CREATING BATTLE MAPS
Track movements of combatants on battle maps including dungeon rooms, caves, modern locations such as bazaars, and futuristic deckplans for starships or space stations.
Floorplan maps without keyed information can provide a basis for battle maps.
Battle map scale is usually one “space” (hex or square) per average-size combatant.
Larger combatants may occupy multiple spaces on the battle map.
Swarms of diminutive creatures may occupy a single space on the battle map with multiple combatants and attacks per turn.
Implement “fog of war” on a manual map by selectively drawing in details as Adventurers explore.
Computer-assisted battle maps may implement “fog of war” based on token movement.
Creating A Battle Map
- Draw and key a map at your chosen Adventurer-sized combat scale.
- Consider Adventurer fog-of-war based on initial entry and exit points for the map.
- Consider encounter start points based on Adventurer initial entries.
- Consider opponent fog-of-war based on Adventurer initial entry and exit points.
- Decide on encounter tactics based on Adventurer decision points.
- Decide on encounter tactics based on opponent morale.
- Outline the encounter sequence from start to conclusion including decision branches.
Battle Map Types
Fantasy Battle Maps :: Castles :: Dungeons :: Caves :: Forests :: Swamps
Modern Battle Maps :: Hotels :: Bars :: Warehouses :: Streets
Futuristic Battle Maps :: Starship Deckplans :: Station Deckplans :: Outpost Deckplans :: Deep Space
- Arenas
- Bars
- Battlefields
- Camps
- Castles
- Caverns
- Coasts
- Demonic
- Deserts
- Docks
- Dungeons
- Dwarven architecture
- Elven architecture
- Farms
- Forests
- Horrific
- Jungles
- Keeps
- Lairs
- Manors
- Mines
- Mountains
- Mystical / Faerie
- Network / Cyberspace
- Nighttime
- Outposts
- Pirate Coves
- Rivers
- Roads
- Ruins
- Sewers
- Spacecraft
- Stations
- Swamps
- Taverns
- Temples
- Tombs and Barrows
- Underground
- Underwater
- Underworld
- Village, Town, and City Streets
- Volcanic
- Warehouses
- Watercraft
- Wharfs
- Wilderness
- Winter Icefields