Comments on: D&D Burgoo: Five Room Dungeon

By: argokirby

argokirby — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:24:09 +0000

This is the best bit of legislation you have come out with so far. Keep up this kind of work, I loved it!!!

By: Jharviss

Jharviss — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 05:29:08 +0000

I've read about the five room dungeon at roleplayingtips.com, but I've never much bothered to implement it. Then, as I was reading through this, I realized that I have run the five room dungeon over and over again - just the other night I ran an unplanned, five room dungeon! It's the perfect size and the game ends or changes direction right before it gets tedious. Who knew that I had taken this advice without meaning to. I guess that means it works.

By: John Arcadian

John Arcadian — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 03:20:21 +0000

I love the titles for your 5-room dungeon. I rarely run any kind of dungeon crawl, but I've been jonesing for nostalgic, story-lite, hack and slash lately though. I think I might have to set up some quick and dirty 5 room dungeons to run my group through soon.

By: Scott Martin

Scott Martin — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:52:00 +0000

Looks like a good idea-- while there is still some winging it/last minute work to do, it's flexible enough to match any party, any level.

By: Kurt "Telas" Schneider

Kurt "Telas" Schneider — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:24:19 +0000

Heh-heh... You used "snatch" and "dingus" in the same sentence. /beavis I like the simplicity of this. It starts with a chance to flex the party muscles, addresses the 'special needs' of the oft-overlooked iconic roles in the party (let's face it, Fighters and Wizards pretty much fit in anywhere), and has not one but two knock-down drag-out fights to remind the party to conserve their power. Simple but effective.

By: Sarlax

Sarlax — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:46:58 +0000

I've been running a 3.5 game for almost two years and I've only used a prepared dungeon twice. By prepared dungeon, I mean a mapped area with particular encounters in certain places. In all other instances, I've improved the encounters. I use existing maps as an aid - if I find a layout I like, I'll use it with some degree of modifications, but then populate the area spontaneously in a way that makes sense given what the players are doing. The 5-Room model is a good way of thinking about how I do this - create a different set of experiences and challenges that, while fitting the ongoing campaign and location, gives different challenges to the party.

By: Troy E. Taylor

Troy E. Taylor — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:53:43 +0000

I knew nothing of the 5-room dungeon contest that you mention. The idea of the "5-room dungeon" as being equivalent to a solid gaming session has been out there for a long time -- older than this Internet thing.

By: Rafe

Rafe — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:29:19 +0000

Not sure if the “5-Room Dungeon” contest that Johnn Four of Roleplaying Tips is your inspiration, but you don’t even need to create the encounter/dungeon. Just go here and grab one that suits you:

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/articles/5_room_dungeons.html

That said, an encounter of the sort you’ve described is definitely a great little addition to a sudden change of direction or a random game.