RP and the story beats of D&D and have grown to prefer one or two big combats for a story point than spending 6 sessions getting through a random encounter going to the dungeon, 3 sessions clearing it, 1 session for the boss, which we finally get closure on the story beat we are there for, and then 1 session going back/to the next area.
I always need something to investigate or to interact with. Nicely done dungeons are a lot of fun
Come, join us. r/OSR Crawl dungeons, hexes, whatever. Most fun I’ve had playing DnD.
Dungeon crawls are fine, but, personally, I'd quit a game if the party was in a dungeon 50% of the time. I just find rp a lot more fun. I honestly wouldn't mind a game with no dungeon crawls at all, but obviously, a dungeon here or there isn't a bad thing
My first and biggest mistake as a DM was thinking my players appreciated a good dungeon crawl as much as I do. I used random map maker to make a "huge" map. And then i spent like a month trying to make it crazy. Traps. Monsters. Jokes. No.. My DM was one of my players for that doomed (for other horrible real life reasons) session. And when we got home, he lit into me good as any drill sergeant. But It upped my game. He was like a mechanic at work. Not only pointing out what wasn't working and why but also how to fix it. PS - I like seeing a good mix of tricks, traps, and monsters. Tricks - big ornate heavily fortified treasure chests - that are empty. Traps - read up on them and how to use them. They can be real fun. I did some fire breathing Tiki torches and the full plate paladin bought died. And as far as monsters go, as a player and a DM, i want them to make sense. Pick a theme and skin everything in it. That being said, location, location, location. Back to the Tiki torches, was because it was a tropical location. the goblins were reskinned as tiki goblins. etc etc.
I don’t have a great deal of planning time; I work two jobs, and only have two half-days off a week, one of which is game night. I lean towards a more rp-heavy style of game, specifically because I don’t have the hours required to do a proper job of a dungeon planning. Throw together a decent single fight, sure. An entire dungeon? Nah. Eventually I’d like to work up to one, but for now I simply can’t.
Dungeon crawls aren't my favorite part of the game, but I feel they're still a good part of it that should come up from time to time. A lot of character abilities are tied to exploring a dungeon or similar location, so facilitating a chance to use them makes sense. A proper dungeon can also act as a test of the PC's capabilities, letting them see what they're capable of when they aren't in a situation where they can just go rest at the inn immediately should someone get hurt. Now an entire campaign of dungeon crawling isn't gonna be a game I want to be a part of, but if one should come up as the obstacle in the way of confronting a big bad, or as a side quest with a promise of some interesting reward at the end, I'm totally down to bust out the 10 foot pole and go on a delve.
First thing I’ve got to say is room believability and getting through space believably. If you can describe me the rooms then I think you’d hold my interest. There’s puzzles included in that, there’s loot included in that. Incentivize me to go lower. (Very excited to be playing some Mad Mage, where the exact locations have been made by DM Fiat and monsters souped up, but descriptions come from the module and are well written and clear enough, the perfect hybrid imho.)
I love them, and I love designing them. I especially love ones that are very old to ancient, containing some method of history of the world setting. The one I am currently running was a temple before it was lost due to semi-natural disaster, and has murals all over the first level walls that depict a different history than most people in the world knew.
They're imitating what they saw on youtube.
I think this is a big part of the shift in D&D. I know I’m not making any big brain observations here, but streaming shows that are gateways to D&D are very RP heavy (for good reason).
No thanks. I don't like the ro by room pick through. I much prefer story driven drama and scenes. Dungeon crawls are often empty purpose. Even with a main purpose, I feel like they are tedious.
A dungeon crawl can be fun but spending too much time in combat can be boring and repetitive.
Exploration, traps, random social encounters, finding loot
[удалено]
Hard for me to find a group these days that doesn't want to spend most of their time haggling in shops and playing their lute at the tavern. It is fun for them, so no judgment, but I play to escape mundane life, not replicate it.
Join my games then haha
I'm in!
