D&D General Do your players map?

[Stormonu]

Up until my last 2E campaign, besides having a "Caller" in the party who acted as leader/speaker for the character's actions, one of the players would normally get designated as the "Mapper" - the person in charge of mapping whatever dungeon the players had delved into, to keep them from getting lost or figuring out where secret doors might be found due to the contours of the maps, and any blank spaces within. They would also handle the torturous labor of hex-mapping areas such as the Isle of Dread.

So, I am wondering - have you or do you have your players involved in mapping the areas the party adventure in? Is it a voluntary position, or like with my old games, required and assigned (and if so, by who? In mine, it was DM required*, the job was assigned by the leader - often to the Cleric or Wizard player).

* Well, more like "highly suggested" as I only laid down a battlemat during combat and quickly scooped it up during exploration, so the party was only getting verbal directions through whatever labyrinth the party was maneuvering.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It's only needed if it's a big complicated dungeon (which was the default in ye olden days). As DM I usually say something along the lines of "this looks complicated, you feel it might be a good idea to draw a map".

Now that dungeons do not automatically default to a 10' square grid mapping is harder.

 

[Philip Benz]

I remember having fun mapping (or describing dungeon maps) back in the 70s and 80s, but we eventually tired of the tedium. Now the DM will either roughly sketch what we can see, or set out actual dungeon or wilderness terrain (for encounters) or just roughly describe things and trust to blind luck. Or the DM will use the full map and show a portion of it, covering up what hasn't been discovered yet.

 

[ccs]

They will as needed.
Sometimes I'll have the map already drawn, or 3d terrain placed.
Other times I chuck a few wet erase markers into the center of the table & whoevers closest will map if they feel it'll be helpful.

About 1/2 the time we just run things ToTM with good descriptions & clarifications as required.

 

[Coroc]

I can remember when playing the first EOB on the PC, you had to draw a map or you got completely lost.
Funny thing after playing it a few times you had the map in your head, despite being 90 degree movements in one square steps only or maybe perhaps because it was so.

 

[Shiroiken]

I currently only play on Roll20, a VTT, so mapping is done automatically unless Theater of the Mind is used. Beforehand, mapping was hit or miss since 3E, since the days of the dungeon crawl has slowly faded away. In 1E, we were very careful with our mapping, and DMs often created torturous designs to screw with the players.

In 2E, however, I found a great technique that tracked the PCs route with minimal effort. You simply drew a line for directions taken, leaving marks for other exits, including secret doors. If an area was noteworthy, you marked it (A,B,C...) and wrote a note on the back of the map. This made it super easy, but it did reduce the probability of finding an obvious secret door between connected areas (since you didn't map distances to know).

 

[Oofta]

Never. Then again, I don't either. I have maps of my world and important cities but location details? Ain't nobody got time for that.

Then again, I almost never do "dungeons".

 

[dave2008]

No, we did some mapping early in our 1e days, but dropped it pretty quickly.

 

[R_J_K75]

As a DM I draw maps for myself to use behind the screen to describe to my players whatever terrain they are travelling through. I only draw anything out with dry erase if exploration turns to combat. Even if a player wants to map I don't let them as it just slows everything down. If they are looking to map a location to sell in game, I'll let them and then just have them make a few checks to see how accurate it is and its possible value, but I don't actually describe what they are mapping. On the same note if they are in a situation where they may get lost I will give them some indication that they are losing their sense of direction and either resolve it through a few roles or adjudicate it if they make a case for common sense. Having players map in my game serves no purpose.

 

[Burnside]

Having players map in my experience has always been a frustrating, non-fun disaster that detracts from the game - I don’t feel it particularly adds any realism either, since trying to map from somebody’s verbal description is not what the characters are doing - they can see their environment. I think the practice typifies an early 1E style where the game was both more adversarial and less immersive.