D&D General Mapping: How Do You Do It?

[Charlaquin]

Is this a puzzle for the players or for the characters?

For the players, obviously. Characters, in this context, are game mechanical constructs that can’t make decisions or solve puzzles.

 

[Charlaquin]

Totally. The goal is fun. If the players do enjoy mapping, then that's what the table should do. And honestly I personally see where it could be fun as long as the DM is not, broadly, a jerk.

I really do need to stress however, that I have played with ~1k players over the past 9 years. And I feel confident in saying that 99% of them would hate it, even with an otherwise good DM.

I would guess there’s selection bias at work here, because there are certainly RPG communities in which player mapping is very popular. But, yes, my experience has also been that most of the people playing D&D 5e don’t want to do player mapping, and that’s fine.

What I REALLY want to stress is that I don't think a DM should unilaterally force mapping on players. A lot of players would leave the table rather than do it.

Of course. I think it goes without saying that if the players don’t want to do something the DM shouldn’t force them to. RPGs are a leisure activity, nobody should be forcing anybody else to do something they don’t want to as part of that activity. It’s one thing to encourage players to try something they may not think sounds fun on the surface, it’s another thing to say they must do it or there will be no game. I suppose if the DM isn’t interested in running a game unless the players are going to be mapping, they shouldn’t be forced to do so either, but A) that’s a pretty strange preference to have IMO and B) if the players’ preferences and the DMs’ preferences are that opposed, maybe it’s best they not play together anyway.

 

[Reynard]

Is this a puzzle for the players or for the characters?

Nothing is ever a puzzle for the characters in an RPG. It is impossible.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

For the players, obviously. Characters, in this context, are game mechanical constructs that can’t make decisions or solve puzzles.

Not personally a fan, mostly be I am crap at puzzles

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

Nothing is ever a puzzle for the characters in an RPG. It is impossible.

You could roll a die. That would be sooooo much fun.

 

[Basic Expert]

As a player, if I feel the need to map a dungeon, I use little boxes for rooms/areas with a descriptive label (such as "Statue" or "Orcs", or "Dark Chasm") so I can remember what's there. Hallways/connectors are lines. Pretty much a simple node map.

It's pretty rare where more detailed mapping will be a benefit. It's never led to finding a secret or gaining any other advantage, so why bother?

Usually, mapping is not to prevent getting lost as that's not usually a danger in how our group plays (i.e. we can usually just say to the DM: "We go back to the throne room" without having to navigate back step by step). The purpose of the map is more to organize notes, help visualize the space, and keep track of areas we haven't yet explored.

As a GM, I map a space in whatever style I think is beneficial to the players (from no map at all, to node maps, to simple diagrams, to more detailed plans and battlemaps). Generally, the larger the scale, the simpler the map. I seldom map villages, towns, cities and other communities (unless I expect them to be ongoing locations) as this is usually a poor return on prep time investment.

Playing on VTT, I've lately been using scenic backdrops instead of maps: evocative art that gives a feeling for the place more than simple mapping.

 

[aco175]

Over the summer I went to play golf at a course I never played before about an hour away. I went online to Google maps and used the street view to 'drive' the route before the next morning when I actually went. I was able to see the intersections and houses and places like fast food and churches and such. This helped me the next day.

The point is that the PCs would actually be the ones going through the dungeon and navigating the halls and rooms with the dead skeleton and the one with the dripping water and such. Generally, they would be able to recall their exit and have no problems. I can see if there is a floor trap that drops them in another level or a teleporter that brings them someplace. Maybe they needed to flee off into the dark or the place is so vast in some way.

For me, mapping lost its charm like tracking rations and arrows. Last time we mapped it was a lot of time going back and forth with the DM describing it and the player showing the DM and them going back a couple times before the DM needed to draw what he was saying.

 

[Reynard]

Maybe I just have terible sense of direction, but I don't think most people are actually good at remember routes in complex, largely similar environments. my examples of schools and hospitals are based on actual lived experiences. military bases and office buildings, too. At least for me, when there are lots of hallway turns and everything looks pretty much the same, losing my way is pretty easy.

"We go back to the throne room" feels like a cheat to me. I mean, first of all, if you aren't exploring and mapping the dungeon, looking for secret doors and finding hidden routes, what is the point? If it is so linear or defined that there is no chance of getting lost, why have a dungeon at all?

 

[Hriston]

I am planning on running a big dungeon thing (using Shadowdark, but I don't think that is relevant) and I am considering options for how to deal with mapping from the player side.

My first impulse is to do "theater of the mind" exploration, letting the players map as they will (or won't; that's on them) and only drawing something out on the grid if a particular situation requires it for clarity (mostly thinking about fights, but maybe complex terrain or a trap room or whatever).

Note that I will be running this both on Fantasy grounds and later in person.

What is your go-to with regards to mapping big dungeon exploration, in person or on a VTT or anywhere in between? What have you learned to definitely do, or definitely not do? As a player, how do you prefer to deal with mapping that kind of exploration?

During travel (either through a dungeon or in the wilderness) in my 5.0E games, I describe the environment the party is moving through, and it's entirely up to the players whether they choose to draw maps or take notes in some other way, which are ways players can engage with the fiction. Some players (like me) engage better by listening rather than taking notes, so I don't have an opinion one way or the other about what player activities are taking place at the table, as long as there's a general focus on playing the game.

Unrelated to whether a player draws a map, if a player's character has drawing materials, they can say their character is drawing a map during travel. This means they won't notice hidden threats and will be surprised if combat starts. In return, they'll have a map from point A to point B that gives advantage on any Wisdom (Survival) checks made to navigate between the two locations when retracing the previously mapped path.

In wilderness travel, I'll ask for a navigation check to move between hexes. Failure means getting lost and moving into an unintended hex, and having previously mapped the route gives the PCs advantage on the check. A player-created map has no bearing on such a check, but it might inform the players' decision making about which hex they intend to have their characters move into.

In dungeon travel, if the party is trying to get somewhere they've previously travelled, but the players aren't sure about which way to go at a specific intersection or choice of room exits because they don't recall the fiction in enough detail to know which will lead to the desired destination, I call for a navigation check. Obviously, a player-created map could prevent the need for such a check, if it's sufficiently accurate. A PC-created map made while previously travelling through the area will give advantage on the check. Success reveals the correct choice among the available options with no lost time, while failure results in lost time and a wandering monster check, although you still learn which is the correct way to go to prevent a "nothing changes" result.

 

[Lanefan]

Have never seen a session wherein the players were required to map as they go that did not end in a frustrating fiasco.

Also not sure what it really adds to the game, tbh. "Draw what I verbally describe" doesn't add any particular verisimilitude to the exploration.

Well, yes it does add to the verisimilitude of the exploration in that, unless the place is tiny, without a map they've a half-decent chance of becoming lost.

Also, careful mapping is useful in that missing gaps can sometimes point out good places to look for secret doors.

Here, it's usually either map what I describe or map what I draw on the (gridded) chalkboard. One player usually takes on the task of 'mapper', and it's assumed the map is being made in-character as well.

Online play, of course, does the player-side mapping as we go as the DM is just revealing a pre-existing map...which you'd think would speed things up but IME online play is still far slower than in-person play.