Hex-scale labyrinth mapping?

[larsdangly]

I've started making my labyrinth maps entirely at 1:1 scale (i.e., 1 hex on the map = 1 hex in the labyrinth, rather than the standard 1 map hex = 1 labyrinth MH), and I'm curious whether others are doing so as well. Two things about the MH scale mapping were bumming me out: 1) megahexes don't actually tesselate in exactly the same way as hexes, so I find it difficult to go back and forth without creating problems, particularly when I want to have sub-MH-scale hallways and features. And 2) I tend to make labyrinths with a lot of dense detail, so I end up having to make 1:1 scale maps of a lot of the space anyway. The end result is big, of course, but in the end it just feels more straightforward to have every hex of the labyrinth represented on my base map.

[TippetsTX]

I was making the same point on Facebook the other day... 'labyrinth scale' seems unnecessary since I'm going to have to draw everything at tactical scale eventually.

[Shostak]

I draw labyrinths rectalinearly on the hex paper [edit: at MH scale] and don't worry about the lack of ultra precision or half-hexes.

[Skarg]

I've done all of the above.

My preference after lots of experience is what Shostak wrote: i.e. more often than not, I draw things naturally without regard to any grid, and then overlay a grid for combat.

But when I started out, I appreciated the megahex labyrinth system's ability to let me map out a larger-scale location efficiently for rapid conversion to laying out combat on photocopied megahexes. As a beginner, I wasn't really bothered by the world being made up of megahexes.

As I got more experienced making such maps, I took to actually indicating a lot of irregular detailed terrain, generally by drawing carefully inside the hexes, as if each hex were partitioned into smaller hexes.

I still think it's a valuable mapping scale to use for larger areas, and often my play situations involve more moving around than combat, so in practice for me, only a fraction of the space in a location ends up seeing combat.

However, there is another really fun and engaging play mode where there is almost always a map on the table showing where the PCs are... and for that, yeah, there would need to be tactical space for everyplace, though I think labyrinth scale would still be useful, unless every location explored is fairly small.

[larsdangly]

For more generalized mapping, I think it would be great if there were a Hexagram article or supplement that put some meat on the bones of the list of suggested mapping scales in ITL. I.e., tables of terrain markers, movement and sighting rules, examples, for mapping at scales between 'Labyrinth' and campaign scales.

[TippetsTX]

Of course, when I switched from 4ft melee hexes to 6ft (or 2m for those who prefer metric) that was really the 'nail in the coffin' for labyrinth scale for me.