DM Issue: Revealing mapped areas to the players

theoremtank · Nov 10, 2002

I am dissatisfied with my current methods for revealing pieces of maps to the players as they encounter them. Here is what I have tried:
#1) HERE IT IS - Showing the whole map to the players, but without traps, secret doors, or other major details drawn in.

#2) DRAWING AS YOU GO - Hand drawing (durring the game) the room shapes and details of the room as the players encounter them.

My problems with #1 is that characters should not know what room shapes look like ahead of time before they have even seen a new room. #2 takes a lot of in game time and also keeps me from using a lot of nicely detailed computer generated maps.

Anyone willing to give out some good ideas on revealing maps to the players would be greatly appreciated. Ideally I would like a method I can use with the maps I create and print on my computer.

Thank you in advance.

Crothian · Nov 10, 2002

Have a premade map with no traps on it like number one. Keep it covered with sheets of paper and reveal it as you go like number 2.

Capellan · Nov 10, 2002

Jigsaws

Prep a copy of the map, with all traps etc removed.

Stick the map to heavy stock paper or light cardboard.

Cut the map into pieces that you can lay out, jigsaw-style, as the players move around.

If you like, I can post some images of one of the WotC free maps that I did this for.

Crothian · Nov 10, 2002

That's a cool idea too.

maddman75 · Nov 10, 2002

Don't make the players map anything they don't need to. Its a waste of time and adds nothing to the game.

Simply describe the dungeon and assume they are mapping it out. If they say they want to go back to the big cave where they fought the orcs, they can. No biggie.

When you get into a fight, draw the relevent area and place hte miniatures.

Another handy tool for predrawing individual areas are the battle mats from http://www.dragonscalecounters.com. They are only 8x11, allowing you to draw your area on a couple of them ahead of time and pulling them out at the appropriate moment. Plus, six of them are only $10.

Number47 · Nov 10, 2002

I print out my maps in big-scale, with each square an inch or more on a side. This often requires using a couple sheets of paper to tile it. The big map only has player-knowledge things in each room. I cut apart the rooms and lay them down each time they open a door. Sometimes combats require a few rooms at a time to be on the table. When they move on, we pick up rooms that have been previously traveled and only keep the most recent ones down. This works great, lets you use the nice computer graphic maps you generated. Doubles as a battle mat. Engages the characters nicely. Keeps the battle mat area small by only keeping out rooms that are needed. A previous poster mentioned gluing them to cardstock, but I don't. Just keep them in a folder and keep it between books to prevent curling until game day.

I once had a group that was going to assault a small tower in a tactical position before the big battle. Because I didn't know how they wanted to go about it, and didn't want to limit their options, I mapped out and pasted together the ENTIRE hill. It took up nearly the entire table. Having it all out there really helped them, though. They had a good plan using Fog Cloud to great effect. The bad guys weren't sure if it was natural or not until too late.

pogre · Nov 10, 2002

Master Maze

We build-up the dungeon with master maze as we go, but I would love to beable to prebuild major portions of the dungeon ahead of time. I'm open to suggestions as well.

Iron Sheep · Nov 10, 2002

My wife and I purchased a cheap, big pad of about 50 sheets of 1-inch ruled, poster-sized paper from Office Max (the sort of pads out on stands and used in business presentations, but not the expensive Post-It brand ones). We lay this down flat on the table, end either draw the dungeon out as the players move through it, or we pre-draw the map and then cut it up and lay down the rooms as the PCs get to them. Because it's one inch grid, it's ideal for using miniatures, and because it's a pad with a thick cardboard back, it all stays together pretty well. The biggest problem is, since we use Sharpie pens to get a good clear line, if you press too hard it bleeds through to the next sheet. A few sheets of scrap paper under the sheet you are writing on fixes that problem.

I tried a geomorph system using that paper, cut up into small chunks, but I find it hard to keep track of all the pieces. I find myself shuffling through to find the right shaped passage way to connect what's already down on the table, and it really slows things down. Drawing as you go is quicker, but more wasteful than this.

We've also used whiteboards in the past when we weren't using miniatures, both with and without a ruled grid. They were pretty good, but had the problem that when we were running multiple, alternating games, the GMs had to keep on re-drawing their maps from scratch before each game.

We haven't tried battle-mat type systems, because we figured they'd likely have the same problem as whiteboards: you'll end up having to re-draw your maps almost every time.

Numion · Nov 10, 2002

I do style #2. I don't usually make on-the-spot maps too detailed. Just so that the players get the idea. Verbal descriptions are supposed to give a better "image".