About Dungeons and Dragons - Pen and Paper?

Question

I'm semi new to being a dungeon master, I've made small campaigns to get my friends hooked, and now that they are, I've decided to step it up a notch and create a larger, more involving campaign.

Just one problem...

In the past my players and I did not have a map or miniatures...

How can I make it so we have a map-grid to move miniatures on? Do I just need to tape together graph paper to create a huge dungeon map?

Answer 1

If you go to any office supply store like Staples, they sell a 30" x 36" pad of paper with a 1" grid on it.  It is perfect for any miniatures gaming as 1" always equals 5'.  I bought some colored markers too so that I could do walls, doors, windows in different colors.  I draw up any areas where a fight might occur in my game.  Some maps are used again and again.  But even if a map is disposable, the pad has 50 sheets on it.  I haven't run out yet.

Answer 2

Do you really need it?

Remember, YOU shouldn't be drawing the maps, your players should!

The only time you need to draw a map is when you are doing combat or something similar in a room, and you want to make sure everyone knows where they are standing. Usually I would just draw a square representing the room, and put coins in or other counters to show where people are standing.

Some games / gamers make a map with squares on. Just draw some big squares, and use citidel minatures from games workshop, or tiles too.

The idea is that dungeons & dragons is in your mind, and it isn't supposed to be represented with models. Models are there only as a guide to stop it being confusing when you are fighting a complex scenario.

Just drawing the room, the place you are in on the map and using coins or tokens is usually enough. Don't draw it in advance because you might not need it!

Remember, players draw their own maps!

Answer 3

This website allows you to download a 1" grid of graph paper that you can print out.

http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/lite/

Make a few copies tape them together. only usable once though. You will have to keep making copies. You can use coins or stones for placeholders for NPC's and PC's.

D&D is in your head mostly. but combat can be confusing. without a somerepresentation of the combat area and the combatants. some of the answers basically said you don't need this stuff. But imagine running a combat where you are fighting a monster on a rockbridge 10' wide and a lava pit 30' below. How do you see if pc's take aoo's when they move? Or if the monsters bull rush attempt pushes someone over the ledge. Even in a mundane setting it comes into play. How do you know if your rouge is flanking the enemy? If so, How did he get into position? Did he move through threatened squares. I remember the old days when I first started playing AD&D (before the word addition was added to these titles), I played a thief who never used his backstab ability because my DM would just say the enemy wouldn't let me get behind him. That is now not a judgement call but in the pc's hands.

Answer 4

I got some spools from a local printing company that still have some paper on the roll. This made it easy to cover my entire table with paper. From there I just used a yard stick and made a bunch of 1" squares. To be able to reuse the "mat", I put down a glass top so I could use grease pencils. If this sounds like a hassle, I would recommend picking up a battle mat from a local game store or online. 1" squares is used for D&D minis. You can get them for around $20. You can get minis pretty cheap on eBay.

Answer 5

There's a few options for you, but you really only need a to-scale grid for combat:

1.  New Dungeon Master Guides have tear-out color grids in the back complete with paper tokens of various dungeon features.  You can arrange, with a little creativity, any room setup with the grid and tokens.  

2.  Many hobby stores sell roll-out, erasable grid maps that you can wash the ink off of.  I use one and draw out the dungeon (sometimes to scale, sometimes not), using the tear-out battle grid from the DMG for combats if my map is not to scale.  

3.  Starter D&D miniature boxed kits come with "battle maps".  These aren't necessarily representative of your dungeon, but the grid is there and you can use dice, playing cards, etc. to represent barriers and walls.

You really only need the grid for combat.  Mapping can be as simple as a line drawn on a piece of notebook paper or as elaborate as using Dungeon Tiles.  It depends on what you want to spend!

Answer 6

You can buy pads of gridded paper large enough to lay out on a table.  Try an office-supply store like Office Max or Staples.  If you describe what you're looking for to a clerk, they should be able to help you find it easily.  Once you have the paper, you can draw the rooms to scale with a Sharpie or other marker.

If you want to get a little more immersive (and spend a little more money), you can buy buildings and dungeons laid over with grids from various online sources.  Wizards of the Coast, who publishes D&D, has their own line of Dungeon Tiles.

Answer 7

i agree with simon c. The players should draw a map to show where they are going and what they're doing.suggestion.you could draw a world map to show what territories they are in and exploring.Miniatures are not really needed.Remember one thing,D&D is a role playing game for the imagination.To me using miniatures defeats the quality and experience of playing in an imaginary wourld.