Simple D&D Map - Version 1 - Ava Matthews

 

• My map was played with a mage and a rogue. 

What Went Right

• The progression of the enemies’ strength was steady enough to teach adequately while still being fun. 

• My thought process was to ensure the players encountered a low-level enemy, no matter what path they took, to test the waters.

• Rewards were accessible at reasonable points. 

• I figured every enemy should lead them to a reward (in addition to the feeling of accomplishment) to keep spirits high.

• The first three enemies were blockades themselves, but due to the shape of the map, the third reward needed to be closed off. 

• This design looks slightly strange and requires the players to backtrack, and so the shape of the map will be altered.

• The map bottlenecks the players in multiple areas.

• Taking the middle path still leads to the reward on either the left or right side.

• There’s actually no reason to take the upper left and right paths after getting the reward, so it all ends up at the boss in the end. 

• This is another flaw in the shape of the top half of the map, though.

What Went Wrong

• Though the current enemy progression worked, it would be further improved by an additional enemy between easy and moderate. 

• The first enemies are easy, the enemy on the path to the left is difficult, and the enemies on the right-hand path are easy but numerous.

• This variation was put in place for interest and replayability.

• It might be a more interesting game overall to add a group of three easy bosses as a moderate stage between easy and difficult.

• Forcing the players to fight multiple (easy) enemies at once would teach them how to strategize accordingly

• This would also further prepare players for the boss and any future levels. The boss does feel sudden after only two other hoards.

• I didn’t want to overcrowd the map, but the fun does ultimately come from the battles.

• Rewards are given after each fight, which was appreciated by the players, but they are placed uncomfortably on the map. 

• The rewards on either side of the bottom half work okay.

• The reward in the middle top forces the player to take only one path.

• If they continue forward, missing the reward, there aren’t additional ones on that path. They could miss it.

• I did not consider, until someone played it, that the left and right upper paths were rendered useless after the reward was taken. Why would players circle back?

• The top half of the map can be difficult to read. 

• The first fork in the road looks like a path you can take again, and while you technically can, doing so would not benefit the player.

• The extreme tilt does help, but it’s still an odd shape.

• Otherwise, the flow was fine, however;

• There are ultimately no unique decisions. The map forks in two directions twice.

• Symmetry means the choices are ultimately unimportant and the map has no replayability. 

• Symmetry also makes the map visually uninteresting.

Improvements

• Add more enemies.

• This would give the players more opportunity to practice multiple strategies before the boss.

• Add more paths and limit symmetry.

• This will make the map more interesting if players break off from each other.

• It would also make the map more fun to replay again and again.

• Elongate the paths.

• This leaves room for more enemies.

• It also will make corridors relevant to each uncovered area more obvious.

• Compress and block off map

• As it stands now, the map is difficult to reveal in small chunks. 

• When it is, there’s often not much to do or look at in the small area.

• This would be improved by adding more “rooms,” traps, and blockades, as well as tightening and elongating the paths.