I hated predrawing maps takes forever , or drawing while playing takes forever AND consumes play time . For large area battles outside , woods , large cavernous dungeons , etc I have several blank terrain tiles that I ' ve created over the years which are just preprinted generalized terrain cutouts trees , walls , boulders , and the like that I ' ve had laminated . They can still use a token or their own miniature to represent themselves . All I do is place down something that builds up a small scene for my players , and they move around the active terrain that I place . I also have preprinted room tiles that are also laminated , and since most rooms tend to be square , 10 x 10 , 15 x 20 , etc , I just place those down with a door terrain tile and let them move about the room as needed . Only for combats . I use verbose room descriptions and theater of the mind to encompass the rest of the story and map . Of course this all takes a little bit of time to assemble , but saves countless hours in the long run , unless you have VERY specific maps you need to use that are more than just broad strokes for your chosen campaign . I also don ' t use grids , as 99 % of maps are 1 in . 5 ft . we simply use a small 6 in . ruler on the tableterrainroom maps . We just ignore the diagonal twice 15 ft . rule for simplicity sake , and it hasn ' t affected the gameplay as of yet . Measure , move , rinse , and repeat .