mapping before game... (DM)

For more old school design, I've recently been converted to something I previously sneered at: the dungeon geomorph.
I was a big fan of the geomorph back in the day. I think the ultimate geomorph was the one published with the original Dragonlance module DL4 (the one with the dwarven kingdom of Thorbardin.) It used a series of 300' x 300' geomorphs to represent the endless caverns of the underground city. The map key just indicated which geomorph to use and its orientation. Very cool.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

You can have fun with Dungeon Crafter 2 - a simple tile based mapping program. There are a lot of tiles available for the program in the Legacy area. (I did a bunch of them, myself.)

Dungeon Crafter 2 never left Beta, but can be used as a supplement for the original program.

I sometimes use DC to make 'Adventure McNuggets' areas that I can drop into the game when I need them. Thieves' layers, sections of sewer (for some reason the PCs always end up going to the sewers at some point), shops, castles, manors, and for my Steampunk game, mansions and Boring Office Buildings(TM) (I had an adventure where the team was looking to rent their headquarters... every single one of those buildings had a 'surprise').

Just do up some maps and inhabitants for areas that your PCs might go. Don't stat them entirely (except for Spycraft or Fantasy Craft), but just the kind of folks and critters that they are likely to encounter there.

I last did this for a Fallout based game - the idea being that the PCs could wander where they willed.

The Auld Grump
 

Once upon a time, a company called Bard's Productions did Common Ground - a rather similar idea of prepping a bunch of areas that it would be likely that the PCs would encounter - Thieves' Guilds, Watch Stations and Towers, Churches, and Private Clubs. Great stuff! You can find them around online, at reasonably low prices, too. (I would love to see them out as PDFs, personally.)

The Auld Grump
 

Since the OP seems to be talking about layout as well as method, I would get a few books with old floorplans, be they from Rome, cathedrals, castles, or whathaveyou. Then load a photocopier with graph paper, photocopy some plans onto the graph paper, and populate.
 

lots of different ideas already given, I'll sum up and add some more:

Tech:
there are free and $ tools for doing graphics, and specifically for doing dungeons. Google around and check out the programs mentioned.

If GIMP is too nerdy, consider PAINT.NET, it's free and better than Windows Paint, but much less powerful/complex than Photoshop.

DM side:
I find that running a room by room dungeon crawl is slow and boring. Some folks run it better, but that style is definitely not for everyone.

That said, any location you make should be functional, having all the sites that the people using it would need. Then make it cool. Multiple layers, tiers, volcanos/waterfalls, etc. Odds are good it will also be dense. Unless you need the storage, things aren't going to be wide-spread in a facility.

Like somebody else said, get out of the dungeon. Put your bad guys in other locations than an underground facility dug as tunnels underground, with attached rooms. There's fewer real life examples of working facilities (not egyptian burial tombs) of those style dungeons, than there are of churches, castles, houses, forts, underground based (StarGate Command/norad). So get out of the dungeon, so you can use some other architectures.


Player side:
If you want nice looking battlemat-like dungeons, you're going to need to get the tools. Tiles, those DwarvenForge pieces, or some good map making tool to do your own print-outs.

If you want to hand the players a map, get some old paper (visit an art supply store for old-looking paper or "age" the paper you have), and draw the dungeon out the way the original map maker would have. If it was the original architect or somebody who took time, use clean lines and be fairly precise. If it was done quickly, just sketch it out, with less concern for proportion and exact angle. It will look authentic.
 





Now I use Dungeon Tiles.


I set out the map / room

I have grids saved on Paint on the computer

I redraw the dungeon Tile room onto a grid then Save as- Ruins of Blackroot Room 3

Word program I set up a Text Box and copy/paste my room grid from paint

Enter descriptions and creatures on the word program. Print

Take Dungeon Tiles and place into 1 gallon zip lock bag complete with creatures to use and label


Then you are ready to go.
 

Pets & Sidekicks

Remove ads

Top