D&D 5E 5e - Tales of the Old Margreve (Roll20) Campaign Recaps

Scottius · Mar 11, 2022

Nebulous said:
Which part exactly hitches up your time the most?

I feel like there's two main areas I struggle with. First is kind of the blank canvas situation. Figuring out where to start, how large does it need to be. Do I want to map an entire dungeon or individual encounter areas. Stuff like that.

Then there's the detailing portion. Trying to place rubble, furniture, decor and the like so that it doesn't feel empty or lifeless.

Nebulous · Mar 11, 2022

@Scottius

I do have to add, the Zobeck maps........that took a long time. I made an entire city to explore in VTT with corresponding locations. It wasn't easy. I do wish someone, a company, would make a fully interactive city. It is so fun, and it turned out great, but I spent an inordinate amount of time mapping out a sandbox city arena where the PCs didn't explore a big chunk of it. I didn't know what direction they'd go, so I had to map out everything.

Nebulous · Mar 11, 2022

Scottius said:
I feel like there's two main areas I struggle with. First is kind of the blank canvas situation. Figuring out where to start, how large does it need to be. Do I want to map an entire dungeon or individual encounter areas. Stuff like that.

Then there's the detailing portion. Trying to place rubble, furniture, decor and the like so that it doesn't feel empty or lifeless.

Well, the first point, yeah, you need to have that in your head first,. If you can envision it, it's easy to find a matching map. The second point about details, I have used hundreds of maps where the details are already drawn onto them. You don't HAVE to add anything unless you want to. I have run whole sessions where PCs pick apart details from a map that I don't know what they mean, and I make bs on the fly,

Nebulous · Mar 11, 2022

@Scottius for some DMs making their own maps is extremely satisfying. This hobby incorporates a vast field of talent, and everyone has their own niche and specialty and preference.