Has anyone found a way to simulate a maze that changes and shifts as the players progress through it that doesn't include a ton of re-drawing?
I'm knocking around a few ideas, but my goal is to present something easy to comprehend and that runs smoothly. The less time I habe to pause the game to explain how it works or to figure it out myself, the better.
I’d advise don’t draw out entire maze. Only rooms with combat put dimensions on
The first thing that comes to mind is something like one of the temple rooms in Riven. Basically, you can have some rooms or groups of rooms rotate. There's a little more setup, but instead of redrawing, you just turn a few circles.
Or, you can have some rooms swap out for other rooms of the same size. Also more setup, since you'd need the drawings of the rooms as cutouts to replace them.
Corridors and regular doors could change where they go based on how many times they've been used. Or how recently.
Like I think McDaygo's saying I'd suggest navigating the labyrinth with descriptions and Int or skill checks until you have to lay down a map. When you do, have an idea how it could change - either make it out of map sections which you can replace when a change occurs, or just have notes e.g. that the bridge vanishes after 3 rounds for example.
I’d advise don’t draw out entire maze. Only rooms with combat put dimensions on
I've done that before, but I've seen every group I've played with has gotten something out of seeing a well thought out and carefully drawn map. It sets a tone.
Plus, the "only rooms with combat" will be potentially every square, since there will be some minotaur-esque monsters lurking within, and the PC's will have to do their share of running.
Rooms or groups of rooms rotate...like a series of concentric circles?
I've been thinking about doing a sort of tile method, like "Betrayal at House on the Hill".
I was thinking adjacent circles, but either - or both - should work well. Tiles also sound plausible.