After the Quest Objective is Complete

[Ethica]

I was wondering how the rest of you deal with what happens after the objective of the quest is complete and possibly after all monsters are dead. I see some of the options as-

1) Heroes go wandering around rolling dice as normal checking for traps, treasure and secret doors to comb the dungeon for anything they might have missed.
2) Everyone is aware that (1) will happen so the DM just shares out any remaining treasure and the wandering monsters and traps are dealt with somehow.
3) As long as heroes are in no danger ie: there aren't monsters left to attack them, then the quest is over and it is assumed heroes would walk straight back to the stairway tile.
4) The DM advises/hints if there is any booty left in the dungeon.

There is a potential for time to be wasted trudging around when you could be moving on the next action packed adventure. But at the same time I would hate for something special that was hidden to be missed.

Anyone got a "catch all" method for this period in the game?

[Tott]

in some quests it could also be that leaving the dungeon is part of the objective, especially if the exit is different to the entrance. If not then it would be up to the DM. if there is other stuff to kill or find then certainly make the players walk all the way out (or try to find the other stuff) if theres literaly nothing left to do then you may as well end it and move on to the next one. the game is primarily designed to be a fun adventure, a boring walk all the way out doesnt really contribute to that.

[Sjeng]

I agree. As long as there are no more traps or monsters, you could just as well tell them to return to the staircase, and end it with that. But in KK, you have to dind the exit, so in that case, let them quest on, and possibly find traps and treasure.
You could also simply ask the party if they are planning to search every remaining corridor or room if they already found the exit, and if they do, let them play on. If not, you could hint at possible important loot still to be found. Then they can still decide if they want to risk continuing.

[cynthialee]

Once the objective has been met I anounce they have won and hand out the quest reward if there is one.
I do not allow them to go through looting the dungeon bare.
They are supposed to be heroes on a mision. Once that mission is acomplished they are to make way to the empire post haste.

[torilen]

I would say just sum up everything. If there is treasure left, don't make them "walk" to that room, just
have them draw a treasure card. If there Are traps, simply ask them what route they would take back
to the exit, and have them check to see if the trap would go off.

I say this because it could change the outcome, if a hero is hurt by a left-over trap or wandering monster,
but you don't want to make it boring and trudging.

[Daedalus]

If we were inclined to clear out all of the monsters, before ending a Quest we used a combination of #1 and #2. We'd had already finished our treasure searches or did so next, skipping movement dice rolls in favor of simply placing all the Heroes in a room. An automatic door trap was never triggered when we did this, but I suppose a random Hero could be affected if one were present and likely/necessarily crossed.

Whether further treasure searches were made or not, we'd then anounce we were searching the entire board for traps and secret doors. Again, movement was skipped and we were all placed before a discovery. If any intervening traps were revealed, we dealt with them using the standard rules. If one or more secret doors were found, we chose which door to open and explore behind, then skipped to the next secret door if more were present.

[Tott]

i suppose if they completed the quest objective, the GM could just lay out all the rest of the board (monsters, chest, secret doors ect) and let the players decide what they want to do

[Sjeng]

i suppose if they completed the quest objective, the GM could just lay out all the rest of the board (monsters, chest, secret doors ect) and let the players decide what they want to do

naaaah, that's too easy.

[Tott]

this raises the question though: if there is stuff to do after the quests main objective is complete, is that a flaw in the dungeon design? if you mission is to kill x and when hes dead theres still multiple rooms left to explore and monsters left to kill is that poor dungeon design?

[torilen]

I would say that, no, that is not a design flaw. Perhaps the dungeon was designed as a maze...and someone is hiding
in there that has to be killed/captured/whatever. Perhaps there is a hidden object that has to be found, and the
dungeon is simply a burial complex. It won't be laid out in a linear fashion - you'll notice that few of the quests
in the published games are linear in fashion. That is just no how dungeons work.

In my opinion, a dungeon designed in linear fashion, without a good reason for it being so...that would be a poor
design. Great lack of creativity, and probably not much fun - especially if there are several in a row.