THOSE WHO
by Kiel Chenier
CRAWL
Dungeons and dungeon crawling; They can have a character with darkvision scout
the simplest and most elegant way ahead, but that might put them at risk. Or they can
to present every aspect of fantasy just ignore it and explore elsewhere. Dungeons
roleplaying games. The walls of a provide freedom of choice, cooperation, and
dungeon give the game structure, both problem solving, all through their design.
literally and figuratively. “How do
we get out of this dungeon?” “Should Unfortunately, they are exhausting for a Game
we go left or right?” “If we listen at Master. They take a lot of brainpower and
the door, what do we hear?” “What memorization to run, which is an absolute shame!
do you mean it has eight eyes and no The best part of the game shouldn’t be nearly this
legs?!” mentally taxing.
When you delve into a dungeon, Below are tips and tricks that will make running
choices and consequences are dungeons easier and faster for you and help make
abundant. A party of adventurers is exploring dungeons more exhilarating for your
faced with a darkened tunnel. What players; no more arguing about time and duration
should they do? rules or hair-pulling over accurate dungeon
mapping.
They can stop and listen to gain more
info. They can light it up with torches,
but doing so might attract monsters.
EN World EN5IDER| Those Who Crawl
simple and fast way for players to
1. Know the tone of your game.
check rooms and hallways (say, a
single Wisdom check), regardless of
illumination, would be much faster.
Tone is the perspective or attitude that an author
adopts with regards to the world they are trying to Take stealth and sneaking for
present or the story they are trying to tell. Thinking example. In the horror game,
about the tone of your game will help you choose individual stealth checks might work
which rules reinforce the tone, and which work better, as they single out characters
against it. What kind of emotions is their world and make the opportunity for failure
trying to elicit in their players? Is your game a light- greater. For the high adventure
hearted, adventurous romp? Is it a gritty, action- game, group stealth checks (like in
packed drama? Is it more like a horror film, or a the fourth-edition game) might be
thriller? Do you run a game that’s a gonzo mish- the best way to go, as they reinforce
mash of all of these things? If so, that’s totally cool. camaraderie among the group, where
Most roleplaying games end up having a variety of one player makes the check, but all the
tones. characters are providing a set bonus
to that player’s check. Everyone is
Tone matters when running a dungeon crawl is helping and important.
because it dictates which rules you should use, and
which rules you should ignore.
For example, if you are running a horror-inspired
game and the dungeon is meant to be a real trial
for your players, rules for managing dwindling
2. Track Time with Dice.
resources will help enforce that tone. Things like It is easy to forget about the passing
accurately tracking how far a torch or lantern can of time when you’re deep down in a
light up an area, how long a torch lasts, and tracking dungeon. Encounters can pop up at
how many of them a player has. Who is carrying any moment, minutes slip away as
the light source? It matters, because whoever is players discuss how best to avoid a
illuminated most is sure to be the first one noticed trap, choose which door to open first,
by the horrifying mutants lurking in the dark. and investigate things in general.
But if you are running a game of high adventure This is difficult (and dangerous)
and larger-than-life player characters, then resource for Game Masters, because random
management doesn’t make as much sense. Their encounters should be rolled for
heroic exploits and witty banter with the escaping every 30-60 minutes, depending
main villain are the game’s primary focus; they on how populated the dungeon is.
don’t want to worry about having enough torches. Dungeons are dangerous, populated,
They have torches in their equipment list. That living places! Accidentally ignoring
should be enough! that can make your games seem less
challenging and immersive.
That kind of meticulous resource-tracking would
only slow down the flow of a high-adventure game, Trying to add up abstracted time is
but it helps reinforce the danger and desperation a hassle, so here’s a sane and safe
of the game with the more horrific tone. Instead, replacement. Track time using dice,
for the high adventure game, having a really specifically d6s and d12s.
EN World EN5IDER | Those Who Crawl
As the Game Master, set aside a d6 use if you’re in a hurry.
and a d12 when the player characters If you have the time before running a game, try
enter a dungeon. The d6 represents doing the following:
minutes, and the d12 represents hours
(in game time, not actual time). Both • Photocopy or print out a copy of the dungeon
begin at the ‘1’ position. You track map (make sure it doesn’t take up all of the
time in the dungeon in ten-minute page).
increments. When ten minutes pass, • Write down the most necessary details about
you turn the d6 to ‘2’, then to ‘3’ ten the dungeon’s rooms circling around the
minutes after that. After 60 minutes photocopied/printed map. Include things
have passed in game, you turn the like the room’s name, its contents, how many
d12 to ‘2’ and reset the d6 back to ‘1’. monsters are inside (if any), page references
Minutes and hours. Simple. to the adventure, and page references to
monster stats (if any).
Each of the following things should • In the map itself, use symbols to indicate
take about 10 minutes of in-game time: locked doors, traps, and other important
dungeon dressings. Make sure that these
• Picking a complex lock on a symbols make sense to you.
door or a chest. • Write down the names of any important
• Actively searching a room for NPC’s and their locations.
secret doors.
