For me it depends on why I'm looking at the map.
If I'm looking at it purely for its aesthetic appeal then sure, make it a work of art.
If I'm looking at it seeking accurate information quickly (the usual situation for a DM), I don't give a flip about anything other than whether it gives me that info in the most efficient manner possible.
Which, by the way, the
@3catcircus map does not. What is where is clear enough but:
- - constantly having to refer to the little scale in the corner, rather than just have a grid underlying the whole thing, would be a nuisance.
- - it violates the general convention of having north be at the top
- - as with so many maps, what the stairs are doing is anything but clear. Do the little triangles point up or down? What's the vertical rise or elevation difference between floors?
Further to stairs, as a side note: I was checking out some free online modules last night and found an example of another mapping glitch: inconsistent elevation changes within a dungeon map.
This map's stairs were very clear as to which way was up. Part of the map consisted of more or less a loop; you'd enter at the bottom (A) and going either left or right would funnel you to a chokepoint hallway (B) later, after which it opened out again.
Problem was, if you went right you'd reach B by a series of level halls and rooms and then going down a series of short flights of stairs (maybe 20 linear feet worth of stairs in total) while if you went left the passages and rooms were all shown as level thus the corresponding elevation loss wasn't accounted for.
The distances involved were short enough that any sloping of the left path would have been rather obvious.
Things like this drive me nuts!
1. The little scale in the corner? No big deal. When building maps in CC2 with Mappa Harnica, you can always throw a grid underlay on it.
2. North at the top? The typical interior map in Harnic style is usually a portrait instead of a landscape. That being said, it is entirely possible to change the size and orientation so the floorplans can fit and have the top of the page = north. Not a big deal.
3. Stairs? If you
know the key you automatically know that the arrows on Harnic style maps
always point in the downward direction.
4. Vertical rise? Look at the 8 with the line over it on the first floor. Eight foot high flat ceiling. The 7 with the line over it in the barn? 7 feet high flat ceiling. The 14 with an Up arrow above it in the barn? Vaulted ceiling 14 feet high. Lack of symbols on 2nd and 3rd floor imply same height (no need for additional markings since they are the same height as 1st floor). What isn't shown (but can be, the author chose not to) is to show elevation above ground level for each of the floors.
You happen to also be able to look at
everything on the map I posted and identify exactly what it is.
1. The black walls on first floor of the building? Stone.
2. The stony looking walls in the courtyard and the outer wall of the barn? Rubble.
3. The stony floors on the first floor of the inn? Paved (stone) floor.
4. The diagnonal lines on the inner wall? Daub and wattle.
5. The straight lines on the inn and barn's walls on the 2nd level? Wooden walls.
6. It's pretty obvious the 2nd/3rd level floors are wooden planks.
7. The stars with numbers in them? A special feature (typically detailed in the text).
8. The half dark/half white circles? Indicates a storage area.
9. The doors? The entrance door includes an iron bar. The door to the innkeeper's area on the first floor? Includes a wooden bar. the door with the number 3 leading to the innkeeper's private bedroom? It has a lock with a rating of 3 (scale of 1-9).
10. All the windows are glazed with shutters on the innkeeper's private rooms. Two windows on the 1st floor are barred with shutters.
11. The chests in each room clearly show a lock with rating, if it has one.
12. The barn's 2nd floor clearly shows the opening in the floor with the hanging curtain next to it. It's missing a ladder, but that is implied by the ladder being shown on the first floor.
13. You can clearly see where the chimneys are along with their associated fireplaces.
14. The roof of the rectangular portion of the inn on the 3rd floor? Ashlar. And you know how the roof peak runs.
15. The roof on the top of the barn? Hay and Fodder (not that it makes any sense to store it on top of the building...