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Greetings,

So I find myself spending a lot of time during sessions drawing building and area layouts on the battle mat. This was fine for a little while, but as the PCs venture into different areas the redraw frequency is getting pretty high even if I don't bother unless they end up in combat.

It occurs to met that if I designed dungeons and other maps so that I had tactical scale media, I could just drop those on the battle mat and be ready to go--possibly with several versions or "puzzle piece" divisions so that they don't see areas they haven't reached. Right now, this is difficult, as I draw up my own dungeons on graph paper (not the right scale) and occasionally use modules (which typically don't come with scale media, only smaller maps).

It's time I picked up a decent tool for map design and presentation--preferably a program already geared toward one inch grid-based games like Pathfinder. The ability to print at usable scale would be a plus. The more bells and whistles, the better, but I don't have a ton of money to spend.

The other half is looking into ProFantasy for her writing needs, but as I understand it it's very good for Pathfinder and similar campaigns as well. It is also very expensive. It consists of twenty-odd programs and add-ons, each sold separately or in a very large (read: $670) bundle. I do not know how much overlap there is between the different portions or whether they communicate well with each other the way some software suites do.

What do you folks use?

Scarab Sages

As for the gaming needs, I have a group member who has spent thousands (perhaps tens of thousands) buying miniatures, dungeon tiles, and object figures. We still use the battle map, especially when areas are large, but the tiles make easy buildings and tunnels. Without an obsessive player with the need to own everything related to the game, I suppose I'd be in the same position you are.

In the past I just used graph paper, drawing the rooms and initials for the location of each character or enemy. It was easily erased during combat and I'd just move on to another sheet of paper when it was used up. That seemed the most economical way, plus it didn't take up a lot of space on the table.

As for the writing needs, I have the ProFantasy software. I only have the basic system, not the add-on or expansion programs. It was fine for what I needed. I have used it for world building and found it to be mes-a-mes. It does exactly what it is supposed to do, but it is not user friendly. Plan on spending many hours familiarizing yourself with the program. I used a complex CAD program for hundreds of hours at work and expected ProFantasy to be, if not easy, at least easier. It really isn't that easy. I think I'd be better off just hand-drawing maps and, should the material be purchased by a publisher, send it off to a professional to have the map made.


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Depending on what your over all goal is but look into maptools which is free. Good to use if you want to use a TV or projector. If you don't mind hand drawing maps you might look into gaming paper.


MapTool looks interesting, but I don't think it quite meets our needs. Maybe if we had a table that doubled as a display. : D A guy can dream.

In the short term I may simply pick up some gaming paper or, barring that, set up a template in Photoshop and craft by hand.


A friend of mine used to use a large sheet of clear plastic that he had drawn 1" squares on. He then would just lay that over maps he had either drawn or printed out. Worked well enough for us.

I have been debating getting a piece of plexiglass and having it grooved with 1" squares. I would have the grooves colored (chalked string would work great for this). Flip it over so you don't draw on the grooved side and it's a clear, 1" squared dry erase board. I have no idea how to go about this and I haven't had a strong enough desire to do it yet to look into it. It would serve the same purpose as the clear plastic. I could then just print out the maps I need to the proper scale and be done with it.


Maybe simply a few more BattleMaps will do (or a bigger).
I also use my tablet at the moment for my kingmaker round, the problem with such tech helps is that it can happen that you get lost in it (happened a few times at my first "tablet"-rounds)

I would stick to good old paper/Battlemap & pencil (and for organising it a folder)


I've found varieties of wrapping paper that have perfect 1" squares on the back. I literally unroll it as the players move through environments and draw out territory as they see it. Economical and really adds gameplay value imho.'

NECRO!


Our gm bought some little square stone tiles from like home depot. they're about 50% larger than the battlemat grid but the party tries to stay pretty close together and the 'fog of war' kinda happens naturally since he's only got so many tiles. I wouldnt say we're necessarily saving and time moving these tiles around but you're right that the battlemat just isnt big enough for the places we investigate.

He printed little doors with little stands that slide under the edges of the tiles so the doors are standing up. Even had some double doors. The only disadvantage is when theres details in a room. With the battlemat you can draw tables and fireplaces and stuff but you cant really draw stuff on the stone tiles, but none of the stuff he ever drew on the mat was picasso anyway so it doesnt make too much difference.

I'm sure there are similar things in the hobby lobby or the craft section of a walmart that would accomplish the same thing for cheaper but this is how we do it for now. It's kind of in its test phase.


You can also buy a Roll of Grid paper which is what our DM does to do complicated maps pre-session.

a 3 1/2' x 200' roll goes for about $25-35 (quick look, might find a better deal out there)

But that's good for 50+ map uses. Use it on the more complicated areas pre-game to cut down on time and the normal map for the easier ones.

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