tintagel's page

Hey tintagel, I was looking through your site and I have to say: great stuff! Anyways, I've noticed that you used large parts of my Nualia backstory that I posted up on December 17, 2007 on the Upping Nualia's Presence thread (in the archives now) for your 'Nualia's Nightmare' file.

http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/adventurePa th/runelords/archives/uppingNualiasPresence

I know I didn't explicitly ask for permission to use my work and I posted it up for everyone to enjoy, but I would like some credit if you are going to host it on your website.

Thanks!

Sorry about that - I certainly didn't want to take credit for the work. I pulled Watcher's maps for that reason - I didn't want to look like I was taking credit for work that was not mine.

I've credited you on the site, but I can easily pull the file if you want. Again, sorry - when I pulled Watcher's maps I should have pulled your stuff as well.

Hey guys!

Watcher, I removed them from Creative Gremlins (my new map host) because they were listed as my art - Whoever uploads them is listed as the artist - and I didn't think that was fair. If you want a free account with Creative Gremlins, I can hook you up. It's about 1 GB of storage and you can upload the maps to the RotR gallery yourself. I meant to post on here after I removed them to invite ya, but forgot.

Also, the invite still stands for an account at my 4E site. Again, I didn't want to post anything without anyone's permission. If you want, I can upload them there.

So CG or my Google site - I'll hook ya up!

Ok, another small contribution. This is a battlemap (at 100dpi) for the Graul's yard in Hook Mountain. The one in the PDF/module is too low resolution for a proper battlemap.

This was done last night when I realized I didn't have a suitable map for that encounter with Crowfood. It's not great, but functional.

Graul Farm Yard

Hello everyone!

Well, I'm back from a very very long absence, and it looks like people are still making more content for this AP. We are starting back up on Hook Mountain tomorrow and I'll be turning my mapping eye to Fort Rannick - It looks to be a challenge.

Holidays are coming up and I might have time to do some work. Just don't expect the same level of detail that I put into Misgivings. That one simply inspired me. Oh, glad to know that the mold gave some the heebie-jeebies. It was intentional. :-)

Oh, I think I have a solution for our hosting and aggregation: I have Google Sites on my domain (educatedgamer.net) and have about 10GB of storage directly on the site (not to mention we can link off-site). I can create free accounts for anyone who wants to directly contribute to the project on the site (creating pages, uploading files, etc) and can even send invites to gmail addresses if you would rather have that.

In summary, if you have a gmail account, I can invite you.
If you don't have one, I can create an @educatedgamer account for you for free.

We can have multiple authors editing the site, and it's very easy to do. I'll get started on setting it up if people seem interested. I would start sometime this next week, during Thanksgiving break.

To get an idea of what it would look like, check out where I am currently hosting my RotR content - on another Google Site:
http://4e.educatedgamer.net

If people seem open to the idea, I would create a new one (perhaps at runelords.educatedgamer.net) and we could start fresh.

Glad to be back!

Ok, I uploaded the maps.
http://www.creativegremlins.com/gallery
Click on the Rise of the Runelords category under Map Sets, then go to Burnt Offerings.

Watcher, send me an email and I will create an account for you for free. You'll get plenty of storage for high-res images, and easy uploads.

I just wanted to chime in with my thanks as well for all of these great maps. And thanks to Tintagel's ringing endorsements, I even went out and purchased d20pro to showcase them to my players (we ran our first session with it two weeks ago - Hambley Farm from Skinsaw Murders).

I can't wait for them to see The Misgivings.... :)

Hey Dalesman, if you need the d20pro files (maps with 4E creatures and room keys already good to go on the map), just let me know. I can upload them to my 4e project site in no time.

Also, if you or anyone wants a demo or training session of d20pro (30 mins demo, 30 mins Q&A) just email me: rivera.ga (at) gmail.com and I will be glad to assist. Oh, and here are some custom sounds & about 2000 character portraits for you http://www.divshare.com/folder/530743-d31

I went ahead and did a VERY basic map of Foxglove's Townhouse. I basically converted the existing map as faithfully as I could. I didn't put in any extra details (like scattered books or damage to the house), as I focused entirely on speed mapping and simplicity. This has the secondary benefit of making the map reusable for other adventures!

