I use a Chromecast to cast maps to a screen near the table. Unfortunately even player versions of maps can't be cast because they show too much. So my question to you, intrepid adventurers, is what do you think is the easiest (for dummies like me) way to use a fog of war on a map that I can cast to a TV and reveal as they travel through various areas?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
Not sure if this is the easiest method but it's the only thing that comes to mind.
Roll20 has fog of war functionality. You can create two Roll20 accounts - your main DM account that only you see and a second "player" account that you chromecast. As the players progress you erase the fog using your DM window and the changes will be reflected on the player account window. You can recenter the player window without having to switch to it by holding shift and click, which centers every player's view on the spot you clicked.
This is something I struggle with in my games. With physical maps, I've done everything from removing pieces of cardboard to reveal parts of the map as the players get to them, to placing down dungeon tiles as the players move into new areas, to only partially unrolling my large battle map to display only the relevant information. I'm looking at getting a 50" television to lay down as a playing surface and this issue is going to be even more important as I move into the digital map world.
Anyone has a good solution to use the player maps in an online game? Some suggest roll20 - any information how I could adapt the maps?
The trick is getting the map's scale to play nicely with roll20. The easiest way to adapt a map is to scale it so the map's grid lines are 70x70 and crop the edges to the nearest multiple of 70. I usually use the rectangle selection tool in an image editor to select 5 to 10 squares and get an accurate measure of the grid size (most image editors will tell you the size of the selection at the bottom of the window.) Once the image aligns cleanly to roll20's 70 pixel grid it's easy to work with.
Also, turn off the grid in roll20; it's not worth the hassle of trying to get it to align with the map's and you really don't need the snap-to-grid functionality. It's really easy to measure out distances when moving a token (hit Q while you drag it) or distances between tokens (there's a ruler tool).
If you accidentally resize the map in roll20 and want to get it back to the right size, just right-click it and choose Advanced -> Set Dimensions and type in the width and height of the image.
This is something I struggle with in my games. With physical maps, I've done everything from removing pieces of cardboard to reveal parts of the map as the players get to them, to placing down dungeon tiles as the players move into new areas, to only partially unrolling my large battle map to display only the relevant information. I'm looking at getting a 50" television to lay down as a playing surface and this issue is going to be even more important as I move into the digital map world.
50" is nice but keep in mind that 42" is considered proportional to the standard poster-sized map and 1" grid size. Then again, I despise 1" grids which is why I'm aiming for a 55" (so the squares will be larger).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
MapTool on RPTools website works very well. I use it for that exact reason. I have the DM version open on my laptop and then a players version on the television. MapTool is free and it supports fog of war and many other features.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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I use a Chromecast to cast maps to a screen near the table. Unfortunately even player versions of maps can't be cast because they show too much. So my question to you, intrepid adventurers, is what do you think is the easiest (for dummies like me) way to use a fog of war on a map that I can cast to a TV and reveal as they travel through various areas?
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.
Not sure if this is the easiest method but it's the only thing that comes to mind.
Roll20 has fog of war functionality. You can create two Roll20 accounts - your main DM account that only you see and a second "player" account that you chromecast. As the players progress you erase the fog using your DM window and the changes will be reflected on the player account window. You can recenter the player window without having to switch to it by holding shift and click, which centers every player's view on the spot you clicked.
Anyone has a good solution to use the player maps in an online game? Some suggest roll20 - any information how I could adapt the maps?
This is something I struggle with in my games. With physical maps, I've done everything from removing pieces of cardboard to reveal parts of the map as the players get to them, to placing down dungeon tiles as the players move into new areas, to only partially unrolling my large battle map to display only the relevant information. I'm looking at getting a 50" television to lay down as a playing surface and this issue is going to be even more important as I move into the digital map world.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Kill all your enemies, then they shall see nothing...
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
The trick is getting the map's scale to play nicely with roll20. The easiest way to adapt a map is to scale it so the map's grid lines are 70x70 and crop the edges to the nearest multiple of 70. I usually use the rectangle selection tool in an image editor to select 5 to 10 squares and get an accurate measure of the grid size (most image editors will tell you the size of the selection at the bottom of the window.) Once the image aligns cleanly to roll20's 70 pixel grid it's easy to work with.
Also, turn off the grid in roll20; it's not worth the hassle of trying to get it to align with the map's and you really don't need the snap-to-grid functionality. It's really easy to measure out distances when moving a token (hit Q while you drag it) or distances between tokens (there's a ruler tool).
If you accidentally resize the map in roll20 and want to get it back to the right size, just right-click it and choose Advanced -> Set Dimensions and type in the width and height of the image.
50" is nice but keep in mind that 42" is considered proportional to the standard poster-sized map and 1" grid size. Then again, I despise 1" grids which is why I'm aiming for a 55" (so the squares will be larger).
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.
MapTool on RPTools website works very well. I use it for that exact reason. I have the DM version open on my laptop and then a players version on the television. MapTool is free and it supports fog of war and many other features.