Cover the unrevealed sections of the map with black construction paper maybe? Cut out lots of different shapes and sizes and move them around as necessary...
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
BioWizard, that's a good idea should you be playing the physical copy of the book, but like most people using this site, I DM strictly off Beyond when running a pre-written module. Meaning, at best I'll be using a TV to present maps. Which, in itself is a new thing I'll be trying out for a campaign we are starting this weekend. Yay! So, how to deal with that?
With Curse of Strahd, I couldn't tell you exactly, but I have an idea. However, let me preface this by saying that the map itself should NOT be revealed to players until they find the map. Which, usually occurs around the halfway point of the campaign. I only know this about CoS as it is mentioned as a note for the DM in the adventure book itself. If you choose to reveal parts of the map based on where the characters are or have been...that's where things like Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds have advantage from what I'm told...I'm still too stubborn to try them out as I'm doing good just having gone digital to begin with. Haha! But, if you choose to do something like Roll20, there is an extension called Beyond20 that makes it easier to load your maps from Beyond onto their platform. That said, I haven't used it, but supposedly their site allows you to input a fog of sorts affect to conceal various parts of the map from full view.
Thanks for the ideas. Still a bit old school with printed maps and minis. I have been thinking about a more simple solution of playing with the lights out and putting a small light on the map that moves with the minis. Illuminating a small portion of the map.
One way that I have dealt with "fog" is to import the digital map into PowerPoint and then overlay a colored shape that I can then animate to disappear on a click. I can then have the Player version of the map on PowerPoint on my TV/external monitor and still have the DM version of the map concealed.
It's been a while since I've used it, but does roll20 have a fog of war feature? If so, just load the map into roll20 and use their fog of war and share the map on the tv. You might have to have a 'player' account connect to the map to get the hidden effect...
So originally group used one of those grids and washable markers. The Dm drawing each dungeon. This gives you the most control of what to expose and what to hide.
We got lazy so next the DM used the snippet tool to snip each room then posted into our WhatsApp group chat. One of the players became the 'cartographer' drawing the individual rooms onto the grid map to use with our minis.
One of us had an old tv so now we're using that. Place it in the center of the table. The DM hooks up roll20 then have one of the other players log into roll20 as a player but also have their computer hooked up to the tv through HDMI so the DM can link the map and choose to reveal what to show n the player can pan, zoom etc on the map.
Roll20 actually does have a feature that darkens n illuminates rooms based on the lighting or lack of... But that's a paid for feature (Or a feature granted to subbed customers?) Not sure exactly but it's there but not free. We're still loving the free features though
Cover the unrevealed sections of the map with black construction paper maybe? Cut out lots of different shapes and sizes and move them around as necessary...
I have used this method before. It's also handy because you never know the order in which a party is going to explore a nonlinear environment and pre-cut covers can be removed in whatever order to reveal only the relevant areas.
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"Not all those who wander are lost"
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Hi Guys and Gals,
I'm running CoS soon and I like using battle maps for dungeons, but am concerned about conveying the sense of unknown that drives CoS.
Anyone got any tips for this?
Cover the unrevealed sections of the map with black construction paper maybe? Cut out lots of different shapes and sizes and move them around as necessary...
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
BioWizard, that's a good idea should you be playing the physical copy of the book, but like most people using this site, I DM strictly off Beyond when running a pre-written module. Meaning, at best I'll be using a TV to present maps. Which, in itself is a new thing I'll be trying out for a campaign we are starting this weekend. Yay! So, how to deal with that?
With Curse of Strahd, I couldn't tell you exactly, but I have an idea. However, let me preface this by saying that the map itself should NOT be revealed to players until they find the map. Which, usually occurs around the halfway point of the campaign. I only know this about CoS as it is mentioned as a note for the DM in the adventure book itself. If you choose to reveal parts of the map based on where the characters are or have been...that's where things like Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds have advantage from what I'm told...I'm still too stubborn to try them out as I'm doing good just having gone digital to begin with. Haha! But, if you choose to do something like Roll20, there is an extension called Beyond20 that makes it easier to load your maps from Beyond onto their platform. That said, I haven't used it, but supposedly their site allows you to input a fog of sorts affect to conceal various parts of the map from full view.
You could use gimp and overlay a fog on a new layer and just erase the fog when they discover a new part of the map. If you use a tv to show the maps
Thanks for the ideas. Still a bit old school with printed maps and minis. I have been thinking about a more simple solution of playing with the lights out and putting a small light on the map that moves with the minis. Illuminating a small portion of the map.
One way that I have dealt with "fog" is to import the digital map into PowerPoint and then overlay a colored shape that I can then animate to disappear on a click. I can then have the Player version of the map on PowerPoint on my TV/external monitor and still have the DM version of the map concealed.
It's been a while since I've used it, but does roll20 have a fog of war feature? If so, just load the map into roll20 and use their fog of war and share the map on the tv. You might have to have a 'player' account connect to the map to get the hidden effect...
So originally group used one of those grids and washable markers. The Dm drawing each dungeon. This gives you the most control of what to expose and what to hide.
We got lazy so next the DM used the snippet tool to snip each room then posted into our WhatsApp group chat. One of the players became the 'cartographer' drawing the individual rooms onto the grid map to use with our minis.
One of us had an old tv so now we're using that. Place it in the center of the table. The DM hooks up roll20 then have one of the other players log into roll20 as a player but also have their computer hooked up to the tv through HDMI so the DM can link the map and choose to reveal what to show n the player can pan, zoom etc on the map.
Roll20 actually does have a feature that darkens n illuminates rooms based on the lighting or lack of... But that's a paid for feature (Or a feature granted to subbed customers?) Not sure exactly but it's there but not free. We're still loving the free features though
You can cover the maps with a sheet of acrylic, and use an erasable marker on the acrylic to cover up the map. Then erase to reveal parts of the map.
I have used this method before. It's also handy because you never know the order in which a party is going to explore a nonlinear environment and pre-cut covers can be removed in whatever order to reveal only the relevant areas.
"Not all those who wander are lost"