In the videogaming hobby, there is a practice called "Speedrunning", in which the player attempts to complete all or a portion of a game as quickly as possible.

I have never done it myself, but has anyone here every "speedran" a module? For instance, having played Keep on the Borderlands (or other module) before, you play it again, but this time see how few exploration turns you can clear it in?

This would probably work the best with "tournament" dungeons.

Quote from: Hieronymous Rex;342035In the videogaming hobby, there is a practice called "Speedrunning", in which the player attempts to complete all or a portion of a game as quickly as possible.

I have never done it myself, but has anyone here every "speedran" a module? For instance, having played Keep on the Borderlands (or other module) before, you play it again, but this time see how few exploration turns you can clear it in?

This would probably work the best with "tournament" dungeons.

One way to do it for 4E D&D, would be to change most of the monsters into their minion versions.

I've had players who speedran through certain modules. B2, D3, Ravenloft.

One player wanted a speedrun througha Retail-play module I was running... the other 4 players wanted to engage the NPC's (as was envisioned in the module). The party took away his bowstrings, at which point, he decided to be much more cautious... and let the others engage in dialogue with NPC's.

I don't enjoy it as a GM.

Quote from: ggroy;342036One way to do it for 4E D&D, would be to change most of the monsters into their minion versions.

That's not really what I mean. Speedrunning isn't altering the game/module, it's trying to, as a player, complete it as fast as possible.

Quote from: aramis;342042I've had players who speedran through certain modules. B2, D3, Ravenloft...

That also not what I meant. I was thinking more of, after already playing it, going back (with new characters) and seeing how fast it can be done.

Back in the 1e AD&D days, my group did this by accident once and it became a long running gag or inside joke for my group.  Man, my memory sucks and I wish I could remember which module it was in which we did this.  Anyway, I was party caller (yes, we did that).  At every intersection choice, I called that we chose the left most passage.  Somehow, by doing this, we bypassed the lead up encounters and walked straight in the BBEG's lair.  After that experience, it became a running gag that we always choose left when presented with a choice of direction.

You pretty much have to speedrun the Hidden Shrine of Tamaochan. At the start you fall through a pit into the bottom level of the dungeon, and poison gas will kill you unless you get out within x number of hours.

In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords is also a race against the clock. In this case, it's an erupting volcano that drives you to speedrun the adventure.

I was running the Basic Blue Book dungeon several years ago at a convention and they had a large party of 8 players and everyone had some henchmen.  

At cons, I give a 5-minute session between my Intro and the start of the game where I leave the room and the players talk to each other, getting into character and/or discussing their characters and tactics.  

I walk back in and they've all got goofy smiles.   We start the dungeon and they start running.  Literally, they charge through the dungeon - no missile weapons, and slam into battles nearly heedless of danger.  It was crazy fun and they would constantly switch out front ranks and then slam room to room at a full rush.  Sure, they missed stuff, but the point in that dungeon is to "rescue the princess" and they dodged past monster rooms simply by taking a few punches while never stopping.

Once they rescued the princesss, they drew a rough map from memory and went back slightly more cautiously to carve the rest of the dungeon.   I had never seen that done before or since.

Quote from: Hieronymous Rex;342050That also not what I meant. I was thinking more of, after already playing it, going back (with new characters) and seeing how fast it can be done.

most people I've run through B2 Have played it before...

Quote from: Spinachcat;342084I was running the Basic Blue Book dungeon several years ago at a convention and they had a large party of 8 players and everyone had some henchmen.  

At cons, I give a 5-minute session between my Intro and the start of the game where I leave the room and the players talk to each other, getting into character and/or discussing their characters and tactics.  

I walk back in and they've all got goofy smiles.   We start the dungeon and they start running.  Literally, they charge through the dungeon - no missile weapons, and slam into battles nearly heedless of danger.  It was crazy fun and they would constantly switch out front ranks and then slam room to room at a full rush.  Sure, they missed stuff, but the point in that dungeon is to "rescue the princess" and they dodged past monster rooms simply by taking a few punches while never stopping.

Once they rescued the princesss, they drew a rough map from memory and went back slightly more cautiously to carve the rest of the dungeon.   I had never seen that done before or since.

That's amazing.

That's more or less the Ultimate Dungeon Delves WotC has been running at big cons. I dunno if I'd wanna do it more than once. Maybe not once, depends on my team.

Sounds kind of boring - what happened to the roleplaying?

Thats like fast forwarding through a DVD movie just to skip to either the violence/explosion scenes or the nude scenes - its a sign of being jaded and a tad cold.  Borders on childish too.


- Ed C.

I don't see it that way, in many cases it makes the most sense. In my D&D classic campaign, the PCs went to Itheldown Island, and their goal was to take down the demon. There was no real logic in their going room-to-room, they tried to get to the "boss" as quickly as they could, to take him out, and then make it out alive; knowing the dungeon to be full of deadly encounters, and that they'd rather face the dude at full strength than after being whittled down by pointless encounters along the way.

RPGPundit

Speedrunning as I understand it means saving time by not looking for stuff because you know how the game is programmed.
 
For example, this weekend I was playing Dungeons and Dragons Online and I was speedrunning for a special item called the "muckbane." Here's a map of how to speedrun for a muckbane:
 

 
So, just follow the instructions and within half an hour or so you'll have a muckbane.
 
The instructions, in case you're wondering, are: follow the green line and turn the valve. Then follow the yellow line. DDO will randomly spawn Muck, randomly spawn a chest when he dies, and randomly spawn a muckbane inside the chest. If any of those random events do not happen, exit, reboot the dungeon, and try again. All of the kobolds and slimes you pass will chase you but don't worry because none of them have feats or spells that can stop you. There are no traps on this route so don't waste time looking for them.
 
Basicaly, it's for when you're bored of a dungeon but you still want the loot.
 
And yes, I got my muckbane!