Building battle maps and running the fights on them
Twenty-odd articles on map design, grid rules, running combat online and what goes on inside a 3D virtual tabletop. Written for the DM with three hours of prep and a session on Tuesday.
How to push an enemy off a cliff in 5e: Shove, Push mastery, Thunderwave and the fall
To push an enemy off a cliff in 5e you need forced movement and an edge within reach of it. Shove pushes 5 feet on a failed save, the Push weapon mastery pushes up to 10 feet on a hit with no save, and Thunderwave and Repelling Blast push 10 feet. A creature that goes over takes 1d6 bludgeoning per 10 feet fallen and lands Prone. The rules give the target no save to grab the edge; some tables add one. Here is how each push works on the grid and what decides whether it lands.
· 5 min read
Battle maps
Throne room battle maps: the audience chamber as an arena
How to build a throne room battle map for D&D: the dais, the columns, the long approach, guards at the doors and where a fleeing monarch goes, with sizes in 5-foot squares.
· 5 min read
Building a caravan ambush battle map: wagon spacing, high ground and where the bandits stand
How to build a caravan ambush battle map for D&D: wagon spacing in squares, the wagon bed as high ground, draught animals as obstacles, the bandits' firing line, and the 2024 rules the fight leans on.
· 6 min read
Boss fight arena design: how to build a battle map for the villain
What a boss battle map needs that an ordinary room does not: a stage for the villain, something to fight over, height, changes the map itself triggers, and floor enough for a Huge creature to move.
· 7 min read
Cave battle maps: building caverns that do not look like rooms
How to make cave and cavern battle maps for D&D that feel organic: irregular chambers, stalagmites as cover, water and rubble as terrain, ledges and pits for height, and light that shapes the dark.
· 6 min read
How to make a D&D battle map without losing a weekend
A repeatable method for building battle maps fast: block the shape, floor and wall it, light it, then dress it. With the three mistakes that cost the most table time.
· 8 min read
3D vs 2D battle maps: what actually changes at the table
Where a 3D battle map earns its keep (height, cover, reading a room at a glance) and where a flat map is still the right answer. A practical comparison, not a graphics argument.
· 7 min read
Twelve dungeon map ideas that are not just corridors and boxes
Flooded vaults, collapsed floors, a chapel with a balcony, a mine cart line, a room that changes between rounds — dungeon shapes that create decisions instead of hallways.
· 8 min read
Tavern battle maps, and the bar fight everyone remembers
The layout that makes a tavern brawl work: sightlines, a bar to vault, tables to flip, a hearth that hurts, and stairs. Plus how to reuse one tavern for a whole campaign.
· 6 min read
Forest ambush encounters that are not a coin flip
Building the road-through-the-woods ambush so it is tense rather than a surprise-round execution: sightlines, cover, escape routes, and giving the party something to do on round one.
· 6 min read
Castle and siege battle maps: gates, walls and the courtyard fight
How to build a castle map that plays well — the gatehouse, the parapet, the killing ground, the postern — and how to run a siege without tracking a hundred soldiers.
· 7 min read
Running the game
Surprise rules in D&D 2024: Disadvantage on initiative instead of a lost turn
The 5e 2024 surprise rules explained: surprised creatures roll initiative with Disadvantage instead of losing a turn, how Hide and Invisible feed in, and where ambushers must stand on the map.
· 5 min read
Misty Step 5e rules on a grid: where a teleport can land and what stops it
Misty Step 5e rules on a grid: 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see, no opportunity attacks, escaping a grapple, Dimension Door's 500 feet and 4d6 bad landing, and how walls block a teleport.
· 5 min read
The Darkness spell in 5e: how it works on a grid, who can see, and who gets advantage
How the Darkness spell works in 5e (2024) on a grid: the 15-foot sphere in squares, who is Blinded, attacks into and out of it, Devil's Sight, Blind Fighting, and casting it on an object.
· 5 min read
Dim light in 5e: what gets disadvantage, what does not, and what darkvision fixes
Dim light rules in D&D 5e (2024): disadvantage on Perception that relies on sight, not on attacks; how darkness differs; what darkvision really does; and how to light a map so it shows.
· 4 min read
How long is a round in D&D 5e, in the game and at the table
A round in D&D 5e lasts six seconds of game time, so a minute is 10 rounds. How long a round really takes at the table, and practical ways a DM can make it shorter without rushing.
· 5 min read
Lair actions in 5e: what changed in 2024, and how to use the map
How lair actions work in 5e, what the 2024 Monster Manual changed about initiative count 20, and how to write three lair effects that use the terrain on your battle map and move the party.
· 5 min read
Moving through allies and enemies in D&D 2024
Can you move through an ally's space in 5e, or past an enemy? The 2024 rules for creature spaces, the size exception, why it costs double and where you cannot stop, square by square.
