How crucial is to have a map?

Inoeex said:

Why dont you use map for every single movement? Are you saying that words are suffice enough and pictures cannot improve the image which players are having in their mind while they are playing the game? To be honest I would make a map for every single location of my scenario, sadly I could not find any free software for doing that



Sorry that I was not clear abt the type of the maps, I am not talking about the world map. What I meant was something that helps you to give more details to your player but not verbally. Like an empty house, with a burning fire place inside it, with some books on the table in front of the window, with the carpet that is concealing the hidden door to the basement. Dont you think the player will have a better glimpse of the whole situation? That your player mostly never forget your story if he see the details with his/her own eyes while you are telling the story?

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IME location maps are great for exploration scenarios and often for battles, but are unnecessary
for social encounters. I think it's easy to over-use maps, especially for D&D. Eg if the PCs are trekking through the ruined dwarf fortress but it's not a dungeoncrawl, the GM can just say "You trek through the ruined dwarf fortress, until..."
Likewise if the PCs are attending a party/ball or council/moot, what usually matters is the social interacion with the NPCs, not their precise location.

Edit: Conversely region or campaign maps I find pretty much vital, both as GM and player. It gives me something to orient around. I always give my players some kind of regional overview map they can use to help decide on their course of action.

How necessary the map is, depends on the game and the players. Just try to play a 4e 'Chessmaster' Warlord without a battle map! OTOH, if you are going to melee on a shortgrass prairie, you don't really need a map. I do think a nicely-done "Campaign Map" helps with ambiance. It also allows you to just skip over any boring "Overland Travel; nothing happens" scenes.

I got the best results overall by drawing out a full dungeon map beforehand, covering it with sheets of paper (placed to correspond with line-of-sight), and removing what the PCs can see as they move around. Just assume somebody is drawing a map back to the exit "in the background" - one character is taking care of it without bothering anybody else for details. It does of course help if a player also likes to draw and has some artistic ability.

Oh yes I should also comment: my AL Scout (Monk/Rogue Wood Elf) has the 'map in my head' background feature. After each adventure, I change his equipment list: subtract one Sheet of Blank Paper, add one "Map of XYZ" (wherever we were). Someday he's going to sell an atlas !

I always try to prepare a map as a DM, and I generally play better when I have one available. The detail of the map depends on the level of cartography I've decided the current civilization has, and how much the players are willing to pay (in-game). I usually make a "simple" map, few details, possible inaccuracies; a "normal" map which most people in the civilization would be familiar with, and a "detailed" map, available for a significantly higher price, with much more interesting details (read: dungeons, quests and POIs).

I typically find players play more tactically when a map is available, but do not necessarily play less tactically when a map is not. The biggest difference is that their thinking expands, so I try to keep maps restricted to local areas and world maps are hard to come by.