Using The Three-Encounter System For Dungeon

Most referees build a comprehensive dungeon, including a random encounter chart, for their players. Done well, this creates a dungeon that can keep them happy for a couple of weeks, depending on how long your gaming sessions are. However, some players are more goal-oriented, and so dungeons that you are meant to go in and actually explore tend to bore them quickly. Some groups may also prefer a more improvised feel to their dungeons; they want to adventure but they just don't want a full-fledged dungeon.

An option that may be worth looking into is using a more cinematic approach to the dungeon. This allows you to create a series of combat encounters of growing intensity while sprinkling in other plot elements, such as clues to a mystery, the book everyone is looking for, or even how to locate a long-lost relative. By limiting the encounters and doling out the treasure, it may take longer for players to level up, but they may enjoy their adventuring a little bit more.

The First Layers: The Encounters

You're going to need to build three encounters. We're going to use the party's average level as the Challenge Rating you need to attain for the monsters. It should be noted that the CR of a monster should be looked at loosely for adventurers; some players may be capable of taking on monsters of greater CR than another party, even if the two groups have similar resources and class make-ups. The complicated version is that the encounter's CR should be (Party Level) + (1 per two PC over 4), with the maximum being Party Level+3.

[If the group is more casual (they're just in it for fun), you may want to subtract two from the CR, while more strategic-minded groups add two (and you can move the maximum to Party Level+5. If you're dealing with fewer than four players, subtract two for two players and subtract three for one player. However, keep in mind that these are subject to change, depending on what you find works for your group.]

The three encounters are The Mob, The Mini-Boss, and The Boss. The Mob is simple: You want a group of four+ creatures that can attack the party; don't put too much thought into these guys as they will usually serve to either warm the party up or act as a distraction later on. With that in mind, try to use non-magic-using creatures of the same type or mixed related types (goblins and wargs, for example).

The Boss will require the most more work as it should be a lot more interesting: Magic-using, using powerful items, and he should be fully statted, including feats and skills. He is going to be the final encounter, so go all out. There's no reason you can't use an opposing adventuring party or even modified monsters if the usual monsters aren't challenging enough. Even debate adding additional monsters (you can add two for each CR-1 you take on; apply the initial modifier to his CR, then subtract one from the allies; I suggest you max out at four allies (or the boss' CR-2 and the allies CR-3 overall).

The Mini-Boss allows you to get weird. You can either use another adventuring party (make sure their levels add to the same as the party's) or monsters. I suggest using at least two whose abilities are complementary rather than in opposition (a medusa and a maedar can cause chaos while a fire elemental and a water elemental duo would have their means of defeat practically built-in); now is the time to use those creatures you've been looking at wondering how they would fare against your players. The key here is that they need to create the warm-up challenge with The Mob being used as a distraction or a challenge to make them think after giving them a warm-up; two or three monsters are ideal here, even if they're of the same type.

[Keep in mind that you can substitute a trap for this encounter if you want, just remember that the CR needs to be at the appropriate number. Keep in mind that the party does not need to kill the encounter to get full XP; throwing in encounters that only need to be overcome or letting the monsters escape is perfectly acceptable, especially if you decide to use the monsters as NPCs later. Also, if you want to be really obnoxious, you can always play with the CR of these three encounters…..]

Make sure their treasure has been rolled up and the room they'll be found in is properly mapped and you're good to go.

Layer 2: The Sub-plots

This is where you get to have some fun. If you're setting up a murder mystery, then you need to drop clues as needed; it's advised that at least one of the first two monsters has one of the clues and The Boss can be the murderer. If you're trying to give a clue where a long-lost relative or power item is, the clue will be revealed when The Boss is defeated, but you should have hints on how to open up the chest or other container before then. You can even have The Boss keep bugging the party with the final combat where they get to take out the trash. One of the encounters could even be guarding a prisoner they're trying to rescue (or keeping the party from the next encounter, where the supposed prisoner is actually The Mini-Boss or The Boss).

In essence, you should have parts that link to the campaign or character goals acting as the threads that bring everything together. If they have to overcome an encounter in order to move the plot forward so much the better.

Some Obvious Notes

1) You don't need to use a dungeon. This works just as well in a mansion, a forest, or even two glades and a cave; the environment is not important, only the encounters and what the party gets out of it.

2) This is useful even for social encounters. The party going to a ball, having to deal with some sort of dance challenge, and then facing down their rival fits this structure pretty (the other dancers would be The Mob, a pair of dancers could be The Mini-Boss, and the rival is The Boss). It even works if the castle is under siege (the army is The Mob, the siege towers, special attackers, or infiltrators as The Mini-Boss, and the general or Really Special Attacker (a dragon, for example) as The Boss.

By messing around with the order of the first two encounters and the overall setting, you'll find this works for a wide range of situations.

3) This is great when your party has individual goals that keep them busy but they still want to adventure. For example, a player running a business, doing lots of research, or going to an academy will almost prefer this structure (which usually takes an afternoon or so) versus a full dungeon (which can take weeks or months of game time).

The bottom line is that this is a great option for those looking for ways to keep things simple but not TOO simple. It has a lot of versatility, and there's no real limit to its use. I hope you enjoy it.