Looking at a big full-page dungeon map makes things look very cramped, and a bit dull. Construction takes a long time and a lot of effort (admittedly, not so much if you have summoned magical help), and making everything on the same level makes the map quite sprawling, and causes issues for water runoff, and similar problems. Plus, as anyone who’s played Minecraft can tell you, evening out a large area of terrain to build on is a MASSIVE pain. For this reason, it’s useful to break up your map (even for a full-page map) into smaller ‘zones’, with distinct entry and exits from each, and different physical heights (ether underground or above ground). This way, your players get a sense of when they’re going on to the next section, or can screw around investigating side passages and so on, can plan for where to fall back and rest, and so on. For a GM, this is also handy for working out where particular groups of enemies fit- soldiers at the bottom, priests at the top, and so on (or kobolds at the top, oozes in the sewers, and orcs on the little alcove off to the side, or something). Breaking your map up into smaller chunks makes it more accessible, make more sense physically, and easier to keep track of. Think of it being like suburbs of a town, or rooms in a building. (Originally posted on Game Masters stash on 23 June 2018) Categories All Comments are closed.
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