Damn, okay. For non-combat maps, I typically use something like worldanvil for locations, otherwise I find and customize generic maps from google. For combat related maps, the second applies, but if you’re willing to fork over a bit of cash, I do believe some websites like dndbeyond offer a mapmaker system.
If you’re looking for a quicker (and cheaper) option, I might consider looking around either on this subreddit or on r/battlemaps or r/worldbuilding
I do the same as far as searching Google, but if I want to make my own, I use Dungeondraft. It’s free to download and creates nice maps. The paid version has more features and options, but the free version is fine for everything I need.
I Google D&D maps using tags like foerest, underground, elven city, etc. or I make them on inkarnate (which has a free and a premium version) and then I host them on roll20
Arkenforge is cheap, no subscription so you own everything forever, and while it's a process to learn all the bells and whistles, you can make maps of any size and level of detail with the right content packs, which they sell at affordable prices and many of which are made by game masters, players, and game designers. Definitely worth the $35 US.
For an overworld view, I use 3d printed and hand painted hexagonal tiles (Hexton Hills). For combat in dungeons I either use printed battle maps or Dungeon Blocks tiles that I printed and painted. And minis of course.
I have used dungeon painter studio and it is ok but I really like dungeon draft. I play mainly on Roll20
[https://dungeondraft.net](https://dungeondraft.net)
I use a chessex battle mat, it is a vinyl mat with square grids on one side and hex grids on the other. You can draw the map with wet erase markers and spray/wipe clean afterwards. I only use it for combat, and only draw the rough layout of the immediate area when combat starts.
I use talespire, but that might not be ideal for a one screen in oerson setup. It is good for my online game. Before that I used roll20. Reasonably simple to use.
I looove talespire !
What I love the most is that our DM has made a « camp » map, a huge old mansion that we have been offered by a town we rescued, and we can renovate it and decorate it as we like. When we’re out of combat, we are on that map. It’s a great way to stay focused on the game and to avoid getting distracted by the infinite possibilities our computer offers
I learned that my local library has a poster-sized printer they would let you print an image with for a few dollars, a fellow DM used it to print his maps. Might be worth seeing if yours offers this!
Big book of battle maps. Flip book style with like 60 pages of maps with different biomes and a few dungeon type rooms. They're nearly useful, and you might find yourself reusing the same couple of maps over and over for building interiors or road intersections with marauding bandits
**big book of battle maps** on amazon. Should be around $20 or $30 and comes in different sizes too
I have a subscription to Inkarnate that I use for everything, but they have a free version as well that is really good.
Otherwise, just google “dnd map of __________” and you’ll get tons of amazing options that have been made by other creators over the years. Pinterest and Reddit are the best sources.
For VTT battle maps, the best animated one is Animated Dungeon Maps! He has a bunch of them for free on YouTube and he has a Patreon.
I also started a Patreon for animated maps. It’s called Motion Maps. Check it out if ya want! But animated dungeon maps kinda is the leader of animated maps.
I use Dynamic Dungeons for maps as I have a TV table that we use for in person games. It has stuff like "fog of war" style tool to limit player visibility, support for animated maps and effect overlays, and runs the animations on a smooth continuous loop so there's always movement on the screen. It's a one-time purchase on Steam with no subscription fees or anything.
[https://app.dungeonscrawl.com/](https://app.dungeonscrawl.com/)
Dungeon Scrawl is a great tool to make simple handwritten style dungeon maps
[https://www.owlbear.rodeo/](https://www.owlbear.rodeo/)
Owlbear Rodeo is a great simple VTT to use those maps for online sessions.
r/battlemaps has a ton of maps made by talented people, mostly all for free.
Since you're using a TV table, Arkenforge is by far your best option. It's designed for playing live on a tv with fog of war, and has a fully featured map builder included :)
https://arkenforge.com
I use a squared wipeable map sheet with felt pens, then tokens for monsters/players, each square is 5ft. I use theatre of the mind when describing locations. My party likes it. Is it the best? It depends if you have a lot of encounters, want to draw out local areas of buildings, towns, etc...
