Dungeon Tiles, Maps and things of that nature...

[weem]

First of all, I apologize for the lack of participation (my last post here as far as I can tell was December, 2002).

So with that said and done, I have been out of the industry loop since around then when I was doing various cartography work here and there in a few PDF's, etc (even did some EN World logo stuff long long ago ).

I recently started playing D&D again (haven't played since 3E was quite new) but I had been playing a long time before that (started when I was 12, am 31 now).

And that would take care of my pointless background info

My question to you is this - how frequently do you, your group or groups you know take advantage of dungeon layouts (tiles), maps and things like that - for example, maps from Map-A-Week at Wizards, etc?

I have been considering making maps again for general use (providing them for free, etc) since that was fun for me, but I'm curious about their popularity nowadays. To give you an example of things I did in the past, you can see some here...

http://www.mikewiemholt.com/mikewiemholt-cartography.php

(These are from a while back - 2001-2003-ish)

Anyway, like I said (in too many words already), I'm just curious if people are still using them, interested in them, etc. As a DM, I like to look at them (and create them), but in general do not use them in-game. I know there are some sites out there now doing similar stuff, but it's still fun for me and it would be nice to know if people would be interested in using them.

If you use them in some fashion what do you like about them and what would you have changed/added to them? for example, would it help if they came with a description of the inhabitants/surrounding area in a general sense (so as to remain campaign setting neutral) or does that just get in the way?

If you don't use them or think they are pointless for one reason or another is there anything that could be done to them to make them more appealing?

That's about it - sorry for the length - I'm typing this out quickly at work and don't have a lot of time to trim it down to the point

 

[Thanee]

Nice maps there, Mike!

I think many like this kind of thing (esp. for free )... just head over and take a look at the art section here. I'm sure there are some cartography threads around as well.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Treebore]

I like them! I buy Fat Dragon, WOTC's tiles, Oone, and others. So if your offering them up for free I'll definitely add you to my list.

 

[weem]

Great feedback so far, thanks a lot

One more important question (with a second part) I forgot to ask...

How important is it (to you/your group) that dungeon maps you get/download print out at appropriate sizes to use minis on?

Do you specifically look for things that print to a certain scale, or are you basically looking for dungeon layout ideas that you can then re-draw as players progress through them (on a white board for instance) without revealing the rest of the dungeon to them?

Thanks guys/gals - much appreciated

 

[Treebore]

Great feedback so far, thanks a lot

One more important question (with a second part) I forgot to ask...

How important is it (to you/your group) that dungeon maps you get/download print out at appropriate sizes to use minis on?

Do you specifically look for things that print to a certain scale, or are you basically looking for dungeon layout ideas that you can then re-draw as players progress through them (on a white board for instance) without revealing the rest of the dungeon to them?

Thanks guys/gals - much appreciated

I have enough tiles that I usually just take a map and lay it out with the tiles on my table.

So no, I am not looking for mini scaled maps any longer.

Now having rooms sized to accomodate standard tile sizes so I don't have to cut any down, over lap them, etc... that would be cool. Use the WOTC sets as your standard and it would make me happy 90% of the time.

 

[Gilladian]

I agree with Treebore - I LOVE maps and can never have enough of them, but I don't care if they're mini-sized. I draw out or use tiles for them on my battlemat.

I'd love maps that were convenient to build with WOTC's tiles, but they don't absolutely have to be usable that way.

As far as any surrounding notes, nah, don't bother. I'd ignore it anyway. Just lotsa good maps. I like building maps as much or more than randomish dungeons, though - and I like things that are logical.

Temples without kitchens, and castles without garderobes, etc... just drive me crazy.

 

[Woas]

Do you just do medieval fantasy themed maps?

 

[Treebore]

Oh yeah! I would love some sci fi maps to go with my Fat Dragon games stuff!

 

[weem]

To be honest, I hadn't thought about it. But now that you mention it, a ton of ideas come to mind - very cool, thank you! hehe.

So, to answer the question... yea, I could do that - it would be fun.

Yea, if I go ahead with this idea I have formulating, then I would not be sticking strictly to Fantasy. With that said, I'm not a Sci-Fi pro by any means and I would definately be looking for suggestions on not only maps that are needed, but what should be included in them.

I really should get a site going.

 

[cougent]

Great feedback so far, thanks a lot

One more important question (with a second part) I forgot to ask...

How important is it (to you/your group) that dungeon maps you get/download print out at appropriate sizes to use minis on?

Do you specifically look for things that print to a certain scale, or are you basically looking for dungeon layout ideas that you can then re-draw as players progress through them (on a white board for instance) without revealing the rest of the dungeon to them?

Thanks guys/gals - much appreciated

I usually draw out encounter areas on a battle mat and have not used any tiles, but might consider that in the future, especially if they were high quality and free like yours are.

Primarily I have always used maps to make new locations easily and unmarked maps as player handouts. I think I could tweak the printing size to go either way, but it would be nice if they were available to print as either mini or map scale.