I'm trying to get a bit of information for an idea I have (far future though got other games to get out first)

Do you like, or utilize the conventional dungeon crawl?

If you do:

Do you play it serious/straight?

Tongue-in-cheek/silly?


Do you ever utilize the dungeoncrawl in non-fantasy settings or games?

What aspects of the dungeoncrawl appeal to you?


What aspects of the dungeoncrawl don't?

I do a dungeon crawl from time to time.  Currently running a basic D&D game (red box) for some new young players and that's exactly what I'm running with them.  

Running it straight up and serious and they are liking it a lot.

I like the idea of a contained environment.  Makes it a lot easier for the GM to control what is going on and less he has to think about things going in a strange direction.

I don't like the wandering damage ... err.. I mean wandering monster charts that are common in dungeon crawls.  

I've run a few 'outside the genre' games that were basically dungeon crawls.  A few cyberpunk 2020 games that were going in retrieving an object from a location.  Lots of Sla Industries games that were sweep and cleans of sewer tunnels and buildings.  That's the two games that come to mind right off the bat.

Quote from: SilverlionDo you like, or utilize the conventional dungeon crawl?

Yes. They're not for every occassion, but fun to throw in.

QuoteDo you play it serious/straight?

Serious, unless the campaign is meant to be played humorously. In either cases though it's not the presence or lack of dungeon crawls that decides the tone.

QuoteTongue-in-cheek/silly?

Sometimes, but again, not because it's a dungeoncrawl.

QuoteDo you ever utilize the dungeoncrawl in non-fantasy settings or games?

Sure, Shadowrun utilizes "dungeoncrawls" through secured facilities a lot, and even has an actual dungeoncrawl through a bug spirit complex in one of the printed adventures. Scifi games can have crawls through abandoned (or not) spacecraft, alien cities (above or below ground), etc.

QuoteWhat aspects of the dungeoncrawl appeal to you?

The mystery of "what's behind the door." The straightforward nature of a typical dungeon crawl is great for when I'm mentally burned out from work, kids, or whatever. Killing critters and taking their loot can be a great stress reliever.

QuoteWhat aspects of the dungeoncrawl don't?

I don't like traps. Sure, the rogue/engineer/stealth adept can look for them and disable them, but they slow things down drastically. Also, because the guys that look for traps are usually more fragile than the guys that want to be front line fighters, a bad roll can kill them outright.

I try to from time to time, but I tend towards games like Rolemaster and GURPS so my PCs generally, get in, nail the objective and get the hell out of dodge before too many of them are horribly killed or possessed by butt snakes.

I prefer small to medium dungeons for crawling because large ones can get tedious after awhile for both the players and GM.

Quote from: SilverlionDo you like, or utilize the conventional dungeon crawl?

Yes, fairly often.

Quote from: SilverlionIf you do:

Do you play it serious/straight?

Tongue-in-cheek/silly?

It's pretty silly in tone. And very competitive/by-the-book. We metagame and every roll counts. TPKs are never out of the question.

I should add that we still try to maintain a credible backstory. We don't have characters called Boba Fett or a Drow Lesbian Ninja. We do put some atmosphere but we are very aware when we use D&D that story comes second and metagaming first.

Quote from: SilverlionDo you ever utilize the dungeoncrawl in non-fantasy settings or games?

A little but not much.

Quote from: SilverlionWhat aspects of the dungeoncrawl appeal to you?

As a GM: The control you have over the environment. You don't have to make it linear but even if open-ended, the choices are restricted enough that your players won't catch you off-guard.

As a player: The thrill. The dungeon kind of becomes the main enemy entity. The big bad guy. If the dungeon has a lot of personality, it will permeate the whole adventure/session.

Quote from: SilverlionI'm trying to get a bit of information for an idea I have (far future though got other games to get out first)

Do you like, or utilize the conventional dungeon crawl?

Love it.  Good fun.  I like the exploration aspect of poking through rooms and slaughtering or looting whatever is found therein.  

QuoteIf you do:

Do you play it serious/straight?

Tongue-in-cheek/silly?