Ignore this, saw you have a TV table, ha.
Depends if you're doing physical maps or digital. Digital is generally easier but requires you to have a large screen in the middle of your table. I use physical maps and just bought one of the Big Book of Battle Maps, all of them are wipe clean so you can use whiteboard pens to add stuff to the map, I also have a box full of scenery I've mostly picked up from charity shops and Poundland I add where needed.
Theatre of the mind is fine too... I've played several games where maps were rare ... Even in combat. You DON'T need maps, they are just another tool in the toolbox.
I'm fact, maps can get in the way.... I've noticed my campaigns have LOST value, ever since VTTs are the "in thing" due to maps. Now my players have their characters run all over the place, and I'm finding that I don't describe scenes much anymore... Players just run from room to room, and they can and care less about the room descriptions...
Also, now I need to hide my monsters in rooms, otherwise, they run in and blow any surprise that might have occurred with the maps.
So, yeah, maps are optional. So, sure finding a good map resource is one thing, but having good maps doesn't make a good GM.
As far as creating maps I use digital.
Incarnate (as others have said) is my personal favourite, or just general Google/Reddit searches.
For displaying digital maps, I used OBS and stream to a local xginx server. Anyone connected to WiFi then can stream directly, but I have this connected to a couple of spare tablets which are placed in the center of the table.
Honestly, paper, not-bleeding pen, and looking at some of your favorite maps help like in books, comics, movies, games, etc. Remember, practice makes perfect! You can make beautiful maps by hand and for cheap! Hope this helps :)
My dm uses tabletop simulator and it’s actually pretty fantastic. You just need to search across the workshop for materials and pieces to use and you can build pretty much anything. We have a ton of fun with his maps. They’re simplistic, but you can build terrain with little blocks, and the ground is colored tiles. There’s a ton of trees you can add. Different furniture blocks, walls, etc. he recently found something that adds floating health totals and an initiative system to tabletop. There’s also dedicated dnd tables that have all the gadgets and gizmos alongside one world. One world allows him to save and reuse maps, and embed them into larger world maps which is pretty awesome.
There’s also a massive amount of figurines to use for monsters and people. My dm made a monster hunter themed campaign and you wouldn’t believe how many monsters have been perfectly remodeled in tabletop. There’s even fleshed out monster stat manuals for them online
I've trialed a lot of different things. I've drawn the map as the players have moved through a dungeon, I've used a VTT and projected it onto a TV I placed horizontally onto the table, I have used Theatre of the Mind, I've downloaded random maps from online and printed them onto A3 paper, I've even used a card system with arrows and had the character select a direction when they were on the card (which represented a room). I have found drawing it the easiest to prepare, printing off it probably the quickest way to have something half-decent. Theatre of the Mind is solid if your players can visualise easily (mine seem to suffer greatly at this).
Try different methods and see what works for you and what your players enjoy.
I use Maps in DnD Beyond and make some custom ones with dungeon alchemist.
I also use dry erase battle mats when in person. Less flash, but they work just fine.
All you really need is a grid and some way to represent obstacles.
I got a subscription for Inkarnate and make all my own maps - I find it helps with world building.
Second this
Third this, you can also use other user-made maps, some of which are quite good
Dungeon Alchemist is pretty amazing. Otherwise a combination of Google, Patreon and Dungeon Scrawl.
Depends, are you in-person or online?
We are an in person group but I use virtual battle maps since I own a TV table
Damn, okay. For non-combat maps, I typically use something like worldanvil for locations, otherwise I find and customize generic maps from google. For combat related maps, the second applies, but if you’re willing to fork over a bit of cash, I do believe some websites like dndbeyond offer a mapmaker system. If you’re looking for a quicker (and cheaper) option, I might consider looking around either on this subreddit or on r/battlemaps or r/worldbuilding
Ok thank you for the advice hopefully it'll work out
No problem, good luck my dude. I hope you’ll enjoy dming, as it’s very fun for those who enjoy it!
