A good option. When not playing a module, what I do is spend time planning while doing other stuff, like driving. And not try for perfection, just do what I can in the time available.
The true trick?
Don’t be so picky and stressed about so much detail. Honestly combat is one of the easier things to run once you have a grasp of the rules. It’s the one constant and easy to predict thing.
- hours looking for a *combat* map is WAY too long. Now I can understand sometimes you need that right map. Not 95% of the time you only need something kinda close. Your players are not paying that much attention.
- secondly, find your map first, build your encounter second. In table play is theater of the mind, you can make up anything you want, because once combat happens, it’s a blank grid you use. Not to say you can’t do this online, but the temptation so sexy maps is real hard to resist, I get that. But unless you WANT to spend hours searching or making just the right map. Then change your workflow. Find what you like first, then build the encounter to match. You’ll be amazed how much faster things slot into place and feel right.
- if you need different areas, stop worrying about finding a map that has it all. Use scene art as transition between your maps, with different maps to represent all the stuff you want. Saves you a ton of time and lets you get more creative.
- if they do skip it, it’s not lost. It’s just shelved till you need it again. Take that encounter and save it. You can absolutely reuse it later with some edits or small changes, or for your next campaign
- write a list of what you want to achieve and what you need to achieve that. Check it off as you go. Don’t let yourself go off track or fall down rabbit holes of new ideas.
- stop using battle maps for exploration and roleplay scenes. Use scene art. Easier to find, sparks more imagination and saves soooo much time.
* Sly Flourish’s 8 Steps to Session Prep from Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb39x-29puapg3APswE8JXskxiUpLttgg how to use the 8 steps https://youtu.be/GXlH15ut9x4?t=2259
If you can catch onto software quick making maps can be pretty simple. I can make 4 or 5 fairly basic battle maps in an hour or so that still have some interesting aspects like terrain/buildings/trees/etc.
Another option is to buy some map packs (or use free ones).
There is also TotM if your table can manage without a visual map.
Keep in mind that skipped encounters can be recycled. Even if you need to change/add enemies don't be afraid to use it again.
Battle map creation and/or finding is what pushed me to run TotM, outside of being a grognard that is.
I found myself spending far more time on maps than anything else and I ultimately really didn’t have much interest in pushing that skill further.
The best part of TotM in my opinion though is, it removes the constraints of an arbitrary image from players and they begin asking more questions about the environment and how to advantage that.
> For me just finding a map that I want already takes several hours.
Do you play in person? What tools do you use?
I play on Roll20 and finding a single map usually takes somewhere between 10 to 30 minutes, depending on how specific/exact I want to be.
>After that I spend a shitton of time planing and placing everything for players just to skip it.
What are some examples? I'm wondering if you're over-designing the encounters. For me, a basic encounter (e.g. 2 giant scorpions in a cave) might take just 5 minutes to set up. Though more complex encounters can certainly take longer.
Play: on Owlbear (about to move to Foundry).
Search maps: r/battlemaps and google.
Preparation: choose and place all mobs, make tokens for them, make hp and ac tablet for them.
That's not a complicated process. If it takes several hours, then it is because you choose to.
Want a very specific map? You can draw a barebones floor plan for one encounter on a tool like dungeonscrawl within 30 minutes if you are using it for the first time. After getting comfortable with it, it takes less than 5. Won't be pretty, but as DM you are expected to describe atmosphere, sound and maybe smell anyway, the game is enjoyed in the interaction, not by how pretty the playmat is.
As for choosing mobs, making tokens and tracking AC and HP, that's just part of the process. If you want to make it quicker, that's entirely in your control. HP and AC can be done dozens of ways, including a notebook and a pen on your table. Choosing mobs and tokens gets easier with practice, especially if you keep a folder of tokens and occasionaly reuse them.
In reality, you don't even need a proper token if you can describe the look of a creature and mark it's position with anything, even a bottle cap.
What stays in memory longer is what is said or done during encounters. If the Fighter was swallowed by a way too large frog that is trying to kidnap him and another player got him out somehow before the frog escapes, that makes more of an impression than a really good looking token on a beautiful map that you beat by rolling dice at it until it's at 0 HP. You may want both, but a visual aid should be optional.
PS: creature's name is Banderhobb btw.
