During my group’s second session in a new Dungeons & Dragons campaign.  Our dungeon master has really been pulling out a lot of new props and items to introduce to us in this new campaign.  One of the cool new additions he brought in for us was a home made 3D map.

Our generic maps consist of pre-lined paper that you can find at any arts and crafts store, like Michael’s. It is a large board of paper about the size you’d see in front of a classroom (around 2 feet by 3 feet, or any size near that). It basically looks like a giant-sized pad of graph paper.

Each square is approximately one inch by one inch in size, making it the perfect size to place one miniature in. The dungeon master can create the map with a pencil or marker using the lines that are already on the paper. Using this method, it is easy to create a bunch of disposable maps that are easily ready for your next gaming session.

Now comes the 3D part. Our dungeon master also made a small 3D prop out of arts and crafts supplies. This prop fit the map and was able to give us a 3D view of the building we were in. This allowed for a whole new type of combat. We were able to fight on the stairs, on the first level, or second level. We were also able to knock people off of the top level, or remain out of line of sight from ranged attackers.

Now a critic might say that’s a lot of work for something you could just accomplish with two flat maps. But honestly, it brought a lot into the gaming session. It was completely simple for us, as players, to visualize what was going on. There was little discussion about line of sight issues, or movement issues, because you could plainly see what was going on right in front of you.

Two of our players took some pictures with their phones of the gaming maps. Now you can see what the finished product looks like. This was a very basic 3D map. Imagine what could happen with more levels or a larger map!

Tell me what you think, or tips on how your gaming group creates maps!

Click here to see additional 3D Maps from our 11-25-08 session – No Mercy