· 5 min read
Climbing rules in 5e combat: what it costs, when to roll, and fighting from a ledge
The D&D 2024 climbing rules in combat: 1 extra foot per foot climbed, when a DC 15 Athletics check is warranted, what a ledge gives the creature on it, and what happens when a climber is shoved.
· 5 min read
Invisible creatures on a grid: the 2024 rules and how to run them without cheating
The D&D 2024 rules for invisible creatures on a battle map: advantage and disadvantage, guessing a square, why invisible is not hidden, and how to track an unseen enemy on the grid fairly.
· 5 min read
Improvised weapon damage in D&D 2024: the 1d4 default and what the environment does
Improvised weapon damage 5e rules for 2024: the 1d4 default, when a table leg counts as a club, proficiency and Tavern Brawler, and sensible damage for boiling oil, falling masonry and the fire pit.
· 6 min read
Squeezing in D&D 2024: the rule that became Difficult Terrain, and what to do about the missing penalties
The squeezing rules 5e uses in 2024: a narrow opening one size too small is Difficult Terrain and nothing more, the 2014 penalties are gone, which gaps count, and a house rule that keeps it tactical.
· 5 min read
Two-weapon fighting in D&D 2024: how dual wielding actually works
The two weapon fighting 5e rules as written in 2024: the Light property's bonus action attack, which weapons qualify, the ability modifier question, Nick, Dual Wielder, and what changed from 2014.
· 5 min read
Underwater combat in D&D 2024: which attacks suffer, how long you can breathe, and how to draw depth
The underwater combat rules 5e uses in 2024: melee Disadvantage without a Swim Speed unless the weapon pierces, ranged attacks capped at normal range, fire Resistance, breath, and depth on a grid.
· 6 min read
Reach weapons in D&D 2024: what 10 feet of reach does on a grid
The reach weapon rules in 5e: which weapons have it, attacking two squares away, opportunity attacks at 10 feet, diagonals, Polearm Master and Sentinel, and how Large creatures with reach cover a map.
· 5 min read
Ready action rules in 5e: triggers, reactions, and the map habits that make it useful
The Ready action in the 2024 D&D rules: how to set a trigger, what your reaction can be, why a readied spell costs Concentration and a slot, and the doorway and stair positions where it pays.
· 5 min read
5e vs Pathfinder diagonal movement, and the rule in between
Three ways tables measure a diagonal on a square grid — every diagonal costs 5 ft, the DMG's 5/10/5 alternating pattern, and true distance — and which one fits which table.
· 5 min read
Line of sight rules in 5e: seeing, targeting and corners on a battle map
How line of sight works in 5e on a battle map: what blocks a target, obscurement versus cover, corners and pillars, the corner method from the DMG, and judging it from a token's eye level.
· 5 min read
Mounted combat rules in 5e: mounts on a grid without the arguments
The 2024 mounted combat rules in 5e on a battle map: the shared space, controlled versus independent mounts, what mounting and dismounting cost, falling off, opportunity attacks and charging.
· 5 min read
Light sources in 5e: torch, lantern and candle radius on the grid
Every 5e light source in squares: torch, hooded and bullseye lantern, candle, lamp, the Light and Daylight spells, bright versus dim light, what darkvision really does, and how to run a night fight.
· 5 min read
Prone rules in 5e: standing up, crawling and attacks against you
The prone rules in 5e as the 2024 books write them: what knocks you down, what standing up costs, how crawling works, and how melee and ranged attacks change against a prone creature on the grid.
· 5 min read
Area of effect templates on a square grid, counted in squares
How many squares a fireball covers, how to lay cones, lines and cubes on a 5-foot grid, the DMG token method for spheres, and the fast rulings that keep a spell from stopping play.
· 6 min read
Cover in 5e: half, three-quarters and total, and how to judge it fast
The three kinds of cover in D&D 5e, what each does to AC and saves, the corner-to-corner method for deciding cover on a battle map, and why 3D maps make it a glance instead of an argument.
· 7 min read
Creature sizes on a grid: how many squares each token takes
Tiny to Gargantuan, in squares: the space each D&D creature occupies on a 5-foot grid, what reach means for a Large monster, how squeezing works, and how to size tokens in a VTT.
· 6 min read
Difficult terrain: what it costs, how to mark it, and when to use it
How difficult terrain works in D&D 5e — double movement cost, stacking with diagonals, climbing, swimming and crawling — and how to mark it on a battle map so nobody has to ask.
· 6 min read
Flanking in 5e: how the optional rule works and whether your table should use it
The DMG's optional flanking rule explained: what counts as opposite sides on a square grid, why it hands out advantage too freely, and the alternatives DMs use instead.
· 6 min read
How to run a tavern brawl in D&D: the rules and the map tricks
How to run a tavern brawl in D&D under the 2024 rules: improvised weapons, unarmed strikes, grapples and shoves on a crowded map, knocking people out, and why the tables are the terrain.
