How do you like to handle dungeon mapping?

[aco175]

How do you describe a room that is not fully visible?
If the characters enter a large hall, or a long corridor, the torch will only light the first 30ft, not the entire room

Welcome to the site, in case nobody else mentioned it.

You will also run into the problem with darkvision or even tremmorsence going out past the torchlight and those PCs knowing more of what is up ahead. Should the DM explain the hall or room 3-4 different ways each room? Becomes more of a pain then it is worth for the effect you want. I might give some of the PCs an advantage to spot something instead of doing all that work, but generally I just layout the whole room and be done with it.

Referring to the original thread, I seem to recall a Kickstarter (KS) where there were lottery-ticket 'scratchies' maps. You could only use them once, but you would scratch off the rooms as they come and could reveal only so much at a time to the players. There are even videos of using some dish soap and black water-based paint to make it. I think you laminate the paper or place a piece of glass on the map though.

 

[Saleem Aslan]

Welcome to the site, in case nobody else mentioned it.

You will also run into the problem with darkvision or even tremmorsence going out past the torchlight and those PCs knowing more of what is up ahead. Should the DM explain the hall or room 3-4 different ways each room? Becomes more of a pain then it is worth for the effect you want. I might give some of the PCs an advantage to spot something instead of doing all that work, but generally I just layout the whole room and be done with it.

Referring to the original thread, I seem to recall a Kickstarter (KS) where there were lottery-ticket 'scratchies' maps. You could only use them once, but you would scratch off the rooms as they come and could reveal only so much at a time to the players. There are even videos of using some dish soap and black water-based paint to make it. I think you laminate the paper or place a piece of glass on the map though.

View attachment 401960

Thanks 

Sounds like a similar experience I made. Describing the room bit by bit, as they advanced was veeeery slow & lead to quite a bit of confusion.

Follow-up question. Do your players normally do more or less exact maps of the dungeon, or just kinda square with a few notes per room & lines for the hallways?

The 2pt paint / 1pt soap seems to work well. Or you can just buy sheets of scratch off sticker foil. A friend of mine did this. (But for character sheets, in a one shot, where we all woke up without memories. It was a ton of fun, trying to figure out who we were, and what we can do.) Scratch-Off Sticker - Silver
When looking at big dungeon maps (say barrowmaze) one would have to scratch very carefully to not accidentally uncover secret doors or adjacent rooms.

 

[Clint_L]

If it's a complicated map I use the Maps feature on DDB and unveil it as the players explore.

If it's not, I just describe it, and assume that the PCs, being immersed in it, will not have any trouble remembering a couple turns and some side rooms, just as we would IRL. So I remind them if they forget stuff.

If playing at home, I build a physical set for any spaces that are likely to see a significant encounter.

 

[aco175]

Thanks 

Sounds like a similar experience I made. Describing the room bit by bit, as they advanced was veeeery slow & lead to quite a bit of confusion.

Follow-up question. Do your players normally do more or less exact maps of the dungeon, or just kinda square with a few notes per room & lines for the hallways?

I do not even do this nowadays. I just put out the tiles for an encounter and describe the rest. If we use a large dungeon, I may have the PCs make a group check to find their way out without a random encounter.

 

[Lanefan]

Thanks 

Sounds like a similar experience I made. Describing the room bit by bit, as they advanced was veeeery slow & lead to quite a bit of confusion.

Follow-up question. Do your players normally do more or less exact maps of the dungeon, or just kinda square with a few notes per room & lines for the hallways?

Exact to the inch if they can, though not many notes for the rooms other than just "kitchen" or "armoury" or etc.

In part they do this because I-as-DM like to sometimes intentionally mess them up with teleport traps or endless hallways (that are in fact closed loops but this is not perceptible to those within). It also helps them find potential hidden areas by looking for gaps.

 

[Lanefan]

If it's a complicated map I use the Maps feature on DDB and unveil it as the players explore.

If it's not, I just describe it, and assume that the PCs, being immersed in it, will not have any trouble remembering a couple turns and some side rooms, just as we would IRL. So I remind them if they forget stuff.

You're going to GenCon this summer, right?

'Cause while you're there you can put this theory to the test: turn off your phone/GPS/etc. and put away any maps you might have, then try to find your way around inside the convention centre there.

It took me four GenCons before I got the least bit confident in my navigation...and then they went and expanded/renovated the place.

 

[DragonLancer]

As DM, I draw the map, at least the areas they can see on a battle map. I hate map drawing as a player and it was something I ditched as DM, back in 2nd edition. Players never got it right and time was wasted around the map making corrections, and I'd rather just get on with the game.