What GM tools did you use to make hex maps?


Kingmaker


I assume there is software out there that can help.

I am trying out hexographer but am curious if any other programs are good.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

I've been using this. It is a custom made app by someone running the campaign, and would work with virtually any map. It's still a work in progress, but has been very impressive so far.

The app loads the hexes over a map, and allows the addition of preloaded map icons (cities, bridges, etc) and identifies the hexes via name and characteristics. It could be used for any game running Ultimate Campaign.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

I used Hexographer to make a large map image that tied the four maps from the books into one continuous map - you can find it here. Oleg's is in Hex 27.14. It's definitely a work in progress, especially since I didn't really bother with anything in Brevoy, but it is working so far. My plan is to continue working on it in Hexographer and exporting new versions as needed.

I am using Realm Works from Lone Wolf to manage my campaign, so as the players explore the lands I'm uncovering more of the map in the Player view on a second monitor as we play. I have pins on the map that link to entries about the various things they find. So far it's been working pretty well.

I need to check out DaddyDM's program that Bradley mentioned - it looks like a really good way to manage a kingdom once we get to that stage.


definitely going to check out these suggestions.


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

I use MS PAINT & PAINT.NET to modify the KM Map Folio images after having extracted them with Adobe Reader. Just about all of our map icons are custom ones I've made.

We printed out a new map last month at OfficeMax of the Slough, Greenbelt, Nomen Heights and our Map Legend, which takes up full map section now as it includes every Arms being used. OfficeMax almost printed it out at a scale where it could have covered the side of the building! Six feet of paper was used to cover the upper left corner of the Slough map about 1/2" long by 1/8" high!

It would have been glorious to have see it, but I don't know if OfficeMax would have had enough paper & ink for that big of a map, even counting their merging with Office Depot & Staples!


1 person marked this as a favorite.

I use the map images from the adventures, myself. But if I was using the kingdom rules in a different setting, I would probably use Hexographer to make the maps. It makes pretty good maps, and it's free.

The Kingdom Manager application that I built (thanks for the plug, Bradley!) doesn't make maps; it takes a map image and allows you to add all of the other stuff to it (towns, encounter sites, etc.), and then use that to create and manage a kingdom. I did have a thought that one day it could be used to draw maps as well, instead of relying on a pre-existing image, but that will probably never happen.


Photoshop + Wacom Tablet :)
link

For the official Kingmaker campaign I used the map folio and put some clear wrapping "paper" over it.
With this I was able to draw borders, streets, improvements etc onto the map without making it permanent (water erase marker).
You also have a great prop for the table, who doesn't like to move his armies on a map. :)

Only downside of this is that the player will see the whole map beforehand. But once their kingdom has reached some size I think it's no problem to explain it as travelers, traders and adventurers will bring knowledge of the surrounding lands.


I wrote my own javascript-based hex map webapp.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16299287/Kingmaker/Map/map.html

There's also a zipped version which can be downloaded and run locally.

We have it on a tablet in the middle of the table when we play. You can tap/click a hex to remove it to reveal the map underneath, drag icons onto the map from the panel on the left, move around the pawn icon to represent the current party location, and make other customizations from the drop-down menu.


@Spatula Thank you for making the app! It rocks! I've also enjoyed reading some of your blog posts about your campaign.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder Adventure Path / Kingmaker / What GM tools did you use to make hex maps? All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Kingmaker