Drawing D&D maps
Cartography is an art and a science, yet adventurers running through a daedalus of underground caves and passages while being pursued by evil creatures draw maps with extreme precision. I hate that. So I have developed a way to screw the players over when they’re trying to find their way out of a maze.
Never draw precise maps
Drawing maps that reflect the time characters spend on cartography is one of my favorite dungeon master tricks. Unless the players are taking the time to map their surroundings professionally – which could take hours if not days – I will not draw the maps professionally either.
- Wrong scale. I will not draw the exact dimensions of any large location. If it’s more than 30 feet long or wide it becomes harder to estimate the real size of a room or passage.
- Small drawing area. I perfected this technique unknowingly. I’ve often played D&D on a small table and a smaller drawing map. So I had to constantly erase what I just drew as the characters advanced in their dungeon crawl.
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A quick reproduction of
what I call a graphic break
which higlights my lack of
graphic design skills.Graphic breaks. There’s probably a technical term for this. I draw part of a map and when I run out of room I add a break (see picture) and keep drawing on some other blank area of the map. That way I don’t have to erase the whole map all the time and whatever I’m drawing becomes a jumble of lines and breaks very quickly – hopefully confusing the players and getting them lost.
Arete
The next session I run I’m so gonna ask the players if they have ranks in Craft (Cartography) and if not the map is going to look like a kender drew it. Negative reinforcement always seems to work that way lol.
Who gets rank in Craft (cartography)?
r u saying that u actuly let PC’s look at your maps??
i keep them 2 my self nd just tell them about how big it is… unless they go to the battle grid 4 an incounted but then u have 2 do it the rite size!!!
and how long do it take 2 make a good map?…spose it a fair while but it worth it nd half the fun!
i just think u r a lazy poor excuss 4 a DM :P
Actually not only does he let us see the maps he show us where the secret passage are. True story!!!
Now, now. That was 10 years ago. Let it go. Please. I only drew the secret passage once. I was tired. No need to mention it too often.
“i just think u r a lazy poor excuss 4 a DM ”
Says the guy who can’t take the time to type short words like “to”, “you” and “are”
Couldn’t have said it better. And might I add: lol.
:|
People like Stunibu really need to gtfo. Thanks for the article. All of them, in fact, as you seem to be the author of nearly every article I’ve read on this site.
I have 2 maps of every area. One map of everything the players would know and another for myself with secret things.
I just tell my players how big the room is and what’s going down in it. It’s up to them wether or not they map it out. If they don’t, well…. all the more fun for me.
I take the time to draw my maps for the world and dungeons on grapging paper then i make a copy with out monsters and hiden passages for the player and i take the origenal and add details for my self to see
I have a rogue that actually has ranks in Craft(Cartography)
See i just draw a master map and then give the players another map that not only can they mark secret passages and other things on but i let them add in things that they put there like a brick wall or makeshift barracade
somewhere i saw someone using a comnputer projector and photoshop with a black mask they erase as the players move so they only know what they’ve seen and you can still draw the secrets on other layers
david, I like that Idea may have to find a way to put that into practice. Currently dealing with a long distance situation. Multiple states in fact. Trying to find options on how to keep the mystery and fun in the game without more than verbal direct contact. By the way if anyone is in a similar predicament, Skype is free and alows upto 20 some computers to network at once by voice and video providing they are capable. I will have to find a way to live feed that photoshop idea. Thanks again
Actually… I got rank in Cartography one time. I was dead set on being a cartographer as a swashbuckler.