Questions tagged [map-making]
For questions about creating maps of physical space and terrain, for use during preparation or play, from the scale of galactic jump-lane routes to the map of a dungeon corridor.
76 questions
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How do I get around players losing interest during mapping?
For the past couple months, my D&D hack game has been experiencing the same persistent issue. While all my players seem to have fun during the exploring/debating/combat/social parts of the game, ...
user5834
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When should I tell my players that they have forgotten something?
My players have been operating out of a certain small town for my whole campaign. They've adventured around the area nearby quite a bit already (just finished Session 23).
Recently, my intended ...
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What tools are available to create custom dungeon maps?
I want to create my own maps for my campaign, but I'm not good at drawing. Are there any tools that could help me?
As I'm not good at drawing pictures myself, I'm looking for a tool that allows you ...
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How much detail should I include in medieval maps for players?
I am running a campaign in the Eberron (DnD) setting, but really, this question could apply to anyone running a game in a medieval setting.
I wanted to know what level of detail/accuracy to include ...
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How do I give dungeons sensible layouts that are still gameable? [duplicate]
When creating dungeons, I like to try to give them a history beyond "old place with traps and monsters and gold", since I like everything to feel real and have a purpose. However, whenever I try to ...
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As a GM, what minimal geographic knowledge should I have to make realistic maps? [closed]
I draw topographic maps for my players all the time, and in real time (it is just easier for me to express myself with a pencil on a sheet of paper than in words). I have two problems with this.
...
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Where can I observe a world's creation as it happens?
The Adventurer Conquerer King System has specific and detailed instructions on how to map and detail a setting for use in play, and I'm trying to get the hang of them. Unfortunately, not having a real ...
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How do I balance detailed encounter maps with not wanting to give away my dungeon layout?
I'm in the process of designing a Megadungeon, and it seems like people run large dungeons like this using the theater of the mind to avoid giving the layout away and allow players to explore, get ...
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Where can I find resources to create a realistic castle dungeon? [closed]
Shortly, I will send my PCs into a castle ruin, and I plan on them spending some time there, possibly to refurbish the castle and claim it as their own. I want to make this castle a realistic place, ...
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Is Forgotten Realms geo-location data copyrighted, or free to use?
I am in the process of creating a gis map of Toril, starting from the Faerun Continent. (More details are in this question on GIS.SE: Starting a QGIS project for a fantasy world map from raster images....
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Kingdom Map and Travel Pace
I'm having trouble with scales when creating a kingdom map.
Quoting the Dungeon Master's Guide regarding province scale maps (p. 14):
For the most detailed areas of your world, use a province ...
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What's the best software for mapmaking? [closed]
I would like to know if Paint.NET and Paint Shop Pro are the best tools for creating fantasy cartography. Does better software exist? If so, what is the software, and what specific features make it ...
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How would I quickly put together a believable map of an area?
As part of my "Closed Circle" campaign, I'm looking for ways to quickly put together a believable map of a college campus and surrounding area, complete with believable building placement. "Quickly" ...
user5834
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What happened to Irony Games' tools?
About five years ago, there used to be a site called Irony Games that hosted a variety of useful map generator tools (Non-functional list of tools shown here). Have these tools ever been re-hosted ...
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How to design and clearly represent a 3-D location?
I would like to design a dungeon-like location, a city surrounding a keep built on a limestone hill littered with caves. Tunnels and caverns would connect certain city locations to keep dungeons but ...
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How do I handle the math of hex maps?
I'm having trouble calculating distances on hex-mapped worlds. The math, even at the regional scale, is difficult.
But I'm also interested in distances at the world-scale. I'm targeting icosahedral ...
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Coming up with building layouts on the fly
Sometimes in my shadowrun game(s), I have to invent a building interior on the fly for my players. I like to draw a floor plan or something similar for them. My problem is that I find it hard to ...
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Do your players make maps while exploring the unknown of your game's world?
If so, how do they do approach map making without slowing down the game.
If not, and if you wish they did, what are ways to encourage players to do so?
Also, what are good ways to make maps without ...
user162
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DFRPG city creation via telepresence
I'm planning a DFRPG campaign for the first time since my group began gathering via telepresence. How can we best approximate sitting around the table to collaborate, talk, and work on city creation1 ...
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How to keep track of mapnotes?
I want to run an Eberron setting game, and I'd like to use the Eberron map, which I have as a high-resolution png, but be able to add quick notes and such as the game progresses. Something similar to ...
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What information should I give the players for them to draw their map?
I am going to start an online Westmarches-style campaign, using a slightly patched version of Pathfinder 2.
I expect the whole adventure to happen on one big island (where the PCs arrive in session 0),...
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Are there any problems using a mix of hex and square grids on a map?
I'm creating some maps with a 5ft hex grid and hoping to keep them system agnostic. There are some rooms that have a shape that doesn't fit the hex grid well and would fit a square grid much better. ...
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Map making for the artistically deficient [closed]
I am woefully terrible at drawing, sketching, or even tracing. As to be expected, then, my map-making skills are underwhelming, to say the least. I have a specific overworld map idea in mind, but lack ...
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Do I have to map out villages or outside areas?
Do I have to make a map of areas outside of my dungeons? For instance, a village or forest? Does the context of the Dungeon have to be mapped?
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What collaborative mapping software would meet my needs? [closed]
Background
I am the head of plot for a boffer LARP that runs monthly. A given game has anywhere from 10 to 50 players. We have around 5 people that run plot. I need the entire plot team to be able to ...
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Where can I find an authentic mine layout for use in a historical campaign?
