Sources for one-yard hex maps of modern locations

[Jariel]

Dramascape also on RPGNow, has number of maps. Most are for fantasy settings (which could also be used for rural areas) but there are also a number for modern and futuristic settings. I recommend them because 1: They have number of free maps to download 2: They have a wide variety and good quality 3:Each map comes in square, hex, and girdles versions

[Michael Thayne]

Originally Posted by Jariel

Dramascape also on RPGNow, has number of maps. Most are for fantasy settings (which could also be used for rural areas) but there are also a number for modern and futuristic settings. I recommend them because 1: They have number of free maps to download 2: They have a wide variety and good quality 3:Each map comes in square, hex, and girdles versions

THANK YOU! This is exactly what I was looking for. And a lot of the maps are free! I just grabbed a bunch of the free maps plus paying $4 for the diner map.

[Michael Thayne]

Somewhat oddly, the Dramascape maps claim to be at a scale of one hex or square = 5 feet scale (D&D scale, at least in 3.X), but judging by furniture, old tires in the back alley map, etc. they seem to be much closer to a one hex = one yard scale, which is exactly what you want for GURPS.

[doctorevilbrain]

What in the the world is a girdles map?! Are you sure that it's spelled right?

[Stormcrow]

Do the the GURPS way: create some generic building outlines, then put hex grids on them and SAY they're one location or another. Earlier editions of GURPS had exactly one building map, which they told you to use for everything.

[Michael Thayne]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

Do the the GURPS way: create some generic building outlines, then put hex grids on them and SAY they're one location or another. Earlier editions of GURPS had exactly one building map, which they told you to use for everything.

I can't tell if this is a joke or not.

[ericbsmith]

Ones I've purchased and like:

Shadowplans
Modern/Cyberpunkish maps. Get Map Pack #1 & 2, they give you everything. Shadowplans is probably exactly what you're looking for. The two map sets give you an Airfield, a Passenger Jet, two different Apartment complexes, a bar, two different Office Buildings, a DataCenter, Mansion, Mini Mall, Police Station, a couple generic Streets, Subway Station, Train Station, and a Warehouse. These maps are nice because they include a B&W outline, a Blueprint version, a detailed Map with furnishings, and security grid variant. What they don't include is Hexes, so you have to overlay your own.

Stoneworker Cartograhy
Most of the maps are simple area maps, and while detailed are not what I would call spectacular maps. Get the VTT sets, as they have all the maps in an image format, albeit in a somewhat lower resolution that the PDF versions of the map. Military Bunker and Outpost Raven Watch are particularly good, and may be worth getting the PDFs if you can print or are willing to convert the PDF to high-res images on your own.

Maps of Mastery
He sells PDFs and printed maps, mostly cheesy (but good looking) Star Wars/Sci-Fi looking maps; converting to Hex maps is a bit of a pain.

0One Games
These are mostly fantasy, done in basic bluepaper/black & white. Some wilderness/dungeon maps could easily work in modern day as well. These maps have one advantage over most of the others - they are cheap. At about $2 for most maps, and most maps being fairly detailed, it's easy to get hooked on these maps.



Many of these maps don't come with Hex overlay options, or have wrongly scaled Hex overlays. What I usually do is drop my own Hex Overlay on using Paint.Net. You could use Gimp or Photoshop to do the same. Or MSPaint if you're a masochist.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

I can't tell if this is a joke or not.

Which part? Reusing one map for everything? Or that GURPS once published a map and reused it in the same adventure for two different locations (granted it was Caravan to Ein Arris)?

[Michael Thayne]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Which part? Reusing one map for everything? Or that GURPS once published a map and reused it in the same adventure for two different locations (granted it was Caravan to Ein Arris)?

"Everything" had me envisioning, like, the Basic Set recommending you use the same map for an opera house and a prison. Merely using the same map for two different buildings in one adventure is downright reasonable by comparison.

Incidentally, I checked and the "one building two maps" is actually preserved in 4e Caravan. Though no hex map in either case. I really don't understand how reusing the building layout saved on costs. Was a hex map of those two buildings published somewhere in a previous edition?

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

"Everything" had me envisioning, like, the Basic Set recommending you use the same map for an opera house and a prison. Merely using the same map for two different buildings in one adventure is downright reasonable by comparison.

I was somewhat serious, but not completely literal. I don't mean you should literally represent every building with the same map. But some buildings are suited to being represented by generic maps.

The experienced GM can save a lot of time by “recycling” maps. One house is a lot like another. One tavern is a lot like another. And so on. Of course, if you always use the same one, your players will kid you about it . . . "Aha, here we are, back in the Generic Tavern!” — GURPS Basic Set

The third edition Basic Set came with a double-sided one-inch hex map. On one side was a building interior, and on the other side was a canyon with a guardhouse. In "Caravan to Ein Arris," the building map is used for the tavern in Khedris and the church near the end. The outdoor map is also used twice, once for each end of Satrhan Pass. ("Use the same map but turn it so the characters are entering from the opposite side.")

And it's used again in "All in a Night's Work," the solo adventure in the third edition, as the house you attempt to burgle.

Incidentally, I checked and the "one building two maps" is actually preserved in 4e Caravan. Though no hex map in either case. I really don't understand how reusing the building layout saved on costs. Was a hex map of those two buildings published somewhere in a previous edition?

It was in the third edition Basic Set; it did not survive the transition to the fourth edition. The "outdoor" map that "Caravan" mentions doesn't even have a diagram; if you don't have the third edition map you'll have to make something up — once you figure out that the map is actually missing, and not the map of "The Bridge" that's on a nearby page.

Anyway, I'm not suggesting you use the generic building interior map for everything from taverns to opera houses. It works for taverns and small churches — but you could create a generic map for "large, open interior" buildings if you wanted.