D&D General Custom Tabletop Maps

[Jacob Peters]

New to this forum and DND, but I've been having a blast playing the Dragons of Stormwreck Isle starter set campaign as the DM!

My name is Jake and I do a bit of graphic design so I decided to make a large 4ft by 2ft tabletop map with grid lines for the Wreck of the Compass Rose chapter in our campaign. I had a blast making it and have access to large-scale printing and laminating so I had it laminated so I could also write with dry-erase markers on it.

While researching this, I realized that I couldn't find anything like this and didn't know why. If you don't mind giving feedback I would like to know how many people would seriously consider purchasing something like this and how much they think it should cost. I will add the map I made as a reference, but this could be done for all sorts of campaigns and maps (including the other maps in the Stormwreck Isle starter set to sell together.) I would also consider taking on custom maps for people if it proves lucrative since I had so much fun making this one.

I appreciate any of you taking the time to respond to this and I'm so happy that I finally got into playing this game it's been a blast!

I'll attach the draft of my map as a reply to this post. More detail will be added as I go along (or not if people like it more simple so that they can put their spin on it).

 

[Jacob Peters]

View attachment Cursed Shipwreck 48x24.jpg

 

[aco175]

First welcome to the site @Jacob Peters I hope you stay awhile.

I like the map and would pay for something like this to use at the table. My needs/wants might not be the majority, but I will share to get an idea. I do not need a 4ft map since it would not fit in the middle of the table and leave room for the players stuff and my stuff. The biggest I need might be an 18inch x 24 inch. I ran the Against the Giants glacier map as a large scroll of Christmas paper and it was cool, but unwieldly to play with. I would rather have the ship as 4 maps that I could show each level as the PCs explore it and not let any secrets show until it is time to enter that room.

I do not need the maps laminated most of the time. A wrecked ship like this I might laminate since I could use it several times. I wish I laminated the King's Road from the old 3e maps they made since it gets lots of use. I might use this map a couple of times over several years, so likely not need it protected.

I'm a bit cheap when playing so maybe would pay in the $10-15 range for a couple maps and about $30 for the basic maps to play Stormwreck if I recall there is about 7ish of them. Not sure I would pay more for laminated ones. Hope this helps.

 

[Stormonu]

GaleForce9, Loke Battlemats and Beadles & Grimm sometime publish this sort of thing, as does Pathfinder (Piazo) with their flip mats - those might be worth comparing to.

What you've done looks great and is the sort of thing I buy regularly. I'd probably put that in the $15-$25 range.

 

[ezo]

Welcome to the forums!

While I wouldn't purchase a physical map (so I voted "no"), I would be more likely to purchase a digital version for VTT, etc. or support a Patreon page if you issued maps weekly or monthly.

The style of the sample is very nice, and I would enjoy seeing more details. Also, a couple more examples would give a better impression of your style in general, even scaled down samples.

Keep up the good work and best of luck!

 

[Lanefan]

At 4 x 2 feet this would make a great poster to put on a wall, but I can't see ever using it for play as it unfortunately shares the same issue as all other battlemat-style maps: it shows the players too much too soon, before their characters have explored the space.

That said, welcome aboard!

 

[Distracted DM]

Welcome to the forums!

While I wouldn't purchase a physical map (so I voted "no"), I would be more likely to purchase a digital version for VTT, etc. or support a Patreon page if you issued maps weekly or monthly.

The style of the sample is very nice, and I would enjoy seeing more details. Also, a couple more examples would give a better impression of your style in general, even scaled down samples.

Keep up the good work and best of luck!

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[el-remmen]

I regularly make handdrawn maps that are even bigger than this for my games (though not this style and not as professional looking). I make actual 2.5D ships like this for the kind of thing in your example, and have attached an image of one of the smaller terrain ones (approx 31" x 32"), and then supplement them with scatter terrain.

That said, while I would buy something like this (less than 20 bucks is my sense), I am more likely to buy a generic one that can be reused than a specific one from an adventure esp. since I homebrew and revise like 99% of what I run - or one that while specific, is still generic enough to be augmented/changed by adding scatter terrain to not be instantly recognizable to the players as a reuse.