the pdf is invaluable
havent really used the 4 hex paper maps, got some use out of Varnhold and just starting to use Pitax map (despite it not really being used in the AP proper)
I got the hex maps laminated and coloured over them in black dry-erase marker. I hung them on the wall behind our table and as the party explores I uncover the hexes. I've also laid out the borders of Brevoy, Numeria and the party's own kingdom with other colours. I've added post-it flags to mark important locations as well.
It's been a great visual representation. We're about to start vol 4 and my players are just itching to start uncovering the Slough.
I printed out a whole slew of 2" white paper hexes, bought a bunch of magnetic push-pins from thinkgeek.com (am I allowed to advertise for them here?), and put the posters, the quest lists, and everything else on a galvanized steel sheet I hung from the wall. As the PCs walked through a hex, the paper got removed so they had an idea as to what it was like. As they explored it, I removed the pushpin and kept a bowl of pushpins to show their "progress so far". As they got quests, I removed the paper covering the quest.
In short, the posters were invaluable to me, but that was because:
(1) We only game once a month, so we need a *big* visual reference as to where we've been, and
(2) I was willing to throw the whole thing together. The players really appreciate it, but the response has been, "I can't believe you went to that much effort just to show us where we've been."
I figure once they're exploring all 4 poster maps, they'll appreciate that galvanized sheet steel all the more. And the good news is that I got the steel for my kids' science project, so it was "free".
Greetings, fellow travellers.
The Map Pack is still in my side cart, can't really decide whether to buy it or not.
What I've done so far is cropping the images from the AP's pdfs and printing out the individual hex maps on a color printer and glued them to sturdier paper, cut out the hexes and marked them on the backside indicating "N(orth)" and putting down a notation similar to a chess board (e. g. N, AP#1 C6).
Every time the PCs explore a hex, I retrieve said hex and glue it to a big sheet of cardboard which I put on the table for everybody to see. I also printed out the little icons from the APs and cut out the appropriate one once the PCs have mastered the hex's encounter and glue it onto the appropriate hex.
Right now, I'm working on a joint map using Gimp and once that's completed to my liking will print it out and get it laminated.
Ruyan.
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INDISPENSIBLE!!!!!!
We use the Greenbelt map on the table, with almost every encounter marked on the map. Cut off those hexes of the Nomen Heights map to include the whole of the Shrike River and N of it, (we constantly had to go back to Restov so it was better to just add it on).
For rumors, we use those 2" x 1/2" post its for the general area.
Everything else gets drawn on the map in Sharpies.
Red for dangerous encounters, and battles.
Green for hex numbers and status (we write the hex numbers in once it is explored N-S-E-W if partial, underline for claimed).
Black for important npcs, locations, shire names, and general notes.
Blue for bridges, fords, ferries, and aquatic note.
Brown for roads, hex improvements, and some notes.
Bought a huge number of tokens from LITKO so we can use it as a strategic map.
DO NOT LET ANYONE ROLL BIG OR METAL DICE ON THE MAP!!!!!
IT WILL DIMPLE THE CRAP OUT OF IT, EVEN ON THE FLIP MAPS TOO!!
Then it all gets updated on the E-MAP, which comes from the PDF.
Which uses a lot more variety in colors and icons. The regular colored for explored, B&W for unexplored, sepia for Brevoy, then a couple of other tints for Varnhold and our other minor neighbors.
Should be this huge glorious map once we get done, properly tattered, so we then can use it for some future game set in Moreland a generation or two later.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
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They are amazing and worth the buy. I don't use them anymore because one of my players has an LCD TV that we use as a gaming table and I just throw the maps up on there now.
But before that, I used the maps all the time. My advice, laminate them, and use Dry Erase Crayons on them. You can then let your party mark them up as much as they want.
I use the hex map to track the Kingdom.
Simply put transperant foil on it (I take cheap tranparent gift paper) and you can use non-permanent foil markers to draw kingdom borders, streets etc.
Will also use it for the troop movement in the mass combat part.
The Varnhold map is nice to have but I didn't really need it.
Don't have the maps (yet) - see above. But if you use them on your table I would definitely laminate them for protection. I how many drinks have you spilled while gaming? How many smears of chocolate do your character sheets feature?
Ruyan.
I used the map folio extensively, especially during Chapter 5 for obvious reasons. For that purpose alone it was worth it.
The print version not being available anymore, I got the pdf, but I was wondering on what paper size people printed them?
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One of my players re-printed them from the PDF in poster size and we got four poster frames to cart them around in since our game moves every week. We use grease pencils on the plastic poster cover to mark kingdom borders and other notable locations. The most useful purchase I have made, equivalently important IMO to the AP books themselves.
A3 = perfect :)
A3 = perfect :)
Thanks. Poster size is way too expenseive here(14$/page) But the A3 size is 89 cents/page, plus 2$/page if I want them laminated, that would be alot more reasonable.
I'm going to go against the consensus here. I do have access to the printed map pack (borrowed from someone who's been a subscriber since then) but I see 3 issues with using them
1) We don't have the space. It's a big decision to clear the table sufficiently to use miniatures for an encounter, and each of those maps needs more space than the average fight.
2) The PCs are supposed to be the first people to map the area properly, and they are concentrating much more on landmarks and content than on exact geography, so these maps really don't feel like what the characters would produce. Plus, if they make any mistakes I'd like them to be stuck with them (they've been pretty accurate so far, but I can just see one of their armies getting lost later on because they didn't spend enough time on a hex).
3) I can't change anything. Given that the hexes don't actually line up between the first two maps in the AP, I need to tweak the Western edge of the Narlmarches, and that's before I even think about adding features to support extra encounters and side adventures.
@Thrund 2):
Thought the same way... until my players got plenty of money/BP and simply hired the gnome expedition to explore the Drelev area...
I decided to provide the map without any landmarks etc. (the gnome asked for extra money to reveal the landmarks and the players denied^^).
Also I simply put the maps on the wall to safe table space (you can also simply put your battle map over the kingdom map when needed, this is how we handled it as the map still fits to the table^^)
@Thrund 2):
Thought the same way... until my players got plenty of money/BP and simply hired the gnome expedition to explore the Drelev area...
Same here. They did the Greenbelt themselves, and by that time they had enough money and power to have a great many ways to have the map.
So I gave it to them, throught "various ways", and they still have to find the specials. Only the general areas :)
@Thrund 2):
Thought the same way... until my players got plenty of money/BP and simply hired the gnome expedition to explore the Drelev area...
I'm not expecting that because my most likely character to become the baroness (pretty much decided apart from writing it on the sheet) is a female gnome. So Jubilost Narthropple - who I've rebuilt as an Archivist bard, with a low-level Sorceress assistant - may well end up as Baron or Consort.
I finally went with A3 + plastified(to be able to write with an erasable marker on them), they look gorgeous! Only costed me 15$.
I then simply covered them with a piece of paper, carefully cut into hexagon to match the hex behind, and I plan on removing the hexagon as they explore the different hexes. I'll leave it to them to write what landmark is where as they explore.