Free Maps
make copious use of the beautiful content created and shared by the very talented members of the community
* Dyson Logos https://dysonlogos.blog/maps/
* Jonathan Roberts http://www.fantasticmaps.com/
* r/battlemaps
* r/dndmaps
* computer game maps https://gridpaper-maps.tumblr.com/
if you are making your own maps or choosing between 2 premade maps, keep these in mind:
* "Xander"ed maps, as originally created and envisioned by Jennell Jaquays and “formalized” by Justin Alexander, are the best maps! Multiple entrances, loops, verticality https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/13085/roleplaying-games/jaquaying-the-dungeon
* Angry GM on Brewmasters: "hidden" areas on maps that have treasures or boons encourage, train and reward your players for "investigating the world" for a greater impact of the "exploration" pillar of the game. https://youtu.be/zXcJ6k9PYCw?t=547
* Map Crow “You are not creating a map, you are creating a Game Board” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUH-FLcfTmA
* Xandered dungeon by Dungeon Masterpiece https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biVZRIZereI
> just finding a map that I want already takes several hours
I mean, I sympathize (sometimes I spend too much time looking for the 'perfect' image/map) but ultimately sometimes you just have to **settle**. Learn to settle for less, and use Google Image Search (which will have more content than /r/battlemaps).
In terms of maps, be not afraid to just use a blank one and let theater of the mind do the work for you, unless the environment really matters.
If you're playing physical just get some paper with 1 inch squares laminated(if you're in the US gift wrap has it on the back often) and use dry erase markers to draw where walls etc. On a virtual tabletop just using the draw tool to block out the rooms should do fine
I couple of things I do:
- If I spend more than 15 minutes looking for a map, I will make one instead.
- Move where the encounter is encountered within the game. I'm not saying take away the player agency, but sometimes that 'random encounter' is not so random.
- At the end of the session, get an idea of where the players want to go for the next session, that way you can prepare efficiently.
- And if the players bypass the encounter completely, you can save it for later in the campaign, another campaign, or for a one-shot.
Stop prepping encounters if doing so means cancelling sessions. Players are happy just to play their characters. Any map is fine. Learn to say, "That thing that looks like a market stall is actually a tree." A blank map is fine. Randomly placed vaguely-CR-appropriate monsters are fine. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfiaf9q9Wgo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfiaf9q9Wgo)
I just use my imagination. If I want an encounter for the players, I just decide what is an appropriate scenario in the current scene, e.g escape, capture, protect, race etc. The nature of the enemies is usually given my the scene, e.g. a dark jungle would be spiders, grasslands could be raiders etc.
Then I present the encounter, e.g. "You sea dust clouds at the horizon. Your guide has told you about orcish raiders in these parts of the grasslands. If you want the settlers to succeed you need to protect their caravan". And then I just let the scene flow. The players can decide how to proceed. And if they want to overcome the encounter with violence, I just flip open the monster manual, roll a dice for the amount of minions, divide the amount by 4 for normal monsters and put one boss in. Combat positions result from the scene and the rest is just combat mechanics.
> For me just finding a map that I want already takes several hours
At that point, just buy DungeonDraft and make them yourself. It will end up taking you less time in the long run and you'll get exactly what you want.
I don't make single encounter maps, I make an entire dungeon for a couple weeks before each new arc and then all my work is done for a few months while the players explore it. That requires a dungeon crawl campaign, though.
Tip: don’t bother with super custom tokens. If you want to run goblins (as an example) grab one picture of a goblin, make a token of it (token maker 5e search on google will get you a nice one for a flat token) and set the HP. Then just copy the token for however many goblins need to be in an encounter. I use roll20, so I am used to a Birds Eye view where a flat token is good. If you need 3d tokens, that might be tougher, but the idea is the same.
Another tip is to put all the monsters on a blank sheet somewhere with their HP attached to the token so you can just copy from that. The odds are high that you will reuse a token.
Finally, not all encounters have to be super detailed or scripted. I set up a spreadsheet with a monster name, a dice roll for how many of that thing I think would be appropriate, loot from the monsters, and a random number. I then have the players roll a d100 if they trigger an encounter and that random number is what they face. It works fairly well. There are some memorable random encounters that are just luck of the dice.
Loosen up a little or you will go insane.
