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Hi, guys. I am preparing to run several scenarios at Gen Con this year, and I have a bit of a problem. I need some advice for printing out the maps in the scenarios. Do you more experienced DMs have advice as to make inexpensive maps of your scenarios? I have used gaming paper in the past, but wanted to hear what other DMs do on a budget. Thank you.
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Last year, I did a combination of things. For flip-maps I had, I used them. For the rest, I printed them out (in color) and mounted them on card stock, cut down so that no section was larger than 8.5"X11" so that everything for a scenarios fit in the storage clipboards I bought for this at Walmart.
I will be doing the same this year, though I'd best get stared given that I have six scenarios to prep!
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Last year, I did a combination of things. For flip-maps I had, I used them. For the rest, I printed them out (in color) and mounted them on card stock, cut down so that no section was larger than 8.5"X11" so that everything for a scenarios fit in the storage clipboards I bought for this at Walmart.
I will be doing the same this year, though I'd best get stared given that I have six scenarios to prep!
It's the last part I am trying to figure out. I do have access to Gimp 2 to edit the maps, but I have not done this before.
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There is a good tutorial by Dennis Baker around.
But to sum up... (Note, I use a Mac).
Extract the images - most seasons that is just right clicking, and pasting into a paint program. Save the image, and then open up with posterrazr.
Season 6 many you need to use a bit more powerful tool... Don't yet know if the newer ones fixed the layering issue.
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Obviously, I recommend buying the FlipMaps whenever possible. The MapPacks are nice too. For those, I just print the relevent pages from the pdf on cardstock and use spray adhesive and foam-core board to make portable/durable map boards ready to assemble at the gaming table.
For custom maps, I have had two approaches depending on how many times I plan to use the maps. The first step is to blow up/format the image to scale as a pdf file. Then I go to Staples and have it professionally printed. Depending on the size of the map, it is relatively inexpensive for color printing, and occasionally laminating.
Alternately, I use PosteRazor to print the full-scale map in sections that I can affix to a foam-core backer like MapPacks. The only issue with this option is if the map is very large, it will "digitize" when you blow it up using the program's zoom-to-scale function. Its best to find someone techy with PhotoShop or equivalent software to blow up the map to scale to prevent loss of image quality
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I tend to use gimp to cut down the map to individual rooms.
I find the Players metagame less if they can't see the whole map.
I do this in dungeon crawls using graph paper from a easel pad. It takes more time and organization, but it works well for preventing metagaming based on the physical layout of the map.