HELP - I love beautifully crafted maps but...

[dreaded_beast]

I have such a difficult time trying to draw them out during the session!

I use a battlemat/dry-erase board setup and try to draw out the maps for my PCs, especially for combats. This is very easy for rooms or areas that conform to generic geometric shapes.

However, when it comes to irregular shapes, such as caverns, twisting tunnels, forested areas, etc., I waste a lot of time trying to make the map I am drawing match up with the one I have on paper. I end up just guestimating, so the map I drew on the battlemat/dry-erase boards only bears passing resemblance to the original on paper.

It's like I didn't even need the original map in the first place if I was just going to guesstimate.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[der_kluge]

Well, I'm not convinced you really have a problem. If you're of the opinion that the map you have on paper really is unnecessary, skip that step. Just write down the number of rooms, and maybe a relationship between them, if it really is all in your head anyway.

I'm certain that your players aren't aware of any discrepancies, and even if they were, would they care?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Fake it 'til you make it, man. As long as the map on the battlemap is approximate and doesn't leave out major features, you're fine. That's effectively the reality you're using -- not the paper map key you have.

 

[Monte At Home]

I wouldn't worry about it. No one knows but you.

I'd keep the paper maps, though. You'll want to have a reference for yourself after the battlemat's been erased. Plus, the PCs could come back to the same place again, and you'll want it to look at least familiar when you redraw the battlemat.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Okay, take some card stock paper, index cards will do, draw a crazy line on it. Now take some scissors and cut along that crazy line, what do you have? The outside wall of your cavern, you just lay them on the battlemat.

 

[dreaded_beast]

Okay, take some card stock paper, index cards will do, draw a crazy line on it. Now take some scissors and cut along that crazy line, what do you have? The outside wall of your cavern, you just lay them on the battlemat.

Great idea! Consider it stolen!

 

[haiiro]

If the real issue is that you aren't satisfied with the maps you draw during sessions -- because of time pressure, I'd guess -- then you might try drawing them full-size beforehand.

I did this for my current campaign ("did" because we now play online) using big sheets of 1" square graph paper. I'd figure out where I thought the party was going to go -- sometimes easy, sometimes not -- and draw the major maps ahead of time. Many of them are repeat locations, which saves me a bunch of time.

Conversely, I also spent hours drawing maps they didn't use. The nice thing about that, though, is saving them and finding a way to use them later, which seemed to work pretty well.

If we needed a map I didn't have ready, then I drew them on the spot. Eventually I picked up a set of Tact-Tiles for this purpose.

Anyhoo, just my two cents.

 

[dreaded_beast]

If we needed a map I didn't have ready, then I drew them on the spot. Eventually I picked up a set of Tact-Tiles for this purpose.

I've heard mention of these Tact-Tiles.

Could I get more info on them, your opinions and how you actually make use of them during a game?

 

[Steel_Wind]

Tactiles? Battlemats? Nah...

You might consider digital map projection.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

I don't think Tact-Tiles will solve your problem. You will still have to draw the lines "on the spot" and it will be no different than a battlemat in terms of time and "quality" of drawing.

I'd go with the 1" graph paper. That what my World's Largest Dungeon DM uses, and I am also doing that with my new home campaign. You can draw out odd stuff in advance (and take your time) and you can always go back to the older drawings. Saves a lot of time when a party returns to an area they've already "cleared."