A dungeon mapping idea

[Munin]

One of the problems, at least to me, of the dungeon crawl, is how to reveal the dungeon to the players as they explore it.
Letting the players map it out based on your description inevitably bogs the game down and leads to frustration for player and gm alike.
Mapping it out in advance, even if you cover part of it, leads to meta-game thinking on the part of the players.
For smaller dungeons, like the classic 5-room model, the easiest thing to do is just map it on the battle map as they go, but for a larger dungeon, that just doesn't work.
As I'm about to start Lost City of Barakus, this problem is about to raise its ugly head yet again, but I think I may have a feasible solution that saves game time, allows the players to experience the joy of exploration, and does not promote meta-game thinking.

Here's what I'm going to do: Each large room, or each smaller section (basically everything within earshot) I'm going to draw out on the back of a 3 by 5 index card. On the front of the card I'll give a short description and note any special items. Obviously the room won't be to scale, so they'll still have to draw out the dimensions based on my description, but at a glance they will have a good picture of what the room looks like.

The main drawback that I see so far is the time involved in drawing each section out, but that shouldn't take to long, maybe 3 minutes per card.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Have you done anything similar?

One thing I'm considering is how to relay false information to represent failed rolls and such, so thoughts on that will be especially helpful.

 

[jrients]

My solution has been to do the mapping for the players while I am describing the layout of the dungeon. I have never been into twisty get-lost labyrinths or map-futzing traps, so why not just draw the durn thing out? In the event of a chase sequence I sometimes take the map away. That can be fun for a change of pace.

 

[Catavarie]

Here's what I'm going to do: Each large room, or each smaller section (basically everything within earshot) I'm going to draw out on the back of a 3 by 5 index card. On the front of the card I'll give a short description and note any special items. Obviously the room won't be to scale, so they'll still have to draw out the dimensions based on my description, but at a glance they will have a good picture of what the room looks like.

The main drawback that I see so far is the time involved in drawing each section out, but that shouldn't take to long, maybe 3 minutes per card.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Have you done anything similar?

One thing I'm considering is how to relay false information to represent failed rolls and such, so thoughts on that will be especially helpful.

I think its a good idea if you wanna give your players a better feel for the area around them, and a more immersive feel...as far as hidden doors/traps/items that they need to roll to find make 2 cards one that you first give them without anything showing that they have to find, and the second with whatever they do find.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Once upon a time (back in the mid eighties) I created a 25 mm scale map, photocopied it and glued the photocopy to foamcore board with spray adhesive. I then cut it apart with an X-Acto knife, leaving the ouside of the foamcore as a frame (it was a small castle, not a dungeon). As the party made their ways through the castle I put the pieces in like a big jigsaw puzzle.

I still have the master map, though it has turned yellow with age. (I used the old Fantasy Furnishings decals by the Companions to do the furniture.)

The Auld Grump

 

[GlassJaw]

I've said this a million times before and I'll say it again...

TACT-TILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buy them NOW!!! Here's their website: http://www.bc-products.net/Index.html

Ok, you're done reading the post. Have you bought them yet? No? Why not?! Do it. DO IT NOW!

Seriously, get some Tact-Tiles. Your dungeon-mapping woes will be over when you do.

 

[IronWolf]

I've said this a million times before and I'll say it again...

TACT-TILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buy them NOW!!! Here's their website: http://www.bc-products.net/Index.html

Now, I agree Tact-Tiles are great they still don't 100% solve this issue (unless of course your dungeon rooms and halls fit on an individual tile). For example, last session I pre-drew the map top help speed things up. But I still had to cover certain sections of an individual tile because a hall or passage may have been visible that the party shouldn't have seen. So while Tact-tiles are great, they still don't solve the issue of covering up pre-drawn maps completely.

 

[jonesy]

One DM in whose group I played in years ago had a very large collection of Lego blocks. When he used dungeons he made several rooms out of them, and then when we entered a new area he placed it on the table accordingly. I swear he used more time to create those little rooms than he did designing the campaign. And that's a compliment.

 

[KenM]

We used an old chessex battlemat. All the levels of the places we went would fit on the battlemat, so no need for mapping with graph paper.

 

[der_kluge]

An idea I had heard at Gen Con which I thought was kind of interesting.

Draw out the dungeon, or maze (works especially well with a maze) and overlay it with a piece of paper with a small circle cut out of it.

Of course the scale of the map, and the scale of the circle are up to you. But as the players move through the maze, you move the circle over it only exposing just that section of the maze.

 

[Harmon]

Battle maps and graph paper.

Draw the map on the battle map, let the Players draw their own map on graph paper then erase what is left behind. Players that mark on their map ("10 Orcs here") tend to recall the rooms better.

Opt- I would like to use AutoCAD to map, then display it with a projector onto the wall, or on a big screen. Maybe one day.