Abandoned Mines have become a staple of Dungeon-crawling over the years, but despite how many times I’ve cleared out monsters from them, I know very little about mining myself.
Now I’m in the GM seat,...
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Looking for a Java keyboard-based map making program I lost
I used to have a Java-based mapper, but I lost it somewhere migrating between Win8 and Linux. As far as I remember it had the following specifications:
Coded in Java - not Javascript.
Not web/...
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Any tips for drawing dungeon maps using Inkscape or similar software? [closed]
As stated. I tried a few specialized mapping tools, but I feel like I'll be happiest just using Inkscape (an open source vector drawing tool).
I'm still working on getting an efficient system down ...
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Is wanting the players to map dungeons incompatible with a battle mat?
I would like to run a campaign that involves the PCs exploring an unmapped wilderness, including various dungeons and the like. I have it all mapped out myself, but I want the act of them mapping the ...
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Where Can I Find Hex Paper Notebooks? [closed]
I apologize in advance if this question isn't suited for this thread, but I thought I'd start here.
Already in my possession is a graph paper notebook, but what I seek is a HEX grid notebook. Does ...
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Software for On-the-fly-mapping [closed]
While mapping has been extensively covered but always from either the Virtual Tabletop perspective, not the on-the-fly-mapping idea. Basically what software could you use to map a grid-based dungeon ...
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Avoid writer's blocks at the beginning of a TQY session
I have recently bought The Quiet Year. I really enjoy the concept, bit I find it hard to bootstrap a session.
At the beginning, players are faced with an almost blank white page, and they have to ...
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Is there an efficient way to make an interactive map? [closed]
I'm looking for a way to map a world as was done in the Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas. I want the ability to be able to zoom into areas while maintaining scale, and to get down to battle maps.
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Is a 5 foot square on a battle map 5 sq. ft.?
I am making a map for a modern day game my DM is running, and I have an architectural image of a floor plan with listed square footage.
For a D20 Modern's 5ft grid, how would I figure out how many ...
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How do you represent sloping topography on a battle mat?
So, the vast majority of combat happens on flat environments, but most real-world environments are topographically variable. They have hills, and trenches, and slopes, and stuff.
I have no trouble ...
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What software tools or websites are available for running RPG, grid-based combat? [duplicate]
Are there any software tools (or websites) that support creating tactical combat maps as well as actively running them for combat? I'm looking to do away with paper and battle-mats. Here are my ...
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How can you use isometric maps (or other tricks for addressing 3 dimensions) for miniatures?
I remember in the 90s isometric projection, 3/4-view 3D-on-2D maps became briefly popular in published game books, then all but disappeared.
Watching "The Desolation of Smaug" I became aware that I ...
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Making fantasy city [non-tactical] maps with GIMP
Does anyone know of good city specific (although I would be interested in others as well) plug-ins for fantasy RPG map making using GIMP?
Edit: I am more looking at macro-scale (so whole city and a ...
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How to turn hand-drawn maps to digital
I've been beginning to format my adventures for publishing, and the last hangup I have is that my maps are hand-drawn. I want to transfer them to digital format, but I'm limited to scanning them into ...
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How can I convert The Touch of Death 2E module to run in D&D 5e?
I am including the Ravenloft: Touch of Death module from AD&D 2e in my D&D 5e campaign as I have repurposed the Hexad. However, the maps from the quest are a mess, the NPCs are disposable, and ...
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Is there a way to blend hex and square grid for battle maps?
I'm new to hexes and not too experienced with map-making in general, and I want to expand my understanding of them. While I was figuring out how radiuses would work for things like spells on a hex map,...
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Tips for creating engaging modern setting battle maps?
I'm playing a modern horror campaign, basically "Exorcist cops vs Japanese Folklore creatures". The combats take place in the city, and this, I think, it causing my battles to be dull, like a Final ...
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Where can I find cartography icons for game maps? [closed]
I am looking for icons to represent cities, villages and other places, something like the ones that come with AutoREALM, but which can be used in my mapping tool of choice (GIMP in this case). Is ...
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How many hexes do the different kinds of settlements take up on province scale maps?
On pages 16 and 17 of the DMG three sizes of possible settlements are detailed: villages, towns and cities. Their respective sections give details about the size of their population amongst other ...
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Where to get mapmaking software for Mac? [closed]
I've been looking for a program that can create maps on a Mac... Any ideas? I would like it to be a World Map, that the players just relate to, to know where they are and to tie all of the quests into ...
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How do you measure distance on a battlemap/grid? [closed]
In the 5e master manual it says that, at a certain scale on a regional map, hexagons represent a certain amount of miles. Does it refer to sides or distance from the center of a hex to another?
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How to create shadows in RPTools maptool?
I'm testing out RPTool's MapTool.
So far it's pretty OK, but there are a few things I'm missing.
One of the most important is how to create drop shadows underneath platforms (elevated pieces of floor)...
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Creating a free online dungeon map maker - advice on where I can find tiles to offer the users? [closed]
I have been looking around on various dungeon map making tools and I have not yet found one I am comfortable with. So I am thinking of creating my own online HTML5 dungeon map tool and share it with ...
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Is there a good way of adapting Megacity One maps from actual maps of New York?
My group is starting a Traveller Judge Dredd RPG adventure set in Megacity One (New York area). We'd like to make, or appropriate, a street-level map of a specific few Sectors of the city, to serve as ...
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Is there a good tool for drawing the layout of a mansion/manor? [closed]
I'm in the planning phase of developing a Maid: the RPG game, and it occurs to me that at some point I'm going to need to design the interior of a mansion.
It's a mansion that currently has four ...
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