GM Tip of the Week

For a GM running a VoIP, play by post or other virtual table-top game, there’s nothing more valuable than a good map.
And for many people, nothing harder than building one.

Sometimes, a module will come with maps you can scan or photograph, or a PDF file resource, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned its that not every module will have all the maps you will need to run the module.

Which leaves you with a problem; you need a map, and you don’t have one. The traditional resource is graph people, which provides an even grid to start with. Even if you aren’t much of an artist, you don’t need to be; you just need to get the basics in place and consistent. You can represent players with symbols, coloured dots or anything else, as long as they’re consistent. Likewise for monsters.

Be sure to have access to something you can upload and link from; while most sites have upload capability, not all do. If they do, you might want to have a back up resource in case of data loss.

Have a favorite mapping program? Maybe a storage website you particularly like? Tell us about it; we’ll add a link to the appropriate page in the Gamer’s Toolbox.