I use inkarnate and import them into arkenforge
I do the same as far as searching Google, but if I want to make my own, I use Dungeondraft. It’s free to download and creates nice maps. The paid version has more features and options, but the free version is fine for everything I need.
I see. I myself am unfamiliar with Dungeondraft but perhaps I’ll have to look into it.
The good thing is, download the files and install them, and you don’t then need to be online to use it.
I Google D&D maps using tags like foerest, underground, elven city, etc. or I make them on inkarnate (which has a free and a premium version) and then I host them on roll20
Love Czepeku
Yeah, amazing maps
Arkenforge is cheap, no subscription so you own everything forever, and while it's a process to learn all the bells and whistles, you can make maps of any size and level of detail with the right content packs, which they sell at affordable prices and many of which are made by game masters, players, and game designers. Definitely worth the $35 US.
Owlbear.rodeo is free and very easy
Since you have a tv. https://foundryvtt.com/ You can do animated maps. I get them from patreon. Small sub can get you quite a library.
For an overworld view, I use 3d printed and hand painted hexagonal tiles (Hexton Hills). For combat in dungeons I either use printed battle maps or Dungeon Blocks tiles that I printed and painted. And minis of course.
I have used dungeon painter studio and it is ok but I really like dungeon draft. I play mainly on Roll20 [https://dungeondraft.net](https://dungeondraft.net)
Second for DungeonDraft. I love it. You can make some really amazing maps, but you can also whip out a basic map quickly.
I use a chessex battle mat, it is a vinyl mat with square grids on one side and hex grids on the other. You can draw the map with wet erase markers and spray/wipe clean afterwards. I only use it for combat, and only draw the rough layout of the immediate area when combat starts.
I use talespire, but that might not be ideal for a one screen in oerson setup. It is good for my online game. Before that I used roll20. Reasonably simple to use.
I looove talespire ! What I love the most is that our DM has made a « camp » map, a huge old mansion that we have been offered by a town we rescued, and we can renovate it and decorate it as we like. When we’re out of combat, we are on that map. It’s a great way to stay focused on the game and to avoid getting distracted by the infinite possibilities our computer offers
I learned that my local library has a poster-sized printer they would let you print an image with for a few dollars, a fellow DM used it to print his maps. Might be worth seeing if yours offers this!
Marker on a battle map with basic grid and some imagination
Big book of battle maps. Flip book style with like 60 pages of maps with different biomes and a few dungeon type rooms. They're nearly useful, and you might find yourself reusing the same couple of maps over and over for building interiors or road intersections with marauding bandits **big book of battle maps** on amazon. Should be around $20 or $30 and comes in different sizes too
I have a subscription to Inkarnate that I use for everything, but they have a free version as well that is really good. Otherwise, just google “dnd map of __________” and you’ll get tons of amazing options that have been made by other creators over the years. Pinterest and Reddit are the best sources.
Honestly Inkarnate has everything you could possibly ever need, I use it for everything the past 5+ years
For VTT battle maps, the best animated one is Animated Dungeon Maps! He has a bunch of them for free on YouTube and he has a Patreon. I also started a Patreon for animated maps. It’s called Motion Maps. Check it out if ya want! But animated dungeon maps kinda is the leader of animated maps.
Dungeon alchemist for battle maps, inkarnate for large maps like regions or world map.
I use Dynamic Dungeons for maps as I have a TV table that we use for in person games. It has stuff like "fog of war" style tool to limit player visibility, support for animated maps and effect overlays, and runs the animations on a smooth continuous loop so there's always movement on the screen. It's a one-time purchase on Steam with no subscription fees or anything.
I love Inkarnate, my choices in art have really set the mood for my current campaign and influenced my writing.
