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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Shadow" data-source="post: 8936165" data-attributes="member: 16760">I think it's worth mentioning that maps can come in at various levels. For example, my Fate group generally likes to create a map of the local continent or at least the nearby nations. Part of that is that we love worldbuilding, part is that it gives us concrete things from the start to hang our hats on:  "My character isn't a local, he comes from X."So yes, we would generally know that there was a desert between A and B. We wouldn't have the faintest idea how far it was across, nor would we care. "It's really big," is about as specific as we get. The narrative importance of crossing it will determine whether it gets handwaved or done in a single roll or be an adventure in itself. And in a long campaign in which we were a crew operating in a single city, we did have a very rough map of the city. "The Noble Quarter is here, the Trade Quarter is here, the swamp where the poorest of the poor live is over here." No street names or buildings save for the all-important Temple and mayoral palace. That let us talk coherently about what the city was like and stay consistent. But it wouldn't even occur to us to have a floor plan of a house where we were pulling a heist. That would be irrelevant to the things we're interested in - what stakes are raised during the heist, and how well or poorly it goes.I could totally see the enemy gloating at us through the grille - it would probably come about as a "success at a cost". Or possibly just the GM being a jerk in that great GM way - maybe the NPC had a stunt making him poison resistant we didn't know about, and he inserted the gloating for dramatic effect and to give us a chance to respond. But in any case that grille would be there to make the scene possible, not because he had a map of the sewer.On the exact opposite end, I recall seeing a staggering forum post in the days leading up to 4e. So staggering that I have to suspect trolling, though I have encountered people who do take simulation to extremes... In one of the early reveals of skill challenges, the example was given of a hero rolling well in a skill challenge to escape pursuers, and narrating it as overturning an apple cart to slow them down. And this poster responded, "But what if there's no apple cart there?" Upon questioning, it turned out that he claimed to know the names and routes of every vendor in his cities. He would never let a player trespass on the sacred reality of Joe the apple-seller's route! If he was actually telling the truth, that's equal parts awe-inspiring and appalling! I'd certainly never play in one of his games!</blockquote>

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