How crucial is to have a map?

[Inoeex]

Hey everyone

This question has been bothering me for weeks now, how important is to have a map when you are playing/running a game?
I realized that my players have reacted differently during the past two years depends on the map I brought them in our sessions. In my experience they RPGed deeper when there was a printer map with so much details in it. But it is not always possible for me to make map with softwares and have it printed for our sessions due to my busy life. Sometimes I just draw the maps with marker on a piece of paper which is obviously is not neat at all.
In my experience, maps help the players to remember things, all the memories which players talk about are those in which I had a printed map with myself.

I wish I could turn this to a poll but I could not find how to do so.
So would you please pick of the following states and share your experience with me ?

I would like the map to be:

1. To be drawn spontaneously, because it gives me a sense of discovering new things ... I dont care if it is not neat and it does have details
2. To be printed, done by a software, the more details the map has the happier I am in my sessions
3. On a tablet! The world has changed!
4. Naaah .... maps are not essential! I stick with my imagination

I would really appreciate it if you share your knowledge of map making with me, like which softwares are the best regardless of the price.

Thanks in advance

 

[Lanefan]

Are you talking about maps made in advance for the DM to run the game from or maps drawn during the game by the players? There's a difference.

For the DM, maps ahead of time are beyond essential so you know how things fit together. An absolute must-have, in my opinion. (though the quality can be whatever, as long as you-as-DM can make sense of it)

For the players - my strong preference (and that of the people I play with) is to have someone draw a map as we go along, based on the descriptions we get from the DM. But not all players agree, and some don't bother mapping what they've explored.

Lan-"where the map is blank, I'll go"-efan

 

[CydKnight]

I think it depends on the DM. Some have a gift for describing Theatre of the Mind in great enough detail but they seem few and far between. To a lesser degree it will depend on the players and how receptive they are to story telling.

Neither of these describes me or the current group I DM. I have been terrible with spoken words for most of my lifetime but I have gotten better since I started running games as a DM. We do use our maps but not for every single movement or action.

 

[DM Howard]

Are you talking about maps made in advance for the DM to run the game from or maps drawn during the game by the players? There's a difference.

For the DM, maps ahead of time are beyond essential so you know how things fit together. An absolute must-have, in my opinion. (though the quality can be whatever, as long as you-as-DM can make sense of it)

For the players - my strong preference (and that of the people I play with) is to have someone draw a map as we go along, based on the descriptions we get from the DM. But not all players agree, and some don't bother mapping what they've explored.

Lan-"where the map is blank, I'll go"-efan

This is how I like to do things as well. It really helps keep the sense of exploration and discovery going for the players.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Is a map always needed, no, but it is a visual aid, it helps the DM with layout and descriptions for point of reference, it is part of the storytelling. Without a map, the players may be too much at the whim of the GM and start to feel "the party vs the GM" and railroading. It is a rare GM that can go game after game without a map as players just have too many questions that just seem to be solved with a visual.

I take maps by paper or on my tablet, how they are made I really don't care as long as they are readable and editable.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I actually ran a campaign without a world map. I found that all I really needed to know was what was next to each other and in which direction. It also meant that I could easily add new areas without having to worry about fitting them into a predesigned schema.

 

[Moraine]

it also depends on the rpg. For example if the game mechanics relies on tactics (as D&D 3.5) the map is a must.

 

[Quickleaf]

Hey everyone

This question has been bothering me for weeks now, how important is to have a map when you are playing/running a game?
I realized that my players have reacted differently during the past two years depends on the map I brought them in our sessions. In my experience they RPGed deeper when there was a printer map with so much details in it. But it is not always possible for me to make map with softwares and have it printed for our sessions due to my busy life. Sometimes I just draw the maps with marker on a piece of paper which is obviously is not neat at all.
In my experience, maps help the players to remember things, all the memories which players talk about are those in which I had a printed map with myself.

I wish I could turn this to a poll but I could not find how to do so.
So would you please pick of the following states and share your experience with me ?

I would like the map to be:

1. To be drawn spontaneously, because it gives me a sense of discovering new things ... I dont care if it is not neat and it does have details
2. To be printed, done by a software, the more details the map has the happier I am in my sessions
3. On a tablet! The world has changed!
4. Naaah .... maps are not essential! I stick with my imagination

I would really appreciate it if you share your knowledge of map making with me, like which softwares are the best regardless of the price.

Thanks in advance

Maps are a great tool, when used in a manner aligned with your goals.

I ran Dragon Mountain (dungeon crawl), and I hand-drew maps in advance using Gaming Paper & some quick-n-dirty hand-cartography tricks I picked up along the way. Very well received, and we made lots of changes spur of the moment (like when the PCs unleashed a sphere of annihilation and carved through a swathe of tunnels).

