8 Steps to Better Dungeon Maps
My friend Trekiros created an excellent video examining how to apply FPS mapping techniques to tabletop RPGs. Following are the key points I took from his presentation, enhanced with my commentary and examples.
Differentiate with Features: Differentiate your dungeon and wilderness areas with unique environmental features. Doing so makes them memorable and elevates the location from "just another box on the map." For instance, a Sun god's temple might have spectacular skylights in every room, while a forest clearing might be girded by a sprawling, violet rosebush that hampers movement but offers concealment. Wave Echo Cave in "Lost Mines of Phandelver" has a unique and memorable feature: the rhythmic thunder of underground waves can be constantly heard.
Vary the Combat Terrain: Craft encounter areas so that combat is engaging and multifaceted. For instance, a bridge over a chasm presents both the risk of falling and an opportunity to push enemies off, while a room with pillars allows for hide-and-seek tactics, favoring stealthy or ranged characters. Castle Ravenloft in "Curse of Strahd" provides some good examples, with encounters in diverse locations such as narrow staircases, grand halls, and flooded torture chambers.
Loop the Architecture: Create dungeons with corridors that branch and reconnect. These significantly increase the player's tactical options, enabling them to bypass dangers, retreat and elude pursuit, and mount flanking attacks. The map of the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief in "Tales of the Yawning Portal" is an outstanding example, with heavily interconnected chambers and corridors across two floors offering a variety of tactical approaches.
Use Vertical Space: Utilize vertical space by incorporating features like balconies, pits leading to lower levels, bridges, anti-gravity zones, chasms, and hanging platforms. Three-dimensional combat often forces players to depart from typical tactics and tap into their problem-solving abilities. A fun example is Chief Guh's Feasting Hall in "Storm Kings Thunder." The floor has several concealed pits that open onto the lower level. Players can creatively use these pits to flee, initiate surprise attacks, or even tip enemies into the pens below!
Signpost the Area: Use "signposting" techniques, such as light, color, sound, and shape, to guide characters toward critical locations and communicate important information. In "Princes of the Apocalypse," color is a signpost that distinguishes the various cults, enabling characters to determine which stronghold they are in and which foes they are facing. Another example occurs in "Curse of Strahd." The characters enter the village of Barovia, and most of the houses are dark, but those houses they can investigate have a small amount of light spilling from the shuttered windows.
Balance Open Areas and Cover: There is something spectacular about an enormous meadow or a vast hall, but they can make for dull battlefields. By thoughtfully balancing open spaces with cover, you can create engaging encounters that encourage creativity and tactical thinking from your players. Consider adding features that can be used for cover, like boulders, ditches, hillocks, and fallen trees in the wilderness, or columns, furniture, and statues indoors. The Fane of the Night Serpent in "Tomb of Annihilation" is a large chamber broken up by features like sculptures, pillars, cauldrons, pools, balconies, and stairs.
Incorporate Multiple Entrances: Critical areas, such as boss lairs and treasure rooms, should have multiple entrances. Doing so gives the players meaningful tactical choices to make in play. For instance, a secret passage might lead directly into the treasure room, bypassing some dangers but requiring clever thinking to discover. It's always good to give the dungeon itself several entrances. For example, Castle Naerytar in "Hoard of the Dragon Queen" can be entered by the main gate, by scaling the castle wall, or through an underwater tunnel into the dungeons below.
Create Interactive Environments: Add elements that players can interact with to affect the map or solve puzzles. A lever might dispel an illusory wall, a magic orb could change the gravity in the room, or a rotating statue might reveal a hidden alcove. The Tomb of the Nine Gods in "Tomb of Annihilation" is filled with such features. One spectacular example comes on the fifth level, which contains several giant, rotating chambers. You must find and manipulate a control panel in order to align the rooms correctly.
You can find the original video by Trekiros here.