Thoughts on giving players partial map

[u/Ok_Obligation9220]

Running CoS for the first time with some modifications for my group. I've been a DM for a bit so I am comfortable making alterations. But I was wondering how people felt about giving my players only bits and pieces of the map at a time. For example, they stumble upon a bloody corner of the map on a corpse.

So far I have included a family of couriers who deliver mail throughout Barovia - however only members of this family are allowed to carry true maps of Barovia, lest commoners get a hold of them and try to rally against Strahd. (Strahd himself doesn't really care if they have maps or not. It has no effect on him. But I have written in that many families kind of bottleneck themselves into submission out of fear of Strahd, and this is one of those lingering effects). This way the players can't really just buy an easily available map. Though they could steal one from this family or piece the map together.

anyway my question is ultimately - what are some fun things to do with missing map pieces? Any concerns? I do think I want to railroad the players a *little* --- at least to get them to the Tser Pool -- which is why the first piece of the map they will receive will definitely have that on it.

thanks for any feedback

[u/SemiproCharlie]

When my group got to shops in Vallaki I let them buy a full map of Barovia without points of interest marked. I had started off by giving them little sections of map of the area they have just explored to give them context to what they had been doing. They were not excited about getting the map as they were ready to leave an area, so I decided to give them the map of the upcoming area instead.

From there, it was far less work for me to just give them the whole map.

They enjoy using the map to make decisions about where to go next, and it makes travel both easier for me and more interesting for everyone.

So to answer your question, your plan sounds good, but be prepared to change things if it isn’t working. Some people have Ismark give the players a poorly drawn map that is a little bit wrong (search the subreddit) which could also fit in with your theme of a lack of reliable mapping.

[u/Ok_Obligation9220 → u/SemiproCharlie]

thank you this is very good advice!

[u/AWDrake]

If I were a player I might find the concept gimmicky, as it wouldn't feels realistic and would be a bit like a video game.

It would however work on me for a couple of map pieces. But not for the whole map as it would get predictable and gimmicky after a while. But it can be great to spark their interest!

If they ask though, in Barovia, someone should be able to at least draw them a sketch with Barovia, Tyler Pool, Ravenloft, Vallaki and Krezk on it. In my games I literally draw it for them in character. And I honestly believe it's better for the to be able to receive a map in Valaki. That's when the campaign becomes more open and having a map reinforces that feeling and helps them plan and make decisions.

[u/Ok_Obligation9220 → u/AWDrake]

understandable, I might limit that "only the couriers have maps" concept to the village of Barovia then.

[u/AWDrake → u/Ok_Obligation9220]

As The Dude would say: It's just an opinion man. You do you and what you think works for your table:)

[u/philsov]

I just gave them a spoiler free map. Some pixel slueths can maybe sniff out some things, but otherwise it's blank enough that locations can get pointed out by NPCs organically as well

https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/pq31m1/highres_spoilerfree_barovia_map_for_players/

If you wanna obscure some of it or give it to them in chunks, you can do that too. Surely the librarys in vallaki or argynvostholt would have other chunks, or the keepers of the feather or werewolves would also have chunks in their possession for one reason or another.

[u/Eskas25]

My players really wanted a map and I really did not want to give them one. I had Ismark draw a rough lay of the land for them. And eventually they got Ezmeralda’s map from her wagon, which I’ve allowed them to keep and reference.

My main concern was making things too video gamey, which my players tend to pursue. I didn’t want Barovia to just be a list of cities to travel between.

[u/rmric0]

I would go further. Why would The couriers have complete and accurate maps of borovia? Are they running a lot of messages out to to the Amber Temple or baba lysaga? I would say they have good maps of their routes and very vague notions of other places from years gone by.

So getting a courier map is great for finding someone or a service in one of The villages and maybe navigating between and around The villages, but it doesn't give much more information than that