Adventure Path area miniature maps

[Nakteo]

So, one of my difficulties with running adventure paths is maps for areas that the PC's are going to run into and explore. I want them to be as close to the maps in the books, while not burning an excessive amount of my time or money in the process. (I pick up most all of the flip-mats and tiles that I think will be useful, but that only goes so far.) A long time ago I was going to run a Kingmaker game (Which sadly never got off the ground.) and I drew out fairly detailed maps of a couple of the areas, complete with color, which was great....except that it took me about 6-8 hours of concentrated work per map, something I'd rather not repeat. I will if I have to, but I really don't wanna.

I just got back from Kinkos and was going to simply scan the maps from the AP and blow them up to directly turn them into maps. I thought it was a good idea, until they told me that I'd need a signed release form from the copyright holders to do such. And after looking at the form, it looks like I'd need to get a new one for every single map I wanted to print out. The alternative was that I could copy and blow it up bit by bit until I've got a patchwork map over several pages, which my math tells me would cost around $20 per map, give or take several mistakes (which I'd have to pay for) due to it being an insanely inexact process.

I am very open to suggestions at this point. What methods have y'all GM's used in the past for your adventure path games?

[Doug's Workshop]

Chessex mat and wet-erase markers.

I'm slowly building up a collection of cardstock interiors and props. Very useful for barroom brawls.

Seriously, as a GM, I've got way too much time invested in game prep outside of maps to build super-detailed maps of every encounter area. Heck, most of the time I don't even worry about maps except to use them as a reminder of how many enemies can attack each PC.

[Ravenbow]

On a budget= THIS and Poster Razor

[Brodyz]

If you have the PDF version of the AP, module or whatever you can copy the map from the PDF, paste it into a Word document, then right click on the graphic and save as a picture file. You can then send the picture file to Staples for printing, and you can specify the size, giving you your poster map without dealing with the release issue for a reasonable price.

[Lex Starwalker]

If you have just the plain flip map, you can draw the important stuff (walls, doors) with a wet-erase marker. The paper posted above is really cool, but with shipping it's over $8. You can get Paizo's battlemats on Amazon for $10 with no shipping fee, and they'll last forever. You could have a few of them so you can have the maps you'll need for the session drawn out ahead of time. Chessex has battlemats that I've heard are higher quality, but they cost $20.

[ShinHakkaider]

Yeah the PDF's and PosterRazor is your best bet. That's what I use to get the job done.

[Komoda]

This isn't the cheapest way to go, but I use banners. I enlarge all of the maps to meet the 1" grid. I then add more grids if I need too. This happens when the map is drawn at say 1 grid = 10'. Finally I have them printed onto banner material. You can find many places on line that do this. I own a sign company and can have them printed wholesale, but they are still rather cheap if you pay retail. You can usually get them for $3/sq foot.

You can use wet erase markers on the maps if you wish. Just don't leave them on for longer than the night.

I am currently running the Jade Regent AP and it is working out just awesome. The players love being able to see the maps.

I use photoshop but I hear gimp works well too. I only wish Piazo would make the map pdfs full size!

[Cpt_kirstov]

Nakteo wrote:

I just got back from Kinkos and was going to simply scan the maps from the AP and blow them up to directly turn them into maps. I thought it was a good idea, until they told me that I'd need a signed release form from the copyright holders to do such. And after looking at the form, it looks like I'd need to get a new one for every single map I wanted to print out.

Kinkos seems to be the strictest of the print shops when it comes to this. Staples has the release for the PDFs from the FAQ in their national database, so you should be able to use their print shop

[Nakteo]

Cpt_kirstov wrote:

Nakteo wrote:

I just got back from Kinkos and was going to simply scan the maps from the AP and blow them up to directly turn them into maps. I thought it was a good idea, until they told me that I'd need a signed release form from the copyright holders to do such. And after looking at the form, it looks like I'd need to get a new one for every single map I wanted to print out.

Kinkos seems to be the strictest of the print shops when it comes to this. Staples has the release for the PDFs from the FAQ in their national database, so you should be able to use their print shop

You may have just become my hero. ^.^

[Cpt_kirstov]

And This is the release I mention in case you want to try Kinkos again:

FAQ page wrote:

Can I print my PDF, or have it professionally printed?

You may print one copy of any Paizo PDF for personal use. Note that this only applies to products that list Paizo Publishing as the copyright holder—other publishers may have different policies; you'll need to contact them directly.

[Randomdays]

If you're not using your computer during play, one of the GM's I know is trying this;

Get a piece of hard plastic and put some legs on it and put it on a low table. You can mark it with a standard grid on not. Put a spare monitor under it with the screen facing up, as close to the plastic as possible. Load up the map you want to use and zoom it to fit the standard grid size.

The monster and pc minis can go on the plastic. You can scroll the map to new areas as the players explore.

You could also make maps with Dundjinni or other map software. The GM I know is using the original Neverwinter Nights which looks good with flickering torchlight,waterfalls, and outdoor maps that can go from day to night and back and other dynamic stuff going on. Sinc NWN 1 is tile based, he can make a basic map quickly and then add furniture and such to dress them up a bit. All areas behind closed doors don't appear on screen so there's no problem with the players seeing too much of the map at once.

[Randomdays]

I guess I can't edit the above post for some reason, but looking around the boards, I see there are other posts of people doing simular things wtih monitors or projectors. Take a look in video games and technology and you'll see a few.

[AEIOU]

I've found d20pro to be a great software alternative to maps. I won't ever go back to minis and drawing on the table.... You get a DM client and 2 player clients for the price of admission. Most gamers have a monitor or laptop sitting around that they can use.

For me, it's got the added bonus of allowing remote players that can see and do everything that the other players can. Toss in Teamspeak and they are there for all intents and purposes.