I have been using GIMP to create a few updated versions of the existing maps for players. The Player version of the Saltmarsh Region map, for instance, has no locations on it at all, which doesn't really make sense.
Meanwhile, the Danger at Dunwater 'players' map' for the insert includes all the information they shouldn't have.
Anyway, I wondered if I am allow to upload them here? They are obviously copyright material but equally I'm not sure how much use they could be to any DM who didn't pay for Ghosts of Saltmarsh.
If it's considered okay I'll upload them.
(TBH I don't fully understand the 'players' version' of interior maps. The location stuff is just the entire map minus the numbers in most cases. E.g. the one of the Sea Ghost for the players makes the two secret compartments very obvious. Do DMs just give their players whole maps sometimes?)
I bought a “book” of oversized graph paper with a 1” grid on it and I’m drawing everything on it for my players prior to the game. I’m trying to decide if I’m going to manage the maps by covering the parts that they haven’t seen yet or cutting them into pieces and laying them out room by room.
i for one would love to see it i was surprised/ disappointed that they didn't remake the region map when i got the book. and it would be nice to have something that's a bit more pleasing to look at.
sadly im not sure i see many people post maps in the art section which i suppose is where it should be placed. but as far as i can tell they are all original. you would probably have to message a moderator. https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/news-announcements/2-site-rules-guidelines has a list of mods you can talk to they should be the ones who could answer.
Unfortunately it's been confirmed that these would break copyright.
What I can say is the method is pretty easy should you want to try similar yourself. I'll use a bit of Google Maps for my DM's map and a white rectangle for the Player's one.
GIMP is the package I use - it's free and available on Mac and PC - https://www.gimp.org/ - now it's not as userfriendly as you might want but them's the breaks.
Open the DM's map in GIMP to get a new GIMP image based on it, then also open up the player's map as a second GIMP image.
Select all on player's map -> copy, then switch back to the DM's Map and use Edit -> Paste as -> New layer, so you will now have a new layer covering that. Hit the eye in the layers window on the Player's Map to hide it so you can only see the DM's version.
Make sure you select the DM Map layer. Then use the free-form select tool
to select bits of the DM map that you want to show on the player's (I guess "players' map" is more accurate sorry).
Draw round the text/feature you want to pull through up into the player's version
Note that when you meet the start of your line you should get a big orange circle and it should make a loop and join up for you. Now you need to make the Players' Map visible again and also select it in the layer list.
Finally you just do Edit -> Cut and this will cut a hole in the Players' Map layer to let you see the DM's map detail below.
Then you can export the final version to a new image - I'd suggest JPG over PNG as there's more compression and it will help to blur any small issues more!
In terms of cleaning out stuff from a DM's map to make a player's one you should create a layer with a transparent background over the top of your DM map. Then you want use the dropper tool to get the background colour and the brush tool to paint in that colour, but paint on the layer, allowing you to quickly remove it or duplicate it if you are doing a few trickier things.
You can cut and paste from the DM's map to cover over.
Also useful is the wand select tool next to the free-form one which you can use to select a particular colour. E.g. if you want to remove the letter D from the DM's map and cover a hidden spot, you can do the wizard select on that D on the DM's Map.
After the selection go to the Select menu and pick 'Grow' for 1px. This will avoid leaving that telltale fine line around your selection where the colour isn't an exact match.
Now you change to the background colour and then select your transparent layer above the DM's map.
Click on the Bucket Fill tool and make sure the 'Affected Area' setting is on 'Fill Whole Selection' and fill the selected area in the background colour, thus removing the letter. I used this sort of thing to make player's maps without markings from the ones with markings in the adventure.
Hi,
I have been using GIMP to create a few updated versions of the existing maps for players. The Player version of the Saltmarsh Region map, for instance, has no locations on it at all, which doesn't really make sense.
Meanwhile, the Danger at Dunwater 'players' map' for the insert includes all the information they shouldn't have.
Anyway, I wondered if I am allow to upload them here? They are obviously copyright material but equally I'm not sure how much use they could be to any DM who didn't pay for Ghosts of Saltmarsh.
If it's considered okay I'll upload them.
(TBH I don't fully understand the 'players' version' of interior maps. The location stuff is just the entire map minus the numbers in most cases. E.g. the one of the Sea Ghost for the players makes the two secret compartments very obvious. Do DMs just give their players whole maps sometimes?)
If it's not in violation of some sort, I would love access to better maps than the book provides.
I bought a “book” of oversized graph paper with a 1” grid on it and I’m drawing everything on it for my players prior to the game. I’m trying to decide if I’m going to manage the maps by covering the parts that they haven’t seen yet or cutting them into pieces and laying them out room by room.
Professional computer geek
i for one would love to see it i was surprised/ disappointed that they didn't remake the region map when i got the book. and it would be nice to have something that's a bit more pleasing to look at.
Who could say if this is okay to post? I don't really want to get slapped with some kind of issue.
sadly im not sure i see many people post maps in the art section which i suppose is where it should be placed. but as far as i can tell they are all original. you would probably have to message a moderator. https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/news-announcements/2-site-rules-guidelines has a list of mods you can talk to they should be the ones who could answer.
Thanks a lot!
Unfortunately it's been confirmed that these would break copyright.
What I can say is the method is pretty easy should you want to try similar yourself. I'll use a bit of Google Maps for my DM's map and a white rectangle for the Player's one.
GIMP is the package I use - it's free and available on Mac and PC - https://www.gimp.org/ - now it's not as userfriendly as you might want but them's the breaks.
Open the DM's map in GIMP to get a new GIMP image based on it, then also open up the player's map as a second GIMP image.
Select all on player's map -> copy, then switch back to the DM's Map and use Edit -> Paste as -> New layer, so you will now have a new layer covering that. Hit the eye in the layers window on the Player's Map to hide it so you can only see the DM's version.
Make sure you select the DM Map layer. Then use the free-form select tool
to select bits of the DM map that you want to show on the player's (I guess "players' map" is more accurate sorry).
Draw round the text/feature you want to pull through up into the player's version
Note that when you meet the start of your line you should get a big orange circle and it should make a loop and join up for you. Now you need to make the Players' Map visible again and also select it in the layer list.
Finally you just do Edit -> Cut and this will cut a hole in the Players' Map layer to let you see the DM's map detail below.
Then you can export the final version to a new image - I'd suggest JPG over PNG as there's more compression and it will help to blur any small issues more!
In terms of cleaning out stuff from a DM's map to make a player's one you should create a layer with a transparent background over the top of your DM map. Then you want use the dropper tool to get the background colour and the brush tool to paint in that colour, but paint on the layer, allowing you to quickly remove it or duplicate it if you are doing a few trickier things.
You can cut and paste from the DM's map to cover over.
Also useful is the wand select tool next to the free-form one which you can use to select a particular colour. E.g. if you want to remove the letter D from the DM's map and cover a hidden spot, you can do the wizard select on that D on the DM's Map.
After the selection go to the Select menu and pick 'Grow' for 1px. This will avoid leaving that telltale fine line around your selection where the colour isn't an exact match.
Now you change to the background colour and then select your transparent layer above the DM's map.
Click on the Bucket Fill tool and make sure the 'Affected Area' setting is on 'Fill Whole Selection' and fill the selected area in the background colour, thus removing the letter. I used this sort of thing to make player's maps without markings from the ones with markings in the adventure.
i see that's a shame. but the surprise tutorial is more then welcome thank you.