BattleMaps and D&D Insider

[Ashrem Bayle]

Just curious, Ashrem: How much time are you investing in the maps? Scanning one, manipulating the original to erase marks, resizing and printing takes me about an hour per encounter map. Maybe a little less.

Hard to say. I just started this so I'm learning as I go. So far I'm about half way through with the top portion of the Keep. That's taken about four hours or so.

That said, I'm going to use the provided printed maps where I can. I'm only going to do the Keep because they didn't provide anything but what was in the book itself.

It was either this, or use tiles. And it occured to me that I had the means to make my own "tiles" and project them, so that's the way I'm going.

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

I would definitely become a D&D insider subscriber if I could download full battlemaps for all of the WoTC adventures. That's the sort of thing that would be very valuable to me.

In my mind this is a good area for WoTC to go into to make money. As a DM, I am all about anything that helps my players better visualize their environment. Scale battlemats are the way to go, I think, assuming that they are truly custom (IE assuming that all WoTC dungeons dont start looking like they're made from 4x6 tiles).

Ken

 

[Kristian Serrano]

From what I understand, all maps used in a module will be available in the D&DI Virtual Game Table without having to scan and upload them. This would also work for projector set ups.

 

[Filcher]

Markers and battlemaps are still the cost effective route.

 

[Micco]

What do you think? This is an unfinished bit of Area 5.

Very nice, Ashrem! We use a projector setup with Map Tools and find it a huge help. I don't have photoshop, so I was planning on scanning each map. But your approach looks much better

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

Very nice, Ashrem! We use a projector setup with Map Tools and find it a huge help. I don't have photoshop, so I was planning on scanning each map. But your approach looks much better

That was my original plan, but I couldn't get a good scan of the Keep. It's a LOT of work, but I think my approach is going to be worth it.

And it's moving along faster as I get more done. I get more and more shapes to work with that I can just copy and paste.

Unfinished Area 2 attached.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

I seem to recall WotC saying that they are not providing the ability for the mapping software they are creating to be able to print hi-res because they want people to buy their Dungeon Tiles. I suspect that they won't make any other hi-res maps available in DDI for the same reason.

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

I seem to recall WotC saying that they are not providing the ability for the mapping software they are creating to be able to print hi-res because they want people to buy their Dungeon Tiles. I suspect that they won't make any other hi-res maps available in DDI for the same reason.

I suspect that's true. Shame.

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

I think dungeon tiles are a terrible substitute for a battlemap enlarged and printed out for a one shot.

With the tiles, you're very limited in what you can portray. They're a step back from something like Tac-Tiles, which I currently use. I'm only interested in buying things that are better than what I already have.

Ken

 

[Nebulous]

*****SPOILERS!!!!!!**********8


If you're going to play in Keep on the Shadowfell, you probably shouldn't look further. Not a major spoiler though.




So, i've been working very hard on these maps, and i've decided to map out ahead of time the entire first level of the Keep.

Damn, this has turned into a hell of a project, and i don't know if it's worth the effort. HOWEVER, i do think it looks very good. I think the players will appreciate it quite a bit, and it does look better than random tiles stuck together.

See, what bothers me is that the campaign comes with beautifully drawn maps of the keep, but they are all but useless in print scale unless you do what i've done here, or recreate them like some others have done. I elected to go the scan/print/cut route because that's the most viable option for me.

I spent all morning arranging this, and here are the first 3 encounters:

What do you think? It looks better in the finished state than the tile i posted earlier. I didn't intend for the excavation site to be a different color, i added too much contrast by accident, but it hardly ruins it. There's a seam you can see that i'll probably color over with crayon or marker, but it's not bad. I should have enough space in my game room to arrange the entire floor plan, but i have to admit this is HIGHLY time consuming, and if i wasn't such a dork i wouldn't bother.

Again, which was the point of this thread, having actual hi-res tiles pre-sized for print would save dozens and dozens of hours of time. At least these maps are reusable, so it's not exactly a one-shot deal.