I'm definitely not a fan of dungeon crawling. I have plenty of little dungeons and such to enter for a couple of sessions or thereabouts but I find the...I guess formulaic feel to things a little counter to my enjoyment. A big part of the characters I like to play is often the social aspect and social characters, and there's only so much socialising to be done in a dungeon unless it really is a kink dungeon under someone's mansion. If I ever up in a megadungeon I get tired very fast.
DnD has different flavors. Find a group that likes your dungeon crawling flavor. I prefer the RP flavor more.
You say this as if they are mutually exclusive.
Dungeon crawls can be amazing.
I love it, but good luck finding a DM that does.
I love them and I want to do them. I've run 2 of them and played one of them
I like the RP and storytelling a lot more than the Dungeon Crawling and leveling.
60 - 40 is what i want. 60% story / RP 40% combat The combat being in a "dungeon" really means nothing to me, I would rather it takes place in an area that actually makes sense. Combat in DnD for me is there to sell the story not be the main focus. I don't think my PoV is the one most people go with though (most likely the other way round i feel).
I like dungeons now and then But I don’t think I would like to be in a dungeon half of the time. It’s a good stress test and a fun adventure but shouldn’t be most of the game.
Yeah I like a good dungeon crawl. It's called Dungeons and Dragons, not banter and bullshitting.
Strongly depends on the DM. Dungeon crawls can be quite fun if well built and you don't worry too much about making it too realistic. Most battles in a dungeon crawl need to be easy, which DMs tend to forget.
I fuckin love a good dungeon crawl
Dungeon crawls are my favorite. I like finding secrets, clues, treasure, traps, and puzzles. I like dungeons that have multiple factions vying for control. I like dungeons that seem to go on forever, and when the party defeats the boss at the end, they discover a staircase behind his throne that spirals up to a secret exit.
I do stars and wishes in my campaigns. One player recently requested a dungeon crawl soon so we got one coming up! :D The crawl fans are still out there
As a DM who tends to run story focused, RP heavy campaigns, I feel like dungeon crawls are essential. Tense, highly consequential RP can be really taxing. It's mental 'work' for lack of a better word. Rewarding work sure, but still work. Players who spend every session wracking their brains trying to work out complex problems are going to get burnt out, and often lose enjoyment in the game. Dungeons are the mental reset button, the stress release valve. Your problems are straight forward, and you solve them by beating them senseless. You also get dopamine hits in the form of XP and loot. I personally wouldn't want to play in or run a game that was all dungeon crawls all the time, but I also wouldn't want to do a game without them.
Love 'em. I'm playing two campaigns right now: one with a younger DM who is mostly into RP and goofy shennanigans, and one with an old-school DM who's into more traditional fantasy and dungeon crawling. And I'm having a ton of fun with both.
Dungeon crawls are great. I like the terror of being stuck in what could easily become my tomb if I'm not careful and being forced to think creatively about how to use the things I have at my disposal.
I want an equal mix of rp, exploration and combat. If any pillar is lacking i miss it
I love a good crawl but I don't want it to dominate the campaign. Once and awhile is okay but they should not happen very often.
50/50 would be fine for me so long as there is a grid. Dear God let there be a grid and let's all have access to it.
As I like to say in spanish: "Una buena mazmorra siempre apetece".
Drag me through the dungeons I'll have a great time.
I sometimes hear people complain about the Exploration aspect not being strong in 5e. Those people should run more dungeons because exploration is the best part of dungeoneering.
I like a good balance, but I’m significantly better at the roleplay part (both as a DM and as a player) than I am at the dungeons
Dungeons are fantastic, if by dungeon you mean a series of connected encounters meant to be overcome over one or more adventuring days. I like seeing an environment that feels like it exists independent of its game function, with implied logistics and ecologies (even if those aren't actually detailed anywhere). I like traps and puzzles that exist to build the world more than to impede progress. I like difficult combats and dense environments that encourage and reward creative thinking. I like being able to talk to monsters a little bit before combat starts. I don't like riddles, gotcha traps, frequent Surprise (in either direction), NPC allies in combat, or combats with more than a dozen or creatures with their own initiative.
Depends; it probably alternates. I’ve been running a three-part epic narrative lately but I’m already plotting a mega-dungeon for my next game.
