Goodman Games

Hello!

Im curious how other players handle disguising areas of the map so players cant see the areas undiscovered? I use a piece a paper and reveal each place as they expand and explore the map.

Anyone have any other ideas or techniques?

I describe areas to the players, and they can try to make a map or not as they see fit.

Since judging DCC, we've been mostly theatre of the mind and only occasionally will I sketch out a room layout on the grid. But before that, we were into minis big time so every session was mapped out. I drew out the dungeon or whatever and did as you did. I'd cut out black construction paper to cover each room and remove that as they entered. That seemed to work fine. It might have been just as easy to sketch it out as we went, but that way did save time at the table.

I like a faster game nowadays though. I got a bunch of the dwarven forge Kickstarter stuff and have yet to use it.

Nowadays... If the dungeon or whatever will entirely fit on my big wipe-off grid mat, I'll just draw it for the players as we go along.
If the dungeon is too big for the mat, or if I don't have the map actually gridded out, I'll draw it for them on a big piece of paper as they explore.

Recently I tried to go back to the "I describe it, you PCs are responsible for mapping it" technique I used in my younger days. It turns out that's a lot more time consuming and frustrating for me than I remember. ("No no, I said there are THREE doorways on the left wall. The left! Okay, north! No, just doorways, not actual doors. Here, let me draw it for you. *sigh*") I'm not sure if the hassle is worth the verisimilitude.

I can't duplicate those awesome Doug Kovacs maps on graph paper, and the maps are usually the best part of any adventure, so where I can I photoshop the maps for the players' eyes. This is easy with some (Frozen In Time, Elzemon and the Blood-drinking Box) but no good for others (People of the Pit, The One Who Watches From Below). It's time intensive, but I'm extremely lazy and have found that procrastinating school work is even easier when I have a cool map to edit. All hail the Cartographer of the Dark Master!