[RPG] How to handle a player exploring the entire dungeon with his familiar

dnd-5edungeonexplorationfamiliars

My Warlock player has Pact of the Chain and Voice of the Chain Master Invocation, and likes to explore all the dungeon before going inside. The imp turns into an invisible spider and goes through the ceiling to all rooms without hard doors. In practice, this ends up becoming a 1 on 1 conversation between me and the warlock, describing each room, for about 10 minutes until all possible rooms are revealed.

To speed things up, I have the familiar roll a single Stealth check before entering and I compare that against Perception checks from Guards and Passive Perception from all other NPCs (I usually apply disadvantage to these checks, since it's a spider and invisible). I still feel like it's a slam of exposition that bores the other players at the table. When the party is going room by room, exposition is broken down in separate parts, and the risk engages the players. I've tried to ask each player to control the imp at each part of the dungeon, but players didn't enjoy it. I also like to add important bits of information at each room (like a Guard using a secret password here, or toxic fumes there), which ends up taking even more exposition time.

On the one hand, I want to reward the Warlock and his methodical exploration. On the other hand the other players are just standing there doing nothing while the imp explores. How can I make this part of our game enjoyable and engaging for everyone?


More info, as requested by commenters:

  • This is enjoyable for the warlock, he has a completionist-like personality. It doesn't bother me, I like to exposit the dungeons I've created. The other players are bored, since they're not doing anything interesting and there's no risk; if the imp gets caught, it just dies.
  • The party usually hides somewhere near the dungeon entrance (say, 100ft, but it varies). They sometimes move while carrying the Warlock's body. It never occurred to me to ambush them during this part of the game.
  • We're playing on Roll20, and I reveal the dungeon map to the players as the imp progresses. I describe in voice chat to everyone what is being seen, and there is an assumption the Warlock will pass this information on

Best Answer

Having an invisible Imp floating through a dungeon is quite an investment for a Warlock character, and have the obvious effect of allowing what you describe. There are other "overpowered", scenario-breaking usages, like following a NPC all day long to track the rogue network he's part of, for example.

However, those abilities are well defined in the rules, and in no way the Warlock PC is abusing them while sending his Imp to scout before the party enters.

If you're not comfortable with the situation, you should discuss it with the Warlock player to find how important those features are for him, and if he/she accepts altering his character because you are not comfortable with the situation, despite the PC 100% following the rules.

Another, perhaps better outcome would be to have your playstyle adapt to the situation raised by the invisible-imp Warlock. Like Zeiss Ikon suggests, plenty of things can happen while a Warlock is senselessly waiting for his familiar to map a dungeon. And like Dale M writes, you can probably save time for the whole party while handing a special map to the player, created beforehand because you know he will use this trick.

Now, there are plenty of other things that may happen, or limit the ability to map the dungeon.

  • Some areas may still be inaccessible. Closed doors, sunken tunnels, or magic gates leading to other planes where the rest of the dungeon lies. Or simply secret doors and passages that the scout fails to identify, or to open.
  • Some monsters may actually be able to see invisible creatures (blindsense) and eat the familiar.
  • Some traps may trigger despite the flying, invisible familiar if it fails to detect them (think of some spider web).
  • Some monsters may wander through the dungeon and be in a totally different area when the players explore later (they were attending a religious office, patrolling, playing cards in their barrack...)
  • Some alarm spells may have been laid out at different places and trigger, setting the whole underground fortress to high alert level, closing further doors, raising the drawbridge, and somehow changing the layout of the dungeon and the path the player expected.
  • Unless benefiting from true seeing, the scout familiar will fall for illusions, and might be tricked into believing the treasure room is not in the right place.
  • Some monsters may be invisible themselves, or hidden, so undetected by the familiar.

That's just a bunch of ideas to help you deal with the player resources. There are creative ways of using one's abilities, but a DM can also use creative ways of keeping the game interesting.