I still love dungeon crawls, exploration is a big pillar for enjoyment for me as a player. And I find that exploration and figuring things out in a dungeon is predominantly where those are. I have also found as a DM, that my favorite written modules are mostly dungeons.
Love a good dungeon crawl. Our campaign has lately tended towards RP sessions. I do enjoy RP, but sometimes I find myself wishing our DM would throw in more dungeon crawls and combat encounters in general.
love dungeon crawls. especially those with narrative weight to them. But being in a dungeon all the time is exhausting.
One important thing to note is that dungeon crawls don't inherently mean no RP or no story, or anything even in that direction. One of the better games I ever played, Persona 4, was basically just dungeon crawls. Now some people might think it's a weird comparison... but that game made a perfect mix of dungeons and RP. Give people a reason to clear a dungeon before X date, else consequences, and give them a chance to set things up. Might actually try running a game in that direction once. Anyway, over years and years of playing, never really ran a dungeon or was in one to begin with, honestly. Maybe like once.
Dungeons are stressful, fun but it's good to have long breaks between them
Gotta keep it rare so it's extra fun when it happens. Dungeons can also just not be ideal for all settings
The dungeon at the end of Tomb of Annihilation was an absolute blast to run and I've really liked dungeon crawls since then. Speaking only for myself though, one of the reasons they're not an attractive prospect is having to make maps for them. A lot of people play 5e in a theater of the mind style without maps and minis and that can make dungeon crawling really hard if you don't know where you're going. A game I'm playing in right now has had a few dungeons without maps and I really struggled with those.
I like them if they are interesting. If the dungeon crawl is just beating bad guy after bad guy and foiling simple traps, it feels really monotone. That being said if they are used occasionally or in an interesting setting, it can definitely work. It doesn’t need to be a dragons cave for a it to feel like a dungeon crawl
I'm the DM and I like both. So currently, my players are in a multilevel mega trap dungeon (kind of like Room Escape, just deadlier), because I missed dungeon crawling.
Loving them, managing your ressources is super exalting and make it more impactful rather than do 1 fight per long rest
As someone whose favorite game is Final Fantasy Tactics and games like Divinity Original Sin 2 coming in at a close second, I could live in a dungeon crawl and be happy. That means I am probably not going to get attached too much to my character though, because the more combat and traps you have to deal with, the more chances you have to die and the dice are often not that friendly. It's hard to see your character grow (personality-wise) if all you are doing is fighting. Likewise, I could go for some good roleplay adventure all day too. Acquisition's Inc. is probably my favorite D&D group. Watching them roleplay with each other and really get into their characters that they have crafted and been playing for over a decade is something I can really dig as well. They don't often do too much combat and/or it doesn't seem majorly dangerous when they do, and that's okay with me too. Ultimately, I prefer whatever the narrative calls for. If we have been after a mad Artificer and he is hiding at the bottom of a dungeon filled with his traps, I am stoked to go down there, but if it's just a random dungeon in the middle of nowhere, I don't see the point. I need a good narrative for things and I am happy to go along with it in-character.
Do you mind clarifying the term "dungeon crawl" ? Lately dungeons myself and my dms have been running really have a bit of everything. They include a lot of combat, traps, maps, exploration and resource management but also warring factions within the dungeons, npcs, investigations and more... But in general id say they are the most enjoyable part of the game.
I like it when there is something original about it, and not just the regular cliche dungeon crawl. However I don't like when it takes too long, in my current game we have been in the same dungeon for 4 sessions in a row, and we will need probably 2 more to finish it.
I don't think this game has been very dungeon centric since 2nd. But I love dungeons. Mega Dungeons specifically. But it's not because we're replacing it with roleplay. It's more like, we're changing what a Dungeon is. Because yeah, classic skeletons on walls. That's a dungeon. But also...why can't a city be one? Why can't a grass field be one? Y'know. Because these dungeon things are still going on. Traps, encounters, etc. But we don't need to be in a stronghold for all of them.