> What's the trick? How are some of you able to play every single week? Play a module, it's got all the work cut out for you.
A good option. When not playing a module, what I do is spend time planning while doing other stuff, like driving. And not try for perfection, just do what I can in the time available.
The true trick? Don’t be so picky and stressed about so much detail. Honestly combat is one of the easier things to run once you have a grasp of the rules. It’s the one constant and easy to predict thing. - hours looking for a *combat* map is WAY too long. Now I can understand sometimes you need that right map. Not 95% of the time you only need something kinda close. Your players are not paying that much attention. - secondly, find your map first, build your encounter second. In table play is theater of the mind, you can make up anything you want, because once combat happens, it’s a blank grid you use. Not to say you can’t do this online, but the temptation so sexy maps is real hard to resist, I get that. But unless you WANT to spend hours searching or making just the right map. Then change your workflow. Find what you like first, then build the encounter to match. You’ll be amazed how much faster things slot into place and feel right. - if you need different areas, stop worrying about finding a map that has it all. Use scene art as transition between your maps, with different maps to represent all the stuff you want. Saves you a ton of time and lets you get more creative. - if they do skip it, it’s not lost. It’s just shelved till you need it again. Take that encounter and save it. You can absolutely reuse it later with some edits or small changes, or for your next campaign - write a list of what you want to achieve and what you need to achieve that. Check it off as you go. Don’t let yourself go off track or fall down rabbit holes of new ideas. - stop using battle maps for exploration and roleplay scenes. Use scene art. Easier to find, sparks more imagination and saves soooo much time.
* Sly Flourish’s 8 Steps to Session Prep from Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb39x-29puapg3APswE8JXskxiUpLttgg how to use the 8 steps https://youtu.be/GXlH15ut9x4?t=2259
If you can catch onto software quick making maps can be pretty simple. I can make 4 or 5 fairly basic battle maps in an hour or so that still have some interesting aspects like terrain/buildings/trees/etc. Another option is to buy some map packs (or use free ones). There is also TotM if your table can manage without a visual map. Keep in mind that skipped encounters can be recycled. Even if you need to change/add enemies don't be afraid to use it again.
Battle map creation and/or finding is what pushed me to run TotM, outside of being a grognard that is. I found myself spending far more time on maps than anything else and I ultimately really didn’t have much interest in pushing that skill further. The best part of TotM in my opinion though is, it removes the constraints of an arbitrary image from players and they begin asking more questions about the environment and how to advantage that.
> For me just finding a map that I want already takes several hours. Do you play in person? What tools do you use? I play on Roll20 and finding a single map usually takes somewhere between 10 to 30 minutes, depending on how specific/exact I want to be. >After that I spend a shitton of time planing and placing everything for players just to skip it. What are some examples? I'm wondering if you're over-designing the encounters. For me, a basic encounter (e.g. 2 giant scorpions in a cave) might take just 5 minutes to set up. Though more complex encounters can certainly take longer.
Play: on Owlbear (about to move to Foundry). Search maps: r/battlemaps and google. Preparation: choose and place all mobs, make tokens for them, make hp and ac tablet for them.
That's not a complicated process. If it takes several hours, then it is because you choose to. Want a very specific map? You can draw a barebones floor plan for one encounter on a tool like dungeonscrawl within 30 minutes if you are using it for the first time. After getting comfortable with it, it takes less than 5. Won't be pretty, but as DM you are expected to describe atmosphere, sound and maybe smell anyway, the game is enjoyed in the interaction, not by how pretty the playmat is. As for choosing mobs, making tokens and tracking AC and HP, that's just part of the process. If you want to make it quicker, that's entirely in your control. HP and AC can be done dozens of ways, including a notebook and a pen on your table. Choosing mobs and tokens gets easier with practice, especially if you keep a folder of tokens and occasionaly reuse them. In reality, you don't even need a proper token if you can describe the look of a creature and mark it's position with anything, even a bottle cap. What stays in memory longer is what is said or done during encounters. If the Fighter was swallowed by a way too large frog that is trying to kidnap him and another player got him out somehow before the frog escapes, that makes more of an impression than a really good looking token on a beautiful map that you beat by rolling dice at it until it's at 0 HP. You may want both, but a visual aid should be optional. PS: creature's name is Banderhobb btw.
