In the third booklet found inside the 1974 Dungeons & Dragons boxed set, which is usually referred to today as “OD&D” for “Original Dungeons & Dragons”, we read some curious words:

Before it is possible to conduct a campaign of adventures in the mazey dungeons, it is necessary for the referee to sit down with pencil in hand and draw these labyrinths on graph paper. Unquestionably this will require a great deal of time and effort and imagination.

Dungeons & Dragons (1974), Book III, page 3

The Alexandrian, in his blog post “Game Structures Part 3: Dungeoncrawl”, says:

The most successful scenario structure in the history of roleplaying games is the traditional dungeoncrawl. In fact, I believe that much of D&D’s success rests on the strength of the traditional dungeoncrawl as a scenario structure.

Dungeoncrawls are great for players because they know exactly what to do. The default…