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How do you handle a "map the world" campaign?
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<blockquote data-quote="Tilla the Hun (work)" data-source="post: 1657647" data-attributes="member: 14214"><p>I like the idea of exploring the world... whether the characters are the mappers/cartographers, or the 'native interfacer' types.</p><p></p><p>Something fun you could do would be to draw out the world on your own map, at pretty much the scale of the map you want the players to draw. Grab 2 larg and 1 small pieces of polarized plastic screen at your local HW store. Lay the 2 large down on top of the map, rotating the second one 90 degrees. This blacks out the map, keeping it from players eyes but letting you spread it out on the table. The 3rd, small piece, cut to fit your base scale unit (1 mile = 1" ?) or whatever is comfortable (having done this once, I recommend about a 6" square. It's about the farthest you can expect people on land to see without unusual circumstances, fyi: sealevel + flat land = only ~3 miles of visibility to the horizon for a 6' tall human <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> ) Lay this square on the table, oriented the same direction as the bottom sheet of plastic. Voila, a view into the world that matches the party's view.</p><p></p><p>Now just move that view around with them, and have them create their own maps based on that 'small' view.</p><p></p><p>This leads to total hilarity of 'getting lost', 'looking for landmarks', and crazy maps from the players <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>When I tried it, I had a map some 12' by 16' all told (made with notebook paper fully taped at seams, front and back) that was folded into map creases so that only a 4' by 2' section was presented at any one time (made the plastic sheets smaller).</p><p></p><p>My party got 'completely' lost out in the wilderness and had to convince natives to help them get back to civilization. It was indeed a great deal of fun that i'll likely repeat in the future using technology like a laptop at the table <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />.</p><p></p><p>Oh, and their map? After they got east confused with south, then decided that east was west, their map in no way resembled mine <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Strangely, none of them about the rising sun as a guide!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tilla the Hun (work), post: 1657647, member: 14214"] I like the idea of exploring the world... whether the characters are the mappers/cartographers, or the 'native interfacer' types. Something fun you could do would be to draw out the world on your own map, at pretty much the scale of the map you want the players to draw. Grab 2 larg and 1 small pieces of polarized plastic screen at your local HW store. Lay the 2 large down on top of the map, rotating the second one 90 degrees. This blacks out the map, keeping it from players eyes but letting you spread it out on the table. The 3rd, small piece, cut to fit your base scale unit (1 mile = 1" ?) or whatever is comfortable (having done this once, I recommend about a 6" square. It's about the farthest you can expect people on land to see without unusual circumstances, fyi: sealevel + flat land = only ~3 miles of visibility to the horizon for a 6' tall human :) ) Lay this square on the table, oriented the same direction as the bottom sheet of plastic. Voila, a view into the world that matches the party's view. Now just move that view around with them, and have them create their own maps based on that 'small' view. This leads to total hilarity of 'getting lost', 'looking for landmarks', and crazy maps from the players :) When I tried it, I had a map some 12' by 16' all told (made with notebook paper fully taped at seams, front and back) that was folded into map creases so that only a 4' by 2' section was presented at any one time (made the plastic sheets smaller). My party got 'completely' lost out in the wilderness and had to convince natives to help them get back to civilization. It was indeed a great deal of fun that i'll likely repeat in the future using technology like a laptop at the table :). Oh, and their map? After they got east confused with south, then decided that east was west, their map in no way resembled mine :) Strangely, none of them about the rising sun as a guide! [/QUOTE]
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