Mapmaking suggestions (was Re: Maps)

[Anthony Baxter <anthony@aaii.oz.au>]

In message <9303230855.AA03629@am.ucsc.edu>you write:
>  Don't hide monsters by putting them under something they normally could
> not hide under (ie, a dragon being hidden by a gold piece is not
> realistic.)  I, to some extent, think that this needs to be fixed
> in the program itself (as it is, I regularly get hidden by arrows.

Its something that has bugged me for a while - ok, so a kobold
lair could be hidden under trees, but a dragoncave under a booze?
Or an ogre cave under a bow? Perhaps there needs to be some sort
of 'size' attribute in the long term that would fix this. In the
short term, its a good idea.
 
>  Style/Looking point:  If the map is a building/structure, put outside
> walls on it, instead of letting it use the default black spaces.  It
> certainly can't be hard to do, and makes for a nicer apparance.

Other map-making suggestions:

_Make_sure_your_maps_link_together_properly_!!!! This is one of _the_
most henious crimes a mapmaker can commit. It should also show up
really obviously with even a small smount of playtesting.

If your dungeon is particularly long and twisty, consider putting a 
door at the end to take the players out of the dungeon. It's incredibly
tedious to have to wander back through multiple empty levels to the 
start (yay for word of recall, if you have it - if not, you've got a 
long walk)

If you have a one-way door, that is going to require lots to get back
out of (eg one way entrance into a dungeon) consider whether you should
put some sort of sign next to it, warning people.

Long, twisty passages of earth walls through ordinary walls isnt really
sneaky, its dull.

I have to agree with someones (might have been rgg) comment about trapping
monsters - a row of giants down a narrow corridor are just walking meat -
if you were a giant, would _you_ line up nicely to be slaughtered? Or would
you fight in an open area, where your buddies can join in and pound the
player to a pulp? :) Sure it makes the monsters harder, but it means
the players have to think a bit more, maybe lead the monsters out of the
room one at a time, that sort of thing. It also means you can increase
the difficulty, not just by whacking a Dread in, but by changing the
layout of the maze.

Dont just copy neat bits from other maps - make levers do unexpected things, 
buttons open doors that the players didnt know existed (eg try putting a
gnome behind a door which is behind an earthwall - when the (previously
unseen) door is opened, the gnome will tunnel out through the wall.