I tried.... I failed... I moved on
You should not start out trying to make some ultra epic map
I suggest making a tiny map, with a hall and two rooms or something like that just as an experiment map.
Think up something for an NPC to do, and when they should do it, then try to make them do it, like run down the hall and press a button that makes him explode
Experiment on that little map to get a feel for how to use scripts in your larger works :]
It'll save you A LOT of time in the long run, mostly on compile and load times.