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Showing Maps
- Thread starter Chadwick
- Start date
wedgeski
Adventurer
We use a dry-erase white-board. I cordon off one corner which shows a basic overview layout of the dungeon (very little detail, but showing the links from room to room), and use the rest of the board to draw whatever room they're in for combat or other challenges. As the characters move through the dungeon, I'll add rooms to the overview diagram, gradually building up the dungeon as they go. Seems to work. I think the days of someone in the party mapping the dungeon as they go are behind us.
In any case, the rooms of a dungeon should remain a mystery until the characters encounter them. It's one of the DM's most basic tools for immersing the players in the game... they literally know as much as their characters know.
In any case, the rooms of a dungeon should remain a mystery until the characters encounter them. It's one of the DM's most basic tools for immersing the players in the game... they literally know as much as their characters know.
Mr. Teapot
First Post
It has been my experience over a lot of D&D play that fun always improves when you give the players the map. Giving the players a map of the dungeon means that they can plan ahead, that they can make meaningful decisions about where they're going and moves one more thing from the "DM hassle" basket to the "players can keep track of it" basket.
Now, that's not saying that you should show the whole map to the players if the characters wouldn't have access to it. It's just saying you should find reasons for the PCs to get maps of the dungeon. Using History in a library to come across architectural plans of the old castle, perhaps, or finding a deceased previous explorer with a partial map, say.
And in giving the PCs the map, it doesn't need to be complete nor does it need to be accurate. A GM could create interesting surprises by having the map and the territory not sync up. (Though if they did this too often, no players would trust maps in their games.)
Now, that's not saying that you should show the whole map to the players if the characters wouldn't have access to it. It's just saying you should find reasons for the PCs to get maps of the dungeon. Using History in a library to come across architectural plans of the old castle, perhaps, or finding a deceased previous explorer with a partial map, say.
And in giving the PCs the map, it doesn't need to be complete nor does it need to be accurate. A GM could create interesting surprises by having the map and the territory not sync up. (Though if they did this too often, no players would trust maps in their games.)
Thanks for the replies. I did something similar to the whiteboard... My dad had some extra 4' x 3' pexiglass laying around so I used a drywall square to put a 1" x 1" grid across one side with a sharpie marker and now I use the dry-erase markers on the other side for drawing in anything you can think of. Also since it's clear, if I ever get around to getting some dungeon tiles or printing out scenery I can lay them underneath the board and have a playable grid above anything.
For anyone interested in the size of the grid, I believe I have 1728 squares to play with.
For anyone interested in the size of the grid, I believe I have 1728 squares to play with.
mac1504
Explorer
I just finished up DM'ing Keep on the Shadowfell, and I came across a great thread (can't seem to locate at the moment) that talked about different mapping techniques before running the module. Someone had posted a composite of all the maps from KotS, and so I took those files and chopped them up in Paint.net in to segments that roughly represented what the PCs would see as they explored the dungeon. I then printed out the files, and glued them to foamboard and finally cut them up with a sharp exacto knife into tiles.
All of my players loved it, and I really liked that it cut down on the time drawing and erasing on the battlemat (not to mention getting the obligatory red/green/black marks all over my hands and arms). I think this saved us a lot of time (although it required quite a few hours of prep on my part- but nothing hard or extremely time draining) and allowed for more play time.
All of my players loved it, and I really liked that it cut down on the time drawing and erasing on the battlemat (not to mention getting the obligatory red/green/black marks all over my hands and arms). I think this saved us a lot of time (although it required quite a few hours of prep on my part- but nothing hard or extremely time draining) and allowed for more play time.
Attachments
T-Bone JiuJitsu
First Post
Any idea where to find those links?
