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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fenris-77" data-source="post: 7883688" data-attributes="member: 6993955">Verticality is a design element that's often ignored in RPG maps. I find it's often the missing ingredient that'll turn a decent combat encounter into a great one, and a decent dungeon into a great one. The mapping thing is only a huge issue if people think that's they should actually be able to construct a scale map of a dungeon while they are exploring it, which we all know is not a terribly realistic goal despite it's sacred cow status at a lot of tables.  Flowchart style maps work fine and don't suffer some of the same boondoggles that scale maps do.When it comes to dungeons I like to organize vertical dungeons around some large vertical feature that makes it easier for the players to keep themselves oriented (large here = something between a grand staircase and the Balrog cavern from LoTR). As mentioned above, multiple vertical access points is also a big help keeping things spacially oriented.On an unrelated note, cramped corridors and ships are the natural remedy for the the current domination of certain feats and types of weapons. They are also a marvelous way to deliver certain types of creature that would be much easier pickings in a big open room. Stuff like Black Pudding is meh in a big room and potentially bloody terrifying in a 3' wide corridor. OMG, it's on the ceiling...</blockquote>