mikebr99 said:
VERY Kewl Idea!
Are you also zooming in, down to the 5ft. scale level and using CAD as your combat map? I.e. plotting it out and using minis or counters? Or actually playing on the screen that all your players can see?
What version of CAD are you using? I've got AutoCAD LT 2004, right now for work.
I've been using CAD for work and school now for over 19 years... never even thought of it as a D&D application... D'Oh!
Mike
Just using it as a mapping & encounter mapping tool right now. I don't have the means to provide access to the players yet, besides I don't want them turning on all of the layers to sneak a peak at the army of terrasques marching towards them.
Using 2000 at work and home, and will be using 2004 at my new workplace, along with 3rd party software. I have been trying to meld it all together into one dwg, and the file is getting HUGE. So while it's good for getting a sense of scale that you can print out at any size you want, the staggering amount of detail that is incorporated can lead to a file size larger than 10M, making it cumbersome when I am loading/unloading from my Yahoo briefcase to go from work to home. Though it is nice, as I have been adding additional hex grid sizes to break up the 12 mile hex grid I have, and from there add in 5'x5' square grid to run encounters.
I thought about using hatching for each 12 mile hex such as that used in Campaign Cartographer, but thought better of it in order to keep it more loose. I used splines to demarkate where the hatching is, freeze the splines, and can change the hatching scale to meet whatever size plot I want to get. Hatching can overlap to indicate forested hills or a marsh in the forest, and have done so for the large overland map. Now I am going back through and adding the nuances as necessary for the areas in which the PCs have explored.
Add in a pond or two at 1/4 mile long, more trails, location of the last encounter, freeze the overland grid, show the 1-mile grid, then print a 8.5x11 2 miles wide by 3 high - instant map for the players. Now turn on your DM notes about where the next wilderness encounters are, how many, etc., print, and you have the exact same thing as the players except yours is full of DM material.
I am working on adding other 5'x5' grid plans for larger areas that would cover a half-mile or so, such as towns, and they show up rather well for close encounters. I will WBlock out any taverns I make a floor plan for, and with easy rotation I can plop them down at any odd angle to keep the overall map correct and can rotate the grid around it if necessary.
Let me know if you would also like me to send you what I have so far, as it may save you the time of creating layers or symbols.
