Hey all! I don’t know if this is the right place to post this, but here goes! Also, tried to find this info on here before posting, but couldn’t find anything!
Do the maps in Waterdeep Dragon Heist have DM and Player versions when bought here on DnD Beyond?
I want to buy the digital version of Dragon Heist, but only if the maps are usable for Virtual Tabletops like Roll20.
But to open this up wider: What do people think of the Dyson Black and White maps in Dragon Heist? Do you like this better than the full color, illustrative maps from previous 5E adventures? What about the rest of the maps in the book? That poster size Waterdeep map seems pretty rockin’!
there are high resolution "player" versions of the maps, as well as the annotated DM versions. This is true for the maps in each chapter, as well as the colour poster map.
The maps can be a little stylized, so you may want to do some very minor editing before use on something like Roll20 - just stuff like rotating the image so that the grid squares are vertical.
And the maps have the fold lines still on them from their layers. The blue dotted lines... yeah, those would indications of folds.
I just checked all the maps I could find and don't see any with "fold lines" - can you let me know which map you're referencing please?
So I grabbed the images from the module and then saved them out to my hard drive. I dropped it into Indesign so I could print the Dock Ward for my home game.
When I zoomed in to print just that area, I noticed the lines. You don't see them from a high level. But if I took this image and printed it at Kinko's or even Vista Print, they'd show up.
It's not just this area, but about every 8-10 inches, basically the size they would need to fit in a book. And it's throughout. And on both maps, DM and Player's. But again you don't see them unless you zoom in on the image. If I print the entire thing out to a letter sized document(8.5x11) it's fine.
I'm also seeing the same thing (indesign isn't required, any program that lets you view them full size) , blue fold lines on both the DM and Player version of this map.
I've flagged this thread as a bug, so that it will be tracked, however I will caution that we don't know that this was an error - it could be a design "feature" of these maps.
I'll ask staff to query with Wizards of the Coast, about whether the images are supposed to have the blue dashed lines on them or not and, if not, how we get the maps updated for you all.
Is it possible to purchase the maps separately from the book module? I've already preordered the hard copy book, but would really like a digital copy of the maps for easy printing.
Is it possible to purchase the maps separately from the book module? I've already preordered the hard copy book, but would really like a digital copy of the maps for easy printing.
This isn't something that's available at this time - you could purchase "compendium content" only for $19.99, saving $5 on the full purchase.
I have to admit, the maps are a huge disappointment to me personally. My group plays on Fantasy Grounds, so we're visually inclined. We like maps and tokens, not "theater of the mind." And generally speaking, I've been a big fan of the highly detailed and visually evocative maps WOTC usually includes in their mods. I mean, that's part of the reason we buy them, for high-quality maps that are better than anything we could draw ourselves. The "hand-drawn" style of WDH's maps are...frankly, crap. If the adventure wasn't so good, I wouldn't be so disappointed. The guys at FG must have felt the same way (don't want to speak for them) and they tried to include 'color' versions of the maps, but the effort is minimal at best and not really that much better. (Sorry Zacchaeus-thanks for trying). I'm holding out hope the rest of the mapping community steps up and eventually someone produces some quality maps for this otherwise, awesome adventure. All in all the maps are a huge letdown. Can't believe WOTC went so cheap. Very amateurish and not up to WOTC's usual standards.
They didn't go for cheap or amateur, they went for a professional who is known for and popular because of that style, and they selected him specifically because they wanted a different style from previous modules.
Doesn't mean nobody should express their opinions, I personally don't like them myself. I might change my mind on use of them, we will see. But let's not insult the artist's professionalism, all it does is reflect poorly on the commenter.
My opinion?... love the Dyson Logos maps as a DM, much easier to read and annotate. I was sometimes pulling Mike Schley's maps into an image editor, just so I could cut out parts or change the colors or whatever, so my notes would be readable.
But I wish I had "player versions" in a more Mike Schley style, whether you use a virtual tabletop or printouts. They are always beautiful, and helped pull players into the world.
Short of having the same maps done twice, not sure there is a single ideal solution. I notice there's a "Maps And Miscellany" add on for Dungeon Of The Mad Mage; WotC, can you smell the money? Let people redraw the maps and sell them, and take a cut.
I'm not a fan of this style of maps. I hope they go with previous style of maps for dungeon of mad mage. Otherwise, may as well just make a copy from original undermountain maps.
I'm not an artist or anything, but to me, I agree above that it looks amateurish with this style. Just my opinion. Sure I couldn't do any better, but still I was hoping for better. :*(
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Hey all! I don’t know if this is the right place to post this, but here goes! Also, tried to find this info on here before posting, but couldn’t find anything!
Do the maps in Waterdeep Dragon Heist have DM and Player versions when bought here on DnD Beyond?
I want to buy the digital version of Dragon Heist, but only if the maps are usable for Virtual Tabletops like Roll20.
