printing gaming maps from the module posterazor

Then you end up with lots of rolled up maps in tubes (because folding them makes them suck at the table. I mean, you could just toss them after the game, but given the cost in ink and paper, and that they look too nice to toss, and you think you may use them again in the future, so you'll likely store them. Far cheaper than having it printed by a print shop, sure, but you are still going to be spending money to make those paper maps. I've been using it for years to print out battlemaps.īut, beside the space it would take up in my home, the paper and especially the ink, is EXPENSIVE. I could have received a large scale printer for free. My dad is in the process of selling of his business and retiring, which includes downsizing his office. No Nebulous, paper is the NOT the best way to go. Heck, maybe I'd also have a large-scale printer in back to print battlemaps on site. If I had to money to open a lifestyle business, I would open a hobby store with tables that have displays built into their surfaces that gamers could rent by the hour and the DM could just plug in a laptop or make wireless connection from a laptop, tablet, or phone. But for how little I run publich games, it would make more sense to just pay to print if I didn't have easy access to a large-format printer. I also prefer pre-printed paepr maps to Chessex battlemaps or tiles because I don't need to spend time drawing out a map or dealing with setting up tiles. I can just roll up my paper maps in a poster tube and bring a masking tap to hold the paper down at the table. I don't want to lug around technology and worry about plugs or technical issues if running a public game. Paper, however, is much more convenient when running public games. Fog of war and incremental reveal are a pain in the rear with paper.

VTTs make it much easy to load a battlemap image and quickly measure out the scale to properly resize it.Ĥ.

So you need to resize for printing, which requires more prep time. Many battlemap PDFs are not scaled correctly for printing at 1':5' scale. I have thousands of digital maps in Evernote, nicely folded and tagged. Large sheets of paper take up a lot of space. With a screen, you just move the image around as the party explores.Ģ. Large sheets of paper can get unwieldy at the table. It is just so much more affordable and convenient to do it this way now that the cost of displays have come down so much.Ī screen+VTT makes more sense than printing, even when using minis for many reasons including:ġ. Most likely, after my current campaign wraps up, I'll probably invest in a flat screen that I can lay flat on a table and VTT software. One, as I stated already the ink is not cheap. It is nice having them all printed and ready to go.īut, all that said, even if my dad gave it to me for free, I would think twice about taking it. I bought the Curse of Strahd map pack from Schley and printed them all. If you have a gaming group that can go in on it or if you print for folks in your group for a small charge that can help offset the cost. But if you print a lot of battlemaps, it might pay for itself. Keep in mind that the ink and paper are also expensive for these things. You can buy them used for about a thousand less. When we fully retires, I'm thinking of buying it.

My dad is a semi-retired facilities manager. I'm lucky to have access to a HP Designjet T790 24'.

Printing gaming maps from the module posterazor