· 6 min read
Opportunity attacks on a grid: what provokes and what does not
The 5e opportunity attack rule in plain terms: the one trigger that provokes, the moves that never do, how to read threatened squares on a battle map, and the cases tables argue about.
· 5 min read
The 5-foot square, and why every grid rule comes back to it
Squares, creature sizes, reach, squeezing and difficult terrain, explained as one system built on the 5-foot cell — and what breaks when a map is not authored to it.
· 6 min read
Diagonal movement in 5e: three rules, and when to use each
Every diagonal as 5 ft, the 5/10/5 variant, and true distance — how each one plays, which one your table probably wants, and how to stop arguing about it mid-fight.
· 5 min read
Running combat online without slowing the game to a crawl
Why online fights take twice as long as table fights, and eight concrete changes — turn order, telegraphing, pre-rolled initiative, a shared timer — that get the pace back.
· 7 min read
Initiative tracking that stays out of the way
What an initiative tracker has to do (order, current turn, round count, HP) and everything it should refuse to do. Plus how to handle surprise, lair actions and mid-fight arrivals.
· 6 min read
Lighting and vision: making darkness do tactical work
Bright, dim and darkness as game mechanics rather than mood — plus darkvision, light sources with real range, and how to light a map so players walk where you want them to.
· 6 min read
Theatre of the mind vs battle maps: the answer is both, on purpose
When narration beats a grid, when a grid beats narration, and a simple rule for switching between them mid-session without anyone losing the thread.
· 6 min read
Height and verticality: using the third dimension in combat
Climbing, flying, falling, ranged attacks from above and the rules that govern them — and how to build maps with height that players actually use instead of ignore.
· 7 min read
Session prep in thirty minutes: what to do and what to skip
A repeatable half-hour prep: the five beats, two maps, three names, one secret and a monster list. Everything else is optional, and most of it is procrastination in a nice hat.
· 6 min read
Virtual tabletops
Running a D&D map from a ceiling projector instead of a TV
A projector aimed down at the table skips the size limit of a TV. Mounting height and throw distance, keeping the room dim without losing character sheets, and the mat it needs underneath.
· 5 min read
Sigil is shutting down. Here is what to do before the end of October
D&D Beyond's Sigil 3D VTT closes at the end of October 2026. A practical checklist: what to save, what cannot be exported, and how to rebuild your maps in a browser-based 3D tabletop.
· 6 min read
The best free virtual tabletops in 2026
What each free VTT is actually good at — Roll20, Foundry, Owlbear Rodeo, Alchemy, TerrainTale — and how to pick by what your table does on a Tuesday night rather than by feature count.
· 9 min read
Using a virtual tabletop on a TV at an in-person game
A flat TV, a laptop and one HDMI cable gets you a digital battle map for a table that meets in person. Screen size, viewing angle, scale, glare and the settings that make it readable.
· 6 min read
Your first online D&D session: a checklist that actually works
Everything to settle before session one online — voice, the map, dice, safety tools, a fifteen-minute tech rehearsal — so the first hour is play rather than troubleshooting.
· 6 min read
The library
What Hero Forge actually exports
Hero Forge's three exports explained plainly — the free screenshot, the paid 3D Digital download, and the paid STL — and which ones a general 3D virtual tabletop can actually import.
· 6 min read
Bring your own miniatures: importing .glb, .obj, .fbx and .stl
Which 3D model formats a virtual tabletop can take directly, what happens to a heavy file on import, and where model import sits on the free and Premium plans.
· 5 min read
PBR materials vs. flat textures: why the floors look real
What separates a PBR-generated floor from a flat cartoon texture, and why TerrainTale's 96-piece surface library reads as real stone and marble instead of a painted pattern.
· 5 min read
Using Meshy AI-generated models on your virtual tabletop
What to do with a model generated by Meshy once you have it: how it imports, what happens to a dense AI-generated mesh automatically, and where it sits next to the library.
· 4 min read
CC0 assets for D&D maps: where good free models actually come from
ambientCG and Poly Haven explained — what CC0 means for a map you publish, why the minis are made rather than downloaded, and why a library authored to one grid beats a bigger library that is not.
· 6 min read
Under the hood
AI-generated battle maps: what works, what does not, and why
Image models make pretty maps you cannot play on. A structured scene recipe an assistant writes — rooms, walls, props on a real grid — is the version that survives contact with a table.
· 7 min read
Self-hosting a virtual tabletop: what it really takes
A realistic account of running your own VTT — the box, the bandwidth, TLS, accounts, backups — and when self-hosting is worth it versus using a hosted table.
· 7 min read
Stop reading, start building
Every article here was written while using TerrainTale. Open the builder and start from a starter scene, no account needed.