I don't do either.  I just play.  I suppose you could call it "playing it straight", but really, your set of questions here implies considerations that simply don't enter into the way I play.  

QuoteDo you ever utilize the dungeoncrawl in non-fantasy settings or games?

Anytime you're killing your way through a bunch of rooms, you've essentially got a dungeoncrawl.  There's the quote from someone's .sig her that "In Shadowrun, dungeons go up".  I think that's apt because really, it points out that a dungeon is really a style of play more than anything.

QuoteWhat aspects of the dungeoncrawl appeal to you?

I touched on this above, but the exploration aspect, and the maze aspect, can be quite enjoyable for me, so long as it's not bogged down too much with an overabundance of encounters.  this is one of the frustrations I have with Japanese CRPGs, and also with . . .

QuoteWhat aspects of the dungeoncrawl don't?

Random ground traps.  Traps in general can be an excercise in forced tedium if not used sparingly, especialyl because the way they're often implemented essentially forces the player to babble the same recitations of activity and the same rolls, over and bloody over again.  Punishing the player for the one time he forgot to actually state out loud that yes, the rogue, for home the whole trapfinding thing is part of his bloody career, is once again searching the room for traps, gets bloody old, and it's realyl rather juvenile and stupid rather than any kind of clever.  

If you're going to use traps at all, make them rare, stick them mainly on doors or treasure boxes, and give the rogue a chance to spot it automatically.  

For the most part though, there's plenty of other skills and opportunities to let the rogue shine, if that's your concern, so lay off the overapplication of plot devices.

Nope.

-clash

When I get the chance, I love them. Especially when you can just unhinge your brain for the evening and say "Here's a dungeon, you're in it, fight your way to the objective, kill the load bearing boss and get out before it collapses on you." without worrying about anything having to make sense.

I got the feeling Dungeon Crawling was hugely out of favour amongst the gaming community in general and RPGNet in specifc. Course it could just be that nobody wants to play with me - which is also likely. That online rep business has its drawbacks

I was going to say no but the last game I ran had the pc's going through a basment warren in North London, eventually fighting a bunch of vampires and freeing their sex slaves/food.  A small 'dungeon' by any stretch of of the imagination but still arguably a 'dungeon'.  

So when you say dungeoncrawl do you mean a literal "here is a dungeon/cavern system full of random treasure/monsters" or do you widen the goalposts to include any self contained environment within an rpg?

the short answer:

"Hell Yes"

I used to occasionally run Dugeoncrawls, but for the past two years...nothing. I don't run 'em well. When it comes to the tactical aspect of Crawls, my players are like Steven Seagal and I'm like everyone else in his movies

Regards,
David R

Quote from: David Rmy players are like Steven Seagal and I'm like everyone else in his movies

Regards,
David R

Able to act?

Do you like, or utilize the conventional dungeon crawl?

Yes, very much.

Do you play it serious/straight?

Yes

Tongue-in-cheek/silly?

Not usually

Do you ever utilize the dungeoncrawl in non-fantasy settings or games?

sometimes (eg. Hi-tech labs, space stations, etc)

What aspects of the dungeoncrawl appeal to you?

They usually have set maps and challenges, and lean more towards problem solving than improvisational acting.

What aspects of the dungeoncrawl don't?

They can become repetitious and combat focused -- so you need to work at making sure they're not.  

Quote from: SilverlionI'm trying to get a bit of information for an idea I have (far future though got other games to get out first)

Do you like, or utilize the conventional dungeon crawl?

I like dungeoncrawls, but find I tend to go for limited duration forays. More typically, my location based affairs are logical outgrowths of the storyline and setting (an enemy outpost, a thieves' lair, etc.)

QuoteIf you do:

Do you play it serious/straight?

Tongue-in-cheek/silly?

Serious.

QuoteDo you ever utilize the dungeoncrawl in non-fantasy settings or games?

If the occasional derelict spaceship or ancient site counts, yeah.

QuoteWhat aspects of the dungeoncrawl appeal to you?

The exploration aspect, isolating the party with limited access to resources creating a high tension situation.

QuoteWhat aspects of the dungeoncrawl don't?

Harder to change gears or tones if my patience runs out before the dungeon does.