So what kind of Maps

[CrimsonZanian]

So I'm starting a new D&D campaign and I wanted to have some maps for the world and a few cities, but I'm not sure if it's entirely necessary. So if I do get a few maps what kids should I get other than a world map?

[Midgardsormr]

Well, it really depends on your DM style. I don't actually tend to use very many maps at all (ironic considering how much time I spend here). I usually have an overland map of the area I intend to run the game in, with a little bit of the surrounding territory for cultural context. I may do a battlemat for an encounter that I expect to get unusually tactical. Beyond that, I usually just sketch them out by hand as I need them.

D&D does tend to be a little bit more wargamey than most RPGs, though, so for that I have a higher quantity of battlemats than usual.

Last time I ran a game, I experimented with using MapTool displayed on my television to handle the maps and other visual aides. It let me use the fog-of-war and line-of-sight tools, and I could use elaborate, full-color maps without the expense of printing them. It worked out pretty well, but it was occasionally cumbersome to deal with a laptop during play.

[Gamerprinter]

Well when I create maps for a given setting, generally I work at a regional level with no needs to depict an entire world, thus I seldom create world map. I will create continental maps, if a given storyline will include travel across it, otherwise I only create regional map - one kingdom and the wilderness surrounding it. From there I might design one major city that the players might spend a lot of their time. I might create several town and village maps. From there, I'd only create encounter scale maps for castles, temples, ruin sites, dungeons, etc. The majority of maps created would be local scale only.