It's at lesser scale (100 dpi) and is, in my opinion, the standard quality that I would expect for most maps in an Adventure Path (if a third party were selling them). My thoughts are that these maps can be created fairly quickly and could make the bulk of combat maps, with one or two High Quality maps per adventure.

Anyways, here are the links:

* Foxglove Townhouse Level 1
* Foxglove Townhouse Level 2
* Foxglove Townhouse Level 1

Note that I'm now hosting my maps at Creative Gremlins.com - specifically, the Gallery. If anyone has Watcher's maps, send them to me and I can post them.

Thanks for the compliments. I agree that there needs to be some sort of solution. Maybe I can help contribute to that solution, but we'll see.

I went ahead and did a VERY basic map of Foxglove's Townhouse. I basically converted the existing map as faithfully as I could. I didn't put in any extra details (like scattered books or damage to the house), as I focused entirely on speed mapping and simplicity. This has the secondary benefit of making the map reusable for other adventures!

It's at lesser scale (100 dpi) and is, in my opinion, the standard quality that I would expect for most maps in an Adventure Path (if a third party were selling them). My thoughts are that these maps can be created fairly quickly and could make the bulk of combat maps, with one or two High Quality maps per adventure.

Anyways, here are the links:

* Foxglove Townhouse Level 1
* Foxglove Townhouse Level 2
* Foxglove Townhouse Level 1

Note that I'm now hosting my maps at Creative Gremlins.com. This is a small company that I've help start which focuses on getting together independent artists and content producers to sell their RPG materials. Of course, we will have free stuff for the fans, like these maps.

Seriously, I just found mine.. they made me smile because it was my own work and I'd never tried to make maps before.. but they're not up to Tintagel's level of quality. My Thistletop maps used a light floor tile because I was burning way too much toner at *my* office's plotter.

I plot black and white blueprints at my office, when we burned through the color carts, I had to find an alternative.

Now with a VTT, it doesn't matter as much how many colors you're using or how detailed....

Hey Tintagel, I think I ran into you online Saturday night.. a demonstration of EpicTable at FUMcom?

Yes that was me! Oh, Watcher (and anyone else here really) if you need a place to host your maps, email me: tintagel (at) creativegremlins.com

I have a free map hosting (and possible business) solution for all artists on these boards.

Watcher wrote:

Chinchbug did an awesome 3D version of the Sandpoint Cathedral

Here: cathedral

linked

I noticed the link to the JPEG, but not the SKP file (that is, the actual 3D model file for Google Sketchup). That would be great.

If I can get some time, I will look at doing the roof and start tackling the tower, but no promises. I'm still working on getting Creative Gremlins off the ground and updating my powercard templates to include the PHB2 classes. http://educatedgamer.net/powercards.htm

Too much to do, too little time...

Very nice 3D model! I'm detecting Sketchup there! Could we get a link to the original sketchup file too? I could render out a video flyby if you want, and get it up on Youtube. Also, I don't mind hosting the file if need be!

That obvious huh? Yeah, limits on art & time. In retrospect, I should have just constructed one from scratch, but I stayed up til 4 am finishing the map, and I simply had to make if quick.

:-(

The last of Misgivings is done:

Misgivings: Caverns

I was preparing for today's campaign last night and I realized, to my horror, that I didn't ever map this, so I burned the midnight oil and got to mapping furiously. I wish I could have spent a bit more time on it, but... meh.

The last of Misgivings is done:

Misgivings: Caverns

I was preparing for today's campaign last night and I realized, to my horror, that I didn't ever map this, so I burned the midnight oil and got to mapping furiously. I wish I could have spent a bit more time on it, but... meh.

Thanks Karui!

I intentionally enlarged that cave a bit to have a bit more maneuverability in the possible fight. My players didn't even fight the Chuul down there (4E conversion). :-(

If you want, I can create an account for you on my site, so you could post your own content there - it's meant to be a collaborative site, and frankly I was hoping that our Community Created Content could all be hosted there in one place. But either way, if you want access, just say the word. You could then upload the files or even link to them.

Of course, I could do that for you if you feel more comfortable that way. Just let me know.

Btw, the invite goes for anyone on these boards.

Note: This is an endorsement for a product, but it's one that I believe in, and relevant to the topic at hand.

