Plaugebearer's page

I'm not sure my method will be the most technically competent but I would be glad to hear others methods. Here is what I do...

1.) I generally go to the boards and look at the community created material or do a series of google searches to see if anyone has done a map and if so I use that one.

2.) If not I go to the interactive map pdf and go to the respective map. Zoom in to 200% (not sure if this helps). Use the edit drop down to choose Take a Snapshot and highlight the map. This will automatically copy it to the clipboard.

3.) At this point you can either put it into a basic paint program or a free editing program like GIMP. I generally crop them down so that the grid isn't partial on the edges of the map if possible.

4.) I then add an alpha layer and export the file as a .png file as a force of habit.

5.) Drop the image into Roll 20 on the map layer and adjust it until the grid matches up to the Roll 20 grid or change the size of the page to match the number of boxes on the map.

Note: Be sure to use the tag / buttons at the top of the interactive maps to turn off the tags so you don't spoil anything for the players.

Great thank you for the help

Is the map the same as in the old edition?

I guess the issue you're having is that same that I had - just about every marked location on the map is where "something" happens. A PC will glance at the map and think, ok, something is going to happen at Eel's End, something is going to happen at the Hospice, and so on.

The map itself wasn't a problem for me, we play on roll20 and I could just copy the spoiler-free map out of the pdf. As for stuff like Eel's End, which is a pretty well-known place that any resident of Korvosa ought to know about, so it should be included in your gazetteer.

And to avoid the "here's a list of places where you'll have encounters" effect, I went on to describe, just, dozens and dozens of other places. Enough that it was obvious to even the most metagamey of my players that some of those places were just background information. I left some locations off the list entirely (At the start of the game, the place which becomes the Hospice of the Blessed Maiden is a run-down, nondescript Arkona warehouse, just like dozens of other warehouses in that neighborhood). My rule of thumb was, "would a long-time resident of Korvosa know about this place?"
The Guide to Korvosa is perfect for this, but you can just make it all up if you don't have that.

hey Roloz you said you play this on Roll20 I was hoping I could pick your brain about how to move the maps into that program as I am brand new at using that program.