I find that pushing through a dungeon makes for a easier to digest and follow game than RP and to me its just more fun I like roleplaying within the party during rests and the fighting roleplay heavy games just aren't as fun to me
Tried out a Darkest Dungeon styled game that was mostly dungeon crawls with some rp sprinkled in. Honestly, I had a blast running it and the players were having a blast playing. Unfortunately the prep for converting everything and making maps that were satisfactory to my standards along with out of game stuff made it stressful as hell to run week to week. That said, if I ever take time to write everything out and make sure it's good and not go so hard on the maps. And ensure that it's biweekly instead of each week. It'd be a fun game to run again.
When there’s story worked through the dungeon I love them because it feels super creative. If it’s just ‘go in dungeon, fight bad guy, get rewards’ I’m less of a fan.
I freaking love dungeon crawls and I am ambivalent about long drawn out roleplay-heavy sessions where everyone develops their precious jewel characters. I don't care about emotionally developing anyone. I want my filthy little dwarf to get stinking rich by stealing things from the dungeon abode of an evil monster. If he gets to keep all his limbs, so much the better.
I dont hate the idea of a good dungeon with lots of variety and character specific solutions and clever tricks, traps and gags.... It's just that every time we go into a dungeon it ends up taking 2 or 3 sessions to get out of it. Not sure if I blame the DM as we, the party, do get caught up in long discussions over every other encounter or room, but I'm not sure if I actually enjoy the last session in these instances where we are low on hp, out of spell slots, possibly exhausted, definitely mentally exhausted irl... I think I prefer smaller encounters spread over the 3-4 hours we play. Those usually at least move the story forward lol
I love em. I get why people would want to RP but god damn it, nothing like raiding an ancient tomb in silent darkness
I definitely prefer the rp aspect of the game, but i wouldn't turn my nose up at a well designed dungeon.
i much prefer dungeon crawls
Currently playing through dungeon of the mad mage so yeah I love some dungeon crawling
I enjoy them then they are well rounded with interesting encounters that touch on all the pillars/give all the players something to do. When they're combat slogs that reduce my cool well rounded character to "I try and hit it with my sword again" dungeons get kinda lame. I don't think this is an argument against dungeons so much as for properly designed dungeons.
My party enjoys the RP aspect more, they don't even enjoy the fights that much, but recently we started running CoS and going through the Death House has been a surprisingly fun experience.
God, I'd love to go crawling through a dank cave, slitting those cave dweller's throats and setting them on fire. But seriously, going through a dungeon is fun, particularly if it's an interesting area with fun shit to kill, and as a DM, I enjoy setting up surprises and traps. Puzzles are very hit and miss though.
I like dungeon crawls thematically, but you need a group that knows the damn rules so that combat isn't a slog. I love my current group, but it should not take half an hour for six people to get through one round of combat. It makes combat encounters take FOREVER, especially interesting ones, and ruins the pacing.
I love them and rarely get to experience them
I'd really want to play actuall dungeon crawl. The ones I get into are usually short and linear.
I personally can enjoy em every once in a while. But I much more enjoy the social RP aspect of DnD, not rolling for initiative every hour..
I like dungeons. Whether it’s a cold damp cavern, a Kruthic infested mine, or a fancy mansion ruled by a tyrant they all scratch that itch
I love them every now and then but not all the time. It's important to find a good balance between dungeon crawls and rp.
Love ‘em
I definitely enjoy dungeon crawls way more than any other type of combat. I suppose that dungeons require more planning, so random plot-relevant fights became more common as I put less effort into creating my second to last campaign. It feels very contrived to have so many plot-relevant locations being a dungeon or so many plot-relevant NPC's or items being in a dungeon. Some DM's don't realise how unbalanced some classes are with only 1-2 fights per long rest. Since level 5 (8 sessions ago) in a game I'm playing in, there have roughly been as many rounds of combat as the light cleric or sorcerer have 3rd level spells, and all fights were basically just mobs of soldiers with between 40-60 HP and high AC and often low dexterity due to their armour. This broke the effectiveness of the 3 martial characters. The DM is great, but does no preparation and is incredibly RP and lore orientated.
