Tags
Dungeon, Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, Maps, OSR, RPG, Ruins
Ever have one of those maps that just REFUSED to sit nicely on a single sheet of paper?
On two?
Initially the goal was for a dungeon with 60 or slightly more encounter areas that would fit under the Minoan palace ruins posted on Tuesday. I realized as I was drawing it that the way I draw maps, I just couldn’t fit that many rooms onto a sheet of 5-quad graph paper. So I pulled out a second page… then I decided I wanted a section that was off the standard 90 & 45 degree angles of the graph paper as given… In the end we have a map spanning a full page and two little bits of graph paper.
Beneath The Palace – Photo
After scanning, cleaning and contrast-enhancement (and a 180 degree rotation) we have the final map for play:
The Dungeons Beneath
I love collapsed areas. The implication is that this is part of a much larger underground structure prior to the collapse. These areas could be found from another entrance, or could be lost for all time (depending on what you want from the region as a DM).
Dyson's Dodecahedron 
Do you ever produce versions of these maps which include a grid?
Very very rarely.
If being used with a VTT, not having a grid makes it easier so you don’t have to perfectly align the VTT grid with my grid. If you aren’t using a VTT, then these maps are too small for tactical play anyways, so they work best in a manner that can be redrawn as needed by the DM.
Also, I’ll admit that I’ve only used a grid a few dozen times in D&D games and hated the experience.
I should have phrased my question a bit better. What I meant to ask was if you produced gridded versions suitable for use as a GM’s version of the map. I find a gridded version is much easier to replicate for the players in the heat of play.
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