How many DMs make use of terrain in their campaigns? 

Do you prefer terrain over maps? 

I'm DMing a small group, and plan on using some 3D printed terrain as part of it. I've found that having some decent terrain pieces makes for a more immersive experience. 

If it brings you joy, just do it. 

I don’t use either in one of my campaigns 100% Theatre of the mind. In the other we play remotely so I will create maps on inkarnate as a reference point but again generally theartre of the mind. 

I do, principally because I enjoy the work of building the terrain. Having said that, I also think it helps enormously with complex combat situations, which is what I mainly use it for.

It can be an expensive rabbit hole to head down. You start needing more and more terrain pieces and different miniatures. The party goes from forest to snow to underground caverns to sailing a ship, and you want to keep that theme showing through in your maps...

VTTs allow all of that variety without worrying about storage, massive costs or painting. You can do it with everyone around a table and a flat screen in the middle to share maps and art on, or do it online so people can take part without worrying about transport. If I had to run with no online element then it would be all theatre of the mind as I wouldn't want to get into physical terrain. 

If and when I do get back to playing in-person, I'll more than likely use a bit of terrain from time to time for major battles. However for 90% of combat, I either use theatre of the mind or a flat printed/drawn map if measurements are needed.

Rather than spend money/time producing terrain for battles, I usually prefer to focus that effort on props as those tend to get more mileage - plus I find the players get way more excited about getting a handwritten scroll, a custom made ring or a fancy looking wand than they do about seeing a cool battlefield.

Time has always been the only limiting factor for me. I'd love to have custom terrain for every encounter if I could. You can certainly spend a lot of money on it, but I always just saved cardboard and occasionally bought some wood and craft supplies and tinkered around with stuff because it was fun.

I do have to say after a year of playing online, I have mixed feelings about it now. I miss it but I also have a lot more time to do other things and a lot less of what's essentially nice-looking junk laying around the house.

I would agree that basically you should just do it if it's fun for you. If it's not, it will burn you out quickly.

There's a really cool Kickstarter going on at the moment with magnetic, double-sided terrain https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/modularrealms/modular-realms-masters-of-the-waterways?ref=3fab0o 

The double sidedness is great for flexibility and being able to build different types of terrain encounters without having to buy loads of sets. It's pretty affordable too :)

This is a review Ginny Di did for it --> https://www.instagram.com/p/CQJnt7TFQ_o/ 

I like using terrain for big epic battles, and I just use dungeon tiles/maps for normal ones. That way, it makes the big battles all the more exiting. I'm not a fan of the whole openable dollhouse thing though, I just like Dwarven Forge type stuff.

EDIT: I actually don't know whether Dwarven Forge has released any openable dollhouses, but now I think about it, they probably have. If they have, when I said Dwarven Forge I meant this type:

Credit: Sly Flourish's Dwarven Forge Buyers Guide.

The real question is: ‘ to delve into a new money/storage space pit or not to delve?’

I theoretically like terrain a lot, however, time, effort, cost and storage of reasonable amounts of terrain for the large variety of areas my players encounter keeps me from delving into it. Additionally, we often play at different places, and mostly not mine, so transport would be the next issue.

So, I stay with a hex grit PVC mat, drawing with wet erase markers.

Yeah, storage space is why I like the magnetic tiles that just flatpack down into a small box or bag. Plus double-sided means only storing half as much ;) 

Definitely a rabbit hole though because as soon as I get terrain I want the furniture etc. to make the rooms even more alive and interractive and that's when I find storage space become an issue...

I think terrain looks cool, and minis and terrain are a fun way to play.  My own play style as DM is too freeform for terrain investments to be practical.  The way I run my games I could make a key set ... and the party never gets to see it because they went in a different direction.  

I"m sure folks in the Arts and Crafts section show off their home made terrain set ups.

I do use miniatures and detailed terrain. Mainly this is because I enjoy building and painting it, but also because I do find that it makes complex combat situations easier to visualise.