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Draw Small Maps

by Mike on 18 May 2026

You don't need to get fancy when drawing maps for your RPG. Nor do you need to rely on hundreds of dollars of tiles, terrain, pre-printed maps, or computer hardware to run your games. Instead, draw small simple maps and let your players fill in the details with their limitless imaginations.

When I got back to running games in person after two years of isolation during Covid, I came to a strange conclusion – I had no idea how to handle physical maps at the table. Somehow I had managed to use maps during decades of previous in-person games but after using digital tools like Owlbear Rodeo and maps from the Dyson Logos map gallery, I couldn't remember how I was supposed to reveal maps to my in-person players the same way I could erase fog of war on a digital map.

I got better.

People use a lot of different approaches for representing maps at their tables: in-table TV sets, fancy 3D terrain, dungeon tiles, pre-printed maps, map books, paper maps with acrylic sheets over them, and more. You can hear me talk more about different options to represent maps at our gaming tables in the YouTube video Maps for In-Person Games.

For me? I went back to the old ways. I returned to the venerable Chessex battle mat and drew maps as we needed them.

In particular, I draw small maps to show off larger dungeons. These small maps aren't square perfect. They're loose approximations that show rooms and chambers as the characters explore them. Tiny little hallways connect small rooms and chambers in a loose way.

You don't need to add a lot of detail but some basic map symbols work well. I'm a fan of the Dyson Logos Map Legend with some basic shapes anyone can draw to represent things like statues, doors, firepots, beds, and stuff. Print a copy of the key out and stick it in your GM kit.

If you really want to go simple, you don't need to draw out full hallways. Instead, draw a line for a hallway and a circle or square for the larger rooms. These stick and box maps are easy to draw and still give players a clear understanding of the layout of the dungeon they're exploring.

If you're a fan of fancy pre-printed battle maps, 3D terrain, or computer hardware that lets you use virtual tabletop maps in your home game – that's awesome. You can still keep small map drawings in your GM toolbox when you need to draw a complex location in a small space without a lot of time. Give it a try.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers.

Talk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on Adventure Types and City of Arches Spotlight.

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

There’s a fine line between a challenging battle and one that feels unfair.
Mix easy battles and hard battles.
Build encounters by what makes sense in the story.
Convince your group to try other RPGs by offering to run them for just a few sessions.
Add interesting monuments and terrain features to your combat encounters.
Aim for four to five players.
Ask players for potential magic items and rewards they might like. Use the answers to seed treasure a few sessions out.

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