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Dungeon Crawls Versus Situations

by Mike on 16 October 2023

Sometimes the line between running a dungeon crawl and running a larger situation – like a heist – isn't so clear. They both have locations. They both have goals. They both have inhabitants. But both styles of games run differently. Each type has a structure we follow when we're preparing them and running them.

It behooves us GMs to compare these two structures. What defines the difference between a dungeon crawl and a larger situation-based adventure?

The answer is: goals and circumstances.

Different Types of Dungeon Goals

Characters should always have a goal when delving into a dungeon – be it a series of caverns, an old temple, a ruined castle, an ancient crypt, or a mysterious manor. Maybe it's to find treasure. Maybe it's to find information. Maybe it's to kill a nasty boss. There are always reasons to go into a dangerous dungeon — otherwise, why go into such a horrible place?

Sometimes these goals require crawling from room to room, avoiding wandering monsters, checking for traps, worrying about lighting and visibility, and so on. Other times these goals mean finding the main room, getting in, doing your job, and leaving before something terrible happens.

A scenario in which the characters must light the four braziers of Set to open the obsidian door to the shadowed vault likely requires crawling through a dungeon to find said braziers and locate the door.

A scenario to rescue the king's nephew from the cultists of Set before they sacrifice him to their serpent god might not require so thorough a dungeon crawl. Find the chamber, free the prince, and escape.

Example Goals

Here are five examples of more dungeon-crawly goals. These goals lend themselves towards adventures in which the characters travel through a larger part of a dungeon seeking one or more things without a big time constraint.

Light four magical candles to illuminate a hidden fresco.
Find three of five keys to open a gateway to another world.
Destroy four anchors of a hellish portal.
Find a powerful foe-slaying weapon.
Lay a tormented soul to rest.

And here are five examples of more situation / heist-style goals. These goals focus more on a single specific quest taking place in a larger location. These goals are more focused on getting in, accomplishing the goal, and getting out.

Dismiss a powerful fiend.
Steal invasion plans of the nearby city.
Rescue a reluctant hostage.
Recover a dangerous artifact.
Steal the key to an aerial warship.

Different Types of Circumstances

Circumstances also dictate whether the characters approach a dungeon as a crawl or as a situation. Are there lots of wandering patrols? Is something important to the story happening soon? Would crawling through every room take the characters away from their goal? Are events changing while the characters might be exploring? Any of these circumstances might shift the characters away from crawling room to room and drive them towards the main goal instead.

Do the characters know the layout of the dungeon? If they know the layout, they know where to go to accomplish their goal. If they don't have a map, they'll have to crawl the dungeon and learn where to go. Sometimes the characters have a partial map devoid of secret hallways, hidden chambers, or underground tunnels. They know most of the location, but not all of it.

Know Your Adventure Structure

When building an adventure or running a published adventure, you may not know right away whether you're running a dungeon crawl or a more dynamic situation. In Wild Beyond the Witchlight, the Palace of Heart's Desire looks like a big place to explore with 51 areas to investigate. In reality, the characters may only visit a handful of rooms depending on how you run it and the choices the characters make.

When preparing a location for your game, ask yourself if the characters are going to treat it like a dungeon crawl or treat the whole thing as a situation. Then choose the approach that fits the structure.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Moving Things Forward and Journey to Bittermold Keep – Shadowdark Gloaming Session 7 Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video:

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

RPG Tips

Each week I note some RPG tips I learned from my last game. Here are this week's tips!

Let monsters get crowd controlled. Have enough that it doesn't completely remove the threat.
Tell players when they may accidentally trigger multiple groups of monsters.
Set up a whole location with small groups of monsters who move around and may or may not become aware of the characters.
The dungeon crawl and the heist are two common adventure models. Know how they work and build around their strengths.
Embrace shenanigans!
Throw mixtures of low and high CR monsters at your characters.
Use more monsters and let them get thrown off pits and ledges or banished to the forbidden zone.
Use random generators to spark your creativity.