Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 8134723" data-attributes="member: 6801845">I don't ever have extensively mapped out dungeons, I only use maps when combat is about to start or positioning is important for some other reason.  So there's never a worry about people getting into grid mode before combat, exploration is all theater of the mind.I do use pictures a bit more to help describe scenery, locations and creatures, but I've been using pictures for a long time.  When it comes to combat, I use DndBeyond and Roll20 so I can also use Beyond20 to link the two pretty seamlessly.  I don't ever bother with macros, player or monster sheets in Roll20.Other than that<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Have images of NPCs, special monsters or other scenery hidden on the DM layer.  When I want to show players what they see, I can highlight the image and click SHIFT+Z.  It will display the image to everyone.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I always prep maps and put tokens on where I think they will start.  Monsters frequently are placed either out of sight or on the DM layer.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">This lets me do things like changing the default vision settings, so if there's a heavy fog I can limit everyone's sight to 10 ft or whatever I want.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">When I want people to know where something is that they can't see, I "ping" the general location.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If I have a map with multiple layers (typically a building) I put all layers of the building on the same map and just make sure to do a "wall" around each layer so if you are on the first floor you can't see the second.  However, if they split the party and someone goes up to the second floor I can just drag their mini over, I don't have to switch between maps.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I use <a href="http://rolladvantage.com/tokenstamp/" target="_blank">TokenStamp</a> to make icons, using different borders.  PCs have a round border that's a light tan, NPCs have a green round border and enemies have a red hexagonal border.  I just keep all the tokens in a local file folder and drag and drop onto the map as needed.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">For multiple tokens, I use the little color circle to distinguish them - especially if they're the same type of monster.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I have a couple of "generic" maps prepped in case the game goes off the rails (which I actually kind of encourage).</li> </ul>That's all I can think of off the top of my head.</blockquote>

Verification