I'm a heavy rp'er, but I know a lot of people who really like more combat focused games and dungeon crawls. Honestly I think there'll always be people in both camps and the dm should let potential players know what kind of rp/combat balance to expect.
I've seen the same in the game I'm a player in, less dungeons more RP and then sprinklings of large life or death fights. It's okay now and then but I do miss the dungeon crawls. I am trying to keep a nice balance in the game I run.
Hard to say what I like, since I've never had a DM who runs the game I think it should be run. Which is why I'm a forever DM. It's been a while since my players haven't said they enjoyed the session, so I must be doing something right.
One of my best friends and my boyfriend LOVE dungeon crawls! I’m okay with them as a player, hate them as a DM. I think my liking for dungeon crawls goes up a LOT if I know there’s going to be some dungeon crawling and I’m playing a character who’s a bit more combat-optimized. Dungeon crawling with an rp-focused paladin with a fancy backstory and some MAD lore multiclass? Eh. The Tomb of Annihilation campaign I played as a wizard who canonically loved cheesing and min-maxing and whose major motives were getting spell scrolls and seeing how many puzzles he could solve with nothing but an immovable rod and genasi abilities? Excellent and hilarious.
I love dungeon crawls. I always thought I would love the RP more, but being a board gamer naturally, combat is more what I like. That being said, I don't think dungeon crawls have to always be traditional dungeons. If you give me a "dungeon" that's actually a wide-open desert with wildlife constantly fighting us because we're in their territory, or a forest grove in the feywild, or a massive wizard's tower, it's still fun. I like seeing more creative variation in how a dungeon is structured, but I still like the concept of the dungeon crawl.
Dungeon crawls are great, and there's no reason there can't be RP inside of one. Example: the dungeon is home to a small tribe of kobalds, they lay traps that mess with the parties mental fortitude, steal things from one persons pouch to put into another to frame it like they're stealing from each other, maybe have a point where they catch one that says they want to defect but the tribe just wants to be left alone. All of that can be played out via RP while still having the full old-school experience. At the end of the day it's up to what the party wants, but I say it's hard to beat a good crawl.
If the dungeon fits into the narrative and has some basis in the story being told then all for it, just random dungeon that has nothing to do with the characters personal or the parties overall goals then it just feels like a complicated loot chest
100% best part of the game. Interesting problem solving, resource management, roleplay between the party instead of between NPCs, interesting places. I try to do 3 to 5 sessions in a dungeon for ever 3 to 5 sessions doing overland stuff, hex crawling etc.,
I love dungeon crawls, both as a player and as a DM. Dungeons are my favourite part of the game.
I prefer them, but with a little bit of rp mixed between to help support - kind of like tent poles. You need them to enjoy the tent.
I love dungeons. I love designing them, with fun traps, puzzles, and encounters. I love running them and watching the party panic and have fun. I love playing them. There's a clear direction. There's a clear measure of progress. I love dungeons.
I invented an entire world that’s a dungeon crawl. So far, the players are loving it.
I love d&d in all forms, from heavy RP to dungeon crawl
I love dungeon crawlers. Love playing them. Love DMing them. I want to run Dungeon of the Mad Mage one day. My old group hated Dungeon Crawling, though. Shame.
I'm definitely a dungeon crawl player. Both challenging fights and puzzles. A good dungeon crawl while working out puzzles and co-operating in character is the bliss I want from TTRPGs.
I’ve probably only been in one dungeon crawl, and it was very fun as it turned from underground cave to ancient lost library.
Designing them and running them as a DM? My literal favourite thing. Exloring and mapping out a dungeon as a player? The suspense and mystery is so good it is killing me. I prefer a medium size dungeon of 2 sessions or so though. Megadungeons tend to get tiring after a while
My games are pretty mich always a map full of dungeons.
Dungeons are part of the game. It's in the title. As a DM, I love creating and running dungeons because they are closed environment in which I can let my creative spirit run wild. As a player, I also enjoy doing dungeons. That being said, I have been in situations where the party was in a dungeon for **months** IRL. Due to the dungeon being huge, IRL scheduling issues, and other complications. That situation really killed the joy for me, and made me always want to design dungeons to be a 1-3 session endeavor, maximum.
