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View Full Version : DM Help PbP games and maps



Sparx MacGyver
2015-10-11, 07:23 PM
I know with online games you can use Maptool or Roll20, but how can you get maps for a PbP game? I've never run one, though I've played in a few. They were pretty much freeform and mapless. However, I've been asked to run a PbP for some friends and I'd really like to use maps if we can. Preferably not using a program like Paint.Net to manipulate it and the reupload each time.

PersonMan
2015-10-12, 12:43 AM
I've had good experience using Roll20 to make maps and tokens. People can move their character and one can make pretty cool-looking terrain using the native assets. Combat movements are made there, everything else is done via PbP.

Apart from that, I don't know of a good way that doesn't involve DM edit-and-reupload, unfortunately.

TheFamilarRaven
2015-10-12, 12:49 AM
depends on how detailed you want to be. If you want to build world maps from scratch, I would pop over to the world-building section of the homebrew forum. They can point you to a few good programs for that.

If it's for combat, and you don't want have to re-upload the link every time it's updated (like pyromancers), then you can try google docs. Just import an image (preferably with a grid), and give everyone permission to edit the doc. (just make sure they write down their actions in the PbP thread so you can keep track for everything).

Or, you can make it just a spreadsheet and color in the cells appropriately. Looks basic but it gets the job done.

Sparx MacGyver
2015-10-12, 04:46 PM
I've had good experience using Roll20 to make maps and tokens. People can move their character and one can make pretty cool-looking terrain using the native assets. Combat movements are made there, everything else is done via PbP.

Apart from that, I don't know of a good way that doesn't involve DM edit-and-reupload, unfortunately.
How does that work? I thought everyone had to be online at the same time to ise Roll20.


depends on how detailed you want to be. If you want to build world maps from scratch, I would pop over to the world-building section of the homebrew forum. They can point you to a few good programs for that.

If it's for combat, and you don't want have to re-upload the link every time it's updated (like pyromancers), then you can try google docs. Just import an image (preferably with a grid), and give everyone permission to edit the doc. (just make sure they write down their actions in the PbP thread so you can keep track for everything).

Or, you can make it just a spreadsheet and color in the cells appropriately. Looks basic but it gets the job done.
Thanks for the suggestions. I was looking at using Ditzie but it falls into the multiple posts just to update the map. It's mostly just for combat, as the rest can be all descriptive. But for combat I find using maps really helps.

TheFamilarRaven
2015-10-12, 10:22 PM
How does that work? I thought everyone had to be online at the same time to ise Roll20.

Actually no, anyone can be logged on at anytime. It would work very similar to my google docs suggestion, probably better, since it has the appropriate software built into the medium, and a library of some free tokens to represent characters. The chief advantage it has over the google docs method, is that you can set permission of the of the PC's so that they can only interact with their own tokens.

Just make sure your players still record their actions in the PbP, because unlike the re-upload method, you can't check previous versions of the map to check to see if everything is where it should be. If you know your players well and trust them, then it shouldn't be an issue. But for record keeping sake it's always a good idea.

PersonMan
2015-10-13, 01:52 AM
How does that work? I thought everyone had to be online at the same time to ise Roll20.

A misconception I think is fueled by the fact that the GM's button is 'start game' and not 'join game'. The game is, one could say, always 'running' - there just generally isn't much point in popping in to scribble on the map or move your token around. As long as people note their movements, like Raven mentioned, it works pretty well.