DM Tools for Mapping

[Emerikol]

I've signed up for Worldographer 2025. I've been a supporter all the way back to when it was called Hexographer. I don't work for them or have an ownership.

So here is some questions because I'm curious how you all think?
1. How important is the ability to randomly generate vs just make a map manually?
2. Is the prettiness of the map really important? I've been wondering if maybe a more lightweight tool for pretty player maps would make sense. I think Worldographer is great for knowing where things are at and keep track of nations etc...
3. Do you all like making battlemats? Traditionally I've used a big marker board for drawing battlegrounds. Not sure printing battlemats is worth the effort.
4. Is your map making tool driven by your VTT? I've been thinking about maybe looking into a VTT (e.g. Foundry) as I have some old friends more distant now. We might have a nostalgia game for old times sake.
5. Do you use a mapmaker for worlds, regions, small scale, dungeons, cities, towns?

So I'm just trying to stir up some creative thoughts about how we design our campaign worlds.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

1 Not very.
2 Pretty important (pun intended).
3 Yes.
4 No.
5 Yes.

 

[Emerikol]

1 Not very.
2 Pretty important (pun intended).
3 Yes.
4 No.
5 Yes.

Thank you Harold, brevity is the soul of wit I know but do you want to elaborate on what you do and why?

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

Thank you Harold, brevity is the soul of wit I know but do you want to elaborate on what you do and why?

Allright. First, I might have lied at no. 1 I'm a long time happy user of the x-draft tools and like having manual control of my maps. But lately I've been using Dungeon Alchemist for basic fantasy battle maps, and it's simply amazing at what it does. Would I like a similar tool for different genres and way larger asset library? Yes please.

Does pretty maps matter? Yes, but not at the cost of ease of use and control. Balance is the thing.

I only game on Foundry, but don't want to weight the VTT down with internal mapping stuff. Importing external maps is fast and easy.

Do I find map making fun? Yes, it's part of the prep and creative process of being a GM. But it's more about making a space for encounters and visualization, like a creative and possibility-filled arena for actual play fun, rather than fiddling with every minor shadow and detail - that is boring. I like art, but ain't no artist, kinda.

 

[Jd Smith1]

1. How important is the ability to randomly generate vs just make a map manually?
2. Is the prettiness of the map really important? I've been wondering if maybe a more lightweight tool for pretty player maps would make sense. I think Worldographer is great for knowing where things are at and keep track of nations etc...
3. Do you all like making battlemats? Traditionally I've used a big marker board for drawing battlegrounds. Not sure printing battlemats is worth the effort.
4. Is your map making tool driven by your VTT? I've been thinking about maybe looking into a VTT (e.g. Foundry) as I have some old friends more distant now. We might have a nostalgia game for old times sake.
5. Do you use a mapmaker for worlds, regions, small scale, dungeons, cities, towns?

1. Neither. Plenty of free maps on the Net.
2. Extremely important.
3. Neither. Plenty of free maps on the Net.
4. Only play online, played VTT while F2F for years before switching to online. If its not VTT, forget it.
5. No. Plenty of free maps on the Net.

 

[Voadam]

I've signed up for Worldographer 2025. I've been a supporter all the way back to when it was called Hexographer. I don't work for them or have an ownership.

So here is some questions because I'm curious how you all think?
1. How important is the ability to randomly generate vs just make a map manually?

Has not really come up for me. I mostly use existing maps. I got the Campaign Cartographer set on a humble bundle but have not ended up using it.

In the AD&D days I would sometimes manually draw dungeon maps onto the backs of scrap paper to have module maps at miniature scale for use at the table top.

In the d20 era I would print out PDF battle mats or use existing print battle mats I have.

2. Is the prettiness of the map really important? I've been wondering if maybe a more lightweight tool for pretty player maps would make sense. I think Worldographer is great for knowing where things are at and keep track of nations etc...

Depends on the purpose of the map. I have really liked pretty maps like the Paizo AP map folios for regions like Irresin and Numeria to hand to players in game.

3. Do you all like making battlemats? Traditionally I've used a big marker board for drawing battlegrounds. Not sure printing battlemats is worth the effort.

No I prefer to just have stuff or do without instead of making them myself.

4. Is your map making tool driven by your VTT? I've been thinking about maybe looking into a VTT (e.g. Foundry) as I have some old friends more distant now. We might have a nostalgia game for old times sake.

I use a bunch of pre done battle maps on Fantasy Grounds.

5. Do you use a mapmaker for worlds, regions, small scale, dungeons, cities, towns?

No. For my mashup world it is mostly in my head, including changes to existing settings. Where I can I use existing maps like Golarion regions.

So I'm just trying to stir up some creative thoughts about how we design our campaign worlds.