I've tried several VTs out there: Klooge, Maptools, Battlegrounds, Fantasygrounds... and they all left a bit to be desired for me. I think a good VT needs to display maps of any size or resolution, needs to handle GM and player knowledge (fog of war, hidden rolls, hidden units, etc), and be able to accommodate house rules.

In addition, it needs to scale and be as simple or advanced as the user wants. In the advanced end of the scale, it should handle initiative, hp, and ongoing effects with little muss or fuss.

The VT I use is d20pro, and it does pretty much all of that. I'm currently using it to run my 4E Runelords game.
If interested, check it out at: www.d20pro.com and download a 30-day fully functional trial. If you need help getting started, visit the Online Manual.

Digital content has so many benefits:
* PC minis are more customized and varied. Just find an image that you want for your PC and you are set. You can find images online, use your own drawing, or even take a picture of your existing mini. What's better, you can change the image whenever you want.
* Good VTs track hp, initiative, effects, and can even have attacks programmed in, sparing you from the headaches of keeping track of all that on paper. This dramatically speeds up play and allows players and GMs to focus on the really important parts of the game: strategy, storyline, descriptions, and role-playing - NOT bookkeeping.
* Digital maps are CHEAPER than printed ones.
* Digital maps give you more control in the storytelling process. You can control Fog of War or even lay down additional layers (on some VTs) to mark changes or objects that you want to be dynamic. In the Skinsaw Murders, I use this technique in Misgivings to show a curious pattern on the floor after the party moves a rug. I drop an image of the rug on top of the base floor and delete it when the party moves it.
* Of course, VTs allow you to play with people in person or remotely (or in combination). Woohoo!

I'll weigh in here a bit, if you all will tolerate it. I use not only VTs, but several other digital tools for my game, and they are life-savers.

I use a VT exclusively and I can say that there is no going back to traditional minis once you fully embrace the digital. My main campaign meets in person at my house and we use a projector and laptop. My players love it, and I love it. As a DM, I use the following tools:

Google Sites: http://dnd.educatedgamer.net
We use this site to host all of our character sheets, backgrounds, and bookeeping info. This also has information on the campaign as a whole.

PHPBB Forum: http://forums.educatedgamer.net
We use this site for posting in-character journals.

Evernote: www.evernote.com
I use evernote to keep notes on campaign information, but also on small bits of info, like powercards, clues, or handouts. I can then drag & drop those into notebooks and publish those notebooks for my players to see. Currently, I have 2 notebooks published for them:
Character Treasure - A link to all treasure we have found in the campaign.
Character Notes - Clues, quest cards, and other items of interest that the party has found.

What's great about Evernote is that it's searchable - even within images! Yep, evernote detects words in an image (like the powercards) and catalogs it.

I've been working on several maps for the Rise of the Runelords AP. You can see my conversion site here, which includes not only battlemaps but also a Google Earth Placemark and 4E conversions.

That's all for now. Next post I will discuss my VT solution - the best out there imho. :-)

I hate you for doing such amazing work and being exactly one step behind me. I found your postings for this the night after I ran the first two thirds of Foxglove Manor. For the upcoming game, I need the caverns and the sawmill. Looks like I'm relying upon my considerably less formidable talents for this...

Ah, I'm sorry Thantrax. I'm currently in a topsy-turvy stage in my life. My job is going away as of June, so I'm hunting for one, but still working. I'm trying to get a small startup off the ground (mapping related) so that I can approach Paizo about doing just this kind of work as a 3rd party developer. And I'm also doing some free work for Mindgene, the company that makes d20pro VT software. Oh, and I have a wife and wonderful 16 month old girl.

I'm afraid that I have a harder time justifying free map work, so I'm really focusing on the real juicy ones that I want to see for my own personal reasons. That said, I hope to work on the catacombs a bit tonight, but that might be too late for you.

Tintagel is the figure in the broken stained glass window the king from a well known BBC adaptation of a fantasy classic?

Heh, yeah he is. The stained glass windows were "value adds" and blatant Google Image Search ripoffs, but my players will appreciate them. None of them have seen much BBC stuff either. The sorceress in the stained glass is also very well known, I'm afraid.

You will also notice that I added a new version of the Iesha painting. The one in the module is great, but it just didn't match the description of this young, beautiful gypsy woman. That one seemed much more... matronly? I dunno, but the one in the module looked like she could break me in two...

