How do GMs convey the maps from adventures published online?

[CiH]

How do GMs convey the maps from adventures published online?

In another thread where I was looking for a cheap 1st level adventure, I was directed to look at Dungeon and other online sources. Then it hit me what I was paying for with store-bought modules: those awesome tabletop battle maps.

I read the map hubbub over at the Bark at the Moon thread, and I am not seeing a good solution to conveying maps to players for adventures published online. [size=-2]I know the thread is not about that, but the discussion gives good insight into how GMs convey online maps.[/size]

It seems almost criminally selfish of me as a GM to have this awesome looking tactical map that I can see, and to then sketch some lame imitation of that on a battle mat with a couple of differently colored wet erase pens.

Do the online maps look good when blown up to real-life 1" squares and then printed out? What other solutions are there for this problem that I'm not thinking of?

Well, I have a few of those maps from the Fantastic Locations (Fane of the Drow, Dragondown Grotto) line from a few years back I could substitute.

Any other ideas?

 

[Morrus]

We tend to go the "lame imitation of that on a battle mat with a couple of differently colored wet erase pens" route. Printing them out and joining them together proved too much hassle in the long run.

 

[CiH]

We tend to go the "lame imitation of that on a battle mat with a couple of differently colored wet erase pens" route. Printing them out and joining them together proved too much hassle in the long run.

That works with my group of grognard buddies, but I'm about to GM two newbies and a 14 year old, and that just won't cut it. That's why I'm looking for more eye-candy alternatives.

 

[KidSnide]

Do the online maps look good when blown up to real-life 1" squares and then printed out? What other solutions are there for this problem that I'm not thinking of?

They don't look nearly as good as they do in the module, but they still look a whole lot better than wet-erase scribblings. Also, pre-printing maps have the considerably advantage of speeding up play because you don't have to wait for the GM to draw the map.

If you're using Windows, I recommend Paint.Net as a surprisingly good free alternative to PhotoShop.

-KS

 

[Aegeri]

I use them directly as I run two VTT games.

 

[UnknownAtThisTime]

We squeezed four encounter battles in to our last session. The maps were:

• 1 Map hand drawn ahead of time on Gaming Paper (drawn using 4 sharpie colors and the artistic ability of a 4 year old)
• 1 Dungeon Tile Room (Pre-planned and ready to go)
• 1 Pre-printed, pre-cut, and pre-taped map printed from a .pdf
• 1 (unplanned encounter)drawn on the fly on White board grid (ie a battlemat)

As I have said before, I use a lot of tools in the tool box, although it is unusual to use so many different tools "at once". That list above seems like a lot of "overhead", but it was actually a very quick and smooth transition and each tool served it's purpose.

Certainly my preference is NOT toward "lame imitation of that on a battle mat ", but sometimes it is what makes the most sense. I am one of thsoe folks that likes Dungeon Tiles most when they're convenient, barring using a professionally printed map.

 

[UnknownAtThisTime]

Also, pre-printing maps have the considerably advantage of speeding up play because you don't have to wait for the GM to draw the map.
-KS

Agreed.

One recommendation: If the quality is decent enough, rememebr to print the maps in draft output mode. For my printer, the quality difference is small but the speed and ink usage is significant. Give it a try at least.

 

[Ahrimon]

• Pre-assembled dungeon tiles.
• Photocopy/print the grid page from the back of the DMG. Cut/paste/size and build your dungeon.
• Dundjinni and other art programs: Create and print out your own dungeons.
• Gaming Paper: Lets you pre-draw everything so you can take your time and make it look nice. Unless your atristicaly challenged like me.
• Hirst Arts: Lots of time & money here.
• Dwarven forge: A lot less time than Hirst arts, but a metric butload more money.
• Papercraft: Worldworks and others (don't know them off the top of my head)
• Model railroad scenery
• Tac-Tiles: Not available anymore, but awesome if you can find them.

Lately I've been using dungeon tiles. I tape them to cardboard and then use 1" strips of black posterboard to crate levels and walls where needed. I throw in some papercraft scenery I downloaded to spruce things up. For spontaneous encounters I still use my battle mat though.

Every dungeon has been differant though. I keep experimenting with ease of assembly vs coolness/pretty-ness.

Hope that helps.

 

[Pbartender]

We tend to go the "lame imitation of that on a battle mat with a couple of differently colored wet erase pens" route. Printing them out and joining them together proved too much hassle in the long run.

Ditto that. As pretty as they can be, my players almost never see the maps inside an adventure module, regardless on whether it was published online or not.

It just takes too much paper and too much ink to print them out.

 

[Goonalan]

For my VTT games I tend to spend far too long finding just the right map, or even building them myself, to the point that an encounter that lasts say an hour in play can have taken me two hours to painstakingly put together- I'm a fool I know, but I enjoy it.

With my present 'live' game I print as much as I can, we all (mostly) have reasonably well-paid jobs, and I have few other vices- so I print as many of the encounters up as I can. It helps that ink costs (via ebay sellers) are very reasonable.

However in the past I (when me and my players didn't have decent incomes) then I used mats and markers. However I would liven the play up by giving my Mrs. (who otherwise has nothing to do with Dungeons & Dragons) a list of all the monsters, along with a few words description of each type.

Her job would be to go out and buy in various candies, sweets or small toys to represent the monsters/bad guys- the player delivering the killing blow, or providing the best roleplay would claim the candies, sweets or toys as their reward.

We got very creative after a time, I specifically wrote scenarios that involved huge jelly snakes I remember, individual jelly-pots as gelatinous cubes, I remember also a bottle of Sprite Water Elemental (TOEE), a Terry's Chocolate Orange Beholder... Generally run-of-the-mill Kobolds, Goblins & Orcs et al were rather plain chocolates- leader types were easy to pick out in-game- the Ferrerro Roche Orc Shaman being typical, or a Walnut Whip Ogre. Players quickly became adept at recognising the most expensive candies, and braver I may add.

The fight to deliver the killing blow to the Beholder above was at times a battle to see who got the Chocolate Orange, mercenary buggers with sweet tooths players.

No toffees, they tended to slow down play- gummed up mouths- it has to be said that this method generally guanranteed that players attended more sessions, funny that...

Cheers Goonalan