In more free-form play, all you need is the general layout of a place, a list of encounters and possible outcomes for each, and stats for your NPCs.

I don’t think the “dungeon crawl” does anyone any favors. It’s the one we’re most likely to learn from (some form of D&D usually being our “first” game) because it gives both GMs and players bad habits and/or limited expectations. Gamers become trapped in the idea that role-playing must include detailed room descriptions et al., which, by focusing on the space and the stats, makes gamers forget about the story. Dungeons are too often a video game-style area for various combat encounters or challenges. There’s a story, but it takes second place.

The biggest lesson (and greatest epiphany) of my gaming life was to discover other games and reading non-D&D adventure scenarios. How superhero games are run, for example, doesn’t usually include a dungeon crawl. It’s more about an investigation leading to a fight which reveals a greater threat that is followed up on to a big climax fight/stop the threat. I like to check out scenarios for games I don’t play because it can inspire a different way to go.

Many games take a non-dungeon approach, including many D&D-centric scenarios (I loved much of the Planescape output for this). Know your NPCs, know what everyone is doing at any given time, know what kind of social/skill/combat encounters you want as part of the story, and you should be prepared.
.-= Siskoid´s last blog ..Cat of the Geek #46: D&D Familiar =-.

Creating the encounter, selecting the monsters, and then understanding all of the abilities of the monsters.. and then making maps! It’s easy to have a concept in your head, but putting it out there to play is difficult. If there was some way to create a random map and encounter generator based on party size and levels…