At the request of my wife (of all things), I substituted a picture of Monica Belluci (Matrix, Brotherhood of the Wolf) instead.
Iesha Redux
I also find that it makes the revenant that more horrifying, since it's a larger contrast to what you see in the painting (the module one looks mean already, LOL).

Well, we game tomorrow (today, actually - it's past midnight) - and I just hope they don't go down into the caverns yet. Luckily, we are just starting Skinsaw Murders today, so I don't think they will get that far.

I still have to map the caverns, then I am taking a bit of a break from mapping probably. I'm considering constructing the clocktower in 3D using Sketchup, but I'm not sure yet.

Scott, I just finished looking at your Misgivings conversion information and WOW... It's a complete lifesaver. Thanks a thousand times.

P.S. Karui.... LOL!

Misgivings Basement (200dpi)
The basement is a pretty dark and disgusting place, covered in rat droppings and mold. I struggled with whether or not I should put any lights, but the map looked pretty bland without them, so I added glow-fungus throughout. besides, I had already set the precedent on the 1st floor. The staircase down was particularly challenging but fun.

Reminder: Don't forget to check the link at the beginning of the post for all the stained glass images, for your players

I've started a new thread for the Skinsaw Murders maps. I really should have done this a while back, and I apologize, Gr4ys for taking up so much of this thread on that.

http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/adventurePa th/runelords/combatMapsSkinsawMurders

This thread is probably best served as an aggregation thread so people can quickly see what has been made and visit those respective threads, not to discuss one particular project. Please continue to update your list so we can all find great works from the community!

Misgivings Level 3 (200dpi)
Brain... Turning... Into... Pudding...
Geez, this house is going to be the death of me. Lots of work on this level to get the holes in the floor right. I also had some tricky lighting areas and the roof... gah.

Anyways, several hours and lots of Midnight Syndicate, Nox Arcana, Castlevania, and Dracula Soundtrack... plus coffee. Lots of coffee - and I'm done! :-P

Now I just have to delve into the basement... **shivers**

Misgivings Level 2 (200dpi)
This was a difficult map because I made several adjustments to hue/saturation on the 1st level that I never documented, so getting this one to like the same house as the 1st (in terms of color and lighting) was difficult. Lesson Learned: TAKE NOTES

Misgivings Level 1 (grounds and house - medium res: 100dpi)
You can follow the link in the description to get the full 200dpi file. Warning: it's 8000x5000 pixels.

Misgivings Level 1 (just house, 200 dpi)
Cropped to reduce file size and focus on the interiors. I tried to follow most of the module's descriptions to the letter, and had to create a lot of custom objects. I had a great time with the mold & fungus everywhere. This was the beginning of an obsession...

Player Handouts - Stained Glass Windows & Notes
Since these play such an important role in the symbolism, are described in great detail, and are clues to the overall story, I decided to render these out. Keep in mind that they use copyrighted art - these are just for personal use and I hope that I modified them enough to arguably create a new work. Don't sue!

FARMS

Hambley Farm
This is the simple farmstead where the party has a big fight. This map actually steals 2 maps from some old ones I found on the web a long time ago (the barn and the house interior). I did not map those! If they are yours, please let me know, since I have long since forgotten where I got them, and would like to give credit.

Cornfield 1
Cornfield 2
Cornfield 3
Cornfield 4
Just some basic cornfields (nighttime). Really basic.

Hello everyone,

Some of you probably know that I'm already mapping several locations for the Skinsaw Murders, and posted many on the community created content thread, but I think this is a big enough project to warrant its own thread (rather than hijacking what is supposed to be an indexing thread).

I want to welcome everyone so post on this thread any comments or battlemaps that you have done for the Skinsaw Murders too. Hopefully, Gr4ys will continue to catalog updates on his thread to have a concise place for all content (map, models, handouts, etc).

Without further ado, here is all of my content for the Skinsaw Murders:
http://4e.educatedgamer.net/Home/rotr/Skinsaw-Murders

If you'd like a more graphical layout, check out my gallery: http://educatedgamer.net/gallery. Click on Map Sets, then Rise of the Runelords: Skinsaw Murders. Individual maps are discussed below.

IF IT'S BLUE, It's a link!

That's freakin sweet dude. Seriously. Someone needs to model this thing in Sketchup or something...

tintagel, can we clone you and redo every map in all the APs in this awesomeness?

