Keep on the Shadowfell (4E Screens)

[kcheu]

the tutorial on modules is great as is the mini's tutorial also. i have been drawn back into d&d 4e ( old player ) and stumbled upon this VTT and now playing with long distance friends is possible. I wanted to know if you are going to post a tutorial on those fantastic maps. I am trying to figure out how you did such a great job since I am going to run KotS soon.

[Xorn]

The maps? Oh that was pretty easy. I'll whip up a quick walkthrough/picture tutorial. If you don't have a scanner, you might be SoL though.

You could just as easily make maps with one of the free map programs out there, or Dundjinni is very affordable for the product, and then there's Campaign Cartographer 3/Dungeon Designer 3--that's a bit higher on the price side, but an incredibly powerful software (with a respectable learning curve to go with it).

The Stone Table (CC3 map)
The Stone Table w/ Lighting (CC3 map)
Tavern Ground Floor (DJ map)
Tavern Second Floor (DJ map)

DJ is easier to use, but if you want lighting effects and blurs, etc, you have to do postwork (or have art that has the shadow, etc), while CC3 is pretty much self contained. Nothing done on these maps couldn't be done with a regular paint program, but they are easier to work with for sure.

[Xorn]

Step 1: Scan the map in.
I scanned in the map at 300 dpi, because that would make it bigger than 50 pixels per square. As that's the scale I want to end at, I just need it bigger than that.

Step 2: Straighten the map.
Now that I have my scan, I zoom in really close to see the pixels, and see if the lines on the map are level with the window border. In this case, they are, which is pretty rare. Normally I have to rotate the map 0.1-0.3 degrees to get it straight. This just helps the grid look right when you overlay an FG2 grid on the map.

Step 3: Resize the map to the right scale.
You need to measure the distance in pixels between two points, and resize the map by a percentage to get to that size. I used the crop tool (because it's easy to adjust the size of) to measure 6 squares across. You can see at the top it 318 pixels, and I need it to be 300 pixels. Divide 300 by 318 and the calculator shows the result. My program will only resize to a whole percent, so I resize it by 94%. If I draw a grid over this one starting at the center of the map, it will be hard to see where it starts to mismatch at the edges.

Step 3A (Optional): Save a DM map.
Copy and paste this image as a new image, and resize it down 50% more (half-size) and save it as a DM version of the map, that's keyed.

Step 4: Erase the DM keys off the map.
Use whatever method works for you. I'm using a clone brush; I set the area to copy from (I picked a similar corner) then when I draw it copies the other area over where I'm drawing. You might notice this image is a bit blurry--I forgot to take a snapshot of this step so I just blew up the DM map (making it blurry) and did it real quick to show the step.

Step 5: Finished Product.
This is the final map--I normally crop/trim the excess space off the sides of the map right after straightening it, but I forgot till this point.

EDIT - Yeesh, I neglected to trim the right half of my desktop off on a few. Sorry!

[Xorn]

Added some more shots from the session last night. (Which by the way, might be the most fun I've had playing D&D since I was in high school.) That was a long time ago, as an informational side note.

Torture Chamber A
Torture Chamber B
Crypt of Shadows
The Skeletal Legion
Sir Keegan's Tomb

[Polyhedral]

quick noob Question, how do you indicate facing with side on figures as icons?

[Griogre]

D&D doesn't have facing rules anymore so this is not an issue normally.

[Polyhedral]

Thank you. (need more text to post)