Modern Map Sources

[Colarmel]

Does anyone know a good place to find maps for a modern setting? I'm trying to prep a GURPS Action game on FG, but lack good maps for such a setting.

[fredtheobviouspseudonym]

www.topozone.com has the US Geological Survey maps on line -- in practice you may have to pay for a full download. Or check the USGS site for how to order paper maps.

Maps WorldWide offers several nations' maps -- I haven't used them so don't know how good they are.

[Anaraxes]

The USGS puts their own maps online. You can browse their database directly and save the JPGs, as well as order from their catalog. They have them going back to the late 1800s, which might be useful for a somewhat earlier than modern game (maybe close enough for the Old West or Civil War, certainly for WW II).

The British Ordnance Survey also has online maps, though theirs seems to be more in the nature of a tool to find sheet maps to order. Still, you can browse and zoom into to some detail.

There is, of course, Google Maps. (Just Google it :)) Google will give you maps of nearly anywhere in the world, though they do usually label them in the appropriate foreign language, which I personally have found a little awkward in, say, China.

[a humble lich]

What exactly do you mean by maps?

For outdoor/city maps, I agree with the previous posters. USGS and google maps are nice.

For maps of buildings, I have done quick google searches for houses for sale which show floor plans. You can find vehicle maps similarly (e.g. I ran an adventure on the Hindenburg and was easily able to find maps of its deck layout online.) Another source I've used is the Shadowrun 5e Core book has a section with a bunch of maps of common urban locations, like No-Tell Motel, research facility, dive bar, etc.

If you want battle maps of modern buildings/streets with hexes put in for you, I don't know. If you don't mind squares instead of hexes, you could use old Car Wars maps, but the scale is a little wonky.

[Colarmel]

Thanks for your responses,

let me clarify: I'm more interested in battle maps, and I s'pose I should specify that I'll use them on VTT.

Mostly I'm very frustrated that maps all seem to be for D20 Modern, and have aggressive squares where they make no sense, or shadowrun and have a heavy cyberpunk vibe.

[Daigoro]

Real life maps might be too cluttered and detailed for gaming purposes.

Maybe you could look for city maps from games like Grand Theft Auto- they cover a lot of ground down to about the right level of detail.

[Ashtagon]

For UK maps, there is this:

https://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm

[Culture20]

If you look at home builder or apartment websites, they usually have floorplans that you could photoshop into something usable for indoor battle maps. A quick hex grid overlay et voila! For exterior battle maps, you can’t beat Google Maps or Open Street Maps zoomed in with a hex grid overlay. You might be able to find old TSR Marvel battle maps, but they’d have to be zoomed too, assuming you want yard hexes.

[Ashtagon]

For indoor locations, an old d20 Modern supplement has plenty of floor plans. It's basically a book of floor plans and adventure hooks to go with each one.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/161668...Locations-d20M

[Magic_Octopus]

I've tried to find battlemaps with hexes as well. The best I've found so far is DramaScape. They have a nice variety of maps.

I'd be curious to find other makers as well. I don't have the time to make my own.