In both my groups, we use the Wet Erase Battlemats and occasionally projection sheets (wet erase works on them too). The DM is the one who draws the map of the area - it's up to the players if they want to make a map from that (after all - the rooms might have to be wiped away later).
How do you map? (DMing advice needed)
Munin
First Post
Currently, I draw out each room of the dungeon on seperate index card. As the party explores, I hand them the cards, which they then transfer to graph paper. It doesn't bog down game play, but still gives them a chance to draw it out themselves, and surprisingly enough, still mess up the map enough to get lost!
In the future, I'm going to switch to the adventure tiles from either Skeleton Key Games or 0one, and lay it out for them as they go. It'll be up to them then if they want to map it or not, but once the tiles leave the table, I won't put them back down again!
In the future, I'm going to switch to the adventure tiles from either Skeleton Key Games or 0one, and lay it out for them as they go. It'll be up to them then if they want to map it or not, but once the tiles leave the table, I won't put them back down again!
Warrior Poet
Explorer
Wilderness areas: I rarely use maps for outside settings, unless there's some specific feature that will affect play, such as a river, sinkhole, or similar feature. Outside encounters tend to require a little less geographic detail, in my experience, though I always detail distance ("The hill giant is about 300' away, and closing"). If there's a circumstance like excessive mud that would slow movement, I take that into account, but don't generally have to map it out. However, spells like entangle require breaking it down to squares.
Indoors: I map with a battle mat, and I draw what the party can see based on light, low-light vision, darkvision, exploration, etc. I tend to draw features like furniture and so forth, as I always imagine that it will make for an interesting battle (swinging from chandeliers, knocking over tables, etc.), and it never does. Not ever. Maybe once. Players tend to fight around those things. I'm just as bad, because I forget to have monsters leap up on tables and say something insulting, so it evens out.
I have plenty of rooms that don't necessarily fit a grid, and just work out the details as those rooms come up. I try to describe ceiling height in case anyone thinks about fly or boots of striding and springing, etc.
I try to map to the edge of the mat, then turn it over. There's always a risk of some meta-gaming based on where the edge of the mat is, but I have plenty of maps that go "beyond" the edge of the mat. I don't worry too much about that level of meta-gaming, frankly. If they're going to figure they can throw that fireball in that room and roast everything, they'll do it. Barring a ridiculously low intelligence score on a character, I generally feel spellcasters will have an idea of what's a good area to throw an area effect spell. Wisdom scores, on the other hand, are a very different story.
In general, I don't consider a proper map as so critical to the game that everything will fall apart without it. I try and map where I think it's necessary, and when the players request one, and it generally doesn't take away too much time from actual play.
Warrior Poet
Indoors: I map with a battle mat, and I draw what the party can see based on light, low-light vision, darkvision, exploration, etc. I tend to draw features like furniture and so forth, as I always imagine that it will make for an interesting battle (swinging from chandeliers, knocking over tables, etc.), and it never does. Not ever. Maybe once. Players tend to fight around those things. I'm just as bad, because I forget to have monsters leap up on tables and say something insulting, so it evens out.
I have plenty of rooms that don't necessarily fit a grid, and just work out the details as those rooms come up. I try to describe ceiling height in case anyone thinks about fly or boots of striding and springing, etc.
I try to map to the edge of the mat, then turn it over. There's always a risk of some meta-gaming based on where the edge of the mat is, but I have plenty of maps that go "beyond" the edge of the mat. I don't worry too much about that level of meta-gaming, frankly. If they're going to figure they can throw that fireball in that room and roast everything, they'll do it. Barring a ridiculously low intelligence score on a character, I generally feel spellcasters will have an idea of what's a good area to throw an area effect spell. Wisdom scores, on the other hand, are a very different story.
In general, I don't consider a proper map as so critical to the game that everything will fall apart without it. I try and map where I think it's necessary, and when the players request one, and it generally doesn't take away too much time from actual play.
Warrior Poet
Woas
First Post
As a DM, I let the players map it themselves. If nobody does and I'm feeling kind of nice, I might draw a little rough sketch.
As a player, I always use the circle and line style maps. They are really generic. Basically any "room" the group enters is marked on the map as a little half-inch circle. Any "hallway" is just a line that usually connects with another circle (room). All the circles and lines are the same size roughly, whether the room was 10x10ft or 1000000x1000000ft. If there is something significant to know about the room, like say a stair case up or down, trap doors we missed, dead bodies we need to pick up later, whatever, then I just number the room and write a little note on the side reminding me. With my usual group of games, if I DM one of the other guys will use this mehtod anyway so that is why I mentioned I usually let the players handle their own maps, since that's what I'm used to.
As a player, I always use the circle and line style maps. They are really generic. Basically any "room" the group enters is marked on the map as a little half-inch circle. Any "hallway" is just a line that usually connects with another circle (room). All the circles and lines are the same size roughly, whether the room was 10x10ft or 1000000x1000000ft. If there is something significant to know about the room, like say a stair case up or down, trap doors we missed, dead bodies we need to pick up later, whatever, then I just number the room and write a little note on the side reminding me. With my usual group of games, if I DM one of the other guys will use this mehtod anyway so that is why I mentioned I usually let the players handle their own maps, since that's what I'm used to.
Mark
CreativeMountainGames.com
I generally draw it out myself if the complex is small, simple, and I want to keep the pace brisk. If it's a big place and part of its challenge is keeping track of the geography, I get one of the players to map (preferably the one whose wharacter is supposedly mapping) and I develop a shorthand, i.e. "From the inside corner of the turn, draw a line that extends east for twenty feet. From the outside corner of the turn, draw a line that extends..."
Check these threads for some help, too -
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47525
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40259
Check these threads for some help, too -
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47525
http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=40259
jmucchiello
Hero
I tend to find mazes far more interesting for the DM than for the players. The occasional dead end passage not far from the front of a dungeon to confuse enemies is one thing. A full maze is just a waste of time cutting through stone.
the Jester
Legend
The only mapping I do for the players is on the Battlemat.
As a player, I do a lot of mapping.
As a player, I do a lot of mapping.
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