One Dungeon, Two Maps

It's a map!Mark over at Dust Pan Games shares with us his take on what a GM map should be versus what a player map should be.

There’s a lot of good information in the post as Mark covers what he considers the distinct types of ares in a dungeon.

  • Transition rooms – the areas between points of interest
  • Challenge rooms – points of interest planned by the GM
  • Conflict rooms – you probably already guess it, where the conflicts (or battles) take place

Mark covers a number of points for each area including giving examples and the types of information he includes for each area. He also addresses the possible concern some would have when laying out a dungeon using his method as it might be seen as railroading the players.

I can see where that might be a concern, but a misplaced one. In reality I’m taking the same map I have always used and re-arranging the information so that it is more accessible

It’s definitely worth looking at Mark’s method as it gives the GM a much more direct way of viewing the information he needs so that game play should be smoother. He also shares an image contrasting his map versus a player map.

May your dice roll well.

A GM needs a different dungeon than the players via Dust Pan Games