Monday, April 27, 2009

Rescaling the map - to redraw or not to redraw?

So, as mentioned earlier, I've been in the process of transferring my dungeon levels from 5' scale full-sheet (8.5"x11") graph paper to 10' scale, 30x30 square One Page Dungeon Template sheets. And I'm finding a million places where, had I drawn these maps to a 10' scale in the first place, they would've "snapped" to the 10' grid. I'm on the fence, here - on the one hand, this is the dungeon as I drew it, a few player characters have already wandered through and mapped some areas, and there's no good reason for everything to conform to a 10' grid that isn't there. One could make the argument that to do so is to coddle PC mappers. On the other hand, redrawing it would make things easier on me as a GM in describing distances, and possibly make the whole thing a little easier to read.

In the end, I suspect I'll end up redrawing - as I've gotten away from the need to describe every twist and turn with surveyor-like precision (and in fact started impressing the impossibility of such a task on my players), the need for a micrometer-tight dungeon map lessens. What's more, I've made it a design feature that dungeon levels are subject to periodic re-routing by the Construction Crew (or just regular old magic), so I may as well put my money where my mouth is. I'm willing to bet that players using pre-revision maps will never notice the difference, anyway.

DYA

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