We've all been there: half an hour before the game session starts, frustratedly scrolling through Reddit or Pinterest looking for a battle map that fits the scene in our mind when assassins leap from the shadowed rooftops to ambush the party after leaving the imperial court. Despite the myriad resources available to modern GMs, sometimes the map you need just doesn't seem to exist yet. The solution is simple, however. Just equip yourself with one or more of the following options and the maps you need will be yours for the making!

Dungeon Scrawl

An uncomplicated web-based solution with an exceptionally low bar to entry, Dungeon Scrawl is perfect for when you need to mock up a simple dungeon structure in rapid fashion. This is an excellent place to start for the novice mapmaker, but it still offers enough detail to create evocative spaces for your battle encounters. After you have made your first map efforts, be sure to start experimenting with the settings for layers, stairs, doors and more to add a personal aesthetic for your table's dungeons! Roll20's documentation articles also provide a more in-depth view of this app's possibilities for those wanting to hone their cartography skills.

Dungeon Alchemist

This program is fantastic for any GM looking to quickly add dynamic elements to their maps, especially for those wanting to try out some of the dynamic lighting features offered by most VTT platforms. It provides tools for generating a variety of outdoor environments, with detailed 3D models that can be scattered over your landscape to make any map unique. Rooms and buildings can be auto-generated easily for DMs in a rush, or you can manually place each chair, window, candle, and coin for exactly the display you want. It also only takes a few clicks after finishing to export the map and lighting to the VTT of your choice, making Dungeon Alchemist one of the fastest options available.

Inkarnate

Inkarnate allows you to craft various types of maps at differing scales with ease – individual encounter maps, maps of larger cities and regions, or even massive images displaying your entire homebrew world. With a massive library of assets to utilize, these maps provide incredible utility in thematic design so that you benefit from a consistent visual style. Customization is another strong point for Inkarnate; every element on the map can be tweaked and adjusted to fit whatever outcome you are looking for.

Dungeondraft

While superficially similar to Dungeon Scrawl, Dungeondraft offers more intensive tools and far better options in artistic asset use. Some of the best-known cartographer artists out there–like 2-Minute Tabletop, Crosshead Studios and Forgotten Adventures–have asset packs available for use in this platform, allowing for similar visuals in your own map layouts. If you have ever experienced the frustration of visual inconsistency in your mapping efforts, this is an excellent fix.  

Pencils, Pens, and Paper

For the lowest bar to entry, nothing beats a quick trip to the store for some graph paper and a few writing implements. For the DM who misses the old analog days, it is surprisingly easy to eyeball a few reference images and then just sketch out what you need by hand. It might not end up as colorful or as clean, but there’s no substitute for the satisfaction of grabbing a piece of graph paper and handcrafting what you want. A quick use of a scanner (at your local library, if you don’t have one at home) gets your drawing ready for the VTT– and your players can immediately recognize the investment you bring to the table for their benefit. 

Jack Gregory is a Washington-based professional writer, player, and storyteller in the TTRPG industry.
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