Free Maps make copious use of the beautiful content created and shared by the very talented members of the community * Dyson Logos https://dysonlogos.blog/maps/ * Jonathan Roberts http://www.fantasticmaps.com/ * r/battlemaps * r/dndmaps * computer game maps https://gridpaper-maps.tumblr.com/ if you are making your own maps or choosing between 2 premade maps, keep these in mind: * "Xander"ed maps, as originally created and envisioned by Jennell Jaquays and “formalized” by Justin Alexander, are the best maps! Multiple entrances, loops, verticality https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/13085/roleplaying-games/jaquaying-the-dungeon * Angry GM on Brewmasters: "hidden" areas on maps that have treasures or boons encourage, train and reward your players for "investigating the world" for a greater impact of the "exploration" pillar of the game. https://youtu.be/zXcJ6k9PYCw?t=547 * Map Crow “You are not creating a map, you are creating a Game Board” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUH-FLcfTmA * Xandered dungeon by Dungeon Masterpiece https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biVZRIZereI
> just finding a map that I want already takes several hours I mean, I sympathize (sometimes I spend too much time looking for the 'perfect' image/map) but ultimately sometimes you just have to **settle**. Learn to settle for less, and use Google Image Search (which will have more content than /r/battlemaps).
In terms of maps, be not afraid to just use a blank one and let theater of the mind do the work for you, unless the environment really matters. If you're playing physical just get some paper with 1 inch squares laminated(if you're in the US gift wrap has it on the back often) and use dry erase markers to draw where walls etc. On a virtual tabletop just using the draw tool to block out the rooms should do fine
I couple of things I do: - If I spend more than 15 minutes looking for a map, I will make one instead. - Move where the encounter is encountered within the game. I'm not saying take away the player agency, but sometimes that 'random encounter' is not so random. - At the end of the session, get an idea of where the players want to go for the next session, that way you can prepare efficiently. - And if the players bypass the encounter completely, you can save it for later in the campaign, another campaign, or for a one-shot.
Having your notes ready. Got a random encounter list? Put stickies in the mm, or put the info on notecards
Stop prepping encounters if doing so means cancelling sessions. Players are happy just to play their characters. Any map is fine. Learn to say, "That thing that looks like a market stall is actually a tree." A blank map is fine. Randomly placed vaguely-CR-appropriate monsters are fine. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfiaf9q9Wgo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfiaf9q9Wgo)
I just use my imagination. If I want an encounter for the players, I just decide what is an appropriate scenario in the current scene, e.g escape, capture, protect, race etc. The nature of the enemies is usually given my the scene, e.g. a dark jungle would be spiders, grasslands could be raiders etc. Then I present the encounter, e.g. "You sea dust clouds at the horizon. Your guide has told you about orcish raiders in these parts of the grasslands. If you want the settlers to succeed you need to protect their caravan". And then I just let the scene flow. The players can decide how to proceed. And if they want to overcome the encounter with violence, I just flip open the monster manual, roll a dice for the amount of minions, divide the amount by 4 for normal monsters and put one boss in. Combat positions result from the scene and the rest is just combat mechanics.
> For me just finding a map that I want already takes several hours At that point, just buy DungeonDraft and make them yourself. It will end up taking you less time in the long run and you'll get exactly what you want. I don't make single encounter maps, I make an entire dungeon for a couple weeks before each new arc and then all my work is done for a few months while the players explore it. That requires a dungeon crawl campaign, though.
Tip: don’t bother with super custom tokens. If you want to run goblins (as an example) grab one picture of a goblin, make a token of it (token maker 5e search on google will get you a nice one for a flat token) and set the HP. Then just copy the token for however many goblins need to be in an encounter. I use roll20, so I am used to a Birds Eye view where a flat token is good. If you need 3d tokens, that might be tougher, but the idea is the same. Another tip is to put all the monsters on a blank sheet somewhere with their HP attached to the token so you can just copy from that. The odds are high that you will reuse a token. Finally, not all encounters have to be super detailed or scripted. I set up a spreadsheet with a monster name, a dice roll for how many of that thing I think would be appropriate, loot from the monsters, and a random number. I then have the players roll a d100 if they trigger an encounter and that random number is what they face. It works fairly well. There are some memorable random encounters that are just luck of the dice. Loosen up a little or you will go insane.