The worlds of Dungeons & Dragons are often vast, with numerous kingdoms, cities, and towns. When exploring during a campaign, the use of a map is integral to successful gameplay. Maps allow D&D players and Dungeon Masters to keep track of their locations, make note of places to explore, and understand the distance between themselves and other objects or characters. However, building D&D maps can be a daunting task, especially for newer Dungeon Masters. Knowing where to go for quick and easy map tools and assets can not only remove hours of grueling planning, but also turn map-making into a fun, creative project for any campaign.

There are three types of common maps in Dungeons & Dragons. The overworld map looks like a world map and presents the whole continent and its opportunities to the party. This can include mountain ranges, oceans, and climate differentiations like tropical coats or arid deserts. A location map is more specific. This could be a map of a town, inn, or dungeon. While these maps can be readily available to the party when provided by the DM during a session, it is also possible the DM may choose to keep certain areas covered until players take the time to explore them, helping to present an air of mystery and intrigue during play.

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The most complicated maps are combat D&D maps. While these can be nothing more than roll-out grids to place miniatures or character tokens on, combat maps can also be crafted to include terrain types, obstacles, and traps. A creative combat map can help players immerse themselves in the action, as well as allowing the party to use their creativity during Dungeons & Dragons' combat by utilizing the structures around them. Combat maps also hold specific importance by measuring movement for distance and strike radius. This is used for a spell's range or a character's physical attacks. Without understanding where the attacking party member is in reference to the opponent, combat can quickly spiral into confusion.

Pre-Built Dungeons & Dragons Map Resources

Dungeons And Dragons Maps Are Important

Creating a map in Dungeons & Dragons doesn't have to be a frustrating experience. In fact, there are a number of useful websites and creative building software to help a DM craft the perfect to-scale guide for their location of choice. For those who don't want to spend time figuring out the distance between objects or who need a generic map quickly, there are also resources for pre-built maps that are immediately ready for gameplay. The first of these resources is the Wizards of the Coast Dungeons & Dragons resource books. For any DM running a prebuilt campaign, these sourcebooks provide detailed maps that can be copied and reprinted on a large scale for in-person play, or scanned and shared for a remote session online.

Players can also access a wide variety of maps from the archives provided by Wizards of the Coast. While slightly dated, these archives contain maps for almost any situation, including generic temple layouts, complex caves, markets, or towns. These pre-built maps can be specifically useful if players have deviated from the provided plot in a pre-built D&D campaign, allowing a DM to quickly adapt to the change while still providing a solid foundation for the story. These maps can also be used as an example for those who want to build their own maps, making the process less frustrating for those who are newer to putting an imaginary setting into scale.

Dungeon Masters can also scour forum boards on websites like Reddit, where many Dungeons & Dragons players will share the resources they have built with others. These maps can cover a range of locations both for homebrew and canon D&D settings. Shared assets can be particularly handy for those wanting a map in a more up-to-date style or for a specific situation, but who don't have time or money to spend on building the maps themselves.

Dungeons & Dragons Map Making Software

Dungeons and Dragons Characters Become Amazing

While pre-built maps can be useful for generic settings, those who have created a homebrew Dungeons & Dragons campaign, or who have greatly altered the locations of a pre-built campaign, may be interested in creating full map masterpieces for their sessions. Thanks to a number of software options, creating a D&D map can be a fun and intuitive experience. While it takes much more time and can cost money, it is often a rewarding way for a Dungeon Master to see their personally crafted settings come to life. It can also create a more intricate and immersive experience for the D&D party. Below are a few D&D map-making tools and how they work.

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  • Dungeondraft by Megasploot- 19.99 USD for Mac and Windows. Allows the creation of sleek, modern maps with functions to manipulate lighting, and create free-form landscapes. Dungeondraft includes cave and dungeon generators for quick and intuitive map-making. Particularly good for making maps of towns or specific buildings thanks to high detail and plenty of asset options.
  • Wonderdraft - 29.99 USD for Mac and Windows. Perfect for building overworld maps. Allows map makers to paint rivers, mountain ranges, or other geographical features onto landmasses. Wonderdraft creates sleek, clean overall map appearances.
  • Inkarnate - Multiple options for use, including a free plan, 5 USD monthly, or 25 USD yearly. Great for any kind of map a player needs to make, with a mixture of a more modern looking art-style for towns and buildings, or a more classic look for overworld maps. Plentiful assets to use when customizing specific locations. (Editor's note: Inkarnate was used to create this hypothetical map of Grand Theft Auto 6: Vice City)
  • Dungeon Scrawl - Can be used for free online. Offers maps in a hand-drawn style that can be free-hand drawn using the mouse cursor in the engine. Much less complex than some other options, but allows DMs to build clean, easy-to-navigate dungeon maps. Perfect for those just getting started in map-making.

After spending some time building these maps, the D&D Dungeon Master can share them with players before a session, or hang onto them to distribute just before an exciting plot point or challenge in the campaign. For those unsure of how to use a map maker, or are intimidated at the prospect of creating an entirely unique space, there are a number of tutorials for each map-making software available to watch on YouTube. While it might take time, and a little play-testing, to get each map exactly right, the ability to create these unique spaces is one of the many examples of how Dungeons & Dragons encourages fans to learn new creative skills.

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Source: Wizards of the Coast