I have used a whole variety of tabletop maps, gathered from other sources, ranging from D&D poster maps to Star Wars maps to Paizo maps and others printed off the net.

I have made my own maps...the software I've used depends on the type of map I want to make...

I'll have to look through my resources to find all the names. Not enough time right now.

 

[MNblockhead]

I spent a lot of time and some money on creating the world map for my home brew campaign. I printed it poster size and hang it in my game room. It helps when discussing where the party is and to help them plan their travels. It also helps with immersion.

Is a world map necessary? No. But it helps when you are trying to run a long-term campaign. Actually, I should say a "setting" map. You can run an entire campaign in a single city. But, whatever your setting, it helps to have at least a high-level map to help the players orient themselves to the setting.

As for adventure/session maps, I mix it up. I would say 95% of the time I have one or more maps for the adventure I'm running. Often I plan my adventures from the map and some sessions are run entirely from a map with keyed information and encounters. But there are some games where the story is more important than the location. I know some DMs sketch out a the main NPCs, some story elements, and just wing the descriptions. I, however, like my maps.

Often, but not always, I display the map on a large TV screen revealing more of the map as the players explore. I use Realm Works, but VTTs like Roll 20 and D20pro are more commonly used options.

As for battlemaps, sometimes I use time and sometimes I don't. It depends on the uniques of the location, how complex the terrain is in terms of combat, and how much time I have to prepare. In order of what I use most to least:

1. Wet erase battle mats with 1" square grids and various colors of wet erase markers

Often, it is easier to just quickly sketch out obstacles and room dimensions for combats than have to prep dungeon tiles or printed battlemaps ahead of time. Also, there will always be times when your players do not go where you planned and your carefully planned or you will want to put down miniatures for a random encounter but do not want to prepare battlemaps for every possible encounter. Because of this, wet-erase mats will always have a place at my table.

2. Felt battle mats

I like 2D gridless terrain battle mats like those from CERI Design (http://www.ceridesign.com) because they look nicer with miniatures than a wet-erase mat and are even easier to use. If I have a forest encounter, I can just throw down the mat and some 2-D or 3-D terrain pieces far more quickly than I could draw the terrain. When using gridless (and even when there are grids, because it is quicker), I use measuring sticks I made based on a DM Scotty video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTT1ZU5pDBg

3. Pre-printed

For locations with a very specific look or challenges, I will print out a battlemaps at 1" = 5' scale. Some I buy or find on for free on the Internet and some I make myself with tools like Dungeonographer or Campaign Cartographer. Usually, I print a number of pages and have to puzzle them together at the table, but I also have access to a plotter printer and occasionally print poster sized pieces that take up most of the table. I like printing to a plotter since I don't have cut out white space and spend time at the table laying out multiple tiles. But the ink gets expensive and I have to drive to somewhere else to print it. If I hat a plotter printer in my home, I would probably print out all my battlemaps as single pieces.

4. Commercially printed dungeon tiles

I bought a number of D&D Dungeon Tile sets from Walmart and some of the Pathfinder equivalents from my FLGS, but I find that I rarely use them. They don't save that much time. I really find I dislike having to dig through sets of tiles and try to piece together a location from them. Also, if you are trying to create a battlemap based on a location on your DM map, it is like fitting a square peg in round hold. It is easier for me to whip something up in Dungeonographer and print it. I do use the pieces from the forest set and other outdoor sets with my felt battle maps. I just don't find the floor/ground tiles of the commercial sets that useful.

5. Table space and various objects

Sometime all you need to is to help picture position and distance. Just setting up miniatures on a table and using pencils, erasers, dice, etc as terrain features is all you need. In some ways this is best option because it give you perspective without trying to force an image on you. You can imagine the scene however you desire when everything is abstracted.

 

[Inoeex]

Are you talking about maps made in advance for the DM to run the game from or maps drawn during the game by the players? There's a difference.

I am talking about the visual guide to help the players or yourself to tell your story with as much as details as possible, like the interior map of a temple, with all the torches and unhidden doors visible on the map.
Dont you think that it will be more memorable, more fun for you and your players if they can see everything, if you can conduct more of the story that you have on your mind?

Neither of these describes me or the current group I DM. I have been terrible with spoken words for most of my lifetime but I have gotten better since I started running games as a DM. We do use our maps but not for every single movement or action.

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

I actually ran a campaign without a world map. I found that all I really needed to know was what was next to each other and in which direction. It also meant that I could easily add new areas without having to worry about fitting them into a predesigned schema.

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?

it also depends on the rpg. For example if the game mechanics relies on tactics (as D&D 3.5) the map is a must.

Do you believe that maps are always for fights and battles ? Not to tell the story in a specific location, regardless of the size of the location?