DFRPG: VTT for I Smell A Rat

[LokRobster]

I would buy VTT specifically-tuned maps if they were available from SJGames :)

Looking through the FoundryVTT list of Official Products by other Game Companies sparked a bit of jealousy in me this week. Fully integrated maps/rule sets, pre-made modules… the works. Haven’t tried any yet, but the press looks shiny. I wish I could see a path develop for DFRPG!

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Michael Cule

Ah well, more work. I'm retired. I shouldn't have to do grunt work. I do though. The fact that the dungeon drawing software I've got doesn't work in a hex grid naturally but prefers squares is a bit annoying. Ah, well. Lemme see, ratio of DnD squares to GURPS hexes....

Simple solution: just draw it without hexes or squares and let the VTT add the hex lines.

[corwyn]

Originally Posted by LokRobster

I would buy VTT specifically-tuned maps if they were available from SJGames :)

Looking through the FoundryVTT list of Official Products by other Game Companies sparked a bit of jealousy in me this week. Fully integrated maps/rule sets, pre-made modules… the works. Haven’t tried any yet, but the press looks shiny. I wish I could see a path develop for DFRPG!

I hear you. I wish SJG would jump into the vtt pool. It almost makes me want to play a different game online. Almost. Instead, we just use Fantasy Grounds for maps and tokens and just use Zoom and the honor system for dice rolls.

[mook]

Originally Posted by corwyn

I hear you. I wish SJG would jump into the vtt pool. It almost makes me want to play a different game online. Almost. Instead, we just use Fantasy Grounds for maps and tokens and just use Zoom and the honor system for dice rolls.

Hopefully, in time before we all start switching to Holodecks or the Oasis for our online gaming. :)

[corwyn]

Originally Posted by mook

Hopefully, in time before we all start switching to Holodecks or the Oasis for our online gaming. :)

Sadly, we'll still be bugging them to license GURPS on the holodeck.

[Michael Cule]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Simple solution: just draw it without hexes or squares and let the VTT add the hex lines.

Already there, but I'm finding that the part of Foundry which puts in walls, windows and doors is finickey without a square grid to snap to. I may have to start again, re-do it with a square grid and then try to change it to a hex grid.

I hope this turns out to be worth it. It does at least give me maps which don't have the numbers and letters from the map key on the thing the players are going to see. SJ Games should note that this is an excellent way to say to the players "Look over here! There's something hidden right here!"

[RogerBW]

Originally Posted by Michael Cule

It does at least give me maps which don't have the numbers and letters from the map key on the thing the players are going to see. SJ Games should note that this is an excellent way to say to the players "Look over here! There's something hidden right here!"

There's a trick to that. Some PDF publishers put them in different layers (but this needs a reader which executes JavaScript, which to a first approximation is a terrible idea); but many others make their map in some bitmap-based program, then label it in their publishing package (so the labels are vectors and you can zoom in and retain clarity)… but one can very easily¹ strip out the bitmap embedded in a PDF, which as a result of this process is often label-free.

¹ it's very easy in Linux, just use pdfimages. No idea how people do this in closed-source environments. Maybe there's a port of the poppler utilities.

[Captain Joy]

Originally Posted by Michael Cule

Ah well, more work. I'm retired. I shouldn't have to do grunt work. I do though. The fact that the dungeon drawing software I've got doesn't work in a hex grid naturally but prefers squares is a bit annoying. Ah, well. Lemme see, ratio of DnD squares to GURPS hexes....

I don’t have anything useful to add beyond saying, “I’d do it the way you’re doing it.” So, if you’re missing something, so am I; which makes it statistically less likely that you are missing anything (assuming I don’t miss everything all the time).

Sometimes I use image manipulation software (GIMP, because I’m cheap) to remove the lines from D&D-square maps. If there is already a 1-yard hex grid, I’ll align it with the VTT’s hex grid as best I can, then make the VTT’s hex grid invisible—any slight shift from perfect alignment, especially at the edges of the map, are hopefully not noticeable.

And it’s 5 GURPS hexes for every 3 D&D squares. :) (I suspect you already knew that.)

[InexplicableVic]

I did a version, I think, in either DungeonDraft or DungeonFog. Feel free to DM me.

DungeonFog, as it turns out. It's a 10mb VTT file, which you can upload into FoundryVTT using the Battlemap Importer module. It's not the best work ever, but it's decent.

[benz72]

Slight diversion, but taking this in the direction of generality instead of one specific map, is there a good (compliant) way to find/post/share user created supplement maps for published works?
I'd rather add to some other version of e.g. a Caverntown map than start over if that is possible.