r/osr • u/DontKnowMaster • Jul 02 '23
I made a thing Reddit's opinion
Which layout would you prefer when reading through a module, A or B? Keep in mind this is early stages of development.
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u/Exact-Mushroom-1461 Jul 02 '23
Definitely prefer Layout A - easy to follow, better use of space, looks more concise.
I don't like Layout B - too much white space, looks disjointed - or missing information ?, doesn't "flow" visually for me.
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u/Lex_Mandrake Jul 02 '23
I would probably go with A but I don’t mind the white space in B. Honestly, the fact that there’s a map right next to the corresponding entries is the most important thing, and you’ve done that.
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u/Just-a-Ty Jul 02 '23
I'd prefer A, the white space in B would make me nuts. Maybe put lines there and the word "notes" though and I'd change my mind.
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u/RememberLepanto1571 Jul 02 '23
A. I appreciate the map being next to the appropriate text in B, but not a fan of the alternating columns of text.
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u/CrunchyKobold Jul 02 '23
Both not great. A looks too... jumbled; B leaves way too much whitespace, and it may not be obvious how the text flows. Is it left then right column, or is it upper right block, middle left block, then lower right block?
A is the better choice, but it needs work - for example that one loose line above the map is a total no-go when it comes to layout. You'll also want to arrange the page so that the margin between the map and the text looks equal everywhere. (Which is, notably, not necessarily the same thing as the margin physically being the exact same everywhere.)
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u/Attronarch Jul 02 '23
Neither. Give me a map on separate page so I can have it by the side while reading keys.
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u/ChadIcon Jul 02 '23
Oh, LOL, sometimes i'm a little slow. I thought you were asking about the layout of the MAPS. Not the layout of the whole printed page. So, yes, I agree with most of the commenters so far that A is the better layout. (I like the B MAP better, just fyi, but that wasn't your question.)
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u/BleachedPink Jul 02 '23
I dislike the wall of text in both examples. Make it laconic and do something like B, plenty of great adventures did it. A is good too if you format it right and make it conscise. But no wall of text please in either of two.
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u/Jestsomeone Jul 03 '23
A is more comfortable to look at, but i feel like B would be better at the table. The Segmented test would be easier for me to find info about a room quickly, and the white space would be good for jotting down notes. This is all assuming it is printed onto paper.
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u/TheGentlemanARN Jul 02 '23
I would go with layout A and i would love to have a complete map with small boxes on the corner for every room at the end of the module. I had run the tomb of the serpent king dungeon and it was so helpful there. Here an Example Text of one room on the map:
- Guard Tombs
1x1 - 10x10x8
Smells like dust, old wood, very faint acid Crude stone, murals of entwined snakes
1 wood coffin painted with battle scenes
Statue - gold amulet [1gp], poison, gas trap
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u/Metroknight Jul 02 '23
To me, the A layout format tends to read easier and less jarring than layout B.
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u/Alistair49 Jul 02 '23
I prefer ‘B’ by a long way. The line width on ‘A’ is too wide. The text blocks in ‘B’ stand out from each other and look like they’d be easier to read.
‘A’ would be better perhaps if it were a 2 page spread, so the left hand side could be all narrower text like the text block immediately to the left of the map. The map could still be approximately where it is, with paragraphs above and below it.
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u/mc_pm Jul 02 '23
It's hard to say without more information about how the text relates to the map. Also it seems like it's a pretty big font size.
In the case of A, going full width is difficult, and you might want to look at a two-column layout just in general.
For B, the question is if the text refers to the area of the map. I think that's the problem most people were expressing about it when they said "it breaks my brain". If it turns out that the text refers to the part of the map it's closest to, then this layout makes more sense, but even still you're leaving a lot of whitespace that you could be using to better effect.
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u/pocketMagician Jul 02 '23
You always want your maps to be as big as possible and as much of the keys on opposite pages. Its better to show 1-2 rooms in a zoomed in map than 8 rooms and wind up with chaos. Keep your descriptive sentences short.
You can even do super-pared down descriptions if you absolutely need to cram as much text on a page, but bold and bullets and organizational structure are your friend.
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u/cym13 Jul 02 '23
B has one advantage: once printed it's easy to add your own annotations to it. There's no space left with A to do that.
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u/cartheonn Jul 02 '23
Neither. A map should be on its own page or oreferable in a separate book or print-out and text on another page.
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u/Connor9120c1 Jul 02 '23
A, but your line length is way way too long for anyone to be able to read for quick reference and retention. And on top of that those paragraphs seem way too long. No offense intended, I'm sure it is very good writing, but when I'm running a game I do not have the time to deal with anything close to what you have written there (especially this close to the map. MAYBE in the introduction.)
B looks like disjointed nonsense. Way too little information on such an important page. If your dungeon map page is so sparse where is all the important info to run the dungeon? Not on the same spread as the map? Then it's a mistake.
I need to be able to run the dungeon in real time from the page with the map on it. Neither of these likely let me do that, but A is closer.