I am running the Lost Mine of Phandelver with a group and we are all brand new to D&D. I bought a washable D&D Adventure Grid by Wizards of the Coast and used it for the Cragmaw Hideout map, but that small map used up almost all of the space on the grid. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to handle presenting very large maps. Ruins of Thundertree will be pretty big, and Wave Echo Cave looks like it will be massive. My apartment doesn't have space to have the entire Wave Echo Cave map presented to scale all at once, but I want to be able to use tokens/figures for combat. My idea is to present a scaled down version of the map to the players that they will gradually uncover as they explore the cave, and then separately, on the washable grid, draw to scale the individual rooms they actually will have combat in.
The simplest, is to have a map drawn on graph paper (the large map) that you slowly reveal. When you need more tactical combat, then do that on your washable adventure grid.
Another option, is to have 2 washable adventure grids, again, with the same idea with one being at a larger scale. Then use the other to "zoom in" as needed.
Also, depending on how fast your group is, Wave Echo Cave can take a couple of sessions, so you may be able to redo a map in the interim.
If you are using normal rules though, keep a 5' per square rule. I tried to cheat and do 20' grid squares and it was a mess for combat. I changed that the next session.
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"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
Having access to a wide format plotter at the office, I simply printed it off on a 36x48 sheet of paper. That got me 1" grids each representing 5' on the map. I then used other paper to cover the parts of the map that the players hadn't accessed yet. Not an option for everyone, but I be a plot like that from Kinkos (or a copy shop) would only run a few dollars.
If you have a Reversible Megamat (34,5"x48") you will have just enough space to draw the entire "Ruins of Thundertree" on one matt.
When my group came to this part I draw the entire city the night before on the battlemat to save time during the game night.
For Echo Wave Cave, just split it up into sections. When an area is cleared, erase it together with the players and draw up a new area/room as they enter it.
If you have more than one battlemat you can draw big complicated "boss rooms" like the one with the flameskull in advance to save time. But there is no need to draw the entire dungeon in advance as your group is very unlikely to clear it in one session (unless your game sessions is above 4 hours).
If you have a Reversible Megamat (34,5"x48") you will have just enough space to draw the entire "Ruins of Thundertree" on one matt.
When my group came to this part I draw the entire city the night before on the battlemat to same time during the game night.
For Echo Wave Cave, just split it up into sections. When an area is cleared, erase it together with the players and draw up a new area/room as they enter it.
If you have more than one battlemat you can draw big complicated "boss rooms" like the one with the flameskull in advance to save time. But there is no need to draw the entire dungeon in advance as your group is very unlikely to clear it in one session (unless your game sessions is above 4 hours).
Literally did this for Thundertree this past weekend!
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I am running the Lost Mine of Phandelver with a group and we are all brand new to D&D. I bought a washable D&D Adventure Grid by Wizards of the Coast and used it for the Cragmaw Hideout map, but that small map used up almost all of the space on the grid. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to handle presenting very large maps. Ruins of Thundertree will be pretty big, and Wave Echo Cave looks like it will be massive. My apartment doesn't have space to have the entire Wave Echo Cave map presented to scale all at once, but I want to be able to use tokens/figures for combat. My idea is to present a scaled down version of the map to the players that they will gradually uncover as they explore the cave, and then separately, on the washable grid, draw to scale the individual rooms they actually will have combat in.
Any thoughts?
That's one of the ways to do it :)
The simplest, is to have a map drawn on graph paper (the large map) that you slowly reveal. When you need more tactical combat, then do that on your washable adventure grid.
Another option, is to have 2 washable adventure grids, again, with the same idea with one being at a larger scale. Then use the other to "zoom in" as needed.
Also, depending on how fast your group is, Wave Echo Cave can take a couple of sessions, so you may be able to redo a map in the interim.
If you are using normal rules though, keep a 5' per square rule. I tried to cheat and do 20' grid squares and it was a mess for combat. I changed that the next session.
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
Having access to a wide format plotter at the office, I simply printed it off on a 36x48 sheet of paper. That got me 1" grids each representing 5' on the map. I then used other paper to cover the parts of the map that the players hadn't accessed yet. Not an option for everyone, but I be a plot like that from Kinkos (or a copy shop) would only run a few dollars.
If you have a Reversible Megamat (34,5"x48") you will have just enough space to draw the entire "Ruins of Thundertree" on one matt.
When my group came to this part I draw the entire city the night before on the battlemat to save time during the game night.
For Echo Wave Cave, just split it up into sections. When an area is cleared, erase it together with the players and draw up a new area/room as they enter it.
If you have more than one battlemat you can draw big complicated "boss rooms" like the one with the flameskull in advance to save time. But there is no need to draw the entire dungeon in advance as your group is very unlikely to clear it in one session (unless your game sessions is above 4 hours).
Literally did this for Thundertree this past weekend!