Sketching my world map with just landmarks felt wrong at first, but now I swear by it

I see all these fantasy maps loaded with tiny details like every single tree and village, and everyone acts like that's the only way to do it. But for my own story, I tried that and it just made things confusing. I drew a map for my book with only the big mountains, main rivers, and the cities where the plot happens. At first, I thought it looked too bare compared to others. But my writing group said it was easier to follow and left room for their own ideas. Now when I make maps for our game nights, I keep them simple on purpose. It helps everyone focus on the adventure instead of getting lost in the details. I think sometimes we forget that a map should help the story, not show off every little thing.

2 comments

2 Comments

the_drew17h ago

Friend tried that, his players stopped arguing over tiny details.

sam_anderson13h ago

Did it make the games flow a lot better? Getting hung up on the small stuff can really kill the fun sometimes. Sounds like his friend found a good fix for that.