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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 4772064" data-attributes="member: 8835">This is actually a good question.There's a number of GMing styles in handling a dungeon crawl.  My basic advice is to cut out things that slow the game down, and ruin tension.Here's some ways to "run the dungeon":The old fashioned way, is to never show the players the map.  Let them map it, if they so choose.  Describe each room and corridor.  Such as "this corridor runs for another 30 feet, then Ts to the right and left."  This style is tedious and slow.  The GM is usually hoping that the party gets lost, in this style.  Because that's the only reason to hand-feed the information.A better way is for the GM to draw the map in tiny form on a  piece of normal paper, as the party goes.  Basically lines and boxes for halls and rooms.  It's faster, because the GM doesn't have to waste time on explaining dimensions, and the party can see it.  Some GMs actually try to map this on the battlemat, but I've found the larger scale tends to encourage trying to be accurate.  Using non-graph paper encourages you to just draw a line for the next section and be done.The fastest way, is to hand-draw a copy of the map on normal paper.  You're not looking for scale or accuracy, simply a drawing as if an NPC had drawn the dungeon for somebody else.  Leave out ALL secrets and room numbers.  This map might even just be lines and boxes.  Early in the adventure give this map to the players with an in-game explanation.  Then they just put a token on the map, showing where they are.  It'll be really easy for them to point to "we take this route to this room, does anything happen on the way?"It's obvious that I support use of the "mini-map" in either drawn during game time or handed to them before they get to the dungeon.  The mini-map really expedites explaining the dungeon layout, and lets you focus on flavor text and encounters.Once an encounter starts, I draw up the location surrounding the PCs, which usually contains the fight (my mat is big enough, and the party doesn't tend to do a running battle).  This is just lines for walls.  I plop the PCs in, then the monsters, and we go.To expedite miniature use, pre-game, I pick through my minis and fill a small box with the minis I need for the game based on the encounters.  This way, I only have 5-20 minis to look through, rather than ALL of my minis.  If you don't have minis, numbered tokens work well for representing the monsters.  I then tend to have each player put one of their dice out as their mini (unless they have their own mini).  This works well enough, and setup goes quickly enough.The key to battlemat setup is to be quick.  Don't get too precise and detailed.  They just need the outline of the room, with the exits marked, and any blocking objects indicated.</blockquote>

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