Landmarks for Tabletop Games

 (this is the first element in the Cognitive Mapping for Tabletop Games series. The other posts are Intro, Paths, Nodes, Districts, Edges)

Element 1: LANDMARKS

    The first, and simplest Cognitive Mapping element is the landmark. Anything we use as a reference point when we navigate is a landmark--anything at all. For me, the landmarks that identify the end of my street are a big track next to a high school. and the empty shell of a building that is labeled Braddock Cafe. However, my partner remembers the bike rental station, and the restaurant on the other corner. These landmarks were burned into our Cognitive Maps through many, many references, and they tell us where we are from a distance.

    Landmarks are...

1. ...Recognizable from a distance, usually because they are distinct from their surroundings, or simply huge.
2. ...Asymmetric at their best, since that allows you to tell not only how far you are from them, but which direction you are. For example, if you saw a familiar, red, round spire from a distance, all you would know is roughly how far you were from it. However, if the red spire had a billboard on it that said "CHEESE?", you could also figure out where you were based on the direction the billboard faced. 
3. ...Reference many times, before your mind integrates them into a Cognitive Map.

Landmarks for tabletop

    Tabletop games are spoken games. That's no surprise to anyone, but it does change the nature of landmarks. In life, a landmark is drawn onto our Cognitive Maps like a sketch done in many short strokes. The first time we use it as reference, our mind blocks in its shape; the second, its texture. By the fifth or sixth time, it looks like a real drawing, and by the hundredth time, a photorealistic painting. It only takes a moment in life to recognize a familiar landmark and add a new detail to memory, but at the table, the narrator hefts this burden! 

So how do we reduce this process to something simple for the table?

    First, the narrative description of any landmark must be repeated from many locations in-game, since players cannot actually experience their characters' senses! Practically, a huge, region-wide landmark should be mentioned all over the place, while a local one should only be mentioned in a smaller area.

    This implies a scale of landmarks: (this will make more sense at the end of this series, so maybe return when you're done)

1. Regional, seen from anywhere in a region. Will tell you what district you're in,
2. District-scale, seen from anywhere within a district. Will tell you what familiar nodes you're likely near.
3. Node-scale, seen from paths connecting to the node, making the node distinct. Will tell which paths you're likely on.
4. Trail marker, inserted as part of a series of trail markers to define a path in the cognitive map.

    Additionally, since these big landmarks will be the key to players' navigation in unfamiliar areas, they need to be simple to picture in the mind's eye, and easy to describe 1000 times. Examples of easily-pictured, asymmetric landmarks include: 

• Huge statues of people in unique poses (that you can mimic), 
• big faces making expressions, 
• hands making gestures (rude or otherwise), 
• boats, 
• arrows, 
• billboards, 
• common animals, 
• a waterfall
• a huge key, etc...

Apparently you can buy these on Etsy for your garden. Very helpful for the chipmunks' navigation!

    It's more important that huge, regional landmarks be easy to than for trail markers! The more times you'll reference it, the clearer it needs to be.

Other posts in this series:

1. Intro
2. Paths
3. Nodes
4. Districts
5. Edges