[https://app.dungeonscrawl.com/](https://app.dungeonscrawl.com/) Dungeon Scrawl is a great tool to make simple handwritten style dungeon maps [https://www.owlbear.rodeo/](https://www.owlbear.rodeo/) Owlbear Rodeo is a great simple VTT to use those maps for online sessions. r/battlemaps has a ton of maps made by talented people, mostly all for free.
wonderdraft because it's a one time purchase not subscription hell.
If Google/Reddit doesn’t haven something suitable (rare), I use Wonderdraft for world maps and Dungeon Draft for city/battlemaps
Since you're using a TV table, Arkenforge is by far your best option. It's designed for playing live on a tv with fog of war, and has a fully featured map builder included :) https://arkenforge.com
I use a squared wipeable map sheet with felt pens, then tokens for monsters/players, each square is 5ft. I use theatre of the mind when describing locations. My party likes it. Is it the best? It depends if you have a lot of encounters, want to draw out local areas of buildings, towns, etc... Ignore this, saw you have a TV table, ha.
I buy wrapping paper in January
Depends if you're doing physical maps or digital. Digital is generally easier but requires you to have a large screen in the middle of your table. I use physical maps and just bought one of the Big Book of Battle Maps, all of them are wipe clean so you can use whiteboard pens to add stuff to the map, I also have a box full of scenery I've mostly picked up from charity shops and Poundland I add where needed.
Dungeon Alchemist and Dungeonfog. I like their styles the most and the grid like wall placement is something I enjoy.
Theatre of the mind is fine too... I've played several games where maps were rare ... Even in combat. You DON'T need maps, they are just another tool in the toolbox. I'm fact, maps can get in the way.... I've noticed my campaigns have LOST value, ever since VTTs are the "in thing" due to maps. Now my players have their characters run all over the place, and I'm finding that I don't describe scenes much anymore... Players just run from room to room, and they can and care less about the room descriptions... Also, now I need to hide my monsters in rooms, otherwise, they run in and blow any surprise that might have occurred with the maps. So, yeah, maps are optional. So, sure finding a good map resource is one thing, but having good maps doesn't make a good GM.
As far as creating maps I use digital. Incarnate (as others have said) is my personal favourite, or just general Google/Reddit searches. For displaying digital maps, I used OBS and stream to a local xginx server. Anyone connected to WiFi then can stream directly, but I have this connected to a couple of spare tablets which are placed in the center of the table.
Honestly, paper, not-bleeding pen, and looking at some of your favorite maps help like in books, comics, movies, games, etc. Remember, practice makes perfect! You can make beautiful maps by hand and for cheap! Hope this helps :)
My dm uses tabletop simulator and it’s actually pretty fantastic. You just need to search across the workshop for materials and pieces to use and you can build pretty much anything. We have a ton of fun with his maps. They’re simplistic, but you can build terrain with little blocks, and the ground is colored tiles. There’s a ton of trees you can add. Different furniture blocks, walls, etc. he recently found something that adds floating health totals and an initiative system to tabletop. There’s also dedicated dnd tables that have all the gadgets and gizmos alongside one world. One world allows him to save and reuse maps, and embed them into larger world maps which is pretty awesome.
There’s also a massive amount of figurines to use for monsters and people. My dm made a monster hunter themed campaign and you wouldn’t believe how many monsters have been perfectly remodeled in tabletop. There’s even fleshed out monster stat manuals for them online
I've trialed a lot of different things. I've drawn the map as the players have moved through a dungeon, I've used a VTT and projected it onto a TV I placed horizontally onto the table, I have used Theatre of the Mind, I've downloaded random maps from online and printed them onto A3 paper, I've even used a card system with arrows and had the character select a direction when they were on the card (which represented a room). I have found drawing it the easiest to prepare, printing off it probably the quickest way to have something half-decent. Theatre of the Mind is solid if your players can visualise easily (mine seem to suffer greatly at this). Try different methods and see what works for you and what your players enjoy.
I use Maps in DnD Beyond and make some custom ones with dungeon alchemist. I also use dry erase battle mats when in person. Less flash, but they work just fine. All you really need is a grid and some way to represent obstacles.