A quick and dirty hex map of all the non-hidden places along the Road to Fallcrest, as per Oliver's suggestion.
Whuppin' out this map has got me thinking about the role of the map. It occurs to me there are three map types in D&D: the DM's map -- the one with the goodies only the DM will see -- the players' map -- the one they're putatively drawing while trudging along -- and the prop -- an actual map on actual paper handed to actual people in order to spice up the game.
Having had that thought, I had another map-related thought; none of these blog maps are useful as D&D maps. I mean, clearly they ain't player maps so rule that out. Neither are they props; a prop, imho, is something more archaic, like a pirate's treasure map. Inky. Frayed at the edges. X-marks-the-spot kind of thing. Can any of them be considered DM maps? Mmmmaybe. I mean, quite a few of them have 'eyes only' info, but that's not sufficient for a DM map, really. A DM map needs also to be on a grid/hex in order to convey information to the players in a measurable, standardized way in addition to reavealing all the hidden goodies.
If anything, these maps are akin to development art for movies or video games. Art used for insipiration, but not meant to be actually used in the telling of the story. Which is fine, but I'd also like to make some useful stuff. Maybe blueprint-like DM maps presented along with the corresponding papyrus scroll or message tied to an arrow, that sort of thing. If you, dear reader, have any suggestions I'd love to hear them.
