Using word-maps for quick reference during your games

The image depicts a series of horizontal bands with alternating light gray and beige backgrounds. Each band contains various words aligned in different positions across the band. The top band is light gray with the word "Kon" centered. Below, a beige band features "Crinth" and "Azsel" at equal distance from the center. The next light gray band contains "Mira" slightly off-center to the left and "Mehmd" to the right. The beige band below includes "Sheljar" centered, with "The Slope" italicized to the right. Another light gray band follows with "Fey Isles" italicized on the far left, "Telse" centered, and "Kirtin" to the right. The lowest beige band includes "Qin" on the left and "KotL" to the right, followed by a light gray band that has "Daoud" centered, with "Green Lands" italicized beneath it.

Written by

Dave Clark

in

You don’t have to be a map maker to make adequate maps for gaming. A map can be as simple as showing the relative relationship between distance and location of the important elements. Even putting a few words on a page can be a map.

Take the word map of the Six Kingdoms. It shows the relative locations and rough distances between the various kingdoms, their major cities and the other lands that interact in the World of the Everflow.

Word maps can also represent a homestead, village or neighborhoods of a city.

The image shows a group of seven index cards laid out on a speckled stone surface. Each card features a grid pattern and contains handwritten text in pencil. On the top left, there is a small vertical card with "Path" and "Divide" written along its edges. Adjacent to it on the right is a horizontal card labeled "Path of Dreams" with "Prairie" and "Auntie Houses" along the sides. Below are three more cards: the left card reads "Prairie" and "Auntie Houses," the middle card reads "Spine Bloom Common," and the right card says "Upper Rice Marsh." The bottom row features two horizontal cards, one labeled "Thunder Maker River" and the other, "Lower Rice Marsh." A pen with a black grip lies horizontally above the cards to the right.

Any player can take a quick glance and know what each location is and what they connect to within the compound. More thorough descriptions in a blog post and in the character’s notes, but these quick notecards reminds us of Spinebloom Farms at the table.

The image is a hand-drawn sketch on lined notebook paper, depicting a rough map layout with various labeled areas and arrows indicating movement or direction. The map is oriented with "Up Hill" on the left and features several labeled sections, including "Upper Hillside," "Lower Hillside," and "Rolling." There are geometric shapes, such as squares and circles, possibly indicating buildings or points of interest, with some labeled "Upper," "GLAV," and "Verde Breezde." Lines and arrows point toward different labeled areas like "To Telee" and "Esedelens Tavern."

Fort Ooshar is a bridge-town that turned into a fortress when Sheljar fell to the Necromancer. This quick sketch lays out the neighborhoods of the bridge-town, the gates, the fields and the nearby hills.

Yes, a better mapmaker would be better. My favorites are Deven Rue and Dyson Logos. I support both via Patreon and use their works in my games.

But sometimes I want something that is unique to my world. That leaves me with my lack of art. I then build a word map.

Keys to making a quick word map.

  1. Decide on the central space
  2. Build outward using relative distance to represent a unit of time
  3. Include evocative names, especially when in tight focus
  4. If building a dungeon, point crawl or town having connective tissue — this can be a road, river, or other path
  5. Leave yourself space to build details and add discoveries

Doing this as a player

Old school D&D involved at least one player making highly detailed maps. But a word map may be all that’s necessary to prevent your party from getting lost. Using a room-and-halls word map by the player helps represent how the characters think.

In essence you are channeling the concept of ‘turn left after the big red barn, go over Herringbone Bridge, take the third path’ into a simplistic drawing.

These are quick, simple and can be done on a 3-by-5 card or as a sketch in something as simple as Paint, Slides, Canva or even in a Spreadsheet (the Six Kingdoms started as a spreadsheet).

One of the special powers of the word map is that they’re quick. You don’t need to search for anything. It’s a sketch that can be done in a few seconds.

Whether as a player or a DM this tool can help you understand your fantasy world better than without a map at all.

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