 

[kronovan]

I worked in the Geographic Info Systems biz 30 years ago and map making of one form or another has been a hobby ever since. I don't seem capable of ever growing tired of creating them, but these days the majority of them are just digital maps for import into a VTT.

1. I've never used or seen a random map generator I cared for. I use Campaign Cartographer and have gotten fluid enough with its dungeon rooms and corridors tools that I can bang out a simple map on a player break. I do sometimes use random roll tables for dungeon featues and use a VTTs symbol sets or tiles to dress up my base map accordingly.

2. It depends and its somewhat defined by the TTRPG and occasionally determined by player's expectations. For OSR rulesets I often create the old school blue maps from early D&D editions. For TTRPGs or settings for which its published maps are of a high visual standard, I usually try to make mine equally attractive. I've had groups that preferred the simple zone maps like those for FATE Core, and since they're easy to create I don't mind flying with that.

3. I mostly GM with VTTs these days, so downloadable, published or custom created battlemaps are necessary for any battle/combat encounter you aren't going to run TOTM. If I'm using a VTT and it's a very simple battle like one fought in an open field, I might just create a grid and place some symbols or tiles for important land features or obstacles. I find the free-hand drawing tools for VTTs poor and avoid using them.
For tabletop maps, due to the difficulty in printing them out, I mostly make multipurpose 8"x5" tiles similar to the ones you can buy from Paizo. It took a bit to wrap my head around how to make them multipurpose, but it's doable and you can get up to speed with it. I print them out on heavy cardstock, which gives them some weight and prevents them from sliding around the tabletop too easily. I have a strong dislike for maps that are comprised of multiple, seemed together letter size sheets, so I don't got there. I have in the past seemed together 11x17 sheets though, with good results.

4. I use Campaign Cartographer more than any other map making tool. If anything, CC is less VTT driven as it doesn't support exporting to any of the Universal VTT file formats. So I'm starting to use Dungeondraft more often now for VTT battle maps, where Line Of Sight and lighting sources are going to be a factor in an encounter.

5. For Campaign Cartographer I own the Dungeon Designer, City Designer and Cosmographer add-ons. I can create pretty much any map I can imagine. So yes I create maps of different scales, ranging from a small set of rooms to an entire world and everything in between. I almost always homebrew my settings and outline or write my own adventures, so pre-created or published maps usually aren't a good fit.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I'm similar to kronovan in that I learned Autocad for surveying 30+ years ago and make most of my world maps using QGIS. (My favorite is based on Mars lidar mapping)

1.How important is the ability to randomly generate vs just make a map manually?

I see the value to some people to have random maps but I put cities and towns on waterways, at physical and political borders, crossroads, a particular natural resource, etc so they make sense. Which means I have an array of expectations for the city when I begin and the randomizers are not good at that for me.

2. Is the prettiness of the map really important?

IME pretty is nice but a functional map is its own kind of pretty. Most of my games have used maps that were fairly simple. Forests, rivers, mountain ranges, swamps, deserts, grasslands, roads and towns.

3. Do you all like making battlemats?

When I do hand drawn, I keep multiple sheets of clear plastic that I can pre-draw large set pieces. But these days we have a 42" TV in a box we use as our "battlemat" so I'm fine with a JPG.

4. Is your map making tool driven by your VTT?

I haven't really gotten into vtts. I should like them but I tend to be pretty free form mid-game and find the vtts restrictive.

5. Do you use a mapmaker for worlds, regions, small scale, dungeons, cities, towns?

I make world maps, region maps, and then small-scale game/dungeon maps.

I rarely bother with detailing cities and towns beyond labeling neighborhoods/districts, a few major roads and the major features.

 

[Emerikol]

1. Neither. Plenty of free maps on the Net.
2. Extremely important.
3. Neither. Plenty of free maps on the Net.
4. Only play online, played VTT while F2F for years before switching to online. If its not VTT, forget it.
5. No. Plenty of free maps on the Net.

This is a fascinating take. I probably lean the other way with pretty being a nice to have but not as essential as accuracy. I'd of course prefer both.

While maybe battlemats could be found online, I think world maps and city maps would need to be customizable for me. I'm very much a traditional player (vs NeoTrad or Story) and exploration and the world are super important to me and I think to those interested in my games. If you care not a wit for the world of the game then I'm probably not your DM of choice.

 

[Emerikol]

No. For my mashup world it is mostly in my head, including changes to existing settings. Where I can I use existing maps like Golarion regions.

You may have an eidactic memory but for me with most DMs I've encountered those who run it off the cuff in their heads are DMs I don't prefer. I want them to have a well designed world (even if it is store bought) and I want them to know a lot about their NPCs before the game starts.