CRAWL OR PATH

A dungeon crawl is one thing, an open world adventure is another. These two choices could be considered at opposite ends of the spectrum, each with its own variations, including crossovers or shared elements. We think of the two as the Crawl and the Path.

In its simplest version, a crawl could be explained as a stereotypical dungeon. Go through a door, kill and/or solve what’s there and reap the reward. The reward could be a clue to what comes next or a pile of loot. Perhaps the next space has 2 doors, or it’s a hallway with a dozen doors. In general, the goal is usually similar from beginning to end. Most computer games follow this model. Move and destroy, move and destroy, take a break and buff, then more of the same. A crawl could also be thought of as a guided story through a series of challenges. It could be a hero’s journey with very specific challenges that lead back to the start. But take this thinking to the extreme and the players are adventurers, rather than heroes. 

One sort of path is an open world. The players jump in and decide what they’d like to do and, possibly, they take on as much responsibility as the GM in world creation, boss creation, politics, etc. Players become proactive with their own fate and future. An open-world paty can require far more time on the part of the players. A simple example of this in a sci-fi genre would be to give the players a base, on a moon for example, and they must decide what is there and how to deal with the issues surrounding defending and surviving on that base. Perhaps they will upgrade the base as an adventure. Perhaps discussing a future boss or organization that is trying in infringe on their territory is in the cards. They can create maps and the terrain or the local solar system. This is more along the lines of an epic story that doesn’t ever need to end. 

Like everything else we include in our rules, take this with a grain of salt. There is a mountain of middle ground but we see the Crawl and Path as the extremes. Also, this article isn't anywhere near a complete analysis – just some food for thought. Personally, I enjoy an epic story arc and don't care if it is made up of pieces of Crawl or Path or both.