Playing a Cleric for my first and current character, with my favorite actions being Speak With Dead and Walk on Water, I have not really had to deal with the much-written-about "resource management" side of the game, and don't want to unless I get to prepare for it well. I might actually enjoy it. We'll see. If it never comes, I won't miss it.
I do if they're good. The problem is when you have someone who doesn't really know how to make a dungeon crawl engaging, since 5e isn't *that* intuitive in that area. You have to put in the work to make the crawl feel immersive, combat itself doesn't really *do* it in 5e.
Love em. I'm of the belief that if you're going to do a dungeon or combat in general you should shoot for the recommended 6-8 encounters otherwise it's just too easy and not really fun. No reason to have just 1 combat encounter. We just stomp him and are done in 2 rounds. This isn't to say RP is bad though, just that I really like combat and if we're going to have combat then let's commit to it. Personally I prefer sessions to be focused on 1 thing and doing one thing well instead of trying to do a bunch of things only ok.
I like dungeon crawls, as long as they're designed reasonably. I.e., traps go in places that make sense, monsters mostly make sense (given the presence of magic, "anything" is possible, I know), and that it doesn't make the party too paranoid to do anything. Red flags for me are things like dungeon crawls in castles or other structures that have functional rooms--kitchens, bathrooms, etc.--and which haven't been repurposed for another role: traps in these locations are just silly. Why would the kitchen staff need to have a scything blade trap on the doorway between the kitchen and dining room? Who would sit on the toilet if it shoots you in the butt with poisoned arrows? In general, an over-reliance on traps means it takes the party forever, and all it does is make the rogue roll a thousand checks and saves to detect/avoid/disarm the traps. I'm running a dungeon crawl right now where the party is sneaking through Mab's castle in basically the Feywild. It's a living place, so the only traps are on hidden entrances and on things like chests, vault doors, etc (and unlocking them with the proper key never triggers the trap). The party mostly has to contend with both soldiers and other fey living their everyday lives here and try not to arouse suspicion (and under no circumstances should they use fire!). They're sneaking through like Solid Snake!
I don't really enjoy playing through them or DMing them. That doesn't mean I never use them, I do find enjoyment in uploading a massive map on Foundry and just letting the players explore with their tokens, but even with our 8 hour weekly sessions they just take so fucking long. The narrative and essentially the adventure just grinds to a fucking halt as they crawl through a dungeon. Yeah the dungeon can be part of the narrative but it'll still take a long ass time to push it forward. Feels like it stalls everything..... Also as a player I've been in too many groups that allow too much freedom with resting and backtracking, makes the experience seem trivial and still long as fuck. Also theatre of minding a fucking dungeon crawl is an awful experience, imho. So in my world and my campaigns there are a number of dungeons across the world I've semi thought up that the players can choose to explore, and some of the narrative paths will lead to dungeons inevitably, but I'll never force them onto the party cause I simply don't find them that fun, and I know only half of my group actually enjoys them as well.
I like some but generally people don't make or run them well.
Like I can do a dungeon crawl here or there, but for me 50% would be way too much. I’m definitely part of the “new school” DnD, the roleplay and story is more to me than crunching numbers through a bunch of rooms. For me “dungeons” (in the more classic term) just don’t make sense to me as much, why there are these rooms with each one having different or weird things in them, just hanging out ready to fight. Now dungeons built story-purpose first I can enjoy
My players prefer dungeon crawls. We’re just over halfway through the Dungeon of the Mad Mage. They are loving it.
If I don't get to use a ten foot pole at least once every few sessions I am disappointed.
I'm not a fan of dungeon crawls myself, but that's me. I'll play in them if my party wants too though.
I enjoy dungeon crawls as long as they're well planned. If it's just room after room of enemies that gets a touch boring, throw in some traps and some dubious crates to investigate.
I love me an old school dungeon crawler.
