No One Cares About Your Campaign Map

Or, Why Campaign Prep Does Not Have to Be a Chore

My friend Dundermoose tagged me in a xeet on Xeeter the other day, asking an honest question that became quite contentious in the replies.

The replies ranged from “1 hex, 1 town, 1 dungeon” to my own technique of “sketch out a Regional Map first, then pick a spot to start.”

Some readers poo-pooed this idea. One went so far as to say “that’s stupid, because no one cares”. Another said, “You assuming the players make use of your map. You also deprive the players of the content generated through their play. Is it better "to say" there is this mountain with cool legends OR have the players discover this mountains and its legends, by their play alone, out of blue” [sic].

The biggest point of contention was my assertion that a regional map is important, because there are often terrain features, such as mountains, that can be seen for dozens, if not hundreds, of miles!

Shades of #DesertSwamp.

Maybe I just have a different conception of how the fantasy world is observed by its participants. Maybe the players in my game are outliers, in that they do ask questions and want to know about the surroundings and what lies beyond the horizon.

Maybe it’s just that I am more of a “realist/simulationist” in my approach to play, in that I simply cannot abide the idea of rolling terrain for an exploration adventure “live” at the table during the session.

Roll, roll, roll.

Flip, flip, flip.

Consult tables.

Roll some more.

Flip more pages.

Why is there a swamp in the middle of this desert?

The players are just sitting there, waiting for the DM to come up with a description of the terrain, and some kind of rationale for it. And what if you roll a mountain? A mountain that the PCs should have been able to see for days or weeks as they traveled!!!

Ugh.

#ZeroPrep is dumb, immersion-breaking, and unfair to your players.

If you do a basic amount of Campaign Prep you can easily run a session with very little prep, and not subject your players to delays, uncomfortably long pauses, and trying to figure out on the fly some ludicrous die-roll result that could easily turn your campaign into a gonzo-world caricature.

A good RPG Referee can manage unexpected events, and can create things on the fly when necessary. But a great Referee prepares just enough information for himself and his players that he isn’t forced to interpret incongruous results on a regular basis, and certainly not on purpose.

The participants exist within the campaign. The campaign is more interesting, the fantastic elements are more fantastic, and the mundane elements are familiar and predictable. It is easier to suspend disbelief in dragons and hostile underworld structures when your character isn’t constantly lurching from one randomly-generated, unexpected landscape to another.

A great Referee prepares enough Campaign information for himself so that he can describe and foreshadow coming events during a session. Having prepared random encounter tables that anticipate the change, the great Referee can seamlessly guide the PCs from one terrain type to another.

If your prep indicates some sort of incongruous terrain feature, this is an opportunity for the Referee to invest some time and creativity into creating unusual and unexpected encounters that flow smoothly and still fit into the existing milieu he has created.

The alleged choice between #ZeroPrep and #PrepAddiction is a false one.

Proper Campaign Prep is never wasted, is fun, and provides a realistic, immersive experience for your players.