Please?

Pretty please?

Well, I wish. Seriously, I'm working on getting some mappers together and making a serious proposal to Paizo about a 3rd party battlemap solution, but time is my enemy. I have a 1 year old, a wife, a job, and I'm trying to finish mapping Misgivings. Somewhere in there I am establishing Creative Gremlins for the purpose of bringing little-known artists and writers together into a creative community.

Right now, we just have a forum up and the beginnings of a main page (which is closed for building). CG Forums

Oh, and I'm looking for a job, as mine ends in June. :-S

P.S. Thanks for all the kind words. Your enthusiasm keeps me motivated (since I'm not getting paid for this - yet).

Actually, this is one that I already mapped but forgot to put on my conversion site. Thanks for reminding me - I just uploaded the map to my gallery and Google site.

RotR project page - Burnt Offerings - Scroll down to the High-Res battlemap section, last entry.

Misgivings, Level 2 is done.

I also revamped level 1 and the surrounding areas. Most notably, I added stained glass effects and cobwebs to the 1st level and desaturated the outside vegetation considerably.

Hope you guys like this! Coming Next: Basement, Attci, & Caverns.

So ummm let me get this straight no one is posting maps here????? at all?

Sure we are. You can grab all of the ones I have done on my RotR 4E project site:

Educated Gamer - Rise of the Runelords Project Site

If you would rather browse the maps visually, you can also get them at my gallery site:
Educated Gamer Gallery

Just click on the first section: Map Sets
Then scroll down and look for the RotR. I have some for Burnt Offerings and Skinsaw Murders.

Also, this thread has more community created content - including some battlemaps.
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/adventurePa th/runelords/forumCreatedStuffMayContainSupplements

Ok, here is a link to the 200dpi misgivings WITHOUT DOORS. I'll leave this up for a couple of weeks. I won't put it on my gallery unless more people need it.

Misgivings level 1 - No Doors

I may be able to swing that... LOL. I can get it to you on Sunday (I'm out of town for Valentine's Day).

What other specifications do you need? 100dpi? 200dpi? grids or no?

Sorry I didn't deliver Toyrobots. Some job issues came up and consumed my time. I've been trying to get my portfolio in order and I've had to act on some time-sensitive things. I'll get it done this weekend, and hope to finish Misgivings levels 2, attic, and basement by Sunday too. I better, we game then.

Keep yer fingers crossed.

Hey tintagel,

How do I print off your maps of the glasswork so I can have 1" battlemaps?

I don't print my maps, just use a VT, so I'm not too experienced with the process, but I think You will have to cut it up into printable sections (like 8x10). The image is at 100 DPI, so 100 pixels per 5 ft. You can use Photoshop, GIMP, or PosteRazor which I haven't used but hear is good.

This may seem a bit... well, off topic, but I assure you it's not. I would love to get feedback from you guys on this guy's TED Talk.

Malcolm Gladwell on Spaghetti Sauce

I think this is what some 3rd party developers need to do. See, when I create a map, it's just a few more minutes for me to produce a gridded version, a vanilla (no lighting) version, or a version without objects or doors. It's also easy to export it to a 50dpi, 100dpi, and 200dpi resolution (as long as I start with a 200dpi original).

Digital content gives us that freedom to produce many variations of one product for the consumer. So see, we aren't looking for the perfect map, we're looking for the perfect maps. Watch the video.

Thoughts?

Even though I'm a printer guy (my name and all), I'm thinking about creating an adventure module or even a complete campaign arc, that's intended for use with VTT exclusively and try to market it commercially. A provided PDF would be only the text of the game. All maps regional and encounter scale would be for using VTs. Thus I'd even include map objects for the PCs as well as encounters.

Hey, I wrote one like that for d20pro. It's called Kobold's Revenge, and it's free. It includes high-res maps, a PDF, and the d20pro files with monsters and maps already set up for play. Get a 30-day trial of d20pro if you want to test it, or just download the PDF and jpgs and use it with your favorite VT.

http://www.d20pro.com/downloads.php

I may be able to swing that... LOL. I can get it to you on Sunday (I'm out of town for Valentine's Day).

What other specifications do you need? 100dpi? 200dpi? grids or no?

