D&D 5E Exploration: What are the benefits of drawing a map?

[Lanefan]

Another question comes up on your becoming lost topic:

Is the DM obligated to correct the players if they have mapped wrongly, because they did not pay attention, and become lost even though they had a map?

Situationally dependent.

If it's due to DM error in description then of course the DM should correct it.

If it's due to player error that the PCs in the fiction likely would not have made then the DM is free to correct it.

If it's due to player error that the PCs in the fiction could easily also have made then the DM should let it ride.

 

[Lanefan]

I’m not @iserith, but I think this thread is about mapping by the characters rather than the players. Mapping by the players at the table is something that the players may or may not do as part of their player-side decision making process in an attempt to “solve” the puzzle of the DM’s dungeon or wilderness challenge or whatever. This tool can then be used to inform their role-playing, i.e. deciding which way their characters try to go.

Mapping by the characters, on the other hand, and the characters having an accurate map in the fiction affects the mechanical resolution of the outcome of the players’ decision to have their characters go in some direction or another. I.e. do the characters travel in the direction their players decided they would try to go?

These are two different things, and I don’t see how conflating them is productive.

They're not two different things at all: if the players don't make a map my assumption is that the PCs aren't making one either.

 

[Hriston]

They're not two different things at all: if the players don't make a map my assumption is that the PCs aren't making one either.

Believe it or not, in 5th Ed., a PC can draw a map without its player doing anything more than saying that’s what it does.

 

[Nebulous]

Only time I ever had players draw maps was in 4e. We started with Keep on the Shadowfell, and then drew two more, the second was a homebrew goblin dungeon. They were on great big gridded posterboard sheets. I don't remember why I asked for it other than just to try something new. They looked cool, I remember that, and the mapper had fun labeling them and whatnot, but it was hardly necessary.

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

They looked cool, …and the mapper had fun

We should never underestimate those two reasons for doing anything at the table.

 

[Lanefan]

Believe it or not, in 5th Ed., a PC can draw a map without its player doing anything more than saying that’s what it does.

As far as i'm concerned this ruling - that if the PCs want a map the players have to draw it - is edition-agnostic.

 

[Hriston]

As far as i'm concerned this ruling - that if the PCs want a map the players have to draw it - is edition-agnostic.

You’re free to rule that if the PCs want to draw a map, the players have to buy the DM pizza. That doesn’t make drawing a map the same as buying pizza, but 5E fully supports you in making that ruling. You can also rule that 5E’s rules for “Activities While Traveling” aren’t in effect for your game. It’s entirely up to the DM.

Personally, I enjoy playing with both. I.e., if the PCs want to have a map, they can draw one that gives them a mechanical benefit as per the rules for activities while traveling, and if the players want to have a map, they can draw one at the table based on the DM’s description.

 

[Don Durito]

These days I don't have much preference for anything more than a flow chart.

Discovering secret rooms is cool n all. But it was always painful to have one player there laboriously drawing out on a grid and asking the GM, "wait how many feet by how many feet?", while every one else just wanted to keep going with the game.

In any case the primary reason for drawing a map is not to find secret rooms. It's to avoid getting lost.

 

[Oofta]

You’re free to rule that if the PCs want to draw a map, the players have to buy the DM pizza. That doesn’t make drawing a map the same as buying pizza, but 5E fully supports you in making that ruling. You can also rule that 5E’s rules for “Activities While Traveling” aren’t in effect for your game. It’s entirely up to the DM.

Personally, I enjoy playing with both. I.e., if the PCs want to have a map, they can draw one that gives them a mechanical benefit as per the rules for activities while traveling, and if the players want to have a map, they can draw one at the table based on the DM’s description.

You had me at pizza.

If players want to draw maps and it doesn't distract from the rest of the game they're free to do so in my games. If the PCs are drawing a map, they'll move a bit more slowly and I may call for a check now and then.

 

[HarbingerX]

I've run a mega-dungeon in B/X and it was useful to the players for planning.

When I get PCs to go into a mega-dungeon in 5e, I'm going to reward them XP for 'discoveries' for bringing maps back out to a patron.