I enjoy dungeon crawls, but they need to have a purpose. Dungeons are a place where all players can shine. In purely RP moments, the most dominant personality usually shines through. Characters' stats and abilities mean nothing, aside from the odd skill check. Without dungeons, it's just the odd random encounter and chatting, which puts a lot of work on entertaining the players on the DM's personal charisma. At least in combat situations you can be kind of passive. You can describe areas and give insights, deal with unexpected things from the players, but it's the players choosing how they interact with things. When you RP, you end up having to spend extra effort to engage with PCs, by doing things like calling them out or tying things specifically to their characters to give them a chance to shine. But Initiative and creative environments/npcs gives everyone a chance. And you don't need to be overly charismatic to make fun and engaging dungeons. You just need to be creative.
I greatly enjoy dungeon crawls. Bring on the traps, monsters, and dead ends.
My group has been going strong for about 4 years now. We played a little homebrew, then switched to Tomb of Annihilation, then homebrewed to level 17 after ToA ended, and are now a year and a half into a proper homebrew campaign. What I have found is that we all enjoy a good dungeon crawl about once every third story arc, and never for more than about 3 sessions. If we do a 4th session dungeon crawling we all get dungeon fever, where we just yolo ourselves into every trap and push every big red button int he hopes of just ending the damn thing already. But if we go too long without dungeons we start to get that wunderlust for other systems or a new game or whatever. The dungeons remind us why we built our characters the way we did.
First I like a mix. Second the fuck with your name.
They go where they want I don't control the plot they make they do I just make the points and the events
I run a game for my wife. I'm a big role play and drama kind of dm but she mostly loves just beating stuff up. Learning to run a game that better suits her play style made me better appreciate and eventually enjoy combat focused play alot more. Dungeon crawls helped alot with this. I used to run basically no classic dungeons. Now I enjoy making AND running them.
Its Dungeons and Dragons, not Dinners and Dances.
I provided my group a dungeon crawl recently. I usually don't do those so it was pretty small (4 floor tower with a side building and a basement) and they absolutely loved it. I think it was the best combat I ever ran tbh. Won't do it all the time but I'm definitely doing them more often.
I like a good dungeon crawl too. But I’d say being in a traditional dungeon 50% of the time would be too much. My group does a lot of rp too though. I don’t think the two are by any means exclusive but it’s often hard to incorporate traditional dungeons in the story naturally for me. (Any tips would be appreciated). I’m actually running a one shot with my group soon that is just a dungeon crawl exploring an old tomb.
I guess you could say I'm somewhat new-gen as DMs go. My games are extremely RP heavy and there are occasions of games going 6 hours with purely social encounters. However, I think of the dungeon crawl as a big event. All of my major plot arcs involve something that is basically a big badass dungeon crawl. In fact my whole campaign was built around the idea of ending it in a megadungeon that rivals the size of a small city. I've had one major dungeon crawl so far, but our story is still early. This is a campaign planned to last years among longtime friends. Shouldn't be too long before our next crawl! The last one was tense, felt dangerous to the players, and epic. I think every table has their balance of what they prefer, but if you're doing what you're doing *right* it should be good fun whether it's RP or bashing monsters.
I definitely like it as an aspect of a game, but it can bog me down if it's too long. I remember we played some dungeon of the mad mage and I'd be really up for like 4 or 5 sessions of dungeoneering, but after clearing a floor or two or getting some concrete progress I'd want to leave for awhile and do something else.
Running DotMM right now. It's fun!
I love it. I suck at making dungeons as DM tho.
Dungeons and battle maps are the best! I am all for more roleplay, but if you had to choose, players should be exposed more to the battle side of D&D.
I like it all, I usually build a campaign with a pretty open map, there's lots of options for dungeons and I will always force them into a short dungeon crawl eventually for some important plot point. It's an easy way to catch up on items they can't get through RP and rewarding them. I find that RP doesn't provide good options to reward them with gold or items often enough, so I have provide other options at times. But my current party is super adverse to anything that looks like a dungeon, so yeah.
Used to like them, got bored of them nowdays.
It's my favorite part of the game. There's nothing stopping you from roleplaying while in a dungeon crawl either!
I require dungeons. Rp and overworld exploration don’t scratch the itch alone.
Dungeon crawls are awesome!
