Well I was browsing a certain Social Media Platform at 06:00… Thanks Dog!

And in one of the groups someone posted a picture about when they started D&D they were skint so made their terrain out of cardboard, glue and Sharpies.

Now this got me thinking. When did the shift from dry wipe mats and Chinagraph pencils to a table full of terrain for one session.

Now cards on the table here, I never got into D&D. I was more MERP. And to be honest pretty much have avoided it since.

I have some old starter boxes, the one I could find straight off was Dragon Mountain. An AD&D Dungeon, comprising maps, Cardboard miniatures etc. This was published by TSR in 1993. I picked mine up cheap of Facebook a few years ago. I actually bought it for the maps.

Yes I am a bit of a sucker for a good map.

So 1993 we seem to be moving away from draw your own to printed maps for the adventures. So when was the shift to full terrain boards or 2.5 instead of 3D.

The problem is I went into wargaming so therefore terrain became an integral part.

Some people still go for theatre of the mind, so no terrain needed at all. Maybe a picture to help people get into the zone.

I would hazard a guess that YouTube has a part to play in tables full of buildings etc, but maybe I am wrong.

So does anyone know? I am sure I don’t as in reality people differ.