• Searching/looting dead bodies By having the whole dungeon in front of you at
for treasure and clues. all times, you’ll never be caught fumbling through
• A combat round taking over a book trying to find the right information when
3–4 rounds (this accounts for players ask you questions.
catching one’s breath and
recouping oneself afterwards).
• Stopping to discuss, at length,
what to do next (use only if
your game is more hardcore or
old-school).
4. Describe Rooms Clearly
Nothing says ‘old school dungeon crawl’ like
busting out the graph paper and pencils and
requiring your players to map a dungeon by hand
3. Simplify Published
Adventures
as they explore it. Fifth-edition strongly emphasizes
‘Theatre of the Mind’-style play, and this style of
dungeon mapping is becoming widely popular once
again.
Pre-written adventures are not always
For players new to it, mapping can get a bit
the easiest or fastest to run. Sure, a
confusing. Dungeon mapping requires a lot of back
bunch of the work is done for you,
and forth communication, which can be hampered
but these published adventures can
by oddly-shaped, weirdly-proportioned, and
be poorly laid out and require a lot of
overly-detailed dungeon rooms.
back-and-forth referencing at the table.
If you’re new to running dungeons,
Here are some tips on how to best describe
these books can often be a hassle to
EN World EN5IDER| Those Who Crawl
dungeons to make it easier for players to draw -A point-to-point map will look like
them: a series of shapes (rooms) connected
by lines and points (hallways/
Tell players where the dungeon begins. Where is passageways).
the first entrance room located on the page? Is it at
the top? The bottom? In the middle? If you don’t -You give players the shape and
clue your players in to this, chances are their maps dimensions of a room. The players
will quickly run off the page. Whatever your players draw the shape, but write down the
are mapping on should be oriented the same way dimensions on the sides of the room’s
your dungeon map is. shape. They do not need to be to scale.
Give players shapes. Instead of just telling players -Hallways and doorways are drawn as
that a room is 30 feet by 60 feet, tell them it is a points and lines. The length/width of
horizontal rectangle. The dimensions are important, the hallway is written along the line.
but giving the player a definite shape allows them to
instantly understand you.
Use cardinal directions. Rather than trying to
describe things as left, right, up, and down, try
using north, south, east, and west. These directions
5. Helpful tools and aids
remain the same regardless of where a player Dungeon crawling can be made easier
character’s perspective is. For example, “The room with the addition of a few simple
extends 40 feet north/south, and 20 feet east/west.” tools. All of the ones listed below are
Also, try to keep the north direction on your map intended to make navigating space
pointing towards the top of the page. It makes for easier to understand for players, and
easier mapping. to help Game Masters save time at the
table.
Room first, then exits/entrances. When you
describe a dungeon room to players, give them Miniatures and/or tokens. Making
the shape of the room first, its dimensions second, sense of scale and position is tricky
where they are entering from third, any/all other in confined spaces. Using miniatures
exits or doorways fourth, and finally room details or other small objects (cardboard
and dressings last. For example, “You enter a square tokens, paper standees, coins, dice,
room, it’s 20 feet by 20 feet, with the entrance in the etc.) to stand in for player characters
southeast corner. There’s one other doorway to the and monsters can make a world of
north, in the center of the wall. You suddenly realize difference when communicating
it’s a giant mouth. Save versus being eaten.” space and movement, especially
when using a tactical grid.
Point-to-Point maps. Dungeon cartography isn’t
for everyone. It can be difficult to cobble together Wet- and dry-erase boards. These
a dungeon map that’s accurate and fits together office standbys make communication
cleanly. When in doubt, you can suggest something between GMs and players a breeze.
more abstract: if your game doesn’t rely on really If players get confused about the
accurate positioning and movement, try a ‘point- shape of a room, or what objects
to-point’ map, described below. This type of map within a room might look like, having
is an abstraction, but still contains all the important something you can draw on and
information. also erase quickly can make a world
EN World EN5IDER | Those Who Crawl
of difference. Also, when placed on
a table alongside miniatures and
tokens, it can be used as a battle grid
for combat.
Tablet computers. What’s better than
graph paper and pencils? Having
a something players can draw
and erase on endlessly, undoing
and redoing any lines they create.
By having one designated player
mapping a dungeon using an iPad
or a different tablet, you save a lot of
time at the table. There are numerous
free drawing applications and
programs that you can run on most
tablets (Penultimate, Layers, Bamboo
Paper, and Autodesk Sketchbook Pro
are among the best for mapping). If
you’re able to spend a little money,
the Bamboo Stylus Solo is a touch
screen stylus that will ensure your
digital maps are as clear and detailed
as you want them to be.
Image references. A picture is
worth a thousand words. Trying to
improvise dungeon dressings and
details can be difficult for Game
Masters just starting out, and boxed
‘read-aloud’ text can get kind of
boring, and can take your players out
of the game. If you have the time, a
good solution is to print out images
of dungeon locales and examples of
architecture to show your players, or
load them onto a tablet or laptop.
Author - Kiel Chenier
Editor - James Haeck
Artists - Ellis Goodson
Layout - Justin Buell
EN World EN5IDER| Those Who Crawl