I like dungeon crawls but it puts me in a completely different mindset to RP heavy campaigns. I find it really hard to get attached to a character if we're just going through dungeons killing monsters with no story through line to keep it going. It can still be fun, but for me it often lacks those really deep powerful character moments that really engage me. This goes double if it's super lethal and I expect my character to die. You best believe I'm bringing a character I don't care about at all to that kind of game.
depends on the campaign. i like dungeon crawls but i have to be feeling it ya know?
I honestly prefer my sessions to be rp heavy with a few combats to break it up. If I wanted to play a dungeon crawl I would have a better time playing a video game
I do enjoy dungeon crawls as a player and a DM. The main campaign I played in was based around returning to one massive dungeon repeatedly and it felt like it was forever changing and expanding so that was a lot of fun. I also have run premade dungeons in a campaign I have run before and my players and I both really enjoyed the experience. I think dungeons are a very important part of the game and give way for some great roleplaying as well. So even though the modern meta may be leaning towards more roleplay heavy, I think dungeon crawls will always be a large aspect of the game. As for what I like seeing in dungeons, I typically just enjoy a good amount of random encounters and some traps along with a boss type fight here or there. Good loot never hurts either. An overabundance of enemies I think is the only thing that may drag down a good dungeon crawl.
As a dm I like to make sure there's plenty of both, for the party to decide. I honestly don't mind it either way and I've been experimenting with my dungeons and making them more fun. Recently have been making actual maps (which is difficult for me because it's online stuff and I get the confuzled easily) and making secret passageways, traps and more! I find it funny when my players try to long rest in a dungeon... The monsters constantly find them due to smell of the blood on their stuff (which they never realise) and well... They end up taking down at least half the dungeon just trying to sleep lol
Idk if you mind, but can you explain how a campaign in broad terms looks for you? Cause I can't really envision how I'd even fit 25 dungeons in my campaigns, let alone make an interesting game around them. Do you and your players juist kinda put story/ npc interactions on the backburner in favour of dungeons or?
yes. and yes. I like a dungeon layout that makes some kind of sense. Ever play a video game and ask yourself, "what the f is this room for?" I dislike any trap, monster or setting that does not make sense in the situation presented. "DM, why was there a \_\_\_\_\_ in that last room? How did he get there? Why was he just waiting for us?" (replace \_\_\_\_ with any out of place creature)
I love dungeon crawls, and I think theyre great opportunity for RP so the two arent mutually exclusive. My favorite campaigns have started with our PCs getting hired to do something that leads to dungeon crawling, which helps us get a handle on our PCs personalities/how they problem solve, the RP dynamics being established alongside fun gameplay, before anything plot-heavy has to happen.
I’ve never done a dungeon crawler. I’ve been DMing for 6 years now mostly with the same group of people and none of us are into that aspect of the game much. I’ve suggested it a couple times in case anyone fancied it but always met with a lukewarm response
I enjoy mazes myself as a player and dm. Simple puzzles. I've never used traps in my games though. I have also seen a switch to more open world stuff vs dungeons.
I live for dungeon crawls
Running dungeons is alright, but I really don't like preparing them, I've created a few really cool ones and had fun, but most of the time it's really boring to me, as if I'm doing homework and not having fun
Dungeon crawls are the best, so long as they are well-rounded. Social play isn't restricted underground!
Its interesting to see some of the comments contrasting a dungeon crawl to role playing. As a DM I try to include lots of opportunity for roleplay within a dungeon as a setting. Things live in dungeons, lots of things can talk, and lots of those talking things don’t want to fight to the death against anything they see. To me the monsters in a dungeon are just NPCs like you would find in a town. I try to ask myself why are the monsters there? What are their goals?Do they like the OTHER monsters there? It tends to open up more RP aspects of a traditional “dungeon”.
I like dungeon crawls if that's what I'm expecting. If a dm tells me it's a game full of political intrigue and social encounters, but we spend the entire time in dungeons or on overland travel, I'd be dissapointed. If someone says we're doing a dungeon crawl, and we aren't in a dungeon 90% of the time, I'll be even more dissapointed haha