XPost: alt.games.adnd   
   From: user@example.net   
      
   On 07/02/2026 17.55, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:   
   > On Fri, 6 Feb 2026 23:40:59 +0100, "J.O. Aho"    
   > wrote:   
   >   
   >> On 06/02/2026 18.04, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> How did you run your dungeon crawls? Was dungeoneering a major part of   
   >>> your adventures?   
   >>   
   >> When I did DM, we played a variety of different games, so I got a bit   
   >> inspired by a small independent game based on d20, it was inspired by   
   >> action movies where you have a story that is pushed forward and skipping   
   >> the boring stuff. So I had more of from action to action type of setup,   
   >> no matter if it was underdark, on top of the world on somewhere in between.   
   >   
   > Cool, especially if your players enjoyed it.   
      
   We did alternate who was DM, and we did play shadow run, fading suns,   
   AD&D (version 2 and 2.5 and bit 3 too), also some Target Games products   
   like DoD, Mutant Chronicles, Kult. Sure we had one who was a heavy dice   
   roller and slow action moments that could drag out for hours without   
   anything happen, just getting from A to B.   
      
      
   > Our campaigns were different. In many ways, they were more like those   
   > survival video games (perhaps a bit less focus on crafting ;-) where   
   > the journey was as much a part of the adventure as the actual   
   > confrontation with the Big Evil Foozle at the end. Which was cool too;   
   > every group has differing tastes. It's my main objection to the video,   
   > which suggested that the solution to players not enjoying a dungeon   
   > crawl was poor time management; I think it's broader than that. In   
   > your example, your group was happier just to get to the big battle; in   
   > ours, it was the journey that mattered. No amount of time-management   
   > skills would have made dungeoneering more exciting to us.   
      
   Sure players enjoy different things, as do DM's like to lead the games   
   in different ways, the most important is that everyone enjoyed the   
   session and that the DM listens to player complaints and adjust in the   
   future.   
      
      
   > Which isn't to say I completely disagreed with all of his thesis that   
   > modern D&D relies to heavily on skills and dice-rolls... or at least   
   > doesn't give DMs the tools and advice on how /not/ to do that. If your   
   > game falls into the trap of "I roll a die to see if I succeed at   
   > action X", it's going to be really hard to keep most players engaged   
      
   If I remember what it said in the AD&D v2 DM book, was that the rules   
   are only suggestions and not commands from a "god". So you don't have to   
   roll a dice for everything, you should keep the story going and make it   
   interesting, sometimes the players need to suffer so that they can enjoy   
   the win in the last battle a lot more. Sure I did roll my dices far more   
   times than they actually meant something, just giving the illusion that   
   something was random, but was actually part of the story I already had   
   made up.   
      
      
   > and a lot of the tips in the video are telling DMs -one way or   
   > another- to break out of that trend. Don't let your players rely   
   > simply on their stats and skill blocks. Make them think and act it   
   > out. If tight time management works for your group, use that.   
      
   Sure, the players need to act as their characters, but the more stats   
   and things the more they become distracted from roll playing and they   
   just keep on playing and then you can just play a RPG game on the computer.   
      
      
   > But like I said, I never really cared for dungeons to begin with. The   
   > too-tight corridors never really let the players fully explore their   
   > capabilities. You were trapped in tiny rooms, with limited   
   > maneuverability and options. That's not to say I saw no use for the   
   > things; sometimes you /want/ to limit the players that way. But I   
   > always found the more open spaces on the surface a better playground.   
   > The dungeons were a contrast to that, but only worked if used   
   > sparingly.  At least in our campaigns.   
      
   In a campaign (not me as DM), we had characters that started to have   
   their own strong holds, and it was time to build some defenses against   
   powerful monsters who was kind of after the characters, it ended up that   
   the players built their "dungeon" and the DM sent in the monster, it can   
   be a fun time for them to plan how to defeat a Beholder in a dungeon   
   they construct.   
      
      
   --   
     //Aho   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)