The Dungeon’s Master home group currently uses a rotating DM system. Each of us takes a turn and as we approach the end of our segment we cue who ever is on deck to get ready to take over in a week or two.
The rational for this is that none of us has the time to truly run a long term campaign and it allows each of us to take a turn being the DM. As players we experience different styles in encounter creation, story telling and pacing.
The aspect I’m enjoying is seeing what everyone does with their maps when their shot as the DM comes around.
There tends to be three strong choices that present themselves regarding maps at the table. These are Dungeon Tiles, pre-generated maps, and hand drawn maps. Let’s look at each of these and consider the pros and cons they provide.
Dungeon Tiles
Pros
Dungeon Tiles are colourful and come with different scenarios. So if you need a wilderness setting you can purchase that pack and create a variety of different encounters. You can also mix and match packs allowing for some very interesting creations and encounters. Difficult terrain is also marked on the tiles making this accessory ready to go right out of the box.
Cons
There is a cost to Dungeon Tiles. If you want them you or your gaming group needs to shell out for them. The price isn’t outrageous, but it is a consideration. A lack of pieces might be another issue, I know I’ve often wished for one more statue piece or 4×4 piece and not had it handy. The tiles also may present you with certain design limitations. Most of your rooms will have hard corners etc.
Pre-Generated Maps
By this I mean the maps that were intended for use with another game or adventure. The best example of these are the maps that Wizards produces for D&D Encounters. If you happen to DM one of these sessions you get to keep the maps. A great benefit for those considering the role of the DM for these sessions.
Pros
These are high quality maps, rich in colour and depth. Often featuring tactical and difficult terrain. These maps are a great way to impress your players who don’t participate in Encounters. Finally, they are free so long as you are willing to give of your time as a DM.
Cons
The maps are set, and you can’t change them. Which means if you use them you are either settling on a map that doesn’t fit your idea for the encounter 100% or you are modifying your encounter to match the map. There is nothing wrong with either of these things so long as you have seen the map ahead of time. One way that we’ve tried to overcome these issues is to start with the D&D Encounters map and then expand it with some loose dungeon tiles. This at least adds some new elements to the familiar.
Hand Drawn Maps
Usually on large graph paper, most DMs will draw these maps out ahead of time or between sessions.
Pros
A hand drawn map conforms exactly to the DMs vision, after all he drew them. Talented artists might draw the map on the spot while laying out the narrative, something I personally always enjoy. It is almost like reading the narrative text in a video game while the next sequence loads. These maps are cheap, easy to produce and can be re-used for multiple sessions. Not a bad combination.
Cons
The maps can look rather cheesy if your DM doesn’t have an artistic flair. This isn’t to say don’t do it, just be aware. The time the DM has each week to allocate to map work will also determine if one week the maps receive the full colour treatment and the next week everything is in pencil.
For myself I like a blend between the three and that is what I tend to default to. Though I do slightly favour the Dungeon Tiles as I can at least customize the map with what I have. I’m no artist and I know it, so I tend to stay away from hand drawn maps. What are your preferences when it comes to the maps you use as a DM? As a player do you have a preferred way of having the action displayed?
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1 2 3 Next »I just picked up GamingPaper.com's MegaDungeon 1 pack, and I'm really looking forward to using the geomorphs there to build encounters. In fact, i just did a post about it over at packofgnolls.blogspot.com!
Tiles mostly. I have thinking about investing in campaign cartographer for those times when I need something a bit more custom. In our last DnD Encounters session I used tiles to layout the crypt instead of using the pre-done map.
You missed computer based mapping (Dundjinni, Campaign Cartographer) - I used to use Dundjinni, though I haven't loaded it on my new computer yet. I also like hand drawn, (which I guess Dundjinni is just a high tech version of).
I was always a hand-drawn map DM. I received many compliments on the detail of my maps, but they just take too long to make well. Recently I've switched to the computer drawn maps. I use RPTools' program Map Tools. It's really easy to use and makes beautiful maps that can rival the pregenerated ones WOTC puts out. It doesn't hurt that I have access to a 24" wide printer now either.
The grid or battlemap wasn't widely used before 3E. We we used minis, I constructed dungeon walls by setting up dominoes on their sides.
Dominoes are a cheap way to build 3D dungeons and I still use them sometimes. Only problem is that the dominoes are always falling over.
The biggest problem with battlemaps is that they cause players to think in 2 dimensions. My players rarely think about walls or ceilings anymore, or how the height of the room could factor into the situation.
I used Dunjinni for my first few encounters, but then I discovered papercraft terrain, and it's been all papercraft for the last few years for me, with only a very occasional hand-drawn map if I've been too busy to put paper together. I mainly use stuff from http://www.fatdragongames.com, but I have a few other brands I use occasionally as well. You can go simple with 2D tiles (what I started with), or full out 3D, like I do now. It does take a little more prep work, but I (and my players) feel it's totally worth it. And now that I have enough stuff built, I can make pretty much anything I want with very little effort.
Prior to 4e I had maybe used a map twice ever. When 4e rolled around, and I realized that combat relied more on being able to count squares and such, I went out and started getting tiles, and another thing I didn't used to use, mini's. Sadly I had missed many of the good sets, and I ended up paying some rather expensive prices for some of them.
I also purchased a couple of Piazo's 2 sided glossy maps with a scene on one side and a blank slate of squares on the other. Grab a couple of dry erase markers and viola! pretty much any terrain you want, with the draw back that difficult terrain and such takes some time to make.
I've also made several Set Piece specific terrains, out of things like empty fabric bolts, paper mache, and various fish tank type props. While these are very cool, they take a rather crazy amount of time to make, especially the more elaborate ones, and are sadly almost exclusively a one time use thing, but it is well worth it seeing your players faces when you undrape one.
Finally this however. One of the members of my regular group recenly found a magnetic board that some with various small magnetic "Flags" that denote things like status effects, bloodied, and several other things. We used this map once, and instantly it has become our go to way of presenting most standard encounters. The map is dry erase, and tiled, and very handy, especially with the flags (and strong, a solo the party fought last week had about 6 effects active on it at one time and the little flag pole stayed up). I still use Dungeon Tiles, and set pieces for major plot battles and such, but for the day to day battles, this mat is great. Sorry I don't remember the name of it, or the company that makes it at the momemnt, but it is great. I look forward to the next post! Keep up the great work.
I prefer using pre-made maps, usually. It can be difficult to find one that fits what I'm looking for, but ultimately I'm not a fantastic cartographer nor am I willing to spend much money on aids like tiles or computer programs.
We do have a gridded battle map for when I need to represent an area on the fly. I like drawing little maps on there, but I find that I just don't have the sort of mind to add interesting set pieces to my dungeons, like terrain features (that can aid or hinder a battle) or scenery that expands upon what the party is currently investigating/exploring. To me those sorts of things are very important, so I'd rather let someone else design those elements and I'll just adapt them into my game.
My preferred mapping programs are Fractal Mapper (http://www.nbos.com/) and GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/). Fractal Mapper is the closest thing to the mapping program I would have built (which honestly would be closer to a GIS that knows how to make pretty pictures), while GIMP does the really pretty stuff that I like. Fractal Mapper is also much cheaper than Campaign Cartographer and has a much easier learning curve. GIMP is even cheaper (free!) but you're back to raster techniques; it takes more effort, but I think the results are worth it.
I always prefer customized maps to any printed ones. Even if the become only sketched ... I just want to have free imagination. We are always playing on "neutral paper", only some battlegrid on a whiteboard and they I draw the map according to the situation.
If it has to be quick, I use online generators like Ye olde Map Maker or software, that already adds encounters etc.