Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Monsters on the Map !!!!

A quick quiz:
Which sample map shows there is a 1 in 6 chance there will be a 2d6 skeletons coming down the hall?


As per last post ,maps can be made even spiffier (i.e. more interesting to look at and more immediately useful in play) by putting things on the map. Added a couple icons to the map and at a glance I can tell you where there's a mummy, a band of bugbears, and a possibility of bumping into a pack of skeletons. The monster icons need not even be as detail as here as little frowning faces would do the trick as well.

With more useful information on the map the DM can better play out what the response could be to things like the door being kicked in between #1 and #2. I'm curious about the relationship between those bugbears and the mummy as I can see the both at once without going through the room descriptions.

If there's room, put it on the map.

Sure one can argue agaisnt cluttering the map up with monsters that will be dead, that's what erasers, delete buttons and crossing out monsters is meant for.  If #3 had an x scrawled through the bugbears it should be pretty obvious there are bugbear corpses present unless the dungeon has a really good clean-up crew.

4 comments:

  1. I agree! I assume the numbers in the octogons are the chance to open the door? What do the numbers under the horizontal brackets mean?

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  2. Ah, I just read your last post. Ceilings, of course.

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    Replies
    1. I wouldn't put them everywhere (heights ca often be a typica height) but they are handy on the map.

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    2. Right, the varying height makes some rooms feel more important or different. I like it!

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