PS: I am a freeelance cartographer and user of virtual tabletop programs, so the claims I'm making have some foundation in experience. The next Map of Fantasy for Kobold Quarterly will do all of the above.

I'm forming an LLC called Creative Gremlins that is designed to bring artists like you and I together and leverage our talents for companies and even sell digital goods individually. If you are interested, email me at: rivera.ga (at) gmail.com

tintagel wrote:

Misgivings level 1 is finally done!

These look great. Although my players went down the well first and so they haven't even been to the first level yet. Bastards!

I did have a few questions:

1. Are both resolutions meant to be printed at the same 1" = 5' scale? (I've downloaded the files but I haven't opened and tried to print anything yet.)

2. Have you consisdered making an image the shows the house on the lands with a roof instead of the rooms showing?

Sometimes what I like to do is print out a "base" map without the room details and then print and cut out the rooms individually. So the players would be able to see the external shape of the house but wouldn't know the size or shape of the rooms they hadn't visited yet.

This worked for Thistletop because the players could see where they were in relation to the edges of the island, but the had no way of knowing the size, shape, and number of rooms waiting for them in the unvisited / unmapped sections.

My players are used to gridlines, but I can go either way. All the figures for medium critters have bases that are about an inch across. So if there's a spot without another figure on it, you can stand there. If your bases are close to touching, you're adjacent. Sometimes counting squares is slower than just pulling out a ruler, especially for diagonal movement in curvy tunnels.

Yes, both are. You can download the 200dpi version of the house + area by following the link in the description in the gallery.

I thought about doing a roof version, but that's more printing for those who use minis, and more development time for me - and since I'm not getting paid, time is hard to justify. I could spend similar amounts of time doing the next level, so you see where my priorities are.

I use a Virtual Tabletop program to run my games, which means no printing, no cutting, and I can use fog of war to hide any part of the map. Players use jpegs for their minis and things run MUCH smoother. I sold my minis and have never. looked. back. The VT I use (d20pro) is $30 and I only need one license, since it supports 1 player computer and the players share that. We play at the table and use a projector - though a monitor or TV works very well too.

I would also like to echo the appreciation that has been expressed for Vic, and now Lisa! Not many companies would have their technical director and CEO patiently explaining some of the finer points of their business with the community. I value your imput and time and hope that this conversation had been as beneficial to Paizo as it has been to us.

I'm going to have to take a serious look into the business plan idea posted by Vic. One of my gaming buddies knows CAD and was also an RPG Superstar-08 Top 32. And I've always liked maps... :)

If you are serious, Michael, email me: rivera.ga (at) gmail.com

I'd love to put our heads and efforts together with some other artists I know.

So do you guys figure that the prep time for the d20pro method is less than paper DM notes, printing out maps, & figures?

My friend has a 50" flat screen networked to his computer. I can imagine the players sitting at the couch looking at the big screen while the DM sits at the nearby desk and drives the action from a PC.

But my friend also has hundreds and hundreds of minis. Not sure if the group will want to give all that up...

Prep time is about the same overall, BUT it's digital, so you can share your materials with others and even create a wiki or some other community system. The added benefits of seeing hp onscreen and being able to use as many creatures as you want (not limited by minis) is nice - your characters look like you want them to - just find a jpg online. This is true for any digital product though, regardless of what VT you use.

I don't want to hijack this thread, and don't mean to promote a product here - maybe we should start a new thread for that. Let's get back to talking about the OP... heh.

1) Yes.
2) $15-20 per adventure - with no keys, grids optional, and day/night variants when applicable. Oh, and possibly an occasional variant if things change a lot (before and after a major fire in the storyline, etc).

I think we have 2 major camps here, in terms of those who would be interested in battlemaps:

1) hard copy
2) electronic copy

Based on some of the calculations that James Jacobs and others have made, I think the only really viable option for full battlemaps of every AP would have to be digital versions in jpeg or some other format.

Virtual tabletop software would be ideal, because you could display a Honkin' Huge Map (HHM) pretty easily. Take, for example, the classic Temple of Elemental Evil, by Gary himself, Dungeon Level 1.

I made this map at only 100dpi, which is just slightly blurry if printed but looks great on a screen. It's 7000x9000 pixels, 8.5 MB in size, and if printed out at 1-inch scale would span 5 ft, 10 inches wide by 7 ft, 6 inches long! Yet when I ran it, we loaded the whole map, easily controlled fog of war, and were able to zoom in and out with ease. Download time varied, but only had to be done once.

