Game Masters: Preferences for Labeling on Game Maps

Royal Scribe

I have not yet used any of my maps for an actual RPG campaign, so I don't have any real world experience on this. For those of you who have used your maps in actual gaming as a battle map, either in a VTT or printed out, or some other fashion: what is your preference for how to label on a dungeon or small village map?

1. Textual labels next to each room or place on the map?
2. Numeric labels with a legend embedded in the map that prints with the map?
3. Numeric labels with a legend outside of the map borders so it doesn't print?
4. Other? (Please share your approach in the comments.)

I am at the labeling stage of a map and I am dithering on which approach to use. I know it's really a matter of personal preference and will likely vary from map to map, depending on what seems best for the situation, but is there an approach you generally prefer for playable maps?

Monsen

That really depends on the purpose of the map. For dungeons/battle maps I rarely have any labeling at all on the one the players see. It is supposed to show them what they see, not be a reference item.

Same goes for villages if it is a place the players are unfamiliar with. They don't know what house is important or what's there, so there shouldn't be any labels cluing them in.

For a familiar location, or for a map that is a handout that the characters get in-game, I would usually use numbers and an index, but that would really depend on who made the map and what style it is in.

KertDawg

@Monsen I was going to type something here, but you said 100% exactly what I do.

I'll add that many commercial modules have 2 maps: 1 with labels and 1 without. One is for the DM and one is for a handout. You might also consider "fog of war." How do you handle what the characters cannot see yet? I have covered the maps with blank paper to hide what's around the corner, and I've also tried printing each small area on different papers so I can tile them together when the party can see an alley, etc.

BTW, Dioramas 3 comes in handy here!

Royal Scribe

I haven't tried it in a real world situation yet, so I'm not sure yet what approach I would use. Right now, I'm a player in a campaign where the DM has the only map. He describes it to us and then does a rough sketch of the room or the terrain with dry erase markers on a dry-erasable vinal grid. It works for us, but when the time comes for me to DM, I would like players to be able to move on an actual map (so they can see my pretty artwork! 😉), whether that's a printout or digital figures on a virtual table top.

For things like secret doors and secret passageways, I've put them on a SECRET layer on my maps so that I can have two versions, one showing them and the other hiding them. But I've never actually used a VTT before, so I don't know how easy it would be to switch between maps.

Wyvern

Battlemaps for physical tabletop use shouldn't be labelled at all, because that distracts from the scenic element, and if the map's reasonably clearly drawn, the key features should be obvious anyway - that's largely the point, after all! If you'll need to add hidden elements, use cut-out markers you can drop-in on the map when & where appropriate (or use suitable 3D miniatures/items, like doors, treasure chests, etc.). The process/theory stands for VTT use as well, except everything is digital, of course.

As I've never used VTT, I can't advise much on that element, although hiding and showing features using the CC3+ Layers is straightforward enough in the FCW files, and easy enough too to store as separate digital images of the relevant views. I'd assume swapping between such separate images should be relatively simple in VTT, but I may be assuming too much on the part of such systems' designers, I realise! (Given that Windows still has to catch up with where some of the alternative PC systems then were 30+ years ago...)

The only labelled maps are the ones the GM needs to see, other than any props the players may be given/shown - such as a treasure map - and on such props the labels can be as clear or obscure as the needs of the game require.

JulianDracos

The design should reflect its use.

For example, if the map is intended to be shown to players either as a handout or a VTT, then you put the walls and objects. On the other hand, if it is intended for the GM, then you might have just have the map with numbers. Those numbers then correspond to the text that the GM uses.

Overland maps are usually going to have labels as they are meant more for reference. However, I have made maps or parts of maps that are handed out to players. These might have labels on them, but usually do not as them figuring things out is part of the game.