But to open this up wider: What do people think of the Dyson Black and White maps in Dragon Heist? Do you like this better than the full color, illustrative maps from previous 5E adventures? What about the rest of the maps in the book? That poster size Waterdeep map seems pretty rockin’!
Hi there Leohart,
there are high resolution "player" versions of the maps, as well as the annotated DM versions. This is true for the maps in each chapter, as well as the colour poster map.
The maps can be a little stylized, so you may want to do some very minor editing before use on something like Roll20 - just stuff like rotating the image so that the grid squares are vertical.
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
Thanks so much Stormknight! I appreciate the response! I’ll be picking up Dragon Heist on DnD Beyond soon then!
The maps are missing in my offline copy, the links just go to the cover art.
And the maps have the fold lines still on them from their layers. The blue dotted lines... yeah, those would indications of folds.
I just checked all the maps I could find and don't see any with "fold lines" - can you let me know which map you're referencing please?
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
SmiteWorks made a really cool tool for aligning maps to grids and even providing cell padding to make them easy to import into VTTs
Google "Map Align" (not sure if FG links are frowned upon here)
Bhalcrux - Blue Dragonborn - (7) Divine Soul Sorcerer - Storm King's Thunder
Dungeon Master - Curse of Strahd
So I grabbed the images from the module and then saved them out to my hard drive. I dropped it into Indesign so I could print the Dock Ward for my home game.
When I zoomed in to print just that area, I noticed the lines. You don't see them from a high level. But if I took this image and printed it at Kinko's or even Vista Print, they'd show up.
It's not just this area, but about every 8-10 inches, basically the size they would need to fit in a book. And it's throughout. And on both maps, DM and Player's. But again you don't see them unless you zoom in on the image. If I print the entire thing out to a letter sized document(8.5x11) it's fine.
Does this help?
I'm also seeing the same thing (indesign isn't required, any program that lets you view them full size) , blue fold lines on both the DM and Player version of this map.
I see it when I zoomed in via Photoshop, Chrome and Acrobat too. :D
Oops. I just made a thread about the blue lines. They are annoying and I would like versions without them please.
I've flagged this thread as a bug, so that it will be tracked, however I will caution that we don't know that this was an error - it could be a design "feature" of these maps.
I'll ask staff to query with Wizards of the Coast, about whether the images are supposed to have the blue dashed lines on them or not and, if not, how we get the maps updated for you all.
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
Is it possible to purchase the maps separately from the book module? I've already preordered the hard copy book, but would really like a digital copy of the maps for easy printing.
This isn't something that's available at this time - you could purchase "compendium content" only for $19.99, saving $5 on the full purchase.
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
Thanks @Stormknight for flagging this. I will say the Roll20 versions don't have the blue lines, if that helps at all.
I have to admit, the maps are a huge disappointment to me personally. My group plays on Fantasy Grounds, so we're visually inclined. We like maps and tokens, not "theater of the mind." And generally speaking, I've been a big fan of the highly detailed and visually evocative maps WOTC usually includes in their mods. I mean, that's part of the reason we buy them, for high-quality maps that are better than anything we could draw ourselves. The "hand-drawn" style of WDH's maps are...frankly, crap. If the adventure wasn't so good, I wouldn't be so disappointed. The guys at FG must have felt the same way (don't want to speak for them) and they tried to include 'color' versions of the maps, but the effort is minimal at best and not really that much better. (Sorry Zacchaeus-thanks for trying). I'm holding out hope the rest of the mapping community steps up and eventually someone produces some quality maps for this otherwise, awesome adventure. All in all the maps are a huge letdown. Can't believe WOTC went so cheap. Very amateurish and not up to WOTC's usual standards.
Go ahead, draw maps in a similar style and see how long it takes you. /eyeroll They're just a different style of map than digitally painted maps.
They didn't go for cheap or amateur, they went for a professional who is known for and popular because of that style, and they selected him specifically because they wanted a different style from previous modules.
Doesn't mean nobody should express their opinions, I personally don't like them myself. I might change my mind on use of them, we will see. But let's not insult the artist's professionalism, all it does is reflect poorly on the commenter.
The topic has come up many places.
My opinion?... love the Dyson Logos maps as a DM, much easier to read and annotate. I was sometimes pulling Mike Schley's maps into an image editor, just so I could cut out parts or change the colors or whatever, so my notes would be readable.
But I wish I had "player versions" in a more Mike Schley style, whether you use a virtual tabletop or printouts. They are always beautiful, and helped pull players into the world.
Short of having the same maps done twice, not sure there is a single ideal solution. I notice there's a "Maps And Miscellany" add on for Dungeon Of The Mad Mage; WotC, can you smell the money? Let people redraw the maps and sell them, and take a cut.
I'm not a fan of this style of maps. I hope they go with previous style of maps for dungeon of mad mage. Otherwise, may as well just make a copy from original undermountain maps.
I'm not an artist or anything, but to me, I agree above that it looks amateurish with this style. Just my opinion. Sure I couldn't do any better, but still I was hoping for better. :*(