In summary, I think that High Res (100-200 dpi) battlemaps will be viable either with VTs or in a limited size or series (maybe just 1 full printed battlemap per adventure).

Just my 2 cp.

Do you guys play face-to-face? What is the software you are using? I currently have Fantasy Grounds II, but I haven't really been able to game with it yet due to not having a laptop and gaming at other peoples houses.

Also your link had an extra 'h' in it, I corrected it in my post here.

Yes, we all play at the regular game table. We use our character sheets (more for easy reference), 2 players use their dice - the others use the software. We just upgraded to a projector, but a monitor is fine for most groups. We also use my powercards: 4E Powercards.

The software I use is d20pro: www.d20pro.com. Disclosure: I work on d20pro in my spare time. It handles attacks, initiative, hit points (notice the red on the portraits), and tracks numerical effects and does all the math. At them same time, you can scale back any of the features if desired. Anyhoo, I used to be just a customer but I liked it enough to start working with them. There's a 30-day fuly functional trial and an online manual, so give it a spin if interested. I can also host a demo game if you want.

Thanks again for the link correction:
4E RotR Gallery

Do you really need high resolution images beyond what's already in most adventures, though, for a virtual table top? As in: wouldn't the maps in the PDF version be enough?

Glad you asked that, Mr. Jacobs. Those screenshots should provide your answer. They are scans taken from the printed module of Burnt Offerings, and even blown up to play on, they don't look too bad! So no, you don't need that high of resolution, but a bit higher would be pretty easy to accomplish and much appreciated. :)

I still think that licensing out to a 3rd party developer is the way to go. Paizo gets a cut, the developer assumes all risk. Heck, they are doing it with the 3D folding scenery.

I also think that the current maps are passable as is. Don't believe me? Here is a screenshot gallery of my 4E Rise of the Runelords game - just took a few shots of our last 2 sessions. Make sure you click on the little magnifying glass to zoom in. (top right)

That's the "poor" quality of maps that we have to suffer through - well I can suffer. Keep in mind that the Thistletop dungeon is at DOUBLE scale to fit our 4E combats into it, so the quality would normally be twice as good.

Battlemaps are not impossible. You could produce VERY basic ones in just hours (I know, I do it), and more artistic ones in days. License them out as 3rd party products and everyone wins.

Virtual Tabletops man. Virtual Tabletops.

They solve all of your printing issues.
They solve all of your scaling issues.
They solve all of your miniatures issues.
They even solve your long-distance player & gas issues (though I play with everyone at the table).

For my game table, I run my laptop, an ASUS 900 EEEPC (the dinky one for $400), and a monitor. Most groups have access to 2 lappys. The software I use costs $30 and I only need one license.

We are currently going through Rise of the Runelords, converted to 4E (thanks Scott!) and using some of my maps and scans from the modules. No minis, no hand-drawn maps, infinite scaling (I doubled the dimensions of Thistletop), and faster game play. Even better, the images we can use for the game and "minis" are wonderful and just a Google search away.

See our screenshots from the last session.

If you'd read James' breakdown on this, you'd know that this isn't true. Paying artists to create full-color, 1-inch scale battle maps for only one module in an adventure path would cost more than their entire current art budget for three modules (IIRC). At the moment, even publishing them solely in PDF form isn't feasible.

See that's where I'm a bit confused... Surely the demand for basic battlemaps is higher than the 3-D cut-out-and-build-yourself that WorldWorksGames is publishing? Don't get me wrong, their product is pretty freakin sweet, but how can that be profitable when battlemaps for APs aren't? WOTC currently makes battlemaps for about 20% of their maps - why not start small, with only 1 battlemap per adventure?

Maybe I'm just dense, but I don't see why WorldWorksGames is viable but simple DJ style maps are impossible. What about some sort of licensing thing? What if Paizo licensed the rights to make Battlemaps for their APs, with the condition that there are no stats or keys printed with the maps? Think about it: Will a good battlemap serve as an advertisement or deterrent to buying a module? The map alone is limited in use without the module. Let me and other mappers make these for a percentage of sales, and sell them on your store! Paizo gets a cut and the fans are happy. If the product doesn't sell, no real loss, right? What am I missing?