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Post by dm_mainprize on Feb 18, 2015 14:34:29 GMT
A guys on twitter (@jfultz87) was asking around about how people make battle maps or what they use for battle maps, So I threw together this tutorial of how I make my custom, reusable, modular battle maps. Maybe you guys will get some use out of this as well. Feel free to ask any question about the process. Battlemaps |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2015 7:28:47 GMT
Looks great, though it's more work than I care to put into it myself. I run simple combats in theater of the mind, more complex battles on a vinyl mat. However, I only use the grid for quick estimation of distance, area effect, and line of sight, rather than strictly adhering to grid mechanics. However, generally speaking, I think the better the visual aids you bring to the table, the better the experience. Good on you for going the extra mile. Of course, if you were really hardcore you'd be designing 3d terrain like the war gamers use.  |
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Post by dm_mainprize on Feb 19, 2015 14:36:07 GMT
Nice, theatre of the mind is sweet! I have made chopped uo and glue together some of the maps to make them 3D but since I travel to game location they get a little beat up in the journey. No way am I hardcore enough to get into 3D war gaming terrain. That stuff is no joke, time and $$ consuming, but it does look amazing when completed.
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Post by TaranWanderer on Feb 19, 2015 18:49:42 GMT
Lately we've had the overall map up on the flat screen via Roll20 + fog of war. We have a generic Pathfinder battlemap on the table with a clear acrylic sheet over it to keep it flat. The DM draws a single area if/when there's a battle. It's been great so far. Ideally I'd love to have a dedicated gaming room/table where we meet every time, with a ceiling mounted projector pointing straight down onto the table. Boom. But that's not likely to happen anytime soon/ever.  |
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Post by friartook on Feb 19, 2015 19:40:19 GMT
I missed out on the whole grid thing in my younger gaming days. There were miniatures when I was a kid, but the use of a grid only became common (in my circles at least) with 3.5, and most of my time was spent in 2e Advanced.
I tried instituting the grid mat with a map drawn on it, but I found it actually bogged down play. Counting squares and all that. Now we just use game pieces on the bare tabletop to represent general positioning of PCs vs. enemies and keep everything else theater of the mind. I also don't allow them to see any of my maps, unless they would know the area.
All that being said, I strongly encourage and approve of making home-made visual aids. I hand drew a partial world map for my guys, and they went all wide eyed for it. I'm planning on creating a "treasure map" for a latter section of the campaign. It will be a partial map showing the location of the lost dwarven homeland. However, I plan on smudging and burning a portion of the map to make it difficult to follow, just as an ancient map found in a dirty dungeon may look.
For the next leg of the campaign the guys are about to enter a labyrinth. I have the map for it, but they will not even know its a labyrinth. I'm looking forward to seeing how quickly they figure it out and how they plan to track their progress.
PS: Mainprize, Love the map you posted to Twitter! Great work! I encourage you to post it here on your worldbuilding thread.
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Post by dm_mainprize on Feb 19, 2015 19:58:24 GMT
Ya, I really enjoy the creative process of map making. Also I posted the picture in my worldbuilding thread as well as added some other links with new and update info about my world.
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Post by nerdbillydelux on Feb 24, 2015 13:28:32 GMT
I have been running roll 20 lately since ive moved to the next town over from my group but i have been using pictures rather than battle maps and running more theater of the mind type fights. i find that it makes battle flow faster and with a very story/ roleplay oriented group it works well. my players would much rather spend 2 hours arguing in character that spend more than 30 minutes in combat so it works for our needs. that said i would love to run a game in person again and build some 3d maps hopefully some day soon i can  |
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Post by joatmoniac on Feb 26, 2015 22:56:31 GMT
I use minis and the battle map for one group because they are very into the tactical battle aspect of the game. The other group I don't think I used anything more than a hand drawn map on graph paper as they explored with theater of the mind. However you could take things to the ultimate next level like this on.fb.me/1Ad903h haha. I think the biggest limiting factor for having 3D terrain is storing 3D terrain, and then using it often enough to justify the time and/or money that went into it. |
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Post by nerdbillydelux on Feb 27, 2015 15:27:36 GMT
I use minis and the battle map for one group because they are very into the tactical battle aspect of the game. The other group I don't think I used anything more than a hand drawn map on graph paper as they explored with theater of the mind. However you could take things to the ultimate next level like this on.fb.me/1Ad903h haha. I think the biggest limiting factor for having 3D terrain is storing 3D terrain, and then using it often enough to justify the time and/or money that went into it. thats very true, i have enough stuff as it is, not to mention my kids are always on the look out for something new to try and break lol |
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