A Map of the Dale

This is the map of Barleydale that I used to host Dave, Adam and Chris through their first round of Arachnophobia, and will likely serve the same purpose for game 2.

Barelydale is a simple town that farms barely, and has fields scattered thorugh out the area for miles. Built up around the ruin of an old temple, Barelydale's "downtown" features a stable and barn, a blacksmith, a sheep farm, a chicken farm, And the Temple Ruins that serve a a place of worship. It was in this simply town that my player's began, with most of them having never gone more than 20 miles away from town.

I personally like using maps when planning out my games, for me it helps the scene click into place, and let's me add a few details to the my games that help bring them to life. This time I used a new idea and divided my map into quadrants, which I used to plan out the events my player could potentially encounter. It was a really useful way of dividing the town, though I doubt it work as well in large city with more people to encounter.

Do you guys use maps when creating your games?


Written by: Andrew Gregory