Low-prep map-making

The map to the left is a rough map over the city in which our latest campaign takes place. What's special with it is how it was created. Instead of me drawing the map before the gaming session (something that a: would take a lot of time and b: propably not resulting in a particulary interesting place), I tried another thing.

I let the players draw the map. Using the guidelines in Starblazers and Legends of Anglerre, the map was gradually built from nothing. After 15-20 minutes (roughly) the city grew in front of my eyes.

What helped, I think, was that this was actually the second session in this city, and I had been fairly clear with what style and genre the game was (I was aiming for a kind of medeival Venice/ Italy, with loads of conspiracies and intrigue).

My impression was that the players enjoyed doing it. We all got an immediate connection and relation to the city, and I didn't have to spend as much time preparing the game. The players also supplied me with numerous of interesting plot hooks and places that I could add into the campaign. On my evergoing quest towards minimizing prep-time, I think this was a successful experiment.