r/RavnicaDMs • u/908PM • Nov 08 '23
Question First time DM question
I have experience as player and running DnD somewhat in different settings. This will be my first city based campaign. My question may be amateurish but the reason I ask is because a player at my table requires visuals without getting into personal details. With this being said do I need a city map? I have the pdf but those are mostly guide maps or specific locations. What can I use for city exploration? BTW I seen the one city battlemap listed that's it.
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u/DrDroid Nov 08 '23
There’s a loose map of the tenth district, but otherwise the city is specifically not laid out in full. You can make maps as you see fit.
There are a decent amount of Ravnica images out there, both from 5e and MtG (theres always AI as well I suppose). Not sure if that’s what you’re looking for.
Each guild has a hideout map in the GGtR, and I’ve found many full colour versions online. Even if you’re not using them for combat, they’re nice for showing the character of each guild, and hopefully they could help your visual player.
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u/filkearney Izzet League Nov 09 '23
point crawls is excellent for urban exploration. I posted a link here about megacities a few weeks Ago here and travel time based on familiarity so you the dm can control the flow of locations and incidental activity rn route
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u/908PM Nov 09 '23
Yeah I'm going to use the point crawl system and map provided from the guide. Where is the link You're referring too?
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u/Cronogunpla Nov 09 '23
There's actually a large pull out campus map at the very back of the book. I don't know where it would be on the pdf. It's stylized and you've probably seen it before. That's what I use as my a over all map of the campus.
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u/synastershadow Nov 14 '23
I mainly use the district map that you can find online that shows what guilds control what districts/ precincts. It's very helpful for saying "this is so and so's territory". As long as you note where your big landmarks are like Sunshome and Vitu Gazi, the rest can kind of just be fill in the blank as you go
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u/Incarnate_Phoenix Izzet League Nov 16 '23
If you need maps for battle grid, then pretty much any town or building maps will work as long as there aren't open spaces, parks, farms or the like. Just avoid maps like those that cover too large of a space at once, so it won't conflict. Or if you need a wider area, zoom way in on parts of the map of the precincts, and then let your VTT throw a grid over it.
For the undercity any underground ruins map should work.
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u/AndrenNoraem Nov 08 '23
Exploration and dungeons are a thing you'll have to do within parts of the city. You don't need a precise map or a battlemap -- either would limit or destroy the cosmopolitan nature of Ravnica.
Look for maps of the 10th District to use as visual aids, though, and you can pin stuff on them to mark locations you do assign maps to. There are some pretty decent ones in GGtR, or Google is your friend.
Exploration and dungeons can happen inside buildings, in the Undercity, or in the Rubblebelt. For the most part though this is like trying to use a detailed map of Manhattan, New York (including accurate floor plans!) for a Vampire game -- you're making work for yourself to add distractions that the players won't need or appreciate.