D&D General D&D Dungeon Map Design: Good and Bad

[Hussar]

@Lanefan, I like what you have to say and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

A couple of quibbles though. What's wrong with isometric? Again, I play on VTT, so, isometric maps are a ton of fun when done right. Really builds the scene. Which, thinking about it, does play into your clarity point. The maps I use are meant to be played on. As in played directly on all the time. So, obviously playing 5e D&D means 5 foot squares. (Or, better yet DO NOT ADD THE BLOODY GRID - I can do that in a VTT a lot easier) But, that also means that maps that are just black lines on a white background get stale VERY quickly.

I ADORE @Dyson Logos. He is a god. But, for VTT play, the Dyson Logos maps in WotC adventures don't work quite as well because they tend to be really boring to look at for long periods of time.

 

[Lanefan]

@Lanefan, I like what you have to say and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

A couple of quibbles though. What's wrong with isometric? Again, I play on VTT, so, isometric maps are a ton of fun when done right. Really builds the scene. Which, thinking about it, does play into your clarity point. The maps I use are meant to be played on. As in played directly on all the time.

Difference between online play and in-person, I guess. The maps I use as DM are in theory meant for only me to see; if the players want their own map they have to make it as they explore through the place.

So, obviously playing 5e D&D means 5 foot squares. (Or, better yet DO NOT ADD THE BLOODY GRID - I can do that in a VTT a lot easier) But, that also means that maps that are just black lines on a white background get stale VERY quickly.

I ADORE @Dyson Logos. He is a god. But, for VTT play, the Dyson Logos maps in WotC adventures don't work quite as well because they tend to be really boring to look at for long periods of time.

Boring is good, in this case. Ideally when running a game (and I only run in-person) I'm not staring at the map the whole time - at least, I sure hope not! - and when I do look at it I want whatever I'm looking for to be clear, obvious, and easy to find.

Edit to add: the problem I have with isometric maps is that inevitably there will be some key feature or other hidden "behind" what's shown, thus meaning I have to guess at its dimensions, location, etc. A top-down map fixes this problem.

There's certain situations where having both isometric and top-down maps showing the same thing would be useful - top-down to give spatiality and isometric to show how things fit together vertically - but if you can only do one, top-down every time, please.