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<blockquote data-quote="perrinmiller" data-source="post: 5750548" data-attributes="member: 88649"><p><strong>DM Workshop #1: Maps & Tokens</strong></p><p></p><p><u><strong>DM Workshop #1: Maps & Tokens</strong></u></p><p></p><p>The first DM Workshop is focused on Tactical Maps & Tokens (because it looks to be the hardest part, but really it is not that bad). The rules governing combat are written with miniatures in mind playing a tactical grid. In PbP this is easily simulated and the visual representation really enhances the gaming experience. </p><p></p><p>Tactical Maps for combat encounters should have three things:</p><p>1. Grid coordinates for clearly stating movement</p><p>2. Tokens for the different characters </p><p>3. Some graphical depiction of the terrain.</p><p></p><p>You can use various programs, even Excel Spreadsheets. I have used several methods, but like MapTools the best.</p><p></p><p>MapTools: <a href="http://www.rptools.net/index.php?page=downloads" target="_blank">RPTools - Downloads</a></p><p></p><p>Download the Map Tools and Token Toll for free and then install. You will need to make sure your Java is up to date. Then take a look at the on-line video tutorials on their site and to help you get a quick course on their software. After a bit of practice you can have decent and quickly made maps. Nothing flashy in the beginning but definitely functional. The Token Tool is easy to use and you can make anything with a picture or screenshot capture.</p><p></p><p>Making maps is the first part, the second is picture manipulation afterwards. I usually take the exported picture (a .PNG file) and use Microsoft Office Picture Manager to crop and resize the map's screenshot. This is important since you can adjust the zoom level in MapTools ahead of time, but the actual pixel size of the picture exported is too big and needs to be reduced to about 800 pixels wide.</p><p></p><p>Then you need to covert it to JPEG format. PNG format can be rather big for some maps resulting in a picture over 1MB. Conversion reduces that by 80% and makes things much better to load.</p><p></p><p>Once you have a picture for your post, then I would get a Photobucket account and use that to upload it. Afterwards you just copy the image BBCode link into your post. There are other sites that do that as well, but Photobucket is free and easy to use.</p><p></p><p>Without MS Office Picture Manager, you can try this: <a href="http://irfanview.com/" target="_blank">IrfanView - Official Homepage - one of the most popular viewers worldwide</a></p><p></p><p>Here are some downloads for resources that provides tons of objects, terrain, and tiles.</p><p><a href="http://www.4shared.com/file/24-A53B1/Objects.html" target="_blank">Objects.zip - 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download</a></p><p><a href="http://www.4shared.com/file/6NbL4nov/Terrain.html" target="_blank">Terrain.zip - 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download</a></p><p><a href="http://www.4shared.com/file/RdxmSkiI/Tiles.html" target="_blank">Tiles.zip - 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download</a></p><p></p><p>They are big, but worth it for making your own maps.</p><p></p><p>[sblock=Examples of good maps for encounters]<img src="http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/perrinmiller/Unlimited%20RPGs/GrpCEnc16Map03.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />[/spoiler]</p><p>[spoiler]<img src="http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/perrinmiller/When%20Evil%20Rampages%20Everywhere/WEREEnc8Map01A.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />[/sblock][/spoiler]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="perrinmiller, post: 5750548, member: 88649"] [b]DM Workshop #1: Maps & Tokens[/b] [U][B]DM Workshop #1: Maps & Tokens[/B][/U] The first DM Workshop is focused on Tactical Maps & Tokens (because it looks to be the hardest part, but really it is not that bad). The rules governing combat are written with miniatures in mind playing a tactical grid. In PbP this is easily simulated and the visual representation really enhances the gaming experience. Tactical Maps for combat encounters should have three things: 1. Grid coordinates for clearly stating movement 2. Tokens for the different characters 3. Some graphical depiction of the terrain. You can use various programs, even Excel Spreadsheets. I have used several methods, but like MapTools the best. MapTools: [URL="http://www.rptools.net/index.php?page=downloads"]RPTools - Downloads[/URL] Download the Map Tools and Token Toll for free and then install. You will need to make sure your Java is up to date. Then take a look at the on-line video tutorials on their site and to help you get a quick course on their software. After a bit of practice you can have decent and quickly made maps. Nothing flashy in the beginning but definitely functional. The Token Tool is easy to use and you can make anything with a picture or screenshot capture. Making maps is the first part, the second is picture manipulation afterwards. I usually take the exported picture (a .PNG file) and use Microsoft Office Picture Manager to crop and resize the map's screenshot. This is important since you can adjust the zoom level in MapTools ahead of time, but the actual pixel size of the picture exported is too big and needs to be reduced to about 800 pixels wide. Then you need to covert it to JPEG format. PNG format can be rather big for some maps resulting in a picture over 1MB. Conversion reduces that by 80% and makes things much better to load. Once you have a picture for your post, then I would get a Photobucket account and use that to upload it. Afterwards you just copy the image BBCode link into your post. There are other sites that do that as well, but Photobucket is free and easy to use. Without MS Office Picture Manager, you can try this: [URL="http://irfanview.com/"]IrfanView - Official Homepage - one of the most popular viewers worldwide[/URL] Here are some downloads for resources that provides tons of objects, terrain, and tiles. [URL="http://www.4shared.com/file/24-A53B1/Objects.html"]Objects.zip - 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download[/URL] [URL="http://www.4shared.com/file/6NbL4nov/Terrain.html"]Terrain.zip - 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download[/URL] [URL="http://www.4shared.com/file/RdxmSkiI/Tiles.html"]Tiles.zip - 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download[/URL] They are big, but worth it for making your own maps. [sblock=Examples of good maps for encounters][IMG]http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/perrinmiller/Unlimited%20RPGs/GrpCEnc16Map03.jpg[/IMG][/spoiler] [spoiler][IMG]http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae47/perrinmiller/When%20Evil%20Rampages%20Everywhere/WEREEnc8Map01A.jpg[/IMG][/sblock][/spoiler] [/QUOTE]
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